Letters to my Husband by Stephanie Butland

"Dear Mike, I can’t believe that it’s true. You wouldn’t do this to me. You promised.

Elizabeth knows that her husband is kind and good and that he loves her unconditionally. She knows she hasn’t been herself lately but that, even so, they are happy. 

But Elizabeth’s world is turned upside down when Mike dies in a tragic drowning accident. Suddenly everything Elizabeth knows about her husband is thrown into doubt. Why would he sacrifice his own life, knowing he’d never see his wife again? And what exactly was he doing at the lake that night?

Elizabeth knows that writing to Mike won’t bring him back, but she needs to talk to him now more than ever . . .

How much can you ever know about the people you love?"

I found Letters to my Husband quite emotionally draining in the first instance.  A lot of the first section is a little repetitive in that there does not feel like there is any light at the end of the tunnel.  Then, once the 'secret' was revealed, I felt a little disappointed that was the turn the book was going to take, although I am not really sure what else I had expected.

I continued to read because the writing itself is good and I was intrigued enough to know what was ultimately going to happen, but I just couldn't adore such a book filled with such unrelenting sadness.  However, at the same time as being sad, it is not the tear jerker that I was expecting.  Unfortunately, I just didn't feel even a glimmer of hope or inspiration.  

I want to stress that this doesn't mean I wouldn't consider reading a Stephanie Butland book in the future, however I found that Letters to my Husband did not have that uplifting element that would have made all the difference to me.

Letters to my Husband is out NOW.  Thank you to Transworld Publishers for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

You, Me and Other People by Fionnuala Kearney

"The stunning debut novel from Fionnuala Kearney - already a Top Ten Irish Times bestseller

THEY SAY EVERY FAMILY HAS SKELETONS IN THEIR CLOSET . . .

But what happens when you open the door and they won’t stop tumbling out?

For Adam and Beth the first secret wasn’t the last, it was just the beginning.

You think you can imagine the worst thing that could happen to your family, but there are some secrets that change everything.

And then the question is, how can you piece together a future when your past is being rewritten?

For fans of Liane Moriarty, Jojo Moyes and David Nicholls."

This book follows Beth, Adam and Meg and the tangled web that is their family and be prepared because it is messy.  Once the first secret is out, there is no controlling the rest which will eventually tumble out.

I have to admit that I do not really know how I feel about this book.  I didn't not enjoy it but I just didn't adore it in the way I thought I would and I didn't come away from it wishing there were more pages to fill my life.

I did love the moments of Adam and Noah together, and Noah as a character was very special.  I wish we had the opportunity to see more of him.

Due to work circumstances, about half way through the book I took a week long break and when I returned to it, it just never felt the same.  I did want to return to it, but it hadn't left that burning impression on me that left my longing to return to the page the moment I had put it down.  Following on from that 'break', I enjoyed reading but the storyline could have swung one of two ways and I found myself not really fully invested in caring which direction it was going to take.  I wanted to really know what I wanted from the characters and the storyline, and whilst I cared enough to continue reading, I wasn't invested enough to pine for one outcome over the other.

I liked the alternating chapters resulting in the reader gaining both Beth and Adam's perspective of the situation and Kearney portrays the characters' emotions exceptionally well; I think she really gets them spot on.

Kearney is clearly an accomplished writer and I would not hesitate to read one of her books in the future.  You, Me and Other People is Kearney's debut book and I am sure there will be plenty more to come.  

You, Me and Other People is OUT NOW.  

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Ballroom Café by Ann O'Loughlin

Welcome to Book-Love-Bug and the next stop on 

The Ballroom Café Blog Tour....

"Sisters Ella and Roberta O'Callaghan live in separate wings of their crumbling Irish mansion. They haven't spoken for decades, torn apart by a dark family secret from their past, and only communicate through the terse and bitter notes they leave for each other in the hallway.

Debbie, an American woman, is searching for her birth mother. She has little time left but as she sets out to discover who she really is and what happened to her mother, she is met by silence and lies at the local convent.

