Do No Harm by Jack Jordan

Do No Harm by Jack Jordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 432

Publisher - Simon & Schuster

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

My son has been taken. And I’ve been given a choice…
Kill a patient on the operating table. Or never see him again.

The man lies on the table in front of me.
As a surgeon, it’s my job to save him.
As a mother, I know I must kill him.
You might think that I’m a monster.
But there really is only one choice.
I must get away with murder.
Or I will never see my son again.

I’VE SAVED MANY LIVES.
WOULD YOU TRUST ME WITH YOURS?



My Review

Oooft, fast paced/tense! We have Anna, renowned surgeon, Margot who is a theatre nurse and Rachel is a cop. We bounce between the three as the story unravels, we meet the characters, get to know them and from the very beginning - well even the blurb we know the jist. A surgeon is told - kill your patient or you kids dies instead and leave absolutely no room for second guessing.

So talk about a bunch of characters you don't like, meet this lot, individuals who should be trusted but are dodgy. Anna, surgeon, cold fish, unlikeable even a self saboteur in some instances (pre this horrible predicament), Margot, nurse and has some very questionable life choices/work *ethic*.

We bounce from one disaster to another, shady behaviours and choices and I don't just mean the bad guys, offt. Thrilling, shocking, violent, murders it is a very full bag and keeps the reader enrapt and guessing, what is coming next!

I didn't like a lot of the characters but even the dodgy/shady ones I absolutely wanted to know what was coming next. I also wanted to slap a few of them lol, sometimes you love to love characters and sometimes the ones you hate are just as captivating - if not more so, 4/5 for me!

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The Housewife by Alex Kane

The Housewife by Alex Kane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 278

Publisher - Hera Books

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Even perfect mothers have secrets…

Leah. She’s the perfect mum to ten-year-old Samuel, wife to loving husband Thomas, head of the PTA. But her closet is full of skeletons - and if the truth gets out, her world could be destroyed.

Annie. She’s the gangster’s moll with a brain. She might be a woman, but she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty to play the men at their own game. But what no one knows is the devastating secret haunting her.

Terry. He’s the king of Glasgow gangland, working his way up from estate to mansion. From drugs to guns, there’s nothing he won’t stop at to grow his dirty money. He might be a hard man, but his weakness is women.

As their three stories collide, the lives of each will never be the same. Because even perfect women hide dark secrets… Don’t they?


My Review

We open with someone being buried alive and trying to crawl out but the dirt keeps coming! Ooft nice shock opener. Meet Terry, gangster boss who keeps a tight leash on what is it, respect is earned and disrespected dealt with, harshly. We have two leading ladies in the book and flip between both, Annie seemingly comes from nowhere into Terry's life and fits in perfectly. Leah is miles away from the estate life and living with her hubby and 10 year old son Samuel. She has the PTA, drinks with the girls and a pretty tidy/nice life. As with all these types of books, everyone has secrets and things they need to hide but some are worse than others and some you just cannot outrun!

A lot of the scenes take place in the murkier parts so we see neglect, manipulation, drugs, coercion, shady and bad characters oh and murder of course! The book setting is Mainshill Estate in Glasgow, Mainshill Estate is fictional but absolutely drawn from real estates and if you are familiar with Glasgow then there are places you will absolutely recognise, see inspired Mainshill.

We see a glimpse of some of the darker side of humanity, the chapters are quite short and Kane creates a small world of dodgies, crime/gangsters and those who hang off their coat tails wanting a piece of the pie, ruled by them and the world they live in. 4/5 for me this time, perfect escapism with some shade, violence and stepping into a world of hardened criminals and some right dodgy biscuits :D

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The One by John Marrs

The One by John Marrs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 418

Publisher - Del Rey

Source - friend sent me

Blurb from Goodreads

How far would you go to find The One?

A simple DNA test is all it takes. Just a quick mouth swab and soon you’ll be matched with your perfect partner the one you are genetically made for.

That’s the promise made by Match Your DNA. A decade ago, the company announced that they had found the gene that pairs each of us with our soul mate. Since then, millions of people around the world have been matched. But the discovery has its downsides: test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of dating, romance and love.

Now five very different people have received the notification that they’ve been “Matched.” They’re each about to meet their one true love. But “happily ever after” isn’t guaranteed for everyone. Because even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking than others…

A word-of-mouth hit in the United Kingdom, The One is a fascinating novel that shows how even the simplest discoveries can have complicated consequences.



My Review

Mandy, Christopher, Jade, Nick and Ellie are our main characters and we alternate bouncing between them and chapters. The One is around everyone being able to swab and send off your DNA and you are notified when they find The One, you exact DNA match. You have to pay to get their details and there have been mixed reactions. Happy couples split up, families torn apart and your match isn't always your matched gender. We see the book follow the stories of the five main characters and how taking the test & finding their The One impacts on their lives.

So if that wasn't enough to wet your whistle one of them is a murderer, serial killer, brutally murders women purely for his own kicks, the women doesn't even get names because it is their routine/accessibility that matters to him so he can fulfil his sick urges.

