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#blogtour – The Beachside Sweet Shop by Karen Clarke @karenclarke123 #bookreview @bookouture @KimTheBookworm

Posted on 6th March 2017 By Nicola

I’m as high as a child who has eaten too many bonbons today as it’s my turn on the blog tour for The Beachside Sweet […]

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Blog Tour, Reviews

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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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Hazel Prior #GoneWithThePenguins @hazelpriorbooks ·

2 Feb

Anyone need a read full of kindness, hope and penguins?
#BookTwitter #penguins
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gone-Penguins-brand-new-uplifting-bestselling/dp/1804993336/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Xx54jR9aDsMNEvjwpku0nw_XRDwfh5zyecQYn-I3tS0e1Yg5TvBRB93cVNRXklit2R7OrWESFmtLm_nxwR159VDbpBPCdDOWLsufr_7uO8VwZxKtj3Rjxra2ckzxR-CFYp5OxqRh56V9eeJNNZ_PnpI4cAvvKtattP1gvBHCCR9lZI28Mcttqw2bmX2235xnDopzreCAaDQc8QvTp1we45aYK0MtY67NuZW9CqVVhW0.D61NPofqFyR97ZLX1COJMd1WDkAdgxIrZp3rns6q1FQ&qid=1719568888&sr=8-1

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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.

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.
🏋️‍♀️
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.
🏋️‍♀️
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.
🏋️‍♀️
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

📚
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.
🎊
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.
📚
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.

Ad/PR product. New review: Christmas for the Home

Ad/PR product. New review: Christmas for the Home Front Girls by Susanna Bavin. Published by @bookouture and out now.
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Christmas for the Home Front Girls is the third book in what has become one of my favourite book series. This instalment picks up where the previous book left off: Sally is the manager of the salvage depot, Betty is newly in love with Samuel, the gentle bookseller, and Lorna is throwing herself into her work at the depot after the trauma of her failed engagement to George.
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It's December 1940 and the Christmas blitz in Manchester is just around the corner but the girls always manage to stay upbeat no matter what life throws at them. I love all three of the main characters, quite different personalities but they complement each other perfectly. In this book I particularly enjoyed the trajectory that Lorna's life took and how it threw her back into the path of handsome and debonair George.
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As you might expect for the time, there's quite a bit of make do and mend. The salvage depot collects all kinds of things that are then recycled for a new purpose. As always, I thought it was a fascinating setting and it really sums up the feel of 'doing one's bit for the war effort'. The Christmas blitz is distressing for the characters and must have been a horrifying time to live through, with death and destruction never far away. The author describes the terrifying events well, but also gives light to the shade with tales of how people worked together in rescue operations, with everyone playing an important role.
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I found this book completely heart-warming to read. The characters and the settings work so well together and the story ended on a truly wonderful note. I'm now eagerly awaiting the next book in the series and to see what happens next.
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Thank you to the author for the review copy.
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#bookreview #ChristmasForTheHomeFrontGirls #homefront #warfiction #sagafiction #sagas #sagabooks #wwiifiction #fortheloveofbooks #reviewbooks #booksread #reviewer #reader #bookblogger #bookseries #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Sleeping Dogs by @thevo

Ad/PR product. New review: Sleeping Dogs by @thevoiceofruss. Published by @simonschusteruk and out now.
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Sleeping Dogs is book four in the DS Adam Tyler series by Russ Thomas and it's a series that I love catching up with. In this book, we return to Sheffield and to settings and landmarks that I know, but the storyline is a bit different this time. It's told in the very recent past and the present, with Adam investigating an anonymous tip-off without involving his colleagues (standard Adam), and then DC Mina Rabbani investigating what happens to Adam when he gets a bit too involved.
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Whilst I missed Adam's character in the parts when he was out of action, I really enjoyed seeing Mina step forward and take on a bigger role. She's such an interesting and promising character and I'll be interested to see what happens to her next (given the ending).
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The unfolding of the two strands worked really well, with all the pieces being slotted in place as it went along. The plotting is tight and I found I didn't want to put this book down. This is a police procedural but that's not all it is. It's got heart and emotion, it has a touch of police corruption, interesting characters, an intricate dual time narrative storyline, and an in-depth investigation that kept me absolutely gripped. I loved Sleeping Dogs and I really hope there is more to come from DS Adam Tyler.
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Thank you @bookpublicist for the review copy.
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#bookreview #SleepingDogs #crimeseries #crimebooks #policeprocedural #policefiction #sheffieldbooks #fortheloveofbooks #booksread #reviewbooks #reviewer #reader #bookblogger #bookish #ilovebooks #shortbookandscribes

November 2024 Reads 🔥Fire by John Boyne I thou

November 2024 Reads

🔥Fire by John Boyne
I thought this was the most powerful of the Elements quartet so far. It's disturbing with blurred lines about consent and the effects of childhood trauma.

