No one survives war unscathed. But even in the darkest days, seeds of hope can grow.

It is 1946 and in the village of Oakbourne the men are home from the war. Their bodies are healing but their psychological wounds run deep. Everyone is scarred – those who fought and those left behind.

Alice Rayne is married to Stephen, heir to crumbling Oakbourne Hall. Once a sweet, gentle man, he has returned a bitter and angry stranger, destroyed by what he has seen and done, tormented by secrets Alice can only guess at.

Lonely and increasingly afraid of the man her husband has become, Alice must try to pick up the pieces of her marriage and save Oakbourne Hall from total collapse. She begins with the walled garden and, as it starts to bear fruit, she finds herself drawn into a new, forbidden love.

My Thoughts:

The cover of this book is stunning, and brings the story more to life. The book is set in 1946 and the men are home from the war. Alice’s husband Stephen is experiencing the side effects that the war has had on him. Alice doesn’t know to be around him and doesn’t like the man he is now. So to try and distract herself she goes and gets her herself stuck in with transforming the walled garden and she falls in love with the dramatic changes she can make if she sets her mind to it. I liked how the story flowed and it was interesting to learn a little bit more about PTSD and how it can affect one’s mind. It is heart breaking, tender and full of hope. I want to re-read this book multiple times and always remember it.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

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After losing her job and her boyfriend, Emily is devastated. As she is puzzling over what to do with the rest of her life, she is surprised to learn that her great aunt has died, leaving Emily her cottage in the picturesque Wiltshire village of Ashton Mead. But there is one condition to her inheritance: she finds herself the unwilling owner of a pet. Not knowing what to expect, Emily sets off for the village, hoping to make a new life for herself.

In Ashton Mead, she soon makes friends with Hannah who runs the Sunshine Tea Shoppe and meets other residents of the village where she decides to settle. All is going well… until Emily’s ex-boyfriend turns up and against the advice of her new friends, she takes him back. When Emily decides to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a neighbour, she unwittingly puts her own life in danger…

My Thoughts:

This is book one in the Poppy Mystery Tale and is about Emily who is having a bad time at the moment, she has lost two things that meant the world to her and doesn’t know how to move forward. She has some big decisions to make for her future. When she finds out her Great Aunt left her a cottage, she wonders if this is the way forward, Can she be happy ever again? It was lovely to meet some of the residents of Ashton Mead where Emily moves to, interesting bunch, I look forward to getting to know them more through out the series. It was a good and simple read and I can’t wait for book two.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

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On the lush green island of Corfu, Melodie’s new husband, Anton, is missing. With no clues to his whereabouts, Melodie and her step daughter Gaia are broken from the fear that they may never see him again. When Anton’s car is found by the side of the road, Gaia fixates on the idea that Melodie’s malicious half-sister is somehow involved.

Will Melodie ever find out what has happened to Anton, the love of her life? Can Melodie accept the final piece of her lost past when she is faced with so much confusion? Can she get back her life in Corfu, or will she have to give up on chasing dreams and return to England?

My Thoughts:

The cover of this book is absolutely stunning, I love all the purple and it made me feel like I am going to be whisked away somewhere hot and beautiful. The story is set in Corfu, somewhere where I have always wanted to go and now after reading this book I definitely need to go. Melodie’s husband is missing, but no one knows where he has gone, can Melodie track down her new husband before it is too late? I loved how relaxing and at ease I felt reading this book, the story is a slow burner but in a good way. This is book three in the Little Blue Door series, I have read it as a standlone but personally wished I had read the two books before to get more of a back story. I loved escaping with this book.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

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As a kid, Nina O’Brien spent all her summers at her grandparents’ cabin by the beach at Stepping Stone Bay. Long, sunny days full of fun and laughter with her best friends, Leo, Adrian, and Maeve, her friendship with Leo slowly blossoming into love. Until one fateful night changed everything for them all…

Twelve years later, Nina must return to the bay to renovate the old cabin and pass it on to a new owner. But not only does Leo still live in the cabin next door, he works at his family’s boathouse right there in the bay. As they begin to work through their differences and what happened all those years ago, can Nina really walk away from him twice?

Maeve has finally returned home to face the past. Her eleven-year-old son, Jonah, loves the sea, unlike Maeve who is terrified of it. But she knows she can’t keep Jonah away from the sea or the truth forever..

My Thoughts:

If you need a great feel good story then this is the one for you to get stuck into. It brought warmth and comfort to me reading it. After something terrible happens when spending a summer with her grandparents Nina is not looking forward to going back many years later, she has to confront the love of her life that she left behind so many years ago and how will that reunion be? also she is there to sort out her grandfather’s boathouse but she can’t think of anything worse than selling it. Can she change his mind before it is too late? We meet a few other characters in this book with real life situations. It was lovely to see how friends can still be friends after so many years apart. A great community to feel your heart with goodness. I got swept away into this book and I hope you do too.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

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Forgetting is terrifying. Remembering is worse…

Charlie Wynwood and Silas Nash have been best friends since they could walk. They’ve been in love since the age of fourteen. But as of this morning… they are complete strangers. Their first kiss, their first fight, the moment they fell in love… every memory has vanished.

Now Charlie and Silas must work together to uncover the truth about what happened to them and why. But the more they learn about the couple they used to be… the more they question why they were ever together to begin with.

Forgetting is terrifying, but remembering may be worse.

My Thoughts:

I thought this story sounded interesting, it is about Charlie and Silas who have been together since they were young. But one morning when they wake up they don’t know who each other is. Every memory has gone, but why and why them? We see them struggle to work out what is happening to them. But when doing this they find out stuff about themselves that they could never imagine. I found it hard to write a review for this book as I liked it but there were parts that confused me but once I had got to the end it all made more sense. I felt as though the story had not come to the best of endings, I felt as though things needed to be cleared up when they weren’t. I really have enjoyed most of Colleen’s books but this one I really did struggle with.

