Category: week in books

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.

Book of the Week, books, new releases

Book of the Week: The Queen of Poisons

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As I mentioned yesterday, lots of rereading on last week’s list, so options for BotW were somewhat limited – and this is a bit of a rule breaker again because it’s the third in the series. But hey, what can you do.

When the mayor of Marlow drops dead in a council meeting, one of the Marlow Murder club is actually a witness. Suzie’s sitting in the gallery of the planning meeting when Geoffrey Lushington collapses. And not just that – this time the police are using Judith, Becks and Susie as civilian advisors from the start so they don’t have to guess about the details of the investigation. But the mayor seems like a nice guy – who would want to kill him?

These fit squarely into the wave of mysteries that have popped up in the wake of the success of the Thursday Murder Club. I mean it’s even got murder club in the title! But what makes the Marlow lot different is that it’s written by Robert Thorogood who is the creator of the TV series Death in Paradise and who had already written four novels based on that series before he started with Judith, Suze and Becks. I think they’re more straightforward cozy crimes than the Osman’s are, but they’re fun and easy to read and not too dark. Plus they’re set in a place that I used to know fairly well and that’s always fun.

I realise that this is more a review of the series in general than the book, but I can’t say much more about the murder plot without giving too much away (although I found the solution this time less satisfying than the previous ones) and I can’t say too much about what’s going on alongside the murder without giving too much away about the previous books in the series. But I do think you could read this without having read any of the others and not feel like you’ve missed out too much.

My copy came from NetGalley but this came out in hardback ten days or so ago and I think it’ll be fairly easy to find in the shops – the others certainly have been. And of course it’s in Kindle and Kobo. There is a TV adaptation of the first book coming soon as well so if you’re a read the books before you watch the series person, now is your chance.

Happy Reading.

books, stats, The pile, week in books

The Week in Books: January 22 – January 28

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Well as suspected, it was an incredibly busy week and there’s a fair bit of rereading – or more accurately re listening on it because I can do that when I’m on the train or wandering around on the way to the theatre and the like. And because I was away from home for three nights I haven’t made much progress on The Last Action Heroes – because I didn’t have space to take any book with me – let along a large format paperback! And I’m equally busy this week so I fear more of the same this time next week!

Read:

Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh

The Nursing Home Murder by Ngaio Marsh

Fillin’ Up by Patti Benning

Death in Ecstasy by Ngaio Marsh

Breathless by Beverly Jenkins

Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood*

Fence Vol 6 by C S Pascal et al

Started:

Murder on the Salsette by Edward Marston

Still reading:

The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semelyen

Lady Thief of Belgravia by Allison Grey*

Travellers in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

Didn’t buy anything. A minor miracle and something that is sure not to last.

Bonus photo: there were two theatre trips last week – Ive already mentioned Spymonkey, the other trip was to see one of the last couple of performances of Backstairs Billy, from a very cheap but definitely restricted view seat in the upper circle.

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