Review - Billie Jo by Kimberley Chambers

Billie Jo by Kimberley Chambers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 1.5 days

Blurb From Goodreads

Billie Jo is the adored only child of wealthy villain, Terry, and Michelle, the drunken wife he hates. Knowing how much Billie Jo dreads her parents’ fights, Terry imagines that she’ll understand when he tells her he is going to leave Michelle to marry his pregnant secretary.

But fate is about to deal a terrible hand and change everything in a way Terry has not planned at all, leaving Billie Jo’s protected world in tatters.

Set in a world of villains and chancers, Kimberley Chamber’s brilliant first novel is a rollercoaster read you will not want to put down.

My Review

This is my first encounter with Kimberley Chambers. I love Mandasue Heller and Martina Cole and was told if I like them I will like this lady, well they weren't wrong. The writing is not the same as Martina (I still like her but in recent time have found things a little samey), but like the other authors mentioned she spins a gritty crime story that pulls you in pretty much from the get go.

Billie Jo is a young girl who dotes on her dad, her mum is a booze addled horrible woman who has little time for Billie Jo and filled with hate. After an untimely accident their lives are changed and Billie Jo falls for a man who seems to good to be true. What follows is a gritty tale of lies, deceit, sex, drugs and betrayal.

I really found it hard to put this book down, (seriously, I was to be up early for work and 2am was still reading, I was so engrossed) the writing isn't the best I have read but this was the authors first book and the story overshadows any small blips you might come up against. She has a talent that is evident from very early on in the book and the characters (whether you are rooting for them or wanting to deck them) are strong and well shaped. I have another book by this author (I, for once am going to follow the sequence of when they were wrote) and it won't be my last, 4/5 for me this time. P.s this cover isn't the same as the one I have (mine is listed as the kindle cover for some reason).

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Review - Baked To Death (#4) by Dean James

Baked To Death by Dean James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 3 days

Blurb From Goodreads

With the help of some dandy little pills, Simon can get through his first summer in Snupperton-Mumsley with only a mild aversion to the sun. On the other hand, his assistant, Giles Blitherington, is bemoaning the beginning of the season. A medieval faire is coming to town--and setting up tent practically in Blitherington Hall's backyard. It doesn't take Simon long to don tunic and tights and gambol straight into controversy. The group putting on the faire is in the midst of a power struggle. Their "king" is about to be dethroned by a charismatic and popular duke. But when the usurper is poisoned by way of a fig pastry, Simon is confronted with enough suspects to fill a royal court. Now Simon must infiltrate the players to uncover a murderer most medieval.

My Review

If you haven't read the previous 3 books you don't really have to but as this one focuses a lot on the Simon and Giles side I would suggest you do to get a proper understanding on it (but the story itself is easy to read as a stand alone). We are back in the little town of Snupperton-Mumsley (got to love that name), where everybody knows or is in everyones business. This time there is a medieval fair coming in Giles back yard (much to his mothers annoyance), and once again we have an untimely murder. Simon sets about investigating, finding plenty of suspects and trying to solve the crime.

I do enjoy the humor of these books, it is all very murder she wrote with all the gossiping and skulduggery going on, Simon being the gay male version of Jessica. Did I mention Simon is also a vampire? These books are very tongue in cheek and they keep you guessing as each chapter comes along we have yet another suspect in the picture of who could have done it and why.

This book focused I felt a lot more on the Giles/Simon aspect, although there is plenty of of focus on the killing and all that follows but normally in the books the relationship between the two is a background side story, this time is more upfront and key to the story. A great wee series and I will be sad to see it go, a 3/5 for me this time.

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Septembers Pre-Loved Giveaway

Is not available this month, I am so behind and have had some things come up that means the blog and reading have and will need to take a back seat for a while. I will still be doing what I can but it won't be nearly as much or often as I usually do.

