Nurse Kitty's Secret War by Maggie Campbell

Nurse Kitty's Secret War by Maggie Campbell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 275

Publisher - Trapeze

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

A novel inspired by the brave nurses and doctors from the first NHS hospital, the Trafford General, opened after the end of World War II. An inspiring and romantic read for fans of Call the Midwife and The Nightingale Girls. It's May 1945 and at 3pm, nurse Kitty Longthorne listens, together with the other surgical staff at South Manchester's Park Hospital, to Winston Churchill's broadcast on the radio. Germany has signed a declaration of complete surrender. The war is over in Europe and that day is to be celebrated as VE Day. The mood in Park Hospital - still full of wounded American soldiers - is jubilant and hopeful, though Kitty is anything but. Her clandestine squeeze and the man she hopes to marry, James Williams has been giving her the cold shoulder for the last week, and she can't work out why. Furthermore, her twin brother, Ned, is still missing in action - his last known whereabouts point to him being in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. An uplifting, heart-wrenching novel based on the true story of the first ever NHS hospital, for fans of Donna Douglas and Nancy Revell.


My Review

We follow Kitty, our main character, nurse,, daughter, sister and love interest of a prominent doctor, war is coming to an end and the first NHS hospital is about to come into play. So the story is multifactorial, the war is on but it isn't the main theme although it is relevant. We follow Kitty through her life, her family situation, poverty, her work as a nurse and the hierarchy, her friend (I use that term quite loosely) and the difference between them. We also see some of the patients and their care within the hospital, including casualties from war.

Kitty seems like a nice enough girl but I did twitch and internal scream a few times like girl that friend is no friend of yours. She comes from wealth, Kitty's family are absolutely not and her "friend" shades so much and Kitty, she is nice but that girl needs a back bone. I know I know the times and women where much more demure but I rolled my eyes more than a few times and I was getting annoyed wanting her to stand up for herself. To be fair at one point I fist pumped but dang I wanted more.

We have the work hierarchy, old school (to be fair still going in some health care areas) and we see it very alive and prominent in this one. We see family values, friendship, love, addiction, run ins with the law, wealth vs poverty and the spawning of the first NHS hospital.

I do enjoy these books, stepping back into the past, Campbell weaves a tale infused with an authenticity for the times, 4/5 for me

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Alien: Isolation by Keith R A Decandido

Alien: Isolation by Keith R.A. DeCandido
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 2 days

Pages - 336

Publisher - Titan books

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

The product of a troubled and violent youth, Amanda Ripley is hell-bent on discovering what happened to her missing mother, Ellen Ripley. She joins a Weyland-Yutani team sent to retrieve the Nostromo flight recorder, only to find space station Sevastopol in chaos with a Xenomorph aboard. Flashbacks reveal Amanda’s history and events that forced her mother to take the assignment aboard the Nostromo.


My Review

So if you are a fan of the alien franchise we all know Ellen Ripley, well this one is her daughter Amanda. She has always wanted to find out what happened to her mum, we flip from present day (her time) to the past leading up to before Ripley left, the last message sent and her ship going missing. Amanda will follow leads, paths and eventually head towards what seems like an actual solid piece of information that will actually give her answers to what happened to her mum.

The bouncing back and forward in time did take you out of it a little but if you are a huge fan I think you can forgive it. We see snippets of Ripley the civilian and her home life and through Amanda's eyes what life was like having a mum missing a lot of the time.

After many exploitations Amanda has a lead and team mostly set on the same path which takes her to a station with the flight recorder from Ripley's ship, the Nostromo. What Amanda isn't expecting is to come face to face with the same entities we have met through the franchise. She has her mums kickass attitude and strength when it comes to facing dodgy people and then unimaginable monsters.

I hadn't realised this was a game although I do know there are alien games out there, the franchise is huge. Anything with aliens and or relating to Ripley I am willing to give a chance, I mean they are the ultimate killing machines, add to that a chance to know a wee bit more about Ripley, absolutely. I know this one won't be for everyone but I liked it, not quite as fast paced or action as previous books but still worth reading in my opinion, 4/5.

