Book Synopsis:

Welcome to The Surf House

Where everyone’s escaping something…

High on the cliffs of Morocco, far from the city lights and the souks, stands The Surf House: a sanctuary for travellers chasing sunshine and waves.

But the idyll hides a dark mystery.

And when Bea washes in, seeking refuge after a dangerous encounter in Marrakesh, she soon gets caught in the current.

A woman her age – who stayed in the same area, walked the same beaches, met the same guests – disappeared one year earlier, vanishing without trace.

Somewhere inside The Surf House lies the truth – but there’ll be a price for uncovering it…

My Review:

The Surf House is an atmospheric, gripping and twisty destination thriller which I really enjoyed.

Firstly I really loved the location of this book which the author brings to life with her vivid descriptions.  I felt like I was actually there at The Surf House with the characters and enjoying the wonderful lifestyle the characters have there.  Morrocco has long been on my bucket list of places I’d love to visit and this book has made me even more determined to try and make it a reality.

I thought all of the characters were fabulous creations that I enjoyed following throughout the book. None of them are particularly likeable and all seem to be hiding something which made me immediately intrigued upon meeting them. I did have a soft spot for Bea though who seemed to be genuinely lost and just trying to find her place in the world.  The flashbacks to her childhood were difficult to read about and I soon found myself wishing I could reach into the book to give her the huge hug I felt she needed.

The book had a great pace to it and I soon found myself drawn into the intriguing mysteries surrounding the surf house.  I actually thought I’d guessed what had happened fairly early on but was thrilled to discover that I was wrong as the many twists soon sent the story in a completely different direction which I always love.  The ending was brilliant and while I had hoped that it would end in a slightly different way it was quite realistic as everything wasn’t left neatly tied up in a bow.

If you are a fan of twisty thrillers, then I highly recommend this book.

Huge thanks to Indie Thinking and Harper Collins for sending me a copy of this book.

About The Author:

Sunday Times bestseller, Lucy Clarke, is the author of eight destination thrillers, which include Waterstones Thriller of the Month, The Castaways, and Richard and Judy Book Club pick, One of the Girls. Lucy’s novels have sold over a million copies in the UK alone and are published in over twenty territories worldwide.

No Escape has been filmed as a major international TV series for Paramount+ due for release in 2023, and three further novels are currently in development for screen.

When Lucy isn’t away on research trips (her favourite part of the job!), she can be found writing from a beach hut on the south coast of England. She lives with her husband and their two children.

Good morning everyone and happy Friday. I was lucky enough to receive these fabulous looking books from the lovely Karen at Orenda Books this week!

❤️ Dangerous by Essie Fox
💛Kill Them With Kindness by Will Carver
❤️Son by Johanna Gustawsson

I’ve been a huge fan of these authors for a while so I’m very excited to read them soon. I’m actually on the blog tour for Dangerous so I’ll be reading that one next I think. If you haven’t tried these authors or any of the other fabulous Orenda titles then I highly recommend them.

Huge thanks to @orendabooks for sending these to me it’s really appreciated!

It’s my kids’ last day of term and I’m off to see my two youngest in their Easter service this morning before working this afternoon. They then have Brownies and Beavers tonight with my youngest going to an alpaca farm which I’m sure he’ll love but will make pick ups difficult. I’m already excited to snuggle in later and read my book with a glass of wine 🤣

In ‘Killing Them With Kindness ‘ a scientist makes a pill that makes people kind. What pill would you develop to change the world?

Find out more about the books below ⬇️

Son by Johanna Gustawsson & Thomas Enger

Everyone here is lying…
 
Expert on body language and memory, and consultant to the Oslo Police, psychologist Kari Voss sleepwalks through her days, and, by night, continues the devastating search for her young son, who disappeared on his birthday, seven years earlier.
 
Still grieving for her dead husband, and trying to pull together the pieces of her life, she is thrust into a shocking local investigation, when two teenage girls are violently murdered in a family summer home in the nearby village of Son.
 
