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Phoebe Smith’s Private Blog by Lynda Renham

Posted on 20th November 2016 By Nicola

Meet Phoebe Smith. Her boyfriend has just dumped her for Essex Earring (Riyana to her friends) and she needs a date for the works do […]

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Nicola Smith-book blogger. Reviews and other bookish stuff. Just one person trying to read all the books. No eBooks. IG, FB, TT handle-@shortbookandscribes

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17 Feb

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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: 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

Ad/PR product. New review: Sweat by Emma Healey. T

Ad/PR product. New review: Sweat by Emma Healey. To be published by @hutchheinemann on 30th January.
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I was keen to read Sweat by Emma Healey after enjoying her previous books, Elizabeth is Missing and Whistle in the Dark. I have to say that Sweat feels like quite a different read to those books but it is absolutely gripping and hard-hitting.
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This is a story of insidious coercive control and the small (and large) ways that Liam wielded this control over his girlfriend, Cassie. As the story begins, Cassie is working as a personal trainer in a gym when her ex-boyfriend, Liam, turns up as a client. But something is very different about Liam and it's this that enables Cassie to take back some control after suffering years of Liam's extreme behaviour, which is portrayed in flashbacks to key moments in their relationship.
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This book is about another kind of control as well, control over your own body. Liam and Cassie push their bodies to the limits to try and achieve physical and inner perfection, the very image of what good health and fitness can create. It's disturbing at times, but I also must admit to the odd rather guilty snigger too, at Cassie's acts of revenge.
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Sweat makes for uncomfortable reading and the sense of foreboding, with the benefit of Cassie's hindsight, makes it even more so. Healey's writing is brilliant, and overall this is a taut and intense tale of discipline, power and manipulation, which genuinely chilled me at times.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
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#bookreview #SweatBook #reviewbooks #reviewer #reader #bookblogger #fortheloveofbooks #bookish #ilovereading #booklover #booksofinstagram #booksread #readersofinstagram #bookreader #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Famous Last Words by @g

Ad/PR product. New review: Famous Last Words by @gillianmauthor. To be published by @michaeljbooks on 30th January 2025.
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There are two things I can count on with a Gillian McAllister novel. The first is that it will have at least one (often more) inspired twist, and the second is that there will be a human touch, a love story or a familial relationship at its heart, and it's the latter that, more than anything, makes her books stand out amongst all the other psychological thrillers out there.
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Famous Last Words begins with Camilla about to embark on a normal day, albeit her first day back at work after maternity leave. She's surprised her husband, Luke, isn't around to wish her well. It's out of character for him but she gets on with her day. Only then she hears that there's a siege and Luke is involved, not, as she would have assumed, as a hostage, but as the hostage-taker.
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What a fantastic premise this is and it made me think so much about how we never truly know a person and what they are capable of. Camilla thinks she knows Luke but then there's this whole other thing going on in his life. The plotting is so tight and I know so much thought must have gone into making it fit together plausibly. There's a lot of shape-shifting, aspects that I thought I knew and had a handle on then changed, and whilst not every twist was a surprise, there were plenty that were and lots of characters that I felt very suspicious of.
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I loved reading Famous Last Words. It got to the point where I just couldn't put it down, so invested was I in Camilla's story, both during the siege and in the aftermath. It's beautifully and thoughtfully written, a love story in the traditional sense and also an ode to parenthood and to family. An exciting and immersive plot and fascinating characters made this such a great read. I loved all the publishing stuff too (Camilla is a literary agent). This is another brilliant book from Gillian McAllister.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #FamousLastWords #psychologicalfiction #psychologicalthriller #fortheloveofbooks #5starreads #booklover #ilovebooks #booksread #bookish #reader #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Nowhere Man by @deborah

Ad/PR product. New review: Nowhere Man by @deborahstoneauthor. Out now.
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Nowhere Man has such an engaging first chapter as we follow Patrick prior to his unexpected death. His wife, Diana, has to deal with this alongside her elderly and vulnerable mother's confusion and neediness. Then there's Angie, whose mysterious and often absent husband has become even more absent than normal. Where is Ray? What happened to Patrick?
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I have to say that before reading I thought the answers to these questions were pretty obvious…..I was wrong. The plot is a lot more complex and intertwined than I could have guessed at. The writing flows really well and the chapters are short which made this an easy book to read. It's plotted well as two very separate strands of the story collide in quite spectacular fashion, keeping up the suspense throughout.
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I enjoyed Nowhere Man. It's full of secrets and lies, intriguing characters and situations that kept me interested in the plot and what was going to happen next.
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Thank you to the author for the review copy.
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#bookreview #NowhereMan #psychologicalfiction #psychologicalthriller #fortheloveofbooks #reviewbooks #reader #bookblogger #reviewer #fictionlover #booklover #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Silence in Between

