A Train From Penzance to Paris by Laura Vriggs **Book Review** @rararesources @paperdollwrites

Happy Wednesday, it is Wednesday isn’t it?

This was a fun uplifting story that made me smile! Another fabulous installment in this fun series. 🚂

When Maisie accepts a celebrated author’s invitation to mentor her, she finds herself leaving Cornwall behind on train tracks bound for the glitter city of Paris. Instead of making beds and serving coffee at the Penmarrow hotel in Cornwall, she’s making notes on her manuscript while sitting in a French cafe, meeting famous writers at private dinner parties, and trying to ferret the secrets behind the author’s unfinished future novel. It’s glamorous, it’s breathtaking … but it’s also an ocean channel away from the place that she loves, and, more importantly, the person to whom she just recently confessed her deepest feelings. Separated from Sidney by distance and circumstances, Maisie fears that their connection will be lost despite her words to him – and maybe because of those words, and the ones she didn’t allow him to say in return. 

Meanwhile, there are plenty of things in her new life trying to distract her – the professional editor hired to critique her novel, the eager young literary agent who sees pie-in-the-sky potential for Maisie’s talent, but Maisie finds solace in the eclectic group of amateur writers into whose midst she finds herself by accident. Their critique and advice is fast becoming as important as the editors – maybe even more important than the published author Maisie believed held the keys to refining her skill. 

But it’s missing Sidney that fills Maisie’s thoughts the most, along with her life back in Port Hewer, and she can’t stop wondering whether his feelings are the same as her own. His unspoken answer has become one of the most important pieces of her life, even as she struggles to match the pace of her new life and keep her dreams in sight. And when she unwittingly becomes privy to a seeming literary conspiracy, she must decide what to do in light of its truth – and decide what’s most important in her quest to become a professional writer. 

Join Maisie in a whirlwind tour across two of the world’s greatest cities, filled with questions, dreams, and a chance for fame that she believed far beyond her grasp, as she discovers herself as a writer, and how to embrace an unexpected future on her own terms.

My Thoughts

The perfect escapist read. This is the fifth book in Laura Briggs’ delightful Little Hotel in Cornwall series. This book could possibly be read as a standalone, but you won’t want to miss out on the charm and whimsy of the previous books. The last book ends on a cliffhanger with Maisie finally admitting her feelings to Sidney and then leaving him behind to pursue her dreams. Maisie has finally met her hero the elusive Alistair. Even though Alastair wasn’t exactly who she thought, she is excited to finally work with the author on her book. Maisie finds herself bumping elbows with the literary elites and being exposed to all the glitz and glamour that implies. But even though Maisie is in glamorous Paris her heart is still in Cornwall. Will Maisie regret her decision to pick up everything and head out on this journey? Wil her dreams be realized, will Alastair live up to her expectations?

Maisie is such a wonderful character and I loved spending time with her again. Even though I missed all the lovely quirky characters in Cornwall, it was fun meeting several new colorful characters. I found the story so interesting and loved watching Maisie navigate in this new social world. The story also took many turns I was not anticipating and ended on a borderline cruel cliffhanger.😜 hope the next book is coming out super soon! another fabulous book in this engaging series!

This book in emojis 🚂 ✍🏻 📚 🎭

*** Big thank you to Laura Briggs for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

Purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/Train-Penzance-Paris-Little-Cornwall-ebook/dp/B083JLFR9Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Little+hotel+in+Cornwall&qid=1586394752&s=digital-text&sr=1-3

 

One of Us is Lying by Shalini Boland **Book Review** @bookouture

Happy Tuesday everybody!

Hope you are all doing well and staying sane! New day same couch! This was a fun dark and twisted thriller that kept my attention from first page to last (a big bonus these days).🚨

My Thoughts

Dark and twisted full of secrets and deceit. Shalini Boland Has once again crafted a tense tale packed with complex unreliable characters. Tia, Kelly, and Fiona have been friends ever since high school. Even though their lives have taken different directions they are still close. When Tia finds out that there are vicious rumors being spread about her around her daughters playground and receives some compromising pictures she doesn’t know what to think. Does this have something to do with what happened all those years ago? But how can it when the only people that know are her Besties Kelly and Fiona? But she’s not the only one who’s having rumors spread about them. Kelly and Fiona also appear to have someone trying to stir things up in their lives. So who knows their secrets? And what is their agenda?

The story is told from the perspectives of all three women. I sympathize with each of these women for different reasons and found their stories compelling. This book started tightly wound and then kept unraveling and unraveling and unraveling and unraveling. I could not figure out who was behind everything going on and I was very surprised at the outcome. Another addictive page turner from Shalini Boland.

This book in emojis 🚪 🤳🏼 ⛵️ 🍷 🔒

***Big thank you to Bookouture for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

About the Book

Tia never harmed anyone. So why does someone want to destroy her?

Tia is walking home with her children, along the lakeside of their quiet, safe town, when she realises something is wrong with her five-year-old daughter, Rosie. She seems troubled, not at all her usual happy self.

But when Tia finally coaxes Rosie to open up, she wishes she hadn’t. Because her sweet daughter asks a question Tia never thought she’d hear.

‘Why did you kill someone?’

Tia knows how rumours spread around her small town. She just can’t understand who would have shared such a horrible story. Or why.

It can’t have anything to do with what happened. Only her two best friends really remember that…

Tia thought she could trust Fiona and Kelly with her life. They’ve been through so much together. But when she’s sent photos of herself that could tear her whole world apart, she starts to wonder. Someone is determined to punish her. But who? And will her friends stand by her, or will the past destroy all of their lives?

From the million-copy-bestselling author of The Secret Mother and The Perfect Family, this absolutely addictive psychological thriller is guaranteed to make you gasp. If you loved Gone GirlThe Girl on the Train and Big Little Lies this book is for you.  

About the Author

Shalini lives in Dorset, England with her husband, two children and Jess their cheeky terrier cross. Before kids, she was signed to Universal Music Publishing as a singer songwriter, but now she spends her days writing suspense thrillers (in between school runs and hanging out endless baskets of laundry). 
Buy LInks:
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Have a lovely day!🌸

Berit☀️✨