beate251's reviews
451 reviews

REVIEW IN PROGRESS

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.

This is the second book in Come Away With Me series after Bring me Sunshine in Greece where the three gals met.

I had to laugh at the  old-fashioned way they tried to find a restaurant. Just take a picture of the logo and put it through Google Lens!

This is a feel-good easy to read escapist romance and an uplifting beach read about female friendship and second chances. The brightly-coloured cover is gorgeous. 

Charlotte is an accountant , Sean is an arborist. They live next to each other on the second floor of their building but only realise that when builders accidentally remove the stairs to their floor for a weekend. I'm not sure you could call it forced proximity as they have a ladder and can technically leave, plus plenty of people visit them with food and gossip. The elderly ladies from Sean's bonsai class at the retirement home are hilarious, as are their friends Izzy and Gabe.

Abby Jimenez' books always deal with difficult topics. This time it's stalking. Charlotte has had a stalker for years who finds her even when she moves. Consequently she works from home, carries bear spray and even a gun (the one American trait I can't stand) and is a nervous wreck, always looking over her shoulder. She has great friends though, and Sean immediately offers himself up as a protector. I was very happy when she solved the situation herself!

I am not a fan of first person narration with dual POV - I never know who is speaking, but it is quite difficult to tell an interesting story and create rounded characters in just 80 pages. Abby Jimenez does it effortlessly plus, as always, manages a mention of Nadia Cakes, her own business.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for this ARC.

Tammy is a sand artist in the Cornish town of Porthmellow. She takes commissions for beach creations, works part-time in an art gallery for her boss and father figure Davey and has just been accepted for three sand creations at the annual OceanFest.

Ruan is a lawyer who has just moved to Porthmellow due to an inheritance from an estranged great-uncle. He falls for Tammy fast, but Tammy has committment issues due to her mother leaving the family and then a few years ago her father dying unexpectedly under mysterious circumstances after losing their house. 

As if that wasn't enough, Ruan's inheritance creates problems because it has an unexpected connection to Tammy's family, and Tammy's ex Sean is intent on causing trouble. Will they be able to overcome their hangups?

This is a solid summer romance by the reliable Philippa Ashley. The characters are likeable but to be honest, I expected more from this, as this was just too predictable. The ending felt abrupt, and the rest was stuffed into an epilogue. I liked the Cornish setting though, and the romance between Davey and Breda. I loved "Second Chance Summer" and will always read everything Phillipa Ashley writes but I think this isn't her best effort.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.

This is the second book in the Starr's Fall series. Maggie Parker, 41 and widowed, has moved to small town Starr's Fall in Connecticut, New England for a fresh start. She has a teenage son named Ben who is 14 and she intends to open a boardgame café. She soon realises that she's stumbled into a ready-made friendly community, including Zach, 31,  who has a reputation around town for being a player. But is it true, and what is Maggie hiding about her past marriage? Zach is a people pleaser who clashes a lot with his sister Jenna about the future of their family-owned grocery store, and he is keen to help Maggie set up her café.

Maggie doesn't want to start a relationship because of the age difference, their emotional baggage, Zach's reputation, and having a vulnerable son. Ben gets a lot of time in this book and it's clear he is very important to his Mum and why they moved to Starr's Fall. 

As long as I don't have to live in them I quite like to read about small towns, and I liked the warm-hearted, kind people in this one. Laurie and Joshua from the previous book are the first people to welcome and befriend  Maggie and Ben. I like short novels that don't overstay their welcome and aren't too taxing, and I like cats so this was right up my street. The story and the cover have a pleasantly spring feel which is nice as most novels choose either summer or winter for their stories.

I felt the ending was a bit abrupt and there were lots of things in the epilogue that could have got more time in the book but I guess it was used to set up the next book in the series which seems to be Jenna's story. Altogether, this is a cosy, clean small-town romance about two people with baggage giving each other a chance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for this ARC.

This is the story of Queen Margaret of England, wife of Lancastrian King Henry VI, and Anne Beauchamp, Countess of Warwick, wife of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, also called the Kingmaker, who famously switched allegiance from York to Lancaster to further himself and lost his head in the process. Throughout the book, they sent each other letters, but they were full of barbs as they behaved like cruel toddlers. There was hardly female friendship here and yet they continued to correspond. I don't know whether they did in real life but I seriously doubt it.

