Recent Reads: Critical Incidents by Lucie Whitehouse

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Critical Incidents by Lucie Whitehouse has Detective Inspector Robin Lyons going home to her parents having lost her job in London.  She’s going to work for a friend of her mother’s as a private investigator, with her daughter Lennie going to school nearby.

Robin had gone against her boss in the police, and has a troubled relationship with her mother, so there is a lot of drama in this book, but you are taken on a journey as Robin investigates her best friend’s murder.

This is a crime novel, with lots of suspense as you join Robin in trying to work out what happened.  There are family dynamics galore between Robin and her daughter, and her mother.  This was an enjoyable read!

Critical Incidents was published on 18th April 2019 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Lucie Whitehouse on Twitter and Facebook.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to 4th Estate.

Recent Reads: Two Women in Rome by Elizabeth Buchan

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Two Women in Rome by Elizabeth Buchan has Lottie in the present and Nina in 1978.  We go between the two times as Lottie learns more about Nina and why she died.

This story has secrets, lies and miscommunication, all set in the beautiful city of Rome.  I really enjoyed the story for both Lottie and Nina.  It’s a mystery book, and felt very evocative of Rome.

Two Women in Rome was published on 3rd June 2021 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Elizabeth Buchan on Twitter, Facebook and her website.

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

Recent Reads: Raising Hell by Bryony Pearce

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Raising Hell by Bryony Pearce is set in a world where a rift has been opened which allows black magic to happen.  Ivy works as a school security guard in a high school as teenagers are the ones who can work magic.

But Ivy is hiding a secret – she was there when the rift was opened, along with her friends.

This is a YA urban fantasy novel, which is entertaining, and a good introduction to urban fantasy.  I enjoyed the way the story was woven together, and was cheering on Ivy and the others.

Raising Hell was published on 3rd June 2021 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Bryony Pearce on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and her website.

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

Recent Reads: The Ming Storm by Yan Leisheng

Posted on by Pam

My review:???

The Ming Storm by Yan Leisheng is a book in the Assassin’s Creed universe. 

I’m a fan of the Assassin’s Creed games, and so I was looking forward to this book, but as I haven’t read any of the other books in the series, and I’m not up to date on games, so I felt lost when there were references to what had happened before this book.

There’s lots of action as you would expect from a story in the Assassin’s Creed world!  There’s references to other assassin’s that you will have come across in this world.

The Ming Storm was published on 1st June 2021 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

I’m afraid I couldn’t find where you could follow Yan Leisheng.

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

Recent Reads: Turn Coat by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files 11)

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Dresden is back again, and this time, Morgan, the warden who dogged Dresden for years, now comes to him for help.  He’s been set up to look like the killer of someone in the White Council headquarters in Edinburgh, and Dresden is the only person he can think of to go to that wouldn’t be suspected of harbouring Morgan.

Dresden has to investigate who could get into the headquarters without being seen, or was it an inside job?  Harry’s apprentice, Molly is around, and Morgan doesn’t trust her at all, which leads to some situations.  

Seeing Dresden helping someone he would never think he would help is interesting, and learning a little more about the White Council is good.  The Dresden File books never disappoint, and you’ll enjoy the story being unveiled for you.

Turn Coat was published on 7th April 2009, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

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)

Recent Reads: The Lights of Prague by Nicole Jarvis

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

The Lights of Prague by Nicole Jarvis is a fantasy novel, set in Prague, where there are creatures such as pijavice (vampires), will o’ the wisps, and other things that go bump in the night.  Domek is one of the lamplighters, those who protect humanity from these creatures.

His friend, Lady Ora Fischerová, also has things that go bump on the brain, and witnesses a pijovice go into the daylight, surely an act of suicide, but there’s rumours of a cure.

This was a good story, set in the 19th Century, with secrets being unearthed.  I would be very happy to read more of these characters.  It made me think of Gail Carriger’s Parasole Protectorate series, but without the steampunk!

The Lights of Prague was published on 25th May 2021 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Nicole Jarvis on Twitter and on her website.

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

Recent Reads: Devorgilla Days by Kathleen Hart

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Devorgilla Days by Kathleen Hart is the story of Kathleen’s life starting again in a town called Wigtown, which is Scotand’s book capital (no, I hadn’t heard of this place either!).

She has battled various health issues, including cancer, and has bought a 13th century cottage, which she renovates, and we meet her neighbours and people she knows in the town.

This is an enjoyable memoir of finding pleasure in the little things, and having a fresh start.  I enjoyed the way it is told, so you are given more information the longer you read, so you get the full picture by the end of the book, and realise quite how amazing Kathleen is!

Devorgilla Days was published on 27th May 2021 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Kathleen Hart on Instagram and on her website.

I was given this book in exchange of an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to John Murray Press.

Recent Reads: Romancing Mr Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (Bridgertons 4)

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Romancing Mr Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (Bridgertons 4) is about Colin, who is back in London having been on another trip abroad.  He’s still getting a lot of attention from Lady Whistledown, and is very used to people thinking of him as being charming but nothing else.  

When he sees Penelope, he’s enchanted.  He’s not seen it before, but he wants to be with her now.  Penelope has loved Colin for years, but she never thought she had a chance with him.  She also has her own issues.

I enjoyed the book, but found Colin to be annoying in places.  I’m still going to read more in the series!  I love the setting and the pace fo the stories.

Romancing Mr Bridgerton was published on 1st July 2002, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Julia Quinn on Facebook, Instagram and her website.

You can read my review for the previous Bridgertons books below:

The Duke and I – Bridgertons 1

The Viscount Who Loved Me – Bridgertons 2

An Offer From A Gentleman – Bridgertons 3

Recent Reads: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Posted on by Pam

My review:?????

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid is set in the 1950s and in the 1980s as Nina Riva is getting ready for the Riva family annual party, which has become the place to be

Nina’s professional tennis playing husband has left her for another professional tennis player, and Nina is trying to work out what the point of it all is, and is dreading the party.

People who aren’t dreading it are her siblings – her professional surfer brother Jay and Hud, the professional photographer, who takes Jay’s photo, and her little sister Kit.  They are all good looking, good surfers, and their father, whilst alive, is estranged from them all.

This is a very atmospheric book, with family tensions that made you keep turning the pages so you can learn more about where they started.  Being able to see Mick Riva starting out in the 1950s makes this more poignant, as you follow the family from the start.

Malibu Rising was published on 27th May 2021 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Taylor Jenkins Reid on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and her website.  This was the first of her books that I’ve read, but I’ll be finding her others, such as Daisy Jones & The Six.

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

Recent Reads: Infinite Country by Patricia Engel

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Infinite Country by Patricia Engel is the story of a family torn apart. Mauro and Elena, with their first born, Katrina, go to the US from Colombia, on a temporary visa, but they decide to stay.  They go on to have 2 more children.  

We meet Talia, who is held in a correctional facility for adolescent girls, and she has to get home to her father, where her plane ticket to the US is waiting for her.

This is the story of how these events have happened, and the effect on the family that it has, to be separated for years.

It’s an evocative and timely story, given the immigration issues in the US, and it shows the sacrifices that are made in order to try to survive in a country when undocumented.

Infinite Country was published on 27th May 2021 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Patricia Engel on Twitter, Instagram and her website.

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