Ad/PR product. New review: The Silence in Between by @josie_ferguson_author. Published by @doubledayukbooks and out now.
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Imagine you’ve had a baby but he’s in hospital. You leave him to go home for a short time and while you’re away from him a wall goes up between you and him. Actually, I can’t imagine how that would feel, but that’s what happens to Lisette in this book when the Berlin Wall is erected pretty much overnight. Her 15 year old daughter, Elly, thinks she might be able to get baby Axel back. It’s risky but she’s willing to try for the sake of her mother, who is broken by what’s happened.
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This aspect of the storyline alone had me captivated before I even started reading but there’s so much more to this book. There’s another whole strand set around Lisette and her mother during WWII. I must admit to sketchy knowledge of Germany’s war and how they suffered, and even the Berlin Wall is now something consigned to history, although I do remember it coming down, but this book completely and utterly brought both periods and the horrors of what Germany’s citizens lived through completely to life for me.
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The Silence in Between is an incredible debut by Josie Ferguson. It’s a tale of resilience, courage and survival, family, love and music. It is shocking and daring, and the bravery of the two main female characters, Lisette and Elly, shines through on every single page.
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Every so often a book comes along that will stay with me long after I’ve closed it. This is one such book. Everything about it is special. I loved how the author weaved music throughout it all. The way both timelines unfold, making sense of Lisette’s behaviour, shows outstanding plotting, and there are some real heart in mouth moments. This whole book is exceptional in every way.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #TheSilenceInBetween #historicalfiction #warfiction #booksread #reviewbooks #reader #5starreads #reviewer #bookblogger #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #ilovebooks #bookish #shortbookandscribes

Favourite Books of 2024 I haven't done a favourit

Favourite Books of 2024

I haven't done a favourite books of the year post for the last few years, perhaps mainly because it feels unfair to all the books I've enjoyed but didn't make it into my top reads. I felt like doing one this year though, so I have!

I've read a nice round 100 books this year which is what I set my Goodreads challenge to so that's quite pleasing. It's not the most I've read in a year but reading isn't a competitive sport, right? I'm very generous with my ratings and gave many of them 5 stars because in considering star ratings for sites such as Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThing and Waterstones, many books I've read deserved 5 stars. The books in this post are those I marked with an asterisk as being ones that particularly stood out from my 5 star reads (6 stars, if you like).

I don't have space to do anything other than list them on here but there's a little more on my blog about what I liked about each book (link in bio).
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🔹Contemporary Fiction🔹
#TheLastListOfMabelBeaumont by Laura Pearson
#Piglet by Lottie Hazell
#TheNightInQuestion by Susan Fletcher
#GoodbyeBirdieGreenwing by Ericka Waller
#TheFellowshipOfPuzzlemakers by Samuel Burr
#YouAreHere by David Nicholls
#TheLastTimeISawYou by Jo Leevers
#ThisMotherlessLand by Nikki May
#TheDayShelleyWoodhouseWokeUp by Laura Pearson
#OneDayToFallInLove by Molly James
#TheBookSwap by Tessa Bickers

🔹Historical Fiction🔹
#ADeathInDiamonds by S.J. Bennett
#TheStoryCollector by Iris Costello
#AnOrphanWish by Lizzie Page
#TheBurialPlot by Elizabeth Macneal
#TheMischiefMakers by Elisabeth Gifford
#TheSecretPhotographs by Jacquie Bloese
#TheSilenceInBetween by Josie Ferguson

🔹Crime/Thriller/Psychological Fiction🔹
#TheEscapeRoom by L.D. Smithson
#LeaveNoTrace by Jo Callaghan
#GallowsWood by Louisa Scarr
#TheBlueHour by Paula Hawkins

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What's your favourite read of 2024? I'd love to know in the comments.
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#favouritereads #favouritebooks #favourite2024reads #contemporaryfiction #historicalfiction #crimebooks #psychologicalfiction #shortbookandscribes

Happy New Year! 🎊 I hope you all had a lovely

Happy New Year! 🎊 I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and got everything you hoped for. In terms of bookish gifts, I got the Books are my Passion Lego set and the Persephone edition of Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther, both of which I am thrilled with.
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December reads:

#ChristmasForTheHomeFrontGirls by Susanna Bavin - Book 3 in a lovely series about three women working in a salvage yard in WWII Manchester.

