Category: 5-Stars

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Book Review: The Three Night Stand (Wildwood Society #3) by Roxie Noir  @roxie_noir

The Three Night Stand
(Wildwood Society #3)
by Roxie Noir

 

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She’s the one night stand I never forgot.

And now her dad is about to marry my mom.It has to be some kind of cosmic joke, right? For once, I feel like I’ve got my life together—good job, great friends, a fresh start in a new place. I’ve been on my best behavior for ages. At last, everything’s coming up Javier.Until the moment I walk into my stepdad’s house and meet his daughter.

I should say: I meet her again. Madeline and I have already met. It was one night, two years ago. A quick, casual hookup that had no right to be as mind-blowing as it was. I haven’t stopped thinking about it–or her–ever since.

But our parents are getting married, so under no circumstances should we sleep together again.

Or… again. Or one more time after that, just to get it out of our systems.

Madeline’s funny, fiery, and so gorgeous with her pink hair and nerdy tattoos that I can barely look at her without breaking into a sweat. But she has too much going on to be interested in commitment, and God knows I’m a bad boyfriend candidate.

Once the wedding’s over, we’ll be normal stepsiblings who don’t have sex with each other, and Thanksgiving won’t be awkward at all.

Right?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I feel like a complicated Lego structure that’s been knocked to the floor. I’m trying to find all the pieces and reassemble them at light speed, and it’s going about as well as you’d think.

If we’re going to make stupid decisions, we’re going to make them worthwhile.

It’s easier to fall back into familiar patterns when you’re in the place where those patterns got familiar. It took years for me to feel like leaving was a helpful problem- solving tool instead of an admission that I couldn’t handle being around my old life.

You can’t stare at her with your tongue out like a cartoon skunk if you want to keep whatever this is a secret.

I have the brief certainty that no one else has felt this way in the history of the world. How could they? If everyone felt like this, the earth would explode.

 

My Review:

 

This was a fun and sexy read with sensual scenes that were volcanic on the heat register and may have left scorch marks on my Kindle. I was gasping and wiping sweat from my brow lest it fall into my eyes and hamper my rapt perusal of this divinely penned tale.

I adored these characters and wanted all the best for them as they were chronically flawed yet deeply endearing. Even though Javi was a total hot mess, he was sincerely trying. The writing was as tenderly insightful and poignant as it was cleverly amusing and witty. Roxie Noir was already a definite and well-established favorite among my listings, but she has bested herself with this one.

I love writing sexy, alpha men and the headstrong women they fall for.

My weaknesses include: beards, whiskey, nice abs with treasure trails, sarcasm, cats, prowess in the kitchen, prowess in the bedroom, forearm tattoos, and gummi bears.

I live in California with my very own sexy, bearded, whiskey-loving husband and two hell-raising cats.

 

 

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Book Review: Murder on a Country Walk (Julia Bird Mysteries #6) by Katie Gayle @Bookouture @KatieGayleBooks

Murder on a Country Walk
(Julia Bird Mysteries #6)
by Katie Gayle

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Julia Bird loves a walk in the countryside. There’s nothing quite like the fresh air and green rolling hills of the Cotswolds to clear your head. Unless you come across a dead body, that is…

When the local Berrywick vet, Dr Eve Davies, is found dead at the bottom of a cliff, the police believe it’s nothing more than a tragic accident, but Julia isn’t so sure. Just a few days earlier when she took her dog, Jake, to the vets, Dr Eve said she believed something awful was about to happen. It turns out she was right…

But who would want the beloved village vet dead? Was it her mother Kay, a down-and-out gambler who stands to inherit her unwedded daughter’s home? Was it her assistant Olga, who was close to getting fired? Or was it her cut-throat tennis partner Will, with whom Dr Eve had an argument shortly before she took a tumble? And who is the stranger skulking around Berrywick peering into people’s windows?

When a second body appears in the exact spot where Dr Eve was found, Julia knows it can’t be a coincidence. Both victims were pushed off the cliff, but why? Should Julia let sleeping dogs lie, or will she be like a dog with a bone to find the murderer?