With the bank threatening, Ella tries to save the family home by opening a café in the ballroom – much to Roberta's disgust. And when Debbie offers to help out in the café, the war between the sisters intensifies. But as Debbie finally begins to unravel the truth, she uncovers an adoption scandal that will rock both the community and the warring sisters.

Powerful and poignant, The Ballroom Café is a moving story of love lost and found."

You can follow every stop of the blog tour by visiting each of the following blogs:

I adored The Ballroom Café which is a very touching story and will no doubt touch the hearts of many people across the world (and not just those with Irish connections) as it features the uncovering of an Irish adoption scandal.  

It brings to mind Philomena and the scandal which has shocked people in recent years.  However, at the same time this book is not really comparable to to Philomena; The Ballroom Café is so much more than just a story about adoption; it is a thought-provoking story of community, of love and loss, of hope and of friendship.  I loved that the backdrop was based on true events, and you can read more about the Irish adoption scandal below.

I immediately felt like I belonged in this story which is set in County Wicklow, Ireland.  Whilst heavily tinged with tragedy, there is a really light and buoyancy  that radiates from this book.  The characters are fabulous, whether that be the main characters or the supporting cast.  I loved the relationship between the two sisters and the way they communicated only by short terse notes having not spoken for decades and I loved the way the various characters really touched each others lived. 

The story is both intriguing and captivating.  I was totally hooked and when the ending came, it was satisfying but there were some loose ends that left me craving more.  My one and only complaint would be that the ending felt a little bit rushed, as though the editing sword had fallen a little to harshly in places.  I wanted to bask in the ending and I wanted to know more.

I loved Ann O'Loughlin's style of writing, the words and chapters flowed perfectly which keeps you turning the pages and the characters are all excellently drawn to create the perfect story.  I was shocked to discover that The Ballroom Café is Ann's debut book, as it feels like something from an extremely accomplished author; Ann's years of journalism and writing clearly shine through.

Thank you to Black & White Publishing for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Ballroom Café is out now in kindle format and paperback.  I cannot recommend highly enough that you get your copy NOW.  It is currently an absolute bargain on Kindle:

        

"About the Irish Adoption Scandal

A scandal that has been simmering under the surface for many years in Ireland, novel portrays the never-ending pain of those taken from the arms of their mothers and the unbearable heartbreak of the young unmarried mothers who never saw their children again.

Up to 2,000 children were secretly adopted and sent to America from Mother and Baby homes run by religious orders in Ireland.The mothers left behind were unmarried, rejected by their families and almost outcasts in Catholic Ireland.

The ‘mail-order adoptions’ to the US continued well into the 1960s and 1970.While it was illegal to pay for adoption, the adoptive parents gave donations towards expenses – several hundred pounds, which equates to thousands in today’s terms.

‘Many children were simply spirited away, with little thought for their birth mothers left behind or indeed the homes the children were sent to, which were often dysfunctional,’ Ann O’Loughlin said.

She added: ‘In my research for this book I have listened to so many stories of heartbreak. Only now in Ireland are women beginning to tell their stories and realise the shame is not theirs, but at the feet of the Catholic Church.’ "

The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes

"International bestselling author Marian Keyes is bringing you another masterfully told story full of wit and charm.

'Name: Stella Sweeney.

Height: average.

Recent life events: dramatic.'

One day, sitting in traffic, married Dublin mum Stella Sweeney attempts a good deed. The resulting car crash changes her life.

For she meets a man who wants her telephone number (for the insurance, it turns out). That's okay. She doesn't really like him much anyway (his Range Rover totally banjaxed her car).

But in this meeting is born the seed of something which will take Stella thousands of miles from her old life, turning an ordinary woman into a superstar, and, along the way, wrenching her whole family apart.

Is this all because of one ill-advised act of goodwill? Was meeting Mr Range Rover destiny or karma? Should she be grateful or hopping mad?

For the first time real, honest-to-goodness happiness is just within her reach. But is Stella Sweeney, Dublin housewife, ready to grasp it?"

The Woman Who Stole My Life is simply fabulous and utterly divine.  It is engaging, funny in places, always messy, delicious and real.  It feels so right to be back in the arms of Marian Keyes.  