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Melanie Lange has disappeared.

Her father, Sir Peter Lange, says she is a danger to herself and has been admitted to a private mental health clinic.

Her ex-husband, Finn, and best friend, Nell, say she has been kidnapped.

The media will say whichever gets them the most views.

But whose side are you on?
#SaveMelanie
#HelpPeter

My Thoughts:

This is such a clever idea of a book, I have never read anything like it before and it really intrigued me about what was going to happen. The story is told very cleverly through interviews, transcripts and diary entries also you get the perspective of everyone involved which I really liked too. As the reader you have to work out who’s side you are on Melanie’s or Peters. Each chapter peels of a different layer and we start to see the story unfold. It is a dark and fast paced thriller done really well . I loved it.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

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Tess Parker knows tragedy better than most.

After surviving the death of her daughter and kidnapping of her nephew, Tess is ready to return to normal life. But her troubled past has other plans, and when an old threat reemerges, Tess must seek the help of an unlikely ally to set things right.

No matter what the cost.

My Thoughts:

This is book three in the Harlow series and you can read it as a standalone but I would recommend reading the other two books first. Only because they are all absolutely brilliant reads and I would hate for anyone to miss out reading them. You also get a better perspective of Tess’s back story. Here we follow on her story and after a tragedy, Tess is trying to move on, but when her past is as bad as this one, things don’t always go to plan. Can she finally get her life back on track or will her damaged past come back to haunt her. If you are after a fantastic thriller that you will not want to put down this is the one for you. The ending was superb. I cannot wait to read more from Erik.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

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Natural-born healer Emma Starling once had big plans for her life, but she’s lost her way. A medical school dropout, she’s come back to small-town Everton, New Hampshire, to care for her father, who is dying from a mysterious brain disease. Clive Starling has been hallucinating small animals, as well as having visions of the ghost of a long-dead naturalist, Ernest Harold Baynes, once known for letting wild animals live in his house. This ghost has been giving Clive some ideas on how to spend his final days.

Emma arrives home knowing she must face her dad’s illness, her mom’s judgment, and her younger brother’s recent stint in rehab, but she’s unprepared to find that her former best friend from high school is missing, with no one bothering to look for her. The police say they don’t spend much time looking for drug addicts. Emma’s dad is the only one convinced the young woman might still be alive, and Emma is hopeful he could be right. Someone should look for her, at least. Emma isn’t really trying to be a hero, but somehow she and her father bring about just the kind of miracle the town needs.

My Thoughts:

I have to say how much I love the cover of this book, it is so simple yet so eye catching. Emma’s father is dying and Emma has came back to the family home to look after him, but he has a mysterious thing going on in his brain that makes him hallucinate. It is difficult for Emma to see him this way but she knows she must do her best for what life he has left. When one of her friends from school goes missing, it is up to Emma and her dad work together to try and piece together what happened to her. It is like their last mission together. The story really affected me in a way I didn’t think it would. It was an emotional roller coaster through highs and lows. It was a thought provoking read.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

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Set in a close-knit suburb in the grip of winter, A Quiet Life follows three people grappling with loss and finding a tender wisdom in their grief.

Chuck Ayers used to look forward to nothing so much as his annual trip to Hilton Head with his wife, Cat–that yearly taste of relaxation they’d become accustomed to after a lifetime of working and raising two children. Now, just months after Cat’s death, Chuck finds that he can’t let go of her belongings–her favorite towel, the sketchbooks in her desk drawer–as he struggles to pack for a trip he can’t imagine taking without her.

Ella Burke delivers morning newspapers and works at a bridal shop to fill her days while she anxiously awaits news–any piece of information–about her missing daughter. Ella adjusts to life in a new apartment and answers every call on her phone, hoping her daughter will reach out.

After the sudden death of her father, Kirsten Bonato set aside her veterinary school aspirations, finding comfort in the steady routine of working at an animal shelter. But as time passes, old dreams and new romantic interests begin to surface–and Kirsten finds herself at another crossroads.

My Thoughts:

There are three different people in this story and we follow their lives and how they cope with loss and grief. Chuck has lost his wife but he can never imagine taking another trip without her. Ella’s daughter is missing but adjusting to a new life she is finding hard. Kirsten has lost her father, she looks for signs in what he thinks she should do with her life. I find grief is such a personal thing, everyone deals with grief differently and even though each of these people are dealing with a loss, they are all slightly different in their approach on how to take that next step. I think the author has done a superb job of dealing with such sensitive issues and I hope anyone reading this book that is struggling with grief can take comfort that they are not alone. I love how the author interweaves the characters together. I felt as there was a little hope for all of them.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

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The police ruled it as misadventure. A young woman falling from a bridge onto Janice Thomason’s car was not an act of suicide or murder, it’s just an accident. But for Janice, it feels like fate has thrown them together.

As a genealogist, Janice is used to tracking down clues – is even a little obsessive, one might say… The police know so little about the Jane Doe that fell on her car that she decides to start her own investigation into the victim and the people she knew. Surely someone must be to blame?

Sometimes the only way to uncover the truth is to lie… and for Janice, living a lie comes all too easily.

My Thoughts:

When Janice is involved in an horrible accident she doesn’t realise how much it will affect her life after. A young woman falls of a bridge onto her car. Janice is traumatised as you can imagine but then she wants to find out all about this young woman as the police don’t seem to have a clue about who she was. Janice goes to great lengths to find out who she was and her life before hand. It was a great read that kept me hooked but the obsession she had over the young woman creeped me out a little and some parts were a little uncomfortable for my liking. I kind of got her but then I didn’t. I felt very confused when I finished the book.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

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