Therefore this month instead of a pre-loved giveaway it will be a £5 amazon voucher, as always fill in the form (via the link) at the bottom of the page to enter and you can leave a comment for an additional entry. The competition is open to everyone all you need is an email address (and of course an Amazon account). If you have a website, mention that in the form along with your name and I will list it when I announce the winner.

The competition as always runs to the end of the month, good luck and feel free to share. Click here to enter the competition

A.R.R - Redemption On The River by Loren DeShon

Redemption on the River by Loren DeShon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 4 days

Blurb From Goodreads

Silas Jacobson pulled a trigger, killed his father, and ended up months later face down in Memphis mud, trying to forget the girl who betrayed him.

Silas buries his father on the farm, his guilt in himself and leaves home seeking to forget past mistakes. He travels on Mississippi steamboats and meets his best friend in a brawl, his worst enemy in a cathouse, and a mentor and lover at a New Orleans faro table. Fighting, fornicating, and cheating at cards are a grand time, but there's another woman, a girl on a mission of her own, who saves his life and offers the opportunity to redeem himself.

Silas staggers out of the mud to go to her, but he finds that she's deceived him from the start. He'll risk his neck for her—he owes her that much—but love is no longer possible. His shot at redemption comes down to his conscience, the two women, a poker game, and the turn of a card.

Redemption on the River is historical fiction set along the Mississippi River in 1848.

My Review

Silas has just killed his father and abandoned his family and his responsibilities. He wants to forget his past and find pastures new. Along the way he meets a new best friend, some ladies of the night, murderers, gamblers and some hustlers. Outside of the family home is a whole new world, where Silas has to learn to adapt, think on his feet and use all his brains and brawn just to stay alive. It is a journey of self discovery, and education on slavery, honour, love and what it is like to live as a slave and what they endure.

I got off on a bad footing with this story as once I read the first line "The day I killed my father began like any other on our farm in northwest Missouri". I had already made up my mind how it happened and the idea of what the story was going to be like, it was the total opposite and it took me a while to let go of what I wanted and thought it would be. Go into it with an open mind as you will enjoy the story so much more. Silas is the main character and I went from hating him, to liking him, to hating him, to liking him again. It is a story that moves you with the plight of the slaves and the education Silas gets and the growth and strength of his character (along with his weaknesses and bad attributes).

The main story is split between slavery and racism in the time period when it was considered normal and people where just beginning to (not all of them) realize how wrong it and immoral it is. It also is about a young mans journey from being a boy doing his duty at home to a journey of escape from a horrific time and self discovery to becoming a man with morals and thinking about more than himself. There is a lot to this story and I think people will take different things from it, love and hate it pending on what they can relate to and what it evokes in them. A thought provoking read with many aspects to it and I believe everyone can enjoy something from it, a well told tale and a respectful 3/5 for me. Thank you so much to the author for giving me the opportunity to read and review their work and I would read something by this author again.

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Delays all round!

Apologies that I haven't put up Septembers Pre-Loved Giveaway. I was away in Spain for a few days and came home to 4 shifts in a row. This resulted in delays posting out last months winners prize (thanks again Tracy for being so understanding). I made it to the post office today and if your waiting on a parcel from me it is now on it's way.

Septembers pre-loved giveaway will hopefully be up in the next day or two, thanks again for being so patient.

Review - The Collectors(Camel Club #2) by David Baldacci

The Collectors by David Baldacci
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 2 days

Blurb From Goodreads

In Washington, D.C, where power is everything and too few have too much of it, four highly eccentric men with mysterious pasts call themselves the Camel Club. Their mission: find out what's really going on behind the closed doors of America's leaders.

The assassination of the U.S. Speaker of the House has shaken the nation. And the outrageous iconoclasts of the Camel Club have found a chilling connection with another death: the demise of the director of the Library of Congress's rare books room, whose body has been found in a locked vault where seemingly nothing could have harmed him.

