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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.

Ad/PR product. New review: The Sisters by @helen.m

Ad/PR product. New review: The Sisters by @helen.matthews7. Published by @bloodhound.books and out now.
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Two sisters, Imogen and Rachel, and a lifetime of rivalry and jealousy, made The Sisters compelling reading. Rachel is the stable and reliable sister with her partner and teenage daughter and her property business, and she's the one who spends more time with their parents, looking after them and propping them up financially. Imogen has always been out for herself and now she's unexpectedly returning home to England from her life in Ibiza.
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The author describes this book as family noir which is a perfect description. Imogen being back on the scene is not only discomfiting for Rachel but it also throws up memories of the past, not to mention Imogen's clear desire to make Rachel's life a misery.
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I've enjoyed all of Helen Matthews' other books and The Sisters (previously published under the name Façade) is another great read. I really enjoyed the family dynamics and the well-developed characterisations. Imogen is very much a character to hate which makes her utterly fascinating, and I was on edge waiting to see what she would get up to next.
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The Sisters gripped me throughout as lies and secrets came to the fore. The presence of some clever twists in the plot were welcome but I enjoyed the story as just a family drama in its own right too. This is a slice of life story with the reader witnessing the slice where Imogen comes back and tries to ruin Rachel's life, and I felt there was probably some unfinished business between the sisters taking place beyond the book somehow.
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As I've now read all four books by Helen Matthews I'm hoping a new one is in the pipeline, but I'd most definitely recommend all of the ones that are available now. She writes domestic suspense so well.
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Thank you to the author for the review copy.
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#bookreview #TheSisters #psychologicalfiction #domesticnoir #familynoir #familydramabooks #fortheloveofbooks #reader #reviewer #reviewbooks #booksread #bookblogger #ilovebooks #bookish #bookphotography #5starreads #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Death of Us by Abig

Ad/PR product. New review: The Death of Us by Abigail Dean. To be published by Hemlock Press on 10th April.
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The Death of Us is a literary thriller but it's also the anatomy of a relationship. Isabel and Edward's love story is blown apart by a shocking and terrible attack. This book takes us from their first meeting and their life together before the events of that horrific night, through the aftermath and beyond to the current day.
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This is not a fast-paced read and, notwithstanding the fact that I'm particularly slow at the moment, it took me quite a while to read it. I was dreading the moment when the night of the attack occurred but by then I was somewhat desensitised to it because I knew it was going to happen right from the beginning. It didn't make it any the less appalling and I still avoided reading that section before bed but it highlighted to me that this is not a book about an act of extreme violence and degradation, rather it's one of love, survival and what happens to a couple when they must deal with the long-lasting consequences of that act.
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Abigail Dean's writing is emotive and full of depth. This is a disturbing and devastating character-driven read with two protagonists that I found relatable and well-drawn. The Death of Us is intelligent, thought-provoking and hard-hitting.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #TheDeathOfUs #literarythriller #fortheloveofbooks #booksread #reviewbooks #reader #reviewer #bookblogger #bookish #ilovereading #booksofinstagram #HemlockPress #shortbookandscribes

The Other People by @martynwaites4847 - out this T

The Other People by @martynwaites4847 - out this Thursday (10th April) in hardback.

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And Then There Were None meets The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

Ten strangers.
An old dark house.
A killer picking them off one by one.
And a missing girl who's running out of time. . .

Ten strangers wake up inside an old, locked house. They have no recollection of how they got there.
In order to escape, they have to solve the disappearance of a young woman.
But a killer also stalks the halls of the house, and soon the body count starts to rise.
Who are these strangers? Why were they chosen? Why would someone want to kill them?
And who – or what – is the Beast in the Cellar?

Forget what you think you know.

Because while you can trust yourself, can you really trust THE OTHER PEOPLE?

