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Tag: domestic noir

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Sisters by Helen Matthews

Posted on 15th April 2025 By Nicola

The Sisters by Helen Matthews is published by Bloodhound Books and is available now. My thanks to the author for sending me a copy for […]

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shortbookandscribes

UK book blogger (Sheffield), Bookstagrammer and lover of all things bookish.
Just one person trying to read all the books.
Physical books only.

📚March Reads📚 ☀️ Dead Heat by Sabine Durrant I ab

📚March Reads📚

☀️ Dead Heat by Sabine Durrant
I absolutely loved this intense, slightly menacing literary thriller set in Greece.

💔 Almost Life by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
This is a heartbreaking love story spanning countries and decades with a will they/won’t they vibe.

✍🏻 Based on a True Story by Sarah Vaughan
A twisty read about a dysfunctional and complicated family. It didn’t have quite the intrigue I was expecting but I enjoyed it.

🔍 It’s Not What You Think by Clare Mackintosh
An excellent thriller, really cleverly plotted and told from multiple viewpoints to great effect.

🤱🏻 A Short Road to Longbrook by Bethan Roberts
A captivating story of complicated mother/daughter relationships. I couldn’t have loved it more.

❓ The Question by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Morland Place is at last full of family life again and the Victorian era comes to an end with the death of the Queen (book 25).

💭 The Dream Kingdom by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Morland Place is thriving with old and new family members, the Suffragettes continue to fight for the vote and aeroplanes are starting to take off. But there’s trouble on the horizon with rumblings of war (book 26).
📚
As always, my book post and stats for the month can be found on my blog post (link in bio).
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#March2026Reads #MarchReads #monthlyroundup #monthlywrapup #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: A Short Road to Longbro

Ad/PR product. New review: A Short Road to Longbrook by @msbethanroberts. Published by @chattobooks and out now.
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Lillian is a teenager in the 1960s and seems to have the world at her feet. She lives with her mother, Winnie, at 25 Mason Road, is happy studying and thinking ahead to possibly fulfilling her dreams of going to art school, and she has a new boyfriend Jim, who she enjoys going dancing with. There’s always the perpetual issue of Winnie’s nerves lurking in the background though, and the question of Lillian’s father. Lillian’s story forms the majority of the book but there are also sections in 2005 as Rachel, Lillian’s daughter, prepares to go to university. Lillian sees many of the same traits in Rachel as she and her own mother had and she worries for Rachel’s future.
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Lillian grew up hearing ‘it’s a short road to Longbrook’ the fear and stigma of being incarcerated in the local hospital for the mentally ill never far from the minds of the locals. Indeed, Longbrook casts a long shadow over the characters of this book, at a time when mental health problems were something to be whispered about and kept secret.
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Within a few pages of starting this wonderful book I had already grown wistful at the memory of the ‘club book’ (the catalogue where Winnie gets her striking red curtains) and had smiled at the observations of life that seemed somehow so familiar and real. I knew then that I was going to love this book and I really did adore every moment of it. It examines the complicated relationships that are passed down from Winnie to Lillian, and then to Rachel, a pattern that Lillian wants to see broken for the sake of her daughter.
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Beautifully written with incredibly perceptive insights into the minds of the complex characters, A Short Road to Longbrook is a captivating novel which deserves to be read and talked about. I couldn’t have loved it more.
✨
Thank you @vintagebooks @vintagebooksinfluencers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #AShortRoadToLongbrook #fivestarreads #captivatingbooks #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: It's Not What You Think

Ad/PR product. New review: It's Not What You Think by @claremackwrites. Published by Harper Collins and out now.
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Nadeeka and Jamie are really happy together but there’s a niggling doubt in Nadeeka’s mind, something about Jamie’s behaviour that makes her think he’s cheating on her. Rushing home to confirm her suspicions, she in fact finds Jamie dead and police on the scene. From there it becomes very clear that it’s not what she or the reader thinks.
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I think it’s fairly common knowledge that there may be some twists in this book and Clare Mackintosh certainly does know how to do an excellent twist. I loved that nothing was obvious in this story, but even setting aside the clever twists, this is simply a first-rate thriller with a compelling story that I wanted to be reading all the time. The writing and plotting are flawless, the characters are so brilliantly depicted and the pacing is timed to perfection.
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It’s Not What You Think was one of the books I was most looking forward to reading this year and it delivered on every level. I thought it was superb.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
@harperfiction
@harperfictionpr
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#bookreview #ItsNotWhatYouThink #twistyfiction #thrillerfiction #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Based on a True Story b

