Sunday, April 6, 2025

My Review for The Wayside by Caroline Wolff, read by Lauren Fortgang

April 06, 2025  , , , , ,  No comments


Secret societies and sinister goings-on.

I liked this one, it took me a while to get into, and it was pretty slow-going, but once I figured out who everyone was, and got my head around the different points of view, I became invested in what happened to Jake and Sasha. Was it really suicide or was there something more ominous going on?

I found myself asking whether secret societies do exist in colleges, or whether they are always a work of fiction? I chose not to attend college or university, and I therefore have no firsthand experience of this. 

I enjoyed how invested Jake's Mum was in finding out the truth, even if it was sometimes to the point of obsessiveness. Lauren Fortgang as the narrator brought an element of mystery to the story which I'm not sure you'd have achieved from reading it. I would definitely listen to something she narrates in the future.

Thank you to Libro FM and Blackstone Publishing for the opportunity to listen to and review The Wayside by Caroline Wolff.

About the Book

When Kate Cleary’s son, Jake, dies at his elite liberal arts college, she refuses to believe it was the suicide it appeared to be. Something sinister is at play, and Kate becomes determined to retrace Jake’s steps during his final days. Descending into a spiral of obsession that threatens her grip on reality, Kate falls farther into a dangerous mystery even as she gets closer to the terrifying truth that Jake himself wanted to keep hidden.

Combining elements of dark academia and domestic fiction with a modern bent, The Wayside is a sharply observed story of grief, devotion, and the secrets we keep from those who love us most.

About Caroline

Caroline Wolff is a writer and editor. She holds an MFA in Fiction from New York University, where she also taught undergraduate creative writing. She lives in downtown Manhattan.




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Thursday, April 3, 2025

My Review for A New Home at the Wartime Hotel by Maisie Thomas

April 03, 2025  , , , ,  2 comments


Times are changing, as Manchester's ladies try to survive during WWII.

I love an educational WWII novel, and I've read many over the years. The ones where you learn more about the atrocities of the prison camps and the tenacity of the people who were held there. But I equally love a more lighthearted story, which is exactly what A New Home at the Wartime Hotel by Maisie Thomas is. It's the first in a new series, and although there is one heartbreaking topic (check the trigger warnings), this was a winner for me.

This time we are in Manchester as WWII continues, men are off fighting and the women are left to hold the fort - or the hotel! The characters are resilient and resourceful, and Kitty in particular was amazing as she fought to keep her home, and reconfigure the business to provide for her teenage daughter. Lily, Beatrice and Kitty (and Abbie) all became firm friends by the end of the story and I can't wait to hear what's in store for them next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read and review A New Home at the Wartime Hotel by Maisie Thomas.

About the Book

Kitty learned early on in her marriage that her husband, Bill Dunbar, isn’t reliable with money. So when they inherit the Dunbar family hotel at the start of the war, she's hopeful that their financial worries are over… until the bailiffs turn up! With Bill away fighting, it’s up to Kitty to turn things around for her family, or risk ruin.

Lily worked as a chambermaid at Dunbar’s before the war. She met Daniel there, but their relationship was complicated by class differences and the disapproval of Daniel’s mother. Now Lily is pregnant – and with Daniel away at sea, she is all alone. When tragedy strikes, will Kitty and Dunbar’s come to her rescue?

Beatrice is in her forties, unmarried, and working in a job that exposes her to the harsh realities of poverty and sacrifice. She wonders whether the war might give her the opportunity to change lives for the better - including her own. But when she's accused of a crime she didn't commit, the future looks bleak... until Kitty makes a surprising suggestion.

Can the community around Dunbar’s hotel pull together and provide a beacon of hope and resilience, in the dark days of war?



About Maisie

Maisie Thomas is the author of the new Wartime Hotel series published by Boldwood. The first two titles will be published in 2025. The stories concentrate on the importance of female friendship, especially when those friendships come about unexpectedly, and the ways in which women support one another through the highs and lows of everyday life in wartime.

Maisie is also the author of the bestselling Railway Girls saga series about the brave women and girls who worked on Britain's railways in WW2. She also writes as Susanna Bavin and Polly Heron. As Polly, she writes the 1920s saga series, The Surplus Girls, about young women striving for independence in the aftermath of the First World War. As Susanna she has written four stand-alone sagas (The Deserter's Daughter, A Respectable Woman, The Sewing Room Girl and The Poor Relation) and a WW2 saga series, The Home Front Girls.

Maisie was born and brought up in Manchester, which provides the location for her novels. She now lives on the beautiful North Wales coast with her husband and their two rescue cats.


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Sunday, March 30, 2025

My Review for The Astrology House by Carinn Jade, read by Amanda Dolan, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Gilli Messer, Soneela Nankani, Allyson Ryan, Sura Siu and Carinn Jade

March 30, 2025  , , ,  No comments


Let's dive into the mystery of Astrology.

It's been a long while since I listened to this, so I did have to delve into a few reviews to remind myself, but then it all came flooding back. 

There are a lot of characters, and each one was narrated by someone different, so this helped massively. It didn't take me long to work out who was who, how people were linked, and their purpose to the story. As expected from the title, there is a huge focus on astrology and how your star sign, your birth chart and what planets and stars are arising and descending when, can determine the person you become. The Astrology House is full of secrets, with a thrilling twist at the end. I would definitely like to read more from this author. 

Thank you to Libro FM and Simon & Schuster Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review The Astrology House by Carinn Jade.

About the Book

A group of wealthy Manhattanites escapes to an astrology-themed retreat, where simmering resentments and long-held secrets lead to a shocking death.

Margot needs a minute. She’s been working eighty-hour weeks as a newly minted partner at her law firm. She’s disconnected from her brother, the only family she has left. And she’s still not pregnant after years of trying.

Stars Harbor Astrological Retreat promises rest, relaxation, and wisdom for Margot and her friends. With Instagram-worthy views and nightly astrology readings in an impeccably restored waterfront Victorian house, this getaway should be nothing but idyllic fun. For Margot’s brother, Adam, it’s the perfect opportunity to rekindle the romance that fuels his writing, but his wife, Aimee, hides the darkness of her past with a beautiful social media feed. Their friend, Farah, is a successful doctor who cannot admit she’s losing control. But no one holds a greater secret than their astrologer host, Rini. She has a plan for all her guests, and one won’t be leaving Stars Harbor alive.


About Carinn

Carinn Jade is a lawyer, writer, and cohost of the Pop Fiction Women podcast. Her essays have been published in The New York Times, DailyWorth, and Motherwell. She has attended the GrubStreet Novel Generator, Yale Writers’ Conference, and the Northern California Writers’ Retreat. Carinn grew up on the North Fork of Long Island and lives with her family in New York City. The Astrology House is her first novel.




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My Review for The Little Girl I Always Wanted by Anya Mora, read by Abigail Reno, Tara Novie, Kacy Combest and Christopher Craven

March 30, 2025  , , , , ,  No comments


Missing girls but no bodies....

This was an audiobook listen for me and made all the more enjoyable because of the four narrators, who really made the story their own. It became quite apparent from the beginning that the majority of this small community has had a strict religious upbringing and continues to follow their faith. The wife's role was to bring up the kids and look after the house, and absolutely everything has to be run past their husbands first. I appreciate that there are many, many communities in the US that put their faith above everything, but I don't think I've read a book that focuses highly on this, not one set in the 21st century anyway. 

I worked out pretty early on who the bad guy was going to be, but that didn't spoil the enjoyment at all. There were still plenty of moments when I nearly changed my mind, as every now and then the plot took a diversion! A great story with underlying themes of grief and the difficulties of motherhood. 

Thank you to Libro FM and Vibrance Press for the opportunity to listen to and review The Little Girl I Always Wanted by Anya Mora.


About the Book

It’s as if my heart is bursting out of my chest. Nine-year-old Jubilee, our new adopted daughter, is beaming. She’s the little girl I always wanted and we’re finally taking her home.

Three months later.

‘This can’t be happening,’ I say. ‘She can’t be gone. She’s just a little girl, our little girl. She was here in her bed last night. I remember. I . . .’

I feel the panic rising, my worst fear surfacing. What if I brought her home — only to be taken?

Jubilee is not the first girl to go missing in our town. They found a body out in the cornfield — bones broken, a beautiful young girl gone.

Our community has already lost so many daughters. Mine cannot be next.


About Anya

Anya Mora lives a ferry ride from Seattle. She's a wildly sentimental mother of five in a love affair with hot yoga, positive affirmations, and to-do lists. She unabashedly uses emojis and wears her heart on her sleeve. Her novels, while leaning toward the dark, ultimately reflect light, courage, and her innate belief that love rewards the brave.





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Saturday, March 29, 2025

My Review for The Existence of Amy by Lana Grace Riva

March 29, 2025  , ,  No comments



Told through the words of someone with severe OCD, anxiety and depression. This is an eye-opener.

First, my sincere apologies to the author who kindly gifted me a copy of her book back in 2023, and I'm ashamed to say it's taken me two years to read it. Over commitment is my only excuse, but I am trying to do better this year!

A short read, I found The Existence of Amy to be so informative, yet entertaining. None of us are fully aware of how another person is feeling, and if you are good at hiding the real you, quite often, no one will find out. This is how Amy has been living, but at some point, it's all going to get too much, and she won't be able to hide it any longer. 

I think we all have an element of OCD, but thankfully, the majority of us can go about our daily lives without it affecting us too much. I am pretty sure that this is based on the author's own experiences, and I loved how raw and honest this book was. All the way through I was rooting for Amy, her friends are amazing and two in particular really looked out for her and helped her when she needed it. 

If you enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, then I would definitely recommend this one. 

Thank you to Lana Grace Riva for the opportunity to read and review The Existence of Amy. 

About the Book

Amy has a normal life. That is, if you were to go by a definition of 'no obvious indicators of peculiarity', and you didn't know her very well. She has good friends, a good job, a nice enough home. This normality, however, is precariously plastered on top of a different life. A life that is Amy's real life. The only one her brain will let her lead.

