This one is a bit of a slow burner, it starts off at a steady pace, but once it gets it's heels in, it's a race to the finish line, and I think a photo finish is just what it deserves!

1997 - Laurel and Primrose (Rosie for short) are sisters, Laurel is 10 and Rosie is 6, they are out playing in the park when they entice a small toddler to play down the canal path with them.

The body of that toddler is later discovered brutally murdered and the 2 girls dubbed The Flower Girls in court are arrested, unfortunately Rosie is too young to be prosecuted, so Laurel stands trial for murder.

Rosie and her parents are given new identities because of the media backlash and they move far away.

Laurel serves her time, and 19 years later is up for parole, but the family of the murdered toddler have strong objections.

Meanwhile, Hazel and her boyfriend are at a fancy hotel celebrating her 25th Birthday when a little 5 year old girl goes missing.

The similarities between Hazel and the lesser known Rosie are noticed.

Could she be the missing Flower Girl?

Could she be responsible for the missing girl?

🎧🎧 - Narrated by Emilia Fox who is a regular on TV in the UK in things like Silent Witness.

Emilia did an outstanding job narrating this one, I was very impressed with her narration skills, and will certainly not hesitate in buying another book that he has narrated again.

If you are familiar with the news in the UK, then you may remember the murder of James Bulger, this was the first thing that popped into my head while reading this, I remember it being on every TV channel, and in every newspaper when I went into the shops, so I think that the media portrayal in this book was very well done.

Daisy is kind of a Nobody, with being a Somebody dreams, so she makes those dreams a reality, she is exactly the girl who she wants to be and will not change for anyone! #FistBump!

I had absolutely no interest in being somebody else’s muse.
I am not a muse.
I am the somebody.
End of fucking story.

Told in the style of a Interview/Documentary, this is the story of how Daisy Jones, met The Six, how the band became a household name in the 70’s, how they sold out stadiums and the like.

It also tells the story of what happens after the audience goes home, after the lights have gone out, and after the fans have had their share of you.

It is about Sex, Drugs, and Rock N Roll, and it is also about how and what the band thought about each other, and their take on their own story.

Because it is being told by each member of the band, you get 7 or more different takes of the same story, but who’s account is really true?

I ADORED this story, it is so cleverly written and so believable, TJR has such a clever way of spinning her stories, once again I found myself Googling “Are Daisy Jones and the Six a real band?” *Spoiler – They’re not”

*Although they may be in the near future as this book has been grabbed by Reece Witherspoon for her Sunshine Books Read, and it is currently going into production for a TV series, I can’t wait to see the casting!

If you are going to grab ANY book this year, make sure it’s this one, you wont regret it I promise.

Think of this as a kind of Fleetwood Mac story, except you get to know the full story, warts and all.

🎧🎧 – I’m not sure if I can talk about the narration without getting all gushy, from what I have read, TJR cast the audio narrators herself, if this is the case, I bow down to her awesomeness, because it is PERFECTION!!!

This was a great little Thriller that kept me on my toes, and thinking “It was him…NO it was her…NO it was them..NO, who the hell is it?”

Ellery and her twin brother Ezra are going to live with their grandmother, while their mother is away in Rehab, Echo Ridge is their mothers hometown and this is the twins first time there.

The twins soon find that the town is seeped in secrets and lies, and it also seems that girls seem to go missing. 5 years ago a girl went missing and was found murdered, this is not the first time this has happened int this town, and it seems like history is going to start repeating itself again!

Ellery is a True Crime nut, and things just don’t seem right to her.

🎧🎧 – Narrated by Sophie Amoss, and Kirby Heyborne,

They did a fantastic job narrating this book and kept me on my toes throughout.

I listened to the audiobook, which was OUTSTANDING, the narrator Elizabeth Acevedo is also the author of the book, and her words, her voice, it is just B-E-A-Utiful!

I am going to purchase a copy of the book just to be able to highlight the whole thing!

The story is from the POV of Xiomara Batista (pronounced C O Mara), a pretty young Dominican girl living in Harlem, daughter to a very religious mother who is desperate for her to be confirmed.

Xiomara is a believer, but also questions her religion much to her dismay, she is scared to tell this to her mother.

