Single dad Mitchell Fisher has said a firm goodbye to romance. He relishes his job cutting off the padlocks that couples fasten to his hometown’s famous ‘love story’ bridge. Only his young daughter Poppy knows that behind his prickly veneer, Mitchell is deeply lonely – and he still grieves the loss of her mother.

Then one hot summer’s day, everything changes when Mitchell bravely rescues a woman who falls from the bridge into the river. He’s surprised to feel an unexpected connection to her, but then she disappears. Desperate to find the mysterious woman, Mitchell teams up with her spirited sister Liza to see if she’s left any clues behind. There’s just one – a secret message on the padlock she left on love story bridge…

Brimming with Phaedra Patrick’s signature charm and a sparkling cast of characters, The Secrets of Sunshine follows one man’s journey to unlock his heart and discover new beginnings in the unlikeliest places.

Published 14th May 2020 by HQ

Oh yes, I’m on a reading roll at the moment and have another FIVE star review for you today. I can’t stop smiling when I think of this book. It’s soul food, the perfect pick me up during these strange times. It is indeed sunshine in word form

Single dad Mitchell has turned his back on romance and has no qualms about his job removing ‘love locks’ placed on the city bridges by romantic and love struck strangers. Then one day while working on the bridge, a woman falls into the river below and Mitchell jumps in without thinking. Overnight he becomes a local hero and a focus for the cities romantics. But is Mitchell himself ready to move on and accept love once again?

Ah… Mitchell 💛 I loved this character so much! Prickly and lonely, his sad story broke my heart before the author kindly put it back together with such care. I can’t remember ever rooting for a character as much as I did for him. The other characters are equally as brilliant, from his nine year old daughter, Poppy to the adorable concierge, Carl and lovely, lovely Liza. I want to know these people and have them as my friends

The story is undoubtedly romantic, my heartstrings were in overdrive, but it never felt cheesy. In fact, there’s some pretty serious topics going on aswell as a bit of a mystery. Yet this is a book bursting with hope and inspiration. It’s about moving on, forgiving yourself and acceptance. I finished this book with a huge soppy smile and feeling completely uplifted. Warm and heartfelt from beginning to end, It was perfect!

Thanks to the publisher for my #gifted proof copy

Outside a remote manor house in an idyllic wood, a baby girl is found.
The Harrington family takes her in and disbelief quickly turns to joy. They’re grieving a terrible tragedy of their own and the beautiful baby fills them with hope, lighting up the house’s dark, dusty corners. Desperate not to lose her to the authorities, they keep her secret, suspended in a blissful summer world where normal rules of behaviour – and the law – don’t seem to apply.
But within days a body will lie dead in the grounds. And their dreams of a perfect family will shatter like glass.
Years later, the truth will need to be put back together again, piece by piece . . .
From the author of Black Rabbit Hall, The Glass House is a emotional, thrilling book about family secrets and belonging – and how we find ourselves when we are most lost. Published 14th May 2020 by Michael Joseph Books

Eve Chase is one of my must read authors. I adored her previous two books and couldn’t wait to read her latest, The Glass House (thank you @michaeljbooks for the netgalley ebook) And I wasn’t disappointed! I adored every page of itNobody writes a dual timeline and a dark family secret like Eve Chase. She blends past and present seamlessly, meaning it’s a pleasure to switch between the alternating times. Cleverly woven strands provide links that keep the reader intrigued as to how the two stories connect, while her beautiful writing evokes the atmosphere of the setting and characters and brings them to lifeThe setting of Foxcote in the forest was stunningly atmospheric and I loved the hint of gothic in the writing. The dark family secrets kept me gripped and I became as entangled in this story as the characters themselves. It ripples with mystery and atmosphere while a theme of self identity runs throughout, connecting those from both past and present, with life changing and dramatic consequences. An absolute dream of a bookI read an advance E-book courtesy of the publisher and Netgalley

Gone Girl meets Room in this page-turning thriller from one of Germany’s hottest new talents
A windowless shack in the woods. Lena’s life and that of her two children follows the rules set by their captor, the father: Meals, bathroom visits, study time are strictly scheduled and meticulously observed. He protects his family from the dangers lurking in the outside world and makes sure that his children will always have a mother to look after them.
One day Lena manages to flee – but the nightmare continues. It seems as if her tormentor wants to get back what belongs to him. And then there is the question whether she really is the woman called ‘Lena’, who disappeared without a trace 14 years ago. The police and Lena’s family are all desperately trying to piece together a puzzle which doesn’t quite seem to fit

Published 14th May by Quercus

When Matthies gets a call late one night from the police to say they think they’ve found his missing daughter, Lena, he thinks his thirteen year nightmare is over. But the woman from a cabin in the woods is not Lena, so why is her ‘child’ Hannah the image of her? As more disturbing details of life in the cabin are revealed, it’s clear the mystery is only just beginning. What really happened to Lena all those years ago and who is the monster who has kept the children under lock and key in the woods for so many years?

