Laura

So after finishing Dragonfly in Amber I told myself I couldn't immediately dive into Outlander 3 because I needed to find a book which would engage me but not cause me to be lax in my parental duties. How crazy was it then to find that only 24 hours after I'd finished Gabaldon ‘ s Dragonfly in Amber I had also managed to completely consume Elizabeth Haynes wonderfully addictive Into The Darkest Corner.

Having seen this book crop up recently on several friend top 10 books lists I decided to locate it in my vast Kindle library of books to be read and give it a try. “It will be nice to have something I can pick up and put down easily”, I thought, how crazy was I?

The book opens in 2005 in a court transcript between lawyers and a Mr Brightman, discussing altercations between him and his ex - girlfriend. The details are sketchy and brief before the book moves to a pattern of short and snappy chapters, alternating between the time frame of 2003/04 and 2007/08. Both time periods are told through the eyes of Cathy but we are aware very quickly of the very different person she is in each part of her life. In 2003 she is lively, outgoing and vivacious with lots of friends and an active social life, beginning a relationship with a mysterious and attractive man called Lee. Jumping forward to 2007 she is alone in London, struggling with severe obsessive compulsive disorder and with an inability to form relationships with anyone due to huge trust issues.

The continual movement between both time frames leads to an ever growing sense of unease on the part of the reader, it is very clear that Cathy and her relationship in 2003 is an increasingly unhealthy and dangerous one and from her state of health in the 2007 time line we are given the opportunity for our imaginations to begin to think what may have occurred. The use of her OCD to highlight the ways in which she reassures herself in 2007 of her safety is a clever technique on the part of the writer. Not only does it add to the readers imagined scenario of what may have happened to Cathy in 2003 but it is used cleverly in the 2007/08 time frame to add an increasing suspense to the imagined danger Cathy believes she is in many years later.

This was a book literally gets under your skin, it drives you from chapter to chapter, literally till you cannot bear to put it down. You have a compulsion, almost as strong as that of Cathy's to check her door is locked, that you just have to keep going forward with her to satisfy your burning curiosity. It gives hints of the eventual story of the book but I found there were some really nice little twists in the story that I hadn't expected.

It is a truly cautionary tale, far worse than I had anticipated having read the back cover of the book. It was dark and held reminiscent ties with such movies as Sleeping With The Enemy. I hadn't read this author before and somehow having read several books that have alleged to be “the big thriller” of the year, such as Gone Girl or Before I Go To Sleep, I am amazed that this seems to have been overlooked somewhat. If faced with a choice between recommending Gone Girl or Into The Darkest Corner to a friend this would be my pick every single time. It would make a wonderful adaptation into a movie.

Truly one of the most gripping and engaging books I've ever read.

I am helping my son learn about World War II at school right now and it has tied in with a real blossoming interest in the period that I myself have found. More and more often I find myself drawn to tales of the era after having fallen in love with Anne Blankman's young adult novel ‘Prisoner of Night and Fog”. I wish when I'd studied the subject at school I could have done so through literature and personal stories rather than the quite boring memorisation of dates of treaties and names of generals and politicians involved.

Books like this, the first of a series, by Jane Thynne take us right into the heart of pre-war Germany at a time when the Nationalist Socialist party has just come to power and suddenly Germany begins making changes that will lead the country down a road to war and leave the Jewish citizens of the country living a nightmare that would lead them to concentration camps and death.

Our heroine is young British actress Clara Vine, who having been offered a movie role in Berlin runs off to Germany to begin a new life. Once there she meets and is befriended by the wife of the newly appointed German Propaganda Minister and close friend of Adolf Hitler. Spun into a glamorous world she meets many people associated with the party and their wives and girlfriends and sometimes mistresses. Clara however has also been asked by the British government to provide them information about what she is hearing and seeing in order to help them spy on the Nazi party.

It is a really fast moving story and as some of the characters in play are actually real we learn much as we go about life in Berlin at the time and the inner workings of the wives of the Nazi hierarchy. with romance and glamour and mystery thrown in its a solidly good read and will I'm sure provide plenty of material for the next books in the series. The heroine is instantly likeable and I'm happy to bet she will still have sufficient secrets for us yet to uncover in the books ahead.

The Clifton Chronicles has been on my mind lately as the release of the fifth book in the series has kept reminding me I need to catch up as I had only read books one and two, so with a view to catching up before too many future spoilers appeared I decided to delve into Book 3, Best Kept Secret.

Jeffrey Archer remains one of those authors we all know we should be disapproving of, he has had a more colourful past than most of his fictional characters, but somehow you just cannot help but admit he writes an amazing grand saga and The Clifton Chronicles has proven no different. In Book 3 we pick up directly after the end of the cliffhanger from Book 2 where the House of Lords is trying to decide who should inherit the family title and all its wealth. We find best friends,and potential half brothers, Harry Clifton and Giles Barrington awaiting their fate. From the outset the books zips along at an alarming pace, its constant action. Just as you think you are about to catch breath another twist comes in and you are pulled off into another intriguing plot twist and its very difficult to put down.