Gosh, this isn't a cheerful book. It's almost exclusively about how women had no agency and suffered extreme tragedies at the hands of men who left them powerless and penniless. Women were not allowed to participate in war, religion or politics, the three main topics of the time. They and their inheritance were seen as a man's property and their fate was either as a wife and mother, or as a nun in a convent. Even Queen Margaret who basically ruled England for a while, could only do so because her husband Henry was weak and allowed her to, even though she lacked neither the ability nor the confidence.

Today we decry arranged marriages, back then they were the norm, at least in aristocratic circles where the accumulation of and holding on to wealth and titles was more important than anything. Women had no role to play, no influence to exert but as wife of a traitor they were considered guilty too. Talk about injustice! 

This is, as ever, meticulously researched but I have read about the historical political context and the backdrop of the War of the Roses better elsewhere. I was more interested in a woman's life back then but everything they did or thought was because of a man's actions in a world where betrayal and treason seemed to be the norm. 

Much is made about Johane de Geneville, who was the subject of the author's previous book, being the great great grandmother of Anne Beauchamp. It looks like a lot of history did repeat itself throughout hundreds of years which is not a cheerful thought.

Those women might have been strong-willed but it didn't really help them in a world dominated by male power games. Also, I know there was plenty of story go get through but I would have wished for a tightening that got it under 400 pages. Still, I enjoyed reading about women history deemed not important enough and who come to life here.

Johane de Geneville is 
married at 15 to Roger Mortimer, later the first Earl of March, who is 14 but considers himself a man who is not allowed to govern his own lands and has to allow Piers Gaveston to do it for him until he becomes of age. His over ambition doesn't allow this for long however. This is his story up the ladder until he stands next to Queen Isabella with King Edward II abdicated and the Despensers dispensed of, but he can't outrun his fate forever. Lives were short in the 1400s for two reasons: illnesses and war.

Women were not allowed to participate in war, religion or politics, the three main topics of the time. They and their inheritance were seen as a man's property and their fate was either as a wife and mother, or as a nun in a convent (I know what I would have chosen even though Johane is scathing about the impoverished life in the habit). Today we decry arranged marriages, back then they were the norm, at least in aristocratic circles where the accumulation of and holding on to wealth and titles was more important than anything. Women had no role to play, no influence to exert but as wife of a traitor they were considered guilty too. Talk about injustice!

This is, as ever, meticulously researched but the historical political context and the backdrop of war left me cold. I was more interested in a woman's life back then in the Welsh Marches but I'm not sure I got enough of Johane to really grasp her. Everything she did or thought was because of a man's actions in a world where betrayal and treason seemed to be the norm. Johane bore 12 children to a man who she thought loved her and who betrayed her in the cruellest and most public way but it seemed she was more upset at the other woman, Queen Isabella. Her polite barbs were first class though. 

I would have liked to hear more about her 12 children but we never hear about the horror it must have been to go through labour twelve times. We hear a lot about her time in confinement with some of her daughters where she complains bitterly about the cold castle and the food rations. She might have been strong-willed but it didn't really help her in a world dominated by male power games. Kudos though for getting her family lands and titles restored to her after relentless petitioning. That was a big thing back then.

Also, I know there was plenty of story go get through but as we skipped a lot of years anyway, I would have wished for a tightening that got it under 400 pages. Still, I enjoyed reading about a woman history deemed not important enough and who comes to life here in a story full of betrayal, loss, and grief.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC.

This is book 2 in The Widows' Detective Club series and I would really recommend to read them in order though you don't have to.

Seven months ago, Ginny Cole, 60, recently widowed, moved to Middle Cottage, Little Shaw for a fresh start and got herself a part-time job in the local library. Then she discovered a body, met three other widows, solved some murders with their help, adopted a stray cat and was promoted to library manager. Grumpy DI James Wallace who also happens to be her neighbour, was not happy about her interference.

And now she is doing it again! Haberdasher Timothy Harlow has been stabbed in the back with dressmaking scissors and as he "had been a bad-tempered eccentric shop owner who’d gone out of his way to make enemies", the suspect list is long. There is daughter Megan, her lover Milos Petrovic, his father Vanja Petrovic, rival shop owner Ants Mancini and artist Juliana Melville, not to mention many disgruntled customers.

The cast is enormous  but most of them are just there in the background to round out the community. I had so many theories and changed my mind countless times - if the widows were convinced of the murderer's identity I was too, and we were all wrong every time. The reveal came a bit out of left field in what turned out to be quite a complicated story involving several unsavoury characters.

I'm giving this such a high score because I felt extremely entertained by this motley crew of community characters, and I love feisty, elderly women just doing what they want, although unfortunately the other widows Hen, JM and Tuppence still feel a little underdeveloped. The preparations for the Little Shaw Spring Fete with its 65 categories of arts, craft, produce and baking provide huge entertainment, especially if you are a crafter or baker.

