Emma is a teacher and takes her class away to a pumpkin patch for a school trip. A little girl goes missing and she joins the search. Meanwhile, her own daughter is abducted…
The School Trip is a psychological thrller set in America.
Every parent can instantly identify with the fear of having a missing child. As a teaching assistant, I also understand the stress of keeping track of classes of children when out and about! Emma has every teacher and then every parent’s nightmare: a lost child. Her own situation escalates when she is informed that her daughter Claire has been kidnapped.
Most of the book is written from Emma’s first person perspective but there are some chapters written from the abductor’s point of view which shows their past trauma and motive. There are plenty of twists as Emma has serious doubts about who she can trust. I also doubted the honesty of most of the characters and suspected everybody of being involved!
There is a strong emotional element to the book. The fear that Emma feels is balanced by the grief she has already experienced following her husband’s death. I thought that the emotions felt authentic as they were well described. Set against this raw emotion is the police procedural element of routines as the investigation develops. Emma becomes increasingly frustrated with the police officer in charge for slowing things down or keeping her in the dark.
The School Trip was an intense thriller with a strong emotional thread.
Book Description:
They should have been watching. But my little girl is gone…
On this crisp October day, the class of six-year-old children are wrapped up warm in gloves and coats for their trip to a local farm. They giggle as they stroke the animals and search for the perfect Halloween pumpkin, and as I watch my daughter Claire race off with her friends, the pink ribbon in her hair bouncing, I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s been so hard since my husband died and my sweet little girl deserves to be happy.
But as the sun sets and the teachers gather the children, Claire is nowhere to be seen.
We call the police and frantically scour the fields and playgrounds, my heart breaking as I cry out Claire’s name. And then a detective shows me a video: my daughter, skipping away from the farm, holding hands with an adult in a bulky coat, their cap pulled down low.
My blood turns to ice. Claire would never leave with a stranger. Whoever took her must be someone I know.
But who could want to punish me this badly? Is it linked to the night I refuse to think about—the terrible night my husband died?
Did my mistakes put my baby girl in danger?
Can I save her by finally facing the past?
Or will I lose her forever when the truth comes out?
A brilliantly twisty thriller that will have you gripped from the first page to the final reveal. Perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, Ruth Ware and Lisa Jewell.
Author Bio:
Miranda Smith writes psychological and domestic suspense. She is drawn to stories about ordinary people in extraordinary situations. Before completing her first novel, she worked as a newspaper staff writer and a secondary English teacher. She lives in East Tennessee with her husband and three young children.
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Liv says yes when her boyfriend Teddy proposes. But straight away she has doubts. Things fast forward quickly as they have to have the wedding within weeks before the family wedding venue closes forever. She heads to the coast to start planning the wedding with her family. Is Liv making the right choice marrying Teddy or will she find happiness by the sea…?
Better Off Wed is a warm and uplifting romantic comedy set on the Cornish coast.
Liv is a comedian and ghostwriter but dreams of writing her own book one day. She has been dating Teddy for almost a year and is delighted when he proposes. However, he is a workaholic for his family business and it is clear from the start the pair are not compatible!
There is only one place Liv would ever get married: a barn in Cornwall which was built by her ancestor. However, she discovers that the venue is closing down and there is one date left so they book it quickly (for a double wedding with her brother and his annoying fiancee!) But as she moves to the venue with her family, Teddy is nowhere to be seen. Liv meets Hugo who helps her with the wedding preparations that Teddy should have been doing.
I loved the jokes dotted throughout the book, especially the cheesy ones 🙂 . There is a beautiful warmth to the tone of the book and the style of writing is easy to read. I liked Liv’s character but wanted to shout at her for not standing up for herself. There are lots of characters who are the kind of people we love to hate so we side with Liv even more. The outcome of the plot is entirely predictable and the twist was easy to spot, but I enjoyed seeing how events played out.
Better Off Wed is a warm and wonderful romantic comedy.
Better Off Wed
Save the date…!
