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#BookReview Perception and Illusion by Catherine Kullmann #historicalfiction #RBRT

I chose this book to read from Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team book list.

An alluring story of a young girl, Lallie, who lost her mother at birth and is kept closeted by her father and stepmother. However, when her father hatches a plan to wed her to a man she dislikes to keep control of her fortune, Lallie plans her escape and finds herself ultimately in a more agreeable match, but can she navigate the world of the gentry and the complexities of her spouse?

I absolutely loved this historical romance as the characters really came to life and unlike many stories the plot went beyond the happy ever after ending as the author showed, not only her connection with history, but her understanding of people and their actions.

I found this difficult to put down and impossible to fault. A thoroughly satisfying read.

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Road Trip April 2017 #wordlessWednesday

#BookReview The Substitute (The Wedding Pact #1) by Denise Grover Swank #Tuesdaybookblog #Romance

Megan broke up with her fiance, Jay, six weeks ago, but couldn’t face telling her overbearing mother who has planned the wedding. Now she’s heading back home to Kansas City for her wedding and the last possible moment to break the bad news to her family. However, one thing leads to another and she finds the man sat next to her becomes a substitute for her fiance giving her an opportunity to end the wedding on her terms, what could possibly go wrong?

This romcom caper was amusing and not too cringeworthy to read with an eccentric grandmother and a cast of interesting characters thrown in. Megan wasn’t the typical damsel in distress even though she has serious boundary issues with her mother. Josh, the tall handsome stranger she meets on the plane was probably the least interesting character in the pack and his often mentioned patootie didn’t really make up for it.

This is the first book in a series that is tied together by three female friends who have had their fortune told and are warned to expect three unpredictable wedding upheavals. I’m not sold completely on the series but this was a good, fun and lighthearted read that would be ideal for a bit of escapism.

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Advance #BookReview A Justified Bitch by H G McKinnis #Tuesdaybookblog #thriller #Netgalley

When her neighbour, Bebe, is murdered Helen finds herself and her eccentric lifestyle under scrutiny. can hear and see Bobby her deceased husband, refuses to bathe and groom herself and lives with a number of cats in squalor. After being taken into custody by the police her sister, Pat turns up and although they have been estranged for years feels a sense of responsibility and guilt for not being around. With help from the detective on the case can Bebe’s killer be caught before becomes a target?

Easy to read and get into I found this crime thriller interesting as it gave an account of what it’s like to be a native of Las Vegas. Helen’s eccentricities were a quirky hook in this story and the complexities in her family add another dimension to the thriller. This is quite an even paced read and the characters really grew on me.

The supernatural question of whether Bobby is really seen by Helen makes me want to read more in this series.

This book will be available to buy from 8th August 2017.

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#BookReview The Girlfriend by Michelle Frances #thriller #Netgalley

Laura loves her son, Daniel, and is excited to have him nearby again as he finishes University and moves back to London to start his new job soon. However, she soon realised she won’t have him to herself when he meets and becomes smitten by the beautiful Cherry. Cherry has always wanted to leave her humble beginnings behind and sees Daniel as a way out of what she considers everyday drudgery.

As Cherry and Laura face off, an avalanche of manipulation ensues driving Laura further from the ones she loves, but how far will Cherry go to get what she wants?

I loved the chess moves played by Cherry and Laura to monopolise Daniel and I think the politics between them kept me turning the pages. Neither character was particularly likeable but Laura had my sympathy throughout this read.

However, what I liked less whilst reading this was a sense of overdramatic events and the only character I really was interested in reading about was Cherry’s mum and I wished there was more of her.

As a psychological thriller this didn’t breach any new barriers but it’s a perfect beach read and is entertaining enough to be recommended.