@likely_suspects
#TheOtherPeople

Ad/PR product. New review: The Eights by @joannami

Ad/PR product. New review: The Eights by @joannamillerauthor. To be published tomorrow by @penguinfigtree.
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The Eights is one of the books I have most been looking forward to reading in 2025 because of its fascinating subject matter. Set in 1920, the story follows four women who are amongst the first women students at Oxford University.
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Dora, Marianne, Otto and Beatrice all have their crosses to bear. It's challenging enough being a woman in what is very firmly a man's world, but the spectre of World War I, and all they experienced and lost during the conflict, is still lingering over them.
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It is quite clear that Joanna Miller has done extensive research about the lives these women would have led, not only as students but as potential surplus women. The book is rich with detail of day to day life at Oxford, being chaperoned and the endless rules that women were forced to live by. I felt as though I was there alongside them, witnessing their highs and lows. There is a back story too for each of the four main characters. Dora's and Marianne's in particular emphasised the immediacy of war during which rash decisions were made and the consequences felt later.
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This is a beautifully written and observed debut novel about female friendship, solidarity and emancipation that made me root for the characters who emerged from the horror of the war years to forge new horizons for womankind. It's inspiring, engrossing and incredibly moving.
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#bookreview #TheEights #historicalfiction
#reviewbooks #debutnovel #debutfiction #fortheloveofbooks #reader #reviewer #bookblogger #booksread #histfic #oxforduniversity #ilovebooks #readersofinstagram #shortbookandscribes

March 2025 Reads 📚 Happy April! I feel like thi

March 2025 Reads
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Happy April! I feel like this may be a short wrap up post as my reading has taken a bit of a hit this month. I started and abandoned three review books that I just couldn't get along with but my Morland Dynasty reading has continued apace (I am obsessed!). So this month I've only read six books but I've enjoyed them all.

👶The Wartime Nursery by Lizzie Page
I love anything this author writes. This book is the second in a loose trilogy and follows a mother and daughter as they are evacuated separately during WWII. Emmeline, the mother, decides to set up a much-needed wartime nursery.

👸The Princeling by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Brilliant third instalment which picks up not too long after book two and follows the fortunes of the Morlands through the second half of the sixteenth century. This era was less turbulent politically than in the previous two books but the reign of Elizabeth I still had its ups and downs.

✈️Scenes from a Tragedy by Carole Hailey
A plane flies into a mountain in the Lake District, killing both pilots. Was it an accident or deliberate? Great structure and a gripping story.

🍏The Oak Apple by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Book four in the Morland Dynasty series is quite harrowing in places. Some of the action takes place during the English Civil War and the effects are felt back at Morland Place.

🚔For Reasons Unknown by Michael Wood
The first in the DCI Matilda Darke series set in Sheffield. Matilda returns to work after some traumatic events in her home and work life and is tasked with solving a cold case. I enjoyed this one.

🎓The Eights by Joanna Miller
The story of four women who become some of Oxford University’s first women students in 1920. Beautifully written and very emotive, being set so soon after WWI.
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#MarchReads #March2025Reads #MarchReads2025 #monthlyroundup #monthlywrapup #booksread #reviewbooks #historicalfiction #crimebooks #psychologicalfiction #psychologicalthriller #fortheloveofbooks #ilovereading #reader #bookblogger #reviewer #booklover #shortbookandscribes

New review: For Reasons Unknown by Michael Wood.
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I've been meaning to re-start Michael Wood's Matilda Darke series for a while now, mainly because it's set very firmly in my home city of Sheffield. I read For Reasons Unknown around ten years ago on my Kindle but then never progressed to book two and, as is often the case, I couldn't remember the detail of the story so decided to read it again (a very rare re-read in my case).
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DCI Matilda Darke is returning to South Yorkshire Police after traumatic events in her home and work life led to a leave of absence. Rather than throwing her straight back in to her old role, she is tasked with solving a cold case, that of the murder of Miranda and Stefan Harkness. This is stuff of Sheffield lore and Matilda starts her investigation with Jonathan Harkness, the couple's son and the only witness to what happened.
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Some links with what's going on with Matilda's old team arise and bring the story together nicely. There are also some clever twists towards the end and an overbearing Acting DCI that I loved to hate. I think I'd have liked to see the team be a bit more fleshed out but that might happen as the series progresses and this first book has whetted my appetite for more Matilda Darke cases. It certainly kept me interested and is a really good start to the series. This is one for those who enjoy police procedurals and cold cases (that's me!).
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#bookreview #ForReasonsUnknown #crimeseries
#crimebooks #policeprocedural #Sheffield #sheffieldbooks #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #bookloversofinstagram #ilovebooks #reader #booksread #bookblogger #reviewer #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Scenes from a Tragedy b