Ad/PR product. New review: Based on a True Story by Sarah Vaughan. To be published by @simonschusteruk on 26th March.
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Dame Eleanor Kingman is about to turn 70 and will celebrate with a lavish party at her new Cornish home. Eleanor is a popular children’s author and as well as her family and friends, the party will be attended by a team who are making a documentary about her which is threatening to turn into more of an exposé, as Eleanor has a secret, one which somebody seems determined to reveal. Eleanor’s not the only one with a secret though. Her three daughters are all hiding something too.
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This is a book packed full of secrets and lies. It’s told from various viewpoints which helps to build up the story as a whole and if there aren’t any particularly likeable characters (with the exception perhaps of Eleanor’s daughter, Gilly, who has something of an awakening – go Gilly!) they are definitely interesting and multi-layered. I thought the windswept setting by the Cornish cliffs was ideal and depicted perfectly to give the impression of somewhere isolated yet accessible via cliff paths, offering ways onto Eleanor’s estate for guests who might not be quite welcome.
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The premise of Based on a True Story grabbed me the moment I heard about it. The intrigue I was expecting never fully materialised though, which I felt was because there was rather more telling than showing. I was still compelled to keep reading to find out what the big reveals were going to be and I do love Sarah Vaughan’s writing (a new book by her is always something to celebrate for me). Overall, this is a good twisty read about a dysfunctional and complicated family.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #BasedOnATrueStory #contemporaryfiction #psychologicalfiction #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Almost Life by Kiran Mi

Ad/PR product. New review: Almost Life by Kiran Millwood Hargrave. Published by Picador and out now.
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Almost Life is a heartbreaking love story which spans countries and decades. Erica is a student visiting Paris in the summer of 1978 before starting university when she meets Laure and strikes up a conversation with her. Laure is prickly and worldly, only a few years older than Erica but with so much more experience of life. Erica is quite gauche but soon learns how to fit in with Laure’s bohemian life. Laure is a lesbian and Erica, finding herself attracted to Laure, enters into a relationship of sorts with her.
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The strands of this relationship are what keep the two women linked throughout the next 30+ years. In many ways each of them are intent on self-destruction and the question I kept coming back to when I was reading Almost Life was: are they actually any good for each other? Yet, there is an enduring love between them which, whilst not unwavering, is unbreakable.
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This is quite a sad story really, filled with longing and regrets. At the beginning I struggled to like Laure but that changed a lot throughout the course of the book and by the end I thought she was an amazing woman. Erica, in feeling the need to conform more than to risk hurting Laure, came across as thoughtless at times but I think some of her behaviour was understandable, especially when you consider the era and her conventional background.
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I love an epic love story and Almost Life fits that description. The author captured the yearning and the will they/won’t they vibe very well. I didn’t always find it easy to gel with and I enjoyed some sections more than others, but on the whole I found it a compelling story that kept me picking it up to see how the two women’s intertwined narratives would end.
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Thank you to the publishers and Book Break for the proof copy.
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#AlmostLife #bookreview #queerfiction #parisfiction #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Dead Heat by @sabinedur

