All Together for Christmas By Sarah Morgan

23 October , 2025 by Hannah ♥ 3 Comments

This Christmas, the Balfour family will have more secrets to unwrap than presents …

Becky is stranded at the airport, so when she bumps into her brother’s best friend, Will, and he suggests they drive home together, Becky reluctantly agrees. For the first time, Becky is dreading Christmas, and only Will knows why. Can she trust him to keep her secret?

Rosie married Declan after a whirlwind romance, and now the cracks are starting to appear. Rosie and Declan have agreed to hide their problems from her family, but will this Christmas bring them closer or drive them apart?

Hayley can’t wait for her first Balfour family Christmas with Jamie, but she’s worried about her place in this close-knit family. Will there be room for her too? And how will they react to the secret she and Jamie have been keeping?

All this secrecy could derail everyone’s happy holidays. Can the siblings open up to each other in time to enjoy a perfect family Christmas?

My Thoughts:

It cannot be Christmas unless you have read one of Sarah Morgan’s festive reads. This was just as good as all her other books, she has been one of my go to authors for many years, I don’t even need to read the blurb to know I will fall in love with the story. I love how Sarah sets up her stories so that there is never just one main character, so in this story we meet Becky who is not having much luck trying to get home for Christmas, Rosie and Declan got married too quickly and now are they both regretting their decision and Hayley who is worried her partner Jamie’s family won’t like her when she goes to stay with them for Christmas. I love how the stories intertwine and they are real life situations. There is always a lot of pressure around Christmas time so it intrigued me how the story would play out but it was brilliant as always and I was sad when I read the final words.

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

Get your copy here:

You Lied First By Annabel Kantaria

17 July , 2025 by Hannah ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The truth is, everyone lies. All that matters is who lies the best…

Sara is about to spend a week in a villa with people she barely knows.

Sara’s daughter Liv, her boyfriend and his parents have invited Sara on their holiday. After what happened, she’ll jump at any chance to spend time with Liv.

She tries to be the perfect guest, and while the Forrests seem like the perfect family, something isn’t right.

By the end of the trip, someone will be dead. Lies will tie the rest of them together. But who can lie the best?

My Thoughts:

When Sara gets invited on holiday with her daughter’s boyfriends family, she is a little nervous, not knowing his family well but Sara will do anything to make her daughter happy. Things seem to go well, they all make time for each other and they have a good laugh. But when tragedy strikes, is this family really who they say they are. And then things start to unravel and Sara wishes she never came on this holiday. This was such a good thriller read, quick paced, dark in places and full of suspense. I guessed half way what the ending would be but it was still good, there are a few twists along the way and it had me on the edge of my seat on anticipation for the ending. It was so good and I really enjoyed it. I will be looking out for Annabel’s books in the future.

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

Get your copy here:

The Secrets of Harbour House By Liz Fenwick

17 July , 2025 by Hannah ♥ 3 Comments

When Kerensa is sent by her father’s auction house to catalogue a neglected house overlooking the sea in Newlyn, Cornwall, it’s a welcome escape. Once the home of two female artists, Harbour House is a treasure trove, but one painting in particular catches Kerensa’s eye – a hypnotically sensual portrait of a beautiful young woman which dominates the hallway.

Captivated and intrigued, Kerensa finds herself piecing together the enigma of Bathsheba Kernow, a fiercely talented young artist who left St Ives almost a hundred years before, eager to escape a society that wouldn’t understand her, and her sweeping journey from the underbelly of Paris to the heady luxury of Venice, where a chance encounter would change her life for ever, drawing her into the most dangerous and forbidden of love affairs.

For Kerensa, still reeling with a grief of her own and facing an uncertain future in love, Harbour House will have secrets that will change her life too, and in ways she could never have imagined…

My Thoughts:

This is a story that will whisk you away not only to Cornwall but also to Venice, a place I have heard about but never been too. Kerensa is from Venice and working for her father, she finds herself in Cornwall to valuate items in a very run down property. This is perfect for her as she needs to get away for a bit. When Kerensa finds a painting, she goes and researches into it. She has things going on in her life that she needs to come to terms with. This was storytelling at it’s best, Liz always finds a way to make you completely entranced in her books. I enjoyed all aspects of this book, the history and the art and I found it useful to know a little more about both of these. I really enjoyed this spellbinding read.

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

Get your copy here:

A Place in the Sun By Jo Thomas

19 June , 2025 by Hannah ♥ 2 Comments

It’s never too late to find where you belong…

Thea knew the holiday house her late husband Marco bought in Tuscany wasn’t pristine. But when she relocates to Italy for the summer with her children, she’s shocked by how much work Casa Luna needs. And she only has six weeks to fix it up ready to sell! Her only option is to ask the tight-knit Italian community for help.

