3.5 stars

This is a book I bought from Amazon on a whim after hearing about #CockyGate and just being too intrigued to pass this great working of utter saltiness aside.

His Cocky Valet follows Ash Harrington, a playboy who suddenly has to manage his family’s business when his dad is struck down with terminal cancer. Harrington hires Brand, a British valet who helps Ash learn the ropes and be more responsible. And let’s just say that Brand eventually helps out Ash in more ways than one. WINK WINK!

This book isn’t meant to be taken seriously and is just a bit of naughty fun with a male/male romance. It’s sexy and raunchy, and is very melodramatic but in all the best ways. I also really enjoyed the author’s note in which Cole McCade explains the reasoning behind some of his decisions with the plot of the book and why things happened (or in some cases didn’t happen). It was very touching, and definitely made the story that bit more special as well. And also I’m just here for ALL the shade for #CockyGate as well.

When Izzy is kidnapped in broad daylight, she has no idea that it will end up with her sweet-talking her way into a managerial job with a company that spices up couple’s sex lives with fake, erotic kidnappings. Life is also made easier with the fact that Izzy’s new boss Ethan is smoking hot but totally off limits.

This ended up being a really enjoyable read that I found hard to put down. This has all the elements of a typical chick lit book but also has a bit of sauciness and passionate sex without too much detail for those that don’t like erotica. I think this is the perfect kind of book for someone who may want to dabble in books that are more on the New Adult or Erotica genre scale but without diving in head first into the deep end.

There was a lot of chemistry in this book that made it very delicious to read, though there was so much back and forth between Izzy and Ethan at times, and stalling of their relationship it got a little bit annoying. I liked that there were some great side characters too, though I would have liked more than the one female character for Izzy instead of the one best friend she had.

Really recommend this for anyone looking for something light, enjoyable and a bit sexy!

Am I Normal Yet? is a ballsy, YA contemporary that tackles anxiety, boy issues, female friendship and embracing feminism in a comedic, frank way and it's honestly a breath of fresh air.

Evie is trying to be normal, dealing with college, her first ever date, new friends and her battle with OCD and an anxiety order. But as Evie worries about telling her friends the truth about her mental health,and trying to figure out why boys are just so complicated, her condition begins to spiral.

This was a great read that was mostly a fun ride on the female friendship train with some man drama involved and a fantastic example of how hard it can be to live with an anxiety disorder. I loved everything about The Spinster Club, and honestly I would want to join up please. This book definitely had one of the strongest examples of female friendship I've seen/read in a while - even with Evie's older friend Jane who is in honeymoon stage with her boyfriend. Yes, Jane is selfish and doesn't hang out with Evie as much as she should but she also is one of the first to recognise that Evie is starting to spiral.

I loved Evie's little sister Rose, and I would love to see her as a main character in another Holly Bourne book when she's older. I really didn't like Evie's mam and dad and how they treated her anxiety, and it sometimes seemed that they made her worse rather than helping her try and get better or manage her thoughts.

Evie's struggle with her anxious thoughts is often very hard to read, and it almost makes you feel a bit panicky at times so if you are someone who suffers from OCD and anxiety, just be warned.However I think the representation was done in a really great way, a believable way and the story didn't end up too serious but had a lot of comedic moments thanks to the Spinster Club.

I do think there were one too many guys at the start of Evie's story - it kind of seemed like she jumped really quickly from Ethan to Oli to Guy, and all of a sudden Guy was the one. I liked that not everything worked out as a happily ever after, it was a bit of reality that not every guy you meet in college will be after the same thing as you or be your one true love. I loved Evie's development by the end of the book, both mental health wise and guy-wise as well. 100% reading the rest of the books in the trilogy.

3. 5 stars

A man who broke into homes, assaulted women, tied up the men and left a trail of devastation behind him. Someone who got away with his crime for decades until 2018 when a DNA site for family roots finally took him down. Michelle McNamara was obsessed with the man behind the crimes, and the type of person who could commit them, as well as the victims he left behind. This true crime book explains how McNamara looked into the story of the Golden State Killer until her untimely death in 2016, and the book is finished off by other true crime aficionados that helped her, and her husband.

I thought this was a really interesting, and well-told tale. I'm not a massive fan of true crime, or at least I wasn't - I might be now but will wait till I have a few more under my belt to confirm - but I found this easy to read for the most part, and I would have got through it a lot more quickly if I hadn't been away and not reading a lot for the week I was reading it.

I do think at times, the structure of this book felt a little off, and there wasn't much that could be done about this. Unfortunately, Michelle wasn't around to finish off her book, and make those final decisions on structure and what chapter should follow another. It seemed linear for the most part but sometimes another chapter would start, and I would feel a bit disjointed and thrown out of the story.

The Golden State Killer is truly terrifying, and Michelle was a brave woman for delving deeper into the crimes and trying to help solve the case.

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When a group of strangers decide to spend an idyllic weekend at a country manor inn, no-one could ever guess they would end up in the middle of a murder mystery and trapped with no roads, electricity or phone signal to help them.

An Unwanted Guest is a great murder mystery that combines all the elements of the classic mystery genre that Agatha Christie perfected while also included some modern elements (such as Wifi, phones, etc).

From the first couple of chapters of this book, I was completely hooked. Each couple have their own thing going on, and if you don’t know it straightway, you soon come to discover what it is. The single people visiting the inn are also enigmas of their own, and I loved how the story was played out bit by bit, leaving me on the edge of my seat.

This is the type of mystery that really clues into people’s behaviour and the different ways people can react to tragedy, and highly intense situations. Some people turn into heroes. while it’s easier for others to become villains.

I definitely guessed a few people before finally alighting on the person who did actually do it. But I definitely was bouncing around for a while before I came up my final decision.

I really enjoyed this book, and almost read it in on sitting (and probably would have except for that dreaded thing called work). I would have liked a bit more at the end in regards to some characters -

such as David and his dead wife. I feel like we got so much information there and it seemed like the new murders would be tied into that one but they weren’t. It would have been a nice twist at the end with his blossoming new romance too.