What is it really like to live with mental illness?

An insight into the reality of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety and depression.

About Lana

Lana Grace Riva has written two books, one nonfiction the other fiction, both based on her experiences of mental health. Her first book 'Happier Thinking' is a short collection of tips and exercises to maintain a healthy mind. Her second book 'The Existence Of Amy' is a fictional story based on the reality of life with OCD, depression and anxiety.






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My Review for The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

March 29, 2025  , , , , ,  No comments


'In love, we find out who we want to be. In war, we find out who we are'.

Historical fiction, particularly that set during World War II and inspired by true events, is my first love as a genre. The Nightingale is incredible. I cannot even begin to explain how this book made me feel. I was in awe of the two female protagonists, who both became a part of the Resistance in order to help others. Isabelle - the Nightingale - took many treacherous journeys across the Pyrenees, to help downed Allied airmen return home and Vianne helped to hide Jewish children who were forcibly abandoned by their mothers.

The Nightingale is a book about determination, perseverance and love. It is heart-wrenching, but positive, harrowing, yet encouraging. It will fill you with every emotion you have, a million times over, Every single time I read a book like this, I always turn the last page with a gut-wrenching thought that all of these things happened. 

Thank you so much to #BookstaBritsBookClub for choosing this as March's read. It's been sitting on my shelf for years and I finally had the opportunity to read it.


About the Book

FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says good-bye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gaëtan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.


About Kristin

Kristin Hannah is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels including the international blockbuster, The Nightingale, which was named Goodreads Best Historical fiction novel for 2015 and won the coveted People’s Choice award for best fiction in the same year. Additionally, it was a selection of the Reese Witherspoon Book Club in 2023. It was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, iTunes, Buzzfeed, the Wall Street Journal, Paste, and The Week. In 2018, The Great Alone became an instant New York Times #1 bestseller and was named the Best Historical Novel of the Year by Goodreads. 

The Four Winds was published in February of 2021 and immediately hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Indie bookstores’ bestseller lists. Additionally, it was selected as a book club pick by the both Today Show and the Book Of the Month club, which named it the best book of 2021. 

The Nightingale is currently in production at Tri Star, with Dakota and Elle Fanning set to star. Tri Star has also optioned The Great Alone and it is in development. Firefly Lane, her beloved novel about two best friends, was the #1 Netflix series around the world, in the week it came out. The popular tv show stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke and Season Two is currently set to conclude the series on April 27, 2023. 

A former attorney, Kristin lives in the Pacific Northwest.






























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Tuesday, March 25, 2025

My Review for The House on Cold Creek Lane by Liz Alterman, read by Emily Ellet and Gail Shalan

March 25, 2025  , , , , , ,  No comments


Well, that was a dark ending!

I'm flying through my audiobooks this year, and The House on Cold Creek Lane was another good one. I seem to be picking up the thriller audiobooks rather than the physical or digital copies, and I'm loving the immersiveness of them. A good narrator makes for an even better story, and Emily Ellet and Gail Shalan did a fantastic job of picking me up and depositing me into the lives of those who live or have lived on Cold Creek Lane. 

I didn't care for Laurel's husband, yep, he might have wanted what was best for her, but he didn't handle her very well. He came across as controlling and bossy, many a time I wanted to throw that influencing attitude right back at him. 

Told alternatively from Laurel and Corey's point of view, both characters were pretty screwed up in different ways. I worked out pretty early on who the bad guy was, but what I wasn't expecting was that ending! Wow, Liz, just wow! As an author I'm pretty sure you want your readers to remember the book, long after they've finished that last page, and that's certainly what happened to me!

Thank you to Libro FM and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to and review The House on Cold Creek Lane by Liz Alterman.

About the Book

Who was I? What had I become? Breathe, I commanded. You're doing this for your family.

When Laurel and Rob West move into their new home in New Jersey, it seems too good to be true. But Laurel can't shake off her old feelings of anxiety. The neighbour who pays far too much attention to the Wests' two young children . . . Rob watching her every miss step . . . and there's something people aren't telling her about this house . . . 

I promised myself I wouldn't go to that neighborhood again. Not that street. Not so soon. But I couldn't help it. They made it too easy.

Corey Sutton is trying to outrun her past. Recently divorced and reeling from a devastating loss, she moves into her widowed mother's retirement condo in Florida. Everyone says she just needs some time to recover and rebuild . . . but is Corey beyond saving? She wants answers. And there's very little she won't do to get them.

Though Laurel and Corey have never met, the women have something in common, and if they're not careful, it may just destroy them both . . .



About Liz

Liz Alterman's work can be found in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Parents, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and other publications. She is the author of a young adult novel, He'll Be Waiting, a memoir, Sad Sacked, and the domestic suspense novels The Perfect Neighborhood and The House on Cold Creek Lane. Liz lives in New Jersey with her husband and three sons. When she isn't writing, Liz spends most days reading, microwaving the same cup of coffee, and looking up synonyms.







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