Review: When we Fall by Aoife Clifford

 

What a fantastic book, I loved every singe minute of it. This is one of those books, that you just can't put down. It is very well written, well researched, the characters are great. It is a "who done it, murder mystery" that keeps you guessing the entire book. It is an extremely entertaining book and I will be looking out for more books by Aoife Clifford to read in the future.

Alex returns to her home town Millett to check in on the welfare of her mother, who is suffering from early onset Alzheimers.

Whilst Alex and her mother are going for a walk on the beach, her mother discovers a human leg. Alex waits at the scene, a lengthy two hours before the local police arrive.

Alex is a lawyer, who has a business of her own which is fairly quiet at present, with not many clients. She has also recently broken up with her boyfriend, so Alex has a fair amount of time on her hands while in Millett with her Mother.

One of the local townsfolk asks Alex to look into the recent death in the town, although the police indicate it may be a possible drowning, the townsfolk feel there is something more sinister happening, and that it is perhaps linked to another previous death of young girl in their town.

Alex takes it upon herself to investigate these deaths, and discovers lots of town secrets along the way.

Thankyou to Ultimo Press and Better Reading for providing me with this Advance copy in exchange for my honest review. I rate this book 5 stars.


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Review: Brunswick Street Blues by Sally Bothroyd

 

Brunswick Street Blues is the story of Brick Brown, a foster child who had been passed around from foster family to foster family, until she found her adoptive family with her beloved father Uncle Baz.

Baz runs the Phoenix pub in Brunswick where Brick has worked most of her life as a barmaid. Brick has recently found herself a day job working for the local council in their PR department. Whilst at work at the Council, Brick discovers a dead body in the archive department, the deceased is the local town Mayor. Everything around this discovery is quite mysterious.

Shortly after this discovery Brick's Uncle Baz, goes missing, she goes to his apartment above the pub and nothing is missing apart from his guitar. 

Brick takes it upon herself to find her Uncle Baz, and stumbles upon some dirty property developers and politicians that are involved in Melbourne's underworld of crime. 

The story is a little slow, but it really heats up towards the end, there are a couple of parts where I was truly fearing for Brick's safety.

Thankyou to Netgalley, Harlequin Australia and Sally Bothroydfor this advanced copy in return for my honest review. I rate this novel 3 stars.

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 I have never read a Jack Heath novel before, and I am extremely grateful to have received this unedited advanced copy from Allen & Unwin.    Kill Your Brother, is a well written suspenseful thriller.   Entertaining and and on the edge of your seat excitement from the very first page.

The first chapter sets the scene for the remainder of the book.   Elise is injured and hurt, and has somebody tending to her wounds and bandaging her.     It turns out this person is Elise's captive, and the captive has also captured Elise's brother Callum whom Elise has been searching for.   Elise is soon given an ultimatum, her capturer will let her go free, on one condition, Elise must kill her brother.

Jack Heath captures our attention from the very first chapter with this shocking dilemma.

The reader then goes on to read and discover more about who is Elise and what her relationship is with her brother Callum.      

Elise is disliked in her home town, she is threatened continuously, she has had food thrown at her, poo put in her letterbox, her house broken into and she is being followed.   Elise reports it to the police, but she feels the police are sick of her phone calls and no longer will investigate the threats until Elise herself is dead.  

Elise's brother Callum, a local school teacher, goes missing and the police don't have any leads.   Elise decides to take matters into her own hands and track down her missing brother herself by posing as a private detective.   

Things turn ugly for Elise when she also becomes captured with her brother.   Nobody, will be looking for Elise, as the town and everyone she knows turns against her years ago.

Will Elise and Callum, come up with a plan to escape, or will Elise have to kill her brother?

Many thanks to Allen & Unwin Publishers for my advanced unedited copy, released November 2021 - I rate this book 4 Stars,  it is engaging from beginning to the end.