There is perhaps one criticism is would make and I do with a nod towards the fact this type of big family saga almost demands this but at times the characters can be a little one dimensional. Heroes and villains play their roles in almost fairy tale style. The villains almost come with a soundtrack of comedy villain music and they interact with each other in such a predictable manner that at times its a little bit too much and it would be nice to have characters with more complexity than the simple “they're a good person, they're a bad person” scenario.

The books never feel overly long in this series but that is merit more to their gripping stories than any shortcomings on the writers part, they engage you so fully that its so easy to say you'll read for 10 minutes but find yourself tearing yourself away an hour later then relenting with a promise of “just one more chapter?”. Archer has learned that by setting amazing cliffhangers at the end of each book in the series means he's guaranteed we will all be desperate for more and this installment was no different, the joy for myself though is should I choose to I could resolve the suspense immediately but for those who read at time of release it must have been torture.

Archer is like a guilty little secret, you know you really shouldn't love him as an author, he's not that intellectually stimulating nor is he all that likeable a man but I just love that good old fashioned family backstabbing as per 80's big budget TV shows and I'd be quite surprised if some TV company wasn't already considering adapting this series for TV. Its good, innocent romps through the wars and family power and is written in an amazingly engaging way.

I haven't read Kate Atkinson before, I saw this in a bookshop and immediately the story concept grabbed me.

What if you could live life again and again, each time taking a different path. This is what happens to Ursula, from the moment of her birth where in one reality she dies immediately after her birth but in another she lives.

The book progresses with this concept, during one childhood day at the beach she wanders too far into the sea and cannot be saved. In another a local artist spots her and saves her and life continues.

I didn't find the book confusing. I found the childhood chapters slower than those during the early war years where Ursula has so many possible futures and each so different it made fascinating reading. I don't want to give too much away but the scenario with Ursula in Germany pre Second World War was brilliantly written.

The only problem I had with the book is when your entire concept is that whenever the lead character dies time resets itself and she gets another go how on earth does it ever end...the premise that Ursula could change the future for everyone is a great concept but it doesn't fulfil when time immediately resets again and her act is wiped out. And so you get the feeling the author could be writing forever and not ever would we get a final conclusion and that is the books only flaw. It didn't feel finished and that was a little frustrating.

This book was recommended to my again by my mum, read the blurb on Amazon and thought it sounded an interesting idea for a plot. A high flying lawyer and single mother Kate receives a phone call from her daughters exclusive school saying she's being suspended for cheating. By the time she reaches the school to collect her daughter she finds that Amelia has thrown herself off the school roof. What follow's is Kate's journey to discover what happened, did her daughter commit suicide or did something more sinister happen?

People have compared this book to Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, personally I didn't see the connection. The storyline's are vastly different. Whereas Flynn wrote a quite twisted storyline in Reconstructing Amelia it's much more realistic and there is more about the intricate social changes in the lives of teenagers today thanks to social media.

I really loved Reconstructing Amelia, it built beautifully as a story. From the moment Kate begins to suspect that her daughter didn't jump we are drawn along as she delves into the mind of her teen. Written through chapters that flit between being told through the eyes of Kate, Amelia, Social Networking snippets and flashbacks it makes for compelling reading. Amelia is a character who you truly like and root for, she's pulled into a difficult situation and makes some questionable choices but you never give up wanting to change the outcome you know is inevitable.

Kate's character is also written incredibly well, a workaholic who's daughter is a troubled teen can sometimes be a hard sell like ability wise but Kate know's her shortcomings and therefore you forgive her and learn to sympathise with her, you can feel her pain at having to learn about her teenage daughter only after she is gone.

If asked to choose which book out of Gone Girl and Reconstructing Amelia I'd recommend I wouldn't hesitate in saying this is the better read. It falls a little more into the teen fiction genre than Gone Girl and again I'd reiterate that subject matter wise they are quite different but this for me was the more satisfying read. it reached a conclusion that was believable and tragic though it was it made sense. It was a gripping and well written read and well worth a try.

We all remember those days back in high school when all we used to dream about was our first love and how wonderful it would be, the crushes we'd have on that special boy and how perfect life would be if he just noticed us. An innocent time before the reality of serious relationships moved in and we began worrying about if we'll ever get married or if we will wind up an old cat lady forever. This book is the essence of all those feelings wrapped up in one wonderful narrative.

