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Short Book and Scribes

ShortBookandScribes – Interview on the RNA Blog today!

Posted on 11th March 2020 By Nicola

I was delighted when Rhoda Baxter got in touch and asked if I would like to be interviewed for the Romantic Novelists’ Association blog. You can read about why I set up my blog, the best and worst things about it and much more right here – link to interview.

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Ad/PR product. New review: Earth by @johnboyneauth

Ad/PR product. New review: Earth by @johnboyneauthor. Published today by @doubledayukbooks.
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Earth is the second in the Elements quartet of novellas by John Boyne. Evan Keogh appeared in Water, the first book, as a minor character but here he takes centre stage as a young footballer accused of assisting a serious sexual assault carried out by his teammate, Robbie. Throughout the story we follow the trial but in alternate chapters we also see the trajectory of Evan's life after he escaped his troubled family life on the small island of his birth. It's not pretty!
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It's not difficult to feel some level of sympathy for Evan and his difficult upbringing, but by the same token I found him hard to like. Life has given him sharp edges to protect his delicate inner and it now feels like he is incapable of feeling anything much at all. Boyne invites the reader to walk the fine line between nature and nurture, of culpability versus abdication of responsibility, morality against self-preservation. As always, this incredibly talented author has written a compelling and incredibly powerful account of the murky depths of the human psyche which has left me thinking about the characters afterwards.
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John Boyne is one of my all-time favourite writers and I enjoyed Earth very much, despite the thorny subject matter. The writing is thought-provoking, disturbing but accurate, and it's produced to great effect to challenge the reader. I'm looking forward to Fire next, which takes a minor character from this book and tells their story.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
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#bookreview #Earth #novella #booklove #bookloversofinstagram #fortheloveofbooks #ilovebooks #grippingreads #reader #booksread #reviewer #reviewbooks #reader #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Night in Question b

Ad/PR product. New review: The Night in Question by @sfletcherauthor. To be published by @bantambooksuk on 18th April.
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The Night in Question is Florrie Butterfield's story. Now 87, wheelchair bound and living in a (really quite nice) care home, she has settled down to a quiet life. That is, until something awful happens and she feels that it's not quite what everyone is thinking. Following clues (including a magenta envelope that has been cast aside), she starts to poke around to see if she can find out what really happened. Alongside this thread, we are also able to delight in looking back on Florrie's long life, the good times and the bad, her family, her best friend, her loves.
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Quite how Susan Fletcher crams all of this so perfectly into 448 pages I do not know, but I can say quite categorically that The Night in Question will be one of my books of the year. Not only does it have the mystery at the care home, but a character looking back over a long and eventful life is one of my most favourite tropes ever. I adored Florrie, who is all soft edges but with a mind as sharp as a tack. I loved her fellow residents too, particularly Stanhope, who she becomes good friends with, but also the varied personalities of all the other characters.
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It's fair to say that when I start marking pages that contain paragraphs I want to remember, then that is a sign of a really good book for me. The writing is poetically beautiful, so profound and reflective. I drank in hungrily the wealth and depth of the detail in this story, of Florrie's upbringing, her love for her family, the difficult times she went through and the joys she experienced. I was in awe of how Fletcher delicately and deftly scattered breadcrumbs throughout, to enable the story to unfold organically and to keep the mysterious elements just that, until the moment came for them to step forward into the limelight.
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The Night in Question is a very special book indeed. I've read Susan Fletcher's books before and enjoyed them, but this one is an absolute triumph. It's not one thing or another, it's everything all at once. It's superb!
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof package.