Wow, wow, WOW – This book is incredible! I started it one Saturday afternoon and didn’t stop until I’d read the last page. I couldn’t look away. I barely took a breath. This is one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time

Told from the viewpoint of multiple characters, this is a tense and harrowing story, with a real slice of menace that had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. The characters are magnificently captured – Matthias who’s angry, blunt and completely obsessed in his focus to find out what happened to Lena, and Hannah who is vulnerable and naive – yet strangely sinister, both stood out to me

Romy Hausmann’s writing is transfixing and accomplished. It’s haunting and raw, with perfect pacing that had me hooked from beginning to end (and as a translated novel I feel the translator also deserves credit as none of the intensity or horror is lost while the book just flows) This is the author’s debut, and I’ll certainly be looking out for more in the future. Dear Child is up there as one of my top books of the year so far

I was lucky enough to win a proof copy from the publisher

The three Cadogan children, Jessica, Kirsty and Patrick, haven’t spoken to each other for three years. An argument after their mother’s death was the latest excuse to blame one another for their family’s troubles in a long, unhappy series that’s lasted almost a decade.
When their father, Gerry, dies they are given instructions as to where he wants his ashes to be scattered. But first they must together drive his old camper van up the country to the Scottish Isle of Islay. For the journey, he’s given them his old fishing tackle box containing three photo albums through which they can explore their past, and a bottle of single malt whisky he had been saving for the 70th birthday he never reached.
Along the way, they’ll be forced to confront the most painful moments in their shared history, lay to rest a ghost who’s haunted them for years – and maybe even become a family again

Published April 2020 by Orion Books

Despite the (frankly gorgeous) cover, The Way Back is a darker book than I initially imagined. It begins with Gerry writing his last request to his children, and then alternates between each of them as they set off reluctantly to fulfill his wish

And boy, does this family have problems. Simmering problems that have festered over the years. Jamie Fewery really does capture the resentment eating this family up perfectly. Jessica in particular stands out and in the company of her siblings the front she puts on in her ‘perfect’ life slips revealing bitterness that is ugly but incredibly authentic

As the family set off on their journey, we’re given flashbacks to the past. I ended up feeling really sorry for Gerry, he seemed a lovely and decent man while his children behaved atrociously. Of course, throwing the three bickering siblings together in a camper van provided plenty of humour and emotion – this book made me laugh a few times, but also brought a tear to my eye on a couple of occasions!

I really enjoyed this book, reading it in a couple of sessions while enjoying the sun in the garden. Tackling subjects of sibling rivalry, PTSD, homelessness, and bereavement in an honest and touching way, yet littered with humour and hope. Well worth a read!

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a gifted copy

The summer burns with secrets…
It is too hot to sleep. To work. To be questioned time and again by the police.
At the beginning of a stifling, sultry summer, everything shifts irrevocably when Lily doesn’t come home one afternoon

Rachel is Lily’s teacher. Her daughter Mia is Lily’s best friend. The girls are fifteen – almost women, still children. As Rachel becomes increasingly fixated on Lily’s absence, she finds herself breaking fragile trusts and confronting impossible choices she never thought she’d face.It wasn’t supposed to happen like this

Published 28th May 2020 by @headlinebooks

I started this book expecting a bit of a thriller, but this wasn’t what it was at all. It isn’t really about solving the disappearence of Rachel’s daughter’s friend Lily, but more a study of Rachel herself and her relationship with her teen daughter

Told in an almost stream of consciousness from Rachel, we hear her innermost thoughts, and boy is she flawed. She’s selfish, weak and incredibly vain. She lacks personal insight, and it’s her daughter who sees her as she is and challenges her. Their relationship is fraught, with Rachel often seeking validation from her daughter. As the mother of a daughter the same age, the authors depictition of teens certainly felt authentic at times, but I was completely unable to relate to Rachel

