Saturday, 30 September 2017

The Scot Beds His Wife by Kerrigan Byrne (2017)


Release Date: 3rd October 2017
Pre-order : Amazon

Publisher's Information

THE SCOT BEDS HIS WIFE:
The Scot Beds His Wife is the next lush, captivating Victorian romance in the Victorian Rebels series by Kerrigan Byrne.

They’re rebels, scoundrels, and blackguards—dark, dashing men on the wrong side of the law. But for the women who love them, a hint of danger only makes the heart beat faster.


Gavin St. James, Earl of Thorne, is a notorious Highlander and an unrelenting Lothario who uses his slightly menacing charm to get what he wants—including too many women married to other men. But now, Gavin wants to put his shady past behind him...more or less. When a fiery lass who is the heiress to the land he wishes to possess drops into his lap, he sees a perfectly delicious opportunity...


Review 


I have loved everything I've read by Kerrigan Byrne and her latest release is another success. It starts off quite dark but I love dark, intense scenes so I was instantly hooked.
The darkness subsided after that to some degree but there was enough element of menace, adventure, romance and humour to keep me entertained and reading into the wee hours.

I instantly liked the characters Thorne and Samantha. Both are fighters who will do what is necessary to survive. I expected Thorne to be ambitious, tough and kind and I admired Samantha's sense of adventure and her bravery. 

This was an exciting, historical romance I didn't want to put down.


Tuesday, 5 September 2017

The Trip of a Lifetime by Monica McInerney (2017) Published by Penguin



Publisher's Information

Number One bestseller Monica McInerney tells a heart-warming, humorous story about family and coming to terms with the past

'I always thought memories were unchangeable. Set in stone, shaped by the years. But there are always others too, ones you haven't let yourself remember . . .'

The wilful and eccentric Lola Quinlan is off on the trip of a lifetime, taking her beloved granddaughter and great-granddaughter with her. More than sixty years after emigrating to Australia, she's keeping a secret promise to return to her Irish homeland.
Lola has always been her family's port in a storm, but she's hiding the hurtful reason she left Ireland as a young woman. Lola's walk down memory lane will force her to confront her bittersweet past - and discover that the truth can indeed set you free . . .
The Trip of a Lifetime is a moving story about the light and dark times of life, and a colourful, big-hearted family you'll want to call your own.


Review  

This was such a beautiful, charming story. The characters were so very real and human that it felt like I was visiting old friends and catching up.
Every family is complicated, probably with more than one skeleton in the closet whether they admit to it or not and Lola's story is something that will touch a chord with many readers. 
This book will have you laughing and holding back the tears as you follow Lola down memory lane.

Modern Ireland is excellently portrayed, mostly through the eyes of Lola who was able to see what had stayed the same in her old neighbourhood and what had changed in the past sixty years. There are no lazy stereotypes of Ireland.

The characters in this book are brilliantly written.
Lola is eccentric and formidable. Her granddaughters are clever and funny. 
I especially loved the overly enthusiastic and friendly chauffeur they hired in Ireland.

I found this book difficult to put down and thoroughly entertaining. 

Purchase links 







Sunday, 3 September 2017

Mad: Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know Trilogy, Book 1 by ChloƩ Esposito, Published by Penguin.


Publisher's Information

In this compulsively readable debut, set between London and Sicily over one blood-drenched week in the dead of summer, an identical twin reveals the crazy lies and twists she'll go through to not only steal her sister's perfect life, but to keep on living it.
Alvie Knightly is a trainwreck: aimless, haphazard, and pretty much constantly drunk. Alvie's existence is made even more futile in contrast to that of her identical and perfect twin sister, Beth. Alvie lives on social media, eats kebabs for breakfast, and gets stopped at security when the sex toy in her carry-on starts buzzing. Beth is married to a hot, rich Italian, dotes on her beautiful baby boy, and has always been their mother's favorite. The twins' days of having anything in common besides their looks are long gone. 
When Beth sends Alvie a first-class plane ticket to visit her in Italy, Alvie is reluctant to go. But when she gets fired from the job she hates and her flatmates kick her out on the streets, a luxury villa in glitzy Taormina suddenly sounds more appealing. Beth asks Alvie to swap places with her for just a few hours so she can go out unnoticed by her husband. Alvie jumps at the chance to take over her sister's life--if only temporarily. But when the night ends with Beth dead at the bottom of the pool, Alvie realizes that this is her chance to change her life. 
Alvie quickly discovers that living Beth's life is harder than she thought. What was her sister hiding from her husband? And why did Beth invite her to Italy at all? As Alvie digs deeper, she uncovers Mafia connections, secret lovers, attractive hitmen, and one extremely corrupt priest, all of whom are starting to catch on to her charade. Now Alvie has to rely on all the skills that made her unemployable--a turned-to-11 sex drive, a love of guns, lying to her mother--if she wants to keep her million-dollar prize. She is uncensored, unhinged, and unforgettable.



Review 



Wickedly dark, thrilling, and hilarious, 'Mad' is one of the most entertaining reads of the year. 
The reader gets sucked into Alvie's mind and carried along with her from one crazy, madcap episode to the next. I couldn't count the amount of times her actions shocked me into exclaiming,
 'OMG she did not just do that did she?' 
She certainly is 'mad, bad and dangerous to know.'

I can't wait for the rest of the trilogy to be released in 2018.

Buy Links Book Depository AmazonUK  AmazonUS   

Also available in audio format from Audible