Review - The Girlfriend by K.L. Slater

The Girlfriend by K.L. Slater

Publisher: Bookouture

Release date:  27 October 2022

Back cover blurb: My husband’s dead. She’s at my door. She owns my home… The doorbell rings, just days after my beloved husband’s sudden death. I don’t recognise the woman on our doorstep, with her buttery blonde highlights, a diamond bracelet identical to my own and a bouncing baby boy in her arms. As I show her inside, I notice her eyes grow wide as she takes in our spacious hallway, and the big squashy sofas that we all used to pile on. She glances at the silver-framed family photos and my little daughter hiding behind my skirts. She looks at me, her blue eyes serious. ‘I’m sorry’ she says. ‘I know this will be hard to hear. But I am your husband’s girlfriend. And this is his son.’ My world implodes. And then she tells me that she owns our home – and that she’s not going anywhere…An utterly gripping psychological thriller from the number one bestselling author of The Marriage. If you like Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and Lisa Jewell then you will be hooked by The Girlfriend. 

Jennifer's husband Cole isn't perfect, but he tries. He works hard, has a successful business. and keeps their family safe. They are happy.

Or so she thought...

When Cole is killed in a car accident, Jennifer is beside herself with grief, and worried about her children. 

But her nightmare is just beginning.

When a woman with a baby turns up on her doorstep saying that she is Cole's girlfriend and the baby is their Son, Jennifer is distraught. But what comes next is even more shocking.

Through some business arrangement that Jennifer has no knowledge of, her late husband's girlfriend actually owns her house.

Faced with homelessness Jennifer makes a decision that will come back to haunt her, but at the time, it is the only rational thing she can think of.

This is one of those that I don't want to share too much about, or give anything away...

It's a fast paced novel with lots of surprises! The Girlfriend is another great novel by K.L. Slater. and I can't for the next.

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

Thank You for the publisher who approved my request via net galley in exchange for an honest review. 

Review - As Little As Nothing by Pamela Mulloy

As Little As Nothing by Pamela Mulloy

Publisher: ECW Press

Release date: 11 October 2022

Back cover blurb: On the eve of the Second World War outside a village in England, four people are connected by an airplane crash that changes their lives forever. In the tumultuous year before war breaks out, a plane crashes on a country lane and four people are brought together in the aftermath. Miriam is recovering from another miscarriage and learns to fly as an escape from the disappointments in her life. Audrey is a middle-aged, upper-class activist who has shunned her society, travels the UK lecturing on reproductive rights, lives in a Reading caravan, and whose daily ritual includes a swim in a nearby river. It is Audrey’s nephew, Frank, who teaches Miriam to fly. A club foot and his suppressed homosexuality have made him reluctant to engage with anyone other than his aunt. But as he succumbs to his attraction to the crashed pilot and convinces Miriam to co-pilot an air race from London to Manchester, and as Audrey confronts her past, ghosts must be laid to rest. With the war looming, As Little as Nothing beautifully explores resilience, the strength of new bonds, and the various ways we reinvent ourselves.

As Little As Nothing is the first novel of Pamela Mulloy's that I've had the pleasure of reading, and it is beautifully written. 

It opens with a plane crash in the English countryside, and brings together four strangers whos lives will intertwine with each other for the rest of the novel. 

Miriam, Frank, Audrey and Peter.

Miriam is recovering from a personal heartache, another miscarriage and doesn't realise she's looking for an escape until Frank, who helps her rescue the Pilot of the crashed plane offers her flying lessons as a thank you for her assistance.

Peter is a Canadian Pilot who has family in England who he is visiting when his plane come crashing down. Luckily he is not badly injured, but his love of flying sets him on a path that will change the his fate.

Frank is unable to fight in the rumoured war that is just around the corner due to a club foot, but he is determined to fly in some capacity, and takes it upon himself to teach Miriam how to, so that they can take part in a race. He enlists Peters help so that he can remain close to the Canadian.

Audrey, Frank's Aunt, is the final piece of the friendship puzzle. She is an activist for Women's reproductive rights, which given Miriam's troubled history is a shock to her at first. But as she learns more about the subject, she realises that there is more to Miriam than meets the eye, and beings to help her friend in her crusade. 