🐧Gone with the Penguins by Hazel Prior
I loved this third book to feature the formidable Veronica McCreedy. This time she pledges to save the penguins at her local sea life centre.

🏠Courage for the Home Front Girls by Susanna Bavin
This is the second book in the series about Sally and Betty and their work at a Manchester salvage yard in WWII. I love the characters and reading about life on the home front.

🍾The Party by Tessa Hadley
This is a novella about two sisters who meet two more worldly-wise men in a pub. They're later invited to a party by the two men and what happens there is life-changing for both sisters.

🍫A Recipe for Christmas by Jo Thomas
The latest book by one of my favourite authors. Clara moves to Switzerland with her new boyfriend and enrols in a chocolate-making course. This book will make you crave a hot chocolate and made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

🏔️The Ice Retreat by Ruth Kelly
Reporter, Hollie, investigates the eponymous retreat which promises rebirth through extreme ice therapy. Thrilling and chilling with a side order of killing.

📷The Secret Photographs by Jacquie Bloese
I really loved this story of Ellen Harper and her brother, Raynald, with their respectable daytime photography business turning to erotica in the evenings. A beautiful work of historical fiction.

🚓Sleeping Dogs by Russ Thomas
Book four of a police series I love, set in Sheffield. In dual time narratives, DS Adam Tyler is investigating a cold case and when he has an accident, DC Mina Rabbani investigates what happened to him and how it's linked to a mysterious letter he received.

What was your favourite read in November? Did we read any of the same books?
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#NovemberReads2024 #NovemberReads #November2024Reads #monthlyroundup #monthlywrapup #booksread #reviewbooks #reviewer #reader #bookblogger #ilovebooks #fortheloveofbooks #bookishphotography #bookishcontent #crimeseries #historicalfiction #feelgoodfiction #novellas #shortbookandscribes

#CoverReveal ⏳🎉 #59Minutes by @hollyseddonau

#CoverReveal ⏳🎉

#59Minutes by @hollyseddonauthor will be published by @orionbooks on 25th September 2025 and it sounds AMAZING!

Synopsis:
If you knew you had fifty-nine minutes until everything and everyone you love would be lost forever, what would you do with that time?

It's an ordinary evening. People are coming home from work, cooking dinner for their children, cuddling on sofas with their lovers. And then the message arrives, shattering everyone's worlds:

Missiles are set to destroy England in fifty-nine minutes. Everyone should seek immediate shelter.

59 minutes follows the journey of three women trying to make it home to and protect their families. The journeys should be simple, but with a lost schoolchild seeking help, a teenage daughter suddenly going missing, and dangerous criminals on the prowl, there is peril at every corner.

59 Minutes is a gripping, thought-provoking and gut-wrenching thriller perfect for fans of WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME, THE CHAIN and Lisa Jewell.
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#thrillerreads #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #bookreveal #bookishreels #reader #bookblogger #bookreader #thrillerbooks #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New #blogtour review: The Ice Retre

Ad/PR product. New #blogtour review: The Ice Retreat by @ruthywriter. Published by @panmacmillan and out now.
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I'd already read Ruth Kelly's previous books, The Villa and The Escape, so I knew I would be in for a rollercoaster ride of a destination thriller with The Ice Retreat. The story follows Hollie, a Netflix investigative reporter as she looks into the eponymous retreat which promises rebirth through extreme ice therapy. Brrr!
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Hollie manages to wangle a visit to the mysterious retreat, both to investigate a man who went missing after going there for treatment, and for other reasons that become clear throughout the book, and what also becomes apparent is that this is no innocent spa type of set-up.
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The setting is king in this story. The cold and the isolation are palpable as Hollie narrates her own, possibly unreliable, view of all that is going on. I found Hollie rather prickly and there aren't really any likeable characters but then I wouldn't necessarily expect to find them in a psychological thriller. There are some clever curveballs along the way and some unexpected events, and this is certainly a fast-paced read. My visit to the Ice Retreat was thrilling and chilling with a side order of killing!
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Thank you @libraryofchlo for the review copy and the place on the tour.
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#bookreview #TheIceRetreat #psychologicalthriller #destinationthriller #fortheloveofbooks #thrillerfiction #thrillerbooks #thrillersofinstagram #ilovebooks #booklover #bookloversofinstagram #bookish #reader #readcrimefiction #reviewer #bookblogger #reviewbooks #booksread #shortbookandscribes

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