Category: 4-Stars

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Book Review: The Runner by P.R. Black @PatBlack9 @Aria_Fiction @HoZ_Books

The Runner
by P.R. Black

Amazon  / B&N / Apple / GP / BB

Publication date: 08/07/2021

You can’t escape him.

He abducts lone joggers and forces them to run for their lives. When he catches them, he pulls out his blade…

Now he’s locked away and will be in prison for years. They call him a psychopath, a murderer, the ‘Woodcutter Killer’.

But what if you just found out you’re supposed to call him father?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Glenn ate crisps the way a squirrel might; his hands moved so fast you had to slow the film down a little to see them, and his jaws clashed in rapid-fire.

 

Another man was with them, with a high, receding hairline, glasses and a tweed jacket. He had a pinkish hue to his face, as if he’d recently shed his skin. Freya could only categorise his appearance as that of a teacher who frightened you.

 

She let herself in, turned on every light, screamed aloud before she hurled open each and every cupboard, poked underneath the bed with a broom handle and was particularly vicious with every pair of curtains before she was satisfied that she was absolutely, positively alone.

 

My Review:

 

This one was quite a bit outside of my comfort zone for creepiness and the crimes depicted were cringe-worthy, gruesome, and disquieting, I worry about having those images in my head. P.R. Black is one twisted mamma jamma and his neighbors should be cautious and quietly tiptoe past as with the snap of the fingers he could easily plot clever vengeance on anyone who disturbs his contemplations, knocks over his bins, or allows their dog to piddle on his plants.

The writing was strikingly descriptive and pulled strong and haunting visuals that often left me shuddering, but I am a bit of a wimp. I will seek out lighter fare for my next read in order to catch my breath and flush out residual tension and adrenaline. The storylines were busy and itchy, and relentlessly poked and prodded my curiosity while also causing my stomach to churn. I often found my teeth clenched and shoulders in my ears yet I was intrigued and much liked the Woodcutter’s victims, I was hopelessly ensnared. Mr. Black has mad skills.

 

About the Author

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Pat Black is kind to spiders.

He is the author of The Long Dark Road and the Amazon bestsellers, The Beach House and The Family.

His short stories have been shortlisted for awards including the Bridport Prize and the Bloody Scotland short story competition. He was also longlisted for the William Hazlitt essay prize.

He was named one of the winners of The Daily Telegraph’s Ghost Stories competition, and his work has been performed on stage in London by Liars’ League.

He lives in Yorkshire, but will always belong to Glasgow. He knows full well what your opinions are about people who talk about themselves in the third person.

 

Follow Head of Zeus:

Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / Website

 

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Book Review: Bubblegum and Blazers by Isabella May @IsabellaMayBks  @rararesources 

Bubblegum and Blazers
by Isabella May

Amazon  /  BB

When Ali, Blake, Charlotte, and Grant sign contracts to star in a Back to School reality TV show, LOVE is the very last thing on their minds:

Ali flies to the UK from New Zealand, intrigued by the golden opportunity to advance her amateur social media influencer career.

Blake carpe diems the moment with both hands after a constant flurry of bad luck.

Charlotte jumps at the chance to relive her sporting glories of the past – and take a hiatus from her humdrum marriage.

And Grant is just relieved to get away from his failing second-hand music shop.

But once the advances hit their bank accounts, it soon becomes apparent that producer Jock’s Pied Piper-style offer to change their lives is distinctly lacking in sherbet fizz!

In fact, the only sweet thing about this gig for the former students and the rest of their Bubblegum and Blazers competitors may just be the packet of candy in their pockets.

Re-enacting their past is a rollercoaster of revelations, retaliation, and an unlikely romance in a gold-fish bowl of mayhem where Raphael (Agony Uncle of the school sweet shop) and his rhubarb and custards reign supreme…

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Celeste Carey and her legs that went on forever and ever… and ever. Hell, no. Blake had never had the hots for her. The girl had reveled in spreading herself about like margarine ever since Year Four. But to Blake she was Marmite – and he’d never been a fan of the stuff.

 

He wasn’t cut out for things like this. If all the world was a stage, then he was part of the lighting crew behind it.

 

 My Review

 

 This was a fun, fast-paced, and highly eventful read with a clever and entertaining premise and multiple amusing storylines featuring a full slate of comically quirky characters to fill a reality show.   The writing was highly descriptive and laced with sharply-edged humor. Although, for the life of me, I cannot imagine doing the same, as it would take shackles at gunpoint for me to return to the small jerk-water town of my youth to spend any amount of time confined with the yahoos of my graduating class. Not even for a million smackers. My tactics would most likely result in massive bloodletting or incarceration and more shackles, so it is safer for mankind to remain an ocean away. I’m thoughtful like that 😉

 

About the Author

Isabella May lives in (mostly) sunny Andalusia, Spain with her husband, daughter, and son, creatively inspired by the mountains and the sea. Having grown up on Glastonbury’s ley lines, however, she’s unable to completely shake off her spiritual inner child and is a Law of Attraction fanatic, as well as a Pranic Healer.

After a degree in Modern Languages and European Studies at UWE, Bristol (and a year working abroad in Bordeaux and Stuttgart), Isabella bagged an extremely jammy and fascinating job in children’s publishing… selling foreign rights for novelty, board, pop-up, and non-fiction books all over the world; in every language from Icelandic to Korean, Bahasa Indonesian to Papiamento!

All of which has fuelled her curiosity and love of international food and travel – both feature extensively in her cross-genre novels, fused with a dollop of romcom, and a sprinkle of magical realism.

Social Media Links –

www.isabellamayauthor.com

Twitter – @IsabellaMayBks

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/IsabellaMayAuthor/

Instagram – @isabella_may_author

 

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Book Review: Between You and Me by Carol Mason @CarolMasonBooks  @rararesources 

Between You and Me
by Carol Mason

Amazon  / B&N / BB

Is her new husband really who she thinks he is?

When young doctor Lauren Matheson meets Joe, an older divorced businessman, at a glittering poolside in California, it’s a chance encounter that seems life-changing for them both. Back home in London, their feelings only strengthen. But Lauren soon discovers that building a happy future with Joe is going to be an uphill struggle…

She’s determined to be a good stepmother to his children, four-year-old Toby, and complicated teen Grace. But under the watchful eye of Meredith, Joe’s intimidating ex-wife, Lauren can’t seem to do a thing right. Why won’t Joe ever take her side against Grace? And what really happened between him and Meredith?

As her husband retreats into a cold, secretive version of the dashing man she met in California, Lauren starts to wonder if she’s made a costly mistake. Was Joe ever the man she thought she married?

My Rating:

  

My Review:

 

This was one of those maddening tales that kept me reading well into the night while greatly annoyed with ALL the characters. They each needed a few firm pinches and even a swat or two to the back of the head. Ms. Mason excels at creating curiously compelling yet vile characters I love to hate. Her well-textured and shrewdly paced storytelling lures me into an interwoven trail of storylines, each with an itchy web of nebulous veracity and questionable sincerity, and I just can’t help myself.

About the Author

Carol Mason is the Amazon Charts and Kindle #1 bestselling author After You Left (more than 300,000 copies sold), The Secrets of Married Women, The Last Time We Met, The Shadow Between Us, Send Me A Lover, and Little White Secrets which hit the Bookstat digital bestsellers list top 3 in the week of its launch. She was born in the North East of England where most of her novels are set. She now lives in Canada with her Canadian husband, a rescue dog from Kuwait, and a three-legged cat. When not writing, Carol loves to read, cook, and binge-watch Netflix.

Social Media Links –

https://www.facebook.com/CarolMasonAuthor

https://twitter.com/CarolMasonBooks

https://www.instagram.com/carolmasonauthor/

 

 

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Book Review: The Essence of Nathan Biddle by J. William Lewis   @TLCBookTours

The Essence of Nathan Biddle
by J. William Lewis

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Amazon  / B&N / GP/ BB

 

A subtly wicked, almost Southern Gothic tale of existential angst told by 18-year-old Kit Biddle, an anti-Gumpian southern boy struggling with the complexities of life. The story unfolds against a backdrop of painful chaos: Kit’s revered uncle, Nathaniel Tyler Biddle, Jr., has sacrificed his only son on direct and specific orders, according to Rev. Biddle, from God himself. As Kierkegaard has suggested, the comic and the tragic converge on Kit’s desperate search for meaning in a willy-nilly world of opaque walls and filtered light.

The enigmatic Anna appears with all the attributes of Kit’s yearning and imagination and then, just like that, she disappears like a phantom in a fog, only to be replaced by the enigmatic Sarah who reverses the roles and projects onto Kit all her desires and imaginings. Standing on one leg in the darkness, Death beckons to Kit with a promise of light and comfort but instead leaves him lying in his own blood on hot pavement with neither clarity nor relief. Who is Kit Biddle? He may actually be Nathan Biddle but who in the world is that?

When the fog dissipates—if the clarity he seeks finally appears—does Kit really want the answers he finds?

My Rating:

 

Favorite Quotes:

 

Newt is blessed with a mass of unruly blond hair, an engaging smile, and a con man’s gift of schmooze. He has found little difficulty convincing women that he is misunderstood; he has had some difficulty getting them to remain convinced for more than a year, sometimes even less than that.

 

The “general theory of cranial calibration,” as Lichtman and I formulated it, is that the size of a girl’s brain is inversely proportional to the size of her boobs.

 

“He thinks he’s a wit,” I said testily. “He’s only half right.”

 

An exquisite random squib had appeared in the dark of my life, and I was grateful. I can’t remember some things and I’m sure I’m going to forget some more, but I’ll bet I won’t ever forget Cassandra prancing on that log wearing her plain cotton panties and a devilish grin. Maybe the really beautiful things are like that: little glowing sparks in the mundane darkness of everyday existence.

 

He has become my mother’s “special friend” whose specialness I have unfortunately failed to appreciate.

 

He all about booze and self-pity. He caught tragedy and now he spreads it like a virus.

 

Newt says he and Uncle Nat fought a lot, and he stopped shaving and bathing and looked and acted like Bigfoot on a moonshine binge.

 

She’s pretty, but she’s not bright. Lichtman described her perfectly. He said Dayla is built like an Italian sports car but her engine sputters. If you mention something more complicated than shoe size or the weather, she’ll stare at you like you’ve said something in Swahili.

My Review:

 

I am conflicted about how to rate this one.   I struggled with this book, and valiantly I might add. I had even considered a DNF but there were pros and cons to pushing forward and I’m honestly glad I did, but it was an arduous and challenging read. I found it cleverly amusing and wittily insightful for the most part but I also felt oddly annoyed and aggravated and it took considerable effort to push through the various characters’ cerebral postulating as well as the stratospheric level of vocabulary used. I typically read a book a day, yet this one took me three.

The main character of Kit had an odd childhood and bizarre family who obviously had a surfeit of intelligence but didn’t know what to do with it. Kit was floundering and exasperating. He was also unfocused, lazy, obsessive, uncommitted, aimless, and besotted with a girl who clearly and repeatedly told him she wasn’t interested. His teenaged angst and general malaise had me appreciating the fact I no longer have to work with adolescents. Retirement is sweeeeet!

The premise and storylines were oddly compelling while cast with a quirky collection of characters who, other than the lovely Sarah, were disturbingly repellent and truly ghastly creatures. I reveled in the humor of his descriptions and observations of others, but I was often felt bogged down in the prose. The author either has a treasure trove of unusual words circling his cranium or wrote with a thesaurus in his lap. I just know I am thankful I read on a Kindle with a built-in dictionary. I love words and while being far from mentally deficient I felt as such as I wore the battery down on my beloved device while frequently required to halt my perusal to look up the meanings of words like pluperfect, opacity, and lagniappe. Uncommon words I will most likely have to look up again if I ever run across them a second time.

But my main source of discontent was the ending, there wasn’t one. I am still stamping my little foot in pique; I need a semblance of closure and don’t have it. However, when I looked back at my highlighted and favorite passages, which were significantly pared down in this review, I was awed by the author’s craft and am determined to respect his process.

 

About the Author

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Alabama native J. William Lewis is a former lawyer who lives in Shoal Creek, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. Born in Chickasaw, Alabama, Lewis grew up in Mobile. He graduated from Spring Hill College (A.B., magna cum laude, English and Philosophy) where he was a member of Alpha Sigma Nu and recipient of the Merihl Award. While in college, Lewis served as editor-in-chief of the literary magazine The Motley. Lewis received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and served on the Editorial Board of the Virginia Law Review.

After a clerkship for the Honorable Walter P. Gewin on the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Lewis practiced law in Birmingham for over three and a half decades.

Presently, Lewis serves as executive officer of his family’s investment company, Seaman Capital, LLC, and related companies.

He has been married to Lorraine Seaman Lewis for more than half a century.

The Essence of Nathan Biddle is his debut novel.

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Book Review: Guarded Hart (Cross Creek, #3) by Kelly Collins  @kcollinsauthor

Guarded Hart
(Cross Creek, #3)
by Kelly Collins

 

Amazon  / BB

Welcome to Cross Creek where secrets abound, but love conquers all. Or does it?

I’ve been keeping a secret. One that could change a lot of lives, including my own. I came to Cross Creek to find my father. He’s the difference between life and death for me. During my search, I found love, only sexy builder Ethan Lockhart isn’t having any of it. I’ve done my best to make him mine, but he’s more slippery than a fish in a brook. I built my life here on a lie, but my feelings for this man are true. Will the secrets I keep destroy what Ethan and I creating?

 

I’m not the guy anyone picks first, so when Angie Sutton started flirting with my brother, I wasn’t surprised—that is until I found out she was doing it to get my attention. But this time, I’m determined not to give my heart away—not until I know who she really is. Letting someone get too close too fast is a blueprint for disaster. No matter how deeply I’m drawn to her, I know she’s hiding something, and until she can be honest with me, we don’t have a future.

Find out if the truth can really set you free in Guarded Hart, book three in the Cross Creek Series.

 

My Rating:

 

Favorite Quotes:

 

With careful steps, he made his way down the ladder. His shirt rode up, showing off his powerful body, and I had to stare. Any girl with working ovaries couldn’t look away.

 

I always had that sixth sense about things. I called it intuition. My brothers called it paranoia.

  

My Review:

 

Shucks, only one remaining Hart brother to go but there is still a small community that could continue this small-town contemporary romance series for quite some time. While angstier than I was expecting, the storylines tackled real-life issues and concerns in an insightful, entertaining, and informative manner. I was completely ignorant of the medical condition involved before reading this heart-squeezing installment which featured a cast of realistically flawed and struggling yet still endearing main characters. Thankfully, I trust the author to always deliver that highly desired HEA, as she has never failed me. I adore Kelly Collins and firmly believe she must be in possession of a magical pen.

ABOUT KELLY COLLINS   

 

  Goodreads  / Website  / Amazon / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Bookbub

International bestselling author of over 30 novels, Kelly Collins writes with the intention of keeping the love alive. Always a romantic, she blends real-life events with her vivid imagination to create characters and stories that lovers of contemporary romance, new adult, and romantic suspense will return to again and again.

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Book Review: Death on the Lake (DCI Satterthwaite #5) by Jo Allen  @JoAllenAuthor @rararesources 

 

Death on the Lake
(DCI Satterthwaite #5)
by Jo Allen

Amazon

 

Three youngsters, out for a good time. Vodka and the wrong sort of Coke. What could possibly go wrong?

When a young woman, Summer Raine, is found drowned, apparently accidentally, after an afternoon spent drinking on a boat on Ullswater, DCI Jude Satterthwaite is deeply concerned — more so when his boss refuses to let him investigate the matter any further to avoid compromising a fraud case.

But a sinister shadow lingers over the dale and one accidental death is followed by another and then by a violent murder. Jude’s life is complicated enough but the latest series of murders are personal to him as they involve his former partner, Becca Reid, who has family connections in the area. His determination to uncover the killer brings him into direct conflict with his boss — and ultimately places both him and his colleague and girlfriend, Ashleigh O’Halloran, in danger…

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He’ll have persuaded himself that what he’s doing is somehow okay, just as those kids will have persuaded themselves there’s nothing really wrong with taking drugs. People are very quick to persuade themselves that something illegal really ought not to be and therefore it’s okay to do it. You must see it often. The illusion of victimless crime.

 

Miranda’s nerves tautened, as if they were the strings on a violin and a violinist was pulling then ever tighter, the pitch increasing. Any minute now and they’d start screeching, like the background music in Psycho.

 

No one went upstairs in his cottage. The dust would be as thick as March snow up there, and after he’d gone whoever came to clean up would be able to roll it up like a mat and throw it away.

 

Doing the right thing always did lose you friends. The more Jude saw it happen, the more he wondered why anyone bothered.

 

 My Review:

 

 I am relatively new to this genre so Jo Allen is a recent discovery and new favorite. I have enjoyed this smartly written and complex series and continue to look forward to the next. The characters’ personal lives and personalities are as intriguing as the criminal cases they are laboring to solve.  This case was another cleverly plotted head-scratcher laced with insightful observations and quirky secondary characters, and more of what I’ve come to expect from this crafty scribe.

 

About the Author

Jo Allen was born in Wolverhampton and is a graduate of Edinburgh, Strathclyde, and the Open University. After a career in economic consultancy, she took up writing and was first published under the name Jennifer Young in genres of short stories, romance, and romantic suspense. In 2017 she took the plunge and began writing the genre she most likes to read – crime. Now living in Edinburgh, she spends as much time as possible in the English Lakes. In common with all her favorite characters, she loves football (she’s a season ticket holder with her beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers) and cats.

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Book Review: Murder at Elm House (Miss Underhay #6) by Helena Dixon @NellDixon @Bookouture

Murder at Elm House
(Miss Underhay #6)
by Helena Dixon

Amazon  / B&N 

 

Kitty Underhay feels the touch… of death.

Accidental amateur sleuth Kitty Underhayis being escorted by ex-army captain Matthew Bryant on an errand of mercy, as she takes a basket of grapes to her nemesis Mrs. Craven, who is recuperating from a recent operation. But their arrival at Elm House Nursing Home coincides with the mysterious death of Lady Wellings, a long-term resident.

The woman was known to be ill, so when the police turn a disinterested ear to Mrs. Craven’s suspicion that Lady Wellings was poisoned, Kitty decides to look into the case herself. And when another invalid, the gentle Mrs. Pearson, collapses fatally in the breakfast room, it seems her suspicions are well-founded. For an institution promising health and rejuvenation, there seems to be a very low survival rate amongst the guests!

When the nurse Eloise Hibbert hints at sinister goings-on among the staff, Kitty arranges to meet her away from the home to uncover how deep the treachery lies. However, before she can make the rendezvous, Eloise meets an unfortunate end falling from the top of the building. Was she pushed by the hand of fate, or a cold-blooded killer?

Meanwhile, Matt has been following an entirely different trail of evidence, and what he finds out chills him to the bone. When Kitty fails to return from her unsuccessful meeting, it is clear she has stumbled onto a plot far more devious than they could have imagined, and into a trap laid by an unscrupulous killer…

An utterly sensational and addictive Golden Age murder mystery. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey, and Lee Strauss.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

The general’s bushy brows knitted together like two angry silver beetles.

 

My Review:

 

Helena Dixon is a smooth storyteller and I enjoy her comfortable and engaging writing style. Her scenes are complete and thoroughly set and flicker through my cranium as effortlessly as a movie reel with colorful and vivid details and descriptions of texture, appearance, sound, smell, and the inner musings of the main characters as they interact. The main characters were instantly likable and appealing while her secondary characters were uniquely eccentric.

 

Most notably, Ms. Dixon’s clever arrangements of words are of the rare quality that keeps me continually engaged, amused, and ever-curious with a cracking good mystery while still being tame and gentle enough to recommend to my elderly mother’s book club of church ladies; which is admittedly an uncommon occurrence.

 

And score – I have a new addition to my Brit Words and Phrases list with mare’s nest, which Mr. Google tells me is a deliberate hoax or illusion.

About the Author

Nell Dixon was born and continues to live in the Black Country. Married to the same man for over thirty-five years she has three daughters, a cactus called Spike, a crazy cockapoo, and a tank of tropical fish. She is allergic to adhesives, apples, tinsel, and housework. Her addictions of choice are coffee and reality TV. She was the winner of The Romance Prize in 2007 with her book Marrying Max, and the winner of Love Story of the Year 2010 with her book, Animal Instincts. She also writes historical 1930’s set cozy crime as Helena Dixon.

 

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Book Review: The Happy Family by Jackie Kabler @jackiekabler  @rararesources 

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The Happy Family
by Jackie Kabler

Amazon  / B&N / Apple / GP / BB

A mother who disappeared… 
When Beth was 10 years old, her beautiful, wild mother Alice walked out and never came back. Beth’s life since hasn’t always been smooth sailing, but now she is happy and settled, with a successful career, a loving family, and a beautiful home.

An unexpected visitor…
Then one day there’s a knock at the door. Alice has returned. Overjoyed to have the chance to rebuild their relationship, Beth invites her mother to move in.

A life that comes crashing down…
At first, everything seems wonderful. But then Beth’s friends begin to drift away, strange things start to happen at home, and rumors begin to circle about her past. As the mysterious events around Beth become darker and more dangerous, she is forced to question everything. Is somebody in her life trying to destroy her happiness? And how far will they go?

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

There will be more rain, more darkness, of course there will. But there will always be rainbows. You just have to weather the storm, and then lift your face up and look for them.

My Review:

 

This was a slowly unfolding, busy, and multi-layered tale that kept me tethered to my Kindle, although I was conflicted with the main character throughout as I found her to be annoying and rather witless. Maybe because I was a mercilessly bullied youth myself, so I had a heaping helping of antagonism toward her for being such a horrid and vicious little madam as a pubescent young teen, and then a somewhat erratic and anxious adult. Yet this infuriatingly crafty author had me ensnared and I remained edgy and curiously vexed and aggravated as I nibbling on my cuticles while reading. Jackie Kabler is a wily one.  I couldn’t seem to read fast enough.

 

About the Author

Jackie Kabler worked as a newspaper reporter and then in television news for twenty years, including nearly a decade on GMTV. She later appeared on BBC and ITV news, presented a property show for Sky, hosted sports shows on Setanta Sports News, and worked as a media trainer for the Armed Forces. She is now a presenter on the shopping channel QVC. The Happy Family is her sixth book; previous novels include the international bestseller The Perfect Couple. Jackie lives in Gloucestershire with her husband.

Social Media Links –

Twitter @jackiekabler

Instagram @officialjackiekabler

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Book Review:  The Ticklemore Treasure Trove by Liz Davies @LizDaviesAuthor @rararesources  

The Ticklemore Treasure Trove
by Liz Davies

 

Amazon  / BB

Nell Chapman has always assumed that one (or the other) of her twin sons would help run her antique shop once they finished university. The boys, however, have other plans, when they announce they’re going backpacking for a year, leaving Nell feeling bereft and lonely.

Not only that, but with their father (her lying, cheating ex-husband) back on the scene and demanding half of the business, there might not be anything left for her boys to help manage when they return.

However, she hasn’t counted on the unexpected support of local landscape artist, Silas Long. And neither has she considered the possibility she might fall in love again – especially since Silas is so distant and moody, and has his own cross to bear.

Should Nell take a chance and risk her heart, or should she leave well alone? And why has Silas painted her portrait if he doesn’t feel anything for her?

A perfect romantic read for fans of Heidi Swain and Sarah Morgan

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

The thoughts she was having about Riley were downright bad, evil almost. She’d had a moment last night when she’d imagined burying him under the patio. The problem was that she didn’t have a patio. And if she had one, she wasn’t sure whether she’d want his body underneath it.

 

…. when Hattie is in this mood it’s easier to give in and go along, rather than try to fight her. She’s more tenacious than a meerkat digging for a scorpion.

 

‘Barry wants me to sell up and move into an old people’s complex,’ the grumpy one said. ‘When I told him, “over my dead body”, I could have sworn he was measuring me up for my coffin.’

 

‘Her name is Tanesha, and she’s a poppet. If you ignore the tongue-piercing.’ Hattie stuck her tongue out and shuddered. ‘I try not to look at it, but I can’t help it. Anyway, she seems sensible enough for a seventeen-year-old and she can speak in proper sentences.’

 

‘Please look a bit happier,’ Juliette pleaded. ‘The pair of you look like you’ve lost a pound and found a penny.’

My Review:

 

This was a sweet and appealing tale of small village life laced with humor and featured a blossoming attraction between fellow shop owners in transition, family drama, and a villainous ex.   The writing style was engaging and flowed smoothly with endearing and likable characters and entertaining and relatable storylines that were easy to follow and engaging. I’m already looking forward to the next installment as I always enjoy my forays to Ticklemore. The character of Hattie is one of my favorite octogenarians and a force of nature; I aspire to her level of feistiness at any age.

About the Author

Liz Davies writes feel-good, light-hearted stories with a hefty dose of romance, a smattering of humor, and a great deal of love.

She’s married to her best friend, has one grown-up daughter, and when she isn’t scribbling away in the notepad she carries with her everywhere (just in case inspiration strikes), you’ll find her searching for that perfect pair of shoes. She loves to cook but isn’t very good at it, and loves to eat – she’s much better at that! Liz also enjoys walking (preferably on the flat), cycling (also on the flat), and lots of sitting around in the garden on warm, sunny days.

She currently lives with her family in Wales, but would ideally love to buy a camper van and travel the world in it.

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Book Review: The Mix-Up by Elizabeth Neep @elizabeth_neep @Bookouture

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The Mix-Up
by Elizabeth Neep

Amazon  / B&N / Apple / GP / BB

What if you meet the love of your life, but he thinks you’re someone else?

Anna and Marley are best friends. So when Anna rings Marley, panicking because she has to miss a tour of an exclusive wedding venue, Marley agrees to go in her friend’s place. After being totally ignored by the glamorous receptionist who can tell she doesn’t belong there, Marley meets handsome hotel manager Cameron. He assumes she’s Anna and instead of admitting that she’s not the blushing bride, but the unlucky-in-love single friend, Marley plays along to see what it’s like to be Anna for a day.

After all, Marley is unemployed, single, and was woken up that morning by her flatmate playing the bagpipes. Anna has a high-flying career and is planning the perfect wedding. Why wouldn’t Marley want to be her?

Only she wasn’t counting on Cameron being so smart and funny. Or this spark between them that she can’t ignore. She hasn’t felt this way about a guy in forever. But he thinks she’s somebody better.

Marley needs a way out of this mix-up to get her shot at true love. But her fictional fiancé is now standing in her way and it’s harder than she thought to stop living someone else’s life…

A funny, uplifting, and poignant story of friendship, love, and finding your way. Fans of Dolly Alderton, Mhairi McFarlane, and Holly Bourne will adore Elizabeth Neep’s wit and warmth.

My Rating:

My Review:

 

While I enjoyed the premise and humor of this women’s fiction story, I struggled some with most of the main characters and their immature behaviors. They were annoying me I didn’t find them all that likable, yet I was invested in their tale and was curious to see how their story would unwind.   I’m glad I stuck it out as it was well worth the effort when it all came together with some clever sleight of hand.   The set-ups were often humorous with the characters’ duplicities snowballing and compounding, as lies tend to do. There were a few unexpected twists and curveballs I would never have seen coming that were quite ingeniously contrived. My favorite of all was the caped crusader stoner, he was brilliantly developed to be underestimated.

About the Author

Elizabeth Neep was born in 1990 in Derbyshire and now lives in London Bridge. After studying Law at the University of Nottingham and the University of New South Wales, she worked in magazine journalism, most noticeably writing for Dazed and Confused and PETRIe. Elizabeth now works as a non-fiction Senior Commissioning Editor and writes and paints in her spare time.
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