Fiction

Review: A Wedding in Italy by Tilly Tennant

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Aaahh, Rome! Kate moves there from London with high hopes of getting a great job and living happily ever after. But boyfriend Alessandro’s family and coworkers throw a wrench into Kate’s plan. Of course Kate rallies… but at what expense? 

This book gave me a wonderful taste of Rome, from the quick bites to eat to walking the stone streets to Nonna’s cooking to coffee in the square. I lived in Rome for a little bit with Kate, felt her independence, her struggle to “make it” as a seamstress and real estate agent, and her frustration at not being accepted fully into Alessandro’s family.  

Kate’s a cute character, realistic and relatable. Tennant could’ve written Alessandro a little deeper, though. He was sort of on the periphery, even more so than his ex girlfriend and his family. I love a good romance, but half the romance is the guy! 

If you like all things Italian, pick this up – if only for the fast drives to the countryside, the pasta, and Kate’s attempts to ingratiate herself with Nonna! 

-calliope

Buy A WEDDING IN ITALY

Review: Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

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remember-meThis was a book I really needed to read. I picked this one up from the charity table at my local co-op. I used to love Sophie Kinsella. It’s been a few year since I’ve read her so I thought I might revisit her writing again. Yesterday I decided to take this book with me in the car. Since moving to England I get car sick whilst reading my kindle. I wondered if it would happen with a dtb. To my delight it didn’t! I zoomed through a couple hundred pages. Then finished it today.

Here we have Lexi trying to regain the memories of the past 3 years. She lost the memories after a slight car accident.

I wonder how all of us would act and how lost we would be of we suddenly woke up one day and three years had passed. As You can imagine Lexi has a lot to come to terms with. She tries to reconcile this new, unknown Lexi with the Lexi she knew from before. Many of the pieces don’t fit and she struggles to make them all fit.

This has been a very tough week for me. My father’s birthday would have been this past week. A time I could always rely on knowing I would talk to him. His death hits me at times like waves. I felt greatly pulled under and lost the last few weeks. I lost a spider. Not a huge thing to many people I suppose, but gutting to me. And I’ve had the worst case of PMS I can remember. I’ve cried endless tears for no reason. I’ve been sad. I’ve been total drama queen. Like I said, it’s been a horrible week. Why say all of this in a review?

Because, books like this are seriously what has helped me get through the tough patches in my life. I loved this book because I could laugh a bit…because I could worry about someone else’s problems for a change…because I could sympathize with someone else and stop feeling sorry for myself…because for just a few hours I was able to forget…

I was lucky to find such a book as this for me just when I needed it. Thanks Ms Kinsella for making my week a little bit better. I truly needed it…

Until next time…
Urania xx

Buy it now Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

Review: I Found You by Lisa Jewell

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I admit, mysteries and thrillers are probably my genre du jour.  And the more twisty and turny, the better.  This one was definitely that!

When Alice comes across a strange man on the beach, she immediately senses he needs help.  He has no memory, nothing to indicate where he came from.  So of course she takes him in until he can figure out just who he is.  And predictably, she falls for him along the way.

Meanwhile, young newlywed Lily is in a panic because her husband has disappeared without a trace.  He just went to work one day and never came home.  While trying to find him, she discovers he wasn’t who she thought he was.   In fact, the man she married doesn’t even exist.

Step back in time, now, to a tragic event that happened on the very same beach where Alice came across her handsome stranger.  Could these events possibly related?  And could Lily’s missing husband be connected?  But of course!   It wouldn’t be a thriller otherwise.

I love Lisa Jewell’s stories.  They rely heavily on characters and family connections while at the same time portraying them authentically.  Her latest is no different.  Grab it!

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  I Found You

Review – Things We Lost in the Fire: Stories, by Mariana Enriquez. 

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I’m not usually a huge fan of short stories – they always seem to leave me wanting more, and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much more from this collection by Mariana Enriquez.  However, on this occasion, I’m glad to report that I was proven wrong. Very wrong. 

Set in Argentina, Things We Lost in the Fire, is a collection of short stories about loss, the macabre, ghosts, and horror. 

Whilst not necessarily happy subjects, Enriquez has a talent of not wasting words. Each word you read is like a building block for the story, and I didn’t ever feel like there were filler getting in the way. 

I’ll definitely be keeping an eye for more by this author! 

Until next time, 

Pegasus. 

