A hard read

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review this book. This is not an easy read.

Controlling, father and subservient mother- ten years since the son has spoken to either of them. if you have ever been bullied this makes for a really uncomfrotable read, believe me. It shows the family dynamics of keeping a facade - do people belive others dont know?

The clever part of this writer writing this story they tell us the story of his parents and their behaviours in away that you would speak to a counsellor so may be we are the counsellors in this I am unsure.

A very controlling father where everyone complies, maybe this is cathartic and an autobigraphy I am unsure but it certainly makes the reader sit up and think.

A short read but powerful and I put myself in the author's shoes whilst I read this.

Readers have a bit of time to wait as publication date is July 2 2026.

Thought Provoking

 

 I was asked by NetGalley to review this well written book.

I had not read any works by this author so I was intrigued, each chapter is named after a hotel and begins with a man who is to inteview an author. He clumsily drops his mobile phone in a sink so therefore he was unable to record the interview. 

This is about not relying on technology but the old fashioned pen and paper and what it means to record a life.

Expertly written and recommended read

Due for publication April 9th 2026

Beautifully written

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review this beautifully written book.

Mercutio - 13th century epic retelling of the life of Mercutio before he ever encountered Romeo and Juliet.

This is history meets fantasy. Mercutio and Dante are both outcasts and exiles, Mercutio and Dante join with a band of fighters called the Montecchi, near Verona. In joining these fighters they open a crack between our world and Faerie by accident- this will follow Mercuito for the rest of his days. There will be new destinies for those who will travel to the ends of the earth for love and friendship.

Beautifully written story with surprises and a really interesting story - I will be seaking this authors other work now

Due for publication May 7 2026.

A great debut novel

 

I have been aware of this book for a while and wanted to read but I needed time to read this, not on holiday but on my own.
I lived in Ediburgh till 1987, I worked at The Royal Infirmary (RIE) late 80s and my grandfather was a firefighter and attended the Clydebank blitz in March 1941 ( 85 years ago), drank in the Rat and Rachet pub Chapel Hill in the 9os where the tables were none other than vintage Singer sewing machine cast iron with the treadle base which for me was quite special and not been back so not sure if these are still there. so lots of reasons to read and lots of reasons to put off.

This is a beautiful debut novel with the Singer sewing machine and the people who own one or are in contact with this iconic machine. Sadly no relatives I knew had one, and my mother never sewed (sadly) So not sure what my fascination is with Singer but it is there.

1911 - Jean works in the Clydebank Singer factory, a strike began in March (and this was 115 years ago now) when 12 women in the cabinet polishing department protested against increasing workloads and reduced pay due to new "scientific management" techniques. Within two days nearly 10000 employees out of 11500 joined the strike. Jean and her boyfriend Donald Cameron strike but jean's father has different views and throws Jean out of their tenement flat. When the strike ends Donald has lost his job and he and Jean move to Edinburgh.

Connie in the 50s keeps notebooks about was she has sewen as did her mother

In 2016 Fred discovers documentation concerning family history and secrets of four generations are discovered.

I like the references to Edinburgh briging back some good memories but mostly interesting historially, I worked in Theatre 20 in a turret at the front of the RIE building and although I worked in theatres I still had the 1980s white dresses and red cloak and starched cap but cannot recall ever visiting the sewing rooms, I also worked in the old Casualty as an agency nurse. I do remember the front entrance with the wooden benefactory boards and busts of victorian people.

Sadly when Jean revisits Clydebank years later, there was no mention of the famous Singer clock that had been demolished in 1963 and we did not get a feel of post war Clydebank.

The author has researched the history well and knows Clydebank and Edinburgh. She writes well and her characters stand out. Interesting she trained as nurse in the old RIE, maybe we bumped into each other, Sadly the old RIE is no longer and is now in the history books.

A recommended read. I am now seekng this authors work out to see what else she has written.

A Fab Paranormal Read

 

I was really pleased when the publishers and NetGalley sent me this book to review.

