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Tag: Italy

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – A Place in the Sun by Jo Thomas

Posted on 15th August 2025 By Nicola

A Place in the Sun by Jo Thomas is published by Penguin and is out now. I purchased my own copy of the book. It’s […]

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Reviews

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

Posted on 7th March 2022 By Nicola

Today I’m sharing my thoughts about One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle. My thanks to Milly Reid of Quercus for the proof copy of the […]

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Reviews

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Chasing the Italian Dream by Jo Thomas

Posted on 17th August 2021 By Nicola

I love a Jo Thomas book. They’re always a lovely blend of travel and food. The latest is Chasing the Italian Dream which I’m reviewing […]

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Reviews

#blogtour – The Thousand Lights Hotel by Emylia Hall @EmyliaHall @headlinepg #bookreview

Posted on 13th July 2017 By Nicola

I am so happy today to be part of the blog tour for this wonderful read. Happy paperback publication day, Emylia! So what’s The Thousand […]

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Blog Tour, Reviews

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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.

Exciting #CoverReveal 🥳🎉 #CallerUnknown by

Exciting #CoverReveal 🥳🎉

#CallerUnknown by @gillianmauthor will be published on 9th April 2026. It sounds heart-stoppingly brilliant and I can't wait to read it.
📞
Synopsis:
Simone's holiday to Texas was meant to be some much needed bonding time with her teenage daughter, Lucy.

On their first night in the desert, Simone wakes to find Lucy missing and a mobile phone in her place. The phone rings: Lucy has been taken and, in order to get her back, Simone must commit a crime.

As Simone prepares to follow the kidnapper's instructions, she feels certain that there is nothing she wouldn't do to save Lucy. But becoming a wanted woman is just the start...

@michaeljbooks

New review: The Life and Loves of Becca Valentine

New review: The Life and Loves of Becca Valentine by @laurapauthor. Published by @theboldbookclub and out now.
Note: the title was changed after I bought my copy.
✨
The Life and Loves of Becca Valentine has a unique concept: the idea that the children whose mother you may become are there at your side, from your own birth, hidden from view but awaiting their own conception. It sounds a bit bizarre but the way the story is written makes it incredibly plausible. There are four of them in the beginning, Samuel, Lucy, Thomas and Eliza and it's Eliza who narrates the story.
✨
Through her we witness Becca meeting Anthony and Ryan. Each of the siblings knows who their father is and from their potential conception dates they know that they can't all make it all the way to being born. It's an ingenious way to take what are essentially the ups and downs of Becca's romantic and home life and turn it into something even more intriguing, almost a race for life. The siblings can't help but think about themselves but they also want to do what is best for Becca, somebody they have spent years alongside.
✨
It's a lovely novel and quite an emotional one for the reader who not only sees Becca's difficulties, but also the beforelife situation as each conception date gets closer and closer. This is a book that is written with compassion and sensitivity, a love story in more ways than one. I really enjoyed it.
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#bookreview #TheLifeAndLovesOfBeccaValentine #emotionalfiction #lovelyreads #bookblogger #reader #reviewer #booksread #fortheloveofbooks #ilovebooks #bookish #bookphotography #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Watching You by @helenf

Ad/PR product. New review: Watching You by @helenfields_author. To be published by @avonbooksuk on 28th August.
👀
Watching You is the DS Lively/Dr Connie Woolwine mash-up Helen Fields fans didn't know they needed but wonder now how they managed without it. DS Lively is an old-school, un-PC Edinburgh cop and Connie is an unconventional forensic profiler with some rather unique methods of getting to the bottom of what has occurred. Both have appeared in previous books, together and apart, but this book has them working closely together to try and solve a series of deaths.
👀
This is another completely gripping story from Fields. It has it all: a twisty storyline; maverick characters; a killer with an agenda; a love story element; and all the gory details of killings that I have come to expect from this author. I really loved how characters from other books were brought in and there's a very short paragraph near the end that absolutely made my heart sing with joy (no more spoilers but if you know, you know!).
👀
Watching You has everything I want from a crime thriller. It raised my heart rate with all the excitement and then lowered it again with a satisfied 'aah'. I have a feeling there's lot more to come for all my favourite characters. I can't wait!
👀
Thank you Laura Sherlock and the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #WatchingYou #crimethriller #policeprocedural #thrillerfiction #thrillerbooks #fortheloveofbooks #5starreads #bookblogger #reader #reviewer #reviewbooks #booksread #bookphotography #ilovereading #ilovethrillers #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Hometown Bookshop b

