
Amanda Prowse - A little Love
I bought this book because I loved the cover! But this led me to discover an author I haven't read before and I couldn't put down this novel. Pru and her cousin Milly run Plum's Patisserie in Mayfair. Right from the start we plunge into a story filled with wonderfully vivid characters, whose pleasure and pain we feel with every turn of the page. The novel explores love in its many guises - between men and women later in life and in youth, the love within a family, and selfless love that can develop for those who are neither family nor friend. Secrets from past and present spill into the lives of the protagonists and threaten to destroy relationships, as well as professional lives. A book whose cover matches the power of the writing.
Jules Wake - From Italy with Love
I enjoyed this immensely as a light read. It's a romantic novel, with a storyline that is engaging and different. As a condition of her uncle's will, Lauren has to take time out from her humdrum life to make a road-trip across Europe in a Ferrari, in the company of handsome driver, Cam. Misunderstandings on both sides, colourful background for the locations and the journey, plus various people from Lauren's past combine to make the novel a satisfying read. In addition I also found that the story brought home the fact that it's all too easy to lose the ability to find joy in life.
Nicola Cornick - House of Shadows
A romantic suspense, this novel spans three time eras - 17th Century, Regency and present day, and is all linked to one house. The historic scenes are well portrayed, and the characters vividly real. It made my heart beat faster as the stories unfolded, the story linked through the centuries by two sinister artefacts that finally conclude in the present. The novel is atmospheric and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat.
Robert Goddard - Closed Circle
I have read a few of Robert Goddard's books, and this to me was the best one yet. Set in the late nineteen twenties, the story is told by one of two petty fraudsters who earn money by conning the wealthy. Guy and Max are likeable characters, not evil, who become embroiled in something that is far larger than their small world. Both fall for the same woman, but one of them wins her and thus they find themselves trying to prove their innocence in a brutal crime and at the same time striving to unmask the leader of an international ring of evil-minded crooks. Goddard weaves a fascinating plot with many unexpected twists and turns.