When a friend of the victims is charged with the barbaric killings, it seems the case is closed, but Kari is not convinced. Using her skills and working on instinct, she conducts her own enquiries, leading her to multiple suspects, including people who knew the dead girls well…
 
With the help of Chief Constable Ramona Norum, she discovers that no one – including the victims – are what they seem. And that there is a dark secret at the heart of Son village that could have implications not just for her own son’s disappearance, but Kari’s own life, too…
 
For fans of Harlan Coben, Lars Kepler, Jo Nesbo and Jorn Lier Horst … and The Mentalist

Kill Them With Kindness by Will Carver

The threat of nuclear war is no longer scary. This is much worse. It’s invisible. It works quickly.
 
And it’s coming.
 
The scourge has already infected and killed half the population in China and it is heading towards the UK. There is no time to escape. The British government sees no way out other than to distribute ‘Dignity Pills’ to its citizens: One last night with family or loved ones before going to sleep forever … together. Because the contagion will kill you and the horrifying news footage shows that it will be better to go quietly.
 
Dr Haruto Ikeda, a Japanese scientist working at a Chinese research facility, wants to save the world. He has discovered a way to mutate a virus. Instead of making people sick, instead of causing death, it’s going to make them… nice.
 
Instead of attacking the lungs, it will work into the brain and increase the host’s ability to feel and show compassion. It will make people kind.
 
But governments don’t want a population in agreement. They want conflict and outrage and fear. Reasonable people are harder to control.
 
Ikeda’s quest is thoughtful and noble, and it just might work. Maybe humanity can be saved. Maybe it doesn’t have to be the end.
 
But kindness may also be the biggest killer of all…

Dangerous by Essie Fox

When fiction is fatal…
 
Living in exile in Venice, the disgraced Lord Byron revels in the freedoms of the city
But when he is associated with the deaths of local women, found with wounds to their throats, and then a novel called The Vampyre is published under his name, rumours begin to spread that Byron may be the murderer…
 
As events escalate and tensions rise – and his own life is endangered, as well as those he holds most dear – Byron is forced to play detective, to discover who is really behind these heinous crimes. Meanwhile, the scandals of his own infamous past come back to haunt him…
 
Rich in gothic atmosphere and drawing on real events and characters from Byron’s life, Dangerous is a riveting, dazzling historical thriller, as decadent, dark and seductive as the poet himself…

 

Book Synopsis:

In 1924, four-year-old Cecily Larson’s mother reluctantly drops her off at an orphanage in Chicago, promising to be back once she’s made enough money to support both Cecily and herself. But she never returns, and shortly after high-spirited Cecily turns seven, she is sold to a traveling circus to perform as the “little sister” to glamorous bareback rider Isabelle DuMonde. With Isabelle and the rest of the circus, Cecily finally feels she’s found the family she craves. But as the years go by, the cracks in her little world begin to show. And when teenage Cecily meets and falls in love with a young roustabout named Lucky, she finds her life thrown onto an entirely unexpected—and dangerous—course.

In 2015, Cecily is now 94 and living a quiet life in Minnesota, with her daughter, granddaughter, and great-grandson. But when her family decides to surprise her with an at-home DNA test, the unexpected results not only bring to light the tragic love story that Cecily has kept hidden for decades but also throw into question everything about the family she’s raised and claimed as her own for nearly seventy years. Cecily and everyone in her life must now decide who they really are and what family—and forgiveness—really mean.

Sweeping through a long period of contemporary history, The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson is an immersive, compelling, and entertaining family drama centered around one remarkable woman and her determination to survive.

My Review:

The Hidden Life Of Cecily Larson is an absorbing, emotional read that I thoroughly enjoyed.  In this book we follow Cecily through three main periods of her life from childhood through to 94.  These are all divided into three timelines which are clearly marked at the beginning of the chapter making it easy to distinguish between them.  Out of the three I much preferred the two earlier timelines as one follows Cecily’s life in a travelling circus and the other her experiences during the second world war.  I thought the circus scenes were especially great to read about as the author’s vivid descriptions made me feel like I was actually there watching the show alongside the audience. It also made me nostalgic for childhood visits to the circus which I always loved.

