Review: A Winter Memory by Lulu Taylor

Lulu Taylor writes fabulous family dramas, set over dual timelines. In this story we follow Tigs's story onward from 1968 and Helen's on from 2001, and discover how they are both connected to the beautiful Ballintyre House in Scotland.

Helen is married to Hamish, the younger of the Ballintyre brothers. They met as students and Helen fell in love, not just with Hamish but with the romantic Ballintyre family and their beautiful house on the edge of a loch. But marriage to Hamish has not proved happy.

Now, years later and with a family, Helen and Hamish have been forced to move back to live at Ballintyre with his older brother, Charlie. Helen is surprised to find that Sylla, Charlie’s wife, has disappeared and no one seems to know where she is. Surely someone should be looking for her . . .

A Winter Memory is a coming-of-age story, about how to move on when first love doesn't go the way you'd hoped. It is incredibly sad in places, and there is a sense of impending doom, but it was inspiring to see how the female characters adapted and found the inner strength to keep going. Sylla is a wonderful character and I found the mystery of her disappearance enthralling, reading the book very quickly to find out what happened to her and her daughter! I also loved Helen and Tigs (obviously!), although I think my favourite part was the country house party to celebrate Hogmanay at the start of the novel.

The only thing stopping A Winter Memory from being a five-star read for me is that I was hoping for a little more romance, which isn't really hinted at until the end.

Recommended for fans of dual timelines, family secrets, big old houses, and scenic Scottish settings!

Thank you to Lulu Taylor and Pan Macmillan for my copy of this book, which I requested via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Related posts:

A Midwinter Promise by Lulu Taylor

The Winter Secret by Lulu Taylor

Her Frozen Heart by Lulu Taylor

Review: Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty specialises in big family dramas that are a little bit darker than they first appear and always have a strong mystery at the core. I've read and loved both Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, but I think Apples Never Fall is my favourite so far. 

The story is set in Australia and centres around the Delaney family. Thirty years ago, Joy and Stan were moderately successful tennis players but when their children were born they gave up the circuit and switched to running a training academy. While each of their children inherited their talent, none of them were good enough to take it further. The very competitive Troy is now a wealthy trader. Logan, who makes a point not to compete at anything any more, teaches business studies. The youngest, Brooke, forever playing catch-up, has recently opened her own physiotherapy practice.  Only Amy remains a free spirit/problem child - depending which parent you ask!

This is one of those stories where if the characters had just sat down and talked through their problems with a family therapist, this would have been a very short, dull book! And if Joy had not vanished without trace at the start of the book, with husband Stan soon touted as the main suspect, all the Delany's simmering and festering tensions would never have rocketed to the surface. As the police begin their investigation, each character is forced to re-examine their past, and how their family relationships - and tennis! - has contributed to how they've shaped their lives. 

Apples Never Fall is an incredibly clever, twisty family drama with brilliantly drawn characters that feel very true-to-life. Liane's skill is such that whichever viewpoint I was reading, that person became my favourite character - until the next scene! If the epilogue seems longer than one would expect, keep reading for a jaw-dropping finish! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Apparently there is a TV series on the way. I can't wait!

Apples Never Fall will be published in the UK on 14th September 2021.

Thank you to Liane Moriarty and Michael Joseph (Penguin) for my copy of this book, which I received via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Related Posts:

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Review: Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell

Lisa Jewell is one of my all-time favourite authors, so I was thrilled to get my hands on an early copy of Invisible Girl.

Teenager Saffyre Maddox has been self-harming since a childhood trauma. Unable to confide in her therapist, Roan Fours, she becomes obsessed with him instead. She follows him around, learning where he lives and all about his life with his family, and he doesn't suspect a thing. She's become 'invisible'. Owen Pick lives in the house opposite Roan but feels as though no one ever really 'sees' him. He's drifting through life, feeling more out of step with the world every day, until he wakes up to find his face is splashed all over the newspapers and wishes he really was invisible.

Lisa Jewell is one of those authors you can always rely on to dish up a cracking good story. She even manages to make one of London's swishest places seem sinister with a fright around every dark corner. Her particular skill is to make us really care about her characters, from her most unlikely heroes to the villains (The Family Upstairs). I particularly loved hapless Owen, bumbling from crises to crises, mostly of his own making. I also felt for the middle-aged, middle-class Cate, who discovers her new life in Hampstead is not turning out to be as perfect as she assumed it would be. This is a theme running through the story: appearances are deceptive, be careful who you judge - and trust! Because, like the fox living in the wasteland opposite Cate's house, there are predators walking amongst us, always ready to strike.

Invisible Girl is one of my favourite reads this year. Lisa Jewell's fans will definitely not be disappointed!

Invisible Girl will be published on 6th August 2020.

Thanks to Lisa Jewell and Cornerstone/Century/Random House UK for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Related posts:

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Watching You by Lisa Jewell

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

I Found You by Lisa Jewell

Review: Just My Luck by Adele Parks

I was attracted to this book by the gorgeous cover and the intriguing story. Who hasn't wondered what they would do if they suddenly came into a lot of money?

Once a week for fifteen years three couples have been meeting up and playing the same lottery numbers. One night they have an argument about whether to continue and the following day six very familiar numbers come up. Lexi and Jake suddenly find themselves in possession of a winning lottery ticket...

Just My Luck is a clever domestic thriller/family drama. Three families, six supposed best friends, and the cracks that appear when one couple wins seventeen million pounds. As the story progresses we learn that each person has a secret, some characters are not quite as nice as they appear, and others will do anything to be in with a share of a fortune. There are little twists all the way through, but be prepared for a couple of massive ones that I certainly didn't see coming! 

Just My Luck shows how easy it is for someone's almost-perfect life to unravel when they come into a lot of money, despite their best intentions. We wouldn't make any of these mistakes, would we? Even Lexi, who is at first determined to keep everything 'normal' finds herself coerced into throwing a celebratory party that just gets bigger and bigger until it's completely out of control.

I loved Just My Luck (such a clever title!). It's the perfect summer read and would appeal to fans of authors such as Lianne Moriarty and Lisa Jewell.

Thank you to Adele Parks and HQ for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Review: Family for Beginners by Sarah Morgan

I discovered Sarah Morgan after reading her recent Christmas book, A Wedding in December, which I absolutely loved, so I was thrilled to receive an early copy of her latest, Family for Beginners.

Family for Beginners is a clever romcom spin on Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. Flora was raised by an aunt who never really wanted her. As a result, she has always longed for a traditional family of her own. When Flora falls in love with widowed Jack, who has two daughters, it seems as if all her dreams are about to come true. But Jack's eldest, the teenage Izzy, makes it clear their family is doing just fine without Flora - and she'd quite like to keep it that way! And the more Flora learns about Jack's late wife, the saintly Becca, she begins to realise it will be impossible to compete...

Despite the themes of grief, loss and abandonment, Family for Beginners is a lovely, uplifting, heart-warming story about relationships between family and friends. The main viewpoints are Flora and Izzy, and we get a terrific insight into two women who, ordinarily, could have been good friends. There is humour, when Izzy's various schemes to trip up Flora backfire spectacularly, as well as sweet and sexy romance. The gorgeous holiday home, overlooking the water in the Lake District, is virtually a character in itself. 

Sarah Morgan is a genius at creating flawed, realistic characters we can all relate to. As much as I loved Flora, I think poor Isabel was my favourite as she struggled to deal with the guilt she felt after her mother's death. The characters are so real, so perfect, so cleverly drawn, I think Family for Beginners is Sarah Morgan's best book yet. One of my favourite reads this year!

Thank you to Sarah Morgan and HQ for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Related Posts:

A Wedding in December by Sarah Morgan

Review: The Garden of Lost and Found by Harriet Evans

I've not read anything by Harriet Evans before but I was attracted to this book by the cover and the title (I love gardens!). I also really enjoy stories featuring old houses and family mysteries.

The story has two timelines. One takes place from 1891 to 1919, and the other over the period of a year in the present day. In the past, renowned artist Sir Edward Horner has almost bankrupted his family by buying back his most famous work, The Garden of Lost and Found, which shows his children playing in the garden of his wife's ancestral home. In the present his great-granddaughter, Juliet, unexpectedly inherits the house - and tries to solve the mystery of why her great-grandfather destroyed the painting he loved.

