Difference between revisions of "Newest Women's Fiction Reviews"

From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to search
 
(615 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
[[Category:Women's Fiction|*]]
 
[[Category:Women's Fiction|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Women's Fiction]]
+
[[Category:New Reviews|Women's Fiction]]__NOTOC__
==Women's Fiction==
+
{{Frontpage
__NOTOC__
+
|isbn=1471180158
{{newreview
+
|title=Maybe Tomorrow
|author=Lisa Jewell
+
|author=Penny Parkes
|title=After the Party
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=It's been eleven years since Ralph and Jem finally became an item at the end of Lisa Jewell's first novel Ralph's Party.  After buying a house in South London and having two children their once exciting, romantic and crazy relationship has gradually become consumed by responsibility and domesticity.  Jem has become bogged down with motherhood and running a home and just wishes Ralph would help out a bit as she struggles to start working again.  Ralph, unsure of his role in the family, has gradually drifted away both physically and emotionally from Jem and his children, preferring to spend as much time as possible painting in his studio.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846055733</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Sue Eckstein
 
|title=The Cloths of Heaven
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Women's Fiction
+
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=We're in West Africa in the early nineteen ninetiesThere's the usual mix of expatriates and diplomatic staff doing their best to do their best whilst still making the most of the freedoms such a life givesIsabel is married to iconoclastic photographer Patrick Redmond and copes better than most wives would with her husband's fixation with pendulous black breastsThere is gossip though. The High Commissioner and his wife Fenella are both involved in illicit affairs, with more or less discretion.  
+
|summary=Jamie Matson works in an upper-class grocery store, for a man who's a control freak with all the subtlety of a half brick.  Jamie's son, Bo, 'has his problems'He's asthmatic and the more you read, the more you'll suspect that he's on the autistic spectrumSometimes Jamie needs to take time off at short notice - she's a frequent flier in the local A&E and sometimes Bo's not fit enough to go to schoolMissed shifts or the need to be away on time to pick Bo up from school are occasions when Jamie can be controlled and put in the wrong.  It was going to come to a head.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0954930983</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Lauren Bravo
|author=Trisha Ashley
+
|title=Preloved
|title=Chocolate Wishes
+
|rating=4
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=I know one should never judge a book by its cover, but somehow I always do.  So I was expecting some light-hearted chick-lit when I began this bookI was a little startled to find several mentions of tarot cards, Mayan charms, and guardian angels - a somewhat bizarre spiritual mixture - within the first pages.  What, I wondered, had I got myself into?
+
|summary= Gwen is pressing her middle-aged bosom on a big number that starts with a four and ends with an oh-my-God-I'm-nearly-fortyHaving been made unexpectedly redundant - any HR officer worth their salt would argue the toss - Gwen finds herself having a bit of a mid-life crisisCatharsis is key and Gwen has decided now is the time to take back her life'
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847561144</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1398510629
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Margaret Leroy
 
|title=The Perfect Mother
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=Perfection pervades every corner of Catriona's life She has a beautiful home, a charming husband, a well-behaved stepdaughter, and a cherished daughter of her own, 8-year-old DaisyWhen Daisy is taken ill, Catriona does all a good mother would do to help her get better.  But as Daisy's condition deteriorates with no sign of improvement, Catriona seeks more and more medical intervention, until eventually she is accused of being responsible for her daughter's illness.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0778303527</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Susannah Bates
 
|title=Under a Sapphire Sky
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=Marianne Cooper is happy.  She has a thriving jewellery business with her best friend Gabby and is six months pregnant with Gabby's brother Jay's baby.  Marianne enjoys her passion for stones, her unconventional attitude to life and her pregnancy, and her unique relationship with Jay, but when her ex boyfriend, and reformed man, Paul comes back into her life with his fiancée Sophie and a rare padparascha stone he wants Marianne to turn into an engagement ring, she soon finds herself questioning her decision to reject Paul and indeed her way of life.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099445441</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=0008506337
 +
|title=The Garnett Girls
 +
|author=Georgina Moore
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=General Fiction
 +
|summary=The love affair between Margo Garnett and poet Richard O'Leary was all-consuming, apparently on both sides.  Margo was just sixteen when they fell in love.  Richard was twenty-one and described by Margo's mother as 'an older man'.  Her parents worried that Richard's influence would take her away from what they felt she could achieve - going to Oxford and having a glittering career.  In the event,  they eloped and Richard took her away from the Isle of Wight.  Margo did go to Oxford and went on to become a well-respected journalist.  The couple had three children: Rachel, Imogen and Sasha.  Life was lived in London and holidays were spent at Sandcove, the family home on the Isle of Wight.  Even then the doubts about Richard's drinking were never far from Margo's mind: ''she would never be able to leave him in charge''.
  
{{newreview
+
Then Richard left them.
|author=Louise Harwood
 
|title=Kiss Like You Mean It
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=This book is a modern-day love story.  It's all about trendy characters with trendy names living rather trendy lives in glossy location sets.  The title gives a very clear message as to its contents.  Romantic fiction which will appeal generally to women. But there's also a story within a story (and for me the more interesting one) which is the Hollywood movie being filmed in Europe.  It takes us back to the first World War and the heroic actions of one young man, in particular.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330442090</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Laurie Graham
+
|author=Hadeer Elsbai
|title=Life According to Lubka
+
|title=The Daughters of Izdihar
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=Buzz Wexler is at the top of her game, working in music PR with all the latest up and coming Urban music bands like Grime Beat and Evil Marsupial.  She's forty-two years old but is still out every night, drinking, eating very little and seemingly surviving on a diet of chemical mood enhancers.  One day, however, she is called into her manager's office and assigned a tour with a 'World Music' group, the Gorni Grannies, a group of elderly women from Bulgaria who sing together.  Buzz finds her life in the fast lane is brought to a sudden halt, as she tries to control a group of elderly ladies touring England who think that lifts are powered by black magic and that Poundland is the best shop ever invented.  Yet this is just the beginning of a whole new life for Buzz.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849161828</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Janet Mullany
 
