⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Nightingale Stars

Ok, Ok I admit it, I'm late to the party to this one, I tried twice before and couldn't get into it at all, but this time I was determined to stick with it, and I'm so glad I did, why did I doubt myself, of course this book was phenomenal!!

The Nightingale tells a story about World War II, and contrary to what I thought I was going to read about, this wasn't about the fighting at all....well not in the way that you think, this is about the women who were left behind.

France 1939, Vianne says goodbye to her husband as he goes to the front to fight for the country, she doesn't think for a minute that the Nazi's will come to her town, let alone invade France, so she isn't too worried about it.

However the realisation that this is exactly what is happening comes too quickly, and Vianne is eventually living in her house with a stranger, not just a stranger, but a Nazi officer!
She must teach her daughter to keep her head down, and her mouth shut, and take huge risks to protect and save lives of people that could get her not just into trouble, it could cost her life!

Isabelle is Vianne's younger sister, she is always getting herself into trouble, and has always been a bit of a rebel.
She is opposite to her sister, in that she is totally ready for the Nazi's, in fact she would be quite happy to head off to Paris to join the fight, and that is exactly what she does.

Against her sisters advice that she couldn't do anything to help, Isabelle is determined that she can do something, so she packs a bag and sets off to Paris.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Isabelle. Paris is overrun. The Nazis control the city. What is an eighteen-year-old girl to do about all of that?”

But a difference she does make, to many lives, after joining the French Resistance with her new friend Gäetan, she was known to many as "The Nightingale" and risked her life helping others.

On this cool October morning, her life would change. From the morning she boarded this train

From now on, she was Juliette Gervaise, code name the Nightingale.

A fantastic read that I would recommend to anyone.

🎧🎧 - Narrated expertly by Polly Stone who did a wonderful job, her voice was just perfect for this book and I will definitely be looking out for other books that she has narrated.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Chilling Stars

Ok then, who's up for a dark, twisted thriller??

**Holds hand up**

"Good afternoon, you've reached the End of the Line, this is Laura speaking. May I ask your name?"

Laura is a soft spoken woman, she will listen to you as you discuss your problems, you will discuss what is making you feel so sad, and of course you wouldn't be calling the End of the Line helpline, if you wasn't contemplating ending your own life.

She will not try and talk you out of committing suicide, or tell you that there are better things, no, she is just there to listen to you, and not judge.

Laura is a very well liked colleague in the office, always bringing in her gorgeous hand-baked goods, she keeps herself to herself, and doesn't mix much, but she always gets involved with charitable volunteering, and always raises lots of money for good causes.

What the people she works with don't see, is that actually Laura is Bat-Shit-Crazy!

If you are feeling that you are loosing your way and are contemplating ending your life, the worst possible person that you could get through to in the call centre would be Laura!

You see, Laura likes the fact that you want to end your life, in fact, she's banking on it!

Ryan doesn't know why his pregnant girlfriend would kill herself, and who was the man she was seen holding hands with before they both jumped? he can't understand why she would want to do this to him and their unborn child, perhaps he needs to do a little investigating?

A cracking thriller to keep you on your toes, with a Good Ol' baddie you'll hate-to-love-to-hate.

🎧🎧 – Narrated expertly by Elizabeth Knowelden, who is a new to me narrator.

Elizabeth’s voice was perfect for Laura and she made this fantastic read even better.

Buckle yourself in, it's a bumpy ride

Vicci

Follow my reviews at www.audiokilledthebookmark.com

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Southern Stars

What a beautiful story

I have to say that I tried to listen to this one...twice and struggled, I'm not sure what it was but it just didn't grab me straight away.

This time I forced myself to carry on and listen, and I'm so glad I did because this book was just GORGEOUS!

The descriptions that the author uses are just stunning, I want to hug them all

“The morning burned so August-hot, the marsh’s moist breath hung the oaks and pines with fog.”

Kya is a happy child mostly, she lives in the Marsh area and is 'at one' with nature, she lives in her shack with her parents and siblings and doesn't really see the bad in anything...until her family starts getting smaller.

One by one her siblings leave, and then it is her Mothers turn, she just leaves one day without looking back.

After a while she realises that it is because of her fathers alcoholic and abusive ways, and she is left to look after him.

She learns to live with her father, and they even become 'friends' for a while, but most of the time she is left for days at a time to fend for herself, while he goes out spending money they don't have, and drinking to excess.

She learns that you don't get 'nothing for free', so starts to sell what she can to the storekeeper in town, and soon makes a firm friend in him and his wife.

Kya is an incredibly knowledgeable girl, she could tell you what the weather was going to be like, just by the sound of the birds, but the one thing she cannot do is read, or write, until she meets Tate.

Gahhh, the friendship between Tate and Kya was just lovely, he really took the time to know her and help her, and I was really disappointed in him at certain points in the book!
Friends are something that Kya holds very dear, because she doesn't have any, most of the townspeople are snobby toward her and look down their noses at her.

In 1969 Chase Andrews a local football legend is found dead in the marsh area, the rumours start to fly, and The Marsh Girl's name keeps being linked to his, but why?

