Crave by J R Ward

Crave by J.R. Ward
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 4 days

Pages - 454

Publisher - Piatkus

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Seven deadly sins. Seven souls that must be saved. One more no-holds-barred battle between a fallen angel with a hardened heart and a demon with everything to lose.

Isaac Rothe is a black ops soldier with a dark past and a grim future. The target of an assassin, he finds himself behind bars, his fate in the hands of his gorgeous public defender Grier Childe. His hot attraction to her can only lead to trouble—and that's before Jim Heron tells him his soul is in danger. Caught up in a wicked game with the demon who shadows Jim, Isaac must decide whether the soldier in him can believe that true love is the ultimate weapon against evil.



My Review

Jim Heron is still coming to grips with his new found status, learning his "powers" and trying to do his best in the fight for souls to save humanity. With his helpers (Adrian & Eddie) they have their new target to save, Isaac Rothe, prev black ops and now fighting for money he finds himself jailed, a beautiful/powerful attorney assigned to him and being hunted by an assassin with heavy duty power behind them. Torn between his feelings and keeping her safe, Isaac tries to flee but his defender won't walk away, she is like a dog with a bone.

The book has so much going on, good vs evil, humanity, human weakness, evil, angels, she devil demon, Isaac being targeted by some serious professional bad guys but so much is connected. I think that is the thing with Ward, the writing is carved and designed to pull you in and even, dare I say, feel a bit of sadness for the baddy?

As with Ward's books there are adult spicy scenes so if you are new to the books fyi. We follow Jim and co trying to save the world with very little guidance and also get to hear from the evil one alongside Isaac as he tries to get through one day at a time. He has done and seen some badness in his time but Isaac isn't a bad guy.

I liked this one I didn't love it, I felt like I was missing a huge part, like are we going to see any of these souls/characters being fought for again? If not we are abruptly cut from their story, like stuff i really just getting going and then the book ends. There are a fair few of the books in this series but is it just each book is their story then done? If so I do feel a wee bit lacking. The tension between Isaac and Grier (his lawyer) is good, spicy if a bit I will, I won't I will I won't ish but still, I thought Isaac deserved a break. Matthias and Devina, hearing from them was good/riveting and would have liked more. Jim I hope we get more time spent on him because for being the chosen one he is still a bit in the dark about what he is able to do and not although his pals are a bit more versed in what they do. Defo still got questions but I did like it, just not love, 3.5/5.

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Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers by Alexander McCall Smith

Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 295

Publisher - Abacus

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

It's not that poor Bertie Pollock is wishing his life away, but having anticipated his 7th birthday for so long he's now longing to be 18. But there's a lot of living to do and Bertie isn't alone amongst the residents of Scotland Street in trying to do just that - with mixed fortunes.


My Review


Aw wee Bertie, all he wants it to be a little boy and do all the things wee boys get to to but his mum, Irene is a total nightmare. Bertie is smart there is no denying it but Irene has him enrolled in activities she is interested in rather than the wean. Even what he wears, gifts nothing is really with him in mind but it is done with comedic turns on it. Well finally Bertie gets a wee bit of freedom in this book and Irene papped out the picture for a little while (I am looking forward to the next book to see how that plays out).

The series focuses on the characters that live in 44 Scotland street, their daily troubles/activities/interactions and of course Cyril the dog with the gold tooth. This book is more Bertie centric and we finally see him getting that most coveted gift that every wee boy wants. If you haven't read the other book I don't know if you would get as much out of this one, I actually really liked this because I have invested in the others and know all of what they have went though up to this point.

Antonia is back for a visit and has a nun with her, I forgot how pompous she is but it brings another flavour and the nun, whilst only in small parts blended well, you do feel for Angus and Domenica. You do laugh and snigger at these books, it is absolutely like a soap opera or I often say like Friends but an across the range of ages, Bertie and his wee school classmates, Bruce the beautiful narcissist, Pat has a love interest - will this one turn out better than her past escapades. Matthew the triplets, au pairs dramas, is Big Lou finally getting a happy ever after or more dramas.

Very easy reads and I do look forward to seeing what they group are up to next, whilst we do see/hear from all the characters some are more focused on in each book, this one is Bertie's time to shine, 4/5. I have already ordered the next book in the series.

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Waiting for the Miracle by Anna McPartlin

Waiting for the Miracle by Anna McPartlin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 397

Publisher - Zaffre

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

2010

Caroline has hit rock bottom. After years of trying, it's clear she can't have children, and the pain has driven her and her husband apart. She isn't pregnant, her husband is gone and her beloved dog is dead.

