Any way you want me by Lucy Diamond

Any Way You Want Me by Lucy Diamond
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 384

Publisher - Pan

Source - Secondhand

Blurb from Amazon

On paper, Sadie's got it all - the partner, the children, the house. But in real life, that doesn't feel quite enough. Sadie can't help harking back to the time when she was a career woman by day and a party animal by night. And what happened to feeling like a sex kitten, anyway? The only sleepless nights she's getting now are due to the baby. Maybe a little reinvention is the answer . . .

Sadie can't resist creating a fictitious online identity for herself as a hot TV producer. It's only a bit of harmless fun . . . until truth and fantasy become dangerously tangled. It isn't long before she's wondering if the exciting alter ego she has dreamed up really is the kind of person she wants to be after all . . .

Wry, funny and with a wonderful twist in the tale, Lucy Diamond's debut novel Any Way You Want Me is an enchanting story of infidelity, motherhood and friends reunited.


My Review

So this was pegged and wry, funny wonderful twist in the tale *insert eyes emoji* - I actually found it to be quite heavy to be honest. Not all of it but certainly some spice and shade. Sadie is our main character, she has two young kids, the youngest she is still getting her body back from the youngest and her days is filled with domesticity. She is bored, missing work and being the sexy mchottie she was pre birth. She applies to jobs that are from her old work life, she lies on the old school updates website after checking out her ex AND then she really plays with fire. Her other half gets her to go to a business meet where her bosses husband catches her eye. Before long they have a chance encounter, sparks fly and Sadie cannot help herself. An affair, lies galore and soon trouble comes a knocking at Sadie's door!

Yeah Sadie, I found it hard to feel anything other than mad at her. Mark is her moth to a flame, I mean your partners bosses wife my God girl talk about playing with fire. Sadie's partner seems to be a decent guy. Sadie is restless and I get it, she has leaky boobs, running about after the weans, she wants to feel desired. It does well to show you just how easy things can run a mock, little lies, little flirting and you can lose yourself down a hole quickly. Graphic, grubby passionate affair, some real life consequences - I felt like I needed a shower after reading this one. It does have some topics and situations that may make some readers uncomfortable, affairs, betrayal and others I can't name without spoilers and we don't do that here. I would read others by this author but I defo didn't love this one, 3/5 for me!

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Bad Publicity by Bianca Gillam

Bad Publicity by Bianca Gillam
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 336

Publisher - Penguin books

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

A sparkling rom-com in which an unexpected reunion could lead to a career-ending catastrophe or a second-chance romance . . .

When Andie lands her dream job as a senior book publicist, she’s ready to take the world of New York publishing by storm.

Until her first day, when she discovers that her biggest author is Jack Carlson—the same Jack who ruined her life at university. Whom she hasn’t spoken to in five years. Who is not only still infuriatingly hot but also incredibly successful. And whose campaign she definitely cannot mess up, if she wants to keep her job.

To make matters even worse, the central part of this career-defining campaign is a book tour. For a month, Andie will have to travel across Europe with the man whom, if she were being totally honest, she’d like to hit with her car.

But she will not lose this opportunity, especially not because of him. One month on tour with Jack Carlson, visiting some of the most romantic spots in Europe. Deep breath. She can do this.



My Review

Andie is finally living her dream, she has just bagged a new job as a senior book publicist, things are looking up. However when her first big project is an extended book promotion and the author is non other than her scumbag ex Andie is in a quandary. She wants to success so bad, she is in a new country, this NEEDS to work. She is just going to be professional and do what needs done then move on. It is difficult to be professional and keep your feelings hidden when your ex hurt you so bad and you never got closure. Jack tries to speak to Andie but she shuts him down, she hasn't had anything from him in five years, she doesn't want it now. They will have a professional relationship for the sake of the tour and that is that but it never really is, is it?

Ugh Andie really ripped my knitting a lot in this. We know Jack did something bad, it ruined their relationship and had a lasting effect on her. It is referred to and hinted at throughout the book but we don't actually get to know what actually happened until the last maybe quarter of the book. We bounce back and fourth in time from present day to back then but still heehaw so I went from intrigued to annoyed to JUST TELL ME ALREADY!

Andie is also grieving her dad who passed after everything with Jack and despite the book because a romance it actually is more about her grief and the impact it has on her. We deal with her absolutely despising Jack and struggling to hide it and being pretty unprofessional a lot of the time, Jack lets it go because clearly he feels guilty for whatever it was that happened. So essentially it is unresolved feelings but forced proximity and we know how close hate can be to other emotions. Defo a slow burn and Andie is so prickly that her friendship and relationship with her mum (also grieving) and bestie is impacted. So many people don't deal with grief and this shows just how much it can eat into your life and have long lasting consequences.

I was wanting to find out how it all played out and sank into it easy enough, I didn't love the character Andie but was invested to see what the big secret was. Bless her wee mum, a very small side character but a wee scone, 3/5 for me this time. This is my first time reading this author, I would read her again.

