Pearls and Poison by Duffy Brown. Review.

Pearls and Poison is book three in the consignment shop mystery series.
The story is set in Savannah, Georgia and the main character of the story is called Reagan Summerside. In this book Reagan's mother is running for election and things take a turn for the worst when one of her mothers opponents is murdered. With a curious nature it is not long until Reagan is on the trail to find out who killed her mothers opponent while still managing her shop and looking after her dog Bruce Willis . I really enjoyed this story , the plot was not predictable, the characters were enjoyable to read about and it really kept you guessing right to the end. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

Where There's Smoke by Jodi Picoult

This is a short story from this wonderful author. I do not read many short stories but I have to say I was very pleased with this one. As it is a short story I can't say too much about it without giving away the whole plot , but saying that,  it is about a psychic and some of her experiences. Quick and engrossing with a likeable main character who cares about those she meets in her line of work ! Loved it!

Reading This Week

Hi guys! Hope you all had a great weekend . I spent my weekend exercising, reading and spending time with my niece. Below are the books I am hoping to finish this week. 

Pearls and Poison by Duffy Brown

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Society's Child by Janis Ian. This is an audible book from audible.co.uk

Blackfin Sky by Kat Ellis

New Books

The above book I received today from a competition I won over on Goodreads. There will be a review of this book in the next week. The story is about a girl who drowns on her 16th birthday only to return three months later!!!! How awesome does that sound !

The next book I got today is Doctor Sleep by Srephwn King. I loved The Shining book and film so I am very keen to see what the characters have been up to since I last read about them.

Fear In Yhe Sunlight by Nicola Upson

21 Bond Street by Ellen Horan

Fool for Love by Eloisa James

A Wild Pursuit by Eloisa James

You Stole my Heart Away by Joan Jonker

The Gallery of Vanished Husbands by Natasha Solomans. Review.

This story is set in England over many years and the main character of the story is a woman called Juliet Montague. Juliet is a mother and wife although her husband has now vanished and has left her in an uncertain position and surrounded by her tightly knit Jewish community. I felt incredibly sorry for Juliet, she is trying to get through a difficult time with people talking behind her back as she tries to raise and protect her children and yet not lose herself amongst everything that is happening. Reading the book I felt almost claustrophobic sometimes , Juliet was stuck in a place in her life where she could not move on and you often feel her helplessness. During all this  she finds solace in an unexpected place and this would give her comfort and joy throughout her life .Juliet's act of rebellion was a shining moment in the book where we really see Juliet the woman, her guts and gumption , and this made her a terrific heroine and very inspiring. I recommend this to everyone who likes a book with a bit of a mystery.


I received this book for review from the lovely folks over at Lovereading.co.uk.
This book will be published in June 2014 and will be available on Lovereading.co.uk then , and at all other good bookstores.
Below please find a link to this book on the Lovereading.co.uk website.
http://www.lovereading.co.uk/book/11233/The-Gallery-of-Vanished-Husbands-by-Natasha-Solomons.html

My Blog

Hi guys! Since the new year my blog posts have not been posted with any kind of regularity so in the hope that I can put some order on here I am intending to post blog posts 3-4 times a week minimum , there could be more some weeks but the aim is to not have less. 

There will be a mix of book and life blogs as always and I hope you will stay with me through it all. Thank you to all who read my blog , who comment or just stop by and say hi. I love seeing you pop up in my comment box and you make this all worth while as I do this purely for fun. Have a great day guys x x x x x

Murder of a Real Bad Boy by Denise Swanson.Review

This is book eight in the Scumble River mystery series by Denise Swanson. Scumble River is a fictional town and here lies plenty of adventure and secrets. In this book Skye Denison(school Psychologist)  hires hunky bad boy Beau Hamilton to do some construction work on her house but this bad boy has a bit of a reputation and it was not long before Skye had to start looking for another contractor.

Poor Skye is really having a heard time in this book with her love life and there seems to be something coming between herself and Wally every time they try and get close. Add some interfering family into the mix , a dead body, more mysteries then you could shake a stick at and you have yourself one very fun read. I listened to this on audible and the narrator was very good and she really makes the scenes and different characters come alive. Skye is one of my favourite cosy mystery heroines. If you have not already, check out this series where you get to meet this awesome lady yourself.

 

Below please find a link to Denise's website where you can find out all about her books and other places you can find her being fabulous.

http://www.deniseswanson.com/index.htm

 

 

 

 

Skye is a real literary heroine with a huge heart and

 

May Glossybox 2014 UK/Ireland Edition

This month we knew was going to be a special month for Glossybox as they were having a collabaration with Superdrug who were celebrating 50 years in business . There was treats a plenty inside !

Above is the beautiful box this months goodies came in as well as the Glossy magazine and the goodies themselves.

