Book Review - Last Man Standing by M A Comley

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Title: Last Man Standing

Author: M A Comley

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Author supplied copy

Publisher: Jeamel Publishing Limited

Publication Date: 17th October 2024

Rating: 5 Stars

With a serial killer on the loose, trust is a luxury no one can afford, and everyone is a suspect.

When DI Sara Ramsey receives a chilling call from her pathologist friend, she learns of a shocking murder—a local vicar has been killed. But why him, and why now?

He might be the first victim, but he won't be the last.

In a small hamlet in Hereford, the killer seems to be targeting victims based on their roles in the community. As the body count rises, Sara must race against time to unmask the murderer before the entire village falls under a shadow of terror.

I couldn't get enough of this book, I whizzed through it, and even though I was utterly convinced I had an idea who the killer was, I was totally wrong (although did guess what the key issue was!). 

Always good to be reading another DI Sara Ramsey story, and this is another cracking instalment. 

There are a series of shocking murders in a really small hamlet which is rather unusual for the area, but yet it is clear the murders are pre-meditated and yet the police don't seem to have any real leads to go on. 

I always enjoy seeing how the investigation comes together and this really ramped up to a thrilling conclusion. 

The story had unnerved me enough that I regretted reading it just before bed and then kept thinking I could hear noises, although I did get some sleep, but other than that I couldn't wait to finish it the following morning.  

It's easy to read, kept me on my toes and was just yet another really impressive book from one of my go to crime authors. 

Thank you to the author for for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - 'Tis The Damn Season by Fiona Gibson

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Title: 'Tis The Damn Season

Author: Fiona Gibson

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Publication Date: 11th September 2024

Rating: 4 Stars

This year, their families can deck the bloody halls themselves...

Old friends Shelley, Lena and Pearl have reached their limit with the festive preparation that has always fallen to them, and five days before Christmas, they’ve booked a mini break… without their families. Up until Christmas Eve, they’ll be sipping prosecco in the Highlands while their kids wrap bacon around 100 chipolatas and their partners brave the supermarkets.

It’s exactly what they need… until they’re snowed in. Facing the prospect of Christmas 500 miles from home, each woman is forced to confront her real reasons for needing to escape: the fiance with the obnoxious family; the son’s new girlfriend who is taking over their home; the family who take their mother for granted all year round…

Will the friends make it home before Christmas day? And if they do, can they really go back to their old lives?

So forget Elf on the Shelf and get ready for Mums on the Run in the hilarious and heartwarming new novel from Fiona Gibson.

It has been a while since I last read a Fiona Gibson novel and at the moment I'm struggling to work out why. For this was really funny, and a thoroughly entertaining story. 

I loved Shelley, Lena and Pearl's escape to the Highlands right before Christmas, as they reached their limits with their home situations.  And what an escape it is, given they end up running the B&B for a few days! 

We also get chapters from a couple of their other halves so we can see what is going on back home, and wow I did not like Shelley's husband, what a cocky git he is! 

This is the sort of escape that I think many people wish they could do at a hectic time of year, especially if it feels like the Christmas preparations are rather one sided.  There are many memorably funny moments in this book, including a situation with a tub of celebrations! 

This is just a really enjoyable book that is a real tonic in the run up to Christmas. 

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - How To Slay At Work by Sarah Bonner

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Title: How To Slay At Work

Author: Sarah Bonner

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Publication Date: 24th September 2024

Rating: 5 Stars

When your boss is at a conference in a city where there's a suspicious death, it's unlucky.

If it happens twice, it's odd.

But when she's in the same city at the same time as a third unexplained death . . .

Could she be a stone-cold killer?

Millie's always known her boss Freya is a psycho – the demanding and ever-changing coffee orders, the cryptic instructions, the apparently expected mind reading and don't even start on the insistence that Millie wears heels . . . All. The. Time.

But it only extends as far as exacting office standards. Right?

As Freya's assistant, Millie has privileged access to her diary and travel history and when a pattern emerges of men (who seem to have no connection to each other) dying in cities where Freya is travelling, Millie is determined to figure out what's going on.

