Tag Archive | Harper Collins

The Women Of Wild Hill by Kirsten Miller

Oct23

Entertaining

The Women Of Wild Hill by Kirsten Miller is a contemporary fantasy novel that I enjoyed. It is a departure from my usual genre but I found it very entertaining.

Kristen Miller has constructed a comprehensive plotline that is well executed.

As we follow the women of Wild Hill, we learn of their desire to protect women and to preserve the planet. There have been sacrifices in the past in order to enable the three to work together to save the planet – what this looks like no-one knows, not even the women.

For over four hundred years the women in the family have each received a gift. Some are happy with their gift, others are not. They are told “your two greatest gifts are exactly the same. The family and each other.” It is family first.

Continue reading →

Christmas At The Second Chance Supper Club by Caroline Roberts

Oct18

Love, Care & Community

Christmas At The Second Chance Supper Club by Caroline Roberts is a very charming contemporary Christmas novel that I loved. It is the second book in The Second Chance Supper Club series but can be read as a stand-alone. I recommend reading the books in order for character development and for timeline continuity as book two begins where book one ended.

Once more the reader returns to a small Northumberland village with familiar faces. Romance is still in the air but is complicated by strong, emotional ties to a late spouse. Grief isn’t a linear journey. There are peaks and troughs as a character looks backwards. He gives himself this advice. “Just to learn to be kind to himself. To see that he deserved a life after his loss.” Just as he is beginning to suppress his guilt and dip his toe in the waters of dating, grown up daughters’ step in to muddy the waters. I found a powerful scene that was reminiscent of the movie All That Heaven Allows where the grown-up children buy their mother (played by Jane Wyman) a television to keep her company, after they objected to her dating the handy man (played by Rock Hudson), whilst the children go about their lives. Grown children have the selfish gene, making it all about them, and their feelings, whilst never considering their father’s feelings.

In contrast, the son of a divorcee encourages his mother to have her own life but he still drives a six hour round trip to see his mother so she doesn’t wake alone on Christmas Day.

Continue reading →

The Second Chance Supper Club by Caroline Roberts

Sep25

New Beginnings

The Second Chance Supper Club by Caroline Roberts is a very charming contemporary novel about new beginnings.

The novel is set in a small village in Northumberland as we follow the leading lady who is relocating from Leeds. We understand her fears of starting again but though the village is small, the welcome is huge.

There are an eclectic mix of characters, with the village shop very much at the heart of the village. “That little shop is more than just a store, it’s a kind of community hub.”  The young men who own the shop provide a warm welcome, and it is here that friendships begin. Characters drop in for more than groceries. For some, it is their lifeline, giving them conversation and care.

The leading lady and man are in their fifties. They prove that growing older does not have to mean, slowing down. He is passionate about cycling.

She misses her friends in Leeds. Following a divorce, she is brave enough to start the supper club which provides a camaraderie for a group of five as they share good food and lives.

Continue reading →

The Liar by Louise Jensen

Sep12

Superb

The Liar by Louise Jensen is a totally gripping psychological thriller that I read in just two sittings, pausing only to sleep.

Louise Jensen is masterful at the psychological suspense. Whenever I pick up one of her books, I know that I will be highly entertained.

The action is seen through various alternating points of view, in both the first and third person. The time periods are present day, recent past, and significant past events. Apart from the watcher paragraphs, the reader is told whose voice it is.

We join a social worker, her daughters, and her elder daughter’s friend and small son. They are a close unit, knitted together by a mother’s love. “Families aren’t always perfect and that doesn’t matter. It’s love that counts.”

The women in the novel are strong characters. They are closely woven together, standing united in the face of cruelty, abuse or indifference from various male characters.

Continue reading →