4.5 stars

3.5 stars

Dying for Christmas follows the moment when 2—something Jessica makes a major mistake in going home with a charming man and ends up becoming his prisoner for the 12 days of Christmas.

This thriller was a nice change to some of the sweeter, romantic books that tend to be pushed upon you from every angle at Christmas time -it was darker, twisty and at times, uncomfortable.

I found myself hooked onto this and reading it very quickly. I really enjoyed the twist that came halfway through the book, though I did find some of the things that happened in it a little but unbelievable.

A common trope in mysteries/thrillers showed up in this story for me which is the police officer/detective who coincidentally has their own baggage that seems to be relatable to the victim or makes it harder to do their job. I just find it a bit annoying sometimes as I’m more interested in the investigation than the police officer’s lives. The story did what I wanted it to do though which was serve me up some hood entertainment.

Seven Days of Us follows a week in a slightly dysfunctional family when they’re forced to spend Christmas in quarantine with each other.

I was hoping for a quirky Christmas book full of weird but lovable characters but honestly this book was not it for me. I enjoyed the writing style here, but just not the contents - and for me, the faults were only with the characters. I just hated them all and not in a ‘love to hate’ way, just pure hate. All the characters, apart from the mother, just appeared to really selfish, inconsiderate and downright annoying. There was something at the end that did make me gasp a bit, and feel sad, but that was probably the only actual feelings I felt towards the characters despite a strong dislike.

I received this book from Harper Collins in exchange for an honest review.

The McBride sisters are all coming home for Christmas! This means busy stay-at-home mum Beth is going to have to juggle the kids, her husband and a strong desire to return to work over the holiday period, workaholic Hannah needs to take some time off while dealing with her own secret and youngest sister Posy starts to finally confront if she wants to stay home and run the family business or go off and find her own adventure.

I really enjoyed this Christmas family-fun/madness. Sarah Morgan is able to write Christmas time craziness really well, and she didn’t disappoint in this one. I loved getting to know each sister and the hidden layers to all of them. But my favourite character had to be the dad - Stewart - who reminded me a lot of Pride & Prejudice’s Mr Bennett. He never interjected too much or made a fuss, but he was always there in the background ready to step in for any of his girls. I’m so glad he stayed such a steady, loving character throughout.

This book felt a tad drawn-out for me near the end. I thought the last few chapters would never end and did read them very fast so I could finally put the book down and start a new one but the majority of the book was an engrossing, fast read for me in the best way.

I would have liked even more in Suzanne’s memories of the mountain and what happened that day when she took charge of the girls as kids. I feel we got a glimpse of the story but she never really went into it - how she survived, dug her way out etc. I think it would have added some good high-intensity moments for the book.

The characters do suffer a bit from bad communication which can be frustrating for a lot of readers so fair warning here. There’s definitely times you want to shake them all and tell them to cop on!

3.5 stars

I received an e-copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Maurice Hannigan is 84-year-olds and raising a toast to some of the most important people in his life. From his brother to his son, Hannigan tells the story of his life during five different drinks, and eventually will come to rest on the reason he's decided to finally share his stories by the end of the night.

This book is very much sitting beside a lonely old man in a country pub and accidentally becoming the ear for all of his tongue wagging. At first, you're a bit disgruntled as you'd rather just enjoy your pint rather than have to listen to him but eventually, before you know i,t, you're completely invested in his story and you want to know how everything ends (imagine as well, the people sitting at Forrest Gump's bus stop).

Maurice was a character I had to warm up to. At first I did find him a grumpy, slightly selfish oul sod but the more I read, I could see the good parts of him as well - how much he loved and cherished his wife, and how he behaved with Noreen. I do think the storyline around the gold coin was a bit of a non-story, and one that seemed to take a way a bit from the main storyline of Maurice's life tales. I honestly didn't care about the coin and the ending result of it all was disappointing and an anti-climax to say the least.

I did end up enjoying this story though, and people like a good chinwag then you may just enjoy Maurice's voice.

Miryem's father might be one of the worst moneylenders of all time. While the people of her village have food on the table, Miryem's struggle to survive as her father has trouble collecting debts until she decides to take control and soon, the money is flowing. But this attracts the attention of the Staryk fairy king who heard Miryem can turn silver into gold and now wants her as his queen.

Naomi Novik has a way of weaving fairy tales we all know and love with a fabulous Russian twist, and presenting them to us in an illuminating new light. Just like Uprooted and Sleeping Beauty/Rapunzel, Spinning Silver takes what we know about Rumpeltiltskin and makes it even more magical with a fantastic female lead.

I loved how female-driven this book was from Miryem to Irina and Wanda, as well as Miryem's mother and Irina's carer. This book truly shows women rising from the ashes and becoming forces to be reckoned with and I really enjoyed reading their character progression from young girls to powerful women in their own right. Miryem is also clearly stated to be Jewish in this book, and though it doesn't appear that the book is set i our world, it almost feels like it could be because of how Miryem talks about her Jewish heritage and some of the terrible history her people have had to go through.

I loved the Staryk and it was almost weird and wonderful how everything about them screamed ice and silver. I really could imagine the Staryk kingdom as some amazing ice wonderland that is both dangerous and beautiful.

There were parts of this book that felt very long, and there were other parts I wished would have had a bit more attention put to them by the end. I would have liked more emphasis and growth in Irina's relationship with the Tsar which while bubbling with sexual tension, didn't exactly feel full of romance either. I did love all the interactions and scenes between the two though.