My Mother's Gift - Steffanie Edward.

 Can your heart belong somewhere that you’ve never called home?

When Erica gets a phone call to say her mother, Ione, is ill in St Lucia, she knows she must go to her. Though the island – the place of her mother’s birth – is somewhere that Erica has never seen as her homeland.

Even when the plane touches down in the tropical paradise, with its palm trees swaying in the island breeze, the sound of accents so like her mother’s own calling loud in the air, Erica doesn’t find herself wanting to stay a moment longer than she has to.

But stepping into her mother’s house, she is shocked by what she finds. Her mother’s memory is fading, her once-immaculate house is now dirty and messy, and she’s refusing help from anyone but family. And Erica knows she must stay with her, even though it means leaving everything else behind.

What she doesn’t know is that – even as her mother’s memories get worse – Ione still has a final gift for her daughter. Because the unspoken secrets of their past are about to emerge, changing everything Erica thought she knew about her mother, her home, and who she really is…

A captivating tale of grief, love, and what it means to find home, perfect for fans of Andrea Levy, Jojo Moyes and Amanda Prowse.

Author Bio:

Steffanie Edward was born in St Lucia, brought up in London and now straddles between the two.

Anancy, Crick-crick and other Caribbean folk stories have been a part of her life since childhood. In her late teens she enjoyed reading Susan Howatch and books on slavery. Her absolute favourite reads have been Wild Seed by Octavia E Butler, and Woman At Point Zero by Naawal El Saadawi.

Her writing career started with short stories, five of which have been published. Her first attempt at writing a novel was over twenty years ago, whilst living and working in Abu Dhabi. That novel, Yvette, didn’t make it into print, but the main protagonist, Yvette, has muscled her way into Steffanie’s debut novel, This Other Island.

https://www.saedward.com/

https://twitter.com/EdwardsaEdward

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B09QL7J4RSsocial

My Review

I haven't directly had to deal with a loved one with dementia, I have had friends that have though. It's a hideous illness that just destroys the person that once was and is so hard and heartbreaking for family members to deal with. Although this isn't all that My Mother's Gift is about, it is certainly a big part of it and I think that it is very well done. We experience the pain and love that Erica experiences when her mother is in the later stages of this illness. How, like with so many debilitating conditions like this, it isn't just the person who is unwell that suffers with it.

This was a gripping read. I couldn't help but feel for Erica as she tries to deal with her mother, both in the grip of dementia now, but also their past relationship, which hasn't always been easy. This book is a bit of a rollercoaster that drags you along on an emotional journey.

It seems strange to say that I enjoyed reading such a book. But I really did. There was humour and love here and that came through clearly, making for a heartbreaking, but still really special and heartwarming read.

I really enjoyed this first book that I've read by Steffanie Edward. I'll certainly be looking out for more from her in the future. 

The Postcard from Italy - Angela Petch

 Italy, 1945. ‘Where am I?’ The young man wakes, bewildered. He sees olive trees against a bright
blue sky. A soft voice soothes him. ‘We saw you fall from your plane. The parachute saved you.’ He remembers nothing of his life, or the war that has torn the world apart… but where does he belong?

England, present day. Antique-shop-owner Susannah wipes away a tear as she tidies her grandmother’s belongings. Elsie’s memories are fading, and every day Susannah feels further away from her only remaining family. But everything changes when she stumbles across a yellowed postcard of a beautiful Italian stone farmhouse, tucked away in Elsie’s dressing table. A message dated from World War 2 speaks of a secret love. Could her grandmother, who never talked about the past, have fallen for someone in Italy all those years ago?

With Elsie unable to answer her questions, Susannah becomes determined to track down the house and find a distraction from her grief. Arriving at what is now a crumbling hotel by the sparkling Italian sea, she feels strangely at home. And after an unexpected encounter with handsome wine waiter Giacomo, she can’t tell if it’s his dark eyes or his offer to help solve her mystery that makes her heart race.

Together they find a dusty chest tucked in a forgotten corner of the building. The white silk of a World War 2 parachute spills out. And the Royal Air Force identity tag nestled in the folds bears a familiar name…

With Giacomo by her side, and before it’s too late for her grandmother, can Susannah discover the truth behind a shocking wartime secret at the heart of her family? Or will it tear her apart?

An absolutely stunning page-turner that will sweep you away to the olive groves and majestic views of the Italian coast. Perfect for fans of Kathryn Hughes, Fiona Valpy and Victoria Hislop.