#TheNightInQuestion

Ad/PR product. New review: Clickbait by @lauren_c_

Ad/PR product. New review: Clickbait by @lauren_c_north. Published by @bantambooksuk and out now.
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The Lancaster family are well known for their reality TV show. The matriarch is Lynn and it's clear she has a lot of control over her three grown up children, Taylor, Locke and India. I have never seen Keeping Up With the Kardiashians but Living With the Lancasters is exactly what I think it would be like. The Lancasters present a united front whilst simultaneously stabbing each other in the back - not an easy balance to achieve! I found them all thoroughly unlikeable, which I'm certain was the whole point.
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The story is initially about a missing teenage boy. Bradley Wilcox disappeared after leaving one of the Lancaster's raucous parties two decades ago and an old and previously unseen home video is about to bring the disappearance back into the news, which is not good for the Lancaster family.
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The whole story is told via a true crime investigator's podcasts/YouTube videos, police interviews, celebrity news reports, clips from Living With the Lancasters and other similar kinds of mixed media and the author has done an excellent job of conveying what's happening in this way. It also makes it really fast-paced read and one where I could cram in a bit more before having to lay my book down.
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Clickbait is a twisty read about a family who live their lives in the spotlight, making them more than a little bit dysfunctional. It's a modern and original look at a family chasing ever more fame, and the consequences of this on their whole lives.
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Thank you @chloerose_pr for the proof copy.
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#Clickbait #bookreview #mixedmedia #crimebooks #grippingreads #fortheloveofbooks #bookblogger #reader #booksread #ilovereading #booklover #bookishcontent #readcrimefiction #reading #reviewer #reviewbooks #bookreader #booksofinstagram #crimefiction #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The House of Mirrors by

Ad/PR product. New review: The House of Mirrors by @erinjelly. Published by @hodderbooks and out now.
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The House of Mirrors is a follow-up to Erin Kelly's debut novel, The Poison Tree. I read The Poison Tree when it came out in 2009, but in all honesty I couldn't remember anything except the bare bones. I'm happy to say that The House of Mirrors works perfectly well as a standalone and everything is explained that needs to be.
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So, The House of Mirrors takes us back to Rex and Karen, their daughter Alice, and the spectres of the past including Rex's sister, bohemian Biba. What happened in 1997 has been kept hidden as much as possible but like many family secrets, the truth might be about to blow everything wide open. Alice is now grown up and when notes arrive at her shop, followed by the appearance of a mysterious woman and weird phone calls, it sends her down a rabbit warren of discovery.
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I loved Alice's character. I loved her quirky shop, the vintage clothes she sold and her daily #OOTD. I found her volatility fascinating to witness. The story is told either from the point of view of Alice or Karen and there was an element of reading through my fingers as Karen became increasingly concerned at the past coming back to haunt her. This is such an intricately plotted story which never felt like a forced sequel but one that effortlessly seemed to link with the previous book.
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Erin Kelly writes such skilfully executed literary psychological thrillers. They remind me of Barbara Vine's books, intense and twisty stories of dysfunctional families. I didn't find The House of Mirrors to be a particularly quick read, rather one that I savoured slowly, devouring every nugget of new information and waiting to see if it would implode or not.
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I loved everything about this book: the investigative feel of Alice's viewpoint, the worried vibes of Karen's, the settings, the characters, the stifling summer heat, and the chapters that fill in the blanks. Oh, and the ending! Who opened that new can of worms? The whole package is just brilliant and I highly recommend.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
#TheHouseOfMirrors #bookreview #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: An Orphan's Wish by @li

Ad/PR product. New review: An Orphan's Wish by @lizziepagewriter. Published by @bookouture and out now.
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I've loved all of the books in the Shilling Grange series by Lizzie Page but all good things must come to an end and so it is that An Orphan's Wish, book five, is the final instalment. However, it couldn't have been better and I closed the book with a very satisfied look on my face and a tear in my eye.
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We return again to the children's home in Suffolk where Clara Newton is the housemother. After a shaky start there in 1948, we're now in 1953 and Clara is a dab hand (most of the time) at dealing with all that 'her' children throw at her. She's also planning her wedding to Ivor (at long last!) but nothing ever seems to go entirely to plan for Clara and floods on the east coast seem, for a while at least, like they might derail the rest of Clara's life.
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I found myself thinking back nostalgically to book one, when Clara and Ivor first met, and the ups and downs of their relationship since. It's felt like I know all the characters, the adults and the children. Little Peg with no speech (oh Peg!), tricky but charming Clifford (who I really hoped would reappear) - each child has had the opportunity to build up their personalities over the course of the series and so I was thrilled to read the "Where are they now" section at the end which made them seem even more real to me.
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I LOVE Lizzie Page's writing style. The wry observations never fail to make me smile and the characterisations are brilliant. I have been thoroughly immersed in 1950s Suffolk, the austere post-war years and I really felt for Clara with her dilemma of wanting to be a wife to Ivor but not wanting to give up her job at Shilling Grange.
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An Orphan's Wish is full of heart and soul, life and joy, heartbreak and love. I'm sad to leave it all behind but am so so glad I read these truly wonderful books.
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Thank you Lizzie for sending me a copy of the book.❤️
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#bookreview #AnOrphansWish #historicalfiction #1950sfiction #bookseries #booksread #fortheloveofbooks #ilovebooks #bookishlove #bookishcontent #bookishphotography #reviewer #bookblogger #bookreader #reader #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New #BlogTour review: Nosy Neighbou

