Book Review: THE CHEESEMAKER'S HOUSE BY JANE CABLE

THE CHEESEMAKER'S HOUSE

BY

JANE CABLE

Published by Troubadour 1 Oct 2013

About the Book:

The novel follows the life of Alice Hart, who escapes to the North Yorkshire countryside to recover after her husband runs off with his secretary. Battling with loneliness but trying to make the best of her new start, she soon meets her neighbours, including handsome builder Richard Wainwright and kind café owner Owen Maltby. As Alice employs Richard to start renovating the barn next to her house, all is not what it seems. Why does she start seeing Owen when he clearly isn’t there? Where – or when – does the strange crying come from? And if Owen is the village ‘charmer’, what exactly does that mean? 

 

Spoken in the 1st person by Alice, she is trying to re-build her life again in a small Yorkshire village by renovating an old barn next to her cottage.

 

The story centres around the discovery in the barn and of Alice seeing people who aren't there, hearing sounds and finding herself in strange situations from the past.  There's a touch of the supernatural and a possible romance in this novel.

 

It's an enjoyable enough story which I found a little slow to get going and it didn't really capture my attention throughout the whole book.  The character of Owen was annoying, he was moody, secretive and often untalkative.  When Alice is seeing and hearing sounds she doesn't seem to appear worried or scared which I found slightly strange.  She mentioned it in passing but talked as if it wasn't a big deal.

 

Alice was the only character I warmed to, all the others seemed one-dimensional and I didn't like any of them.  I think more could have been made of the barn and cottage history, I would have liked to have known more of that side of the story.

If you like your tales with a supernatural twist, a little romance and some genealogy thrown in then maybe you'd enjoy this.

I was surprised to learn that this won the Suspense and Crime category of the Alan Tichmarsh Show's People's Novelist Competition.  Unfortunately, I didn't find it suspenseful at all.  

Jane Cable's Website

Check out Liz Loves Books for a great review and interview with Jane Cable, author of The Cheesemaker's House

 

 

Book Review: NEVER COMING BACK BY TIM WEAVER

NEVER COMING BACK

BY

TIM WEAVER

Published by Penguin August 2013

About the Book:

 

It was supposed to be the start of a big night out. But when Emily Kane arrives at her sister Carrie's house, she finds the front door unlocked and no one inside. Dinner's cooking, the TV's on. Carrie, her husband and their two daughters are gone.
When the police draw a blank, Emily asks missing persons investigator David Raker to find them. It's clear someone doesn't want the family found.
But as he gets closer to the truth, Raker begins to uncover evidence of a sinister cover-up, spanning decades and costing countless lives. And worse, in trying to find Emily's missing family, he might just have made himself the next target...

Read more at http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780241954416,00.html#0Dwpbyf23qLfJx3I.99

 It was supposed to be the start of a big night out. But when Emily Kane arrives at her sister Carrie's house, she finds the front door unlocked and no one inside. Dinner's cooking, the TV's on. Carrie, her husband and their two daughters are gone.

When the police draw a blank, Emily asks missing persons investigator David Raker to find them. It's clear someone doesn't want the family found.

But as he gets closer to the truth, Raker begins to uncover evidence of a sinister cover-up, spanning decades and costing countless lives. And worse, in trying to find Emily's missing family, he might just have made himself the next target ...

 

"....... it was a snapshot of time:  nothing but the milk out of place.  The food was still cooking, the lights were still on, the TV, the computer, the cars, the dog.

All the signs of being a family home.

But none of the family."

This was a gripping thriller that, from about half way in, I could not put down.  I had to find out what had happened to the family and why.

The story is told mainly in the first person by David Raker and starts in 2007 in Las Vegas where he meets an old friend from school, but, after chatting for a little while, his friend disappears and he never sees him again.

Back to the present now and Raker is recuperating in his parents old cottage by the seaside, after being stabbed five months ago, when a body is found on the beach.  Then he meets his teenage sweetheart, they hadn't seen each other for 24 years, and she asks for his help in finding her missing family.

The story again goes back a couple of years to a family meeting a doctor and the mother notices a photograph that the doctor owns.

The story goes back and forth between these two different timelines and I found these teasing chapters a little confusing but, as the plot thickens, it all gradually starts to make sense.

The story features a psycopath, an abandoned village that had almost disappeared into the sea, anonymous phone calls, old photographs, Las Vegas high rollers, a stolen laptop.

David Raker was very observant and good at reading people......

Sometimes the clearest picture of a person came from the smallest things: the way he'd set his pen and paper down parallel to one another pointed towards a meticulous mind; the way he'd torn out the last notes in the pad - as if to keep them away from prying eyes - suggested a suspicious one too.

The writing was detailed and compelling, the characters were interesting and, after a slow start, never boring.

 

Source:  From RealReaders

 

A Richard and Judy's Autumn 2013 Book Club Title

About Tim Weaver and his books

It was supposed to be the start of a big night out. But when Emily Kane arrives at her sister Carrie's house, she finds the front door unlocked and no one inside. Dinner's cooking, the TV's on. Carrie, her husband and their two daughters are gone.
When the police draw a blank, Emily asks missing persons investigator David Raker to find them. It's clear someone doesn't want the family found.
But as he gets closer to the truth, Raker begins to uncover evidence of a sinister cover-up, spanning decades and costing countless lives. And worse, in trying to find Emily's missing family, he might just have made himself the next target...

