Today’s team review is from Frank. Frank has been reading The Cardboard King by Chris Atkin. As the Spanish Fascist dictator, Franco, neared the end of his life he nominated Prince Juan Carlos as his successor. It was supposed, by … Continue reading
Safe Enough by Lee Child
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Safe Enough is a collection of twenty previously published short stories written by Lee Child. Almost all have a crime related theme or a close connection to crime, like a judge or a police officer.
There’s a foreword written by Child which is a lovely little summary of his writing career. I found it very interesting to hear how he got into writing and his work ethic.
The writing style is typical of Child’s Jack Reacher books—short precise sentences— but Jack is never a character in any of these tales. As with most story collections some of them I enjoyed more than others. I particularly liked the ones which had a little twist at the end, especially if I didn’t see it coming.
Some of my favourites involved a cross or a double-cross with perhaps a small dose of comeuppance for those involved. You know the ones that I mean—good versus bad is a popular scenario— especially when the guy with the moral high ground wins.
Book Description:
Here are twenty meticulously plotted, intimate portraits of humanity at its best and worst, featuring assassins, CIA agents, gangsters, and more. A drug-dealing hit man unburdens his fears to a stranger. An overlooked rookie cop is assigned to the department’s file room. A ruthless killer only kills bad guys. A methodical bodyguard quits his job when he’s outsmarted. A military mission is planned to perfection…
Each story is entirely distinct. And with their economical prose and unexpected twists, each could only have been written by the creator of Jack Reacher.
The stories included in this collection
The Bodyguard * The Greatest Trick of All * Ten Keys * Safe Enough * Natural in Every Way * The .50 Solution * Public Transportation * Me and Mr. Rafferty * Section 7 (a) (Operational) * Addicted to Sweetness * The Bone-Headed League * I Heard a Romantic Story * My First Drug Trial * Wet with Rain * The Truth About What Happened * Pierre, Lucien & Me * New Blank Document * Shorty and the Briefcase * Dying for a Cigarette * The Snake-Eater by the Numbers
Today’s team review is from Georgia. Georgia blogs here https://www.georgiarosebooks.com Georgia has been reading Between The Lines by Tracey Magruder. I chose to read Between the Lines as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team. I received a copy from the author, but … Continue reading
The 📢 Tell Us About’ Meme is hosted by Marsha from https://marshainthemiddle.com/ This month’s Festivals topic was chose by Debbie! Anyone can join in and write their own post and there is a linky set up to add your posts for others to read too. … Continue reading
Choosing Chaos: A Paranormal Romantasy of Magic, Mischief, and Fate by Luna Runestorm
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
3.5 stars
Choosing Chaos is a modern day romantasy with a Norse mythology theme.
The story takes place in a small Texas town and we are introduced to Amethyst and her two dogs who live in a trailer on the edge of the woods. One afternoon magic sparks through the air and ancient runic symbols appear on the trees and the ground. Part scared, part curious, Amethyst is unsure what will happen next.
In the dog park she meets a man called Loki, who has his own magical spark and runes run across his arms and body. As their friendship grows, storms batter the town and unexplainable energy surges occur. While the townsfolk shy away from supernatural events a threatening government law enforcement team moves closer.
The story was told mainly from Amethyst’s point of view, but there were also several chapters seen through Loki’s eyes. I enjoyed the links to Norse mythology, especially the runes which were often a character of their own. The story was slow to build, as did the romance and while I appreciated getting to know the setting through the world-building, I found the pace dragged in places. However, once the tale hit the last third the pace quickened with the drama. If you enjoy old magic and Nordic myth, mixed with a chaos god, then this tale might be for you.
Book Description:
In the piney woods of East Texas, Amethyst Gold has built a quiet life with her two loyal cattle dogs, working tech support from her remote trailer and keeping to herself. She’s spent years avoiding trouble and staying under the radar, but when mysterious glowing symbols begin appearing in the forest around her home, her carefully constructed solitude starts to unravel.
Everything changes when an enigmatic stranger named Loki walks into her world. Charming, dangerous, and clearly hiding secrets of his own, he seems to know more about the strange phenomena plaguing Amethyst’s quiet town than he’s willing to admit. As their attraction grows, so does the magical chaos surrounding them.
Soon, Amethyst discovers she’s connected to an ancient bloodline with ties to powers she never imagined. When mysterious government agents begin circling her property and the supernatural intrusions escalate beyond mere glowing symbols, Amethyst must decide whether to run again or finally stand her ground.
With her small Texas town caught in the crossfire between ancient magic and modern forces, Amethyst faces choices that will determine not just her own fate, but the safety of everyone she’s come to care about. Sometimes the most powerful magic isn’t about spells or runes—it’s about finding the courage to trust someone else with your heart.
A blend of urban fantasy, romance, and small-town charm, Twilight Runes explores themes of belonging, self-discovery, and the transformative power of love in the face of impossible odds.
Turn Right at the Rainbow: A Diary of Househunting, Happenstance & Home by Roz Morris
4 stars
Turn Right at the Rainbow: A Diary of House hunting, Happenstance & Home, is a creatively written non-fiction memoir which delves into homes, houses, and the art of moving house in England.
Roz and Dave have happily lived in London for several years, but now they are looking to move closer to the countryside. As they struggle to find the right house for their impending move, Roz considers what a home means. These thoughts send her down a rabbit hole of memories from her childhood home while she also reflects on the many happy years that the couple have spent in their London residence.
I am sure that plenty of readers will shudder from memories of their own experiences with the cut and thrust actions associated with buying and selling a home. House buying and selling can be incredibly stressful. I particularly enjoyed being an armchair viewer to the places that they considered, especially the house along the Hogs Back near Farnham as it is a road that I have driven along frequently.
