Review - The Witching Hour by Deborah Carr

The Witching Hour by Deborah Carr
Publisher: Harper Collins UK

Release date: 29 September 2025

Back cover blurb: A storm is brewing… Living in Jersey during the Nazi occupation, Briar Le Gros and her mother, Diana, are hiding a dangerous secret. Witchery runs in their blood. One night, as the coven gather, a storm crashes down and, late for curfew, Briar must shelter in the ruins of an old prison. With a flash of lightning she’s brought face to face with Xavier Giroye, a surprising stranger … from 1643. Briar and Diana must send Xavier back to his own time but when the spell goes wrong, Briar is transported to the past with him. Together, they go from Nazi suspicion to evading the notorious witchfinder! The clock is ticking to reset the balance and get Briar back to the present. But the choice is bittersweet; returning home means leaving Xavier, the one person she’ll ever love…

Another very different novel from Deborah Carr. Which I'll admit, I was drawn to because of the author, whose previous novels I have loved.

I am not normally a fan of novels that include witchcraft or those sorts of themes, but trust me when I say, this one is different.

1940's Jersey. Briar Le Gros is the daughter of a witch, and is reluctant to join the coven. She doesn't feel that she is ready. Although she can never quite explain to her Mother why. Possibly, she feels that they already have enough to deal with living under Nazi rule.

Her Mother and the other local witches are out and about, and Briar is visiting a friend when she loses track of time, and breaks the curfew. Forcing her to hide in the local castle grounds to evade discovery.

.

When Xavier Giroye is bought into her life, she begins to question everything. She feels that there is something familiar about him, though is certain that they have never met before. When he says he thinks it is 1643, she thinks he is trying to play some sort of trick on her.

When she realises that he is serious, she knows that she must return him to the past. But she can't do so without her Mother's help. Somehow both Briar and Xavier end up back in the 1640's and Briar is suddenly in danger from the notorious witchfinder.

Now it is Briar who must return to her own time, but how can she do that without her Mother?

The Witching Hour is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review - Smoke in Berlin by Oriana Ramunno

Smoke in Berlin by Oriana Ramunno
Publisher: Harper Collins UK
Release date: 25 September 2025

Back cover blurb: A DETECTIVE WITH A SECRET. Berlin, June 1944. Hugo Fischer is forced to work for the Nazi secret service, but he carries dangerous secrets he must conceal. Gioele is not his son, but a Jewish boy he rescued during an investigation at Auschwitz. A FATEFUL SERIES OF CRIMES. The murder of a prominent Nazi couple. The suicide of a Reich journalist. An alleged accident that killed fifteen Hitler Youth children. As Fischer investigates, he begins to suspect the deaths in Berlin are intertwined. A CITY FIGHTING BACK. But when suspicion starts to fall Fischer’s way, he finds himself walking a knife edge. To be found part of the conspiracy means death. Yet how can he betray those who stand up for what is right?

This novel is the second in a series, but can definitely be read as a standalone (I have read the first, and you can read my review here).

Criminologist Hugo Fischer no longer wants to work for the Nazi party, particularly not after what he witnessed at Auschwitz, but as a German citizen, he has no choice. 

They say keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, and that's exactly what Hugo must do to keep himself, his Father and young Giole alive. 

Gioele has survived Auschwitz, rescued by Hugo and hidden where no one can find him. But every day he stays hidden with Hugo, is another day of danger. 

Hugo himself has another secret that must stay hidden. A degenerative disease that his employer must never find out about. 

When he is called upon to investigate the murder of a prominent Nazi couple, he really wants to refuse. But he is told that the case is simple, and won't take him long to investigate.

Hugo quickly realises that this is because his seniors want it to be shut down quickly, and that there is much more to it than meets the eye. 

He knows that he should do as he is told, but Hugo has never been one to follow the rules, and prefers to do what he thinks is right, no matter the danger.

Smoke In Berlin is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review - Live, Laugh, Leave Me Alone by Harper Ford

Live, Laugh, Leave Me Alone by Harper Ford
Publisher: Avon Books UK

Release date: 25 September 2025

Back cover blurb: Lucy is fifty, frazzled and fed up. After spending half her life working, she’s tired, and her idea of inner peace involves a sofa, wine and a takeaway. But when her boss announces his retirement, Lucy gears up for a well-earned promotion – that is until Tara, her annoyingly perfect colleague, swoops in, dazzling the CEO with her #BossBabe energy and commitment to a wellness bootcamp so hardcore it sounds like a cult. Desperate to compete, Lucy lies about joining the same program — even though her body feels more landfill than temple. Now she’s trapped in four weeks of ice baths, crystals and green juices… not to mention jade eggs in unspeakable places. As the wellness madness escalates and rivalries flare, Lu starts to wonder if she actually might be growing as a person – or if that’s just the kombucha talking? And why can’t she shake the feeling that maybe Tara isn’t as perfect as she seems?