Whilst the main narrative of the present day spans only a dozen or so days, the story covers a four and a half year period as we slowly come to learn how Stella ended up in NYC and then how she ended up back in Ireland in the state she is in.  I enjoyed the time when Stella was in the hospital most, watching that 'spark' develop into a raging fire.  I also enjoyed watching that fire burn and I have to say I enjoyed it burning in Ireland more than in NYC.

The Woman Who Stole My Life is not gripping in a psychological thriller type of way, but it does draw you in and it keeps you engaged.  It is plump; full of detail (none of which you want to skip right over) and Keyes' has the knack of making you feel like you are in the room with the characters.  

I have to admit it is not my absolute favourite Marian Keyes book; it does not have the warm Irish family loveliness that the Walsh family books have and I also have to admit that it is not totally recognisable as a Marian Keyes book from the style of writing; it didn't feel like reading Marian (in the way that reading Watermelon, for example, feels like being in a room with Marian Keyes telling you a story).  However, at the same time, it is not totally unrecognisable - I still loved it; it is absorbing and I love getting lost in the world of Marian Keyes.  I am not sure MK could ever disappoint, and she certainly doesn't here!

You can follow Marian on twitter here and I wholeheartedly recommend you do so; if you do nothing else this year, do this.  She is hilarious, the funniest thing on the planet!

The Spider in the Corner of the Room by Nikki Owen

"What to believe 

Who to betray 

When to run…

Plastic surgeon Dr Maria Martinez has Asperger’s. Convicted of killing a priest, she is alone, in prison and has no memory of the murder.

DNA evidence places Maria at the scene of the crime, yet she claims she’s innocent. Then she starts to remember… 

A strange room. Strange people. Being watched.

As Maria gets closer to the truth she is drawn into a web of international intrigue and must fight not only to clear her name but to remain alive."

Nikki Owen weaves a complicated web in The Spider in the Corner of the Room which is a gripping psychological, conspiracy-theory thriller and the first in a trilogy.  

Nikki Owen is an exceptional writer.  She has managed to concoct a story where the reader does not have the slightest inkling of what is going on but at the same time it is not frustrating, but totally absorbing.  

The story is set mainly with Maria in intense therapy sessions but the story shifts around a lot and it is not always entirely obvious whether the shifts are to her memories, an alternative present or the future.  The Spider in the Corner of the Room is not the sort of book you can just skim through; it requires your full attention and concentration.  Even with that, there is so much going on that it was not until I sat down to write this review that I fully worked out how the shifts worked and what the present time consisted of.  It is hard to say anything more without giving away the storyline!

With each shift, I found myself thinking that I finally knew what and who to believe and then I would turn the page, the timeframe would shift again, and once more I would myself back to square one and was left wondering whether I was going mad.  

I have not read a book which has a character with Asperger's before and have no first hand experience of it so cannot say how true to form it is, but from reading other reviews of this book, it would appear that Maria is a well-researched and thought out character rather than being the stereotypical version of someone with Asperger's.

The book is powerful and it does make you think how scary and powerless you would feel if you found yourself accused of a murder you cannot remember committing and in a prison where you do not know who you can trust or what you can believe.

Around the middle of the book, I did find my interest waning slightly as the book  as a whole is a little drawn-out and slightly repetitive but that adds to the powerful message.  The build up is slow and the pace does not really accelerate until towards the end of the book when the answers you have been searching for begin to suddenly cascade into the reader's awareness.  As I was nearing the end of the book, I was worried that Nikki Owen was going to end the first in this trilogy without answering a single question that I had flying around my head, but suddenly, right at the last minute, everything begins to come together and the ending does wrap up this part of the series as well as leading the way perfectly for the next instalment.

The Spider in the Corner of the Room is out today, 4 June!

Thank you to Midas PR for the review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

End of Days by Susan Ee (Book #3)

"End of Days is the explosive conclusion to Susan Ee's bestselling Penryn & the End of Days trilogy.

After a daring escape from the angels, Penryn and Raffe are on the run. They're both desperate to find a doctor who can reverse the twisted changes inflicted by the angels on Raffe and Penryn's sister. As they set off in search of answers, a startling revelation about Raffe's past unleashes dark forces that threaten them all. 

