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Showing posts from December, 2017

Happiness for Humans - P Z Reizin

Description Don't tell anyone, but Jen is one of my favourite people. (Machines aren't supposed to have favourites. Don't ask me how this has happened.) Jen is sad. Aiden wants her to be happy. Simple? Except that Jen is a thirty-something woman whose boyfriend has just left her and Aiden is a very complicated, very expensive piece of software. Aiden knows Jen inside out. With access to all her devices, he knows her most played song, can find her favourite photos and single out the insta-quotes which most inspire her. Based on observations and unique algorithms, he has calculated that Jen should find a new man to achieve optimum wellbeing. And with the whole of the internet at his disposal, he doesn't have to look far to find a perfect specimen and engineer a meeting. Except Jen seems to be remarkably unwilling to fall in line with Aiden's flawless plan. Can a very artificially intelligent machine discover emotional intelligence in time to fix Jen'

Three Things About Elsie - Joanna Cannon

DESCRIPTION There are three things you should know about Elsie. The first thing is that she’s my best friend. The second is that she always knows what to say to make me feel better. And the third thing… might take a little bit more explaining. 84-year-old Florence has fallen in her flat at Cherry Tree Home for the Elderly. As she waits to be rescued, Florence wonders if a terrible secret from her past is about to come to light; and, if the charming new resident is who he claims to be, why does he look exactly a man who died sixty years ago? From the author of THE TROUBLE WITH GOATS AND SHEEP, this book will teach you many things, but here are three of them: 1) The fine threads of humanity will connect us all forever. 2) There is so very much more to anyone than the worst thing they have ever done. 3) Even the smallest life can leave the loudest echo. REVIEW What an unusual read this book is, so many facets to it and running through it a little whodunnit too. It's

Covent Garden in the Snow - Jules Wake

Description Tilly Hunter has fabulous friends, her dream job as a make-up artist with a prestigious opera company and Felix, her kind and caring husband to be. It looks set to be the most perfect Christmas yet! But when a monumental blunder forces her to work closely with new IT director Marcus Walker, it's not only the roast chestnut stalls on the cobbles of her beloved Covent Garden that cause sparks to fly… Super serious and brooding, Marcus hasn’t got a creative bone in his sharp-suited body. For technophobe Tilly, it's a match made in hell. And yet, when Tilly discovers her fiancé isn’t at all what he seems, it's Marcus who's there for her with a hot chocolate and a surprisingly strong shoulder to cry on … He might just be the best Christmas present she’s ever had. Review I must admit the cover of this book had a lot with me wanting to read it, I just wanted to step right inside that scene! Once I was inside I wasn't disappointed either. W

The Present - D S Devlin

Description 12 deadly gifts, one killer on a Christmas countdown… On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me… this is one deadly Christmas that you can’t forget. The police are baffled by the ‘Santa’ killer, who sends his intended victims gruesome presents based on the twelve days of Christmas. When a young journalist receives a mutilated bird in the post, it’s a race against time to find the killer… Review After reviewing the "other" book called The Present a few days ago I've now read the one I intend to. My review for the chicklit version has gone up on the page for this crime novel though! I'm not one for true crime and gory details and so those aspects of this book did not appeal to me, but it is written in such a homely way that it actually didn't seem as if those things were too real. This enabled me to just carry on reading and enjoy the whodunnit aspect of the novel. It's only taken me a couple of readings to get t

The Present - Charlotte Phillips

Description 12 magical gifts, one love that lasts a lifetime… On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me … one romantic Christmas you won’t forget. When helping to clear out her beloved grandmother’s home, Lucy Jackson discovers twelve beautiful Christmas decorations hidden in the loft. As she discovers their heartbreaking story, a touching romance develops with the handsome gardener next door. Review   I have to admit I actually got this book by mistake as Harper Collins have another book out by DS Devlin called The Present with an identical cover apart from the colourway. Even Amazon have reviews mixed up for each book and the profile for Charlotte Phillips on the book page for Devlin!  It doesn't help that both books centre on the 12 days of Christmas and a journalist. So - choose carefully, one is a romance - this one - the other a crime novel. After starting to read the book and wondering when the crime was going to happen I decided I actually wan

The Art of Hiding - Amanda Prowse

Description Nina McCarrick has it all: a loving husband, two beautiful boys, a well-appointed home and more time than she knows what to do with. Life is perfect. Until her husband, Finn, is killed in a car accident and everything Nina thought she could rely on unravels. Alone, bereft and faced with a mountain of debt, Nina’s life of luxury quickly disappears and she begins to question whether she ever really knew the man she married. Forced to move out of her family home, Nina returns to the rundown Southampton council estate—and the sister—she thought she had left far behind. But Nina can’t let herself be overwhelmed—her boys need her. To save them, and herself, she will have to do what her husband discouraged for so long: pursue a career of her own. Torn between the life she thought she knew and the reality she now faces, Nina finally must learn what it means to take control of her life. Stirring and empowering, this novel from bestselling author Amanda Prowse once again