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

From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to search
 
(603 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=Gillian Morgan
+
|author=Penny Parkes
|title=Salt Blue
+
|rating=4.5
|rating=3
+
|genre=General Fiction
|genre=Women's Fiction
+
|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 brickJamie'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 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.
|summary=I always judge a book by its coverThe eyes in the pretty face on the cover of ''Salt Blue'' are arresting, but difficult to assign to a period, though it’s clearly women’s or teen fictionI imagine that the cover might attract fiction readers of mainstream women’s magazines such as Women’s Weekly or Woman’s Own, so it’s spot on for the story inside.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906784159</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Lauren Bravo
|author=Kate Lawson
+
|title=Preloved
|title=Mother of the Bride
+
|rating=4
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=This is the story of Jess Foster who is busily preparing for her forthcoming marriage to Max Porter, willingly aided by her mum, Molly, and her stepmother, Marnie. It soon becomes apparent though that the women have different ideas, particularly opinionated Marnie who seems set on Jess having the society wedding of the year and even goes as far as hiring a wedding planner. Molly, on the other hand, agrees with Jess that things should really be kept simple. Thus the scene is well set for all the moods and mayhem which occurs when arranging a wedding. Will Jess be able to stick to her guns and arrange the type of wedding that she wants or will it just be easier to give in to other suggestions?
+
|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-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'
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847561179</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1398510629
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=0008506337
|author=Liane Moriarty
+
|title=The Garnett Girls
|title=What Alice Forgot
+
|author=Georgina Moore
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Women's Fiction
+
|genre=General Fiction
|summary='This wasn't the worst thing that had ever happened to her…it was just the most ridiculous' laments thirty nine year old mother of three, Alice, who has had the last ten years of her life struck from her memory by a blow to the head in her step aerobics classAlice now thinks she's twenty nine, newly pregnant with her first child and happily married to Nick and furthermore she hasn't a clue what she's doing at an aerobics class in the first place.  
+
|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 journalistThe 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''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141043768</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
Then Richard left them.
|author=Elin Hilderbrand
 
|title=The Castaways
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=On the island of Nantucket, four couples have forged strong bonds of friendship. Together they live and love, raise their children, share their dreams. It's an idyllic existence and at the same time a very purposeful one. The couples have worked hard to create the quality of life they now enjoy and nothing can take it away from them. Until now. Greg and Tess are dead, the result of what appears to be a sailing accident. They leave behind two young children, and six devastated friends, all of whom have to come to terms with what has happened. For some there is guilt over final words said or final warnings left unsaid. For others, there is the knowledge that secret relationships will now have to stay that way evermore. 'The Castaways' is the book of that fateful summer, the accident and its aftermath, but it's more than just that. It's a look at the precious role friends and family play in our lives, and how innocent actions or words can change the course of history forever.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340919825</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Karen Abbott
+
|author=Hadeer Elsbai
|title=A Most Rebellious Debutante
+
|title=The Daughters of Izdihar
|rating=3
+
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
+
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Lucy Templeton, daughter of Lord Templeton, fell in love with her dancing master. It wasn't entirely unusual for a seventeen year old girl to feel this way, but it was better that it was unheard of when she was caught in his arms. A substantial sum of money for the dancing master ensured that he would disappear and Lucy was sent to stay with her married sister as punishment.  She was not to attend parties or social functions and must spend her time looking after her sister's young children and doing good works, until such time as the Templetons could get her married off. All might have gone according to their plan had she not had a chance encounter with the notorious Lord Rockhaven and a stolen kiss catches her heart.
+
|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>0709090315</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356520471
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B0B575J99N
|author=Jojo Moyes
+
|title=Beneath the Porticoes
|title=The Horse Dancer
+
|author=Brooke Adams
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Only two things in life matter to fourteen-year-old Sarah: her horse Boo and her grandfather Henri LachapelleHenri sees Sarah's skill at horsemanship as her way out of their inner city London life and wants her to follow in his footsteps and become a member of France's elite equestrian academy Le Cadre Noir.
+
|summary=Elizabeth Miller was thirty-four and a teacher at a prestigious girl's school in YorkIt 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340961600</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=0241542405
|author=Mavis Cheek
+
|title=Meredith Alone
|title=Truth to Tell
+
|author=Claire Alexander
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Women's Fiction
+
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Robert Porter was angry.  The politician filling the television screen was lying.  He knew it.  He railed against it and said politician would have thought himself lucky not to be there in personNina only managed to calm her husband by enquiring whether he would like red or white wine with the meal and had that been the end of the matter then that would have been the end of the matter – if you see what I mean.  But the telephone rang and it was Robert's boss with details of the team-bonding office trip to Florida.  Robert assured him that he was really keen to go (he wasn't) and Nina was looking forward to it too (she wasn't)And then Nina started wondering about the difference between the politician's lies and Robert's, er, evasions.  Surely it must be possible to tell the truth?
+
|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 trainThen, she can'tShe 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 senseIn 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 timeThen Tom McDermott arrivesHe's from Holding Hands, a charity which supports people with problems such as Meredith's.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091931673</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jojo Moyes
 
|title=The Last Letter From Your Lover
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=
 