#CloseToHome by Cara Hunter - I love this series and wanted to go back and read book 1 as it ties in with book 7 which is out in February.

#ChristmasWithTheQueen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb - Royals AND Christmas? Yes please! I loved the gentle feel of this novel and how it returned to the characters and setting every Christmas.

#TheChristmasGuest by Peter Swanson - A country house Christmas murder mystery novella. Rather implausible but an engaging read nonetheless.

#ChristmasAtTheKeep by Marcia Willett - A lovely novella about the Chadwick family coming together at Christmas. I enjoyed this one and it reminded me just how much I enjoy Willett’s writing.

#TheIntrusion by Charlotte Langley - This is the second book to feature PI Erin Crane (The Blame is book 1, which I loved). A policeman is murdered and the prime suspect is a young woman who feels the police didn’t properly investigate her brother’s death. However, although the police feel it’s pretty much an open and shut case, Erin is brought in by the girl’s family to investigate. I enjoyed this one and I really hope there will be more books featuring Erin.

Homecoming by Kate Morton - I have to say I was very disappointed by this one. Morton’s writing is beautiful but I found it so long-winded with far too much superfluous detail.

#TheSilenceInBetween by Josie Ferguson - What a book this was! As if the story of the Berlin wall being erected, separating a baby from his family, wasn’t enough, this book holds so much more between its pages (full review to follow).
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#monthlyroundup #monthlywrapup #December2024Reads #DecemberReads2024 #DecemberReads #booksread #reviewbooks #reviewer #reader #historicalfiction #sagafiction #contemporaryfiction #crimeseries #shortbookands

Christmas Novellas 🎄 In case you are looking fo

Christmas Novellas
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In case you are looking for some last-minute Christmas reading inspiration, these two novellas won't take up too much of your time if you're still frantically buying/wrapping/decorating.
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Christmas at the Keep by Marcia Willett
When I was hunting around for Christmas novellas I was pleased to see Christmas at the Keep by Marcia Willett. I read some of Willett's books many years ago and enjoyed them, and I thought this short read sounded right up my street. I was correct, right from the point when I spotted the comprehensive family tree and then when I followed the Chadwick family from October to December as they navigated new arrivals, annoying so-called friends and the upcoming festive season at the Keep.

I didn't realise that the Chadwicks had appeared in four full-length novels. Had I read them then this book would have been a lovely catch-up but I haven't read them and now I want to! Sadly, Christmas at the Keep was Willett's final book but she's left a wonderful back catalogue to be explored. I thought this novella was a delight.
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The Christmas Guest is a modern day country house murder mystery. Ashley Smith is invited to spend Christmas at her university friend's home. Whilst there, she writes a diary documenting her time there and her feelings for her friend's twin brother. This is quite a dark Christmas read. It doesn't appear it at first but as the story progresses Ashley finds that her festive season may not be so merry and bright after all.

It's a quick read but there's still plenty packed in, with a couple of unexpected curveballs too. I think the novella's length worked well, keeping up the pace and maintaining my interest. I was surprised by a lot of what happened. It's not the most plausible storyline but it is an engaging read.
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#bookreview #ChristmasAtTheKeep #TheChristmasGuest #christmasbooks #novellas #christmasnovellas #festivereads #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #booksread #reader #reviewer #bookblogger #bookishcontent #lovereading #shortbookandscribes

