Wednesday 27 September 2017

Keep You Safe - Melisa Hill


About the book… 
What if your choice for your child could harm someone else’s?

Every mother faces impossible choices. Vaccination is one of the hardest. For single mum Kate O’Hara, there was no decision to make. Her daughter Rosie is one of a small percentage of Irish children who can’t be vaccinated against measles. All Kate can do is hope that her little girl is safe.

For mummy blogger Madeleine Cooper, it was a leap of faith she wasn't prepared to take when she and her husband declined controversial measles jabs for their daughter Clara. All she can do is pray that it’s the right decision.

But when classmates Clara and Rosie both become sick will Kate pay for Madeleine’s choice?

Buy Links:
Amazon UK
Amazon US

About the author… 
A USA Today and No. 1 Irish times and Italian best-seller, Melissa Hill’s books are translated into 25 different languages. One of her titles has been optioned for a movie by a major Hollywood studio, and another is currently in development for TV with a top US production company

Contact Links: 
Website: www.melissahill.ie 
Twitter: @melissahillbks
Facebook & instagram melissahillbooks

My thoughts…
I was given an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review by Harper Collins, Melissa Hill's publisher.  This is something I am more than happy to do.

Wow, where do I start - what a book.  This is one of those books that once I started to read it I couldn't put it down - it was gripping from the word go.  Two families are linked by a childhood virus, school friends Clara and Rosie haven't been vaccinated against measles, both sets of parents have valid but very different reasons; that is until both girls get sick - one bounces back, one doesn't.  The community is rocked and divided and everyone seems to have an opinion - not least the press and social media.

Melissa Hill has written a book that is highly emotive and thought provoking - it is a story that will make you question and evaluate every decision you make or have made. How often do we consciously consider how decisions we make are going to ripple and affect others way beyond our immediate situation? Probably hardly ever perhaps never - after reading this book you might just begin to!

Melissa really has struck gold with this new genre.  Jodi Picoult, Diane Chamberlain - eat your heart out, you've got serious competition here! Keep You Safe was well structured and paced with characters that emerged and grew along with the story.  Friendships, both solid and tenuous are all affected and moved to stand in one corner or another pledging their allegiance to one decision or another - although as we find out nothing is ever quite black or white.

I highly recommend this book and guarantee you'll be turning the pages with your heart melting, fingers crossing for happy endings all round - simply brilliant, a book that will provide a talking point and debate amongst the closest of friends.

Christmas at Mistletoe Cove - Holly Martin


About the book… 
Christmas has arrived at Hope Island, promising snowflakes, surprises and plenty of seasonal joy. So snuggle up and fall in love at Mistletoe Cove …

Growing up on Hope Island, Eden Lancaster always believed that if you wished hard enough for something, dreams really could come true. But Eden’s greatest wish is also her biggest secret: she has been completely in love with her childhood friend, the charming and attractive Dougie Harrison, for as long as she can remember. And he has no idea.

When Dougie leaves his successful life in New York to return home to Hope Island for good, Eden can’t escape her feelings. Her heart is full of hope that her romantic dreams are finally, at long last, going to come true…

This Christmas could change everything. But can a lifelong friendship really turn into the perfect romance? And will Eden get the happily ever after she’s always wished for?

Christmas at Mistletoe Cove is like a warm hug on a cold winter’s day. The perfect treat this Christmas for fans of Debbie Johnson, Cathy Bramley and Miranda Dickinson.


About the author… 

Holly has been writing for 8 years. She was shortlisted for the New Talent Award at the Festival of Romance. Her short story won the Sunlounger competition and was published in the Sunlounger anthology. She won the Carina Valentine’s competition at the Festival of Romance 2013 with her novel The Guestbook. She was shortlisted for Best Romantic Read, Best eBook and Innovation in Romantic Fiction at the Festival of Romance 2014. She is the bestselling author of 18 books.


My thoughts…
I was given an ecopy of this book by Bookouture - Holly Martin's publishers in exchange for an honest review, the s is something I'm more than happy to do.

I can't tell you how excited I was to hear Holly Martin had a new Christmas book out and not only that it was set in the wonderful Hope Island - a place I've grown to know and love, whose residents feel like friends. Hope Island and it's inhabitants are simply magical, I always find myself reading about their lives with a soppy grin on my face.