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Dire Bound by Sable Sorensen

Direbound by Sable Sorensen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 605

Publisher -

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Only the worthy survive the Bonding Trials. She’ll risk her life—and her heart—to be one of them…

Meryn Cooper has never dreamed of being one of the Bonded, the King’s elite warriors who form mental links with massive, vicious direwolves. She’s made peace with her life scraping by in poverty in the shadows of the castle. But then her younger sister Saela is kidnapped, stolen across the border by the immortal monsters her country has spent centuries fighting.

And Meryn’s world falls apart.

Desperate to cross the front and save her sister, Meryn enlists in the army—only to discover that there are Bonding Trials this year, where all soldiers are forced to risk their lives in an attempt to connect with a direwolf. It’s too late to turn back; Meryn is thrown into the deadly competition against her will.

Now, she’ll need to survive the next four months of training at the castle if she wants a chance of finding Saela. Everything here is a test, from the brutal classes where one mistake means death, to the glittering court parties where every smile hides a knife.

To make things worse, Meryn is bound to a feral direwolf who refuses to communicate. The other trainees would love to spill her common blood. And her gorgeous instructor, Stark Therion, is as malicious as the wolves himself.

Everyone is out to get her—everyone but the dangerously handsome crown prince, Killian Valtiere. But if she loses her heart to him, she may also lose her life.

And the castle is hiding dark secrets…
My Review

Poverty is rife, kids are being taken for God knows what purpose, royalty come through the poverty stricken communities on their huge dire wolves, it sickens Meryn. She is fighting grown dangerous men for money to keep herself, sister and mother safe/fed. Meryn has always had that something and a local helped her hone and focus her anger and skills so she is a walking weapon. All she cares about is her family and her beau. When Meryns sister is kidnapped she has no choice but to go forward to try for the bonding trials, it is the only way she can try and get her sister back. Everything is against Meryn, she is poor, she is ill prepared, some of the richest and well trained kids are up for this, born for it. Even if you get through the process you still need to survive the journey to where the dire wolves are, there are hundreds of competitors and maybe one hundred ish wolves, they pick you. Meryn will stop at nothing to get her sister back, not fail at whatever is thrown at her, not bow down and she won't die because her sister is depending on her if it isn't already too late!

AHHHHHHH YOU GUYS so firstly, hello beautiful book map! Loads of characters and the book gives me vibes of Fourth Wing meets Game of Thrones meets The Hunger Games all smooshed together to give us Dire Bound. Absolutely raging I need to wait til May to get book two! I have had readers block on and off for ages, I sank this in almost one sitting!

The journey to the wolves is very echoy of Fourth Wing/hunger games, every man for himself, dirty tactics allowed, actually anything goes, as long as you make it. Meryn is a kick ass main character, she knows how to handle herself and can take down guys twice her size/weight. The trainors/mentors seem to have an issue with her because of her background and to be fair she has an attitude too. The dire wolves I LOVE, especially the sassy feral one that bounds to Meryn pah ha ha, there is attitudes all around.

There was some moments I wanted to shake Meryn, I get it, she is going through it but damn girl stop making a rod for your own back. I totally get why this isn't for everyone but I absolutely loved it. There is death, fighting, bonding, trials, murder, skulduggery, shady as people, loyalty, betrayal oh and spicy scenes too. The book has a whole lot of everything and some of the echos of the other series was a bit on the nose *cough Stark cough* but I really liked it, one of my fave reads this year guys, 5/5! Hurry up May for book two!

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Lover Unveiled by J R Ward

Lover Unveiled by J.R. Ward
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 509

Publisher -

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Meet a powerful MMA fighter with a buried secret that could change the world of Caldwell forever...

Sahvage has been living under the radar for centuries-and he has every intention of staying 'dead and buried.' But when a civilian female sucks him into her dangerous battle with an evil as ancient as time, his protective side overrides his common sense.

