Nicki's book blog

Wyld Dreamers- Pamela Holmes. Part of the Urbane publications Extravaganza #Lovebooksgrouptours Blurb In the summer of 1972, a group of friends is invited to Somerset to help photographer Seymour Stratton renovate a dilapidated cottage on Wyld Farm. Over the next year, the group come to regard the farm as offering them a place to be for the rest of their lives, to enjoy 'the good life'. But despite the commitment and camaraderie, the rural idyll collapses. Twenty-five years later, the group is brought together again in unexpected circumstances. Can events of the past be forgotten? Or will the secrets that are revealed devastate once unbreakable friendships?    Buy Link https://amzn.to/2QXc4S0 Chapter Three Her watch says ten o’ clock when she wakes next morning, drymouthed. ‘Here Comes the Sun’ is playing at full volume and The Beatles are right. Dim light filters through rents in the red satin curtains making the room...

The Cold Years- Joel Hames Sam Williams is defending Richard Fothergill against very old accusations. Sam’s old enemy Trawden is now dead however it almost doesn’t feel like it as people are hassling Sam and putting him in the firing line- especially DI Martin. Why is he a suspect? Sam’s girlfriend Claire is keeping things very close to her chest and possibly hiding something. This is written in the first person and I have to say for me took a while to get used to. That said the descriptions are excellent without being over the top and you know every thought and are with Sam the whole way. Sam although a lawyer is also a gumshoe  as he wants to get to the bottom of things even though his own name is cleared early on. Things keep happening which really shouldn’t and he can’t help but be suspicious. This is the third instalment in the Sam Williams books. I have read the second one ( No One Will Hear), some characters as you would expect carry over ...

Mavis and Dot- Angela Perch - Mavis and Dot meet when they are both new at the Bridge club. It isn’t long before they decide the rest of the members are “boring old farts” and set off in search of a tea room. Mavis tells Dot that she is working her way through activities in alphabetical order. Bridge was next as “agoraphobics” really wouldn’t be her thing and so belly dancing is next on the list (Mavis is subject to using malapropisms) . This is a wonderful, uplifting humorous read. The antics that Mavis and Dot get up to. From dancing to disco, looking after others and rummaging in charity shops. From fish and chips to afternoon teas and a love of lapsang souchong (bleugh!!) to being an artists model and mistaking a woman for a man.  There are more serious threads along the way. They have had their knocks in life and now it’s time for them to let their hair down and help others where they can and also maybe have a little fun in the process. There a...

FREE for a limited time! INSIDE THE WHISPERS, a tense, haunting psychological thriller (Samantha Willerby Mystery Series Book 1) by A.J. WAINES. Amazon  🇬🇧   https://buff.ly/2PA1fc5 Amazon  🇺🇸   https://buff.ly/2qO7udh The most dangerous place is inside your own head… Dr Samantha Willerby, a specialist in Post Traumatic Stress, has never seen anything like this before. Following a fire on the London Underground, three survivors seek her help but although unmistakably traumatised, their stories don’t match the facts. Are they ‘faking it’? Sam’s confusion turns to horror when one by one, instead of recovering, they are driven to suicide. When her lover, Conrad, begins to suffer the same terrifying flashbacks, Sam is desperate to find out what’s causing them. As a mysterious and chilling conspiracy begins to unravel the nightmares begin for Sam… Also available in the Samantha Willerby Mystery Series: Lost in the Lake Perfect Bones A...

Five Ladies Go Skiing by Karen Aldous- + Giveaway ********** Five friends are “Flowers”- Fun-loving older women embracing life with a renaissance of spirit- which is their philosophy. Ginny lost her husband Mike a year ago to cancer. She knows he held a secret. Kim now lives in Australia with her consultant husband Will. She longs to return to the UK and her friends but Will isn’t finished with his work yet. Cathy is now living her dream having given up her teaching post and is now writing. Angie is married to Rob and has a voracious appetite- not for food- much to the surprise of her husband. Lou when packing is remembering one of her first loves whom she has now dug up on social media. They have all met up for a skiing holiday- four of them never having done this before- however each is holding their own secrets in one way or another. It looks like there could be more than just skiing on the agenda. I enjoyed this. I loved the c...

The Enigma- Stewart Giles-Crime When a boat arrives at the local harbour with a gaping hole in one side, the harbour-master goes to its assistance. What he didn’t bargain for was a dead body at the helm. When  DC Harriet Taylor and her team arrive they find an even more gruesome discovery. Another boat is found shortly afterwards in a different harbour and the two incidents appear to be linked. What is going on and why have the bodies been operated on? This is only my second read of a Stewart Giles book  (the first being The Beekeeper) so I was not familiar with the characters (I understand that they have appeared in different books). I was not disappointed. I found this an easy read, nothing too gory and an excellent plot which kept me turning. I took to the characters quickly and particularly liked both Harriet and Jason. A book that you get into quickly and easily to me makes for a relaxing read. Enough to keep the grey matter active but not t...

THE DOLL COLLECTOR by Joanna Stephen-Ward - Emma OMG.A crime book with a difference. The synopsis reads as a crime/thriller with rather more, and boy  this is so much more. Maurice lives in a flat. Years beforehand his mother nursed the owner who left the flat to Maurice and his mother so that they would not have any financial worries. Enter Ian and his father- the son and grandson of the original owner. They are estate agents and actually having to work for a living - something they never did when times were good. They have flash cars, several properties and are now having to tighten their belts. They contrive against Maurice and find an old copy of the will so that Maurice still rents the flat rather than own it- and they want him out before he causes any issues. Maurice himself isn’t the best of workers and has an aversion to cleaning- both himself and the flat. One day when strapped for the rent he decides to rent out his spare room. Enter Glori...