When the angels release an apocalyptic nightmare onto humans, both sides are set on a path toward war. As unlikely alliances form and strategies shift, who will emerge victorious? Forced to pick sides in the fight for control of the earthly realm, Raffe and Penryn must choose: Their own kind, or each other?"

I have waited for over a year for the third book in this addictive and explosive trilogy from Susan Ee.  The first two books are incredible and so End of Days had a lot to live up to! 

There are two things that I love most about this trilogy.  

First...although each book leaves you desperate for more, there is no messing around at the beginning of the next book; we get to dive straight back into the storyline exactly where we left off.  This is simply fabulous; there is not anything worse than being left on a complete cliffhanger (as the first book does, whereas the second book stops mid-flight, literally!) and then when you finally get your hands on the next instalment you find the author takes you around the houses for a few chapters to 'settle you back in'.  Susan Ee glides straight back into the action and you instantly remember why you were so hooked in the first place.  This also means that if you have not had yet had the pleasure of reading any of these books, then you can read all three and they will feel like one continuous story without having the tortuous wait that most fans have had to endure!  

The second thing I love about this trilogy is Raffe (not in that order, I definitely love Raffe the most)! I adored the relationship and interaction that Penryn and Raffe have in the first book, which sadly you see less of in the second book but it is back with a vengeance at the start of End of Days as Penryn and Raffe are reunited.  My absolute favourite parts of this book are Penryn and Raffe based - I don't want to give anything away but look out for Chapters 5 and 12 (I literally could not tear my eyes away from the page). If anything, I wish there had been more of these moments.

The chapters in End of Days are short which means the pace is fast.  Susan Ee has done a great job with continuity of all the threads into the last part of this trilogy.  There continues to be plenty of action from humans, angels, demons and locusts! I read it easily in two sittings, and it would have been one had I had a choice!

I felt like everything was wrapped up by the end (although felt perhaps a little rushed), however, my only complaint would be that when the end came, I found myself thinking "That cannot be it".  There simply is not enough of the one thing all fans of this trilogy have been waiting for throughout the three books! I had longed for it for so long that I wanted to bask in it forever but it is all over so quickly.  Then you turn the page and find an epilogue, and your heart skips a beat, but it does not really add anything in terms of closure! Perhaps Susan Ee will treat us with a surprise fourth book?!!

Highly recommended as a trilogy; I just wish there had been more! The Penryn and the End of Days Trilogy is not just a young adult trilogy - it can be enjoyed by YA and adults alike (I can definitely not be classed as a YA anymore!). If you've enjoyed The Angel Trilogy by L.A. Weatherly, I recommend you check out this trilogy too!

Angelfall, World After and End of Days are all OUT NOW! Get yourself copies of all three, block out some space in your diary and enjoy the addictive ride!

You Think You Know Me by Clare Chase

"Sometimes, it’s not easy to tell the good guys from the bad… 

Freelance journalist, Anna Morris, is struggling to make a name for herself, so she’s delighted to attend a launch event for a hip young artist at her friend Seb’s gallery. 

But an exclusive interview isn’t all Anna comes away with. After an encounter with the enigmatic Darrick Farron, she is flung into the shady underground of the art scene – a world of underhand dealings, missing paintings and mysterious deaths… 

Seb is intent on convincing Anna that Darrick is up to no good but, try as she might, she can’t seem to keep away from him. And as she becomes further embroiled, Anna begins to wonder – can Seb’s behaviour be explained away as the well-intentioned concern of an old friend, or does he have something to hide?"

The first two thirds of this book is a gentle but interesting ride in which Clare Chase draws you in, but it cannot prepare you for the wild roller coaster that follows.

Following a build up which will have you questioning everyone, You Think You Know Me transforms into a gripping page turner and I did not come close to guessing the outcome until it was thrust upon me.  As the "baddie" was revealed, I gasped and as the climax developed, I could feel my heart thudding in my chest and I sat holding my breath as I turned the pages as quickly as I could thinking "this cannot be happening".

I was disappointed once the ending came, but only because I had become so embroiled in the story that my brain, and my heart, was longing for more.

