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

Durga has returned to her grandmother's home to spend time with the matriarch of the family, and the only parent she has ever truly known, during Diwali. Over the course of the next few days, Durga begins to know her grandmother in a way she's never before and find out some family secrets long hidden.

This book just didn't do anything for me, and I was really hoping the end would give me some satisfaction and the answers I wanted. Unfortunately, it didn't and I'm not 100% sure what actually happened.

I was looking forward to the exploration of a grandmother/granddaughter relationship in this book, as I myself am very close to my gran, she's my favourite person in the world but this didn't deliver. There's doubt Durga loved her gran and her gra loved her but there was something so prickly between them that it mad any interaction uncomfortable.

The characters in this book aren't particularly likeable and they're not suppose to be liked in my opinion. There was some interesting historical flashbacks to do with Malaysia during the war and I found this interesting but again, there wasn't really enough of it.

Very little happened in this book as well until about 65% through, which is when we only start being fed the questions to the answers the story is hoping to deliver. But I didn't feel satisfied, and the book ultimately let me down a lot. A shame as I was hoping to love it.

In the depths of Russia, Vasya is born to a dying woman who has claimed she is the child that will be full of magic and wildness. As Vasya grows older, her connection to folklore and the creatures of magical tales becomes obvious as she is the only one who sees the creatures who survive in the belief that they exist, and the offerings villagers leave out to them. In turn, they protect the household and its inhabitants. When Vasya's father remarries, he brings home a woman who fears the creatures and sets in motion a series of events that could bring disaster on Vasya and her family.

Okay, I knew I would love this and I didn't read this for ages because I knew it but I was afraid somehow it would let me down. But I shouldn't have worried as this was more or less perfect for me, and everything in this book was just a lovely recipe of success for me. The blend of Russian history and folklore with the perfect dash of magic in creatures and The Winter King. A little girl growing up wild on fairytales and with an affinity for horses? I'm there.

I loved the writing style in this book, and while I agree that the middle part of the story was slower than the other parts, I just loved being with the characters so much I didn't mind spending more time with them.

There were parts of this book - those with The Winter King - that reminded me of Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver so readers who enjoyed that, may enjoy this book as well.

This book wrapped up quite nicely so I'm intrigued and excited to see what happens next for Vasya.

Esme has the worst day ever when she is fired from her job, and dumped by her long-term boyfriend all in the same evening. Now back in the country town of her childhood, Esme doesn't know what to do next - until she finds a perfect rental in Mistletoe Cottage and is convinced to start a food blog by her friends. Can Esme carve a new career for herself, from her own kitchen and using her grandma's perfect recipe book? And maybe love is just around the corner in the form of former school crush Joe.

This was a lovely read that while set in November and December, isn't super Christmassy and can be read at any time of year. From the start, I really enjoyed Esme's character who is given a rough go at it but is really able to carry on and figure out how to enjoy the good things she still has. And she still had moments where she took time to grieve what she had lost which is important. I loved Esme's set of friends who are all lovely and supportive, as well as funny.

There were some chapters in and there from Leo - Esme's ex - which I found slightly unbelievable as he was honestly just such a chump.Some of the chapters from Juanita - Esme's ex-boss's house keeper were also interesting but again, I'm not sure exactly what it brought as Esme's ending would have happened with or without Felicity's expose.

Esme's love interest Joe is clearly suffering from depression in this book, and while counselling is mentioned here and there - mostly it being suggested to Joe and him not wanting to take it or thinking about the time he tried it and gave up - I would have liked more to have been done to actually tackle his depression. The book fell a bit into the trope of 'perfect love match cures all' which unfortunately is not the cure for depression.

This was cute and fun, and I definitely recommend it for a nice, quick read and I will read more from the author. Bonus points for lots of delicious references to food.

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

Lee is a single mom, navigating life with a 5-year-old boy in Amsterdam while also succeeding as a sought-after photographer. But Lee is also dealing with trauma following years of a career as a war photographer that won her awards but also left her with memories of the worst tragedies in recent human history and a broken friendship that has never recovered. As Lee's past threatens to come back and engulf her, she also meets Sam - a handsome artist who may be the one person to get past her guard and convince her she can have someone else in her and her son's life.

This was just such an excellent read that when I say I couldn't put it down, I really mean it! I read this in 24 hours and every time I was doing something else, I found myself wandering back over to my Kindle to pick up where I left off as I was absolutely hooked. The writing in this and the strength of the story - Lee's past and present, her trauma, her struggles and the lovely life she has made for herself and for her son, are just addictive to read about, and I honestly think this is Karen Swan's best work to date! All her books are good but this one definitely has topped the others for me.

While this book is set in November and December, and contains festive, winter scenes, it's not a book dominated by Christmas other than some mentions and Jasper's excitement for Zwarte Piet and Sinterklaas. I really liked reading about the Dutch traditions in this book, such as Pakjesavond, as well as learning about the famous ice-skating race Elfstedentocht.

As someone with a background in journalism, and who has often wondered what life would have been like if I had gone in a different direction, Lee's background as a war photographer was hugely interesting for me - and how the story highlighted the true danger of a war zone for both photographer and journalist (press passes do not mean automatic safety) as well as the heightened danger if you happen to be a woman. The flash backs left me with a feeling of trepidation but I also loved learning about the past that built Lee's character into who she was and all the little things she had shaped in her life due to this past.

While I truly loved Sam as a love interest (very swoony), there were times where Lee's intensity about him overtook her other story lines which I found a bit more interesting. I did like how it all concluded.

A side note as well that Lee's present job as a photographer who shoots in studio was also super interesting to read about - how she tackled her subjects, the way Karen Swan described the shoots and the resulting pictures was amazing, and I really could see what she was aiming for. I could totally see someone like Paul Mescal doing the Matteo photoshoot - shaved, naked, dirty - yes, please.

