I Will Ruin You by Linwood Barclay

Today we have our review (non spoiler as always). Book blurb read out loud if you prefer than reading from the text. I also have captions as some folk struggle with my Scottish accent (I do slow it down and enunciate when reading the blurbs resulting in a poshy accent apparently lol shhh Laura). Click HERE for the book blurb to be read to ya.

Here is our non spoiler review, enjoy, perfect for reading anytime, we curled up with a blanket or duvet because it is freezing here.


I Will Ruin You by Linwood Barclay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1.5 days

Pages - 341

Publisher - HQ Stories

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

In the latest novel from New York Times bestselling author Linwood Barclay, a teacher’s act of heroism inadvertently makes him the target of a dangerous blackmailer who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

How would you react in a life-or-death situation?

It’s a question everyone asks themselves, but few have to face in real life. English teacher Richard Boyle certainly never thought he would find himself talking down a former student intent on harming others, but when Mark LeDrew shows up at Richard’s school with a bomb strapped to his chest, Richard immediately jumps into action. Thanks to some quick thinking, he averts a major tragedy and is hailed as a hero, but not all the attention focused on him is positive.

Richard’s brief moment in the spotlight puts him in the sights of a deranged blackmailer with a score to settle. The situation rapidly spirals out of control, drawing Richard into a fraught web of salacious accusations and deadly secrets. As he tries to uncover the truth he discovers that there’s something deeply wrong in the town—something that ties together Mark, the blackmailer, and a gang of ruthless drug dealers, and Richard has landed smack in the middle of it. He’s desperate to find a way out, but everyone in his life seems to be hiding something, and trusting the wrong person could cost him everything he loves.

What price will he pay for one good deed?


My Review

Ooft the opening chapter, an ex pupil comes to his old school with a bomb, teacher Richard Boyle goes directly to the threat and ends up making the news in their wee town. Despite Richard being the hero of the hour he soon finds himself in a situation of blackmail, something that could ruin not just his career, his life but everything he holds dear. Buckle in folks you are about to go on a wild ride!

The chapters are short (we LOVE that) and they switch between Richard and untitled but they basically focus on the other characters and back and forth. There is so much going on, Richards family life and responding to how he put himself in harms way and everything that follows. The people blackmailing Richard and their chaotic lives but also the people involved in their dodgy dealings. The other one being Marta, Richard's sister in law who is a cop and the interlinked between her investigation and things that bring crossover to her sister and Richard.

It is absolutely a thriller, page turner and does have some themes that folk may find triggering, drugs, sa mentioned, murder, violence, blackmail, relationship issues, investigation its a whole mixed bag. Despite going between characters it all flows well and has good pace, it has been a wee while since we read Barclay and we do have others on the tbrm. Perfect when you just want to escape reality and absorb into a whole world of choas, 4.5/5 for us. This is a standalone just make sure when you pick it up your day is clear because you are going to want to devour it!

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My Sister's Bones by Nuala Ellwood

My Sister's Bones by Nuala Ellwood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 400

Publisher - Penguin UK

Source - Given by a friend

Blurb from Goodreads

Are You Brave Enough To Go Back?

Kate Rafter is a successful war reporter. She's the strong one. The one who escaped Herne Bay and the memories it holds. Her sister Sally didn't. Instead, she drinks. But when their mother dies, Kate is forced to return to the old family home. And on her first night she is woken by a terrifying scream.

What secret has Kate stumbled upon?

And is she strong enough to uncover the truth . . . and make it out alive?


My Review

Well this was different and not what I was expecting at all, Kate is a reporter, covers war torn countries. Home now after finding her mother has died (she missed the funeral) and her sister Sally is still not speaking to her. Kate has PTSD, medicated to try and get through the recurring traumas, the first half of the book focuses on her being back home and facing old trauma from her past and alcoholic father. The second half of the book really changed in pace, we then go to Sally and see her POV of the things Kate told us she suffered as a kid, now we see Sally's version. Sally is an alcoholic and only when something forces through the haze of booze is Sally forced out of her bubble, further pushing her already strained marriage.

Warning, as well as things witnessed in an active/ongoing war country/flashbacks, we have memories of abuse/violence/DV/alcoholism/exploitation and a horrific scene of animal death. I wasn't prepared for it and despite maybe showing just how far Sally has falling I just don't think it was needed and the scene is brutal (its a bird).

The narrators are unreliable, it jumps about, it is really dark and whilst there were things I really didn't like there is no denying the book has a pull about it. It is a very dark read so proceed with caution, this was my first by this author, I would absolutely read them again. They have a knack for painting very vivid scenes and lots of it is brutal and gives authentic vibes, 3/5.

