Maddy's Book Blog

  Still the One by Aimee Brown I had never heard of the author, and chose this book purely based on the blurb, and I am so glad I did. It was right up my street and kept me captivated until the end. Eve and Foster had a whirlwind affair and married within a month. Unfortunately, they broke up almost just as quickly breaking both their hearts in the process. Foster rode motorbikes for a living, and spent his life travelling the world, and risking his neck on evermore dangerous stunts. Everyone knows the daredevil, handsome rider – or at least they thought they did. The two had no contact until Foster arrived, close to death in the ER of the hospital where Eve worked as a nurse. When Eve started to work on the seriously damaged biker, and realised who he was, her world, once again, tipped upside down. This is a will they/won’t they love story, but so much more. Well written, with great characters. I really loved it. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7014279784

  Into the Storm by Cecilia Ahern I have enjoyed several Cecilia Ahern books previously and I was intrigued at the premise of this book. Dr Enya Pickering is driving home in the pouring rain when she is flagged down by a taxi driver. On the floor she sees a boy, who looked uncannily like her son, who had been knocked over. She performs CPR on the boy until the ambulance arrives and so saves his life. Her life then falls to pieces – her husband, also a GP in the same practice wants her gone, and her beloved son won’t speak to her. When her father tells her about an opening for a GP in a remote village in Ireland, she decides that it’s fate and takes the job. However, is everything as it seems and will the past catch up with her? I really enjoyed this story. It’s somewhat of a ‘whodunnit’. It has great characterisation and shows how people are not always inherently good or inherently bad, but more all a bit of a mixture. A great, well written story. https://www.goodreads.com/...

  Escape for Christmas by Phillipa Ashley Who doesn’t love a Christmas love story at this time of the year, and this one is up there with the best of them. It’s a lovely story with some good twists. After an awful break up, Sophie leaves the Christmas shop she ran with her ex, and fulfils her lifelong ambition to run a guest house in Cumbria. She decides to fill her guesthouse, over the festive period, with others like her who want to get away from celebrating Christmas. Unfortunately, all doesn’t go to plan. Luckily their lovely neighbour, the vet, is on hand to help out. However, is he as nice as he seems? This was a lovely, feel-good book, full of fabulous characters, beautiful scenic descriptions, and I’d love to book into her Cumbrian guest house myself! https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6992578914

  By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult I have really enjoyed many of Jodi Picoult's books, and this is up there with the best of them. This is a book calculated to make you think. If someone told me that this was based on a true story, as believable as the characters are. This was so well researched, and a really stunning read. The story is told by two amazing women. In 1580s England we meet Emilia Bassano who is sold as a mistress to a much older man, by her cousin. The one thing that keeps Emilia going is the fact that she is a playwright and writes plays and poetry. Unfortunately in those time women were not allowed to write plays - so she sold them to Shakespeare to pass off as his own. In the current day her ancestor is also having problems -    Melina Green is also a playwright. She is having similar problems in that she believes that her plays will not be taken seriously as they are written by a woman. When she writes her best play, about her ancestor Emilia, her ...

  A Skye Full of Stars by Sue Moorcroft   Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. I devoured this book in a day and a half – and then was devastated when it was finished. I felt like I had been invited to a family & friends’ reunion with old friends (from the first book), and it was just wonderful to meet them all again, and to follow more of their journey. The last book followed sister Thea and how she ended up with Dev. In this book we are back at Rothach Hall with sister Essie Wynter who is now the manager. When Mats, the son of the owners, turns up with his 2 children Essie thinks he is entitled and she doesn’t like him – but slowly he and the children grow on her. On top of this the third adopted sister, Valentina, buys a holiday home nearby, Essie has some visitors that knock her sideways, and Thea and Dev have some amazing news. I can’t wait for the next book in the series – surely it has to be a trilogy? Sue Moorcroft you are amazing – more please. https://www.goodreads.c...

  Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells by Rachel Greenlaw   I was totally enthralled by this book from the beginning to the end. Just enough magic and mystery, but with a good dollop of reality, blended together perfectly in this novel. I wasn’t sure about the title, but the story blew me away.   Carrie is a Morgan, and the Morgan women have a very special place in the heart of Woodsmoke. They have a special book, passed from Grandmother to Granddaughter which shows them how to harness the power of the Mountains to make things happen – but the price is sometimes too high to pay. Carrie had escaped from Woodsmoke, but when her Grandmother dies she returns to renovate her cottage so she can sell it. Whilst there, she meets Matthieu who offers to help her with the renovations, and she is forced to evaluate all she feels about Woodsmoke. Is Matthieu all he seems? After all, no one else has actually seen him.   If you like a good book, with a bit of a magical touc...

  The Last Bookshop in Prague by Helen Parusel What an amazing book. The book is so well written, with such believable characters and scenarios it seems more like a true story. It is well researched, and well written, and I couldn’t put it down – as hard as it was to read at some points. Jana runs a bookshop, that was once owned by her mother, and lives upstairs with her widowed father. The bookshop isn’t doing very well – mostly because the Nazi’s have banned most of the books she wants to sell. When Captain Kovar comes in to buy a book Jana initially doesn’t trust him, however their shared love of literature brings them slowly together. When Jana hides a Jewish child, and then two more, and hides them in the countryside with a grandparent she realises she needs to help by opposing the Nazis wherever she can. When a friend gives up a job cleaning at the Nazi headquarters through pregnancy, Jana takes over for the money, but also to spy and report to the resistance. I hadn’...