The Manhattan Girls – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Manhattan Girls

Author:- Gill Paul

No. of pages:- 416 pages

Date published:- will be published on August 16th 2022

Publisher:- Avon

Genre:- Historical Fiction

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

NEW YORK CITY 1921: The war is over, fashions are daring, and bootleg liquor is abundant. Here four extraordinary women form a bridge group that grows into a firm friendship.

Dorothy Parker: renowned wit, member of the Algonquin Round Table, and more fragile than she seems. Jane Grant: first female reporter for the New York Times, and determined to launch a new magazine she calls The New Yorker. Winifred Lenihan: beautiful and talented Broadway actress, a casting-couch target. And Peggy Leach: magazine assistant by day, brilliant novelist by night.

Their romances flourish and falter while their goals sometimes seem impossible to reach and their friendship deepens against the backdrop of turbulent New York City, where new speakeasies open and close, jazz music flows through the air, and bathtub gin fills their glasses.

They gossip, they comfort each other, and they offer support through the setbacks. But their biggest challenge is keeping their dear friend Dottie safe from herself.

In this brilliant new novel from the bestselling and acclaimed author of Jackie and Maria and The Secret Wife, readers will fall right into Jazz Age New York and into the inner lives of these groundbreaking, influential women.

Gill Paul is the bestselling author of eleven historical novels, many of them describing real women she thinks have been marginalized or misjudged by historians. They include THE MANHATTAN GIRLS, about Dorothy Parker and three friends navigating life, love and careers in Prohibition-era New York, like a 1920s version of Sex and the City; THE COLLECTOR’S DAUGHTER, about Lady Evelyn Herbert, the first person to enter Tutankhamun’s tomb in modern times; JACKIE AND MARIA (retitled THE SECOND MARRIAGE in the UK) about Maria Callas and Jackie Kennedy’s rivalry over Aristotle Onassis; two bestselling novels about the Romanovs – THE SECRET WIFE and THE LOST DAUGHTER – as well as WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST, which was shortlisted for the 2013 RNA Epic Novel of the Year award, NO PLACE FOR A LADY, shortlisted for a Love Stories award, and ANOTHER WOMAN’S HUSBAND, about links you might not have suspected between Wallis Simpson and Princess Diana. Her novels have reached the top of the USA Today, Toronto Globe & Mail and kindle charts, and been translated into twenty-one languages.

Gill also writes historical non-fiction, including A HISTORY OF MEDICINE IN 50 OBJECTS, and she speaks at libraries and literary festivals on subjects ranging from Tutankhamun to the Romanovs.

Gill lives in London, where she is working on her twelfth novel, and she swims daily in an outdoor pond.

This is the first time I am reading Gill Paul’s novels and I have to say, I actually did enjoy reading this book.

The story is set in 1920’s New York–the Jazz era, the Prohibition era, the great boom and is just after the First World War. The story is based on Dorothy Parker, based on the real life Dorothy, and her friends, Winifred, Jane and Peggy. Jane is the first female reported of New York Times, Winifred is a Broadway actress and Peggy is a brilliant novelist. These four women are friends and form a bridge group and the story tells about the lives of these four women and how their friendship between them grows stronger and of couse their love life.

As this is based on the true story, the author takes the reader to the 1920’s era and as a reader you can get a glimpse of what the 1920’s lifestyle was really like. It was the time when women wore flapper dresses, the alcohol was prohibited, various gangs were formed and of course scandalous lives that shows us how men are still in control of the society. As a result, I actually enjoyed the author’s writing. The story is told from each of the friends’ perspectives, detailing about their careers, working in a men dominated world and of course their love life. I actually enjoyed reading Winifred’s story as I found her story more interesting. I have to say, the author did a good job of researching about the life back in 1920’s.

This book actually is like the 1920’s version of Sex and the City–taking place in Manhattan New York. I actually enjoyed reading this book–worth four stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue

Louis Armstrong – Fireworks

Duke Ellington – Jubilee Stomp

Betsy Byre – Sleepwalk

The Family Compound – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Family Compound

Author:- Liz Parker

No. of pages:- 286 pages

Date published:- will be published on August 23rd 2022

Publisher:- Lake Union

Genre:- Family Saga

Rating:

Plot:- 3/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 3.5/5

A compassionate and insightful novel about family, broken dreams, and holding on to everything in life that matters.

