They Don’t Know by Patricia Dixon @pbadixon @Bombshellbooks #BookReview

TGIF book friends!

The last day of August! Time to start the countdown to Christmas! Kidding! Today I am excited to share with you my review for this wonderful book! Many thanks to Sarah for my invitation and to Patricia Dixon for her lovely words💜

Daisy meets Adam on their first day at Manchester University and they immediately become firm friends, inseparable and happy in each other’s company. But when tongues begin to wag and their relationship is questioned, for the first time in his life Adam shares his secret with Daisy. Daisy promises to stand by him and keep his secret.

When their Grandmother dies, Adam’s older brother, Ryan, returns from abroad and Daisy quickly falls for him.

After a troubled upbringing at the hands of a drunken mother and jailbird father, Adam and Ryan only have each other. In adulthood their bond holds firm, glued together by Daisy with whom they are now both in love.

Adam struggles with his secret and the fear of ever losing Daisy to another man. Is he besotted and quietly controlling and soon the past starts to influence his choices.

Ryan is motivated, selfish and sees everything in black and white, living in a military world that shields him from the demons of his past, bringing order to his life.

And in the middle is Daisy who loves both of them and makes a promise to each. One she sets free, the other she vows to protect and never abandon.

But when tragedy strikes can Daisy ever find happiness?

They Don’t Know is a beautiful novel about the promises we make and the different kinds of love.

My Thoughts

A beautiful and captivating story that will touch on every single one of your emotions…. once again I had to bust out the Kleenex, another book that made me cry with both happiness and heartbreak… with characters that were so well developed that I was convinced I would know them if I saw them walking down the street… and might I add if I did see them walking down the street I’d invite them to have dinner and drinks with me, I’d love to spend an evening with these three….

Daisy and Adam meet one another there first day of University… A beautiful sweet and lifelong friendship begins… The bond between these two was so strong, I was confused just like some others as to why they weren’t more than friends… but Adam has a secret, and it is not what you think…. Adams older brother Ryan also enters the picture making this twosome a threesome…. there is a love triangle, there is miscommunication, and there is heart break…. so… will these three ever be completely honest with one another? Will they lay all their secrets on the table? Will anyone get a happily ever after? Well you will need to read this book to find that out!

Strongly recommend if you enjoy a love story with wonderful characters and all the feels💕

Author Bio:

Patricia Dixon was born in Manchester where she still lives with her husband. They have two grown up children and one grandson, plus the company of a lazy bulldog.

Ignoring her high school reports and possibly sound advice from teachers, Patricia shunned the world of academia and instead, stubbornly pursued a career in fashion. Once the sparkle of London life wore off she returned north and embarked on a new adventure, that of motherhood.

Now, almost thirty years later she has acquiesced to the wise words of her elders and turned her hand to writing. Patricia has written five novels set in the Loire and then, in complete contrast, a much darker story of psychological suspense.

She is currently writing her next book, a murderous tale set in the sixties and if she’s not at her desk Patricia loves to read historical fiction or attempts recipes that look great on television but not necessarily her plate. And when the penny jar is full she cashes in her coins and heads to France, the lure of red wine and escapism equalled only by the pursuance of her dream job, writing for a living.
Links:

Author Page

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Patricia-Dixon/e/B00I1YV2RM/refntt_dp_epwbk_0

Twitter

@pbadixon

Email – dixon.patricia@icloud.com.

Facebook Links

Author Page

https://www.facebook.com/pbadixon/?refbookmarks

Profile Page

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id 0009000921564

Cheers to the long weekend! Berit☀️✨

4.5 intense Stars🌟 Tear Me Apart by J.T. Ellison @thrillerchick @HarlequinBooks #BookReview

Happy Thursday Book lovers!

Thrilled to be sharing with you today my review for this thrilling and chilling book!⛷

Tear Me Apart by J.T. Ellison

My Thoughts

4.5 Intensely Engrossing Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 This book was no bunny slope, it was a black diamond run all the way! This was a book that left you exhilarated and a little cold… filled with twists and turns with many bumps along the way…. there were many high flying moments as well as some close crashes…. so strap on those skis fasten those goggles, and get ready for an intense ride down the slope with this book….

