beate251's reviews
502 reviews

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.

Tilly is a 34 year old nurse who has a sister called Tash and lives with flatmates Mike and Lena, the latter a travelling doctor in far-flung places who is very rarely at home but when she is, wrecks the washing machine every time due to the sand in her clothes. Tilly works in A&E in a Tunbridge Wells Hospital and starts a relationship with junior doctor Luke until she realises he is not all he seems. At this point I really wished Tilly developed more agency over her own life and did not allow everyone to steamroll her. She should have gone to HR and not leave it to other people.

There isn't much plot and it's predictable but I liked the hospital setting. Some of the cases and the staffs reaction to them are hilarious (Maurice Minor!). It is light-hearted and extremely well-written, with well developed characters. The book is full of heart and humour, and the second romance with the son of a patient is slow-burn. Tash, Mike and his girlfriend Sarah plus Dr Patel are fun side characters and this is a light-hearted and funny story about friendship, second chances and self-discovery that can be read quickly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

Ava and Emily both live in affluent Richmond, London though Emily is a single mother who can only afford a one bed flat while Ava lives in a big house. They used to be friends, bonding over their pregnancies and now 11 year old children Lexi and Sophie but Emily has always been jealous of Ava's good fortune. Then something traumatic happened to Ava and they stopped socialising though Emily can't really accept that. When the Bandharis, direct neighbours of Ava, get burgled, Emily uses the opportunity to suggest a house swap after Lexi refuses to sleep at home until her Dad Dan is back from a business trip.

There are alternating chapters for Ava, Emily and Lexi, with Ava and Emily's in third person past tense and Lexi's in first person present tense. The story starts slowly but gets tense very fast - there are secrets threatening the idyllic facade of these women's lives, and the more we delve in the more it crumbles. What happened 11 years ago and why is there a box locked away in Ava's basement? Who is Sophie's Dad, what really happened to Mr Bandhari and why is Dan suddenly not answering his phone?

I have to admit that some of the answers were rather predictable, and I had to suspend disbelief in some of the coincidences in Ava and Emily's relationship. Also, the ending didn't work for me. After all the things the culprit had done, they were responsible for THAT too and confessed it rather needlessly when absolutely no one would ever have guessed? This is a well-written tense domestic thriller full of twists, guilt and obsession and I stayed up late to finish it, but not everything makes sense so if you can overlook that, you'll have more fun with this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.

This is book 4 in the Return to the Lake series and all the couples from the previous books make appearances. The author gives good summaries about Autumn and Dane from book 1, Oliver and Rosie from book 2 plus Emma, Killian and the alpacas from book 3. There is also a summary of complicated family relationships, not all of which I have retained.

Mel, 52, is a conservation architect who used to live in Willowdale, Derwent Water in the Lake District with husband Flynn, a conservation builder, until her son Noah died of a drug overdose at the age of 18 seven years ago. Fuelled by grief she moved to Newcastle, divorced Flynn and barely contacted her extensive family anymore. Now she is back, trying to make amends with her parents and older sister Georgia at her mother's 80th birthday bash. When she is offered the project of refurbishing Willowdale Hall for owners Oliver and Rosie, she moves back permanently.

I loved how Mel repairs the fractured relationship with her parents and makes new friendships, The story is very much about reconnecting and healing, I just wish Flynn had come in earlier than the 76% mark and the story wasn't so overly fixated on Mel's grief. The setting is gorgeous and the characters, human and animal, engaging. It's a lovely, warmhearted escapist second chances summer read, especially if you love alpacas and the Lake District, and the cover is beautiful as always.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ylva Publishing for this ARC.

This story opens in October 2020 when the world is in the grip of the COVID pandemic. Piper Halliday, 30, is an actress in New York whose show has closed and she scratches a living by being a waitress in Ed's Diner. Helena Chatfield, 45 is a cooking legend with many cooking shows under her belt for The Yum Channel but she became unpopular during her last solo show so now the channel suggest a show in which she teaches a younger person how to cook. They give it the catchy title "I’m a Millennial and I Don’t Know How to Cook!" and recruit Piper to be that millennial.

Piper and Helena slowly but surely fall for each other, despite the age gap and the strange situation of being queer presenters of a cooking show that doesn't prove too popular at first. After Piper offers a room to her ex Sharla and then can't get rid of her again, she moves in with Helena, which makes the commute to work easier too as the show is filmed in Helena's enormous kitchen.