This novel is very cleverly written, in that it feels that it is subtly building towards something all the way through - and of course it is, it is building towards war. 

If you're looking for a novel set during WWII, this is not it. This is a novel that explores the complexities of politics and people's behaviours leading up to the event.

As Little As Nothing 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 Cruise by Catherine Cooper

The Cruise by Catherine Cooper

Publisher: HarperCollinsUK

Release date: 30 October 2022

Back cover blurb: A glamorous ship. During a New Year’s Eve party on a large, luxurious cruise ship in the Caribbean, the ship’s dancer, Lola, goes missing. Everyone on board has something to hide. Two weeks later, the ship is out of service, laid up far from land with no more than a skeleton crew on board. And then more people start disappearing… No one is safe. Why are the crew being harmed? Who is responsible? And who will be next?

I have to say this is not exactly the novel that I was expecting! I know that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover - it its blurb, but there was definitely less cruise action than I was expecting.

That said, it is a thrilling thread, it just didn't take me down the path (or on the high seas) that I anticipated.

The Cruise opens (funnily enough) on a cruise ship, here we meet the ships dancers preparing for the evening's performance, but also impatient for rehearsals to be over so that they can get some rest, or at least do their own thing before the New Year's festivities.

Fast forward to the evening and the ship's Captain is having dinner with the Cruise Line's CEO in the onboard Michelin starred restaurant when disaster strikes, a passenger has seen someone go overboard. The Captain acts immediately to put in to place the emergency procedures, but it isn't until the following the day that they realise Lola, one of the ships dancers is missing.

Her friends and colleagues on board are in disbelief, but the ships doctor confirms quietly to the Captain a history of mental illness, and previous attempts on her own life, the search is called off, and the investigation scaled down.

The ship itself, is due to be layed up for a refit offshore from the Caribbean, a few select crew are invited to stay onboard, others can choose, but most decide to use the time off wisely. Particularly after the tragic events of New Year.

And then the story changes, we are transported back several years to the Highlands of Scotland where a young woman has seemingly survived a hit and run. 

What does this possibly have to do with Lola's disappearance/presumed suicide?

Well I'm afraid you'll have to read the Cruise to find out!

If you like a twisty thriller, you won't be disappointed...

The Cruise 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 - All The Broken Places by John Boyne

All The Broken Plances

Release date: 15 September 2022

Publisher: Doubleday

Back cover blurb: Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same mansion block in London for decades. She leads a comfortable, quiet life, despite her dark and disturbing past. She doesn't talk about her escape from Germany over seventy years before. She doesn't talk about the post-war years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn't talk about her father, the commandant of one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps. Then, a young family moves into the apartment below her. In spite of herself, Gretel can't help but begin a friendship with the little boy, Henry, though his presence brings back memories she would rather forget. One night, she witnesses a violent argument between Henry's mother and his domineering father, one that threatens Gretel's hard-won, self-contained existence. Gretel is faced with a chance to expiate her guilt, grief and remorse and act to save a young boy - for the second time in her life. But to do so, she will be forced to reveal her true identity to the world. Will she make a different choice this time, whatever the cost to herself?

Gretel is Ninety-One years old, Widowed living in London where she has lived for most over Seventy years. She fled Germany with her Mother in the aftermath of WW2 to France, and from there she went to Australia, until a chance meeting with an old acquaintance sent her travelling again, where she settled in the UK.

Having lived with the guilt of her family’s past since she was 12 years old, she has fought hard to live a normal life. At times this has been almost impossible. As the truth of the Nazi regime came to light, and the appetite to punish those involved grows stronger, there are moments when she fears for her life. 

There are other moments when her own thoughts become so troubled that she no longer wishes to live.

When a young boy moves into Gretel's apartment block with his family, Gretel is transported back in time. Not only does he bear more than a passing resemblance to her deceased brother, it is apparent that he is suffering and she cannot do anything to help him.

Or can she?

Gretel must decide this time whether it would be better to intervene in something that she thinks is none of her business, or face the consequences if something terrible were to happen.

Is she trying to make up for the past, or just looking to secure the boys future?

If you haven’t read the boy in the striped pajamas it isn’t a necessity. However I would recommend it - although it is very different in writing style to this.

All The Broken Places 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.