The author has created some brilliant character’s in this book which I quickly grew fond of.  My favourite character was definitely Cecily who I quickly grew to care for as she goes through so much in her life.  Her strength and tenacity (even in old age) was wonderful to read about, making me wish I knew her in real life as I’d love to be able to hear all her stories.  Her daughter’s were also interesting to follow, especially with how they deal with the different problems in their lives.  Their obvious love and respect for Cecily was beautiful to see as was how much they seek out her opinion on things.

Overall I absolutely loved this book and have continued thinking about it long after reading.  The pace was perhaps a bit slow for the first half of the book but it soon speeds up and becomes very gripping indeed.  I loved seeing the three timelines came together and seeing the amazing life that Cecily had lived.  There were many twist in the story which kept me guessing and actually took the story in a completely different direction then I was expecting which I always love. 

Huge thanks to Anne from Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the blog tour and to harper for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Ellen Baker is the author of the novels THE HIDDEN LIFE OF CECILY LARSON, KEEPING THE HOUSE, and I GAVE MY HEART TO KNOW THIS. She has worked as a museum curator and as a bookseller and event coordinator at an independent bookstore. Originally from the Upper Midwest, she currently lives on the coast of Maine.

Good evening everyone I’m thrilled to be on the cover reveal today for one of my most anticipated books of the year – Thorns & Fire by Helen Scheverer.

Thorns & Fire is the second book in the fantastic The Ashes Of Thezmarr series and as I was a huge fan of the first book I’m very excited to read this one.

Thorns & Ember is out on the 31st July 2025 and you can find out more about the book below ⬇️

Huge thanks to @bookbreak and @panmacmillan for inviting me to be a part of the cover reveal. Apologies it’s a bit late my scheduled post didn’t work…

Book Synopsis:

A golden thread joined them, a bond that went deeper than love – and it had nearly destroyed them.

Wren Embervale and Torj Elderbrock share a dark and bloody history. With Thezmarr on the brink of another war, and overwhelmed by the force of their feelings for one another, Torj discovers there is far more to their bond than mere passion. The legendary Warsword is determined to protect Wren at all costs, even if it means lying to her . . . Even if it means losing her forever.

Meanwhile, Wren is struggling to find her place in the world – both as an advanced student of alchemy at the ancient academy of Drevenor, and as one of the heirs to a lost kingdom. With the midrealms once again facing destruction, Wren must decide: Loyalty or liberation? Legacy or love?

As new political players emerge, Wren discovers that her gift for alchemy is more powerful than she ever imagined – and that it could tear the kingdoms apart.

Will she and Torj find their way back to each other, or will the ancient magic that binds them become their undoing?

Perfect for romantasy fans, Thorns & Fire, Helen Scheuerer’s spellbinding sequel to Iron & Embers, delivers heart-wrenching choices, a found family to root for and a love that defies the odds.

About The Author:

Helen Scheuerer is the fantasy author of the bestselling series, The Oremere Chronicles, the Curse of the Cyren Queen quartet and The Legends of Thezmarr. Her work has been highly praised for its strong, flawed female characters and its action-packed plots.Helen’s love of writing and books led her to pursue a creative writing degree and a Masters of Publishing. She has been a full-time author since 2018 and now lives amidst the mountains in New Zealand where she is constantly dreaming up new stories.

Good evening everyone I hope you’ve had a good day. I was lucky enough to receive this amazing book post today.

I’ve been a huge fan of this author’s previous books so I’ve been very excited to read more from her. Slow Burn Summer sounds fantastic and I’m really looking forward to reading it.

Huge thanks to @penguinukbooks for sending this to me I’m really appreciate it.

