Sam's Fireside - Cosy Book Reviews & Recommendations

"The world's ending in seven hours." 🌍💥 This is officially one of my top reads of 2026. I bloody loved it! ❤️ I skipped between reading and listening to the iconic tones of Derek Jacobi and the inimitable style of Joe Jameson. So, so good! It's not really my usual genre, but I've already got the second one lined up and ready to go. 🙌 Miss Decima Stockingham and Stephen Pike are awesome sleuths and make a brilliant team as they set out to solve the locked-room murder at Tithe Hall in 1910. 🕵️‍♀️🔎 The book gave me Downton Abbey vibes with a dose of Daisy Darker thrown in. It made me laugh out loud and spit out my PG Tips more than once! ☕😂 And I was absolutely in awe of Miss Decima and her octogenarian wit. What a woman! With the world about to end and a murder to solve, what on earth can go wrong?! 🤣 Thank you to Viking Books UK and Penguin Books Ltd for the gifted copies of  The Murder at World's End  by Ross Montgomery. All thoughts are entirely my ow...

"We were better off here, even though we were making do with less than we'd ever had before." Luck is book number 4 in Natalie's Eventing series, and honestly, it's the best equestrian series I've read since I was a pre-teen devouring pony books! 🥰🐴 Luck is definitely something Jules and Pete need right now. They have nowhere to live, and there's a very real possibility that they'll have to give up their horses and their dreams if things don't work out. My heart was breaking for them so many times while listening to this book, and I genuinely couldn't see how they were going to turn things around. 💔 But Jules is a fighter, and as she starts teaching teenagers and passing on everything she knows, she begins to find strength and a new sense of purpose. Sometimes it's other people who help us see things differently, and I loved watching Jules start to look at her future in a new light. ❤️ I'm already looking forward to listening to the ...

“They don't deserve your protection or allegiance. They deserve nothing from you.” 📚 Britannia Hunts is the third book in the  Britannia  series and, although it's not my usual genre, I've really enjoyed this series! Yes, it's complicated, and there are a lot (and I mean a lot) of characters, but as soon as I started reading, I soon remembered them all – well, mostly! 😂 Each location brings its own set of characters and seemingly separate stories, but when you start to read between the lines, you realise that everyone has their own agenda, which ultimately leads to a much bigger picture. 🕵️‍♀️ ⚡ Fast-paced, as we jump from England to Nepal, Italy to America and beyond, this alternate, parallel world to our own could be frighteningly accurate, considering the way the world is right now. 🌍 The story is political, violent, intriguing and addictive. Russell's writing is exceptional and, even when I got lost in the plot, his skill at putting words on the page just ke...

"This wasn't a yacht; it was a floating palace.". I'm hanging my head in shame that it's taken me over five years to read this gorgeous debut novel, an ARC of which I received back in 2021! 🙈 Carol's sense of humour and personality have stayed with me since I used to listen to her on Radio 1 and 2 while driving to work, and when I saw she'd written a book, I knew I needed to read it. 💕 I loved it, from start to finish. Young Shauna, older Shauna, the beautiful Greek setting, the cocktails, the food and the romanticism. 🇬🇷🍹 I devoured it all! There was mystery and secrets, heartache and passion, and the unbridled closeness that only best friends can know. ❤️ I read this during the summer heatwave of 2026, but it would have been much more pleasant to be on the beaches of a secluded Greek island, with my toes digging into the sand and a delicious cocktail in my hand. ☀️🏖️🍹 In the time it's taken me to read Carol's debut novel, she's written...

“I’m done hating myself for something I can’t change” 💔 📚  Light Wielder  was August’s read for the sequel shelf for #thatbonkersbookclub, and although it didn’t wow me as much as the first book in the series, I still really enjoyed it! We pick up four years after  Metal Slinger  ended, which did feel kinda strange. Didn’t anything happen in those four years?! 🤔 Aside from that, it was good. The characters we loved in  Metal Slinger  are back. Some are just as obnoxious and annoying as we remember them, while others maybe garnered a little more sympathy from me. However, one thing I will say is that all the bad stuff, the conflict, the war… it’s all brought on by themselves and their inability to coexist. But they’re dragging innocent people into it too. Not good! 😬 The relationships were addictive! ❤️ When Irina and Jovie had to travel together in the carriage, that was pure genius 😂 And ultimately, teamwork won the day! 🙌 I loved the Messer twist, a...

“Refusing to accept what society expects doesn’t make us cowards.”   This Might Hurt  was August’s read for #thatbonkersbookclub, and I really liked it! 📚 The cult scenario didn’t really register with me until someone else mentioned it, so yes, perhaps I do overlook the things I don’t want to see! 🙈😂 In my head, Wisewood was just a weird retreat that people often didn’t leave… yeah, Sam — a cult! 🤦‍♀️🤣 I did get confused with the main characters from time to time. Those I thought had ended up at Wisewood turned out not to actually be them after all! 🤔 The book was also written across different timelines, let’s call them before and after Kit goes to Wisewood. It took me a while to work out what was going on, who was who, and how they were all relevant to each other. That aside, I enjoyed the story and the characters, and I’ll definitely be reading more books by Stephanie Wrobel. 😊📖 A very belated thank you to Michael Joseph for the free copy of  This Might Hurt ...

"I'm an introvert. I recharge my batteries by being alone. This week is going to be a lot of people-ing for me."  What an excellent quote! I know so many of you reading this will be nodding and agreeing! 🙌💕 Will There Be Time  is the third book in the series but can totally be read as a standalone. 📚 This has to be my favourite, although I've loved them all. ❤️ Whitney has a knack for picking you up off your sofa and gently placing you back down in the Parisian streets, with the aroma of coffee drifting from cafés ☕, fresh bread being baked somewhere behind closed doors 🥖 and posh Parisian ladies swanning along the pavements. 🇫🇷✨ I always enjoy it when we see glimpses of characters from previous books as they're woven into the current story. Austen (from the first book) and Matt are central to this one, as their wedding is the main theme of the story. 💒💍 Vivienne and Oliver are the love interests, though, and what a complicated story theirs is turning out ...