Me Without You–Kelly Rimmer

 

If you enjoyed Me Before You by JoJo Moyes, One Day by David Nicholls, or The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks – then make time for Kelly Rimmer’s stunning, heartbreaking novel Me Without You.

A story of how love can break our hearts – and heal them.

A year ago I met the love of my life. For two people who didn’t believe in love at first sight, we came pretty close.

Lilah MacDonald – beautiful, opinionated, stubborn and all kinds of wonderful in ways that words could never quite capture. The woman who taught me to live again.

My Lilah, who gave me so much, and yet kept from me a secret that she knew would break my heart.

My name is Callum Roberts, and this is our story.

Me Without You is a book to make you smile, bring you to tears and remind you to hold on tightly to those you love

Received a copy of this book from Netgalley. Good book but the characters weren't really people I could relate to. The blurb says if you enjoyed Me Before You and The Notebook then you will like this, I did enjoy those books but don't feel that Me without You was quite in the same league.

The Vacationers–Emma Straub

 

Two weeks in a remote island villa with America’s most dysfunctional family – what could possibly go wrong?
The Posts are going on their first family vacation in years, and it’s going to be a special one: Jim and Franny are taking their daughter Sylvia, son Bobby and his girlfriend, and Franny’s best friend Charles and his husband, all the way to Mallorca for two weeks of the sort of relaxation, culture and cuisine that only Europe can offer.
But there are problems. After a transgression with a twenty-three-year-old editorial assistant, Jim has been unceremoniously sacked from his job, and now his and Franny’s marriage is on the rocks. Charles and Lawrence are feeling divided over their future, Bobby is mired in debt problems and stuck in a relationship that’s pulling in opposite directions and his girlfriend Carmen, super-fit personal trainer and, at forty-something, far too old for Bobby, seems to have realized her mistake. As for Sylvia, she’s eighteen, about to go to college, and determined to lose her virginity before she gets there . . .

Firstly I’d like to thank Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.  This is not the type of book I would normally pick up in a book store or purchase for my kindle but I was amazed by how much I actually enjoyed it. I did find it a bit slow to get into but about a quarter of the way through I started to get hooked on all the different characters and the secrets they were hiding from one another. In saying that I did find Franny slightly irritating but there was enough time in the book spent delving into the lives of the other members of the family that this wasn’t really an issue. I’ve given this 3/5 on Goodreads and will certainly look out for more books by the author.

Keep Your Friends Close–Paula Daly

 

Natty and Sean Wainwright are happily married. Rock solid in fact. So when Natty's oldest friend, Eve Dalladay, appears - just as their daughter collapses on a school trip in France - Natty has no qualms about leaving Eve with Sean to help out at home.

Two weeks later and Natty finds Eve has slotted into family life too well. Natty's husband has fallen in love with Eve. He's sorry, he tells her, but their marriage is over.

With no option but to put a brave face on things for the sake of the children, Natty embarks on building a new life for herself.

And then she receives the note.

Eve has done this before, more than once, and with fatal consequences...

Received a copy of this book from Netgalley and I couldn’t put it down!!

The book is set in the Lake District and I can only assume it’s an area that the author knows well as she describes it perfectly. I thought the characters were extremely believable (I loved Aunt Jackie, one of the carer’s who looks after Natty’s Dad). I was gripped from the first page and the twists and turns in the story make it a great psychological read and the ending was well thought out.

Now looking forward to reading Daly’s  previous novel What Kind of Mother Are You.

That Part Was True–Deborah McKinley

 

Reminiscent of ONE DAY meets 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD, THAT PART WAS TRUE is a bittersweet story about falling in love and risking it all.

When Eve Petworth writes to Jackson Cooper to praise a scene in one of his books, they discover a mutual love of cookery and food. As their letters criss-cross the ocean that lies between them, friendship and then romance blossom despite Jackson's colourful love life and Eve's tense relationship with her soon-to-be-married daughter. Little by little, Eve and Jack begin to believe that they may have a chance to change their lives and possibly get a second chance at happiness. They just need to actually meet...

 I won a copy of this book in a giveaway from Cherry Picks ( www.orionbooks.co.uk/cherrypicks) It is one of a few books that I've read in a single sitting (in part due to the book being so good and me having cold induced insomnia). It is a lovely story about a relationship between an author in America and a divorced 40 something in England. They only correspond by postcards and later on through e-mail. A very simple story, beautifully written. Although throughout the book they make plans to meet each other and you are left guessing right to the end as to whether this will happen. A great book to while away a few hours.

Ma Polinski’s Pockets–Sara Sheridan

 

Rachel White, a young archaeologist, is left a mysterious legacy of £8 million by an old lady she met in Edinburgh when she was a child. Setting off to discover why, she rocks her stable existence and uncovers secrets about her mother's experiences as a 5 year old in a concentration camp in WWII. What made Ma Polinski leave Rachel everything and will what she finds set her and her family free?

Not sure if this book is Young Adult fiction and I added it to my Kindle in error but it really was very disappointing with a highly implausible exhumation scene. I really wanted to like this book as it was partly set in Glasgow and Edinburgh but sorry it just didn’t live up to the blurb.

Hello

So after about 3 years debating on whether to set up a blog page or not I've taken the big step!!! I'm sure I'll mainly be using this to review and share books which I've read. I also enjoy sewing, knitting and general crafts so may post the odd photo and details about them. Bear with me people (if anyone is actually reading this) while I find my feet and learn how to navigate the new world of blogging.