Review: when you’re gone by Brooke Harris

1958
In a small town like Athenry, people talk. Everyone’s noticed that the injury which stopped Annie Fagan’s father from working doesn’t prevent him from hitting his wife. But a man’s home is his castle, and no one is going to intervene.

Until Annie runs into Arthur ‘Sketch’ Talbot. Sketch is determined to help Annie, and the two soon fall in love. But Annie’s father won’t give his daughter up lightly, and Sketch’s attempts to save her will have devastating consequences…

Now
Holly’s world is falling apart. Her unborn baby is seriously ill, her relationship is fracturing before her eyes, and her Nana is dying. But Nana has one final wish before she leaves: to read, one last time, the handwritten story of her first – and last – love, Albert ‘Sketch’ Talbot.

As Holly reads to Nana, could it help her find the strength to face her own future? Could fulfilling her grandmother’s final wish really be a gift for Holly?

Review

This is a story about a very close-knit family. Holly is home to visit her ailing grandmother. All signs indicate that her nana, Alice, doesn’t have long to live. The family is devastated. They are struggling to deal with the impending loss but also trying to hold on to Alice and keep her on earth just a little longer. It is during this time that the family discovers Alice’s writing about her first love.

This story in narrated in a dual timeline. I was utterly captivated by the 1958 timeline. Alice’s story was so poignant and well detailed. I found myself looking forward to her narration, maybe because I enjoy historical fiction or just because of her character and the unfolding love story. Holly’s narration was also interesting though for some reason, it didn’t pull me in like Alice’s.

This is a story about family, love and loss. It is both beautiful and heartbreaking. There were moments that had me smiling while others made me a little teary. I lost my grandparents way back in the 90s and can’t remember much about them. Reading about Alice and her family makes me feel like I missed out on important relationships and some great stories too.

Review: Bitter Falls (Stillhouse Lake #4) by Rachel Caine

She’s investigating a cold case no one else could—by going places no else would dare.

In spite of a harrowing past still haunting her, Gwen Proctor is trying to move forward. Until a new assignment gives her purpose: the cold-case disappearance of a young man in Tennessee. Three years missing, no clues. Just Ruth Landry, a tortured mother in limbo. Gwen understands what it’s like to worry about your children.

Gwen’s investigation unearths new suspects…and victims. As she follows each sinister lead, the implications of the mystery grow more disturbing. Because the closer Gwen gets, the closer she is to a threat that looms back home.

In a town that’s closed its ranks against Gwen; her partner, Sam; and her kids, there’s no bolder enemy than the Belldene family—paramilitary, criminal, powerful, and vengeful. As personal vendettas collide with Gwen’s investigation, she’s prepared to fight both battles. But is she prepared for the toll it could take on everyone she loves?

Review

I have been a fan of this series since the first book. I think the character development keeps getting better with each new installment. I have watched Gwen Proctor grow through the pages from the first book to this new installment and I absolutely love her transformation.

In this story, Gwen is investigating a missing persons case. What started out a simple case soon takes a turn revealing a complex web of lies and deceit. Gwen soon finds herself entangled in the crazy web.

As I have already mentioned, the character development is stellar. Once again Rachel Caine does a fabulous job in the crafting of each of the characters. It’s not just the MCs who are well developed but also the support characters. For instance, I loved seeing the different sides of the Belldene crime family.

The previous book had too much action for my liking. Luckily, this one had the perfect balance. I was captivated by the mystery and enjoyed putting together the puzzle pieces. There were bullets flying but this time, I was completely lost in all the drama and couldn’t take my eyes off the pages.

This was undoubtedly a fast-paced, riveting read. I look forward to the next book already.

 

 

 

Review: The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell

She thought they wanted her baby. But they won’t stop there.

Roz is young, penniless and pregnant. All she wants is to be the perfect mother to her child, but the more she thinks about her own chaotic upbringing, the more certain she is that the best life for her baby is as far away as possible from her hometown in Ireland.

Determined to do the right thing, Roz joins an elite adoption service and can’t believe her luck. Within days she is jetting to New York to meet a celebrity power couple desperate for a child of their own. Sheridan and Daniel are wealthy and glamorous—everything Roz isn’t. Her baby will never go hungry, and will have every opportunity for the perfect life. But soon after Roz moves into their plush basement suite, she starts to suspect that something darker lurks beneath the glossy surface of their home.

When Roz discovers she isn’t the first person to move in with the couple, and that the previous woman has never been seen since, alarm bells start ringing. As the clock ticks down to her due date, Roz realises her unborn baby may be the only thing keeping her alive, and that despite her best intentions, she has walked them both into the perfect nightmare…

Review

Another brilliant, riveting, jaw-dropping read by Caroline Mitchell!

Roz thinks that she has found the perfect couple to adopt her little one. It’s a celebrity couple with more money that Roz could ever imagine. There is no doubt that they would provide a wonderful, comfortable life for the baby. However, Roz soon realizes that there are dark secrets behind the high walls of the mansion.

I loved everything about this story. I enjoyed reading about the different characters. Roz was so sweet and I could easily empathize with her. I admired her courage and her story broke my heart. The fact that she was pregnant in the story made it easier for me to root for her. She reminded me of my recent pregnancy minus all the horrors. The other characters were just as captivating even the really twisted ones. Unfortunately, I can’t say much about them since I don’t want to spoil the story but yes, they certainly were memorable.

