Estella's Revenge

by

Barbara Havelock

Raised in the darkness of Satis House where the clocks never tick, the beautiful Estella is bred to hate men and to keep her heart cold as the grave. She knows she doesn’t feel things quite like other people do but is this just the result of her strange upbringing? As she watches the brutal treatment of women around her, hatred hardens into a core of vengeance and when she finds herself married to the abusive Drummle, she is forced to make a deadly choice: should she embrace the darkness within her and exact her revenge? A gripping Gothic read, perfect for fans of Stacey Halls, Eve Chase and Jessie Burton. 

Review

Most of us know the story of Miss Havisham from the novel Great Expectations. She is jilted on her wedding day by her fiancé Evarard Compeyson and from the moment she received the letter saying he wasn't coming, she stopped all the clocks in her great house and it was as if time stood still. She stayed in her wedding dress and the wedding breakfast was still on the table, for many, many years. 

Miss Havisham adopted a baby and named her Estella and this book tells her story. 

As Estella grows up, Miss Havisham is determined to make sure that she breaks men's hearts, just like hers was broken all those years ago. When a young boy is brought in to the house by the name of Pip to befriend Estella, she is nothing short of foul to him, but there is a spark between them, but Estella just cannot let her guard down.

Estella goes to Paris to finish her education and has a lady's maid by the name of        Yvette. They become friends, but even this relationship is doomed and Estella drives her away.

When Estella comes back from Paris, she meets Bentley Drummle who she sees as a challenge and when he asks her to marry him, she tells him it will be a strictly business arrangement. 

Once married, this arrangement doesn't last long and Estella is in fear for her life and so runs back to Miss Havisham, but knows it will only be a matter of time before Bentley finds her and heaven knows what the consequences will be...

I cannot tell you how much I loved this book. I devoured it in just a few days and at the end of each chapter, it just left me wanting more and more. 

The characters were fabulous (even if you hated some of them!) and the description to detail in this book is nothing short of amazing. 

This book is definitely my book of the year and I wouldn't be surprised if it became a modern classic. Superb writing by the author. 

About the Author

Barbara Havelocke (Copperthwaite) is an international bestselling author, whose psychological thrillers have topped Amazon and Kobo. Her writing career started in journalism, interviewing the real victims of crime - and the perpetrators. Barbara lives in Birmingham. 

 The House at Ocean's End

by

Faith Hogan

** COVER REVEAL **

I'm delighted to share the cover reveal for The House at Ocean's End by Faith Hogan and a snippet for you. It's published on 5.6.25. 

I can't wait to read this one as I love this author's writing. 

Ocean's End might just be as far away as you can run from your worries, but can you ever outrun your secrets?

Constance is in her ninth decade, looking back on a life filled with laughter and loss, tragedy and triumph. It is time to take stock, make plans and right the wrongs from her past that have always haunted her.

Heather arrives on the island to bury her mother. Already adrift, with her business sold, her divorce finalised and her flat recently transferred to new owners, time on the island may be the perfect opportunity to change the course of her future.

Ros has managed to slip into the perfect job, the perfect cottage and friends that feel like family. However, when the stitches of her life begin to unravel, she must find a way to hold onto the things that have become most dear to her.

Ocean’s End is a faded art deco house by the sea, equal parts sanctuary and inspiration – now, Constance, Heather and Ros must come together to save not just the house, but each other, before time runs out.

 Home Again for Christmas

by

Emily Stone

Lexie is always on the move, but there is one constant in her life - her ' wish jar ' ; the childhood tradition from home that she couldn't leave behind. When Lexie's estranged dad dies, she is shocked to learn that she has inherited half of his travel company in Bath. Her dad's will stipulates that she must work with Theo, her handsome but bad tempered business partner, for  a year. Once the year is over, Lexie intends to leave. But a work trip to sizzling Spain reveals a chemistry between Lexie and Theo that is impossible to deny. Will Lexie find a reason to stay in one place? Will she discover the secret her father kept from her and finally learn the meaning of home?

Review

Lexie loves working abroad, especially in the ski resorts in the winter, but when her father dies and she is summoned to the reading of her father's will, she is shocked to learn that she has inherited half of her father's travel company. The stipulation in the will states that Lexie has to keep the company for a year before even thinking about selling it. The other half of the company is left to her father's friend and colleague, Theo, who is not too pleased to have to share the company he has worked so hard to keep going over the last 5 years.

Lexie and Theo get off on the wrong foot and Lexie cannot wait for the year to be up so that she can sell the company and move on, but when they both go on a work trip to Madrid, there is definitely a chemistry between them which Lexie tries her hardest to deny.

When Lexie was a little girl, she made a wish jar which she would put all the wishes she wanted to come true. Theo finds the jar and asks her what she wished for and Lexie tells him that if she tells him a wish, he will have to answer a question! 

Whilst trying to make things work with the travel company and coming to terms with her grief, Lexie finds herself falling for Theo, but if she is going to sell the company eventually, what will that do to any future she might have with him? and the grief she is going through at the loss of her father both when he was alive and when he died as he had divorced her mother and remarried and had another daughter, Rachel, who is desperate to have a sisterly relationship with Lexie, but Lexie won't let people get close, because when she does, she feels they will leave her again. 

This book is full of great characters. Sometimes you want to bang Lexie and Theo's heads together, but you can understand why they both feel the way they do. It deals with the grief of a daughter and how she comes to terms with that and I really loved how the author dealt sympathetically with that. 

This is the first book I have read by this author and I loved it, so much so, that I have ordered another of her books to read over the festive season!

I couldn't put this book down and finished it within a few days and would thoroughly recommend it.

About the Author

Emily lives and works in Chepstow. She is the author of debut novel Always, in December and One Last Gift, her second successful novel. Always, in December was partly inspired by the death of her mother, when Emily was seven, and wanting to write something that reflected the fact that you carry this grief into adulthood, long after you supposedly move on from the event itself.

 The Love of My Afterlife

by

Kirsty Greenwood

If she wasn’t dead already, Delphie would be dying of embarrassment. She’s entered the afterlife wearing the sort of pyjamas you don’t want anyone to see and finds herself face-to-face with the most handsome man she’s ever encountered. And he’s smiling at her.

As they start to chat, everything else becomes background noise – until someone comes running out of a door, yelling something about a huge mistake, and sends the dreamy stranger back down to earth.

In a twist of fate, Delphie is offered a deal in which she can return to her previous life and reconnect with the mysterious man she’s sure is her soulmate.

The challenge? She only has ten days to find him.

Ten days to make him fall for her.

Oh, and he has no recollection of them ever having met…

REVIEW

After choking on a microwave burger, Delphie finds she has entered the afterlife. Apart from being devastated by finding out she is dead, she has to deal with Merrit, who is an afterlife advisor and helps all the new "deads" come to terms with their fate. A lover of romantic fiction, Merrit sees that Delphie is attracted to another newbie, but he is sent back to the living and Merrit sets Delphie a challenge - to find the handsome stranger and get him to kiss her within ten days back on earth, or she will be sent back to Evermore for all eternity...

When Delphie is sent back to earth, she sets out to find her "soul mate", but a series of events leaves time running out for her. She also has to deal with her neighbour Cooper who she is not sure whether she hates with a passion, or actually passionately fancies!

I loved this book and couldn't put it down. I read it on holiday and actually laughed out loud several times! It has it all, I was laughing one minute and had a tear in my eye the next. Great characters that I loved. Would thoroughly recommend this book.