Five cousins must band together to decide the future of their shared inheritance—the family’s sprawling property in Stowe, Vermont—but with each at a different place in life, reaching a unanimous decision seems unlikely.

Penny struggles with depression and craves stability in an unstable world. Halsey is divorced, raising her child, and contending with an unexpected realization about herself. Irresponsible William can be counted on only to fall in love as capriciously as he falls out of it. And both Laurie and Chris are floundering after betrayals—hers professional, his personal. With little in common except childhood memories, the five face impossible choices. It’s going to take sacrifice, compromise, and a plan for moving forward they can all agree to. Until then, the fate of the Nolan family compound is as uncertain as their paths in life.

As five lives in flux converge and tensions run high, the cousins will have to rely on each other if they’re to have any hope of preserving the past. From the author of All Are Welcome comes a novel about a family legacy worth fighting for.

Liz Parker is a literary agent at Verve Talent & Literary and the author of All Are Welcome. She has written for the New York Times’ Modern Love column and lives in Los Angeles with her wife, Sarah, and their three dogs. For more information visit http://www.lizparkerwritessometimes.com.

If you like a novel based on family saga, then this book might be great one for you.

This is a story of five cousins, Laurie, Penny, Chris, Halsey and William coming into terms with land and two homes left for them after their parents died. Each of these characters have their own personalities–Laurie had been fired from her position as a lawyer in a law firm, Halsey is newly divorced and discovers something about herself, and Penny is seem to be suffering from depression. The story is maily told in Laurie’s, Penny’s and Halsey’s perspectives.

At first, the book did not really get into me and at a point, I was kind of bored with the book. But by 30%, the book suddenly grew into me and soon, I want to know what is going to happen to the land and also to the cousins. The book also mainly talked about the relationships between the cousins, how estranged they were with each other. The pacing grew by the 50% of the book to the point when suddenly I was interested in the ending and wanting to know what is going to happen next.

So if you are into family sagas and family dramas, then this book might be one for you. Worth four stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

In My Dreams I Hold A Knife – Book Review

Title:- In My Dreams I Hold A Knife

Author:- Ashley Winstead

Date published:- August 3rd 2021

Publisher:- Soucebook Landmark

Number of pages:- 356 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5 stars

Six friends.
One college reunion.
One unsolved murder.

Ten years after graduation, Jessica Miller has planned her triumphant return to her southern, elite Duquette University, down to the envious whispers that are sure to follow in her wake. Everyone is going to see the girl she wants them to see—confident, beautiful, indifferent. Not the girl she was when she left campus, back when Heather Shelby’s murder fractured everything, including the tight bond linking the six friends she’d been closest to since freshman year.

But not everyone is ready to move on. Not everyone left Duquette ten years ago, and not everyone can let Heather’s murder go unsolved. Someone is determined to trap the real killer, to make the guilty pay. When the six friends are reunited, they will be forced to confront what happened that night—and the years’ worth of secrets each of them would do anything to keep hidden.

Told in racing dual timelines, with a dark campus setting and a darker look at friendship, love, obsession, and ambition, In My Dreams I Hold A Knife is an addictive, propulsive read you won’t be able to put down.

Ashley Winstead is an academic turned novelist with a Ph.D. in contemporary American literature. She lives in Houston with her husband, two cats, and beloved wine fridge. You can find her at http://www.ashleywinstead.com.

I have always wanted to read this book and when I got my hands to this book, I was excited. The ratings and reviews are bit good in this book so I was happy that I manage to grab my hands on this book.

Jessica Miller was invited to a college reunion and she meets her friends–Caro, Coop, Mint (her-ex boyfriend), Frankie and Courtney. But ten years ago, while attending college, one of their friends Heather, was brutally murdered. The main suspect had been her boyfriend Jack but as there was no evidence, Jack was let go. Now Heather’s brother, Eric believed that Jack was innocent and one of them was the murderer. Which one actually killed Heather? And Jessica has a secret…

It first started a little boring but by 20% of the book, it got interesting with some twists and turns along the way. The story divides between the present day and the past, from the time Jessica enrolled as a freshman to the senior year in college. The book is realistic in some way as it shows Sorority recruitment and the competition that Jessica faces. Jessica yearned for a perfect life and so it is understandable why she wanted to be successful in her life, as we read on about her character.

