Author: Pam

Recent Reads: Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger (Devil Wears Prada 2)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟

Revenge Wears Prada is the second book in the series, and it’s set 10 years after the first book.  Andy and Emily work together, and hae a wedding magazine called The Plunge, that they started 3 years ago, which has been a very popular magazine with the audience they’re trying to attract – people who like Runway!

Andy has fallen in love and is getting married.  With that, and a popular magazine, what more could she want in life?  And you know this is when things start to go wrong!

I find these books to be quite hard to read, as I hate the way the character’s treat each other.  I will be finishing the series with the third book, but I probably won’t read anything else by Lauren Weisberger.

You can read my review of The Devil Wears Prada.

Revenge Wears Prada was published on 4th June 2013, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Lauren Weisberger on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and her website.

Recent Reads: Opal Country by Chris Hammer

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Opal Country by Chris Hammer is set in the Australian outback, where they have opal mines.  There’s been a suspicious death, and so the police are investigating.  This is a thriller, with lots of things going on.

This is a very atmospheric book, with the hard life of living in the Australian little communities shown very evocatively, with the secrets and weirdnesses, including a local cult.

Opal Country was published on 6th January 2022, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Chris Hammer on his website.

You can read my review of Scrublands, also by Chris Hammer.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Headline.

Recent Reads: Bad Gods by Gaie Sebold

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Bad Gods by Gaie Sebold is about Babylon Steel, the madame of the Red Lantern in Scalentine, the city of portals, where you can find anything.  Babylon has been a mercenary, and a priestess, and some of the things that she did in the past are starting to catch up to her.

This is a fun fantasy book, which made me think of Robert Asprin’s series Myth Adventures , with Babylon investigating some crimes, and a variety of characters, creatures and religions.  I found the portals a fun idea, and one that was used well.

Bad Gods was published on 4th January 2022, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Gaie Sebold on twitter, and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Rebellion publishing.

Recent Reads: Skin Game by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files 15)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Harry is still Queen Mab’s Winter Knight, and so her champion.  And also hers to do what she wants with!  Which is how he ends up working for Nicodemus Archleone, as Mab is paying off a debt.  He’s to help Nicodemus break into a vault in town, which will help them break into a vault in the Nevernever!  Harry is not impressed, and aware of treachery must be just around the corner!

This was another thrilling story, and one where a lot of Harry’s friends feature.  I have really enjoyed the evolution of each character throughout these books, be it friends, allies, or foes!  It’s been really consistently good, and I haven’t been faced with any glaring plot holes or other issues you get with long running series!

You can follow Jim Butcher on his website, Twitter and Facebook.

My reviews for previous Dresden Files books are below:

Storm Front (book 1)

Fool Moon (book 2)

Grave Peril (book 3)

Summer Knight (book 4)

Death Masks (book 5)

Blood Rites (book 6)

Dead Beat (book 7)

Proven Guilty (book 8)

White Night (book 9)

Small Favor (book 10)

Turn Coat (book 11)

Changes (book 12)

Ghost Story (book 13)

Cold Days (book 14)

Recent Reads: Death of Riley by Rhys Bowen (Molly Murphy book 2)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Death of Riley by Rhys Bowen (Molly Murphy book 2) is set in New York, in early twentith century, with Molly trying her hand at being a companion, and then getting a job with a private investigator.

There is a murder that she decides to investigate, and this time she’s had a little training from the private investigatory, which makes it interesting seeing the new things she does.  I enjoyed the evolution of Molly, and I’m looking forward to reading more books in this series!

Death of Riley was published on 5th December 2002, and is available from Amazon and Waterstones.

I listened to this one as an audiobook, and so enjoyed Lara Hutchinson’s reading of the book.

You can follow Rhys Bowen on Twitter, Facebook and her website.

You can read my review of book 1 in this series, Murphy’s Choice.

Recent Reads: The Sin Eater by Megan Campisi

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Sin Eater by Megan Campisi is set in a world where Sin Eaters are women who have been cast out by society, cannot speak to anyone, except for hearing their list of sins in their life, and then they say the food that they will eat to absolve the confessor’s sins.  They also have a collar put on around their neck that is locked in place.

