When Paige turns up unannounced at Wynthorpe Hall, she discovers the place she knew when she was growing up has changed beyond all recognition. She’s only planning to stay for a short time, but is quickly pulled into local life.
One night while driving home after delivering library books and shopping to residents she stumbles across an isolated cottage and meets Albert, its elderly and rather grumpy owner. She quickly realises there’s more to Albert than meets the eye and the same can be said for the other man she can’t seem to help running into, handsome but brooding Brodie.
All three of them have a secret and a desire to hide away from the world, but with Christmas on the horizon, is that really the best way to celebrate the season?
My Thoughts:
I love the cover of this book, it is very eye catching, I picked this book up in the hottest time of the year, I thought if I thought about Christmas and snow, it would make me feel less hot and it did help slightly. The story centres around Paige who is going back to where she grew up but everything has changed and she doesn’t know if she likes it and feels as though she wants to leave but then she meets Albert and even though he doesn’t want her help, he really does need it. Add in a dashing young man and you might see a little romance at Christmas. We discover all three of them have kept a secret but will they be able to help each other. A lovely story that pulled at my heart strings with a wonderful bunch of characters. Pure Joy.
I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.
There is a renewed interest in the nature on our doorsteps, as can be seen in the work of amateur botanists identifying wildflowers and chalking the names on the pavements.
But beyond the garden wall lies a wealth of cultivated plants, each with a unique tale to tell. In The Grove, award-winning writer and head gardener Ben Dark reveals the remarkable secrets of twenty commonly found species – including the rose, wisteria, buddleja, box and the tulip – encountered in the front gardens of one London street over the course of year.
As Ben writes, in those small front gardens ‘are stories of ambition, envy, hope and failure’ and The Grove is about so much more than a single street, or indeed the plants found in its 19 ½ front gardens. It’s a beguiling blend of horticultural history and personal narrative and a lyrical exploration of why gardens and gardening matter.
My Thoughts:
I could not wait to get my hands on this book and start reading it. I absolutely love being in my garden and feeling at one with nature. I love tending to the plants that I have in my garden and seeing them grow but I also love looking at other people’s front gardens to get ideas and to see what they are growing. The book is divided up into a different plant for each chapter and what I love also are the illustrations that just seem to bring the book to life. It is such a charming and beautiful read, I really felt as though I learnt some new things about some of the different plants that Ben writes about. It is such a lovely and inspiring book to make you get out into your garden and smell the roses.
I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.
For as long as Cassie can remember, it had always been the three of them: Cassie, her beloved big brother Tom, and Tom’s best friend Sam.
Since Cassie and Tom’s parents had died, and Sam’s dad was never around, the three kids had stuck together like glue, with Tom always looking out for Cassie, and Sam basically put on earth to annoy her.
Now they are adults and nothing much has changed:
Tom is sorted, cocky Sam is going places and Cassie is……
well, Cassie thinks she’s figured it all out.
And then tragedy happens and three becomes two.
For Cassie picking herself up and moving on seems unimaginable. But then she finds the envelope with her name on it, asking her to follow the clues to a treasure hunt carefully laid out for her months before.
It promises to lead her to one last gift. And suddenly what seemed like an ending just might be the beginning of something unexpected, beautiful and new…
My Thoughts:
This was the perfect pick me up after all the thrillers I have been reading lately. This is an author that is now on my radar. I love how the story is bursting with hope, love and joy and the characters all work so well together. I genuinely liked all the characters and hearing the back story gave the rest of the story some depth. I kind of knew what was going to happen from reading the plot but I loved the idea of the treasure hunt and what it means to Cassie. It was such a beautiful tale, one that I will always remember.
I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.
I also have a details on how to take part in a treasure hunt to win a voucher for dinner, bed and breakfast at Gravetye Manor – https://www.gravetyemanor.co.uk/
It is a four star Country hotel set in beautiful Sussex and the restaurant is Michelin starred and ties in with the book perfectly.
