Half Bad - Sally Green

My lovely friend, Kate Steadman, sent me this book with a little note attached saying......"I've popped this book in because you mentioned A Discovery of Witches (which I loved!) I read Half Bad a few weeks ago and it really made me think of Deborah's book. The characters are younger in this book but I was gripped from the start - think I read it in just over a day!"..........so, I couldn't wait to start reading it!

Half Bad is the first book in a Trilogy by Sally Green called Half Life. It is a uniquely, spellbinding story about a boy, Nathan, who is unusual in a divided world of White and Black witches. His mother was a white witch and his father is the most infamous and sought after black witch, Marcus Edge. Because of this, Nathan is known as a Half Code and is shunned by all in the community of white witches he lives in. Not long after he was born  his mother committed suicide and so his gran became his carer and brought him up along with his two half sister's and his half brother, Arran. His brother and gran are Nathan's only source of affection, and everyone else, other than a white witch school friend called Annalise, hate him and he is set apart often for taunting or a beating.

Black witches have been almost hunted out of existence in Europe and The Council of Witches of England, Scotland and Wales, which runs the white witch community are determined in their quest to catch Marcus Edge. They don't really know what to do with Nathan but they recognise he is valuable to them in their quest.

This story is dark and haunting. There are very few chinks of light in Nathan's life. I am a little squeamish in my entertainment tastes. I choose not to watch violent films or read horror stories because I don't do violence very well, but, even though this story is brutally violent in parts, it is entirely compelling and I just couldn't put the book down. At one point I had to stop reading and calm my heartbeat down because I was so scared for Nathan. Half Bad is perhaps the best book I have read this year and I am looking forward to the next one in the series.

9.9/10

One Night in Italy - Lucy Diamond

One Night in Italy is Lucy Diamond's latest novel and it goes on sale in the UK today. It is a heart-warming story about friendship, family coming of age and getting over adversity.

Anna Morley is a journalist working on a local paper. She has a loser for a boyfriend and her job is going nowhere, fast. On a visit to the local elder care home where her grandma now lives, she suddenly gets information about her father which her mother has been reluctant to give her in the past. When she tries to get more details from her gran the cloud of confusion returns to her and there is nothing more to be said.

Catherine Evans life of servitude and emotional abuse is about to come to a crashing halt. After dropping off her twins to their respective universities, she realises her life has been dedicated to them and now wonders what on earth she will do without them at home. Arriving back home earlier than planned she finds her husband in their bed with another woman. Can it be true? Have the last twenty years been a lie? She is about to find out.

Sophie Frost lives in beautiful Sorrento. She has been travelling the world for the past eight years and has been to some amazing places. Italy is currently her love and for the last two years she has lived in the country she now thinks of as home. That is until the day she receives a phone call from her cousin to tell her of her father's heart attack. Of course, she must go home and face those things she has been running away from since she left all those years ago.

These three women and several other characters find themselves thrown together when they attend an Italian Class for beginners at the local college. They each have their own reason for being there and over the weeks of the course they grow close and begin to support each other in ways they could not have imagined before the course began.

It is a lovely story and I scarfed it up in only two sittings. As well as likeable characters the story contains lovely references to Italy, Italian food and of course a basic lesson in the language. Lucy Diamond is a great favourite of mine and One Night in Italy is arguably her best novel so far.

9.8/10

At Least You're in Tuscany - Jennifer Criswell

At Least You're in Tuscany is an autobiographical story about Jennifer Criswell, who leaves her settled life in the New York City to live in Montepulciano, Tuscany. We follow her through her first year there as she deals with finding work, Italian bureaucracy and making friends.

Hers is an interesting journey filled with disasters and triumphs, often amusing, sometimes frustrating but never dull. It is a very frank memoir and an enjoyable read. She makes some good friends, gets the gossip mill running, makes some dubious decisions and ultimately finds some peace in the place she loves. The Italian countryside makes a wonderful backdrop to this true story of self discovery.

9.6/10

Louisiana Logshot - Jana Deleon

This is the first in a series of "Miss Fortune Mysteries" about CIA agent, Fortune Redding, who is in hiding in the sleepy backwater of Sinful, Louisiana after one of the worlds largest arms dealers placed a price on her head.

