ONE SUMMER by David Baldacci

In One Summer, David Baldacci tells us about Jack Armstrong, who is dying. After surviving against all odds through years of military service, being shot at and nearly blown up, Jack Armstrong is terminally ill, with very little time left, Jack tries to hold on til Christmas, living one day at a time.

 

The doctors gave him 6 to 8 months, and now that time is nearly up, Jack is reduced to marking his last days off the calendar, one by one.

On Christmas Eve, in the cruellest twist of fate, Jack's wife, Lizzie, is killed in a car accident. Jack is left to take care of their 3 children. Lizzie was the glue holding the family together.

Devastated at their loss, her parents make plans for Jack and the children. They will all be separated, and Jack will be left to die alone. But miraculously, Jack's health takes a turn for the better.

Slowly but surely, he begins to improve and grow stronger. Almost back to his old self, he makes plans to fetch his kids and be a family again. But Jack has no idea how difficult it is being father and mother, breadwinner and caregiver, all in one.

His kids suddenly resent him, he was supposed to die, not their mom, huge adjustments need to be made.

Slowly, painstakingly, Jack finds the way to draw his children closer. They all learn to love and give again, and to become a family.

Totally removed from his usual fast-paced thrillers, One Summer shows a different side to David Baldacci.

This is a moving family drama, a lovely, tender book, thoroughly enjoyable, although I must warn you, its a tearjerker.
Happy reading!

THE INNOCENT by Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben, here in The Innocent, introduces us to Matt Hunter who is a 20 years old man, everything going for him, his whole life ahead of him.

And then he makes one stupid mistake and kills someone.

Matt does his time in prison.

13 years later, he is married to Olivia, working for a law firm. He has put the past behind him, where it belongs.

Olivia is expecting their first child, and they are overjoyed at the prospect of being parents.

Then he receives a strange photo on his phone, sent to him by Olivia. A photo of a man.

So begins the slow unravelling of everything Matt has built and holds dear.

Matt starts to realise that he knows very little about his beautiful wife.

Everything she told him about herself - was it all a lie? Suddenly the perfect life he envisioned for himself, a convicted murderer, begins to seem hopelessly unrealistic.

The twists and turns just seem to lead to more questions instead of answers.

The Innocent by Harlan Coben, races at breakneck speed to its climax with plenty of surprises along the way.

A really good, gripping thriller.

 

Happy reading!

THE SIXTH MAN by David Baldacci

The Sixth Man by David Baldacci

The Sixth Man by David Baldacci tells the story of how a serial killer, Edgar Roy murdered a bunch of people and buried them on his farm.

Now he sits in a psychiatric ward, awaiting trial. His lawyer, Ted Bergin, calls Sean and Michelle in to investigate the case further. Then Bergin is murdered.

The situation is at a standstill.

In The Sixth Man we meet up once again with ex-Secret Service turned Private Investigators Sean King and Michelle Maxwell. They try to determine Edgar Roy's innocence or guilt.

But is Edgar Roy really a serial killer? Did he really kill all those people and bury them on his farm? There are powerful people behind the scenes who have a very different interest in Edgar Roy, who is a lot more than what he appears to be.

And Edgar Roy is not talking - at all. Sean and Michelle meet resistance at every turn.

Not only that, more innocent people are being murdered, and Sean and Michelle become targets as well. They are crossed and double-crossed, not knowing who to trust. Who is telling the truth, and who is lying?

The Sixth Man is a gripping page turner, in true David Baldacci style, with an ending that will have you holding your breath until the final words.

Happy reading!

IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS by Tess Gerritsen

In, "In Their Footsteps" by Tess Gerritsen, M16 British Intelligence agents, husband and wife team, Bernard and Madeline Tavistock, on assignment in Paris, are unexpectedly, shockingly, murdered.

Twenty years later, their daughter Beryl, decides to do some investigating into their deaths. Scandal and controversy surrounds the story of her parents' murder.

Her father was a double agent, her mother was having an affair. When her father found out, he killed his wife and then himself. Beryl refuses to believe this version of what happened and is determined to uncover the truth.

If the deaths of her parents had been a simple murder and suicide, then 20 years later, no one would care. 
But someone does care, very much. Beryl and her brother Jordan return to Paris to visit the scene of the crime, but they are not alone.

Someone is going to great lengths to ensure that they do not find out what really happened.

A slightly different genre from Tess Gerritsen, In Their Footsteps is nevertheless still a good, fast-paced and enjoyable thriller.

Happy reading!

THE NIGHT FERRY by Michael Robotham

To catch a killer, catch the night ferry ...

Alisha Barba is trying to get back into the business after a long recovery period following several operations and extensive physiotherapy which caused her to lose her job with the Metropolitan Police and shattered her dreams of becoming a detective.

Out of the blue she receives a letter from an old friend, Cate. Alisha senses that Cate is in trouble. When they meet at a school reunion, Alisha sees that Cate is pregnant and desperate. Before they get a chance to speak, Cate is run down by a vehicle. The paramedics fight to save her. A strange deception is discovered. It is the first of several more to follow. Convinced that Cate was run down on purpose, Alisha is driven to investigate. When Cate dies from her injuries, she leaves behind more questions than answers.

Alisha travels to the city of Amsterdam trying to find out what lies behind the deception perpetrated by Cate. She uncovers a conspiracy in her attempts to seek justice for the untimely death of her friend; a conspiracy that puts her own life in danger.

A good, gripping read, The Night Ferry will take you on a journey through the sordid underground world where life is very cheap, or very costly.