The only way she feels that she can release her thoughts is to write them down in a notebook that was gifted to her by her brother.

That’s when I feel like a fake.
Because I nod, and clap, and “Amen” and Aleluya,”
all the while feeling like this house his house
is no longer one I want to rent.

She is also a young girl, getting thoughts about boys and sex, normal young girl thoughts, but it also shows the other side of this and the unwanted attention that young girls get.

When I’m told to have faith in the father, the son, in men – and men are the first ones to make me feel so small.

Her teacher introduces her to slam poetry, and it is like a lightbulb has been switched on in her mind, all of her thoughts, and feelings can now make a kind of sense to her when she writes them down and performs them.

She tells me words give people permission to be their fullest self and aren’t these the poems I most needed to hear?

This is an incredibly powerful book, a few times I cried listening to it, and most of the time I was just in awe of the beautiful way she writes.

I would recommend listening to the book, but i would also tell any young girl to read it, it has some brilliant and very powerful messages in it.

I only know that learning to believe in the power of my own words has been the most freeing experience of my life. It has brought me the most light. And isn’t that what a poem is? A lantern glowing in the dark.

🎧🎧 – Narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo the author of the book, her voice is so wonderful, I can not recommend this book highly enough, it is just so stunning!

⭐⭐⭐⭐🌠 Sinning is Good Stars

Sean Bell, brother of the (ex) Priest Tyler Bell is a bad man....in his own words a Sinner.

He is a ruthless business man who likes to work and play hard.

After the death of his sister Lizzy to suicide (which we read about in book #1) he kind of associated God and the Church in a bad light, which is understandable considering Lizzy was abused by a Priest.

Tyler went one way, into Priesthood to try and atone somehow, and Sean......Well Sean went the other way.

I never did therapy after Lizzy’s death; I was young and stubborn and certain I didn’t need it. Instead, I buried the pain and anger with drinking and sex and chasing after money.

One evening Sean goes to a big firm party, he does all of his usual schmoozing and eyes up a few potential ladies for later.........until he sees her on the balcony.

After speaking and flirting mercilessly with her, he has an almost kiss, when he is interrupted by an important phone call.
The girl (Mary) says she can't see him again as she is going away, and although he doesn't want to, be leaves.

Sean is given a big case in his firm, basically he buys and sells buildings, there is a perfect building that he wants......trouble is, it's being used as a homeless shelter.

Off he pops to the shelter to try and move these people on, but when he knocks at the door, who should answer???
Of course it's Mary!!!!! What are the chances???

Only Mary isn't actually Mary, turns out that Mary is actually Zenobia "Zenny" Iverson his best friends little sister, oh and they have a secret kiss in the kitchen.........

Umm, did I also forget to tell you that she is in training to become a nun 😱😱😱😱

Fortunately, "Mary's" Novice Mistress is quite modern and 'down wid da kids' and lets them make up their own minds about becoming a part of the church.
She thinks that there should be at least some temptation for the Novices, otherwise, how do they know what they will be giving up? .....Makes sense I suppose 😦

Anyhoo......

Mary/Zenny decides that if she is going to be tempted away from the church then she doesn't want it to be anyone else but Sean that does it, but with Sean and his beliefs about the church, this proves to be a sticky subject.

Zenny clearly spells out to Sean that she wants him to have sex with her, and the inner turmoil begins!

Does he do it???? OF COURSE HE DOES, 😇😇😇

And the 2 of them together is scorching hot, Sean is a patient teacher to Zenny
and both of them together is off the scales hot.

If you loved Preist you're gonna flip over this one, go grab it now.

⭐⭐If you liked this review, perhaps you might like to see some more?
Come and have a look, and maybe follow our little blog - www.audiokilledthebookmark.com⭐⭐

A heartbreaking read of true events, in May 2012 nine men were convicted of sex trafficking and other offences including rape, trafficking girls for sex and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child.

This is the story of one of those girls.

Only known as Girl A in the news, this is the harrowing story of a young girl that were groomed, raped and then ultimately sold for sex, all under the eyes of the police, social workers and her parents.