Ad/PR product. New review: The Hometown Bookshop by @bookcornersaltburn. To be published by @fairlightbooks on 21st August.
📚
The story of The Hometown Bookshop is told in alternate chapters by Charlotte and Greg. Greg is the manager of Seaswept Books in the seaside town of Shellcliff on the North Yorkshire coast. The shop isn't exactly thriving and when it's bought by Sarah, she brings her sister Charlotte on board to help revive it.
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It wasn't exactly in Charlotte's plans to go back to her home town. After ten years in a West End play she thought she was well set up in the acting business. Strangely, as time goes on, she starts to enjoy being back in Shellcliff and the challenge of making the bookshop work, not to mention the local amateur dramatics group production.
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I absolutely loved this delightful book. The bookshop/seaside setting was utter perfection for me and I particularly enjoyed the chapters set there and all the ideas Charlotte had to update the place, despite Greg's horrified face! I had a real soft spot for Greg, stuck in his ways and a bit lost, and I grew to like Charlotte too who found a new direction that she didn't even know she needed.
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The Hometown Bookshop is a gorgeous, joyful and uplifting read. It's light-hearted yet has emotional depth of feeling as past woes threaten both Greg and Charlotte's futures. I was completely enamoured by it, an ideal summer read about life, love, friendship, reinvention and books.
📚
Thank you to the publishers for the review copy.
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#bookreview #TheHometownBookshop #booksaboutbooks #5starreads #lovelyreads #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #bookish #ilovereading #reader #reviewbooks #reviewer #bookshops #bookblogger #shortbookandscribes

New review: A Place in the Sun by @jothomasauthor.

New review: A Place in the Sun by @jothomasauthor. Published by @bantambooksuk and out now.
☀️
Thea arrives at a small village in Tuscany with her two children ready to take up residence in the house her late husband Marco bought for them. She doesn't know what her long-term plans will turn out to be but she soon becomes embroiled in village life, with Giovanni who runs the community kitchen and the three feuding Nonnas, fighting over whose lasagne is the best.
☀️
I loved the idea of the community kitchen, a place where anyone can go for a meal or the dishes can be brought to you if you can't get there yourself or need the company at home. Thea has a lot to get over with losing Marco and their family life together but slowly she starts to integrate with the locals and realises that she has a future after all.
☀️
A Place in the Sun is full of Jo Thomas' particular winning blend of food and travel fiction, making me both want to eat the food that the characters enjoy and to travel to the destination, in this case it's Tuscany. This is feel-good fiction at its very best, a joy to read from start to finish. I always enjoy books by this author but this one might just be a particular favourite as it's light-hearted and so easy to read, yet doesn't shy away from some difficult subjects. I absolutely loved it!
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#bookreview #APlaceInTheSun #feelgoodfiction #travelfiction #foodfiction #italianstories #Italy #5starreads #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #ilovereading #reader #reviewer #booksread #bookblogger #shortbookandscribes

