Review: The Ex-Girlfriend by Nicola Moriarty

Luke is the one. After everything she’s been through, Georgia knows she deserves someone like him, to make her feel loved. Safe.

The only problem is his ex-girlfriend. Luke says Cadence is having trouble accepting their break-up, but Georgia thinks there’s more to the story. She also has the feeling someone is watching her.

When everything starts to go wrong at work, at home, in her old friendships and her happy new relationship with Luke, Georgia starts to feel truly afraid.

Cadence wants what she has. What would she do to get it?

And can Georgia trust anyone at all?

Review

I love Nicola’s books and was beyond ecstatic to get the opportunity to read this one. Happy to report that it ended up being another fab read that has now cemented Nicola’s place in my list of favourite authors!

Luke seems like the perfect guy. He definitely shows up just when Georgia needs him and ends up shaking up her world. However, Luke comes with baggage in terms of his ex-girlfriend. Who exactly is Cadence and what does she want from Georgia? This book had my head spinning as I tried to guess the twists.

This was an entertaining read that had me at the edge of my seat from the first to the last page. I really liked Georgia and found her to be quite relatable. I could identify with some of her crazy decisions in her quest to find love. As the tension in the story grew, I found myself getting really worried about her. I can’t talk about the other characters without giving away too many details but let me just say that they were all very well crafted. Some had me scratching my head; others had me so frustrated that I might have shouted at them through the pages while others just got me pissed off. I loved how well Nicola brought out each personality.

I enjoyed all the twists in this story. There are some that I might have seen coming but either way, I still liked how well they were delivered. Other turns towards the end caught me by surprise.

I also love how well Nicola managed to tackle a number of sensitive themes such as emotional and physical abuse, depression and anxiety. She presented the themes in a manner that seemed realistic and also didn’t use them to take away the focus from the main story-line. I found this to be quite relatable since most abusive relationships appear normal from the outside and sometimes, emotional abuse isn’t easy to identify especially when one is still in the relationship.

With jaw-dropping twists, an array of memorable characters and a compelling story-line, I think readers of this genre will definitely enjoy The Ex-Girlfriend by Nicola Moriarty

Review: Those Other Women by Nicola Moriarty #BlogTour @MichaelJBooks @Deaco89 @NikkiM3

Poppy’s world has been tipped sideways: the husband who never wanted children has betrayed her with her broody best friend.

At least Annalise is on her side. Her new friend is determined to celebrate their freedom from kids, so together they create a Facebook group to meet up with like-minded women, and perhaps vent just a little about smug mummies’ privileges at work.

Meanwhile their colleague Frankie would love a night out, away from her darlings – she’s not had one this decade and she’s heartily sick of being judged by women at the office as well as stay-at-home mums.

Then Poppy and Annalise’s group takes on a life of its own and frustrated members start confronting mums like Frankie in the real world. Cafés become battlegrounds, playgrounds become warzones and offices have never been so divided.

A rivalry that was once harmless fun is spiralling out of control.

Because one of their members is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. And she has an agenda of her own . . .

Review

I fell in love with Nicola’s writing when I read The Fifth Letter. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity to read her next book, Those Other Women. Like her other book, Those Other Women is a wonderful, engrossing read right from the first to the last page.

The story begins at the end of Poppy’s marriage when husband left her for her best friend.  One thing that is clear about Poppy is the fact that she doesn’t want kids. She finds the perfect new friend, Annalise who also doesn’t want kids. The two ladies form a Facebook group with other like-minded women in their town. However, there is a rival group for mothers in the same town. The two groups soon clash providing readers with an entertaining, emotional and relatable story.

I wasn’t so sure that I’d enjoy this title as much I did. I didn’t expect to connect with Poppy. I don’t have kids but I do want to have them someday unlike Poppy. However, I found myself totally relating with her. There are some issues that non-mothers raised that had me nodding my head in agreement. Some of the concerns that they raised about the workplace were things that I have experienced. I won’t lie; I was totally on their side at this point. I wanted to get placards and picket. However, the author masterfully ensured that I was also able to see things from the moms’ perspective.

This is a story about womanhood, motherhood and friendships. I love how the author also covered social media illustrating the benefits and perils of online connections. Told through three main POVs, the story has well crafted, memorable characters that had me totally immersed in the narrative. The themes were very well developed and I like the fact that the book allowed me to think about womanhood from different perspectives. I  love the fact that I could identify with different characters in the book. They were so relatable that it felt as if I was reading about women that I know and not fictional characters.

This was definitely an emotional read for me. The book had me smiling, laughing and crying.I was able to connect with the women and share in their joys and sadness. I enjoyed spending time with them and was sad when I got to the last page and had to say goodbye. I have no doubt that these characters and their stories will stay with me for a long time. If you are looking for an engrossing, well-written women’s fiction then you need to read Those Other Women by Nicola Moriarty. What a beautiful, moving story!

Don’t forget to visit some of the other stops on the blog tour.