Ad/PR product. New review: Scenes from a Tragedy by @carolehaileyx. Published by Corvus/@atlanticbooks and out now.
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A plane flies into a mountain in the Lake District. Only two people were on board, both pilots. One was journalist Carly Atherton's ex-boyfriend and the other was Daniel Taylor. In investigating what happened and why the plane crashed, Carly becomes embroiled in a more extensive story which she uncovers by interviewing Daniel's sister, Izzy, and his wife, Grace.
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The structure of Scenes from a Tragedy is really clever. Carly's own notes are joined together with the two women's stories of their relationships with Daniel and I was completely hooked on their narratives throughout the whole book. One character in particular is utterly loathsome and left me incredulous at their behaviour. Talk about a character you love to hate. I don't think I will forget them in a hurry!
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What an exceptional book this is. It's got a mystery at the heart of it: why did the plane crash? The writing drew me right in to the worlds of Izzy, Grace and Carly and the story itself asks the nature/nurture question and explores the murky depths of the human psyche and family relationships. It's dark, it's gripping and it's compulsive reading as it hurls the reader through the turmoil that leads to the tragedy of the title. Buckle up - there's turbulence ahead. Brilliant!
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #ScenesFromATragedy #psychologicalfiction #5starreads #grippingreads #fortheloveofbooks #reader #reviewer #bookblogger #reviewbooks #booksread #ilovebooks #booksofinstagram #corvusbooks #shortbookandscribes

New review: The Wartime Nursery by @lizziepagewrit

New review: The Wartime Nursery by @lizziepagewriter. Published by @bookouture and out now.
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The Wartime Nursery is book two in Lizzie Page's The Wartime Evacuees trilogy about three young girls evacuated from London during WWII. Where book one, A Child Far from Home, focused on Valerie Hardman and her mother Jean, this book follows Lydia to Somerset and her mother Emmeline to Norfolk, and explores the effects of a family being broken up in this way.
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Lizzie Page is one of my all-time favourite authors and The Wartime Nursery is just as much of a joy to read as all of her other books. Although it's both Lydia and Emmeline's stories, it's the latter's which features most prominently as she sets up a wartime nursery to look after children whose mothers are doing important war work. With the help of her local MP and host, Emmeline makes a success of it. Such an interesting storyline and the rise of nurseries during this time was something I'd never really given any thought to before.
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There's some heartbreak in this story and some rather sad events. I found Lydia frustratingly selfish and Emmeline stoic and determined, but both brilliantly written characters, navigating their way through the unknown years of the conflict and beyond, into the 1950s. Things felt a little unresolved for some of the characters and I felt like this book formed a kind of bridge for the trilogy. I'm looking forward now to book three, The Wartime Mother, and I'm hoping for a favourable outcome for a couple of characters whose lives haven't gone in quite the direction I hoped they would. I loved The Wartime Nursery, an emotional and captivating book which transported me back in time.
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#bookreview #TheWartimeNursery #historicalfiction #sagafiction #warfiction #bookseries #favouriteauthors #fortheloveofbooks #bookblogger #reader #reviewer #booksread #booklover #ilovereading #bookish #shortbookandscribes

February Reads 📚 Happy March! Spring really see

February Reads
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Happy March! Spring really seems to have sprung over the last few days making everything look dusty and shabby. I suppose that's where spring cleaning comes from.

I read seven books in February which makes sense given that it's a shorter month and I usually manage eight. Here they are:

🎸The Breakfast Gig by Gerard Nugent
This book returns to Hope Street from Nugent's first book, Let in the Light and is a heart-warming story of community, family and friendship.

🌹The Dark Rose by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Book two of the Morland Dynasty books that I am loving. This one is set around the time of Henry VIII and his many wives.

🚔Making a Killing by Cara Hunter
I always love the DCI Adam Fawley books and this is book seven in the series. It picks up the story from book one of missing child, Daisy Mason.

🕰️The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths
The cold cases that Ali investigates are not just cold, they're frozen. She goes back to Victorian times to find out if an MP's ancestor was really a murderer.

🎨Woman in Blue by Douglas Bruton
The titular painting by Vermeer hangs in a museum. The story is told from the point of view of the subject, both at the time of the painting and now, and also a man who goes everyday to the museum to gaze at it.

🚜Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
An achingly exquisite story of first love, second chances and grief. Nobody writes a tragic love story like this author.