A totally gripping and charming cosy mystery set in the English countryside. Fans of M.C. Beaton, Faith Martin and Betty Rowlands will love the Julia Bird Mysteries.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

The thing about a conversation with Nicky was that when it ended, you really appreciated the silence. The

Johnny had an ancient terrier who had looked to be on his last legs since Julia had arrived in Berrywick, but was still staggering gamely around the paths and fields two years later. She’d begun to wonder if he was in fact immortal.

It’s a strange fact of life that even in the most terrible circumstances, life persists in going about its business. The earth turns. Day follows night follows day. Dinner follows lunch follows breakfast.

Julia noted that Eve’s name had been transformed. She was now universally referred to not as Eve, but as Poor Eve, with a capital P.

My Review:

 

This satisfying and entertaining read kept me guessing and engaged. I enjoy the amusing humor and sneaky wry wit of these two clever scribes. The storylines unfolded with an easy and smooth flow and were populated with authentic, uniquely conjured, and quirky small village residents. What’s not to like about that?

About the Authors

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Katie Gayle is the writing partnership of best-selling South African writers, Kate Sidley and Gail Schimmel. Kate and Gail have, between them, written over ten books of various genres, but with Katie Gayle, they both make their debut in the cozy mystery genre. Both Gail and Kate live in Johannesburg, with their husbands, children, dogs, and cats.

 

 

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Book Review: Local Gone Missing (Elise King #1) by Fiona Barton  @berkleypub

Local Gone Missing
(Elise King #1)
by Fiona Barton

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Detective Elise King investigates a man’s disappearance in a seaside town where the locals and weekenders are at odds with each other in this suspenseful new novel from the #1 bestselling author of The Widow.

Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective—or she was before a medical leave left her unsure if she’d ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing—the weekenders renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes.

Elise can only guess what really happens behind closed doors. But Dee Eastwood, her house cleaner, often knows. She’s an invisible presence in many of the houses in town, but she sees and hears everything.

The conflicts boil over when a newcomer wants to put the town on the map with a giant music festival, and two teenagers overdose on drugs. When a man disappears the first night of the festival, Elise is drawn back into her detective work and starts digging for answers. Ebbing is a small town, but it’s full of secrets and hidden connections that run deeper and darker than Elise could have ever imagined.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I mean, how long do you have to live here to be a local? Is there a secret waiting list? Do you have to wait for someone to actually die to take their place?

Strobe lighting flashed and the crowd pulsed in slo-mo. People too old to throw their hands in the air like they just didn’t care did so, the flickering lights hiding a multitude of dancing sins.

The squad called them King and Kong for a bit and Caro ignored it. “I’ve got thighs like barges and mad hair— it could be a lot worse. We need to pick our fights.”

She was small, sixtyish with a beaky nose and a lot of mascara, and she was wearing a T-shirt that read Old Age Is for Sissies.

She couldn’t go it alone at her age. She’d need someone to cherish her. She loved the word “cherish,” rolling it round her mouth and through her pouting lips.

My Review:

 

My hero worship of Fiona Barton’s brilliant yet itchy storytelling continues. Local Gone Missing was a twisty tale that kept me guessing until the very end. The storylines and characters were well-nuanced, compelling, and endlessly intriguing. I conjured and cast aside multiple theories as I perused but would never have come up with this topper.  The woman has mad skills!

About the Author

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Fiona Barton’s debut, The Widow, was a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller and has been published in 36 countries and optioned for television. Her second novel, The Child, was a Sunday Times bestseller. Born in Cambridge, Fiona currently lives in Sussex and south-west France.

Previously, she was a senior writer at the Daily Mail, news editor at the Daily Telegraph, and chief reporter at the Mail on Sunday, where she won Reporter of the Year at the British Press Awards.

