Review: Little Ghost's Summerween - Maggie Edkins Willis - April 2026  Little Ghost has attended his very first birthday party and decides he wants one of his own. His friend Anya gives him the most beautifully simple advice: the party should celebrate what Little Ghost loves most. And of course, what Little Ghost loves most is Halloween - bats, black cats, candy corn, pumpkins, the whole gloriously spooky lot. The small snag? It's the middle of summer. What unfolds is a genuinely delightful little story about identity, creativity, and the joy of refusing to be boxed in by expectations. Maggie Edkins Willis has a wonderful instinct for the interior logic of childhood like of course you can have Halloween in summer. Why wouldn't you? The solution Little Ghost lands on (a "Summerween" party) is exactly the kind of lateral thinking that picture books do best: it validates kids who feel like they don't quite fit the calendar of normal celebrations. The illustr...

Review: Her Last Summer - Nina Manning - May 2024 "Her Last Summer" by Nina Manning takes readers on an emotionally charged journey through trauma, guilt, and the quest for redemption. The novel follows Rey Levine, an out-of-work actress offered her dream role, but with a catch – she must confront her fear of swimming, a fear deeply rooted in a tragic event from her past. Manning masterfully weaves together Rey's present-day struggles with her traumatic memories from fifteen years ago, when her sister disappeared during a summer holiday. The guilt and blame heaped upon Rey have shaped her life, leading to a downward spiral of alcohol and unhealthy relationships. Manning's exploration of Rey's psyche is both poignant and authentic, delving into the complexities of survivor's guilt and the haunting power of unresolved trauma. The heart of the novel lies in Rey's journey to confront her demons, both figuratively and literally, as she reluctantly returns to th...

Review: Every Summer After - Carley Fortune - May 2022 Sitting on my bookshelf, I had the two books written by this author and decided to try her first one first - Every Summer After. I have to admit this was one lot of people have raved about and I was looking forward to it as I do love second-chance romances,  but when the big reveal was talked about why they broke up the first time - I felt a little disappointed as was like, seriously - this was the reason both your hearts broke and you disappeared from each other's lives for twelve years. Do you both think that high of yourselves? This book starts with our main female character Percy getting a phone call from Charlie Floreck to say their mum has died and he wants her to come back for the funeral. It has been twelve years since she and Sam broke up and it ruined them both, they haven't talked since and it still hurts her to this day - so much she has had panic attacks when she thinks too much about him. It was this reason, ...