Amina Kara

A wonderfully, lighthearted read.

I loved the characters and the sense of community around Nutcracker Lane! I loved how all the shop owners came together to save something that meant so much to them all.

I enjoyed the humour in the book. There were plenty of times when I ended up laughing out loud.

Thank you to Jaimie Admans, NetGalley and publishers HQ Digital for the chance to read this book.

Would definitely recommend for anyone who loves lighthearted, Christmasy reads.

I know most people in my online bookclub who read this with me loved it, but I was sadly in the minority.

It wasn't that the book was badly written or anything like that. I just couldn't bring myself to like the main character which made it difficult to really enjoy the book.

Thank you to PH and Isabelle Schuler for the chance to read this book.

This was an absolutely brilliant read! It kept me gripped from start to finish with its twists and turns!

If I had had a physical copy of the book I would have read it in one go. As it was, I read it with my online bookclub, Pigeonhole which meant it was read in staves and in a way that really kept the tension up.

It was an another blinder by TM Logan and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to PH and TM Logan for the chance to read this book.

This was a very well written book, but so sad and heartbreaking at times.

Even though this was just a work of fiction, it's hard to imagine how hard it is for someone to lose their family, move across to a completely different country that is culturally so different to your own and then having to find some way to fit in to the new country, especially when you're not always made to feel welcome by certain factions of your community.

The characters resilience and strength to make the best of the situation was to be greatly admired.

Thank you to PH and Cecile Pin for the chance to read this book.

This was a wonderful read and I really enjoyed following Delphine's journey to rediscovering herself.

I loved how other members of the community came together for her and how her rediscovering herself ended helping out others too.

Thank you to PH and Beth Morrey for the chance to read this book.

I listened to the audiobook of this and it was fabulously narrated by Trevor! I'm not usually keen on audiobooks so that's saying something.

It was a brilliant book, which was only made better by Trevor's narration of it. I think it's what really helped to bring the country/people/culture to life.

I know I'm (way) late to the party but if you haven't read this book, then read it! Or like I did, listen to the audiobook!

A wonderfully, lighthearted read.

I loved the characters, and especially loved the fact that the story as set in a bookshop! I really wouldn't mind a visit to A New Chapter! Such a quaint indie bookshop!

I wouldn't mind meeting Max, Ollie and the rest of the characters either!

Thank you to Cressida McLaughlin, NetGalley and publishers HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and Harper Collins for the chance to read this book.

This was once again such a brilliantly written book by Tina! She set high standards with both her previous two books Call Me Mummy and Nasty Little Cuts, and this lived up to the same standard.

The characters were really well written. I loved Maria and Elsie! The story was very well written as was the author's use of dark humour. Having read her previous books, Tina really does that well.

If you haven't read any of the author's books, then I would really urge you to read them! They, in my opinion, are THAT good!

Thank you to, Tina, Pigeonhole, NetGalley, and publishers Viper Books for the chance to read this book.

This was such a fabulous and utterly joyful read!

It was really well written and had a wonderful cast of characters. I really loved Tova and Marcellus.

I loved how the relationship between Tova and Marcellus evolved as the story went on.

Thank you to PH and Shelby Van Pelt for the chance to read this book.

This could have been such a good book. It had a good premise and the book started off well, but then it just went downhill.

The main character was very unlikeable and the decisions she made were ridiculous and implausible. For someone who didn't want to risk losing her adopted son, Revelle didn't half make some awful decisions!

The way the book ended was a disappointment to me too (I can't say too much without spoiling it for anyone who might want to read the book).

Thank you to PH (Pigeonhole) and Brooke Robinson for the chance to read this book.

The third and final book in the Englishman series and it was no less thrilling than the first two.

A thoroughly enjoyable read with plenty of fast paced action.

With three different countries involved, it was interesting to see the different politics in play and wondering who would come out on top.

And as always, it was great following Raglan on his adventures, especially with the danger involved.

I love a good thriller and this was definitely one of those.

If you haven't given this series a read, then I definitely recommend you do!

This was the second book in The Englishman series by David Gilman.

Having read the first one, I was really excited about reading this and it did not disappoint. It was as thrilling and exciting as the first book, and contained similar fast paced action!

It was great catching up with Raglan again.

I hadn't previously read any of David's books, so I went into this not knowing what to expect.

It turned out to be an excellent read, with some brilliant fast paced action.

The book was really well written and I loved Raglan's character.

Thoroughly enjoyable read and would definitely recommend it, especially if you like a thriller with fast paced action.

This was a good read and it was interesting reading about the lives of slaves and the difficulties they faced.

The reason it is 4* and not 5* is because I, for some reason, found it difficult to connect with the story/characters. I'm usually a pretty empathetic reader, but I found something lacking whilst reading this.