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The Asylum by Karen Coles

The Asylum by Karen Coles
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 5 days

Pages - 352

Publisher - Welbeck

Source - Bought/gift

Blurb from Goodreads

1906: Being a woman is dangerous, being different is deadly.

Maud Lovell has been at Angelton Lunatic Asylum for five years. She is not sure how she came to be there and knows nothing beyond its four walls. She is hysterical, distressed, untrustworthy. Badly unstable and prone to violence. Or so she has been told.

When a new doctor arrives, keen to experiment with the revolutionary practice of medical hypnosis, Maud's lack of history makes her the perfect case study. But as Doctor Dimmond delves deeper into the past, it becomes clear that confinement and high doses are there to keep her silent.

When Maud finally remembers what has been done to her, and by whom, her mind turns to her past and to revenge.


My Review

Check your triggers, set in the early 1900s's Maud is in an Asylum, not a good place for anyone and the time for a woman, absolutely not. There is a new doctor in and Maud is the perfect candidate for his research. As he tries to get Maud to open up and trust he takes her back to her past and we flip between the two. As He digs deeper and Maud starts to remember it is clear there is someone who doesn't want her to and Maud's safety is at risk.

The before and memories are a bit slow burn to get to what we want, whatever caused Maud to block our her memories. The treatment she gets in the asylum, I use the word treatment loosely absolutely diabolical, brutal, evil and really unsettling. What she endures, how she is treated and the fact she is in a medical establishment, it is nothing short of abuse and I always think when it is vulnerable people it is even more horrific and by people who are meant to care for them and in a position of power. Absolutely enraging and upsetting and really brutal at points because historically we know things like that happened, I know this is fiction but still.

The book teases out the story, who is Maud, why is she there and why does it seem like she is being deliberately given the short end of the straw every single time. I can't give much in the way of triggers and themes because we don't do spoilers. I would say go into this with open eyes and prepare for themes that centre around abuse types that have been historically documented in asylums. 3/5 for me this time, I felt it slow at times, shocking at others but I was kept interested and wanting to see what was in Maud's past and what future, if any was ahead for her. I would read this author again.

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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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The Shark by Emma Styles

The Shark by Emma Styles
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 311

Publisher - Sphere

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads

At the height of Australian summer, a serial killer dubbed The Shark stalks a beachside suburb, targeting young female swimmers whose bodies are later found on the shoreline.

Disempowered and angry at the failures of the police to protect them, two young women are hell-bent on revenge. Raych has lost someone and will go to any length to discover what happened to her, while Carmen suspects her own disturbing connection to the killer.

Together they form an uneasy alliance and, in a moment that changes the trajectory of their lives, Carmen and Raych abduct and imprison the prime suspect. Do they think they can save the day, or are there intentions darker? Can they trust one another's agenda? And when another young woman goes missing, what stops them from going to the police?

A dark and voice-led serial killer thriller that subverts the tropes of crime fiction at every turn, The Shark is an unforgettably propulsive novel about victimhood, power and autonomy from Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize-winner Emma Styles.


My Review

I loved the idea of this one, anything with sharks for me is a win let alone flinging a serial killer into the mix. The book chapters, so the first and opening is a male kidnapped by two females and then the chapters are split and alternate between Raych and Carmen. Raych talks about how it starts with her and Carmen and how they "met" not counting the three days they spent together in a mental health facility. They have both been stalking the same guy, the killer, Raych lost someone she loved, her bestie and the police have let them down, all of the victims. Carmen has her own reasons for wanting him and together they both fall together and end up unlikely allies.

So the book really took me a bit to settle to, both the girls have their own issues, mental health, home life but they have the same goal. Finding the person responsible for the deaths of local girls who are star swimmers, the girls have the same goal.

It is chaotic, choppy, disorganised and I think it adds weight to how troubled both girls are for different reasons but it did make things a struggle for me. There is a lot of ground covered in the book, we flip flop about to what they girls experienced, their time together in a mental health care facility, their issues. For Raych her sexuality and her encounter with her bestie right before she disappeared so there is a lot of emotion and unresolved questions let alone what actually happened to her. Is the killer stashing her somewhere. The plan is simple, kidnap the bad guy and do what is needed to get the answers they seek whilst avoiding the cops and if able, find and save Raych's best friend Piper.

The first three quarters was a bit of a rough ride for me. I did want to know more about the girls, why is Carmen's sister such a horror. What did happen to Piper, will Raych find her friend, will the killer admit to everything? I also was expecting there to be more sharks but I always want more when it comes to sharks lol. It was just a bit all over the place for me until the last quarter and then I really felt it came into itself, evened out and got a grip on what was happening. This was my first time reading this author, I would read her again but hoping the narrators are a wee bit more reliable, 3/5 for me.

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A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 183

Publisher - Puffin

Source - I honestly can't remember (been on the shelve for years)

Blurb from Goodreads

Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth.

Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance.



My Review

So this is my first time reading this author and I can't actually remember where I got the book but I finally picked it up. Ged, this is his story, apparently the best sorcerer ever (in Earthsea) so the book takes us across his lifetime. As a kid, learning magic and seemingly having a clear talent, he outgrows his initial teacher and gets an opportunity to train so of course he takes it (that part gave me a hint of Harry Potter style vibes). Whilst there is no denying he has a talent he also has pride and anger which gets him into scrapes and one particular blow up will follow him and danger is always afoot.

I LOVED the wee creature that befriended him, I liked that he had opportunities to train and develop but I think because the book is so thin we do go quickly past things that could have done with more depth.

There is jealousy (power rather than romantic, there isn't any romanceyness in this) its all magic, power and male pride. There is death and animal casualty which ALWAYS ruins a part of enjoyment of any story. Not graphic but it doesn't matter.

I did find it interesting but I would have liked more depth, it has hints of Lord of the Rings with a smidge of Harry Potterish but on a far lesser level. This is book one so it will be interesting to see what the other(s) do/cover, I won't be rushing out to buy them but I will read them if I come across them. A bit on the fence so a 3/5 for me this time.

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Powerless by Elsie Silver

Powerless by Elsie Silver
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 days

Pages - 464

Publisher -

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Two childhood friends. Two broken hearts. One impromptu road trip to get away from everything. That’s all this was supposed to be. Afterall, I’ve been living in the friend zone for years now.

But hockey heartthrob Jasper Gervais isn’t looking at me like a friend anymore. And he isn’t touching me like one either.

To his fans, he’s the handsome, talented athlete on TV. But to me he’s still the lost boy with sad eyes and a heart of gold.

The man I’ve loved in secret for years.

So when my life falls apart on my wedding day, it only makes sense that he’s the one to swoop in and save me. And when his world comes crashing down around him, I’m there to return the favor.

But the more time we spend alone, the more Jasper doesn’t feel like a friend at all. He feels like everything I’ve ever wanted and thought I could never have.

Our feelings aren’t straight forward though. They twist and turn around the pain of his past and the reality of my present.

Jasper Gervais acts like he wants me.

But after years of turning me away, he’s going to need to prove it.


My Review

I have read the other two Chestnut Springs books and to be honest you can absolutely read this as a stand alone. Sloan has always had eyes for Jasper since he came into the family and her life. HE knew she had a crush but there is a wee bit of an age gap, like she wanted him to go to prom with her and he was like college or just started his hockey career so it isn't much at all but it does sound bad. Now she is getting married and somewhere along the years Jasper's friend Sloan became a grown beautiful woman and is marrying an absolute creep.

So we get a current day, the wedding is looming, her fiance is just a horrible dude, her father really wants this marriage because it will be good for business. Sloan just wants everyone to be happy and has long since given up hope for her and Jasper. Jasper is nailing it in his hockey career, he is a net minder, he has beautiful women on his arm at all the big events, their paths are set. However on Sloan's wedding day things blow up and Jasper is there for her. After events transpire the two find themselves together on a trip and the attraction is electric, will Sloan finally get her man? Will Jasper finally allow his feelings for his bestie to surface?

So I liked this but I didn't love it, there is spice (I did find some a wee bit cringe but I know hundreds LOVED them), drama, throwbacks to how their friendship came to be. Family expectations and that recently dropped fiancé, ugh I wanted revenge and consequences. I was left lacking in a few parts. I LOVE the wee snippets from Cade, Willa and Harvey I have two books left in the series and not sure who gets these stories. Hoping for Harvey for sure and the very small snippets of Sloan's mum I liked. I think maybe because I enjoyed the first two of these books I just wanted a bit more. Like I liked it, it was absolutely making me want to read and not put it down but I just didn't love it, 3/5 from me this time. Looking forward to book four and five and I have one other of hers, I do enjoy her writing.

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The World's Most Evil People by Rodney Castledon

The World's Most Evil People by Rodney Castleden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - over a month

Pages - 576

Publisher - Futura

Source - its been on the tbrm for years

Blurb from Goodreads

There are some evil people in this world, when you think about the killing, torturing, bombing and maiming and this book covers it all. Vlad the Impaler was a prince known for executing his enemies by impalement. He was a fan of various forms of torture including disembowelling and rectal and facial impalement. Vlad the Impaler tortured thousands while he ate and drank among the corpses. Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator, ordered that millions of peasants were either killed or permitted to starve to death. Stalin brought about the deaths of more than 20 million of his own people while holding the Soviet Union in an iron grip for 29 years.


My Review

This took me a while to get through. There are so many evil people from the past, I knew a few names but loads I didn't. I read a lot of true crime, crime fiction and horror but some of these people in this book are absolutely horrific.

Some of the chapters are really small, like a page and a half. A mix across genders, countries and timelines. People in power, ordinary everyday people who do some utterly horrific things, brutal killings, some of the most depraved things I have ever read. This is why I took so long to get through it, I had to put it down a few times and read stuff in between.