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The Wedding Dress Repair Shop by Trisha Ashley

The Wedding Dress Repair Shop by Trisha Ashley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 400

Publisher - Bantam press

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Can her heart be mended too? Garland Fairford has her dream job as a historical Costumier in London and is engaged to a handsome and successful playwright, Marco. Whilst working on an exhibition of dresses owned by a Victorian actress, Garland meets a long-lost relative - Honey Fairford. Garland, an orphan, is delighted, and intrigued to discover Honey is planning to open a wedding dress museum in Lancashire. When Garland loses her fiancé e and her job in the same week, she is excited to accept Honey's offer to work at the museum. Escaping London, and her old life, Garland is then shocked to be confronted with a ghost from her past - Thom. As Garland starts to repair the beautiful vintage wedding dresses for the museum, as well as her relationship with Thom, could this finally be the chance for her own happy-ever-after?


My Review

Duo timeline, present day with Garland a historical costumier her self absorbed fiancé who is a playwright and fixated on his new play. Honey is a very successful author who happens to be related to Garland and of course Marco wants to exploit that. We hate Marco! Anyway something kicks off and Garland ends up losing her job and taking up Honey's offer, to work at her new museum. What museum I hear you ask? Only one prompted by Honey's own story and links in with her new book. Wedding dresses of brides that didn't have their happy ever after and Garland will be repairing and restoring the dresses, collating their stories and sorting the displays. Asif Garland's life isn't turned upside down enough - when she flees to the small town she is faced with something from her past that pulls the rug out from under her.

Oooft Garland fair goes on a journey, did I say we hate Marco? He is narcissistic, self obsessed, inflated ego and just an absolute banger we do not like him. The book flips between present day and back to the past, diary format, of the original wearer of the dress Garland was working on before everything kicked off.

Little dramas, relationships, secrets, lies and a beautiful wee scene stealer in the form of an old judgey cat, I absolutely love him. Overall it isn't a book I would have picked up myself but I am so glad I got it sent because I really enjoyed it. Despite it having a fair few characters/scene switches it flows well and I really enjoyed it - I think this was possibly my first by this author, it won't be my last 4/5.

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The Baby Trail by Sinead Moriarty

The Baby Trail by Sinéad Moriarty
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 320

Publisher - Atria

Source - Friend gave me it

Blurb from Goodreads

Makeup artist Emma Hamilton is thirty-three when she and her husband James decide it's time to start a family. She has it all mapped out: Go off the pill in December, have sex, get pregnant by January, have the baby in September. With the help of a personal trainer, she figures she'll be back to her fighting weight in time for Christmas. But when three months of candle-scented sex fails to produce the desired result, Emma decides that maybe Mother Nature needs a helping hand.

Soon her life is a roller coaster of post-coital handstands (you can't argue with gravity), hormone-inducing (sanity-reducing!) drugs, and a veritable army of probing specialists (torturers, more like). It's out with alcohol and spontaneous sex, in with green tea and ovulation kits. Emma and James try everything from fertility drugs to in vitro, but all their carefully laid plans seem to go south -- along with Emma's rapidly plummeting self-esteem.

The members of her support team are unquestionably loyal, but distracted by their own personal dramas. There's Babs, her younger sister, who prescribes Emma half an Ecstasy pill to treat her depression. Her friend Jess is pregnant with her second child and gives Emma an earful about the downside of motherhood. The glamorous Lucy, Emma's closest pal, fears she might be stuck in her "single rut" forever -- that is, until she meets Donal, a rough-around-the-edges rugby player who passes out on their first date but quickly proves that he is worth a second chance. And last, but certainly not least, is James, Emma's rugby coach husband, who quite unhelpfully manages to give himself a groin injury just when she is ovulating.

But just when Emma feels as if her obsession may have alienated all of her loved ones, including James, events take a ninety-degree turn that will have unforeseen consequences for everyone.


My Review

Meet Emma, thirty three, Irish, happily married to an English guy and the time is right to have a baby. All seems straight forward but as the months go by and still no pregnancy Emma gets more erratic and obsessed. Her bestie is desperate for a date, her other pal has a baby and healthy sex life and Emma is getting it from all areas as her biological clock is ticking as folk like to keep pointing out.

I can't say I loved Emma, she is funny and God knows I felt heart sorry for her as she goes longer and longer unable to get pregnant. Before hormones take over and everything else she does say and do some questionable stuff. I did laugh out loud at some of her besties experiences with the rugby player and their date(s) and or aftermath.

The book deals with emotive and serious subjects infused with humour and showing just how much a woman goes through when conceiving doesn't come naturally. Easy enough for a wee poolside read, I think this was my first time reading this author, it wouldn't be the last. I think if you have struggled with pregnancy/conceiving this book with either resonate or maybe just be a wee bit too close to home, 3/5 from us.

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December Giveaway is now live

Hey guys I am so sorry it is the 15th of December and that is us just getting the competition up. We have had loads going on and this is the first chance.

As it is the run up to Christmas we have also been sorting the house, we love all the Christmas tat. Whilst I haven't had much time we are on our next festive read, "Murder At Holly House" by Denzil Meyrick.