The story is set in the village of Foxford 

A mix of characters - including Peter a Reaper who has a big heart. Then there is Faye Parker an acomplished baker in an unhsppy marriage, but she can gain some hasppiness in the kitchen. Then she makes friends with Peter and things move forward and love begins. But and there is always a but will sacrificing his soul save Faye?

This is the first time I have read an adult paranormal romance.

A great read and due next month in time for the 2 week Easter break to enjoy this.

Recommended.

Fab read

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review this book and I loved this 13 year old girl Lily Tripp who is a time traveller

This was such a fun book to read and interesting facts and history thrown into the mix.

Looking forward to the next and third book as it states this is a trilogy.

So recommended

Due for publication before May half term

Fun and a bit of escapism

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review this really funny adult fairy story I loved this.

The star of the show is a busy but lonely working princess- she snucks off from being a working royal to look round a lovely bookshop. She is cursed and had to stay there ( I can't think of anything worse - lol) and taking over this wonderful bookshop unable to leave. 

So similar to Sleeping Beauty her parents send in princes to break the curse with true love, kisses and a lot of chaos thrown into the mix.

A really fun story that will take you the reader from what is going on in the outside world.

Recommended read loved it.

Due for publication April 23 2026.

A fab read

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review this story by an author I love to read.

Quite emotional story of two families and how they deal with a tragedy. Mimi a famous interior designer who is approaching the end of her fabulous career and is preparing to auction her possessions. A private person but this will bring her back into the limelight and her new assistant Jo who is hiding secrets also.

Dual timelines, glamourous settings and secrets- a beautiful story 

I loved this 

Due for publication May 28th 2026 and will be up there in te top ten for the summer.

A lovely Summery read

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review this lovely summery read

A lovely romance in Cornwall. Trev and Zennor wedding was perfect - Trev being 10 years older than Zennor, but then and old boyfriend called Matt of Zennors comes on the scene and accusations start on Trev.

Fast forward and five years on the Zennor and Trev marriage has ended and Zennor returns to Cornwall to start a business with a friend, Nothing is peaceful when Matt returns to the village as their landlord and Trev has bought the hotel they had had their wedding in. Fireworks!! 

Both Mat and Trev want something from Zennor and this then makes Zennor look to secrets and the past

A good summer read and is due to be published just before the long summer holidays 

Recommended lovely read.

Emotional Read

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review this really emotional story recommend a box of tissues when you read this.

Blythe with her sister Rae are helping to run a family owned hotel. Blythe would love to inherit her grandfathe's estate and run thefamily business wheras her sister is not interested in this. Set in rual Ireland, there is family issues, controlling what happens so there is no dreams to follow. This story is emotionally charged with such sadness, betrayal and love thrown into the mix, with twists along the way ensuring the reader reads to the end. 

Recomended read from Faith Hogan and due fdor publication June 4th 2026.

A great read

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review this book, I cannot belive Greenham Common protests were 43 years ago I rember this well admiring thw women of the peace camp . This story is about Bridget, she is fed up of her families secrets and the facade of perfection her mother is trying to protray.  Bridget is 15 and during the winter of 82 she runs away to join the Greenham Common protests. 

What Bridget does not know is the effect on her family this will have - secrets of her father, things her mother does not want to face. This is a bit of a nuclear fall out or tsumani for Bridget's family and can they move forward from this. 

Political, family secrets, coming of age and really now an event in history we can all learn from.

Readers do not have long to wait due for publication April 21st 2026 - recommended read on lots of levels.

A Fascinating Read

 

What a well researched story, I am particularly interested in this part of history, not just jews artists but Nazi looted works of art, having seen Woman in Gold film 2015, read woman on fire Lsa Barr and who has not watched The Monument Men 2014 film.

Hannah and her family, shows 1930s with jewish artists, actors, and eminent accademia through to the fear of the Nazi regieme. 

This story tells of jewish women creating art which was stolen from them and at times changed to suit the german nationalists objects - used as proganda for Nazi gain. Jewish artists murdered and then thier work attibuted to Germans (some fictious) 

We will never know just how much was destroyed, and if any did survive we will never know who the artist was as they went into collections hidden.