|title=Improper Relations
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Historical Fiction
+
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Unlucky in love Charlotte Hayden has just lost her best friend and confidante Ann in marriage to the Earl of Beresford.  At the wedding she encounters Lord Shadderly, Beresford's best friend, a broodingly handsome man whom she takes an immediate dislike to. Before she knows it Charlotte is caught in a compromising situation with Shadderly and he is forced to propose to her or risk both their reputations.
+
|summary= Drawing inspiration from Egypt, ''The Daughters of Izdihar'' explores the lives of two women who could not be more different, yet find themselves fighting for the rights of women and weavers – those with magical abilities - in a society pitted against them. Nehal, born into the upper class, wishes to attend the Weaving Academy to learn to control her abilities and then join the military, but instead she is forced into an arranged marriage with Nico. Giorgina on the other hand did not have a privileged upbringing like Nehal and feels great pressure to provide for her family and maintain their reputation, whilst secretly attending meetings of the Daughters of Izdihar – a group campaigning for women's rights. Giorgina also happens to be in love with Nico. What follows is a story of an unjust society, filled with hypocrisy and cruelty, from which blossoms a group of admirable women fighting for their rights and overcoming their personal obstacles.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755347803</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356520471
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B0B575J99N
|author=Dorothy Koomson
+
|title=Beneath the Porticoes
|title=The Ice Cream Girls
+
|author=Brooke Adams
|rating=5
 
|genre=Crime
 
|summary=Poppy and Serena, labelled 'The Ice Cream Girls' by a rapacious press, have their young lives shattered by the man they shared, a teacher in a position of trust, who controlled them in the worst possible ways.  The girls are trapped as victims because neither has the assertiveness or maturity to handle the situation.  Chance intervenes to escalate an inevitable situation.  Now twenty years on, the traumatic events have profoundly affected the emotional stability of each girl, though their lives have taken almost diametrically opposed courses.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847443648</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Lauren Grodstein
 
|title=A Friend of the Family
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary='A Friend of the Family' is an intriguing and enjoyable read. Set in a wealthy New Jersey neighbourhood, it tells the story of two couples who have been friends for many years. Peter Dizinoff and Joe Stern graduated from medical school together and their wives, Elaine and Iris have known each other for just as long. In many ways their privileged lives have been almost perfect – that is until a shocking event occurs and the two couples react in such different ways that it shatters their friendship and threatens their comfortable existence.
+
|summary=Elizabeth Miller was thirty-four and a teacher at a prestigious girl's school in York. It was ''comfortable'' but she longed for something more in life. She'd ''still not found the right vocation nor met the right man'' and now was the time to make a change.  She needed challengesThere was a little trepidation when she applied for the professoressa job in BolognaAfter a telephone interview, she was offered the position and it wasn't long before she was exploring the beautiful cityThere were some natural doubts before her first class but it went surprisingly well.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099533359</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Kate Long
 
|title=A Mother's Guide to Cheating
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=When Jaz discovers a random text message on her husband Ian's phone, it does not take a genius to work out the meaning of a message as personal as 'what did you dream last night?', followed by kisses and a strange woman's nameNor does it take a genius to figure out the precise nature of what Ian has been up to with the senderA subsequent confession and proclamation from Ian that 'it meant nothing; she is nothing' does not diminish Jaz's rage and he is dispatched, forthwith, from the family homeAs is the norm in these kind of situations, you turn to the people you most trust to help you through and reinforcements in the shape of Jaz's mother, Carol, swiftly arrive.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847377505</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=0241542405
|author=Louise Douglas
+
|title=Meredith Alone
|title=Missing You
+
|author=Claire Alexander
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Women's Fiction
+
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Sean seemed to have the perfect lifeHe has a successful career, a beautiful wife to whom he is devoted, a daughter whom he adores and he lives in a dream homeBut then one day it all falls apart when Belle announces that she has met someone else and wants Sean to move out.
+
|summary=When we first meet Meredith Maggs it's Wednesday 14 November 2018 and she's not left her home for 1,214 daysShe'd ''like'' to: in fact, she so nearly doesHer outdoor clothes are on and she's even considered which shoes to wear if she's going to catch her train. Then, she can't.  She simply can't force herself to leave the safety of her home.  She's fortunate that she has a good friend, Sadie, who visits regularly with her two children, James and MatildaSadie's a cardiac nurse and full of sound common sense.  In fact it was Sadie who gave Meredith her cat, Fred.  Groceries are online deliveries and there's also an internet-based support group where you'll find Meredith as JIGSAWGIRL, so you can guess what she does in her spare time.  Then Tom McDermott arrives.  He's from Holding Hands, a charity which supports people with problems such as Meredith's.
 
 
Fen, on the other hand, doesn't have a perfect life.  She works in a bookshop and is devoted to her young son, Connor who has cerebral palsyThat's not the least of her problems though as she hides a dreadful secret and fearful that it will be brought out into the open she lives a life drawn in on itself, far from her home and family and reluctant to become close to anyone.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330454412</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=0008441618
|author=Katie Fforde (Editor) and Sue Moorcroft (Editor)
+
|title=Other Parents
|title=Loves Me, Loves Me Not
+
|author=Sarah Stovell
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Short Stories
 
|summary=What a feast is presented in these forty stories from well-loved and prolific romantic authors, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Romantic Novelists' Association.  In a Who's Who of the genre, there are writers from every age group, including one or two who might even have been founder members of the RNA, back in 1960.  My advice is to sip through the stories slowly, rather than gobbling them up quickly and suffering from indigestion.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0778303373</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Lauren Oliver
 
|title=Before I Fall
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Samantha 'Sam' Kingston is, in many ways, your typical American high schooler whose concerns are pretty predictable: boys, friends, fashion, weird parents, annoying little sisters. Today it's Cupid Day, a chance to show off just how ''In'' you are at school, as measured by the number of roses you're sent, but Sam's not too worried about that. She knows she's part of a group who, by most definitions, would be called popular, and though sometimes inside she might feel on the inside a little like an imposter, on the outside, well, she's the definition of ''in''.
+
|summary=Jo Fairburn knew that she was under intense pressure as the new head of West Burntridge First School: if she didn't live up to her retired predecessor there could well be a house price slump in that part of the town. The school had an active Parent Teacher Association and the funds which they raised were a considerable benefit to the school.  There was one difficulty, though - they were ''devastatingly shockable'', with two members, in particular, causing problems for the head.  Laura Spence and Kate Monroe objected to Jo's restrictions on the toys children could bring in on Toy Day but that was just a warm-up act for their real gripe: LGBTQ education.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340980893</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Giovanna Fletcher
|author=Suzanne Bugler
+
|title=Walking on Sunshine
|title=This Perfect World
+
|rating=4
|rating=5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=Laura Hamley sees herself as a fortunate woman. She has a successful husband, two beautiful children, a big house in a good neighbourhood, and a coterie of friends who fall nicely into the category of people like us. She's always beautifully turned out, and her position in the social pecking order is never less than high. She simply shrugs off the occasional moments of dissatisfaction - what on Earth could she have to complain about?
 