This time the story focuses on childhood best friends Dougie and Eden.   Eden was totally in love with Dougie after they had shared a kiss at Mistletoe Cove.  She thought it was the beginning of something....until Dougie left Hope Island 12 years previous with his parents and then stayed away to follow his dreams, settling in America.  Unbeknown to him, he left behind a bereft and heartbroken Eden. Each visit he made home over the 12 years he was away squeezed her heart a little bit harder so the day she found out he was moving back to Hope Island she was beside herself with anxiety and excitement in equal measures.

I really don't know how Holly does it but she has once again draped her blanket of love and sparkles over this warm, witty story.  It is truly magical, I was swept up in the magic and excitement as Dougie paved the way for Eden to hope, wish and dream.  Holly's descriptions are so vivid I was sucked straight into the story and was rooting for Eden and Dougie to find romance and find their happy ever after.

Holly always adds subtle humour to her novels and Christmas at Mistletoe Cove is no exception. This was a book that had me creased with laughter and smiling one minute then cringing behind my hand the next as Eden's parents joined their friends in sharing anecdotes and offering the pair the sort of advice you definitely wouldn't expect to get from your parents.  Add Christmas to the mix and you really have got a magical book that I was sorry to finish.

Anyway, enough said - go out and buy this gorgeous book, you won't be disappointed.  I however am off to have supper - mince pie flavoured pancakes anyone?

Friday 15 September 2017

Deadly Intent - Sheryl Browne


Series: A DI Matthew Adams Thriller – Book #3 (can be read as a standalone)
18+ (some violence and language)
About the book… 
What if you and your family were at the mercy of a psychopath/a man with no conscience? 
Just when DI Matthew Adams thinks he’s left the past behind him, it comes back to haunt him once again; this time in the form of the Conner family. 
Like Matthew, the Conners have lost a child in tragic circumstances – and they’ve also found themselves in the hands of one of the most depraved criminals to walk the streets: ‘Dead-eyed’ Charlie Roberts, a drug addicted low-life with a penchant for extreme violence. 
Matthew’s greatest affinity lies with Daniel Conner, the brooding father who still blames himself for his youngest child’s death. But when Daniel’s wife and daughter are tortured and tormented by Roberts, can Matthew prevent him from completely ruining his own life for an act of revenge particularly when, once upon a time, that’s exactly what Matthew would have done too?  

Buy Links: 

About the author… 
Heartache, humour, love, loss & betrayal, Sheryl Browne brings you edgy, sexy, heart-wrenching fiction. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association, Romantic Novelists’ Association and shortlisted for the Best Romantic e-book Love Stories Award 2015, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies, where she completed her MA in Creative Writing. 

Recommended to the publisher by the WH Smith Travel fiction buyer, Sheryl’s contemporary fiction comes to you from award winning Choc Lit.






My thoughts…
Before reading this book I hadn't previously read anything by Sheryl Browne so her switch to penning a thriller from romantic fiction had no impact on me.  But, I can imagine it may shock a few of her readers.  She looks like butter wouldn't melt yet she has just written an edgy dark novel that hits you straight between the ribs within the first few pages.

I held my breath, felt sick and cried whilst reading Deadly Intent - why? Because Sheryl painted the opening scenes so vividly I wanted good to overcome the bad and desperately cared about each member of the family - an achingly difficult book for me to read but one I couldn't put down.

A tragic accident sees them losing their youngest daughter and they go from being a happy connected family of four running their own business to three individuals each seemingly unable to function or take their rightful place alongside each other as part of a family.

The age old problems of communication and guilt is at the heart of their problems.  Jo and Dan avoid each other and can't communicate their feelings without it coming across as an attack on the others behaviour.  As a direct consequence their actions have a serious and detrimental effect on their teenage daughter.


As a female and mother of a 28yr old daughter I've 'done' the teenage years and lived through the angst and self confidence issues, wanting to fit in, appear older than a teenager and pushed the boundaries - safe in the knowledge that I as a mother or my parents when I was a teenager would let the boundaries be pushed and allow them to give a little safe in the knowledge that those very same boundaries were there to keep my daughter and myself safe.


Emotions ran deep for me whilst reading this book - I felt for each of the family in different ways but I particularly felt for Kayla and wanted to shake Daniel and Jo and make them see what was happening under their nose with their daughter. It has to be every families nightmare for their children to come into contact with drugs and the evil effects they have on life.


This book is all consuming, it will eat you and throw you back out but you won't be able to put it down until you find out whether a family at rock bottom can survive.