Escape to Giddywell Grange

Book ReviewThis book is a charming tale of how life can change due to circumstances beyond your control, a perfect read during a pandemic which forced us all to stop and reconsider life.  Enforced stopping, taking stock and going with the flow of whatever each new day brings is good for the soul.  Maddy reconnects with the importance of friendships, family and caring for your community.  Dog lovers will find delight in these pages too.  Sometimes things happen for a reason and when Maddy finds a tin in her Mum’s loft it opens up a whole new way of thinking about who she is and where she comes from.  A previous relationship too gets under her skin – should she reconnect with Jamie?

There is romance, hospital visits, new home and loving family ties.  It will make you miss your mum more if you have lost her or want to spend more time with her if she is still around for you.  During our lives, when work and home life are busy, we often neglect those closest to us and don’t really know them at all.  A holiday break for Maddy and her mum brings them very close and there is more to her mum than she realises.  

The men in the book are charming, sexy, hunky and two cause Maddy to have quite a dilemma on her hands.  You will be willing her to make the right choice.  

There are some very tender moments that will pull at your heartstrings and have you reaching for the tissues.  

I am usually a very slow reader but I amazed myself by reading this lovely book in less than a week – a record for me I think!

Well done Kim Nash.   *****

The Gift book review

 

This Lockdown year is certainly helping me get through my TBR (to be read) pile and I was ready to have a change of genre and open The Gift.

Louise Jenson is a very talented writer.  Having read The Sister I was aware of her style and knew I had to be in a good head space to read another of her psychological thrillers.  Being rested and relaxed due to the enforced 'stay home' of Covid19 pandemic I reached a place of 'coping well' and was able to read the twisting episodes of this novel.  Her books are ones you never forget, the telling of the story being cleverly weaved through the pages like a tapestry - the whole picture/story not becoming clear until near the end of the book.

I applaud the research Louise will have done for the storyline.  The Cellular Memory and Secondary Traumatic Stress disorder educates the reader into a world within the mind not many of us will have experienced.  On the other hand many of us will have had thoughts and doubts that are sometimes irrational.  I did, on occasion, have to put the book down to process what I was reading and remind myself it was fiction, using facts to make the story realistic.

The story grips you and pulls you into a scenario that is scary, tense, weird, realistic, fascinating and the characters all jump out like its a pop-up book.  To say I 'enjoyed' it would be the wrong word for me - it was after all a traumatic and tragic tale of a heart transplant with serious repercussion.  It was however a wonderful piece of fiction, so believable and another I will never forget.  It really should be televised or made into a film - although for me, I would be pressing the pause button to catch my breath with it.  It's fast paced and yet there's a steadiness too, going back and forth through time reaching a combining of past and present in a clear way through a mine-field of events.

The protagonist, Jenna's life, is consumed by Callie, her donor, as the search for the circumstances of Callie's death is sought.  Her new heart feeds Jenna's dreams and mind which opens a can of worms for Callie's family, friends and Jenna's workmates and boyfriend.  She follows her instincts and finds answers to everyone's questions and reveals unspoken issues.  A thrilling seaside beach scene opens up; the drama is tangible and it is heart-pounding reading as you gallop towards the end.

Thankfully the conclusion settled my buzzing mind and I could be pleased I had read The Gift.

Ps readers:  It's a love story too, so have tissues at the ready.

Well done Louise Jensen.  *****