Nicki's book blog

  A Guilty Woman by Charlotte Barnes-psychological thriller Oh wow! A premise that blew me away (along with the victim!) and fascinated me. A woman is in a bar with her boyfriend. She starts the socially perfectly normal interaction with her boyfriend  and as they have drinks, reaches for her handbag , pulls out a gun and empties the whole barrel into him. On reaching the police station and her solicitor ( whom she has the funds for a very good one), she proceeds to plead not guilty. Occasional chapters give us a podcast of a true crime series covering the trial and takes us more into Carolines life. Blimey Riley! One where I held my breath and was beguiled by the plot. I quite liked Caroline, other than the fact of what she had done, as she seemed grounded and realistic (hope that makes sense?) and very calm through the whole thing- as if carefully planned perhaps? Caroline is an author and her writings take on a whole new meaning. A fantastic twist puts things into place… I ...

  The Old Girls' Chateau Escape by Kate Galley- Women's Fiction Gina’s husband left her for another woman and at 71 Gina is rather upended. That is until she meets Dorothy, a sprightly 89 year old who has rather more than a spring in her step and attitude to life. They get on famously (Old Girls behaving badly book) so when Dorothy suggests Gina takes on a temporary role to look after one of Dorothy’s old friends, Meredith and her husband, she happily agrees, however Dorothy wants Gina to do some sleuthing. Over fifty years ago there was a group of friends who did something that should really stay in the past, however Meredith wants to publish a book and Dorothy doesn't want a starring role in it. Hopefully Gina can find out more and keep Dorothy's anonymity. Although the second in the series this happily stands alone. I adore this series. It's a great mix of humour, drama and more. Both Dorothy and Gina are great characters in differing ways and have those qualiti...

  The Soulmate by Rona Halsall--psychological thriller Holly has escaped from her boyfriend Finn for a few hours and sees a man playing the piano. In a past life Holly, as she is now, loved music and can’t help but sing along with him.  They go for a coffee before Holly has to get her train back and ensures that the performance stays private, away from any social media. Finn is rather controlling and she already has bruises. Mark is smitten and is determined to help her but doesn’t realise quite what he is getting into. When Holly steals herself into his car things take rather a turn. OMG! Who to trust? I thought I liked certain characters to begin with (clever writing!) and then found myself rather unsettled as to who was the good guy or the bad. This is a read with lots of twists and turns and it made for one heck of a read. Fiction is just that and doesn’t always have to follow real life but who knows what goes on behind closed doors? It's clever, it's very very engaging an...