The character portrayals in You Think You Know Me are excellent and combined with the fabulous storyline, it make this an incredible debut from Clare Chase.

You can always rely on Choc Lit to deliver the absolute best authors and they have not failed to deliver, once again, on this occasion.  You Think You Know Me is chick lit with a razor sharp edge.

You Think You Know Me is available as an ebook now and will be released in paperback in September.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

"Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. 

Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar.

Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train…"

I had obviously heard of The Girl on the Train, I had seen people reading it on my commute into London and I knew from Marian Keyes twitter page that she considered it to be #GripLit, but other than that, I had no idea what to expect - I had not read any articles or reviews and I had not even read the synopsis.  I just knew I wanted to read it.

The Girl on the Train is certainly gripping.  The book is told from three different perspectives - Rachel, Anna and Megan.  Megan's perspective is slightly behind in terms of the timeframe at the outset but eventually catches up; you will need to pay attention to a degree.  Each time the perspective shifted, I found myself longing to go back to know what else that character had to share with me whilst simultaneously longing to stay with the current characters version of events.  As a reader, you also have to try and decipher who you can trust and whether you believe what you are reading as all three of the main characters have traits that cause them to be unreliable at best.  

The book does not contain the sort of characters that you will necessarily like or feel a connection with but it is the curiosity and intrigue that will keep you hooked to this particular tale.  It is quite an achievement to grip a reader to a book in which the reader does not actually like any of the characters (although the characters are well portrayed).  However, this is the sort of book that you will find yourself saying 'I'll just read one more chapter' until suddenly you find yourself at the end! 

I have to admit that I was lulled in and I did not guess the ending, but had I taken the time to think it through along with the 'it is the last person you would expect' philosophy then perhaps I would have done.

Not as gripping as I thought given the hype but I did enjoy the ride.

Take A Chance on Me by Debbie Flint

"You know what they say about mixing business with pleasure… 

When the breakdown of her marriage leaves Sadie Turner a single mum, she vows that she will make it on her own. After all, why would a smart businesswoman with a PhD and the prospect of a life-changing deal on the horizon need a man? 

But Sadie’s man-ban is tested to the limit when she travels to Monaco to meet her potential investor. There she encounters Mac, a rough and ready playboy billionaire who lives life in the fast lane – and that’s when the real adventure starts! 

But Sadie’s heart isn’t the only thing on the line. There’s also the business she’s worked so hard to make a success; the business that could so easily slip out of her grasp if she doesn’t seal the deal within thirty days…"

Take A Chance on Me is published under 'Hot Choc Lit', which Choc Lit describe as "slightly raised heat level but not erotica".  

This book reminded me of Cold Feet at Christmas by Debbie Johnson (in terms of the steamy scenes and the strength of the connections between the main characters, rather than the Christmas theme) and if you liked that book I am sure you will enjoy this one.  

There are some particularly steamy scenes in Take A Chance on Me but they are exceptionally well written.  When I first started reading, I wasn't sure about Sadie; I thought she was going to be shallow and irritating but I was wrong.  She soon stumbles across Mac and this instantly brought a smile to my face.  The book is so well written that the connection between Sadie and Mac is exceptionally strong and it jumps off the page.  It feels so real that you feel like you are living it yourself so when the inevitable problem arises, you, as a reader, feel the longing feeling in your heart as though it were your own loss.

I enjoyed the fact that although this is a romance book, it has a strong business element to it and I was not surprised to discover that Debbie Flint had a career in finance once upon a time.  Whilst the romantic side of the book is not all that unpredictable, it is still gripping because the emotions are so powerful and the other side of the storyline has plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing.

Another beauty from Choc Lit.

Set Me Free by Daniela Sacerdoti

"Margherita's marriage is slowly falling apart. Getting pregnant after trying for so long may have been a fabulous surprise for her, but for her husband it was the last straw. When she needs him most, her husband is just not there for her or their children and she realises that they need time apart to figure out where their marriage is going. 

As she struggles to come to terms with her new life, Margherita decides to leave London and spend the summer in Glen Avich, where her mum and stepdad have just opened a new coffee shop. She needs time away to reconnect with her daughter Lara and sort out her life. 