Ad/PR product. New #BlogTour review: Nosy Neighbours by @freyasampsonauthor. Published by @zaffrebooks and out now.
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Nosy Neighbours is Freya Sampson's third book and it's the third one I have read and loved. It centres around Shelley House, a decaying house split into several flats in Chalcot (readers of Sampson's first book, The Last Library, might recognise this location). Kat is drawn back to the village after years away and is considering renting a room in Joseph Chambers' flat. Dorothy Darling lives in the other ground floor flat and their first meeting is not a particularly easy one. Nevertheless, Kat takes the room on a short term basis.
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The residents of Shelley House are drawn together when the property is threatened with demolition and it's then that Sampson's ability to write so beautifully about community spirit comes into play. It's such a lovely story of getting to know your neighbours and being united against a shared foe. Kat and Dorothy are the main characters but there are a number of other important folk. I had a particular soft spot for Joseph and his dog, Reggie, and I also grew to love Dorothy. She starts off as a cantankerous and rude old woman but as Kat (and the reader) gets to know her she realises there's much more to Dorothy than a nitpicking busybody.
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I thought this was a thoroughly heart-warming and engrossing read. It's a feel-good story with characters that cover all of human life, both good and bad. It's character-driven in the main but the fight against the demolition of Shelley House creates a plot that draws all the main players together. I love Freya Sampson's writing and am looking forward to what she comes up with next. Oh, and as well as the nod to Chalcot, I also loved the little nod to the 88 bus from her second book. Fabulous!
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Thank you to the publishers for the review copy of the book and @thebookdealer for the place on the tour.
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#bookreview #NosyNeighbours #feelgoodfiction #lovelybooks #fortheloveofbooks #ilovefiction #ilovereading #booklover #bookish #reviewer #booksread #bookblogger #lovereading #bookreader #booksofinstagram #shortbookandscribes

March Reads 📚 Hurrah🎉 I'm not sure why or ho

March Reads
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Hurrah🎉 I'm not sure why or how but I managed my usual ten books in March, unlike the last few months. Weather? Mood? 🤷‍♀️ Anyway it feels like it was a good month and these books have been so enjoyable.
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Slight confession - I'm still reading An Orphan's Wish but because I think I'll finish it today I definitely think it counts as a March book. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to do some reading and gorge on a bit more chocolate egg 🐣🍫
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#AnOrphansWish #NosyNeighbours #PrimaFacie #MrsQuinnsRiseToFame #TheFinalHoursOfMurielHinchcliffeMBE #TheTeashopGirlsAtWar #TheLongAndWindingRoad #TheEscapeRoom #LeaveNoTrace #SmallHours #booksread #MarchReads #March2024reads #Marchreads2024 #crimebooks #feelgoodfiction #autobiography #HistoricalFiction #legalfiction #fortheloveofbooks #bookishcontent #bookishphotography #bookstack #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Leave No Trace by @joca

Ad/PR product. New review: Leave No Trace by @jocallaghankat. Published by @simonschusteruk and out now.
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Leave No Trace is the much anticipated follow-up to last year's big hit, In the Blink of an Eye. I've been looking forward to this sequel so much and I was not at all disappointed.
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There was a brief moment when I started reading Leave No Trace when I wondered if it might not quite hit the spot in the way that the first book did. After all, In the Blink of an Eye was so unique that I thought it would be hard to replicate that feeling. I can now say categorically that this book is as good as the first book and I really struggled to put it down.
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The unusual crime-fighting duo of DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock are back, along with the rest of the team (Rayan, Browne) and a couple of new additions (Karen-from-Comms and Dr Edwards, the pathologist). For those who don't know, AIDE Lock is an AI detective in hologram form, capable of digesting huge amounts of data in a few minutes, and providing information that would take a human hours, if not days, to gather and assess. Jo Callaghan uses her own research into AI to give a balanced and nuanced view of just how useful it can be in crime-solving. I always have to smile when Lock takes things that humans say really literally and Kat finds it quite frustrating at times. I also like how Callaghan portrays Lock as a machine but one who is all the time gaining a greater understanding of what it is to be human.
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The story in Leave No Trace is absolutely gripping as a man is found crucified and then another body is found. Is a serial killer on the loose? To stop a third death the team really are up against it and towards the end it was so fast-paced I wanted to be reading it all the time.
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Given the ending, I'm hoping there is a book three on the way. I really loved Leave No Trace which thrilled me, chilled me, made me smile and provided a thoroughly immersive reading experience.
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Thank you @likely_suspects for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #LeaveNoTrace #AIdetective #crimeseries #crimefiction #crimefiction #fivestarreads #grippingreads #fortheloveofbooks #bookishcontent #review #booksread #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Scandalous Life of