I never normally pick up on an authors feelings about people but when I got to the Krays story I could tell the author really didn't like them. I have read and seen a few Kray stories and never caught anyone's strong dislike. Like notable on theirs but not some of the other horrific mass killers, deviants in this book so that was interesting especially when I never notice stuff like that. It certainly opens your eyes to how many truly evil people have passed through this world and left a dark mark on it, 3/5.

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A Promise Of Ankles by Alexander McCall Smith

A Promise of Ankles by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 297

Publisher - Abacus

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

The latest, delectably witty installment of Alexander McCall Smith's sumptuous 44 Scotland Street series.

For the residents of 44 Scotland Street, life in Edinburgh's intriguing New Town is a thing to be relished. After all, there are new faces to excite Domenica's anthropological imagination, precious moments with his triplets for Matthew to savor, and the prospect of a trip to the promised land of Glasgow for young Bertie.


My Review

Book fourteen of the 44 Scotland Street series, if you haven't read them go back to the start just so you have back story for our residents. Irene is spending most of her time in Aberdeen but still makes an appearance to dampen everyones spirits. For one who has done and is doing what she did she sure has a cheek to be looking/talking down on Stuart, Nicola et al. Wee Bertie finally gets to go and see the holy grail (to him) good auld Glasgow with his wee bestie Ranald Braveheart McPherson.

Stuart is dabbling with the thought of dating again, Bruce, vain arrogant Bruce is his usual nightmare self, just out there doing what he does best, mad serial dater! An unusual finding may be of great importance to the museum with Angus and Domenica in the middle of it all. I did think this book was going to be more and feature more with Cyril (dog) due to the title so I was a wee bit disappointed by how little he actually did feature.

It is always nice to dip into Scotland street especially as my book before this one was so heavy and dark. I have ordered the next book in the series and whether I just like them or love them I am always looking forward to the next, 3/5.

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Freed fifty Shades by E L James

Freed by E.L. James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 4 days

Pages - 768

Publisher -

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

An instant #1 New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and international bestseller!

You are cordially invited to the wedding of the decade, when Christian Grey will make Anastasia Steele his wife. But is he really husband material? His dad is unsure, his brother wants to organise one helluva bachelor party, and his fiancée won't vow to obey . . .

And marriage brings its own challenges. Their passion for each other burns hotter and deeper than ever, but Ana's defiant spirit continues to stir Christian's darkest fears and tests his need for control. As old rivalries and resentments endanger them both, one misjudgement threatens to tear them apart.

Can Christian overcome the nightmares of his childhood and the torments of his youth, and save himself? And once he's discovered the truth of his origins, can he find forgiveness and accept Ana's unconditional love?

Can Christian finally be freed?


My Review

So I read the original 50 shades books and then the two from his point of view so I absolutely had to read this, continuity. If you are familiar with the series there isn't vast amounts of new stuff in this, same situations but of course hearing from him not Ana.

I did like hearing more about the Mrs Robinson interaction, the night he ran after *that news* I won't say what incase you haven't read it before. The hold she had over him and we know how their relationship came to be as he told Ana already. I am nosey though so wanted to know what was said that night he got el wrecko.

The biggest thing in this as with the others is we get to hear his inner thoughts on everything and I can't say it made me like him more, if anything the opposite. I absolutely prefer Ana's point of view and the originals but I am glad I read them all because that is them complete, 3/5.

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Noone Keeps A Secret by Denise Brown

=No One Keeps a Secret by Denise Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 4 days

Pages - 288

Publisher - Hashtag Press

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads

When three teens track down a missing chihuahua to an abandoned theme park, they stumble upon a chilling discovery: a corpse, strangled by his own camera strap. The victim was meant to be 400 miles away in London, where he'd promised a lot of people a lot of money. But every one of them has a solid alibi. As Haigh, Cherry, and Sunrise get pulled into the murder investigation, they uncover mafia connections, a still-operating ghost train, and gossiping grannies, revealing their quiet village is far more dangerous than they ever imagined.


My Review

Young adult, mystery, the main characters are Haigh and Cherry, teens, told in first person point of view. Haigh's mum is dating Oz, a not very nice guy at all, the duo Haigh and Cherry become a trio when they meet Sunrise. The three end up meeting whilst chasing down a temperamental bitey chihuhua and bond over the trauma of finding a dead body, that of Oz and things go from there. Haigh has ADHD so we see snippets of that in different situations whilst trying to investigate what happened and be "the man of the house".

So there is a fair bit to unpeel in this, friendship, teen attraction, murder, investigation like the kids are on the case a bit like maybe the secret seven or something. It is super busy and sometimes, some of the elements like the ADHD could have been either much more in depth or just left off. I think people will be happy to see more representation absolutely but whilst we get glimpses and moments of how Haigh lives with it they are fleeting. Like maybe if he was not a main character? Also the characters are sixteen but come across so much younger in a lot of it. So it was a bit mixed for me at times.

