Two short reviews. Family Tree by Susan Wiggs and Weekend by Jane Hamilton

Annie seems to have the American dream. Co-host of a successful cooking show with the equivalent of McDreamy (chef and husband) she is soaring high. A chance unscheduled stop at her husband's work place blasts her dream and the subsequent accident puts her on hold with amnesia, an absent husband and miscarriage - for over an year. Putting the pieces back together, physically, emotionally and professionally takes a lot of doing, and a lot of family support.

Hiding back at her parental home till she tries to get her life back in some kind of order is hard but she does get there.

Survival, loss, family - the three aspects blend together to give one a very joyous read.

Sent to me by Edelweiss.






This was a sexually explicit novel about two lesbian couples both trying to make their relationships work with different levels of stress and anxiety.

One couple dealing with the birth of a new born and the attendant trials and physical and emotional difficulties a new born encompasses and the other a much older woman with major health issues having to face up to the frailities of life.

I did finish the book but did not very much enjoy the read.

Sent to me by Edelweiss.

Deliver Her by Patricia Perry Donovan

Alex seems to be the teenager who would create nightmares for any parent. Her parents going through a separation and especially her Mum is bewildered by the reasons for a divorce in a marriage which seemed fine. Jake seems distant, not wanting to communicate and to add to their troubles has moved back into their basement home, wanting to not be part of the marriage though very much in their face.

Alex has faced the death of her best friend Cass and she feels she is personally responsible for her death. Alex cannot move from the miasma of grief which overwhelms her and seems to be drifting deeper and deeper into trouble. Meg knows it is upto them as parents to pull Alex out and to this end enrolls her in a residential care facility for trouble teens. She does this however without the tacit consent of Jake and Alex leaving for this facility, unintentionally spirals into a nightmare for all concerned.

The difficulties of dealing with a taciturn, aggressive teenager who just wants to be difficult and different are difficult enough reading about, let alone living with it. Having to deal with them on a day to day basis must be a living horror. This is the story of how Alex and how her parents eventually deal with it, because her mother never gives up on the belief that Alex can be redeemed. Lots of mothers and fathers would have definitely given up.

This is not an easy read as you feel exasperated, angry, bitter and wonder how much more parents can take from children who expect everything and give nothing back.  I felt like giving up halfway but persevered and was glad I did.

The book was sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review courtesy of Lake Union Publishing. 

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

Blogger is playing ducks and drakes with me and not allowing me to post a picture of the cover! And such a good cover at that.

Set in WWII we find many Englishmen and women perplexed by the strength and speed of the Germans. They cannot quite believe that Germany has taken over a good part of Europe and only a little strip of water divides them from the marauding hordes. Morale is high amongst the populace at the beginning though as time goes on and fatalities and injuries rise and men return from the front damaged not just physically but mentally for all time,  the complexities of war hits out at all.

In Mary's home, the war does not seem to have affected the domestic front. Her mother still wants to host luncheons and parties, hopes her daughter will make a suitable match, preferably to someone known to them but Mary is of a different breed. She wants to make a suitable contribution to the war and not be a token worker for the war. To this end she enrolls as a teacher and ends up teaching children who are the ignored ones in society - the cripples, the mentally handicapped and in this category ignored by all the negroes.

Mary meets Tom and though he is in love with her and Mary tries to maintain the facade of love, she really is attracted to someone else and this is what sustains her through the war and the subsequent death of Tom.

This was an unusual side of the war from a civilian angle. I did not realise that the prejudice towards negroes in the UK was so strong and that they were considered a nonentity and that they survived on the very edges of society, not drawing attention to themselves and trying to be as much as possible under the radar.

Stories set in this era are all different and each book brings out a facet of the war and society at the time in a different manner. This was no different.

Told in a matter of fact manner throughout, despite the sadness and loss the survival of Mary and Alastair and the love they had for each other, despite overwhelming odds added a great deal of joy to the story.

The characterization was excellent and the descriptiveness of each stage of the war as part of this story was very much alive.

The book was sent to me by Netgalley, for an unbiased review courtesy of Hodder & Stoughton.

I Promise You This by Patricia Sands

I read the first book so when I got an opportunity to read the second I was very glad to do so.