To All The Boys I've Loved Before is Lara Jean's story. Lara Jean is a high school junior and the middle daughter of the Song sisters. She, her elder sister Margot and younger sister Kitty are all being raised by their dad after the death of their mother some years before. A strong and close family they all look out for one another but change is coming as Margot prepares to leave home to study abroad in Scotland. Lara Jean is a quiet, quirky teen who knows she will need to step up more when her sister leaves and take on more responsibilities and be there even more for her little sister Kitty. With her sisters (ex)-boyfriend living across the street, she is nervous about how their relationship will change and whether he will still come round after Margot leaves.

Lara Jean is a dreamer, she wants to be loved and over the years as she's developed crushes on different boys she pens them a love letter with all the feelings she has about them and then instead of posting it she hides it in a hatbox in her bedroom. This is fine until the day that the letters are posted out by mistake and suddenly all the boys Lara Jean has loved before start getting their love letters and suddenly Lara Jean has to face them knowing they've read all her deepest, most truthful feelings about them.

This book is the first in a trilogy dedicated to following the life of Lara Jean. The final book was only just published earlier this month. A huge success it has garnered lots of fans around the world because of it's lighthearted moments, strong family values and emotional writing style. I read a few people who said that they found Lara Jean to be an annoying character, overly naive and too young for her years but their criticisms have been far outweighed by those who've said they find it to be endearing and great contemporary young adult fiction. I personally loved Lara Jean's voice in this novel, she did have an innocence about her which whilst some people could perceive as immaturity I found to be refreshing that she wasn't an attention seeking, limelight loving teen with overconfidence and mean girl tendencies. Instead, the focus is on her family, she puts them first. She is sweet and thoughtful and favours a few close friendships over being the popular kid in school and rather than find this awkward she is okay with that.

In fact, I found Lara Jean to be a delight and I fell in love with her family as well. Many teen books can tend to portray the parental figures as party poopers or people who lay the rules. In this book, Lara Jean has a close relationship with her father and he is an integral part of her life whose opinion is valued. I think this is a positive role model family to provide young teens reading this book with.

This book ends with a great cliffhanger ending which means that you are desperate to find out how things are going to progress into book 2 in the series, P.S. I Still Love You. It is full of characters who I would like to spend more time with. In this hot balmy summer days I know that I will find these great contemporary reads to pick up and fly my way through. The chapters are short and snappy and you sit down to read a chapter and before you know where you are you've read 5 or 6 and the book flew past so quickly which makes it just perfect summer reading. I know that at 40 years old I am way way beyond the intended target audience for this book but I really enjoyed being taken back to those innocent days where the most important thing you had to worry about was whether your first kiss was going to be that fireworks moment you had dreamed in your head and who that special boy was going to be.

Oh dear, oh dear dear dear. Mr James Patterson your Women's Murder Club is descending into sheer drivel slowly book by book. This latest instalment is nothing short of ludicrous.

The book kicks off with Lindsay Boxer giving birth to her much longed for baby, she makes great strides in telling us how much she longs for her baby and how strong the bond is with her newborn. The birth lasts all of 9-10 paragraphs almost as though Patterson is scared to put the subject of a childbirth within his hallowed pages in any great detail. Lindsay's post birth glow doesn't last though as practically 2 chapters later and with a fussy baby who won't settle suddenly she and Joe decide in 2 minutes that she should go back to work with her baby only 2-3 weeks old. So much for your baby being much longed for and having a wonderful bond.

The storyline then descends even further. The plot lines are so see through and transparent, the book just follows the same old tired format of Lindsay investigates case whilst Lindsay tracks down multiple killers although to be fair I'm not sure what the heck Cindy and Claire were in this book. The ending was clear pretty early on except perhaps one aspect and it just lacks all the expectation and build up of the earlier novels.

I found the whole sickness of Lindsay's baby poorly written, firstly that Patterson had Lindsay dotting in and out of the hospital between cases just to check up on her allegedly dying 4 week old was ridiculous and then to have her diagnosed with leukaemia and having only a 50% survival rate to the way the book ended was frankly unrealistic and an insult to reader intelligence.

I've kept on with this series based upon the early novels but now I'm not sure how much more investment I can make in these characters who have rapidly become very uninspiring and very shallow. Maybe it's time to retire Boxer and her chums and have her move to DC with her husband Joe and live a quiet life whilst her chums get on with life in San Fransisco.

Miranda Hart is one of my very favourite people on tv at the moment. She plays Chummy in Call the Midwife wonderfully an her own sitcom ‘Miranda' is a joy and one of my cherished shows that makes me laugh.

Miranda is a very rare thing in comedy these days, someone who doesn't need to raise laughs by poking fun at others. She's not crude, foul mouthed or controversial. She gets her laughs by poking fun firmly at herself and through slapstick situational comedy and I love her to bits.