Ad/PR product. New review: Dead Heat by @sabinedurrant. To be published by @centurybooksuk on 12th March.
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Dead Heat is narrated by Matt Grimshaw. Down on his luck after both his relationship and his work as a journalist ended, he goes to Greece to stay with his best friend, Adam Murphy and his wife Celia. Adam is everything Matt is not. He’s a successful TV presenter, he is charming and congenial, a generous host and a fun person to be around, but tensions rise when somebody else arrives in the area who threatens to derail the summer and seriously muddy the waters.
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To say anymore about the story itself would be to risk spoilers and I think it’s better to just let it all unfold, just as it would have done for Matt. I read Dead Heat fairly slowly because I wanted to savour every detail, every exchange between Matt and the other characters, and every move he made, all expertly set up by the author so that she could draw all the strands together for the finale.
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For me, this is a masterclass in plotting and everything I want in a literary thriller. There is a languid build up, the edgy feel of a hot, claustrophobic summer full of resentment and covetousness, an unreliable narrator, and then the conclusion where it all converges to great effect. I thought several times throughout that I knew what had happened and that I’d guessed a twist, but I was wrong.
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The writing is absolutely spellbinding, the story is quietly menacing and the characters are unstable and/or untrustworthy. Put together, Dead Heat is quite simply superb.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #DeadHeat #5starreads #thrillerfiction #shortbookandscribes

📚February Reads📚 🔹The Homecoming by Cynthia Harro

📚February Reads📚

🔹The Homecoming by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
This is book 24 of the Morland Dynasty series. Although I always love following the London contingent I did miss Morland Place action in this one.

🔹Mrs Pearcey by Lottie Moggach
A well-researched book based on a true Victorian crime but unfortunately I found it hard to engage with.

🔹The Barbecue at No. 9 by Jennie Godfrey
This is an enjoyable and authentic story set on the day of Live Aid in 1985, following different characters from the same road.

🔹Unreliable Narrator by Araminta Hall
I thought this was a first-rate story of subtle manipulation through one intense summer and its rippling effect over the following ten years.

🔹The Infamous Gilberts by Angela Tomaski
I enjoyed this story of a family’s downfall and eventual extinction as their family home is bought by a hotel chain.

🔹Six Little Words by Sally Page
A joyous story of a group of new friends embracing their creativity. Full of colour, warmth, empathy and humour.
📚
Book Post from the month and my Storygraph stats can be found on my blog post (link in bio).
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#FebruaryReads #monthlyroundup #February2026Reads #monthlywrapup #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Six Little Words by @by

Ad/PR product. New review: Six Little Words by @bysallypage. To be published by @harpercollinsuk on 12th March.
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Six little words on a café noticeboard bring together a group of people looking to embrace or rediscover their creativity. Bardy is a former English teacher who is struggling with life alone after his divorce. Kate is in a similar situation and also recovering from illness. Along with Bardy’s best friend Luigi, prickly Dane Pia, and married couple Linda and Leonard, the group provides friendship, support and encouragement, whilst bringing out their natural talents for various kinds of art.
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Sally Page has a wonderful warmth and empathy to her writing and in this book she has created such interesting, likeable yet flawed characters. I loved Linda for her caring nature (and for tackling her frustration at Leonard refusing to wear his hearing aids), Pia for her wisdom, Kate for her vulnerability, Bardy for his kindness and Luigi for his hospitality. Each and every one of these characters, along with a few others who play a role in the story, brings something special to the mix and I came away from this book thinking that it must be really nice to be in the midst of such an amazing bunch of people. I loved the trajectory that each character’s progress took and by the end of the book I felt each one had achieved something and reached a kind of peace with themselves and their lives.
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Six Little Words is a joyous read. It’s full of colour, art, love, camaraderie, inspiration, optimism and humour. Put all these attributes together and it’s quite simply a splendid read from start to finish. I loved it!
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Thank you to the publishers and Sally for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #SixLittleWords #feelgoodfiction #5starreads #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Infamous Gilberts b