I do love a story that wraps me up completely within its little world, making me want to ignore my long list of things to do and just curl up reading all dayJojo Moyes' new novel certainly managed itI felt transported back to the 1960's, entirely caught up in the characters' lives, riding their highs and lows alongside of them, and I ended up desperately foisting my just-woken-up toddler onto my husband so that I could just read the last four pages without her hanging off my arm!
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340961627</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Cathy Woodman
 
|title=Trust Me, I'm a Vet
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=Though I'm not a pet owner and as such had never thought too much about it, I believed this book when it told me there are two types of vets (three if you count the Vietnam kind, though for these purposes let's not). No, I mean the city type who look after poodles and hamsters and maybe the odd depressed gold fish, and the country kind who stick their hands up cows' bottoms for fun, and think horses are man's second best friend, as well as essential equipment for extracurricular activities. Maz definitely falls into the first category, but when her love life gets as sticky as a cancerous canine tumour, she realises that London is not the place to be any more. An opportunity arises at the rather tweely named ''Otter'' ''House'' ''Veterinary'' ''Clinic'', and she seizes it, pleased to have a reason to flee the capital, at least temporarily.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099543567</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jeannie Machin
 
|title=My Lady Domino
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=Adele Russell serves behind the counter in a haberdashers and lives over the shopIt wasn't always like that though as it's only a few years since she was a wealthy heiress engaged to marry an earl, but after her father's financial ruin and his death in a fire her fiancé broke off the relationship and Adele was lucky to be taken in by her old nurseIt's taken some time to come to terms with what happened and Adele has reconciled herself to her lowly position until she finds an invitation to a masked ballWhat harm would there be in her wearing her mother's ball gown and domino, just for a taste of how things used to be?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0709089988</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=0008441618
|author=Val Harris
+
|title=Other Parents
|title=Sea Creatures
+
|author=Sarah Stovell
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=Rowena Moon and her husband Brendan lived on the Cornish coast with their three children, Jenna, Charlie and Olivia.  Brendan was an artist – and a reasonably successful one.  Rowena ran a local café and the children had the freedom of the local beach.  It sounds like, and probably was, an idyllic childhood until one day Rowena disappeared without warning and without explanation.  It was devastating and affected each of the children in different ways as they grew up.  Twenty two years later the five are reunited and the mystery of their past unravels.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0955599741</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Sandra Heath
 
|title=A Commercial Enterprise
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=Caroline is a Lexham, but she's not one of ''the'' Lexhams as her father made a rather unfortunate marriage.  In consequence she's rather surprised to be invited to the reading of her uncle's will.  She didn't know him, had no expectations and probably wouldn't have gone to London if she hadn't been trying to escape the attentions of a pressing suitor.  The journey there is trying, but she's rescued by Sir Hal Seymour who gives her a lift in his carriage.  It might have got Caro to the reading on time, but she made an enemy of his mistress who had hopes of becoming his wife.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>070908997X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Lisa Jewell
 
|title=After the Party
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|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 domesticityJem 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 againRalph, 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.
+
|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 townThe school had an active Parent Teacher Association and the funds which they raised were a considerable benefit to the schoolThere 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>1846055733</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Giovanna Fletcher
|author=Sue Eckstein
+
|title=Walking on Sunshine
|title=The Cloths of Heaven
+
|rating=4
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|summary=We're in West Africa in the early nineteen nineties.  There'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 gives.  Isabel is married to iconoclastic photographer Patrick Redmond and copes better than most wives would with her husband's fixation with pendulous black breasts.  There is gossip though. The High Commissioner and his wife Fenella are both involved in illicit affairs, with more or less discretion.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0954930983</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Trisha Ashley
 
|title=Chocolate Wishes
 
|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 book.  I 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=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>1847561144</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=140593560X
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B09FS89KX9
|author=Margaret Leroy
+
|title=Fall On Me
|title=The Perfect Mother
+
|author=Penelope Potts
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|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 betterBut 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.
+
|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>0778303527</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=0008421714
|author=Susannah Bates
+
|title=Mrs March
|title=Under a Sapphire Sky
+
|author=Virginia Feito
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Women's Fiction
+
|genre=Literary 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 babyMarianne 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.
+
|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>0099445441</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1473685745
|author=Louise Harwood
+
|title=Unbreak Your Heart
|title=Kiss Like You Mean It
+
|author=Katie Marsh
|rating=3.5
+
|rating=4
|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
 
|author=Laurie Graham
 
|title=Life According to Lubka
 
|rating=3.5
 
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|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 MarsupialShe's forty-two years old but is still out every night, drinking, eating very little and seemingly surviving on a diet of chemical mood enhancersOne 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 togetherBuzz 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.
+
|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 bikeHe wasn't hurt but Jake has historyHe 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 oldSo, Simon has every right to be over-protective particularly when someone isn't looking where they're driving.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849161828</amazonuk>
+
}}  
}}
+
{{Frontpage
 
