The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper - Phaedra Patrick

Having been married for over 40 years, 69-year-old Arthur Pepper is mourning the loss of his wife. On the anniversary of her death, he finally musters the courage to go through her possessions, and happens upon a charm bracelet that he has never seen before.

What follows is a surprising adventure that takes Arthur from London to Paris and India in an epic quest to find out the truth about his wife’s secret life before they met, a journey that leads him to find healing, self-discovery, and love in the most unexpected of places.

What did I think?

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper is one of those perfect books that leave you with a warm glow and puts you in a good mood for the rest of the day.  Although it is sometimes poignant and sad, it is also funny and delightful, making it a book I would read again and recommend to friends.  I did see something about it being recommended for people who enjoyed Rachel Joyce's The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (me!), and I can completely see why.  Arthur is very like Harold; they both go on a journey where they discover things about themselves on the way and they both have regrets about choosing work over family in the past.

Arthur finds a charm bracelet among his wife's things, when he goes through her possessions on the anniversary of her death.  He is bemused as he has never seen the charm bracelet before and wonders why his wife hid it from him and what each charm meant.  As he looks more closely at the bracelet, he finds a phone number on the bottom of one of the charms.  This starts a chain of events that sees Arthur setting off on a journey that will teach him not only about his wife's past, but about himself and his part in her life. 

Although I would describe this as a light-hearted read, it did leave me with some food for thought.  Phaedra Patrick is very good at making you realise how quick we are to jump to conclusions without waiting to find out both sides of the story and also that we sometimes don't see things that are right in front of our eyes.  I also thought it was excellent the way that we are reminded that we all have a past, which doesn't mean that we don't love people in our present more than we can possibly say...and often don't say enough.

I was utterly charmed by this book; I started and finished it in the same day.  It is rare that I can't put down a non-thriller book, but once I'd started this journey with Arthur I had to continue reading until I got to the end.  I had tears in my eyes and a smile on my face at the end - The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper is a beautiful story about love, family and friendship.  It's a warm hug of a book and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

I received this e-book from the publisher, Harlequin, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

EXTRACT TOUR: Distress Signals - Catherine Ryan Howard

I am so excited to be the first stop on the extract tour for Catherine Ryan Howard's wonderful thriller, Distress Signals.  From the first pages, that I am sharing with you below, I was completely hooked as I followed the investigation into Sarah's disappearance.  Who can Adam trust and is Sarah alive or dead?  You can read my full review here.

Follow the tour to read all the extracts, then head over to Amazon to order your own copy of Distress Signals.

EXTRACT ONE

ADAM

I jump before I decide that I’m going to.

Air whistles past my ears as I plummet towards the sea, dark but for the panes of moonlight breaking into shards on its surface. At first I’m moving in slow-motion and the surface seems miles away. Then it’s rushing up to meet me faster than my mind can follow.

A blurry memory elbows its way to the forefront of my thoughts. Something about how hitting a body of water from this height is just like hitting concrete. I try to straighten my legs and grip the back of my thighs, but it’s a moment too late. I hit the water at an angle and every nerve ending on the left side of my body is suddenly ablaze with white-hot pain.

I close my eyes.

When I open them again, I’m underwater.

It’s nowhere near as dark as I expected it to be. Beyond my feet, yes, there is a blackness down deep, but here, just beneath the surface, it’s brighter than it was above.

It’s clear too. I can see no dirt or fish. I twist and turn, but I can

see no one else either.

As I look up through the water, the hull of the Celebrate looms to my right, the lights of its open decks twinkling. I have a vague idea where in the rows of identical balconies my cabin is, and I wonder if it’s possible for two people to leave the same spot on such an enormous ship, fall eight storeys and land in completely different places.

It must be because I seem to be alone.

I drift down, towards the darkness. Pressure builds in my chest.

I need to get to the surface so I can take a breath. So I can call out and listen for the sounds of legs and arms splashing, or for someone else calling out to me.

I move to stretch both arms out—

A hot poker burns deep inside my shoulder. The pain makes me gasp, pulling water into my throat.

Now all I want to do is to take a breath. I must take one. I can’t wait any longer.

But the surface is at least ten or twelve feet above me, I think.

I start to kick furiously. My lungs scream.

I’m not a strong swimmer; I go nowhere fast. My efforts just keep me at this depth, neither sinking nor ascending.

