Book Review: All Your Little Lies by Marianne Holmes
Hello to Marianne Holmes and the blog tour for her new novel, All Your Little Lies.
When everything you say is a lie, can you even remember the truth?
Annie lives a quiet, contained, content life. She goes to work. She meets her friend. She’s kind of in a relationship. She’s happy. Not lonely at all.
If only more people could see how friendly she is — how eager to help and please. Then she could tick “Full Happy Life” off her list. But no one sees that side of Annie, and she can’t understand why.
That all changes the night Chloe Hills disappears. And Annie is the last person to see her.
This is her chance to prove to everybody that she’s worth something. That is, until she becomes a suspect.
Drenched in atmosphere and taut with tension, All Your Little Lies takes a hard look at why good people do bad things.
All Your Little Lies was one of those thrillers that immediately drew me in from the first page. There was a tension that grew and grew the further I got into the book. I felt as though I was there, in that little town, with all of it going on around me.
Annie is a complicated character. She is hard to like but at the same time, I knew that there must be a reason behind her behaviour and I was desperate to learn more about her so I could at least begin to understand her.
As the search for the missing girl continues, Annie gets drawn further into the investigation. Her lies grow larger and more complicated. The mystery, both surrounding Annie’s past and Chloe’s fate had me wanting more.
Continue reading
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Book Extract: A Village Vacancy by Julie Houston
Hello to Julie Houston and the blog tour for her novel, A Village Vacancy.
As the Yorkshire village of Westenbury mourns the loss of one of their own, the women can’t help but contemplate who will fill the vacancy in one handsome widower’s life…
Grace Stevens has decided it’s time to move on without her husband. He’s off gallivanting around Devon in search of a new life, and good riddance. It’s time to go back to teaching, so Grace returns to Little Acorns and takes on an unruly class of pre-teens.
As she deals with disasters in – and out of – the classroom including an accidental dalliance with her most troublesome pupil’s dad, helping track down a drug ring and keeping up with her closest girlfriends, Grace begins to wonder more and more about the sparkle in David’s eyes and the sparking chemistry between them.
Could Grace be the one to fill this village vacancy?
Julie and Aria have shared an extract today. Enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
‘Can you believe this, Harriet?’ Grace wiped her eyes once more as, forty minutes later, the cortege retraced its steps back up the nave towards the main entrance of the church, taking Mandy Henderson on her final journey to the churchyard. ‘You know, that Mandy is actually… I can’t even say the words… no longer here with us anymore?’
‘No.’ Harriet Westmoreland, Grace’s best friend since school days, shook her head, for once short of words. ‘How long have we known Mandy?’ she finally asked. She paused to think, screwing up her eyes as she did the maths and answering her own question. ‘Over thirty years. Do you remember your first glimpse of her at Midhope Grammar? I do.’
Grace tutted. ‘Of course I do, Harriet. You know I do. I fell in love with her in our very first assembly as she sat with the other fifth and sixth-formers on that long bench in front of the teachers. God, they were a rum lot, weren’t they?’
‘Miss Clarke, the young PE teacher was OK,’ Harriet mused, casting her mind back. ‘I quite liked her, but how the pair of us ever became teachers with that motley crew as our only example, I’ll never know.’ Harriet shook her head again, reaching out a restraining hand to Pietronella who was eager to be off now she’d spotted David Henderson, Mandy’s widowed husband and her own much adored adopted grandpa, before glancing round the church at the remaining mourners. ‘Is Juno here? Or any other of the Sutherland sisters? I thought Pandora at least might have shown up?’
by Book Extract & Review: An Unusual Boy by Fiona Higgins
I am pleased to be welcoming Fiona Higgins to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novel, An Unusual Boy which has been released today by Boldwood Books.
Meet Jackson – a very unusual boy in a world that prefers ‘normal’…
Julia Curtis is a busy mother of three, with a husband often away for work, an ever-present mother-in-law, a career, and a house that needs doing up. Her fourteen-year-old daughter, Milla, has fallen in love for the first time, and her youngest, Ruby, is a nine-year-old fashionista who can out-negotiate anyone.
But Julia’s eleven-year-old son, Jackson, is different. Different to his sisters. Different to his classmates. In fact, Jackson is different from everyone. And bringing up a child who is different isn’t always easy.
Then, one Monday morning, Jackson follows his new friend Digby into the school toilets. What happens inside changes everything; not only for Jackson, but for every member of his family. Julia faces the fight of her life to save her unusual boy from a world set up for ‘normal’.