Ad/PR product. New review: The Scandalous Life of Ruby Devereaux by @robothammandy. To be published by @ariafiction on 11th April.
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The Scandalous Life of Ruby Devereaux has something that I really love in a book. I always enjoy stories that look back over a long life and which follow history, whether that be important events or social history.
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Ruby is now in her 90th year. She's an acclaimed author and her publishers hope she has one book left in her: her memoir. Agreeing to go forward with the project, Ruby sets about telling her life to her new assistant but this memoir has a difference: it's told by means of her memories of twelve men in her life and the adventures she had both home and away. Via New York, Berlin, Budapest, Venice and Vietnam, and of course England, the reader accompanies Ruby on a journey through her past. What a life she had!
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My favourite sections were those set in England. In many ways these were the least adventurous but for me they were the most interesting and the men in those sections seemed the most fleshed out. However, as a whole this book is quite fascinating, a romp through the second half of the 20th century with several of those scandals referred to in the title making an appearance.
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Ruby really has some quite incredible experiences. She's a wonderful character, feisty, no-nonsense, strong, wily and fun, and when life knocks her down she gets back up again. She has her good times and her bad, just like in any life. Her tale felt fresh and real, and yet also surreal at times. I enjoyed reading it and think M J Robotham has done a really great job at crafting this fictional memoir. I don't think I'll forget Ruby in a hurry.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
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#bookreview #TheScandalousLifeOfRubyDevereaux #fictionalmemoir #fortheloveofbooks #bookreviewer #booksread #ilovefiction #fictionlover #fiction #lovereading #lovebooks #reviewer #bookblogger #bookishcontent #shortbookandscribes

Leave No Trace by @jocallaghankat is the second in

Leave No Trace by @jocallaghankat is the second in the series featuring DCS Kat Frank and her AI colleague, AIDE Lock, and it will be published this Thursday by Simon and Schuster. I'm reading it at the moment and I'm loving it.

Is this book on your radar? If not, it should be!
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#LeaveNoTrace #bookishreels #crimebooks #crimeseries #crimefiction #AIdetective #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Small Hours by Bobby Pa $Ad/PR product. New review: Small Hours by Bobby Palmer. Published by @headlinebooks and out now. 🦊 Having already read Isaac and the Egg by Bobby Palmer, I knew I was in for something unusual with his follow-up, Small Hours. It is the story of a father and a son and their fractured relationship, a father who is only happy when he’s at one with nature and a son who believes that he is the opposite of everything his father stands for. It takes an injured fox to start to bring them back to each other but this is no normal fox. I loved the fox in this story, not just because foxes are one of my favourite animals, but because this particular fox is pretty special. 🦊 When Jack’s mother goes missing he is pulled back to the family home and it comes at a juncture in his life which he didn’t know was coming and definitely didn’t know he needed. I thought his childhood home and its surroundings were magical, beautifully explored within the storyline and full of nature’s inimitable beauty. 🦊 Small Hours is a touching fable of family and acceptance with cleverly written parallels and use of animals and the natural world. It was a little out of my comfort zone at times but nevertheless beautifully written and lyrical in style. Palmer is establishing himself as a writer of unique and quirky tales which pierce the heart. 🦊 Thank you to the publishers for the review copy of the book. * * * * * * #bookreview #SmallHours #foxes #naturefictionbook #naturefiction #fortheloveofbooks #booklove #bookishcontent #bookish #reviewer #booksread #bookblogger #reader #shortbookandscribes$

Ad/PR product. New review: Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fam