While working as a journalist, Fiona reported on many high-profile criminal cases and she developed a fascination with watching those involved, their body language and verbal tics. Fiona interviewed people at the heart of these crimes, from the guilty to their families, as well as those on the periphery, and found it was those just outside the spotlight who interested her most . . .

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 Book Review: Count Their Graves (Detective Katie Scott #12) by Jennifer Chase by Jennifer Chase  @jenchaseauthor @bookouture

Count Their Graves
Detective Katie Scott #12
by Jennifer Chase

A wind chime sways a sweet melody above several pairs of shoes neatly laid out on the welcome two large pairs, and three small. On the doorframe, a perfect crimson handprint, the color of blood…

Out on her morning run, Detective Katie Scott is stopped in her tracks when her service dog, Cisco, alerts her to something. Weaving through the towering pine trees, Katie is horrified to find a little girl alone in the woods, dressed in a white nightgown. The child sobs into Katie’s arms. She’s unharmed, but clearly traumatized. Scooping her up, Katie follows the trail to a large farmhouse. But what she finds there rips the air from her one, two, three, four bodies laid out side by side, all in matching pajamas.

The Banks family were attacked in their sleep, but how had the little girl trembling in Katie’s arms escaped with her life? What twisted monster would do such a thing, and why leave no trace but a single bloody handprint on the doorframe? Katie makes a vow to find answers for this sweet child who has lost everything and everyone.

Working night and day to piece together why this innocent family were targeted, Katie thinks she has her first lead when she discovers the family were under witness protection. Had they seen something they shouldn’t? Was the aim to silence them forever? Questions are still spinning in Katie’s mind when another family is discovered dead in their beds on the other side of Pine Valley.

With the entire department stretched to breaking point with an unprecedented body count and trace evidence stacking up, it’s going to take everything Katie has to track this twisted killer down. But as she closes-in on her target, it’s clear someone close to Katie is keeping a deadly secret. How many more innocent lives will be lost before she can bring them to justice?

A completely pluse-pounding crime thriller for fans of Lisa Regan, Rachel Caine and Melinda Leigh that will have you racing through pages all night long. Prepare to start sleeping with the lights on after tearing through this gripping thriller from USA Today and Amazon bestseller Jennifer Chase!

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Her body was tired; she felt as if she was walking through drying cement.

She knew her life was never going to be the same. But that was okay. She lived by her life motto. If you couldn’t help someone, save a life, or make a difference— life wasn’t worth living.

My Review:

 

This one was troubling to read as children were being taken and killed, but the story lines were compelling and I couldn’t leave it alone. I spun multiple theories as I read but each gruesome clue yielded more complications and questions. The plot was well contrived and expertly paced and inhabited by flawed and complicated characters who plucked at my curiosity.

Jennifer Chase is a multi award-winning author and consulting criminologist. She has authored eight crime fiction novels, including the multiple award-winning Emily Stone thriller series along with a screenwriting workbook.

Jennifer holds a Bachelor degree in police forensics and a Master’s degree in criminology. These academic pursuits developed out of her curiosity about the criminal mind as well as from her own experience with a violent sociopath, providing Jennifer with deep personal investment in every story she tells. In addition, she holds certifications in serial crime and criminal profiling. She is an affiliate member of the International Association of Forensic Criminologists.

 

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Book Review: Talking to Strangers (Elise King #2) by Fiona Barton   @berkleypub

Talking to Strangers
Elise King #2
by Fiona Barton

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Detective Elise King’s investigation into a woman’s murder is getting derailed by a reporter who insists on doing her own investigation in this nail-biting mystery from the author of Local Gone Missing.

When Karen Simmons is murdered on Valentine’s Day, Detective Elise King wonders if she was killed by a man she met online. Karen was all over the dating apps, leading some townspeople to blame her for her own death, while others band together to protest society’s violence against women. Into the divide comes Kiki Nunn, whose aggressive newsgathering once again antagonizes Elise.