Ad/PR product. New review: The Infamous Gilberts by Angela Tomaski. To be published in hardcover on 5th March by @penguinfigtree.
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Some years ago, Angela Tomaski visited a house that had just been bought by the National Trust. She saw slippers and soap belonging to the late owner in his bedroom and by her next visit they had gone, those items so personal to him erased forever. This was the seed of a story that led her to write The Infamous Gilberts.
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The Gilberts are siblings Lydia, Hugo, Annabel, Jeremy and Rosalind and their story covers much of the 20th century. In short chapters, vignettes almost, we see the trajectory of their lives at Thornwalk, their gothic family mansion, not through their own reminiscences but through those of Maximus who walks us through life at Thornwalk in the manner of a tour guide (although he’s actually a friend of the family) before it passes into the hands of the hotel chain who have bought it.
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It becomes clear there is an element of madness running through the Gilbert siblings, a self-destructive nature that is inescapable. I got to the end and thought they literally had no redeeming features but when I thought about it more I realised that Annabel and Jeremy were at least a little more likeable. The other three didn’t have much going for them but they certainly made interesting reading.
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The writing style of The Infamous Gilberts won’t appeal to everyone. It did take a little getting into, the narration being rather matter of fact yet conversational, but I got to a point where I found it difficult to put down. The story itself, of a family’s downfall and extinction, is fascinating and I agree with the author, it’s the small things that feel so incredibly intimate, those stains and scratches, the wedding ring, the blotter by the telephone, all memories of a family and a way of life now lost. I enjoyed this unusual and poignant book.
✨
Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy and the little box of Fruits of Thornwalk strawberry jam.
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#TheInfamousGilberts #bookreview #historicalfiction #debutfiction #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Unreliable Narrator by

Ad/PR product. New review: Unreliable Narrator by @aramintahall. To be published by @panmacmillan on 5th March.
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When I read Araminta Hall’s first book, Everything and Nothing, back in 2011, I commented that I hoped the author would write more great reads like that one in the future. She certainly did, perhaps most notably her most recent book, One of the Good Guys, which I thought was brilliant. Now she’s done it again with Unreliable Narrator which drew me right into the world of Hope Jenkins and didn’t let me go until the end.
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Hope takes a job as assistant to author, Ambrose Glencourt. As an aspiring writer herself it sounds ideal and she is soon fully assimiliated into the glamorous and dazzling life at Shadowlands with Ambrose and his wife. Hope tells her story in the form of a journal, but is she an unreliable narrator?
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Hall’s skilled writing enables the reader to view events from an independent standpoint, less blinkered by the Glencourts’ allure or by Hope’s naivity. I still didn’t know the truth of the matter (although I had a good idea) but I loved every minute I spent finding it out. The second half of the book has a different style to it, leading to an ending which was poignant, ingenious and feministic, and which rounded off the story perfectly.
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I thought Unreliable Narrator was extremely well-written, a first-rate story of subtle manipulation through one intense summer and its rippling effect over the following ten years.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
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#UnreliableNarrator #bookreview #5starreads #psychologicalthriller #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Barbecue at No. 9 b

Ad/PR product. New review: The Barbecue at No. 9 by @jennie.godfrey. To be published by @hutchheinemann tomorrow!
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The Barbecue at No. 9 takes place on the day of the Live Aid concert in July 1985, an event that I think turned out to be more momentous than most people could have imagined at the time. Certainly the day is pretty momentous for the residents of Delmont Close. There is a street plan of the close at the beginning of the book which shows all the residents. The main ones featured in this book are Hanna Gordon and her family at no. 9, Steve and his mum at no. 20 and Rita at no. 15, although many of the other residents play a small role too.
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The story is broken up into the hours of the concert and who was on stage at the time. It’s such a brilliant idea to take Live Aid as a basis for the book and for the barbecue that brings everyone on the close together. Emotions are running high, especially for Hanna and Rita who have secrets that will rock the worlds of their families and their neighbours. The pacing is excellent and kept me interested all the way through, with these individual lives coming together to create a kind of pressure cooker that was bound to explode eventually.
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As with Jennie Godfrey’s first book, The List of Suspicious Things, it’s the characters that stand out, with the backdrop of a point in history to anchor them. Hanna, Steve and Rita are memorable characters who I came to care about (and I must admit to a soft spot for Prince the dog). It felt authentic to the 80s too and put me right back there (Hanna’s mum Lydia’s style icons are Princess Di and Krystle Carrington!).
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This is another great read from this author and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.
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Thank you to the publishers for the amazing proof package.
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#bookreview #TheBarbecueAtNo9 #fictionbooks #contemporaryfiction #shortbookandscribes

📚January Reads📚 🛎️ Room 706 by Ellie Levenson An

📚January Reads📚

🛎️ Room 706 by Ellie Levenson
An incredible story of a woman who is in a hotel room with her lover when it comes under siege. Will be one of my favourite books of the year.

