Fifteen year old Nell is spotted by a model agency scout. Her mum Anna is reluctant to allow her to join up but she wants to support her daughter’s dreams. Nell’s stepsister Bay is hugely jealous. Can the family survive or is the price of fame too high?
The Pretty One shows the dark side of the modelling industry as well as stepfamilies. There are psychological thriller elements but the family drama aspect drives the plot. Sibling rivalry is taken to the extreme!
The book is written from three first person perspectives: Anna, Nell and Bay. There are also chapters from 2012 when Bay arrived with the family and charting her behaviour towards Nell.
Nell and Bay have a bittersweet relationship. They love each other and are desperate for the other’s approval, yet resent the very existence of the other at the same time. I had much more sympathy towards Nell as it becomes clear that Bay’s behaviour is dangerous and cruel. Yet Nell’s own behaviour towards their mother is typical teen and she rebels against the rules.
Anna put her own life on hold to look after her mother. She gave up the man she loved who went off to New York but she has never forgotten him. I got soooo wound up by her husband Dom who rejects all sense of responsibility, controlled by his own feelings of inadequacy and unable to parent his children or support his wife.
The modelling industry is not portrayed positively and the book contains teen drink and drugs, sexual exploitation and body shaming that is thoroughly unpleasant. Stereotypical but probably accurate 🙁
The Pretty One is an intimate study of a dysfunctional family with a strong emotional pull for the reader.
I have previously reviewed My Perfect Wife by Clare Boyd.
Media Kit:
Title: The Pretty One
Publication Day: 26/02/2021
Author: Clare Boyd
BUY LINKS
Description:
Nell is the perfect child; more beautiful and more likeable and more loveable than me. If my pretty little sister never came home again, I’d finally be free from the terrible secret we share…
Anna is a wonderful mother. She gave up a career she loved to stay home with her children and her kind, polite daughters, Nell and Ivy, are a credit to her. As is Bay, her stepdaughter, whom Anna adores as much as her own two girls. But everything changes the day Anna’s middle daughter’s beauty catches the eye of a stranger in a café…
Quiet, sensitive Nell doesn’t want to have her face on a billboard for all to see. But she knows her family desperately needs the money, and perhaps it would be nice to have her mother’s full attention for the first time since Bay arrived? Could this be the escape from her stepsister’s twisted games Nell has been longing for?
But the moment Nell steps in front of a camera, the devastating secret she and Bay have been keeping breaks the surface – and the bonds of this close-knit family forever. But with both Nell and Bay insisting they’re innocent, can either girl really be trusted?
As Anna’s perfect blended family unravels around her, she is forced to pick a side. To save one daughter, Anna must betray another. Choosing the wrong girl will be more dangerous than anyone could ever have imagined…
An unputdownable read-all-night family drama that explores the dark consequences of sibling rivalry and the heart-wrenching emotional cost of keeping secrets from those you love. Perfect for fans of Big Little Lies, Little Fires Everywhere and My Dark Vanessa.
Author Bio:
Clare lives with her husband and their two daughters in Surrey, where her little green shed at the bottom of the garden provides a haven for her writing life. Before becoming a writer, she enjoyed a career in television, as a researcher in documentaries and then as a script editor in drama at the BBC and Channel Four, where her love of storytelling took hold.
Author Social Media Links:
FACEBOOK: clare.boyd.14
TWITTER: @ClareBoydClark
INSTAGRAM: claresboyd
Laurie’s phone is broken and her car won’t start so she is grateful when a friend offers her a lift home. But she is attacked from the back seat, leading Sheriff Jenna Alton and Deputy Dave Kane to face another murder case as cheerleaders are kidnapped and killed.
Be Mine Forever is the 11th book from DK Hood to feature Alton and Kane, although it would work perfectly well as a stand alone novel. The case is just as good as the others, with plenty of drama and action for our lead characters. The already strong team is added to in this book with the arrival of Zac Rio who has an incredible memory and no doubt this will help solve cases!
The whole book is written in the third person, with the majority of the plot delivered from the police perspective. We do also see chapters from the killers and victim which gives us clues to their identity, motives, and in the case of the latter, terror. The writing is absolutely compelling, the drama is relentless and I find myself genuinely caring about the main characters.
As well as the main murder plot, we have additional subplots including one involving Laurie’s father and his estranged wife, and another where Jenna needs to stand up against spousal abuse. There is also the personal subplot surrounding the potential for romance between Kane and Alton which continues to simmer. However, it is clear that their secret pasts will continue to get in the way (keeping my fingers crossed that things finally move forward in book 12 based on the final chapter…!)
Be Mine Forever was a fab new instalment to the Alton and Kane series and I look forward to the next book.