The surface gets no closer.

The urge to open my mouth and breathe in is only a flicker away from overwhelming. I start to panic, flailing my left arm and legs.

I lift my face to the light as if oxygen can reach me through the water the same way the moon’s rays can, and that’s when I see a shadow on the surface.

To continue reading, head to MRS B BOOKS tomorrow, 6^th May.

#DistressSignals

www.distresssignalsbook.com

Amazon link

The Last Days of Summer - Vanessa Ronan

She can forgive. They can't forget.

After ten years in the Huntsville State Penitentiary, Jasper Curtis returns home to live with his sister and her two daughters. Lizzie does not know who she's letting into her home: the brother she grew up loving or the monster he became.

Teenage Katie distrusts this strange man in their home but eleven-year-old Joanne is just intrigued by her new uncle.

Jasper says he's all done with trouble, but in a forgotten prairie town that knows no forgiveness, it does not take long for trouble to arrive at their door ...

What did I think?

After a few pages in I thought I would struggle with this book as there were no chapters - how would I ever know when to stop reading? Well Vanessa Ronan has thought of that, the answer is simple - you won't stop reading!  Although the story drew me in, I did find the writing a bit disjointed at times - I like to feel the rhythm of a book and this felt like a staccato - the shortest sentences ever are in this book, even sentences comprising one word.  Once I got used to it, I did settle in but it was a bit of a bugbear at first.  I've never really been a fan of poetry and maybe if I had been I would have found it easier to cope with the teeny sentences.

There is so much tension bubbling under the surface that the lack of chapters (have I mentioned that?) make just one more page an easy bargain to make.  I started off wondering what Jasper had done and what he was in prison for, but that actually quickly went out of my head.  Jasper made it quite clear that he was guilty of the crime he committed and it is the threat of the townspeople coming out for revenge that takes centre stage.

You can feel the turmoil of his family as his sister, Lizzie, sees no alternative but to welcome Jasper into her home.  Lizzie has two young daughters and as her youngest, Joanne, gets closer to Jasper I did wonder how safe she really was in his care.  On the flip side, it was lovely to see the innocence and trusting nature of children, before they realise the world is big and bad.

There is no doubt that Jasper is a damaged man.  He may have paid for his crimes but he doesn't appear to have repented and I feared that, given the opportunity, he would do the same thing over again.  For me, the reaction of the townspeople was portrayed flawlessly as the mob grew in support and strength, even enlisting the support of Jasper's own niece, Katie.  You could feel Katie's inner struggle as she fights between the mistrust she has for her Uncle and her fear that she has put her mother and sister in danger.

Really quite dark and disturbing at times, The Last Days of Summer leaves the reader questioning how they would react in the same situation.  Blood is thicker than water but can you really forgive and forget?

I received this book from the publisher, Penguin, in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

Distress Signals - Catherine Ryan Howard

Did she leave, or was she taken?

The day Adam Dunne's girlfriend, Sarah, fails to return from a Barcelona business trip, his perfect life begins to fall apart. Days later, the arrival of her passport and a note that reads 'I'm sorry - S' sets off real alarm bells. He vows to do whatever it takes to find her.

Adam is puzzled when he connects Sarah to a cruise ship called the Celebrate - and to a woman, Estelle, who disappeared from the same ship in eerily similar circumstances almost exactly a year before. To get the answers, Adam must confront some difficult truths about his relationship with Sarah. He must do things of which he never thought himself capable. And he must try to outwit a predator who seems to have found the perfect hunting ground...

What did I think?

If you've ever watched a series of Damages, you will know what I mean when I say that this book started with a glimpse of the ending and I couldn't read fast enough to find out how it got there.  The first sentence sees Adam jumping off a cruise liner and my heart rate immediately began to speed up.  After a few paragraphs, you realise that he wasn't the only one to go overboard...from then on, I was caught hook, line and sinker!

Adam thinks his girlfriend, Sarah, has gone on a business trip to Barcelona but when she doesn't return he starts to get worried. Sarah's friends and parents have not heard from her and then Adam receives an envelope containing Sarah's passport and a post-it note saying that she's sorry.  I had tingles up my spine when Adam got this - has Sarah disappeared to begin a new life or has something more sinister happened?  Engage thrusters: increase reading speed.