New review: The Shell House Detectives by @emyliah

New review: The Shell House Detectives by @emyliahall_author. Published by Thomas and Mercer and out now.
🌊
The Shell House Detectives are Ally Bright and Jayden Weston. They hadn't intended to become detectives but the story leads them into solving a local mystery. Ally is a long-time resident of Porthpella in Cornwall, living in a weatherboard house in the dunes (which I thought sounded like absolute perfection). In the midst of a personal loss, she is taken aback one night when a young man comes to her door. When that man is later found at the bottom of the cliffs and Jayden, a former policeman, is one of the first on the scene, he and Ally end up trying to work out what happened to him and how he's linked to a missing local woman.
🌊
I thought Emylia Hall's prose was beautiful in this book. It's clear how much she loves Cornwall and beach life. Whilst this book may be deemed to be something of a cosy mystery, it's got a lot more warmth to it and is a very thoughtful piece of storytelling, about grief and loss, companionship, and about greed and jealousy. There are a few thoroughly unpleasant characters but mostly there are likeable ones, superbly well-drawn and who felt like old friends by the end of the book. I really liked the local beat bobby who was a bit of a buffoon but with a little polishing could turn out quite well.
🌊
I adored the whole setting of the fictional Porthpella, Ally's house and the little beach café in particular, but the small seaside village feel too. I'm going to get myself a copy of the second book in the series now, The Harbour Lights Mystery, as I definitely need a return visit to Porthpella.
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#bookreview #TheShellHouseDetectives #cosymysterystory #Cornishbooks #fortheloveofbooks #ilovebooks #reader #readcrimefiction #booksread #bookblogger #reviewer #readersofinstagram #shortbookandscribes

New review: Getting Away by @mskatesawyer. Publish

New review: Getting Away by @mskatesawyer. Published by @zaffrebooks and out now.
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Getting Away is about all the holidays we take throughout our lives, from the simple trip to the beach with family to the fancy holidays abroad. It's also about the family dynamics that occur, just like when any family gets together. We see the holidays through the eyes of the Smith family taking us from the 1930s through to the 2020s.
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I knew as soon as I heard about the premise that I wanted to read this book and I absolutely adored every bit of it. Sometimes a book that skips through time in this way, linking the characters by events, doesn't work so well as it misses out some of what has happened to them in the meantime (between holidays in this case) but Kate Sawyer does a wonderful job at following the characters through the years, letting the reader know what has happened to them not by simply telling them, but by revealing it slowly through their actions and feelings, with tiny details and what is left unsaid allowing us to read between the lines. I came to care about all the characters and looked forward to seeing them through each decade.
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There are some lovely strands running throughout. In the 1930s it all begins with Betty and Jim and the spectres of WWI and a lost love. The family continues through their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and I felt like I knew them all really well by the end.
⛱️
Getting Away is a social history of everyday life and the power of the holiday, and it is also a multi-generational, beautifully portrayed family story. It's easy to read (I powered through it) but is also emotional and full of nostalgia. I found it very hard to put it down. It's absolutely perfect and is easily one of my favourite books of this year.
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#bookreview #GettingAway #5starreads #fortheloveofbooks #bookloversofinstagram #bookish #lovebooks #reader #reviewer #booksread #bookblogger #ilovereading #shortbookandscribes

July Reads For the first time in ages I can repor

July Reads

For the first time in ages I can report an eight book month. Admittedly, I had started one book in June but even so, I'm taking it as a victory. Enjoyed them all very much too. Here's what I read:

💼 #TheGirlWithTheSuitcase by Lesley Pearse - I always love a Lesley Pearse book and I was hooked on this story of a young woman who takes another woman's identity after a WWII air raid.

⚖️ #KillerInstinct by Nicola Williams - A gripping legal thriller about the death of the senior clerk of the chambers where barrister Lee Mitchell works. A killer storyline written with knowledge and style.

👁️ #WatchYouWatchMe by Lily Samson - Alice agrees to let her boss, Mina, use her flat for what turns out to be a dubious and sexy reason. Taut, addictive and voyeuristic, I loved this psychological thriller.

❤️ #SixPoppies by Lisa Carter - A lovely military romance following Carl and Sarah who met in Afghanistan and who are unable to forget each other, despite their own baggage on returning home. Emotional and moving, it highlights how hard it is for soldiers to adapt to civilian life.