Olivia can’t believe it when her boyfriend, Teddy, proposes out of the blue. She loves him (of course she does!) BUT it does seem sudden, especially when they don’t even live together yet…
There is only one place that Olivia has ever wanted to get married – a gorgeous venue on the Cornish coast, built by her grandfather. The problem is they only have one date available – and it’s only a few weeks away! Olivia isn’t so sure about rushing but Teddy jumps at the chance to be married within the month.
Thrown into a whirlwind of wedding planning, alarm bells start to ring for Olivia. Are they doing this for the right reasons? Why is Teddy in such a rush? And when he fails to help with any part of the preparations, Olivia must find help elsewhere, with unexpected results…
As the countdown begins, will the wedding go ahead? Or will Olivia find that her future happiness lies elsewhere…?
Author Bio –
Portia MacIntosh is the bestselling author of over 20 romantic comedy novels. From disastrous dates to destination weddings, Portia’s romcoms are the perfect way to escape from day to day life, visiting sunny beaches in the summer and snowy villages at Christmas time. Whether it’s southern Italy or the Yorkshire coast, Portia’s stories are the holiday you’re craving, conveniently packed in between the pages.
Formerly a journalist, Portia has left the city, swapping the music biz for the moors, to live the (not so) quiet life with her husband and her dog in Yorkshire.
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Influencer Ris hires middle aged Gail to be her executive assistant. But Gail is lying about her reasons for wanting the job…
The Assistant is a psychological thriller set in London.
The book is written in the present day, reflecting on past events as well as current developments. A series of interviews with Gail combine with diary entries and emails to provide layers of perspective. I thought that the chatty style of the interviews was very intimate so we get to know Gail even though her secrets remain hidden.
Ris is vacuous, selfish and easy to dislike so we instantly ally with Gail. However, she is a unreliable narrator as she is fixated on her version of the truth which she wants to expose to the world. My sympathy for Ris did grow as she is appears increasingly desperate and vulnerable while Gail becomes more determined to see through her plan.
I found this book to be a bit of a slow burner. The interviews and emails give tantalising hints about events that have happened but the pace of the revelations is slowed down by the minutiae of Gail’s day to day experiences with Ris. I enjoyed the major twists at the end of the book.
The Assistant has plenty of mystery and intrigue.
The Assistant
I know many things about Larissa.
I know what she eats, which must-have brands she applies to her face, and the price of each carefully selected ‘piece’ in her multi-million-pound home in Belgravia.
Because Ris, as she is known to her many followers, likes to share.
And now I’m here, in her home, watching her every move.
Entrusted with her secrets and running her diary from the bijou basement flat, I’m on hand to fulfil Ris’ every need. Her right-hand woman. But what she doesn’t know is why I’m really here.
I’ve put a lot on the line to get this job, and now my plan can begin.
I’ve waited long enough.
Author Bio –
Amanda Reynolds is the bestselling psychological suspense author whose debut novel, Close To Me, was adapted as a major six-part TV series for Channel 4 in 2021. Previously published by Headline, her books have been translated into multiple languages. Amanda lives near Cheltenham.
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1939, Vivi and Nathan have a whirlwind romance and marry quickly. But they are soon separated by war and become emotionally distant as well. Nathan returns home injured and they need to rediscover their relationship. Can Vivi live with Nathan’s past…?
The Officer’s Wife is an historical novel set in three parts: at the start, end and after the Second World War.
Vivi is a glamorous American heiress who travels to England in 1939. She meets dashing Nathan, a naval officer and they fall in love. Shortly after their marriage he leaves to fight and Vivi is stuck in his family home with his parents. She feels awkward and frustrated as a wife without a husband and as a foreigner in a war-torn land. Meanwhile Nathan meets a nurse who he remembers from his childhood and this meeting has huge consequences for all of the main characters.
Chance and coincidence play a key role in this book. Nathan and Elise have a chance encounter on a beach as children then reunite when she nurses him after his injury. Another accident changes the lives of all the main characters significantly as we move into the final part of the books.
I felt desperately sad for Vivi as she is forced into a life she didn’t want. Nathan’s behaviour was appalling even when you accept that you can’t help who you fall in love with. Luckily Vivi has enough strength for both of them and makes the best of her situation.