 
 
And then Mrs Partridge makes an unwelcome phone call...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>023074401X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Julie Cohen
 
|title=Nina Jones and the Temple of Gloom
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=A sign of a good book, for me, often relates to how easily I can put it down. And then how much I want to pick it back up again.  Nina Jones was a particular challenge for me as after reading it for an hour whilst my toddler napped I kept my thumb in the page whilst getting her out of bed, snuck her downstairs still saving my page, put on Cbeebies, and then sat next to her on the sofa to carry on reading for at least another hour, if not a little bit more than that. I then kept it in the kitchen so I could sneak a few more pages in between stirring the spaghetti.  And then once my daughter was in bed I went on to absently ignore my poor, tired, over-worked husband (who got bored and went for a bath) so that I could read on to the end of the story.  I found myself mentally yelling at a fictional character (I hope it was mentally and I wasn't actually shouting out loud...we have very thin walls), I swooned over the hero, sniggered often and I even cried a little bit too. So, a book that induces such family neglect and an emotional roller coaster of emotions is definitely a good read!
+
|summary=Mike's wife, Pia, who he was with for seventeen years, has died. And whilst he is dealing with his grief, so are their best friends, Vicky and Zaza. But Pia left them all some 'rules' to follow, knowing that she was dying and that they would need help to carry on living. Whilst some of the rules are around practicalities such as clearing out her wardrobe, another one that Mike discovers one day encourages him to take one of their trips away, and Vicky and Zaza, struggling with their grief and their own life troubles, decide to drop everything in their own lives, and go along with him.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755341414</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=140593560X
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B09FS89KX9
|author=Melanie Rose
+
|title=Fall On Me
|title=Coming Home
+
|author=Penelope Potts
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=We meet the narrator of this story drinking coffee from a thermos in a lay-by, on a cold grey day. All her worldly possessions are travelling with her in her car, including her catShe has clearly made some momentous decision, and is on her way to somewhere newI assumed that as story unfolded, I'd learn more about her and where she was going.
+
|summary=Life should have been good for Hollie:  She was just going into the final year of her veterinary degree and - three years later - was still working at BB's diner.  Bob - the owner - regarded her fondly: he was a good boss. Hollie had moved in with her boyfriend, Marcus: her mother thought he was great and he was doing well in his careerHollie wasn't quite so certain though: Marcus wanted to control her and most of all he wanted her to leave her job at the dinerThen there was the fact that he would be violent, both to her and to other people.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847561063</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=0008421714
|author=Stephanie Tillotson
+
|title=Mrs March
|title=Cut on the Bias
+
|author=Virginia Feito
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Short Stories
+
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=If ''Cut on the Bias'' is in your local bookshop, you will surely be won over by the feisty coverStories about women and their clothes are about identity, so what better start to a set of short stories than a fashion statement cover featuring the bags in which said clothes arrive home?
+
|summary=The problem began just after the publication of George March's most successful novel to date.  Everyone but Mrs March (we know her first name only on the last page) seemed to either be reading it or had already done so.  Every day Mrs March went to the local patisserie to buy olive bread but on that particular morning, Patricia asked, as she was wrapping the bread, ''but isn't this the first time he's based a character on you?'' She mentioned that Johanna, the principal character had 'her mannerisms''Perhaps this would not have mattered, except for the fact that Johanna is the whore of Nantes - ''a weak, plain, detestable, pathetic, unloved, unloveable wretch.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906784132</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1473685745
|author=Erica Bauermeister
+
|title=Unbreak Your Heart
|title=The Monday Night Cooking School
+
|author=Katie Marsh
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=4
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=The Monday Night Cooking School is the first novel written by American writer Erica Bauermeister and it really is a delicious read in every sense. The novel tells of eight very diverse people who attend a cooking class once a month at Lillian's restaurant. Each has a different reason for being there and each has his or her own story to tell. However, over the months that the course is run, they start to bond through the learning experience and their love of food. It's not the sort of novel where much happens but if you are interested in people and you love food, I am sure you will enjoy this book. Having said that though, I don't think it is a book that should be read if you are trying to diet because you can virtually smell the food as you turn the pages!
+
|summary=When Beth Carlyle and Simon Withers first met they were on opposite ends of an angry exchange - well, Simon was angry and Beth was doing her best to apologise for having knocked Simon's son, Jake, off his bike. He wasn't hurt but Jake has history.  He has HLHS - that's Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome for those of you who are not ''au fait'' with your medical acronyms. When he was born, the left side of his heart hadn't developed properly and he needed open-heart surgery when he was a few days old.  So, Simon has every right to be over-protective particularly when someone isn't looking where they're driving.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141038837</amazonuk>
+
}}  
}}
+
{{Frontpage
 
+
|author=C J Carey
{{newreview
+
|title=Widowland
|author=Kate Morton
 
|title=The Forgotten Garden
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
+
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Just before the First World War a little girl was found abandoned on the wharf after a dreadful sea voyage from England to AustraliaShe appears not to know her name or is unwilling to tell it – and all she will say is that a mysterious lady she calls the Authoress had promised to look after herThere's no trace of her though and the little girl was taken in a by a friendly familyShe forgot all about the events until many years later when her adopted father told her what had happened.
+
|summary=It's April 1953, and Adolf Hitler's schedule includes going to Moscow to attend the state funeral of Joseph Stalin then within weeks coming to London, parading around a bit, and watching over the sanctioned return to the throne of Edward VIII with his wife, Queen WallisFor yes, Britain caved in the lead-up to the World War Two that certainly didn't happen as we know it, and we are now a protectorate well, we share enough of the same blood as the Germanic peoples on ''the mainland''.  But this is most certainly a different Britain, for Nazi-styled phrenology, and ideas of female purpose, has put all of that gender into a caste system, ranging from high-brow office bigwigs to the drudges, and beyond those, right on down to the childless, the husbandless and the widows.  Female literacy is actively discouragedAnd in this puritanical existence, our heroine, Rose Ransom, is employed with the task of bowdlerising classical literature to take all encouragement for female emancipation out of it – after all, not every book can be banned, and not every story excised immediately from British civilisation, and so they just get a hefty tweak towards the party line before they're stamped ready for reprintThat is her job, at least, until the first emerging signs of female protest come to light, with their potential to spoil Hitler's visit.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330449605</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=152941198X
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Ruth Hogan
|author=Cathy Marie Buchanan
+
|title=Madame Burova
|title=The Day The Falls Stood Still
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
|summary=I imagined this title as a 'Gone With the Wind' sort of novel, a saga-esque historical romance, with a characterful heroine and page-turning story line that necessitates reading late into the night.  Well, I wasn't disappointed in this paperback edition of the hardback, already a best-seller in the U.S.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091925967</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Nia Pritchard
 
