May 2022 wrap-up!

Hey guys! Today I’m bringing you a very late May wrap-up. I read ten books and the majority of them were review copies so I was trying to focus on getting the reviews published. Here’s what I read:

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister: First up was this very interesting crime thriller mixed with time travel. It’s the first book I’ve read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the time travel would be a bit confusing but it’s actually brilliant and the timeline is easy to follow.

His Other Woman by Sarah Edghill: Next up I read this domestic thriller. I did enjoy the suspense and the toxic relationships between certain characters but the main character was quite irritating in the way she behaved and acted. I don’t want to spoil the plot but I thought she was responsible for a lot of what went wrong. Also, I wasn’t very satisfied with the ending and thought it was abrupt. I would have preferred a different ending.

ARC REVIEW: Fatal Witness by Robert Bryndza

Title: Fatal Witness by Robert Bryndza
Published by: Raven Street Publishing
Publication date: 7th July 2022
Genre: Crime & Thriller
Format: eBook
Amazon UK

Synopsis:

How do you find a killer who has destroyed all the evidence?

Detective Erika Foster is on a late-night walk near her new house in Blackheath when she stumbles upon the brutal murder of Vicky Clarke, a true-crime podcaster.

Erika is assigned to the case and discovers that Vicky had been working on a new podcast episode about a sexual predator who preys on young female students around South London, staking out his victims in their halls of residence before breaking in at the dead of night. When Erika discovers that Vicky’s notes and sound recordings were stolen from her flat at the time of her murder, it leads her to believe that Vicky was close to unmasking the attacker, and she was killed to guarantee her silence.

The case takes on a disturbing twist when the body of a young Bulgarian student doctor is discovered in the same building, and this makes Erika question everything she thought she knew about Vicky. With very little evidence, the clock is ticking to find the killer before he strikes again.

ARC REVIEW: Throw Me to the Wolves by Lindy Ryan and Christopher Brooks

Title: Throw Me to the Wolves by Lindy Ryan and Christopher Brooks
Published by: Black Spot Books
Publication date: 24th May 2022
Genre: Horror/Science fiction/Fantasy
Format: eBook
Amazon UK

Synopsis:

Some evil wants to live forever.

Ten years ago a witch sacrificed Britta Orchid’s family and turned her into a werewolf. Selena Stone’s spell failed, and she was never seen again. Until now.

Officer Aaron Labaye has discovered Selena’s remains in the house where Britta’s family died, and dragged Britta back to Louisiana to aid the investigation, hoping her past will break the case. Britta has a hard time resisting the handsome rookie, especially when he shows her a new drawing by her murdered little brother: Britta in her wolf-form.

As an unseen hand sets events in motion, Britta has to help Labaye dig into the murders old and new. The bloodthirsty ghost of her brother, a jealous member from her pack, and a former friend with a serious prejudice against wolves all stand to stop Britta as she fights to finally get the truth about that night ten years ago. But, as she looks harder than ever into her own dark past, Britta will confront more than just her own demons as she fights for peace for herself and for her family. She can’t hide anymore, but must find her place in a world she’s avoided—and discover what it truly means to be a wolf.

ARC REVIEW: His Other Woman by Sarah Edgill

Title: His Other Woman by Sarah Edgill
Pages: 305
Published by: Bloodhound Books 
Publication date: 19th May 2022
Genre: Domestic thriller
Format: eBook
Amazon UK

Synopsis:

Her husband is with another woman—but it’s not who she thinks it is, and the results may be more devastating than an affair . . .

Lucy’s husband has been missing for days while she tries to pretend to those around her, including her distracted teenagers, that everything is normal. In desperation she uses a phone app to track him—and discovers he’s with another woman.

As her life falls apart, Lucy realises nothing is as it seems. There is another woman in her husband’s life, but it’s someone she has known—and hated—for twenty years.

As the story unfolds, including in the national press, the family must pull together before lives are destroyed . . .

ARC REVIEW: The Island by Adrian McKinty

Title: The Island by Adrian McKinty
Pages: 384
Published by: Orion Publishing Group
Publication date: 26th May 2022
Genre: Crime & Thriller
Format: eBook
Amazon UK – Waterstones

Synopsis:

IT WAS JUST SUPPOSED TO BE A FAMILY VACATION.

A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT CHANGED EVERYTHING.

YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE CAPABLE OF UNTIL THEY COME FOR YOUR FAMILY.