There were some unexpected twists in the final part of the book. Secrets from the past are expanded upon and revealed which creates additional tension as we wonder how events will play out.
The Officer’s Wife is an engaging and emotionally tense historical novel.
The Officer’s Wife
1939 – American heiress Vivi Miles falls for naval officer Nathan as soon as she arrives in England. And, under the threat of war, they marry in a whirlwind before he leaves to join his ship.
When Nathan returns from Dunkirk injured, he is distant, aloof, and no longer the man Vivi fell in love with. But it’s not just because of his brutal experiences of war. Nathan has a secret and Vivi suspects it’s linked to the mysterious evacuee at the secluded house in the woods on his Kent estate.
As war continues to rage, Vivi battles her own grief and loneliness, and tries to find out the truth of the girl’s identity, uncovering a scandal from the past.
Is her love for Nathan strong enough to survive?
Author Bio –
Catherine Law lives in Kent, 10 minutes from the sea, having grown up in Harrow. And ever since she was a child, she has loved to create stories. She writes romantic novels set in the first half of the 20th century, in and around the First and Second World Wars. Her books are inspired by the tales our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers tell us, and the secrets they keep.
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TRIGGER WARNING: addiction
Gabbie packs her bags and heads off in the car with her two daughters. There is only one place she can go: her childhood home where her stepmother lives. The women have a strained relationship but Gabbie is desperate. As Gabbie reassesses her life, she begins to realise that Jill is not an enemy…
My Stepmother’s Secret is an emotional novel about family secrets and lies.
Gabbie has always resented her stepmother due to her loyalty to her mother. Now she is forced to confront her version of the past in order to face her present dilemma. Her husband has betrayed her and now she needs to beg for money from her stepmother. Meanwhile she is also trying to protect her daughters from the truth of the family’s situation.
The book is written in the third person throughout but in the past and present. Gabbie discovers a box of letters and some chapters use the letters followed by the detail of her childhood boarding school experience to contrast with her present day situation. I felt deperately sad for Gabbie and also complete empathy for her hideous experience of bullying. She has always felt lacking in some way and this has made her strive to please people so they don’t reject her.
I enjoyed a range of emotions as I read this book. There was intense anger and irritation at Gabbie’s husband, frustration with Gabbie’s elder daughter for being so unsupportive, sadness for the lost years caused by secrets. I also felt a sense of relief by the end of the book that the truth had been exposed and the layers of generational pain might finally be broken.
My Stepmother’s Secret is a powerful emotional novel.
Book Description:
It’s in that moment, I realise – I have nowhere to turn. If my precious daughters and I are going to have a roof over our heads, we have to return to my childhood home. The one I’ve not felt welcome in since my father died. The one where the woman who destroyed our family still lives…
Today marks the end of my life as I know it. I have absolutely nowhere to go, no-one to turn to. My husband’s lies have ruined our family and wrecked our marriage. And now he’s disappeared, leaving just a promise to make it all right.
My daughters, Olivia and Alice, need me like never before. I will do whatever it takes to stay strong, to keep them safe and loved. So I turn to the one place I hoped never to return to. When my dad died, he left me his house, with one proviso. His second wife, my stepmother, was to be allowed to live there for as long as she wanted. She hasn’t welcomed me there, or shown a single sign of leaving, since.
But I have no choice. I need to ask for her help.
Little do I know that everything I thought I knew about the woman who destroyed my life when I was a child is about to come crashing down. Living together now, the secrets that have kept us apart for all these years are finally revealing themselves. Will our fragile bond break completely, or could it be the only thing that saves me and my daughters…?
An emotional story about family secrets and lies, and the lengths a parent will go to, to protect their children. Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Jojo Moyes and Kate Hewitt.
Author Bio:
Emma Robinson is the author of several women’s fiction novels. She also blogs about the funny side of parenting and has contributed to podcasts such as Funny Women. Whilst her early novels are humorous, her recent work focuses on emotional themes and these novels are both heart-breaking and life affirming. Emma enjoys writing stories which explore the power of family and friendship in the most challenging circumstances.
Emma currently lives in Essex with a husband, two children and a small black dog.
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