⭐ #DeadAsGold by Bonnie Burke-Patel - Adam is a goldsmith in a small coastal town where a number of strange events occur, culminating in a robbery at his workshop. The reasons must be unravelled and the story has some unexpected twists, interwoven with dark fairy tales. I really enjoyed this gothic crime novel.

🏠 #25LibraryTerrace by Natalie Fergie - An engaging story of the inhabitants of one house over the course of over one hundred years. I particularly enjoyed the more historical aspects and the themes around women's rights.

✨ #TheTangledThread and #TheEmperor by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - Books 10 and 11 in the Morland Dynasty series and my love for these books just keeps on going. The Tangled Thread takes place around the French Revolution, following the illegitimate thread of the Morland line and The Emperor encompasses sadness and discontent at home mingled with drama on the high seas.

As always, my book post + Storygraph stats can be found on my blog post (link in bio).
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#JulyReads #July2025Reads #JulyReads2025 #monthlyroundup #monthlywrapup #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: 25 Library Terrace by @

Ad/PR product. New review: 25 Library Terrace by @nataliesfergie. Published by @emblabooks and out now.
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25 Library Terrace is the sort of book that immediately grabs my attention. It follows the lives of the inhabitants of the eponymous house over the course of over one hundred years. We begin with Tess Dutton in 2011 who, after a bad end to her relationship, needs somewhere to stay, to rest and to get her confidence back. She is directed towards Georgia, owner of 25 Library Terrace and so the story begins and takes us back to 1911 and the first owners of the house.
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There are themes of women's rights and suffragettes throughout the whole novel. There's also a focus on the census and recording who was living in the house for various of the ten-yearly recordings. I particularly enjoyed the more historical aspects of the story and the metamorphosis that the house goes through from family home to something more of a refuge (albeit not quite the type you might be imagining). Whilst not an enormous house, it's big enough to have a maid in the early years and I liked the 'upstairs downstairs' viewpoints and the descriptions of the scullery and maid's stairs against the more comfortable and luxuriant areas of the building. There's a floor plan at the front for those who like that sort of thing (which I very much do).
✨
I found this to be an engaging story of the lives lived in one home through two world wars, votes for women and a pandemic. It will be of particular interest to those who enjoy reading about how homes were run and food was prepared. I can also recommend Natalie Fergie's first book, The Sewing Machine.
✨
Thank you to the publishers for the review copy.
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#bookreview #25LibraryTerrace #historicalfiction #fortheloveofbooks #bookblogger #bookphotography #reader #booksr#reviewer #reviewbooks #bookish #ilovereading #shortbookandscribes

New review: Dead as Gold by Bonnie Burke-Patel. Pu

New review: Dead as Gold by Bonnie Burke-Patel. Published by Bedford Square Publishers and out now.
⭐
Dead as Gold is set in a fictional coastal town called Morrow-on-Sea. Adam Conlon resides there, making his living as a goldsmith and co-parenting his son, Felix. A number of unusual things happen all at once: a mysterious face at the window, an item missing from the workshop, an animal heart in the post, a break in and robbery, and the entrance into his life of Ophelia Richards. Ophelia visits Adam's workshop to sell some jewellery but her life seems to become more and more entwined with Adam's as time goes on.
⭐
As with I Died at Fallow Hall, Bonnie Burke-Patel's first book, Dead as Gold has a beautiful pared back clarity to the writing, a kind of melancholy feel to the daily lives of the characters in the quiet seaside setting. Adam and Ophelia are the main protagonists but there is another, DI William Kent, who adds an additional voice to the story when he is called in to investigate the robbery. Each character is very different to each other but as an ensemble piece they complement each other perfectly.
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The story is interwoven with fairy stories, ostensibly Morrow's tales, but based on dark fairy tales of old. A clever device by Burke-Patel and one that gelled really well with the overall themes and style of the novel. The plot itself took one or two quite unexpected turns, just when it seemed that the outcome was going to be pretty straightforward, and it added a nice twist to this gothic crime novel.
⭐
I really enjoyed Dead as Gold. It kept me turning the pages, interested in the characters and what was happening to them. As with Farrow Hall, there are no chapters, but there are section breaks and each section is only a few pages at most, often just a few paragraphs. I found this meant that the book flowed really well. I can't wait for book three now.
⭐
I was lucky enough to win this in a giveaway from the author. Thank you Bonnie.
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#DeadAsGold #bookreview #gothiccrimenovel #fortheloveofbooks #reader #bookblogger #booksread #reviewer #reviewbooks #booklover #readersofinstagram #bookish #bookphotography #shortbookandscribes