Ad/PR product. New review: Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame by @oliviajaneford. To be published on 28th March by @michaeljbooks.
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Jennifer Quinn is 77 and she loves to bake. She bakes every day for herself and her husband of almost sixty years, and for family and friends. Desiring a challenge, she applies to go on Britain Bakes, a TV show very similar in format to a real well-known TV baking competition, and in doing so a secret she has held close to her heart for decades is in danger of being revealed.
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There is so much I loved about this wonderful book. First of all, Jenny and Bernard = relationship goals. They are a devoted couple and my heart melted at their every interaction and the support they showed to each other, especially Bernard as Jenny throws herself into the competition.
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Then there's the contest itself which felt so very familiar but which offered a well-researched glimpse behind the scenes, showing the camaraderie between the contestants and the stress of getting the bakes right. My mouth was practically watering at all the delicious delectations such as treacle tart, blackcurrant and elderflower doughnuts, rhubarb and custard drizzle cakes, Eton……actually I'd better change the subject now! I really loved how Jenny poured so much love into her creations, how some of the recipes were handed down through her family and meant so much to her.
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There's a storyline from the past too, which eventually uncovers the secret Jenny has been keeping. Whilst it doesn't overwhelm the present day narrative, it does fill in the background to Jenny's life and leads to an ending that caused a tear to be shed and for me to close the book with a very satisfied 'aah'.
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I absolutely loved this splendid debut novel. It has a soothing and uplifting plot with the most delightful characters. Reading Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame is like settling down with your favourite comfort food because it brings so much pleasure and joy.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #MrsQuinnsRiseToFame #feelgoodfiction #fivestarreads #bakingfiction #upliftingreads #debutfiction #debutnovel #fortheloveofbooks #bookreader #booksread #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Final Hours of Muri

Ad/PR product. New review: The Final Hours of Muriel Hinchcliffe M.B.E. by Claire Parkin. To be published by @panmacmillan on 21st March.
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Any book that has a character's name in the title is always going to get my attention. Add to that two friends with a love/hate relationship, one a former novelist with a notion that something is going to happen in her final hours, and I'm sold.
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Muriel and Ruth have known each other all of their lives. Now both aged 76 they share a home, with Ruth being an unofficial carer for Muriel. They spend their time drinking soup and playing Scrabble, with Ruth seeming extremely put upon, but my goodness, there is so much that lies beneath the surface of this fantastic multi-layered story.
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I don't intend to delve too far into the plot as I think what makes it so delicious is that I had no idea of the hidden depths of Moo and Roo's (yes, really!) friendship. Let's just say it's super toxic and leave it at that. Ruth narrates the story and she is the very definition of an unreliable narrator. She has very little self-awareness and it made me contemplate the old nature/nurture debate.
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This book is a brilliant debut from Claire Parkin. It goes back and forth between the present and the whole of the two women's lives, filling in the blanks and building up the resentment and jealousy between them, even though on the face of it the pair are best friends. From the opening page when Muriel suddenly announces she is going to die in exactly seventy-two hours, to the gloriously twisted ending, via some dark deeds and manipulative actions, it captured my imagination and captivated my mind. There are some comical moments too so this book really has it all. I thought it was superb, fascinating and expertly constructed.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
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#bookreview #TheFinalHoursOfMurielHinchcliffeMBE #grippingreads #fortheloveofbooks #bookishcontent #review #booksread #reviewer #booklover #bookaholic #booksareeverything #reader #bookblogger #bookishlove #debutnovel #debutfiction #bookreader #shortbookandscribes

Last • Now • Next It's been a while since I've

Last • Now • Next
It's been a while since I've done a reading update.

My last book was #TheFinalHoursOfMurielHinchcliffeMBE by #ClaireParkin.

My current book is #MrsQuinnsRiseToFame by #OliviaFord.

My next book will be #SmallHours by #BobbyPalmer

The first two both happen to feature characters in their seventies which has got me wondering if there are any similarly aged characters in the third 🤔😀

Have you got your eye on any of these books which are all published this month?

#lastnownext #lastnownextreads #currentlyreading #fortheloveofbooks #bookupdate #bookishcontent #ilovereading #reader #readersofinstagram #bookblogger #lovebooks #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New #BlogTour review: The Teashop G