Read more at http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780241954416,00.html#0Dwpbyf23qLfJx3I.99

It was supposed to be the start of a big night out. But when Emily Kane arrives at her sister Carrie's house, she finds the front door unlocked and no one inside. Dinner's cooking, the TV's on. Carrie, her husband and their two daughters are gone.
When the police draw a blank, Emily asks missing persons investigator David Raker to find them. It's clear someone doesn't want the family found.
But as he gets closer to the truth, Raker begins to uncover evidence of a sinister cover-up, spanning decades and costing countless lives. And worse, in trying to find Emily's missing family, he might just have made himself the next target...

Read more at http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780241954416,00.html#0Dwpbyf23qLfJx3I.99

Beauty Care Product Review: OLAY REGENERIST COMPLEXION CORRECTOR CREAM - LIGHTEST SKIN TONE

OLAY

REGENERIST COMPLEXION CORRECTOR CREAM

LIGHTEST SKIN TONE

 

 

• Instantly perfect skin tone
• Reduce the look of wrinkles in 2 weeks
• Minimize the appearance of dark spots in 8 weeks
• Olay's breakthrough formula that blends: a penetrating serum + an SPF15 moisturiser + a sheer foundation
• Fragrance free

I've been using different Oil of Olay moisturisers on and off for many years but this is the first time I've used this particular cream and, so far, after several weeks of using it every day, I've been very pleased with the results.

It comes in a pretty pump action spiral bottle which made a nice change from the usual bland bottles I've used in the past.  It looks lovely sitting on your dressing table.

 

It blends very easily on my skin and feels lovely and creamy, it definitely evens out my skin tone giving it a nice rich colour.  My skin is very fair so this lightest skin tone is perfect for me.  It lasts all day but I have noticed that towards the evening my skin starts to feel a little greasy.

I don't normally wear make up and this is perfect for me as it is so light and my skin doesn't feel clogged.

The only downside is that it does feel a little uncomfortable for a few minutes just after I've put it on but that soon goes away, though I don't usually have any problems in that respect, so maybe it would not be suitable if you have a sensitive skin.

 

It contains SPF 15.

Available from Amazon.co.uk and all good beauty stores.

Book Review: Virtual Book Tour: MURDER BY SYLLABUB BY KATHLEEN DELANEY

 

MURDER BY SYLLABUB

BY

KATHLEEN DELANEY

Published by Camel Press in May 2013

About the Book:

A ghost in Colonial dress has been wreaking havoc at an old plantation house in Virginia. The house is owned by Elizabeth Smithwood, the best friend of Ellen McKenzie's Aunt Mary. Mary is determined to fly to the rescue, and Ellen has no choice but to leave her real estate business and new husband to accompany her. Who else will keep the old girl out of trouble?

When Ellen and Aunt Mary arrive, they find that Elizabeth's "house" comprises three sprawling buildings containing all manner of secret entrances and passages, not to mention slave cabins. But who owns what and who owned whom? After Monty--the so-called ghost and stepson of Elizabeth's dead husband--turns up dead in Elizabeth's house, suspicion falls on her. Especially when the cause of death is a poisoned glass of syllabub taken from a batch of the sweet, creamy after-dinner drink sitting in Elizabeth's refrigerator.

Monty had enemies to spare. Why was he roaming the old house? What was he searching for? To find the truth, Ellen and her Aunt Mary will have to do much more than rummage through stacks of old crates; they will have to expose two hundred years of grudges and vendettas. The spirits they disturb are far deadlier than the one who brought them to Virginia.

A Syllabub is a sweet dessert drink, made from lemon juice, white wine and cream.  The Colonials loved it.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable cozy mystery, the fifth book in the Ellen McKenzie mystery series.  

Ellen's Aunt Mary has been asked to help her old friend Elizabeth who believes a ghost has been trying to kill her.  On their first evening there the 'ghost' called Monty is found murdered by a glass of poisoned Syllabub.  Monty, the nasty stepson of Elizabeth's deceased husband, was found dressed as a colonial gentleman in a locked up house, but how did he get there and who would want to kill him?

As the plot deepens we learn that there are plenty of suspects and lots of motives.

For fans of colonial history and family secrets with twists and turns to keep you guessing to the end this is an entertaining read.

I received this ebook from Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours in exchange for an unbiased review

Book Review: COLD SACRIFICE BY LEIGH RUSSELL

COLD SACRIFICE

BY

LEIGH RUSSELL

Published by No Exit Press on 26 Sept 2013

About the Book:

When Henry's wife is stabbed to death, he pays a prostitute to give him an alibi. Her body is discovered, strangled, and the police realise they are dealing with a serial killer who will stop at nothing to cover his tracks. While they are hunting for evidence, another prostitute is brutally murdered. On the track of a vicious killer, Detective Ian Peterson doesn't realise he is risking the life of his young colleague, Polly.