💃The Paris Dancer by Nicola Rayner
A dual timeline story in which Mim in 2012 travels to New York to go through her late aunt's papers. In 1938 Esther meets Annie, the dancer of the title, at a very dangerous time to be Jewish.
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What was your favourite February book?
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#FebruaryReads #February2025Reads #FebruaryReads2025 #FebruaryBooks #monthlyroundup #monthlywrapup #bookstack #reader #booksread #reviewbooks #reviewer #bookblogger #ilovebooks #historicalfiction #crimeseries #contemporaryfictionbooks #TheBreakfastGig #TheDarkRose #MakingAKilling #TheFrozenPeople #WomanInBlue #BrokenCountry #TheParisDancer #shortbookandscribes

New review: The Dark Rose by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

New review: The Dark Rose by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. Published by Sphere Books.
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The Dark Rose is book two in a long-running series that I'm only just at the beginning of but which I am absolutely loving. This one focuses on the descendants of Robert and Eleanor Morland from the first book, The Founding, and it's their great-grandson, Paul, who is the main character, along with his niece, Nanette.
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As the book is set during the reign of Henry VIII there is a great deal of turbulence in England. Nanette spends much of her time at court as one of Anne Boleyn's ladies and her closest confidante (and we all know what happened there!). Paul meanwhile is back in Yorkshire at the family seat of Morland Place dealing with his son's rash behaviour and his own unhappy marriage and love for another woman.
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There is so much vivid and rich detail in this book and I never wanted to put it down. Cynthia Harrod-Eagles expertly merges life in the north where they are somewhat sheltered from the treachery in the south, with life in the royal court which provides the perfect contrast for the reader, taking in the major historical events of the era in a most accessible way.
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This book is utter perfection in my opinion and I am hungry for more Morlands. Next up, book three - The Princeling.
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#bookreview #TheDarkRose #MorlandDynasty #historicalfiction #5starreads #historicalfictionseries #fortheloveofbooks #ilovereading #ilovehistoricalfiction #bookishlove #reader #reviewer #bookblogger #booksread #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Broken Country by @clar

Ad/PR product. New review: Broken Country by @clarelesliehall. To be published on 4th March by @johnmurrays.
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Broken Country is a multi-layered, beautifully written story of first love, enduring passion and second chances. Beth and Gabriel fell in love when they were just kids really, seventeen and head over heels in an all-consuming love affair. It's Frank who rescued Beth when it all went wrong and offered her a home on his family farm, his love and the warm embrace of his own family. Beth loves Frank intensely but the unfinished business with Gabriel is hovering in the background waiting to resurface and turn Beth and Frank's lives upside down once again, for Beth also still loves Gabriel.
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I can't think of anybody else who writes such achingly exquisite stories about the pain of all-encompassing love in the way that Clare Leslie Hall does. If you haven't read her other books (written as Clare Empson but soon to be republished as Hall) then I heartily recommend you do so as you will find similar features there. It's the main reason why I love her writing and why I was so thrilled when I heard about Broken Country.
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The characterisations are utterly sublime, from Beth struggling with her feelings, to Gabriel's intensity, to Frank's stoic support. Each of these three main players jumps off the page and I felt like I was right there with them. The other supporting characters are just as well-formed and I very much liked the setting of the farm which felt like a character of its own, continuing to draw Beth in and provide salvation to her.
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If you want a an epic love story that burrows its way deep into your heart then Broken Country is for you. The way Hall depicts heartbreak is so so special and tears were shed!. It is the work of a writer par excellence.
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Huge thanks to the author for sending me a proof copy for review.
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#bookreview #BrokenCountry #lovestory #5starreads #fortheloveofbooks #ilovebooks #booklover #forbiddenlove #reader #reviewer #bookblogger #booksread #reviewbooks #bookishlove #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Woman in Blue by Dougla

