prdgreads

Pages: 658

Synopsis: CAMILLA WALTERS and ALEXI CARRERO embark on the final installment of their trilogy.

Love confessions hanging in the air and yet a fog of mistrust and confusion clouds the way. So much has passed and yet so much still to resolve. Danger still lurking in dark corners, threatening her life and all she is building.

A mafia based enemies to lovers tale that has gripped our hearts and pulled us on a turbulent journey to this moment.Love him or leave him, put the past to rest or let it destroy what could be.

Can she ever forgive him and allow her heart the happiness it deserves?.

Can Alexi truly be what she needs?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: I have no idea where to start with this, this is book 9 in the Carrero series and the final instalment of Alexi and Camilla’s trilogy. I will do my best to remain spoiler free, but please forgive me if I let anything slip 😂

I put off starting this trilogy for a year, because I knew L.T. Marshall would leave me wanting more after then ending of each book. Once I started book 9 I was instantly sad because I knew the end was near, but in true L.T. fashion she didn’t make it easy and took us on an emotional rollercoaster.

We got to see more of the past and background of both main characters which helped us to understand why they both are the way they are. It was nice to be able to see why they can’t just fall into each other arms and claim their undying love for each other even though that’s what you want.

As the story develops you see them both starting to open up and relax around the other and even start to let each other in, but again it’s not all straight forward, they give a little and then take a little back. the constant push and pull of it made it feel more realistic and also meant that neither of them lost their true selves in the process! Alexi remained the controlling bossy arsehole and Cam remained her sassy ‘never back down’ self.

This is by far my favourite trilogy of the three and Cam and Alexi’s story will stay with me for a long time.

I’m definitely #teamlexi now I couldn’t help but fall for the broken bad boy ❤️

Hey guys!

This is a little later than planned, the end of June was a busy one for me socially but in the best way, & then I spent the first 2 days of July with fatigue recovering from my busy weekend, living with MS can be interesting sometimes 😂

Anywayyy… June was a really good reading month for me, I managed 11 books in total! A mixture of ratings within that, but most were good.

1. Rough Magic by Lara Prior-Palmer – 🐧🐧
2. The Sunday Girl by Pip Drysdale (Blog tour) – 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
3. Forget me Not by Claire Allan (ARC) -🐧🐧🐧🐧
4. Poppy’s recipe for life by Heidi Swain (ARC) – 🐧🐧🐧.5
5. Our Stop by Laura Jane Williams (ARC) – 🐧🐧🐧🐧
6. Lady Smoke by Laura Sebastian -🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
7. The Carrero Contract – Finding Freedom by L.T. Marshall – 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
8. A Shifting of Stars by Kathy Kimbray (ARC) -🐧🐧🐧🐧
9. The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn – 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
10. Vox by Christina Dalcher – 🐧🐧🐧🐧

Secret Vampire by L.J. Smith – 🐧🐧🐧

There you go, I know I won’t be able to read that many books again this month, but I will complete my reading challenge and probably have to update it.

🐧❤️

I was kindly sent a copy of this by the author in exchange for an honest review ❤️

Pages: 387 pages

Synopsis: A squandering emperor.

A handsome stranger.

A reluctant heroine.

And the ancient magic that will capsize a kingdom.

Seventeen-year-old Meadow Sircha watched her mother die from the wilting sickness. Tormented by the knowledge that the emperor failed to import the medicine that would have saved her, she speaks out at a gathering of villagers, inciting them to boycott his prized gladiator tournament.

But doing so comes at a steep cost.

Arrested as punishment for her impulsive tongue, Meadow finds herself caught up in the kind of danger she’s always tried to avoid. After a chance meeting with an enigmatic boy, she’s propelled on a perilous trek across the outer lands. But she soon unearths a staggering secret: one that will shift her world—and the kingdom—forever.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: I had no idea what to expect going into this but I was intrigued by the synopsis.

Meadow is a young woman still dealing with the grief caused by losing her mother the year before, she goes to a gathering of story tellers to get it all off her chest in the hopes of easing her sadness a little, yet she had no idea that the people she meets and the actions she takes will change the course of her life forever.

The world building in this was amazing, the writing style was perfect and flowed really well, I sometimes find fantasy books to be confusing sometimes but that wasn’t the case with this one.

Meadows character development was done in a believable way too, she starts the book as a scared young girl, but slowly becomes more confident and sure of herself, it’s always nice to see a strong woman as the main character in a book.

The ending of this threw me completely and I’m really hoping there is going to be a sequel.

I would definitely but this fantasy novel up there with the big names and will be recommending it to everyone.

Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Sunday Girl by Pip Drysdale held by Random Things Tours.

Pages: 400

Synopsis:The Girl on the Train meets Before I Go to Sleep with a dash of Bridget Jones in this chilling tale of love gone horribly wrong …
    Some love affairs change you forever. Someone comes into your orbit and swivels you on your axis, like the wind working on a rooftop weather vane. And when they leave, as the wind always does, you are different; you have a new direction. And it’s not always north.’
    Any woman who’s ever been involved with a bad, bad man and been dumped will understand what it feels like to be broken, broken-hearted and bent on revenge.
    Taylor Bishop is hurt, angry and wants to destroy Angus Hollingsworth in the way he destroyed her: ‘Insidiously. Irreparably. Like a puzzle he’d slowly dissembled … stolen a couple of pieces from, and then discarded, knowing that nobody would ever be able to put it back together ever again.’
    So Taylor consults The Art of War and makes a plan. Then she takes the next irrevocable step – one that will change her life forever.
Things start to spiral out of her control – and The Sunday Girl becomes impossible to put down.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this books is quite honestly the definition of “unputdownable”

We follow Taylor who has just split up from her fiancé Angus, he puts a video of her on the internet and then finds out he’s taken his ex on the skiing holiday that she was meant to be on, she decides to get her revenge on him, getting her ideas from “the art of war by Sun Tzu”

At first things seem to be going well and she feels confident in her plans, but the Angus turns up at her door with flowers and all seems to be forgotten, can they give this relationship another go and forget everything that’s happened?

Taylor believes that she’s left no trail that can lead back to her in her plot for revenge but soon learns that’s not the case, all her hard work begins to unravel and she soon realises that she’s in serious danger, can she do something about it before Angus works out that she knows.

It’s hard to believe that this is a debut novel for Pip Drysdale, it was such a page turner and read like it was written from an experienced author with lots of novels under their belt.

I will definitely be picking up more from her in future, I would recommend this book to everyone who enjoys the psychological thriller genre.

I RECEIVED MY COPY FROM AVON BOOKS UK VIA NETGALLEY

Pages: 400

Synopsis: What if you almost missed the love of your life?

Nadia gets the 7.30 train every morning without fail. Well, except if she oversleeps or wakes up at her friend Emma’s after too much wine.

Daniel really does get the 7.30 train every morning, which is easy because he hasn’t been able to sleep properly since his dad died.

One morning, Nadia’s eye catches sight of a post in the daily paper:

To the cute girl with the coffee stains on her dress. I’m the guy who’s always standing near the doors… Drink sometime?

So begins a not-quite-romance of near-misses, true love, and the power of the written word.

A wonderfully funny will-they-won’t-they romance told with real emotional honesty, perfect
for those who loved Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love as well as fans of Lucy Vine, Holly Bourne, Mhairi McFarlane’s Don’t You Forget About Me and Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare.

My rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: As soon as I read the synopsis for this I knew I needed to read it, I love myself a good love story and this one seemed like it wasn’t going to be your straight forward romance and I was living for it.

The story is told from 2 perspectives, Daniel’s and Nadia’s. Daniel has recently lost his father and just started a new job and therefore getting a different train, where he sees Nadia and likes what he sees. Nadia is a bit ditzy, always running late even though she starts off with the best of intentions, this means more often than not she misses her 7:30 train to work.

Daniel decides the best way to get Nadia’s attention is to leave her a message in the missed connections section of the paper that he sees her reading.

This starts an almost daily thing of back and forth between them, but when it comes to meeting each other they just keep missing each other.

I felt that the pace of this book was a little slow but it didn’t bother me as such because I was invested in the story.

