Winning Nia, A Rock Star Romance, True Platinum Series book 2, Morgana Bevan

Winning Nia, A Rock Star Romance, True Platinum Series book 2, Morgana Bevan

Genre: General Fiction, Romance

Well, I have a real weakness for fame/romance trope, and this one set in the UK, and being a second chance one seemed a great fit for me.

The settings were very real, I felt there with the characters, enjoyed the behind the scenes look at their lives. I wanted to know a bit more about Nia’s father and brother, they were a major force in the story but we didn’t really know much about them.
I loved Nia’s friends, was intrigued by the Mel/Dan slant and expect that’s a story to come that will be interesting. The writing was good, not one of those with Alpha male, grunting MMCs and simpering FMCs thankfully, with a story told in works of three syllables or less. – there’s so many of those. Clearly some folk love them – but not me. I want characters that can think for themselves, make their own decisions, show independence.

James, I found it hard to accept his excuses for the long silence. I accept he was young, and we all make mistakes, but to let it go on so long? If he really felt that way about Nia why didn’t he contact before? Ten years is a long time to drop someone and then try to walk back into their life. I found his determination to be with her a little odd given he hadn’t seen her for so long. But then I do like a determined lover, so……I think I just wish he’d tried to date her a bit, tried to explain his absence better. He really was a first class jerk leaving her the way he did.
Nia was a talented photographer and I’m glad she went with her heart instead of allowing her father and brother to bully her into the family firm. We only get one life, so we need to try to do what makes us happy. Its not always possible, but if it is, as with Nia, then that chance needs snapping up.
Given how heart broken she was, I thought she let James get away with too much, she should have made him explain more, show he can be different before she trusted him again. I needed to see that he had changed, he was a nice guy, I liked him but what we saw didn’t convince me he’d pout Nia first, or at least include her in decisions.

I didn’t feel there was enough drama for me here though, not until the last 15-20% or so, when it ratcheted up terrifically. Again though I think she lets James off with what was once again inexcusable behaviour. He hasn’t even youth as an excuse this time. Perhaps if this happened much earlier in the story, say at 60-70-% there would have been time to show James was truly remorseful, that he had changed. Nia took a huge risk I felt, even though she stood back for a while. Oddly I felt her reaction to the photography job and its origins was overdone, I could see things like that happening all the while, we do make use of contacts for our careers. I found myself siding with James there.

Stars: Four, a well written story, with believable characters but not enough drama for a five from me.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers

The Hemlock Cure, Joanne Burn

The Hemlock Cure, Joanne Burn

Genre: Historical Fiction

I’ve read bits about Eyam and thought I’d enjoy this.
Its a fictional account of what could have happened, and usually that’s perfect for me but I didn’t ever really connect with the story or characters fully. I’m not sure why, its well written, a slow starter but easy to follow along, but its just one of those occasional stories that just didn’t resonate with me for no particular reason I can pinpoint. Not the books fault, others love it, and of course parts were interesting from a historical POV, and it certainly had that feel of history, of how folk lived back then. I didn’t expect the events that came towards the end, didn’t see that coming.
I feel bad, I didn’t dislike the story, just that its not a great read for me when I was expecting a book I’d love 😦

Stars: Three, a novel that’s perfect for others but was just an OK read for me.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers

Shadow Guard, Reily Garrett

Shadow Guard, Reily Garrett

Genre: General Fiction, Romance, suspense.

Follow up book to Silent Depths, the first book in the series. There’s also a short prequel where we meet Dani, subject of this book, and I think to get the best from the series you really need to read those. There’s so much background stuff going on, the Think Tank, groups within groups, betrayals, and of course just plain weirdos 😉

I really enjoyed book one, Callie’s story, and was keen to learn more about Dani. She seemed so alone, so scared and yet risked her life to help someone, a stranger, in a similar situation. Her past, her traumas, could have made her a very different person.
The mind, the way the brain works, is fascinating, and given we don’t use such a large part of it I can believe that talents shown by Callie and Dani could exist. I could see this being real, the different factions, Government depts, not just private mercenaries, looking to profit from someone unusual abilities.
That’s a scary thought. Who would you trust. Who could you trust. No wonder Dani is so closed off, so self reliant. She’s learned she has to be.

