Maddy's Book Blog

  Common Decency by Tom Allen   I did enjoy this offering from Tom Allen, though not quite as much as I’d hoped. I couldn’t shake the feeling that it would have landed even better as an audiobook, read by Tom himself, because his voice and rhythm are so clearly woven through the story. On the surface it’s about a group of residents banding together to save an old oak tree, but there’s so much more happening beneath that premise — layers of personal struggle, community tension and the quiet ways people try to do the right thing. Oak Drive is a small road opposite a little park with a very old oak tree at its heart. The residents keep an eye on one another, so when the council announces plans to turn the park into an electric‑charging station — removing the ancient oak in the process — they rally together. But nothing on Oak Drive is quite what it seems. Donald, the self‑appointed ruler of the road and dictator of his long‑suffering wife Fanny, is hiding more than anyone rea...

  The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton I absolutely love Kate Morton’s books, so I was incredibly excited to read this one — and it didn’t disappoint. Her writing has that timeless, classic quality I always fall into so easily, and once again she delivers a beautifully crafted story full of atmosphere, mystery and emotional depth. She’s one of those authors whose books feel like modern classics the moment you open them. When Lauren was sixteen, she was hiding in the family tree house while the rest of the family were at a picnic. From her perch, she watched her mum and baby brother return home for the birthday‑cake knife — and then saw a stranger appear at the door. What happened next changed everything: Lauren witnessed her mother kill the man, before fainting from shock. The police accepted her mother’s claim of self‑defence… but was it the truth? Fifty years later, the sisters gather for their mother’s birthday and realise her memory is fading fast. If Lauren doesn’t uncover wha...

  The Seaside Book Club by Helen Rolfe I’m an absolute sucker for a story centred around book clubs or bookshops — and this one had both, so I was hooked from the start. The fact I read it in just three days says everything about how much I enjoyed it. I simply couldn’t put it down. This isn’t my first Helen Rolfe book, and I’m certain it won’t be my last. Howard and his wife Bonnie have recently moved to Dorset. Howard, a devoted reader, joins a midnight book club with members scattered across the UK and Australia. Bonnie isn’t a reader herself, but she supports his passion wholeheartedly — including his decision to buy the local bookshop to save it from developers. Margot, trapped in a miserable marriage she stayed in for the sake of her boys, relies on the Midnight Book Club as her lifeline, sneaking down to the basement at night so her husband won’t forbid it. Faye runs the group, having taken over from her aunt, but she’s dealing with her own troubles as her twin sister’s ...

  A Wish For Beth by Audrey Davis Having read and enjoyed the first three books in the Cranley Wishes series, I was very excited to dive into number four — and it didn’t disappoint. Audrey Davis writes with such humour, her tongue always firmly in her cheek, yet her characters are so well drawn that you can’t help becoming completely invested in them. I actually preferred this instalment to book three, and I raced through it in no time. Beth moved to Cranley after her husband died, taking a job at the local pub to revamp the food offering — and the chance to live in was a welcome escape from the home that held too many memories. Kieran arrived in Cranley for very different reasons: after his ex‑fiancée Lisa ran off with her yoga instructor, he bought a ‘doer‑upper’ on the advice of an old friend of his mum’s. What neither of them expected was the interference of a very special genie called Gigi, who lives in an old pinball machine in the pub’s cellar. Think the genie from Aladd...

  The Queen's Coronation by Jennifer Ryan Having enjoyed The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, I was really looking forward to reading this, and it exceeded my expectations. It’s a fun, wonderfully researched story that gives such an engaging glimpse into what it must have been like inside the palace around the Coronation of the late Queen Elizabeth — something we’re all curious about. And it’s so much more than that, too. It’s 1953, and London is buzzing with excitement for the Coronation — none more so than within the walls of Buckingham Palace. It’s here we meet a group of women who are destined to become the closest of friends. Caroline, assistant dresser to the Queen, loves her work, but her home life is far from ideal; pregnant after the love of her life didn’t return from the war, she married a man who went on to treat both her and her daughter terribly. Lucy, a strikingly beautiful young woman, joins the Palace staff hoping it will be the first step toward her dream of becoming a...

  One Sunny Day   by Shari Low I’ve read a few of Shari Low’s books before, so I knew I was in for a treat with this one. Her characters are so well crafted and relatable that you can’t help but keep turning the pages, telling yourself “just one more chapter” until suddenly you’ve finished the whole book. The whole story unfolds over just twenty‑four hours, following four very different lives as everything shifts around them. Netta McGonigle is a widow whose marriage was far from perfect, leaving her daughter baffled about why she stayed. Ollie Chiles is a huge star thanks to a lucky break in The Clansman , and he helped found the theatre academy with a friend — an academy run by, and named after, his mother. Now he’s torn between continuing his career, and funding the academy, and choosing the love of his life. Kiki Strang is a single mum whose daughter attends the academy, still reeling from being ghosted by the actor who once promised her the world. And Ginny Canavan, a...

  Making Sparks Fly at the Highland Repair Shop by Kiley Dunbar  Although I’ve read the previous books in this series, this one can easily be enjoyed as a stand‑alone. That said, there’s something so comforting about revisiting old ‘friends’. Kiley Dunbar has created some wonderfully unusual characters in this series, all endearing in their own way, and this story was no exception. It was a lovely read.   Euan Sparks is back in town as a newly qualified electrician, but his first job — forgetting to switch a school freezer back on — doesn’t exactly set his career alight. Peaches McDowell has just finished creating the outfits for her Master’s showcase and suddenly finds herself in desperate need of a model for her menswear. When the two are thrown together, the sparks that fly have nothing to do with Euan’s wiring. Meanwhile, Roz McIntyre is increasingly unsettled by her husband’s strange behaviour — sneaking around, disappearing, taking secret phone calls and dressin...