Lara Bloom is a klutz, she is clumsy, awkward and really into football.
So when a new, hot boy arrives he is all Lara dreams of but feels she could never have.
Doubting her own self worth and attractiveness she and her friends come up with the idea of a glow up to enhance themselves to be more confident.
Lara thinks she has nailed it and nothing can go wrong with operation glow up.
But the scheming Sienna will stop at nothing to spoil things.

Ella Durrand is eleven and she joins the Arcanum training institute.
This is the first time conjurers have been allowed to join.
But Ella finds it hard to get on with the others as they are wary of her.
The only friends she makes are Jason and Brigit, but strange things are happening and Ella keeps getting the blame.
Then her teacher Masterji Thakur goes missing.
So Ella and her friends set out to find him and also prove her innocence.

This festive, wintry tale involves mammy penguin taking the baby penguins for a walk into the forest where they got lost amongst the snow, the rest of the story involves her searching and slowly finding them along the way before they are all together again.
This was so much fun, I'm an adult but even I enjoyed reading it aloud with my cousin.
He liked it so much we read it a few times.

Selstra is locked in a tour by the evil king, Seryth.
She is imprisoned as the inheritor of her mother's magical powers.
For Selstra is a soul sucker, she can predict death and also harvest their souls.
She doesn't want this fate and is desperate to escape.
Then she meets Nox, a young soldier who plans to kill King Seryth.
As soon as Selstra touches him she knows this and also that their fates are entwined.

Robyn and Ralph are very blessed, they live in the midst of nature at a place called "Crocodile Lodge."
A beautiful conservation area where they also get to tend to the local flora and fauna.
But something is very wrong.
Something vicious is attacking and mauling the animals.
This isn't just a case of poaching, it's worse.
The pair are suspicious of their reclusive, millionaire neighbour.
They go hunting and discover their fears are well founded.

This was a very sweet read for a toddler.
I read it and then gave it to my cousin, who is three and he was transfixed by all the animals and he really concentrated on the words, and it really did seem to give him a sense of calm and he chatted about it and sat through to the end of the book and he has a lack of concentration.
As for the book itself it had very vibrant, bold colours and lovely wild animals to grab children's attention.

I read this as an adult for my review and even as a grown up I can see the charm of this book.
Vivid, bright colours and gorgeous illustratations on every page featuring all sorts of wild animals makes this a highly entertaining read for young ones.
It also has a strong positive message for parents to impart to their children of how we need to be the best we can be and never admit defeat.
If something is difficult then we need to try again.

Max Mullers is a little boy consumed by the world of magic taught by his nan who has a background in it.
But sadly he is still a victim of bullying and disaster strikes when one day watching his father's toy stall the local bully Bottley causes trouble.
Max gets caught up with the local protection racket when through Bottley one of the Crayfish twins suits gets ruined.
Now Max and his family is left with a huge £250 bill, he needs some magic!

Deina is desperately unhappy, she works as a soul severer escorting the dead to the other realms.
Her mission in life is to escape this fate and to be free, she can only do this by working off a huge debt by slowly amassing the souls she helps.
Then one day hope comes in the shape of the ruthless King Orpheus who wants her and a group to journey to the underworld to resurrect his dead queen Eurydice.
In return they will gain their freedom.

Luca lives in a place that sounds idyllic, Parris Island, warm, exotic and the kind of place that shouldn't really have a high crime rate.
Yet the Island over the years has seen its fair share of gruesome happenings, including a spate of murders of the local girls.
Luca's friend was one of the victims and now its her elder sister Whitney who is also one of those murdered.
Distraught she sets out to prove the truth of what happened that night.

We finish the series with the grandmother of the family, Queenie.
We learn of her past in flashbacks.
When young she was determined to marry Patrick Mahon even though there was enmity between her and his sister Nora, but a family accident meant he ended up going into the church.
But before that Queenie and Patrick were together for a very short time and she has a deep, dark secret that if she reveals could cause a rift in the family now.

Thea and Denise are worlds apart, on the surface they are vastly different people, yet somehow opposites attract, I think Thea is attracted by Denise's motherly, empathetic nature and Denise is certainly drawn to the glitz and confident aura Thea exudes.
In a mad moment Thea invites Denise to escape from her day to day, dreary existence with its round of household chores, family and work and run away on the road trip of a lifetime.