The chapters set in the past, about Edward and his wife Libby, were enthralling but very sad. My favourites were those set in the present, about Juliet's new life as she separated from her husband and attempted to bring up her children in a very dilapidated old house. Her children, Bea and Isla, were complete monsters, very resentful of their move from London to a house in the middle of nowhere; I loved them! Isla, in particular, was very funny. I also enjoyed the notes written to Juliet from her grandmother, explaining how to care for the house and garden, and the various jobs that needed doing at different times of the year. The story has some clever twists; one near the end took me completely by surprise! 

The Garden of Lost and Found is a lovely, heart-warming story about the importance of family, and the consequences of keeping secrets and how they can affect the following generations. I would recommend it to fans of authors such as Kate Morton, Eve Chase and Lulu Taylor. One of my favourite reads this year! 

Thank you to Harriet Evans and Headline Review for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Review: Watching You by Lisa Jewell

I have recently discovered Lisa Jewell's psychological suspense novels and I was thrilled to get the chance to read an early copy of Watching You. Although it's not quite my favourite (that would be I Found You), I do think it's her best one yet. 

Watching You takes its time to introduce the all characters and the problems in their lives. It opens with the police investigating the murder of an unknown victim, before taking up the story from Joey's (Josephine's) viewpoint. Joey is a bit of a disaster, recently returned from working in Ibiza and married on a whim; she and her husband now live with her brother and sister-in-law in one of the 'iconic' painted Victorian villas above the town. But, despite being newly-wed, it doesn't take long for Joey to fall madly in lust with her neighbour Tom, a handsome but married headteacher, who seems oblivious to the fact that practically every woman in the district is in love with him. Or is he?

Other points of view include Tom's troubled teenage son, Freddie, who spends his time logging the movements of the neighbours, and Jenna, one of Tom's pupils, whose mother is convinced Tom is stalking her. One of the themes running through the story, as you might have guessed, is obsession. 

Lisa Jewell writes in a deceptively simple style that immediately draws you into her world. She has a particular talent for making unlikeable characters likeable; by the end of the story Freddie was my favourite character.  I was completely gripped by the lives of these people and was convinced I'd worked out the identity of the victim and murderer early on. It was only at the very end that I realised how cleverly I'd been duped.

Watching You is a mix of family/domestic drama and psychological suspense and I can see it appealing to fans of authors such as Dorothy Koomson. I thought it was completely brilliant and I absolutely loved it.

Thank you to Lisa Jewell and Cornerstone Digital for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Related posts:

My Top Ten Reads of 2017

Review: I Found You by Lisa Jewell

Review: Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

Review: A House Full of Secrets by Zoe Miller

It was the beautiful cover that drew me to this book, and I had the idea it was going to be a psychological suspense - which it isn't! There is a big old house and a very dysfunctional family (who could use a lot of therapy), and it's one of those stories where everyone has a secret. And I enjoyed it a lot.

A House Full of Secrets is mostly told from two points of view: Jenna, who is married to Alex, the eldest son of the glamorous Blake family, and Vikki, who is friends with the troubled youngest brother, Niall, but is hoping for a lot more, especially after he invites her to spend the weekend with his family. Twenty years ago Alex, Niall, and their sister Lainey were poised on the brink of glittering careers when their mother died and their world shattered. Alex ran away to New York, where he met Jenna, and Niall headed to London. Only Lainey stayed in Ireland. Alex and Niall have not spoken to each other since that summer but now they have been summoned back to the family home, Lynes Glen, and the tension is mounting by the minute.

I loved the characters, even the bossy Lainey, but I especially loved Jenna, who cannot understand why her husband Alex is so on edge and why the family never talk about the mother they obviously loved so much. I also loved Vikki, who had some horrific secrets in her own past, and the way she was trying so hard to fit in with the upper-class Blakes. And I always enjoy stories about big old houses that have a mystery at their heart!

Most of the story is set in the present day but there are some chapters set in the 1960s, showing how the siblings' parents met, right up to the 1990s when their mother died. I would have preferred it if there had been more of these set at regular intervals throughout the story, because there came a point towards the end of the book where the segments clustered together, detailing each character's take on exactly what had happened the day their mother died. But the negative for me was the villain, who became a bit pantomine-y towards the end, and I'm afraid I skipped the big confrontational scene.

Despite this, I really enjoyed A House Full of Secrets and I would definitely recommend it to fans of authors such as Lulu Taylor, Eve Chase (Black Rabbit Hall), and Daphne du Maurier (Rebecca).



Thank you to Zoe Miller, Hachette Books Ireland, and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.