+
|author=C J Carey
{{newreview
+
|title=Widowland
|author=Janet Mullany
 
|title=Improper Relations
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Historical Fiction
+
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Unlucky in love Charlotte Hayden has just lost her best friend and confidante Ann in marriage to the Earl of BeresfordAt the wedding she encounters Lord Shadderly, Beresford's best friend, a broodingly handsome man whom she takes an immediate dislike toBefore 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=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>0755347803</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=152941198X
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Dorothy Koomson
 
|title=The Ice Cream Girls
 
|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 waysThe girls are trapped as victims because neither has the assertiveness or maturity to handle the situationChance 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>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Ruth Hogan
|author=Lauren Grodstein
+
|title=Madame Burova
|title=A Friend of the Family
 
|rating=4
 
|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.
 
|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 name.  Nor does it take a genius to figure out the precise nature of what Ian has been up to with the sender.  A 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 home.  As 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>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Louise Douglas
 
|title=Missing You
 
 
|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 home.  But then one day it all falls apart when Belle announces that she has met someone else and wants Sean to move out.
+
|summary=This book lets us discover several people in different stages of life in the early 1970s, all vaguely connectedSo 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 boothThe 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 stallWe 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 BillieJust who is she, and who delivered the secrets about her to Imelda, and why did it have to remain a secret all this time?
 
+
|isbn=152937331X
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>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Katie Fforde (Editor) and Sue Moorcroft (Editor)
 
|title=Loves Me, Loves Me Not
 
|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' AssociationIn 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 1960My advice is to sip through the stories slowly, rather than gobbling them up quickly and suffering from indigestion.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0778303373</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author= Jennifer Saint
|author=Lauren Oliver
+
|title= Ariadne
|title=Before I Fall
+
|rating= 4.5  
|rating=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=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''.
+
|isbn=1472273869
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340980893</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Lucy Holland
|author=Suzanne Bugler
+
|title=Sistersong
|title=This Perfect World
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Women's Fiction
+
|genre=Literary 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?
+
|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.
 
+
|isbn=1529039037
And then Mrs Partridge makes an unwelcome phone call...  
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>023074401X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B08NF79QXT
|author=Julie Cohen
+
|title=Cherry Blossom Boutique
|title=Nina Jones and the Temple of Gloom
+
|author=Brooke Adams
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=3
|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!
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755341414</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Melanie Rose
 
|title=Coming Home
 
|rating=4.5
 
|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 cat.  She has clearly made some momentous decision, and is on her way to somewhere new.  I assumed that as story unfolded, I'd learn more about her and where she was going.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847561063</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Stephanie Tillotson
 
|title=Cut on the Bias
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Short Stories
 
|summary=If ''Cut on the Bias'' is in your local bookshop, you will surely be won over by the feisty cover.  Stories 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?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906784132</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Erica Bauermeister
 
|title=The Monday Night Cooking School
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|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=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>0141038837</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B08GFSK2WZ
|author=Kate Morton
+
|title=The Karma Trap
|title=The Forgotten Garden
+
|author=Lisette Boyd
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|genre=Women's 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 Australia.  She 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 her.  There's no trace of her though and the little girl was taken in a by a friendly family.  She forgot all about the events until many years later when her adopted father told her what had happened.
+
|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 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 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330449605</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B08CHJLNBS
|author=Cathy Marie Buchanan
+
|title=Capturing Emilia
|title=The Day The Falls Stood Still
+
|author=Brooke Adams
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=3
|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
 
|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.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099531933</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Lorraine Jenkin
 
|title=Chocolate Mousse and Two Spoons
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
 
|genre=Women's Fiction
|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 taleAn 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 handsWelcome, Lorraine Jenkin, to my handful of favourite chick-lit authors.
+
|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 deeperCharles 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>1870206959</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author= Helly Acton
|author=Ru Freeman
+
|title= The Shelf
|title=A Disobedient Girl
+
|rating= 4
|rating=5
+
|genre= Women's Fiction
|genre=General 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=
+
|isbn=1838770879
''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.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0670917958</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=Debby Holt
+
|isbn=0349003297
|title=Recipe For Scandal
 
|rating=4
 
|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>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author= Katie Fforde
|author=Jules Stanbridge
+
|title= A Springtime Affair
|title=A Date in Your Diary
+
|rating= 4
|rating=4.5
+
|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 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.  
|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.
+
|isbn=1780897561
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755347137</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B07W4MNBSG
|author=Sharon Owens
+
|title=Be Careful Who You Marry
|title=The Seven Secrets of Happiness
+
|author=Lizzy Mumfrey
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
+
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=It was hard to think that life wasn't perfect for Ruby O'NeillShe 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=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.
 
 
Jonathan had been killed in a car crash.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141028564</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Features|the latest features]]
|author=Sarah Duncan
 
|title=A Single to Rome
 
|rating=3
 
|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?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755345932</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