Happy reading!

PROMISE ME by Harlan Coben

"The missing girl - there had been unceasing news reports, always flashing to that achingly ordinary school portrait  of the vanished teen ... that missing girl - had just walked past Edna Sylar. "Please" the missing girl said, her voice a whisper. "You can't tell anybody you saw me".

Myron Bolitar works for himself as a representative for portsmen, actors and various kinds of celebrities. Myron is  one of the good guys, always looking for people to save. He overhears two teenage girls talking in his house, and  makes them promise to

call him anywhere, anytime, if they are ever in trouble. when the one girl does call him, late  at night, he drives her to where she wants to go, but with misgivings. She holds him to his promise not to tell her  parents. Then she disappears. In the nfusion that follows, Myron has to unravel a tangled web of lies and deceit,  involving a lot of unlikely suspects.

Did Aimee run away, or was she kidnapped? What is the connection to the first  missing girl?

Promise Me will hook you in and keep you reading compulsively turning pages to the end.

Happy reading!



THE SOUL CATCHER by Alex Kava

A group of young men, trapped in a cabin with the FBI closing in on them, are instructed by their leader to commit suicide rather than being captured. "Kill or be killed". One of them, Eric Pratt, is not ready to die. He spits out the cyanide capsule instead of swallowing. He has chosen to live.

Reverend Joseph Everett is the charismatic leader of a religious sect, a man who has such a strong hold over his followers he has convinced them that committing suicide is preferable to falling into Satan's hands.

Satan, of course, being law enforcement. Reverend Everett, or Father, as he is called by his flock, is the soul catcher. When a young girl attending one of the Reverend's prayer rallies is found murdered, strangled, FBI criminal profiler Maggie O'Dell is assigned to the case. They soon discover that the girl's murder is connected to the mass suicide in the cabin, and both events are connected to Reverend Joseph Everett. The man seems able to draw people in and hold them spellbound. What is this strange attraction he has? Maggie becomes concerned when she discovers that her own mother has fallen under Everett's spell.

An intensely gripping book, with plenty of death and intrigue, The Soul Catcher will keep you reading until the thrilling climax.

Happy reading!

THE ROSARY GIRLS by Richard Montanari

A murder scene: a young girl, Tessa Wells, 17 years old, dead, her hands bolted together, a rosary clutched between them. She is the first of several such bodies found.

Detective Jessica Balzano's first day in Homicide, and she and partner Kevin Byrne are called to investigate these gruesome murders - all of them young girls from local Catholic schools. It appears the police have a serial killer on their hands; one who inflicts the most horrific torture upon his victims, all in the name of religion.

Dubbed the Rosary Killer, he leaves no trace of himself behind, and Jessica and Byrne are in a desperate race searching for clues before he kills again, and kill he will, until he has played out his gruesome game of murder. The killer is working to his own macabre agenda.

The detectives need to solve the puzzle quickly to prevent more deaths, or those close to them might also become targets.

The Rosary Girls is a gripping, thrilling read that will have you riveted to the end.
Happy reading!

BREATHLESS by Dean Koontz

Breathless by Dean Koontz will leave you breathless!

While walking in the woods Grady Adams and his dog Merlin witness something truly amazing. Doctor Cammy Rivers helps run a golden retriever rescue group called Rocky Mountain Gold.

They take custody of 24 breeder dogs that have been mistreated
almost beyond repair. Later in the day, after working flat out to rehabilitate these poor animals, Cammy and her helpers experience a strange phenomenon.
In a farmhouse just off the State highway, something terrible takes place between 2 brothers.
All the animals in the tranquil valleys and hills of the Colorado mountains seem to be affected by something extraordinary -
they are listening, waiting...
Lamar Woolsey in in Las Vegas, looking to do a good deed.

At a fast moving pace, Breathless enlarges upon these seemingly random, supernatural events, which culminate into something
that just could happen, in the future.

Beautifully descriptive, Breathless is Dean Koontz at his most unique, a gripping and suspenseful thriller.

Happy reading!

EVERYTHING AND THE MOON by Julia Quinn

Who believes in love at first sight?

When Robert Kemble, the Earl of Macclesfield, first laid eyes on Victoria Lyndon it is, for him, love at first sight. He promises to give her everything and the moon to prove his love for her.
It's not her beauty, her intelligence, or her grace, but yet she is just perfect. Robert is completely smitten, and vows to marry her one day.

Even though Victoria knows that nothing can come of their union, she falls in love with him too. For 2 months he courts her, secretly. Her father, who is a Vicar, would definitely not approve of their ill-matched relationship. Eventually, of course, her father finds out and is very angry, telling her that the son of an Earl will never marry a lowly Vicar's daughter.

When Robert tells his father he plans to marry the Vicar's daughter, the Earl warns him he faces disinheritance. How will the love
of his life feel about him when he is penniless? Robert refuses to believe that Victoria would not love him if he lost all his money, she would never be so shallow.

The only thing to do is for them to elope.

Plans are made, and then everything goes horribly wrong...

Julia Quinn writes delightful Regency romances, fast-paced, funny, and sparkling.

"Everything and the Moon"is the story of ill-fated love.

A witty tale of wrong assumptions and mistakenly drawn conclusions, this was a charming read which I thoroughly enjoyed, highly entertaining and ideal for a lazy day.

Happy reading!

IN THE MOOD by Suzanne MacPherson

Is it possible to be "in the mood" when your life is spent constantly juggling your bank balance to make ends meet?

