Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com Yay!!!! Only three new ARCs arrived in my inbox this week! Excuse me while I do a little dance . . . My first new title is a publisher’s widget – The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley. I see this isn’t getting great reviews, but I have enjoyed everything else I have read by her, so we’ll see . . . It certainly sounds enticing! Midsummer, the Dorset coast In the shadows of an ancient wood, guests gather for the opening weekend of The Manor: a beautiful new countryside retreat. But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circu ..read more

Welcome to a cool and showery New Zealand Sunday afternoon. We have the fire lit and are having a very lazy weekend with a lot of reading done by both of us in between the Supercar and F1 racing. So, what am I currently reading? Voices in the Dark by Fleur McDonald was published in October 23, so while it doesn’t qualify as a “Beat the Backlist’ title it is a catch-up read for me. I have read several of this authors books over the years and always enjoy her Australian Outback stories. Voices in the Dark is an excellent family drama. This title also counts towards my April Aussie Readers chall ..read more

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com Happy hump day! Until a few moments ago I only had three new ARCs on my shelf, but as I was looking, feeling quite pleased with myself I have to admit, up popped another! But as it was a Kate Robards book, Only the Guilty Survive, and I loved her first book – The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard – I’m not going to complain. And what a beautiful cover! The mass suicide of a cult known as The Flock sent shockwaves through the small rural town of Iola, Michigan. Led by the charismatic Dominic Bragg, The Flock camped at an abandoned bird sanctuary before thei ..read more

This is a title from my 2018 backlist. EXCERPT: Roberta was aware she was screaming. ‘Where did that car go? she was shouting in the woman’s face, flecking her skin with saliva. She plunged her hands into her pockets, grabbing only the silky lining and fresh air, frantically searching for her phone. It was on the dashboard of the car. James had called. She’d put it back in the cradle on the dashboard. After she had moaned about Sholto, how horrible he was, how noisy. Well, her world was quiet now. ‘Where did it go?’ She heard the screeching of a banshee. She knew it was her, but she couldn’t ..read more

Happy Sunday afternoon! I’ve had a very social morning. Went out for coffee with a friend with whom I’ve been trying to catch up for the last two weeks. while we were having coffee one of the aquarobics group ladies arrived with her husband. I hadn’t seen Cathryn since before Christmas, so we had a quick catch up while they were waiting for their coffees. Now Pete has gone off to catch up with one of his mates and, once I have finished this post, I am going to catch up with a friend who has just returned from 3 weeks in Vietnam and is off to the South Island for a week tomorrow for work. We h ..read more

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com Ten! Yes, ten new titles arrived to review this week. What was I thinking? But so many of my favorite authors have put books up on NetGalley this week, that I just couldn’t resist! So, what are these titles? If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay. I have enjoyed every book I have read by this author; he sure knows how to write a tense and absorbing read! The crushing blow to the head. Hands yanking him from the vehicle. His girlfriend’s piercing scream… For the past five years, Ryan Richardson has relived that terrible night. With no trace of Ali aft ..read more

EXCERPT: She was uneasy suddenly. Why had Adam Garrett popped into her mind? Adam, who’d been chased off by Galt? Adam, who’d never forgiven her? Adam, her foster brother from the last of her arid foster homes, on an arid street in Sydney’s west? Because he was here. She was abruptly aware of it. In this room, glimpsed just now through the dwindling expo delegates. Grace pivoted neatly, stepped out of the hotel and out of her role, then ducked around the museum and into QEII Park. From there to Victoria Bridge. As she went – swiftly, seeking the shadows of the city – she removed and binn ..read more

EXCERPT: In the end, the grave wasn’t hard to find. It lay in the shadow of the tallest, most ostentatious monument in the cemetery, as dark, plain and flat as its neighbour was lofty, light and gaudy. The slab sported a single ugly embellishment – a coarse brown block erupting from its polished granite surface. where the epitaph should have read ‘Rest in Peace’ someone had stuck a clumsily engraved hunk of brick over ‘Peace’ to make the epitaph read ‘Rest in Hell’. ABOUT ‘THE GRAZIER’S SON’: When taking up an unexpected inheritance with an unhappy past, newcomer Stirling is daunted to find a ..read more

Goodreads is misbehaving today and has eaten the review I was going to post. Actually, that isn’t quite accurate. Apparently it is still there but there is some gremlin in the works today that means whenever I try to bring up any of my reviews, it just defaults back to the homepage. So I thought I would share with you the books I have selected for my April 2024 Aussie Reader’s Challenge. The featured author for April is Ann Cleeves. I have chosen to complete the hard level, which means that four or more of my nine selected reads must be by Australian Authors. #1. Ann Cleeves is best known for ..read more

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com Happy hump day! It’s a lovely quiet day at home today and I am enjoying it. I have just been pottering about taking care of small tasks that I have either been putting off or haven’t had time to do. The weather is sunny and breezy, but still warm. I’ve had five new ARC’s to read for review arrive in my inbox this week; three less than last week which is a relief! I really enjoyed The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain, and was excited to receive his new title, Becoming Ted. If Ted Ainsworth were to compare himself to one of the ice cream flavo ..read more