New review: Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gayn

New review: Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb. Published by Harper Collins and out now.
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How lovely it has been for this royalist to read a Christmas book set around the royals and specifically our late Queen Elizabeth II. The story is told from three points of view: the Queen, Olive and Jack. It's 1952 and the Queen has only just ascended to the throne after the death of her father. Jack is a chef who gets the chance to work in the royal kitchens and finds himself tasked to work at Sandringham over Christmas. Olive works for the BBC trying to make a name for herself as a royal reporter, and when she is sent to Sandringham to report on the Queen's first Christmas she runs into Jack, a man she knew at the very end of World War II.
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I really enjoyed how the stories of Olive and Jack were entwined with Christmases at Sandringham and the annual Queen's speech. Although the Queen's sections are short, they set up each year's events perfectly, before we return to Olive and Jack, their home lives, their work and their hopes for the future. There's a deliciously frustrating will they/won't they storyline running through the whole book and some added complexities from both sides that make their reunion run far from smoothly.
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Christmas with the Queen is a delightful, heart-warming, festive story that anyone who loves royal or historical fiction will enjoy. Behind the scenes at Sandringham makes for a wonderful setting, as does London in the 1950s with austerity still biting. I found it to be a charming mixture of fact and fiction, and an enthralling story with interesting, well-formed characters.
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#bookreview #ChristmasWithTheQueen #historicalfiction #royalfiction #christmasbooks #christmasreads #festivebooks #festivereads #fortheloveofbooks #lovestory #ilovebooks #booklover #reader #reviewer #booksread #bookblogger #bookishcontent #bookphotography #shortbookandscribes

New review: Close to Home by Cara Hunter ✨ Cara

New review: Close to Home by Cara Hunter
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Cara Hunter's Adam Fawley series is a crime and thriller highlight for me and I know I'm going to love each book. I came to the series on book three and whilst I always intended to read books one and two, I never felt I had missed out. However, book seven is on the way in February 2025 and as it returns to the case in book one I felt the time was right to read the book that started it all.
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Eight year old Daisy Mason has gone missing from a party at her family home. DI Adam Fawley and his team are called in to investigate and right from the start there are strong suspicions as to what might have happened to Daisy. It was nice to see how the series started and the roles of each member of the police team. I recognised them all from later books and there were also some characters who have developed more fully throughout the progression of the series.
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The use of emails, transcripts, newspaper reports, forums etc is a common device in Hunter's books and I do love to see this mixture of formats. The lack of chapters may dismay some readers but trust me when I say that this book is very fast-paced and there are plenty of stopping points. In fact, I think defined chapters would have actually slowed the pace for me.
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This is an excellent crime/police procedural novel and the start of what has become an auto-read series for me. I didn't see the clever ending coming and I'm really looking forward to reading Making a Killing to see how Hunter brings Daisy's case back to life.
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#bookreview #CloseToHome #crimeseries
#crimebooks #policeprocedural #policefiction #ilovebooks #fortheloveofbooks #reviewer #reader #crimebooksofinstagram #bookblogger #lovereading #booklover #shortbookandscribes

December Book Haul 📚 I've ended up with quite a

December Book Haul
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I've ended up with quite a few new books from last week so I thought I'd share them with you.

I went out for the afternoon with my mum last Thursday to Dobbies Garden Centre. After a festive lunch we had a mooch about and it's far too easy to spend a fortune in that place. I said no more Christmas decorations as we've got so many but I couldn't resist this book bauble and this gaudy but totally joyous rainbow wreath.

There was a nice selection of fiction too at 2 for £6 and so I got these four (I couldn't only get two, could I?!).
Bucket List by Russell Jones
Night Climbing by Sarah Day
The Tower by Kate London
Close to the Edge by Anna Britton

My pre-order of Ten Seconds by Robert Gold also arrived and I also couldn't resist buying a copy of A Novel Solution by Sue Clark at a bargain price of £2.13 for the hardback on Amazon.
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Do you like the look of any of these books?
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#newbooks #bookhaul #crimeseries
#crimefiction #policeprocedural #policefiction #historicalfiction #feelgoodfiction #bookpurchases #ilovebooks #fortheloveofbooks #bookishcontent #booklover #BucketList #NightClimbing #TheTower #CloseToTheEdge #TenSeconds #ANovelSolution #shortbookandscribes

#CoverReveal 🎉🎉 - I’m thrilled to be shari

#CoverReveal 🎉🎉 - I’m thrilled to be sharing the cover of THE DEATH OF US by Abigail Dean!

It's the story everyone wants to hear...

This is a story you'll never forget

From the bestselling author of GIRL A and DAY ONE, this is a breathtaking new novel about love, tragedy and forgiveness.

You can pre-order #TheDeathOfUs at @waterstones.

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