|title=More Than Just A Hairdresser
 
|rating=2.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=It's a brand new year, and Liverpudlian hairdresser Shirley is looking forward to the months ahead following one hell of a new year's eve party. What's more, she's going to chronicle her adventures in her brand spanking new diary which she will write in diligently, even when she's feeling a bit 'morning after the night before'.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1870206851</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Anthony Quinn
 
|title=The Rescue Man
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=General Fiction
 
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=This love affair tale with the city of Liverpool is mostly told through the eyes of architect Tom Baines. With the Second World War looming, Baines is desperately working on a book to capture the memory of buildings that are at risk, and appears a man more in love with the past and solid, cold structures than mankind.
+
|summary=This book lets us discover several people in different stages of life in the early 1970s, all vaguely connected. So we have a bullied half-cast boy (as he would have been called then), a girl in a humdrum job wanting to become a singer, and chiefly, Imelda, the third generation of Madame Burova, ''Tarot-Reader, Palmist and Clairvoyant'', to use her family's sea-front booth.  The singer, the scryer and the sufferer's mother will all become staff at a revamped holiday camp, but just before then we see Imelda fly solo for the first time in the family stall.  We also see her on her last day, fifty years later, in possession of a pair of letters that will change everything for a woman called Billie.  Just who is she, and who delivered the secrets about her to Imelda, and why did it have to remain a secret all this time?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099531933</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=152937331X
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author= Jennifer Saint
|author=Lorraine Jenkin
+
|title= Ariadne
|title=Chocolate Mousse and Two Spoons
+
|rating= 4.5  
|rating=4.5
+
|genre= Women's Fiction  
|genre=Women's Fiction
+
|summary= This re-telling of the myth of Ariadne and the Minotaur is interesting and unusual. Jennifer Saint presents the story in a way that is sympathetic to its origins but also appealing to a modern audience. Saint's narrative is told predominantly through the viewpoint of Ariadne, spanning from her childhood to her death, allowing the reader to really connect with Ariadne as a character in her own right rather than just a prop in the heroics of Theseus.  
|summary=From the first sentence: 'With one hell of a crash, Lettie Howell’s dinner service hit the wall…', I knew that I was going to enjoy this tale.  An opening thus full of expletive and resounding Welsh Voice immediately makes it clear who’s the boss and I can relax, knowing I’m in competent hands. Welcome, Lorraine Jenkin, to my handful of favourite chick-lit authors.
+
|isbn=1472273869
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1870206959</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Lucy Holland
|author=Ru Freeman
+
|title=Sistersong
|title=A Disobedient Girl
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=General Fiction
+
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=
+
|summary=Sistersong is part of a genre I particularly enjoy, the modern retelling of folk and fairy tales. These stories, for most of us, are a cornerstone of childhood and I relish seeing them retold with fresh eyes and a fresh perspective. If handled well these retellings give new life and new meaning to stories that are now becoming increasingly narrow and outdated, fleshing out characters, examining relationships and re-evaluating the role of women. Sistersong is a perfect example of a modern retelling done well, the plot is handled with care, keeping its archaic historical feel but allowing the characters to come to life, to feel real and human, most importantly they feel relatable in a modern world whilst still feeling appropriate for the pre-Saxon age they live in. This is a masterpiece of storytelling and I was captivated from beginning to end.
''A Disobedient Girl'' follows two women struggling to retain control of their lives in the face of servitude. Latha is a servant girl to the affluent Vithanage family, whose daughter, Thara, is Latha's age. As children, the girls are the best of friends, but they are destined to be separated by class, which is made painfully obvious when boys come into the picture. Meanwhile, Biso serves a cruel and drunken husband who beats her and terrorises her children, one of whom is another man's love child. Biso's husband murdered her lover in a hateful rage when he uncovered her affair and she realises that she must escape his house if she and her children are to live. Latha too seeks escape, but she finds it in the arms of Thara's boyfriend and this sets off a chain of events that will echo far into her future.
+
|isbn=1529039037
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0670917958</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B08NF79QXT
|author=Debby Holt
+
|title=Cherry Blossom Boutique
|title=Recipe For Scandal
+
|author=Brooke Adams
|rating=4
+
|rating=3
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=There's evidently a market for scandalous tales, or else many a women's weekly would have gone out of business by now, but this book, though full of scandal, is slightly different. This isn't council estate scandal or even trashy celebrity scandal, it's juicy, firmly middle class scandal of the type [[:Category:Zoe Heller|Zoë Heller]] might write about, and it's wickedly captivating.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847396542</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jules Stanbridge
 