A green Last Now Next 📗Last📗 #DeadAsGold b

A green Last Now Next

📗Last📗
#DeadAsGold by Bonnie Burke-Patel

📗 Current 📗
#25LibraryTerrace by Natalie Fergie

📗Next(ish)📗
#TheHometownBookshop by Jenna Warren and
#WatchingYou by Helen Fields

I say 'ish' as they may not strictly be my next reads but I will definitely be reading them in the next couple of weeks or so. Green must be the colour of the moment and I couldn't resist putting these books together.

Ad/PR products. Thank you to the authors and publishers who sent me these books.
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#LastNowNext #LastNowNextReads #contemporaryfiction #historicalfiction #crimebooks #thrillerfiction #reader #reviewbooks #reviewer #bookblogger #ilovereading #bookish #fortheloveofbooks #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Six Poppies by Lisa Car

Ad/PR product. New review: Six Poppies by Lisa Carter. Published by Michael Joseph and out now.
❤️
Six Poppies is the story of Sarah and Carl who met at Camp Bastion whilst serving with the British Army in Afghanistan. Sarah has followed her teen sweetheart out there, whilst Carl is serving alongside his best friend, Fridge. The story begins with a group photo being taken of the four along with other soldiers and friends they are serving with.
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We hear from both main characters, in Afghanistan and at home once they have returned. Sadly, as is often the case, some of the group didn't make it back and Carl decides to have a tattoo of a poppy inked on his back, one for each of the lost heroes. However, for Carl it's not enough. He has immense survivor's guilt, feeling somehow responsible for the deaths. Maybe if he had been on patrol instead or if he had stopped them being there…..
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Carl and Sarah have feelings for each other and when they meet up again at home those feelings are stronger than ever. Can they ever be together given all the baggage they both carry? I had a lovely time finding out. Six Poppies is a romance novel but there's nothing romantic about being in the middle of a warzone or dealing with the aftermath and the author explores fully the difficulties that returning servicemen and women experience in trying to fit back into civilian life, not to mention contending with the death of comrades while they get to carry on living their lives.
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I really enjoyed this book. It's easy to read and yet doesn't shy away from the hard-hitting aspects, and it's a love story that doesn't descend into anything that is overly saccharine. It's emotional, moving and heart-rending and yet ultimately uplifting and enriching. I was intrigued to read the author's note at the end about where her inspiration came from. Such a great basis for a lovely debut novel.

❤️
Thank you to the author for sending me a copy for review.
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#bookreview #SixPoppies #lovestory #movingreads #reader #bookblogger #reviewer #booksread #reviewbooks #fortheloveofbooks #bookloversofinstagram #bookish #ilovebooks #reading #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Watch Me Watch You by @