In the Mood takes us into the life of Allison Jennings, a struggling single mom, struggling to keep her car from dying, struggling to make ends meet in her dead-end job in an ice cream parlour, batting away the sexual harrassment from her creepy little boss. Her only entertainment is reading tabloid tales about the rich and famous.

Then there is Ethan, her 10 year old son. He is a bright, extremely clever child, a budding little scientist in the making. She knows that very soon he will need to go to a better school. She needs money for his education and all the other things he will need to secure his future. How is she going to manage it all?

"Get married again" her ex says helpfully. But who has the time to meet men, let alone date? Then a fairy godmother in the form of Allison's old school friend Bunny, takes her in hand and gives her a massive makeover in preparation of snaring herself a husband - preferably a rich one. Together they attend a 4th of July party at the estate of billionaire Dex Needham.

The attraction between Dex and Allison is instantaneous - and is it possible they have met before?
Every now and then I feel the need to take a break from gory, gruesome murder thrillers - which I love - and escape with some pure chicklit. In the Mood is just such a book, light and funny and heartwarming, a rags-to-riches love story.

Happy reading!

THIRTEEN HOURS by Deon Meyer

13 Hours by Deon Meyer is the time Detective Benny Griessel has to find a missing girl before all hell breaks loose.

An American girl backpacker is murdered and her friend is on the run, fighting for her life. When she disappears, Detective Benny Griessel has just 13 hours to find her. Griessel, overworked and underpaid, has a drinking problem, his job is in jeopardy  and his wife has left him, and this all conspires to make it a very bad day for him.

As case after case begin to pile up, the obstacles he has to deal with, lack of properly trained staff, incompetence, the ever present racism and Eskom power cuts try his patience.

As well as the hunt for the missing girl, a well known record producer is found murdered, and the investigation offers an interesting insight into the South African music industry.

Suspicion immediately falls upon the wife, once a hugely popular singer, now a washed out has-been. Benny used to be a fan, and doesn't want to believe the wife is guilty.

Billed by his publishers as "The King of South African Crime Thrillers", Deon Meyer's 13 Hours was my first SA book, set in Cape Town, and it was interesting to experience that little jolt of recognition at the mention of things like SA celebrities and YOU magazine, familiar places and street names, accents and customs, to name but a few, as well as being immensely readable, this gets my top vote!

Happy reading!

ONE DAY IN MAY by Catherine Alliott

All her life, Hattie has been the independent free spirit, never married, with an adopted child who she rescued from war-torn Bosnia, setting up her own business, travelling to France 4 times a year to replenish stock for her antiques shop, happy to flaunt her toyboy lover.

She sees herself as unlucky in love, having fallen hard for her boss, years ago, a married man. All they had shared was 1 stolen kiss, yet the guilt remains, especially as it was Dominic's pregnant wife who discovered them.
Now Dominic is dead, killed in an isolated terrorist attack, and no other man has ever measured up to him.

15 years later, she meets up again with Dom's younger brother Hal, who was her best friend in college, and old feelings resurface, but Hal is engaged to be married in a few month's time. Circumstances in her life start to overwhelm her and she realizes how alone she really is, in spite of her close, loving family and friends, she is a lonely middle-aged woman on a downward path to being old, when all she had ever really wanted was to be barefoot and pregnant, happily married to the man of her dreams, a brood of kids and a cottage in the country.

Only after she faces up to this reality, can she finally admit the truth about what really happened one day in May between her and Dominic.

One Day in May is filled with hopes and dreams, of how Hattie fell in love with the unattainable, finally grew up, lived her life, and then met the man who became her one true love.

There are parts that will have you laugh hysterically out loud, and parts where you want to cringe with embarrassment for Hattie as she repeatedly puts her foot in it, and parts that will make you cry.

There is depth, harsh reality and ugliness also, as truths long hidden begin to emerge. One Day in May is compulsively readable, touching and completely charming.

Yes there is a happy ending here, but perhaps not quite the one you think.

Happy reading!

CHILL FACTOR by Sandra Brown

Cleary, North Carolina, with a record-breaking storm setting in. One of the worst winter storms in recent history. People are
being advised to take precautions, stock provisions, and stay at home.
Ben Tierney is on the mountain, looking at 4 old shallow graves, and 1 new one which is waiting for Millicent Gunn, reported missing a week ago.
Police Chief Dutch Burton and his newly divorced wife Lilly are packing up their belongings in the mountain cabin they once
shared together. She is leaving for good, and going back to Atlanta to carry on with her life, alone. Dutch finally leaves and exhausted, she falls asleep, only to wake as the storm picks up speed. She has to drive off the mountain in icy conditions.

Suddenly a human figure jumps into her path, and she swerves and crashes her car into a tree. She finds she has hit Ben Tierney, he is injured, but not too seriously it seems. They need to get out of the oncoming storm and head back to Lilly's cabin.

Wes and Scott Hamer, father and son, are training together in the high school gym. Scott is resentful of his father's insistence that he lift more and more weights, he just wants to get out of there and go home for dinner. He is thinking about Millicent Gunn.
Marilee and William Ritt, brother and sister and owners of the town drugstore, prepare to leave work and get home before the storm worsens. Marilee is a teacher at the high school. She and her brother are both still single and live together. She overhears two of her female students talking about the recent disappearances of 5 women. The one girl says her father has given her a gun to keep in her car, and told her not to hesitate to use it. Wes and Scott walk in and Wes immediately starts flirting with Marilee. Very soon, chaos reigns in town. Traffic is congested, traffic lights are out, sleet is pelting down, the police have their hands full trying to control the pandemonium generated by the approaching storm. And in the midst of all this, Dutch has to deal with the parents of the missing girl.