A single mother of a young daughter, Kiki is struggling to make a living in the diminished news landscape. Getting a scoop in the Simmons murder would do a lot for her career, and she’s willing to go up against not just Elise but the killer himself to do it.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

My news editor is twenty-four and skinny, and his crazy hair makes his head appear too big for his body. “He looks like a lollipop that’s been left in someone’s pocket,”

There’d been a sharp frost every morning for a week, and the pebbles on the beach had become lethal icy marbles underfoot. Elise had noticed that most of the Bluetits— the women she saw plunging in daily for a dawn swim— had put their swimsuits away for the moths to devour.

“You’re hardly an advert for domestic bliss!… The first time we met, you were devising ways to murder your husband.” “I’m still working on it. Anyway, I’m not talking about Ted— you need a real man.”

Noel Clayton’s face darkened to a shade an interior designer might call Imminent Coronary.

I look at her bitter, thin face lit up by hate. It never fails to astonish me how people can reshape realities to suit.

 

My Review:

 

This was a tensely wound and compelling tale told from multiple POVs, which I always enjoy. Fiona Barton is a master storyteller and I quickly fell into her characters’ itchy/scratchy vortex. The insightfully observant narratives, banter, amusing snark and verbal exchanges, and perceptive inner musings kept the little pea in my brain whirling like a tornado. I now must amass her entire body of work to enjoy more of the same.

 

 

About the Author

Fiona Barton’s debut, The Widow, was a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller and has been published in 36 countries and optioned for television. Her second novel, The Child, was a Sunday Times bestseller. Born in Cambridge, Fiona currently lives in Sussex and south-west France.

Previously, she was a senior writer at the Daily Mail, news editor at the Daily Telegraph, and chief reporter at the Mail on Sunday, where she won Reporter of the Year at the British Press Awards.

While working as a journalist, Fiona reported on many high-profile criminal cases and she developed a fascination with watching those involved, their body language and verbal tics. Fiona interviewed people at the heart of these crimes, from the guilty to their families, as well as those on the periphery, and found it was those just outside the spotlight who interested her most . . .

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Book Review: Truth or Wolf (Wolf Brothers #1) by Anne Marsh @author_anne_marsh @smartypantsromance

Truth or Wolf
Wolf Brothers #1
by Anne Marsh

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Welcome to Moonlight Valley, Tennessee… the secret paranormal sibling of Penny Reid’s Green Valley and a small town where bearded werewolves outnumber the unsuspecting human inhabitants.

Twin brothers Atticus and Ford Boone may share the same face and the same supernatural secret, but where Atticus is charismatic and charming, Ford is grumpy and reserved… and that’s before he shifts into his wolf. When hardworking citizen scientist Alice Aymes reluctantly returns to Green Valley to restart her stalled life, she’s sure she knows what to expect. She’ll save up the money she needs to escape to Nashville while nursing her secret infatuation with the ever-popular Atticus Boone—and fighting with her high school nemesis, his twin brother. Alice hates Ford, and he’s always hated her right back. But after a case of mistaken identity has Alice kissing the wrong twin, she does what any good scientist does and analyzes the facts.

Fact #1: It’s time to revisit her unrequited crush on Atticus. Who needs a white-knight fantasy man when there’s a rock-solid, beaded lumberjack in your personal space?

Fact #2: Stimuli and sensory input ahoy! Growing up, Alice saw Ford as the grumpiest, sternest guy in town. They fought for years. Apparently that now sends her amygdalae into sensual overdrive.

Fact #3: The more bearded the wolf, the more protective and possessive.

As Alice finds herself irresistibly drawn to the man she loves to hate, the question lingers: How much of her level-headed heart is she willing to risk in the face of newfound desires and supernatural secrets?

‘Truth or Wolf’, a Penny Reid Universe Reimagining, is a full-length paranormal romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #1 in the Wolf Brothers series, Smartypants Romance Out of this World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

No fireworks had ever gone off in my body before, but today was clearly my Fourth of July… it felt so perfect I’d have liked to freeze- frame the moment, keep it to take out and remember when life dealt more crap cards my way.