By the middle of the book, the story started getting interesting as we realized that nearly everyone, including the main protagonist Jessica could have killed Heather as each had their own reasons to do so. The ending was what actually blew me off that really put me on the edge. I actually enjoyed the ending and it was a satisfied ending in my opinion.

This is the debut book of this author but I couldn’t believe that it was her debut book–the book was well written, packed with twists and turns, an unreliable narrator with a deep secret and that nearly every character in the story is a suspect that makes the reader guess which one of them could be the actually killer. Can’t wait to read more books from this author!

Worth four stars!

Britney Spears – Toxic

Plumb – Cut

Flo Rida – Right Round

Scoring a Spouse – ARC Book Review

Title:- Scoring a Spouse

Author:- Liz Lincolm

Date published:- will be published on 18th August 2022

No. of pages:- 326 pages

Genre:- Romance

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

A professional soccer player. An overworked executive. A marriage of convenience. And too many secrets. The first in a brand new series from Liz Lincoln.

Erika Parker-Ward is living the dream–her professional soccer career is on the rise, and she’s got her sights set on making the World Cup team for the US. But all of that could be over in a blink now that Erika’s been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

Her plan? Keep the diagnosis hush hush by paying for private medical care, but the cost is threatening to bury her alive.

Nate Simmons owes all his success as a wealthy tech exec to the grandmother who took him in when he was orphaned at two. So when she wants to see him married before she dies of heart failure, he is ready to move mountains to give his beloved Oma her dying wish.

A chance meeting on the road brings these two desperate strangers together, and an evening of commiserating makes a potentially terrible plan seem pretty perfect: A marriage-of-convenience will give them both what they need.

It’s strictly business, and everybody knows you should never mix business with pleasure..

Erika and Nate have plenty of secrets to keep–from the press, and from each other–but the biggest secret of all might be their true feelings.

Erika is in the US Soccer Women’s Team. She has a deep secret–she is suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. And despite her overwhelming medical fees, she didn’t want her team to know that she is suffering from arthritis. Nate is a successful CEO of a company. His grandmother, Oma’s last wish is for Nate to settle down and get married. So by chance, the two meet each other and soon, romance develops between the two.

It started a bit slow to me but gradually the story grew into me. I do like the chemistry between Erike and Nate and the author has done a good job with the chemistry. The front cover of the story is really cute as well and appealing as well. Besides all the love story between Erika and Nate (and steamy scenes), the story does follow the journey of Erika when she is dealing with her diagnosis in arthritis. As someone who just recently got diagnosed with arthrtitis, I can totally relate to Erika’s story.

Overall, I cannot wait to read more from this author–worth four stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

We Were Never Here – Book Review

Title:- We Were Never Here

Author:- Andrea Bartz

Date published:- August 3rd 2021

No. of pages:- 306 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

It was meant to be the holiday of a lifetime.

Until Emily found their hotel suite covered in blood.

Her friend Kristen claims a backpacker attacked her . . . she had no option but to kill him.

With no evidence of the assault, Emily must help her hide the body.

But back home, as the walls close in around the events of that night, Emily is forced to ask herself:

Can her closest friend be trusted? . . .

So, the plot of this book sounded interesting–Kristen and Emily are best friends since college and they are backpacking in Chile. But one night, when Emily comes into the room, she finds Kristen had killed another backpacker named Paolo. Kristen says that it was self defense as Paolo had come attacking her. Believing her friend, Emily helps Kristen bury the body and they tried to move on with their own lives by going back to their places. Emily tries to forget the incident behind her but one day, Kristen came back, knocking at her front door. Then soon Emily wonders if she should trust her friend…or not.

This was an OK thriller for me and it wasn’t so much fast paced like I thought it would be. The story is slow burn and I felt the main character, Emily was slightly naive. Also unreliable narrators seemed to be a trend in many psychological thrillers as a reader, you question if Emily is really telling the truth. However, it was in the middle of the book that grabbed my attention and really put me on the edge of the seat. Overall, it was an OK thriller and worth four stars. Oh, this book will soon be made into a Netflix movie.