🛎️ Hopeful Hearts at the Wartime Hotel by Maisie Thomas
Book two in a trilogy about three women stepping outside their comfort zones and expected roles in wartime. A lovely read.

📖 This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page
Gorgeous bookish story of Tilly who receives the gift of a book each month for a year from her late husband Joe.

😵 Vivian Dies Again by C.E. Hulse
An unusual and clever story of calamitous Viv who is stuck in a time loop and keeps being murdered over and over.

✨ The Wartime Mother by Lizzie Page
The third in the Wartime Evacuees trilogy follows Francine who is sent to live with Winnie. Both provide comfort to the other. An enjoyable wartime story.

🔸The Mirage by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Morland Dynasty book 22 continues the story of the family in Victorian times.

🔸The Cause by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Book 23 - Morland Place is being run into the ground and Lady Venetia Fleetwood continues with her plan to become a fully-fledged doctor.

📚As always, my book post for the month and my Storygraph stats can be found on my blog post (link in bio).
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#JanuaryReads #monthlyroundup #monthlywrapup #January2026Reads #shortbookandscribes

New review: The Wartime Mother by @lizziepagewrite

New review: The Wartime Mother by @lizziepagewriter. Published by @bookouture and out now.
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The Wartime Mother is the third and final book in the Wartime Evacuees trilogy by Lizzie Page. Each of the three (the others being A Child Far from Home and The Wartime Nursery) focuses on one child’s evacuation in WWII. Valerie, Lydia and Francine used to live in the same building in London with their respective families and so we follow each of their individual wartime experiences whilst also getting to know a little of what the other two are going through at the same time. The Wartime Mother is Francine’s story of being evacuated to Kettering after her mother and siblings die when their bomb shelter takes a direct hit.
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Francine is sent to live with Winnie, landlady of The Castle public house, whose husband has been killed in action. At first, Winnie doesn’t feel she can look after Francine but circumstances intervene and they end up being a balm to each other throughout the remainder of the war and beyond.
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I always love reading a Lizzie Page book and this was no exception. Francine’s story is a heartbreaking one but I felt that things worked out well for her in the end and she became such a strong character. Winnie is great too but at times I wanted to reach into the book and give her a good shake. Talk about blinkered! Part of this story covers the persecution of Jews at home as well as abroad, and I suppose it was just as hard for some people (including Winnie) to comprehend that it could happen here as it was there.
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Despite my frustrations with Winnie, it’s the characters that make this book and I found that, as with other books by this author, there is such a variety of distinctive and unique folk that it makes this book (and all of the others) such a pleasure to read. I very much enjoyed this lovely, touching and ultimately inspiring book.
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#bookreview #TheWartimeMother #historicalfiction #wartimebooks #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Vivian Dies Again by @c

Ad/PR product. New review: Vivian Dies Again by @carolinehulse1. To be published on 29th January by @viper.books.
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Viv is a nightmare. She’s the party guest that nobody wants to see, the bane of her family and friends’ lives, an utter catastrophe. At a memorial gathering for two family members she is unceremoniously tipped over a balcony to her death. Except this is no ordinary murder. Vivian is doomed to die over and over again, going back to the same moment a staggering eighty-four times. Only a waiter at the gathering knows what has happened and he seems to be stuck too, so he alone must help Viv to find her way out of the loop.
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This is such an unusual and cleverly written story. I know that if I came across Viv in real life she would do my head in, but in Vivian Dies Again she is funny and chaotic and rather likeable in her own calamitous way. I had no idea how she was going to get out of the time loop but I was along for the ride….and what a ride!
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Whilst there is an element of madness about the whole thing, C.E. Hulse’s adept writing style keeps it from descending into silliness. I thought the time loop was executed perfectly as I was hurled back and forth between the many murders and throwbacks to Viv’s behaviour in the past until the reason for her murder became clearer. Viv is a brilliant creation and the other characters are so well-drawn. This is a crime caper with a difference and I loved it.
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Thank you to the publishers for sending proof and finished copies of the book for review.
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#bookreview #VivianDiesAgain #crimecaper #crimefiction #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: This Book Made Me Think

