A Life made of Lava – Lissa Del

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Looking for characters that are instantly likeable? This book is for you. 

A story that will draw you in from the very beginning? This book is for you. 

One that will make you face your worse fears? Jip, you guessed it, this one is for you.

Evie Danvers has three beautiful, if slightly out of control, children; a stray cat named Dr. Moxley and a best friend who drinks unapologetically at 9 a.m. Evie also has stage four bone cancer and a gallows sense of humour that drives her husband, Nick, demented.

I adored Evie’s sense of humour, from making jokes about her own demise to pranking her mother-in-law. Evie hires a nanny, who she ensures will be perfect for the family, especially after she is gone.

As always Lissa Del knows how to spin a story in such a way that it draws you in from the first page, right through to the last, this one is no exception. You are guaranteed to laugh and cry with the characters. 

It is beautifully written and when dealing with a difficult subject such as cancer, I think the author did a wonderful job. 

A special mention also to this cover that is beautiful and just grabs your attention immediately

Sticky Fingers 2: Another 12 Short Stories – JT Lawrence

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I thoroughly enjoyed the first collection of short stories, craving more the whole time. When I heard that there is a new collection I placed my order and kept willing Lawrence to finish quickly. 

I was not disappointed.

It is fully loaded with stories that are beautifully written and even some that left me thirsting for a full novel.

There is a little of everything, stories that will creep you out, that will make you laugh and even some that will make you doubt your reality.

Of course, no reader can say that when reading these collections, that they can’t pick a favourite. There are some of these stories that will stay with me and I will reread them. 

If you read the previous collection of short stories there is even an old favourite that will make a reappearance and leave you with a stitch in your side from laughing.  

84, Charing Cross Road – Helene Hanff

♥♥♥♥ Those who know me well, know that I love letters, and was introduced to the magic that is books published telling stories through letters.  This charming classic love story, first published in 1970, brings together twenty years of correspondence between Helene Hanff, at the time, a freelance writer living in New York City, and a used-book dealer in London at 84, Charing Cross Road. Through the years, though never meeting and separated both geographically and culturally, they share a winsome, sentimental friendship based on their common love for books. Their relationship, captured so acutely in these letters, is one that has touched the hearts of thousands of readers around the world This does not disappoint, you get to know the people through their correspondence with each other. It started off as a woman, Helene Hanff, buying books from a bookshop in London, gradually you get to know all the people who work in the shop and she tells more about her life as a writer in New York. This is a great compilation of letters and I’m glad I also got the audiobook. That was narrated by Juliet Stevenson and John Nettles. The two narrators brought a different dimension to these letters, they blew life back into them

Bridge to Haven - Francine Rivers

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What can you say, it’s a Francine Rivers book. As expected the characters go through hell, to come together in perfect unison. Rivers has a way of describing situations that pull you in and make you fall in love with the characters. 

To those who matter in 1950s Hollywood, Lena Scott is the hottest rising star to hit the silver screen since Marilyn Monroe. Few know her real name is Abra. Even fewer know the price she’s paid to finally feel like she’s somebody. To Pastor Ezekiel Freeman, Abra will always be the little girl who stole his heart the night he found her, a wailing newborn abandoned under a bridge on the outskirts of Haven.

The characters are well written, with personal growth throughout the book. Abra and Joshua are some of those characters that crawl into your heart and stays with you long after you have closed the book.

I even love it when an author can write the “bad guy” in such a way that when he is a part of the story it makes your hackles rise.

The cover design is also gorgeous and I bought it before I even looked at the summary at the back

In perfect Francine Rivers style, knows how to take a Bible story and turn it into this perfectly recreated scenario that both makes you look at it in a different light and also teaches you a valuable lesson. 

Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty

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It’s been a while since a book has knocked me out of the field. What a remarkable book.

I read this book with friends, and let me tell you I wish I read it sooner. We were enthralled from the first page right through to the end, speculating late into the night, coming up with theories, getting frustrated but enjoying every single minute of it.

It does read a little like Australian desperate housewives but do you know what, I loved it. The characters crept into my heart, I wanted to fight for Celeste, I wanted to shake Jane out of her funk, and Madeline was probably my favourite, although I think that in real life she would’ve irritated me.

The plot had me guessing until the big reveal, it was frustrating but at the same time, I couldn’t put the book down, and that is what a great book is to me, I want to be so engrossed in a book that I forget about my life and what I have to actually be doing otherwise. Personally, I appreciate the way the author handled the big issues in this book, tackling domestic abuse, divorce and it’s aftermath and many more.