But Glen Avich can have a strange effect on people, and when she and Lara start working for Torcuil Ramsay at a rundown local estate, everything begins to change. Margherita finds her heart awakened in a way she never thought possible and Lara begins a new friendship with a mysterious local boy, Mal, which makes her mother feel increasingly uneasy. And just when Margherita is finally beginning to discover who she really is, she finds out how quickly things can change and how hard it can be to make brave choices."

Set Me Free is the greatly anticipated new novel from the bestselling author of Watch Over Me and Take Me Home.  Readers of Dani's books will be longing to revisit Glen Avich in the hope of catching a glimpse of some of the past characters as well as discovering new ones, and they will not be disappointed!

Whilst this review is not about Watch Over Me or Take Me Home, and I can confirm that Set Me Free is an entirely stand alone book, I urge you to get yourself copies of all three books (and in fact you have the chance to win a copy of all three below).  You can read what I thought of the first two by clicking on the following links - Watch Over Me and Take Me Home.  It is not surprising that Watch Over Me (which was Dani's incredible debut novel) broke records as it sold over 445,000 kindle books before the paperback was even released as it is a beautiful book. 

I am honoured to be closing the Set Me Free blog tour, and you can see what other bloggers had to say along the way by visiting their blogs:

When I first turned the last page of Set Me Free, I thought it was my favourite book of Dani's so far, but having just sat and re-read my review of Watch Over Me, I think perhaps I got myself caught up in the moment.  It might not be my absolute favourite but it is certainly one of my favourites and without a doubt comparably good. It made me realise how much I had missed Dani's books and Glen Avich.  Dani has easily become one of my favourite authors of all time; Dani has a unique style of writing that sets her aside from other authors of the same genre and the storylines are instantly recognisable as being a Sacerdoti tale.

Dani's adult books have the power to cast a spell over the reader; they are absolutely enchanting in a raw and powerful way.  Whilst the characters lives are tinged with sadness, Glen Avich contains magic which has the potential to make everything better. 

Whilst Set Me Free is a standalone book, readers of the earlier Glen Avich books will recognise some of the characters.  In particular, we get to catch up with Inary and there are also references to both Eilidh and Alex. I love the way that the Glen Avich books are intrinsically linked and the supernatural element which we saw in the earlier books continues in Set Me Free but once again it is subtly perfect.

I have to admit, I had completely forgotten about the prologue until I saw it mentioned in a fellow reviewers review.  I had got so wrapped up in the story that I had forgotten the clever hint that Dani had set right at the start.

Set Me Free is a book of ethereal beauty; it is delicately sensitive and precious and you should bathe in its wonderfulness.  I found myself racing towards the end of the book, desperate to know what happens but at the same time desperate for it never to end.  

Glen Avich and its cast will stay you for a long time, and I hope it isn't too long before Dani allows us to visit again!

Dani comes out with the most beautiful lines that they make you go back and re-read them to let their beauty sink in a little further.  A couple of my favourite lines from Set Me Free include:

"I am the sun in my own solar system"

"Some ties, even if worn and constricting and infused with bitterness, are very difficult to break - maybe impossible.  Not without severing parts of yourself with them, anyway."

I must thank both Dani and Black and White Publishing.  Dani once (via twitter) called me a bloggess (aka Blog Goddess) and promised that she would write my name into one of her books.  She did not fail to deliver and it made it extra special reading those parts of the book that contained my name!  Thank you to Black and White for the copy of Set Me Free and including me in this fabulous blog tour.

Black and White Publishing have produced a little recipe book with bakes from Margherita's Café so if you want to try any of the delights which are featured in Set Me Free head over to their website or Amazon where you can download it for free.  Some of the descriptions are drool-worthy so if you're a baker, then I highly recommend it!

Finally, Black and White Publishing have kindly agreed to offer one lucky person the chance to win a set of Dani's Glen Avich books; that is a copy of Watch Over Me, a copy of Take Me Home and a copy of Set Me Free.  You lucky people, follow the rafflecopter instructions below to enter...

a Rafflecopter giveaway