This was an absolute joy to listen to, and the author Delia Owens certainly knows her stuff, she is a wildlife scientist, and this shows in her beautiful poetic writing.
I'm not at all surprised that Reece Witherspoon has chosen it to be in her Sunshine reads club, or that it will be coming to a movie theatre soon, I can't wait to see it!!

🎧🎧 - Totally AMAZING narration by Cassandra Campbell, she made this listening experience even better.

Save a credit for this one it is a cracker

Follow my reviews at www.audiokilledthebookmark.com

Ahhh what can I say about this one but I LOVED IT !!!

Loved all of the characters and especially the fact that it still has Miles and Katie from Wait With me in it, I love a series that lets you see how other characters are doing and getting on.

This story is about Sam and Maggie.

Maggie decides to travel to find her adventurous side after a bad break up, and meets Sam the manager of the Tire Depot.

Sparks fly with these two, I absolutely loved them together, they were so cute, I loved Maggie's sass, and the one liners and banter between them both had me laughing out loud.

Narrated by Erin Mallon (My voice crush) and Teddy Hamilton (yes please!) these 2 were a match made in heaven, I can't wait to see what Amy Daws has for us next, because this series is definitely going into m favourites pile.

4 Unlucky For Some Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The first thing that grabbed me about this book was the Tagline

THE SERIAL KILLER ISN'T ON TRIAL.

HE'S ON THE JURY...

I mean, that just screams 'buy me' right?

This is #4 in the Eddie Flynn series...did I know this before i bought it? No, no I did not!

Luckily it didn't sway me from following the story, I read it as a stand alone, and apart from a couple of references to a previous crime, and a marriage problem between Flynn and his wife, I didn't feel that I missed out on any important information.

Thirteen is a legal Thriller (if you hadn't worked that out already) and follows the story of Eddie Flynn.

His new job? Defending Robert 'Bobby' Soloman, a hugely famous Hollywood actor who is accused of murdering his new wife and his security guard.
It seems, and also comes across as an open and shut case, but things aren't always as they seem.

What is great about this story, is that along with the accused, we also follow the serial killer Kane.

Kane is a killer on a mission, his mission is to get himself on that jury, in fact, he will do anything to get on there.

Kane is a sociopath, he is very clever, cunning, and totally brutal, he has no feelings for anything, or anyone, and boy do we see it!

Told in first person (Eddie) and third person (Kane) narrative, we get to look inside the mind of a serial killer from both sides, and what a fab ride it is!

🎧🎧 - Narration by Adam Sims

Another new narrator for me, he did a great job narrating this book, his character voices were fab and i thoroughly enjoyed it.

If you like a Courtroom Thriller then you'll love this one.

4.5 Crazy WTF Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Another late addition to my best of 2018 reads.

Well, Colleen Hoover released another book



If you don't already know it by now CoHo is the queen of romance, her books (if you haven't read them) always have a romance element to them, even if the story line deals with some heavy (and important) topics, and is one of my absolutely favourite authors.

But then she decides to just move away from the genre that everyone knows and loves, and self publish a psychological thriller, I mean WHO DOES THAT??

COLLEEN FREAKING HOOVER THAT'S WHO!!

This book shouldn't work, looking at her back catalogue, you would expect to find Love, Despair and happiness, all wrapped with a kind of awkwardly placed bow.

But this book WORKS PEOPLE!!!

I'm not sure whether she popped to Tarryn Fisher's house and they somehow managed to have some weird Seance-Ouija board party, where their minds were mixed together, but CoHo went to the dark side people!!



I was really worried about reading this book, I love a Psychological Thriller, and have read some great...and not so great ones, so for CoHo to even attempt to do this deserves a high five.

Verity follows the story of Lowen Ashleigh, an author who is hired by Jeremy Crawford, to complete the remaining books in a hugely successful series by his wife, the bestselling author Verity Crawford, who, after an accident, is unable to finish them on time.

Although Lowen is struggling financially, she doesn't feel like she should be the one taking on this monumental task, however when the dollar signs are waved in front of her face, the idea of being able to pay off her debts is too large, and she takes the job.

She is advised to stay at Verity's house for a few days to sort through the outlines and notes for the new books, considering she has never read any of the books by the author, it is a huge task to take on.

Finding years worth of notes and boxes of files in Verity's office, Lowen realises what a massive task this will be.....and then she finds the autobiography!

“What you read will taste so bad at times, you’ll want to spit it out, but you’ll swallow these words and they will become part of you, part of your gut, and you will hurt because of them.”

And that my friends is all I am going to tell you about this book, yes you could have gotten all of this from the blurb, but this is one that you need to go in blind!

I haven't read a book that had me hating every character for a long time, I mean I LOVED them, but Gahh do they have any redeeming qualities...Nope!

You know when you are watching a thriller / horror film, and you start shouting at the TV? The music is taking a turn, and you know something is about to happen, and the BAM, your popcorn goes flying, and your heart starts racing?

THIS is the book that did that to me!
Prepare yourself for a dark, brilliant read.

Available on Kindle Unlimited:

Grab your copy here:

Kindle U.S - https://amzn.to/2RsGC1p

Kindle UK - https://amzn.to/2TkJiM0