See below for details:
As mentioned above the author is running a treasure hunt as part of the blog tour to win a voucher for Dinner Bed and Breakfast at Gravetye Manor – https://www.gravetyemanor.co.uk/. It’s a 4 star luxury country hotel in Sussex, and the restaurant is Michelin starred! It is the hotel which is featured in One Last Gift – I won’t say anything in case you haven’t read it, but if you have read it, hopefully you’ll know which hotel I mean – it’s a key moment for Cassie and Sam’s journey!
Each day, there will be a clue to solve – that clue will lead to a word. So if you solve the clue on day one, you’ll end up with one word, day two, two words, etc. There are 11 words in total, for the 11 days of the blog tour – so at the end, everyone who’s figured it out will have an 11-word sentence.
To enter, after you’ve got the sentence from all the clues at the end of the blog tour, people should email publicity@headline.co.uk with the subject header ONE LAST GIFT TREASURE HUNT and the answer to the clue (the sentence) in the body of the email. The deadline to enter is the end of October. The winner will be chosen at random, and have the voucher emailed to them. If you have space to include details on how to enter on the post, that would be great.
It’s New Year’s Eve and the stage is set for a lavish party in one of Edinburgh’s best postcodes. It’s a moment for old friends to set the past to rights – and move on.
The night sky is alive with fireworks and the champagne is flowing. But the celebration fails to materialise.
Because someone at this party is going to die tonight.
Midnight approaches and the countdown begins – but it seems one of the guests doesn’t want a resolution.
They want revenge.
My Thoughts:
I have read a couple of Harriet’s books before and enjoyed them, they are well written and a good read but not as exciting for a thriller as I would love them to be. You never really know who to trust with the characters or who is telling the truth and who is lying? Harriet writes her characters well and there is a lot of research into each one of them. I guessed the ending right from the start, the twists keep coming too. The storyline was quite desolate though.
Max and Pip are the strongest couple you know. Only now they’re facing the most important decision of their lives – and they don’t agree.
With the consequences of an impossible choice threatening to devastate them both, nothing will ever be the same again.
But anything can happen after the end . . .
My Thoughts:
This was such a powerful novel that really tugged on my heart strings. To know that the author Clare had had been in the same position that Max and Pip are in really made me have the utter most respect for her. It is a thought provoking novel, one which made me think about what I would do in the same situation and one where I thought about it when I was not reading it. I think you have to be in the correct mind set to read it as for me it was emotionally draining but I am glad that I have read it. It really made me appreciate everything I have in my life. It was such a journey I went on reading this book, one I will never forget.
I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.
When a deadly snowstorm strikes the Icelandic highlands, four friends seek shelter in a small, abandoned hunting lodge.
It is in the middle of nowhere and there’s no way of communicating with the outside world.
They are isolated, but they are not alone . . .
As the night darkens, and fears intensify, an old tragedy gradually surfaces – one that forever changed the course of their friendship.
Those dark memories could hold the key to the mystery the friends now find themselves in.
And whether they will survive until morning . . .
My Thoughts:
I haven’t read any of Ragnar’s books before so didn’t know what to expect, I liked the sound of the story but for me I was not too keen on it overall, I found it didn’t grip me how I wanted it to grip me and I found that the pace was slow and a little dull for me. I did like the characters and thought that the author had put a lot of time and effort into them, and I did read until the end to see if it got any better. For me this is not what I was expecting which is a shame.
I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.
As the older sibling to identical twins Violet and Lily, Cami Porter was always the odd sister out. She cemented this difference when their parents divorced and moved with her father to LA, leaving her sisters in Cape Sanctuary with their mother.
But twenty years later when Cami gets the terrible news that Lily has died, she must return home to Violet and her mother – the family she has not known for decades.
While the Porter family start to reconnect both Cami and Violet must learn to deal with their own loss and along the way learn that life can present the most unexpected surprises, including a second chance at love…
My Thoughts:
This is the second book I have read by RaeAnne and I am feeling like I really need to read the rest of her books as this one was just as good as the first one I read. The story is all about loss, love and forgiveness and can you really move on after a loss. We really see family pull together when something awful has happened, it brings them closer. I shed a few tears throughout this book but there are some uplifting parts too. I loved all the characters and felt as though I wanted to be there to look after them all. My favourite character definitely has to be Franklin, even though he is going through a lot, he really put a smile on my face. Such a great book, and I look forward to reading more of RaeAnne’s books.