Mindy Wright is a skiing prodigy on the brink of Olympic glory until…. a major crash, a broken leg,and an unforeseen diagnosis, changes everything…. while in the hospital with her broken leg Mindy is diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia… in need of a bone marrow transplant both her parents are tested, and when not only are they not a match they are not genetically related to Mindy…. Mindy’s perfect run at Life is now a perfect nightmare, and it isn’t only her bone that is shattered…. how is this possible? Was Mindy switched at birth? Or is the answer more dark and complicated than that? How many secrets run through this family and what have they done to protect them?

Oh what a tangled web we weave…. and the untangling of this web was quite the thrilling ride…. I was probably suspicious of every single character in this book at one time or another with the exception of Mindy…. told from the perspective of multiple characters… you really saw this scenario unfold from every angle…. I thought this was such an impactful way to tell the story it kept me completely engrossed until I reach the finish line…. secrets leading to lies, lies leading to secrets, nobody ever knowing who to believe…. and in the middle of this crazy storm a girl who is fighting for her life!

An engrossing book that will keep you turning those pages well after the ski lift closes…. with a ending that was both haunting and perfect….

Absolutely recommend to fans of thrillers with complicated characters and a compelling plot…. this was definitely a gold medal read!🥇

*** many thanks to Harlequin-Mira for my copy of this brilliant book ***

About the Book

One moment will change their lives forever…

Competitive skier Mindy Wright is a superstar in the making until a spectacular downhill crash threatens not just her racing career but her life. During surgery, doctors discover she’s suffering from a severe form of leukemia, and a stem cell transplant is her only hope. But when her parents are tested, a frightening truth emerges. Mindy is not their daughter.

Who knows the answers?

The race to save Mindy’s life means unraveling years of lies. Was she accidentally switched at birth or is there something more sinister at play? The search for the truth will tear a family apart…and someone is going to deadly extremes to protect the family’s deepest secrets.

With vivid movement through time, Tear Me Apart examines the impact layer after layer of lies and betrayal has on two families, the secrets they guard, and the desperate fight to hide the darkness within.

GET A COPY

•Amazon

Have a day filled with rules and chills and books! Berit☀️✨

5 BIG Stars🌟 The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald @Christinamac79 @carlywatters @GalleryBooks #BookReview #BookBestieApproved

Happy hump day book lovers!

So excited to share with you my review for this beautiful suspenseful book! This was our second #BookBestie read and what an emotional read it was! Seriously this book should have come with a big box of Kleenex!💔

The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald

My Thoughts

5 BIG Beautiful Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

wOWZA! This book took me on quite the emotional journey! As a mother I couldn’t help but completely empathize with Abi(The mother in this story)… I cried with her… I raged with her… I hoped with her… my mama bear was out throughout this book, I needed answers and I needed them now! Imagining my own daughter in the hospital bed brain-dead and pregnant, quite honestly made me a little sick and stressed… this is a credit to the beautiful and engrossing writing in this book, I was completely immersed and committed…. The fact that this is Christina McDonald’s debut is simply…. impressive!

Abi gets that phone call in the middle of the night that all parents fear… her daughter is in the hospital, she has fallen off a bridge…Abi’s mothers intuition tells her this was not an accident and this is reinforced by the bruises around her daughter’s wrist…. The police don’t appear to be doing much of anything to find out who pushed Olivia off that bridge…. but Abi is determined and will stop at nothing to find out who hurt her little girl…

Told from both Abi and Olivia‘s perspectives… we get the events leading up to this tragedy from Olivia‘s eyes… as well as watching Abi’s heart wrenching journey… not only to accept that she has lost her daughter, but also to figure out how this could have happened…. this was such an impactful way to tell the story because the more I got to know Olivia the more my heart broke right along with Abi’s…. also Christina McDonnell did a fabulous job with getting into the mind of both a 17-year-old and her mother…. I saw a lot of myself in both of these characters…

This was an emotional domestic suspense… as the book progressed I was suspicious of almost everyone at some point… I also found myself questioning both Olivia and Abbi’s actions… I kept thinking if only…. then… but isn’t that what life is all about? every choice we make has an impact on our lives…. had Abby told Olivia who her father was, then maybe? Had Olivia told her mother who she had fallen in love with, then perhaps? So many questions and no good answers and as we all know hindsight is always 20/20…

This is a book that left me with tears in my eyes and hope in my heart! I absolutely recommend for anyone who enjoys A beautiful story about the love between mothers and daughters with a huge dose of suspense thrown in….