Author Bio:

Published by Bookouture, Angela Petch is an award-winning writer of fiction – and the occasional poem.

Every summer she moves to Tuscany for six months where she and her husband own a renovated watermill which they let out. When not exploring their unspoilt corner of the Apennines, she disappears to her writing desk at the top of a converted stable. In her Italian handbag or hiking rucksack she always makes sure to store a notebook and pen to jot down ideas.

The winter months are spent in Sussex where most of her family live. When Angela’s not helping out with grandchildren, she catches up with writer friends.

Angela’s gripping, WWII, Tuscan novels are published by Bookouture. While her novel, Mavis and Dot, was self-published and tells of the frolics and foibles of two best-friends who live by the seaside. Angela also writes short stories published in Prima and People’s Friend.

Blog: https://angelapetchsblogsite.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AngelaJaneClarePetch

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Angela_Petch

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B09RBCDT1Hsocial

Audio:

UK: zpr.io/euVDi52PXv49
US: zpr.io/K3Z3PGgtVzrC

Listen to a sample here:

https://soundcloud.com/bookouture/the-postcard-from-italy-by-angela-petch-narrated-by-stephanie-lane

My Review

I have to admit that when I first started reading The Postcard from Italy, I had the strangest feeling that I had read the book before. I don't think that it was because it was similar to other books that I have read, although I have come across similar themes, I think instead the book is so well written that it feels like an old and familiar friend.

I always find books written from two different times to be interesting and the way that this story unfolds, both in the modern-day and back in post-war Italy makes for an interesting read. For me, the historical story was the most interesting and I really wanted to know how Anto and Billy's story would unfold.

I was a little less taken with the modern story. For me, Susannah didn't quite read like a woman in her mid 30's, she seemed a lot older. Or at least she seemed a lot older than me (who is also older than mid 30's) It was an interesting way to bring out the story and add some extra mystery to it.

Overall, this was a great read. I really enjoyed it and wanted to find out exactly how the story would unfold and playout. 

The Party at No.12 - Kerry Wilkinson

 Everyone’s invited. Someone will never leave.

In a grand townhouse rented specially for the evening, Hannah beams at her guests under the sparkling chandelier. Her sisters, her mother and aunt, her best friends… although she’ll miss them all so much when she moves away, tonight is about celebrating the happy times and raising a toast to the future.

But the next morning, one of the guests is found cold and lifeless in their pristine white bed.

Hannah is desperate to call the police. After all, it must have been an accident. Perhaps too much wine, on a night where emotions were running high. But it soon becomes clear that every single person at the party has something to hide.

A mother who’ll do anything for her daughters.
Best friends with dark secrets between them.
A sister with a jealous streak.

What if one of them is a killer?

And what if this is just the first victim?

An absolutely unputdownable thriller that won’t let you sleep until you’ve reached the final page! Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, The Hunting Party and Shari Lapena.

Author Bio:

Kerry Wilkinson is from the English county of Somerset but has spent far too long living in the north. It’s there that he’s picked up possibly made-up regional words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’. He pretends to know what they mean.

He’s also been busy since turning thirty: his Jessica Daniel crime series has sold more than a million copies in the UK; he has written a fantasy-adventure trilogy for young adults; a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter and the standalone thriller, Down Among The Dead Men.

https://kerrywilkinson.com/

https://www.facebook.com/KerryWilkinsonBooks/

https://twitter.com/kerrywk

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B09NRYYT9Lsocial

Audio:

UK: zpr.io/uMg32XgsgsXF
US: zpr.io/8mGbXF9aWYD7

Listen to a sample here:

https://soundcloud.com/bookouture/the-party-at-number-12-by-kerry-wilkinson-narrated-by-tamsin-kennard-and-andrew-kingston

My Review

The Party at Number 12 is a bit of a mystery/thriller. After Hannah hosts a party before heading off around the world travelling, but something goes wrong and one of the guests is found dead the next morning. How Hannah and her guests deal with this and get to the bottom of what actually happened throws everything into question for Hannah.
There were quite a few twists and turns in the plot of this book. I did see some of them coming before they happened, but it was still a gripping and entertaining read. I wasn't entirely convinced about the way that some of the characters acted and behaved once one of them was found dead, but that didn't detract from the story itself.
I enjoyed the way that the story unfolded and despite seeing some of the twists coming, I still hadn't figured it all out by the end.
Overall a good read and one that I would recommend.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

Druid Dreams - MF.Adele

Druid Dreams
M.F. Adele
(The Chronicles of Sloane King, #1)
Publication date: April 27th 2020
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Reverse Harem, Romance

I am not a good person.