Ad/PR product. New review: Watch Me Watch You by @lilysamsonauthor. Published by @centurybooksuk and out now.
👁️
Watch Me Watch You is a taut and addictive psychological thriller. I've been looking forward to it since I read Lily Samson's debut, The Switch, and I enjoyed this one just as much.
👁️
Alice lives in a spacious flat in Kensington yet has just started a position as an intern at a publishing company. From the beginning there's a disconnect between what Alice has and who Alice is but it all becomes clear as the story progresses. She agrees to let her boss, Mina, who is married to a powerful MP, use the flat for what turns out to be a rather dubious and unexpected reason and the tale then spirals into a tangled web of deceit that thrilled me.
👁️
I loved the voyeuristic style of this book, the dark and sexy aspects of it. I also enjoyed the publishing angle. The story is told from the points of view of both Alice and Mina and I didn't know if I could trust what either of them were saying. It was clear that there were some murky corners in their pasts and as narrators they were totally and excitingly unreliable.
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I found Watch Me Watch You absolutely compulsive reading. As with The Switch, in the wrong hands some of the action could have simply been too far-fetched, but in Samson's hands it just felt plausible and ominously exhilarating. If you like a twisty story filled with power and seduction, with characters who are morally grey, then this is one for you. I loved it.
👁️
Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #WatchMeWatchYou #psychologicalfiction #psychologicalthriller #fortheloveofbooks #reader #reviewer #bookblogger #booksread #reviewbooks #ilovebooks #bookloversofinstagram #bookish #shortbookandscribes

Thank you so much @faberbooks for this fabulous #H

Thank you so much @faberbooks for this fabulous #HarrogateAtHome box of epic goodies. Such a wonderful treat.

✨ #MurderTakesAVacation by @lauramlippman

✨#TheGoodPatient by @nileshachauvet

✨ #TheChristmasClue by @nicolaupson

✨ #TheConfessions by @paulbradleycarr

With these books which sound brilliant, Sanpellegrino to keep me refreshed, cocktail recipes and the Faber Crime Times, I'm in for a very good weekend.

#BookPost

Ad/PR product. New review: Killer Instinct by @nic

Ad/PR product. New review: Killer Instinct by @nicolawilliamswriter. Published by @vikingbooksuk and out now.
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Killer Instinct is the third book to feature barrister, Lee Mitchell. I've also read book two, Until Proven Innocent, which I thought was brilliant, and I can give that same accolade to Killer Instinct too which had me gripped from start to finish.
⚖️
This story focuses very much on the Senior Clerk at Lee's chambers, Tom Mannion. Nobody could say they liked him, but he ruled chambers and most of the tenants respected him for the work he could get for them and for his ruthless attitude when doing so. When he is murdered it is a massive shock to all concerned, and then when Junior Clerk, Dean Carter, is arrested for the crime, Lee takes on the case, hoping to prove his innocence.
⚖️
Whilst this is a Lee Mitchell story, much of the focus is around Tom and Dean, and also the police's investigation. There is plenty of courtroom action though and a legal thriller is always a draw for me. There's a lot of attention on Tom's famous diary too, a tatty notebook that contained a multitude of secrets. What happened to it when Tom was killed is a question many people would like the answer to.
⚖️
I thought Killer Instinct had a killer storyline and I loved every bit of it. It's written with style and knowledge and it grabbed me and didn't let me go until I knew the outcome. The characters are diverse and interesting to read about and I really hope there will be more about Lee and Maple Court Chambers. I'd love to know how chambers fares without Tom. In the meantime, this one comes highly recommended by me for its twisty storyline and legal drama.
⚖️
Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #KillerInstinct #crimethriller #legalfiction #legalthrillers #fortheloveofbooks #bookblogger #reader #reviewer #reviewbooks #booksread #ilovebooks #booklover #bookish #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Girl with the Suitc

