Review - If I Were You by Cesca Major

If I Were You by Cesca Major

Publisher: HarperCollins

Release date: 4 July 2024

Back cover blurb: How do you know when you've found The One? Amy loves Flynn. Flynn loves Amy. But she can't read his mind, and he can't read hers. Heading away to her sister's wedding weekend, little do they know it's make or break. When a bolt of lightning gives them the ultimate change in perspective, they have to get through the weekend walking in each other's shoes… Literally. Will this crazy experience split them up – or make them fall in love all over again?

When Flynn meets Amy in a bar, it is literally love at first sight. Two years later, they are getting ready to move in together, and he is ready to propose.

Amy however, is having second thoughts. She feels as if she doesn't really know Flynn at all, as if he is holding something back, and his constant jovial mood frustrates her. Does he never get flustered or irritated about anything?

Flynn thinks that Amy is sometimes quick to jump to conclusions, sometimes quick to judge. But he loves how alive she makes him feel. Of course he gets frustrated and worries about things, but believes there's no point on dwelling on these things.

If only they could read each others minds!

They are on route to Amy's sisters wedding, when lightning strikes. 

Literally. 

Causing them to swap bodies. Suddenly Amy is in Flynn's body, and Flynn in Amy's. 

The timing couldn't be worse.

Amy has multiple bridesmaid duties to complete, speeches to give, dances to rehearse and Flynn hasn't got a clue about any of them. 

Flynn on the other hand has to look after the ring bearing dog (Amy is scared of them) and take part in multiple pre-wedding activities (she isn't in the least bit sporty).

With both hilarious and disastrous consequences, the swap isn't like anything I've ever read before.

Can they survive the weekend, or will it be the final straw? 

You can pre-order it 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 Storm Child by Michael Robotham

The Storm Child by Michael Robotham

Publisher: Sphere

Release date: 26 June 2024

Back cover blurb: The storm is coming... The most painful of Evie Cormac's memories have been locked away, ever since she was held prisoner as a child - a child whose rescue captured hearts and headlines. Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven's mission is to guide her to something near normality. But today, on a Lincolnshire beach, seventeen bodies wash up in front of them. There is only one survivor, with two women still missing. And Evie's nightmares come roaring back... Whatever happened all those years ago lies at the core of this new tragedy. Because these deaths are no accident. The same dark forces are reaching out, dragging her back into the storm. Evie must now call upon Cyrus's unique skills, and her own, in their search for the missing pieces of this complex and haunting puzzle. But will that be enough to save them? And who will pay for the past?

Storm Child is the fourth book in the Cyrus Haven series by Michael Robotham, but could easily be ready as a standalone. 

Evie Cormac has had a tough upbringing, but doesn't much talk about her past, much to the disappointment of Cyrus Haven, friend and forensic psychologist.

He knows he shouldn't push it too far, but the psychologist in him can't help but want to understand what happened to Evie so that he can help her move on.

They are at the seaside one summer's afternoon when something goes dreadfully wrong. A migrant boat tragedy.. 

The next thing Evie knows, Cyrus is carrying the body of a small child up from the water, and she can no longer speak.

Evie is hospitalised whilst they try to understand her mental state. She stumbles across the boy who was rescued and begins to speak with him in her native language. Cyrus realises that her own entry in to the UK just as traumatic as his, if not more so.

It's not until she translates the boys words into English that they realise there may be more to this than a simple crossing gone wrong. Someone is making money from those desperate to flee their own country for a better life in the UK, without a second thought to their wellbeing once they have their money.

And that's only the beginning ... 

