Category: love
+ abuse, adventure, alcoholism, autism, childhood, crime fiction, dark humour, family, feel-good, fiction, friendship, grief, lies, List, literature, loss, love, Malaya, marriage, mental health, motherhood, murder, obsession, Psychological fiction, relationships, review, secrets, superstition, thriller, writer
My Top 8 Books of 2023 – Part One
Here are my favourite eight books of the first quarter of 2023. One of these will definitely make it into my top three books of 2023. While I read a lot of crime novels all these books are other genres, as a crime novel needs to be totally unique and exceptional to make it into my favourites. So Pretty by Ronnie Turner Part way through … Read More My Top 8 Books of 2023 – Part One
+ art, celebrity, fiction, grief, jealousy, lies, literature, loss, love, marriage, relationships, review, thriller
The Anniversary by Stephanie Bishop
‘It was always hard to tell where our marriage ended and my work began. I often dream now that I am drifting in a dark sea, the water around me lukewarm, like blood.’ Novelist JB Blackwood is on a cruise with her husband, Patrick, to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Patrick is older than JB, formerly her professor. He is a film director. A cult … Read More The Anniversary by Stephanie Bishop
+ family, fiction, friendship, grief, Historical fiction, Italy, literature, loss, love, murder, review, suffragette movement
Murder Under The Tuscan Sun by Rachel Rhys
An isolated castle, a deadly crime. Is this real or a nightmare? In a remote castle high up in the Tuscan hills secrets are simmering among its glamorous English residents:The ailing gentleman art-dealerHis dazzling nieceHer handsome Fascist husbandTheir neglected young daughterThe housekeeper who knows everythingand Connie, the English widow working for them #MurderUnderTheTuscanSun #RachelRhys #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour Every night, Connie hears sinister noises and a terrible … Read More Murder Under The Tuscan Sun by Rachel Rhys
+ dystopia, female friendship, fiction, friendship, grief, loss, love, reading, review, writer
End Of Story by Louise Swanson
Too much imagination can be a dangerous thing. It has been five years since writing fiction was banned by the government. Fern Dostoy is a criminal. Officially, she has retrained in a new job outside of the arts but she still scrawls in a secret notepad in an effort to capture what her life has become: her work on a banned phone line, reading … Read More End Of Story by Louise Swanson
+ abuse, crime fiction, dark humour, female friendship, fiction, friendship, kidnapping, lies, love, mental illness, murder, psychopath, review, secrets, serial killer, thriller, vigilante, writer
The Skull Keeper by Mariëtte Whitcomb
Best friends on social media, Allysa and Morgan share a love of three things: thriller novels, true crime, and keeping secrets from each other. As soon as Allysa asks Morgan to be her plus one at a funeral, Morgan jumps on the first available flight. Burying the dead might unearth the truth about what happened to Allysa’s brother twenty years earlier. She’s never believed … Read More The Skull Keeper by Mariëtte Whitcomb
+ abuse, family, fiction, grief, loss, love, marriage, motherhood, review, secrets, sisters, thriller
If She Lives (Harlow Series #3) by Erik Therme
Tess Parker knows tragedy better than most. After surviving the death of her daughter and kidnapping of her nephew, Tess is ready to return to normal life. #IfSheLives @ErikTherme @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour But her troubled past has other plans, and when an old threat reemerges, Tess must seek the help of an unlikely ally to set things right. No matter what the cost. My Review It’s … Read More If She Lives (Harlow Series #3) by Erik Therme
+ childhood, crime fiction, family, fiction, grief, jealousy, lies, loss, love, marriage, motherhood, murder, obsession, review, secrets, therapy, thriller
The Sleepwalker by LC George
Our dreams can be forgotten. But our nightmares will haunt us forever. Sam Fulford is living a perfectly normal life, except for one little thing: a strange sleep condition that causes him to roam in the night and occasionally become violent. So when Sam wakes one devastating morning to discover his wife dead beside him and his baby daughter missing, his whole world implodes. … Read More The Sleepwalker by LC George
+ autism, childhood, coming-of-age, family, fiction, literature, love, motherhood, relationships, review
All The Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow
I lived for and loved a bird-heart that summer; I only knew it afterwards. Sunday Forrester lives with her sixteen-year-old daughter, Dolly, in the house she grew up in. She does things more carefully than most people. On quiet days, she must eat only white foods. Her etiquette handbook guides her through confusing social situations, and to escape, she turns to her treasury of … Read More All The Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow
+ childhood, depression, family, feel-good, female friendship, fiction, friends, friendship, grief, loss, love, marriage, mental health, motherhood, review
Em & Me by Beth Morrey
A mother. A daughter. A secret waiting to be uncovered. The day that Delphine stands up for herself is the day that changes everything… For too long, Delphine has been unable to let go of the past, obsessed with protecting her daughter, Em, and clinging to a secret that has cast a shadow over their lives. When a chance encounter offers a way out, … Read More Em & Me by Beth Morrey
+ Catholic Church, crime fiction, family, female friendship, fiction, fifties, friendship, illegitimacy, Ireland, loss, love, motherhood, murder, police drama, rape, religion, review, serial killer, sisters, sixties, thriller
Blood Mothers by Gaye Maguire
Some debts can only be paid in blood. A rich socialite is found hacked to death in her Dublin home. It’s the beginning of a killing spree that leaves five apparently unconnected people brutally slain. Kate Hamilton, a brilliant and ambitious detective sergeant, is assigned to the case and soon uncovers the connection between the victims – they were all involved in an illegal adoption … Read More Blood Mothers by Gaye Maguire
+ crime fiction, fiction, grief, loss, love, motherhood, obsession, retreat, revenge, review, superstition, Sweden, University
The Wilderness Retreat by Jennifer Moore
I release myself from the shackles of the outside world and embrace the wilderness within. As Bella drops her son off at university, she’s devastated. It’s been the two of them ever since Asher was born. The only thing helping her through is the upcoming week-long wilderness retreat in Sweden. It’ll be her chance to reconnect and recharge. At the retreat, Bella basks in … Read More The Wilderness Retreat by Jennifer Moore
+ childhood, family, feel-good, fiction, friendship, gay community, love, marriage, relationships, review, secrets
Becoming Ted by Matt Cain
A charming, joyful and surprising story about love, friendship and learning to be true to yourself, Becoming Ted will steal your heart. Ted Ainsworth has always worked at his family’s ice-cream business in the quiet Lancashire town of St Luke’s-on-Sea. But the truth is, he’s never wanted to work for the family firm – he doesn’t even like ice-cream, though he’s never told his … Read More Becoming Ted by Matt Cain
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