Maddy's Book Blog

  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...

  Fifteen Minutes by Amanda Prowse   Amanda Prowse is one of my very favourite authors, and I devour everything she writes with alacrity. However, this book is in a league of its own and might just be my new favourite of all her novels. Parts of it feel incredibly personal, and my only complaint is that it was far too short.   Chen tells each person, “I promise you that I have never and will never tell you a lie,” and then offers them something extraordinary — fifteen minutes with someone who has passed away. They can’t explain what’s happening, can’t give warnings, and can’t leave the room, or their time ends instantly. Each chapter follows a different meeting, and those brief fifteen minutes change that person’s life in some profound way. It’s impossible not to imagine what you would do with that chance yourself — to say goodbye, to say I love you, or simply to see someone’s face again. The whole concept is just incredible, and so beautifully handled.   ...

  The Sunshine Teashop by Jaimie Admans I’ve read loads of Jaimie Admans’ books and she has become one of my favourite romcom writers. I always know I’m going to get an amusing story, lovable characters, and a good old‑fashioned romance, and this one was no different. I just love them. Dolly is at the lowest point in her life. Just when she thinks she’s finally starting the café of her dreams with her best friend, she catches said ‘best friend’ having an affair with her partner of many years. Instead of apologies she gets attacks, and then discovers it’s been going on for six months. When she gets home, she finds her things dumped on her boyfriend’s front lawn in bin bags — clearly thrown out of the window, judging by the broken‑crockery rattle. Homeless, car‑less and with all her worldly belongings in bags, she does the only thing she can think of: ‘borrow’ his pride‑and‑joy camper van and drive off. She ends up heading to the village she remembers from childhood, where she pr...