Ad/PR product. New review: Woman in Blue by Douglas Burton. Out tomorrow from @fairlightbooks.
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Woman in Blue is a short book which packs much between its pages. Its structure is quite unusual but effective.
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Woman in Blue Reading a Letter is a beautiful and enigmatic painting by Vermeer. In alternating chapters we hear from the woman in the painting, both from within the painting and by looking back at her time as the artist's model, offering a fictional insight into Vermeer's processes and motivation. The other strand is from the point of view of a man who goes everyday to the museum to stand before the painting. Everyday he seems to notice something new, consider something different. He can't turn his face away from the woman and her situation, and he hides his fixation from his wife.
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As I say, the concept is quite unusual but it works. It brought the subject herself to life and the whole story is vividly portrayed. The writing is involving and elegant. Personally, I preferred the chapters that detailed the creation of the painting, Vermeer's actions, and the everyday life and thoughts of the woman. I'm not sure I wholly understood the reasons behind the behaviour of the man in the present day. As a whole I enjoyed this novella very much and found it quietly moving and beguiling.
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Thank you to the publishers for the review copy.
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#bookreview #WomanInBlue #novellas #historicalfiction #fortheloveofbooks #novella #reviewbooks #reviewer #reader #booksread #bookblogger #ilovenovellas #bookish #booklover #booksofinstagram #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Frozen People by @e

Ad/PR product. New review: The Frozen People by @ellygriffiths17. Published by @quercusbooks and out now.
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Being a lover of time travel I had a strong feeling I would love this book and love it I did. The Frozen People is a perfect blend of historical, crime and time travel fiction, with a story that held me in its thrall.
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As the blurb tells us, some murders can't be solved in just one lifetime. Ali Dawson is a police officer working as part of a team investigating cold cases. Most police officers would do this through research and perhaps new information or advances in DNA, but Ali's team do it through time travel. However, they've never been so far back as Ali is about to travel, to 1850, to find out if a man named Cain Templeton really was a murderer. Unfortunately for Ali, she is unable to make her way back to 2023 as she expected to and even worse, her son is in trouble while she's stuck in Victorian London.
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The Frozen People is crammed with multi-layered masterful plot work that I found myself marvelling at. I'm often filled with wonder at the glorious circularity of time travel, the way that people in the present day find out something that happened in the past and go back to make it happen. It blows my mind. This book has some wonderful moments like that.
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I'm thrilled that this is the beginning of a new series from Elly Griffiths. Whilst some of the story was wound up, there were some strands of the plot that were left open and I'm eager to know what happens next. I loved the characters, especially Ali with her vivid red hair and her 'take no prisoners' attitude. The settings were so vibrant and I was transported to Victorian London, so well-described were the sights and smells that Ali experienced. This book offers mysteries to be solved in an extraordinary way and is exceptionally good.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof package.
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#bookreview #TheFrozenPeople #historicalfiction #timetravelfiction #crimeseries #victorianlondon #fortheloveofbooks #5starreads #bookish #reviewbooks #reviewer #bookblogger #reader #booksread #ilovebooks #crimefiction #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Making a Killing by Car

Ad/PR product. New review: Making a Killing by Cara Hunter. To be published tomorrow by Hemlock Press.
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Making a Killing is book seven in the DCI Adam Fawley series (eagle-eyed readers will spot his promotion!) and is a follow on to the events of book one (although it can be read as a standalone if you haven't read that one) with a resurgence in the case that Fawley led in 2016: the investigation into the disappearance of eight year old Daisy Mason. At the end of Close to Home it all seemed to be tied up nicely, but Cara Hunter has done a brilliant job at breathing new life into the case with a few cunning curveballs.
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For me, the main strength in this series is the characters. It's always good to catch up with them all again. Fawley is such a likeable and fair man and his team are a great bunch, reassembled to deal with this case, including Quinn, Gis, Baxter, Ev and Somer. I like that there's a recap of the characters at the beginning of each book which is really helpful for those of us who've had a sleep since the last one.
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Making a Killing is a brilliant crime story with some good old-fashioned detective work being undertaken by the team. As always, the book is peppered with transcripts, reports and other innovative ways of telling the story, something I really love about Hunter's books. I thought this was a twisty and clever read, an intelligent and well-written police procedural.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #MakingAKilling #crimeseries #crimebooks #policeprocedural #fortheloveofbooks #bookish #booklover #booksread #reviewer #reviewbooks #reader #bookblogger #ilovereading #shortbookandscribes

New review: The Founding by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.

