January was a difficult month as my husband was seriously ill and in hospital . More than ever I was looking for entertainment, escapism. and distraction. What helped? Good friends, books, cats and Netflix.
A Nose for Trouble by D.D. Line.
Betrayed by her lover and left for dead, Senior Constable Ellie Marsden and her canine patrol dog leave Perth and move to the small coastal town of Trinket Bay. Time heals Ellie’s wounds, but not her heart.
When thieves break in and steal drugs from the local doctor’s surgery, she realises it’s similar to her last case back in the city. If her ex-lover is in her town; can she close the case and arrest the man who almost destroyed her?
Brennan Cole has been on the run for almost three years, leaving behind everything he’s ever known and everyone he’s ever loved. He’s never forgiven himself for betraying Ellie, but he’s in too deep to stop now.
Trinket Bay is another perfect target. The police force isn’t as prominent here, the drugs they need are easy to acquire, and its tourists provide a ready market. It’s a simple in and out before they move on to the next town. But then he glimpses the woman he still loves. Can he escape detection before it’s too late?
Or will they learn cases of the heart never grow cold?
A Nose for Trouble is a contemporary romantic suspense novella set in the fictional town of Trinket Bay in South Western Australia.
My review
An exciting beginning to what promises to be an engaging romantic suspense series. Policewoman Ellie Marsden has relocated to Trinket Bay with her K9 companion Miss Charlie. After a heartbreaking betrayal, Ellie has given up on love. She and Charlie share an unbreakable bond and surely that is enough? So why does her heart race when she sees Brennan Cole, the guy who trampled on her hopes and dreams? Ellie suspects its more than a coincidence that he is in Trinket Bay. What is he up to? I loved finding out, and I look forward to reading book two in the Trinket Bay series.
The Alice Equation by Davina Stone.
Alice Montgomery’s life is like Groundhog Day. Five years after graduating, she’s still working in her mum’s bookshop, hiding her stash of romance novels under the bed and pining for the gorgeous guy who helped her over a panic attack before her final uni exam.
Aaron Blake loves to party—hard. His idea of commitment to anything other than his legal career is strictly three months. Until landing a job with the most prestigious—but conservative—law firm in town means he has to convince the partners he’s deeply committed to family values.
Aaron needs a fake date fast—and who could be safer than his bookish friend Alice?
Soon Alice finds herself dating her secret crush, sporting a daring new look of vintage frocks and itsy-bitsy lace lingerie.
Now the heat is notching up. Aaron’s feelings for his fake date are proving anything but safe, and Alice is discovering her inner sex-goddess.
But when secrets are revealed and lies uncovered, both Alice and Aaron will have to work out the hardest equation of all… what this crazy thing called loved is all about.
The Alice equation is a whole lot of fun with a sexy vibe. Alice has secretly loved Aaron forever. Aaron is a player, his cut off point for relationships is three months. When he joins a law firm with ‘family values’ he needs to come up with a suitable partner and fast. So, Alice and Aaron begin a fake relationship. Alice is a newbie at the dating game. Her popular and gregarious friend Polly tells her that , ‘amazeballs sex, equals true love.’ Coached by Polly, Alice embarks on a revamp of her wardrobe and her ideas. Aaron responds to the new Alice and they become’ friends with benefits’. There is great chemistry between them as Alice releases her inner sex goddess. Until it all goes horribly wrong. I really appreciated the drama and conflict. I enjoyed getting Aarons point of view as well as Alice’s. They both grew throughout the book which made it a satisfying read. Looking forward to book two in the Laws of Attraction series. I received an Advance Reader Copy through Book Funnel and the author but was not obligated to post a review.
We Witch you A Merry Christmas by Louisa West.
All she wants for Christmas is some peace and quiet. But Santa—and the local sheriff’s office—might just have her on the naughty list.
Rosemary Bell’s got a brand new bag. She has a great circle of friends, a sexy Irish boyfriend, and a daughter following in her witchy footsteps. But when she becomes the prime suspect in her grinch husband’s disappearance, the halls she’ll be decking might be behind bars.
Things get even bleaker when she’s called home to clean up her husband’s mess. When Rosie finds clues about a family she never knew she had, she realizes she doesn’t know as much about her past as she thought. And her present isn’t much better, when the local sheriff joins the investigation into her crimes.
With the local Sheriff breathing down her neck, it’ll take a Christmas miracle to keep her new family together for the holidays. This year Rosie might find herself witching for a Merry Christmas.
Charmed meets The Santa Clause in this short novel about the families we’re born into, the families we choose, and the magic of Christmas.
I’ve enjoyed the books in the Midlife in Mosswood series and had this on pre-order. Due to technical glitches, I wasn’t able to read it pre-Christmas. It didn’t matter, it flowed along and kept me entertained and intrigued anyway. Rosie makes intriguing discoveries, while the Sheriff launches a vendetta against her, and her ex discovers a few things for himself. All wrapped up in tinsel and Christmas, but it’s good to read anytime. The latest in the Mosswood series is, in my opinion, the best so far.
Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Featuring his famous literary detective Atticus Pund and Susan Ryeland, the hero of the worldwide bestseller Magpie Murders, a brilliantly complex literary thriller with echoes of Agatha Christie from New York Times bestselling author Anthony Horowitz.
Retired publisher Susan Ryeland is living the good life. She is running a small hotel on a Greek island with her long-term boyfriend Andreas. It should be everything she’s always wanted. But is it? She’s exhausted with the responsibilities of making everything work on an island where nothing ever does, and truth be told she’s beginning to miss London.
And then the Trehearne’s come to stay. The strange and mysterious story they tell, about an unfortunate murder that took place on the same day and in the same hotel in which their daughter was married—a picturesque inn on the Suffolk coast named Farlingaye Halle—fascinates Susan and piques her editor’s instincts.
One of her former writers, the late Alan Conway, author of the fictional Magpie Murders, knew the murder victim—an advertising executive named Frank Parris—and once visited Farlingaye Hall. Conway based the third book in his detective series, Atticus Pund Takes the Cake, on that very crime.
The Trehearne’s, daughter, Cecily, read Conway’s mystery and believed the book proves that the man convicted of Parris’s murder—a Romanian immigrant who was the hotel’s handyman—is innocent. When the Trehearne’s reveal that Cecily is now missing, Susan knows that she must return to England and find out what really happened.
Brilliantly clever, relentlessly suspenseful, full of twists that will keep readers guessing with each revelation and clue, Moonflower Murders is a deviously dark take on vintage English crime fiction from one of its greatest masterminds, Anthony Horowitz.
Published November 10th, 2020 by Harper (first published August 20th, 2020.)
I hadn’t read the first book in the series, but that didn’t matter, as Moonflower Murders reads well as a stand-alone. It was easy and engrossing reading, although at times I stopped to admire the clarity of the prose. Anthony Horowitz is at the top of his game and it certainly shows. The book is elegantly written, and the descriptions are so clear that I pictured them effortlessly. The concept of a book within a book intrigued me. I have since learned that this was also used to good effect in the first book. There is so much information, so many clues, so many potential suspects. I doubt many people will have solved the murder. A terrific homage to the golden age of crime fiction.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.
Hardcover, 288 pages.
I raced through this book eager to know the consequences of Nora’s choices. Would any of her new lives be better? Would some be worse? Most people may have a regret or two, so the concept of trying out different lives certainly resonated with me. Some lives lived up to her expectations, while others had unintended consequences.
Books have always been refuge for me, and this month I was very happy to escape into other lives and worlds.
Sonia Bellhouse- Author. 