I don't think this can be described as an enemies to lovers romance - it is more the grumpy / sunshine trope that comes into play. Helena suffers from a chronic illness that she doesn't want to disclose to anyone and which caused the cancellation of her last show. It also makes her feel unloveable, so the romance is slow-burn. The word "yearning" is used a couple of times, and it fits the situation perfectly.  

I have to admit that the middle with all the cooking and talking about knife skills dragged a little for me. I also could have cheerfully yeeted Sharla into next week for her general sense of entitlement but also for endangering Sutton the cat! This book takes place in the US and obviously I have no idea what their COVID regulations were at any given point but it strikes me as risky to move in with other people during a pandemic. I liked the frequent mentions of masks and the upcoming vaccine though. The several mentions of shotgun possessions were however really alien to me and should maybe be taken out for the international market. Altogether, this is a sweet queer romance that is well-written, has some spice and that I read within a day.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rowman & Littlefield for this ARC.

This is a very informative but at times overly detailed dissertation on Doctor Who in three parts, covering everything from origins and history, characters and species to cultural impact and influence.

The author displays a lot of knowledge and research but also acknowledges plot holes, inconsistencies and things that plain make no sense at all because the show is "not limited by the boundaries of realism", which is a lovely way of saying it's plain bonkers.

I'm a Dr Who fan but only from 2005 onwards and I'm not interested in some of the complex details and plot discussions but I am sure others will be. Personally I liked Part III about the cultural impact and gender identity best.

"For a show that appears to be about an alien and his space-time machine, it is a celebration of humanity and human nature, unafraid to expose the very worst of it, but unashamed to embrace the very best of it."

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.

This story is about two women who at the age of 62 discover they are identical twins, so now the mystery begins of their exact backstory - are they both adopted or just one of them and whose mother is the birth mother? The author says she thought of the plot after watching Three Identical Strangers, which, if you haven't yet, is a must-see documentary about triplets and the sinister reason behind their separation at birth.

I'm generally very fond of Laura Pearson's books and have given several of them five stars but I don't know what to do with this one. Her books usually feature a lovely little bit of magical realism that elevates the story but there is none of this here, and consequently the story feels quite mundane. 

It burbles along rather sedately, showing us the different lives of Ruth and Debbie, their families and friends and even throwing in a bit of romance, as well as a mother with dementia. The book is well-written and the premise and family dynamics interesting but the plot felt quite monotone - it's neither very funny nor very sad.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.

Freya, 25, is assistant to literary agent Hayley Harper. She wants to become a literary agent herself so when Hayley asks her to travel to New York to do damage control to a romance author's reputation at a five day romance convention, she happily accepts.

Said romance author is none other than Jake Richards, 35, whose books she loves but who has publicly declared he doesn't believe in happy endings but will take the readers' money anyway. Freya tries to get him to be more honest with his readers, in direct contravention of Hayley's instructions. I actually counted, the word "honest" appears 88 times during the book. Honestly!

The plot to this enemies to lovers story is very simple and predictable, the list of tropes is long, with the inevitable miscommunication and third-act break-up, the heroine is ditzy and chaotic, wears unprofessional clothing but being honest to the point of being rude means Jake declares her "unique", "a breath of fresh air" and "not like anyone he knows". He himself is grumpy and nursing a secret about his parents. His jokes at the beginning are wholly inappropriate but he gets better. There is an age gap of ten years which I personally don't mind but some readers might not like.

There is spice a couple of times but it's entirely skippable if you're not into that sort of thing. What's not quite so forgivable is the stiff dialogue and the notion that the most popular romance author would be male. Most male authors, if they write in that genre, try to make it edgy or literary or they only write love stories without happy endings (I am looking at you, Nicholas Sparks!) David Mulberry, the crime writer with contempt for the romance genre is quite typical - it's often thought that romance doesn't require particular skill.

Hayley Harper is a bit of a cartoon villain. I'm hope agents like her don't exist!
There is a cute meet cute, New York is described well and Tessa from The Paris Chapter makes a short appearance. Altogether this is a sweet romance in the literary world that won't tax you unduly, and it's nice there's some redemption for David.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld for this ARC.

Linda Standish, 54 and divorced, lives with adult son Struan and grandson Zander and works for Boransay Council in Scotland in the Unclaimed Heirs Unit. She really likes her job but one day she is pushed towards early retirement as apparently the job is changing into a more computer-based role. She just has to finish one more assignment that ends up unexpectedly moving her more than she thought because it reminds her of her own repressed grief.