There also seemed to be a lot political discussion thrown in & I’m not really sure why, it didn’t add anything to the story.

As well as the will they/won’t they relationship, There was a couple of good friendship groups too which was nice to see.

The story covered a lot of good topics, consent and grief being just two of them.

I really enjoyed this and will recommend to anyone who is a fan of contemporary romance.

Today is my stop on the Rough Magic blog tour organised by Random Things Tours and I’m hosting a giveaway on my Twitter! For a chance to win a copy of this book search for @prdg, follow me, retweet the giveaway tweet and tag 2 friends you think might be interested- winner will be announced on the 1st July!

Publisher: Ebury Press

Pages: 320

Synopsis: The Mongol Derby is the world’s toughest horse race. A feat of endurance across the vast Mongolian plains once traversed by the people of Genghis Khan, competitors ride 25 horses across a distance of 1000km. Many riders don’t make it to the finish line.

In 2013 Lara Prior-Palmer – nineteen, underprepared but seeking the great unknown – decided to enter the race. Driven by her own restlessness, stubbornness, and a lifelong love of horses, she raced for seven days through extreme heat and terrifying storms, catching a few hours of sleep where she could at the homes of nomadic families. Battling bouts of illness and dehydration, exhaustion and bruising falls, she found she had nothing to lose, and tore through the field with her motley crew of horses. In one of the Derby’s most unexpected results, she became the youngest-ever champion and the first woman to win the race.

Told with terrific suspense and style, in a voice full of poetry and soul, Rough Magic’s the extraordinary story of one young woman’s encouter with oblivion, and herself.

About the author: LARA PRIOR-PALMER was born in London in 1994. Her aunt is Lucinda Green, a legendary rider and one of the UK’s best-ever equestrians. Lara studied conceptual history and Persian at Stanford University. In 2013, she competed in the 1000-kilometer Mongol Derby in Mongolia, sometimes described as the world’s toughest and longest horse race. Rough Magic is her first book.

She can be found on Twitter here @LaraPriorPalmer

Early praise for Rough Magic:

“Rough Magic is (Prior-Palmer’s) chronicle of the experience, and if her debut as an author is half as strong as her maiden effort in racing, it will be well worth the read.” HuffPost

“Rough Magic is the most entertaining memoir I’ve read in years. It’s thrilling, hilarious, unexpected, and ul- timately breathtaking. I loved every minute of this wild ride.” Abbi Geni, author of The Wildlands and the award-winning The Lightkeepers

“Prior-Palmer’s style is a fascinating mix of pep and poignancy. A really terrific story by a spirited new voice.” -Sara Baume, author of A Line Made by Walking

I RECEIVED MY COPY FROM SIMON AND SCHUSTER UK VIA NETGALLEY

Pages: 400

Synopsis: Things haven’t always been straightforward in Poppy’s life but her dreams are finally within her reach.
 
She’s moving into a cottage in beautiful Nightingale Square, close to the local community garden, where she can indulge her passion for making preserves and pickles. She may not have the best relationship with her family but she is surrounded by loving friends, and feels sure that even her grumpy new neighbour, Jacob, has more to him than his steely exterior belies.
 
But the unexpected arrival of Poppy’s troubled younger brother soon threatens her new-found happiness and as the garden team works together to win community space of the year, Poppy must decide where her priorities lie and what she is prepared to fight for …

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧.5

My Thoughts: this is the first time I’ve read a story by Heidi Swain and it was an absolute delight!

Poppy has plans to move into her dream home on Nightingale Square and nearly has everything packed when just one phone call from her mum derails everything. She has to give the money she’d saved up for the deposit to help with her brother.

In a surprising turn of events a couple of months later the landlord of the house she was supposed to move into tracks her down at work and tells her that the tenants she had in were a nightmare, they’ve left and she would love Poppy to move so she knows the house is being looked after.

With the house comes access to the community garden and poppy is looking forward to being able to use the spoils in her homemade chutneys and pickles.

She’s just starting to settle in when her 16 year old brother Ryan comes to stay with her and throws everything off completely, how do you look after a teenager when you’re used to living on your own?

