Review - Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

Publisher: Random House UK

Release date: 13 April 2023

Back cover blurb: Old money. New family... Pineapple Street in Brooklyn Heights is one of New York City's most desirable residences, and home to the glamorous and well-connected Stockton family... Darley, the eldest daughter, has never had to worry about money. She followed her heart, trading her job and her inheritance for motherhood - but ended up sacrificing more of herself than she ever intended. Sasha is marrying into the wealthy Stockton family, who are worlds apart from her own. She feels like the outsider, trying to navigate their impenetrable traditions and please her new mother-in-law - plus her hesitancy to sign a pre-nup has everyone questioning her true intentions. Georgiana, the youngest, is falling in love with someone she can't (and really shouldn't) have - and is forced to confront the kind of person she wants to be.

Pineapple Street is Jenny Jackson's debut, and I really look forward to reading more from this author.

Pineapple Street is in Brooklyn Heights, one of New York City's most exclusive and desirable residences. Home to the Stockton family, the story centres around three siblings, Darley, Cord and Georgiana.

Darley the eldest of the Stockton’s, has never had to worry about money. In fact she gives away her fortune when she marries for love, rather than status.

Cord, the goofball (as the Americans would affectionately call him) is the carefree member of the family, he loves life and he loves his wife. Sasha.

Sasha for her part feels ostracised from the family. Labelled a gold digger by Cord's sisters, she struggles to fit in with their privileged ways, even though she couldn't care less how much money they have. 

Georgiana is the youngest of the Stockton siblings, and hers is the story that I think I most identify with, (not that I've ever been wealthy!!) I think her personal journey through self discovery and heartbreak is perhaps something that we can all identify with. 

Whilst their parents Tilda and Chip are obsessed with their wealth, class and status, in their own ways their children are all desperate to escape the privilege they've been born in to, even if they don't realise it themselves yet...

Pineapple Street 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 Three Lives of Alix St Pierre by Natasha Lester

The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre by Natasha Lester

Publisher: Little Brown Book Group

Release date: 13 April 2023

Back cover blurb: A HIDDEN IDENTITY. A DANGEROUS LIE. A SECRET WAITING TO BE TOLD . . . 1943. War is raging, and after developing a successful propaganda campaign to recruit women into the workforce, Alix finds herself enlisted as a spy in America's fledgling intelligence organization, the Office of Strategic Services. Managing to make it through Vichy France before the Nazis close all borders, Alix is tasked with getting close to a Nazi who might be willing to help the Americans - but there's also a chance he's a double-agent. And then something goes terribly wrong. 1946. Determined to escape her dangerous past, Alix moves to Paris to work as a publicist for the yet-to-be-launched House of Christian Dior. But when a figure from her old life reappears and threatens to jeopardize her future, Alix realizes that she'll need to do something drastic to right the wrongs of the past . . .

Alix St Pierre has always been poor, and has been used to working hard to get what she wants. Orphaned at the age of 13, she is taken in by her best friend Lillie Van Der Meer. The Van Der Meer's live in a world of privilege that Alix knows she must use to her advantage if she is going to survive.

Sent to finishing school with Lillie, the two are separated when Alix travels to Paris. Wanting to stand on her own two feet, and make use of her language skills, Alix secures a job as a junior fashion editor When the second World War breaks out she returns to America and is reunited with Lillie. 

Their reunion is brief as Alix is enlisted in the USA's fledgling intelligence organisation the OSS. Her multilingual skills see her operating as a spy, assisting the Italian partisans. When a mission goes wrong with tragic consequences, Alix blames herself.

Years later, she returns to Paris to work in PR for the newly created house of Christian Dior. She keeps track of the post war trials and is horrified to discover that a face from her past has somehow avoided a jail sentence or worse.

When she receives an anonymous note advising her to leave Paris, she knows that she is in danger, and she knows that he has something to do with it. 

As much as part of her wants to flee back to America, she knows that the key to her forgiving herself for everything that went wrong that fateful night is understanding what really happened. He is one of the only people that can help her with that.

This is a beautifully written historical fiction novel, with a good mix of fictional and real characters. Some good, some not so good, but all of them with a story to tell. It deals with the brutality of war sympathetically, as well as addressing the injustices that many faced post war. Highly recommended.