73 year old Levi Norman does not seem to have had any family so the council has to make all the arrangements and clear his little house out. He lived on the remote Isle of Storrich so Linda travels there together in a hearse with undertaker Fergus Murray, where they are welcomed by part-time undertaker Hamish Hamilton and landlord of the Storrich Arms, Brodie McLeod.

Then, in flashbacks starting in 1983, we learn kind-hearted Levi's story, and it's a heartbreaking one. It's the story of a big love tragically cut short and a devoted father who made one big mistake that haunts him for the rest of his life. But might'nt we have done the same in his shoes? Levi loved his wife Diana and his daughter Rachel so how did he end up all alone and reclusive on the little island? Can Linda track down Rachel to learn more?

I absolutely loved this book. It gives us a wonderfully gentle and emotional story but also shows off fictional Storrich and its kind community of quirky characters. The not entirely legal repatriation of ashes scene involving more or less the entire community is the funniest I've read in a long time. The slow-burn romance between Linda and Brodie feels authentic, drama-free and joyful. Linda's relationship with her son  who has moved further away to be near ex Lauren is very loving and we feel her pain at losing easy access to grandson Zander.

What a beautiful book. It is brilliantly written and reads fast - I didn't want it to end. Ruth Jones is an enormously talented writer who effortlessly portrays flawed, normal people and their problems, as we have seen in Gavin & Stacey time and time again. I love the character of Linda, and with her relatable weight struggles the author has possibly given Linda something of her own experience. She is my age and if anyone threw me on the scrap heap like that with some lame excuse about digitalisation, I would react a lot less positive than her. 

This warm, compelling, relatable and life-affirming story will have you both in tears and laugh out loud and will always feel very real. Highly recommended if you want a sensitively written journey of self-discovery with humour and emotional depth. And if there's a rift within your family, for God's sake, make it up. ALL THE STARS.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC.

Gracie Davies, 38, has lost twin babies with her partner of seven years Lewis. He then does something unforgivable and cheats on her with her colleague Annalize. Gracie moves in with her sister Naomi, a newly figured out lesbian who is single mother to a little boy with the father being a Hollywood star who paid her off. Then we have Gracie's therapist Scott, who is an adulterer professor with a horse racing addiction. His kinky lover is young sex worker and barista Maya, new friend to Gracie.

Gracie meets landscape gardener Ed, a right charmer who is up for a rape charge, defended by Scott's lawyer wife Cynthia. No idea why everyone has to have a connection to everybody else! I intensely disliked the subplot with Ed being falsely accused of rape. This scenario is incredibly rare and in today's #MeToo generation, astonishingly tone deaf.

Almost all the men behave despicably, cheating or talking about women in a derogatory way. Ed and Scott displayed lots of red flags and Lewis, while contrite, didn't deserve a second chance in my opinion. Gracie and the other women in the story make lots of questionable choices so after a while I didn't care anymore.

But the thing I disliked the most, and that's a huge content warning, was how child-centric the storyline is, whether someone's pregnant (several), has had a miscarriage (several!) or contemplates abortion or adoption, it's all endlessly discussed. I am a happily childfree woman and that was just too much. It can also be a big trigger for many women grappling with those issues but it wasn't even mentioned in the blurb, so be warned.

I'm afraid this book wasn't for me. The writing style felt hurried, skipping months at a time, and two very big events were squeezed into a short epilogue. I barely liked anyone, and as happy I was for Gracie at the end, I had to get through a lot of questionable plot for it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.

This is the story of 40 something Molly and her extended family and friends. I'm not entirely certain how to describe the plot but the book itself mentions the term "daytime soap" once, and I think that fits quite well. If you think you're getting a gentle story about a woman in midlife crisis re-evaluating her life, you're mistaken.

There is brazen infidelity, a serious car crash, motherly abandonments, violence, alcoholism, medical content, death and way too much church talk. There are also so many characters that some of them remained elusive to my brain until the very end. The sub plot with Polly, Nick, Kris and Sally felt unnecessary and chaotic, plus the cheaters get forgiven far too easily.

I didn't care about the marital struggles and all that domestic chaos with hundreds of kids running around. I have no idea why this book needed a re-release under a slightly different name. I always get suspicious and think something is wrong if that happens. I normally enjoy Celia Anderson's books because she has older characters in them, but this didn't gel with me. I'd rather not have such a high number of content warnings for what I assumed to be a light-hearted family comedy that is anything but.