The adults/secrets part I did like and wanted to know all of what Oz's chat was, I feel so much was touched on or hinted at but then didn't give us as much as I would have liked. If they book was chunkier and we got more backstory and depth I think I would have liked it a lot more. I also felt some things came so left of field and I do love when an author shocks you and or pulls the rug but, I don't know instead of ooooh I was a bit more oh, wait hang on. If that makes sense? I liked it, I didn't love it. Small village, secrets, murder, teen protagonists, kid working through some big developments/shocks with his friends and living with ADHD. It was different, 3/5, this was my first time reading her, I would read her again if I come across the book(s).

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My Sister's Bones by Nuala Ellwood

My Sister's Bones by Nuala Ellwood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 400

Publisher - Penguin UK

Source - Given by a friend

Blurb from Goodreads

Are You Brave Enough To Go Back?

Kate Rafter is a successful war reporter. She's the strong one. The one who escaped Herne Bay and the memories it holds. Her sister Sally didn't. Instead, she drinks. But when their mother dies, Kate is forced to return to the old family home. And on her first night she is woken by a terrifying scream.

What secret has Kate stumbled upon?

And is she strong enough to uncover the truth . . . and make it out alive?


My Review

Well this was different and not what I was expecting at all, Kate is a reporter, covers war torn countries. Home now after finding her mother has died (she missed the funeral) and her sister Sally is still not speaking to her. Kate has PTSD, medicated to try and get through the recurring traumas, the first half of the book focuses on her being back home and facing old trauma from her past and alcoholic father. The second half of the book really changed in pace, we then go to Sally and see her POV of the things Kate told us she suffered as a kid, now we see Sally's version. Sally is an alcoholic and only when something forces through the haze of booze is Sally forced out of her bubble, further pushing her already strained marriage.

Warning, as well as things witnessed in an active/ongoing war country/flashbacks, we have memories of abuse/violence/DV/alcoholism/exploitation and a horrific scene of animal death. I wasn't prepared for it and despite maybe showing just how far Sally has falling I just don't think it was needed and the scene is brutal (its a bird).

The narrators are unreliable, it jumps about, it is really dark and whilst there were things I really didn't like there is no denying the book has a pull about it. It is a very dark read so proceed with caution, this was my first by this author, I would absolutely read them again. They have a knack for painting very vivid scenes and lots of it is brutal and gives authentic vibes, 3/5.

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The Baby Trail by Sinead Moriarty

The Baby Trail by Sinéad Moriarty
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 320

Publisher - Atria

Source - Friend gave me it

Blurb from Goodreads

Makeup artist Emma Hamilton is thirty-three when she and her husband James decide it's time to start a family. She has it all mapped out: Go off the pill in December, have sex, get pregnant by January, have the baby in September. With the help of a personal trainer, she figures she'll be back to her fighting weight in time for Christmas. But when three months of candle-scented sex fails to produce the desired result, Emma decides that maybe Mother Nature needs a helping hand.

Soon her life is a roller coaster of post-coital handstands (you can't argue with gravity), hormone-inducing (sanity-reducing!) drugs, and a veritable army of probing specialists (torturers, more like). It's out with alcohol and spontaneous sex, in with green tea and ovulation kits. Emma and James try everything from fertility drugs to in vitro, but all their carefully laid plans seem to go south -- along with Emma's rapidly plummeting self-esteem.

The members of her support team are unquestionably loyal, but distracted by their own personal dramas. There's Babs, her younger sister, who prescribes Emma half an Ecstasy pill to treat her depression. Her friend Jess is pregnant with her second child and gives Emma an earful about the downside of motherhood. The glamorous Lucy, Emma's closest pal, fears she might be stuck in her "single rut" forever -- that is, until she meets Donal, a rough-around-the-edges rugby player who passes out on their first date but quickly proves that he is worth a second chance. And last, but certainly not least, is James, Emma's rugby coach husband, who quite unhelpfully manages to give himself a groin injury just when she is ovulating.

But just when Emma feels as if her obsession may have alienated all of her loved ones, including James, events take a ninety-degree turn that will have unforeseen consequences for everyone.


My Review

Meet Emma, thirty three, Irish, happily married to an English guy and the time is right to have a baby. All seems straight forward but as the months go by and still no pregnancy Emma gets more erratic and obsessed. Her bestie is desperate for a date, her other pal has a baby and healthy sex life and Emma is getting it from all areas as her biological clock is ticking as folk like to keep pointing out.

I can't say I loved Emma, she is funny and God knows I felt heart sorry for her as she goes longer and longer unable to get pregnant. Before hormones take over and everything else she does say and do some questionable stuff. I did laugh out loud at some of her besties experiences with the rugby player and their date(s) and or aftermath.