The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre is available to buy 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 Close by Jane Casey

The Close by Jane Casey

Publisher: HarperCollins UK

Release date: 2 March 2023

Back cover blurb: At first glance, Jellicoe Close seems to be a perfect suburban street – well-kept houses with pristine lawns, neighbours chatting over garden fences, children playing together. But there are dark secrets behind the neat front doors, hidden dangers that include a ruthless criminal who will stop at nothing. It’s up to DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent to uncover the truth. Posing as a couple, they move into the Close, blurring the lines between professional and personal as never before. And while Maeve and Josh try to gather the evidence they need, they have no idea of the danger they face – because someone in Jellicoe Close has murder on their mind.

I haven't read all of Jane Casey's Kerrigan and Derwent books (I know, I'm rubbish!!) but the ones that I have read, I have thoroughly enjoyed, and the Close is no exception. This could definitely be read as a standalone novel, though it may be useful to have read at least one other in the series to understand Kerrigan and Derwent's (complicated) relationship...

The novel opens with Kerrigan being called to investigate a murder at a hospital, it's a tricky case with no obvious leads. The usual suspects having cast iron alibies. She is absorbed in the case when a member of the local government is seen in her boss' office.

DS Maeve Kerrigan knows that it doesn't mean anything good for her or her team. She's proven right when she's asked to go undercover to assist in solving a case involving someone close to the government member.

This is personal, and they need to get it right.

As if being asked to go undercover, in a high pressure case wasn't enough, she's asked to go with her boss, DI Josh Derwent, as his partner in more ways than one. They are being asked to pose as a couple... To say that they have a volatile relationship would be putting it mildly, but could spending so much time together actually be good for them? 

Only time will tell.

The Close is one of those picture perfect neighbourhoods that is so far from perfect in reality. Each of the front doors holds secrets behind it, some neighbours more eager than others to let the strangers into their world.

The house that the pair have been sent to investigate on first glance appears to house the most normal occupants, but as the sweltering summer heat rises, tensions in the close escalate, and it's clear that almost no one in the close could be considered normal.

In such a complex case they are all suspects..

This novel is a brilliant installment in the series,  I can't wait to read the next! 

The Close is available to buy 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 - Code Name Elodie by Anna Stuart

Code Name Elodie by Anna Stuart

Publisher: 29 March 2023
Release date: Bookouture

Back cover blurb: 1943, Bletchley Park: In the dark of night, my heart is pumping with adrenalin as I wait for news of the secret agent operating under the code name Elodie. She has a dangerous part to play in the Normandy landings and so many lives are at stake. But I couldn’t bear to lose her... Valerie Rousseau is burning with determination to help free her beloved France from the Nazi regime. Working at the mysterious Bletchley Park, she strikes up an unexpected bond with smart, fiercely loyal Fran Morgan as they spend long days together with their heads bent over maps of France in preparation for the Allied invasion. Their friendship grows increasingly important as they distract themselves from the dark days of war with afternoons skating across the icy pond at the heart of Bletchley Park and evenings talking late into the night. But Valerie’s wartime role is shrouded in secrecy and there are things that she can’t even tell Fran. When Valerie volunteers for a dangerous mission linked to the D-Day landings in Normandy, Fran is devastated. Valerie has knowingly put her life on the line and Fran is terrified that she will never see her again. Soon, Fran hears about the bravery of the agent operating under the code name Elodie. She’s certain it’s Valerie and she knows the work she is doing in her little office, overlooking the green fields of England, could be the difference between life and death for this secret agent… Can both women secure victory for their country? Or will the fight for freedom cost them their love – and their lives?

Code Name Elodie is the 2nd book in Anna Stuart's Bletchley Park Girls book series, but it can read as a standalone.

Personally I haven't read the first installment (though wish that I had, simply because the writing is so good).

This is the story of Fran, Steffie, Ailsa and Valerie, all doing their bit for the war effort, in varying degrees of secrecy and danger at Bletchley Park (BP as it's affectionally known).

Each woman is exceptional at her job, and with war time comes opportunities and challenges that they may not have had to think of previously. Each of them in turn is forced to make a decision that will impact their future. But if they don't make it, they could impact the war.

The book covers operation mincemeat and the D-Day landings from a particularly unique perspective, that of the folk who were working so hard, day and night at Bletchley Park to decipher and deliver the intelligence to ensure that the troops were where they needed to be, and the enemy as far away as possible.

I'm not 100% sure that the title fits the novel to be honest, though I can offer no more sensible suggestions, I just felt that it wasn't all about Elodie (as much as that part of the story is important).

This is a brilliantly written, thoroughly researched historical fiction novel (with a sprinkling of factual information) and I look forward to reading the next in the series ... and also actually going back to read the first in the series! 

Code Name Elodie is available to buy 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.