The other women at her infertility support group have their own problems, too. Natalie's girlfriend is much less excited about having children than her. Janet's husband might be having an affair. And then there's Ronnie, intriguing, mysterious Ronnie, who won't tell anyone her story.

1976

Catherine is sixteen and pregnant. Her boyfriend wants nothing to do with her, and her parents are ashamed. When she's sent away to a convent for pregnant girls, she is desperate not to be separated from her child. But she knows she might risk losing the baby forever.




My Review

Split over a duo timeline with multicharacters, 1976 we meet Catherine a girl who falls for sweet talk and ends up in a horrible position and sent to the nuns. Present day, well 2010 and we meet Caroline, desperate for children, attending group for women also finding it difficult to conceive. We flip between both timelines, a pregnancy with a young girl and in that time the stigma and struggles that come with it. To Caroline and the group of unlikely friends all going through their own struggles, all very different.

The book packs an emotional punch, we feel for poor Catherine who gets heartache and disappointment again and again with very much there but the grace of God go I vibes. Then the obsession, heartache, trials and tribulations of trying to get pregnant, loss, relationship impact, devastation ooft it is heartbreaking. Whilst all that sounds so dark and it is very emotive it also has lightness, joy, irish humour, love, friendship, strength and determination, so so very much determination for all of the issues these women face.

McPartlin has a way of writing characters that you can't help but investing in and or relating to. Drawing a wealth of emotions and reactions as we experience everything the ladies are as we have reveals and more exposures to their daily lives and getting back up again when they go through some of the lowest times and battles a woman can face. 4.5/5 for me, I have read McPartlin before and sure I have one or two others on my tbrm.

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A Savage Generation by David Tallerman

A Savage Generation by David Tallerman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 352

Publisher - Flame Tree Press

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Sickness is ravaging America, driving the infected to savagery. Petty criminal Ben Silensky is determined to get his girlfriend Carlita and son Kyle free of the quarantined city they live in, enough so to risk a foolhardy crime and then to team up with Carlita's equally desperate cop cousin Nando. Once they're out, Nando is certain they'll find a place in the open prison where his uncle works, unbeknownst to him already become a survivalist colony named Funland under the management of entrepreneurial convict Plan John. In Funland itself, guard Doyle Johnson is shocked when his ex-wife abandons his son Austin into his care. Fearing the vulnerable position he's been placed in, he recruits the help of Katherine Aaronovich, the former prison's doctor. But Aaronovich's traumatic past has left her with vulnerabilities of her own, along with radical theories on the nature of the epidemic that will place all their lives in jeopardy. As the last vestiges of civilisation crumble, Funland may prove to be the safest or the most dangerous of places, depending on who comes out on top - and what can't be held together will inevitably be torn apart. FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.


My Review

A city under quarentine, the "sickies" are people who have became infected, becoming aggressive and little more than animals at certain stages. Ben wants out with his kid and girlfriend and he knows exactly where to go, "Funland" previously a prison. There are still prisoners and guards but there is an understanding and Ben and co figure it has to be safer in there than it is out here.

So it is giving 28 days later meets the walking dead vibes, the infected are still human but they beat/murder/destroy and are highly contagious. The majority is set in the prison so that is what was giving me echoes of the walking dead along with the power struggles. There is a female doctor and one of the guards is a really good guy who is tough and respected, he helps smuggle Carlita in because it is still a male's prison and her being discovered would be devastating.

I liked the idea of this but did love a lot of it. I felt the atmosphere was well portrayed and I absolutely wanted to know where it was going. When I read it I felt maybe this was book one and setting up for the second yet it isn't, it is a standalone which again left me a bit meh. Like so much of what they went through and did almost seemed pointless at times, like really all that for that?

That being said am sure many will love it, it gives you glimpses of some of the pathetic and bad sides to humanity, Ben ugh I had very little respect for him. Like it was as if he didn't really know who he was or who he wanted to be, he was, to me, a weak guy, I just couldn't with him by the end of the book.

I liked the doctor and would have liked to have had more exploration on what she was doing/looking into. I felt like so much of the story had unanswered or only briefly touched on issues/themes so I think it would be good if the author did go back to this and make more, maybe a series?

It is quite dark at times, I found the more we learned about this sickies, as the story went on the more I wanted to know about them. How they progressed, the ones we met in the book, I would have loved more of there stories, before, during and after but also the meat/origins of the outbreak. For all of that 3/5 for me, tense, dark, horrible characters with a very small mix of decent ones, it is worth a read because I do think many will love it, I am just a fussy potatoe!