Ad/PR product. New #BlogTour review: The Teashop Girls at War by @elaine.everest. Published by @panmacmillan and out now.
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I always love Elaine Everest's books and was really pleased when I heard a new Teashop Girls book was on the way. It seems ages since the first two books and so it took me a little settling into this one to remind myself of the characters and their lives. I was soon back into the swing of life in Ramsgate and Margate though.
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We meet up again with Rose, Lily and Katie. They all work for Lyons Teashops, either in management roles or as 'Nippies', the name given to the Lyons waitresses. It's 1942, the war shows no signs of coming to an end and the girls are more used than ever to heading for the Ramsgate tunnels, where so much time was spent during air raids. It was lovely to catch up with the three women again, along with Flora, Rose's mother and landlady of the Sea View Guesthouse. If Ruby is the matriarch of the Woolworths books then Flora fulfils that role in the Teashop books and I loved how she was the person that everybody turned to, whether it was with good news or bad. Mildred and Miss Tibbs, longstanding residents of the guesthouse are back too and Mildred in particular has quite an unexpected role to play in events.
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There's an exciting storyline involving Anya, a young Polish woman. I was so exasperated with her at times but I tried to tell myself that although we now have so much knowledge of the war looking back, it must have been so different to live through it on a day to day basis. There are ups and downs for all the characters in one way or another, but they always pull together and solve problems as a friendship group which is so enjoyable to read. There's so much solidarity and camaraderie in this story! I'm guessing there might be more books in this series in the pipeline. I do hope so as I'd love to follow the characters through to the end of the war years. This latest instalment was a joy to read.
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Thank you @libraryofchlo for the review copy of the book.
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#bookreview #TheTeashopGirlsAtWar #sagafiction #warfiction #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #sagabooks #sagas #bookishcontent #reader #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New #PublicationDay review: Prima F

Ad/PR product. New #PublicationDay review: Prima Facie by Suzie Miller. Published by @hutchheinemann today.
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Prima Facie is the story of Tessa Ensler. Tessa is a barrister from working class roots who has worked incredibly hard to get to her current place in chambers. She's aware she doesn't necessarily fit in amongst her privately educated colleagues and has worked even harder because of it. She's riding high, winning case after case easily. The reader is encouraged to think of Tessa as talented and brilliant at her job, but also a little bit arrogant with it. She's good and she knows it. She doesn't care if a person she represents is innocent or guilty - that's not her decision to make, she only needs to do her best at defending them. It makes for an extremely interesting read, therefore, when Tessa finds herself in the position of seeing proceedings from the other side after a traumatic evening with one of her colleagues.
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Is the law fair or broken? That's the question I found myself considering when reading Prima Facie. It's searing and honest and extremely thought-provoking. I enjoyed the legal setting very much and particularly loved Tessa's courtroom scenes, with the main legal players being more like flamboyant actors than legal representatives. Prima Facie was originally a play with a monologue format which has been largely recreated in the novel and whilst there is dialogue between the characters, Tessa's voice is strong and all-consuming and I felt her passion for the law coming through in her narrative.
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Not always the easiest of reads due to the subject matter, this is a book that will stay with me and will continue to make me think long after I finished reading it.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
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#bookreview #PrimaFacie #legalfiction #grippingreads #fortheloveofbooks #booklove #ilovefiction #bookblogger #bookreader #reviewer #booksread #bookishcontent #reader #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Long and Winding Ro

Ad/PR product. New review: The Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse. Published by @michaeljbooks and out now.
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Back in 1995 I was working in Sheffield city centre. The bookshops were a magnet to me and I visited them several times a week. At the top of the escalator in WHSmith were three chunky books by an author new to me: Lesley Pearse. They immediately caught my eye and I couldn't resist giving them a go. I read Charity first, Lesley's third book, and then went back and read Georgia and Tara. I was absolutely absorbed in the ups and downs (perhaps rather more of the latter) of the eponymous characters and went on to devour every book this wonderful author has produced. Now, over thirty years since Georgia was published, Lesley Pearse has written her autobiography and it's instantly clear where so much of her inspiration has come from.
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The Long and Winding Road is utterly compelling reading, as gripping as Lesley's novels. It takes us back first of all to the 1940s and the tragic death of her mother. After a stint in an orphanage she was able to return home but the remainder of her childhood was never easy and she escaped as soon as she could. I was astonished at the volume and variety of all the jobs and homes Lesley had. I think she moved more times than I had hot dinners! She was so courageous though, picking herself up and dusting herself down after each setback and letdown, bringing up her family and eventually becoming the bestselling novelist loved by so many readers.
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I enjoyed this book so much. It's quite conversational in tone which made it easy to read and it's a tour through the music and fashion of the decades from the point of view of a woman who never let herself be held back. It was so wonderful to read about the life of one of my all-time favourite writers, the heartbreak and the joy, the sadness and the fun, culminating in a beautiful and heartwarming final chapter. It's a fabulous read.
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Thank you @ed.pr for the proof.
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#bookreview #TheLongAndWindingRoad #autobiography #memoir #favouriteauthors #grippingreads #5starreads #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #ilovereading #bookishphotography #bookishcontent #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Escape Room by L.D.