Meanwhile, the FBI are investigating Ben Tierney's background, and have come up with some
interesting facts...

The build-up of tension is gripping, along with the bone chilling cold, as Dutch strives in vain to rescue Lilly, and his ever-increasing fear of the man she is trapped in the cabin with.

A really good, fast moving thriller, "Chill Factor"races towards its chilling climax.

Happy reading!

AN OFFER FROM A GENTLEMAN by Julia Quinn

When Sophie receives an offer from a gentleman she is shocked and disillusioned, not what she expected from Prince Charming!

Sophia Maria Beckett is the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Penwood, deposited on his doorstep at the age of 3. Forced to take her in and give her a home, she is cared for and educated, but never once does the Earl acknowledge her as his child. When Sophie is 7 the Earl remarries, a lady with 2 daughters close to Sophie in age, and she is excited at the prospect of having sisters, but her new stepmother hates her on sight, treats her like a servant, and very reluctantly agrees to have Sophie in the schoolroom with her own precious daughters. Her 2 stepsisters are not much better, taking their mother's example, and Sophie's longing for a family is not to be.

When the Earl dies unexpectedly, Sophie is reduced to nothing more than an overworked, and unpaid, drudge.

So the years pass, it is 1815, and Mrs Bridgerton is having a masquerade ball that Sophie's stepmother and -sisters are preparing to attend. After they leave, the housekeeper, who is very fond of Sophie, tells her to get ready for the ball as well. They dress her up and send her on her way, and as it is a masked ball, no one will know who she is. There she meets her very own Prince Charming, Benedict Bridgerton, a highly eligible bachelor who is dead set against shackling himself to some empty-headed debutante. When he meets Sophie, it is love at first sight, but as the clock strikes midnight she runs off, without even telling him her name.

Two years later they meet again, Sophie's circumstances have worsened, her wicked stepmother has thrown her out of the house virtually penniless and she has been forced to seek whatever employment she can find. When she and Benedict suddenly come face to face, she waits breathlessly for him to recognise her, but... he doesn't, and instead makes her an offer she has to refuse.

This author was advertised as the new Georgette Heyer, and curious to see if anyone could match up to that description, I took 2 books by Ms Quinn to test. It was an absolutely delightful read, very funny and tender. This is a Cinderella story with all the right elements, the wicked stepmother, the stepsisters except they arn't ugly, the beautiful but penniless young girl and the handsome prince, with its own unique version of the fairytale which I found so sweet and charming I couldn't put it down, and will definitely look for more books by this author.

Happy reading!

THE KILLING PLACE by Tess Gerritsen

Here is a new book in the Detective Jane Rizzoli and Medical Examiner Maura Isles series.

16 years previously, a creepy man with homicidal tendencies named Prophet Jeremiah Goode, ran a religious community of people who call themselves The Gathering, in a village called Kingdom Come, in snowy Wyoming. What else went on in this pseudo-religious setting we have yet to discover.

Fast forward to present day, and Maura Isles is in the throes of ending an already dead relationship as she travels to attend a conference. There she meets Doug, an old friend, and over dinner he proposes Maura join him, his daughter Grace, and another couple, Arlo and Elaine, on a cross country ski trip for the day, before her return to Boston. She agrees, and they set off, but somewhere they take a wrong turn, and end up stranded on a deserted road, their car in a ditch. Forced to abandon the car, they walk through the falling snow to a village called Kingdom Come.

Their situation worsens as they trudge through the snow, there is no cell phone reception, and Maura silently berates herself for agreeing to come on this trip in the first place. In the village they find 2 rows of identical houses, all deserted. The beds neatly made up, the table laid with plates, food on the plates, now frozen, snow piling on the floor beneath open windows. Where are the people? They are well and truly stranded, and nobody knows where they are. Searching the houses, they find evidence of some sort of religious community. They also find dead pets, and bloodstains on the floor, and it is clear that something terrible happened in Kingdom Come.

Meanwhile, back in Boston, when Maura fails to return home, Detective Jane Rizzoli sets out to find her missing friend. After much back and forth, her search eventually leads her to Kingdom Come, where a gruesome discovery lies buried beneath the snow...

This was definitely the scariest book I have read from this author, and it was so gripping I stayed up half the night to find out what happens.

Happy reading!

BAD LOVE by Jonathan Kellerman

Jonathan Kellerman writes murder thrillers, featuring child psychologist Alex Delaware, and his good friend, LAPD Detective Milo Sturgis. Together they solve crimes that would have lesser mortals stumped. Nevertheless, they are good, gripping reads with very well thought out plots. This is quite an old book from the earlier years, written in 1993. There have been many more since then to choose from.

Alex earns his bread and butter counselling and evaluating children who have been either involved in a crime or abuse of some sort, or whose parents were involved somehow in a crime. In the middle of

one such case, where Alex is evaluating two young girls whose father is in jail for killing their mother, he receives a parcel containing an audio tape of someone screaming horrendously, followed by a childlike voice reciting a rhyme. The phrasing of the rhyme is vaguely familiar, but he cannot place where he heard it before. When Alex runs it by Milo, Milo claims to recognise the words from a previous case, the murder of a social worker several months back. Doing most of the investigating and leg work himself, Alex traces the phrase "Bad Love" back 13 years to a symposium he attended, commemorating the work of a renowned child psychologist who ran a clinic for troubled children and teens.