Mae has lost everything, and desperation sets her on a collision course with fate. Determined to reverse a tragedy, she goes where mortals should fear to tread- and comes face to face with the Brotherhood's new enemy. She also discovers a love she never expected to find with Sahvage, but there can be no future for them.

Knowing they will part, the two band together to fight against what Mae unknowingly unleashed- as the Brotherhood closes in to reclaim one of their damned, and the evil vows to destroy them all...



My Review

Book nineteen of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, got to be honest it wasn't my fave of them all by far but I am working my way through the series and almost caught up. So this one centres around Sahvage and Mae. Sahvage is a brother but not part of our active clan, it has been ages since I started these books so can't remember how much we knew about him. Essentially he is a self isolated lone ranger type guy, he keeps himself to himself, goes to street fights and makes his coin there. I didn't really get this because he is up against humans so why even bother. As the book goes on we find out the brothers thing him dead (or they always did and I just don't remember) and when they go back to his place of rest and all that follows, I still didn't get his reasons for his choices, the how yes, the why not really. Mae and him cross paths, she has her own issues and is trying to save her brother (both vamps) and in doing so her path is taken down a search for dark horrific magic and Davina is back!

The "love" story between Sahvage and Mae was lack luster for me and a bit meh, I just didn't get the resistance. Normally the love story is huge in the books but this was more of a back story I feel, the search for the book and focus on her family was primary.

Davina is as always evil and shocking, the book needed this so we had something we could be invested in. Sahvage's cousin and throwback stuff I didn't really get, unless we are setting all that up for her having her own story maybe in an upcoming book? I have the next in the series to read, 3/5 for me for this one.

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Medusa by Rosie Hewlett

Medusa by Rosie Hewlett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 272

Publisher -

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

GORGON. KILLER. MONSTER.
VICTIM. SURVIVOR. PROTECTOR.

You know her name, you know her story. Just not the right one.

Within the depths of the Underworld the formidable snake-haired Gorgon has finally had enough. Tired of being eternally and unjustly brandished a villain, Medusa has found the courage to face her tragic past and speak out. Determined to expose the centuries of lies surrounding her name, Medusa gives unparalleled insight into her cursed life, from her earliest memories and abandonment at birth, right through to her tragic and untimely death at the hands of the hero Perseus. Through telling her story, Medusa finally reveals the lost truth behind antiquity’s most infamous monster.

MEDUSA breathes new life into an ancient story and echoes the battle that women throughout millennia have continued to wage – the opportunity to simply be heard.


My Review

Guys! I have been loving these retellings! Medusa I vaguely remember from stories and games as a kid, that she was a monster with snakes for hair and turned anyone who looked at her to stone. I didn't know how she came to be like that, her backstory or how she actually met her end.

This one is told diary like almost, she is talking to you, the reader as if she is sitting across from you, speaking from her voice, her words, her story. If you haven't read this story there are many potential triggers, the Gods do as they please and take what they want especially from attractive young female humans. Abused, violated, cast aside, unfairly judged and cursed then hunted down, honestly I felt so heart sorry for her.

If you are familiar with Medusa's story I think you will still enjoy this because it is coming from her point of view, her feelings as these things were forced upon her. Imagine serving a God, praising her, leaving gifts and caring for her most holy place and then that God unfairly judging you after you were hurt/wronged/violated. Ugh it is such a shame and anger educing, she deserved so so much better. Gripping, sad, anger provoking, unfair, unjust but also family, friendship, personal journey, motherhood, survival and love. Medusa deserved so so much better, 4.5/5 for me!

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Quicksilver by Callie Hart

Quicksilver by Callie Hart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 4 days

Pages - 624

Publisher -

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Do not touch the sword. Do not turn the key. Do not open the gate.

Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen’s reservoirs for as long as she can remember. In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn’t much a girl wouldn’t do for a glass of water. But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.

When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently reopens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares…but it turns out they’re real, and Saeris has landed right in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.