The Storm Child is available from 26 June. You can pre-order it 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 Silence In Between by Josie Ferguson

The Silence In Between by Josie Ferguson

Publisher: Doubleday

Release date: 20 June 2024

Back cover blurb: Imagine waking up and a wall has divided your city in two. Imagine that on the other side is your child... Lisette is in hospital with her baby boy. The doctors tell her to go home and get some rest, that he’ll be fine. When she awakes, everything has changed. Because overnight, on 13 August 1961, the border between East and West Berlin has closed, slicing the city - and the world - in two. Lisette is trapped in the east, while her newborn baby is unreachable in the west. With the streets in chaos and armed guards ordered to shoot anyone who tries to cross, her situation is desperate. Lisette's teenage daughter, Elly, has always struggled to understand the distance between herself and her mother. Both have lived for music, but while Elly hears notes surrounding every person she meets, for her mother - once a talented pianist - the music has gone silent. Perhaps Elly can do something to bridge the gap between them. What begins as the flicker of an idea turns into a daring plan to escape East Berlin, find her baby brother, and bring him home....

Lisette's baby is unwell, her motherly instinct tells her to stay with him at the hospital, but she is just weeks post partum and the doctor insists that she must go home and rest. Her baby will be safe there he insists.

She does as instructed and intends to return to the hospital after a few hours, but she lies down next to her sleeping husband and unintentionally falls into a deep slumber herself, exhausted after the hours of waiting at the hospital. 

She wakes to the devastating news that she can no longer cross the border between East and West berlin. It has been closed overnight, and now she is trapped with her daughter, husband and elderly mother in the East, with her new baby son unreachable in the West.

Elly, Lisette's teenage daughter sees how distressed her Mother is, and wonders if she can do something to help bring her baby brother back.

No one ever talks about the war, but Elly knows that they shouldn't be still being punished for whatever happened all these decades later. Especially not her generation. 

Driven by a sense of injustice for her generation and the usual teenage action without thought about the consequences to follow, Elly quickly finds herself in danger. Her life is saved by someone who risks his own life and career to help her, and Elly realises for the first time that perhaps life is more complicated than she first thought.

When Lisette finds the note Elly has left for her, detailing her plan to find her baby brother, she is distraught, for now she has lost two children. Can Elly find her Brother and bring him home, or will Lisette lose everything all over again?

The Silence In Between is available from 20 June. You can pre-order it 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 - I Died On a Tuesday by Jane Corry

I Died On a Tuesday by Jane Corry

Publisher: Penguin
Release date: 6 June 2024

Back cover blurb: THERE’S THE STORY EVERYONE BELIEVES . . . The victim: Eighteen-year-old Janie leaving home for a new life. The criminal: World-famous rockstar, Robbie, who harbours a shocking secret. The protector: Witness support officer, Vanessa, desperate to right the wrongs of her past. They tried to bury that fateful day. Now it’s back to haunt them.  . . . AND THEN THERE’S THE TRUTH. 

I have always loved Jane Corry's writing, and this novel is no exception!

We first meet Janie when she is cycling home from swimming in the sea. It's one of her favourite things to do, and helps her feel close to her Mother who is missing presumed dead. Although Janie doesn't think that she is.

Years later, we meet world-famous singing sensation Robbie as he is arrested for a the hit and run of a young woman that happened when his former band were just starting our. His fellow bandmates are no where to be seen as Robbie takes the flack for what happened.

Witness protection volunteer Vanessa is grieving the loss of her husband Jack, and still hears his voice in her head, she tries to support those she comes across in her day job as much as she can, but sometimes its hard.

What could these people possibly have in common?

The forthcoming trial for justice for the 'girl who came back from the dead' of course.

Janie was feared dead at the scene, and was in a coma for months after her accident, her injuries severe and disabling. She was left unable to walk, or indeed talk. More recently she has been able to communicate via song.

New evidence has also come to light, meaning that the alleged perpetrator Robbie, can now be bought to justice.

Robbie insists his innocence at first, but then he is threatened and in fear of his family's lives he changes his plea to guilty, ending up in prison awaiting trial. His wife Irena and his supportive lawyer reach out to him during this time, as he is clearly going through hell.

Together they persuade him to do the right thing, and he changes his plea. What happened all those years ago has haunted him his entire life, and he is determined to right his wrongs, but also move on with his life.

With potentially deadly consequences. 

I Died On a Tuesday is available now via Amazon online digitally and from 20 June in all good book shops.

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