Maddy's Book Blog

  Secrets of the Italian Guesthouse by Sue Moorcroft Sue Moorcroft is one of my favourite writers, and it’s always a real treat to have one of her books to dive into. A long, hot summer paired with one of her novels is perfection. Her stories may be rooted in romance, but they always offer so much more — rich emotion, real‑world depth, and settings so vividly drawn that you can almost feel the heat and see the scenery. The landscapes she describes are consistently stunning, and this book is no exception; it made me want to pack a bag and head straight to Italy. Jade grew up on the shores of Lake Como, raised by her paternal grandparents when her too‑young parents couldn’t care for her. She naturally fell into helping at their guesthouse and always assumed she would one day take it over. But after her grandmother passes away, Jade discovers her father had two more children she knew nothing about — a secret her grandmother had been sworn to keep. The aptly named Three Sisters Gue...

  One & Only by Maurene Goo I was really intrigued by the blurb for One & Only . Having read The One by John Marrs, where people are matched by DNA, the idea of being matched through past‑life visions instantly caught my attention. It’s a great concept, full of potential and originality, and the story itself has some genuinely clever moments — although the copy I had could definitely have benefited from a bit more editing. Cassia Park has always been destined to join her family’s matchmaking business, The One & Only. The women in her family share a secret gift — the ability to see people’s past lives and identify the person they’re fated to be with, the soul they’ve loved across lifetimes. For ten years Cassia has searched in vain for her own fated match, until a bike accident leads to her being rescued by Ellis, a charming 28‑year‑old who sparks something unexpected. Their fling feels effortless, but when Cassia later visits Ellis’ office, her true fated turns out...

  One of the Family by Mark Edwards   Mark Edwards is one of my favourite authors in this genre, and I’ve read every one of his books. One of the Family is right up there with the best of them — exciting, sharply written, full of well‑drawn characters, and packed with the kind of twisty, ever‑present mystery he does so well. Patrick, a driver and aspiring filmmaker, meets Holly — an uptown girl from an extraordinarily wealthy family — and soon finds himself invited to their remote Scottish mansion. There he meets her father Charles and his unnervingly youthful new girlfriend, her brother Lewis, her sister Miranda and Miranda’s husband Zach. When Charles’ girlfriend turns out to be a striking doppelganger of his late wife, things take a decidedly dark turn. Add in a couple of unsolved deaths that naturally pique Patrick’s curiosity, and you have a novel that’s impossible to put down, the kind that keeps you reading well into the night. Mark Edwards is the master of the psy...

  The Lost Château by Dinah Jefferies This is the fifth Dinah Jefferies novel I’ve read, and each one feels like a classic — written with the kind of richness and emotional depth you’d expect from Daphne du Maurier or one of the Brontë sisters. Her stories have that rare, transporting quality that lets you fully immerse yourself and forget the world for a while. The Lost Château is another beautifully crafted example of historical fiction at its best, layered, atmospheric and wonderfully absorbing. It’s 1936, and Thirza leaves her beautiful home in Greece to stay with her great‑aunt Berenice in the Dordogne, who has been taken seriously ill. She brings her young daughter Romi and her teenage step‑daughter Valentina, but not her husband Emilio, who has gone to Spain to retrieve Valentina’s sister Lucia — a journey Thirza fears may keep them both away for good. Berenice herself is a difficult woman, full of secrets, and the château seems to harbour mysteries of its own: strange ...