 

 

 

Friends and Other Liars by Kaela Coble @Sourcebooks

It has been ten years since Ruby left her hometown behind. Since then she’s built a life away from her recovering alcoholic mother and her first love, Murphy. But when Danny, one of her estranged friends from childhood, commits suicide, guilt draws Ruby back into the tumultuous world she escaped all those years ago.

She’s dreading the funeral – and with good reason. Danny has left a series of envelopes addressed to his former friends. Inside each envelope is a secret about every person in the group. Ruby’s secret is so explosive, she will fight tooth-and-nail to keep it hidden from those she once loved so deeply, even if that means risking everything…

Review

Friends and Other Liars by Kaela Coble begins with the death of Danny. His friends are back home at Chatwick for his funeral when they are informed that he left letters for all of them. As the blurb reveals, the letters contain secrets. You see, Danny had dirt on everyone and so he knew some of the secrets that they were keeping from each other. These are the letters that he left behind for his friends.

The story is narrated by different characters. Ruby is the main narrator but a number of chapters are told from the POV of the other characters. In addition to the multi-narrators, the story alternates between the past and the present. It might seem like a lot was going on but this didn’t affect the flow of the narrative. I was still able to keep up with everyone and I enjoyed the different POVs.

I really liked this book and read the first half pretty fast. However, my reading slowed down during the second half. The pacing in the book remained the same but I was dealing with different emotions that made me want to go through the story a bit slower. I loved the past narrations in the story. I really liked the group of friends despite how flawed they all seemed. However, I was also moved by the present narrations which I could relate to. The fact that life happened and the friends grew apart. I have lost touch with so many friends along the way so this book brought up memories, mixed emotions and a whole lot of regret.

The author did a great job in crafting the characters. Each one of them was unique and I enjoyed getting to know them through the chapters. I also loved the setting. Chatwick is a small town where residents love a good gossip and everyone knows everyone. It is also the kind of town where most people don’t leave. I really enjoyed this setting and its people. I liked the imagery of the touristic sites and how the residents were protective of their town.

Friends and Other Liars by Kaela Coble is a book that I didn’t want to end. I wanted to stay with the characters and continue getting to know them. I was so invested in their stories and was sad when I finally had to turn the last page. This was an addictive, immersive narrative and I enjoyed every single page. I can’t recommend it enough.

The Fifth Letter by Nicola Moriarty

Joni, Trina, Deb and Eden.

Best friends since the first day of school. Best friends, they liked to say, forever.

But now they are in their thirties and real life – husbands, children, work – has got in the way. So, resurrecting their annual trip away, Joni has an idea, something to help them reconnect.

Each woman will write an anonymous letter, sharing with their friends the things that are really going on in their lives.

But as the confessions come tumbling out, Joni starts to feel the certainty of their decades-long friendships slip from her fingers.

Anger. Accusations. Desires. Deceit.

And then she finds another letter. One that was never supposed to be read. A fifth letter. Containing a secret so big that its writer had tried to destroy it. And now Joni is starting to wonder, did she ever really know her friends at all.

Review

The Fifth Letter by Nicola Moriarty is a story about relationships, friendships, secrets and betrayal. The story revolves around four women, Joni, Trina, Deb and Eden. These four met when they were kids but established a friendship that lasted long into their adulthood. At first, I was so envious of the four. I have lost touch with my gals who I met in Uni(undergrad) and I found myself missing them as I read about these four. My friends and I used to play a game of ‘confessions’ which was fun and this book had me reminiscing about those days.

However, once the dark secrets started emerging, I became way less envious of the four. As a matter of fact, I was  glad that I didn’t have such friends. Nevertheless, I quickly got totally lost in their world, shamelessly enjoying the secrets and wondering how it would impact on them and their friendship.

This book is quite a captivating read. The secrets and lies made it hard to put it down. I wanted to know everything. I especially wanted to know the writer of the fifth letter. My suspicion about the writer’s identity  kept changing with each new chapter. I really thought it was Deb but then again something happened to make me suspect Trina. However, Eden did something during the retreat that made me think it was her. I also had my suspicions about Joni.

Another pleasant surprise was about the narrative style. The story is told through two timelines explaining present and past events. The past events are narrated through a confession(yes, the priest kind). One of the four women is talking to a priest about events that occurred before and after the fifth letter was written. The priest even had his own suspicions about who the writer was. I am not Catholic but I really like the whole idea of confessions. It is kind of mysterious in a way. Talking to someone who you can’t really see and confessing all sorts of things.

If you like women’s fiction, I think that this book will appeal to you. If you are like me and you enjoy reading about other people’s scandalous secrets and confessions then you will definitely enjoy this book. However, it is only fair that I mention that this book is not just about secrets (and confessions, I really should go for one), it tackles other themes that most women will relate to. I also like that it depicted the reality about how friendships change over time especially with new responsibilities of getting married and having kids. It also portrays the pressures of keeping up with friends. Being the last one in your group of friends to get married, have kids and or get that dream job? These characters were quite relatable and this helped me enjoy the book even more.