The book deals with emotive and serious subjects infused with humour and showing just how much a woman goes through when conceiving doesn't come naturally. Easy enough for a wee poolside read, I think this was my first time reading this author, it wouldn't be the last. I think if you have struggled with pregnancy/conceiving this book with either resonate or maybe just be a wee bit too close to home, 3/5 from us.

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What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges

What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 319

Publisher - Simon & Schuster

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Just about everything in Endora, Iowa (pop. 1,091 and dwindling) is eating Gilbert Grape, a twenty-four-year-old grocery clerk who dreams only of leaving. His enormous mother, once the town sweetheart, has been eating nonstop ever since her husband's suicide, and the floor beneath her TV chair is threatening to cave in. Gilbert's long-suffering older sister, Amy, still mourns the death of Elvis, and his knockout younger sister has become hooked on makeup, boys, and Jesus--in that order, but the biggest event on the horizon for all the Grapes is the eighteenth birthday of Gilbert's younger brother, Arnie, who is a living miracle just for having survived so long. As the Grapes gather in Endora, a mysterious beauty glides through town on a bicycle and rides circles around Gilbert, until he begins to see a new vision of his family and himself.


My Review

So I know this is a movie with Johnny Depp and a very young Leonardo DiCaprio, I don't think I have seen it but little bits, I recognised the bath scene. The main character is Gilbert Grape, 24 years old, living in a small town and quite angry and over the hand life has given him. Going through the motions until a young lassie appears on her bike and captures Gilbert's attention and seeing his life through new eyes.

I can't say Gilbert is a nice character, he is a bit of a tool, not a great pal nor brother although he does have his moments with Arnie, his miracle brother the doctors had told would never make his 18th birthday. As Arnie's birthday gets closer the family make big plans for the monumental achievement. Amidst this we meet Gilbert's mother, once the town sweetheart and now hugely overweight and stays indoors 24/7 to keep from ridicule and gossip. Two older siblings who managed to escape, his older sister who lives at home and his younger sister who is a bit high maintenance, Elvis loving and newly finding the attraction to/of boys.

The book covers a whole host of dynamics, relationships, issues, some of the language is not used nowadays (Arnie is referred to as the derogatory R word multiple times). I know some people love this book, I wasn't one of them, I don't hate it but maybe I just didn't get what the author was shooting for? There was a scene I did gasp at and I felt for the wean but a lot of the time I was really annoyed at the characters behaviours and choices. Maybe that is indeed what Hedges was going for, imperfect characters, imperfect life, unlikable but with some redeeming qualities or moments, 3/5.

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A Savage Generation by David Tallerman

A Savage Generation by David Tallerman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 352

Publisher - Flame Tree Press

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Sickness is ravaging America, driving the infected to savagery. Petty criminal Ben Silensky is determined to get his girlfriend Carlita and son Kyle free of the quarantined city they live in, enough so to risk a foolhardy crime and then to team up with Carlita's equally desperate cop cousin Nando. Once they're out, Nando is certain they'll find a place in the open prison where his uncle works, unbeknownst to him already become a survivalist colony named Funland under the management of entrepreneurial convict Plan John. In Funland itself, guard Doyle Johnson is shocked when his ex-wife abandons his son Austin into his care. Fearing the vulnerable position he's been placed in, he recruits the help of Katherine Aaronovich, the former prison's doctor. But Aaronovich's traumatic past has left her with vulnerabilities of her own, along with radical theories on the nature of the epidemic that will place all their lives in jeopardy. As the last vestiges of civilisation crumble, Funland may prove to be the safest or the most dangerous of places, depending on who comes out on top - and what can't be held together will inevitably be torn apart. FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.


My Review

A city under quarentine, the "sickies" are people who have became infected, becoming aggressive and little more than animals at certain stages. Ben wants out with his kid and girlfriend and he knows exactly where to go, "Funland" previously a prison. There are still prisoners and guards but there is an understanding and Ben and co figure it has to be safer in there than it is out here.

So it is giving 28 days later meets the walking dead vibes, the infected are still human but they beat/murder/destroy and are highly contagious. The majority is set in the prison so that is what was giving me echoes of the walking dead along with the power struggles. There is a female doctor and one of the guards is a really good guy who is tough and respected, he helps smuggle Carlita in because it is still a male's prison and her being discovered would be devastating.

I liked the idea of this but did love a lot of it. I felt the atmosphere was well portrayed and I absolutely wanted to know where it was going. When I read it I felt maybe this was book one and setting up for the second yet it isn't, it is a standalone which again left me a bit meh. Like so much of what they went through and did almost seemed pointless at times, like really all that for that?

That being said am sure many will love it, it gives you glimpses of some of the pathetic and bad sides to humanity, Ben ugh I had very little respect for him. Like it was as if he didn't really know who he was or who he wanted to be, he was, to me, a weak guy, I just couldn't with him by the end of the book.

I liked the doctor and would have liked to have had more exploration on what she was doing/looking into. I felt like so much of the story had unanswered or only briefly touched on issues/themes so I think it would be good if the author did go back to this and make more, maybe a series?