The men involved were all of Indian/Pakistani descent, and occurred within their community, however this is not a book about race, this is something that happened and is still happening to young girls.

Girl A or Hannah for the purpose of the story was from a well off family who fell onto bad times, her father lost the business he had,and they had to downsize their house and move to a different area.

This is where she met Emma.

After finding new friends "Hannah" used to go to the local kebab shop with Emma, there they were given free kebabs, chips and drinks, this soon led to Vodka.

Only being 14, this was the best thing ever, her parents didn't know, and the owners of the kebab shop gave her and her friends everything she wanted, they even picked her off and dropped her off, as the friend of the shop also had friends that ran a taxi company, all of this was done for free, they never asked for any money, or anything in return......until they did!

Hannah is then drawn into a spiral of harrowing and horrifying despair, and when she finds the courage to speak up, she is let down by the very authorities that are supposed to be there to protect her!

I can't tell you how angry I was reading this book, these poor girls were failed time and time again by the authorities, and the one lady that knew what was going on and told the police time and time again was brushed aside, even Social Services who KNEW what was happening in that area, brushed it aside and said that it was a "lifestyle choice" by the girls!! 14 YEAR OLD GIRLS!!!!

This is not a lifestyle choice, this is RAPE!! These men were all 40-50 years old!

This book was heartbreaking, and I really hope that "Hannah" is now happy and living a normal and happy life, she is one brave lady to tell her story.

Mel B was always the very outspoken, ball-bashing one of the Spice Girls, if it needed saying, she was probably the one to say it, she gave no-shits about what people thought about her, and was very happy with this thank you very much!

Except this was really what she wanted people to see, she was actually a girl looking for love, mainly that of her father, he obviously loved her, but I think that she wanted to be shown how much she was loved, instead of being told that she wasn't going to amount to anything, or that she was just a nuisance.

Melanie doesn't hold back in this book, she is indeed Brutally Honest, she tells you about everything, from the drinking, to the drugs and more.

Her relationships with her friends, family and lovers are also included, including lots of old stories about how she got into the Spice Girls, and also about the man that she calls the love of her life, Eddie Murphy.

She also tells the story about her 10 year marriage to Stephen Belafonte (pronounced Steffan, cause he's a dick like that!)

At the beginning the relationship was good, but it was quick, they were married really early on in the relationship, and he started to more than a healthy interest in her work/friends/money etc. So much so, in the end he had full control of everything!

After a short time the abuse started, but as she explains it wasn't hitting straight away, it was verbal and emotional abuse, and it was done so subtly that she didn't even realise what it was.

It’s hard to see when you are in it (although it becomes horribly, blindingly obvious when you are out of it) that the emotional upset you feel with your partner doesn’t just exist between the two of you or in your bedroom. It is an energy that fills a house.

She was Gaslighted, mentally and emotionally abused, which finally led to physical abuse.

When you are reading the book, you find that it does jump around a bit, from past to present, Melanie admits to having ADHD which is why I think it does this, it doesn't seem to be in any sort of chronological order, it's like she thinks of something and has to get it down before she forgets it, and I loved that about it.

For 10 years this woman was beaten down to feeling like nothing, and even at one point tried to kill herself, she was self medicating with drink and drugs to stop these feelings, and for the whole time she felt like, and was told it was her fault- THIS IS ABUSE

Melanie is an incredibly brave woman to open up her life to show everyone, and I applaud her for this, it shows that abuse does not discriminate, old, young, rich or poor, it can effect anyone.

Mel tells her story, warts and all, and explains how, to those people that say "Why didn't you just leave?" that it isn't that easy, some people don't even realise that they are being abused.

There are 15 signs on the cover of the book, these are all RED FLAGS, it is incredibly important that people recognise these signs, and maybe, just maybe it will help, even just one person.

I think she is one HELL of a brave lady for doing this, and I hope that her and her family are super happy now 😘

🎧🎧 - Narration for the audio book was by Zaraah Abrahams who was fabulous, she sounds very much like Mel B when she speaks, so by the time it was halfway through, I had forgotten it was a different person narrating it.