With Milo's help, he discovers a seemingly random series of violent deaths involving people who all
attended that same symposium. Convinced that it is all connected somehow, Alex investigates further, and finds himself to be a target.

This is a typical Kellerman book, moving at a fast, steady pace towards its gripping climax.

Happy reading!

THE PLAGUE STONE by Gill White

Meadcombe, a picture postcard Devon village, is built around the Plague Stone. A giant piece of rock which tourists come to photograph, this towering landmark is believed to possess magical powers.

One September night, in the village of Meadcombe, 3 wishes are made simultaneously. Marian Law wishes her mother in law Constance would die - tonight. Teenager Melanie Tandy wishes for freedom and Sonia Hanaford wishes she will escape the humiliation of bankruptcy.

By dawn the next day, Constance is dead, Melanie is missing and Sonia is in possession of a cheque for a quarter of a million pounds. Is it magic, some dark force at play? No, not really. Constance was old and senile, so surely her days were numbered. It was merely coincidence she died when she did. Melanie was rebellious, hated her parents, her father who suffers from chronic depression, her ineffective mother who constantly makes excuses for his lack of love and interest in his family. And Sonia, well, simply put, Sonia blackmailed her father in law Stanley for the money that she needed to keep her house, her status and all her comfortable possessions.

But now Melanie is still missing and nobody knows where she could be. And there is the guilt. They are all besieged by guilt. Melanie's mother, Janey, feels guilty for not loving her daughter the way she should have, always putting her sick husband first and trying to make his life easier, guilty because Marian is taking all the attention for herself and away from Janey. Marian feels guilty because she hated Constance, hated the burden of looking after her, being so recently widowed herself and missing her husband, because she knew there was a problem with Constance last night and she didn't bother to go and check up on the old lady, and she saw Melanie talking to someone in a car late last night, and now Melanie is missing. Sonia feels guilty because of what she did to Stanley to get the money out of him and now she is very much afraid that he might have gone off and done something stupid, possibly with Melanie. So the tensions mount, and nothing will ever be the same again in the village of Meadcombe.

As Melanie continues to be missing, so Janey's imagination and fears slowly start to drive her mad. And she begins to plan her revenge on the evil ones who have taken her child...

A dark, scary story of witchcraft and madness, both real and imagined, and a terrible vengeance taken on an unsuspecting village.

Happy reading!

THE LUXE by Anna Godberson

Imagine, if you will, New York City, 1899...
The Luxe tells the story of Society's elite, the parties, the beautiful debutantes, the rich girl, the humble boy, forbidden love, the secrets and scandals ...
Elizabeth Holland is THE debutante of the season, rich, beautiful, and expected by all to snare a proposal of marriage by the richest and most eligible bachelor. But there are many obstacles and pitfalls along the pathway of finding the perfect husband. There is Diana, Elizabeth's younger, rebellious sister, who is not in the least bit interested in doing what is expected of her.
There is Penelope, Elizabeth's best, but rather unsuitable friend, who has her eye on one of the season's most eligible and sought-after bachelors, Henry Schoonmaker, and she will go to any lengths to get him.

There is the secret love of Elizabeth's life, that no one knows about. And then there is the horrifying reality of Elizabeth's father's death and the fact that he left his family less than well-off,
and the security of her mother and sister lies in the success of Elizabeth's marrying a rich man. Her manners and obedience are so firmly bred into her that Elizabeth would never dream of not complying with her mother's wishes. But is she really as obedient as what she appears to be? How determined is she that Manhattan's elite will never discover her secrets: that her family is poor, that she is in love with a servant, that she is a selfish girl likely to ruin her family even more than they were already ruined.

When Henry Schoonmaker, the most eligible bachelor of the year, starts to pay court to her, she knows she should be overwhelmed with gratitude. But when he, rather angrily, proposes to her on his very first visit, she unwillingly accepts, knowing it to be her duty and how happy and relieved her mother will be. She doesn't realise what a tangled web she is involved in, she is in love with Will, her family's groom, Penelope is determined to get Henry back, and Henry, to his own surprise, falls in love with Diana. As the wedding date looms closer, Elizabeth can't help thinking how much simpler everything would be if she could just cease to exist...

This book was a wonderful read, full of hopes and dreams and heartbreaking emotions of falling in love, first love, forbidden love and lost love.

Happy reading!

THE RIGHT PATH by Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts'books are so easy to read. They're full of life and beautiful people and descriptive language. Once you get your teeth stuck into them you won't want to let go. Yes, they are women's books, and just perfect for a wonderful bit of escapism, any time of day.

Morgan James has just arrived on the island of Lesbos, in Greece, to spend some time on holiday with her old friend, Liz, who is married to a Greek millionaire businessman. Morgan hasn't had a holiday for how long, and is deterimined to relax completely and enjoy her stay, even if she has to tolerate Liz's attempts at matchmaking. Unable to sleep the first night, she goes for a midnight swim, and meets a stranger who at first appears to be a threat, then turns on the charm when he realises who she is. Morgan is furious at his treatment of her and promises to get even. Needless to say, when she meets him as a guest of her host and hostess in their house, she is shocked. She finds him to be a mystery, yet she is very attracted to him, much to her dismay. Because of the circumstances of their first meeting on the beach, she suspects him to be involved in smuggling, which is quite an active pastime in the area.

Then she finds a body on the beach, a villager, who has apparently been murdered. Drama follows drama and Morgan's hopes for a quiet, peaceful holiday are dashed.

Is Nick, the man on the beach, who makes her pulse race, a smuggler? And a murderer? How will she cope with that as she finds herself falling hopelessly in love with him?

