Category: week in books

Book of the Week

Book of the Week: First Lady

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I said yesterday that whatever I chose today was going to be tricky for one reason or another, so I’ve gone for a rule breaker on the repeat front, rather than tell you (again) how much I love the Peter and Harriet books in the Wimsey series. If you want to know about that, you can go and read this post. So, instead I’m back on the Susan Elizabeth Philips train with a book from her Wynette, Texas series.

This plot is quite a lot, so hold on and bear with me. Our heroine is Cornelia Litchfield Case, widow of the President of the United States and also daughter of a former vice president. She’s found herself being pushed back into the role of First Lady and it’s killing her from the inside. So she gives her secret service minders the slip and escapes DC for a cross country road trip. Our hero is Mat Jorik, a disillusioned journalist whose ex wife has just died and is now taking charge of her children – but only to deliver them to their grandmother on the other side of the country. Nealy and Mat’s paths cross at a service station, and soon they’re on a cross country road trip together -in an RV with a surly teenage girl and a baby. The sparks fly between them – and this is the first time ever Nealy has had the chance to get to know a man who doesn’t know all about her baggage and her background, and who has no expectations of her. What could possibly go wrong?

So this is a road trip romance with a side of found family. I loved Mat from the start – he’s an absolute softie with a heart of gold that he hides behind a bit gruff exterior. And Nealy is one of the more interesting heroines you’ll encounter – her backstory is wild. I wasn’t quite sure how this was going to work itself out at the end, but it did and it was really quite neatly done – although it did all happen quite quickly, which is always annoying. But basically this is a fun read with a bit of an unusual set up and is all the better for it. I have the next two books in the series lined up (because they were on offer, although this was not) so I look forward to reading more of the series – and maybe seeing a bit more of the Wynette of the name!

I have no idea if it’s possible to get this in paperback for a reasonable price – but it’s available on Kindle and Kobo. And yes, I did break my usual pricing rules while buying it, but I’m blaming the jet lag!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 26 – March 3

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Hello from a mystery location, where it is 30+ degrees and very humid and where I can’t get my head around the massive time difference to home and my brain is a little frazzled. I’m on a work trip, so it’s been super busy – and that’s why the list is a little shorter. I have no clue what I’m going to write about tomorrow, because you’ve heard about all of these authors pretty recently but I’m sure I’ll think of something, or break the rules as usual!

Read:

Have His Carcase by Dorothy L Sayers

Opening Night by Ngaio Marsh

Strong Poison by Dorothy L Sayers

First Lady by Susan Elizabeth Philips

Mr Hot Shot CEO by Jackie Lau

Angel Catbird Vol 3 by Margaret Atwood et al

Sellin’ Out by Patti Benning

Started:

n/a

Still reading:

The Whole Enchilada by Diane Mott Davidson

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake

The Antiques Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C L Miller*

The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semelyen

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Ummm. Well, two books bought at the airport, two more bought in a bookshop here and a couple of ebooks too. I blame the jetlag!

Bonus photo: clouds appearing on the plane camera just as I approached flying over home!

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

Book of the Week, books

Book of the Week: At First Spite

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Now I didn’t intend for this to be the BotW because I’ve already mentioned it a few times, but it has one of the best grovels that I have recently seen in a romance so I couldn’t help myself so here we are!

How does Athena Grayson find herself living in a tiny house in between her former fiancé and his brother? Well it’s because she impulsively bought the spite house as a wedding gift for her husband before the engagement imploded. Now she’s stuck living in it – attached to her ex’s house and with the man who is the reason her fiancé broke up with her across the alley from her – and visible from every window. So she does what every woman living in a house with spite in the name would do – tries to get petty revenge. Except that Doctor Matthew Vine the Third may not be quite the uptight judgemental jerk she thought he was.

You know where this is going, but I will admit to having my doubts when I read the blurb about how Matthew was going to be redeemable. But luckily it’s pretty clear early on what his issue with his brother’s marriage is and that makes it all better or easier for the reader anyway. This has however got a portrayal of serious depression in it, which there is a warning for at the front so I’m not spoiling anything, and may mean that you need to approach with care depending on your own situation.