Andrea Bartz is a Brooklyn-based journalist and the author of the forthcoming WE WERE NEVER HERE. Her second thriller, THE HERD, was named a best book of 2020 by Real Simple, Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping, CrimeReads, and other outlets. Her LA-Times bestselling debut, THE LOST NIGHT, was optioned for TV development by Mila Kunis. It was named a best book of the year by Real Simple, Glamour, Marie Claire, Library Journal, Crime Reads, Popsugar, She Reads, and other publications. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, Martha Stewart Living, Elle, and many other outlets, and she’s held editorial positions at Glamour, Psychology Today, and Self, among other titles.

Death At The Manor – ARC Book Review

Title:- Death At The Manor

Author:- Katharine Schellman

Date published:- will be published on 9th August 2022

Published:- Crooked Lane

No. of pages:- 352 pages

Genre:- Mystery/Historical Fiction

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

Regency widow Lily Adler is looking forward to spending the autumn away from the social whirl of London society. When she arrives in Hampshire with her friends, Lord and Lady Carroway, she doesn’t expect much more than a quiet country visit and the chance to spend time with her charming new acquaintance, Matthew Spencer.

But something odd is afoot in the small country village. A ghost has taken up residence in the Belleford manor, a lady in grey who wanders the halls at night, weeping and wailing. Half the servants have left in terror, but the family is delighted with the notoriety that their ghost provides. Piqued by this spectral guest, Lily and her party immediately make plans to visit Belleford.

They arrive at the manor the next morning ready to be entertained—but tragedy has struck. The matriarch of the family has just been found smothered to death in her bed.

There was no one else in her room, and the door was locked from the inside. The dead woman’s family is convinced that the ghost is responsible. The servants are keeping secrets. The local magistrate is flummoxed. Lily is determined to learn the truth before another victim turns up—but could she be next in line for the Great Beyond?

This is the third book of the Lily Adler series. I haven’t read the previous two books but then I actually enjoyed reading a mystery setting of a historical fiction.

Lily Adler arrives in Hampshire with her friends, Lord and Lady Carroway followed by her male friend, Matthew Spencer. When rumors circulated around the small village that a ghost woman is haunting in Belleford Manor, Lily and her friends arrived in the manor. The matriarch of the manor, Mrs. Wright is found dead and was smothered in her sleep. But the room door is locked from inside. The maids and the people convince that the ghost had killed Mrs. Wright but Lily thinks there might be a murderer lurking inside the house.

This was actually a very interesting plot. This is a locked room mystery where all the people are suspects and one of them could be the murderer so that actually itself was very interesting. I do like how Lily solved this murder case with the help of her friends. The author actually did a good job of drawing the reader into the story so to make the reader feel like they are part of the story. Some of the characters were bit confusing to me but maybe because I haven’t read the two previous books. Nonetheless, I cannot wait for what Lily Adler’s next adventure is going to be!

Worth four stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Katharine Schellman is the author of the Lily Adler Mysteries and the forthcoming Nightingale Mysteries. Her debut novel, The Body in the Garden, was one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of 2020 and led to her being named one of BookPage’s 16 Women to Watch in 2020. Her second novel, Silence in the Library, was praised as “worthy of Rex Stout or Agatha Christie” (Library Journal).

Katharine lives and writes in the mountains of Virginia in the company of her husband, children, and the many houseplants she keeps accidentally murdering. Find her on Instagram as @katharinewrites

The Wife Who Risked Everything – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Wife Who Risked Everything

Author:- Ellie Midwood

Date published:- will be published on 23rd August 2022

Publisher:- Bookouture

No. of pages;- 241 pages

Genre:- Historical Fiction

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 5/5

Overall rating:- 5/5

Berlin, 1943: “Where’s your husband?” the SS man demanded.
“There’s no one home,” Margot said before they started tearing the place apart. “I’m alone here.” In his eyes was nothing but ice and death, and it occurred to Margot that only she stood between her husband and the soldier’s machine gun.

In Nazi Germany, Margot refuses to buckle under the weight of Hitler’s tyranny.

When she is fired from her job as a seamstress for being married to her Jewish husband, Jochen, she remains by his side. When her friends cross the street to avoid her, and her own mother rejects her, she stays loyal.

When the Gestapo break into their home and steal their belongings, she remains steadfast. When they are cast into the street, homeless, she doesn’t waver.

When warplanes descend, the air raid siren blaring, and Jews are not allowed in bomb shelters, she refuses to abandon him.