DK HOOD Media Kit:
Title: BE MINE FOREVER
Author: DK Hood
PUBLICATION DAY: 24/02/2021
BUY LINKS:
Description:
Gray clouds gather overhead as she runs along the dark road. Not a soul is out in the storm, or so she thinks. As the vehicle pulls up alongside her, she sees a familiar face behind the wheel and thinks she’s safe. Little does she know, she has just put herself in unthinkable danger…
When local cheerleader, Laurie Turner, goes missing after practice and her bright red pick-up truck is found abandoned by the side of a quiet road, Detective Jenna Alton fears the worst.
Visiting Laurie’s family house, Jenna senses that the teenager’s home life isn’t as perfect as her father would have people believe. Quick to temper and full of hatred towards Laurie’s mother, Dr Turner doesn’t seem to know the first thing about his own daughter, let alone how long she’s been missing for.
With the clock ticking, the whole town takes to the streets to find the missing girl and, after a frantic search, a terrible discovery is made at the bottom of an old mine shaft on the outskirts of town. Laurie’s pale body is totally still and Jenna is sure somebody in the local community is her killer.
When another cheerleader goes missing, Jenna thinks that someone close to the school is picking the teenagers off one by one. As she talks to the other students, it becomes clear that there are plenty of people who’d like to silence the girls forever.
Then her own deputy David Kane comes face to face with the murderer, and Jenna has to race to save him. Can she do so before it’s too late? Or will another young life be taken?
If you enjoy Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot, you will love this unputdownable crime thriller from The Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author D.K. Hood.
**Each Kane and Alton book can be read as part of the series or as a standalone**
Author Bio:
I’ve always had a wicked sense of humour and was the kid who told the ghost stories around the campfire. I am lucky to have family all over the world and have spent many vacations in places from Paris to Montana and Australia. I use the wonderful memories from these visits to enhance my stories.
My interest in the development of forensic science to solve crime goes back many years. I enjoy writing crime, mystery and thrillers. With many stories, waiting for me to write I’ll look forward to sharing many spine-tingling stories with you.
D.K. Hood is an active member of International Thriller Writers.
Author Social Media Links:
Liesel Scholz is a teenager growing up in Nazi Gernmany. Her father is a chemist and his skills are being used to support the impending war. She is thrown into a world of high ranking Nazi officials yet is horrified by the violence and cruelty she sees in the streets.
1945 and the war has just ended. Captain Sam Houghton arrives from America to deal with the aftermath of wartorn Berlin. He finds a people broken by defeat and hardship. He hires a young secretary to help him with translation but can he trust her…?
The Girl from Berlin is an excellent dual timeline novel. The timelines are only separated by a few years at most yet the dramatic changes are huge. Both plotlines were convincing and compelling, drawing the reader in to puzzle how they are connected.
This book appealed to my history degree as well as my psychology masters. The situation for ‘normal’ Germans in the face of rising Nazism as well as the coping mechanisms for surviving war. Author Kate Hewitt has clearly conducted careful research which brings an authenticity to the plot and descriptions.
Liesel develops from child to adult over the course of the book and discovers that her perfect lifestyle comes at a price. I had plenty of suspicions about what chemistry Liesel’s father was developing and was not disappointed to be proved right with his horrifying revelations at the end of the book.
The links with the other postwar timeline were quite obvious but it was fascinating to see the plot unfurl. I read with a distinct sense of dread and anticipation and was not disappointed. The horror of war and Nazi atrocities are handled sensitively and often subtly but this does not reduce their power to shock.
The Girl from Berlin was hugely enjoyable despite the tragedies included within its pages. Beautifully written and lovingly researched.
The Girl from Berlin book description:
1936, Nazi-ruled Berlin. A heartbreaking and stunningly powerful novel of friendship, courage and betrayal, about two girls whose lives collide in war-torn Berlin, and whose friendship is the only thing that might get them out alive.
They sat together on the roof, watching Berlin burn, as traces of smoke and cloud floated through the air. “I just want to be free,” Rosa said quietly, “Even if only for a few minutes. It might be the last chance I have.”
From her beautiful new home in Berlin, a young woman named Liesel Scholz barely notices the changes to the city around her. Her life is one of privilege and safety thanks to her father’s job working for the new government.
But a chance encounter with Rosa, the daughter of their Jewish housekeeper, confirms Liesel’s fears that something isn’t right. That the Nazi government’s brutal rules are cruel and dangerous, and that others aren’t as safe as she is. When Rosa begs Liesel to help—pressing her grandfather’s gold pocket watch into Liesel’s hand—Liesel recklessly agrees.
She will help hide Rosa and her loved ones—in the dusty, unused rooms at the top of their house—even if it means putting everyone she loves in danger. Even if it means risking her own life.
Frankfurt, 1946: An idealistic American captain, Sam Houghton, arrives in Germany to interrogate prominent Nazis on trial and to help rebuild a battered country. When he hires an enigmatic, damaged interpreter named Anna, he doesn’t expect sparks to fly between them. Perhaps there is a chance of love for both of them. But then the question of what happened to Anna in the war raises its head.