Ad/PR product. New review: The Girl with the Suitcase by Lesley Pearse. Published by @michaeljbooks and out now.
💼
I look forward every year to a new Lesley Pearse book and I'm never disappointed. Her latest is The Girl With the Suitcase which follows the life of Beth Manning…except Beth isn't quite who she says she is. Just prior to an air raid, Mary Price meets Elizabeth Manning. When Mary is misidentified as Elizabeth, she takes on the latter's identity and a new life in Ireland, which is everything she has always dreamed of.
💼
Like every Lesley Pearse book, there's a strong heroine at the heart of the story who overcomes a difficult past or situation to triumph in her life and Beth is no exception so don't think that she sounds like a heartless person. I loved following her from London to Ireland, away from uncertainty and towards a new home and a new set of circumstances. I'd call it a slice of life story as it's set over the course of the Second World War and portrays the fortunes of the main character during that time.
💼
I found this book a delight to read and really looked forward to picking it up. There's a lot of sadness for Beth and some horrible things happened to her but I knew that somehow she would be ok and I absolutely loved the ending. Once again, Pearse pulled me right into a story and put me there with the characters that I so enjoyed spending time with.
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#bookreview #TheGirlWithTheSuitcase #LoveLesley #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #bookish #reader #reviewer #reviewbooks #bookblogger #booksread #historicalfiction #shortbookandscribes

June Reads 📚 Goodbye June, I think I blinked an

June Reads
📚
Goodbye June, I think I blinked and missed you, and hello July!

It was another seven book reading month so here's what I read:

✨#CanYouSolveTheMurder by Antony Johnston
This was a quirky and entertaining 'choose your own adventure' style crime novel where the reader is the detective trying to solve a murder at a wellness retreat.

✨#BirthsDeathsAndMarriages by Laura Barnett
An intensely character-driven story of six friends from university told over the course of a year, twenty years later. It felt realistic with all the joy and mess that is part of life.

✨#TheStrangerInRoomSix by Jane Corry
The story of two women, Belinda and Mabel. Belinda is newly released from prison and working at Sunnyside Home for the Young at Heart where Mabel resides. Who is the stranger in room six and what do they want with both women? Gripping!

✨#BabyTeeth by Celia Silvani
Claire is lonely and desperate for a baby. She joins internet forums about free-birthing and is sucked into what is basically a cult. A great read, uncomfortable and often true to life.

✨#IsabellasNotDead by Beth Morrey
Gwen lost touch with her best friend, Isabella, fifteen years ago. A school hockey team reunion makes Gwen wonder what happened to Isabella and why she ghosted her so she decides to try and find her. A lovely light-hearted story of friendship and solidarity.

✨#TheWomanWhoLaughed by Simon Mason
A highly enjoyable suspenseful mystery story with an enigmatic protagonist in 'the Finder', a man hired by the police to try and work out what happened to Ella Bailey in Sheffield. Was she murdered five years ago as previously thought or has she been alive all along?

✨#TheFloodTide by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
This is book nine and another brilliant instalment of the Morland Dynasty series. The action takes place at home at Morland Place, in America in the midst of the War of Independence and in France as the revolution looms.
📚
The month's book post and stats can be found on my blog post (link in bio). Have you read any of my books? What was your favourite June read?
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#June2025Reads #JuneReads #JuneReads2025 #monthlyroundup #monthlywrapup #booksread #reviewbooks #shortbookandscrib

Ad/PR product. New review: The Woman Who Laughed b

Ad/PR product. New review: The Woman Who Laughed by Simon Mason. Published by @riverrun_books and out now.
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The Woman Who Laughed follows the 'Finder', an Iraqi man named Talib, who works with the police to try and locate missing people. It's the third in the series but I haven't read the previous two (I want to now, though!) and it doesn't matter as each case is a self-contained story.
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The Finder is called to Sheffield to investigate why now, five years after her disappearance and presumed murder, the bag belonging to sex worker, Ella Bailey, has suddenly turned up, hanging on the doorway of a café. The journey to the truth takes the Finder on a twisting and turning search of the streets of Sheffield and Chesterfield.
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Sense of place is incredibly strong in this book. Being from Sheffield, that really appealed to me and made it all the more interesting as I could imagine the neighbourhoods that the Finder was visiting. The book itself is not a long one at 224 pages but it kept me engrossed and threw quite a few red herrings into the mix.
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I thought The Woman Who Laughed was a really great read. It's suspenseful, dark and mysterious and the determination of the Finder to learn the truth comes through in his every word, as the whole story is told in his own narrative alongside his reading of a classic novel, in this case Jane Austen's Persuasion. A highly enjoyable, pared back read with an enigmatic protagonist.
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Thank you to the publishers for the review copy.
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#bookreview #TheWomanWhoLaughed #suspensefiction #mysteryreads #crimefiction #fortheloveofbooks #reader #reviewer #reviewbooks #bookblogger #contemporaryfiction #Sheffield #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Isabella's Not Dead by