After all, a stone-cold killer could be exactly what Millie needs . . .

Wow...

... speechless

... utterly gripped

... devoured in two sittings 

... perfect poolside reading (or garden in my case)

... totally didn't see any of it coming

That is pretty much what is running through my head currently, having just finished reading this fabulous thriller, with revenge and vengeance at its heart. 

I was enthralled by the dynamics between Millie and Freya, and just what is revealed over the course of the book.

What I do know is that I need to read more from this author, there is something about this book that makes me know that I'll love anything Sarah Bonner writes.  It's the most hooked  I have been on a book for ages, and I absolutely adored it. 

It has girl power vibes all over it, despite the fact there might be murder involved.  I loved all the reasoning, the characters pasts and although one reveal I had worked out, it wasn't anything like what came after that point. 

With a whole lot of international travel (which always thrills me), some incredibly cunning and devious main characters, this story is just fabulous. 

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - This Is Not A Holiday Romance by Camilla Isley

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Title: This Is Not A Holiday Romance

Author: Camilla Isley

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Publication Date: 4th September 2024

Rating: 5 Stars

Two sworn enemies, snowed in over Christmas with chemistry that will melt the ice!

Nina Thompson has one Christmas wish: to avoid her brother's obnoxiously handsome best friend, Tristan, like the plague. From the moment he humiliated her as a teenager to their escalating revenge schemes, Nina and Tristan's relationship can only be defined as an all-out prank war! And there is yet to be a winner.

But it just so happens the ghost of Christmas present has other ideas. When Tristan unexpectedly crashes her family's Christmas, Nina's dreams of a peaceful holiday vanish faster than Santa up a chimney. Determined to end their rivalry for good, she braces herself for one last prank-filled showdown.

But when they find themselves snowed in, with no way of avoiding each other amongst the holiday festivities, they discover their heated exchanges have been masking a different kind of sizzle. Caught in a snow globe of holiday romance, they decide to let their fiery chemistry burn bright—but this is absolutely and unequivocally nothing more than a secret fling destined to melt with the snow, this is not a forever romance...

This Is Not a Holiday Romance is an enemies to lovers, brother's best friend, forced proximity rom-com perfect for fans of Sarah Adams, Abby Jimenez, and Lynn Painter.

Ooh this was a lot of fun to read.  The banter and pranks between Nina and Tristan are utterly brilliant.  I couldn't get enough of them. 

And as they say there is a very fine line between love and hate especially once you throw in some close proximity.  Plus it's set at Christmas, and I just couldn't get enough of this book. 

It's fun, it's flirty, it's festive, it's just fabulous. 

We get to learn just why Nina and Tristan seem to be at war, as well as their true feelings that change over the course of the book.  Of  course Tristan being Nina's brother's best friend is an added complication and the fact they are all saying at Nina's parents for the festive period means that although there might be an attraction there is also a lot of subtle teasing, that is fabulous to read. 

I devoured this book, read it in under a day and just loved every second of it.  Another totally entertaining novel from Camilla Isley. 

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - The Best Is Yet To Come by Jessica Redland

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Title: The Best Is Yet To Come

Author: Jessica Redland

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Publication Date: 3rd September 2024

Rating: 5 Stars

Emma is having a fresh start.

After a successful teaching career, an exciting new chapter awaits Emma – helping her fiancé Grayson run one of Beatrix Potter's farms. While imagining days spent supporting Grayson with his dream, working the land and helping with the animals, Emma harvests a dream of her own – to set up an alpaca-walking business around the farm.

But working together isn’t as easy as Emma expected. Soon her dreams are in tatters and, broken-hearted, she must start over yet again.

When Oliver, Rosie and the team at Willowdale Hall welcome Emma with open arms, she can't believe her luck. But starting a new business in a new place is a daunting prospect, especially when it comes with unexpected obstacles. With a reserved, prickly groundskeeper as a partner, rapidly changing family dynamics to contend with, and time running out to get her new career off the ground, Emma may have bitten off more than she can chew.

But even though things are not going to plan just yet, the best is yet to come for Emma, if she can just take a leap of faith and follow her heart...