I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.
Jessica Clayton has made a career out of helping others downsize―because she’s learned the hard way that the less “stuff,” the better, a policy she applies equally to her relationships. But a new client is taking Jess back to Cape Sanctuary, a town she once called home…and her little sister Rachel.
While Jess couldn’t wait to leave Cape Sanctuary Rachel put down roots, content for the world―and her sister―to think she has a picture-perfect life. But with the demands of her youngest child’s disability, Rachel’s marriage has started to crack. She needs her sister now more than ever, yet she’s learned from painful experience that Jessica doesn’t do family, and she shouldn’t count on her now.
But soon, against her judgment, Jess finds herself becoming attached―to her sister and her family, even to her client’s interfering son, Nate―and it’s time to put everything on the line. Should she continue running from her painful past, or stay put and learn to trust again?
My Thoughts:
This is my first book by RaeAnne and it certainly will not be my last, I really enjoyed reading it. I loved the warmth from the characters and the story was just a nice, easy read. I felt as though I had been transported to Cape Sanctuary, I love how the story evolves throughout the book, each and every character bought the story to life for me. The story for me felt as though I was coming home to my family and it was full of warmth with an uplifting part to it.
I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.
In deep Louisiana, a serial killer with a taste for medical experimentation is completing his most ambitious project yet. The media call him ‘The Butcher’ – and, so far, he’s proved impossible to catch.
With her encyclopaedic knowledge of humanity’s darkest minds, and years of experience examining their victims, forensic pathologist Dr Wren Muller is the best there is. The longer the Butcher’s killing spree continues, the more determined she is to bring him to justice.
And yet, he continues to elude her.
As body after body piles up on Wren’s examination table, her obsession grows. Pressure to put an end to the slaughter mounts. And her enemy becomes more brazen.
How far is Wren willing to go to draw the Butcher into the light . . .?
My Thoughts:
I loved the sound of this book and I could not wait to read it, it didn’t disappoint. It is fast paced from the very first page and I felt as though I got lost in the story and didn’t want to surface until the end. I read this book in a day and a half. I wanted to know what would happen , the characters bring this story alive and also the amount of research that has gone into this book is phenomenal. For a debut author this is exceptional, I cannot wait for the next book. I like the fact that each chapter is either coming from Wren or the killer and the ending was shocking but oh so good. I highly recommend this book.
I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.
Chloe Stark needs to get her life on track after the collapse of her marriage. That’s what everyone keeps telling her. So, when a night out with her friend Laura leads her to Danny, an age-old game of girl-meets-boy unfolds. It should be normal, exciting, but something about him is…off. He’s a little too interested, a little too intense. When she leaves she doesn’t give her number. End of story.
But Danny isn’t going anywhere. He pursues Chloe with a determination that frightens her, ignoring her warnings to leave her alone. He invades every corner of her world, even her deepening feelings for Tom, a friend who could be more. Soon, the threads of her life quickly unravel and she struggles to fight Danny’s promise that they will be together – at any cost. With Tom and Chloe growing closer, her fear for him escalates, as does Danny’s worsening behaviour. But if Chloe’s past has taught her anything, it’s that actions have consequences, and hers may destroy the possibility of happiness before it’s even begun.
Can she leave her past where it belongs and keep herself and the people she loves safe from Danny’s devastating infatuation?
My Thoughts:
I have previously enjoyed Gemma’s debut novel which I thoroughly enjoyed, so was excited to read this one. The plot sounded tense and gritty and I could not wait to get started. It is all about Chloe and how one evening when out with friends she meets Danny, he seems ok at first but what she doesn’t realise is how much he is going to destroy her life, it was a really tense read and I can never imagine what Chloe was going through but I got a pretty good idea whilst reading this book, what a horrible situation she was in but I found myself getting frustrated with her, yes I know I haven’t been in that situation but some of the things she was doing I was thinking why are you doing that? I wanted to jump in the book and have a talk with her and I lost all hope for her near to the end. I found the book a good read, it had a good pace to it and I found it engaging and there is plenty of drama happening. I cannot wait to see what Gemma writes about next.
I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.