When an author can write characters like this, that crawls into your life you can’t help falling in love. I can’t wait to read more by Liane Moriarty.

Suddenly Royal - Nichole Chase

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This book is definitely for people who loved the Princess Diaries, but of course with the little twist of being for grownups – YES that’s right, get ready for some steamy scenes.

Samantha Rousseau is used to getting her hands dirty. Working toward a master’s degree in wildlife biology while helping take care of her sick father, she has no time for celebrity gossip, designer clothes or lazy vacations. So when a duchess from the small country of Lilaria invites her to dinner, Samantha assumes it’s to discuss a donation to the program. The truth will change the course of her life in ways she never dreamed.

The writing is beautiful and draws you in from the opening sentence. The characters also had a way of crawling into my heart and making me want to get to know them better. It made me laugh and cry and that to me is the signs of a good book. Can’t wait to get my hands on the next in the series.  

It was a very enjoyable read/listen, I had the audiobook that I got on Audible and when I couldn’t listen I read the ebook. The narrator did different voices and accents for the characters that added to the experience.

Sticky Fingers - J.T. Lawrence (AUDIOBOOK)

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When Janita announced that she was releasing an audiobook of this one, I knew I had to get a copy. Luckilly I had some credits saved on Audible and could get it as soon as it was released. 

The Bianca Flanders is an asset to this book, I enjoyed her voice and it definitely brought out the best in each of the stories. 

I already reviewed the book, it can be found here

The book contains the following stories with a short review of each:

Escape follows as suicidal baby, the determination was palpable, and the ending, what a twist.

She did it, a battered woman is found in a pool of her dead husband’s blood, with a detective that didn’t quite trust his gut feeling.

Bridge Gate a series of letters between a young girl and her estranged father. I love these kinds of stories that is written in the form of letters. This one is one that I would love a full novel.

The Itch an itch that just won’t go away, such an intense story that drew me in.

The unsuspecting gold digger a woman finds herself engaged to an extremely wealthy man, this one knocked me out of the park, another one I wouldn’t mind reading more, and that end, what a shock!

Something Borrowed The broken hearted bride. This story had me grabbing tissues.

Pigeon Pair Pigeon’s so many pigeon’s, such a cute start and then the end, damn pigeons.

Grey Magic if you would like a story about a modern witch, and you like this short story, there is a full novel now available, with a second one on its way.

The Little Pink Book A midwife with a twist, couldn’t help but picture Call the Midwife in my head, but the end was definitely not what I expected. This one will stay with me for a while.

Travelling slacks a holiday review gone bad, giggle inducing. Such a wonderful story, in the form of reviews on a website.

Sticky Fingers A kleptomaniac telling her story, how she got started, you will laugh, gasp, and shake your head in disbelieve.

Off the Hinge Such a sad story and definitely a great way to end this wonderful collection. 

Without Merit - Colleen Hoover

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There is no doubt about it, Colleen Hoover is one of my favourite authors. She is a brilliant writer and can get a message across in a way that most authors can’t. This book’s cover had me hooked from the reveal, I knew I had to get a copy ASAP and then once I did for some reason I put off reading it.

The book centres around the Voss family, they are definitely not your average American family. The once cancer-stricken mother lives in the basement, the father married to the mother’s former nurse, the little half-brother isn’t allowed to do or eat anything fun, and the eldest siblings are irritatingly perfect. Then, there’s Merit.

Merit Voss collects trophies she hasn’t earned and secrets her family forces her to keep.

It was definitely a page-turner, with all the secrets that were revealed and then, of course, Merit’s own revelation. This wasn’t your average Colleen Hoover book that revolved around the romantic relationship aspect, but more about the family dynamic and how families work through their own issues.

The characters where interesting, each one getting their moment to shine, my only complaint would be that the book ended so abruptly with a lot of the story not being done (if this is the first book in the series, I will change this part of the review). I would really like to know how the story ends for them.

Other than that, it was an enjoyable read.

Turtles All The Way Down - John Green

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Here we are at the end of the most anticipated book of the year for me.

I adored The fault in our stars, it’s still one of my favourite books, and to be honest the rest of John Green’s books weren’t top of my lists. When I heard what the book would be about, I thought, this was a character I could relate to.

