The start of a new month is never good news, with a new selection of books in the Kindle sale. However I feel I was quite restrained and have actually bought all the items I wanted this week rather than spreading them across the month. They were also books I wanted from my wish list as well so not just impulse buys (they came later!)

Review Copies

 

The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde by Eve Chase (via NetGalley published 13th July)

From the present day. . .

Applecote Manor captivates Jessie with dreams of hazy summers in the Cotswolds, the perfect place to bring up her children. But the house has an unsettling history and strange rumours surround the estate. . .

to the fifties. . .

When teenage Margot and her three sisters arrive at Applecote during the heatwave of ’59, they find their aunt and uncle still reeling from the disappearance of their daughter, Audrey, five years before. Drawn into the life Audrey left behind and the mystery of her vanishing, the stifling summer takes a shocking, deadly turn.

The bonds of sisterhood will be tested and an unthinkable choice will have a decades-long legacy. . . Step back in time for a mystery of breathtaking suspense – perfect for fans of Kate Morton.

The Last Piece of my Heart by Paige Toon (surprise book post from Simon and Schuster, published 18th May)

Meet Bridget, a successful travel journalist with ambitions to turn her quirky relationship blog into a novel. But, after numerous rejections from publishers, she accepts an alternative proposition: Nicole Dupre died leaving behind a bestselling novel and an incomplete sequel, and the family need someone to finish it. Bridget is just thankful to have her foot in the publishing door. But as she gets to know Nicole’s grieving family, and the woman behind the writing, Bridget’s priorities begin to change …

Kindle Purchases

 

Garden of Stars by Rose Alexander -£1.49

The Alentejo, Portugal 1934

I am Inês Bretão and I am 18 years old. Now that I am finally an adult and soon to be married, I feel like my real life is about to begin. I have decided to document everything that happens to me, for my children and my grandchildren…

As Sarah Lacey reads the scrawled handwriting in her great-aunt’s journal on a trip to Portugal, she discovers a life filled with great passion, missed chances and lost loves – memories that echo Sarah’s own life. Because Sarah’s marriage is crumbling, her love for her husband ebbing away, and she fears the one man she truly loves was lost to her many years ago…

But hidden within the faded pages of the journal is a secret Inês has kept locked away her entire life, and one final message for her beloved niece – a chance for Sarah to change her life, if she is brave enough to take it.

Britt-Marie was Here by Fredrik Backman – 99p

For as long as anyone can remember, Britt-Marie has been an acquired taste. It’s not that she’s judgemental, or fussy, or difficult – she just expects things to be done in a certain way. A cutlery drawer should be arranged in the right order, for example (forks, knives, then spoons). We’re not animals, are we?

But behind the passive-aggressive, socially awkward, absurdly pedantic busybody is a woman who has more imagination, bigger dreams and a warmer heart than anyone around her realizes.

So when Britt-Marie finds herself unemployed, separated from her husband of 20 years, left to fend for herself in the miserable provincial backwater that is Borg – of which the kindest thing one can say is that it has a road going through it – and somehow tasked with running the local football team, she is a little unprepared. But she will learn that life may have more to offer her that she’s ever realised, and love might be found in the most unexpected of places.

Limelight by Emily Organ – 99p

How did an actress die twice?

London, 1883. Actress Lizzie Dixie drowned in the River Thames, so how was she murdered five years later in Highgate Cemetery?

Intrepid Fleet Street reporter Penny Green was a friend of Lizzie’s and Scotland Yard needs her help. Does Penny unwittingly hold clues to Lizzie’s mysterious death? Penny must work with Inspector James Blakely to investigate the worlds of theatre, showmen and politicians in search of the truth.

But who is following her? And who is sending her threatening letters?

Penny is about to discover that Lizzie’s life was more complicated, and dangerous, than she could ever have imagined.

Sand in my Hair by Sandra Beaumont – Free

To a shy little girl, born in the 1950s, the world was sometimes a scary and bewildering place. Often frightened of her own shadow, little Sandra quickly discovers that her peers can sometimes be hurtful, and that grown-ups aren’t always polite and kind.
This gentle, often-humorous story of approximately 44,000 words, takes you from her birth in a grimy mill town, to her junior school days by the sea – when fifty children in one class was normal – and adults regularly turned a blind eye to bullying. Forced into taking elocution and dancing lessons, which she really isn’t cut out for, Sandra often finds it a struggle to meet the expectations of her parents and teachers.
The book takes the reader back to a time of freedom and innocence, when young children walked to school unaccompanied and regularly played outside from dawn till dusk. It was a world of love and laughter, mixed with sadness and uncertainties. An age when every penny counted and children were naive enough to believe that making babies meant taking a pill with a cup of tea.