In return, Thea and her children become involved in the community kitchen, working alongside handsome chef Giovanni and three very competitive nonnas. Gradually, Thea begins to open up to the people around her for the first time in a long while. But just as she’s beginning to wonder whether this small Tuscan town could become a new place to call home, a surprise visitor turns everything on its head . . .

My Thoughts:

I love when a Jo Thomas book can whisk you away to another country. It is making me want to go to Italy and experience the life out there. I could feel the sun’s warmth on my face whilst reading this book. Thea has come to Italy to sort out her late husbands holiday home. With her children to think of too, she does not realise how much she will have to do. Also the mayor has given her a time line. Thea starts to meet the locals and they need her just as much as she needs them in her time of need. Such a beautiful setting and the descriptions of food sounded wonderfully sumptuous. I love how the community brought everyone together. A wonderful read to escape with. I love how Jo writes about food it always makes me hungry whilst reading one of her books. I cannot wait to see what Jo writes about next.

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

Get your copy here:

The Missing Half By Ashley Flowers

11 June , 2025 by Hannah ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Nicole Monroe is in a rut. At twenty-four, she lives alone in a tiny apartment in her hometown in Indiana, she’s just gotten a DWI, and she works the same dead-end job she’s been working since high school. Everyone has felt sorry for her for the last seven years – since the day her older sister, Kasey, vanished without a trace.

On the night Kasey went missing, her car was found over a hundred miles from home. The driver’s door was open and her purse was untouched in the seat next to it. The only real clue in her disappearance was Jules Connor, another young woman from the same area who disappeared in the same way, two weeks earlier. But with so little for the police to go on, both cases eventually went cold.

Nic wants nothing more than to move on from her sister’s disappearance and the state it’s left her in. But then one day, Jules’s sister, Jenna Connor, walks into Nic’s life and offers her something she hasn’t felt in a long time: hope.

My Thoughts:

This is a story of two sisters Nicole and Kasey who will go above and beyond to get what they want and wont let anybody stop them. Nicole is stuck in a rut, she is still young but she has nothing in life to look forward to. Her sister Kasey vanished many years ago and Nicole wants to move on but people just wont stop bringing it up. But when someone from the case turns up unexpectantly Nicole wonders if this is the time to find out what happened to her sister. Hope she can eventually close this door. As soon as I had read the first chapter I knew this book was for me, fast paced and gripping from the start, it wends its way through what happened with both sisters and how one sister remains and the impact on her life. If your after a brilliant thriller, this is the one for you.

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

Get your copy here:

One Cornish Summer With You By Phillipa Ashley

5 June , 2025 by Hannah ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Tammy loved her childhood growing up in the harbour town of Porthmellow. But when her father went bankrupt and her mother abandoned them, she was quick to learn that nothing lasts forever.

Now, Tammy spends her days creating works of art in the golden Cornish sand, and is determined to protect herself from further heartache. But everything changes when she meets Ruan – a gorgeous solicitor who has moved to Cornwall for a fresh start.

Just as Tammy starts to question if Ruan could be the one to break down her walls, she discovers he has a secret – one that unravels everything she thought she knew about her past.

Can Tammy find the courage to trust again? Or will Ruan’s secret push her away forever?

My Thoughts:

When I saw Phillipa had a new book out, I could not wait to start reading it. It is set in Porthmellow in Cornwall. Cornwall is a place I have only been to once but would love to go back there because of the descriptions of Cornwall that Phillipa writes about. This story is about Tammy who is a sand artist which I found incredibly interesting to read about, but life is not plain sailing for Tammy who meets Ruan and then everything seems to unravel and Tammy does not know where her head is at. I loved all the characters that make an appearance and I really felt part of the family there. It was an easy read to get swept away with and I look forward to reading Phillipa’s next book.

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

Get your copy here:

Always You and Me By Dani Atkins

3 April , 2025 by Hannah ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Then…

On the eve of her wedding to Adam, Lily’s best friend Josh unexpectedly walked out of her life, and she hasn’t seen him since.

Lily and Adam are blissfully happy, until he falls ill. As she cares for him in his final hours, Adam asks her to make a mysterious promise: to find Josh—and forgive them both.

This winter…

Tracking Josh down isn’t easy, but fate seems determined to bring them together. Cut off in his remote Scottish cabin by a fierce snowstorm, Lily and Josh explore their tangled feelings for each other, stretching back over the decades. But when she discovers the shocking reason behind Adam’s unexpected last wish, she’ll need to trust her heart completely…

Can Lily and Josh choose love—and find forgiveness and lasting happiness together?