Slow Burn Summer is out on the 5th June 2025 and you can find out more about the book below ⬇️

Now serious question… Do I share the fruitellas with the kids or keep them for myself? 🤣

Book Synopsis:

Sometimes pretending to be someone else helps you figure out who you really are…

Freshly divorced and in need of a job – Kate Elliot’s life needs a rewrite. So when she unearths an old letter from her ex-talent agent, Jojo Francisco – she takes it as a sign from the universe to brush off her old acting skills and become someone else entirely.

Meanwhile, Charlie Francisco is back from LA, leaving his dumpster fire of a life behind. He may be well over his head in filling the shoes of his late eccentric father but he is determined to prove he can, and he might just have the job for Kate: to pose as the author for a novel that the real writer wants nothing to do with. It’s not quite the glamorous gig she was hoping for, but he’s looking for a nobody and she needs cash fast.

When Kate and Charlie meet they’re all friction and sparks, but they have one thing in common – they’re determined to play their parts. But as the summer heat ups and the lies get bigger and bigger, can they stick to their lines or will they go off-script?

A steamy and sweet love story set in the steamy heat of a London summer, from the queen of the ‘what if?’ romance Josie Silver.

About The Author:

Josie Silver is a writer of love stories.

Her debut novel One Day in December was a Sunday Times & NY Times bestseller and has been translated into more than twenty-five languages.

Josie lives in the midlands with her husband, their sons, and an ever changing cast of animals.

Book Synopsis:

As a world-renowned chef, single dad Archer never planned on moving to a small town, let alone running a pancake restaurant. But Dream Harbor needs a new chef, and Archer needs a community to help raise his daughter, Olive.

Iris has never managed to hold down a job for more than a few months. So when it’s suggested that Archer is looking for a live-in nanny, she almost runs in the opposite direction.

Now, Iris finds herself in a whole new world. One where her gorgeous new boss lives right across the hall and likes to cook topless… Keeping everything strictly professional should be easy, right?

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House is a cozy romantic mystery with a single dad and found family dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!

My Review:

I’ve been a huge fan of this series from the start and always look forward to a new edition of it, pre-ordering the books as soon as I hear about them.  It was great fun to be back in Dream Harbour and to catch up with all the members of the fabulous community.  The author has created a lovely little town with Dream Harbour and I wish it was real so that I could go and visit it- particularly for their seasonal festivals which always sound really fun.  

In this book we are not with one of the main characters from the previous series which I was a little disappointed with at first though it did give me a chance to meet some other lovely new members of the community.  Archer and his very cute daughter Olive were great fun to get to know throughout the book.  It was especially nice to see them grow together as a family unit and to see how much happier they were with the charismatic Iris in their lives.  The pancake mystery made me chuckle as well as their many efforts to hide their budding relationship from Olive. There was a bit of spice which might not be to everyone’s taste but I didn’t feel it was as much as last time as the story seemed to be more focused on the family growing closer together.

I thought the book had a great pace to it and there always seemed to be something happening to keep my interest.  Even in the quieter moment  was just happy to hang out with Iris, Archer and Olive, reading about them going about their everyday lives.  The ending was really lovely and I now can’t wait to read the next instalment of this fabulous series!

About The Author:

Laurie Gilmore is a No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller and a USA Today bestseller who writes steamy small-town romance. Her Dream Harbor series is filled with quirky townsfolk, cozy settings, and swoon-worthy romance. The first book in the series, The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, was featured on Good Morning America and was named the TikTok Shop Book of the Year 2024.

She loves finding books with the perfect balance of sweetness and spice and strives for that in her own writing. If you ever wished you lived in Stars Hollow (or that Luke and Lorelai would just get together already!) then her books are definitely for you.

Good morning everyone and happy Tuesday. I’m a big fan of Reese’s Book Club and always look forward to seeing what she’ll choose as they are often books I’ve not heard of. Pictures are two books she’s featured recently that I still need to read!

💚Isola by Allegra Goodman
❤️City Of Night Birds by Juhea Kim

I’ve got a bit of a fascination with books involving ballet dancers so I’m excited to read City Of Night Birds and I love historical fiction especially if it’s set in a time period I’m not familiar with so I’m really looking forward to Isola.