Having been ordered by her Director to lie low until they can deal with the threat, within minutes of her arrival at Sinful she is drawn into a murder investigation and finds herself embroiled in all sorts of shenanigans with the leaders of local Woman's Association, who seem to run the place. What ensues is a great romp in the bayou with likable characters and an unsolved mystery.

This is only the second book of Jana Deleon's I have read and I really enjoyed it. Even though the story is set in the Bayou, as is the other book I read, the stories were entirely different. Fortune Redding reminded me of Sandra Bullock's character in Miss Congeniality and this story was even more entertaining than that film!
I am so glad I have found Jana Deleon, I really love her books which are part humorous, part mystery, part spoof. I am definitely going to get the rest of the books in this series.

If you like to be entertained with interesting characters, mystery and humorous dialogue, then this is one for you.
 
9.8/10

Me and Mr Jones - Lucy Diamond

This is the story of three brothers and their respective partners. The boys couldn't be more different, Hugh the dependable, David the serious and Charlie the flighty.
Their parents turned the family home into a B&B after the boys left and over the years it has become very busy, especially with regulars who like to visit for their holiday each year. Now, though, Mr and Mrs Jones have come to a point where they feel the business might all be too much for them but they don't want to give up the place that has so many memories for the family.
A family meeting is called to decide what should be done but with each of the boys are at a different point in their lives, the decision of what to do with the business and the family home becomes increasingly difficult. Hugh and Alicia have been married for years but Alicia is beginning to feel restless and yearns for some time to herself or an adventure away from Hugh and the children, just to recharge her batteries and relax.
David and Emma used to be inseparable but having tried so long for a family, they are feeling the strain of that pressure on their relationship.
Charlie meets Izzy who is fairly new in town and their attraction is instant and strong. When he decides to bring her and her daughters to meet his family, it doesn't quite turn out the way he would have liked.
This is a story of family dynamics and the ties that bind, ties between husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and wives and girlfriends. The characters are likeable and their situations, plausible. It is an easy and enjoyable read. I do like reading Lucy Diamond books and this one did not let me down
9.5/10

A Winter's Tale - Trisha Ashley

This is the first book in a collection of stories revolving around characters living in the fictitious Lancashire village of Sticklepond. It is a warm-hearted tale of Sophy Winter who unexpectedly inherits her grandfather's rather stately home, Winter's End. There are a couple of love interest's for Sophy, a jealous distant cousin who feels aggrieved at not getting his hands on the estate, a surly, brooding gardener, as well as a hint or two of magic which is a theme throughout all three stories. Of course, with a title like A Winter's Tale there are many references to Shakespeare too.

Trisha Ashley has written three books based in Sticklepond and a couple of others based in neighbouring villages. Even though each story stands alone, I originally read the books out of sequence as I hadn't found any reference to these books belonging to a series. I do wish I had realised the chronology of the backlist before setting out to read them as there are many cross references to characters and events that appear in the earlier books. I did go back after reading this book and re-read the others. I found that reading them in sequence definitely added to the experience of getting to know the characters and enjoying the story. As a result, although I read this book last, it will appear first in review and the other books will be reviewed in chronological order within the next few weeks.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all of Trisha Ashley's books and am hoping she continues with the series beyond the three she has written so far.

White Wedding - Milly Johnson

Bel, Violet and Max meet by chance at a bridal shop called White Wedding, each in search of the perfect wedding dress for their upcoming big day. Freya, the shop owner, guarantees that her gowns will bring them happiness and they do but not quite in the way they had been expecting. As the story unfolds the girls become good friends and a source of support for each other in the often stressful run up to their respective weddings.

The thing I love most about Milly Johnson's books is that they always contain an element of something a little magical within the story. Nothing too far fetched to make them unbelievable though, just a little sprinkle of the unusual.

This is the second Milly Johnson book I have read so far and I have the rest of her back catalogue on my wish-list. Her stories are humorous, her characters are likeable and well drawn and the pace at which events unfold is ideal to keep those pages turning.

9.6/10