Its another good story, connected to the first but complete in itself. I really enjoyed learning more about Dani, she’s had such a tough life, but is so kind, so gentle, and so deserving of love. Thankfully we have Marc, one of the Crofton brothers, who sees her for what she is, not just what she can do, and their relationship is perfect, he is determined to protect her from those who just want to use her. Like book one its a bit “insta love” on both sides, but then that does happen. Its something that I find hard to accept in many books, but it works here and feel right.
And of course there’s dogs again, clever, loving, loyal dogs. I always have insta love for them ….

Stars: Four, another great read, which I read always thinking, this is scarily real, the greed for money, for a weapon – even if that means using a person against their wishes.

ARC supplied by author

The Herd, the thought-provoking and unputdownable must-read book club novel of 2022, Emily Edwards

The Herd, the thought-provoking and unputdownable must-read book club novel of 2022, Emily Edwards

Genre: General Fiction, Romance

Well, wow. What a read. Did I like the characters? Not really, but empathise with them – oh yes, both sides. As parents the vast majority just what to do what they believe is right for their children, and sadly nothing in life is 100% risk free. We assess and make out choices as best we can.
I’ve always been very pro-vaccine, I’m of the age when I remember the threat of polio and the awful consequences. My younger brother had whooping cough, and it left him very frail. He died at just five after what should have been a routine operation. Vaccines preventing those kind of tragedies seemed like a godsend. I was also one of the first groups to have the German measles vaccine at 13, later proved such a gift when I was pregnant and my youngest child caught it. My poor doctor was so relieved when he knew I was vaccinated.

So I’m very pro-vaccine, and yet I’ve always been very Liberalist, very pro-choice. 1999, the year the ( later proved very flawed) Wakefield study came out was the year my eldest grandchild was born. Faced with a respected doctor saying the vaccines could cause serious harm, more harm than the vaccine, it made me think and reassess my stance. Ultimately after much reading and talking to GP, discussing with me the pros and cons my daughter decided to have him vaccinated. It wasn’t an easy decision though, certainly not as easy as my decision to have my children vaccinated. That study did – and still does – so much harm.
Add in I’m reading this in Jan 2022, Covid times, when we’re encouraged to have vaccines yet there are so many people who claim to believe in any number of different conspiracy theories. The death toll here in the UK is staggering, and for me far outweighs the “data” provided by the anti vaccines groups, that mostly consist of social media and YouTube videos. Much of it has been disproved but still people believe it. Some, such Gov control, simply isn’t possible to disprove, and of course that convinces those looking for a reason not to vaccinate. We see in the book many of those theories repeated, so much of the “vaccine dangers” repeated with supposed proof. When a parent has what seems like a healthy child who develops an illness, a disorder of some sort its easy and human nature to look for a cause. Unfortunately many of those things develop at just the age children are having vaccines so its easy to make a link, whether its correct of not. I’ve done it with my brother, assuming his frailty was caused by whooping cough, when he may just have been born that way but those first few months took time to show he was different.

So here I am reading a book, full of things I’ve thought about, seen others consider, and reading it through the eyes of two best friends with very opposite views. No one ever thinks the awful consequences of not vaccinating will actually happen.
Its gripping reading, very relatable, very heart-rending on both sides. How do you ever recover from something like that. Is there ever a right or wrong answer?
Of course there’s the twist at the end too, something ( the twist) I thought would be coming as its such a well written novel, and yet was completely taken by surprise at what it was.
Its hard to believe this is Emily’s debut adult novel, it’s so well written, made me feel part of the story. Even now after finishing I’m thinking “what if” and I felt so saddened for all the people involved. There really is no easy, “right” answer and The Herd shows this all play out in a very realistic situation. I could see events unfolding exactly as Emily has written.
Its a real insight into not just people’s beliefs, but why they are that way, why they feel as they do. Once more it brings home the fact that most parents choose what they honestly believe is the best thing for their families. Every choice carries risk though…..

Stars: Five, an amazing read. One that kept me riveted, made me ask myself so many questions “in their position what would I do?”

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers