Maddy's Book Blog

  It’s Always the Husband by C. L. Taylor   Cally Taylor is certainly one of the mistresses of the psychological thriller. I was so excited to read this ARC as I knew I would be in for mystery, intrigue, and some amazing twists – and I wasn’t disappointed. As well as the thrills, Cally is able to create a very real portrait of the type of people you can meet at the school gates, and the little cliques that exist. When Jude and her daughter moved to town, and her daughter Millie joins the local school, she meets the school mafia, headed by Victoria and her cronies. She also meets the handsome Will whose daughter becomes Millie’s best friend. However, when Jude finds out that Will’s wife died and his girlfriend disappeared the school mother’s start to cause Jude to wonder – after all one death is careless, but 2 missing partners....   What happened to Will’s previous partner? Is she dead or still alive? When Victoria’s PC ex-husband ends up dead, was it suicide or was...

  One Cornish Summer with You by Phillipa Ashley Phillip Ashley is a fantastic author, and this novel doesn’t disappoint.   She often writes about Cornwall, and I always want to visit after reading one of her books. Tammy is an artist, and her medium of choice is sand art on the Cornish beaches. When she meets Ruen on the beach, she is initially very wary. Her mum left when she was young, and her father drank and gambolled, and then died – so her experience is that everyone she cares about leaves. Just as she is starting to trust him, she finds out a secret about him that may just destroy their relationship forever. A lovely story, evocative of the region, and you will be rooting for Tammy and Ruen and the power of love. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7581776215

  Finding Love at the Magical Curiosity Shop by Jaimie Admans   Jaimie Admans has fast become one of my favourite authors. I love her books, which are full of quirky characters, romance and with a little bit of magic. That being said, this isn’t one of my favourites of her stories, as it took me a little while to settle into the characters. When 13 year old Ava comes into Mickey’s shop on Ever After Street to get away from her father she falls in love with the shop and is completely under the spell of the outgoing and gregarious owner, who is in complete contrast to her father, Ren, who is a very closed, and guarded history teacher at Ava’s school. When Ren comes into the shop, looking for his daughter, he immediately bangs his head on a birdcage, and proceeds to tell Mickey what he thinks of the shop – which is not great. Ren’s relationship with Mickey swings alternately from falling out to making up, and along the way they find a very old diary hidden in a chest. This bi...

  The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton I usually love Kate Morton’s books. She is a fabulous author with a great writing style, however I did find this book too long, and felt that it would have been even better with a bit of judicious pruning. The story is told in three timelines. In the present Cassandra was living with her Grandmother Nell in Australia, when her Grandmother passed away and left her a house in England. Cassandra knew that Nell was a foundling, and decided to come to the UK to research Nell’s story. In the past, Nell starts as a young girl being left on a ship and told to wait and hide, and takes you up to the point where she starts to find out a bit about her past – and then takes her Granddaughter Cassandra to live with her. In the very earliest timeline Eliza was living with her twin brother and mother in poverty in England, when she is found by her Uncle and taken to live with her Aunt and Uncle and cousin, and takes you up to the point when she decides she...

  Over the Sea to Skye: The Skye Sisters Trilogy. Book 3 by Sue Moorcroft   Reading this book was like sinking into the embrace of a well-worn armchair, the kind that knows your shape and welcomes you back every time. It’s like walking into a room full of people you know well, but haven’t seen for a while, and your heart sings. This is a gorgeous series and I’m sad it’s just a trilogy.   When Valentina’s husband left her, for her assistant – a good 20 years younger than him, Valentina was devastated – not least for her seven-year-old son Barnaby who missed his Dad when he disappeared without trace. Valentina took Barnaby to her summer cottage on the Isle of Skye to be near her two sisters and for some morale support. When her husband finally gets in touch and wants to meet up, he doesn’t turn up. What has happened? Added to that Valentina plays good Samaritan to Xander and his nephew McDonald at the station when they are stranded, and gives them a lift. From then ...

  Sunshine after the Rain by Jessica Redland   Reading a Jessica Redland novel is like sinking into a warm bubble bath.   You feel enveloped and cozy, and time just disappears. This story made me cry, and made me smile in equal measure, and I was sad when it finished.   Melanie’s world imploded when her beloved son Noah died. He was only 18, with the world ahead of him, and she blamed herself for not noticing the recent anomalies in his life. Angry at herself, and the world, Mel left her beloved Flynn behind, and moved away, divorced and tried to move on with her life. Many years later, the pull of her family became too much and after a family visit Mel decides to move back home – but what will happen when she sees Flynn?   A brilliant sequel to the ‘Escape to the Lakes’ series. I loved every minute of this story, and it was wonderful meeting ‘old friends ‘again such as Emma and her Alpacas. A fabulous story that would work as a stand-alone book or p...

  The Greek House by Dinah Jefferies Dinah Jefferies is a master storyteller. She has taken me all around the world, and her latest creation takes you to Corfu in Greece. He characters are always beautifully crafted, and you can almost small the sea when she describes the scenery. Thirza’s life is wonderful. She spends much of her time in Greece either at her family home in Corfu, or up the coast in her mother’s summer house ‘Merchant’s House’ which is on the coast. She lives with her parents Dulcie and Piers, her beloved younger brother Billy, and her mother’s cousin Columbine and Columbine’s daughter. When the Italian’s invade the island, and Billy is left in the care of Columbine, and Thirza, Billy disappears, and Dulcie and Thirza are heartbroken and return to the UK. Piers, who works in Corfu, spends time on the Island in their Corfu house. Meanwhile the Merchant House is empty and becomes extremely rundown. Now an adult, Thirza and her cousin return to Merchant House to r...