More Books I was Reading During 2023 March to June
A Good House for Children by Kate Collins
An E-Book from NetGalley. Published 2 March 2023 by Serpent’s Tail.
The Reeve is an old house on a lonely cliff in Dorset. A house full of rooms and odd corners hiding dark secrets.
Set over two time periods in 2017 and 1976 with hints of earlier forgotten times.
Orla and Nick with their two young children move into The Reeve in 2017 but soon Orla is disturbed by sounds and fleeting feelings that she is not alone when her husband is away at work.
In 1976 Sara and her four children move into The Reeve with Lydia to help with the children. Lydia and Sara are troubled by the strangeness of the old house and are haunted by odd sounds, knocking on the walls and the feeling that there is someone else in the house with them.
I loved the creepiness of this story never knowing what was going to happen next. This was a ghost story about grief, loneliness, family relationships and mental health.
A Novel Prospect by Denise Hunter
An E-Book from NetGalley published 21 March 2023 by Thomas Nelson.
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A romance set in the present time in South Carolina. Sadie Goodwin is an art teacher and writer of Lonesome Ridge western stories. Sadie’s publisher has decided not to publish any more of Sadie’s western stories and wants Sadie to switch genres. They want her to write a romance novel to be completed in a few months.
Sadie has a problem. She has never read a romance novel and she has never been in love.
Sadie’s best friend’s mother lets Sadie stay in her beachside cottage over summer in South Carolina so Sadie can develop her story and write a romance that her publisher will love.
Sadie gets distracted by her neighbour and the people she meets on the beach and has trouble getting started with her writing.
A fun romance with a bit of mystery. This was about friendships and family relationships.
The House in the Olive Grove by Emma Cowell
An E-Book from NetGalley. Published by Avon a Division of HarperCollins Publishers in 25 of May 2023.
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Set in Greece in the present time. Maria runs a cooking school in her mother’s home in a small seaside village in Greece. Maria’s family have lived in Petaldi for many generations, yet Maria feels an outcast and longs to be accepted.
Alessandra and Kayla attend the cooking school over Easter. Alessandra and Kayla both have secrets and are deeply troubled by their past. They have trouble relating to each over, Kayla resents Alessandra’s lifestyle and dislikes the way Alessandra constantly asks questions about her life.
I loved the way Maria shared her love of cooking with Alessandra and Kayla and how they gradually shared some of their secrets.
This was about cooking and relationships. I loved the descriptions of village life. The descriptions of the food they cooked made me want to try some of the recipes.
The Irish House by Ann O'Loughlin
An E-Book from NetGalley. Published by Bookouture on 14th April 2023.
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An old house, secrets and a series of letters everything I love to read about.
Set in 2018. Marianne returns home to Kilteelah House near a small town of Balgaddy in Ireland. As a child Marianne spent most of her holidays at Kilteelah House with her grandmother Collie Keane. When Collie dies Marianne inherited the old family home with a condition that she lives in the house and becomes the guardian of her two young cousins who had been living with Collie at Kilteelah House for two years.
Marianne struggles to do what is best for her cousins and to follow her grandmothers wishes, while her Aunt Katherine causes trouble.
I loved the interactions between the family members as Marianne comes to terms with her new responsibilities and her former career in Fashion design in New York.
To help Marianne with her decision to take up new responsibilities Collie arranges for a series of letters to be delivered to Marianne regularly through the first year.
This was about family relationships, fashion design and secrets. I loved it.
The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley by Courtney Walsh
An E-Book from NetGalley. Published by Thomas Nelson 13 June 2023
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Isadora Bently is vey unhappy and has nothing to look forward to as she spends her thirtieth birthday planning to eat junk food. Isadora works as an academic researcher. She has no friends and prefers to work alone.
While waiting to buy junk food Isadora browses through a magazine and notices an article titled “31 Ways to Be Happy (Today)”. Isadora does not believe that it is possible to be happy and buys the magazine intending to prove that it is not possible to be happy by following the 31 ways to be happy.
I loved the way the story unfolded as Isadora worked through the 31 steps and the way she interacts with the characters she meets.
This was about families, friendship, grief and academic research. At about page 100 I found myself saying “I love it, I love I Love it”.
Her Little Flowers by Shannon Morgan
An E-Book from NetGalley. Published by Kensington Publishing on 25 July 2023.
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Set in The Lake District in Northern England. Francine Thwaite is in her fifties and lives mostly on her own except when she has an occasional lodger. Francine’s home is Thwaite Manor which is a very old large house in need of many repairs hence the need to take in lodgers to help pay for the upkeep of the house.
Francine regularly sees ghosts in her house and when she visits the local village. Francine likes to read her tea leaves and is always talking to Bree who is a young ghost that regularly haunts the house. Francine has a routine of sprinkling fennel seeds and using other plants to ward off evil spirits.
Everything changes for Francine when her younger sister returns home forcing Francine to find out what happened to their family members many years earlier.
I loved the spooky descriptions of Thwaite Mannor and its location near Lonehowe Wood.
This is about a haunted house with lots of ghosts and family secrets.