The book centres around relationships and how finding your "The One" can impact your life, some get their happy ever after, some will never be the same and how would something like this impact on a sociopathic serial killer.

My reading mojo is a bit up and down, I read this in one day, I do like Marrs writing, he makes some of the most shocking characters, shady people and scenarios, car crash style you struggle to look away from. I am super nosey so when I get interested in a story line I just want to sink into it and see where it goes. Short chapters too which always makes me happy especially if you are struggling with your concentration, 4/5.

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The Defence by Steve Cavanagh

The Defence by Steve Cavanagh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 3 days

Pages - 320

Publisher - Orion

Source - Gfift

Blurb from Goodreads

The truth has no place in a courtroom. The truth doesn't matter in a trial.

The only thing that matters is what the prosecution can prove.

Eddie Flynn used to be a con artist. Then he became a lawyer. Turned out the two weren't that different.

It's been over a year since Eddie vowed never to set foot in a courtroom again. But now he doesn't have a choice. Olek Volchek, the infamous head of the Russian mafia in New York, has strapped a bomb to Eddie's back and kidnapped his ten-year-old daughter Amy.

Eddie only has 48 hours to defend Volchek in an impossible murder trial - and win - if wants to save his daughter.

Under the scrutiny of the media and the FBI, Eddie must use his razor-sharp wit and every con-artist trick in the book to defend his 'client' and ensure Amy's safety. With the timer on his back ticking away, can Eddie convince the jury of the impossible?

Lose this case and he loses everything.



My Review

If you have followed my reviews or bookish accounts (always_reading on insta, smbslt on TT/Twitter) then it is no surprise I LOVE Eddie Flynn. What may surprise is I came to the series late so still had the first three to read. This is book one in the Flynn series, Eddie is a lawyer but he also has a history of being a gifted conman, slight of hand, pickpocket etc. This makes Eddie unique in that he still has some contacts from his old life but he is also a good guy, he has morals too. He is forced to defend a bad guy with a huge empire and string of bad guys behind him and has no problem letting Eddie know just how high the steaks are, you lose my case you lose someone precious to you!

Ooft drama galore, we see Eddie work his magic/charm in the courtroom but also try to keep a step ahead of the bad guys who are watching his every move. Eddie is super cool under pressure and the curve balls just keep coming at him.

It is so nice learning a bit more about who Eddie is and where he got to the place he is today. If you have never read Cavanagh books before this is a perfect place to start, Eddie origins. If you have you can still read this as a standalone. Action, shocks, murder, skulduggery and some brilliant choices/play by Eddie when he is under so much stress and has so so much to lose. 5/5 for me, I have the next two in the series and can't wait to sink into them, just need to find which of my hunners of books shelves I have put them on!

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Hello from sunny Spain

I haven't took my laptop with my and we were last here 2020 so a lot has changed. There are no PCs in the main hotel. I was sick not long after we got here and ended up having to see the resort doctor. So despite no alcohol, lots of meds and sleep I have managed to read a fair bit. If you are going to be ill at least warm weather, nice view and books is the way to do it.

Some of the piccys/books, o/h has read a few too. The hotel has had a few wee changes since our last visit. xxx

Where Winter Finds You by J R Ward

Where Winter Finds You by J.R. Ward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages -

Publisher -

Source -

Blurb from Goodreads

When Trez lost his beloved to a tragic death (The Shadows, Black Dagger Brotherhood #13), his soul was crushed and his destiny seemed relegated to suffering. But when he meets a mysterious female, he becomes convinced his true love has been reincarnated. Is he right? Or has his grief created a disastrous delusion?

Therese has come to Caldwell to escape a rift with her bloodline. The revelation that she was adopted and not born into her family shakes the foundations of her identity, and she is determined to make it on her own. Her attraction to Trez is not what she’s looking for, except the sexy Shadow proves to be undeniable.

Has fate provided a grieving widower with a second chance...or is Trez too blinded by the past to see the present for what it really is? In this sensual, arresting book full of the themes of redemption and self-discovery, two lost souls find themselves at a crossroads where the heart is the only compass that can be trusted...but that may require a courage that neither of them possesses.



My Review

If you are a fan of the Trez and Selena story then you will enjoy this book as we follow Trez whilst he is still wallowing in his grief and his meeting of Therese. She looks so much like Selena, they both feel a connection and we go from there. Therese popped up briefly at the end of one of the other books am sure and this is picking up from there. She has her own history and wanting to stand on her own two feet, Trez is a pull that she cannot ignore and it is absolutely mutual. She has no idea of his past and he is doing his best to deal with the attraction and grief.

The book may be a little tough in places if you have lost someone as you can feel the grief part hitting the emotionals. As with Ward's books there is of course erotic scenes of a graphic nature or as someone recently taught me the term after talking about this, gothic porn lmao.

Some of our faves from the Brotherhood appear, just little parts as the whole thing revolves around Trez and Therese, if you like the series you will enjoy this one too, 4/5 for me.

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