*** many thanks to Christina McDonald and Gallery for my copy of this book the book releases in February 2019 ***

About the Book ~Releases February 2019

In the small hours of the morning, Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to get: her teenage daughter Olivia has fallen off a bridge. Not only is Olivia brain dead, she’s pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive. And then Abi sees the angry bruises circling Olivia’s wrists.

When the police unexpectedly rule Olivia’s fall an accident, Abi decides to find out what really happened that night. Heartbroken and grieving, she unravels the threads of her daughter’s life. Was Olivia’s fall an accident? Or something far more sinister?

Christina McDonald weaves a suspenseful and heartwrenching tale of hidden relationships, devastating lies, and the power of a mother’s love. With flashbacks of Olivia’s own resolve to uncover family secrets, this taut and emotional novel asks: how well do you know your children? And how well do they know you?

The Book Besties

Holly @Dressed To Read

Jennifer @Tarheel Reader

Mackenzie @PhDiva

Melisa @The Book Collective

Kendall Goodreads

Book friends are the best friends! Berit☀️✨📚

Her Final Hour by Carla Kovach @Bookouture @CKovachAuthor #BookReview

Wow! While I was writing this review the earth shook! We had a 4.4 earthquake in Southern California tonight! No damage though!

So I am all shook up and delighted to share with you my review for this wonderful book! Many thanks to Noelle for my invitation to the blog tour and to Carla Kovach for her intriguing story!💛

Do you really know the family next door?

Melissa Sanderson is the perfect wife and mother. She dotes on her daughter, and lives in her dream home in a quiet cul-de-sac in the suburbs.

But looks can be deceiving. 

Something is amiss in that house – all the neighbours think so. Some say Melissa is having an affair. Others say she’s been drinking too much.

Then one night, sirens wake up the whole neighbourhood.

Melissa Sanderson is dead.

AN ABSOLUTELY UNPUTDOWNABLE THRILLER WITH A BRILLIANT ENDING YOU WON’T SEE COMING – if you like Lisa Gardner, Robert Bryndza or Clare Mackintosh, Her Final Hour will keep you reading well into the night.

My Thoughts

4 Bold Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is the second book in the Gina Hart police procedural series… although I think you would be fine to read it as a standalone… these books are more plot driven then character driven…. although admittedly I am hoping to get to know Gina better in future books… I think her character has tremendous potential for some major character growth…. i’m guessing there are some pretty major secrets we are yet to learn!

So what does a sexual assault in 1993 and a murder in 2018 have in common? That is what Gina and her team need to figure out… told from many different points of view we really got a clear picture of this crime…. and bonus, we also got into the minds of the criminal as well, I always love this! Once again my amateur detective skills were put to the test, and once again I was foiled! There are a few twists and turns that caught me off guard, that is for sure!

Recommend to those of you who enjoy a good police procedural or crime thriller…

*** many thanks to Bookouture for my copy of this book ***

Buy  Links:       mybook.to/HFHSocial

iBookstore:  https://tinyurl.com/yb9w3gaq 

Kobo:  https://tinyurl.com/ydgyzpoa 

Googleplay:  https://tinyurl.com/ycjehtlr

Author Bio:

Carla Kovach was born in Birmingham, UK and now resides in Redditch, Worcestershire. Author of supernatural drama ‘Flame,’ psychological thriller ‘To Let,’ crime thriller ‘Whispers Beneath the Pines,’ and holiday comedy, ‘Meet Me at Marmaris Castle.’ Carla also writes stage and screenplays, some of which have been produced in the Worcestershire area. Her feature film ‘Penny for the Guy’ is being made and is set for release in 2019.

Her latest book, Her Final Hour, has been published by Bookouture. It is the second in the DI Gina Harte crime series. 

Author Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarlaKovachAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CKovachAuthor

Website: https://griffbuck.wordpress.com/

Thank you for all your support! Berit☀️✨

Finding Eva by J.A. Baker @Bloodhoundbook @thewriterjude #BookReview

Told you all busy day and I’m not done yet!

And yet another review I am thrilled to share with you all! Thank you so much to Sarah for the invitation to this blog tour!🖤

Eva is desperate to find her birth parents after spending her childhood in foster care. She leaves London and heads to Whitby in search of her mother and father, after breaking up with her boyfriend, Gareth.