This is the first book in Olivia Dade’s new series set in Harlot’s Bay and it sets up a delightful community and set of secondary characters for the reader to revisit in the next books in the series. I’m really interested to see who the next person to get a book is – it feels like it maybe should be Athena’s ex, and yet I’m not sure how I feel about getting on board with him as a hero – he doesn’t seem to fit the sort of hero that Dade creates. So I look forward to seeing what the next one is when we get more information on that – whenever it maybe!

I had my paperback copy preordered, but you can also get it on Kindle and Kobo.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 19 – February 25

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Well this list looks a lot longer than it should because of the short stories from Improbable Meet Cute and a graphic novel. And obviously it has last week’s BotW on it because it was one of those weeks too. I’m off on my travels for work this week – proper travels out of the country – so we’ll see what that does to the list. I’m going to try and get that long running list down, but we will see. Service here should continue as usual though, even if I am in a different time zone.

Read:

Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh

The Love Wager by Lynn Painter

A Death Inside by Frances Brody

Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh

At First Spite by Olivia Dade

With Any Luck by Ashley Poston

Drop, Cover and Hold on by Jasmine Guillory

Royal Valentine by Sariah Wilson

Rosemary takes to Teaching by Patricia Baldwin

Fence Vol 5 by C S Pascal et al

Started:

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake

The Whole Enchilada by Diane Mott Davidson

Still reading:

Mr Hot Shot CEO by Jackie Lau

The Antiques Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C L Miller*

The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semelyen

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Two ebooks bought and one paperback preordered.

Bonus photo: somewhat flooded on the way to work last week

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

Book of the Week

Book of the Week: The Love Wager

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Yes, yes, yes, I finished it on Monday. It would have been on the train in to work on Monday, but just as I was reading the last couple of percent as we came in on the final stretch into Euston someone phoned me, and it was the train home instead – in fact I was so near the end, I had finished it before the train had finished pulling out of the station!

This is a friends to lovers, fake dating sort of romance where our hero and heroine, Hallie and Jack, meet at a wedding, have a one night stand and then meet again on a dating app. Hallie is trying to get her life back on track after a messy breakup with her high school boyfriend and she and Jack are definitely not interested in each other so make a bet on who can find true love first. And you know where this is going.

I found this really easy to read and a lot of fun. It reminded me a lot of some of the “chick lit” romances I read back in the day and has a nice sense of humour about it. The hero and heroine are quite young, but it didn’t feel quite as New Adult-y as some of the other romances I have read recently with similarly aged couples. But once I had finished reading it and started thinking about it there were a few things that jumped out at me – Jack does some questionable things during the bit of the bet where he’s catching feelings for Hallie, and actually when it comes down to it neither of them have a lot of character beyond being hot and liking tacos. But it’s one of the books where I didn’t notice that in the moment (well except that thing that Jack did where my first thought was “well there’s the final act breakup moment set up”) and it’s funny so I didn’t care too much. But your mileage may vary, depending on how much late 90s/early 00s romance you have read and your feelings and tolerance of that.

This is my first Lynn Painter – I picked it up because it was on offer (yes the Kindle offers post research costing me money again!) and I keep seeing her books recommended. And it was definitely worth 99p, and I’ll have a look out for more from her in Kindle Unlimited as well (there’s one at the moment). It’s in Kindle and Kobo and claims to have a paperback.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 12 – February 18

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A pretty good week all in all. Very busy but some good stuff read amid it all. A distinct romance turn to the list though – but then it was Valentine’s Day so that might only to be expected!

Read:

A Surfeit of Lampreys by Ngaio Marsh

Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez

Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh

Simply the Best by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh

Grumpy Fake Boyfriend by Jackie Lau

Linda learns to Type by Patricia Baldwin

Started:

The Love Wager by Lynn Painter

Mr Hot Shot CEO by Jackie Lau

Still reading:

The Antiques Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C L Miller*

The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semelyen

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Five books bought – two kindle and three paperbacks. And a preorder arrived too, although that was the Susan Elizabeth Philips, which I read immediately so that’s already off the backlog, so maybe it doesn’t count?!

Bonus photo: it’s starting to get lighter in the mornings on the walk to work. If only it was lighter when I get on the train!