|title=A Date in Your Diary
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Harry knows that a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle, but she also knows there's a difference between what we need and what we want – and she wants a bloke. More specifically, she wants a date for the latest in a string of friend-and-family weddings, a wedding where, thanks to a 'tricky' seating plan, she will be sitting on the same table as her most recent ex...and his new girlfriend. With no prospects in sight, Harry comes to the conclusion that internet dating might be the way to go. At best, she'll find a guy who ticks all her boxes and will joyfully accompany her to the wedding before they live happily ever after, and at worst, well, she might get a story out of it, never a bad thing for a magazine journo.
+
|summary=Thirty-one-year old Liberty Rossini has had her shop, the Cherry Blossom Boutique, for just six months when she's nominated for - and wins - the Retail Best Newcomer Award.  She's delighted and the two people she's brought with her to the event couldn't be more pleased. Sonja, her mother, is an ex-model and Brazilian: you can see where Liberty got her looks from. Jessica's thirty-four and Liberty's best friend: they've known each other since university and Liberty adores Jessica's husband, Charles and their four-year-old daughter, Ava.  Life would be perfect for Liberty if it wasn't for one thing: she misses having a man in her life.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755347137</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B08GFSK2WZ
|author=Sharon Owens
+
|title=The Karma Trap
|title=The Seven Secrets of Happiness
+
|author=Lisette Boyd
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=It was hard to think that life wasn't perfect for Ruby O'Neill.  She and Jonathan had an idyllic marriage and a beautiful homeThere was a job in a dress shop which she enjoyed and although she might not be close to her parents she had good friendsIt was Christmas Eve and the tree had just been delivered by a lovely man on behalf of the garden centre when her world fell apart.
+
|summary=George Jackson is thirty-three years old, absolutely gorgeous to look at - and single.  She's not had sex for eight months and she's stuck in the karma trap: an awful lot of bad luck is being visited on her and she has a real talent for attracting dramaHer life's chaotic: she dealt with the leak from the shower by putting something down at the bottom of the stairs to absorb the water - then the shower fell through the roof whilst she was in it and left her, stark naked, staring at the pervy postmanShe only has to take her mother's dog out for a walk for her to end up with dog poo spattered across her face - and a photo being taken by someone who shares it around the office.
 
 
Jonathan had been killed in a car crash.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141028564</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B08CHJLNBS
|author=Sarah Duncan
+
|title=Capturing Emilia
|title=A Single to Rome
+
|author=Brooke Adams
 
|rating=3
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Natalie is in love with Michael. They've been together for three years, but Michael wants some space. He hasn’t said he doesn’t love her, so there is still a chance he could come back… Then he goes and finds himself a new girlfriend. Devastated, Natalie consoles herself with the help of her friends, who persuade her to go speed dating. There she meets Guy, a friendly man, who like her is trying to get over someone – his new ex-wife Vanessa. But Guy is one of the nice ones, and before she knows it, he has been invited to her friend’s wedding as Natalie’s date. At least she won’t be going alone and Michael will be there. But her love life isn’t her only worry. Past actions have come to light that have put her career in danger. At a loss, Natalie turns to Guy for help, who offers her the use of his flat in Rome. A place to escape? Or a place to dwell?  
+
|summary=He's Charles Devereaux, thirty-eight and a partner at Wickham Jones, the Mayfair letting agents. She's Emilia, twenty-nine, librarian and archivist in the heritage library next door. Emilia has read [[The Secret by Rhonda Byrne|The Secret]] but she's moved on from new age books like that, which leave you dependent on someone else's philosophies, to something a little deeper. Charles is more of a [[Personal by Lee Child|Jack Reacher]] man himself, but, above all, he's shocked that Emilia reads ''The Guardian''. They're obviously not at all compatible, so why can Charles not get this woman out of his mind?  She's not his usual type at all: it's obvious to his friends. And given that Emilia regularly feels repulsed by Charles's superficiality, why does she feel drawn to him? The relationship's obviously a non-starter, isn't it?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755345932</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author= Helly Acton
|author=Lesley Pearse
+
|title= The Shelf
|title=Stolen
+
|rating= 4
|rating=3.5
+
|genre= Women's Fiction
|genre=Women's Fiction
+
|summary= When we meet Amy, she's in a relationship with Jamie. You can't really call it a partnership, because things tend to get done on his terms, but she's sticking around because she hopes she can change him. Ah, yes. Haven't we all been there? Things are looking up when he tells her to pack for a surprise trip. Could this be it? Is he ''finally'' going to get down on one knee? Was the work (and the wait) worth it?
|summary=The story of ''Stolen'' is an interesting one. David Mitchell is walking along a beach in Selsey, Sussex in May 2003, when he comes across a young woman – beautiful, half-drowned and barely alive. She is taken to hospital and her photo is featured in the newspapers, as the police hope to discover who she is.
+
|isbn=1838770879
 
 
Meanwhile, Dale, a female hairdresser, sees the photo and believes the girl to be Lotte, who she befriended on a cruise they were working on. Along with Dale's colleague Scott – who also knew Lotte – they visit the girl, but she has amnesia and seems to have forgotten almost everything.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718152859</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author= Alyssa Sheinmel
 +
|title= What Kind of Girl
 +
|rating= 4
 +
|genre= Women's Fiction
 +
|summary= '' Doing something when you're scared is braver than doing something when you're not''
  
{{newreview
+
When Mike Parker's girlfriend comes into school with a black eye, claiming he gave it to her, her whole world is tipped upside down. Her relationship has just ended and now she's the talk of the school. Mike was the most popular boy in school who was always so in love with her, everyone knew that, so why did he do what he did? Some people believe her and some don't, but one thing is for sure, this isn't going to blow over any time soon.
|author=Julie Highmore
+
|isbn=0349003297
|title=The Message
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=''The Message'' is very much a twenty first century tale as it all hinges on a voicemail message made from a mobile phone. It is also based on the fact that it is very easy to send a message to one person when it is actually meant for someone else. This is what happens to Jen when she receives a message from her husband Robert. There is nothing particularly special about this message; that is until Jen realises that she is not the intended recipient and then it has a shattering effect on her marriage.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755343018</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author= Katie Fforde
|author=Ann Pearlman
+
|title= A Springtime Affair
|title=The Cookie Club
+
|rating= 4
|rating=5
+
|genre= Women's Fiction
|genre=Women's Fiction
+
|summary= I've wanted to read author Katie Fforde for ages and this was pretty much exactly what I was expecting - a warm, cosy read focused on romance, family and friendshipsThis provided two romances for the price of one, but it was actually the family element as opposed to the romance that I really enjoyed.  
|summary=Chocolate bonbons with an almond glaze. Peanut butter cookies double dipped in chocolate. Coffee and raisin hermit biscuits. Crisp vanilla fingers with toasted almonds. Thin crunchy crisps flavoured with molasses and ginger.   
+
|isbn=1780897561
 
 
If you're even the slightest bit peckish after that, I guarantee you'll be starving by the time you finish this wonderful book full of festive flavour.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847376843</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B07W4MNBSG
|author=Eloisa James
+
|title=Be Careful Who You Marry
|title=When the Duke Returns
+
|author=Lizzy Mumfrey
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Historical Fiction
+
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=''When the Duke Returns'', the newest volume in the 'Desperate Duchesses' series, continues the regency celebrity romp saga where [[Duchess by Night by Eloisa James|Duchess by Night]] left off.
+
|summary=It was coming up to Halloween in 1987 and a group of sixth-form schoolgirls wondered what they would be doing when they were fifty.  When you're only seventeen that seems positively ancient, but Liz was convinced that ''your entire life depends on who you marry''. The only eligible boys were the Young Farmers and the idea of living in a farmhouse and having a couple of children called Will and Olly appealed to Charlotte, or perhaps William and Oliver if you were Elizabeth who was determined to marry the rather superior Patrick Shepley-BothamThe place to start their search was obviously the Young Farmers' Halloween disco that weekendThere was just one problem - there were too many Elizabeths in the class.
 