The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist’s magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him… or her. Death has a name. It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate. His past is murky. His attitude stinks. And he’s the only way Saeris is going to make it home.

Be careful of the deals you make, dear child. The devil is in the details... Now with an embossed cover, silver foiling, and an updated interior design.


My Review

Saeris lives in a place ruled by the undying queen, their land is dirt poor, disease and poverty is rife, Saeris survives by her wit and quick light fingers. She steals and sells anything she can and steals water from the royal reserves because the rations aren't nearly enough for survival. When Saeris robs from a guard and her brother once again gets them into trouble Saeris is arrested and certainly will be put to death. When she accidentally opens a portal she ends up taken by "Death" and into a different land. One where the beings have long been told of, killers, evil, worse than the undying queen or are they? As Saeris navigates through this new and strange place, dressed up like a girly (Saeris is all trousers and fighting) as expected to behave and do as she is told, two things Saeris will not do. What lies ahead is questioning of everything she knew, as much food and drink as she could dream of and the expectation to create what is needed for this land is going through war, vampires and more.

This is such a good fantasy book and I absolutely need to get book two, danger, mythical beings, war torn countries, portals, vampires, family, friendship, loyalty and spicy scenes. Saeris is desperate to get back home, in order to get there she needs to learn and master what is expected of her in this new place, alchemy ooft. There is danger galore but she knows the undying queen will punish her whole land if she doesn't get back. She is pulled towards Kingfisher (the guy she thought was death), he is a fierce warrior, the attraction is undeniable but she is raging and refuses to admit to it. Plus he is a bit of a tool, arrogant and busts her chops so they are very competitive to each other.

I really liked this, couldn't wait to see where it was heading. Whilst there was a lot of people and places the book has a book map I could follow it fine, even with brain fog. There is a lot of catty fiery attitude which I love, violence, war, battles and Saeris despite being a human is pretty handy looking after herself, we love a strong female! 4/5 for me, this is my first time reading this author, it won't be my last.

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Death Comes To Marlow by Robert Thorogood

Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 366

Publisher -

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

It’s been an enjoyable and murder-free time for Judith, Suzie and Becks – AKA the Marlow Murder Club – since the events of last year. The most exciting thing on the horizon is the upcoming wedding of Marlow grandee, Sir Peter Bailey, to his nurse, Jenny Page. Sir Peter is having a party at his grand mansion on the river Thames the day before the wedding, and Judith and Co. are looking forward to a bit of free champagne.

But during the soiree, there’s a crash from inside the house, and when the Marlow Murder Club rush to investigate, they are shocked to find the groom-to-be crushed to death in his study.

The study was locked from the inside, so the police don’t consider the death suspicious. But Judith disagrees. As far as she's concerned, Peter was murdered! And it’s up to the Marlow Murder Club to find the killer before he or she strikes again…



My Review

So this is book two, if you haven't read the first you absolutely should because Judith is absolutely hilarious! Judith (and co) solved a murder in the last book and the village was all ooooh but things have now settled. Judith is in her 80s, sharp as a tack and often in the mix of everything. She gets a call from Sir Peter, invited to the pre wedding drinks but something he says on the phone perks Judith's interest, she heads there with Suzie and Becks. Not too long into it they hear a loud noise and Sir Peter is dead, seemingly an accident within a locked room. Not much gets passed Judith and she is sure there is more to it than meets the eye, it is time to dig and investigate!

Honestly Judith is the type of character I don't think I could ever tire of reading, she is wild and gets into some situations. Becks is married to the victor and has a secret and Suzie has a new radio show and dog sits so they all have stuff going on as well as helping Judith investigate and dig into what happened. Oh on a separate note Judith does crosswords (the clues, I could never, my brain just won't) but she ends up on a side quest related to the crosswords she does and trying to find out someone's identity!

It is a busy book, skulduggery, murder, families, love, lies and some humour, it is a fab series and I need to get book three for sure. If you fancy some quirky characters with a dash of murder and exposing secrets, dudes this one is absolutely for you, 4/5.

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