Do you like Reese’s book club? What’s been your favourite read from it?

Isola by Allegra Goodman

In sixteenth-century France, as the heiress to an aristocratic fortune, Marguerite is destined for a life of privilege. Then she is orphaned, and her enigmatic and volatile guardian squanders her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to the new French colonies of North America. Isolated and afraid, Marguerite befriends her guardian’s servant and the two develop an intense attraction. But when their relationship is discovered, they are brutally punished, abandoned on a small island with no hope for rescue.

From a childhood dressed in gowns and laced pearls in her hair, Marguerite finds herself at the mercy of nature. As the weather turns, blanketing the island in ice, she discovers a faith she had never before needed…

Inspired by the real life of a sixteenth-century heroine, Isola tells the timeless story of a woman fighting for survival.

The City Of Night Birds by Juhea Kim

Slowly recovering from a terrible accident, Natalia is faced with a devastating choice – to return to the cutthroat world of Russian ballet that nearly broke her, or to walk away forever – in this sweeping novel of love and redemption

Prima ballerina Natalia Leonova was once celebrated across the world, her signature bravura in demand on stages from St. Petersburg to Paris to New York. But at the top of her career, an accident forces her into sudden retirement. Injured and alone, she turns to pills and alcohol to numb the pain of her past, still haunted by her relationships with two gifted dancers, Dmitri and Alexander. These men were responsible for her soaring highs, her darkest hours and, ultimately, both played their part in her downfall.

So when Dmitri resurfaces with a tantalising offer for Natalia, she must decide what she is willing to sacrifice in order to dance again – and for the chance to return to the great love of her life. Painting a vivid portrait of a world in which ruthless ambition, desire and sublime artistry collide, City of Night Birds unveils the making of a dancer with profound intimacy and breathtaking scope.

From the author of Beasts of a Little Land, winner of the Yasnaya Polyana Award

Good afternoon everyone and happy Saturday. I seem to have collected a few orange books recently so I thought I’d put them together as a warm weather stack in appreciation for the lovely sunny weather we’ve been having!

🧡In The Weeds by B.K Borison
🧡One Day by David Nicholls
🧡The Sun Blessed Prince by Lindsey Byrd
🧡Sunstruck by Will Hunter
🧡The Sky On Fire by Jenn’s Lyons
🧡Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
🧡Wild Cities by Chris Fitch
🧡 When The Cranes Fly South by Liza Ridzén
🧡 Finding Belle by Reeta Chakrabarti
🧡The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce

All of these are tbr apart from When The Cranes Fly South which I absolutely loved!

I’m off today and I’m hoping for a quiet morning reading and hopefully some family time this afternoon for an early Mother’s Day celebration as I’m working tomorrow. I’m then going out for an early birthday meal with my lovely bookclub friends which I’m looking forward to.

I’ve tagged a few people who might want to join in but, as always, no pressure.

What are your Saturday plans?

Book Synopsis:

Ancient Sicily. Enter GELON: visionary, dreamer, theatre lover. Enter LAMPO: lovesick, jobless, in need of a distraction.

Imprisoned in the quarries of Syracuse, thousands of defeated Athenians hang on by the thinnest of threads.

They’re fading in the baking heat, but not everything is lost: they can still recite lines from Greek tragedy when tempted by Lampo and Gelon with goatskins of wine and scraps of food.

And so an idea is born. Because, after all, you can hate the invaders but still love their poetry.

It’s audacious. It might even be dangerous. But like all the best things in life – love, friendship, art itself – it will reveal the very worst, and the very best, of what humans are capable of.

What could possibly go wrong?

My Review:

Glorious Exploits is an intriguing historical novel that manages to be funny but heart breaking at the same time.