May Owens becomes a sit eater at 14 after being caught trying to steal a loaf of bread.  She goes to live with the sin eater, and learn the life, all without words.  When a food is left out for a sin that a confessor didn’t confess to, things start to happen.

This is set in a version of Tudor England, with a queen that feels very like Queen Elizabeth I.  I enjoyed the historical references that you could recognise, and I’m sure there were more that I didn’t spot!  It was a rich story, with a mystery investigated when the investigator can’t talk.

The Sin Eater was published on 23rd July 2020, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Pan MacMillan.

Recent reads: Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop by Rebecca Raisin

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop by Rebecca Raisin has Flora, a Christmas addict, who gets fired from her job in a Christmas shop, and hits on the idea of going to a Christmas fayre in Lapland with a travelling Christmas shop!

There she meets Connor, someone who definitely does not like Chirsmtas, and so she decides to make it her aim to make him enjoy Christmas.  And of course we have things going wrong, people getting the wrong idea about things, and moments of joy.

I enjoyed this story a lot, and found it to be very Christmasy. It’s an enjoyable read, with a lovely setting on Lapland.

Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop was published on 28th October 2021, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

I’ve read and reviewed another book in this same series, Aria’s Travelling Book shop.

You can follow Rebecca Raisin on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to HQ.

Recent Reads: 21st Birthday by James Patterson (Women’s Murder Club book 21)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Cindy is approached by a woman saying that her daughter and granddaughter have gone missing, and blames her daughter’s husband, Lucas.  He says she’s young and flighty, and so Lindsay starts looking into it.

All four women are involved with the case, with Claire and Yuki contributing, but Claire is recovering from an operation, and so has to be a little more careful of herself that she’s used to.

This was a thrilling story, with events unfolding that weren’t expected, and a fast pace set as always!

You can follow James Patterson on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and his website.

I’m afraid I couldn’t find any links for Maxine Paetro for you to follow.

Women’s Murder Club books:

1st to Die   – book 1 

2nd Chance – book 2

3rd Degree – book 3

4th of July – book 4

The 5th Horseman – book 5

The 6th Target – book 6

7th Heaven – book 7

The 8th Confession – book 8;

The 9th Judgement – book 9

10th Anniversary – book 10

11th Hour – book 11

12th of Never – book 12

Unlucky 13 – book 13

14th Deadly Sin – book 14

15th Affair – book 15

16th Seduction – book 16

17th Suspect – book 17

18th Abduction – book 18

19th Christmas – book 19

20th Victim – book 20

Recent Reads: Death on the Trans-Siberian Express by C J Farrington

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Death on the Trans-Siberian Express by C J Farrington is set in Russia, with Olga Pushkn, Railway Engineer (Third Class), who wants more, in this case, to study literature at Tomsk State University, and become a best selling author.  But life is a little more boring than that, in a snow, boring village in Russia.

It becomes more exciting when Olga gets knocked over by an American tourist being pushed off a train, and so she becomes involved in the investigation, with the usual problems that a civilian helping the police has.

I enjoyed the story being set somewhere new, with a disappointed heroine trying to make her way in the world.  This felt quite like a cosy crime, and as this is labelled as book 1 in places, there are obviously plans for more in the series.

Death on the Trans-Siberian Express was published on 25th November 2021, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow C J Farrington on Twitter and his website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to  Little, Brown Book.

Recent Reads: The Curse That Binds Us by Katie Hayoz

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Curse That Binds Us by Katie Hayoz tells the story of Redd, who has a mysterious box that appears every year on her birthday, which her mother refuses to allow her to open!  But this year, she’s going to open it, and starts a chain of events!

John lives in a village that is both lovely and has a dark secret.  He’s sent to find Redd.

Eleanor leaves England in 1587, pregnant, and ready to become a settler, but there are a number of horrible decisions that she has to make along the way.

These three stories go along together, with flashbacks to Eleanor making the current events make more sense.

This was the first in a series, and so sets up a number of questions that I’m sure will be answered in later books.  It was entertaining, with darkness that becomes more apparent the further on in the book you go.

The Curse That Binds Us was published on 15th December 2021, and is available from Amazon and Waterstones.

You can follow Katie Hayoz on Facebook, Instagram and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to BooksGoSocial.