This book set at the start of the first lockdown of the Covid pandemic.
Its a scary time and with his father a key worker and staying at home with mam, isolated from his friends, school and normal life in general Max is struggling.
To take his mind off things he starts to count, originally told to count to a hundred by his mother Max extends this to a million.
The news spreads and it quickly gains momentum to a whole community, charity project.

While waiting at an airport an author runs into an old school pal.
They start chatting and catching up.
Jeff in conversation tells him how one day he did something heroic, a good deed.
He saved a drowning man but then Jeff started getting curious about him and did some detective work of his own and found that the man in the water runs an art gallery.
Jeff inveigles a job there but what he finds is that his "rescue" is quite a bad, devious man.

Mixed feelings on this one, I read widely when it comes to wartime fic and non fic but I don't know what it was about this story, I found the writing a little bland and I found it hard to empathise with the characters.
I didn't particularly like either of the girls, Emma or Audrey but on the other hand as well it was rather a short novel so maybe the characters didn't have all that much time to grow and develop.
I found the situations a bit rushed

The Queen is very busy, there is a lot going on, close to home there is a referendum, in the USA they have a big election and now all she needs on top is a dead body in the Palace pool but that's what she gets!
A Palace worker has bled to death by the pool.
The Queen is already on the case, ably assisted by her sidekick Rozie Oshodi.
The police believe its an accident but the Queen is suspicious so the pair set out to investigate.

Madeleine Pelligrew has been inexplicably held captive for fourteen years in mental asylums, she is routinely moved to worse and worse places.
She is hopeless and sees no avenue for escape.
But one day a mysterious man come stp her rescue and she is released into his care.
On the outside the only one she is able to trust is Pierre de la Croix.
With his help she sets about trying to find answers why this despicable atrocity was allowed to happen.

When Naomi‘s husband Colin dies she is left alone with just her two grown daughters.
But then she reconnects with a man called Ellis from
her student days.
The flame is still alive between them the only thing she has to do is to break it to her girls that she has moved on from their father.
Totally shocked and wary of this newcomer the ladies have to learn that they all have their own issues and things they hide from each other not to cause pain.

In 1997 Gil Peck a journalist is just doing his job and going about his day.
Watching all the latest events and happenings of the election from afar and waiting for the juiciest scandal or scoop.
Then a phone call changes his life when he is told his sister Clare is dead in a hit and run.
At first believing it truly was an accident then he starts to believe that Clare who also dabbled in politics may have got too close to something she shouldn't.

Nell, Chris and Maude are a blended family, Maude is his daughter and she and Nell since her parents break up just don't get on.
To try to mend bridges they rent little holiday let cottage right near the sea.
But things over time gradually get worse and worse not better.
The cottage is old and has a lot of history, there are strange carvings in the wooden beams, things hidden behind wall panels and disturbing things.
The house is strange...

Selma Falck has just survived a horrendous sniper attack that claimed the life of one of her best friends.
Unsure what motivated the attack at first Selma and and even the police she was the target.
But then Selma investigates and finds she wasn‘t the target at all, just a useful tool.
The truth is a lot more sinister than she thought and danger is hot on her heels.
Really enjoyed this, never read the author before.

Running from the late 1950s right up to the present day this was the story of the Drummond family .
Meeting Carter while on national service he and Drum quickly become friends.
Though from totally different background and having different viewpoints in general.
When back in civilian life they both take different paths, Carter marries Daphne and Drum ends up with Welsh barmaid Gwen.
Family now takes up their time but their fraught friendship lasts.

Where do I start?
In 1945 a band of nine amazingly brave women made the breath taking attempt to escape from an enforced Nazi death march.
The situation truly was escape or die.
These women though French, Dutch and Spanish are bonded by their communal experiences and won't be parted and this book is the narrative of that awful journey from the place where they ran to the front where they could seek help and get back to their home countries.

The author Carolyn Woods met the utterly charming Mark Acklom and was totally consumed by love for him so gave up virtually everything, her job, friends, family, home and even gave him every penny she had.
A grand master at deception he conned her out of herofe basically.
Only when she had lost everything did Carolyn realise how she had been deceived and then she had to undergo the long, arduous process of trying to get him convicted.

Jonathan Coulter has died after a long and debilitating illness.
Then his family gather for the reading of his will and they are in for a complete shock...
They found the will full of rules before he could even be laid to rest.
His children Noah, Chloe and Olivia are to be the executors of his will but with one codicil, they all have to agree on the way they will move forward and share and dispose of his assets between themselves.