This is a beautiful story about love, the romantic kind, the sibling kind and the friendship kind.

It shows what a community can achieve when they pull together and why you should never jump to conclusions and judge someone on their past actions.

I RECEIVED MY COPY FROM AVON BOOKS VIA NETGALLEY IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW

Pages: 400

Synopsis: It’s six in the morning during the hottest summer on record when Elizabeth O’Loughlin, out walking her dog, comes across Clare, a victim of a horrific knife attack, clinging onto life at the side of the road.
 
Clare dies minutes later, but not before whispering her haunting last words to Elizabeth.
  
When it becomes clear that Clare’s killer has more than one murder on his mind, Elizabeth has to take drastic action or face losing everything.
 
But what if she can’t stop a killer determined never to be forgotten?

My rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My thoughts; this is my first dive into one of Claire’s books and I definitely wasn’t disappointed, I read it in one sitting because I just could not put it down.

The story starts with Elizabeth taking her dog Izzy for a walk, Izzy runs off and soon starts yelping and whining, Elizabeth goes to investigate and discovers a body by the side of the road, on closer inspection she realises that the woman (Claire) is still alive so she holds her hand and reassures her she’s not alone. Claire manages to say two words before she dies “warn them”

Who is she warning? what is she warning them of?!

The story is told from 2 perspectives, Elizabeth’s & Rachel’s (one of Claire’s childhood best friends) the story has so many elements and so many twists and turns. The tension builds and builds until the dramatic ending when you learn that Elizabeth may not be a stranger to the victim.

Can they get to the bottom of what really happened to Claire before someone else gets hurt?

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good thriller.

Trigger warnings for suicide and abuse.

May wasn’t the best reading month for me in terms of quantity, but the quality was amazing.

1. The Flat Share by Beth O’Leary – 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧 (arc provided by readers first)

2. The Rules of Seeing by Joe Heap – 🐧🐧🐧 (arc provided by readers first)

3. The Girl who Came out of the Woods by Emily Barr – 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧 (arc provided by netgalley)

4. Bridesmaids by Zara Stoneley – 🐧🐧🐧🐧 (arc provided by TBC)

5. The Carrero Contract, Selling your Soul by L.T. Marshall – 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

6. The Carrero Contract, Amending Agreements by L.T. Marshall – 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

I also became a beta reader for LT Marshall and have been caught up in my duties for that, hence why my reading has slacked. 🤷🏻‍♀️. But it’s amazing opportunity for me.

🐧❤️

Pages: 400

Synopsis: Meet Rachel, the beautiful bride with BIG plans for the perfect day! The venue is a castle and the dress is designer.  It’s just a shame her husband is a rat.

Maddie and Sally have only one thing in common – they both love the same man!
 
Beth is a newly single mum with a mystery baby daddy.  Surely the father isn’t someone the girls all know?
 
And then there’s Jane, the glue holding them all together, but being dumped doesn’t make her the happiest bridesmaid…especially with gorgeous flatmate Freddie complicating things.

Will the bride say, ‘I Do!’?  Or will her bridesmaids save the day…and find love along the way?    

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧.5

My Thoughts: This book was absolutely hilarious, lots and lots of laugh out loud moments that had people looking at me like I had lost the plot.

5 best friends that have barely seen each other since they left school all get together for the wedding of Rachel.. what could possibly go wrong?

The story is told from the perspective of Jane, who we quickly find out was dumped by text on her hen night, her fiancée just couldn’t commit, it’s been a year or so since that happened and she is trying to get her life back together, she has a job taking photos for someone else’s Instagram & the only good thing in her life is Freddie, her housemate.

Rachel is the bride to be and just wants everything to be perfect, her and Michael have had an on/off relationship, but they’re back together & he’s promised he’s changed.

All of the girls quickly fall back into the roles that they played in the friendship group when they were younger, Rachel being the confident one, Sally the competitive one, Maddie the shy quiet one, Beth is the wind up merchant and Jane is the barrier that stops them all from killing each other.

This was a heartwarming read about how friendships can survive the test of time and that no matter what happens girls stick together, it was such a lovely story that I will recommend to everyone

🐧❤️