Gareth is furious with Eva. He loved her deeply and the disclosure she made when she ended the relationship is eating away at him.

Celia, Eva’s friend, is concerned about Eva. She has stopped answering her calls and when Celia goes to London to find her, she realises Eva has moved without telling anyone. Celia makes the decision to follow Eva to Whitby, concerned that Eva is unravelling. Both women have been damaged by their childhoods.

When Gareth also decides to go to Whitby, it is the start of a lethal situation.

Who exactly is Eva and why is Celia so concerned?

Some relationships are toxic. Others are deadly.

My Thoughts

This was a dark, disturbing, and extremely descriptive read

Eva is determined to find her birth parents… growing up in foster care Eva really is a success story…she has a good job in the financial market, a nice apartment, a loving boyfriend… so what really is behind her motivation to find her birth parents? Is it simple curiosity or something more sinister?

Told from three different points of view… Eva… Garrett her boyfriend who she breaks up with to begin this quest… and Celia a lifelong friend who also grew up in foster care… none of these characters were terribly likable, although I’m not sure if that impacted how I felt about the story or not…. although perhaps if I liked Eva a bit better I would have cared more as to what happened to her, I mean I cared, but…. even though I did not care for these characters I felt as though getting all of their perspectives really added a lot to the story….

The first half of the story was very detailed and descriptive… with lots of backstory and it did get a little tiresome at times… but the second half really picked up and there were lots of twists… one I saw coming and another one that surprised me…. i’d probably classify this as more of a suspense than a thriller, but either way I really wanted to find out how this was going to end…

Recommend for those of you who enjoy strong suspense with detailed and descriptive writing….
Author Bio:

J. A. Baker is a writer and reader of psychological thrillers. She was born in the North East of England too long ago to mention and has four children and a grandchild.

Her first book, Undercurrent, was published by Bloodhound Books in December 2017. Two more books followed – Her Dark Retreat and The Other Mother, all of which made it into the Amazon Kindle Top 100.

She still resides in the North East with her husband Richard and dog, Theo. She lives in a village in County Durham. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, gardening and meeting up with friends and family.

She is working on her fifth book which will be published in December this year.

Links:

Website – www.jabakerauthor.com

Facebook – www.facebook.com.thewriterjude/

Twitter – www.twitter.com/thewriterjude

Definitely spreading the love today! Berit☀️✨

The Things We Leave Unsaid by Megan Mayfair @MayfairMegan @rararesources #BookReview

Busy book day on the blog today!

Another book I am thrilled to share with you today a wonderful debut! Many thanks to Rachel for my invitation to the blog tour and to Megan Mayfair for this delightful story😍

Is it the things we don’t say that haunt us the most?

Clare is anxious to start a family with adoring husband, Pete. When she takes on the seemingly simple task of obtaining her late mother’s birth certificate, she finds herself in a family history search that will challenge everything she thought she knew about her life. 

Scarred by her parents’ ill-fated marriage, Tessa lives by three rules – dating unavailable men, building her café into a food empire, and avoiding her father. However, when her carefully planned life is thrown into chaos, Tessa is forced to decide which of these rules she’s willing to break. 

As Clare and Tessa’s paths cross and their friendship grows, can they both finally unlock their family secrets in order to realise their futures?

My Thoughts

Two women, Australia, and a coffee shop…..

This was a wonderful compelling, emotional, and thought-provoking Red…. Claire and Tessa are two women that appear as though they have nothing in commin on the outside… but as these two women get to know each other better they learn they have more in common than not… Love both of these ladies and my heart broke right along with them as well as soared….

Claire is struggling to become a mother… along with trying to figure out past secrets…. Tessa is struggling to take care of her mother with dementia…. both women had things going on in their lives that I found tremendously relatable to my own life… been there, done that, have the T-shirt…. they were both also very likable, you really wanted everything to work out for them!

This is a very well-crafted debut! Perfectly paced with a smooth writing style and charming characters… A book that was not only thought provoking but also had a dose of humor and a splash of romance….

Recommend for those of you who enjoy a book that makes you think, laugh, and smile!

Purchase from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Things-We-Leave-Unsaid-ebook/dp/B07DHVPZ1V

Author Bio –

Megan Mayfair is a Melbourne-based writer who draws inspiration from her beautiful hometown and regional Victoria to create contemporary women’s fiction, containing a big dash of romance and a spoonful of family intrigue.