In her book she somehow manages to bring her tone of voice that is very distinct in her show to the page. It just feels like watching an episode of Miranda. She's happy to poke fun at herself throughout and as she speaks to her teenage self she takes us through chapters on such topics as holidays, dating, jobs and those other tricky situations life throws at us.

This book was laugh out loud funny. Some of the situations Miranda explains she's found herself in are gems and it's a really good thing in our recession laden times that there are people who can still make us laugh with sheer mischievous glee and mirth.

Miranda Hart is a gem and her book is also. Very highly recommended.

For 99p I thought I'd give this book a go and it is by far the best book I've read in some time.

Laura is a jeweller, living in a small village with her loving boyfriend Jack and being big sister to her best friend Fee. The book opens with a letter from Laura's mother to both Laura & her twin sister Lily aged 6 as she prepares to die. No mention of this is made throughout the book as it focuses entirely on Laura and her mysterious new client Rob who commissions Laura to make a charm necklace for his wife Cat's birthday. He wants her to speak to the 7 main people in his wife's life and make a charm for each representing the essence of their relationship. Laura initially says no but when payment for the necklace allows her to make her boyfriend Jack's xmas wish come true she reluctantly agrees.

In order to learn about Cat she finds herself pulled into the lives of this impossibly glamorous couple and their circle of friends and not only does Laura find out much about them but also begins to reveal much more about her past than she's previously been prepared to explore.

This book is the first in a while to have me gripped and making me want to rush back to my kindle app to keep reading. The characters are so varied, some instantly likeable, others not so much and some hiding a great deal that the story drip feeds nicely.

It is wonderfully written, engaging and was the best buy I've made in ages so I'd highly highly recommend this one.

I'venot read any Dorothy Koomson novels before so can't judge this against her previous books but I have to say that following The Rose Petal Beach I'm really keen to see what her other books have to offer.

The story begins when Tamia Challey opens her front door and finds police officers coming to arrest her husband for a crime he doesn't seem surprised about. Suddenly her world goes into freefall and she's left questioning everything about her husband, their life together and her friends around her. As she tries to keep her family together things continue to spiral out of control to the point Tamia begins to question what she herself is capable of in order to protect her children.

This book gripped me from start to finish, it truly did keep you reading as the story is told not just from Tamia's perspective but from that of her friends Mirabelle and Beatrix and the stranger Fleur who arrives in Brighton and enters their lives unexpectedly. All this is wound around a story Mirabelle brings fromher past of the woman who searched a desert island for her lost love for so long that her feet bled, turning into rose petals on the sand until she gave up and joined him in death - “the rose petal beach” of the title.

Wonderful writing and a great read - very highly recommended.

This book has been lingering on my kindle for a little while - however with a follow up book coming out later this year with lovely enticing cover art I decided it was time to get acquainted with the ladies of the vintage teacup club. Telling the story of three women who meet at a car boot sale whilst searching for vintage teacups.

This book follows each of the women's stories both together and alone, Jenny as she plans her wedding to Dan and deals with an unexpected guest she hadn't planned for, Maggie who's ex husband has just reappeared looking to ignite romance and finally Alison who's struggling to adjust to her husband Pete's redundancy and two teenage daughters.

It was a good read, written in that increasingly popular chic lit style with chapters alternating between each of the girls to move each story along whilst Greene also ties all the stories together with regular meetings between the new friends.

The stories are all engaging and each of the girls lovely to read about, the only thing I struggled with about the book was their move from virtual strangers to bosom buddies almost immediately, I tend to take longer to trust and for relationships to build whereas the girls were all sharing deepest secrets and popping round each other's houses very quickly.

Putting that aside though it was a nice read, I'd like to spend and will spend more time reading the sequel Tuesdays at the Teacup Club. It was nice to feel that their stories won't be ending and that there's lots more to come from the characters.

This book seemed to always be in and around Amazon Kindle's top sellers with a good price tag so I thought I'd give it a go. The story starts quite swiftly with Anna jetting off to spend the summer as the tutor for T.J. a rich young teenager recovering from cancer.

On route to their summer home the seaplane they are travelling in crashes and they find themselves stranded on a deserted island.At this point in the book things got a little ‘rose tinted' for my liking as they find themselves somehow surviving (in my opinion at points a little too easily).

The book has a tendency to flip through large periods of time quite quickly and in relatively few chapters they've been on the island months, then years and suddenly T.J is not a boy anymore but a young man of 19 and the reliance that he and Anna have on each other for life, sanity and survival leads to love.

Although parts of the book were a little bit idealistic in my view it didn'tdetract from the authors excellent building of the relationship between Anna and T.J and how in extreme circumstances we often find ourselves drawn to people we otherwise wouldn not have loved and how this can change our lives forever,

I have been an avid fan of Jodi Picoult since I read ‘My Sisters Keeper' about 2 years ago. Some I have loved, others I have struggled my way through but from the moment I read the synopsis of Ninteen Minutes inside the dust jacket of the hardback book I have been looking forward to this one.