Because Anna has secrets—ones that link her to Berlin, the Nazi party, and the story of one gold pocket watch and two young women who became friends, even when they were told it was impossible…
A compelling and haunting story about courage, love and betrayal set in war-torn Berlin. Fans of The Alice Network, All the Light We Cannot See and The Nightingale will be not be able to put this down.
Author Bio:
Kate Hewitt is the author of many romance and women’s fiction novels. A former New Yorker and now an American ex-pat, she lives in a small town on the Welsh border with her husband, five children, and their overly affectionate Golden Retriever. Whatever the genre, she enjoys telling stories that tackle real issues and touch people’s lives.
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Trainee nurse Emily Burdon is working in a London hospital at the end of World War One. She dreams of peace and the safe return of her fiance Lewis who is fighting in France. But then the globe faces a new threat as the war ends but the far more deadly Spanish Flu is unleashed. Will Emily get her happy ending…?
When The World Stood Still is an historical drama and romance. The relationships between staff and patients as well as the medical detail is reminiscent to me of Holby City set 100 years ago. Highly dramatic and thoroughly enjoyable. My only criticism is that it was over too quickly and I felt the ending was a bit rushed. I want more! I’d love this to be continued in a sequel…
Emily is a determined young woman, passionate about her career but ready to give it up for love. She is dedicated to her career but also prepared to throw it away for family and love. She makes friends easily and is popular in her nursing team as well as amongst the patients.
Ooh I got angry with Lewis when he arrives back on the scene! We see chapters of him in France and he seemed a likeable chap but when he gets back to London there are secrets which I won’t spoil as well as the changes due to his experiences in the trenches.
The juxtaposition between the Spanish Flu and the current Coronavirus was hugely enjoyable. The protective measures and horrendous experiences in the wards is highly emotional and authentic, even more so given the current global situation. I thought the medical cases and WW1 experiences were handled sensitively but author Kate Eastham doesn’t pull any punches.
When The World Stood Still was hugely enjoyable, rich in history and drama.
When The World Stood Still book description:
The nurses were putting in twelve-hour shifts now, day and night. Emily felt broken inside, dried out, not even capable of tears. They were short-staffed after a softly spoken Irish nurse, who’d only been with them for four days, had died from the deadly flu and two more had fallen ill. And more patients were coming in every hour, though the hospital beds were already full…
1918. Twenty-year-old Emily Burdon has been training as a nurse in London, learning on the job as she tends to patients from the crowded poorhouses that ring the hospital as well as wounded soldiers returning from the war. She pours her heart into her nursing while she waits for happier times – peace in Europe and the return of her childhood sweetheart Lewis from the Western Front.
But when the deadly Spanish Flu arrives in London on the heels of the war, Emily’s faith and courage are put to the test. All around her men and women in the prime of their lives are wasting away, and until a cure is found there is nothing for Emily and her colleagues to do except make them comfortable, treat them as best they can… and, eventually, ease the pain of their passing.
But then Lewis catches the deadly flu himself on his way back home, just as a new doctor is transferred to head up Emily’s ward. From the distant land of Prince Edward Island in Canada, Dr James Cantor is the first of a generations-old farming family to have left the island, and wartime London feels a long way away from the rugged beauty of his homeland. But despite their differences, he and Emily find common ground in their passion for helping patients and stopping the spread of the disease. But with life forever changed around her and Lewis’ future hanging by a thread, can Emily survive the most terrible epidemic in the history with her life – and heart – intact?
A heartbreaking historical novel based on true history – emotional and unforgettable. Perfect for fans of Jean Grainger, The Beantown Girls and Diney Costeloe.
Author Bio:
A change in circumstance meant Kate Eastham made the shift from a career in nursing to being a carer for her partner. Determined to make the most of this new role ‘working from home’ and inspired by an in-depth study of the origins of nursing, she wrote her first novel at the kitchen table. Miss Nightingale’s Nurses was published by Penguin in 2018, closely followed by three more in the series. With her passion for history, Kate aims to make visible the lives of ordinary yet extraordinary women from the past. Her current historical fiction is set during the World Wars and will be published by Bookouture.
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Have you seen the TikTok viral video of baked feta pasta? I wanted something quicker and easier using store cupboard ingredients that I could throw together…
And here it is! A store cupboard cheat version!
Ingredients (serves 2):
150g pasta (mine was gluten free)
100g feta (I used Violife Greek style)
400g tin chopped tomatoes
sprinkle of herbs or seasoning to taste (I used black pepper, garlic granules, crushed chillies)
1 teaspoon oil
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 200
Open the can of tomatoes and tip into a dish.
Place the block of feta in the middle.
Drizzle the cheese with oil and season the whole dish.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is soft.
Meanwhile cook the pasta according to packet instructions. Drain
Remove the tomatoes and cheese from the oven and give it a good stir to break up the cheese.
Stir in the pasta until fully covered in sauce.
Enjoy!