When there are whispers of innocent people being deported to camps, including Germans married to Jews, she still won’t give in.

And when the Nazis arrest Jochen, imprisoning him with countless others, Margot decides to go down fighting.

Armed solely with love, Margot risks her life to protest outside the Gestapo headquarters. Inspired by her courage, soon there are hundreds gathered, shouting, “Release our men! Release our men!”

Can Margot achieve the impossible and save her beloved husband? Or when she comes face to face with the deadly SS guards, will she simply sacrifice herself?

Based on a true story, this incredible page-turner shows that, in the face of evil, love is power, courage is infectious—and the voices of many will not be silenced. Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz,The Alice Network and The Lilac Girls will be utterly gripped by this heartbreaking and inspirational tale.

Ellie Midwood has become one of my favorite historical fiction writers as her books are all based on during Nazi Germany, Holocaust and WWII based on true stories. The Wife Who Risked Everything is one such book based on a true story.

Margot Rosenberg and Hans Joachim are very much in love and they ended up getting married. But it’s 1933 and the year when Hitler and Nazis came to power. And her husband is Jewish. Then comes the heartbreaking story of a woman’s courage and love for her husband, how she would risk everything in her life, including her job as a seamstress to save the man she loves from the Nazis.

Ellie’s books are always well researched and her books always takes us to the period before everything went chaos–that is before the start of WWII. Her story soon develops into a plot where gradually the lives of the people including Jewish people changes slowly when living under the Nazi rule in Germany. She did a good job of turning the true story into something beautiful that will captivate the readers and make the readers feel like they are part of the story. Reading this story also tells us how women back in that day were determined and brave and courageous enough to save their loved ones from being taken away by the Nazis and Margot was one such courageous and brave woman that women can look up to. The Gestapo invasion of houses, the brutal treatment of Jews were all too realistic and too heartbreaking to read. Also I like reading about how Margot and her husband sneaked into the Olympics posing as Aryan couple!

Overall, if you like a heartbreaking and emotional historical fiction novel with a happy ending then this book is one for you and if you like reading about courageous and brave women like Margot like the likes of The Lilac Girls, then this book is one for you–worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Ellie Midwood is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning historical fiction author, whose works have been translated into 14 languages. She owes her interest in the history of the Second World War to her grandfather, Junior Sergeant in the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the First Belorussian Front, who began telling her about his experiences on the frontline when she was a young girl. Growing up, her interest in history only deepened and transformed from reading about the war to writing about it. After obtaining her BA in Linguistics, Ellie decided to make writing her full-time career and began working on her first full-length historical novel, “The Girl from Berlin.” Ellie is continuously enriching her library with new research material and feeds her passion for WWII and Holocaust history by collecting rare memorabilia and documents.

In her free time, Ellie is a health-obsessed yoga enthusiast, neat freak, adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew, and a doggie mama. Ellie lives in New York with her fiancé and their two dogs.

The Houseshare – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Houseshare

Author:- Carla Kovach

Date published:- will be published on August 16th 2022

Publisher:- Bookouture

No. of pages:- 291 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

Her perfect new start just became her biggest nightmare…

Opening the door to her new home, Libby can’t believe she can afford such a beautiful place. As her new landlord follows her into the bright, open living room, watching her every more, she feels so lucky she spotted the ad online.

‘You’re just the tenant I’ve been looking for,’ the landlord tells her as he drops the keys into her hand. Libby smiles as she unpacks her small suitcase and thinks about the troubled life she has just walked out on.

Days later, Libby is woken by the sound of her neighbours arguing through the wall. As she listens to their angry words, she swears she hears her name mentioned. Why would they be talking about her?

As the weeks pass, Libby can’t help but feel that someone is watching her and when she hears that the last girl who rented her apartment before her vanished without trace, she starts to double lock her door every night. Then she finds a handwritten message in her apartment telling her she’s in danger, and her new home no longer feels like the safe haven it once was. Did someone from Libby’s past follow her here? And just how safe is she behind closed doors?

If you love gripping psychological thrillers like Gone Girl and Mark Edwards’s Here to Stay, you’ll be blown away by The Houseshare. Addictive, tense and with an ending you won’t see coming, you’ll be up all night turning the pages.

This was actually a gripping psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge!