Links To Book:

Amazon US
Goodreads

#BookReview Everything But The Truth by Gillian McAllister #wwwblogs #amreading #Netgalley

Rachel after a whirlwind romance with Jack is pregnant with his baby. The past year has been hard for Rachel after a long-term relationship break-up, her mother’s illness and death and a mysterious event in her medical career. Rachel no longer works as a doctor, but a secretary at a legal firm and is still very much processing everything that has happened to her. One night she sees the notification of an e-mail on Jack’s iPad and becomes suspicious about what he seems to be hiding about himself. Realising she has not met any of his friends, Rachel tries to dig deeper into his life but is this about her paranoia or is he really hiding something?

As much as parts of this book’s did exasperate me, I couldn’t stop reading it as what could have happened that could be so awful that an otherwise affable Jack has gone to such great lengths to hide? As it is narrated from Rachel’s point of view you, as a reader, are at the mercy of her judgment and to complicate matters Rachel is far from transparent herself, with issues relating to her personal and professional life, which become clearer later on in the book.

It would be easy to dismiss Rachel as whiney or paranoid but the reasons behind her insecurity and her beating herself up are caused by significant issues she has dealt with in a short period of time. Her pregnancy puts the pressure on her relationship with Jack to become all it can be before the baby arrives.

I loved the resulting gray areas that presented in the issues both Rachel and Jack faced and the moral of this story, for me, questioned the vilification of people for choices they made with good intentions, whether it’s right to condemn these characters entirely based on events of their past and their need to be accepted for who they are without judgment. Ultimately the book gave me a lot to think about and for that reason I highly recommend it.

The parts that irritated me were dwarfed by how much I enjoyed reading the moral dilemmas faced by Rachel and Jack and apart from saying the book was verging on being a bit too preachy about the medical profession, obviously written by someone who quite rightly has a great respect and admiration for someone close to them who is a doctor, I found Rachel’s past role as a new paediatric registrar odd. Her relationship with her consultant was odd.

Her singling out one patient as a paediatric registrar with most likely not a huge fraction of the knowledge or experience of paediatric oncology that the paediatric oncology consultant above her has (let alone other more experienced registrars in the department and all the support staff oncology units have thankfully) and going against departmental and GMC guidelines undermined the conscientious part of Rachel’s character that would have known that the diagnosis of cancer and the subsequent poor prognosis it may have can lead to catastrophic outcomes. I know this is fiction but to be realistic enough for me, this would have been, in my humble opinion, on the mind of an ethical doctor like Rachel in the way she is written: thorough and obsessive. As much as I liked this book the odd medicine did detract some of the enjoyment for me, but probably wouldn’t bother less obsessive medics and non-medics.

Overall one I definitely recommend.

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#BookReview Dark Matter by Blake Crouch #scifi #Thriller #Tuesdaybookblog

A masked abductor attacks Jason Dessen on his way home one night and sends him to an alternative reality where hike doesn’t marry his wife and his son does not exist. However, Jason has made major scientific breakthroughs and soon learns that a multiverse of alternative realities exist but he only wants to live in one.

The premise of this sci-if thriller is fascinating and one that I have often pondered. Not quite as intriguing as the Wayward Pines books, I still found this an enjoyable read. The paradoxes of Jason’s plight to find his way home and to text his family kept me turning the pages, but this is one I cannot see easily translating to tv or movie.

Links To Book:

Amazon US
Goodreads

#BookReview Asking For It by Louise O’Neill #contemporaryfiction #amreading

Set in a small Irish village this gripping novel does not pull any punches as eighteen year old Emma, a queen bee in her social circle, goes to a party one night that changes her life forever. The effect of alcohol, drugs and resulting social media in a present day where equanimity among the sexes still remains a theoretical idea, sees Emma weather her own prejudices as well as those of the people around her.

What made this hard-hitting read memorable for me was that Emma was not a sanitised character but one that was imperfect and authentic. This made hard reading in many ways as we navigated the brutal world of teens and the aftermath of the party that changes everything for Emma and her family.

It is hard to read a work of fiction like this without feeling outraged and horrified but it also saddens me that with great breakthroughs in this day and age we have still quite a way to go to address women’s rights around the world. Not an easy read but o e with many triggers as this tackles the issue of rape and consent, but in my opinion a must read.

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