I’d wanted to eat him up and then have seconds.

…your cheeks are the color pink called I Got Me Some.

It was such an amazing daydream that I dreamed it twice.

Maverick eyed Ranger as if he’d suggested we pay a visit to hell and take Satan some sweet tea.

My Review:

 

I am not a paranormal reader but I giggled-snorted with glee and bounced in my chair with avid delight as I read this smirk-worthy and bewitchingly irreverent tale. The Boone’s are not like any werewolves I’ve ever stumbled across.

This was my first exposure to the clever wit and highly amusing word skills of Anne Marsh, and I curse my slothful ways for not jumping on her bandwagon before. I will definitely be haunting her listing for more of this highly entertaining series.

 

Anne Marsh is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of paranormal and humorous small town contemporary romance. She and her herd of rescue cats live in rural North Carolina full of neighbors who will pull you out of a ditch, bring you a truck of mulch, or fix your car just because they can. Who said heroes don’t exist in real life?
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Book Review:  You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto   @jesseqsutanto @berkleypub

You Will Never Be Me
by Jesse Q. Sutanto

 

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Influencer Meredith Lee didn’t teach Aspen Palmer how to blossom on social media just to be ditched as soon as Aspen became big. So can anyone blame her for doing a little stalking? Can anyone blame her for swiping one of Aspen’s kids iPads and accessing all of her social media accounts? Yes, she then starts tweaking things here and there, showing up in Aspen’s place for meetings with potential sponsors, but she’s only taking back what she deserves—what should have been hers.

Meanwhile, Aspen has no idea why her perfect life is falling apart. Sponsors are dropping her, fellow influencers are ghosting her, and even her own husband seems to find her repulsive. If she doesn’t find out who’s behind everything, she might just lose it all. But when her old mom-tor Meredith goes missing, Aspen’s world is upended and mysterious threats begin to arrive—but she won’t let anything get in the way of her perfect life again.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

it’s just a fact of life that people adore the knowledge of having something that others don’t. If there was no pleasure to be taken from exclusivity, then the rich wouldn’t be so into their private country clubs. There is joy from knowing you are blessed while others are not; if you deny it, you’ll only be lying.

Sometimes, I look at Liv and I hate her because the world hasn’t broken her yet.

It was like I walked into a stark, white room filled with nothing but a tiny, high-pitched sound. A room of cold, quiet, murderous rage.

Oh my god. Spare me the Gaslighting 101, okay? None of that ‘I’m sorry you feel that way’ crap. No, you need to be sorry that you made me feel that way.

 

My Review:

 

This clever tale was full of gasp-producing zigs and eye-popping zags. I had a hard time putting my Kindle down and felt like hissing at any interruption to my rapt perusal. I greedily devoured it like a guilty pleasure, but the ending left me pondering, contemplating, and debating for quite some time about how I should feel about the outcome. Hmm… What does that say about me?

The characters were all rather vile and selfish creatures, who were deliciously and insightfully detailed with well-honed and witty narratives of their inner musings and self-serving observations and justifications.

You Will Never Be Me was my virgin voyage with this crafty scribe and I instantly fell into an oddly compelling vortex of an online Stepford-type wife. Ms. Sutano has strong word voodoo, mad skills, and a new acolyte. I covetously want to amass all her scribblings.

Jesse Q Sutanto grew up shuttling back and forth between Jakarta and Singapore and sees both cities as her homes. She has a Masters degree from Oxford University, though she has yet to figure out a way of saying that without sounding obnoxious. She is currently living back in Jakarta on the same street as her parents and about seven hundred meddlesome aunties. When she’s not tearing out her hair over her latest WIP, she spends her time baking and playing FPS games. Oh, and also being a mom to her two kids.
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Book Review: The One That I Want (Ever After Agency #3) by Sandy Barker  @sandybarkerauthor @TheBoldBookclub

The One That I Want
(Ever After Agency #3)
by Sandy Barker

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Greta Davies, the features editor at a women’s magazine, is accomplished and successful. That is, in all areas except her love life.