Which I did, I could see some of her actions in myself, I could relate to the way her mind would go into a downward spiral about one little thing, maybe it hit a little too close to home in some ways.

Aza has OCD and anxiety. From the outside, she looks like she has everything. We meet her best friend Daisy who is a brilliant fanfiction writer. There is Davis her sort-of-not-really-almost boyfriend. And don’t forget the Tuatara lizard. As always Green has a very eclectic band of friends, each with their own very distinct personality, and he writes all of them beautifully.  

I did struggle a bit with the book, but in the end, I flew through it. I loved that Green points a big spotlight on some very difficult issues regarding mental health, but the rest of the stories almost felt forced. Each character worked on their own, but once you paired them off, then it didn’t really work for me. Especially Aza and Davis relationship, it felt very forced at some stages.

Overall, it was a good read. Will I read it again? Probably not.

Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon

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I’m not even sorry this book took me almost 2 years to finish, I started it right after reading the first book, and with it being such a bulky book, I would gladly put it down to read something else. But in the last two months, I made a serious point of trying to finish it.

This one was almost as good as Outlander, we follow Jamie and Claire to France, where they have new challenges to try and stop the battle at Culloden. New and old foes battle it out, new and old friends to help them on their journey. I have to be honest that there was a lot of parts that dragged on for pages, and that’s probably the reason why it took me so long to get into the story again.

I laughed, cried, and heaved a sigh of relief. This series is going to be one of my favourites if I can just finish the next books in the series.

There will probably be a lot of readers that will stone me for this, but it does help that we have a wonderful series that gives faces to characters. There will still be people who say they would rather just watch the series, just remember dear ones, there are some major developments that the series does not show.

Here’s to finding long-running book series that you can spend your non-existent time to try and catch up. 

What Have we Done – JT Lawrence

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In tomorrow's world where the edges blur between addictive virtual reality and real life, would you hurt your daughter if it was the only way to set her free?

Lawrence strikes again in this action pack final book in the When Tomorrow Calls series. She grabs you from the first page and drags you on a virtual rollercoaster ride until the last full stop.

We meet up with beloved characters with a couple of new characters that will draw you into this epic tale of what can happen in the future. This thrilling heart racing Dystopian-thriller makes you sit back and think and realise what Lawrence has concocted isn’t such a far-fetched idea.

Reaching the end of the story I found myself shocked and cursing Lawrence, the reveal, in the end, blew my mind. The way Lawrence picks up all the loose threads from all the books and brings them all together to weave this intricate story is why I love reading her books. This is exactly what I will always expect from Lawrence. The writing as always is beautiful, and she has now proven that she can pick any genre and I will gladly follow along, well maybe I will draw the line at Horror, please don't write horror. 

For this reader who usually stays away from thrillers, I can guarantee you, this book will keep even the technophobes on their toes or give them new fears of technology, either way, this was a fast-paced read. 

Click for reviews of Why You Were Taken and How We Found You

To Conquer a Scot - Tamara Gill

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I know Diana Gabaldon didn’t invent these types of stories, but all I could think while reading this was copycat! While the story of getting transported back into time, and finding yourself a Highlander is intriguing and usually works for me, this book didn’t.

There were so many different things that just happened it felt like the author just threw some of it in to make a full-length novel. There was also a lot of continuity problems, which could’ve been picked up by the Beta readers. Not to mention the ending felt very rushed.

The characters didn’t really speak to me, in fact, our main character Abby was irritating. Sure the laird was one of those tall, broody types, but their chemistry didn’t really work for me.

Needless to say, I won’t be reading the rest of this series.

*I received a copy from NetGalley to review*

Eliza and Her Monsters - Francesca Zappia

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If you are like me and love writing fanfiction, and spending hours on the internet speculating about your favourite authors latest books or the latest episode of your favourite television show, this is the one for you. This is the first book of Zappia that I’m reading, and based on this, she will become one of my auto-buys.

Scott Westerfeld’s Afterworlds meets Nimona in this novel about art, fandom, and finding the courage to be yourself. Features illustrations by the author throughout. Perfect for readers of Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl. In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, smart and friendless. Online, Eliza is LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of a popular webcomic called Monstrous Sea. With millions of followers and fans throughout the world, Eliza’s persona is popular. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves her digital community. Then Wallace Warland transfers to her school, and Eliza begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile.