As a parent with 2 young children this book really stayed with me, even days after I had finished it I found myself contemplating what their futures held for them at school, will they be like Peter - ostrecised and ridiculed, bullied perhaps daily, will they follow Josie's path - never quite feeling like they fit in but just trying to get by. What impact will this have upon their lives now and in the future.

No matter how you look at it this book talks about what for many children is a reality - waking up every day afraid of what faces you at school and a desperate desire to get by.

Woven throughout this book are the viewpoints of people including Peters lawyer, his parents, survivors of his attack on the high school, parents of victims and also Peter's own viewpoint - how can you not listen to his plea of ‘They started it!' without your conscience pricking you just a little.

I struggled to put this book down - by far the most emotional of Jodi's books since My Sisters Keeper and now a firm favourite.

Family Pictures or The Accidental Husband to give the book it's UK title is yet another joy from American author Jane Green. I've been reading Green's books for many years now, since Jemima J and Bookends right through to her current releases like The Patchwork Marriage and The Love Verb.

As a regular reader I've noticed a change in her style over the years as she moves from her novels being based on young singleton's finding love to very much suburban housewives struggling with family and relationship dilemmas. Her settings have become distinctly middle class and her heroines often the well bred matriarch of wayward teens.

This is not to say it's a bad thing. Just an observation that some of the edginess has gone and instead has been replaced by heartwarming stories that reassure me the author is, like me, moving into a different phase of her life.

In this novel we meet Sylvie and her daughter Eve, who are preparing for Eve to fly the nest leaving Sylvie worried about her future and Eve hiding a worrying secret. We also meet Maggie and her daughter Grace who are at a similar point in life but lack the closeness of mother and daughter due to Maggie's endless social climbing.

There is a devastating link that both women share but are unaware of and when their daughters meet for the first time the secret is about to be blown wide open and will change all their lives forever.

A strong and moving story it is pacy and keeps you gripped. Short chapters moving between the 4 female lead characters it is amazing how quickly the chapters fly by. Green has become the master at writing strong Middle Ages female heroines but she also retains a wonderful ability to still relay the voice of the teenager beautifully. Her chapters from the perspectives of Eve and Grace reading equally as well as those of Maggie and Sylvie.

It's a funny thing about Green that reading one of her books is like slipping on a comfortable pair of old slippers or meeting an old friend you haven't seen for years. There's an innate sense of comfort in her work and this book is a wonderful example of that. Very highly recommended.

This is perhaps one of the most common books around for dividing opinion. It's a bit like marmite you either love it or you hated it. I fell absolutely into the loved it camp.

The story of Henry, a man who has the ability to literally move backwards and forwards throughout his own life is truly wonderful. The intertwined story of his love for Claire is one of the most engaging I have ever read. Yes, I can understand why some people find it far fetched and at times difficult to follow. All that jumping around through time means there is no chronological order to this book. Instead we are given snippets of what is to come and teasers and given as to what will transpire.

I loved the chapters where Henry met Claire as a young girl and chatted with her about how she would meet him in her future and they would fall in love. Building a love which she grew inside until the day his premonition came true and she did meet Henry at an age where they could have a loving adult relationship.

It is such a beautiful story that the whole time travelling actually doesn't need to make sense instead it's a book about an enduring love and the things we leave behind when we leave this world and those we touch along the way.

Having loved “Me Before You” I didn't have to think too hard before buying Jojo Moyes new novel. A week before it's release I read the prequel novella “Honeymoon In Paris” which introduced the characters really nicely but it isn't essential as the book stands up on it's own without the additional novella material.

The story of Liv whose husband David passed away four years before, fracturing her world is heartbreaking. She meets an ex cop Paul who seems to offer a new relationship but just as they begin to get close he suddenly bolts from her home with no explanation.

It transpires his job is to reunite works of art stolen during wartime with their rightful owners and the painting Liv's late husband bought for her on their honeymoon is the centre of his latest case. Thrust onto opposing sides, fighting for the painting it seems destined to drive them apart.

This story is woven beautifully with that of Sophie Leferve, the subject of the painting in question and wife of the artist. Her story is one of a woman trying to survive in Fance in World War I and the sacrifices she made for her husband and family and her complex relationship with the German Kommendante in charge of her French village.

Beautifully written, gripping most especially evocative when dealing with Sophie's story and a fantastic tale of love and betrayal. Drawing resonance between Liv and Sophie's stories it was a great read.

I had been totally swept away by Sylvia Day's first instalment of the Crossfire series, loved the story of Eva and Gideon and their torrid an passionate love affair. I couldn't wait for more in instalment 2.

