Lonely Girl is Lynne Vincent McCarthy’s first novel and it’s a confident and sophisticated debut. It’s beautifully written and there’s something very arresting about the prose and something very alluring about the narrative.
I definitely enjoyed the book but I was left with a sense of uncertainty. Confusion, perhaps so I’m very keen to hear what others think….
For some reason I’d been a bit reticent to dive into Ghosted by Rosie Walsh. I’m not a fan of romance but the idea of being ‘ghosted’ by someone who seemingly had no reason to disappear / ignore you was kinda intriguing.
And thankfully I decided to give the book a ‘try’ because I enjoyed it far more than expected and it ended up consuming my Friday night.
I read Jessica Knoll’s popular novel, Luckiest Girl Alive when it was released in 2015. I enjoyed the book but HATED the lead character. I mean, we were supposed to dislike her but it almost became a case of me disliking her so much I just wanted to be done with her and the book.
Knoll’s new release again mixes it with contemporary and popular culture as it’s based around a reality TV show – Goal Diggers – which appears to be a mash up of Real Housewives of whatever and Shark Tank. Either way you know you’re in for some faux and real: bitchiness; friendships; and rivalries, as well as some posturing and pouting added for good measure.
I happily admitted I fell a little in love with Amos Decker when I met him in Memory Man – David Baldacci’s first book in the series featuring the man who experienced a head injury giving him perfect recall (hence the title #obvs).
The Fallen is the fourth book in the series and probably my second favourite to the original as it’s very much about Decker and his investigation skills and there’s probably less workplace / territorial game-playing in the background.
I read Lisa Ireland’s The Shape of Us last year and adored it. Sure the plot itself was great, but the characters captured my heart and I could really relate to them. Her latest, The Art of Friendship is no different as I was taken on a (fairly tumultuous – but not all bad) journey with our two leads, Libby and Kit.
And I could SO relate. To the characters, their friendships and the ups and downs of life in general.
This delightful book was not on my radar until a friend mentioned she’d read several positive reviews about it. I’d received a copy so opened it tentatively… normally eschewing ‘historical’ fiction in favour of psychopathic serial killers. And similar.
However, (un)surprisingly, AJ Pearce’s debut novel – through its characters and charm and beguiling prose – won me over and I lapped it up in a sitting.
2017’s The Mother’s Promise was my first Sally Hepworth novel. I suspect I was worried I wouldn’t enjoy her books – thinking they were too entrenched in motherhood and meaning (as a non-mother) I wouldn’t relate to them. Or – worse still – they’d remind me of opportunities lost and things I DID NOT HAVE.
I was surprised then, to enjoy the book as much as I did and happily launched into Hepworth’s latest – which includes a smidge of suspense – The Family Next Door.
I suspect this book will be very popular as it’s one featuring a clever and conniving narrative… like good ol’ Gone Girl, The Girl on The Train, The Girl Before and more recently Anatomy of a Scandal.
And – we know it’s twisty, because the back cover blurb tells us so.