I absolutely love a psychological page-turner, The Last Wife by Nicola Marsh promises to be a twisty family drama. The story centers around Ria and the wealthy family she married into, the Parkers. Everyone has secrets, especially this family!
Trusting his family was her first mistake. All Ria ever wanted was a family. Growing up alone in foster care, she imagined just how it would be. So when she fell in love with Grayson and had their daughter Shelley, she was determined to make his family love her too. She knew she’d never fit in with her glamorous sisters-in-law, or at the exclusive picture-perfect Chicago parties her mother-in-law threw, but with Grayson’s arm around her waist, she tried her best to be a Parker.
Everything changed when Grayson disappeared. Until one morning, Grayson leaves the house for work and never comes home. Left to raise Shelley alone, Ria is forced to turn to her husband’s family, to let her intimidating mother-in-law into her life, allow her to babysit Shelley, and accept her financial support. She tries to ignore the feeling that her sisters-in-law never thought she was good enough. They say they have no idea what happened to Grayson, and she tries very hard to believe them.
But Ria is about to learn that every Parker wife has secrets. And protecting her daughter might come at a terrible price.
Another book to add to your TO READ list on Goodreads, or pre-order on Amazon here.
YAY! For fans of Sophie Kinsella, get ready for excitement because our favorite main character, Becky Brandon, is back in Christmas Shopaholic! I was thrilled when I saw that this book was coming out in October. No matter what, author Sophie Kinsella never lets me down with her stories of hapless Becky and her entanglements.
Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) adores Christmas. It’s always the same – Mum and Dad hosting, carols playing, Mum pretending she made the Christmas pudding, and the next-door neighbours coming round for sherry in their terrible festive jumpers.
And now it’s even easier with online bargain-shopping sites – if you spend enough you even get free delivery. Sorted!
But this year looks set to be different. Unable to resist the draw of craft beer and smashed avocado, Becky’s parents are moving to ultra-trendy Shoreditch and have asked Becky if she’ll host Christmas this year. What could possibly go wrong?
With sister Jess demanding a vegan turkey, husband Luke determined that he just wants aftershave again, and little Minnie insisting on a very specific picnic hamper – surely Becky can manage all this, as well as the surprise appearance of an old boyfriend and his pushy new girlfriend, whose motives are far from clear . . .
Will chaos ensue, or will Becky manage to bring comfort and joy to Christmas?
By now I have read everything Sophie has written and I enjoy each one. These are fun books with a lot of heart and leave you feeling happy.
Pre-Order Christmas Shopaholic here!
Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris is an incredible story. It’s based on a real person and Cilka’s trials and experiences are harrowing and difficult to read. This book is by the author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz which is another must-read historical fiction book. It is unimaginable to me that a human being can withstand everything that Cilka went through, as I read this book I was captivated by the story but also horrified.
Here’s what you need to know:
Cilka is just sixteen years old when she is taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, in 1942. The Commandant at Birkenau, Schwarzhuber, notices her long beautiful hair, and forces her separation from the other women prisoners. Cilka learns quickly that power, even unwillingly given, equals survival.
After liberation, Cilka is charged as a collaborator for sleeping with the enemy and sent to Siberia. But what choice did she have? And where did the lines of morality lie for Cilka, who was sent to Auschwitz when still a child?
In a Siberian prison camp, Cilka faces challenges both new and horribly familiar, including the unwanted attention of the guards. But when she makes an impression on a woman doctor, Cilka is taken under her wing. Cilka begins to tend to the ill in the camp, struggling to care for them under brutal conditions.
Cilka finds endless resources within herself as she daily confronts death and faces terror. And when she nurses a man called Ivan, Cilka finds that despite everything that has happened to her, there is room in her heart for love.
This book was a solid five-star read. While I find it hard to read at times, I think it’s important we learn about people in history and honor their experiences.
Order the book now and it will be delivered on October 1.
The Ghosts of Eden Park by Karen Abbott is out now so if you enjoy true crime, and who doesn’t- because it’s fascinating- get your hands on this book! Truth is stranger than fiction and oftentimes the things people have done stun and shock me though it shouldn’t.