"An anonymous victim, no signs of the killer, no witnesses and no murder weapon"

This is the first of a new series to feature Detective Ian Peterson as the main protagonist after appearing in a supporting role in the first three Geraldine Steel novels.

I liked him instantly, he is in his mid-30's, intelligent, caring and passionate about his work as he awaits news of the promotion he has recently applied for.  Newly married to his childhood sweetheart, he wonders if he's done the right thing due to his wife Bev's moods. This is a theme throughout the book, his wife dislikes his job, the irregular hours and is always complaining about being on her own so much, he feels he is walking on eggshells and tries to avoid confrontations with her as much as he can.

Some of the sad characters include Henry who couldn't care less about his wife's murder, their son Mark who's a loner and, according to everyone, was close to his mother and young teenager Ben whose home life consists of being bullied and beaten by his stepdad and bullied by everyone else until one day he finds a knife which instantly gives him a certain respect.

The writing is sharp and crisp with short and neat chapters.

I would probably read another in this series due to the likeability of the main character.

I received this book from Nudge Real Readers in exchange for an unbiased review.

The website for Leigh Russell is here
Buy the book from Amazon.co.uk

Book Review: SOME DAY I'LL FIND YOU BY RICHARD MADELEY

SOME DAY I'LL FIND YOU

BY

RICHARD MADELEY

Published by Simon & Schuster July 2013

About the Book:

James Blackwell is sexy and handsome and a fighter pilot - every girl's dream partner. At least that is what Diana Arnold thinks when her brother first introduces them. Before long they are in love and marry hastily just as war is declared.
Then fate delivers what is the first of its cruel twists: James, the day of their wedding, is shot down over Northern France and killed. Diana is left not only a widow but pregnant with their child.
Ten years later, contentedly remarried, Diana finds herself in the south of France, sitting one morning in a sunny village square. A taxi draws up and she hears the voice of a man speaking English - the unmistakable voice of someone who will set out to torment her and blackmail her and from whom there can be only one means of escape... - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/Some-Day-I%27ll-Find-You/Richard-Madeley/9781471112638#sthash.skRuYJAg.dpuf

James Blackwell is sexy and handsome and a fighter pilot - every girl's dream partner. At least that is what Diana Arnold thinks when her brother first introduces them. Before long they are in love and marry hastily just as war is declared.
Then fate delivers what is the first of its cruel twists: James, the day of their wedding, is shot down over Northern France and killed. Diana is left not only a widow but pregnant with their child.
Ten years later, contentedly remarried, Diana finds herself in the south of France, sitting one morning in a sunny village square. A taxi draws up and she hears the voice of a man speaking English - the unmistakable voice of someone who will set out to torment her and blackmail her and from whom there can be only one means of escape... - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/Some-Day-I%27ll-Find-You/Richard-Madeley/9781471112638#sthash.skRuYJAg.dpuf

James Blackwood is sexy and handsome and a fighter pilot - every girl's dream partner. At least that is what Diana Arnold thinks when her brother first introduces them. Before long they are in love and marry hastily just as war is declared.
Then fate delivers what is the first of its cruel twists: James, the day of their wedding, is shot down over Northern France and killed. Diana is left not only a widow but pregnant with their child.
Ten years later, contentedly remarried, Diana finds herself in the south of France, sitting one morning in a sunny village square. A taxi draws up and she hears the voice of a man speaking English - the unmistakable voice of someone who will set out to torment her and blackmail her and from whom there can be only one means of escape...

"....You're special, James; really special.  You'll see.  One of these days you'll surprise the world, just you see if you don't.  You'll amaze everyone.  And you'll have beautiful, beautiful ladies - princesses, I shouldn't wonder - who'll give anything to be your wife.  Mark my words."

Author Richard Madeley is best known in the UK for being a TV presenter and, together with his wife, Judy Finnegan, they presented the daytime show This Morning for many years.  He has now written his first novel and it is a reasonable debut.

The first part of the story starts in 1951 in Southern France where Diana is sat outside a cafe when she hears an English voice and we immediately realise that something is wrong.

In the second part we are taken back to Southern England in 1938 and, over the next 100+ pages we learn of the build up to that morning in 1951.

We learn about Diana's wealthy upbringing with her parents and older brother James who is training to be a RAF pilot. One day he is home on leave and brings with him James "pin-up material, a gift for the RAF's propaganda unit, blond and blue-eyed" and Diana is immediately smitten.  Everyone thinks James is wonderful and charming but is he really like that or is he manipulative and looking for a rich wife?

When James is shot down over France on their wedding day Diana is devastated.

The third and final part of the story begins as the book started - outside the cafe in 1951 and to say anything more would spoil it.

The story was well-written and Diana is by far the most interesting and well-rounded character.  I found some of the dialogue a little stilted and unreal and I thought some of the situations the main characters found themselves in a little unbelievable.  Having said that, I did quite enjoy the book, it's an entertaining read and the dual time periods were well put together. 

Special Thanks to Simon & Schuster for sending me this book in exchange for an unbiased review.  A question to the Publishers: Why the title 'Some Day I'll Find You'?  To me, it just did not fit with the storyline.