The plot this time is a bit muddled (the murderer's motive was ridiculous) and there are several community members like PC Singh and pathologist Imogen Smith who don't really get to shine but at least cat Edgar and his thieving tendencies were actively helping with the sleuthing and the book is full of female friendship and village life.

I wish DI Wallace would thaw a bit and I hope we get to see more of his taciturn but good at DIY Dad Ted. The travelling murder board with Velcroed felt miniatures is genius and will hopefully be used again because it's clear that those four aren't done interfering with police business yet! Recommended as this incredibly warmhearted cosy mystery with great characters is cracking good fun.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC.

This is book 1 in The Widows' Detective Club series but book 2 is straight behind.

Ginny Cole, 60, recently widowed, has moved to Middle Cottage, Little Shaw for a fresh start, and got herself a part-time job in the local library. However, on her second day she discovers the universally disliked library manager Louisa Farnsworth dead on the premises. Together with Hen, JM and Tuppence, three other widows, she sets upon discovering the murderer, even though grumpy DI James Wallace who also happens to be her neighbour, is not happy about it. 

Suspects are not in short supply, from husband Bernard to Bernards ex-wife Alyson to historian Harold and handyman Mitch, they all had a bone to pick with her, not to mention all the disgruntled library members.

The cast is enormous but most of them are just there in the background to round out the community. I had so many theories and changed my mind countless times - if the widows were convinced of the murderer's identity I was too, and we were all wrong every time. The reveal came a bit out of left field in what turned out to be quite a complicated story involving several unsavoury characters.

I'm giving this such a high score because I felt extremely entertained by this motley crew of community characters, and I love feisty, elderly women just doing what they want, although unfortunately the other widows felt somewhat underdeveloped. I hope we get more background on them in the next book. The plot was also really interesting, and full of female friendship and village life.

I found it endearing and weird at the same time that Ginny still talks to her dead husband, but she is a lovely lady with a big, grief-stricken heart. I liked how she took young Connor under her wings, adopted black cat Edgar and just generally became a fixture in Little Shaw's community ever so quickly. Also, a book with so much library content is always a winner with me! Recommended as this incredibly warmhearted cosy mystery with great characters is cracking good fun.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.

Ever since Dr Emy Rose's brother Sam, 21, was kidnapped and murdered by serial killer Frank Elkins, her mother has suffered from traumatic mutism and hasn't spoken a word. That was ten years ago.

At the weekends, Emy who gets a first person POV, and her mother go searching for Sam's grave. In her work time, psychologist Emy is trying everything to get Frank Elkins to talk and reveal Sam's and his other victims' whereabouts to get their families some closure. She has managed to get a project off the ground that allows her to interview serial killers in a facility called Beeswell, together with her colleagues and friends Chi and Robbie.

The inmates, beside Frank Elkins, are Joe Okorie who killed eight women, suffers from a personality disorder and is in love with Emy. He gets a third person POV. Then there is Tim Shenton, a highly intelligent psychopathic paedophile who is charged with raping and murdering his little nephew. He doesn't fit the criteria of Emy's study because he hasn't confessed and there is no body to be found, but Justice Secretary Harrington has ulterior motives that require him to confess before a trial, so in he comes.

Can Emy, with the help of her colleagues and journalist Leon, get some results for the victims' families, including her own, before Beeswell is shut down forever? And how far will she go in this psychological tug-of-war to achieve them?

There are some very unlikeable characters in this book, and many unpredictable twists and turns. The story takes a bit to get going but I would say this is better than Tam Barnett's first novel "How to Get Away with Murder". I stayed up all night to finish this. It's a captivating read with gobsmacking twists I did not see coming! It is darker than the cover suggests though and I didn't detect any humour. There is a love story but it's incidental and in the background.

I Ioved Emy's relationship with her traumatised mother, how she tried to get the inmates to talk and how we got an insight into a twisted murderer's mind. Recommended if you love a twisty thriller with unhinged psychopaths or sociopaths at every corner.

"If you can convince someone that you and they are on the same team, have the same goals, or the same purpose, it makes them far easier to manipulate and influence."
(Robert Cialdini's unity principle)

God, this was depressing. In the past we have a mother and daughter being abused relentlessly and in the present we have a pregnant woman knowing her baby won't live. Cheers. Emotional and heartbreaking and way too intense. Loved The Secret Life of Beatrice Alright, but this wasn't for me.