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

Book of the Week, books, mystery, new releases

Book of the Week: Knife Skills for Beginners

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I mentioned this on release day the other week, but I really did enjoy it and the list was short last week, so here we are…

When Paul Delamare’s old friend Christian inveigles him into teaching a course at a Belgravia cookery school in his place, he doesn’t expect to end up as the prime suspect in a murder investigation. But that’s what happens when after the first night of the course a body is discovered. And of course it doesn’t help that Paul taught a knife skills class in the first day and everyone knows that chefs are short tempered don’t they? Except that Paul’s pretty sure there are some people with secrets among the people at the school and that they had much better motive and opportunity than he did. And as the course continues alongside the murder investigation, he tries to solve the crime and avoid being arrested for murder himself.

I really liked this. I was hoping it would be good and fun, and it actually exceeded my expectations. And a lot of that is because Paul is a much more interesting character than you expect from the blurb so it makes a change from the usual cozy-crime sleuths. The actual murder mystery plot is also good and plenty twisty enough for me although I’ll admit to having some doubts about the solution. This is written by a cookery writer so it has recipes as well as the murder and .I really liked them too – I know a lot of American mysteries have recipes but they’re often not ones I actually want to cook and of course the measurements are all wrong (how much butter is a stick anyone?) but with these ones I did think “oh that sounds nice”. I hope there is a sequel – there was certainly enough left hanging when it comes to Paul’s life to sustain another book with him at the centre…

My copy came from NetGalley, but as you can see from the photo it’s out in the shops now and should be fairly easy to get hold of in hard copy as well as on Kindle or Kobo.

Happy Reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: February 5 – February 11

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I’m not really quite sure what happened last week to be honest. My brain just wouldn’t concentrate on reading and as I kept falling asleep on the train I’m going to chalk it up to general exhaustion. I’m away a couple of nights this week again, so we’ll see what that does for the list.

Read:

Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh

Knife Skills for Beginners by Orlando Murrin*

Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh

Press Story by Marjorie Riddell

Heartstopper Vol 5 by Alice Oseman

The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren

Started:

The Antiques Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C L Miller*

Still reading:

The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semelyen

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Four ebooks bought – a couple in a series that seem to be rotating on and off offer and one I’ve had my eye on for a while that’s also gone on offer

Bonus photo: not my photo, but it’s been somewhat damp this last week, although I suppose we should be glad that it’s not snow!

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.

Book of the Week, books, Forgotten books

Book of the Week: The Belting Inheritance

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So another year, another British Library Crime Classic BotW pick – but hey I made it into February before I recommended one!

The Belting Inheritance is not a murder mystery. Well it is, but that’s not the main thing it is. It’s the story of a supposedly dead son arriving back home, and the events that ensue. It’s told by Christopher, who is not a son of the house, but whose moved there after the death of his parents when his mother’s aunt swept in and moved him from his old life to Belting. Lady Wainwright reigns over the house with her two remaining sons in residence. Except one day, just her health is failing, a man appears claiming to be her son David who was shot down in the war and reported killed.

This isn’t the first book I’ve read with a plot about someone returning from the dead – I studied Martin Guerre as part of my history degree, and Josephine Tey’s Brat Farrar is brilliant too. This is equally twisty and peopled with characters that you really dislike which adds an extra twist to it all. I raced through it and although I wanted more at the end, that was just because (as ever) I wanted to know more of what happened next. Definitely worth picking up if you see it.

My copy was via Kindle Unlimited, which means it won’t be on Kobo at the moment, but I’ve definitely seen it in the usual bookstore who carry BLCC books so hopefully it’ll be findable if you are interested.

Happy reading!

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: January 29 – February 4

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Well a slightly better list than I was expecting this time last week, but still got some long runners going on. Still this week is looking marginally less busy so I can endeavour to change that (but it’s been going on a while now hasn’t it!).

Read:

Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh

Double Shot by Diane Mott Davison

Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh

Murder on the Salsette by Edward Marston

Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh

Death in the Stacks by Jenn McKinlay

Lady Thief of Belgravia by Allison Grey*

The Belting Inheritance by Julian Symons

Started:

Knife Skills for Beginners by Orlando Murrin*

Still reading:

The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semelyen

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Four books bought – including The Breakup Tour which dropped price on Kindle last week!

Bonus photo: a truly amazing sunset last week, courtesy of my dad!

*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.