Nonetheless, I was compelled to keep reading. I loved the intensity of the writing and the discomfort from some pretty shocking turns. I enjoy a book with challenging and flawed characters, and Rachel was certainly that. I might not be able to relate to her, but I could still imagine her vividly, feeling her panic and desperation as the truth is revealed and she’s forced to face the consequences of her actions

It’s taken me a few days to put in order how I felt about this book. It’s so very complex and different to what I was expecting. The writing is exquisite, the characters difficult and the subject uncomfortable. It’s a book that will make you ask questions, reveals flaws and tackles the darker side of the mother/daughter relationship

I read a proof copy courtesy of the Amazon Vine program

A cache of unsent love letters from the 1950s is found in a suitcase on a remote island in this mysterious love story by top ten bestselling author, Kayte Nunn

1951. Esther Durrant, a young mother, is committed to an isolated mental asylum by her husband. Run by a pioneering psychiatrist, the hospital is at first Esther’s prison but soon becomes her refuge.

2018. Free-spirited marine scientist Rachel Parker embarks on a research posting in the Isles of Scilly, off the Cornish coast. When a violent storm forces her to take shelter on a far-flung island, she discovers a collection of hidden love letters. Captivated by their passion and tenderness, Rachel determines to track down the intended recipient.

Meanwhile, in London, Eve is helping her grandmother, a renowned mountaineer, write her memoirs. When she is contacted by Rachel, it sets in motion a chain of events that threatens to reveal secrets kept buried for more than sixty years.

Published August 2019 by Orion Books

A secret love affair, a dual timeframe and an incredible setting – this book ticked all my boxes!

When Rachel is marooned on an island off Cornwall, she discovers the most romantic unsent love letters dating back seventy years. Determined that the intended recipient should finally receive them, she tracks down the impressive Esther and her Grandaughter Eve. But the letters reveal a hidden past and family secret…

I say this over and over, but I absolutely adore dual timeframes, and Kayte Nunn gets it perfect in this gorgeous book. She mingles past and present beautifully and I enjoyed both timeframes equally

Told from the perspective of three strong women, themes of independence, self belief and autonomy ripple across the decades. In fact, although she doesn’t have her own narrative, a fourth woman, Leah, cements the theme. But the women are also linked by their realisation that reaching out to others can also make them stronger

The prose is atmospheric and the setting beautifully imagined. I loved the romance in this story, it’s full of heartache and missed chances. The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant is a charming book from beginning to end, it’s one to get completely swept away in and I adored every page

Thank you @orionbooks for the #gifted copy

Ursula, Gareth and Alice have never met before.

Ursula thinks she killed the love of her life.
Gareth’s been receiving strange postcards.
And Alice is being stalked.

None of them are used to relying on others – but when the three strangers’ lives unexpectedly collide, there’s only one thing for it: they have to stick together. Otherwise, one of them will die.

Three strangers, two secrets, one terrifying evening.

The million-copy bestseller returns with a gripping new novel that will keep you guessing until the end

Published April 2020 by Avon Books

This is a really late post I’m sorry. I read Strangers a couple of weeks back and this should’ve been posted on 4th but for some reason I thought the 4th May 🙈 I’ve only just realised while sitting here typing reviews and a bit of book organising that I’d missed it

Anyway, I’m fairly certain that C L Taylor needs little introduction. Undoubtedly queen of the psychological thriller, year after year readers are not let down Strangers is no different!

In this book, three seemingly unconnected strangers are brought together in a terrifying twist. Alice is just re-entering the dating scene after a divorce when she starts receiving anonymous messages warning her off. Gareth’s caring for his alzheimer’s suffering Mum, but a ghost from the past is making him doubt his own mind. Ursula thinks she’s hit lucky with her new flatshare, but just what is her landlord hiding behind the locked door?

Fast, gritty and slick – Strangers is another edge of your seat thriller. With Taylor’s trademark ability to create believable characters with raw human flaws and emotions, I found myself entangled in the lives of these three characters. As well as being tense and gripping, there’s some real heartbreaking moments too. Thoroughly recommended

“Life is both fleeting and dangerous, and there is no point in denying yourself pleasure, or being anything other than what you are.”
New York, 1940. Young, glamorous and inseparable, Vivian and Celia are chasing trouble from one end of the city to the other. But there is risk in all this play – that’s what makes it so fun, and so dangerous. Sometimes, the world may feel like it’s ending, but for Vivian and Celia, life is just beginning.

City of Girls is about daring to break conventions and follow your desires: a celebration of glamour, resilience, growing up, and the joys of female friendship – and about the freedom that comes from finding a place you truly belong.

