Sam's Fireside - Cosy Book Reviews & Recommendations

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of The Lost Secret of Ireland (Starlight Cottages Book 2), by Susanne O’Leary. Ella is living in Sandy Cove, a small village nestled on the Irish coast, and has had a disastrous few weeks, breaking her pelvis whilst painting a mural and falling from a dodgy ladder! She is now relying on her friends and neighbours to help her, and they are rallying around, helping with her shopping and making meals for her, but she is finding it slightly overbearing. When her late mother’s best friend, Lucille, offers to come and stay to help Ella get back on her feet, she jumps at the chance. It soon becomes apparent that Lucille has other reasons for coming to Sandy Cove, though, and although she is Ella’s lifesaver, she is also continuing with her secret mission and keeping her reasons very much to herself.  Each character brought their own ‘little bit of something’ to Sandy Cove and before long, you can see ...

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of The Woman on the Beach by Julia Roberts. Sophie, Liv, and Grace were friends from childhood, experiencing school, university, and the beginnings of their lives as young women together until a tragic event occurs, and things are never the same again. Who is the woman that Liv spots on the beach in Mexico, and why are they both there at the same time? The Woman on the Beach is an emotional rollercoaster of a story, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough, desperate to discover just what was going to happen next. The author leads us down so many different paths, with twists and turns along the way, each time with an unexpected outcome. Roberts has created each and every one of her characters with great thought, love, and joy, delving deep into each one to enable us to know them intimately. I felt their pain and heartache, love and understanding, with each tear-jerking revelation. This book m...

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  OMG, this is awesome! I urge everyone who loves anything paranormal to read this. I have heard of Sarah J. Maas, an enormous amount in all the Facebook groups I am in, but I’ve read none of her books! Why not? I need more of her in my life! I actually listened to House of Earth and Blood as an Audiobook (narrated by Elizabeth Evans), and was transported into Crescent City as I walked my dog! Bryce Quinlan is half-fae and half-human, working for a barely legal antiquities dealer in the City. She lives and parties with her best friend Danika Fendyr until a tragic event occurs, which changes Bryce’s life forever.  I never like to give too much away in my brief synopsis of books (in fact I never read them before I read a book, as long as I know the genre then that’s enough for me), as I don’t like to include too many spoilers for readers. The first part of House of Earth and Blood is really slow, as Maas sets the scene and explains the politics and hierarchy of Crescen...

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of Greece Actually by Sue Roberts. Becky lives a quiet life in a small Lancashire town, running her own business where she makes soaps and sells them from a tiny shop down a side street in the small market town. Escaping from a traumatic episode a few years ago, Becky moved up north to begin again, where no one knows her and she was closely followed by her supportive parents. Upon being given the opportunity to escape for a couple of weeks to a villa in Greece, Becky and her two friends jump at the chance and so begins the holiday, which may change Becky’s life forever.  I’m pretty sure this is the first Sue Roberts’ book I have read (although I can never be sure), but it’s  definitely the first one since I’ve been reviewing books. This book was just so, so lovely, sheer escapism in an exquisite setting with Roberts describing everything in such great detail you can imagine that you were ...

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thank you to NetGalley, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Pantheon Books for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings by Helen Jukes. I chose this book to read and review as I am fascinated by all bees, but in particular in learning more about the workings of a honeybee hive. Written as a memoir, Helen Jukes takes us through a year of her life in which she expresses an interest in bees, is gifted a swarm and then learns as much as she can before she collects them for her own hive. This book was extremely educational and informative and I enjoyed learning as much about the history of bees as Helen did, although I’m sure she only scratched the surface in what she shared with her reader. Although predominantly about the author’s beekeeping, we learn a little of her life, her work and her friends at the same time and occasionally, I forgot I was reading a non-fiction book as I was transported into the bee world. The book is well-written and th...

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Dash for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of A Farmhouse in Tuscany by Victoria Springfield. Harriet’s boss demands she take a break from her busy life in the City and suggests a yoga retreat in the Italian region of Tuscany. However, when Harriet arrives, yoga is no longer an option, and so she sets about learning to ride a horse! She meets a wide variety of characters throughout her stay, including Marco, the owner’s son, Alfredo, the stable hand and Jess, a fellow holidaymaker.  A Farmhouse in Tuscany is a lovely, happy, easy-read and ideal to while away a few hours, whether reading on a beach in the sunshine or by the fire when there’s snow on the ground! The author takes us right into the heart of the Tuscan countryside and you can easily imagine yourself in amongst the trees on horseback or sipping a coffee in the local square with the Italians playing cards by the side of you.  There were a lot of characters in the story an...

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thank you to NetGalley, Thread Books and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to listen to, and review an ARC of In my Mother's Footsteps, written by Mona Hajjar Halaby and narrated by Lameece Issaq. Halaby's mother had to leave her home in Palestine in 1948 during the Arab-Israeli war, firstly living in Egypt and then in Geneva, Switzerland.  Halaby herself then met her husband-to-be in Geneva and they moved to California where they made their life.  As their children left home and were leading their own lives, Mona jumped at an opportunity to spend a year in Ramallah, Palestine, teaching Conflict Resolution in a local school.  Throughout her time there, Mona kept a journal of her day-to-day life, her integration with the children and her travels through her mother's homeland, visiting places that her mother was telling her about in her regular letters to her daughter.  As the months go on, Mona's mother and father make the long journey from Geneva to visit he...