After the Party by Lisa Jewell (Century)- It's eleven years since Jem Catterick and Ralph McLeary first got together. They thought it would be for ever, that they'd found their happy ending. As everyone agreed, they were the perfect couple. Then two became four, a flat becomes a house. Romantic nights out became sleepless nights in. And they soon found that life wasn't quite so simple anymore. But through it all Jem and Ralph still loved each other, of course they did.
Now the unimaginable has happened. Two people who were so right together are starting to drift apart. And in the chaos of family life, Ralph feels more and more as if he's standing on the sidelines, and Jem that she's losing herself. Something has to change. As they try to find a way back to each other, back to what they once had, they both become momentarily distracted- but maybe it's not too late to recapture happily ever after...
Marshmallows for Breakfast by Dorothy Koomson (Sphere)- When Kendra Tamale returns to England from Australia she rents a room from Kyle, a separated father of two, and begins a new job. She's looking forward to a fresh start and a simple life.
Kyle's six year old twins, Summer and Jaxon, have other ideas and quickly adopt Kendra as their new mother- mainly because she lets them eat Marshmallows for breakfast. Kendra eventually becomes a part of their lives, even though she's hiding a painful secret that makes her keep everyone- especially children- at arms length.
Then Kendra bumps into the man who shares her awful secret, and everything falls apart: she can't sleep, she can't eat, she's suspended from work, and the kids are taken away by their mother. The only way to fix things is to confess to the terrible mistake she made all those years ago. But that's something she swore never to do...
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins (Simon and Schuster)- When sixteen year old Sophie Mercer discovers she's a witch, she imagines life will be full of magic, fun and...well... broomsticks! But her first attempt at a love spell goes disastrously wrong, and as a punishment, Sophie is shipped off to Hectate "Hex" Hall, a reform school for witches, shapeshifters and faeries.
By the end of her first day among her fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tag-along ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person on campus and the only vampire.
Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students and her only friend is the number one suspect...
Hurting Distance by Sophie Hannah (Hodder)- Three years ago, something terrible happened to Naomi Jenkins- so terrible she never told anyone. Now Naomi has another secret- her lover, unhappily married Robert Haworth. When Robert vanishes, Naomi knows he must have come to harm. But the police are less convinced, particularly when Robert's wife insists he is not missing.
Naomi is desperate. If she can't persuade the police that Robert is in danger, she'll convince them that he is a danger to others. Then they'll have to look for him- urgently.
Naomi knows how to describe in detail the actions of a psychopath. All she needs to do is dig up her own traumatic past...
These are the exciting books that I have been sent to review:
Wintercraft by Jenna Burtenshaw (Headline)- Ten years ago Kate Winters' parents were taken by the High Council's wardens to help with the country's war effort.
Now the wardens are back... and prisoners, including Kate's uncle Artemis, are taken south on the terrifying Night Train. Kate and her friend Edgar are hunted by a far more dangerous enemy. Silas Dane- the High Council's most feared man- recognises Kate as one of the Skilled; a rare group of people able to see through the veil between the living and the dead. His spirit was damaged by the High Court's experiments into the veil, and he's convinced that Kate can undo the damage and allow him to find peace.
The knowledge Kate needs lies within Wintercraft- a book thought to be hidden deep beneath the graveyard city of Fume. But the Night of Souls, when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest, is just days away and the High Council have their own sinister plans for Kate and Wintercraft.
Drawing With Light by Julia Green (Bloomsbury)- Everything is changing in Emily's life. Her older sister Kat is just starting university; Dad and Cassy have bought an old house which will be their dream home one day... except that while it's being done up, they've all got to live in a tiny caravan in the middle of a field. Then a throwaway comment starts Emily thinking about her real mother, who left when Emily was a baby. Who was she? What was she like? Why did she go? Over the years, she has become the unmentionable secret in Emily's family.
And as Emily pieces together a truer, fuller picture of her mother, she also embarks on a new relationship of her own with Seb, a beautiful boy with fine features and expressive eyes...
Things I Wish I'd Known by Linda Green (Headline)- When Claire Cooper discovers the sealed envelope containing the 'dream list' she wrote as a teenager, she realises how far her life is from the one she'd imagined she'd have (and it isn't just the boobs that she's missing). Divorced, stuck in a dead end job and dating an ambulance chasing personal injury lawyer, she decides it's time to put her life back on track.
But is meeting up with her teen idol, footballer Andy Pailes, really the best way to make her dreams come true? What really happened between them twenty years ago? Could Claire end up making a much bigger mistake?
Finally these are the books that I got from the library:
A Whiff of Scandal by Carole Matthews (Headline) - When Rose escapes London and Hugh- her devastatingly handsome, intelligent and charming ex-lover- she has no idea that her occupation as an aromatherapist will cause such a scandal in her new country village.
All she wants is a bit of peace and quiet, but her weird and wonderful neighbours soon ensure that her life is more complicated and chaotic than it ever was before. Maybe that's because she's in love again...
Love Letters by Katie Fforde (Century)- With the bookshop where she works about to close, Laura Horsley, in a moment of uncharacteristic recklessness, finds herself agreeing to help organise a literary festival deep in the heart of the English countryside. But her initial excitement is rapidly followed by a mounting sense of panic when reality sinks in and she realises just how much work is involved- especially when an innocent mistake leads the festival committee to believe that Laura is a personal friend of the author at the top of their wish-list. Laura might have been secretly infatuated with the infamous Dermot Flynn ever since she studied him at university, but travelling to Ireland to persuade him the notorious recluse to come out of hiding is another matter.
Determined to rise to the challenge, she sets off to meet her literary hero. But all too soon she's confronted with more than she bargained for- Dermot, the man is maddening, temperamental, and up to his ears in a nasty case of writer's block. But he's also infuriatingly attractive- and apparently out to add Laura to his list of conquests.
Phew, so there you go! Let me know if you have ready any of them or are looking forward to particular ones, the problem now is which one to read first!