At points this book really lived up to the first, it was sensual and romantic and wonderfully erotic but then in others it read like a teen romance novel. It was on, then off, then on, then off again. Eva and Gideon blew hot and cold and then lukewarm. It would sizzle for a chapter then the heat and pace would stall and fizzle for a chapter.

It is more a book to drive a plot but instead of doing so openly it is all about Gideon telling Eva to trust him and wait, which we do so until almost the very last page and then it stops abruptly, book over. Thanks for waiting Eva & reader but we are all done here it's time to wait for book 3.

Don't get me wrong I am still loving these more than Fifty Shades and find the romance and erotica much more real than James's constant references to Anastasia biting her lip as Christian thinks about sparking her. This is more sensual, less obvious and better for it. The middle book of Fifty Shades had more pace though and left you truly begging for the last instalment, with this I am a bit more ‘meh, I need more action next time'

Worrying thing is I've read reviews on book 3 and they appear to have dipped on book 2 so I'm hoping that I'm not going to be disappointed in it?

Jenny Colgan books are a true treasure, she's been a firm favourite of mine for many years now and she's matured into a writer who creates not only atmospheric settings but whole communities of great characters to fill them with. Such was the case with her smash hit novel Meet me at the Cupcake Cafe and because I loved it so much I couldn't wait to snuggle down this christmas with the sequel Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe.

Picking up some months after the original novel we find cupcake cafe owner Issy living with her boyfriend Austin and his younger brother Darny whilst running her beloved fledgling business. All is going well until Austin is headhunted for a top job in New York and Issy isn't sure she wants to move to the other side of the world.

It's such a joy to spend time with the great cast of characters from Colgan's original novel again and to follow their stories further, the amazing sense of camaraderie and community created is lovely to share in. I'd even say you could bring a third novel in the series out in the future and not find the characters flogged to death - Colgan has left lots of room for them to grow and I'd jump at the chance to read more.

A lovely christmas read,full of heart and emotion and brilliant storytelling at its best.

This book had been on my Amazon wishlist for ages, I kept saying I'd buy and read it but am not ashamed to say I was waiting for an optimum price. Eventually I secured it and having waited so long I delved straight in. During my many years at school I have to admit to having been somewhat underwhelmed by all the lessons about the Second World War, all the teaching of the politics of it all never made it jump off the page for me. As I have matured however I've found it becoming more real to me as I've read fictional and real accounts of the every day people who lived through the war.

Starting in 1920's Berlin with a young Jewish trainee doctor Freida and her jazz musician husband Wolfgang we follow their journey to hospital where Freida gives birth to their twin boys, one however is sadly stillborn. A doctor mentions that another baby has just been born in the hospital, an orphan whose mother died in childbirth and father was killed as a communist. Freida agrees to the adoption of the child and she takes both boys home, telling no one that one of her boys was not the twins she carried, only adoption papers at the hospital bearing witness.

On the same day the twins are born the German Nationalist Socialist Party is formed, that which we know as the Nazi regime begins. The book follows the twins childhood in Berlin, raised as Jewish boys they have a secure childhood until 1932 when the madness of Nazi anti semitism begins, bit by bit growing its isolation of Jews and the German hatred for them. Thrust into a world where they are ostracised and sidelined for their faith they are inseparable the only thing between them their love for a Jewish girl Dagmar.

This book was so engaging that I struggled to pull myself away from it, it is so atmospheric that in reading it you are fully immersed into the world of Germany in the 20's and 30's. The book is stated as being about the twins Otto and Paulus, but it was so much more than that its the story of their parents and grandparents, their friends and their families also. How life was changed for rich and poor and how your blood became the tender knife edge on which fate was balanced.

There's a love story intertwined amongst it, the twins love for Jewish heiress to Fischer's department store Dagmar, her manipulation of both boys affections initially and laterally her utter dependence upon them to help her survive. Ultimately though this book is one about survival and the lengths we will go to to do just that when we have no other options available to us. Whom would we lie to, who would we protect and how long lasting will the damage be?

It was an absolute joy to read this book, it was an outstandingly crafted story and absolutely one I immersed myself in. I feel a little bereft now I've finished it, restless and unsure of what to read next, sure it won't measure up to this.

I'd read all the FSOG novels last year and in anticipation of Entwined With You coming out I decided it was time to try Crossfire.

Yes lots of comparisons can be drawn between the two series, two strong and intoxicating male leads and which is best. For my money I'd be Team Cross but only because I felt Christian became a bit too tortured and all the contracts and red room of pain was a bit much.

Eva is a good lead and much more interesting than Anastasia and I liked the idea she had her own independence from Gideon that meant she didn't seem so needy.

A great book - can't wait to read Book 2 because I did find this ended at an odd juncture in the story's

It's become Veronica Henry's trademark writing books about beautiful picturesque little villages and intertwining lots of small stories together until they are all connected.

The Long Weekend follows the same formula with the story The Townhouse hotel in Peenfleet, a little seaside village. The story upon which all the others are built is that of Claire, part owner of the hotel and her boyfriend and chef Luca. Her world is turned upside down when a stag party arrives at the hotel containing an old flame and bringing back old difficult memories. Alongside Claire's story is that of a girl searching for her long lost father, the co-owners of the hotel who on the surface appears to have it all and a man trying to build a relationship with his illegitimate daughter.

As with Henry's other books the stories a forged around the location, like a sense that escaping from home and being somewhere serene and calm can change your world just by being there. Henry is a master at painting a wonderful picture of the little seaside towns and their easy way of life for visitors whilst tempering this with the often harsh realities of what it means to reside there year round.

The stories contained in The Long Weekend were good, I would have liked to have read more about the story of Chelsey and her father's attempts to build a relationship with each other. I'd also have liked an epilogue at the end to conclude a the book more as it felt like it ended a little abruptly.

It was a good read, there was nothing different about the stories within and I knew where each story would lead but I loved the setting and the summer feel of this book.

When I saw the new Cassandra Clare book the first thing I thought was “Wow, it's massive”, it would appear that Clare is trying to outdo herself with each subsequent installment in The Dark Artifices series and at nearly 900 pages this one is a hefty undertaking for any reader. Following up from Books 1 and 2 in this series, Lady Midnight and Lord of Shadows this book picks up immediately after the end of Book 2 and the impact of the ending of that book which left many readers shocked and heartbroken.

From there we follow Julian and Emma, our main protagonists for this series as they cope with the resulting chaos and try to help all the different children of the Blackthorn family to cope. Alongside this we have their ongoing concern about the growing love for each other and how this is going to drive them to evil as they are sworn parabatai and how it is forbidden for parabatai to fall in love. What is great about this book is that right from the outset we have much more than just the Blackthorn family on the pages, we have Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane, Gwyn and Diana, Kieran the son of the Unseelie King and all the characters we have come to know and love through this and the other Shadowhunters series'. It's a very collective book featuring everyone we've met so far and with the result a couple of times I had to go and google what exactly had happened in each characters storyarc up to this point just to make sure I had everyone straight.

Initially I was really enjoying this book, I flew through the first few hundred pages and was pretty invested but then I began to tire a little. Why? Because, I really began to get frustrated with the number of pages that were dedicated to the same ongoing dramas. If we talked about Julian and Emma's love for each other and how they shouldn't be doing it and their parabatai bond once we did it a million times. Each chapter seemed to feature a segment where this was front and centre. Alongside this we had the Mark, Christina, Kieran love triangle/threesome where if we heard it from one of their perspectives we had to hear it from all, Mark talked to Christina, Christina talked to Kieran, Kieran talked to Mark and on and on and on it went going round in circles. Again this was featured so often my eyes began to glaze over. This repeating of plot points throughout the book added at least 400 pages and the further I read the more it annoyed me.

As if this was not bad enough we then featured a section of the book where we reintroduced characters we thought had died books and books ago. Sebastian was back, I mean really did we need to revisit that old chestnut again? Mortal Instruments is most people's least favourite series and that's because Clare is meant to have grown since then and I was not the biggest lover of this storyline first time around so why did I need to live it again? And mean Jace was back, from the time Sebastian had him under his control, again this was from books and books ago and now I felt we were just recycling plot points.

And then we had the ending, the great showdown between the Unseelie army, the Cohort and our heroes. I was really into it and was quite engaged and then that thing happened with Emma and Julian, I'm not going to spoil but it just infuriated me. It was so much a recycling of how Clare always resolves complex battles. It's been done in Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices could we please not have found a slightly different way of winning the day? I hated it. Why can we not just have the Shadowhunters win through the wits, their friendships, politics and their alliance with the Downworlders instead of some cataclysmic thing happening to save their skin? And then the twist at the end, don't even make me go there, the ending of the Epilogue was not a “OMG” moment just a “Please not again!” one.

All this said there were bits of this I loved. I loved the Kit storyline, I wanted so much more of that. We kept getting hints of it all the way through but we'd touch on it and we'd move on so fast. I wanted to really delve in there and find out more. We've been teased about this through all 3 books in this series so I felt a little cheated not to explore it more. I also loved the time we spent in the Unseelie court this felt like we could have explored it more, the politics, the fact of how Kieran was loved by his father's people whilst his brother was useless. This was another aspect I really enjoyed but it felt undersold.