James Blackwell is sexy and handsome and a fighter pilot - every girl's dream partner. At least that is what Diana Arnold thinks when her brother first introduces them. Before long they are in love and marry hastily just as war is declared.
Then fate delivers what is the first of its cruel twists: James, the day of their wedding, is shot down over Northern France and killed. Diana is left not only a widow but pregnant with their child.
Ten years later, contentedly remarried, Diana finds herself in the south of France, sitting one morning in a sunny village square. A taxi draws up and she hears the voice of a man speaking English - the unmistakable voice of someone who will set out to torment her and blackmail her and from whom there can be only one means of escape... - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/Some-Day-I%27ll-Find-You/Richard-Madeley/9781471112638#sthash.skRuYJAg.dpuf

James Blackwell is sexy and handsome and a fighter pilot - every girl's dream partner. At least that is what Diana Arnold thinks when her brother first introduces them. Before long they are in love and marry hastily just as war is declared.
Then fate delivers what is the first of its cruel twists: James, the day of their wedding, is shot down over Northern France and killed. Diana is left not only a widow but pregnant with their child.
Ten years later, contentedly remarried, Diana finds herself in the south of France, sitting one morning in a sunny village square. A taxi draws up and she hears the voice of a man speaking English - the unmistakable voice of someone who will set out to torment her and blackmail her and from whom there can be only one means of escape... - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/Some-Day-I%27ll-Find-You/Richard-Madeley/9781471112638#sthash.skRuYJAg.dpuf

Book Review: CLOSE MY EYES BY SOPHIE MCKENZIE

CLOSE MY EYES

BY 

SOPHIE MCKENZIE

Published by Simon & Schuster in May 2013

About the Book:

It's been eight years since Gen Loxley lost her daughter, Beth: eight years of grief in which nothing's really moved forward, for all that her husband, Art, wills it to. Gen, once a writer of novels, has settled in to a life of half-hearted teaching, while Art makes his name and their fortune - and pressures her into trying IVF once again. For Gen, it seems a cruel act of replacement; life without Beth is unthinkable, unbearable - but still it goes on. And then a woman arrives on Gen's doorstep, saying the very thing she longs to hear: that her daughter was not stillborn, but was spirited away as a healthy child, and is out there, waiting to be found.... So why is Art reluctant to get involved? To save his wife from further hurt? Or something much more sinister? What is the truth about Beth Loxley?

"Once an idea has been planted in your head, you can't just toss it out again.  You have to follow it through to the end."

After six failed IVF attempts, Gen is reluctant to try again though her husband, Art, is still hopeful that it will work.  Spoken in the first person by Gen, she feels inadequate compared to Art's successful business and she is still mourning the loss of her daughter, Beth, who was born dead eight years ago.

Art is kind, smart, shrewd and completely driven, while Beth is just going through the motions of everyday life.

When a middle aged woman turns up at their home and tells Gen an unbelievable story of her baby daughter being born alive and taken away by the doctor, she clings to the hope that Beth could be alive, but Art refuses to believe the story and tries to persuade Gen that the woman is lying.

"I know Art's is the logical way forward but I want to believe the impossible.  I want to believe that Beth is out there somewhere, waiting for me to find her."

Then an old colleague of Art's, Irishman Lorcan Byrne, comes back on the scene and he decides to help Gen in her search, much to Art's disgust.  Both Gen's best friend and Art think that Gen is becoming obsessed and may even be going mad.

As the story moves forward, we only know what's going on inside Gen's head, not anyone else's and this helps to keep the suspense going.  Just when I thought it was going in one direction the author does a great job of taking me into another completely different and unexpected direction.  I certainly never guessed the ending.  I suspected everyone at one point!

The characters were all believable, especially Gen, I really felt for her.  I thought the storyline was unpredictable, clever and enjoyable.

Whilst reading the novel, I was reminded of the brilliant psychological thriller, Little Face by Sophie Hannah, also told in the first person, and one of my favourite reads.

If you enjoy a good psychological thriller please put this on your to read list, I don't think you will be disappointed.

Special Thanks to the publishers for sending me this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

BOOK REVIEW: THE TAPESTRY OF LOVE BY ROSY THORNTON

THE TAPESTRY OF LOVE BY ROSY THORNTON

About the Book:

A rural idyll: that's what Catherine is seeking when she sells her house in England and moves to a tiny hamlet in the Cévennes mountains. With her divorce in the past and her children grown, she is free to make a new start, and her dream is to set up in business as a seamstress. But this is a harsh and lonely place when you're no longer just here on holiday. There is French bureaucracy to contend with, not to mention the mountain weather, and the reserve of her neighbours, including the intriguing Patrick Castagnol. And that's before the arrival of Catherine's sister, Bryony...

'Living in the French countryside isn't always as idyllic as it sounds ......'

What a gem of a book this is.  

48 year old Catherine swaps a sleepy English village for an even sleepier French one to start her own soft furnishings company high up in the mountains.

As she starts to settle into rural life growing vegetables, fruit, keeping bees, she also gets involved in the local community and the local neighbours, from the elderly endearing couple the Meriels who make cheese from their 87 goats, to the enigmatic and reclusive Patrick who is not what he seems.