Natasja Rothwell and her socially misfit mother are locally considered a little eccentric.
Blessed or cursed with strange premonitions Natasha has weird feelings and often even sees the dead.
When she starts seeing lights on the ridge over the town she is just seen as the resident weirdo, even her best friend Marcus sides with all the local teens.
When a slow witted boy named Lewis goes missing Natasha knows his fate.

Stan and Cathy are unhappily married.
Stan is a bad person, always embroiled in crime and its no surprise when he ends up in prison.
Commissioned into the army Cathy finally thinks she is free of his tyranny when he is reported as missing in action.
Still Cathy lives in fear of her mother in law and is struggling to hold everything together.
Then she meets Archie McKintosh and she experiences true love for the first time...

I didn't know what to expect when I started this as I think I had ore conceived ideas about self help books and that they won't really be that helpful but the blurb really caught my eye and it didn't disappoint.
Full of practical advice that aimed to not drastically overhaul your life but just to take small, baby steps to improves certain aspects.
I found this helpful and that I could apply some of the techniques to myself.

I absolutely loved this I have never read anything by Ruth Hogan before but this was so refreshing and such a sweet story.
Madame Burova is a fortune teller who wants to retire but she has one last task related to her work she has two envelopes to deliver to someone whose life will be changed forever by their contents.
Billie the recipient is led on a journey into the past to find out the truth of her background but this also helps Madame Burova.

Wow was this exciting.
The novel starts in London in 1594.
Nicholas Shelby has just been accused of treason and attempting to poison the Queen.
Having just witnessed another royal physician suffer the same fate he isn't hanging around.
He grabs his wife Bianca and they hightail it to Padua.
While travelling Nicholas overhears and sees the final moments of a terrible murder.
At the scene is a terrified maiden called Hella Maas a sinister girl.

I have never read any of Logan's work before but all I can say after reading this one is wow!
It totally kept me on the edge of y seat and I compulsively read this til the end.
Ellen Devlin wants a family and her marriage has just broken down.
One day a stranger asks her could she hold her baby daughter for just a few minutes while she takes a call.
But the lady gets off the train and Ellen is stranded with an unknown infant in her care.

I have never read any of Logan's work before but all I can say after reading this one is wow!
It totally kept me on the edge of y seat and I compulsively read this til the end.
Ellen Devlin wants a family and her marriage has just broken down.
One day while on a train a stranger asks her could she hold her baby daughter for just a few minutes while she takes a call.
But the lady gets off the train and Ellen is stranded with an unknown infant.

Friedrich a Swiss boy longs to experince the world, hence he finds himself in Berlin eager to soak up the city.
There he mets Kristin a beautiful model.
He falls head over heels but she is not what she seems.
She is hiding a whole other life and harbouring very dangerous secrets that Friedrich knows nothing about.
But when her parents are arrested under the Nazis and she is in danger he vows to save then, but does Kristin really NEED saving?

Emma has led a chequered life, from living the high life as a diplomat's wife to becoming a spy.
But the tragic death of her brother Hugh she finds hard to cope with his death.
Now elderly woman and terminally ill she embarks on one last journey with her grandson Phil to the places of her past.
But this is not the full truth and this puts both their lives in danger as some people have very long memories and are willing to kill to keep secrets.

I really enjoyed this one, it was a really good sequel to the original and kept the same kind of tone.
It's a while after Gerry has died and Holly has a new boyfriend Gabriel, she think she is moving on and doing alright.
Then the whole PS I love you saga comes flooding back when she is reminded of it a by a lady one day.
She is asked to join her PS I love you Club.
A club where the members are dying of terminal illnesses just like Gerry...

I won another one of this series to review a while back and I adored it so was very excited to receive this one as well.
I honestly don't know which one I liked best they were both excellent reads and Tom Wilde is a great character.
This story involves a secret meeting between princes.
Phillip von Hessen and George the Duke of Kent.
George later dies during a flight to the North of Scotland, the plane inexplicably crashes.
Was it an accident?

I really enjoyed this, I had heard of Grace and saw her on TV once or twice but knew little of her or her background as a person.
It really surprised me to know she came form such humble beginnings and had such an interesting childhood.
Grace absolutely loved food from an early age, every little eatable treat is discussed and remembered so vividly, fish and chips, bottles of pop, chocolate bars.
Food was her life and even more so as an adult.