With a background in public relations, copywriting and higher education, Megan is passionate about words and loves to bring them to life on the page. Megan holds a Master of Arts in professional communication and is a member of Romance Writers of Australia and Writers Victoria.

Megan is married with three children, loves a good cup of coffee and believes you can never have too many scarves.

Social Media Links –

www.meganmayfair.com

https://www.facebook.com/meganmayfairauthor/

https://twitter.com/MayfairMegan

https://www.instagram.com/meganmayfairwrites/

Anyone else want to go to Australia??? Berit☀️✨

Crack Apple & Pop by Saira Viola #crackappleandpop @sairaviola @F13Noir @fahrenheitpress @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours #BookReview

Happy Tuesday book lovers!

Delighted to share with you today my review for this unique story! Many thanks to Emma for my invitation to the blog tour!💛

Tony is a handsome young boxer forced into a life of crime after suffering a vicious blow in the ring.

Seduced by the glitz and glamour of London and mentored by charismatic gang lord Don March he rises rapidly up the crime ladder until he spies an opportunity to start a semi-legit Natural Highs business.

Bankrolled by an eccentric British dandy and accompanied by a cast of starry misfits including a 3ft tall blue-haired money man, an Etonian drug mule, two dominatrix debt collectors, a dodgy lawyer and a host of demi-celebs, Tony carves out a roll for himself in a city where money creates its’ own morality.

All seems to be going well until in the shadows, a Bollywood mobster threatens to derail their plans.

Chaos ensues, of course it does – wonderful, beautiful, visceral chaos.

The deft wit of Hammett meets the vivid poetics of Chandler: Crack Apple and Pop is slick smart and razor sharp. A gritty and sometimes metafictive slice of London noir.

A city of artful dodgers, yardie gangsters, kinky aristos, cocaine dusted starlets and social thrill seekers where everyone’s hustling and everyone’s getting high.

Whether it’s law, finance, the music biz, or the boxing ring: money is king. And only the ones prepared to risk everything will survive…

My Thoughts

This was a unique look at greed and depravity… The writing style was very unusual, told in a somewhat lyrical fashion with many cultural pop references…. because I am a huge fan of pop culture this aspect of the book was definitely a lot of fun! Admittedly it took me a while to get into the rhythm of the story, but once I did I really enjoyed it….

You’ll watch Tony almost reach his dreams and then come crashing down…. where he falls is the gritty side of life, but a man needs to survive… this book took a satirical look at life on both sides of the aisle… and both sides of the tracks… I liked this because the book really had no agenda, but to make you see everything through different eyes…

Recommend for those of you who enjoy a book with an unusual delivery and mind opening content…

About Saira Viola:

Saira Viola is an acclaimed novelist, poet, and song lyricist. From her early poetic experimentation with language, image and sound (a technique she has dubbed sonic scatterscript) to her novelistic ventures into the dark, absurd world of contemporary crime fiction, Viola’s work pulses with iconoclastic brio that mischievously blasts the golden calves of our times. Literary Heavyweight Benjamin Zephaniah, has praised her ‘twisted beautiful imagination,’ and polymathic genius, Heathcote Williams (RIP) her ‘hypnotic explosive’, writing style. Twice Nominated for Best of The Net 2017 Pushcart Prize Nominee 2017 Rascal Magazine. Viola’s poetry collection Flowers of War debuted at the New York Poetry Festival and published by UB Press. Novels Jukebox (Fahrenheit Press) Crack Apple and Pop (Fahrenheit Press) Viola is a regular contributor to counterculture magazines Gonzo Today and International Times.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sairaviola

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saira.viola/

Website: http://sairaviola.net/

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3161479.Saira_Viola?from_search=true

Purchase Links:

Fahrenheit Press: http://www.fahrenheit-press.com/books_crack_apple_and_pop.html

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crack-Apple-Pop-Saira-Viola-ebook/dp/B07DPWK67Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532977311&sr=8-1&keywords=crack+apple+and+pop+saira+viola

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Crack-Apple-Pop-Saira-Viola-ebook/dp/B07DPWK67Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532977340&sr=8-1&keywords=crack+apple+and+pop

Published by:

Crack Apple & Pop was published by Fahrenheit 13, an imprint of Fahrenheit Press, on 12th June 2018.