I loved the vivid descriptions of the scenery, I could almost picture her little house on the side of the mountain with the rain lashing down and the beautiful views.  The electricity was temperamental, the phone line comes and goes according to the weather.

December drove out the autumn damp to leave clear skies  and bright sunshine.  In the early mornings, frost edged the twigs and rimed the stone window sills of Les Fenils, but after lunch it was warm enough for Catherine to take a chair out on to the terrace with a book and a cup of Madame Bouschet's lime flower tea.

I liked the way each chapter had a title such as 'The House of Silk' or 'L'Entente Cordiale' .... giving a flavour of what was to come in each neat, precise and short chapters.  This is a feel good book, gentle, quaint and full of real characters and I loved it!  I was sorry to finish it and leave Catherine and her mountains behind.

A perfect book for whiling away a sunny afternoon in the garden.....

Special Thanks to Rosy Thornton for sending me her book to read and enjoy.  

To read more of the story behind the book check out her website.

Available from Amazon.co.uk

BOOK REVIEW: Blog Tour: MERCY ROW BY HARRY HALLMAN

    MERCY ROW BY HARRY HALLMAN  

About the Book:

 

Mercy Row is a novel set in 1920's and 1930's Philadelphia. It's the story of the rise of a North Philadelphia crime family who was also responsible for building the homes and factories that make up this blue collar area of the city. Despite the violent trials and tribulations caused by rival gangs from South Philadelphia and Chicago Jacob Byrne and Franklin Garrett, with the help of the Irish immigrants that settled the Kensington area, build a formidable Irish mob.

This legal and criminal enterprise kept North Philadelphia free from the Mafia for two generations. Jacob's and Franklin's organization was built on the blood of those who opposed them, the sweat of the laborers who built North Philly and the tears of the wives and mothers whose loved ones were lost in the struggle. 

 

When Jacob Byrne and Franklin Garrett meet for the first time in a jail cell, neither of them could visualize that this would be the start of an unlikely and lucrative friendship.  Jacob's father is the wealthy and powerful head of the construction company where Franklin is the head of construction.

Together with the Irish immigrants they form a gang to suppress the Mafia in Philadelphia and this book is the story of their rise to power.

 

I thought the swearing was a little over the top and could not help feeling that it was more for shock value than effect, but some readers may not feel like that.  

For a debut novel it kept my attention throughout, the writing was simple, not challenging, and the characters were interesting but I did not feel that I got to know any of them intimately.

Overall, a good story and one for anyone who's interested in this time period.

 

The Blog Tour can be found at Sage's Blog Tours

BOOK REVIEW: SWORD & SCIMITAR BY SIMON SCARROW

SWORD & SCIMITAR

BY 

SIMON SCARROW

Published:  April 2013 (Headline)

1565; In its hour of greatest need, Malta must rely upon the ancient Knights of the Order of St John for survival. Bound by the strongest ties: of valour, of courage and of passion, the Knights must defend their island against ferocious and deadly Ottoman attack. For Sir Thomas Barrett, summoned by the Order and compelled by loyalty - to the Knights, to his honour and to his Queen - returning to the besieged island means revisiting a past he had long since lain to rest. As the beleaguered Knights grapple to retain control, decade-old feuds will be reawakened, intense passions rekindled and deadly secrets revealed.

This epic tale starts with a sea battle in the Mediterranean between the Christian Knights of St. John and the Muslims of the Ottoman Empire, this sets the scene for what is to come later.  On one of the captured ships, Sir Thomas Barrett discovers a woman who has been kidnapped and thus begins his downfall as they start a doomed affair which goes against everything the Knights stand for.

When they are discovered Sir Thomas is banished from Malta and so begins 20 years of fighting as a mercenary in Europe not knowing what has happened to the love of his life Maria.

When he is summoned back to Malta to help the Knights defend Christendom and Malta against Sultan Suleiman and the Turks he is determined to find out what has happened to Maria once and for all.

With the added mystery of being told to retrieve a lost document in Malta that if made public could tear England apart, an accompanying squire who is not what he seems, bloody battle scenes, being outnumbered 7 to 1 by the Turks, romance, treachery, revenge.....this is not a book for the faint-hearted though it is a very good read!

Sir Thomas is the kind of man who you would want at your side in a battle, he's strong, courageous and skilled at arms.  He's also a good person who is utterly trustworthy and I was really rooting for him.

This is a historical tale of the Great Siege of Malta, something of which I knew nothing about, and the author really brings to life how brave the citizens of Malta, together with the Knights of St John, were in their fight against the might of the Ottoman Empire.  Fascinating stuff.

Read this and you'll want to read more of Simon Scarrow's other novels.  Details of which can all be found at his website scarrow.co.uk.

Source of this review book was Nudge (Real Readers).  Thank you for sending it to me.

 

Book Review: THE GIRL UNDER THE OLIVE TREE BY LEAH FLEMING

THE GIRL UNDER THE OLIVE TREE

BY

LEAH FLEMING

Published:  Jan 2013 (Hardcover)

May 1941 and the island of Crete is invaded by paratroopers from the air. After a lengthy fight, thousands of British and Commonwealth soldiers are forced to take to the hills or become escaping PoWs, sheltered by the Cretan villagers. 