Rimmel Scandaleyes mascara. I can't wait to try this! This on the shade 001 Black.

I was about to repurchase this product when I found it in my box . Needless to say I was thrilled as this product is great to use in the summer when you don't feel like wearing foundation but you still want some cover containing SPF. Garnier BB cream in Medium.

We also received a sample of this Garnier body lotion that is infused with oil. My dry skin should enjoy this product!

Next up we have this overnight mask from School to give us softer feet just in time for flip flop season.

B . Super conditioning lipstick in the shade 033 Coral.

Elegant touch French manicure false nails . American Girl Pink 103.

It has been ages since I wore false nails but I am looking forward to trying these. 

This was a really good box that I am sure most people will have enjoyed. A lot of thought obviously went into this box and it felt like a real treat . The contents of the box definitely exceeded how much I paid for it so it was well worth it. The brands inside I was familiar with and know them to be good quality . Did you get something different in your box? 

Now roll on the June box !!!!!! I can't wait!

Reading this weekend

I received the above book for review from Lovereading.co.uk . The Gallery of Vanished Husbands by Natasha Solomans . What a great title!

The next book I am reading this weekend is The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. I have already started this and I am finding it a little hard to get into but I shall persevere !

I am also finishing up listening to Murder of a Real Bad Boy by Denise Swanson through audible .Loving this book! There is a wonderful narrator that really makes the different characters come alive. I love this cozy mystery series set in the fictional town of Scumble River.

Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis. Review

I completely fell in love with these characters and this story . This was the most adventures I have had while sitting in an arm chair ! Truly splendid! Recommend many pages of this at a time to get rid of glumness and generally feelings of mehhhhhh.

 Auntie Mame is a very colourful character who is always open to new experiences, meeting new people, travelling, enjoying life and she is a warm big hearted person who is ever so slightly eccentric .When she takes in her nephew to live with her after he becomes an orphan that young man had no idea how lucky he was. I spent hours smiling while reading this.Now I am off to search for more books by this very talented writer......👓📖

When In Rome by Nicky Pellegrino.Review.

I am a huge fan of this author's books and I have read and loved them all. I was so excited to sit down and read this book that I set it aside until I could read it all in one go. I was not disappointed, it was worth the wait!
The story is set in Rome in the 1950's and the main character is called Serafina.
The writing is so descriptive that I was probably sitting there reading the book dribbling at the mouth- watering descriptions of food while almost being able to feel the sun shine down on me from my grey corner of Ireland. I adore Nicky's writing style  and her world and character building so much that her books are the perfect books to escape with when you can't actually go on holiday or bring them along on holiday to make your holiday even more enjoyable. I got so caught up in the story and the other characters that hours went by before I popped my head up from the pages. Sigh.......it was beautiful!



A truly magical, escapist read!!!!! I adored it! I urge everyone to read this book then go out and read all of this authors other books.
Link to this author's website below.
http://www.nickypellegrino.com/
 

The Bees by Laline Paull . Review

Wow this was imaginative!!! Meet Flora , a modest bee and the hive that she was born into.
This dystopian world where everyone is segregated into different sections and the queen bee rules all was such fun to read. There is not a lot of giggles in this book but there sure is a detailed life of  a hive and you can almost forget that it is bees and not humans you are reading about. The author clearly put a lot of time and love into this book as the characters and their world really came alive for me and it made me take a better look at the Bees outside my own home.
The story which was often brutal showed the bees for the hard workers that they are and the work that they do each day was fascinating. I found this enlightening and inspired, I recommend to all!

I received this book from Lovereading.co.uk for review.
This book is due to be released in May 2014 and you can buy it then from Lovereading.co.uk or any other book store .

Please follow the link below if you would like to find out more about this book.
http://www.lovereading.co.uk/book/11182/The-Bees-by-Laline-Paull.html

Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford. Review.

What a beautiful told story this was with two incredibly strong characters at the centre of it called Liu Song(Willow Frost) who is the mother in the story and her son William.
The story is told in different ways, in the past through Liu's eyes and in present day though her son Williams.
The writing is beautiful and there is mystery and intrigue, good guys and bad , friendship and hope.
Through a few parts of the story I had a lump in my throat and a real sense of fear for some of the characters, there were times I was reading fast to find out as quick as I could how a character was going to come out of a situation so I ended up reading this book in big gulps at a time. I would recommend this book to anyone! I truly loved the characters of Liu,William and William's friend Charlotte, they all had  great spirit.

I received this book for review from the lovely folks over at Lovereading.co.uk.
It will be released June 2014 and will be available to buy from Lovereading.co.uk and all other good bookstores then.

You can find this link on Lovereading.co.uk through the link below
http://www.lovereading.co.uk/book/11199/Songs-of-Willow-Frost-by-Jamie-Ford.html