It is a a really sad part of history but also fascinating also as we have seen on BBC Fake or Fortune. 

Well written, well researched and a really good read.

Sadly not due for publication unitl July 9th 2026.

Compelling Story

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review this interesting story which follows on from a Place called winter but this can also be read as a standalone story. 

Set in the 50s Harry Cane had emigrated to Canada and had not seen his daughter since, but had since recieved a letter from her, he travels to Liverpool to see her. There is a bit of a cloud between them, as her father seemed to have left and she has unresoleved issues about this.

The author handles issues such as 1050s homosexuallity well  Interesting in the way Harry feels he has been left out since leaving but that nothing would have essentially changed had Harry not emigrated.

Interesting well written story. 

Due for publication March 26th 2026.

Well Written emotionasl Children's story

 

This children's book is due to be published Thursday 26th February 2026.

I recieved this as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, this a lovely read of modern day family life, bullying, children trying to understand a grown up world, with change that not everyone wants or likes, relationships between humans and animals and history of a time where pit workers relied on animals and the pits were a dangerous place for both workers and the pit ponies.

The history element was really interesting along with a grandfather and grandson relationship.

Beautifully illustrated by David Litchfield.

I found the way bi polar and dementia was tackled really well.

A really well written and good read for 9-12 year old.

What a Read

 

I was asked to review this book by NetGalley

I could not put this down and read over a very wet February afternoon. 

Imogen has been left a house in a will from someone she has not seen in about 16 years. This person was Dorothea and their had been somewhat of an impact on her lfe at the time. Imogen moves into Dorothea house with Josh her boyfriend. Too good to be true, well Imogen begins to wonder if there was a reason why she inherited this house and is there a connection with Dorothea's death. It may not be quite the fresh start Imogen and Josh were hoping for.

There are so many twists and turns in this story,  so many different angles and emotions wrapped up here.

So well written, keeps the reader guessing to its thundering end. Due for publication March 12 2026 so not long now to wait.

Beautifully Written

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review ths quite sad, eccentric but beautifully written story.

Agatha just wants to paint, but when she meets Alice  things change. Alice has dementia. Agatha for some will hate her, she is arrogant and a tough old bird. She cares really deeply for Alice and this is what makes this story so endering.

Well the ending was not what I expected one bit.

What a great debut novel. So recommended.

Due for publication April 2nd 2026

Gripping

 

I was asked by Net Galley to review this book, I honestly could not put this down and read to the thundering end. The past and present were intertwinned 

Told from two character perspective-  a teenage girl and a Detective Inspector oh holiday with their 9 year old son. 

What i took form this was a real urgency from the start- I so wanted to know what was happening and piecing together the investigation as the author drip feeds this which is addictive.

Really good story And due for publication July 23 2026

oming of age good YA book

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review this really interesting story.

I read this in one sitting, this was such a beautifully written story. I would recommend this to teenagers as I could resonate with this and growing up with happiness, as well as total confusion and pain all wrapped up in one.

This is a comimg of age book with connections to classical music and music exams 

Totally honest and such a good read recommended and due for publication July 23 2026.

Beautifully Written

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review this book

This is a beautiful story of love, loss and heartbreak. 

This is science fiction and concerns a couple and just what lengths they are prepared to do to heal. They are at the end of such a lot but yet they are on the verge of discovery.  Wow what a reflective experience and so well researched too. Recommended - but there is a wait the publication date is September 1st 2026

Totally Addictive with lots of twists

 

I  was asked to review by NetGalley wow this was dark accademia. 

I was hooked form page 1 I really could not put this down and there were so many twists in this story. 

The story is set in the present day iwithin the a Catholic girls boarding school in Yorkshire. The school is facing uncertainty of a merger with a boys school or closure. There is a dual timeline set in the 1990s. This is the setting for easily biuulied pupils and essentially how they coped in the school. This sound like two stories but there is connections and it is shocking, addictive and a great story..

There is a bit to wait for publication July 9th 2026. Recommended read.