I have reviewed the book below but first, Fiona and Boldwood Books have shared an extract.
***** beginning of extract*****
‘Shhh! You’ll wake her up!’
Stifled laughter, the tinkling of a tea bell and the pungent smell of burnt toast drift beneath the bedroom door. Our three children are whispering outside, impatient to sneak in and surprise me. My hand slides across the mattress, reaching for Andy’s, before the crushing realisation swamps me.
He’s not here. Again.
A cold, hard nub of loneliness lodges in my chest. Andy’s overseas trips are an unavoidable by-product of his smashing career success; New York this quarter, London next, Tokyo in the spring. I should be used to it by now, but the thought of spending Mother’s Day solo makes me want to curl up under the covers and refuse to come out. For the sake of the children, however, I can’t. It’s my job to create magic on Mother’s Day now.
I stare at the paint flaking off the ceiling above our bed. Recalling the early, easy years with Andy, before there were any Mothers’ Days at all. All that spare time spent sleeping and strolling and staring into each other’s eyes. Two languid years of mutual adoration, before my body endured three pregnancies, two breastfed babies and the singular exertions of gravity itself. Back when Andy and I still saw each other, somehow.
Something clatters to the floor beyond the door.
by Book Review: One Family Christmas by Bella Osborne
A lovely hello to Bella Osborne. Her new book, One Family Christmas has just been released by Avon.
A big family. A whole lot of secrets. A Christmas to remember…
This year, Lottie is hosting one last big family Christmas at the home she grew up in – just like her Nana would have wanted.
But when her relatives descend on the old manor house, Lottie gets more than she bargained for. Every family has its secrets, but in this family, everybody has one!
So, between cooking a Christmas dinner, keeping tensions at bay and a stray dog out of mischief, she has plenty on her plate and not just misshapen sausage rolls and a frozen turkey. And then her first love shows up – nine years after he walked out of her life.
Can Lottie make their last family Christmas one to remember… for the right reasons?
Lottie’s mission is to have one last family Christmas in the house she grew up in, just like her Nana would have wanted.
When her family descends, drama isn’t too far behind. Lottie quickly finds herself trying to juggle rising tensions, the appearance of a stray dog and meeting new people. On top of that, her first love reappears. She has not seen him since he walked out on her nine years ago.
I am such a huge fan of Bella’s novels and was so excited that she was releasing a book set at Christmas, especially one with such a beautiful cover. One Family Christmas did not disappoint and it’s not just about Christmas. It has so much more to it than that.
Immediately, I loved Lottie and I really felt for her. She is a person with the weight of the world on her shoulders and I wanted to jump in and help her, especially as she has just lost her Nana.
Despite the fact that she gets many things thrown at her (believe me, what can go wrong, does,) she shows resilience and strength.
Joe is a mystery and the layers to him are gradually revealed through the course of the book.
The other supporting characters are a brilliant mix of personalities. There were some I related to more than others but by the end, I wanted everyone to be OK.
by Book Review: The Ticklemore Christmas Toy Shop by Liz Davis
A lovely big welcome to Liz Davis. She’s here with her book, The Ticklemore Christmas Toy Shop.
There is a disturbance in the force and octogenarian Hattie Jenkins can feel it in her water. Still active and spritely, she guesses that the miserable-looking gentleman sitting morosely in the café where she works, might be the reason.
Widowed Alfred Miller has recently moved in with his daughter because she is worried that he’s becoming too frail and forgetful to look after himself. And he’s not in the least bit happy about it, especially since his home is soon be cleared and sold.
But when he enlists Hattie’s help to save some of his precious belongings, he doesn’t realise that Hattie’s mission is to save more than a few sticks of furniture. She’s on a mission to save him, too.
When Hattie Jenkins first spots Alfred Miller in the café where she works, she gets a feeling that she is meant to help him in some way.
Alfred has just moved in with his daughter and is faced with the prospect of his home being cleared and sold.
When he enlists Hattie’s help to rescue some of his belongings before it’s too late, he has no idea that Hattie is not only on a mission to save his things, but to save him too.
There were so many wonderful elements to this novel, I am not sure where to begin so let’s start with the cover and how absolutely magical it is.
From the first chapter, I immediately got pulled into the lives of these characters and it was not hard to quickly grow fond of them (Sara took a bit longer to like than the others.)
The dynamic between Hattie and Alfred was one of my favourite parts of the book and it was lovely to see how their relationship developed through the novel.
by Book Club
