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Book Review - Everything We Left Behind: A Novel by Kerry Lonsdale

 

Everything We Left Behind: A Novel

 By Kerry Lonsdale

Two months before his wedding, financial executive James Donato chased his trade-laundering brother Phil to Mexico, only to be lost at sea and presumed dead. Six and a half years later, he emerges from a dissociative fugue state to find he’s been living in Oaxaca as artist Carlos Dominguez, widower and father of two sons, with his sister-in-law Natalya Hayes, a retired professional surfer, helping to keep his life afloat. But his fiancée, Aimee Tierney, the love of his life, has moved on. She’s married and has a child of her own.

Devastated, James and his sons return to California. But Phil is scheduled for release from prison, and he’s determined to find James, who witnessed something in Mexico that could land Phil back in confinement. Under mounting family pressure, James flees with his sons to Kauai, seeking refuge with Natalya. As James begins to unravel the mystery of his fractured identity, danger is never far behind, and Natalya may be the only person he can trust.

This book was absolutely amazing. I know it sounds clichéd but I was mesmerised from the first sentence. I could not put this book down and I read long into the night. Although this is book 2 of a series, I did not feel at all lost. Reading this book was almost effortless. This book should be on your to-read list.

I got my copy from NetGalley but you can pick up yours on Amazon

Book Review, Duke with Benefits (Studies in Scandal) by Manda Collins

 

Duke with Benefits

(Studies in Scandal)

by Manda Collins

LADY + DUKE = TRUE LOVE?

Lady Daphne Forsyth is a brilliant mathematician with a burning passion for puzzles. When she learns that the library belonging to her benefactress houses the legendary Cameron Cipher—an encrypted message that, once solved, holds the key to great riches—Daphne is on the case. Unfortunately, her race to unlock the cipher’s code is continually thwarted by a deliciously handsome distraction she hadn’t counted on . . . and cannot resist.

Dalton Beauchamp, the Duke of Maitland, is curious as to why Daphne is spending so much time snooping around his aunt’s bookshelves. He’s even more intrigued by her bold yet calculating manner: She is unapologetic about her secret quest . . . and the fiery attraction that develops between them both. But how can they concentrate on solving a perplexing enigma once the prospect of true love enters the equation?

Duke with Benefits is the second in Manda Collins' Studies in Scandal series set in Regency England.

This was another gift - my friend thought I would find the cover rather amusing - and she was right, what is that woman looking at? Is she on some sort of strange Regency photoshoot, or is she just really pleased with herself? Or perhaps he has given her the best org - Clears throat! Regardless of the cover, I thought this book was really good. It is, as many Regency Romances are, incredibly predictable but there is something really comforting about that. I really did enjoy it and I will be checking out other books by this author. 

I was gifted a copy of this book, but you can pick it up on Amazon

Book Review, Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

 

Eligible

By Curtis Sittenfeld

The Bennet sisters have been summoned from New York City.

Liz and Jane are good daughters. They’ve come home to suburban Cincinnati to get their mother to stop feeding their father steak as he recovers from heart surgery, to tidy up the crumbling Tudor-style family home, and to wrench their three sisters from their various states of arrested development.

Once they are under the same roof, old patterns return fast. Soon enough they are being berated for their single status, their only respite the early morning runs they escape on together. For two successful women in their late thirties, it really is too much to bear. That is, until the Lucas family’s BBQ throws them in the way of some eligible single men . . .

Chip Bingley is not only a charming doctor, he’s a reality TV star too. But Chip's friend, haughty neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy, can barely stomach Cincinnati or its inhabitants. Jane is entranced by Chip; Liz, sceptical of Darcy. As Liz is consumed by her father’s mounting medical bills, her wayward sisters and Cousin Willie trying to stick his tongue down her throat, it isn’t only the local chilli that will leave a bad aftertaste.

But where there are hearts that beat and mothers that push, the mysterious course of love will resolve itself in the most entertaining and unlikely of ways. And from the hand of Curtis Sittenfeld, Pride & Prejudice is catapulted into our modern world singing out with hilarity and truth.

That cover - so funny! When I saw this book up on NetGalley I was in two minds about picking it up. I love Jane Austen and I am always kinda wary of remakes, especially modern remakes, can you remember Clueless? Sigh. Anyway, I thought this book might be fun so I gave it a chance and yes, it does have a very modern twist and the characters are even more caricatured than how Austen portrayed them. This is quite an amusing book and I did find myself rather embarrassingly laughing out loud - don't you just hate it when that happens, especially when you are on the bus?! All in all, this is a good fun read, but don't read it on the bus like I did, or you will get some very strange looks.

I received my copy from NetGalley, but you can also find it on Amazon.

Quote of the Month

 

Book Review, Mer-Charmer (World of Aluvia Book 2) By Amy Bearce

 

Mer-Charmer

(World of Aluvia Book 2)

By Amy Bearce

Fourteen-year-old Phoebe Quinn is surrounded by magic, but she can’t muster any of her own. Her sister is a fairy keeper. Her best friends are merfolk. And all she does is dishes and housework.

When Phoebe finds out a terrible sea creature is awakening that preys upon the peace-loving merfolk, she becomes determined to help them, even though it means going with Tristan and Mina to their home deep in the sea.

Beneath the waves, Phoebe learns she’s more like her sister than she realized. The merfolk are drawn to her, and she can sense the magic of the sea all around her. Magic is finally at her fingertips, but that’s precisely why the stirring dark power under the waters decides it wants her most of all.

Now she must not only help the peaceful merfolk escape this ancient enemy, she must master her out-of-control powers. If she fails, she will die and darkness will rise and enslave the merfolk once more. But embracing her full power could cost her the very people she loves the most.

Isn't this cover fabadoucous? - I think I just might have invented a new word! This book had all the feels, the pages were crips, the cover felt like a kind of thick cardboard but not to thick _ okay, I'll shut up now!

 I was completely enveloped in this amazing fantasy world that Amy Bearce has created. I simply adored everything about this book, the setting, the characters, the adventure and yes, the pages did feel nice between my fingers - I must stop, it sounds like I have some sort of paper fetich _ I don't, by the way. 

This is a great novel for young adult and us older adults alike. A real gem of a book.

I was gifted this novel for my birthday, but you can pick a copy up on Amazon

Book Review, The Rogue of Islay Isle (Highland Isles Series) By Heather McCollum

 

The Rogue of Islay Isle

(Highland Isles Series)

By

Heather McCollum

Cullen Duffie, a Highland warrior and charming rogue, is the new chief of Clan MacDonald. Determined to prove he’s not his father, Cullen works to secure his clan against the English. When a woman washes onto Islay’s shores, Cullen protects her from his uncles’ schemes.

Waking up not knowing who she is or where she comes from, Madeleine is at the mercy of the man who found her. Unable to speak from the swelling around her throat from a rope tether, she learns as much as she can about the new world around her and the powerful, sword-wielding Highlander who has sworn to protect her.

Through dreams and flashes of her past, Madeleine begins to rebuild her memories. But the more she recalls about the horror she escaped, the more she realizes the jeopardy she is bringing to Islay, Clan MacDonald and the Highlander who has captured her heart.

I wish I had more time to read because then I would have got to The Rogue of Islay Isle so much the quicker. As it was, this book has been sat on my kindle for a good long while, but finally I have found the time to read it. This is a wonderfully compelling love story that swept me away to 16th Century Scotland. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and I will certainly be checking out more books by this author.

I picked up my copy on Amazon Kindle.