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A Mother's Struggle by Kitty Neale

A Mother's Struggle by Kitty Neale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 1 day

Pages - 378

Publisher - Avon books

Source - RAK/fairy

Blurb from Goodreads

When Pearl's ex-husband Kevin was sent to prison she left her old life in Battersea behind, determined to protect her son from the truth about his father. But when her dear friend Bessie dies, she is forced to return to the one place she'd rather forget.

While Pearl makes plans to take over Bessie's shop, Kevin is released from jail and begins to swindle his parents for money. Once he gets what he wants, he'll soon be after his child.

Pearl will do whatever it takes to keep her boy out of his father's reach - but will it be enough?



My Review

We have read a fair few of Neale's books so I could have sworn I recognised the characters and maybe they do pop up in the other books as passing characters. I checked and according to Fantasticfiction it is a standalone and previously published under another name. Anyways, Pearl left Battersea after things had gone wrong for her and it is a small town and scandal tends to follow you forever, noone forgets. When circumstances mean Pearl, her husband and kid have to go back she knows she can't keep the past from her child, much as she wants to protect him. Especially when his biological father, Kevin, a wrong yin, is getting out of jail and towns folk gossip. Kevin protrays himself as a man of God now, changed and willing to mend his ways but not only has Kevin not changed but he has plans that will forever change all of their lives.

Ooooh guys, the things with these books are we get characters who, love or hate them, you can't stop reading. Kevin's mum has issues with her mental health and she is also quite a devious woman whose no.1 priority is her angel of a son. The things that she will say and do is nothing short of wicked and she isn't the only one who is shady. We also meet some violent men who have money, muscle, weapons and will do what they need to to protect what they feel is theirs.

Violence, death, threats, secrets, lies, poisoned tongued people ooft it is a mixed bag or questionable morals, aggression and choices that affect not just the people making them. We also see the good side of people and I think that is why it is so easy to loose yourself in this type of book. You have the mundane every day issues/things/small town setting/gossip but then the darker side, manipulation, threats, aggression, violence etc. We have read a few of Neale's and have some more on our TBRM and will eventually get the whole back catalogue, 4/5 for us this time.

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End Of Story by Louise Swanson

End of Story by Louise Swanson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 320

Publisher - Hodder Books

Source - Netgalley & bought a treebook copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Once upon a time, there was a writer named Fern.

She was a bestseller. An award-winner. Loved by readers and critics alike. With her words, she changed the world.

Until her story took a turn.

Now Fern is a cleaner in a hospital. Condemned to anonymity. Because reading books is now a crime.

Only, Fern doesn't plan on going down without a fight. She'll keep writing, no matter the consequences. She will make her voice heard.

Because Fern's story is only beginning.

But can you guess how it will end?


My Review

Imagine a world where fiction is banned, authors have had their books/awards removed from them, gains from said books taken, the government isn't here to play. Meet Fern, Fern had only just really got into her stride as an author, published books, best sellers, events, signings, money rolling in, everything was looking up especially after everything she had been through. Now present day she is merely existing, doing a job she hates, not allowed contact with any other fiction writers, living in a home that gets period checks to make sure she is behaving and not writing. Fern isn't ready to give up and slowly finds herself rebelling.

What a wild ride and I wasn't sure what all was going on or where it was going which kept me on edge. Fern works as a cleaner at a hospital, had an aversion to the smell of milk and tries to stay off the radar. Whilst working she hears some really shady stuff, stuff similar to the out there fiction she created and the people from the government become increasingly more threatening and intrusive to her life/space.

I think whilst the initial idea you would be like oh that would never happen, recent years I think has showed us just how insane the world can get/be at times. Government included. The story is told with Fern writing diary entries so we get the chat directly from her as she tries to process her feelings and thoughts as she goes.

I really liked the tea guy, he isn't a huge character by any means but seems a tiny glimpse of normality, almost a lifeline for Fern as she is so lonely and untrusting of everyone. It is an interesting concept and when you think you know where the book is going or what is coming, you don't. To be fair I am terrible trying to work out who the bad guy is or what is coming but even those good at it I don't think you will with this one because it is such a different idea/theme and as I was reading, I didn't trust anyone lol. This is the first book I have read by Louise Swanson (I have read under her other/original pen name) and it won't be my last. I have at least one more on my tbrm (Beech) and will get the others, 4/5 from us. It is certainly different so if you are looking for something of a change that also looks at shady government behaviours, unscrupulous behaviours in the NHS/healthcare, friendship, mental health, grief, shady characters and a world where fiction is banned, then this is for you!

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