Thank you for stopping by! Berit☀️✨

The Other Sister by Sarah Zettel @sarah_zettel #BookReview #PubDay

Happy Tuesday bookworms!

Delighted to share with you today my review for this dark domestic thriller with a bit of a fairytale vibe.🍎

The Other Sister by Sarah Zettel

My Thoughts

4 Slow Burming Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Once upon a time… in a house made of roses… there lived a good sister named Marie, and a bad sister named Geraldine….

This was a dark, eerie, domestic thriller, with a fairytale vibe… not only was Geraldine’s PhD in the study of folklore and fairytales, but we also got little snippets and analysis of different fairytales throughout the book… I thought this was a very appropriate addition to the story, because there were so many similarities to fairytales…. and I’m not talking about Disney fairytales, but the true dark Grimm fairytales…. The story was dark… there was a definite battle between good and evil… the sisters had lost their mother and had a very ogre like father… their Aunt looked like a witch… not to mention they lived in a house called the rose house….

The story is told from the sister’s alternating points of view… from the beginning we are led to believe that Marie is the good sister and Geraldine is the bad… but as in all good stories things aren’t always as they seem…. The characters in this book were very well-developed, however they were not tremendously likable or relatable… this made it difficult for me to connect with the characters therefore I never completely engrossed myself in the story…. I felt like an onlooker rather than a participant…

The story unravels its self slowly…. and as the layers were peeled away more and more secrets were revealed and more and more lies were told… and just like the characters in the book I had no idea who to trust or who to believe… The ending to this book was satisfying, but not shocking….

Recommend if you enjoy a dark domestic thriller where the characters don’t necessarily live happily ever after…

*** many thanks to Grand Central for my copy of this book ***

About the Book

Two sisters. One murder plan.

Geraldine Monroe is the bad sister. Reckless and troubled, she ran away shortly after the mysterious death of their mother twenty years ago.

Marie, on the other hand, has always been the good sister. She is the obedient daughter and a loving mother to her son.

Now Geraldine has come home, for good it seems, and no one–not the aunts or uncles or cousins–really knows why. The most suspicious of all is Martin Monroe, the father who rules the extended family and their small town with a poisonous combination of money and coldheartedness. But even he doesn’t realize what the truth is: that the sisters have become allies in a plot to kill him.

Bound by blood and a need to right the past, Geraldine and Marie set their plan in motion. When old secrets and new fears clash, everyone is pushed to the breaking point . . . and the sisters will learn that they can’t trust anyone, not even each other.

GET A COPY

•Amazon

Have a beautiful day filled with wishes and words! Berit☀️✨

Odyssey in a Teacup by Paula Houseman @PaulaHouseman #BookReview

Happy Monday book lovers!

Thrilled to be part of the blog tour for this laugh out loud book! Many thanks to Rachel for my invitation and to Paula Houseman for this humorous story!😂

Odyssey in a Teacup
Encounters with a pair of supersized Y-fronts; a humourless schoolmarm with an unfortunate name and monstrous yellow incisors; and a tut-tutting, big-breasted, modern-day gorgon are the norm for Ruth Roth. She’s used to crazy.
Her mum squawks like a harpy and her dad has a dodgy moral compass. Add in daily face-offs with a relentlessly bitchy mirror, and Ruth’s home life feels like a Greek tragicomedy.
She hankers for the ordinary. But blah is not a good fit for someone who doesn’t fit in. And isn’t meant to.
Ruth’s vanilla existence is an issue for her besties—her hot-looking, obsessive-compulsive cousin and soul mate (who needs to do everything twice-twice), and her two closest girlfriends.
With their encouragement and a good homoeopathic dose of ancient mythology, Ruth embarks on an odyssey to retrieve her spirit. She’s confronted with her biggest challenge ever, though, when one of these friends sends her spiralling back into a dark place.
The decision she must make can either bring her out or launch the mother of all wars in her world.