New review: The Founding by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. Published by Sphere.
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One of my favourite kinds of stories are those which follow a family through generations. The Morland Dynasty books had caught my eye more than once but I was slightly put off by the starting point (and I have to start at the beginning of a series) being set in the 1400s and around the Wars of the Roses, an era of history that I didn't know very much about and didn't think I was particularly interested in. I was wrong! Whether it was simply Harrod-Eagles' compelling writing that swayed me I don't know, but I loved every minute I spent reading The Founding and now have a thirst both for more knowledge about the era and the main players, and for more of the Morland family.
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This book is where the now thirty-six-strong series of books begins as Robert Morland is betrothed to Eleanor Courtenay and the dynasty is born. Eleanor travels from Dorset to York to embark on her new life and soon she is the matriarch of a family whose status rises to the point where Kings and noblemen spend time at their home. I loved the setting in the north and the way in which the family's story intertwined with the royal families amidst battles through the reigns of Henry VI, Edwards IV and V, and the legendary Richard III (whose portrayal in this book I found perhaps a little unexpected given his reputation).
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The family go through many trials and tribulations, much as you would expect from a time of pestilence and civil wars, but they remain united throughout under Eleanor's watchful eye. Rich detail, fascinating characters and intensive research made The Founding a brilliant read. I'm now very eager to read book two, The Dark Rose, and am excited for all the Morland books awaiting me.
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#bookreview #TheFounding #MorlandDynasty #historicalfiction #historicalfictionseries #warsoftheroses #ilovebooks #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #reader #booksread #reviewer #bookblogger #histfic #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New #BlogTour review: Beautiful Ugl

Ad/PR product. New #BlogTour review: Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney. Published by @panmacmillan and out now.
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A book about a writer and a remote Scottish island? Yes please! Bestselling author Grady Green's wife, Abby, went missing a year ago. Unable to write and earn a living, he is down on his luck when his agent suggests taking himself off to the Isle of Amberly to knuckle down and try and regain his writing mojo.
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From even before Grady boards the ferry something feels very amiss about the island and that continues throughout the whole of the book. I loved the way it messed with his mind and with mine. Was Grady the ultimate unreliable narrator or was there something seriously odd going on? The mystery of Abby's disappearance, the bizarre behaviour of the characters and the brilliant and peculiar setting kept me hooked.
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For I do love an island setting and a map such as the one at the beginning of the book. Amberly takes remote to an extreme and Grady's feelings of being trapped there become more and more intense. I had a little idea of what might be going on but Alice Feeney still managed to throw in a few more curveballs to keep Grady and me on our toes.
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I really enjoyed reading Beautiful Ugly. It's cunning and clever, the plotting is tight and the storyline is taut and gripping.
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Thank you @libraryofchlo for the review copy and the place on the tour.
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#bookreview #BeautifulUgly #thrillerfiction #psychologicalfiction #psychologicalthriller #Scottishislandbooks #grippingreads #fortheloveofbooks #reviewbooks #booksread #ilovebooks #reader #reviewer #bookblogger #shortbookandscribes

January 2025 Reads 🔹Nowhere Man by Deborah Sto

January 2025 Reads

🔹Nowhere Man by Deborah Stone
A complex plot full of suspense, secrets and lies about two women, one whose husband killed himself and the other whose husband is missing. How are they linked?

🔹The Girls' Book of Priesthood by Louise Rowland
This book follows Reverend Margot Goodwin in the year before she's ordained as a priest. There are lots of ups and downs for Margot and this book felt authentic and well-researched.

🔹Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister
I always love a McAllister and this one has a fantastic premise about a woman whose husband is involved in a siege, not as a hostage but as the hostage-taker. A thriller full of heart.

🔹Sweat by Emma Healey
A story of coercive control linked with exercise, this is a taut and intense tale of discipline, power and manipulation as Cassie tries to take back control after years of Liam's extreme behaviour.

🔹Maid of Steel by Kate Baker
In 1911 Emma leaves New York to travel to Ireland. She gets involved with women's suffrage and falls in love.

🔹The Time of the Fire by Emma Kavanagh
Robyn's father dies and it causes a split in her world. In the other version of her life her father is still alive. An intriguing (and prescient) premise set amidst Californian wildfires.

🔹Instructions for Heartbreak by Sarah Handyside
Four female friends navigate heartbreak by producing a handbook. A heart-warming debut about friendship, work, love and family.

🔹Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
A writer and a remote island setting? Yes please! I enjoyed this story of Grady Green who goes to the Isle of Amberly to try and recover his writing mojo but finds the island full of bizarre people and strange events.

