My Box Shaped Heart by Rachael Lucas

This is the delightful story of a teenager called Holly and one summer of her life where everything changes . 

Holly lives in an overwhelming amount of clutter with a mother who is struggling with depression and a multitude of other issues , Holly is essentially the adult in the family and struggling to live her own life and she is way down the list of her responsibilities of which there are plenty so when she is offered a job doing the one thing in the world she loves she jumps at the chance and it’s about to change her life . 

This was an inspiring and uplifting read about domestic violence , the importance of family and friends and happily ever afters. Loved it ! 

I received this book for review from the lovely people over at lovereading.co.uk. This book is being published May 2018 and will be available from lovereading.co.uk and all other good bookstores . Below please find a link to this book on the website :

https://www.lovereading.co.uk/book/18270/My-Box-Shaped-Heart-by-Rachael-Lucas.html

The Last Mrs Parrish by Liv Constantine . Review

I have been really fortunate with the books I have been picking up recently , they have all been SO good , well let me tell you this was is right up there with them. 

The Last Mrs Parrish is told by two of the characters , The current Mrs Parrish and as the title says the Last Mrs Parrish . Never has Karma been as sweet as in this story where a beautiful wife/ mother  befriends a younger seemingly sweet and helpful woman and brings her into the heart of her family . It’s hard to tell you much about this book without ruining the huge twist in the story so I will tell you instead how remarkable it was . I was on the edge of my seat from

the very start , you think you know what is going on but you do not ! This plot was well thought out and expertly laid  our for us readers and I loved every single page of it . 

I recommend allocating time where you can sit down and read this all in one go where you won’t be disturbed and then enjoy every delicious page . Twisty and fun :0) 

Check out The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34043643

The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horrowitz. Review

I am a huge fan of Anthony Horowitz and when I came across this book I was very excited . I had read The House Of Silk by the same author a few years ago and I loved it so I had high hopes for this one too and it did not disappoint. 

The story is set in London .... one day a lady walks into a funeral home and makes arrangements for her own funeral ... later that day she is murdered . 

I mean ... what a start to a story !!!!!! 

This was such a good book , honestly you are reading  it and it is just getting better and better and it’s twisting and turning  and here you are just gleefully along for the ride  . 

A writer is asked by a man investigating the crime  to tell the story about what is happening as it is happening , these two are stuck together from the start as they try and trudge their way through the heartbreak , deceit and downright lies of what’s going on . 

This book had everything , a curmudgeonly central character , a smart and funny writer and a whole host of interesting characters with twists and turns , surprises , stomach clenching moments and some down right gross ones  . All in all I could not get enough of these characters and plot , pure genius ! 

Check out The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36204075

Bookworm : A Memoir Of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan. Review

I remember the day I first saw this on amazon ... I was so excited ... I can’t get enough of books , and especially books about books , it had been a while since I had read one so I was a desperate for my fix of another persons take on book love and reading . 

I listened to the audio version of this book and I loved every bit of it ... Lucy has a terrific sense of humor and she writes about her life and how books were such a big part of it , what they meant to her ,and how they made her feel . Listening to it I kept wishing she had been my friend during my young years as an excited reader with no one to talk to it about and the fictional characters I was reading about and the far flung places I was learning about . As soon as I finished the book I went back to the start and began listening again , this time with some paper and pens to write down book titles . This was so special and this bibliophile truly adored it . Go get it friends ! 

Check out Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28501495

Waiting For Monsieur Bellivier by Brittany Rösflund. Review

The story is set on a street in beautiful Paris where the Tunisian shopkeeper Mancebo lives and has his shop. He is a quiet man with a well ordered life and close family . His life runs smoothly every day without much to surprise him until one day he is asked to do something completely unexpected and surprisingly exciting . 

In another part of Paris a woman is sitting in a cafe minding her own business when she is approached by someone with a very intriguing offer that she finds impossible to resist ..... it will shake up her entire life . 

A story about secrets and lies and what their effect can do to others . A truly fascinating book with a few great twists and turns and brilliant characters , they were a true joy to read about . Mancebo was my favorite character  , this sweet man ended up having quite the exciting life ! Go read this ! 

Check out Waiting For Monsieur Bellivier by Britta Röstlund

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34658320

Reasons To Stay Alive by Matt Haig . Review

I have had depression pretty much all my life and it has fluctuated throughout my life getting worse at times of stress . When I lost a friend to suicide this year I went in search of something to explain to me what was going on in my head and how others cope with what depression feels like to them too  . Then through sheer good luck I came across the lovely Fearne Cotton ‘s podcast where she talks to the author Matt Haig . He talked about his book : Reasons To Stay Alive , this book was about his own depression and plans he was making during the true depths of despair he experienced . Listening to that podcast I knew instinctively that this is book I was looking for . 

Life has a funny old way of putting in your path just what you need sometimes , and this was just the case for me . 

So I picked up the audiobook of this book and I downloaded it that day and finished it that same day , Matt himself narrates the book and talks honestly and frankly about what it is like during the worst moments of depression , panic attacks and thoughts of suicide , this book felt like a friend shouting to me ... ME TOO ! 

If I had the paperback of this book I would have been underlining multiple lines and paragraphs as it is just so quote worthy , Matt is just THAT GOOD about writing down the painful descriptions of what depression is like both mentally and physically . 

As I finished up the book I felt a lovely sense of calm and relief . The relief was not from having finished the book .... (I was actually gutted it was so short )but from the hope that things can get better ....... that there are things that you can do ....... that there are people out there that will understand and above all to practice self love , compassion and care . 

http://www.matthaig.com/

Her Secret by Kelly Florentia . Review

This is the terrific sequel to Kelly’s previous book No Way back , which first introduced us to Audrey Fox the smart , funny , 40 something year old Londoner that I came to love in book 1 . 

Now married to the sexy Daniel and step mum to his daughter Connie , life is going really smooth until secrets start to raise their ugly heads and throw a spanner into the works . Although there is a good few laugh out loud moments in the story,  the book takes a darker turn when people from the past come back and unexplained things start to happen , it becomes more difficult to know who to trust .

The last third of this book flew past , I was not putting this down until I found out what was going to happen to one of my favorite characters, I was literally holding my breathe towards the end and the ending was SO good that I had a smile stuck on my face all evening . This is probably my favorite book of Kelly’s so far , no one can build tension in a story like her and I loved every bit of it . More please !!!!!!! 

I received this book from Urbane Publishing in exchange for an honest review . This book is released May 2018 and will be available where ever good books are sold . 

https://urbanepublications.com/authors/kelly-florentia/