Beautiful and Emotional

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review this really intriguing story with a dual timeline set in the 1930/40s and in the present.

This was such an intriguinly beautifully written story. 

Set in the days of Colonial Singapore where Dorothy is with her parents - father working for a rubber company. life is good and privilaged - with socialising and the lavish Raffles hotel. Everyone thinks Singapore will be safe as the war continues at home - Singapore will not fall.  Evacuations take place will the family be safe?

Annabel - her grandmother passes away - she has no idea she had been in Singapore. 

Then a trip to Singapore to uncover the truth and why her Grandmother never spoke of this or that she had ever been anywhere apart from England.

Well researched and due for publication February 26th 2026

Thought Provoking

 

I was asked to review this by NetGalley 

I read this today on a "snow day" 

Wow this is so well written and took me on this journey through time and space - to show how stories shape our lives- from religion to what media we consume. This seemed to me before reading that this would be super high brow but no this was so readable, thought provoking- I was mesmorised.

I learnt this book was the sequel to Into the Woods - so I will be ordering this today. 

Such a recommended book and not long to wait due for publication 29 January 2026.

 

I was asked to review this beautifully written book by the publishers via NetGalley 

Jiwon is grieving the death of her mother- she is given a chance the mystery Memory Bookshop and it is to relive the past but the there is a cavat and not without scarifice.

This is such a beautiful heartwarmimng story- it is also heartbreaking too.

We all try to hold onto the past and stuggle to move on but move on we have to despite grief.

Such a recommended read, due for publication 12 March 2026.

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review this book.

I am late to the table for Cathy Kelly but so glad I have now been introduced to this author.

The story begins with six people being invited to a retreat in Corfu Greece, run by a television therapist called Rose.

Rose has been out of TV for about 5 years so this is a big thing for Rose and her future - she needs to help the six by facing secrets and move forward positively, but Rose secrets could be exposed as she helps the six. The reader can feel for these six and Rose as the face their problems, move on with their lives. There is hope, the ability to move forward and second chances in life too

Beautifully written and a really lovely read. Due for publication 26 February - this will be a great sunbed read this summer.

 

I was asked to review this book by NetGalley - oh my goodness this has to be the authors most disturbing book yet. Haunting, disturbing and really unsettling gave me nightmares.

Jane twenty five years ago - had a terrible scary happening in a house which she fled. Fast forward twnty five years and in her now back garden she spots a white dog and needs to return it to its owners -shockingly she is standing in front of the very house she fled somw twenty five years ago!!

Jane and her stepson then try to unravel the truth - the young girl and white dog and look at what would have happened to Jane had she stayed in the said house!!

A scary story

Not due for publication until 2 July 2026- just in time for the summer holidays.

I could not put this book down and read to the terrifying end.

 

I was asked by NetGalley to review this children's book, which I did over Twixmas.

A really interesting story - told from Stanley and Martha perspective.

It is the aftermath of World War 1, the village has lost so many boys and men in the trenches, whilst those who came back are damaged.

1918- a terrible time with men not returning, women struggling, and then to cap it off - the Spanish flu which infected around one-third of the global population and causing an estimated 50 to 100 million deaths. What did not help was men returning from the front had been subjected to terrible conditions, people at home could not afford medical attention ( years before the NHS would be born). The flu essentially had a high mortality rate for young people.

Stanley and Martha social standing is poles apart but the flu brings them together - Martha from a well to do background and Stanley from the village. Martha's Grandfather was concerned for the church stain glass windows and if the Germans would bomb the church, so he did the panes, he is dead and the village males who helped to take the panes down and hide these are lying on the western front. So no one knows where they are.

Stanley is convinced that the stain glass will save his mother - who has the deadly flu and save the village. Then Stanley comes down with the flu also.

The quest is on for Martha to try to locate the panes and bring the village together.

Martha learns valuable lessons, but will she find the stain glass that the village so badly needs.

A really well written story that keeps the reader guessing, showing just how wrong people can be with social standing and prejudices.

Thank you NetGalley and Firefly Press for letting me read before publication. 

Recommended read and due for publication February 5 2026.