After moving from a small country town to Seattle, Heather Baxter marries Tom, a widowed doctor with a young son and teenage daughter. A working vacation overseas seems like the perfect way to bring the new family together, but once they’re deep in the Australian outback, the jet-lagged and exhausted kids are so over their new mom.

When they discover a remote Dutch Island, off-limits to outside visitors, the family talks their way onto the ferry, taking a chance on an adventure far from the reach of iPhones and Instagram.

But as soon as they set foot on the island, which is run by a tightly knit clan of locals, everything feels wrong. Then a shocking accident propels the Baxters from an unsettling situation into an absolute nightmare. 

When Heather and the kids are separated from Tom, they are forced to escape alone, seconds ahead of their pursuers.

Now it’s up to Heather to save herself and the kids, even though they don’t trust her, the harsh bushland is filled with danger, and the locals want her dead.

Heather has been underestimated her entire life, but she knows that only she can bring her family home again and become the mother the children desperately need, even if it means doing the unthinkable to keep them all alive.

BLOG TOUR: The Hiding Place by Simon Lelic

Title: The Hiding Place by Simon Lelic
Pages: 352
Published by: Penguin
Publication date: 5th May 2022
Genre: Crime & Thriller
Format: Paperback
Amazon UK – Waterstones

Synopsis:

‘It was only a game.’

Until a boy went missing.

‘No one was meant to get hurt.’

But a body has been found.

‘Just some innocent fun.’

Except one of them is a killer.

Ready or not, here I come.

It’s time to play hide and seek again.

April 2022 wrap-up!

Hey guys! It’s time for another reading wrap-up. I read six books in April and it was a pretty good month for me as I enjoyed them all apart from one. Here’s what I read:

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse: I went into this with high hopes because I’ve seen so many people raving about it and saying that they were hooked almost immediately. Imagine my disappointment when I found myself not liking it all that much. The plot was okay and the writing was very good but the characters were just awful. I’m one of those people who can’t enjoy a book if I don’t like the characters. Elin is a terrible detective and I honestly felt like she worked stuff out mostly through sheer luck and not because she was good at her job. Also, she’s treated so horribly by her boyfriend and brother and she just puts to with it. I didn’t get it. I will read more books by this author, just not anymore about Elin.

ARC REVIEW: The Midnight House by Amanda Geard

Title: The Midnight House by Amanda Geard
Pages: 432
Published by: Headline Publishing Group 
Publication date: 12th May 2022
Genre: Historical fiction/Mystery
Format: Paperback
Amazon UK – Waterstones

Synopsis:

1940: In south-west Ireland, the young and beautiful Lady Charlotte Rathmore is pronounced dead after she mysteriously disappears by the lake of Blackwater Hall. In London, on the brink of the Blitz, Nancy Rathmore is grieving Charlotte’s death when a letter arrives containing a secret that she is sworn to keep – one that will change her life for ever.

2019: Decades later, Ellie Fitzgerald is forced to leave Dublin disgraced and heartbroken. Abandoning journalism, she returns to rural Kerry to weather out the storm. But, when she discovers a faded letter, tucked inside the pages of an old book, she finds herself drawn in by a long-buried secret. And as Ellie begins to unravel the mystery, it becomes clear that the letter might hold the key to more than just Charlotte’s disappearance.

ARC REVIEW: Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik (Starlight’s Shadow #1)

Title: Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik
Pages: 432
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication date: 31st March 2022
Genre: Science fiction
Format: Paperback
Amazon UK – Waterstones

Synopsis:

Octavia Zarola would do anything to keep her tiny, close-knit bounty hunting crew together—even if it means accepting a job from Torran Fletcher, a ruthless former general and her sworn enemy. When Torran offers her enough credits to not only keep her crew afloat but also hire someone to fix her ship, Tavi knows that she can’t refuse—no matter how much she’d like to.

With so much money on the line, Torran and his crew insist on joining the hunt. Tavi reluctantly agrees because while the handsome, stoic leader pushes all of her buttons—for both anger and desire—she’s endured worse, and the massive bonus payment he’s promised for a completed job is reason enough to shut up and deal.

But when they uncover a deeper plot that threatens the delicate peace between humans and Valoffs, Tavi suspects that Torran has been using her as the impetus for a new war. With the fate of her crew balanced on a knife’s edge, Tavi must decide where her loyalties lie—with the quiet Valoff who’s been lying to her, or with the human leaders who left her squad to die on the battlefield. And this time, she’s put her heart on the line.