Escape to the Lake District with million-copy bestseller Jessica Redland, for an uplifting story of family, friendship and love.

If like me you read the cliffhanger at the end of the previous book, and then jumped straight into this, you will be glad to know the resolution to that is given within the prologue. 

What then threw me for a bit was we are then introduced to Emma and it takes a while to understand how the two books connect, and they do in a really heartwarming way. 

Because I don't want to give any spoilers for either book, as I've read them so close together, it's hard for me to remember they are actually separate (and possibly the reason I don't often binge series to this extent), it's going to be very hard for me to say too much. 

But Emma is a fabulous new character, and her new dream, after it is clear to her, what as a reader I realised very quickly that Grayson is s nightmare, is all to do with Alpacas and being able to set up an Alpaca walking business. 

Along with new friends, rejuvenated family relationships and some daring rescues, we get to meet the Magnificent 7 as Emma's new herd is called. It is amazing how much research has clearly gone into this book, as I felt as though I had a beginners guide to caring for Alpacas, and we also learn the difference between them and llamas!   And I think I'm inclined to agree with Emma that Alpacas are best. 

In fact I'd like my own herd of them now, but since I'm less a fan of walking and the outdoors, I won't even remotely look into that!  But I really would love to meet some real alpaca! 

I enjoyed hearing Emma's backstory, as well as seeing plenty of familiar faces from the previous books of the series. 

This feels like it is a series about families as much as it is about animals so far, and I'm loving how Willowdale seems central to everything. I look forward to seeing how that expands and develops as this series continues. 

Now three books in I can easily say this is a new auto read, must stay on top of series, I am loving each book more and more, and I think a piece of my heart is already in the Lake District.  Bring on the next one! 

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - A Recipe For Christmas by Jo Thomas - Blog Tour

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Amazon UK

Title: A Recipe For Christmas

Author: Jo Thomas

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Transworld Digital

Publication Date: 10th October 2024

Rating: 5 Stars

Let the queen of feel-good Christmas fiction whisk you off to the snowy mountains this festive season...

Take one woman longing for the perfect Christmas . . .

All Clara has ever wanted is Christmas surrounded by loved ones, full of warmth and delicious food. So when her new boyfriend asks her to move to Switzerland, she can't help but say yes! After all, what could be more perfect than Christmas in the Alps?

Add a dash of surprise

She quickly signs up for a tempting chocolate-making class, but it turns out to be chocolate-making bootcamp! And her boyfriend isn't all he seemed either . . .

And enjoy a magical festive treat!

Despite it all, Clara begins to make friends - including the aloof yet intriguing Gabriel. With all of the ingredients at her fingertips, will she finally be able to whisk up her Christmas dream?

Perfection from Jo Thomas! 

Word of warning though - it will make you crave chocolate pretty much for the whole book, so make sure you have a stash to snack on. 

This is utterly brilliant for Chocolate lovers, warm and cosy fiction lovers, those wanting to travel to Switzerland this winter and of course for fans of the author. 

All of her trademark destination writing and food writing combined into a mouth watering variety of book. I couldn't have loved it more if I tried, or devoured it faster! 

Any story that starts with someone trying to work out how many Lindt balls they can fit in their mouth at once, is always going to capture my attention, especially when you then discover Clara has done something very out of character and agreed to move to Switzerland with her new boyfriend which she barely knows and enrol in what she believed to be a beginners chocolate making course. 

Turns out it was slightly more advanced, and I absolutely loved her attempting to go along with it anyway. I enjoyed seeing how Clara was able to develop as a chocolatier as well as slowly make new friends in her new life.  Although nothing is plain sailing which just adds to the enjoyment of the story. 

This really spoke to my inner chocolate lover and was fascinated by the techniques that were mentioned, and just how you temper and create chocolate. I also really wish i had been able to go along on the author's research trips for this book as I can imagine they must have been a lot of fun! 

A really Christmas chocolate lover's paradise of a book.  Just brilliant and not too festive either, so easily able to be read out of season, but definitely a fabulous winter warmer of a book. 

Thank you to Transworld and Netgalley for this book which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Please do take a look at the rest of the blogs on this fabulous blog tour. 