It is quite dark at times, I found the more we learned about this sickies, as the story went on the more I wanted to know about them. How they progressed, the ones we met in the book, I would have loved more of there stories, before, during and after but also the meat/origins of the outbreak. For all of that 3/5 for me, tense, dark, horrible characters with a very small mix of decent ones, it is worth a read because I do think many will love it, I am just a fussy potatoe!

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A Glasgow Kiss by Sophia Gravia

A Glasgow Kiss by Sophie Gravia
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 292

Publisher - Orion

Source - Amazon

Blurb from Goodreads

A headbutt or a strike with the head to someone's sensitive area

Meet Zara Smith: 29, single and muddling her way through life as a trainee nurse in Glasgow. With 30 fast approaching, she's determined to do whatever it takes to find love - or at least someone to sext! Cheered on by best friends Ashley and Raj, Zara embarks on a string of dating escapades that are as hilarious as they are disastrous. From online dating to blind dates, hometown hook-ups to flirty bartenders, nothing is off limits.

But when Dr Tom Adams, aka Sugar Daddy, shows interest, it's a game-changing moment. Zara has had a crush on Tom since her very first day at the aesthetics clinic she works at part-time. As things heat up between them, Zara can't help but wonder: is this it? Or is it another disaster waiting to happen?

Filthy, hilarious and painfully relatable, Zara Smith is Bridget Jones for the millennial generation, from the writer of the Sex in the Glasgow City blog. Fans of Fleabag, Girls and Lucy Vine will love A Glasgow Kiss.



My Review

EVERYBODY has been talking about this book for ages and I hadn't gotten around to it but FOMO (fear of missing out) and it was (and still is at time of posting) only 99p on kindle so I got it. Zara is a student nurse trying to get to her end goal of becoming a nurse and working at an aesthetics clinic in between. One of the docs there is older and HOT but he is her work college so one can but drool and dream. We follow Zara and her dating disasters and what happens when your love life crosses over into your work life EEEK.

Guys this is your warning now, if you don't like spicy books this isn't for you, if you don't like graphic scenes with very descriptive body fluids scenes, this isn't for you. Zara has some "interesting" moments with those she dates and some very cringe moments. She is like Bridget Jones if Bridget covered more graphic/body fluids than the innocent/more gentle side of Bridget J we know.

I laughed, I cringed, I was mortified, I got annoyed at her and wanted her to have a backbone at times. I air punched at one point but that was more to do with someone I hated to someone I actually switched to liking. It is entertaining, shocking, boke inducing at times, friendship, relationships and the old when someone makes dumb decisions when dating someone they are hooked on. Zara tends to fall/forgive quickly which some will identify with some with be irritated with. Modern day dating, shameless, I had a riddy for her at parts but you definitely wanted to see where it went. Loads of folk LOVE this book, I liked it and will read book two but defo not in the omg it is amazing. I would say for those who haven't dated in a long time it is an eye opener of modern day dating, whilst it is fiction, from folk I know who are currently dating in these times, it isn't far off the mark in the truth stakes, it is wild out there, folk be wild lol, 3/5.

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The Christmas she married the playboy & The Greek Secret she carries

The Christmas She Married The Playboy / The Greek Secret She Carries: The Christmas She Married the Playboy (Christmas with a Billionaire) / The Greek ... Diamond Inheritance) by Louise Fuller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 384

Publisher - Mills & Boon

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Their convenient winter wedding!

To save her pristine image from scandal, Santina must marry notorious playboy Louis. But after a past betrayal, it’s not gossip she fears…it’s the burning attraction that will make resisting her convenient husband impossible.

One scandalous Greek night…

Months after their passionate fling, rumours bring enigmatic Theron to Summer’s doorstep – to discover a pregnancy as obvious as the still-sizzling desire between them! He will give their child the family unit he lost. But Summer’s trust isn’t so easily won…


My Review

Mills and Boon if you have read them you know exactly what you are getting. This book is a two in one. Book one, meet Santina, pristine image and trying to make it in the professional world of ice skating. She has zero interest in the opposite sex especially after having her heart broken and crushed by her ex. Meet Louis, money galore, bad boy reputation, womaniser and often in the press for his antics, so much so it is impacting his work life. When a chance encounter brings them together and the press catch a juicy story the two have to work together to try and salvage both their images.

Story two sees Summer, naive going from university and a mostly sheltered life to trying to find her real father and helping her sick mother. She has a passionate tryst with Theron ending in disaster. He shows up again in her life trying to make amends for his behaviour and assumptions but is it too late.

The first story I did like better and it was very reminiscing of what I remember Mills and Boon to be but with a modern day theme to it. Good girl, bad boy, money, reputation, hard exterior (for both) and absolute attraction they both try to deny and it goes from there.