15 Signs of Domestic Abuse:

1. Tells you that you can never do anything right.
2. Shows extreme jealousy of your friends and time spent away.
3. Keeps you or discourages you from seeing friends or family members.
4. Insults, demeans or shames you with put-downs.
5. Controls every penny spent in the household.
6. Takes your money or refuses to give you money for necessary expenses.
7. Looks at you or acts in ways that scare you.
8. Controls who you see, where you go, or what you do.
9. Prevents you from making your own decisions.
10. Tells you that you are a bad parent or threatens to harm or take away your children.
11. Prevents you from working or attending school.
12. Destroys your property or threatens to hurt or kill your pets.
13. Intimidates you with guns, knives or other weapons.
14. Pressures you to have sex when you don't want to or do things sexually you're not comfortable with.
15. Pressures you to use drugs or alcohol.

If this is you, then don't be afraid to talk to someone about it, you are not alone, it is NOT YOUR FAULT, he doesn't have to hit you for it to be abuse #ThisIsNotLove #MaybeHeDoesntHitYou

Sixteen-year-old Bri is an OK student, she is easily distracted though and the teachers are noticing it more and more, Bri is also black.

She lives in Garden Heights, yes that Garden Heights where THUG was based, and although you don’t meet any of the old characters from the other book, it certainly references the riots etc that it held.

The school is still taking no chances because of the riots, and have installed metal detectors and security guards at the entrance, but they seem to have a problem with a few of the kids, especially the black ones.

Brianna, Bri for short lives in a poor part of the neighbourhood, her family is poor and her single mother raised her and her brother after her father, who was a famous up-and-coming rapper was murdered, her mother has now lost her job.

Her auntie is part of a gang, and drugs and guns are pretty much every day things, but Bri doesn’t want to be part of this, her auntie is her music manager, not her life coach.

You see, Bri is a rapper, just like her father, and her dream is to make it big, so school isn’t a huge part of her life, but rapping, that is everything!

After finally getting her chance to perform her stuff at the local “ring” Bri nails-it, and makes a bit of a local name for herself, unfortunately for her, this isn’t always a good thing.

🎧🎧 – Narrated by the incredibly talented Bahni Turpin, this book is well worth a credit…..”But wait, does she rap?” OF COURSE SHE DOES, and she does it brilliantly!

I love a YA love story, yes they can be a little Insta-love, but they are great, you can get lost in a fabulous book for a few hours, and when you look up, all is right with the world!

This story is about a girl called Natasha, who is basically living in NYC illegally, her parents moved to America from Jamaica and never returned, they have been working, but a silly mistake by her father has now brought the authorities aware of their situation and the family are now being deported back to Jamaica.

Natasha is obviously very upset by this, she came to America when she was very young so she thinks of it as home, she has never even been to Jamaica and has no desire to go there again, her school and friends are here, and she is looking forward to going to college, so she finds the one person that she thinks may be able to help her stay, a lawyer.

Daniel is our other MC in this book, he is a Korean American boy, who is legal. His parents moved to the US many years before he was born. His parents are very strict and like him to be as Korean as he can.

Daniel is about to go for an interview for a place in Yale, somewhere he doesn’t particularly want to go, but his parents (mainly his father) have pushed him into it, Daniel wants to be a poet.

A ‘meet-cute’ happens, and the two meet and decide to spend the day together, Daniel does not know about Natasha’s situation.

I loved the fact that this was not only told in dual POV, but it also goes into the background of some of the other characters so that you can see why they are the way that they are (if that makes sense)

Because Natasha is Black and Daniel is Korean I loved the way that they explain their different cultures etc to each other, and that it wasn’t just fluffy ‘I love You’s’ in fact Natasha doesn’t believe in all that, she is a science geek, it is actually Daniel that is a hopeless romantic.

I LOVED the ending, it was done so perfectly, i’m not sure if I would have liked it any other way!

🎧🎧 – Narrated as always beautifully by Bahni Turpin with Raymond Lee and Dominic Hoffman who are 2 new narrators for me, but made this book sound so good.

I DNF'd this book, I think it was just me as I've loved all of the authors previous books, i just wasn't feeling it, i think i will maybe try it again next month when i'm in a different mood.

What I've read so far (I'm over half way in the audio) it was ok, but not fantastic, hense my 3 star rating