My Thoughts

4 LOL Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

⚠️ DO NOT READ IN PUBLIC! Due to uncontrollable laughter evoking strange looks from those around you!⚠️

This was such a fun lighthearted read that I really needed! I’ve read some pretty dark books with some pretty intense subject matter as of late, so this was a wonderful change of pace… a little ray of sunshine…. A delightful and witty coming of age story that spans from Ruth’s childhood to Ruth’s 40s…

Ruth has a humorous approach to life…. the good… the bad… and the ugly… you want to be friends with Ruth… and you will cheer for her to triumph over her adversaries…. with judgmental parents, preposterous teachers, and countless amounts of unsupportive people in Ruth’s life it is a wonder she still has a sense of humor… well perhaps not, sometimes when life has thrown as much at you as you think it’s possible… you’ve just got to laugh! But fear not Ruth has a lot of good in her life as well reminding you that you can choose your friends, but you cannot choose your family….

This book was a fun breath of fresh air that left me with a smile on my face and a stomachache from laughing so much!

*** many thanks to the author and Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for my copy of this book ***

Purchase from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Odyssey-Teacup-Inspiring-Chick-Novel-ebook/dp/B0153VEB2I

Author Bio – Paula Houseman was once a graphic designer. But when the temptation to include ‘the finger’ as part of a logo for a forward-moving women’s company proved too much, she knew it was time to give away design. Instead, she took up writing.
She found she was a natural with the double entendres (God knows she’d been in enough trouble as a child for dirty wordplay).
As a published writer of earthy chick lit and romantic comedy, Paula gets to bend, twist, stretch and juice up universal experiences to shape reality the way she wants it, even if it is only in books. But at the same time, she can make it more real, so that her readers feel part of the sisterhood. Or brotherhood (realness has nothing to do with gender).
Through her books, Paula also wants to help the reader escape into life and love’s comic relief. And who doesn’t need to sometimes?
Her style is a tad Monty Pythonesque because she adores satire. It helps defuse all those gaffes and thoughts that no one is too proud of.
Paula lives in Sydney, Australia with her husband. No other creatures. The kids have flown the nest and the dogs are long gone.
Social Media Links –
Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulahouseman
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/PaulaHouseman
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulaHousemanAuthor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulahouseman

Live, laugh, love! Berit☀️✨

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson @maureenjohnson @katerudd #YoungAdult #Mystery #WhoDunnit

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

🌟🌟🌟🌟 Riddle me This Stars

Synopsis

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place” he said, “where learning is a game.”

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym, Truly Devious. It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder.

Review

Look! A riddle! Time for fun!
Should we use a rope or gun?
Knives are sharp and gleam so pretty
Poison’s slow, which is a pity
Fire is festive, drowning’s slow
Hanging’s a ropy way to go
A broken head, a nasty fall
A car colliding with a wall
Bombs make a very jolly noise
Such ways to punish naughty boys!
What shall we use? We can’t decide.
Just like you cannot run or hide.
Ha ha.
Truly,
Devious

Well this little YA book was a lovely little surprise.

This is a good old fashioned murder mystery book, we read about the murder at the beginning of the story, this was in the past, in 1936, we are then jumped into present day.

This had a little bit of a Harry Potter vibe to it, not the magic part, but the MC is a girl called Stevie, she is a bit of a child genius in her field, and has been chosen to attend a very prestigious school, only 50 pupils are chosen every year to attend the school and she is super happy about this.

Her parents are very over protective and are not happy about it in the slightest and try their best to talk her out of it, but Stevie has no concerns about attending the school.

Stevie’s thing is Murder, whether that be Sherlock Holmes, or Agatha Christie, but her true passion is True Crime.

And this school is not only famous for the super talented kids that go there, no there was a really famous unsolved Murder in 1936 by the infamous murderer Truly Devious!

For Stevie this is like a dream come true, she has read so much about the Murder itself and the school, it’s like her perfect idea of wow!

Now being a YA book what would *usually* happen, is that someone would attend the school, and within 5 minutes solve a clue that the police have been scratching their heads over for the last 20 years, and then 20 minutes later solve the case!

Notice i said usually? Yep because that isn’t what happens, some stuff happens, other things kick off, someone may or may not have an attraction to someone else, someone else may or may not end up dead, and there are a few riddles to solve!

All in all i really enjoyed this one, I liked the way it flipped from 1936 and back to today every now and then, and will be patiently waiting for book 2 to come out on audio to find out what the heck is going on, and find out about that bloody Photo!!!!

🎧🎧 Expertly narrated by the fabulous Kate Rudd, she always gives a stellar performance and is narrator that I would not hesitate to listen to every time!

Get your puzzle heads on!

Vicci