 
The focus, this time, is on Isidore, the Duchess of Conway: hot-headed, hot-blooded and Italian to boot, she was married by proxy at the age of sixteen and is still a virgin seven years later. Isidore's cunning plot to entice back the husband she has never seen from his travels in Asia and Africa works perfectly and Simeon, His Grace Duke of Conway is now back in England, ready to claim his estate and, as Isidore presumes, ready to claim his beautiful wife.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340961104</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Nia Pritchard
 
|title=More Than Just A Wedding
 
|rating=2.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=If you like novels in which little happens as the story strolls towards its happy ending, then Nia Pritchard's sequel to 'More Than Just a Hairdresser' may suit youIf the Liverpudlian vernacular and setting pushes your buttons, then maybe you'll enjoy its light-hearted picture of Scouse lifeMy mother-in-law will probably love it. I'm sorry to say that it wasn't my cup of tea at all.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906784124</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Features|the latest features]]
|author=Jessica Porter
 
|title=Sicilian Sunset
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=Sarah Livingstone's jewellery business was struggling but she was still annoyed when her father called James Ross for help.  Sarah and James had had a relationship some ten years earlier and Sarah really didn't want to work with him, particularly after her marriage.  Most people thought that her husband's death in a plane crash had been the cruel end to a good marriage. Only a few knew that he had been about to leave her to live with another woman.  It's left Sarah very reluctant to get involved with any man.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0709089430</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Margaret Thornton
 
|title=Until We Meet Again
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=In the fateful summer of 1914 Tilly Moon is settled in the midst of the Moon family in Scarborough.  It's an extensive clan with the usual close relationships, unusual situations and slight distances between people for no apparent reason.  Tilly's an accomplished pianist and she longs to take her music studies further, but there's someone who's coming to mean more to her than her music.  Her twin's best friend, Dominic Fraser is the apple of her eye and he feels the same way about her.  There are war clouds on the horizon though and when Britain declares war on Germany Tommy and Dominic are quick to enlist as were many of the men in and around the Moon family.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749007486</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Liza Palmer
 
|title=A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=Grace is reluctantly participating in a 5k race when she receives the news: her estranged sister is calling to tell her their estranged father has had a stroke. That's two lots of estrangement in just two generations of family, but a summons is a summons, and Grace soon finds herself dragged back into the heart of the family she deserted, working with the others to discover the many hidden secrets of the father who deserted them all. It's a tough jump from her happy life of a good job, a new boyfriend and a home of her own to return to the family life she left behind a long time ago, and Grace has to decide whether she can ignore the pull of her biological siblings once more or whether the time has come to let bygones be bygones. After all, while there are lots of four letter words she would associate with her family, ''love'' is not one of them.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340962151</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Julia Williams
 
|title=Last Christmas
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=With Christmas fast approaching, what better way of getting in the spirit of things than by reading this excellent book that captures the joys and stresses of the festive season so well? The reader follows four different people – Catherine Tinsall and her husband Noel, Marianne Moore and Gabriel North. Each of these characters have their own reasons for not really looking forward to Christmas (mainly because of the experience of last Christmas) and these reasons slowly become apparent to the reader as the story progresses.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847560865</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Camilla Noli
 
|title=The Mother's Tale
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=''It is early evening. I am suckling my infant son… We are picture perfect. Madonna and child''.
 
 
 
No doubt about it: a new mother totally smitten with her son.  Zach is adorable. Quiet. Undemanding.  A happy, generally relaxed, child.  Gorgeous.
 
 
 
But Zach isn't her first-born.  First there was Cassie.  A child who entered the world screaming and has since learned exactly what power she can wring with such lungs.  Not yet two years old, Cassie adores her father, but even him she manipulates.  Her mother she terrorises.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1409101584</amazonuk>
 
}}
 

Latest revision as of 11:49, 13 November 2023

1471180158.jpg

Review of

Maybe Tomorrow by Penny Parkes

4.5star.jpg General Fiction

Jamie Matson works in an upper-class grocery store, for a man who's a control freak with all the subtlety of a half brick. Jamie's son, Bo, 'has his problems'. He's asthmatic and the more you read, the more you'll suspect that he's on the autistic spectrum. Sometimes Jamie needs to take time off at short notice - she's a frequent flier in the local A&E and sometimes Bo's not fit enough to go to school. Missed shifts or the need to be away on time to pick Bo up from school are occasions when Jamie can be controlled and put in the wrong. It was going to come to a head. Full Review

1398510629.jpg

Review of

Preloved by Lauren Bravo

4star.jpg Women's Fiction

Gwen is pressing her middle-aged bosom on a big number that starts with a four and ends with an oh-my-God-I'm-nearly-forty. Having been made unexpectedly redundant - any HR officer worth their salt would argue the toss - Gwen finds herself having a bit of a mid-life crisis. Catharsis is key and Gwen has decided now is the time to take back her life' Full Review

0008506337.jpg

Review of

The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore

5star.jpg General Fiction

The love affair between Margo Garnett and poet Richard O'Leary was all-consuming, apparently on both sides. Margo was just sixteen when they fell in love. Richard was twenty-one and described by Margo's mother as 'an older man'. Her parents worried that Richard's influence would take her away from what they felt she could achieve - going to Oxford and having a glittering career. In the event, they eloped and Richard took her away from the Isle of Wight. Margo did go to Oxford and went on to become a well-respected journalist. The couple had three children: Rachel, Imogen and Sasha. Life was lived in London and holidays were spent at Sandcove, the family home on the Isle of Wight. Even then the doubts about Richard's drinking were never far from Margo's mind: she would never be able to leave him in charge.