This novel is a joy! 

Lucy is literally me in another life. Albeit with a different job title and a slightly different back story...

Lucy is HR Director at Beane and Co insurance, where she has worked for most of her working life. She has worked her arse off to get to where she is today, and covets the non existent role of COO.

When her boss announces his retirement, Lucy sees her opportunity to pitch the new COO role to his replacement. He is all for it, but he is also bringing with him his legal director from his existing company and guess what, she also wants to be COO.

Enter Tara. A younger, trendier, slimmer version of Lucy who is just as ambitious and already has the new CEO's ear. Lucy is livid, and immediately sets about some online stalking of Tara's social media (we've all been there..). She finds little of note, except that Tara is really into wellness.

On a whim Lucy signs up to a wellness course, even though she thinks it all bollocks.

Which the first couple of sessions are. Then she meets with Clio.

Clio is a revelation. Something rare amongst the other wellness bullshit that Lucy cannot abide. Tara says she has changed her life, and now Lucy thinks that she may not have been exaggerating. 

Is this something that they could actually bond over, rather than fight?

Ah come on, where would be the fun in that?? Where Tara and Lucy are concerned, they both want the same job, and are totally up for the fight. 

May the best woman win! 

Live, Laugh, Leave Me Alone is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review - the Seeker of Lost Paintings by Sarah Freethy

The Seeker of Lost Paintings

Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK

Release date: 11 September 2025

Back cover blurb: Rome 1939. Arriving in Rome to work for the wealthy Montefalco family, Maddalena is homesick and alone. She finds solace – and love – in the beauty of the city, but as the war in Nazi-occupied Italy rages, she must make a devastating choice. London, 1997. After her mother Maddalena’s death, Beatrice Fremont discovers a fragment of a painting and a letter that sends her on a hunt to Rome. Helping her is art dealer Jude Adler, who’s convinced they are looking for a lost Caravaggio. For Jude, this could be the find of a lifetime; but for Beatrice their search uncovers a shocking secret and the answer to a mystery kept hidden for years.

The Seeker of Lost Paintings is a beautifully written historical fiction, set during the Second World War in Italy, and London in the 1990s.

Beatrice Fremont is trying to raise money for her elderly Mother, Maddalena who is unwell and has found herself in some financial difficulty. Beatrice, who has moved in to help care for her Mother invites art dealer Jude Adler around to see if there is any value in some of the families old paintings.

Jude, who is going through some personal issues of his own, is reluctant to commit to any specific values at first, he doesn't want Beatrice to get her hopes up for no reason. But then he unexpectedly discovers a hidden gem, in a room he wasn't supposed to be in.

The painting, seems to be part of a Caravaggio, it's origins unknown. Beatrice knows only that her parents escaped Italy in 1944, so it was most likely bought with them when they fled before the end of the War.

When Maddalena passes away, one her final wishes is to have her ashes scattered at a specific place in Italy. Not wanting to be alone, she invites Jude to come along with her. Jude jumps at the chance, sensing that he may be able to discover more about the Caravggio.

Of course, it isn't as simple as that, and Maddalena has a complicated history with her former home which Beatrice was aware of, though not the extent of, or the reasons why. In fact, as she begins to help Jude with his quest and truths are uncovered, she begins to wonder if she ever really knew her Mother at all?

The Seeker of Lost Paintings is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review - 59 Minutes by Holly Seddon

59 Minutes by Holly Seddon
Publisher: Orion Publishing Group

Release date: 25 September 2025

Back cover blurb: If you knew you had fifty-nine minutes until everything and everyone you love would be lost forever, what would you do with that time? It's an ordinary evening. People are coming home from work, cooking dinner for their children, cuddling on sofas with their lovers. And then the message arrives, shattering everyone's worlds: Missiles are set to destroy England in fifty-nine minutes. Everyone should seek immediate shelter. 59 minutes follows the journey of three women trying to make it home to and protect their families. The journeys should be simple, but with a lost schoolchild seeking help, a teenage daughter suddenly going missing, and dangerous criminals on the prowl, there is peril at every corner.

This book is absolutely terrifying-in the best possible way.

What would you do if you knew you only had 59 minutes left to live? 

It's a horrifying prospect and yet it the question that our characters are faced with when an emergency mobile alert is sent out across the UK about an incoming Nuclear missile set to hit London and the South of England.

In less than an hour.

59 minutes to be precise.

Carrie gets the alert on her way home from work.

On Dartmoor, Frankie and her boyfriend Otis have just checked in for their mini break when they get the alert. 

None of them know what to do.

The alert is advising them to remain indoors or seek immediate shelter, but Carrie needs to get home to her family, and Frankie and Otis don't nearly have enough food to survive, even if they do have shelter.