Sixty years later, Lois West and her young son, Alex, invite feisty Great Aunt Pen to a special eighty-fifth birthday celebration on Crete, knowing she has not been back there since the war. Penelope George - formerly Giorgidiou - is reluctant to go but is persuaded by the fact it is the 60th anniversary of the Battle. It is time for her to return and make the journey she never thought she'd dare to.

The story starts in 2001 as Penelope is undecided about facing her fears and going back to Crete where she endured "the best and worst of times indeed, savage cruelty, suffering, hunger and yet it was also the time of my life, a time filled with the exhilaration of danger and the overwhelming kindness of strangers.  There were many things about that time that I could never tell anyone."

When she finally makes the journey with her family the story travels back and forth in time and we slowly build up a picture of Penelope's extraordinary life during the Second World War on Crete, of how she originally fled there from her home in Scotland to escape her mother's hopes of her marrying a title, when all she wanted was to be an archaeologist.  

When Penelope helped an elderly Jewish man who had been beaten and robbed in the street she met her friend Yolanda and, together, they joined the Red Cross.  She felt more at home in Greece than in England and when war broke out she helped the wounded soldiers.

It is then that her extraordinary story is told, some in flashbacks to her family, and some she keeps to herself.

I also found it interesting to hear another side of the story told from one of the German officers who were there at the same time as Penelope and who also travels to the 60th anniversary.

This story is about how ordinary people coped in difficult and challenging circumstances, how they lived and died, about courage, uncertainty and hope, good times and bad times and how they fell in love during the most appalling conditions they had to endure.

Penelope was a fabulous character, she was warm, brave, loyal, feisty and incredibly likeable.

Not a light and easy book to read as it deals with a sad subject, but I really enjoyed it and, particularly the latter part, I could not put it down.

This is the second book I have read by Leah Fleming, my review of her novel, The Captain's Daughter which is about fictional characters who survived the Titanic, is here.

Available from Amazon.co.uk.

Special Thanks to the Publishers, Simon & Schuster for sending me this book.

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Book Review: A PASSIONATE LOVE AFFAIR WITH A TOTAL STRANGER

Genre:  Fiction
Published:  Jan 2013 by Penguin Books
Source:  RealReaders

About the Book:

Charley Lambert has put considerable effort into achieving a perfect life. She has The Job. The Wardrobe. And The Flat. Her womanising, junk food-loving housemate Sam lowers the tone a bit but that aside, things are peachy.
Then she breaks her leg in three places, watches her unrequited love propose to someone else and - worst of all - is forced to hand over her job to her nasty deputy while she recovers. Workaholic Charley fears that she will soon go mad.
Desperate for something to do, she discovers her talent for helping the lovelorn online. And then William arrives in her inbox. Within hours of his first email, her world starts to change. Helpless, she watches herself fall in love with this man and begins to realise that she's not who she thought she was.
But will she be brave enough to turn her back on her old life - all for a total stranger?


Charley, 32, is obsessed with healthy eating, exercise and work!  She hates having nothing to do and when she breaks her leg and is forced to take it easy she is mortified.  All her plans go awry.  She becomes obsessed with a man on her internet dating website who seems to know her better than she knows herself. 

I exhaled slowly.  This was all getting a bit heavy.  And yet he was hitting home.  Quite hard, in fact.  Was I a perfectionist?  Bloody hell, yes!  I was more of a perfectionist than anyone I knew!  I crippled myself trying to make the perfect risotto, to buy the perfect wine, to be the perfect employee.  I got furious with myself if I lost so much as a tenth of a second from my ideal running time round Holyrood Park.

I found Charley quite hard to like, though she is an interesting character and I enjoyed seeing her change throughout the book.  This wasn't quite a book that I couldn't put down but I did enjoy it, it had some funny moments. 

It was a well-written and light-hearted read.


 

Book Review: THE ELOQUENCE OF DESIRE BY AMANDA SINGTON-WILLIAMS

Genre:  Fiction
Published:  2010 by Sparkling Books
Source:  Author

About the Book:

Set in the 1950s, The Eloquence of Desire explores the conflicts in family relationships caused by obsessive love, the lost innocence of childhood and the terror of the Communist insurgency in Malaya.

Richly descriptive and well-researched, the story told by Amanda Sington-Williams unfolds as George is posted to the tropics in punishment for an affair with the daughter of his boss. His wife, Dorothy, constrained by social norms, begrudgingly accompanies him while their twelve year old daughter Susan is packed off to boarding school.

Desire and fantasy mix with furtive visits, lies and despair to turn the family inside out.

We first meet George, travelling home on the tube, after his meeting with his boss where he learns of his 'promotion' to Malaya.  Both he and his wife know it's anything but a promotion.  

His wife Dorothy feels powerless to do anything but go with him as she feared being frowned upon and shunned by other people if she divorced George.  "The alternative to divorce, thought Dorothy, was to grit her teeth and depart for Malaya."

She hates Malaya and they are both bored, Dorothy starts to fantasise about having an affair and their relationship is tested by other people and the frightening Communist threat to their lives.

