From the Archive Review: The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

Title: The One Plus One
Author: Jojo Moyes
Publisher: Penguin
Reviewed on Goodreads: 19th August 2013
Publication Date: 27th February 2014
Pages: 544
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon

One single mum: With two jobs and two children, Jess Thomas does her best day after day. But it's hard on your own. And sometimes you take risks you shouldn't. Because you have to...

One chaotic family: Jess's gifted, quirky daughter Tanzie is brilliant with numbers, but without a helping hand she'll never get the chance to shine. And Nicky, Jess's teenage stepson, can't fight the bullies alone. Sometimes Jess feels like they're sinking...

One handsome stranger: Into their lives comes Ed Nicholls, a man whose life is in chaos, and who is running from a deeply uncertain future. But he has time on his hands. He knows what it's like to be lonely. And he wants to help...

One unexpected love story: The One Plus One is a captivating and unconventional romance from Jojo Moyes about two lost souls meeting in the most unlikely circumstances.

From the Archive Review: Vodka Doesn't Freeze by Leah Giarratano

Title: Vodka Doesn't Freeze
Author: Leah Giarratano
Publisher: Random House Australia
Reviewed on Goodreads: 12th August 2013
Publication Date: 1st May 2010
Pages: 322
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon

When a middle-aged man is brutally murdered in the dunes overlooking a children's pool, it's immediately clear to Sergeant Jill Jackson that this was no ordinary victim: someone has stopped a dangerous paedophile in his tracks. Knowing first-hand the impact of such men on their prey, Jill is ambivalent about pursuing the killer, but when more men die - all known to police as child sex offenders - she is forced to face the fact that a serial killer is on the loose.

As the investigation deepens, Jill unearths a long-established Sydney paedophile ring - a club of wealthy men who have thought until now that that they are untouchable. Despite the deaths of some of its members, the club is still operating and until Jill can shut it down, children are still in grave danger. As she faces predators and their victims, a psychotherapist losing her mind, and her own nightmares come to life, Jill is forced to decide whether or not she really wants to catch this killer.

Review: Season of Fear by Brian Freeman (4/5)

Lake Wales, Central Florida. Ten years ago, a political fundraiser became a bloodbath when a hooded assassin carried out a savage public execution. Three men were massacred, casting a dark shadow over the Sunshine State.

A decade on, history is threatening to repeat itself. The widow of one victim, herself now running for governor, has received an anonymous threat – a newspaper clipping from that fateful day, along with the chilling words ‘I’m back.’

Florida detective Cab Bolton agrees to investigate the threat against this candidate, Diane Fairmont: an attractive politician who has a complicated history with Cab’s mother, Hollywood actress Tarla Bolton – and with Cab himself.

But by doing so, Cab is entering dangerous waters. Fairmont’s political party is itself swamped in secrecy – a fact that, unknown to Cab, has led one of its junior staff to start asking very sensitive questions about the death of a party employee.

Both Cab and this young researcher, Peach Piper, are digging up the kind of dirt that ten years can’t wash away. And as the powerful crosswinds of state politics swirl around Cab and Peach, and the threat of a tropical storm hangs over Florida, this whirlwind of pressure and chaos will ultimately unearth a poisonous conspiracy, and reawaken a killer who has lain dormant for a decade.

From The Archive: All Of Me by Claire Richards (5/5)

Read and reviewed February 2013

Claire Richards, young, fit and with a figure to die for, reached the dizzying heights of fame in the hit band Steps when she was only twenty. When she left, and Steps split shortly after, the world was shocked by the news. Now, writing with incredible honesty, Claire tells her story, from her teenage music career to her big break with Steps. She reveals that while in the band she faced harsh pressure to stay thin, and starved herself for years. Feeling broken by the experience, she finally left and sank into a pit of depression, gaining huge amounts of weight and losing all self-esteem. Believing her career was over, she also had to cope with a painful split from her Steps dancer husband. Thankfully finding love with her now husband, Reece, got her back on track. He didn't care about her size; he just wanted Claire. And, after seeing her weight go up and down for years, Claire has refused to diet any more. Happily married, with two kids, she's finally comfortable in her own skin on stage and screen. In this book, with humour, grace and sincerity, she shares her journey to her happy ending.

From The Archive: About A Girl by Lindsey Kelk (5/5)

Read and reviewed June 2013

 

I’d lost my job. I’d lost the love of my life. My mum wasn’t talking to me. My best friend was epically pissed off. And my flatmate probably had a hit out on me by now. I never meant for things to get so out of hand…

Tess Brookes has always been a Girl with a Plan. But when her carefully constructed Plan goes belly up, she’s forced to reconsider.