This is a thinking book, one which may cause memories for readers of homes owned and lived in from childhood to present day. I liked Roz’s vision and learned something along the way with the mini historical elements that interspersed with the house hunting.
Book Description:
You don’t find home. Home finds you.
Roz has lived in her London house for thirty years. She arrived there bewildered and reckless, moving in with a man she’d known for one week, and the house kept Are you sure? Do you belong here? Now, decades later, it’s the keeper of her history, her work and her life with Dave. But now they’ve decided to leave the city.
With sharp wit and genuine curiosity, Roz explores the deep resonance of place and how a house is built on layers of happenstance, how it holds the ghosts of previous owners, and how we come to know it like our own limbs. From estate agents’ slippery tricks to the strange archaeology of attics, from the sounds that tell us we’re home to the leap of faith required to start again somewhere new, this is a book about stuff and nonsense, love and junk, the old kingdom and the new —and the ways our homes shape us as much as we shape them.
By turns hilarious and unexpectedly moving, Turn Right At The Rainbow is creative non‑fiction that reads like a novel. It’s for readers of memoir who crave heart as much as humour, as well as those who scroll property listings just for nosiness. Above all, it’s a quest for the miraculous moment when somewhere alien becomes ‘home’.
The Mark Of Eternity is the second book in the Egyptian Stones series of archaeology thrillers. The story opens in Atlanta where a body is found in a shallow grave. The discovery leads to several more corpses and a new … Continue reading
The Enchanted Midlife: Awakening the Witchy, Wise & Wonderful You by Suzy Turner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Enchanted Mid-Life: Awakening the Witchy, Wise & Wonderful You, is a new self-help book aimed at women who have reached a crossroad in their life.
Author Suzy Turner has laid out an easy-to-follow guide for anyone who might feel at a loss in their current life and who is looking for a new direction with a gentle spiritual theme. The focus is to give perimenopausal, menopausal and post-menopausal women hope for the future. Often this significant bodily change can feel overwhelming, and Suzy’s book offers ideas about how to embrace the next stage of life.
Suzy talks about tuning in to your true self, looking at your energy and where it goes. Other chapters look at feelings and intentions and how to get back to being you while doing things that bring you joy.
There was much to dip into; several chapters really resonated with me, and I made notes of points I wanted to return to. This book also made me think and I went off down a rabbit hole on more than one occasion, like remembering childhood excitement about things I wanted to do and people I wanted to be. The book also made me rethink about what I want to do now and how I might create a new path to really enjoy life once more.
In a wise woman format, this book is a way to celebrate mid-life and how to go forward with genuine enthusiasm for living.
Book Description:
Midlife can arrive quietly… and then all at once.
One day you realise you’re tired of pushing, pretending, and putting up with things that no longer fit. You’re not broken. You’re not failing. And you’re definitely not “too late”.
The Enchanted Midlife is for women in midlife — perimenopausal, menopausal, done with everyone’s nonsense — and secretly wondering why they feel so lost in their 40s or 50s, especially when life looks “fine” from the outside.
This isn’t a book about fixing yourself or reinventing your entire life overnight. It’s about remembering who you were before the world told you who to be.
Blending grounded spirituality, gentle witchy wisdom, and real midlife truth, this book explores intuition, energy, self-trust, and the quiet awakening so many women experience during menopause and beyond. Not in a dramatic, burn-it-all-down way — but in a deeply personal, soul-level one.
Inside, you’ll
• How to redraw your Inner Compass when life feels off-track
• The secrets of Energy Hygiene and protecting your peace
• Practical Kitchen Witchery and soulful, plant-based nourishment
• How to reclaim your Creative Soul Expression and unique midlife style
• The power of the Sacred “No” and releasing old soul contracts
You’ve always felt a little different.
This book helps you finally name it.
Because midlife isn’t the beginning of the end.
It’s the moment you come home to yourself.
Diners, Damsels & Wolves by Margot Primrose
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Diners, Damsels and Wolves is a paranormal romance and the first book in the series. The story takes place in a fictional town in Kansas and both the main characters are in their 30s.
Clarissa works long hours at the local diner so that she can financially support herself and her aunt Rachel. Rachel has an unusual form of dementia and Clarissa is exhausted from working and caring for her aunt.
After Tom’s father was injured and forced to retire, Tom takes over both the family lumber business and as leader of their shifter pack. As he attempts to make peace with several other packs an old threat returns in town.
A group of rough predator types stop at the diner for food. Clarissa catches the eye of one of them and it makes her feel very uncomfortable. Later when she leaves a work shift the man is waiting by her car. Tom’s valiantly rescue of Clarissa and concern for her welfare is the starting point for this romantic tale.
The damsel in distress storyline was quite simplistic using the insta-love concept. I liked the shifter themes but felt they were a little light on world-building and background information especially about the threat which came to town. There were three to four heated sexual scenes which were awkward to read set against the fairy-tale style romance.
Book Description:
A damsel in distress wolf shifter romance
Clarissa Roberts is just trying to make ends meet. Caring for her sick aunt and working double shifts at the local diner, she’s strung out emotionally, physically, and mentally. She doesn’t have the luxury of dreams or romance.
Thomas Sinclaire never applied for this job, but when his father became injured, the role of pack Alpha was thrust upon him. Fighting against rigid wolf traditions, generational curses, and the threat of an invading pack, he finds something unexpected.
When a late-night shift leaves Clarissa in the clutches of a monster and the graces of a good Samaritan, her world is set ablaze. Grappling with love and loss, she’s unexpectedly thrust into the supernatural underground and a shifter feud for power and blood.
Today’s team review is from Frank. Frank has been reading Wit Is It By David Barclay. Whilst a short story must be complete in and of itself, it is a rare even to see one offered as a stand alone … Continue reading
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