Each chapter is written from a different person's perspective and I thought this gave an added dimension to the story.  The chapters also moved the story along so I was made to really think about what must have happened as the author quite often just gave clues and it was left to me to work it out, most of the time this worked okay.

Overall, I did like this style of writing, it flowed very easily.  The descriptions of Malaya and the people seemed real and believable and I could easily picture them.

I enjoyed this story and would happily read another book by Amanda Sington-Williams.

Special thanks to the author for sending me this book to download.

Book Review: A WINTER FLAME BY MILLY JOHNSON

Genre:  Fiction
Published:  Oct 2012 (Simon & Schuster)
Source:  Publisher

About the Book:

'Tis the season to be jolly...But can Eve find happiness through the frost...? 
Eve has never liked Christmas, not since her beloved fiance was killed in action in Afghanistan on Christmas Day. So when her adored elderly aunt dies, the last thing she is expecting is to be left a theme park in her will. A theme park with a Christmas theme...And that's not the only catch. Her aunt's will stipulates that Eve must run the park with a mysterious partner, the exotically named Jacques Glace. Who is this Jacques, and why did Aunt Evelyn name him in her will? 
But Eve isn't going to back down from a challenge. She's determined to make a success of Winterworld, no matter what. 
Can she overcome her dislike of Christmas, and can Jacques melt her frozen heart at last...?


This book is not just for Christmas it is for life!  

I loved the storyline of Eve's aunt leaving her a magical Christmas Theme Park ..... well, a partly finished theme park ...and with super efficient and organised Eve at the helm she knew it would be fabulous.  But the catch is that she had to share the day to day organising with a mysterious stranger called Jacques Glace and Eve does not like sharing her plans.  And, after meeting Mr. Glace, she doesn't like him either and she even starts to believe he could be a con man who has conned her beloved aunt into giving him a share of the theme park.

Eve narrowed her eyes at him.  God, he really was a charmer.  Standing there all blue-eyed and Dr. Doolittle-like, stroking a reindeer.  And weren't animals supposed to be able to suss out what people were really like?  Had he managed to pull the wool over their eyes as well?  She bet he had a trail of broken hearts behind him.

So, we shared their ups and downs, quarrels and dislikes, neither of them giving way, while 'Winterworld' takes shape week by week up till Christmas.

The story reads at just the right pace, it's never boring, with lively characters and an original plotline.

According to Lovereading if you like Milly Johnson you may also like books by Carmen Reid, Maria Beaumont or Freya North.

Thanks to the publishers Simon & Schuster for sending me this book.

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Book Review: THE GIRL YOU LEFT BEHIND BY JOJO MOYES

Genre:  Fiction
Published:  Penguin  27 Sept 2012
Source:  RealReaders



About the Book:

In 1916 French artist Edouard Lefevre leaves his wife Sophie to fight at the Front. When her town falls into German hands, his portrait of Sophie stirs the heart of the local Kommandant and causes her to risk everything - her family, reputation and life - in the hope of seeing her true love one last time.

Nearly a century later and Sophie's portrait is given to Liv by her young husband shortly before his sudden death. Its beauty speaks of their short life together, but when the painting's dark and passion-torn history is revealed, Liv discovers that the first spark of love she has felt since she lost him is threatened...




The story starts in a small town in war-torn France when Sophie attempts to outwit the local German Kommandant, a man who will have a large say in her destiny.  She misses her husband who is away fighting and when she and her family are forced to serve the Germans with food every night in her small hotel, her emotions are stretched as the Kommandant becomes obsessed with a painting done by her husband of a young Sophie.

The first part is left on a cliffhanger and we are then moved forward to the present time and find that the same painting is now hanging in the bedroom of Liv, who's deceased husband bought it for her as he thought the girl in the painting looked like her.

Unfortunately, this is where my interest started to wane.  I loved the first part set in WWI and, even though the story goes back and forth, I did not enjoy it as much, somehow I could not warm to Liv and I found myself rushing through the story to read about what happened to Sophie.

Overall, I did like the storyline, I thought some of the characters were memorable, but I just wish that the first part had been longer and the second part had been shorter!

Book Review: TRUST YOUR EYES BY LINWOOD BARCLAY

Genre:  Thriller

Published:  Orion Books 27 Sept 2012
Source:  BookDagger RealReaders


About the Book:

A schizophrenic man spends his days and nights on a website called Whirl360, believing he's employed by the CIA to store the details of every town and city in the world in his head. Then one day, he sees something that shouldn't be there: a woman being murdered behind a window on a New York street. Suddenly Thomas has more to deal with than just his delusions, as he gets drawn into a deadly conspiracy.


Linwood Barclay is one of my favourite thriller authors, I couldn't put down No Time For Goodbye or Too Close To Home - they were both psychological thrillers that kept you guessing whodunnit and what happened until very near the end whereas this book is more of a thriller where you know fairly early what Thomas sees in the window and it is more about the aftermath.

Thomas (35 years old) is an interesting but vulnerable character, he spends his days on the computer travelling the world, he calls it his work.  He has a gift, a talent, and is obsessed with maps and learning directions, and has the ability to remember everything he sees while on Whirl360 (which sounds very much like Google Street View).  But he's not capable of living on his own or looking after himself so, after his father dies in somewhat mysterious circumstances, his brother Ray comes to look after him.

