Archive | September 2022

Cold Dead Night by Lisa Phillips

Sep5

Wow – Thrilling!

Cold Dead Night by Lisa Phillips is a fabulous new Christian crime suspense that had me glued from the start. It is the first book in the Brand Of Justice series and I cannot wait for the subsequent books.

The action came thick and fast. I read with heart racing and pulse rising as the body count grew.

This was a cleverly constructed and well executed crime suspense. The action was fast paced. Just as I thought the perpetrator was close, the action veered off in another direction. I clung on for dear life.

All the characters were well drawn and realistic. I liked the lead character who was still recovering from a trauma two years previously (before the book opened). She refused to let her fear get in the way of doing her job.

I loved the inclusion of a rescue dog who had a big, caring personality and was a character in her own right.

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A Scandinavian Summer by Helga Jensen

Sep5

Sensitively & Beautifully Written

A Scandinavian Summer by Helga Jensen is a most delightful contemporary novel that made me laugh whilst tugging at my heartstrings.

Loss is hard whenever it strikes. There are different kinds of loss. The novel explores this theme. We follow a forty nine year old character who suddenly finds herself alone. Her identity as a wife and a mother is questioned – who is she if she is not fulfilling those roles?

The novel has the twin themes of bravery and stepping out into something new. As a character broadens her horizons, she begins to find her joy again. “I’m happy! I never thought I’d say those words.”

With new-found joy comes guilt. How dare she be happy to be alive. She needs to learn to live again and not feel guilt for smiling.

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The Life Of Riley by Sharon Plant

Sep3

Small In Stature, Big In Heart

The Life Of Riley by Sharon Plant is a marvellous historical novel that is both educating and eye opening.

The novel is set during the first quarter on the twentieth century as we follow Ray Riley from a six year old to a married man. The story is fictional but the locations in London are accurate of conditions at the time.

Poverty in the early twentieth century was rife. Sharon Plant has perfectly captured the squalor and the desperation, as the reader hears of rodent infested rooms with water running down the walls.

We see the effect of poverty and the feeling of hopelessness on lives as wages are often spent in the pub rather than putting food on the table. Ill tempers often see wives sporting black eyes.

Living in poverty means families cannot always afford to look after their own children and they send them away to live with richer relatives. This really resonated with me as after my Nanny’s mother died in 1894. She was given to an uncle and aunt to be looked after and her baby brother given to the neighbours. The other six children stayed in the family home.

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Rock N Rose by Suzan Holder

Sep1

A Really Fun Read

Rock N Rose by Suzan Holder is an absolutely delightful contemporary novel that warmed my heart and soul.

The central premise is a really intriguing one that really captures the reader’s imagination. It is so well written by Suzan Holder that the reader wonders, could it actually be true? And to be honest, I wanted it to be true!

Rock N Rose feels like a fairy story for grown-ups. The story surrounds Elvis Presley and Graceland as we travel from the Welsh valleys to Memphis. There has always been a bit of a mystery to Graceland, and a terrible tragedy that Elvis died so young and alone. As Suzan Holder says in her novel, it was a defining moment, we all know where we were when we heard the news on 16th August 1977. I still remember the disbelief that the king of rock and roll was dead. It is a moment where I have been frozen in time (along with where I was and how I felt when I heard that Tommy Jansson, a speedway rider, had died on 20th May 1976, and also when Princess Diana died).

The novel is about love, missed chances and new opportunities. There is so much love that radiates from the pages. There is a love that lasted a lifetime, a new love beginning to bud and a love between a grandmother and her granddaughter. Love does not turn off at the point of death. Love lasts as our memories keep us warm.

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