Review: All Her Little Lies - Becca Day - October 2022 After redundancy left me with unexpected free time and a desperate need for escapism, I found myself gravitating away from my usual romance reads toward something with more bite. Enter Becca Day's All Her Little Lies , a psychological thriller that delivers exactly the kind of dark family drama I was craving during this uncertain chapter of my life. The premise is deliciously twisted: when Alex discovers Hannah's body, her maternal instincts kick into overdrive—not to seek justice, but to protect her son Daniel at all costs. What follows is a masterclass in moral ambiguity as Alex makes the horrifying decision to clean up what she assumes is her son's crime scene and dispose of the body. It's the kind of split-second choice that makes you question what you'd do in her shoes, especially when unemployment has you contemplating your own capacity for desperate measures. Becca Day excels at crafting morally complex...

Review: Daydream - Book #3 Maple Hills Series - Hannah Grace - August 2024 This is a hard review to write as I'm still not quite sure where exactly I sit on this book, but today it will be a 4-star read. Icebreaker - I adored and Wildfire- was average. This one I feel sits between the two of them and I think this is solely because of my ability to relate to both characters with Halle's bookish side and the family responsibility/mediator and then Henry with his neurodivergence side as I grew up in a family with a dad who has ADHD and then a mum and two siblings who both are on the Autism spectrum. I was never diagnosed but picked up a few traits as how couldn't I, living in my household growing up. Ever since I read Icebreaker and met the character Henry, I was in love with him and so this is the book I had been waiting for since first reading Icebreaker in November last year. Henry is captaining this year the Ice Hockey team and is trying his best to be there for everyone e...

Review: Off the Hook - Book #3 Faking It Series - Chloe Walsh - December 2019 One of my authors that I have decided to make a goal this year and read her booklist is Chloe Walsh and with Off The Hook it brings me to the end of her Faking It Series. In Book #3 Addy is about to give everyone a shock as she has a secret, she is pregnant with Nathan. Her parents of course are furious and give her the ultimatum to leave Nathan or walk out the door and be cut off. Of course, Addy loves Nathan and will always choose him over her crazy family as at least she knows he loves her unconditionally as well. During the book, her father has a change of heart and gives Nathan and Addy an ultimatum of his own - either Nathan is to Marry Addy and raise the baby or Addy will be sent to St Bernadette's. Of course, Nathan will do what is right for Addy and marry her. The second part of the book is about their relationship struggles on their own, but can Addy show Nathan that money isn't everything...

Review: A Familiar Sight - Book #1 Dr Gretchen White Series - Brianna Labuskes - August 2021 The book starts with the ending of sorts with Reed Kent knowing his life could be over in a flash, but all he cares about are his sons Sebastian and Milo. The book then jumps back and lawyer Lena Brooks is dead. Lena was one of the few friends that Gretchen had and she turned up to discover not only a dead body but also a cop she has a love/hate admiration for Detective Shaughnessy and his new partner Detective Marconi. Lena was representing Reed's daughter Viola on a murder charge. Viola has been convicted of stabbing her mother 13 times, the thing though is Gretchen knows she may be a psychopath and capable of murder, but she didn't kill her mother. Someone is setting her up to be the fall girl. The book then jumps back between the past/present and we learn that twenty years ago Tess Murphy vanished without a trace and her brother Declan thinks that Tess's boyfriend at the time ...

Review: Shrinking Cin - Book #1 After Tales Series - EL George - November 2021 I always know that I am going to love the book when it is published by Erin Lee under her pseudonym EL George. Based on her own experience working as a social worker with children in the US, she has written several different books. Each one always touches some part of me as I can relate to it. You know those types of families were from the outside looking in, the family looks like your perfect happy family but it was a mess - that was my family growing up. As the oldest in my family, I often said that my life resembled Cinderella as my two younger siblings were never forced to do work, yet I had to clean and as soon as I turned 15 - I had to get a job and pay rent as well as provide for myself so my first job I was getting $80 a week and $40 of that went to rent and the rest was to pay for my school uniform, clothes, books, phone top-ups as cellphones were just starting to be the rage back then. As I got old...