I really enjoyed this, quirky, funny and at times sad this reminded me a lot of a 70s version of the James Herriot All creatures great and small books.
Bruce was a great narrator and told his story well, from his background and life in Canada and his time London working as a young, new vet.
I loved his sense of humour and how he coped with getting to know our British character and sense of humour.
This was definitely a great read.

Will has secrets from his past that are haunting him now.
When his girlfriend's brother is found attacked and left for dead and sadly dies later Will starts getting sinister, threatening letters from famous dead authors threatening his sins will be found out.
His sins are that of being a book forger.
Fearing for his life he is at the end of his tether as to who is watching and waiting their chance to get him...

Clare's marriage has broken down, her husband wants other things, to find himself and explore the world.
She is heartbroken and at a loss as to what to do with her life, her son is at university and she has to move out of her marital home.
Instinctively though they never had a good relationship she makes for her mother's at Little Bramble.
Hoping for some peace and a little break in the small village where she grew up.
But fate has other ideas...

Amelia Carew made a promise to Edmund Melville and they were engaged to be married but nearly two years have passed and he still isn't back from the war.
Meanwhile believing her first love lost she has moved on and fallen for the local doctor Luke Bohenna.
At a birthday party she received word Edmund is still alive and returning.
Now Amelia is conflicted, her old love versus her new found beau.
She honours her word and duty but soon regrets it.

This is the story of two friends in wartime, one a Belgian and the other a Jew.
Though warned to sever her association with Hava Simone loves her friend like a sister and when Belgium is invaded they both are in danger of their lives so flee together.
This is their story and their journey to try to escape the harsh, German regime that is sweeping across their peaceful country.
I loved this so much, I'm a huge fan of wartime fiction.

A body is found in the Thames and Maeve Kerrigan and Josh Derwent investigate.
The body is a local journalist, Paige Hargreaves.
She was working on a scoop about gentlemen's clubs and in particular the Chiron club.
It has a bad reputation for seedy goings on and Maeve is suspicious and decides to work undercover to follow the story herself.
Determined to find the clues she needs to solve the case she unwittingly puts herself in grave danger.

Arden Maynor was a child who sleepwalked.
When she got lost one night and fell down a storm drain only to be found alive and rescued after three days she became famous and dubbed "The girl from Widow Hills."
Now Arden has grown up and is starting life anew as Olivia Meyer trying to shuck off the stigma of the past, life is good, she even has a new job.
But the sleepwalking episodes are back and one night she wakes up next to a dead body!

I'm a huge wartime novel fan and I just love these "slice of life" kitchen sink style stories and the way the author keeps on with the same family and their personal situation.
In this tale we are told all about Charlie Brogan and his disastrous marriage to Stella who is a hellcat but realises too late he is really in love with Francesca Fabrino who has worshipped him since their school days.
But Francesca has given up hope and moved on

For some reason I just didn't get into this one, I think it may have been the writing style, I found it very off-putting with all the poetry.
The story itself was OK but at times a little confusing as they of course kept flipping back to the different sisters and their home life and situations.
I was really looking forward to this one but overall it just wasn't my cup of tea.
I would have liked to have known more info on the characters too.

I just love war books and this was so good I think this is one of my favourite books so far this year.
The story starts off with a grandfather chatting to his grandaughter Mizuki and then he talks of his experiences during the war.
The day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
Ichiro has always been tortured with guilt of how he failed his best friend Hiro when he promised to keep his sister Kieko safe but they get separated.
A very human account.

Bit in two minds as to this one.
It was dark and sinister and showed great promise, was written very well but it kind of lost pace and became a bit jumbled.
There is a secret love triangle going on at a catholic girls school between Mr. Lavelle the art teacher, Louisa and Victoria but things end in disaster when both Louisa and Lavelle go missing.
Years later a tenacious reporter tracks down Victoria to find out what happened years ago.

I whizzed through this, I loved the story of Ross Malory and thought the author did a great job of relaying his own personal experiences as an adult through the eyes of a child.
Think this was aimed at a younger audience as it deals in depth with school, social isolation Ross felt with his peers and bullying but I think it could resonate with adults too as the story itself and subject matter could affect anyone and cross boundaries.

This was such a brilliant story, I throughly enjoyed it.
When pregnant Bess gives up her baby to the Foundling hospital she has every intention of claiming her precious child back.
But when she finally earns enough money to go and collect her she is distraught to find out that someone has been there before her and the person who took her was actually Bess!
Bess cannot get over this. And dedicates herself to solving this mystery of what happened.