Ad/PR product. New review: This Book Made Me Think of You by @libbypagewrites. To be published on 29th January by @vikingbooksuk.
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Tilly is grieving the loss of her husband Joe when she receives a call from a bookshop called Book Lane and specifically a bookseller called Alfie. He tells her that she has a book to collect from the shop, one that was chosen by Joe before he died. In fact, there are twelve books in total, one for each month of the year. Tilly is shocked at first, but as the months go by she begins to heal and to enjoy new experiences (well, most of them anyway) as well as getting back the love of reading that she lost when Joe was ill.
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If you’ve ever given or received a book as a gift, you’ll know that so much thought can be put into it and it can be such a personal thing. Even more so for Tilly as each one comes with a letter from Joe telling her why he chose it. The books are well-timed and along the way Tilly makes new friends who help her to deal with her loss, Alfie being chief amongst them.
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Having read all of Libby Page’s other books and considering myself a fan, I knew I would enjoy This Book Made Me Think of You but I loved it even more than I expected. The storyline hit just the right note without ever becoming twee, and I found it just as joyous and uplifting as I did heartbreaking and emotional. Page tells Tilly’s story, and Alfie’s too, so beautifully and empathetically throughout.
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What makes this book even more special is the bookishness of it. I loved the idea of Alfie’s bookshop and the personal touch he bestowed on every single customer. I also really liked that at the beginning of each month there is a list of reading recommendations and they’re not the usual suspects. I follow the author on social media and I recognise many of the books as ones she has read and enjoyed herself and I was particularly pleased to see so many modern books on the lists too.
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This book is about grief, love and books and I found it touching and captivating.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof package.
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#bookreview #ThisBookMadeMeThinkOfYou #5starreads #bookishbooks #shortbookandscribes

Reading and Writing ✒️ I was lucky enough to be a

Reading and Writing
✒️
I was lucky enough to be a winner in @bysallypage's recent giveaway and these were my prizes:

🖋️ One of Sally's own @ploomspens fountain pens. I chose the bright pink colour but as you can see from the postcard, there is a whole range of beautiful colours to choose from. The pen came beautifully packaged in a box and also with a matching zipped pouch to keep the pen in.

📓 The other part of the prize is #TheBookLoversJournal2026 which is a gorgeous hardback book full of Q&As with authors and space to write down all the books I'm going to read this year. I'm looking forward to reading Sally's Q&A as I love her books. This journal is @freya_north_author's brainchild.
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So I'm looking forward to reading and writing in my journal with my bright pink pen this year. Thank you so much, Sally! 🩷
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#fountainpen #bookjournal #readingandwriting #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Hopeful Hearts at the W

Ad/PR product. New review: Hopeful Hearts at the Wartime Hotel by Maisie Thomas. Published by @theboldbookclub and out now.
🛎️
Hopeful Hearts at the Wartime Hotel picks up where the first book in the trilogy, A New Home at the Wartime Hotel, left off. Kitty Dunbar is running the family hotel but as a storage facility during WWII, looking after household furniture for families who have been bombed out of their homes. She’s doing well, in fact the business is thriving, but her spendthrift husband still holds the purse strings. Then there’s Beatrice who made a sacrifice years ago only for it to come back to haunt her now and Lily whose world fell apart when she lost her baby son but now maybe there is hope on the horizon for her future.
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I very much enjoyed this second book. I love to read about women stepping outside of their comfort zones and expected roles during wartime. Kitty, Beatrice and Lily formed an unexpected friendship in the first book and now it’s fully cemented, each becoming like a member of the family to the others. Maisie Thomas portrays each character really well and makes them likeable and strong. They pull together to deal with whatever life throws at them, adapting along the way. Kitty decides to allow functions in the hotel and the creation of Dunbars Wartime Wedding Punch sends many a happy couple on their way.
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This is such a lovely series, full of warmth, hope and solidarity, and one which all saga lovers will enjoy. I’m looking forward to book three now to see how each woman’s story will end. Beatrice’s and Lily’s in particular didn’t go in the direction I thought they might in this book and so I’m keen to see what the future will hold for them. For Kitty, I wonder how on earth she will deal with her (very annoying) husband, Bill! I can’t wait to find out.
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Thank you to the author for sending me a review copy.
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#bookreview #HopefulHeartsAtTheWartimeHotel #sagabooks #wartimebooks #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Room 706 by @ellie_leve

