19.9.14

Fabulous Fridays

I have decided to do a new feature on a Friday called Fabulous Fridays! I used to love the lists on Amazon that people had compiled of books that they had enjoyed and I would often add to my TBR pile after looking through them. Sadly they don't have them anymore so I have decided to start compiling my own on here on a Friday, just in time for you to have a little browse for the weekend! Each week will have a different theme and I shall give you the blurb of the book and then if you are interested you can click on the book title which will take you to my review. Some of them will be recent releases and some will be a lot older. 
This week on Fabulous Friday I have gone with the idea of drama; so these books are not particularly light hearted but they all have a gripping story line and most are packed with emotion and a few twists and turns!

Have a lovely weekend

Dot
xxx

Black Heart Blue by Louisa Reid, Penguin, May 2012, 288 pages
"They tried to make me go to my sister's funeral today. In the end I had to give in... I'd been walking in her shadow for sixteen years and I liked its cool darkness. It was a good place to hide."
Rebecca's twin sister Hephzibah was beautiful and daring. She was the one who always wanted more. The one who wouldn't listen. Now she's gone. Rebecca is alone.
While there were two of them, they stayed silent about their home life. But Rebecca, who knows the truth about how her twin died, suddenly finds herself keeping too many secrets. Hephzibah dreamt of escape, but failed. Could Rebecca be the one to find freedom?
Original and unforgettable, Black Heart Blue is not just Rebecca and Hephzibah's story. It is a story about all of us: a story about the lies we want to believe, the truth we sometimes can't accept, and having the courage to discover the difference.

The Lies You Told Me by Jessica Ruston, Headline Review, June 2013, 368 pages
When Klara was a child, her mother vanished from her life. All she has left is a handful of stories, passed down from the father who raised her. Klara believes she has long ago come to terms with her mother's disappearance, but then she receives a note and key from someone who calls themselves 'N.R'. These lead her to a storeroom, full of the remnants of her mother's past, and to the diary she kept all those years ago. Within its pages, Klara discovers a woman who doesn't quite match the portrait her father has painstakingly painted for her, and a story that leads her to question everything- and everyone- she thought she knew...

Dear Thing by Julie Cohen, Black Swan, May 2014, 400 pages
Claire and Ben are the perfect couple. But behind the glossy facade, they've been desperately trying- and failing- to have a baby for years. Now, the stress and feelings of loss are taking their toll on their marriage. Claire's ready to give up hope and get on with her life, but Ben is not. And then Ben's best friend, Romily, offers to conceive via artificial insemination and carry the baby for them.
Romily acts in good faith, believing it will be easy to be a surrogate. She's already a single mother, and has no desire for any more children. Except that being pregnant with Ben's child stirs up all sorts of emotions in her, including one she's kept hidden for a very long time: Ben's the only man she's ever loved.
Two mothers and one baby who belongs to both of them, which only one of them can keep. 

Some Day I'll Find You by Richard Madeley, Simon & Schuster, July 2013, 416 pages
James Blackwell is handsome, sexy, with an element of mystery about him. He's a fighter pilot- every girl's dream. At least that is what Diana Arnold thinks when her brother John first introduces them. They marry in haste, one summer morning in 1940, and Diana is still wearing her wedding dress when her new husband and John are summoned back to base to fly their next, terrifying mission.
Then fate delivers what is the first of its cruel twists; James, that very day is show down over Northern France. Diana is left a widow- and pregnant with their child.
Ten years later, living in the South of France with her new husband and a daughter who will never know her real father. Diana is content and flourishing in the Provençal sunshine. Until one morning, sipping her coffee in the town square, she hears something that makes her blood run cold: the voice of someone who will set out to torment her and blackmail her, and from whom there can only be one means of escape...

The Son-in-law by Charity Norman, Allen & Unwin, March 2014, 400 pages
On a sharp winter's morning, a man turns his back on prison. Joseph Scott has served his term. He's almost lost everything: his career as a teacher, his wife, the future he'd envisaged. All he has left are his three children but he is not allowed anywhere near them.
This is the story of Joseph, who killed his wife, Zoe. Of their three children who witnessed the event. Of Zoe's parents, Hannah and Frederick, who are bringing up the children and can't forgive or understand Joseph.
They slowly adjust to life without Zoe, until the day Joseph is released from prison...

Tempting Fate by Jane Green, Penguin, September 2013, 416 pages
When Gabby first met Elliot she knew he was the man for her. In twenty years  of marriage she has never doubted her love for him- even when he refused to give her the one thing she still wants most of all. But now their two daughters are growing up Gabby feels that time and her youth are slipping away.  For the first time in her life she is restless. And then she meets Matt...
Intoxicated by the way this young, handsome and successful man makes her feel, Gabby is momentarily blind to what she stands to lose on this dangerous path. And in one reckless moment she destroys all that she holds dear.
Consumed by regret, Gabby does everything she can to repair the home she has broken. But are some betrayals too great to forgive?

The Lemon Grove by Helen Walsh, Tinder Press, June 2014, 288 pages
He is wearing a pair of plain blue swimming shorts, otherwise he is naked before her. He is muscular, but graceful with it, balletic. He is shockingly pretty...
Each summer, Jenn and her husband Greg return to Deia, on Mallorca's dramatic west coastThis year, the arrival of Emma, Jenn's step-daughter and her new boyfriend Nathan threatens to upset their equilibrium. Beautiful and reckless, Nathan stirs something unexpected in Jenn. As she is increasingly seduced by Nathan's youth and the promise of passion, the line between desire and obsession begins to blur.

Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, Penguin, July 2014, 464 pages
It was all just a terrible misunderstanding.
Feelings got hurt.
Then everything just spiralled out of control.
Jane hasn't lived anywhere for longer than six months since her son was born five years ago. She keeps moving in an attempt to escape her past. Now the idyllic coastal town of Pirriwee has pulled her to its shores and Jane feels as if she finally belongs. She finds friends in the feisty Madeline and the incredibly beautiful Celeste, two women with seemingly perfect lives and their own secrets.
But at the start of a new term, an incident involving the children of all three women occurs in the playground, causing a rift between them and other parents. Minor at first, but escalating fast, until whispers and rumours become vicious and spiteful, and truths blur into lies. It was always going to end in tears, but no one thought it would end in murder...

Remember, just click on the book title to read my review, I hope some of these take your fancy. 


4 comments:

Kim said...

This is a brilliant idea, Dot! Thank you for the reminders, I even have one of these books sitting on my TBR pile and two on my wish list! I will definitely pick them up now.

jessicabookworm said...

I like this idea. I look forward to more lists.

Jean Bull said...

Yes, I like this idea too. It's great to draw attention to books that I've missed or not got round to reading yet!

Dot said...

Thank you ladies, I enjoyed doing it so shall be back this Friday! xx

All change here!

I have made the decision to stop doing written reviews on here for a little while. I shall keep this page open but for the time being I sha...