The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry
An E-Book from NetGalley. Published by HarperCollins. On 03.05.2023
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A story about grief and loss and the imaginary world of Whisperwood. Set in London and Oxfordshire during World War 2 and 1960. Hazel and her younger sister Flora are sent from London in 1939 to live with a family in Binsey near Oxford. Hazel makes up stories about an imaginary land called Whisperwood to help Flora cope with missing their mother.
When Flora goes missing Hazel blames herself for not taking better care of Flora. Twenty years later Hazel is working for a rare book shop when she discovers a book about Whisper Wood. The discovery of the book sends Hazel off course as she tries to find the person who wrote the book hoping to find her lost sister.
I loved the storytelling and descriptions of the imaginary world of Whisperwood.
Full of twists and turns, secrets, grief and lost friendships.
Summer at the Cornish Farmhouse by Linn B. Hatton
An E-Book from NetGalley. Published by Head of Zeus Ltd. Part of Bloomsbury Publishing on 11 May 2023.
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Jess is heartbroken when her husband Ben ends their marriage and starts a new relationship. Jess and her eight year old daughter Lola move to Cornwell to live in and old farm house that had belonged to her grandparents. As well as the old farmhouse there are a few old buildings that need renovating so they can be made available as holiday accommodation and a camp ground managed by a friend of Jess’s grandfather. Jess makes new friends and learns new skills as she helps a builder repair old buildings on the farm.
A romance about families, friendships and new beginnings.
Halfway to You by Jennifer Gold
An E-Book from NetGalley. Published by Lake Union Publishing on 01.04.2023
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Maggie works as a Podcaster and is an opportunity of interviewing Ann Fawkes. Ann Fawkes is Maggie’s favourite author and Maggie convinces her boss that she is capable of producing a podcast to reveal the true Ann Fawkes who has been reclusive since writing a best seller novel nearly forty years earlier.
There is a problem, Ann wants to tell her life story to Maggie but Maggie has to keep it private and not to record the story.
Maggie and Ann have an instant connection. Maggie is hopeful that eventually Ann will allow Maggie to record Ann’s story.
I loved the descriptions of places visited by Ann as she escapes to Venice, Rome and Greece over forty years.
This was about identity, families, secrets and grief. Full of twists and turns as family secrets are unravelled. I loved the characters.
The Night Raven by John Rundberg
An E-Book from NetGalley. Published by Amazon Crossing Kids on 5.9.2023.
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Book 1: The Moonwind Mysteries.
A fiction for children in middle grade set in 1880 in Stockholm, Sweden.
Mika is twelve years old and lives in an orphanage, she is required to work outside the orphanage and also to help look after the younger children.
Mika is drawn into a mystery and cryptic messages when a new born baby is left at the orphanage.
Looking forward to reading book 2.
This was about orphanages, identity, serial killers and police investigations.
Two to Tango by Kathleen Fuller
An E-Book from NetGalley published by Thomas Nelson 11 July 2023
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A Mapple Falls Romance.
Fun easy paced plot with lots of likeable characters trying to help Olivia find the love of her life. Set in the small town of Mapple Falls in the present time.
Olivia Farnsworth works as a librarian and loves doing courses and watching old movies and going to the vintage film nights.
Kingston is a local doctor working hard and never has time to slow down, also loves going to the vintage film nights when he can find time.
A fun romance about families, friends and secrets. Two people who keep meeting up but never finding time to follow up until they are forced together at the Abenathy’s School of Dance.
I loved the interactions between family members and the chick clique group as they try to plot a romance between Olivia and Kingston.
Wish Upon a Cornish Moon by Amanda James
An E-Book from NetGalley Published on 5 May 2023 by One More Chapter. A Division of HarperCollins Publishers.
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Set in Cornwall over multiple time periods. In 1899 Mary as a young girl believes it is possible to find her true love simply by making a wish on a full moon in June and sending a message in a bottle from Magic Cove.
Years later in 1938 Mary convinces her granddaughter Lamorna to send a wish and a message in a bottle to find a sweetheart during June on the full moon.
In the present day Merrin is also tempted to make a wish during June on the full moon.
This was a magical romance about finding true love. It was about family relationships and friendships.
I loved the characters from the past and the present time and the way they interacted.
Playing For Keeps by Julie Hammerle
An E-Book from NetGalley. Published 8 May 2023 by Entangled Publishing.
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Set in the present time in a small town of Wackernagel in Illinois.
Bryce Barrett has hit rock bottom, has run out of money and does not care about herself. One day while trying to buy ice cream she comes face to face with her ex-husband and his new partner to save face Bryce pretends that Jake Warner is her boyfriend.
Jack Warner has spent ten years running away from his past to wherever a whim takes him. He returned to his hometown of Wackernagel because he needs financial assistance from his family. Jake’s father is a basketball coach and wants Jake to be his assistant coach, Jake has issues about basketball and wants to disappear again.
Jake pretends to date Bryce to get some space from his dominating family.
This was a fun story about two people who need help to get over their past and move forward. It was about family relationships and basketball coaching.
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