Sam's Fireside - Cosy Book Reviews & Recommendations

Neurodivergent girl meets messed up bad boy - what can go wrong?! This is number three in the Townsend Harbor series, I didn't know this, before I started listening, but it really didn't make any difference. Although it took me a long minute and a few chapters to get to grips with who was who and what was what, I must admit I did end up enjoying it. Of course, I was rooting for Gemma and Gabe. Neurodivergent girl meets messed up bad boy - what can go wrong?! I enjoyed the narrators of this one (of course I did, one of them was Teddy Hamilton)! It was a quick and easy listen once I got into it and held Stars Hollow vibes -if you know, you know! I need to find the other books in the series as audiobooks, and then I can immerse myself further into Townsend Harbor as I'm pootling around the garden on these (fingers crossed) glorious summer days to come. Thank you to Tantor Media and Libro FM for the opportunity to listen to and review Bazaar Girls by Kerrigan Byrne and Cynthia ...

Laugh-out-loud hilarious! This was such a fun book to listen to and I finished it within 24 hours. Who doesn't want to be stuck in the Highlands of Scotland with a work colleague that they absolutely cannot stand, with only tents and the random contents of backpacks to survive on?? First off, I cannot imagine anything worse than a team-building exercise away from the office. In the office is bad enough, but overnight, with people you barely tolerate - absolutely no way, thank you very much! But Fliss and James have no choice, they have been abandoned by their boss in the middle of nowhere and need to find their way back to civilisation. There are injuries, awful weather, and arguments, but there is also laughter, camaraderie, and yes, eventually teamwork, and of course maybe there is a smidgen of romance thrown in for good measure.  Grace Calder narrates Work Trip, and she does an amazing job of nailing the atmosphere, arguments, and romance of what will inevitably be love in the H...

Grace hates a lot of her family - so why not kill them?! Our #BookstaBritsBookClub had mixed reviews for How to Kill Your Family when we discussed it, but I personally loved it. I listened, rather than read this, and perhaps that helped. The dry wit of our female protagonist shone through and Grace Bernard is a complete badass who has done some truly disturbing stuff, but right now she is in jail for a murder that surprisingly she didn't commit.  I enjoyed the back and forth chapters, flipping between when she is in jail and before, and as she kills a million and one members of her family (well maybe not quite that many but enough anyway)! I'm sure I shouldn't like Grace, but I do. There are usually valid reasons why she wants people dead, and let's be honest, we've all felt like that at one time or another. It's just that the majority of us don't go through with it! If you aren't sure about this one, and you like an audiobook, then I would definitely re...

Friendships and family, new life and new beginnings. I love being back in Street, in Somerset, as Kate, Louisa, and Jeannie are hoping against hope that Britain will win the dreadful war and their loved ones can come home. Once again the book is full of friendships and family, new life and new beginnings, but it also isn't without its heartache as the atrocities of war are still in action. Prisoner of war camps are real, and the Germans are using that dreadful mustard gas! Despite everything, this book is full of hope and positivity, and I admire how strong people were (and had to be) during these difficult times.  I'm pretty sure that this is the last book in the series, and I'm gutted, I'd love to see how the Clarks Factory Girls live their lives as WWI ends and there is fresh hope on the horizon again. Perhaps May will write about them as they have to devastatingly navigate WWII.  Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Rachel's Random Resources for the opport...

'...exploring where love begins, where it falters, and the courage it takes to hold on—or to let go'. I adored Whitney's latest book, Will There Be Love, and it is absolutely as good as her debut novel, Will There Be Wine, if not better. I love a story that is told from different points of view and this one comes from the eyes of Ophelia and her husband Gianluca as well as Austen and her boyfriend Matt. Gianluca is a prize ass, but of course we are supposed to think that, however the other three are cute, and their lives soon become intertwined.  We are transported from Paris, to Rome, to Ibiza. At each location, I was feeling that I was really there, particularly on the beaches on the Balearic island of Ibiza and the crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean with the warm sun beating down on my skin.  If you love a book full of the importance of friendships, romance and second chances, then I urge you to pick up a copy of Will There Be Love. It can definitely be read as a ...

' An innocent soul, walled up and forgotten'. Burying Jericho is the third book in the Scott Jericho series, and it's by far and away the best! I loved everything about it. With each book I read, I'm learning more and more about the fairgrounds, the people who live and work there and the mysticism that often surrounds them. The stories in this instalment just build and build, both with the disappearance of the young lad that Scott is searching for, and the mystery that Harry is looking into. I can't say too much about anything, you'll not hear any spoilers from me. Suffice to say that I was hooked, and along with the million and one curveballs that the author threw us and guessing (incorrectly) who the culprit(s) were, my mind was in turmoil. As I turned the last page, I felt like I had questioned every witness and fought every psychological battle that Scott did. I am excited to see what is next for 'the Great Showman Detective'. Thank you to Zaffre boo...

Scott Jericho is back! I'm loving this series, as I write this review for the second book, I am well on my way to finishing the third. Scott Jericho just can't sit back and forget his past, all he wants is to be in the thick of an investigation and this time, he really is, slap, bang in the middle. Can he discover who the killer or killers are before too many more people get murdered? The book isn't all brutal murders and searching for the bad guys, there is an emotional side to it too. In the first book, Scott hooks up with his old flame, Harry, and in Jericho's Dead, they are still together - sort of. Scott doesn't seem the most stable of men in his relationships, so will they stay together, you'll have to read this to find out. Miscommunication is a huge issue between these two and many a time, I found myself muttering in despair - just talk to each other for heaven's sake! If you love a good murder mystery, with some pretty squeamish bits, then please ch...