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Review: Love Lessons in Starcross Valley by Lucy Knott

 I was a bit surprised by this book.  It is not the type of book, I would usually choose to read, but I really liked the cover and the description.

At first I found it difficult to follow, as the first few chapters, seemed to jump around a bit, which made it hard to follow initially.  But with all books, I always make sure  I read 100 pages or 10% before I give up, and I was really grateful to have persuaded with this book as it is thoroughly enjoyable.

Marnie has recently had her personal world, fall apart around her, i.e her long time boyfriend had cheated on her, her parents were getting a divorce, and she had been terminated from her career as a teacher.   On a last minute whim, Marnie decided to flee from all her problems in her small town where every body knew everybody and she want on a 6 month vacation to Canada on her own.

The escape to Canada, was just what she needed, a break from everything back home, Marnie was able to enjoy some hiking and ice hockey games, and was able to spend one very special day doing a guided tour of Canada by a special stranger she had met at her first ice hockey game.

6 months later when Marnie had come back home, things had changed, but it seemed for the better.  Her Mum had a boyfriend, and her family where all happy to see her, despite her taking off and leaving them for 6 months without so much as a goodbye.

Upon coming home Marnie is unsure how she will go settling in to her old life, she is anxious about seeing her best friend Antoni and her family again.   Like all good family and friends, they embrace her with open arms.

Marnie finds a new job at her niece's school as a Teacher's Aid, she is assisting a little girl (Paige) who is behind in her learning and tends to have issues with frustration and anger.   

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Marnie build a relationship based on trust with Paige, it really is beautiful to see how much she helps this young girl and bring her out of her shell, build her confidence and improve on her studies.

Marnie's love life is becoming more interesting each day since her return home, I won't give anything away, apart from keep reading the book, the story is wonderful.

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Thankyou to Netgalley,  Head of Zeus Publishers and Lucy Knott for this advanced copy in return for my honest review.    This truly is a lovely story.   I rate this novel 4 stars.

Review: The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

 

Another book I have read, because I enjoyed the movie.

As with most movies, the book is always much better and this book definitely fits the same category.   The book is much more detailed, and there are many more characters that come to life, unlike in the movie where they either don't exist or are easily forgettable.

Without giving away too much of the book, all I can say is forget the movie and enjoy the book.   It is great.

I have rated it 4 stars.

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Review: Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett

 

My daughter was reading this book as part of her senior reading tasks at school, and she really enjoyed it and asked if I would like to read it also.   I obviously jumped at the opportunity not only to read a good book, but also for a chance to bond with my teenage daughter.

The story is very sad, on so many accounts, so much tragedy and loss.  

Harry is the youngest of three boys, and the story is based around Harry’s life.  

The boys lost their mother in a terrible car accident, and are trying to survive life and its turmoils without their loving mother.    The eldest son Joe, has moved out of home, due to conflict with the father and he is living with his Grandfather.  Both of the elder boys love surfing although Harry is quite frightened of the water.  He spends his days strolling the sand looking for treasure, whilst the elder two are surfing.

Harry befriends a local dog and it’s owner, the love and friendship that is formed between Harry and George (the dog’s owner) is beautiful, George is the protector overseer that comes into Harry’s life just when he needs it.

The story is a tragedy, and will end with tears, so have on hand the box of tissues.

3 STARS - It was a good book and well-crafted. I would recommend it to the right person.

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Review: The Gilded Years by Karin Tababe

 

The story is based on the true story of Anita Hemmings, who was born a Negro with fist coloured skin and was able to pass as a white person.    

She used her fair skin colouring to enrol in the elite

“Vassal” college that only accepted white students.     She was an excellent student and graduated with honours, something which would have been impossible for her as a Negro.  

I love how the author has told Anita’s story in great detail, we see how difficult it was for Anita, how she became ostracised after her truth was revealed and the many sacrifices she made just to receive an education 

Thankyou to Simon & Shusher Publishing and also Better Reading for providing me with this Advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

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