Book Review - Christmas at the Board Game Cafe by Jennifer Page - #HolidayReading Cyprus

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Title: Christmas at the Board Game Cafe

Author: Jennifer Page

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Aria

Publication Date: 10th October 2024

Rating: 5 Stars

Kate seems to have it all – wonderful friends, a successful career, and an idyllic life in the quirky Yorkshire town of Essendale. But under the surface, Kate is lonely and yearns for family – especially at Christmas.

With the holidays approaching and the town desperate to attract more visitors, Kate plans an enchanting living Advent calendar to feature the local businesses. But Kate's picture-perfect plans take an unexpected turn when her ex-boyfriend returns, determined to create the pivotal Christmas Eve display.

Caught between a new spark and an old flame, Kate must pull off her festive campaign and protect her heart. Will she let go of the past and embrace the future she dreams of?

Christmas and board games go together so well, that I was incredibly eager to start reading this book. 

Add in a Living advent calendar for Essendale and Hebden and you really do have the most amazing book. 

I couldn't read this fast enough, and I was astounded at the author's creativity and imagination at bringing 24 different but all equally brilliant windows to life. 

And to keep the finale not only a secret from Kate who had organised the whole thing, but also from the readers, until it was Christmas Eve was inspired to keep me reading. 

And it really was the most wonderful final window, and not anything I would have ever thought of.  But it just worked. 

Before that though you have Kate  trying to juggle a busy love life, with being perfect at everything she does and we even  get to discover just why she is the way she is. 

Add in Em, Jo and Taylor our previous leading ladies and their gorgeous men, as well as an assortment of board games, new love interests, a brief return of the series villain and memorable window from Mr B, and it truly is a joyful and fun filled book that I totally adored. 

I love this series so much and this was perhaps my new favourite book from it. Utterly fabulous and incredibly festive. 

Thank you to Aria and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - A Breath of Fresh Air by Jessica Redland

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Title: A Breath of Fresh Air

Author: Jessica Redland

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Boldwood

Publication Date: 10th January 2024

Rating: 5 Stars

Rosie feels like there's something missing in her life.

She loves her job as the manager of Willowdale Hall Riding Stables, caring for the horses and teaching children to ride, and she loves the home she shares with her mother in the beautiful Lake District. But she can't help wondering how her life might look if things had been different. What if her father had been around to help care for her mother? And what if she'd found someone special herself?

When Hubert Cranleigh - the owner of Willowdale Hall - is taken ill, his son Oliver steps into the breach. Brooding and distant, Rosie is furious when he claims not to know who she is. Especially when they have a history.

Rosie's life is about to be turned upside down, but with the New Year comes new opportunities. What Rosie feels is missing from her life might be closer than she thinks, and with more significant consequences than she could ever have imagined...

Take a breath of fresh air and escape to the Lake District with million-copy bestseller Jessica Redland, for an uplifting story of family, friendship and love.

Warning - this book ends on an epic cliff hanger. The good news it that the next book is already out, so the second you know you are enjoying this book and series enough to suspect you will want to read the next one, buy it so you can move on seamlessly. 

I mean the second I finish writing this review I will be starting the next book.. I need answers, and thankfully I had been made aware in advance that there was a cliff hanger ending, and thus I had put off reading this book until I had the next one available too - otherwise I would raging right now!!

And omg what a great book this is, I absolutely loved every single word of it and at times I was a bit choked up with emotion too. 

It is what Jessica Redland does best, writes a story with a huge heart, some wonderful animals, brilliant backstories and some incredibly loveable main characters. 

Getting to know Rosie and Alice better, having first met them in the previous book was a joy.  I had nothing but sympathy for Alice, and I really hoped things would improve for her. 

And Rosie, what can I say about Rosie, she has an epic storyline, plus an old flame / enemy comes back into her life and there are parental secrets all over this book. 

It's just simply brilliant, I don't want to risk spoiling anything, but I will say the Lake District setting is as gorgeous as ever, and I felt more at home there in this second book. And the horses in the stables, I loved hearing all about them.  I do love a focus on animals in stories something that this author does so well. 