And then we come to Magnus. I love him so much. He is the only reason I am still reading these books. Each and every single time he's on the page it sparkles, he is vibrant and he's funny and he's honest and real and his story arc could be massive. He is the one factor that joins everyone together and he holds all the cards from the past and present. What kept me reading through all the mush in these books was Magnus. I cannot wait for The Red Scrolls of Magic and a book dedicated to Magnus and Alec. The ending of this book was so beautiful for Magnus and I really felt happy with where we went.

I wanted so badly to love this book but of the series it felt the weakest link. I pray we are going to be taking a little break from Emma and Julian for now. Not sure I could face them again for another novel. I pray we focus moving forward on Magnus through the new trilogy dedicated to him and Alec and I am excited for the new historical Shadowhunter novel Chain of Gold which is due for release in late 2019 as surely if we go back in time we won't be able to feature some of the newer characters we have become so stuck with and can explore some new aspects of the world.

Only a 3 out of 5 stars for me, I didn't love this one.

I have been a big Kate Morton fan since reading The Forgotten Garden and despite a dip in form in The Distant Hours she is definitely back to her best with The Secret Keeper.

From the first chapter it starts with a bang when Laurel Nicolson witnesses her mother Dorothy violently stab a man who comes to their quiet countryside home one summers afternoon. For years she has lived with what she saw without understanding why her mother would do such a thing but as she prepares for her mother's 90th birthday many years later she begins to be drawn into the mystery even further.

Jumping between present day and London in the second world war we see the story through the eyes of Laurel, her mother Dorothy during the war and find out about the mysterious relationship between Dorothy and her friend Vivien. Twisting and turning from the start the writing is wonderful. The story is gripping and beautifully evocative of war time London. Just when you think you've got the ending all figured out it twists and turns again.

A brilliant book, I was reading it whilst on holiday in busy Blackpool and found that I couldn't wait to keep going back to reading it, snatching moments in the car or a quick 5 minutes here and there to keep reading so gripping was the story. Very much recommended.

I bought this book for a really trivial reason in that the little girl in the novel is called Emmie which is my daughters name. I loved the cover art and the back blurb which told of a family torn apart by the disappearance of their 3 year old daughter Emma.

Several years pass and people begin to encourage her mother, Megan, to move on and stop looking for her daughter. Her other children feel smothered and her husband has grown apart from her instead choosing to throw himself into work. Meanwhile a grandfather Jack and his wife Dottie are raising their granddaughter Emmie but Dottie is falling into deeper Alzheimer's and from things she begins to say Jack begins to worry about where Emmie came from.

I absolutely loved this book, I actually empathised more with Jack & Dottie and their situation. Their love for Emmie was really powerfully written and you could feel from Holmes' writing that the little girl was happy and loved and content in her life. The chapters with her family were moving and spoke a great deal about the nightmare of losing a child but it's through Jack & Emmie's relationship that most emotion is evoked.

An ending that was heartbreaking left me devastated and wanting more as it didn't feel complete. you can imagine my joy therefore to find a sequel called ‘Emma's Secret' is due for publication imminently bringing us more from Jack. I cannot wait to come back to this story. It is a triumph and thanks to reviews on Amazon encouraged me to buy it.

So poor J K Rowling must have really been dreading the release and critique of this, her first ever non-Harry Potter book. Everybody ready with knives sharpened in that ever British tradition of knocking anyone whose ever dared to be successful way.

“An adult book with swear words” the press shouted days before it's release, well yes we realised that! And it is a very adult book, as I can assure you the first few chapters are a little dull and filled with such a myriad of different characters as to make any readers head spin. You find yourself having to keep checking who is who, who is related and they are all a little dull so as to make none really stand out and hence it is a bit of a slog to get into this book.

I wasn't instantly gripped, like a book I'd been set for an English class I felt I had to keep going back to it rather than being drawn by a strong need not to put it down. I had the strong sense that her new publishers thrilled at having landed Joanne's next novel and giddy at the money they'd make from it had failed to find an editor with the backbone to tell the famous author that she needed to move the pace on a little, just in case she took her book elsewhere,

By half way through I was still a little non-fussed about the characters, some were beginning to show some redeeming features but the sheer small mindedness of the majority made them unlikeable and the book seemed to amble along at the pace of a snail. The last 150 pages will redeem it reviews said so I kept going.

Yes the last part of the book does become much more interesting, knives come out and suddenly everyone in Rowling's fictional village of Pagford are turning on each other. The big climax though excellent felt rushed. I found myself finding at least 100 pages of the book I had to force myself through could have been edited out and dedicated instead to expanding the bit that did hold true emotion and depth of tragedy. Instead much of the book rambles on about an election that doesn't really come to much and is actually rather dull.

It's not Potter, to be fair I truly believe that she will need several books before she finds her next real classic book. I'd read other Rowling novels in the future and this one is not truly awful but it's not truly great either.