Things We Lost in the Fire: Stories

Review: Silent in the Grave (Lady Julia Grey #1) by Deanna Raybourn

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silent-graveI don’t know what it is but I truly love these Victorian mysteries. Perhaps it is because the ones I’ve read so far have been with ladies set as the main characters.

This one is no exception. Here we have Lady Grey trying to solve the mystery of what might have been her husband’s murder. She is determined to become the strong independent woman that she has always imagined she should be. It’s not always an easy thing to reconcile the person you imagine yourself to be with the person that shows themselves to the rest of the world. Especially when you have a dominate (albeit handsome) detective by your side. Add to that being a widow that should be in mourning in Victorian England…well, it certainly can add many complications to your life.

I was also happy when the mystery was solved. Raybourn did a really nice job of allowing the reader (and the lead characters as well) imagine several different scenario. I even imagined a few that I believe Raybourn was clever enough to desire me to conjure up so I could feel superior that I figured it all out on my own….alas, I was not….The ending was believable, but not any of the ones I imagined. Even better, I didn’t find it drop down jaw unbelievable either….I didn’t feel like she pulled the rug out from under me and went for something totally outrageous just for the drama factor. I really appreciate that from an author. Sometimes, I am often left to feel insulted…instead, Raybourn has made me delighted to follow Ms Grey into her next great adventure….

Until next time…
Urania xx

Buy it now Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

Review: Between Two Skies by Joanne O’Sullivan

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In case you didn’t know it,  I have a love affair with all things New Orleans.  And while technically this one isn’t set in the Big Easy, it’s close enough.

Bayou Perdu is a small little town in the backwoods of Louisiana.  Close enough to New Orleans to be convenient but far enough to be in its own little world, it’s a typical small town. Everyone knows everyone else, and they’ve been through a lot together.  Even hurricanes.  But this one’s different.  The one they call Katrina is so ominous that even Evangeline’s grandmother is scared and ready to evacuate.

With evacuation comes loss, especially when you return to nothing.  Houses, personal belongings, friends,  these are all things Evangeline is missing as she and her family impatiently wait it out far, far from Louisiana.  She feels as if she’s stuck between two worlds, living two lives.  The question soon becomes, which life will she and her family choose in the end?

A good story, an accurate retelling of events surrounding this devastating storm.  A great read for young adults!

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  Between Two Skies

Review: White Sand, Blue Sea by Anita Hughes 

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Anita Hughes does it again – takes me on a luxurious vacation where ladies drip with diamonds, succulent dinners abound, and you can almost taste the salt of the sea. 

Olivia and Finn vacation in St. Bart’s with Olivia’s mom and step dad… and Olivia hopes Finn will finally propose. But the love story is just part of the plot. There’s Sebastian, the long-absent father making an insincere attempt at redeeming himself, Felix the stepdad, trying to be perfect for everyone, and Hadley the mom, a little bit jaded and disappointed about the way her golden years are turning out. 

Hughes did a great job with the characters of Olivia, Hadley and Sebastian. It was harder to get to know the others, but I don’t know that character development mattered too much in this story. I like to read Hughes because she whisks me away from real life — April showers, bills to pay, and a house to clean – into the luxury of a fancy vacation. Reading Hughes, I get to virtually stay in the best villas, go to the best beaches, wear the most expensive cocktail dresses, and eat the fanciest food. 

I’ll take that escape any day. 

-calliope

Buy WHITE SAND, BLUE SEA

Blog Tour & Review: Gone Without a Trace by Mary Torjussen

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I finished this book in less than 24 hours. 5 years ago this might not have seemed like a big deal…these days it’s a huge deal! I didn’t want to put it down. It hooked me from the first chapter and continued to do so right up to the very end.

Hannah Monroe comes home from an all day business meeting to find her that her house she shared with her boyfriend, Matt Stone is empty. Not only has he moved out, but he has seemingly disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace of the life they shared behind. It’s as if the past 4 years never took place.

For three months Hannah becomes more and more obsessed on trying to find Matt and to figure out what went wrong. Where is he? Is he safe? Why did he leave?

At first I was saddened for Hannah. I couldn’t imagine what she must have been feeling. That sadness soon turned to shock and dismay as I watched her continue to spiral out of control with her obsession on trying to sort out what had happened. Watching her try to come to terms with this all, without any answers was painful. Then, I admit it, I started to become annoyed with her. However it didn’t change the fact that I had started to become obsessed with finding Matt as well! I needed to know what was happening. I had a dozen different scenarios. I suspected a half a dozen people.

When the big reveal happened, I honestly didn’t have a clue. Even as it happened, I was still trying to figure out what was behind all of this, because I didn’t comprehend the truth.