Here’s the scoop:
In the early days of Prohibition, long before Al Capone became a household name, a German immigrant named George Remus quits practicing law and starts trafficking whiskey. Within two years he’s a multimillionaire. The press calls him “King of the Bootleggers,” writing breathless stories about the Gatsby-esque events he and his glamorous second wife, Imogene, host at their Cincinnati mansion, with party favors ranging from diamond jewelry for the men to brand new Pontiacs for the women. By the summer of 1921, Remus owns 35 percent of all the liquor in the United States.
Pioneering prosecutor Mabel Walker Willebrandt is determined to bring him down. Willebrandt’s bosses at the U.S. Attorney’s office hired her right out of law school, assuming she’d pose no real threat to the cozy relationship they maintain with Remus. Eager to prove them wrong, she dispatches her best investigator, Franklin Dodge, to look into his empire. It’s a decision with deadly consequences: With Remus behind bars, Dodge and Imogene begin an affair and plot to ruin him, sparking a bitter feud that soon reaches the highest levels of government–and that can only end in murder.
This was an incredibly researched book and I enjoyed living in the world of prohibition for a while.
You find out more about this book and order it here!
I just started Her Mother’s Lies by Rona Halsall and I am already hooked! This promises to be a book that will probably make me stay up extra late tonight so I can find out what happens. Sometimes I am reading late into the night and my eyes are blurring because I am so tired but I can’t stop reading! Does this happen to you too?
He was there for her first steps, for her first day of school. He helped her with her homework, and took her for ice cream at the weekends. And then, two days before her ninth birthday, Martha’s father walked out. She never knew what went wrong, but she and her mother Fran never saw or heard from him again.
Fifteen years later, frustrated in a life which consists of caring for an increasingly-ill Fran, and heartbroken after the death of a beloved friend, Martha decides she needs some answers, and she knows it’s time to track down the father who left them behind.
Except when she comes face-to-face with him for the first time in fifteen years, he tells her a brutal truth.
He isn’t her father. Her mother has been telling lies. And not just about who her real father is…
Oh, those evil, controlling, lying mothers!! Especially the ones who keep secrets! Really good writing plus a plot that keeps me intrigued, this is the best combination! Get this book on
The Other Wife by Claire McGowan is a book written from multiple points of view which sometimes doesn’t work but in this case, it does. If you are like me, a HUGE fan of mysteries and thrillers, you will want to read this novel. I cannot get enough of books like this one that keeps you biting your nails in fear!
Suzi did a bad thing. She’s paying for it now, pregnant, scared, and living in an isolated cottage with her jealous husband, Nick.
When Nora moves into the only house nearby, Suzi is delighted to have a friend. So much so that she’s almost tempted to tell Nora her terrible secret. But there’s more to Nora than meets the eye. It’s impossible—does she already know what Suzi did?
Meanwhile, Elle spends her days in her perfect home, fixated on keeping up appearances. But when her husband betrays her, it unravels a secret going all the way back to her childhood. She’ll do whatever it takes to hold on to him, even if that means murder. After all, she’s done it before…
Caught up in their own secrets and lies, these strangers will soon realise they have more in common than they could ever have imagined. When a shocking event brings them together, their lives will never be the same again.
Many questions, secrets, and lies that I was kept guessing throughout. Highly recommended!
This book comes out on October 24! Pre-order now.
The Woman Upstairs by Ruth Heald was a suspenseful story that I read quickly. Katie is dating Ian and soon becomes pregnant with twins. When he offers to have her move into a beautiful new home, she is so excited but soon reality hits and the lovely place she thought she was moving into is actually a rundown dump of a home.
Because Ian is gone so much for work, Katie is all alone with this mess of a house. When she meets Paula, the two hit it off and Paula immediately offers to help Katie. But Paula is a little strange…and the things Ian has told Katie aren’t adding up. Is there anyone Katie can trust?
This book was twisty and dark and I enjoyed every page!
You’d be lost without her…She’s the shoulder you cry on when the father of your children disappears. She’s the person you turn to when he comes back, begging for forgiveness.
She’s by your side when you discover his guilty secrets. She helps rock your babies to sleep when they cry. She’s your friend when you have no one else. She’s the woman upstairs, whose feet you hear treading around as you drift off at night, thankful you aren’t alone.
But what if you’re about to lose everything because of her?
If you love dark page-turners, get this book now! Its only 99 cents on Kindle, a bargain!
