Nicki's book blog

An Oxford Revenge- Faith Martin(writing as Maxine Barry)- Romantic suspense   “REVENGE ISN'T ALWAYS AS SWEET AS YOU THINK-HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO FOR REVENGE?” Davina Grainger, a famous poet has arrived in Oxford. She has one person that she is focussed on, the person she feels is responsible for her brothers suicide- Dr Gareth Lacey. She is determined to destroy him as he destroyed her brother.  On meeting him she finds he isn’t what she imagined him to be at all- in fact she is rather drawn to him in a romantic way. Meanwhile some undergraduates are preparing an end of term play. Alicia is writing it despite adversity from her famous professional critic brother and Jared is directing. They too are romantically linked. Alicia’s brother however has his eye on someone else for Alicia- the leading man whose father just happens to be an Earl. Two stories, two romances. One woman out for revenge with a plan up her sleeve to discredit Gareth. I enjo

Me Too- Patricia Dixon- Psychological thriller Billie is making connections with her past in the form of Stan, her ex partner. For a while now Billie has been living in Greece. Whilst she was away working, Stan had a new grirlfriend Kelly who accused him of rape and he is now serving six years inside Strageways having been found guilty. He vehemently denies the charge and wants to get back on track. His true love is Billie and when she goes to visit him he gets the boost he needs to get through his sentence. He has hired a private detective to try and find out more for an appeal. Billie has a secret, a surprise for Stan something that will hopefully make him even more determined to see things through. Billie goes to see Aiden, the private detective and ends up almost back in her old role of being a detective. Ooooh boy! One of those where you know something is just around the corner but not which way the cookie is going to crumble. This is partly based on

Gamble- Anita Waller- Psychological thriller    Two women working in a bookies get shot by someone entering the premises early and demanding money however due to the timing it appears to be more about the women than the money. They are both wives and mothers. The two husbands, Graham and Kenny decide that they are going to sort it out without the help of the police who are as keen as they are to find the perpetrator. All they know is that he or possibly she wore a mask and had a shotgun which was retrieved shortly afterwards. The two sixteen year old twins of one of the women also decide that finding their mother's killer is more important than their looming exams. Between four vigilantes and the police the search is on. When another body and then a missing boy are added things get rather heated to say the least. Oooh! Anita has done it again. Draws me into what starts as a read with a bit of a mystery and then twists and turns until I want to (an

The Divide- Stewart Giles-   Horror     The Divide is a piece of land untouched with good reason for centuries. As it has been passed down the proviso is that it is not to be touched. The locals know it as the Bad place. Legend tells that The Divide is between heaven and hell and if disturbed a little girl in a white dress and macabre form will appear. Those who see and hear her will die. Locals discover that the latest owner is developing the land and do their best to dissuade him. Five teenagers are on a walking holiday and become stranded when their car breaks down. They are taken to the local inn and that's when the little girl begins to appear and things start to get rather hair-raising. This is the horror novel I have braved(Thanks Stewart!!) and rather glad I did. I didn;t give me nightmares but did have an eerie feel to it which I enjoyed. Maybe I am getting braver in my old age! A good plot and likeable characters. I won’t say too much more

Little Whispers- K.L Slater- psychological thriller            Another read to put you on the edge of your seat! Janey Markhamhas moved house with her husband Isaac and son Rowan.Isaac has a new job and he promises not only is this more money which they desperately need but that he will be able have more family time- something again that was lacking. We know Janey holds a secret told to her by her mother the day before she died “which changes everything” but not what it is. Janey soon finds the shiny new house isn’t anywhere near as glamorous as others in the road and the yummy mummies have their own clique. Isaacs hours are getting longer and longer. Is this all work? We have the occasional chapters about a girl being taken and then held against her will when en route to a friend. Janey gets in with the clique but in doing so alienates a lady she was getting friendly with as the clique says she is delusional. I quite liked Janey but had that suspicion

Twinkle Twinkle Little Lies- Rob Ashman-Crime             Malice and Pieterson are back! This time they have a cold case to investigate. A body who has laid there for around ten years leads to a trail of intrigue. Meanwhile Twinkle helps run an outreach project and a cafe at her local church for local boys not to be targeted by local drug gangs and to keep them on the straight and narrow. Little does anyone know this is a cover for her drugs operation running county lines. She is thinking of expanding to the next parish and things are falling in line nicely when a rival gang wants in and she calls them out on it. Malice, as ever, is in trouble with his ex about presents he keeps buying for their daughter. Pieterson is getting some unwanted attention from someone she put in court when she worked in undercover obs. The case fell through but they suspect that she was instrumental in planting evidence, something she denies. I really enjoy this series. (i

Ash Mountain- Helen Fitzgerald-  Native American Literature " Single-mother Fran returns to her sleepy hometown to care for her dying  father when a devastating bush fire breaks out. A heartbreaking disaster-noir  thriller from the bestselling author of  The Cry ." Fran lives on Ash Mountain with her daughter and son. Each chapter is a different period of time from the fire to over thirty years before hand- Frans childhood. We get an understanding of Frans life from this and how she is reacting now. She relives her childhood memories whilst caring for her frail father. There are dysfunctional relationships as well as tender moments and often some dark humour along with an ostrich called Ronnie Corbett. The cover of this book is amazing . The photographer tells the story of it in the book- a real picture taken during the recent Australian bushfires. This took me a little while to get into as it is written in a very different way, mostly from Fran

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Reckless by Gemma Rogers- Thriller         “When sixth former Nicky Stevens sets his sights on her, he begins to reel her in at a time when she's most vulnerable. Soon Izzy is risking her family, her career and her life as she finds Nicky wants more than she ever planned to give.” Izzy and her family have moved house and she has started work as an english teacher at a secondary school. She soon learns that the last incumbent left in rather a haste due to a tryst with a pupil. Her husband David hasn’t been so attentive since she had a miscarriage a while back and she suspects he may be having an affair. When she starts to get unwanted attention from a sixth former who first crossed her path when he almost drove her off the road, things get a little complicated to say the least. I cringed at some of this- that said it is a sensitive subject handled well. My cringing was at how Izzy threw herself into what could only be described as  a car crash relationship