BOOKSIMO

Endearingly flawed and battered-around-the-edges, Charlotte has managed to fashion herself a life that balances marriage and a writing career, but now Esmé, the charming friend Charlotte betrayed at university, stands at Charlotte’s door: Surprise! Charlotte yearns to make amends, but she’s wary. Esmé makes no mention of Charlotte’s old betrayal and the two resume their friendship, but soon enough a request from Esmé will upend Charlotte’s careful world.  Suspenseful, witty, with spot-on evocations of university life in the late 1980s,  As Good as Dead  performs an exquisite psychological high-wire act, exploring loves and friendships poisoned by secrets and fears. I settled down with this book hoping for a really intriguing read. Unfortunately my intrigue waned when the book began to weave back and forth and bring in issues from the past. I read on hoping that these would be integral to the story - which they were, but it was so drawn out that when we came back to the future I th

Something a little different from me today. I've linked up with On My Bookshelf  and Suze Likes Loves Finds and Dreams  for their Christmas countdown of giveaways. I'm featured on the blog today and my giveaway to those that enter on the site through the Rafflecopter widget is the notebook and a card handmade by me - as shown above. So pop over and enter to win!

They say it’s better to battle the devil you know. But what if you don’t recognize him before it’s too late? She knows her name is Amelia, but after waking up in a hospital battered and bruised with just the clothes on her back, it’s all she knows. Unable to piece together her shattered memory, she’s haunted by a vision: menacing faces and voices implying her nightmare is far from over. Relying only on her wits and her will to live, Amelia becomes a fugitive from a mysterious man, and a life she can’t even remember. But the past she’s fleeing has no intention of letting her go. I've really enjoyed reading this book. The author is in fact two people but this doesn't show at all in the writing it flowed seamlessly. They have eleven crime fiction awards, so I should have known it would be good, but I didn't read any of that before I began the book. For me the characters voices in this book were so credible, I really felt like I got to know them, especially Ameli

Christmas is just around the corner but the women of The Chocolate Lovers' Club have more to worry about than present shopping . . .  Lucy  loves running Chocolate Heaven but she hasn't spent time with her boyfriend, Aiden, in weeks. And then her ex-fiance turns up and things become even more complicated.  Nadia  hasn't let herself get close to a man in a long time, yet she can't help feeling drawn to Jacob. Will he be her last chance for a happy ending? Chantal  and her husband, Ted, are besotted with their baby daughter Lana - but she's not sure that's enough to base a marriage on. Autumn  is dealing with a tragedy that has hit too close to home. But when she doesn't get the support she needs from her fiance, will she look elsewhere for comfort? Can friendship overcome all in . . .  The Chocolate Lovers' Christmas . This is the third book in the chocolate Lovers' series by Carole Matthews and I have read them all. Consistently a feel good read,

The crash is the unravelling of Margaret Holloway. Trapped inside a car about to explode, she is rescued by a scarred stranger who then disappears. Margaret remembers little, but she's spent her life remembering little - her childhood is full of holes and forgotten memories. Now she has a burning desire to discover who she is and why her life has been shrouded in secrets. What really happened to her when she was a child? Could it have anything to do with the mysterious man who saved her life? Flitting effortlessly between past and present, this is a suspenseful, gritty and emotionally charged journey of an estranged father and daughter, exploring the strength of family ties and our huge capacity for forgiveness. I have to admit that the title of this book put me off reading it for a while. It was on my to be read list and it came around to the top so I decided to read it. Straight away I thought - why did I not read this sooner! I was gripped from the beginning, both by

I'm not sure there is a product description for this book, and having read it on my kindle, I don't know what the "back page cover" said. This is a book from my personal bookshelf, which I decided to read mainly because of all the hype surrounding it. It's taken me a while to get around to it mainly because I wasn't sure what it was about and also the lobster on the cover put me off! So, what is it all about? Don Tillman is a genetics professor who views the world very logically due to him I believe having Aspergers Syndrome. To me he comes across as Spock meets Roy Cropper (Coronation Street).  He has reached the age of 40 and the research he has read points to married men living longer and happier lives. So he decides to tackle the acquisition of a wife in the same way he would his research. He formulates a questionnaire to garner suitable candidates to be his wife. Alongside this is his friend, Gene, who is also a professor and collecting wome

 A BIG story about a small boy who sees the world a little  differently For fans of  The Rosie Project ,  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time  and  Wonder , comes this spellbinding and generous-hearted tale about a small boy who just wanted his gran to come home. The description of what this book was about was very vague, as you can see from the blurb above. So in deciding to read it,  I went on the premise that I had enjoyed the other books cited and I wasn't disappointed. Milo is a 9 year old boy - but this book is not a children's book. Although the tale is told through Milo's eyes some of it is very grown up material - like when he catches his Dad with his "tart".  Basically the book is about Milo's Gran who goes into Forget Me Not Nursing Home, whereas he wants her to continue to leave with him and his Mum at home. Milo doesn't think she is being cared for properly and sets about investigating behind the scenes at the ho