Zappia deals with some very real subjects while blowing life into Eliza’s story, Monstrous Sea, besides the relatability for people who live their lives on the internet, Eliza deals with some issues that affect most people in today's life. The way Zappia introduces these characters to you and makes you fall in love with them makes the journey of seeing them grow worth every heart-clenching moment.

She brought in the fact that internet friends are as important as real friends, with that fine line of balance between the two worlds, it made this book come to life and you know the author ‘gets’ how it feels to be a part of such a community.

I loved the art throughout the book, and wouldn’t have minded if Monstrous Sea was a real comic.

Well done Francesca on this book that will probably be one of my favourites for the year. 

Textrovert - Lindsey Summers

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This is one of those books that if you frequent Wattpad you get excited that someone’s story made it to the big league. I personally did not read the original, and it's okay that I didn’t.

Keeley is about to start her senior year when disaster strikes, she accidentally picks up the wrong phone and it turns out to belong to arrogant jock, who just left for football camp with her phone.

I really enjoyed the banter between the two characters in the beginning, but it did seem to drag on for a while during the middle. This story really had a lot of promise.

The characters were a little immature and you could see some growth throughout the book.

My only real complaint is that although it started out fast-paced, it slowed down to a snail's pace in the middle with an abrupt ending, leaving the reader wanting for more.

Definitely, a quick read especially if you are looking for something that doesn’t require a lot of thinking.

Play Dates - Maggie Wells

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This is one of those stories with a cute premise that just fell short of delivering an unforgettable tales. I can probably put money on the fact that I won’t remember this story for too long, so here is a review straight from the last page.

Monica Rayburn is a workaholic, not so doting aunt who eyes the hot dad at the park. They go on a date, some truths aren’t revealed and that is the start of the story.

There were some parts where I felt that the author might’ve forgotten about continuation, it felt very rushed and the two main characters could’ve saved themselves a lot of trouble by just communicating. Guess there is a life lesson that can be learned from this.

If you like corny romantic comedies with some one-liners, this is the book for you. 

Unravel - Christine Bernard

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This one is difficult to review, you can't say too much without giving away the plot.

Meet Rose Madison, a senior at college, a budding writer with the shadow of her best-selling author mother hovering over her. She is beautiful, funny, intelligent and she seems to be headed for success in the literary world.

In this suspenseful debut novel by Christine Bernard, you can’t help but develop trust issues in the people around you, thinking twice about that sound you just heard behind you.

It is well written and even though I had an idea about the outcome from the beginning, I couldn’t help second guessing myself every time a new twist came along. 

If this is the first book for Christine I can't wait to see what she has up her sleeve with her new books that will surely follow this one. 

Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë

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This is one of those classics that loomed like an ominous mountain in front of me. Then I downloaded the audiobook narrated by Juliet Stevenson and she made all the difference to the experiencing. She is a true entertainer, the voices and accents that she made for each character brought a whole different level to the experience.

The story was dark and bewitching, with a love story that could’ve ended differently if the two characters weren’t stubborn. Catherine really worked on my nerves, she was selfish and with her betrayal of Heathcliff that set the wheels in motion of the plot, I found her very childish.

To a certain degree, I can not really understand why people always reference Catherine and Heathcliff as the perfect couple. Heathcliff is an emotional abuser and Catherine is a spiteful young woman who damned everyone with her actions.

I am however very glad that I am only reading this now as an adult since I can see where a younger person would romanticise the relationships, but as an older reader, I can say it is disturbing to think so many people have these two characters as their ideal of how a relationship should be. 

Please children, spiting one another and then ruining each other does not make a great relationship. 

A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J. Maas

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Oh man, this book took me a while to get in, but once I got over my reading slump, it sucked me in and the story really worked for me.

This book has been on my TBR since I found out it was a beauty and the beast retelling, which is one of my all time favourite stories. So of course when I finally got round to reading it, it was just plain bad luck that I was going through a reading slump. It felt like the book took ages to kick off. So I did what I always did, put it down and went to one of my go to authors to pull me out of it, which didn’t work.

After finding a different type of book, it got me back on track. And boy did ACOTAR then finally kick off, the story pulled me in, and true to Maas’ writing style the characters are well written and you find yourself rooting for them.

There isn’t a lot that you can say about this book since it is the first in the series and I am really scared since I haven’t read the rest yet that whatever I say in the review will be a spoiler.

I would definitely recommend this, just look at the cover it is absolutely gorgeous