As if that wasn't intriguing enough, interspersed chapters introduce us to Corinne and Romain.  Corinne is working on the Celebrate, a luxury cruise liner, and she appears to have something to hide.  Romain's story begins when he was a young boy and trouble seems to follow him around.  His story, although disturbing, was really sad at times and I thought he might have had a better life if he had got some help early on.  So what do Corinne and Romain have to do with Sarah's story?  I'm not going to tell you but it's all part of the mystery of the Celebrate.

Adam starts to dig around to find out what happened to Sarah and his search leads him to the Celebrate.  Sarah is not the only person to go missing on that ship and Adam enlists the help of another man searching for his wife.  The suspense and tension mounts with every page as the mystery is gradually revealed.  I was suspicious of everyone but could never have imagined the brilliant ending.

Distress Signals has all the ingredients for a wonderfully written thriller.  Full of twists and turns, clues and red herrings; it's an all round gripping read that is sure to be a big hit in 2016.

I received this book from the publisher, Corvus, in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

The Flood (Sex, Love and Dating Disasters Book 2) - Steven Scaffardi

One bet, four girls, eight weeks, multiple dates. What could possibly go wrong?

Following his traumatic eight month dry spell, Dan Hilles is back in the driving seat and ready to put his dating disasters behind him.

But if only it were that simple.

After a drunken afternoon in the pub, fuelled by the confidence of alcohol, Dan makes a bet with his three best pals that will complicate his love-life more than ever when he brazenly declares that he could juggle multiple women all at the same time.

With just eight weeks to prove his point, Dan is about to find out how hard it is to date a flood of women without them all finding out about each other, especially when they come in the shape of an ex-girlfriend, a stalker, the office ice queen and the one that got away.

The Flood is the hilarious follow-up to The Drought by lad lit author Steven Scaffardi, chronicling the adventures of unlucky-in-love Dan Hilles.

What did I think?

After reading The Drought and absolutely loving it, it was only natural that I followed on with the next book in the series, The Flood. Anybody who reads The Drought, must read The Flood as it really is an absolutely hilarious sequel, but The Flood could easily be read as a standalone with no enjoyment lost.

Obviously I don't endorse or encourage promiscuity or cheating on partners but this is a work of fiction and a light-hearted read; it was great fun to read about Dan juggling his ladies and there is a hysterical scene where all four ladies are in the same pub and I could barely read for the tears of laughter running down my face.  It was like an episode of Benny Hill and all that was missing was Dan being chased out of the pub by his ladies...and everybody else in the pub.

There are some weird and wonderful new characters in The Flood who really must get a special mention.  Firstly, Dan's new flatmate, Tuna.  Yes, I really meant to type 'Tuna'.  Tuna is completely lacking in social skills and he's always creeping up on Dan and asking if they can get a dog, like they're an old married couple.  Then there is Dan's new colleague, Ieuan, pronounced Yigh-Un, but the gang call him Iron.  He's led a bit of a sheltered life and Jack sees a great opportunity to play Yoda as he takes Ieuan under his wing and teaches him the ways of beer and women.  With Master Jack in charge, prepare yourself for a bucketful of hilarity.

My favourite character has to be Ollie, as he is so like Neil from The Inbetweeners.  He's innocent in his stupidity and he meets his perfect partner in Steph, who Dan works with.  There is an absolutely brilliant bit where Ollie and Steph discuss stories in the bible - it's an absolute moment of genius from Steven Scaffardi.  The only problem is that Steph has a high-flying banker boyfriend.  How can Ollie compete with him?  I hope it's a 'watch this space' so we can find out more of this story...

There is so much going on in this book that you can never second guess the story.  There is pretty much a laugh on every page, meaning that I frequently had to stop reading to wipe the tears of laughter from my eyes.  Doctors should prescribe The Drought and The Flood as a little pick-me-up.  Guaranteed to put a smile on your face, unless you have no sense of humour, they are definitely going in my pile of 'books to read again'.

Lad Lit may be a niche genre but I think Steven Scaffardi is on to a winner with this series.  I hope to read more about this motley crew and I don't think I will ever get tired of them.  I miss them already and don't think it will be long before I re-read both books.  Try something new today and join in the fun and frivolity of the Lad Lit revolution!

