Corinna Ormesby cuts her hair and dresses as a man in order to travel to London to try to find her biological father. She ends up in a fist fight and joins a unit of close young male friends. But can she keep her true self hidden?
An Unsuitable Heiress is an historical romance novel set in the Regency period in England.
Corinna’s mother dies and she leaves her home to search for her father. She had contact with him while she was younger but doesn’t know his name. On the journey to London disguised as a boy, she meets a group of rich men who take her under their wing and introduce her to the finer things in society. They agree to help her find her father but one fo them has a vested interest as he is the male heir of the gentleman in question.
I enjoyed the premise of the plot and the bravery of Corinna. She has the determination to find the truth and her destiny, defying the negaitve attitudes towards her illegitimacy, gender and class. I wanted her to succeed in her quest as well as find happiness.
There were moments of humour whilst Corinna is acting as Cory. She is taken to a brothel as well as experiencing other male pursuits. The young men use interesting language and have a warm friendship. Apart from the Earl’s grief after the death of his son, I felt that there could have been a little more of an emotional side to the story and characters.
An Unsuitable Heiress is an enjoyable historical novel.
An Unsuitable Heiress
‘Do you realise, Corinna, just how hard it is for a young woman of irregular birth, without family, fortune or friends in the world? Marriage is the only way to get any chance of a life.’
Following the death of her mother, Corinna Ormesby has lived a quiet life in the countryside with her cantankerous Cousin Agnes. Her father’s identity has been a tantalising mystery, but now at nineteen Corinna knows that finding him may be her only way to avoid marriage to the odious Mr Beech.
Deciding to head to London, Corinna dons a male disguise. Travelling alone as a young woman risks scandal and danger, but when, masquerading as a youth, she is befriended by three dashing blades, handsome and capable Alick Wolfe, dandy Ferdinand Shilton and the incorrigible Lord Purfoy, Corinna now has access to the male-only world of Regency England. And when she meets Alick’s turbulent brother Darius, a betrayal of trust leads to deadly combat which only one of the brothers may survive.
From gambling in gentleman’s clubs to meeting the courtesans of Covent Garden, Corinna’s country naivety soon falls away. But when she finds her father at last, learns the truth about her parentage and discovers her fortunes transformed, she must quickly decide how to reveal her true identity, while hoping that one young man in particular can see her for the beauty and Lady she really is.
Author Bio –
Jane Dunn is an historian and biographer and the author of seven acclaimed biographies, including Daphne du Maurier and her Sisters and the Sunday Times and NYT bestseller, Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens. She comes to Boldwood with her first fiction outing – a trilogy of novels set in the Regency period, the first of which is to be published in January 2023. She lives in Berkshire with her husband, the linguist Nicholas Ostler.
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Jane, Carly and Rose are the daughters of Alec Savage, a hard man from Glasgow now struck down with Parkinson’s. Jane has relinquished control of the Bitches gang to care for her family and Carly has been dumped by her prisoner boyfriend Cole while Rose is still at school. Now Cole is out of prison and his loyalties are divided…
Savage Sisters is a gritty gangland thriller.
Cole Alexander has just been released from prison and is keen to reignite his relationship with Carly Savage but their families are feuding. There are plenty of twists as Carly struggles to decide who she can trust, has to adapt to chaging relationships, and there are twists right up until the final page.
Carly and her sisters have an emotional side as they cope with their father’s illness. They are devoted daughters and easy to like despite their violent side. Carly has mixed emotions about Cole’s release from prison and the arrival of her uncle and cousins. She wonders who she can trust, and as readers, we aren’t sure either which adds to the tension and anticipation.
There is plenty of swearing and violence as you would expect from this genre of book. The characters revel in violence but the one torture scene is not particularly graphic as it focusses on Carly and Dean’s emotional reaction to it. The book is written in the third person throughout so we see various perspectives to understand various viewpoints and gain a greater knowledge of a range of characters.
Savage Sisters is very entertaining but not for the faint hearted.
Savage Sisters
Jane, Carly and Rose Savage are savage by name, savage by nature.
Having lost their mum too young, and with a bedridden father too ill to work, the sisters learnt early to stand on their own two feet. The family’s flat in the rough streets of Glasgow’s Haghill is their fortress, but when Carly’s ex-boyfriend Cole Alexander is released from prison, trouble soon comes knocking at their door. The Alexanders have beef with the Savages, so the girls call for back up in the shape of their uncle Eddie and his two gorgeous but dangerous sons, Harry and Dean.