Then Richard left them. Full Review

0356520471.jpg

Review of

The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai

4star.jpg Fantasy

Drawing inspiration from Egypt, The Daughters of Izdihar explores the lives of two women who could not be more different, yet find themselves fighting for the rights of women and weavers – those with magical abilities - in a society pitted against them. Nehal, born into the upper class, wishes to attend the Weaving Academy to learn to control her abilities and then join the military, but instead she is forced into an arranged marriage with Nico. Giorgina on the other hand did not have a privileged upbringing like Nehal and feels great pressure to provide for her family and maintain their reputation, whilst secretly attending meetings of the Daughters of Izdihar – a group campaigning for women's rights. Giorgina also happens to be in love with Nico. What follows is a story of an unjust society, filled with hypocrisy and cruelty, from which blossoms a group of admirable women fighting for their rights and overcoming their personal obstacles. Full Review

B0B575J99N.jpg

Review of

Beneath the Porticoes by Brooke Adams

4star.jpg Women's Fiction

Elizabeth Miller was thirty-four and a teacher at a prestigious girl's school in York. It was comfortable but she longed for something more in life. She'd still not found the right vocation nor met the right man and now was the time to make a change. She needed challenges. There was a little trepidation when she applied for the professoressa job in Bologna. After a telephone interview, she was offered the position and it wasn't long before she was exploring the beautiful city. There were some natural doubts before her first class but it went surprisingly well. Full Review

0241542405.jpg

Review of

Meredith Alone by Claire Alexander

4.5star.jpg General Fiction

When we first meet Meredith Maggs it's Wednesday 14 November 2018 and she's not left her home for 1,214 days. She'd like to: in fact, she so nearly does. Her outdoor clothes are on and she's even considered which shoes to wear if she's going to catch her train. Then, she can't. She simply can't force herself to leave the safety of her home. She's fortunate that she has a good friend, Sadie, who visits regularly with her two children, James and Matilda. Sadie's a cardiac nurse and full of sound common sense. In fact it was Sadie who gave Meredith her cat, Fred. Groceries are online deliveries and there's also an internet-based support group where you'll find Meredith as JIGSAWGIRL, so you can guess what she does in her spare time. Then Tom McDermott arrives. He's from Holding Hands, a charity which supports people with problems such as Meredith's. Full Review

0008441618.jpg

Review of

Other Parents by Sarah Stovell

5star.jpg Women's Fiction

Jo Fairburn knew that she was under intense pressure as the new head of West Burntridge First School: if she didn't live up to her retired predecessor there could well be a house price slump in that part of the town. The school had an active Parent Teacher Association and the funds which they raised were a considerable benefit to the school. There was one difficulty, though - they were devastatingly shockable, with two members, in particular, causing problems for the head. Laura Spence and Kate Monroe objected to Jo's restrictions on the toys children could bring in on Toy Day but that was just a warm-up act for their real gripe: LGBTQ education. Full Review

140593560X.jpg

Review of

Walking on Sunshine by Giovanna Fletcher

4star.jpg Women's Fiction

Mike's wife, Pia, who he was with for seventeen years, has died. And whilst he is dealing with his grief, so are their best friends, Vicky and Zaza. But Pia left them all some 'rules' to follow, knowing that she was dying and that they would need help to carry on living. Whilst some of the rules are around practicalities such as clearing out her wardrobe, another one that Mike discovers one day encourages him to take one of their trips away, and Vicky and Zaza, struggling with their grief and their own life troubles, decide to drop everything in their own lives, and go along with him. Full Review

B09FS89KX9.jpg

Review of

Fall On Me by Penelope Potts

3.5star.jpg Women's Fiction

Life should have been good for Hollie: She was just going into the final year of her veterinary degree and - three years later - was still working at BB's diner. Bob - the owner - regarded her fondly: he was a good boss. Hollie had moved in with her boyfriend, Marcus: her mother thought he was great and he was doing well in his career. Hollie wasn't quite so certain though: Marcus wanted to control her and most of all he wanted her to leave her job at the diner. Then there was the fact that he would be violent, both to her and to other people. Full Review

0008421714.jpg

Review of

Mrs March by Virginia Feito

4.5star.jpg Literary Fiction

The problem began just after the publication of George March's most successful novel to date. Everyone but Mrs March (we know her first name only on the last page) seemed to either be reading it or had already done so. Every day Mrs March went to the local patisserie to buy olive bread but on that particular morning, Patricia asked, as she was wrapping the bread, but isn't this the first time he's based a character on you? She mentioned that Johanna, the principal character had 'her mannerisms. Perhaps this would not have mattered, except for the fact that Johanna is the whore of Nantes - a weak, plain, detestable, pathetic, unloved, unloveable wretch. Full Review

1473685745.jpg

Review of

Unbreak Your Heart by Katie Marsh

4star.jpg Women's Fiction

When Beth Carlyle and Simon Withers first met they were on opposite ends of an angry exchange - well, Simon was angry and Beth was doing her best to apologise for having knocked Simon's son, Jake, off his bike. He wasn't hurt but Jake has history. He has HLHS - that's Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome for those of you who are not au fait with your medical acronyms. When he was born, the left side of his heart hadn't developed properly and he needed open-heart surgery when he was a few days old. So, Simon has every right to be over-protective particularly when someone isn't looking where they're driving. Full Review

152941198X.jpg

Review of

Widowland by C J Carey

4star.jpg General Fiction

It's April 1953, and Adolf Hitler's schedule includes going to Moscow to attend the state funeral of Joseph Stalin then within weeks coming to London, parading around a bit, and watching over the sanctioned return to the throne of Edward VIII with his wife, Queen Wallis. For yes, Britain caved in the lead-up to the World War Two that certainly didn't happen as we know it, and we are now a protectorate – well, we share enough of the same blood as the Germanic peoples on the mainland. But this is most certainly a different Britain, for Nazi-styled phrenology, and ideas of female purpose, has put all of that gender into a caste system, ranging from high-brow office bigwigs to the drudges, and beyond those, right on down to the childless, the husbandless and the widows. Female literacy is actively discouraged. And in this puritanical existence, our heroine, Rose Ransom, is employed with the task of bowdlerising classical literature to take all encouragement for female emancipation out of it – after all, not every book can be banned, and not every story excised immediately from British civilisation, and so they just get a hefty tweak towards the party line before they're stamped ready for reprint. That is her job, at least, until the first emerging signs of female protest come to light, with their potential to spoil Hitler's visit. Full Review