Ad/PR product. New review: Room 706 by @ellie_levenson. To be published by @headlinebooks on 15th January.
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Kate is in a hotel room with her lover when they hear that the hotel is under siege. This is the outward premise of this novel and I was immediately enticed by it, wondering how Kate would deal with this turn of events, the life or death situation, and whether her betrayal of her husband Vic would be discovered. However, there is so so much more to this story than just the fateful day in question. The reader is taken back to when Kate and Vic first met in Italy and this thread follows their life together over the ensuing years, including two much-loved children. A third thread tells how Kate met her lover James and the progress of their affair. The three strands when woven together tell a story of love, need and desire, and of balancing stability and family life against those brief snatched moments of excitement.
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Room 706 is an incredible book. I had fairly high expectations that I would like it but it exceeded everything I could have imagined. It’s complex and authentic, and it made me ponder on those decisions we make when we think nobody will find out. The chapters in the hotel room felt so tense with Kate and James holed up in a quiet room, not knowing what’s going on and if rescue will come. The other chapters told of a long-lasting love, a solid marriage and a happy family life. Despite this, the question is not really one of why Kate made the decision to have an affair, but one of how to deal with whatever the fallout may be.
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This is a beautifully written book with a superb storyline. It’s full of heart and soul and felt completely real. It totally blew me away and oh my goodness, the ending! This is my first book of 2026 and I know for sure that it will be one of my favourites of the year.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #Room706 #5starreads #favouritebooks #shortbookandscribes

Bookish Christmas Gifts 🎁 I don't very often ask f

Bookish Christmas Gifts
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I don't very often ask for books as gifts as I feel too guilty when they languish on my TBR pile for years. As I've already read one of the two that I got I don't feel so bad this year.

❄️Winter by Val McDermid is a lovely memoir of the author's favorite season and all the things she loves about it. There are some really lovely illustrations to accompany each special memory. It was the ideal book to end 2025 with.

⛪Love Divine by Ysenda Maxtone Graham is a beautiful Slightly Foxed novella set in a Church of England parish in London through the course of one calendar year. I'm really looking forward to reading it.
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I also got a book light which I'm really pleased with. As you can see, it's personalised and when it is opened up it's like the pages of a book. The light can be either one colour or changing colours 🤩
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Did you get any bookish Christmas gifts?
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#bookishgifts #bookishchristmasgifts #booklight #books #shortbookandscribes

Some Favourite 2025 Reads 📚 I wasn’t sure whether

Some Favourite 2025 Reads
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I wasn’t sure whether I would do a favourite reads post for 2025 but then realised I had marked a nice round ten books as standouts and they were easy to locate in my book stacks so here we are.

I’ve excluded the Morland Dynasty books by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. I read 21 of them in 2025 (the series runs to 36 books) and they’re absolutely in my top reads of the year but I don’t really want to list them all!

I’m very generous with my scores so I rated lots of books 4* and 5* reads but these ten have a little red * at the side of them which means they were extra special. In no particular order:

📖Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley
Highly recommended for a grown up love story, warts and all.

📖The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths
This time-travel book offers mysteries to be solved in an extraordinary way.

📖Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
An epic love story that burrowed its way deep into my heart.

📖Killer Instinct by Nicola Williams
This legal thriller has a killer storyline and I loved every bit of it.

📖The Hometown Bookshop by Jenna Warren
An ideal summer read about life, love, friendship, reinvention and books.

📖A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Re-read of this epic story of a young housemaid who makes her fortune.

📖A Place in the Sun by Jo Thomas
The perfect blend of travel and food – feel-good fiction at its very best.

📖What Happened That Summer by Laura Pearson
A unique and utterly gripping podcast novel.

📖Human Remains by Jo Callaghan
Gripping story of a police officer and her AI sidekick. What a chilling ending!

📖Getting Away by Kate Sawyer
A multi-generational, beautifully portrayed family story told through the holidays they take.
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#favourite2025books #favourite2025booksstack #readsoftheyear #shortbookandscribes

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