As a turf war breaks out, the Savage sisters have choices to make. Stick to the straight and narrow or fight for what they deserve? And when the vicious girl gang Jane used to lead, the Unbeatable Bitches, are thrown into the mix, their minds might be made up for them. Because once a Savage always a Savage, and when the chips are down, there’s no one more deadly than a Savage sister.
Author Bio –
Heather Atkinson is the author of over fifty books – predominantly in the crime fiction genre. Although Lancashire born and bred she now lives with her family, including twin teenage daughters, on the beautiful west coast of Scotland. Her gangland series for Boldwood, set on the fictional Gallowburn estate in Glasgow begins with the title Blood Brothers.
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TRIGGER WARNING: infertility, miscarriage, domestic abuse, alcoholism
Alice escapes to Corfu after a disasterous encounter with her ex. Hiding from the police, she seeks friendship and love in the sun. But who can she trust?
The Wedding Day is a psychological thriller set in the UK and Corfu.
Alice has a troubled and emotional past. Raised by her sister Heather after the deaths of their parents, followed by an unhappy relationship with Dan that crumbled after their failure to have a baby. Now she faces prison after an incident she cannot recall due to PTSD blackouts, so she heads to Corfu.
Alice makes a firm friend of Sylvie who offers her a job and there is the potential of a romance with Nik. But his cousin and an antagonistic relationship with colleague Angelica mean that she isn’t confident in her new life. Plus there are posters up around town of missing women, and one looks just like her…
There are multiple layers to this book as we have Alice’s situation with the UK police and increasingly revealing snippets of her marriage. We then have her flourishing relationships with Sylvie and Nik set against her growing worry over jealous Angelica. Finally there are the mysterious disappearances of other women in the local area. Tension builds as Alice becomes fixated on Nik’s cousin being responsible for killing women while police edge closer to finding Alice herself.
There are a number of mysteries to keep readers guessing: how did Dan get injured, who can Alice trust, what has happened to the missing women? I admit that I found the middle of the book a little long winded and without direction. No progress seemed to be made on any of the plot strands and I thought the scenarios repeated unnecessarily. Several times I tried to relate the plot to the prologue to work out what might happen. There were some huge twists in the final part of the book and plenty of drama throughout.
The Wedding Day is a multi layered psychological thriller with plenty of mystery.
Book Description:
The blushing bride. The handsome groom. A secret one of them will kill for…
It’s the day I’ve been dreaming about my whole life. As I glide down the flower-strewn aisle overlooking the Greek orange groves, in my pearl-encrusted ivory gown, I finally see my fiancé Nik. We look like the perfect couple, but not all fairy tales have happy endings…
Today is supposed to be the day of my dreams.
But I don’t see a single friend or family member. I’m surrounded by strangers.
I have been so excited to finally meet my fiancé’s family.
Then why do they turn their heads away as I walk down the aisle?
Now, as I say my vows, I gaze longingly into Nik’s eyes.
But instead of love, he looks through me, as if he can’t wait for this day to end…
And I suddenly have an awful feeling that I don’t know my fiancé at all.
But then again, he doesn’t truly know me either.
And by the time he finds out who I really am, it will be far too late. There’s only room for one happily-ever-after on this wedding day, and I’m determined to make it mine…
Author Bio:
Sue Watson was a journalist on national magazines and newspapers before becoming a TV producer with the BBC.
Now a USA Today bestselling author, Sue explores the darker side of life, writing psychological thrillers with big twists.
Originally from Manchester, she now lives with her family in leafy Worcestershire where much of her day is spent writing – and procrastinating. Her hobby is eating cake while watching diet and exercise programmes from the sofa, a skill she’s perfected after many years of practice.
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A young woman is found dead by her colleagues. Sophie drowned at the spa where she worked, An accident seems unlikely but who had motive to kill her?
Death at the Three Sisters is the 10th book in the DCI Jude Satterthwaite police procedural series. There are continuations of Jude’s personal life plot lines but no spoilers about the crimes in earlier books.
The book begins with the discovery of Sophie’s body at a run down spa owned by three sisters. There are tensions between the three but they all seem upset by the death of their colleague. It soon becomes clear that Sophie couldn’t have accidentally drowned which means the police begin the hunt for a murderer.
Lead officer Jude Satterthwaite finds his personal and professional lives blurring together again as his ex is involved in the case. His relationship with Ashleigh has tailed off which I felt a little sad about. I really like Jude’s character and want him to find happiness!