A man who calls himself Oliver Stone is the groups unofficial leader. Staying one step ahead of his violent past and headquartered in a caretaker's cottage in Mt. Zion Cemetery, Stone, drawing on his vast experience and acute deductive powers, discovers that someone is selling America to its enemies one classified secret at a time. When Annabelle Conroy, the greatest con artist of her generation, struts onto the scene in high-heeled boots, the Camel Club gets a sexy new edge. And they'll need it, because the two murders are hurtling them into a world of high-stakes espionage that threatens to bring America to its knees.

From an ingenious con in Atlantic City tho the possible forgery of one of the rarest and most valuable books in America history, to a showdown of epic proportions in the very heart of the capitol, David Baldacci weaves a brilliant, white-knuckle tale of suspense in which every collector is searching for one missing prize: the one to die for..

My Review

A government hitman, a talented con woman with a long time score to settle and a group of misfit gentlemen are the main characters in this book. The story is split into a few parts, the female con artist and her plan to avenge her family (plus get a big heist done whilst doing the job). The Camel club comes into play after a member of their library is killed very soon after the U.S. Speaker of the House is assassinated. There is a bit of background on each of the members of the group and then finally our hitman and how he ties into it all, his obsession with his trophies and the murders.

This is my first Baldacci book and even though it is number two, I found I could follow it fine as the relationships are touched on briefly but enough for you to know how they came to be and are with each other. The story is fairly quick paced and I am not sure if it is meant to but I found some of it really funny (just how some of them interact with each other or the things they come away with).

Whilst the stories start off as three separate stories the characters eventually link into each other and everything comes together. It has murder, twists and a surprise or two along the way and the chapters aren't too long apart so you can dip in and out if you like. The characters are very well done and as the story finished (on a bit of a cliff hanger) you can't help but wanting more. I think I will track down the first book of this series and will defiantly read this author again, 4/5 for me.

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Review - Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 1 day

Blurb From Goodreads

One miscarriage too many spelled the end of Max and Zoe Baxter's marriage. Though the former couple went quite separate ways, their fates remained entangled: After veering into alcoholism, Max is saved in multiple senses by his fundamentalist conversion; Zoe, for her part, finds healing relief in music therapy and the friendship, then romantic love with Vanessa, her counselor. After Zoe and Vanessa, now married, decide to have a baby, they realize that they must join battle with Max, who objects on both religious and financial grounds. Like her House Rules and several other previous Jodi Picoult novels, Sing You Home grapples with hot button issues. The novel also includes a CD of songs, each matched with a chapter in the book. Perfect for book clubs.

My Review

This story is broke into chapters with the 3 main characters, Zoe, Max and Vanessa. After the breakdown of their marriage both Max and Zoe go through some life changing experiences and the story follows it from their views. Vanessa comes into Zoe's life at a horrific moment and from there builds a friendship that blossoms into love. When Zoe and Vanessa decide to have a baby and want to use the embryos from Max and Zoe's previous attempts, Max's new found faith and congregation have a lot to say and fight it.

When you haven't read an author for ages (one of your favs) you forget how good they are and how well they paint a picture. Jodi is an amazing writer, she brings the characters to life as she has done here. You can feel the raw emotions and live the lives of these people for the duration of the book and experience the highs and lows they go through. It is a rollercoaster ride of emotion, hurt, anger, religion, politics and just about everything else that goes with it. What is right in the eyes of the church and the law to what is just human nature. This book provokes a lot of thought and I am sure a lot of opinions.

My only issue with it is with the little girl Zoe teaches I felt we had a few unanswered questions (which you know I hate) and I felt the ended rushed a bit. For example how did the people react after the court case and what happened in the lead up to the end chapter, that would have been fairly explosive and I was a little saddened I didn't get to find out how it got to that actual part (sorry to be vague but I don't do spoilers). Other than that it was a wonderful read that I found hard to put down, 4/5 for me and I will have to bump up the others on my tbr.

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