After accidently answering her flatmate Vanessa’s phone, she decides that since being Tess isn’t going so well, why shouldn’t she try out being Vanessa? With nothing left to lose, she accepts Vanessa’s photography assignment to Hawaii – she used to be an amateur snapper, how hard can it be? Right?

But Tess is soon in big trouble – she isn’t a photographer, she isn’t Vanessa, and the gorgeous journalist on the shoot with her, who is making it very clear he’d like to get into her pants, is an egotistical monster.

Far from home and in someone else’s shoes, Tess must decide whether to fight on through, or ‘fess up and run…

From The Archive: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (5/5)

Read and Reviewed August 2013

 

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. 

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

 Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. 

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

From The Archive: The Street by Kay Brellend (5/5)

Read and Reviewed April 2013

'Campbell Road was home to the most notorious criminals: thieves, prostitutes, fraudsters -- every sort of rogue and vagabond drifted through this slum.' Life was tough ! but so were they Alice Keiver is a sensitive girl, growing up in one of the roughest parts of North London. As the daughter of an alcoholic mother, and niece of an abusive uncle, she dreams that one day she and her baby sister will escape their rotten surroundings. Alice's father, Jack Keiver, works day and night to provide for his family. But his hopes for a better life are dashed each time he returns home to find the money-jar raided and his feisty wife Tilly collapsed drunk in the corner. In the room below, Alice's downtrodden Aunt Fran spends most of her days nursing the injuries inflicted on her by her cruel husband Jimmy -- but this time he's pushed the family too far and they're not going to let him get away with it. Revenge is going to be sweet.

From the Archive: One By One by Chris Carter (5/5)

Today's From the Archive is for readers who are yet to discover who I think is one of the best crime fiction authors out there, Chris Carter. Chris writes the sort of crime fiction that I just love the read. It's certainly not for the faint hearted or squeamish. The ways he finds for his victims to be killed are certainly unique and, dare I say it, fantastic. I just love reading his books and he has also created one of the best fictional detectives in Robert Hunter. Book 6 is out soon but until then crime fans new to this author have five books to read and enjoy!

Book read and reviewed August 2013

From the Archive: Gone by Michael Grant (5/5)

Okay so I read about this book on Goodreads one day and just loved the sound of it. Then when I saw the coloured page edges I had to have it! I immediately reserved at Waterstone's (as that's cheaper if you didn't know) and bought it the next day. I couldn't stop looking at it but eventually started reading it and I loved it! Michael Grant's Gone series/The Fayz whatever you want to call it is one of the best YA series out there and I don't see a lot of other blogs or Twitter friends talking about it so hopefully some of you will pick it up soon because I love it!

Read and reviewed in April 2013.

From the Archive: My James: The Heartrending Story of James Bulger by His Father by Ralph Bulger

Another book I reviewed before setting up the blog which I would like to share with people, strongly reccommend this book.

Book read and reviewed March 2013.



A powerful, heartfelt and moving account of his son's murder and his fight for justice by Ralph Bulger

James Bulger was just a few weeks shy of his third birthday when, on 12 February 1993, he wandered away from his mum Denise in a shopping mall in Bootle. Grainy images from a security camera showed him trustingly holding the hand of ten-year-old Jon Venables as they walked away. Venables and his friend Robert Thompson murdered James, in a crime that shocked the world.

In this haunting book, James' father Ralph describes how his world fell apart in the days that followed. In his darkest hours he drank to numb the pain, and the stress tore his marriage apart. He tells how he learned to cope with his grief, but the sorrow of James' death has never left him. He discusses the long legal battle to see justice for his son, as he tried to prevent his killers being released early, and his continuing fight to see them behind bars where they can't hurt anyone else. Above all, he pays tribute to his son, an adorable, cheeky boy whose bright smile brought joy to his family's lives.

From the Archive: The Trap by Kimberley Chambers (5/5)

From the Archive is going to be me adding some of my favourite reviews I've posted to Goodreads onto the blog each day. Seemed like a good way to add my reviews from before the blog was started onto the blog and hopefully get them read at the same time rather than quietly adding them where nobody will see! Hope you enjoy and perhaps discover a book you haven't yet read!

Day 1 goes to one of my favourite authors and my favourite book of 2013, The Trap by Kimberley Chambers.