Published by Bloomsbury UK April 7th 2020 (PB)

Oh MY. This book was EVERYTHING. You know when you get that perfect book for the perfect moment? City of Girls was THAT book. Transporting me from the worry and concern of the moment right to the very heart of 1940’s New York

This is the epic story of Vivian, a naive young woman from a good family, thrust into the glamour and flamboyance of the New York theatre scene in its heyday and her life as a revolutionary, independent woman who learns to accept herself for who she is

It’s told in a conversational tone as Vivian, now an elderly lady, tells her story in a letter. I adored the way it’s written. I was captivated by the confessional and chatty style which feels as if she is talking directly to you. It’s fascinating and exciting, I never wanted to stop reading

Both New York itself and the era are vividly brought to life – with fashions described in breathtaking detail and characters brought to life in such a way they leap from the page. It’s incredibly fun and racy, but poignant and touching too.

Vivian will stay with me for a long time to come, and City of Girls has earned a place on my favourite ever shelf. I LOVED it so much and would recommend it over and over

Thank you @tandemcollectiveuk for inviting me to participate in this wonderful #readalong

Drawing on Maggie O’Farrell’s long-term fascination with the little-known story behind Shakespeare’s most enigmatic play, HAMNET is a luminous portrait of a marriage, at its heart the loss of a beloved child.

Warwickshire in the 1580s. Agnes is a woman as feared as she is sought after for her unusual gifts. She settles with her husband in Henley street, Stratford, and has three children: a daughter, Susanna, and then twins, Hamnet and Judith. The boy, Hamnet, dies in 1596, aged eleven. Four years or so later, the husband writes a play called Hamlet.

Award-winning author Maggie O’Farrell’s new novel breathes full-blooded life into the story of a loss usually consigned to literary footnotes, and provides an unforgettable vindication of Agnes, a woman intriguingly absent from history.

Published March 2020 by Tinder Press

It’s taken me a few days to compose my review of this stunning book and even now I’m certain I won’t be able to do it justice. This book is STUNNING

Telling the fictional story of the little known wife of Shakespeare, Agnes (Anne) Hathaway, it gives voice to the voiceless from a time where women were erased from history books in favour of men

I adored Agnes – ethereal, wise, spiritual and courageous. Her spirit shone though the pages as vividly as the rich and evocative descriptions of sixteenth century England. It’s harrowing at times, with themes of loss and grief and a coincidental parallel to the difficulties we currently face today. But it’s also inspiring and I adored every moment

My knowledge of Shakespeare is hazy at best, so if that’s you too don’t be put off. O’Farrell chooses not even to name him, making this uniquely Agnes’s story. Fans of The Familiars, The Doll Factory and The Binding are sure to find their next historical fiction fix here and love Hamnet as much as I did. It really is historical fiction at it’s very best

Thanks to the wonderful @tandemcollectiveuk for inviting me to be part of the fantastic #Hamnetreadalong

Eight classic murders.
A single crime obsessive.
Countless thrilling twists.

A series of unsolved murders with one thing in common: each of the deaths bears an eerie resemblance to the crimes depicted in classic mystery novels.

The deaths lead FBI Agent Gwen Mulvey to mystery bookshop Old Devils. Owner Malcolm Kershaw had once posted online an article titled ‘My Eight Favourite Murders,’ and there seems to be a deadly link between the deaths and his list – which includes Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.

Can the killer be stopped before all eight of these perfect murders have been re-enacted? 

Published March 3rd 2020 by Faber Books  

I talk often about my relationship with my Grandmother and how she instilled a love of books in me. She adored crime, Murder and Mystery and if she was here today this is absolutely a book I’d be pressing into her hands. I know she’d love it!

While I have to admit to not reading an awful lot of classic crime, I know enough to have got this book, and I definitely think that fans of the genre would really enjoy it. With reference to all the big classics, it has all the ingredients of an old fashioned who done it.

I loved how the eight classic murder mysteries formed the basis for this book, it was such a unique story and has definitely inspired me to pick some of them up. I thought the many twists and turns were very clever, and I was kept constantly on my toes.

Rules For Perfect Murders is a gripping, fast paced read which I really, really enjoyed. It’s clever, twisty and despite me not being familiar with the classic murder mysteries featured, I got it. I loved the tension, the characters, the clever twists and yes, the sense of nostalgia even, which it evoked. Thoroughly entertaining and well worth a read.

Thanks to the publisher my my gifted copy