This was honestly just a brilliant read, I was totally hooked. The story delivered a lovely romantic relationship with all the ups and downs and drama you want but it also gave a story of war, and trauma, of trust lost and gained - a character finding herself in the darkest of situations but managed to pull herself up and making a beautiful life with a beautiful boy - friendship and forgiveness, and the true gift of appreciating every moment you have.

Cannot recommend this book enough!

Kate Daltry is struggling to keep her father's estate up and running, and her tenants safe from the wrath of her evil stepmother when she gets an unexpected opportunity. To help her half-sister Victoria, Kate must go to a ball disguised as Victoria herself so she will be able to marry the man she loves. When Kate arrives at the castle, she meets Gideon the Prince and despite herself, can't help the attraction and chemistry that blossoms between them. But how can a penniless spinster like Kate ever hope to marry a Prince?

This was my first read adventure with reading a 'regency romance' book and I have to say I throughly enjoyed this one. I really liked Kate, despite some of her opinions on women who apparently had sex before marriage (that opinion didn't last too long hey Kate?) and I felt she was plucky and ready for the challenges life faced her. We also got to see more tender sides of her, such as some conversations she has with her godmother Henry and we see emotion take its toll.

There are some parts of this book that have to be taken with a pinch of salt, and there were not many surprises in store for the reader.It's obvious how everything will turn out from the start but even with that, I just enjoyed the time it took to get there. I wasn't reading this for the sex parts of the book so the only few cases of a bit of 'smut' didn't bother me. I enjoyed the dialogue between Kate and Gideon and how they bounced off one another, and how the relationship evolved over a course of a few days.

This was just a lot of fun and a wonderful world to fall into during quarantine times so I really loved all the smiles and laughs it gave me. I'll definitely be continuing on with the series.

The only reason this book has such a high rating on Goodreads is because hardly anyone has read and possibly for good reason.

Don't get me wrong, the actual storyline of this book is good. The connection between the girls and their bouncing back from hardship is strong and inspiring but oh my god, the writing! The writing was so terrible. More so, the way conversations were structured. They lacked any surrounding detail and the reader is just suppose to know what everything looks, for example the sudden exclamation in the middle of a conversation between Elsbeth and Alice when she saw Ralph's photo. There was no description of the room, and the sudden shock of seeing her father's face peering at her. No, it went straight to, "Oh my gawd, that's my dad. Whhhaaaa?"

The way people spoke during the book was also very unrealistic and everything was very drawn out or written in accents (which I hate!). The book was slightly painful to read at times because of this.

Also, the actual plot of the book is described as Alice's quest to clear her dad's name....no! The book is all about the women and different things they did in the war and then every now and again, something about Ralph is thrown in by Alice, normally her telling someone he was innocent of the crime he was killed for.

And the obsession with rape? Rape is hard to read about once, but the amount of times it was brought up this book was unreal and it almost started to have no meaning cause it was almost like the word was being thrown about. It's certainly not the way to write it. It began to lose its sensitivity and its not an issue that should just be thrown into a plot to spice things up.

I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.

A Basket Brigade Christmas tells three different short stories during the American Civil War, all connected to a town called Decatur in Illinois where a group of women created something called the 'Basket Brigade'. The whole town got involved with it and people made food, coffee, socks, blankets and other things for the wounded soldiers who came through the town on a train.

A Stitch in Time by Stephanie Grace Whitson

This short story surrounded a woman called Lucy Maddox who took on some of the more powerful matriarchy in the small town Decatur, Illinois, to set up a new sewing circle for the Basket Brigade. While this book was quite pleasant to read, it didn't really sparkle and I found some of the dialogue a bit stiff, even for the time period. I also would have liked a bit more chemistry between Lucy and Silas considering he's suppose to be in love with her, other than one brief hands touching moment at the start.

A Pinch of Love by Judith Miller

In this story, a young woman called Sarah McHenry has to get over her fear of helping out the Basket Brigade with the wounded men on the trains when her mother, who normally plays a key role, falls ill. Sarah meets Jacob Curtis, a soldier who patrols the train and falls in love. The pair have to get over some obstacles including a local man intent on making Sarah his and Jacob's jealousy. This was probably my favourite story of the three however after a certain point it started going around in circles. I also felt that Jacob's jealousy wasn't always explainable - especially when it came to the locket. Sarah has a twin brother, why would he never even stumble to that conclusion. I was also disappointed that Matthew never got any kind of comeuppance. He was rather forceful and manipulative and I felt he deserved to be taken down a notch or two.

Endless Melody by Nancy Moser

This was my least favourite story of the lot. I didn't really care that much about either character as it seemed they'd both been a bit selfish and silly. These characters were slightly older than the other two stories, being in their mid-thirties rather than early twenties. In this one Zona Evans, mistress of the local choir, is organizing the Christmas musicale but must work without the use of the men in the town. She also keeps remembering her sweetheart of 15 years ago who went to serve in the Mexican War and never returned. This was just a bit boring for me.

A short collection of stories about all the summers July, who we met in Stay The Distance, spent in Saratoga with the horses, Beck and the other Blackbridge staff. I really enjoyed this one and I loved the surroundings of each of Beck's pranks that we first heard mention of in Stay The Distance. I really love Beck and July's relationship from the hate/love, the gradual acceptance and then wandering thoughts to them eventually becoming a couple. I also liked seeing a chapter of when July's mom was first in California and July realised she wasn't coming home. I think Maggie's curlers may have been my favourite prank as well. I just want more July and Beck and their horses and I can't wait for more stories.