The writing was decent, but like I said, I just found something lacking.

Thank you to PH and Eleanor Shearer for the chance to read this book.

A nice, lighthearted read.

Had a nice cast of characters! Well, mostly! There was one horrible character I really disliked from the moment said person made their first appearance.

Thank you to Emma, NetGalley and publishers Joffe Books for the chance to read this book.

I've kind of jumped into this series in the wrong order since this is the first one I've read in The Bromance Bookclub series.

Ah, well, it didn't stop me from enjoying it any less. Such a wonderful, lighthearted read with a fantastic cast of characters.

I loved the idea of the bromance book club and add in some humour and it made for a perfect read.

Thank you to Lyssa Kay Adams, NetGalley and publishers Headline, Headline Eternal for the chance to read it.

This was a lovely, lighthearted read, with an interesting cast of characters.

I enjoyed the alternate point of views from both Emma and Cooper.

Thank you to Beth Moran, NetGalley and publishers Boldwood Books for the chance to read this book.

This was such an excellent read!

I loved the concept and I thought it was really well done!

It had me gripped from start to finish. I probably would have read the book in one go if not for other distractions.

I would definitely recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley, Gillian McAllister and publishers Penguin Michael Joseph UK for the chance to read this book.

This was such an amazing read! Definitely understood all the hype that has surrounded it! I had my request for it accepted on NetGalley and I honestly don't know why I waited so long to read it!

Apart from an interesting cast of characters, I loved the gaming aspect of the story!

I loved Sam, Sadie and Marx. The relationship between Sam and Sadie was so complex though.

I loved the way the story ended.

I would definitely highly recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley, Gabrielle Zevin and publishers Random House UK, Vintage and Chatto & Windus.

This was the first book written by Tim that I read and it won't be the last.

It was really well written especially the characterization of DS Cross! Thanks to being on the autism spectrum, he has difficulty working in a team and can come across as rude and be frustrating to deal with, but I loved him with all his quirkiness! I also loved the relationship between him and Ottey. Despite getting frustrated with him at times, she's also one of few people who tries to understand him.

The story itself was really well written. Well, mostly. I thought there was the odd occasion when things got overly descriptive.

On the whole though, it was a great read and I'll definitely read the rest of the books in the series.

DS Cross is a very unique character, so it definitely makes a change from your usual detective books. I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to PH and Tim Sullivan for the chance to read this book.

Another excellent read by Ant!

I love a good action packed book and this definitely was one of those.

Mallory really can't keep himself out of trouble, but I suppose if he did, we would have no book, so I'm grateful that he somehow always finds himself in the thick of some trouble or other. This time in France/Switzerland with Oceane.

It was a great fast paced and action packed book that had me gripped from start to finish.

Some aspects might seem far fetched to some, but hello, it's fiction! I'm not going to let that take away from my enjoyment of the story.

Thank you to PH (Pigeonhole), NetGalley and Ant Middleton for the chance to read this book.

This was an excellent read. Truly heartbreaking and sad at times, but with a touch of hopefulness.

It was thought provoking and raised some good questions about how our reactions might vary towards a child having a tough time and an adult in the same boat.

It was a well written and compelling read.

Thank you to PH (Pigeonhole) and Jo Johnson for the chance to read this book.

I love Karen Swan books, and this one was no different!

I loved it from start to finish. It was really quite tense and gripping at times. Not something you would typically expect from a book like this! I mean, you would expect something lighthearted and breezy, but this really wasn't.

I loved the characters. Well, Natasha and Duffy anyway.

Without giving too much away, I loved reading about Duffy's side of the story. The descriptions of the scenery was superbly done! Really made it easy to picture the scenes.

Thank you to PH (Pigeonhole) and Karen Swan for the chance to read this book.

This was an excellent read, but gosh it was so heartbreaking and depressing at times!

It was so tough to read at times that I honestly felt like walking away from it.

I read David Copperfield prior to this and it's sad to see that some things really haven't changed between then and now.

Saying that, I enjoyed the parallels between this and David Copperfield, not just in terms of characters but the odd quote here and there too.

It was dark, sad, heartbreaking and tough so whilst I do recommend it, I would urge caution because something like that might not be for everyone.

Thank you to PH and Barbara Kingsolver for the chance to read this book.

This is the first book that I've read in this series and I enjoyed it.

Saying that, I'm more of a fast-paced book sort of person so I'm not sure I'd have the patience to sit and read the rest of the books in the series. I found this slow going at times.

I loved the characters though! Such colourful characters! I can see why a lot of people love this series! Maybe someday I'll change my mind and read the full series.

Thank you to PH and Alexander McCall Smith for the chance to read this book.