This was a fast-paced, enthralling, dark thriller. I was hooked from the first page and had trouble putting the book down after that. The tension escalated with each chapter and I loved the unpredictability of the narrative. I also loved the different elements of the story. For instance, I loved the inclusion of excerpts from tabloids which helped in telling us about the celebrity couple.

Dark, twisty, tightly-plotted and utterly gripping, The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell is not a book to be missed.

Review: The Man She Married by Alison James

How well do you know your husband?

Since Alice’s fiancé walked out on her, she never thought she’d meet ‘The One’. But all that changes when she meets Dominic. Handsome, charming and kind, Alice can’t believe her luck when he proposes a few months later and moves into her West London home.

Three years on, Alice’s catering business is thriving and she is married to a man she adores. So when she sees that little blue line, it should be the happiest moment of her life: they’re going to have a baby. But then the police knock on her door and Alice’s whole world is turned upside down… Dominic is dead.

Distraught, Alice goes to identify the body. There’s no doubt that it’s her husband. Yet when his estranged brother comes to view the coffin, he insists the man lying there is not Dominic. Alice refuses to believe it at first, but when confronted with irrefutable proof, she finally has to face the truth:

The man she married is not the person he said he was. And if he lied about that, what else was he hiding from her?

Review

I became a fan of Alison James books after reading her Detective Rachel Prince series. I am still waiting for the series to move forward. In the meantime, her psychological thrillers are keeping me quite entertained.

Alice Palmer thought she had met the love of her life when Dominic Gill came into her world. However, she soon found out that Dominic wasn’t really who she thought he was. As a matter of fact, Alice might not have known her husband at all.

I know this sounds like a familiar marriage betrayal trope but I can assure you that the author did add a unique spin to it. The story is narrated in two timelines set in the past and the present. We get to follow Alice’s life after she found out that her husband had deceived her. We are also taken to the past when the couple first met. As always with this kind of timelines, I enjoyed the past narratives the most. I couldn’t wait to unravel the mystery that is Alice’s life and marriage.

The author did a wonderful job crafting the characters. I thought Alice was rather sympathetic. She did come across as quite naïve also but I liked her and could understand her predicament. I mean, how well do we know our spouses? Do we really know everything about them? So as not to post any spoilers, I will not say anything about her husband. Let me just mention that I love that the author decided to make him one of the narrators. The support characters were also well developed.

The Man She Married by Alison James is fast-paced, suspenseful and quite entertaining. There are some sections that require suspension of disbelief. This didn’t impede on my enjoyment of the narrative though. I also thought the writing and structuring of the narrative was quite brilliant. The reveals come early in the story but unspooling the intricate tale made the story suspenseful to the last page. I definitely recommend this one to fans of this genre.

Review: The Blossom Twins(Detective Natalie Ward#5) by Carol Wyer

Their parents thought they were hiding…

One beautiful summer’s evening, thirteen-year-old twins Ivy and Erin Westmore snuggle down in a tent in their back garden, giggling and sharing secrets.

When their mother goes to wake the girls the next morning, their tent is empty.

The alarm is raised and Detective Natalie Ward is put onto the case. When the twins’ bodies are discovered on nearby marshland, covered with deep pink petals, an icy shiver travels down Natalie’s spine. Everything about the girls’ deaths reminds her of a horrifying case she worked on earlier in her career, which saw a killer of the worst kind placed behind bars.

The next day, that feeling is heightened when she receives a chilling note saying ‘I’m back’. Is this killer a copycat or did Natalie put the wrong person in prison all those years ago? In a small town, where no stranger goes unnoticed, what is Natalie missing?

Consumed by the case, determined to prevent more deaths, Natalie misses the fact that it is her attention the killer wants. And to get it, he has his sights set firmly on her precious daughter Leigh…

Review

The Blossom Twins is the fifth book in the Detective Natalie Ward Series. The entire series has been quite a roller-coaster. Each case seems to be getting more complex and addictive. Just when I thought the series couldn’t get any better, Carol Wyer decided to give us the most complex case yet. This one was dark, emotional and quite personal. I couldn’t stop turning the pages even though each new chapter filled me with anxiety, the good kind that comes from dark reads.

In this case, a series of murders take place. The victims are young, teenage girls with no obvious connection. However, our lead detective does make a connection with an old case. What is interesting though is that the old case was solved. So, do we have a copycat? Or are old ghosts coming out to haunt the living?

Needless to say, the story had me at the edge of the seat. The stakes were high and I couldn’t wait for the detectives to catch the baddie. As with previous cases, catching the baddie wasn’t going to be easy though. Red herrings abound! There were a number of suspects along the way and in the end, the identity of the baddie was a total shock. It wasn’t someone that I suspected at all until the final chapters.

The Blossom Twins is fast-paced, dark, captivating and surprisingly heart-wrenching. I was hooked from the first to the last page. As with the rest of the series, the character development was quite well done. I really like Natalie and she is one detective whose personal life is as interesting as the cases she works on. I must admit that I was surprised by the direction that the story took towards the end. The author made a bold decision but I have come to expect nothing less from her. Still, the ending did turn this into a much emotional read than I was expecting.

Like the other books in the series, this can be read as a standalone. However, to better enjoy the book and get to know the characters, I recommend reading the entire series in order. I can’t wait to find out what book six has in store for us.

The Detective Natalie Ward Series

My Reviews

The Birthday

The Last Lullaby

The Dare

The Sleepover