Determined to help, Greta’s boss – and friend – secretly enlists the help of the Ever After Agency, and sets out to make her dreams come true.

Work-obsessed Greta is nothing if not stubborn, so it’ll take some creative thinking, which leads to a lightbulb moment: a new column focused on dating in the city.

With date after disastrous date, things are not looking rosy for Greta. But little does Greta know, the perfect man has been there all along. Will she realise it’s more than friendship before it’s too late?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Blimey, if I keep on like this, I’ll get a call from Disney asking for the rights to my life story for their next animated feature. The Thirty-something Princess and the Frogs of London coming to a cinema near you.

I don’t like it when people use the word ‘lost’ to mean someone’s loved one has died. Poor Ian didn’t lose his wife– they weren’t shopping in IKEA. He didn’t misplace her amongst the dinglehoppers and snarfblatts. She passed away.

I will lampoon him so severely, Taylor Swift could mine my article for lyrics.

Dreamboat? Where are you getting these words? Do you have a time machine or something? Are you frequenting the 1960s?

 

My Review:

 

This was a fun and cleverly amusing read that is the third in a popular series but I found it to have strong legs and quite capable of standing and dancing on its own. Although, it also has me wanting to track down and read all the previous installments. I enjoy this smooth storyteller’s wry wit and sneaky hits of humor.

 

About the Author

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I’m a writer, traveler, and hopeful romantic with a lengthy bucket list. I love exploring new places, outdoor adventures, and eating and drinking like a local when I travel, and many of my travel adventures have found homes in my novels. I’m also an avid reader, a film buff, a wine lover, and a coffee snob.

I am represented by Lina Langlee of The North Literary Agency.

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Book Review: Banana Pants by Penny Reid  @ReidRomance  @SmartyPantsRom

Banana Pants
by Penny Reid

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Estranged childhood friends unexpectedly reunite under bizarre circumstances and bicker their way to love in this bonkers romantic comedy.

Ava Archer misses her best childhood friend most especially during the month of April. Ask any tax attorney, it’s a lonely, grueling time of year. Luckily, Ava has just received a surprising and delectably absurd offer from her posh doppelgänger at work. She must .to be the aforementioned posh co-worker for one night at an extremely fancy party; a party so fancy, there exists absolutely no chance anyone will recognize her or suspect her ruse. .
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Desmond (Des) Sullivan is a thief. And not the heart-of-gold kind. He’s the steal-from-the-rich-and-give-to-the-also-rich-so-he-can-get-paid kind. He does, however, have one firm rule: never steal what the target can’t afford to lose. After a brutal falling out with his father, Desmond hasn’t returned to Chicago in over ten years. But when a good friend is swindled and something priceless is stolen, Desmond must return home, both as himself and his thieving alter ego.
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Infiltrate a dangerous secret society of the world’s most elite billionaires while leveraging his estranged father’s resources and not blowing his cover? Sure. No problem. Or it wouldn’t be a problem if Ava Archer hadn’t just walked into the room, wearing a ridiculous wig, speaking with a preposterous accent, and pretending (badly) to be someone she’s not.
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‘Bananapants’ is a full-length, contemporary romantic comedy filled with hijinks and shenanigans. It can be read as a standalone, but the parents of the main characters will be familiar to anyone who has read the Knitting in the City series.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

They probably had a money vault somewhere Scrooge McDuck wanted to swim in.

My brother guarded himself like he was an illegal state secret and all other humans were whistleblowers.

You were unhinged on the phone when you called that night. Ranting about how his attractiveness should be against the law. I couldn’t take you seriously until I saw it in person.

Incompetence was everywhere. EVERYWHERE! It was one of the constants in life: death, taxes, change, cockroaches, and incompetence.

I swear, I will go to girl jail for this if you ever reveal me as a source…

Everyone here had been checking him out since he’d walked in. If he’d been a book in a library, he’d have a yearlong waitlist.