152937331X.jpg

Review of

Madame Burova by Ruth Hogan

4.5star.jpg General Fiction

This book lets us discover several people in different stages of life in the early 1970s, all vaguely connected. So we have a bullied half-cast boy (as he would have been called then), a girl in a humdrum job wanting to become a singer, and chiefly, Imelda, the third generation of Madame Burova, Tarot-Reader, Palmist and Clairvoyant, to use her family's sea-front booth. The singer, the scryer and the sufferer's mother will all become staff at a revamped holiday camp, but just before then we see Imelda fly solo for the first time in the family stall. We also see her on her last day, fifty years later, in possession of a pair of letters that will change everything for a woman called Billie. Just who is she, and who delivered the secrets about her to Imelda, and why did it have to remain a secret all this time? Full Review

1472273869.jpg

Review of

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

4.5star.jpg Women's Fiction

This re-telling of the myth of Ariadne and the Minotaur is interesting and unusual. Jennifer Saint presents the story in a way that is sympathetic to its origins but also appealing to a modern audience. Saint's narrative is told predominantly through the viewpoint of Ariadne, spanning from her childhood to her death, allowing the reader to really connect with Ariadne as a character in her own right rather than just a prop in the heroics of Theseus. Full Review

1529039037.jpg

Review of

Sistersong by Lucy Holland

5star.jpg Literary Fiction

Sistersong is part of a genre I particularly enjoy, the modern retelling of folk and fairy tales. These stories, for most of us, are a cornerstone of childhood and I relish seeing them retold with fresh eyes and a fresh perspective. If handled well these retellings give new life and new meaning to stories that are now becoming increasingly narrow and outdated, fleshing out characters, examining relationships and re-evaluating the role of women. Sistersong is a perfect example of a modern retelling done well, the plot is handled with care, keeping its archaic historical feel but allowing the characters to come to life, to feel real and human, most importantly they feel relatable in a modern world whilst still feeling appropriate for the pre-Saxon age they live in. This is a masterpiece of storytelling and I was captivated from beginning to end. Full Review

B08NF79QXT.jpg

Review of

Cherry Blossom Boutique by Brooke Adams

3star.jpg Women's Fiction

Thirty-one-year old Liberty Rossini has had her shop, the Cherry Blossom Boutique, for just six months when she's nominated for - and wins - the Retail Best Newcomer Award. She's delighted and the two people she's brought with her to the event couldn't be more pleased. Sonja, her mother, is an ex-model and Brazilian: you can see where Liberty got her looks from. Jessica's thirty-four and Liberty's best friend: they've known each other since university and Liberty adores Jessica's husband, Charles and their four-year-old daughter, Ava. Life would be perfect for Liberty if it wasn't for one thing: she misses having a man in her life. Full Review

B08GFSK2WZ.jpg

Review of

The Karma Trap by Lisette Boyd

4star.jpg Women's Fiction

George Jackson is thirty-three years old, absolutely gorgeous to look at - and single. She's not had sex for eight months and she's stuck in the karma trap: an awful lot of bad luck is being visited on her and she has a real talent for attracting drama. Her life's chaotic: she dealt with the leak from the shower by putting something down at the bottom of the stairs to absorb the water - then the shower fell through the roof whilst she was in it and left her, stark naked, staring at the pervy postman. She only has to take her mother's dog out for a walk for her to end up with dog poo spattered across her face - and a photo being taken by someone who shares it around the office. Full Review

B08CHJLNBS.jpg

Review of

Capturing Emilia by Brooke Adams

3star.jpg Women's Fiction

He's Charles Devereaux, thirty-eight and a partner at Wickham Jones, the Mayfair letting agents. She's Emilia, twenty-nine, librarian and archivist in the heritage library next door. Emilia has read The Secret but she's moved on from new age books like that, which leave you dependent on someone else's philosophies, to something a little deeper. Charles is more of a Jack Reacher man himself, but, above all, he's shocked that Emilia reads The Guardian. They're obviously not at all compatible, so why can Charles not get this woman out of his mind? She's not his usual type at all: it's obvious to his friends. And given that Emilia regularly feels repulsed by Charles's superficiality, why does she feel drawn to him? The relationship's obviously a non-starter, isn't it? Full Review

1838770879.jpg

Review of

The Shelf by Helly Acton

4star.jpg Women's Fiction

When we meet Amy, she's in a relationship with Jamie. You can't really call it a partnership, because things tend to get done on his terms, but she's sticking around because she hopes she can change him. Ah, yes. Haven't we all been there? Things are looking up when he tells her to pack for a surprise trip. Could this be it? Is he finally going to get down on one knee? Was the work (and the wait) worth it? Full Review

0349003297.jpg

Review of

What Kind of Girl by Alyssa Sheinmel

4star.jpg Women's Fiction

Doing something when you're scared is braver than doing something when you're not

When Mike Parker's girlfriend comes into school with a black eye, claiming he gave it to her, her whole world is tipped upside down. Her relationship has just ended and now she's the talk of the school. Mike was the most popular boy in school who was always so in love with her, everyone knew that, so why did he do what he did? Some people believe her and some don't, but one thing is for sure, this isn't going to blow over any time soon. Full Review

1780897561.jpg

Review of

A Springtime Affair by Katie Fforde

4star.jpg Women's Fiction

I've wanted to read author Katie Fforde for ages and this was pretty much exactly what I was expecting - a warm, cosy read focused on romance, family and friendships. This provided two romances for the price of one, but it was actually the family element as opposed to the romance that I really enjoyed. Full Review

B07W4MNBSG.jpg

Review of

Be Careful Who You Marry by Lizzy Mumfrey

4star.jpg General Fiction

It was coming up to Halloween in 1987 and a group of sixth-form schoolgirls wondered what they would be doing when they were fifty. When you're only seventeen that seems positively ancient, but Liz was convinced that your entire life depends on who you marry. The only eligible boys were the Young Farmers and the idea of living in a farmhouse and having a couple of children called Will and Olly appealed to Charlotte, or perhaps William and Oliver if you were Elizabeth who was determined to marry the rather superior Patrick Shepley-Botham. The place to start their search was obviously the Young Farmers' Halloween disco that weekend. There was just one problem - there were too many Elizabeths in the class. Full Review

Move on to the latest features