I don’t cheat or steal, but I do lie a little bit… and participate in the occasional murder… spree.

Life as I know it gets turned upside down when I’m asked to step in and halt the progress of a black market drug tainted with magic. That one little business adventure opens up a whole f*****g Pandora’s Box and brings my ebony tower crashing down around me.

As if life wasn’t complicated enough, I also now have mates. Emphasis on the ssss part. I want to be mad about it, really I do… but they’re so hot, and the temptation to make them all mine is fueling my desire.

With a final mate that I’m not happy about and a stalker on my heels… maybe having several someones at my back isn’t such a bad thing.

Don’t get me twisted though… I’m Sloane f*****g King, and I’m no damsel in distress.

Goodreads / Amazon

Author Bio:

M.F. Adele resides in the outskirts of the Rocket City in Alabama. She lives in her overactive imagination, often fueled by caffeine and no sleep. When she isn’t writing, M.F. is outdoors with her family, obsessing over spicy margaritas and cigars, or reading books by her favorite authors.

If you’re looking for M.F. Adele, you can find her on social media in her group:

M.F. Adele's Hellacious Hybrids.

M.F. loves to interact with her readers, hear character theories, and share embarrassing stories.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

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My Review

Druid Dreams is the start of a reverse harem series. Judging from the planned titles, it seems that each one will focus particularly on one member of the harem at a time. That's not to say that our heroine, Sloane King, hasn't met the other men, or should I say creatures, or well I'm not sure what the term is really, who are part of this polyamorous relationship. They all appear in this book and she begins to learn about them and what they bring to the relationship. They are all supernatural beings of one sort or another, a druid, a vampire, a fae, a madge, a demon and a wolf shifter.
York is the druid who appears in the title. While the other characters only meet Sloane in this book, York has had a previous relationship with her before vanishing suddenly. Sloane doesn't know where he went or why and feeling that he has just run off, is understandably angry with him.
There is a lot to get your head around here and it did take me a while to understand what was going on. It almost feels as though there's a prequel that I've missed or even a previous book. I did get it mostly straight in the end.
Sloane herself is a really strong character, in fact in some ways, she's almost a little too perfect. But it is good to see such a strong female lead.
I'll be interested to see where this series goes. At the moment it's very heavy on the action and building what is happening and the romance really takes a back seat. I wonder how that will play out in future books. I'll be interested to see.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

The Girls in the Fire - Dea Poirier

 Harlow looked down at a photo of her victim and couldn’t reconcile it with the body found by the lake. Here was a young and carefree woman, gazing at the camera with her striking emerald green eyes, her long black hair waving in the breeze. But within an instant her future had been extinguished. Harlow had to find out why.

When the remains of a young woman are discovered on the edge of Saranac Lake in upstate New York, local law enforcement immediately call Detective Harlow Durant. When she arrives at the scene, she instantly knows this case will get under her skin. Lying just beyond the picturesque lake popular with families are the remains of a victim who has seemingly been burned to death. With very little evidence remaining, Harlow begins scouring missing persons reports.

The victim is identified as twenty-six-year-old Ellie Gordon—a fun-loving young woman who worked in the bookstore and enjoyed going out with friends. When her mother comes to ID the body, she reports her daughter’s gold crucifix missing and the hunt begins to locate it and any potential DNA evidence. But as Harlow starts to piece Ellie’s last movements together, another body is found. The victim was killed in exactly the same way and worked with Ellie.

Witness statements identify a local man who was obsessed with both women and when Harlow sees video evidence of him pawning the gold necklace, she thinks she has her man. But when he too winds up dead, Harlow has to start over. The only other link to the women is Gavin Croswell, one of the most powerful men in the town. But with a whole host of alibis, pinning the murders on him is almost impossible.

With time running out to find the killer before another woman loses her life, the case soon becomes personal when Harlow’s car is violently run off the road. Someone wants to warn her off the case and they will use anything they can to threaten her. Even if it means exposing her own dark secret.

Can Harlow confront her demons to save another innocent life from being lost? And just how much is she prepared to sacrifice?

