Category: relationships
+ abuse, child abuse, childhood, family, fiction, kidnapping, loneliness, obsession, relationships, review, thriller
So Pretty by Ronnie Turner
When Teddy Colne arrives in the small town of Rye, he believes he will be able to settle down and leave his past behind him. Little does he know that fear blisters through the streets like a fever. The locals tell him to stay away from an establishment known only as Berry & Vincent, that those who rub too closely to its proprietor risk … Read More So Pretty by Ronnie Turner
+ abuse, alcoholism, brothers, childhood, domestic noir, family, fantasy, feel-good, female friendship, fiction, folklore, forgiveness, friendship, Ghost story, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, grief, haunting, List, literature, loss, love, music, paranormal, piano, relationships, review, secrets, sisterhood, sisters, slavery, suffragette movement, supernatural, superstition, tradition, whimsical
My Top 4 Books of 2022
It’s approaching the very end of 2022 and it’s time to reflect on my absolute favourite books of the year. Last year it was hard but this year is even harder. There were instant standouts again – about 10 of them but I had to cut it down to four. I have tried to include a mix of genres but failed yet again. I read … Read More My Top 4 Books of 2022
+ abuse, female friendship, fiction, friends, friendship, jealousy, lies, love, marriage, mystery, Psychological fiction, relationships, review, secrets, therapy, thriller
The Engagement by Nasheema Lennon
Speak now or forever rest in peace . . . THE PERFECT FIANCÉ When Victoria’s best friend Gwen announces she is marrying the rich and handsome Michael, celebrations are strained. Victoria doesn’t trust Michael – he’s hiding something. And he reminds her of someone she needs to forget. THE DREAM WEDDING PLAN Too loved up to see Michael’s dark side, Gwen drags Victoria into … Read More The Engagement by Nasheema Lennon
+ family, feminism, fiction, girl's school, grief, Historical fiction, literature, London, loss, love, mental health, motherhood, music, psychiatrist, relationships, review, sisters, twins
The Crooked Little Pieces: Volume 2 by Sophia Lambton
Mind the gap between youth’s pedestal and looming adulthood. Two years have passed since Anneliese and Isabel braved the bombardment of the Blitz. Risks are resumed and revelations rattle as the past begins to rear its ugly head. Suffering sends Isabel on downward spirals; Anneliese falls victim to society’s expectations. Skeletons come tumbling from Susanna’s closet and for some the sex-and-death divide grows thinner. … Read More The Crooked Little Pieces: Volume 2 by Sophia Lambton
+ abuse, bullying, childhood, crime fiction, family, female friendship, feminism, fiction, friendship, grief, literature, loss, love, marriage, motherhood, murder, relationships, review
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
The most compelling, challenging and contemporary novel you will read this year – and which will start conversations we need to have around authenticity, identity and gender. From the bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan comes a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves. Olivia fled her abusive marriage to return … Read More Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
+ dark humour, fiction, friends, friendship, grief, literature, obsession, relationships, review, secrets, therapy, writing
Suicide Thursday by Will Carver
If words could kill…Eli Hagin can’t finish anything. He hates his job, but can’t seem to quit. He doesn’t want to be with his girlfriend, but doesn’t know how to end things with her, either. Eli wants to write a novel, but he’s never taken a story beyond the first chapter. #SuicideThursday @Will_Carver @OrendaBooks#RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour #CarverCult Eli also has trouble separating reality from fiction. When his … Read More Suicide Thursday by Will Carver
+ abuse, alcoholism, child abuse, childhood, domestic noir, eighties, family, female friendship, fiction, grief, loss, love, mental health, mental illness, obsession, relationships, review
Surviving Her by Jo Johnson
Nicky is the child with the hurting eyes and desperate ways. Rescue him.Claus is the man with the empty eyes and controlling ways. Rescue her. Broken by the death of her sister, Keziah can’t believe her luck when Claus, a beautiful psychologist saves her from a disciplinary disaster. Desperate to heal herself and restore her parents, she marries in haste. But her husband’s idiosyncrasies … Read More Surviving Her by Jo Johnson
+ childhood, family, fiction, friendship, humour fiction, love, motherhood, office drama, relationships, review, secrets, sisters, World War Two
The M Word by Eileen Wharton
Roberta Gallbreath is middle aged and menopausal. She dislikes her children, detests her ex-husband and despises her colleagues. When her mother dies, Roberta is left with a pile of letters and a mystery surrounding her son. The letters reveal Roberta’s heritage is not what it seems and she is soon on a mission to become a better person. #TheMWord @WhartonEileen @SpellBoundBks @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour … Read More The M Word by Eileen Wharton
+ alcoholism, dark humour, family, fiction, holiday, humour fiction, marriage, mid-life crisis, motherhood, relationships, review
The Wolf In The Woods by Dan Brotzel
Colleen and Andrew haven’t had sex in eleven weeks and three days [not that anyone’s counting]. Their marriage is in crisis, they’re drinking too much and both have secrets they’re afraid to share. A teetotal week in a remote cottage could solve all their problems. But with the promised beach nowhere in sight, a broken-down car and a sinister landlord, they may not find … Read More The Wolf In The Woods by Dan Brotzel
+ Devon, family, female friendship, fiction, friendship, Ireland, lies, marriage, Psychological fiction, rape, relationships, revenge, review, secrets, thriller
The Couple at Causeway Cottage by Diane Jeffrey
Kat and Mark move to an island off the Northern Irish coast for a new beginning. Far away from their frantic life in London, it’s the perfect place to bring up the family they’re longing to start. But as soon as they arrive, cracks begin to appear in their marriage. Mark is still texting his ex-wife. Kat is lying about a new friendship. And … Read More The Couple at Causeway Cottage by Diane Jeffrey
+ childhood, coming-of-age, family, feminism, fiction, girl's school, Historical fiction, literature, London, love, music, piano, relationships, review, sisters, twins, World War Two
The Crooked Little Pieces: Volume 1 by Sophia Lambton
Lost are the creatures destined never to be understood. 1926. Professor Josef van der Holt obtains a post at an all women’s college overseas. Stuffy London suddenly becomes the site for the unseemly exploits of his half-Dutch and half-German daughters Anneliese and Isabel. When tragedy carves out a hollow in their lives, an ailing soul sends the sororal twins along a jagged path: while … Read More The Crooked Little Pieces: Volume 1 by Sophia Lambton
+ coming-of-age, family, fiction, history, literature, love, memoir, motherhood, piano, relationships, review, World War Two
Lessons by Ian McEwan
When the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has descended, young Roland Baines’s life is turned upside down. 2,000 miles from his mother’s protective love, stranded at an unusual boarding school, his vulnerability attracts his pianoteacher Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade. Twenty-five years later Roland’s … Read More Lessons by Ian McEwan
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