The Way Home by Amanda Prowse

The Way Home by Amanda Prowse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 3 days

Pages - 361

Publisher - Lake Union Publishing

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads

From the multimillion-copy bestselling author of Waiting to Begin and Ever After comes an evocative, tender story about belonging, community, and the relationships that hold us together.

What if a stranger threatened to take away a lifetime of cherished memories?

Lilly-Bob loves her home by the River Thames in the heart of London. Throughout her childhood, it echoed with music and her father’s love, and for seventy years it’s been her sanctuary through a life well lived. These days, the familiar walls and treasured memories keep loneliness at bay.

But for months she’s been ignoring letters from a building developer, and now a compulsory purchase scheme threatens to take her home by force. Seventeen-year-old Lilly-Bob didn’t fear change, but present-day Lilly refuses to let go.

As the pressure builds, Lilly feels increasingly alone. But as her neighbours rally together, she finds herself drawn into the fold—making new friends, finding purpose, and glimpsing the possibility of something new.

Torn between the comfort of the past and the call of progress, Lilly-Bob must is home made of bricks and mortar, or is it a place inside ourselves?


My Review

Lilly-Bob is in her seventies, she has been through a lot in her life and she is in the family home in London overlooking the Thames, once her dads, now hers. A big company is forcing her out of her home, the house she grew up in is now under a compulsory buy order. As Lilly fights against it we flip back and forth in time to when she was a wean, growing up, adulthood and everything that shaped who she is today, back to present day. We see her relationship with her neighbour and the neighbours wee boy, Lilly doesn't have kids, her fight with the building developers.

The past as with Prowse's previous books, tackles some hard hitting emotive topics, love, loss, relationships, dynamics, coercion, lies, manipulation. Things that many of us have endured, survived and of course shapes us into the adults we are today. Her relationship with her mother is very strained, she adores her father, idolises him so when her mother makes choices that impact on him and the young Lilly-Bob it changes and shapes their relationship, or lack of, going forward.

For me, what Lilly-Bob endured with her relationships/friendships you can tell marked and shaped who she became but in the present day we get to see how those experiences left their mark and impact upon future relationships. The other main thread is the big company trying to get Lilly-Bob to agree to selling up and then when she isn't for negotiating, forcing the sale, we feel the rage and fury she feels and the attachment to the house and memories.

I think the thing with Prowse is she creates characters that you can identify with, sympathise or empathise with. It makes the characters real, vivid and you invest in them and their lives pretty much from the get go or early bells, 4/5 from us for this one. She has quite a back catalogue and we have a fair few on the tbrm and a few more I need to buy. Her characters tend to stay with you long after you have put the book down!

View all my reviews The Way home is available on kindle and in paperback format, Amazon.

Wild Love by Elsie Silver

Wild Love by Elsie Silver
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 4 days

Pages - 455

Publisher -

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

She's been driving him wild for years.

The good kind of wild. The bad kind of wild.

But mostly, the kind of wild that comes with wanting your best friend's little sister and knowing you can't have her.

Forbes may have labeled Ford Grant the World's Hottest Billionaire, but all he cares about is escaping the press and opening a recording studio in gorgeous small town Rose Hill. Something that comes to a screeching halt when he ends up face-to-face with a young girl who claims he's her biological father. Now, he spends his days balancing business with parenting a sullen twelve-year-old, all while trying desperately to keep his hands the hell off his best friend's sister, Rosie Belmont.

After living in the city, Rosie came blasting back into town like a storm. Beautiful, messy, and chaotic. And one wide-eyed, desperate plea for a job is all it takes for Ford to hire her. He vows to keep her at arm's length. Tries to stick to scowls and grumpy one-liners. But with her, verbal sparring is a type of foreplay―friction that soon turns to blistering heat.

Ford knows damn well he shouldn't cross this line. But shouldn't and can't are two very different things.

And the only thing he truly can't do is resist her.


My Review

Ford is minted and the worlds hottest billionaire I think they said, I don't even remember but he isn't into that at all. He only ever loved one woman and that was his bestie's wee sister who used to hang around with them growing up, Rosalie. Due to being sexually harassed at work and losing her job she heads back to their small town trying to get herself together and reevaluating everything in her life. She ends up bagging a job with Ford who is also dealing with a pre teen appearing in his life saying she is his daughter. It is all happening and of course tensions and feelings ramp up between Ford and Rosalie.

Firstly, Ford's wean, twelve years old, I actually really liked her, she is sharp, sarky, hard exterior and just trying to adjust to this new situation but she absolutely doesn't come across as twelve. She is really sharp, adulty and sure some pre teens can be but she just reads and vocalises far older. Her relationship with Rosalie was adorable and it was good she had someone she idolised and could lean on whilst Ford tried to figure out his place, role and how he should act.

Roselie and Ford, we get glimpses through Rosealie via her diary in the past so it was good to have those snippets, I do like a diary entry. I know some people will find the key thing cringe but I really liked that, I am a bit romantic potato though. The spicey stuff was a bit cringe and I did thing considering how the last job ended and the first contact like that with her and Ford was a bit oh, really, I mean I get it but I still gave it a side eye. Silver does do spicey scenes and body fluids so if you get embarrassed or a tad squeamish just an fyi. Did I like their relationship? Aye and she defo brought out a much more fun and playful side to him which was fun to read, overall 3.5/5 for us.

View all my reviews

Medea by Rosie Hewlett

Medea by Rosie Hewlett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 2 days

Pages - 432

Publisher - Penguin

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Shunned by her mother. Beaten by her father. Separated from her sister. Medea has never fit in because she possesses a unique and dangerous power - witchcraft.

When the dashing young hero and leader on the famed Argonauts, Jason, arrives to claim the Golden Fleece that her father fiercely protects, Medea takes her opportunity to escape.

Her offer to help Jason overcome the trials set by her father sets in motion a journey that will test see her battle monsters, dethrone kings, fall in love and reclaim her power.

But when faced with the ultimate betrayal, just what will Medea be prepared to do for love?


My Review

Holding my hands up guys I do not know a lot about the Greek mythology but have found myself picking up and enjoying these retellings. I do feel I should probably get some of the originals but when I come upon these I will be picking them up. This one focuses on Medea and Jason of the Argonaughts. Medea first, her upbringing, how poorly she is treated and how her father uses her for her magic. So when Jason comes and is kind, attractive and promising all sorts Medea takes her chance to try and get some freedom, something for herself and of course love. In doing so she embraces her power for which she has always been judged, shunned, used and of course betrays her loved ones which is a huge no no in any civilisation.

So I liked it, I obviously don't know Medea's actual story nor how close to it this author kept, the few Greek mythology I have read the women have been powerful. Yes Medea is powerful, she is a powerful witch but I was so desperate for her to stand up for herself and I don't think she ever really did. Ok maybe once but I mean like really stood up for herself and Carrie White everyone who was bad to her. I don't feel like she really got her redemption although does anyone ever really in these stories.

And I know I know it happens in these stories, animal harm because of the sacrifices and offerings to the Gods but I really wish they wouldn't. It is just horrible and I hate that stuff, it does impact the enjoyment of the stories like come on, can't we offer other stuff.

Poor Medea couldn't catch a break and made so many bad bad decisions, I did feel sorry for her and a wee bit annoyed at times. It was good but not my fave and if you know her story I am not sure if you will love this or not because I don't know just how different it varies. Sometimes you love a retelling when things are changed for what you consider the better but it swings the other way too, overall 3.5/5 for me.

View all my reviews