Now I did say earlier that I love Nora Roberts books, and I do, but this one I must admit was a bit too Mills & Boon-ish for me. However, if you want a quick, light read to while away an evening, this book is perfect.

Happy reading!

REFUGE by Gillian White

Gillian White writes spooky, psychological thrillers that will have you turning pages eagerly to the end. And the ending will usually make you squirm. She very skillfully manipulates the normal and ordinary into something nightmarish.

Shelley is a single mom, struggling to raise six kids under the age of 12. When her oldest son, Joey, is believed to have committed a crime, the police come to question him. His friends all put the blame of the incident on him, and as the situation spirals out of control, Joey is detained by the police and Shelley and her remaining children are moved to a place of safety, away from the growing anger and hostility from the townsfolk towards her and her family.

Shelley steadfastly believes Joey to be innocent and that his friends are lying through their teeth and trying to shift the blame of what they did onto her son. She believes herself to be a good mother and that her kids are happy, well-adjusted children and she flatly refuses to believe that Joey is a problem child, in spite of all the mounting evidence against him. She cannot see herself the way other people see her.

Meanwhile her other children have been fostered out to a couple, the Boltons, who live on a quiet, secluded, remote farm. While they wait for their day in court, Shelley joins her children at the Boltons'farm. She is amazed at the difference already noticeable in her kids, they are happy, obedient, with none of their usual fussing, content in their new lifestyle, even though she herself doesn't really agree with Mrs Bolton's method of discipline and child-rearing, it seems to work.

But something about the kindly but simple Boltons'and their strictly routine way of life makes Shelley very uneasy. Little things, not easily dismissed, increase her uneasiness, and she comes to the realisation that her life is in danger.

Was she really such a bad mother?

The ending is frightening and inevitable but also, I felt, a little anti-climatic.

Happy reading!

THE WHOLE TRUTH by David Baldacci

In this book we meet for the first time Shaw, the enigmatic intelligence agent who works for a company the world knows nothing about, bringing the wicked to justice.

A shocking video featuring a tortured man is released worldwide on the Internet. The homemade video is shaky and grainy, but its message is shocking. It spreads around the world like wildfire and then is picked up by newspapers - the story is on everyone's lips. It is the beginning of a controversy.

What no one knows is that it was a hoax, a propaganda story started by one man, Nicolas Creel, a superrich arms dealer, who decides the best way to boost his business is to start another cold war.
Enter Shaw...

Shaw has spent 6 years risking life and limb for the agency. Now he wants to retire, get married and settle down. But his superior has made it very clear - no one retires from this line of work, they only die.
Shaw badly wants out of this dangerous job, but when his fiance and everyone she works with is massacred in their office building, because they are starting to investigate the people behind all the controversy in the news of the world, Shaw is determined to hunt down and kill the person or persons behind all these killings.

With the help of Katie James, a washed out, alcoholic news journalist who has hit rock bottom and is desperately trying to claw her way back up to the top via a good story, they embark on a breakneck race to find the people behind the conspiracy, and prevent World War III from breaking out, and to just stay alive along the way!

A really good, gripping, fast paced read.
Happy reading!

NASTY HABITS by Gillian White

Here is another one by Gillian White who has become my new favourite author. She tingle's one's spine.

Desmond is an immature mommy's boy, a young man who lives with his domineering mother and doesn't have any real friends. On holiday by himself at the coast, while exploring a cave, he stumbles upon a skeleton, and not just any old skeleton, this one is wearing a nun's habit.

Here also we meet the Pilkingtons, an upper crust family in their holiday home, the three sons, their wives and children, the Grandmother, and one mystery guest.

A second incident lands Desmond in the heart of this complex family. As the author explores the minds of each of these people, we learn of the past, things that happened, how each one of them came to be in his or her present circumstances, the secrets and lies and sins that have long laid hidden and are about to come to light.

Who is the skeleton? How did this person die and come to be in the cave on a deserted stretch of beach, undiscovered for so long?

Some members of the family knew about the skeleton and think they know who it once was, and continual wrong assumptions bring this story to its horrifying conclusion, as revenge is sought on the assumed perpetrators.

Gillian White is one of those writers who relies upon the strangest coincidences to bring chills to the reader as they suddenly realise what the story is all about.

Happy reading!

SAVE ME by Lisa Scottoline

 What do you do when your child is bullied heartlessly, endlessly, by her schoolmates? Would you do anything to protect her in the face of danger? Rose McKenna's young daughter, Melly, was born with a portwine birthmark on her face, and this has made her the target of ceaseless teasing and bullying from her peers. Rose and her husband even moved Melly to a different school to try and escape the bullying. But it follows them.

Working as a lunch mom in the cafeteria of Melly's school, Rose witnesses the bullying first hand, and tries to reason with the guilty party to make them see the error of their ways. In the midst of this, a catastrophe happens, and Rose is torn between saving her own child, or these other children who are tormenting her child. Her decision is made in a split second, but is it the right one?

Finding herself shunned from all sides because of her actions, and with mounting hostility against her, Rose begins to investigate by herself, and uncovers a conspiracy.

This story starts out as a simple family drama and slowly turns into something much more sinister, as murders and plans to murder are uncovered. A gripping read by a good storyteller.
Happy reading!

DELIVER US FROM EVIL by David Baldacci

I love David Baldacci's books, they are gripping and easy reading action thrillers. I also love books that are a series of different stories that feature the same characters. Mr Baldacci has a couple of these series, there is the "Camel Club" series, and the "Sean King and Michelle Maxwell" series. "Deliver us from Evil"is the 2nd book in the "Shaw"series.