Jude is thorough in his approach to the case and I enjoyed the steps of the investigation as suspects and motives are revealed. Once again, the scenery and setting of the Lake District is vividly described, providing a magnificent backdrop to the case.
Death at the Three Sisters is an enjoyable police procedural novel.
Death at the Three Sisters
Three feuding sisters. A faded spa. And a woman, dead in the water…
As they head towards retirement, Suzanne, Hazel and Tessa Walsh are locked in bitter disagreement about the future of the lakeside beauty spa they jointly own. Should they keep The Three Sisters going as their parents wished, or should they sell to a neighbouring hotelier who seems determined to acquire the failing business, even at a preposterously high cost?
When their employee, Sophie Hayes, is found drowned close to the spa one cold January morning it rapidly becomes clear that it’s no accident: Sophie has been murdered. But who could possibly want to kill her — or was she mistaken for someone else? As DCI Jude Satterthwaite seeks the answers he and his team dig ever deeper into the complicated and embittered relationships between the sisters and their neighbours.
As the investigation proceeds Jude becomes convinced that Sophie’s murder may only be the beginning. It’s not long before a shocking and tragic turn of events proves him correct and he and his team find themselves in a race to prevent a further, final tragedy overtaking the Three Sisters. Can he uncover what deadly secrets the sisters are prepared to die — or kill — for, or will he be too late?
Author Bio –
Jo Allen was born in Wolverhampton and is a graduate of Edinburgh, Strathclyde and the Open University, with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in geography and Earth science. She’s been writing for pleasure and publication for as long as she can remember. After a career in economic consultancy she took up writing and was first published under the name Jennifer Young, in genres of short stories, romance and romantic suspense. She wrote online articles on travel and on her favourite academic subject, Earth science. In 2017 she took the plunge and began writing the genre she most likes to read — crime.
Jo lives in the English Lakes, where the DCI Satterthwaite series is set. In common with all her favourite characters, she loves football (she’s a season ticket holder with her beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers) and cats.
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Ethan and Charlotte’s wedding doesn’t go 100% to plan. But their honeymoon is even more disasterous when his mother Anna suffers a fall. Things get even worse when the pair are evicted from their home due to noise complaints and are forced to move in with his mum. Is Charlotte imagining the animosity from her mother in law or is there a real danger…?
His Mother’s Lies is a domestic drama and psychological thriller set in the UK.
I was immediately immersed in the plot and characters of this book. We are given access to all three main character viewpoints which allows us to see their innermost thoughts, feelings and reactions to events. Ethan and Charlotte have a terrible start to their married life together as Anna ruins things for them at every turn and drips poisonous words into Ethan’s ear.
None of the relationships in this book felt healthy. Anna is jealous and claustrophobic in her adoration for her son. Ethan and Charlotte are often at odds with each other even without his mother actively trying to drive wedges between them. I wanted to scream at Ethan to stand up for his wife more!
The tension becomes increasingly sinister as the plot unfolds and Anna increases her control over her son. There is quite a lot of swearing and also some violent behaviour as the situation worsens. There is also an air of mystery as we wonder how much Anna is deliberately trying to sabotage the marriage but also what other secrets she may be hiding.
His Mother’s Lies is a gripping and fascinating scrutiny of unhealthy relationships.
His Mother’s Lies
I married her son, but he couldn’t see her evil…
Charlotte’s dream wedding to Ethan was the happiest day of her life. She knew his mother, Anna, loved her only son, but her overbearing nature starts driving Charlotte insane. Ethan always claimed his mother accepted her as part of the family, but her gut instincts couldn’t be wrong.
To help the happy couple save for their first house together, Anna presents an offer they can’t refuse with a rent-free room in the family home. This is when Charlotte suspects Anna wants her boy back for good. Convinced she is out to destroy their marriage; Charlotte has a surprise that was about to bring them closer together or rip their relationship apart.
As tensions mount and Anna digs her claws in, Charlotte discovers a hidden family secret, but Anna’s manipulative nature ensures no one would believe her. Charlotte must survive a wave of cruelties and play the most vindictive mother-in-law she’s ever encountered at her own sinister game if her marriage is to survive a mother who can’t let go of the past.
Anna will stop at nothing to get what she wants…
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Author Bio –
JA Andrews is from Devon in the UK and is the author of gripping twisty psychological thrillers. As well as writing fiction, he enjoys reading a mix of genres, watching reality TV and spending time with family and friends…
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