Book two, I think the whole Greek man and behaviours, for me, didn't work. Instead of passion and sense of wanting to do the right thing as is expected of him I found him to be controlling and really negative behaviours. Summer also came across weak and annoying rather than damsel in distress but also doing the right thing by her family. Maybe if I had read the the other way around I may have taken to it more? Both good stories but I really wasn't a fan of either of the main characters in the second book therefor overall it is 3/5 for me.

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All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover

All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time take to read - 5 days

Pages - 305

Publisher - Simon and Schuster

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Colleen Hoover delivers a tour de force novel about a troubled marriage and the one old forgotten promise that might be able to save it.

Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair.

All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?



My Review

What an opener, we see an infidelity busted and the book then goes from present day back to the time the infidelity was discovered and everything that transpires afterward. Quinn and Graham met under not the best circumstances but fate tends to have better plans for them. Present day and their perfect marriage is suffering, inability to talk about it, game face on and the longer the elephant in the room doesn't get discussed the bigger the rift between them becomes.

This book will have a lot of triggers for many, infidelity, relationship issues, conceiving, issues around it, it is very relationship centric. You know something is between Quinn and Graham but not what and we bounce back and forth past and present. It shows just how huge the issues are between them with stark almost side to side comparison, loves young dream, fresh in the throes of love to present day and struggling to be honest/close.

It is hard to go into it without giving spoilers which we don't do but it covers some heartbreak, some big issues within relationships, fertility and everything that comes with it. I think there are some actions/reactions that will annoy/enrage some readers. I think Hoover is a bit marmite, some folk love her stuff, some not so much. Regardless I think she creates characters/situations that whilst you may not always like them I think you can tune into or relate to, 3/5 for me this time. I have a fair few others of hers on the tbrm and I think they all are pretty different, lied but didn't love.

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The Prison Doctor: The Final Sentence by Doctor Amanda Brown

The Prison Doctor: The Final Sentence by Amanda Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 222

Publisher - HQ Stories

Source - bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Revisit the wold of The Prison Doctor, as she describes stories of her time spent with foreign national prisoners.



In true Prison Doctor style Dr Amanda Brown tells heartbreaking stories with warmth and compassion of her time spent working with prisoners whose fate of deportation hangs in the balance.


Including moving and memorable stories, such as a Nigerian man who’s dying of cancer and wants to do so with his family around him rather than be deported back to his country where he will die alone, and a Ghanian who is terrified to return home as he knows certain death awaits him there because he’s gay, Dr Amanda describes how in the end she can only do what she does best. And that’s take care of her patients while they’re in prison.


My Review

I have read the previous two books in this trilogy and followed doctor Brown's storyline of her career working from within a GP and onto prison settings. The stories follow what she has seen, dealt with and the horrific things prisons have seen/done to themselves and had done to them. This book is different, now she is working with prisoners who are up for potentially being deported.

I had expected much of the same as the previous two books but this one has a bit of a hollower feeling - I think that is the word I am looking for. Normally we get lots of different people, cases, emergencies, conditions. I think there are a handful people's stories and some were really sad but I expected more. I just felt like this book hadn't gave me as much both in terms of people featured and their stories.

The writing is fine as it was, I would absolutely read more by her and I am always interested in any kind of healthcare stories. I think in prison and prison stories (true stories) it gives people a chance to see just how tough it can be in terms of management of conditions, mental health, access to care but I didn't really get that from this one. Sure if featured some bit it was flashes.

We also hear a bit more of her career and it was nice to see her reunited with previous colleagues and changes in a place she had previously worked (reshaped for completely different type of individuals).

So whilst I found it interested I felt it had a lot less offered than previous books, 3/5 for me this time.

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The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman

The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 5 days

Pages - 422

Publisher - Viking

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Shocking news reaches the Thursday Murder Club.

An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.

As the gang springs into action they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home.

With the body count rising, the package still missing and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out? And who will be the last devil to die?



My Review

This is book four in the series and I would say you will get more out of it by reading the previous books and getting the backstory(s) of the characters. The books are centred around older characters who have a Thursday Murder Club and they set out investigating crimes/murder(s) and they are actually pretty good at it.

One of the things I love about these books is how quirky the characters are and whilst that is present in some of this one there is a sadder/dark streak in this book I wasn't expecting. I get that the characters growth/arcs need to go a in certain directions but sometimes when you are caught off guard it can impact in your enjoyment of a story. That being said I also know that it might be more of a me thing than the story/author thing.

On the lighter side there is more of a couples theme in this one and Ron puts his foot in stuff as he does, set in his ways stubborn but still. Skulduggery, drugs, murder and investigating, the opening chapter kicks us into the thick of it straight off.

Friendship is quite often at the heart of these stories and it is strong in this one. We obviously have the police investigation, the gang doing their thing, criminals old and new and everyone is looking for the same thing just for different reasons. It is a good story, engaging just not my fave of the series and has some dark/sad themes involved so for me 3/5 this time. Will I read more of the series? Absolutely, I love the characters and their antics just found this one had a bit more sadness than I was expecting.

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