Shaw is a type of an agent: "I work for something loosely called an agency that doesn't officially exist, doing things around the world that no one will ever know I did".

Regina 'Reggie' Campion is one of a small but elite secret vigilante group of people whose mission is to rid the world of monsters - people who over the years have brought about the deaths of millions of innocent people. Reggie, who travels the world in pursuit of evil, was instrumental in eliminating a soldier and general in Hitler's army. Now her group of agents have set  their sights on a new target. However, the enigmatic Shaw is also on the trail of this particular monster.

Evan Waller, an evil and depraved man who has made a fortune through his willingness to buy and sell anything - or anyone, is now being targetted by not 1 but 2 groups of people who are determined to put a stop to his business dealings once and for all.

A  thrilling book which delves into the mind of a purely evil man who has no feelings, emotions or compassion.

Happy reading!

THE SLEEPER by Gillian White

Once again in Gillian White's world, where nothing is quite as it seems, we open with a seance. a group of elderly, lonely people gather in a cottage in a wintery seaside resort town to see who Violet Moon, the medium, will conjure up.

Among those gathered is Miss Bates, a quiet, grey woman who keeps to herself and flits about as silently as a moth. The group breaks up at the end of the evening - it is a week from Christmas, and Violet is going to visit her son Fergus and daughter in law, Clover, on their farm.

Clover's best friend, Diana, her husband and twin sons are coming as well for Christmas so it will be a full house.

But Clover hates her mother in law. She is dissatisfied with her life but can't explain why. And Violet is not who she seems to be, there are dark secrets in her past that are about to come to light, ad she disapproves of her daughter in law.

 But there is a presence in the farmhouse this Christmas time, and the spirits are trying to communicate. And Clover becomes more and more convinced that Violet is trying to kill her as a series of strange accidents occur.

As the story unravels and we discover the circumstances that brought all these people to this point in time, terrible events take place.

This very disturbing and gripping book gave me goosebumps as the story races to its horrific conclusion. Don't read it alone at night!

Happy reading!

JUST TAKE MY HEART by Mary Higgins Clark

I have been reading Mary Higgins Clark books forever. Her books are mystery thrillers, and are predictable in that they all have plenty of characters, any one of whom could be the "bad guy".

This latest offering tells the story of Gregg Aldrich, who has just been charged with murdering his wife, Natalie, a famous Broadway actress.

The case is handed to Emily Wallace, an assistant prosecutor who has been recently widowed.

Thrown into the mix is the unsolved case of the murder of Natalie's best friend, Jamie, 15 years earlier, as well as Emily's new neighbour, who is obesessed with her and tries to get close to her at every opportunity, but who also makes her feel distinctly uneasy.

Gregg continuously swears he is innocent, and there is not a lot of evidence against him, but what there is, is damning.

No one connects Jamie's murder, all those years ago, to Natalie's, until Emily starts to review the case once more, from the very beginning, and makes a startling discovery.

There is always that sense of racing towards the ending in Ms Clark's books, as all the loose ends start to tie up.

Typically in these stories, the lead female character always becomes romantically attached to the male lead character, but that doesn't happen in this book. The reason for that is ... well, you'll have to read the book yourself to find out why.

Happy reading!

VEIL OF DARKNESS by Gillian White

Gillian White is a first-time read for me. In Gillian White's dark and disturbing world, nothing is quite as it seems, where the most ordinary things turn into nightmares.

Here we meet Kirsty, a battered wife who seeks sanctuary from her abusive husband, Trevor. She is provided with a job and a place to stay, and on the train ride there, she meets two other young women, Avril and Bernadette, who all have the same destination. They become room mates and friends, all working in a hotel in Cornwall. Each one has her own agenda, Avril, the overweight, self-conscious, overprotected girl who desperately seeks independence from her well- meaning parents, and Bernadette, who is beautiful, the one that men always notice, running away from the heartbreak of a love affair gone wrong.

Kirsty has a passion for books, and while looking for something to read in the hotel library, finds an old book which enthralls her. The book seems to promise Kirsty new and better things - a better life for her and her children, money, a decent house. She devises a plan to make all these things happen.

But suddenly things start to go wrong. Their personalities begin to change. They start acting differently and doing things they would never normally dream of doing. A darker side to each of them begins to emerge. Can a book really be influencing them this way? And what of the author of this strange book? Who was she and how did she come to write such a dark, terrible tale of murder and death?

There is a slight touch of the supernatural to the story, as very ordinary, everyday events take on a more sinister appearance.

This is quite a dark psychological thriller with a good mix of black humour that made me want to read more from this author.
Happy reading!

THE SECRET BETWEEN US by Barbara Delinsky

When Deborah Monroe picks up her daughter, Grace, from her friend's house one dark rainy night, the drive home turns
into a nightmare.

Grace, who only has a learners license, asks to drive and Deborah allows her, but regrets it as the rain intensifies.
They live quite a way out of town on a long dark road, and catch a glimpse of something only seconds before they hit.
The something turns out to be Calvin Mckenna, Grace's History teacher. He appears to be not seriously hurt, but unconscious, and what on earth was he doing out there, on foot, in the rain, late at night?

The police and paramedics arrive and take the injured man to hospital and it seems only natural to let the police believe
that she, Deborah, was driving the car. She doesn't lie, just omits the truth. Grace is traumatized and appears to be
hiding the truth about what really went on at her friend's house earlier that night. The the hospital calls to tell Deborah
that Calvin McKenna has died.