Unfortunately, due to a set of coincidences and bad luck, they become involved in a political cover up which endangers their lives ...... all because Thomas trusts his eyes ....

I thought this was a good all round story, with an original plot, some stereotypical characters, unexpected surprises, quite a few murders, political ambitions, the CIA, unlikely assassins, plus a touch of romance, which all made for a thrilling (but not a page-turning) read.

This book is available from 27 September 2012 from Amazon.co.uk.

Book Review: THE WONDER GIRLS BY CATHERINE JONES

Genre:  Modern Fiction
Published:  June 2012  (Simon & Schuster)
Source:  From the Publishers

About the Book:

'Don't follow the crowd,' she'd be telling schoolgirls at the swimming baths. 'Follow your own star and when you have achieved your goal you will have that with you for the rest of your life...'
In 1928, a plucky young Welsh girl named Ida Gaze swims the Bristol Channel with the help of her best friend Freda and the inspiration of her heroine Amelia Earhart.
In 1937, on the instructions of the matron, a young skivvy at a grand maternity hospital in London smuggles out an orphaned baby on one of the coldest nights of the year.
Now, in a small town in Wales, an old lady named Ceci pieces together these stories and is about to discover the surprising ways in which they link to her own. It begins with two girls in the twenties who left their small Welsh village for the Big Smoke, feeling that the world was changing and everything was possible…


I really wanted to like this book....I loved the cover of the two young women wearing bathing suits from the 1920's and I thought the story would be more about them and their swimming lives....but it wasn't and I was so disappointed about that.

It started well ..... with 14 year old Cecily who was working as a cleaner at a rich private clinic in London in 1937.  One cold evening the Sister asks her to take away from the clinic the baby of a very poorly mother.  But we don't know why and this leaves us with a cliffhanger until near the end.

The story then moves to the present when Cecily, now an old lady, is living on her own after her 'companion' Freda had died.  Whilst looking through Freda's effects she finds an old photo of a young girl in a bathing costume and this sets her on a quest to discover who this girl was and what happened to her.

The book moves back and forth in time from the present to 1928 to a time when a 16 yr old girl called Ida Gaze (the 'Wonder Girl') becomes the first woman to swim the Bristol Channel - 11 miles of treacherous water between Wales and England.  'Nobody thought a woman would cross the Atlantic and Amelia Earhart did - so why shouldn't I cross the water to another country?'

I was really enjoying this part of the story as I found it fascinating but shortly after when Ida and her friend Freda decide to go to London to start a new life my interest waned quite a lot.  I found it a little boring and I struggled to keep going....but I did and it did get slightly better as the secrets are slowly revealed.

The only character I warmed to was Cecily, I didn't like Freda at all and I couldn't understand why so many women fell for her, she was an oddball, selfish and she didn't care who's feelings she hurt with her nasty remarks.

So, it was not really my kind of book overall.

If this sounds like your kind of book head on over to Lindsay at The Little Reader Library where Catherine Jones has written a fascinating piece all about the background to the story.  Lindsay loved this book and you can read her brilliant review here

Thank you to the publishers, Simon & Schuster, for sending me this to review.

Book Review: STAY CLOSE BY HARLAN COBEN

Genre:  Thriller
Published:  29 March 2012  (Orion Books)
Pages:  387  (Hardback)
Source:  BookDagger RealReaders

About the Book:

Megan is a suburban soccer mom who once upon a time walked on the wild side. Now she's got two kids, a perfect husband, a house with a picket fence, and a growing sense of dissatisfaction. Ray used to be a talented documentary photographer, but at the age of forty he finds himself in a dead-end job posing as a paparazzo pandering to celebrity-obsessed rich kids. Broome is a detective who can't let go of a cold case - a local husband and father who disappeared seventeen years ago - and spends the anniversary every year visiting a house frozen in time, the missing man's family still waiting, his slippers left by the recliner as if he might show up any moment to step into them.

Three people living lives they never wanted, hiding secrets that even those closest to them would never suspect, will find that the past never truly fades away. Even as the terrible consequences of long-ago events crash together in the present and threaten to ruin lives, they will come to the startling realisation that they may not want to forget the past at all. And as each confronts the dark side of the American Dream - the boredom of suburban life, the thrill of temptation, the desperation that can lurk behind even the prettiest facades - they will discover the hard truth that the line between one kind of life and another can be as whisper thin as a heartbeat...

Harlan Coben is the 'master of the hook-and-twist' ... as the blurb says and this book does hook you and twist you till you don't know which turn it's going to take....which I love in a book!

The three main characters all seem to be living normal lives, seemingly unrelated to one another, but they all have secrets from their past which will just not stay hidden.  When a man goes missing, their memories are taken back to one night 17 years ago when another man went missing but is there a connection?

The writing is fast and slick, sometimes a little too complicated, and there are some unsavoury characters, including a couple of bible-bashers called Ken and Barbie who are definitely NOT like their namesakes!  

This is the kind of book where you have to keep turning the pages as there are so many cliffhangers and I didn't guess the ending which is all good.

Recommended for anyone who enjoys a good thriller.