The story of Kat and her changed circumstances - moving from Toronto to the South of France, meeting Phillipe, her doubts whether a change of home so different, so far away is wise at this stage of her life and her subsequent happiness is all very well told in a romantic way. Molly's dreadful accident, subsequent recuperation and her love affair are a pleasant sub plot to the main story.

I found the story to be a little too sweet for my liking. I however did like very much the descriptive nature of the areas both in Canada and France, detailed in the story. It brings this area very much to life and this I very much enjoyed.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review courtesy of Lake Union Publishing.

The Mistresses of Cliveden by Natalie Livingstone

The story dealing with the ladies who presided over the house of Cliveden  was an interesting tale but the one that dominated the story was the house itself.  It seemed to have a presence and life of its own and it also became very vital and necessary for those who inhabited it. No one gave up on it lightly and their owners during their lifetimes became very attached to it.

The fact that most of the ladies and lords of the House were prominent people - politically mainly and socially was part of the charm and history of the book. Their lives were eminent and important and hence their stories were also so. Told in a succinct and precise manner the book goes through three centuries of history in a real story book manner which held my interest throughout.

Starting from the seventeenth century and its deadly beginnings ending with the equally deadly 1960s and the Profuma affair which topped a British government the house has been a background of conspiracy, spying, love affairs and secrets!

The stories that abound from this house reveal its mistresses  lives which always were slightly bigger than life and certainly not ordinary.

I received this book from Netgalley for an unbiased review courtesy of Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine. 

Only in Naples by Katherine Wilson

Between the escapades of a very young Katherine and the cooking that went on in her future mother in laws kitchen, this was such a fun read for me.

I loved the intimacy of family life and how intrinsic food is to the way the Neapolitans live. It seems to permeate all aspects of life and I did so enjoy the fact that there are others to whom it is not strange that a thirty year old son still lives with his parents!!!  I found nothing strange in the idea till I read that it is considered a bit funny!!!! At least I am not alone.

Katherine's move to Naples is one where she follows family tradition where she is doing a sort of internship at the American Consulate whilst experiencing life on her own, far from her own family. Landing in the Avallone family exchanged one family for another and Katherine took to it as if it was her fate to do so.  To someone with an eating disorder our plump Katherine faced disaster when she had to look upon Raffaella's cooking and one who wouldn't take no for an answer. For the mother in this household food was the answer to everything and it seemed to work!

A fun memoir with an emphasis on food and good cooking this was sent to me by Random House Publishing courtesy of Netgalley, for an unbiased review.  

Two short reviews - Janet Finsilver's Murder at the Mansion & Julia Ibbotson's Walking in the Rain

Kelly is hoping to start on a new job as a Manager for a B&B and at the same time overlooking an adjoining property for her boss. What she did not expect is a murder of the most innocuous guest and then everything becomes inexplicable. No one is who they seem and everything seems shrouded in mystery and long ago stories.The clues are scattered and putting them together may put Kelly in very deep trouble and danger.

Kelly's character was strong and determined. She was not willing to be intimidated or frightened by those who wanted to get rid of her.

This was my first reading in the series and I will be looking out for others in the list.

The book was sent to me by Netgalley courtesy of Kensington Press




Jess has survived injury and been in the midst of a civil war in Ghana but she is about to face her biggest challenge yet. Getting married to Simon should have brought her much joy and it did in the form of two beautiful girls but with someone as unstable as Simon was, with an undiagnosed mental condition and the support of his parents who blindly agreed to whatever he said, life was not going to be easy for her.

The story was sad as the entire marriage was one sided with Jess bearing the emotional and to a great extent the working of the marriage and ultimately there never seemed to be a moment of appreciation from her husband who took everything for granted. Despite being Quakers with strong moral and ethical guidelines on how they lived, Simon and his parents were anything but and Jess ultimately faced betrayal by all of them. The worst betrayal came from her best friend Polly and this was the ultimate betrayal, slightly unbelievable for me as the reader as well.

Human nature at its best and worst in the story. The settings were the 1960s and I could not imagine why Jess took everything that was thrown at her without rebellion or question. Laws were still archaic according to this book and domestic violence and abuse was considered a matter for private settlement between 'husband and wife'. I couldn't believe this and am actually going to check this out.

The book was unsettling but well written.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Endeavour Press.