An absolutely addictive serial killer thriller perfect for fans of Melinda Leigh, and Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite series.

Author Bio:

Author Dea (D.H) Poirier is the author of NEXT GIRL TO DIE, which hit #1 in the Amazon charts. She was raised in Edmond, Oklahoma, where she got her start writing in creative writing courses. She attended The University of Central Oklahoma for Computer Science and Political Science. Later, she spent time living on both coasts, and traveling the United States, before finally putting down roots in Central Florida. She now resides somewhere between Disney and the swamp. She spends her days at her day job as a President of Digital Marketing, and her nights writing manuscripts.

https://www.dhpoirier.com/

https://www.facebook.com/dhpoirier/

https://www.instagram.com/deapoirier/

https://twitter.com/deapoirierbooks

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B09KCDJLT4social

My Review

The Girls in the Fire is the second book in the Harlow Durant series. I read Find Me In The Dark a little while ago and was keen to revisit these characters. Harlow is a strong female lead which is something I particularly enjoy in this kind of book. (Any kind of book if I'm honest.) This might be the Harlow show, but it isn't just about her, her sidekick Lucas, who is an interesting character in his own right, is right alongside her helping her get to the bottom of things. I particularly enjoy the two of them together.

As with the first book, we see flashes of Harlow's past, alongside the current case that she's investigating. Whole chapters appear with events from twenty years previously. Not only is she a detective dealing with murderers, but her own father is a serial killer. Whether this gives her a unique insight into the criminal mind or doing what she does just helps her to deal with her past, without ever being able to come fully to terms with it. I'm not sure that she would know either.

The murderer this time specialises in young women who he brutally disfigures and then sets alight. While in some books it's obvious who is behind it all and why, before some kind of big reveal, that wasn't the case here. Instead, we follow alongside Harlow and Lucas as they uncover what is going on.

This was a gripping read and one I really enjoyed. I hope that we will be seeing more of this pair soon.

Endless Encore - Kaylene Winter

Endless Encore
Kaylene Winter
(Less Than Zero, #5)
Publication date: February 17th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Ty:

I’ve made promises I’m struggling to keep.
Because my past is too dark and painful.
Zoey is everything to me, my beautiful soulmate.
I can’t bear for her to think I’m broken.
But pressure’s building and I’m losing control .
Will one fateful day destroy everything I’ve ever dreamed of?

Zoey:

My life with Ty is idyllic.
This past year has been everything I dreamed about and more.
It’s just—I can’t shake this feeling.
Something’s going on with my fiancé.
I can’t help but wonder, is he hiding something from me?
Will his past demons prevent our perfect future?

Happily ever after can mean so many things.

Life happens.

Faith is tested.

Will Ty & Zoey survive the biggest challenge of their lives?

Is the deepest love endless?

ENDLESS ENCORE is Book 6 in the Less Than Zero Rockstar Romance Series, and is the sequel to ENDLESS.

It is strongly recommended you read Books 1-4 before reading any of the “ENCORE” sequels, otherwise you will be spoiled!

Get ready for more stories of captivating passion!

Trigger Warning: Content in this book deals with childhood abuse and severe neglect.

Goodreads / Amazon

Author Bio:

When she was only 15, Kaylene Winter wrote her first rocker romance novel starring a fictionalized version of herself, her friends and their gorgeous rocker boyfriends. After living her own rockstar life as a band manager, music promoter and mover and shaker in Seattle during the early 1990’s, Kaylene became a digital media legal strategist helping bring movies, television and music online. Throughout her busy career, Kaylene lost herself in romance novels across all genres inspiring her to realize her life-long dream to be a published author. She lives in Seattle with her amazing husband and dog. She loves to travel, throw lavish dinner parties and support charitable causes supporting arts and animals.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

My Review

I often wonder what happens to a couple that you follow in a book, once the book comes to an end. Endless Encore takes Ty and Zoey's story and takes us on the journey of what comes next. I have to admit that after reading Endless, I wasn't totally sold on Ty and Zoey, just because they were a little immature and needed to grow up a bit I think. This story gives them the chance to do just that and prove that they really do belong together.

This story deals with some pretty dark themes and ideas, but it's handled well and sensitively. I really liked the development of Zoey and Ty's relationship here and thought that it was really well done. It's clear from some of the things that are mentioned in this book that there's also more to come from the rest of the band. I'm looking forward to seeing how their stories unfold as well. 

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