The story is told from the point of view of Lampo who’s a happy, go lucky character who I didn’t particularly warm to as some of his antics kept making me cringe.  He always seemed to try his best but somehow always managed to say the wrong thing or put his foot in it somehow which was endearing at times but deeply frustrating in others.  His friendship with the likeable Gelon was interesting to follow and I enjoyed seeing how the friendship worked when the two were so different from each other.  

I didn’t know anything about this period of history, so I enjoyed learning more about it throughout the book.  It was fascinating to see what life was like in Ancient Sicily and how the different classes of people lived.  I especially loved hearing about the theatre shop and seeing how the different props were made in this time.  It was poignant to learn more about the treatment of slaves in this period, especially as we learn the background of a few of the slaves and get a glimpse into what their lives were like before.  The treatment of the Athenians was also sad to witness, especially as we see how much they had worsened over the time of the story.  I really felt for them and wished I could somehow rescue them all.  

Overall, I have mixed feelings about this book.  On one hand I enjoyed the time period and found it interesting to follow Lampo as he tries to put on his play in the quarry.  However, on the other hand I found the story quite sad and perhaps a little disjointed at times.  The ending was interesting, and I found it quite sad to discover how everything had worked out for the characters.  It was a bit confusing at times and I had to reread a few pages until I understood what was going on.  I didn’t understand the last few pages until we discussed it with the book group but as everyone else had got it apart from me, I think it was just me being a bit daft.  

If you are a fan of unique, gripping and realistic historical fiction then I think you will enjoy this book. 

About The Author:

Ferdia Lennon was born and raised in Dublin. He holds a BA in History and Classics from University College Dublin and an MA in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia. Glorious Exploits is his first novel. A Sunday Times bestseller, it was adapted for BBC Radio 4 and was the winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024 and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction. After spending many years in Paris, he now lives in Norwich with his wife and son.

Good morning everyone! Today on Two For Tuesday I’m featuring two books from Laura Wood.

💚 Under Your Spell
❤️ Let’s Make A Scene

As I might have mentioned a few times (ok a lot) I was a huge fan of the fantastic Under Your Spell. It was such a brilliant book that after listening to it on audiobook I had to buy a physical copy just so I can share it.

You can therefore imagine my excitement when I received a copy of her next book Let’s Make A Scene which also sounds really good. I’m really looking forward to reading and reviewing it as part of the blog tour.

Huge thanks to the lovely @bookminxsjv for sending me a copy of this book.

Let’s Make A Scene is out on the 3rd of July 2025 and Under Your Spell is out now.

Find out more about the books below ⬇️

Let’s Make A Scene

Their story might be scripted, but the chemistry is real.

When Cynthie Taylor gets her first real acting job, starring in a small British movie, she is over the moon. There’s only one problem . . . Cynthie’s arrogant and annoyingly handsome co-star Jack hates her, and the feeling is definitely mutual. While they may be at war behind the scenes, their on-screen chemistry is palpable, and the studio sees an opportunity – have the two young stars fake a romance that will charm fans and draw crowds.

Thirteen years later, Cynthie and Jack have successfully kept their promise to stay far away from one another, until a surprising offer comes to make a sequel to the cult classic that launched their careers. But there’s a catch: they must also rekindle their pretend relationship . . . and this time there’s a documentary crew following their every move.

Cynthie and Jack both desperately need this film to work, but can two ex-rivals ever really trust each other? And what happens when the roles they’re playing start to feel all too real?

Under Your Spell

She only wants three things. He isn’t one of them… 

Dumped by her cheating ex, fired from her dream job, about to lose her flat: Clementine Monroe is not having a good day. So when her sisters get her drunk and suggest reviving a childhood ritual called the breakup spell, she doesn’t see the harm in it.
 
But now Clemmie has accidentally ruined a funeral, had her first one-night stand, and she’s stuck with a new job she definitely doesn’t want – spending six weeks alone with the gorgeous and very-off-limits rock star, Theo Eliott. 
 
He’s the most famous man on the planet. Her life’s a disaster. When it comes to love, Clemmie is learning you should be careful what you wish for…