My Thoughts:

Getting married to Adam was the best thing Lily could of done, but back then her best friend Josh walked away from her and never looked back. Unfortunately for Lily, Adam is gravely ill and in his final hours he asks Lily to go and find Josh. But that is the last thing Lily is thinking about right now. After she pulls herself together and decides to honour Adam’s wish, trying to find Josh is harder than she thought, when she eventually tracks him down he is none to pleased to see her, so many things went wrong back then, feelings were not admitted back then and how can they both ever recover? I have not read many of Dani’s books, there are some sensitive subjects touched on in this book, some may be too close to home for people to read about, relatable characters and a warmth reading this book. There are plenty of twists and turns and flitting back to the past and the future but it made for such a good read.

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

Get your copy here:

Leave No Trace By Jo Callaghan

27 February , 2025 by Hannah ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

One detective driven by instinct, the other by logic.
It will take both to find a killer who knows the true meaning of fear . . .

When the body of a man is found crucified at the top of Mount Judd, DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock – the world’s first AI detective – are thrust into the spotlight with their first live case.

But when they discover another man dead – also crucified – it appears that the killer is only just getting started. When the Future Policing Unit issues an extraordinary warning to local men to avoid drinking in pubs, being out alone late at night and going home with strangers, they face a hostile media frenzy. Whilst they desperately search for connections between the victims, time is running out for them to join the dots and prevent another death.

And if Kat and Lock know anything, it’s that killers rarely stop – until they are made to.

My Thoughts:

After reading In the Blink of an Eye by Jo, I knew I couldn’t wait to jump into this read which is Book two. This story is about AI Detectives working together to solve a case. It is a game of cat and mouse to find out who the killer is before there are other victims. I found the AI part of the story very engaging and interesting to read about. These Detectives are only doing their jobs but there is a lot of backlash on how the case is going. Can they prevent more people from dying? A really great police drama and well thought out characters. The ending was fantastic as always. This would be a great hit for a TV drama. It feels an important book that everyone should read. I cannot wait to read book three now.

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

Get your copy here:

The Last to Disappear By Jo Spain

24 February , 2025 by Hannah ♥ 1 Comment

A luxury resort. Three missing women. One body.

When young London professional Alex Evans is informed that his sister’s body has been pulled from an icy lake in Northern Lapland, he assumes his irresponsible sister accidentally drowned. He travels to the wealthy winter resort where Vicky worked as a tour-guide and meets Agatha Koskinen, the detective in charge. Agatha is a no-nonsense single mother of three who already thinks there’s more to Vicky’s case than meets the eye.

As the two form an unlikely alliance, Alex also begins to suspect the small town where his sister lived and died is harbouring secrets. It’s not long before he learns that three other women have gone missing from the area in the past and that his sister may have left him a message.

On the surface, Koppe, Lapland is a winter wonderland. But in this remote, frozen place, death seems only ever a heartbeat away.

My Thoughts:

Jo is a new author to me, I thought this read sounded good and my kind of thriller. It is about Alex who gets a phone call to say his sisters body has been found in Northern Lapland, and he assumes it is her fault. Alex sets out on the long journey to Lapland to speak with the detective in charge because it is not at all what it seems. His sister’s case is not as simple as it first seemed. What was she involved in, Alex has to find out. It was tense, gripping and pulled me in quite literally from the get go. It made me feel cold reading this but not so much to do with the freezing temperatures in Lapland, it was more to do with how the story was panning out. Full of creepiness and not knowing what is around the corner. I really liked it and am excited to read more by Jo.

Get your copy here:

The Last Time I Saw Him By Rachel Abbott

24 February , 2025 by Hannah ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Celia, Juliette and Nadia are complete strangers with one thing in common: they have all been wronged by Ellis Cobain. A wealthy philanthropist on course for a knighthood, Ellis’ public persona is bulletproof – but lurking beneath this veneer is a sinister side that only the women closest to him have seen.

When they meet at a boutique hotel on the Cornish coast, brought together by the blind arrogance of their tormentor, they realise what connects them and form a pact to free themselves from his grasp.

But when a body is discovered they are left scrambling, desperate to cover their tracks. This was never part of the plan.

Will they keep each other’s secrets, or will they turn on each other, not knowing if one of them could be next?

My Thoughts:

This is the fourth book in the Stephanie King Series and I have not read the previous books in this series. This one is about a wealthy philanthropist who has wronged a few women in his time now they are out for revenge but then he is found dead but was it one of these women? this story is packed with lies, deceit, betrayals and revenge. It was an ok read, easy to follow along with, a bit slow in places and I did not really gel with any of the characters but wanted to know the outcome. I found all of the women suspicious and any of them could of done it but was shocked with the outcome. I feel as though I would not go back in the series to read the previous books though.

Get your copy here: