Once upon a time, there was a man who stood aside, imagining he could live someone else’s life and dreaming of something which would never be his; yet he wasn’t ready to give it up.

Once upon a time, there was a man who loved a woman. His only wish was to watch her achieve her dreams – without knowing that the only dream she ever wanted to achieve was him.

Once upon a time, there was a woman afraid that no one would ever be able to love her – without knowing that there was a man who had loved nothing but her for his entire life.

That man is me: Reid Johnson. And that woman is her: my deepest secret. Fine, so I have a few secrets – but it would be best not to reveal them, as they could take everything I have away from me. And without those secrets, I’d have nothing to dream of.

There are two things you should know about me before deciding whether or not to read this story:

I’ve never been the person everyone thinks I am.

I’ve never been the man she believes me to be.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

It’s been eleven years, and she still smells the same. She smells like freshly-cut grass, like the morning sunrise. She smells like the sea, washing up forgotten memories. She smells like wood crackling in a fireplace. Sloan smells like home: the only home I could ever dream of going back to every night.

You have this armour of cynicism, this tough exterior, but then you do or say things that totally go against your personality, and I can’t understand why. You confuse me.

 My Review:

I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy the character of Reid for several chapters into the book, although his snarky inner musings and rude and snappy banter often had me snorting into my coffee.   I really should know better than to sip while perusing such a wickedly funny author.

The engaging and provocative storylines hit all the feels and were well woven and laced together with teasing tendrils of hidden complications and issues kept just out of reach yet periodically dangled in a taunting manner to keep me tethered to my kindle. My brain was itching with questions and theories. A.S. Kelly is a rather ruthless tease and a sly and crafty mistress of words. I am eager to amass and lose myself in more of her clever tales.

When her husband David announces he’s been offered a job in New York, Saoirse is thrilled. The glamour of the big city, the shopping, the culture, not to mention the free Manhattan apartment and business class airfare – what’s not to like? There’s just the small matter of making it work for their daughter, five-year-old Anna, who isn’t so keen to leave her friends and school behind.

The Big Apple in the middle of summer isn’t quite the holiday Saoirse envisaged, and with David away with work, New York apartment sizes on the minuscule side, and the pace of life faster than the sleepy London suburbs, solo ex-pat parenting pushes Saoirse to her limits.

And as the pressure builds and ‘faking it till she makes it’ isn’t cutting it, there’s only one thing for it – Saoirse and Anna need a new plan, and ‘Winging It’ might be their best option…

Emma Murray returns with this laugh-out-loud funny, compulsively page-turning adventure about parenting, traveling, and finding your tribe – on both sides of the pond. 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Eventually, I do what I always do when faced with a complex problem: I push it to the back of my mind and pretend it doesn’t exist.

I do everything in my power to stop my face from falling. Just when you think you’ve found a new friend, she turns out to be in the PTA.

‘Well, I don’t mean to generalise but I’m not sure if Americans are into swearing,’ I say, hoping I haven’t offended them… Roars of protest follow. Darcy’s voice is the loudest. ‘Of course I swear!’ she says indignantly. ‘I have five kids and a husband who still hasn’t learned the kids’ soccer timetable, or how to take out the trash.’ … A feeling of pure exhilaration fills my chest. Maybe, just maybe, I have found my American tribe.

This is our first time celebrating Thanksgiving and I really enjoy the festiveness of the occasion. Mind you, I think it’s fair to say that Anna doesn’t quite grasp the concept: her teacher laughingly told me that when she gave a smooth rock to each of the kids and asked them to paint what they were grateful for, Anna wrote ‘iPad’ when everyone else wrote ‘Mom’, ‘Dad’, ‘God’ or ‘Jesus’. At least David and I know where we sit in the pecking order.

‘Come on, Mummy!’ Anna says, pulling at my sleeve impatiently. ‘Jen is having a connip-shit!’ A fit of giggles rises up in my chest. ‘I think you mean “conniption”.’

My Review:

This was my introduction to the cleverly amusing wit of Emma Murray, and I found it good fun as she kept a near-constant smirk on my face during perusal. The storylines were comical, engaging, original, and easy to follow. I enjoyed all the characters as they were generally likable, realistically flawed, and accessible and even the obnoxious ones were humorously entertaining with knowable and recognizable traits. I look forward to reading this author again and again.

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The Cold Killer
(DI Barton #4)
by Ross Greenwood

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

‘How’s your wife?’ Mortis’s wife had just got over a cancer scare… ‘She’s great. Demands sex every day.’ ‘Nice. With anyone we know?’ asked Zander.

‘Yes, I killed that dirty old man. He was rude to me.’ ‘How did you kill him?’ ‘Prison beans give me deadly farts. I straddled him and gave him a full load.’ Barton heard a brief titter come from Strange before she nipped it in the bud. ‘Will you admit to that in a court of law?’ asked Barton. ‘I’m prepared to demonstrate how I did it.’ ‘We’ll be in touch.’ ‘I could show you now.’ ‘Out!’

‘I’ve got an itch in my head about her.’ ‘That’s probably just the hamster on the wheel in there needing some more cheese.’

My brain isn’t happy with how this fits together. It’s as though I have a finished jigsaw puzzle, but a few of the pieces are in the wrong place.

My Review:

My introduction to the ingenious scribblings of Ross Greenwood may seem backward as I picked up the fourth book rather than starting at the beginning with book number one. While I have every intention of reading every well-chosen word this clever wordsmith has and well ever pen, I didn’t need to start at the beginning as this compelling story was excellently crafted. The engaging storylines and descriptive narratives were gripping and perceptively fashioned with the strength of a kickboxer’s legs and more than capable to stand alone with occasional mentions of the previous cases that made up the earlier installments. I am rubbing my hands together in glee as I anticipate reading each and every one of them.

About the Author

Ross Greenwood is the bestselling author of eight crime thrillers. Before becoming a full-time writer he was most recently a prison officer and so worked every day with murderers, rapists, and thieves for four years. He lives in Peterborough.

 

 

“This two-in-one romance starts a new series that Mallery’s many fans will devour like a Christmas cookie.”—Booklist

Susan Mallery, author of the Fool’s Gold romances, cheerfully invites you to Wishing Tree, where Christmas comes to life…

The Somerville sisters believe in love, but they’ve lost faith it will happen for them. Reggie hasn’t been home since the end of the world’s shortest engagement. When her parents decide to renew their vows, she buffs up her twinkle to help with the Christmas wedding. Unexpectedly, Toby, her first love, is back too, and the spark between them shines as brightly as ever. In the spirit of the season, will they let go of past hurts and greet the New Year together?

Done waiting for the one, Dena is pregnant and on her own—on purpose. But then a gorgeous, sad-eyed songwriter checks into a room at her inn. Micah, unable to write since he lost his wife, finds inspiration in Dena’s determination to be a mom. One snowflake-speckled kiss and he’s a goner. But Dena is afraid to believe that a rock star could fall for a cookie-cutter small-town girl like her.

As the Christmas wedding draws closer, these two sisters just might unwrap the most treasured gift of all—love.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

“Sarcasm becomes you.” Reggie raised her glass. “It’s a classic look that flatters all of us.”

“This is why I never had children,” Ursula grumbled. “First you throw up, then they throw up. It’s too many fluids for me… you can’t drink and you get hemorrhoids. I remind my friends of that when they try to convince me God’s a woman. There’s no way God’s a woman.”

She planned to stay awake so she could remember every moment. She would need the details for when she was eighty and reliving the past.

My Review:

This is a pleasant holiday story to crank up the seasonal reading binge with liberal sprinklings of wit and humor, cute animals, family drama, small-town living, community Christmas traditions, and contemporary romance.   The storylines were engaging and easy to follow, the pace was slow and leisurely, and the characters were endearing and likable. Everything I have come to expect and enjoy in a Susan Mallery book. And this one kicks off a new series based in a small town near Seattle, which has definite standards and expectations for the holiday season. I look forward to returning there but only on my Kindle, as I am a tropical gal who avoids snow and cold weather.

Sisters Kitty and Jenny haven’t spoken since a very disappointing Carvery lunch. Kitty, sixty-two, thinks Jenny is turning grey. Jenny, sixty-six, thinks Kitty needs to grow up!

So when both sisters inherit a farmhouse in rural France, it gives them the perfect chance to heal the rift between them. Except the farmhouse is a wreck, the garden is terrorized by a flock of chickens, not to mention a donkey with a serious flatulence problem!

Kitty is determined to enjoy herself, especially when she meets gorgeous French builder, Leo. Ooh la – la! And Jenny finds the fully stocked wine cellar helps enormously with missing horrible husband Paul – hic!

And as the two sisters begin to repair their fragile friendship, they discover that being bad is actually very good for the soul.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

He had also grown a really unattractive beard, which was a shame as he was a nice-looking chap. I couldn’t understand this new passion for face fungus.

The newcomer smiled, his teeth as yellow as his donkey’s… The donkey joined in with an impressive bray and Bertrand smiled broadly, showing several more impressive teeth the donkey might have envied.

It was surprising the way the younger generation had taken to tattoos; it used to be just salty old sea dogs who had them. Should I get one? I wondered. And if I did, what would it be? A Chinese proverb, perhaps, but no, I had heard of someone getting one that was eventually translated as chicken chow mein.

Hugo the Pool Boy… was probably about fifty with a grizzled beard and matching shock of hair that was held back with a pink unicorn hair band.

Sometimes, out of the blue, someone comes into your life who makes you sit up and take notice. A person who makes your heart flutter and your thoughts race. More often than not it’s a policeman behind you on the motorway, but sometimes it’s someone like Léo.

 My Review:

I frequently giggle-snorted and cackled aloud as I made my way through this delightfully spirited and cleverly amusing tale of dueling sisters.   I adore and covet the agile pen and sly wit of Maddie Please. Her storylines zip and zing with sparkling humor and snarky observations. I was highly entertained and resented any interruption to my perusal; I should be ashamed to say there was actual hissing involved at one point. There was one item mentioned that gave me considerable pause and consternation, and fearing the worst, I was compelled to consult Mr. Google about chocolate sardines as I’d never heard of such a thing. Sweet relief, no actual fish are involved.