For December because it is the middle of the month so I am just going to do a £15 Amazon voucher giveaway. I do apologise as these are UK only as Amazon won't allow me to gift outside my country. I will get a giveaway sorted that is open to all but I need to play it by ear, between visiting, prepping for Christmas, working and jugglig some other stuff. Tonight I am off & tomorrow so aiming to catch up on reviews, house stuff. chill, book, dp just all the wee bits/self care.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Buried Too Deep by Karen Rose

Buried Too Deep by Karen Rose
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over a week

Pages - 517

Publisher - Headline

Source - Netgalley and bought copy

Blurb from Goodreads

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose comes another explosive novel in the New Orleans series, where some secrets are worth dying for—or killing to keep.

Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead.

Employed as the nighttime security guard of Broussard Private Investigations, Phineas Bishop has been working through overwhelming PTSD episodes from his Army service while still utilizing his military skills. But when a violent break-in occurs at the office, the accusatory eyes of the NOPD glance to Phin, and he resolves to track down the intruder and clear his name.

Phin’s only lead and witness is Cora Winslow, a spirited librarian who also needs answers. Her father’s body has been discovered under a recently demolished building, murdered twenty-three years ago. So, who has been sending her the handwritten letters—written and signed by him—every year since she was five? Someone wants to keep Cora in the dark. And now, they’re coming for her.

As Cora’s bodyguard, Phin is surprised by his fondness for the woman’s fierce determination and research prowess. But New Orleans’s Garden District holds secrets as old as the streets themselves. With help from the entire Broussard P.I. team, Phin and Cora enter a labyrinth of fraud and homicide that threatens to bury them all.


My Review

The book opens with a shooting/execution then flips forward to present day Phineas Bishop is recovering/dealing with PTSD - working security at Broussard Private Investigations. When Cora J Winslow comes into the office needing help, her father has been found dead, died over 20 years ago however Cora has been getting letters from him all this time. The police aren't interested and soon Cora is being hunted and targeted but she doesn't know why. Phineas becomes her bodyguard, the squad take on her case and starts digging, what could be driving someone to hunt Cora and what is it she has that they want?

As with Rose books we always have a bit of spice, this one only has a little less than I remember from the others but still if you haven't read her before this is your heads up, there is some spice! We split between Cora and co and the bad guy so as the reader we are clued in a bit to what is going down.

This is book 3 of the New Orleans series, I don't know if I have read the previous ones and if I have it has been a while so you can absolutely read it as a standalone. There are themes and scenes with behaviours relating to PTSD and the long lasting/reaching affects it has, not only on the individual but their loved ones and daily life.

I do enjoy Rose books and I like how we have characters that have been in other series or maybe I am just thinking of the previous book(s), I need to check my blog/Goodreads, 4/5.

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A Mother's Revenge by Alex Kane

A Mother's Revenge by Alex Kane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 358

Publisher - Hera

Source - Review copy & bought

Blurb from Goodreads

A mother will stop at nothing to protect her family

Cheryl Davidson was happy with husband Leo, watching her beloved son, Dean, grow into a handsome young man, dreaming of the paths his life would take, the grandchildren he would bring home.

Until the day that Dean was murdered, his body dumped in an isolated scrapyard with a bullet in his head, and Cheryl’s world exploded.

Discovering that Dean had been mixed up in the underworld of the Glasgow crime world, and worst of all, that Leo had brought him in, means that Cheryl’s sanity is hanging by a thread.

Overwhelmed by grief and with no one left to trust, Cheryl plans to take deadly retribution on the family that caused her son to be killed, vowing that they should suffer her same pain.

Cheryl might be up against the formidable Janey Hallahan, the woman who runs Glasgow gangland with guns and fear, but Janey and the Hallahans might discover that a grieving mother with nothing to lose might be the most dangerous opponent of all…

A heart-stopping, gritty gangland thriller that fans of Kimberley Chambers and Jacqui Rose won't be able to put down.



My Review

This is marked as a standalone BUT it does feature characters from the previous book, you can read this as a standalone but I absolutely recommend reading "Two Sisters". Cheryl Davidson is a woman on a mission, her son has been murdered, she blames her husband and his boss, if it wasn't for him/them Dean would still be alive. She doesn't just blame them, she blames Janey and her grand daughter Molly Rose and they are the full focus for her revenge. How do you get close to a female gangster type? Cheryl has a plan in place and she will get her revenge and take all of Janey's family down.

Guys this one, like the previous has some really shady ugly awful characters, there is people trafficking and all the abuse that goes with it, drugs, violence, murder, it is a full bag! Janey is reeling and still trying to recover after being run off the road, the love of her life is in a coma, one daughter gone, another in rehab and Molly Rose it trying to get back to normal. A new threat is coming, they are looking over their shoulder constantly trying to figure out who is after them.

The book is quite fast paced, there is always something going on, some skulduggery, revenge plan. In amongst that and themes of recovery we have Cheryl who is slowly falling apart, torn up by her grief and driven by her rage and thirst for revenge we follow her as she pursues justice for her son.

The depths of depravity, people using and abusing others for profit and getting their kicks, despite it being fiction I think because you know stuff like this goes on in parts of the world, you are hoping for retribution, 4/5.

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