It has been two decades since I have read anything approaching Chic Lit but in film (at the Movies) I am a sucker for this kind of premise.

What if you could experience how your life had turned out "If only" you had made a different decision?

Filled with troops and clichés (such as the Gay Best Friend - Jeex!), this novel is nevertheless very enjoyable and was a pleasure to spend time with.

Recommended to anyone who enjoyed Richard Curtis' About Time, who likes novels about time travel, romance and Irish Characters.

This is a really rather decent and intelligently written exploration of the Vampire myth. Engstrom tells a tale of a young teenage girl who slowly enters into a vicious murder spree as a result of metal illness, vampirism or quite possibly both. It is reminiscent of other stories such as Shirley Jackson’s the Haunting of Hill House and more recently Paul Tremblay’s Head full of Ghosts, in that it explores whether the supernatural phenomena are real or imagined by the protagonist.

It is written in the first person from the perspective Angelina a rather odd but likeable girl, who eventually identifies as a vampire as a result of a rape (or possibly attempted rape as Angelina is unclear on this neither are we).

At the end of each chapter, we get the first-person perspective from another character. I really enjoyed the flip at the end of each chapter, its a great plot device in that it rounds out the narrowness of a first-person narrative, and here it is used by Engstrom to further the plot and foreshadow the next scenes. It also provides a much-needed break from reading the psychopathic killer's thoughts and ramblings.


Most excitingly though is that at last, I have found another strong female horror/darker speculative fiction writer! I look forward to reading some of her back catalogue soon. Starting with her more famous When Darkness Loves Us that is also part of Valancourt’s Paperback from Hell Series.

This starts with a loyal Catholic, a Statesman, dedicated to the Crown and God, his Patron, his Mentor, his Father? Then it ends with a loyal Catholic, a pious Statesman, another lawyer, and another Thomas and His, that is Cromwell’s, lifelong foe. He, Cromwell, Protestant (mainly), gutter born (nearly), educated in trade and commerce, law, speaker of many tongues, blessedly unknown and unknowable; He rises above in station above both of these men he will never quite forget.

He seeks to rewrite England's laws, balance her books, divert Rome’s prosperity back to the Realm, and all for a reasonable sum. Meanwhile, He witnesses two Queens play at politics and religion, while the King, who is also a Statesman of sorts, dreams of being a lover and a father. He, Cromwell was once a lover and a father too, and maybe once more but first he must rewrite the Treason laws.