I received this e-book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

Tough Justice: Exposed (Tough Justice, Book 1) - Carla Cassidy

Part 1 of 8 in the chilling, high-octane FBI thriller TOUGH JUSTICE from NYT bestselling author Carla Cassidy and Tyler Anne Snell, Carol Ericson and Gail Barrett.

A new job. A new case. A new criminal…?

Special Agent Lara Grant will do anything to get her mark—until her last undercover case, infiltrating the notorious Moretti crime ring, forced her to get close to the top. Way. Too. Close…

Now starting a new job in New York City, all Lara wants is to leave the ghosts of her past behind. Until a dramatic sniper attack leaves Lara’s face – and real name – all over the media. In the blink of an eye, her cover is blown, her identity exposed.

Then a woman’s body is found, branded with the ritual Moretti tattoo. Someone knows who Lara is…and exactly how to make her pay…

What did I think?

I was really intrigued by a book series written by various authors and I always think FBI thrillers are good page turners.  Tough Justice: Exposed is no exception as there was not a minute spare to catch my breath.  Although it is part 1, there is enough of a thread dangling to intrigue the reader about Lara's past...a past that is rapidly coming back to haunt her.

After coming out from undercover, Lara is trying to keep a low profile until a man on a ledge requests her by name.  As she goes out to talk the man down, the press manage to take a photo and her cover is blown.  As more crimes are committed with a link to Lara the tension mounts and we catch glimpses of things and people that Lara holds dear, but it soon becomes clear that we aren't the only ones who know about them.

Although it's only a short book, it is certainly very fast paced and blasts the doors wide open for an explosive series.  I'll be looking out for more parts as they are released and I really look forward to reading all 8 books.

I received this e-book from the publisher, Harlequin, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

Scarlet Widow - Graham Masterton

London, 1750: Beatrice Scarlet is the apothecary's daughter. She can mix medicines and herbs to save the lives of her neighbours - but, try as she might, she can't save the lives of her parents. An orphan at just sixteen, Beatrice marries a preacher and emigrates to America.

New Hampshire, 1756: In the farming community where Beatrice now lives, six pigs are found viciously slaughtered, slices of looking-glass embedded in their mouths. According to scripture this is the work of Satan, but Beatrice suspects the hands of men. As she closes in on the killer, she must act quickly to unmask him - or become the next victim herself...

What did I think?

I felt sure I must have read a Graham Masterton book in my past, but nothing looks familiar so Scarlet Widow, surprisingly, appears to be my introduction to this well known British horror author.  Scarlet Widow, although filled with death and destruction, is not a graphic hide behind the couch horror and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

From the early days in London when Beatrice loses her mother and father in such disturbing and tragic circumstances to her investigation of strange goings on in America, I was absolutely riveted to the story.  Beatrice was quite close to her father and has picked up lots of his apothecary knowledge, which stands her in good stead as she looks for scientific reasons for the strange happenings attributed to Satan.

In a community that is still reeling from the Salem witch trials, the residents are quick to sign over their land to the demon that is terrorising them.  As victims, both animal and human, succumb on every farm, stranger Jonathan Shooks rides around the town collecting parcels of land signed over to the demon in exchange for healthy lives.  Beatrice's husband, Reverend Scarlet, implores the townsfolk to trust in God as he finds himself time and again locking horns with Jonathan Shooks in a battle of good versus evil.  I could feel the townsfolk's fear and despair oozing out of the pages; as their fear gives strength to the greed and evil, I almost expected the Four Horsemen to ride into town at any time.

As lives are put in more and more danger, Beatrice uses her skills as an apothecary to investigate these terrible ailments.  With a mysterious hooded grim-reaper type figure lurking around her farm, Beatrice puts herself and her family in grave danger as she attempts to uncover the truth about who Jonathan Shooks is really working for.

There were plenty of shocks and surprises in Scarlet Widow as nobody is exempt from becoming the next victim.  There was a difficult to read part near the end as Jonathan Shooks finally catches up with Beatrice and I felt myself quivering with anger at his brutality.

Scarlet Widow certainly succeeded in whisking me away to an 18th Century American community that, following the Salem witch trials, was frightened of its own shadow.  Beatrice is a very strong character and I loved her scientific approach to explaining all the strange events in her life - she's like a scientific 18th Century Miss Marple.  I will definitely be looking out for the next book in the Beatrice Scarlet series.

I received this book from the publisher, Head of Zeus, in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

Buy from Amazon