🔹The Founding by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
If you'd told me that by far and away my favourite book of the month would be a book written in 1980 and set during the War of the Roses I wouldn't have believed it but I thought The Founding, book one in the thirty-six-strong #MorlandDynasty series, was absolutely brilliant.
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#January2025Reads #JanuaryReads #JanuaryReads2025 #monthlyroundup #monthlywrapup #historicalfiction #contemporaryfiction #thrillerfiction #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Instructions for Heartb

Ad/PR product. New review: Instructions for Heartbreak by Sarah Handyside. To be published on 30th January by @panmacmillan.
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Instructions for Heartbreak follows four friends: Dee, Rosa, Liv and Katie. It's Katie's heartbreak after her relationship with Chris comes to an end that leads the women to embark on a handbook to help her to get over the break-up. The other three women have all been in a similar situation whilst Katie was the one who was most settled, and so they're well-placed to offer advice, comfort and tissues.
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This is a lovely story, really heart-warming, and a great debut from Sarah Handyside. It's about female friendship, the trials and tribulations of getting out there and starting to date again (use a dating app or just hope to bump into someone down the pub?), and in a way it's about growing up, that point where you're about to leave your twenties behind and the future looms ahead - it's time to take everything more seriously.
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I can really see this story making a good TV series, along the lines of Everything I Know About Love, to which it's been compared. I enjoyed reading the women's stories as they navigated love, work and family.
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Thank you @libraryofchlo for the proof copy.
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#BookReview #InstructionsForHeartbreak #contemporaryfiction #femalefriendship #fortheloveofbooks #ilovebooks #booklover #booksofinstagram #reviewer #reader #bookblogger #reviewbooks #booksread #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New #BlogTour review of The Time of

Ad/PR product. New #BlogTour review of The Time of the Fire by Emma Kavanagh. Published by @orionbooks and out now.
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The Time of the Fire has a premise that really fired up my imagination (excuse the pun). It's based around a theory that a life-changing event can cause a split in the world. For Robyn, that event is the death of her father which makes her black out and when she comes round she's in a different version of her world, one in which her father is still alive. I found this absolutely fascinating, especially the way she then flips between both worlds.
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The story is woven around wildfires in California which has proved to be rather prescient given recent events. The sense of panic the characters feel as the fire draws closer comes across well, as does the small-town vibe and the effect of a large corporation owning much of it, one that Robyn is very much involved with but which her alter ego is not.
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It was really interesting to follow both lives and see the directions that the butterfly effect took them in. If you ever wonder what might have happened if you had made a different decision then you'll enjoy this smart and unique thriller which is plotted well and has intriguing characters.
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Thank you to the publishers for the review copy and to @thebookdealer for the place on the tour.
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#bookreview #TheTimeOfTheFire #contemporaryfiction #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #bookreader #reviewer #reader #bookblogger #ilovebooks #shortbookandscribes

New review: The Girls' Book of Priesthood by Louis

New review: The Girls' Book of Priesthood by Louise Rowland. Published by @muswellpress and out now.
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The Girls' Book of Priesthood follows Reverend Margot Goodwin during the year before she is ordained as a fully-fledged priest. Sure of her faith and her calling, what she's not quite so sure of is her curacy of St Mark's, Highbury and her ability to deal with nay-sayers - those who believe women shouldn't be allowed to become priests, the overbearing parishioners, and not to mention her growing attraction to someone who is far from ideal. It's fair to say that Margot has her crosses to bear and the question all the way through is whether she will make it to priesthood.
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I really enjoyed reading this book and was rooting for Margot all the way along, even if I did quite often want to shake her and tell her to stand up for herself more. The way she was treated sometimes made me want to scream but maybe Margot's real skill was her steadfast desire to placate and not to rock the boat. Month by month I witnessed the highs and lows of Margot's life inside and outside of the church. I particularly loved what turned out to be the love story strand of the story, but I also enjoyed following her along her journey towards priesthood which felt authentic and well-researched.
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This was Louise Rowland's debut novel and it doesn't seem as though there has been a follow-up but I'd definitely read more from her. I can't help wondering about Margot too - does she get her happy after ever? What is life like for her when she takes on a parish of her own? There's so much scope there and I'd love to know what happens next.
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#bookreview #TheGirlsBookOfPriesthood #contemporaryfiction #reader #reviewer #booksread #bookblogger #bookreader #readmorebooks #fortheloveofbooks #ilovebooks #booklove #shortbookandscribes

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ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - The Death of Us by Abigail Dean
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