Raving About Rhys by Jessica Redland – Free

Bubbly Callie Derbyshire loves her job as a carer, and can’t believe she’s finally landed herself a decent boyfriend – older man Tony – who’s lasted way longer than the usual disastrous three months. Tony’s exactly what she’s always dreamed of … or at least he would be if he ever took her out instead of just taking her to bed. And work would be perfect too if she wasn’t constantly in trouble with her boss, The She-Devil Denise.

When the new gardener, Mikey, discovers her in a rather compromising position at work, Callie knows that her days at Bay View Care Home could be numbered. Can she trust him not to tell Denise? If she’s issued with her marching orders, who’ll look out for her favourite client, Ruby, whose grandson, Rhys, seems to constantly let her down? What does Ruby know about Tony? And what is Denise hiding?

Surrounded by secrets and lies, is there anyone left who Callie can trust?

It Was Only Ever You by Kate Kerrigan – 99p

Set, like Maeve Binchy’s early bestsellers, in late 1950s Ireland and New York, this is the story of three women and the charismatic man with whom their lives are interwoven.

Patrick Murphy has charm to burn and a singing voice to die for. Many people will recognise his talent. Many women will love him. Rose, the sweetheart he leaves behind in Ireland, can never forget him and will move heaven and earth to find him again, long after he has married another woman. Ava, the heiress with no self-confidence except on the dance floor, falls under his spell. And tough Sheila Klein, orphaned by the Holocaust and hungry for success as a music manager, she will be ruthless in her determination to unlock his extraordinary star quality.

But in the end, Patrick Murphy’s heart belongs to only one of them. Which one will it be?

 

Annie’s Lovely Choir by the Sea by Liz Eeles – 99p (pre-order due 18 May)

Annie Trebarwith has no family to tie her down, and she likes it that way. But when a letter arrives, unexpectedly inviting her to visit her great aunt Alice in her family’s ancestral home, curiosity gets the better of her and she travels to deepest Cornwall to meet the family she’s never known.

Salt Bay is beautiful and Tregavara House imposing – but there’s no phone signal and some of the locals, like the gorgeous but brooding Josh, are incredibly grumpy. But Alice’s poor health compels Annie to stay, so to keep herself busy she relaunches the Salt Bay Choral Society.

Annie is surprised to see how much the choir means to the community, and she even starts to break through Josh’s surly exterior. As she begins to put down roots in Salt Bay, Annie soon realises that there’s a lot to be said for finding the place where you belong after all…

 

Secrets we Keep by Faith Hogan – Free

Two distant relatives, drawn together in companionship are forced to confront their pasts and learn that some people are good at keeping secrets and some secrets are never meant to be kept.

A bittersweet story of love, loss and life. Perfect for the fans of Patricia Scanlan and Adele Parks.

The beautiful old Bath House in Ballytokeep has lain empty and abandoned for decades. For devoted pensioners Archie and Iris, it holds too many conflicting memories of their adolescent dalliances and tragic consequences – sometimes it’s better to leave the past where it belongs.

For highflying, top London divorce lawyer Kate Hunt, it’s a fresh start – maybe even her future. On a winter visit to see her estranged Aunt Iris she falls in love with the Bath House. Inspired, she moves to Ballytokeep leaving her past heartache 600 miles away – but can you ever escape your past or your destiny?

 

The Handsworth Times by Sharon Duggal – 99p

It is 1981, factories are closing, unemployment is high, the NF are marching and the neglected inner cities are ablaze as riots breakout across Thatcher’s’ fractured Britain. The Agarwals are facing their own personal nightmare but their pain is eased by family, friendships and a community that refuses to disappear. THE HANDSWORTH TIMES is a book about loss, friendship and working together because there is such a thing as society.

Just the Two of Us by Georgie Capron – Free

Lucy is the wrong side of thirty and tormented daily by the idyllic family pictures cluttering up her Facebook newsfeed. All of her friends seem to be getting married and having babies, and yet here she is, resolutely single, and no prospect of creating the perfect family she’s always dreamt of.

How she longs for it to be her turn.

But finding love is complicated, and as time passes she wonders if there might just be another way to make her dreams come true. Is she brave enough to go it alone, or is the fantasy of ‘baby makes three’ just too precious to give up on?