Ad/PR product. New review: Isabella's Not Dead by Beth Morrey. Published by @harperfiction and out now.
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Sometimes you lose touch with friends and you don't exactly know why. That's what happened with Gwen and her best friend, Isabella. Fifteen years ago they went their separate ways at the end of an evening out and never spoke again. A school hockey team reunion makes Gwen wonder what happened to Isabella and why she ghosted Gwen all those years ago. She starts to make some enquiries and investigate but it's not easy as Isabella seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth.
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This is such a great read. It's funny and light-hearted but it's also a moving story of friendship and solidarity. Gwen has a calamitous air about her as she veers around Yorkshire, Edinburgh and Rome, crashing into people's lives, questioning them and looking for clues. There's a nice sense of a mystery unfolding and I didn't guess the reason for the ghosting which was really quite unexpected as I was wondering what could be a good enough reason for the friends to lose touch. Gwen makes mosaics from shattered crockery and I thought this was a great metaphor for the shattered friendship, with Gwen desperately trying to put the shards back together.
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Isabella's Not Dead is a really lovely story, easy to read and written with humour and empathy, and I loved all the characters, some of whom were seriously wacky! I found it totally enjoyable from start to finish.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
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#bookreview #IsabellasNotDead #contemporaryfiction #fortheloveofbooks #reader #reviewer #reviewbooks #bookblogger #booksread #ilovebooks #booklover #readersofinstagram #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Baby Teeth by Celia Sil

Ad/PR product. New review: Baby Teeth by Celia Silvani. Published by @orionbooks and out now.
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Baby Teeth tells the story of Claire Hansen. She's trying to get pregnant and as time goes on she falls deeper and deeper into all the good and bad that the internet offers on the subject of pregnancy, birth and motherhood. In particular, she joins forums dedicated to TTC (trying to conceive) and then when she does get pregnant, she visits homebirth and natural birthing sites. Claire is very uncomfortable with hospitals and she finds solace and solidarity with the women who eschew all medical intervention, including scans and other vital appointments, opting to 'freebirth' instead.
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It's clear from the beginning that Claire is lonely in her new life in London, having moved with her husband James from their family homes in the North East. Add to that the fact that she is a very anxious person, soaking up others people's feelings and beliefs and feeling responsibility for their mistakes, and you have somebody who is very susceptible. It takes a tragedy to show her that she must make her own decisions about her own pregnancy and birth.
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This is an excellent debut novel. It highlights the very real issue of health anxiety and how the internet can be responsible for taking over our lives. Claire rarely puts her phone down and every time she picks it up a little bit more of other people's beliefs seep into her own consciousness. It's a distressing read at times and offers a moral dilemma: should you feel compelled to agree to medical monitoring even if you don't want it? What if the consequences harm your unborn baby? The author does a great job at showing Claire's feelings and how intimidated she is in medical environments. I was quite infuriated by her most of the time and I wanted to reach into the book and shake her, but I also felt sorry for her. The epilogue made me cringe!
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All in all Baby Teeth was a great read, uncomfortable in many places but also true to life and rather sad.
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Thank you to the author and the publishers for the review copy.
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#bookreview #BabyTeeth #psychologicalfiction #fortheloveofbooks #reader #booksread #shortbookandscribes

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