Carrie's journey home across London should be a simple one, but as public transport is shut down, and normal life ceases to exist, she is forced to make decisions that no one should have to make as she is faced with a new kind of challenge.

Desperation. 

It seems as if all traces of humanity have disappeared as everyone frantically battles to save themselves.

No matter the cost.

But what will they do if they can survive the attack? Frankie is determined that they can, so she and Otis venture to the local town to get supplies, and face the same battles as Carrie, just in a very different setting. 

59 Minutes is a gripping thriller, with a twist that I certainly didn't see coming, and absolutely enhanced the novel for me. I don't want to say too much more as I don't want to give anything away. But this is a definite must read. Even if it might give you nightmares..

59 Minutes is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review - the Lucky Winners by K.L Slater

The Lucky Winners by K.L. Slater
Publisher: Michael Joseph

Release date: 14 August 2025

Back cover blurb: When Merri and Dev buy a ticket on the last day of a national draw to win the house of their dreams, they never, in a million years, expect to win. Less than a week later, they’re receiving the keys to their new Lake District mansion. For Dev, it’s a dream come true – no more stressful rent negotiations, or waiting for the landlord to finally fix the damp. Of course he’s delighted to be interviewed about their good luck. But Merri feels a little uneasy. Dev doesn’t realise there’s a reason she’s never wanted to put down roots, always trying to run away from the memories of what happened the day her little sister died. At first it’s easy to think she’s imagining the shadowy figures in the lakefront garden. It’s silly to think that someone is watching her through the gorgeous floor-to-ceiling glass windows. And then a body is found in the lake. And Merri’s new perfect life is about to come crashing down…

Merri and Dev are the very definition of 'ordinary'. Muddling through life, doing their best with the little they have, but always secretly wanting more.

When Dev buys an entry ticket for a prize draw to win a dream house (you know the sort!), Merri scolds him for spending money on something so worthless, when they already have so little.

Everyone knows that no one actually wins those draws.

When Merri keeps getting a call from a unknown number, she ignores it, assuming it is someone who is chasing money from them, and wanting to bury her head. 

So she gets the shock of her life when Dev calls her to tell her that they've won the house. 

At first, she doesn't believe him, but then a team from the prize draw organisers and a camera crew turn up on their doorstep and she realises it is very real.

Dev is overjoyed but Merri has reservations. She doesn't want to be on camera, because she has been keeping a terrible secret from Dev, which could be exposed it someone sees her in the press.

Dev doesn't understand Merri's reluctance, but she assures him it's just a sense of being overwhelmed and going from having nothing to having everything.

And now they have everything to lose...

I don't want to say too much more as I don't want to give anything away. I do think that the ending of this novel could be one that divides opinion, and I look forward to hearing other readers thoughts!

The Lucky Winners is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request in exchange for an honest review.

Review - Beyond this place of wrath and tears by Jack Ford

Beyond this place of Wrath and Tears by Jack Ford

Publisher: Kensington Publishing 

Release date: 27 May 2025

Back cover blurb: Washington, DC, April 1954: Lee Carson, former war correspondent, is frustrated that her journalism career has been relegated to society events and fashion stories. But when she receives a tip about a Russian spy in a high-ranking government position at the height of the Cold War, she feels the thrill of a story that she hasn’t felt since she was on the front lines of the European theater. London, December 1943: As war rages on across Europe, twenty-two-year-old Lee Carson is waging a private battle of her own. An American-born correspondent for the International News Service, Lee is determined to cover the war from the field. But no woman, certainly not an attractive young woman with no military experience, will be allowed near the front lines. Lee is not easily dissuaded. And as the Allied forces prepare to take the fight to the enemy, her gift for boosting public morale is seen a valuable weapon. Assigned to cover the build-up to the invasion of Nazi-held Europe, she constantly wrangles with authorities in order to get to the heart of the action. From talking herself onto a bomber and flying over the beaches of Normandy at the start of D-Day to other feats of daring, she witnesses and reports on the war’s most pivotal moments. Told in dual timelines, Beyond this Place of Wrath and Tears is inspired by the story of an incredible woman who has largely been forgotten by history, and who, like many women in WWII, broke barriers in wartime only to find that upon the return home, she had to continue to fight for relevance in an entirely different way . . .

Lee Carson was not a name that I was familiar with when I picked up this novel, although I was of course aware of female reporters risking their lives during the War in the name of the truth.

This is a beautifully written tale of espionage, heartbreak, tragedy and courage.

But if you are expecting a fully fledged spy novel then this might not be the novel that you are looking for. 

Post WW2 Lee is tasked with rooting out an agent in the highest US government who is potentially spying for Russia.

The stakes are high, and Lee has been side lined since the War, and knows when a story is too good an opportunity to pass up on.

She knows of course that it is dangerous work, but she has lived through the War and is capable of pretty much anything life throws at her.

But even she isn't prepared for what is to come...

Beyond this place of Wrath and Tears is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.