I soon realized it was staring me in the face the entire time! All of the unbelievable suddenly became very clear and very much believable. The farfetched wasn’t so farfetched after all…

Read this book as soon as it comes out. Not only is it full of suspense and a sense of you NEEDING to know what happens, it’s also a very important book. About a subject matter that isn’t discussed nearly enough…I sincerely hope this book is roaring success…not only because Ms Torjussen has written such a thriller of a book, but also because she has written about a subject matter that seems almost taboo.

Until next time…

Urania xx

ARC provided by the publisher and Netgalley for an honest review

BUY THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW http://amzn.to/2gZekso

 

How far would you go to find the one that got away?

 

From the imprint that published Fiona Barton’s instant New York Times bestseller The Widow and Clare Mackintosh’s global phenomenon I Let You Go, comes Mary Torjussen’s GONE WITHOUT A TRACE (Berkley Trade Paperback Original; 978-0-399-58501-2; April 11, 2017; $16.00)—an electric, compulsive thriller about a boyfriend’s unexplained disappearance, and its corrosive effects on the woman he left behind.

 

In GONE WITHOUT A TRACE, young professional Hannah returns from work to find her live-in boyfriend, Matt, is gone. His belongings have disappeared from their house. Every call she ever made, every text she ever sent, every photo of him and any sign of him on social media have vanished. It’s as though their last four years together never happened. As she struggles to get through the next few days, with humiliation and recriminations whirring through her head, she knows she’ll do anything to get answers. Where has he gone? Why has he left?

 

Then the messages start—cryptic and creepy texts and videos—and Hannah realizes that someone is watching her every move. And there are signs that someone has been in her house.

As her search for Matt progresses, Hannah treads further into madness and obsession—and the only way out is to come to terms with the one shocking truth she just can’t accept. . .

 

For anyone who has ever asked “Was it something I did?” GONE WITHOUT A TRACE brings to chilling light the doubt, fear, and obsession that can lie dormant in our most intimate relationships.

 

Shari Lapena, New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next Door, says: “Gone Without a Trace has one of the most interesting narrators I’ve ever come across.”

The Hideaway by Lauren K. Denton

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Sara loves her grandmother Maggie, but her eccentricity created some distance between them. Now that Sara has a flourishing business in New Orleans, she doesn’t get back to Mobile, Alabama as often as she should… until Maggie dies, leaves a ramshackle inn to Sara in her will, and has her attorney convey a request for Sara to renovate the place while allowing Maggie’s old friends to remain living there for a while. 

That’s the plot set-up. But the vibe is even better. Sara’s shop assistant Allyn was a BRILLIANT character- vibrant, grab-life-by-the-horns, supportive without being smothering, and so, so intuitive. Denton did a remarkable job juxtaposing Allyn with Sara, who was reserved, all-business, and pretty much living a superficial life while coping with a whole bunch of emotional baggage. Well, until she goes to Mobile and unravels her baggage along with Maggie’s past. *dunt dunt dunt*

Enter stage left: a panel of senior citizens who loved Maggie and want to love Sara, a local contractor – sensitive yet manly – who wants to help rebuild the inn… and build a relationship, and a slimy land developer who wants to ruin it all. 

This story is beautifully written, deeper than standard chick lit but light enough for a beach read. You’ll root for Sara every step of the way, and in the (very well done) flashbacks, you might find yourself rooting for Maggie, too. 

-calliope

Buy THE HIDEAWAY

Review: The Last Chance Matinee by Mariah Stewart 

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I’m so glad I started this series! Allie and Des find out they have a half-sister… and the trio is required to cooperatively restore an old theatre in order to get their inheritance after their dad’s death. Restoring a theatre – what fun!

Watching the three characters learn about each other and grow in themselves was great. Steward develops the characters evenly, even though the story is told through Cara’s eyes. The introduction of Allie’s daughter shows Allie’s heart – at a point in the story I had just about had it up to here with her! And Stewart’s illustration of Des’s flair for fashion gives positive personality to this third sister – and adds another light, fun aspect to the story. 

I love how open Cara is to new friendships with her sisters and the small-town neighbors watching them restore the theatre. Reading the story from Cara’s viewpoint was an exercise in optimism, hopefulness and adventure. And as I sit here writing this, I’m thinking I really can’t wait for the next book … so I’m signing off and checking the internet for Book Two’s pub date. 🙂

-calliope 

Buy THE LAST CHANCE MATINEE