Ad/PR product. New review: The Escape Room by L.D. Smithson. Published by @bantambooksuk and out now.
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Wow, what a ride I've just been on! I often enjoy reading a psychological thriller but every once in a while one comes along that totally blows me away and The Escape Room is one such book.
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The story begins when Bonnie is getting ready to join her fellow contestants on a new reality show. She doesn't know where it will take place, who the contestants will be or what it will entail, only that puzzles must be solved. All seems to go reasonably well until somebody dies and Bonnie realises that this is no ordinary reality show. To survive she needs to escape, and to escape she needs to outwit everyone else.
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This is a super fast-paced and exciting story but I read it fairly slowly as I wanted to take in all the clues. I'm not saying I came anywhere close to solving them and it became abundantly clear to me that I would be completely useless in an escape room situation, but I loved the complexity of it and all the little hidden details that the group had to decipher.
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Bonnie is a great main character. She's fair, clever and kind and I did wonder sometimes if she was just too good to be true. The other contestants were mostly decent people until, of course, they had to fight for their survival. The fort stuck out at sea is an inspired setting and I found it eerie and disconcerting. L.D. Smithson's plot work is superb and the pace never lets up, making this one brilliant, exhilarating read and definitely the best locked room thriller I've read.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
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#bookreview #TheEscapeRoom #lockedroomfiction #psychologicalthriller #escaperoom #fortheloveofbooks #ilovethrillers #reader #reviewer #bookishcontent #booklover #fiction #review #bookblogger #shortbookandscribes

February Reads 📚 Here are my reads for last mon

February Reads
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Here are my reads for last month. I'm a bit discombobulated to find that February has gone and we're into March already. Time is going so quickly and I wish I could fit more reading in, but there are some very special books on this stack so I'm happy.
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What did you enjoy reading in February? Have you read any of my books?
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#TheListOfSuspiciousThings #ADeathInDiamonds #LastChanceInParis #TheStoryCollector #IslandInTheSun #MauriceAndMaralyn #TheLondonBookshopAffair #FebruaryBooks #FebruaryReads #FebruaryReads2024 #February2024Reads #booksread #royalfiction #historicalfiction #fortheloveofbooks #bookstack #bookishphotography #reader #reviewer #reviewbooks #bookishcontent #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New paperback #PublicationDay revie

Ad/PR product. New paperback #PublicationDay review: The London Bookshop Affair by @louisefeinauthor. Published today by @williammorrowbooks @harper360uk.
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The London Bookshop Affair is a delightful dual timeline story set in 1962, during the Cold War, and 1942, during World War II. In 1962 London, Celia works in an antiquarian bookshop. She enjoys her work but there's a part of her that longs for more. Her parents are quite strict and her life sometimes feels rather small. When circumstances at the bookshop change, combined with a charming stranger entering her life, maybe she's about to get the excitement she's been looking for. The 1940s story is not as prominent but it's very important. It follows Anya who has been sent to France as part of the resistance and who is betrayed. How the two timelines are linked isn't immediately clear but I thought they came together really well.
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I don't know a lot about the Cold War and so this was an interesting read for me. Louise Fein doesn't overload the reader with information about espionage and the very real threat at the time of nuclear war, but she does give just enough to facilitate Celia's story and to add a bit of an exciting element overall.. I liked Celia, who has quite a steely core underneath what seems like a quite naïve personality at times. I really enjoyed her work at the bookshop and her quest to improve herself. I also found Anya's story fascinating and heartbreaking.
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The London Bookshop Affair is such an engaging book. It took me to post-Second World War London when the memories of that war were still fresh in people's minds, and the prospect of another devastating war was unthinkable. It covers many absorbing subjects, with some really well-drawn characters, from Celia's downtrodden parents, to the mysterious Mrs Denton at the bookshop, and our two feisty heroines of course. Fein always writes emotive and enthralling historical fiction and this is no exception. I enjoyed it very much.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
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#bookreview #TheLondonBookshopAffair #coldwarfiction #fortheloveofbooks #dualtimelinenovels #warfiction #booklover #shortbookandscribes

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