Then there is Ollie, I was unsure how to feel about him initially but as the story progressed I grew to love him a lot, and really despise his father.  But the more I knew about him the I was rooting for him. 

This was just an all around brilliant book and I'm totally convinced now after two books that this is a series that will be totally brilliant.  Now must run I need to find out what happens next! 

Thank you to Boldwood and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes - #HolidayReading Cyprus

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Title: My Favourite Mistake

Author: Marian Keyes

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Publication Date: 11th April 2024

Rating: 5 Stars

Anna has just lost her taste for the Big Apple…

She has a life to envy. An apartment in New York. A well-meaning (too well-meaning?) partner. And a high-flying job in beauty PR. Who wouldn’t want all that?

Anna, it turns out.

Trading a minor midlife crisis for a major life event, she switches the skyscrapers of Manhattan for the tiny Irish town of Maumtully (population 1,217), helping old friends Brigit and Colm set up a luxury coastal retreat.

Tougher than it sounds. Newflash: the locals hate the idea. So much so, there have been threats – and violence.

Anna, however, worked in the beauty industry. There’s no ugliness she hasn’t seen. No wrinkle she can’t smooth over.

There’s just one fly in the ointment – old flame Joey Armstrong.

He’s going to be her wingman.

Never mind their chequered history. Never mind what might have been.

Because no matter how far you go, your mistakes will still be waiting for you . . .

It's been quite a while since I last read a Marian Keyes novel, and possibly even longer since I last caught up with my favourite Irish family the Walshes. 

So I was utterly delighted to be able to delve back into the Walsh Family, and seeing just what Anna is up to now. 

Of course we get to see the latest in the lives of all of the sisters, which is a pleasure for all fans of the series. 

And once Anna is back in Ireland, well it all started to feel rather like coming home for this reader too. 

I loved Anna's new work situation, and getting to see flashbacks to all of her encounters with a certain Joe over the years, as well as her best friend Jacki was really great to see. 

This was a highly enjoyable instalment in the lives of the Walsh family, with them all being much older and wiser than before. It's a joy to see these characters mature but still keep all of their traditional character traits.

Put simply I love this book. 

Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - A Secret Cornish Wish by Ali McNamara - #HolidayReading Cyprus

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Title: A Secret Cornish Wish

Author: Ali McNamara

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Sphere

Publication Date: 4th July 2024

Rating: 5 Stars

The brand-new escapist summer romance from bestselling author Ali McNamara. Return to the Cornish shores of St Felix and fall in love . . .

What if one summer could change your life?

For Frankie and her five best friends growing up on the glorious beaches of Cornwall's St Felix, life couldn't get any better. Late one night, the friends discover an old box washed up on the shores and they learn the tale of the St Felix mermaid who grants wishes to those who find her treasure. Even though they know it's just Cornish folkore, the friends decide to make a wish for what they each want out of life - most importantly, they want to always be together . . .

Over the course of the next few decades, as weddings, funerals, birthdays and more bring the friends back together, lost loves, broken promises and buried secrets just as quickly tear them apart. But when they reunite one last time in St Felix, will it be for good? And will their wishes finally be revealed?

Given I just autobuy and know I want to read anything with Ali McNamara's name on it, I hadn't realised until I opened this one that we ere back in the rather magical setting of St. Felix. 

And as a long time fan of these St Felix books I knew instantly that there would be some inexplicable occurrences. 

What I didn't realise until I read this was that mermaids are 100% real and that I'm a complete believer in them and their wish giving properties. 

We join Frankie and her group of misfit mermaids at key points over their lives from being teens, all the way through until they turn 50 

All told from Frankie's view point we get to know all the stories of her friendship group, And I loved getting to know all of her friends,  

And discovering whether their wishes really will come true or not.  

There is excellent character development and the magic of the setting is weaved in perfectly 

And I loved references to some of Ali's other characters, always good to see they haven't been forgotten. 

An absolute joy to read from start to finish, this may have you crying, it will certainly have you smiling and it might even turn you into a believer. 

Thank you Sphere and Netgalley for this book which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.