As the situation spirals out of control, Deborah allows every opportunity to tell the truth, that Grace was driving, not her, to slip away. She has to protect her daughter. But is she making things worse by keeping it a secret?

The lie changes everything, her relationships with Grace, her father, even her ex-husband. It affects Grace, too, in that she cannot communicate with anyone anymore, her mother, her best friend, her schoolwork suffers, she starts to crave punishment for a man's death, which she perceives as her fault. She needs to tell the truth, but to whom?

A poignant story of a mother struggling to protect and hold on to her family.
Happy reading!

VEIL OF NIGHT by Linda Howard

Linda Howard writes romantic thrillers and this book is no exception.

The story revolves around Jaclyn Wilde, a very successful Wedding Planner with an absolutely crushing schedule - 6 weddings lined up in the week to come - and then there's Carrie Edwards, a bride to be still in the planning stages - and a total nightmare. Carrie, engaged to be married to the son of a State Senator, is a bride from hell, nothing is good enough for her, she fights with everyone, Jaclyn, the dressmaker, the florist, the caterer, her demands are horrific, she changes her mind constantly, everyone hates her, even her bridesmaids.

When Carrie is murdered, the detective assigned to the case is Eric Wilder - and he and Jaclyn just happened to have a one night stand the night before! Jaclyn is both astonished and insulted to find herself a prime suspect, along with about a hundred other people, and the budding relationship she thought she might possibly be starting with Eric takes a nosedive!

Determined to do everything strictly by the book Eric can only stand by helplessly as Jaclyn gives him icy attitude to be considered a suspect, and what wouldn't the poor guy do for a decent cup of coffee - Jaclyn makes lousy coffee in his opinion, and every time he stops for takeout he manages to find himself in a "situation" where he has to intercept a robbery.

When Jaclyn suddenly finds the killer has set his sights on her and is determined to eliminate her before she can identify him, or her, things get serious!

A light-hearted approach to a serious subject, with some really funny bits.

Happy reading!

THE DIETER by Susan Sussman

Although quite an old book, written in 1989, I have never come across this particular author before.

This was an easy read, very lighthearted and smooth flowing text with plenty of humour.

The story centres around Barbara Avers, a 105 pd, heavy smoking mother of 2, whose best friend dies of lung cancer. As a tribute to her friend, she makes a pledge to quit smoking.
Suddely she finds herself addicted to and obsessed with food, something that never really attracted her before. She can't seem to stop herself cramming everything that she lays her eyes on into her mouth and almost overnight, the pounds begin to pile on...

At first the extra 10 pds are just a trifling nuisance, she'll soon get rid of them, her clothes are a bit tighter than before, but she's not concerned, she'll just cut down on dessert... Her husband, a lawyer who is running for Congress and is increasingly busy with his campaigning is home less and less and pays her less and less attention, her children treat her with disdain and then downright embarrassment as her weight increases, she feels less and less attractive as she flits from Weightwatchers and consequent diet and exercise programmes with no success and all the time fighting that all consuming craving for a cigarette.

Her old boss asks her to come back to work, she is a Journalist who previously had a very successful column in a newspaper, and she agrees, not very willingly, and there she meets Mac, a crime reporter who does'nt seem to notice or care about the fact that she now weighs 150 pds.

As she struggles to regain her husband's attention, she begins to realise that all is not well in their
marriage, also, she starts to find discrepancies in the way her husband is running his campaign.

This is a book for everyone who has ever struggled to loose a few extra pounds, who has felt that sinking depression when they can't find anything in their wardrobe that fits or isn't too tight, who knows the temptation of an extra helping of food, who steps on the scale every morning hoping for a miracle. So the big question is... is their life after size 8?

You will feel every step of Barbara's pain and anguish as you read this book, and laugh with her as she copes with these problems and more, all the way to the very satisfying ending.

Happy reading!

CHASING FIRE by Nora Roberts

If you have never read a Nora Roberts book before, now is a good time to start. She has a unique style that is exciting and sophisticated, her plotlines well thought out and executed, she is immensely readable.

This is chicklit at its best!

Her heroines are all strong, gutsy, kick ass women determined to make their own way in life without the help of any man, and her heroes are manly, sensitive and good looking (obviously).

"Chasing Fire" is about the incredibly brave men and women who fight forest fires in the Montana Mountains and surrounding areas, putting their lives on the line on a daily basis, jumping from planes and working 18 or more hours straight battling raging forest fires, then cleaning up the burn areas before heading back to base camp to sleep, eat, train and wait for the next siren to sound.

The main character, Rowan Tripp, is one of these abovementioned strong, gutsy women who is still suffering nightmares after witnessing the death of her jump partner, Jim, the previous season. Although she has made it a rule not to get involved with anyone she works with, she finds herself strongly attracted to one of the new season's recruits, Gulliver Curry.

It soon becomes apparent that someone blames Rowan for Jim's death, and after several incidents occur, including some more deaths, Rowan finds herself becoming a suspect as well as a victim.
Having to deal with her own guilt over Jim's death and the ever growing danger she finds herself in,
as well as her growing attraction to the sexy Gull, is a distraction she does not welcome in her day to day life and the ever present danger of her job.

Suspicion turns to one of their own after the equipment for a jump is sabotaged, and things come to a head in a showdown between Rowan, the killer and a raging inferno that is determined to wipe out everyone and everything in its path.
Although quite a hefty read at 472 pages, the book is unputdownable - I promise you will not be bored!

Happy reading!