 

My Review:

 

Reading a Penny Reid novel is something I always look forward to with great anticipation, so much so, I have tried to use her tales as a reward for good behavior. But as I can’t resist the allure of her delightful missives and appear to be lacking in self-restraint when her oddly consuming character dynamics are concerned, I will read her clever arrangements of words even if I’ve been naughty. Her witty tales are smirk-worthy amusing, sizzling hot, and deeply insightful while thoughtfully written. She has mad word voodoo that sucks me into an all-consuming vortex populated with authentic, complex, and compelling characters. Her latest effort is her best work yet and kept me tethered to my Kindle late into the night.

 

Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of the Winston Brothers and Knitting in the City series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she writes kissing books. Penny is an obsessive knitter and manages the #OwnVoices-focused mentorship incubator/publishing imprint, Smartypants Romance. She lives in Seattle Washington with her husband, three kids, and dog named Hazel.

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Book Review: New Dreams for the Village Nurse (The Village Nurse #2) by Tilly Tennant  @tillytennant6000  @bookouture

New Dreams for the Village Nurse
(The Village Nurse #2)
by Tilly Tennant

 

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Escape to the glittering lakes and pretty stone villages of the Lake District, where warm bright summer evenings are just around the corner, the bees are buzzing in the hedgerows, and village nurse Ottilie Oakcroft is beginning to realise that her second chance at true love isn’t smooth sailing…

Ottilie Oakcroft can’t imagine living anywhere but the village of Thimblebury. Since moving there after her husband’s death, the villagers have welcomed her with open arms, and it’s been a long time since she’s felt this happy. Another reason for the sparkle in her eyes is her blossoming romance with Heath, who showed her that second chances at love can happen.

But when a chance meeting with Heath’s glamorous ex-wife Mila sparks a terrible argument between the pair, and with Ottilie’s patients keeping her too busy to repair the cracks in their relationship, things begin to feel a little shaky. Especially when Simon, a handsome new GP with dark eyes and broad shoulders, arrives in Thimblebury, and Heath shows a jealous side that Ottilie has never seen before…

Ottilie knows how lucky she is to have found Heath but when she discovers that Mila has been secretly visiting Thimblebury she fears the worst. Heath tries to reassure her but why did he keep Mila’s visits a secret? Did Ottilie make a mistake when she opened her fragile heart or is she letting the hurt from her past stand in the way of their future?

A beautiful romantic escapist read about healing from past hurts and learning to love again. Fans of Jessica Redland, Shari Low and Jo Bartlett will be transported by New Dreams for the Village Nurse.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

The millions of little acts of kindness that happen every day are what makes the world tick over, not the grand gestures that everyone notices.

‘…it might sound to someone who didn’t know that you were calling me a lush.’ Ottilie laid a hand on her heart. ‘I’d never do that! I mean, you can sink more booze than a navy but that’s beside the point…’

My Review:

 

I adore Tilly Tennant and have reveled in every one of her engaging and nimbly penned tales that I’ve been lucky enough to pick up. This volume was an easy to follow, entertaining, and thoughtfully written continuation of the village nurse series, and I delighted in book two as much as the first installment.

I enjoy this clever scribe’s wry wit and authentic village characters. Her descriptions of the village denizens and encounters are as humorous as they are defining and I often feel as if I could easy recognize the inhabitants of her stories if I met them on the street. I’m looking forward to more of these gently endearing tales.

 

About the Author

From a young age, Tilly Tennant was convinced that she was destined for the stage.  Once she realised she wasn’t actually very good at anything that would put her on the stage, she started to write stories instead. There were lots of terrible ones, like The Pet Rescue Gang (aged eight), which definitely should not see the light of day ever again. Thankfully, her debut novel, Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn was not one of those, and since it hit the Amazon best seller lists she hasn’t looked back. Born in Dorset, she currently lives in Staffordshire with her husband, two daughters, three guitars, four ukuleles, two violins and a kazoo.