Libby moves to a new apartment and it was too good to be true for her. She wanted to start a brand new life after she caught her ex cheating on her. Trying to get away from her obsessed ex and wanting to start a new life, Libby moved into this new apartment she came across on the ad. However, her newfound happiness turns into a nightmare when someone doesn’t really want her in the apartment. Meanwhile, Ricardo, after his wife’s death comes to Birmingham to look for his estranged daughter Bettina who used to live in Libby’s apartment and has disappeared without a trace.

The plot of the story was really good and the author’s writing style clearly made the reader feel like they are on the edge! It felt like I was watching a good mystery movie on the TV. The story is fast paced, which is a plus sign for a good thriller with so many twists and turns. Bettina’s disappearance was what actually drew me into the story, as I really want to know what really happened to her. However, towards the end, it became a bit predictable which actually lowered my rating to a four-star and didn’t really understand the motivation behind the crime either, but nonetheless, this was a gripping and satisfying thriller that will keep you hooked into the story from the beginning till the end. So if you are looking for a nail biting thriller with twists and turns that will keep you on the edge with the reminiscence of Norman Bates Psycho movie, this book is one for you–worth four stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Carla Kovach was born in Birmingham, UK and now resides in Redditch, Worcestershire. Author of supernatural drama ‘Flame,’ psychological thriller ‘To Let,’ crime thriller ‘Whispers Beneath the Pines, and romantic comedy ‘Meet Me at Marmaris Castle.’ Carla also writes stage and screen plays, some of which have been produced in the Worcestershire area

American Fever – ARC Book Review

Title:- American Fever

Author:- Dur E Aziz Amna

Date published:- will be published on August 16th 2022

Publisher:- Hodder and Stoughton

Genre:- YA

No. of pages:- 259 pages

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 5/5

Overall rating:- 5/5

On a year-long exchange program in rural Oregon, a Pakistani student, sixteen-year-old Hira, must swap Kashmiri chai for volleyball practice and try to understand why everyone around her seems to dislike Obama.  A skeptically witty narrator, Hira finds herself stuck between worlds. The experience is memorable for reasons both good and bad; a first kiss, new friends, racism, Islamophobia, homesickness. Along the way Hira starts to feel increasingly unwell until she begins coughing up blood, and receives a diagnosis of tuberculosis, pushing her into quarantine and turning her newly established home away from home upside down. 

American Fever is a compelling and laugh-out-loud funny novel about adolescence, family, otherness, religion, the push-and-pull of home. It marks the entrance on the international literary scene of the brilliant fresh voice of Dur e Aziz Amna. 

This is one of the most remarkable novels I have read.

Hira, a Pakistani girl from Rawalpindi who gets a scholarship as an exchange student for one year to attend Lakeview High School in a small town in Oregon. The story is basically about Hira, living with an American host family, Kelly and her daughter, Amy, her experience in an American high school.

I actually enjoyed reading this author’s writing–it was engaging and the author did a good job of drawing the reader into the story. Not only that–I like how very realistic the whole story really is. The story is set in a time when Islamphobia is at its peak after September 11th and I like how it was portrayed in the book–racism, biased views that many Americans have towards Middle Eastern and other countries. Hira’s character really reminded me of my own experience as an international student in the United States so kudos for the author for making it real! Hira’s character is a very memorable and likable character and as a reader, you start liking the character. I also like how TB diagnosis and the fact that Hira was quarantined, and a loss of family member back in Pakistan changed Hira’s perspectives about life. Besides the sensitive issues, there were the typical teenage stuff–like first kiss, making new friends and above all, exploring American culture through the eyes of an international student.

For people who are sensitive and think that America is the best place to live on earth–refrain from reading this book as this book realistically tells you how immigrants and international students face in America. But if you are someone who had that sort of experience (like I did) then this book is perfect for you–worth five stars!!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Dur e Aziz Amna is from Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Financial Times, and Al Jazeera, among others. She won the 2021 Salam Award and the 2019 Financial Times / Bodley Head Essay Prize, and was longlisted for the 2020 Sunday Times Short Story Award. She graduated from Yale College and the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan. Her debut novel, AMERICAN FEVER, is forthcoming from Sceptre in the UK and Arcade in the US (August 2022).

Take A Chance on Greece – ARC Book Review

Title:- Take A Chance On Greece

Author:- Sue Roberts

Date published:- will be published on 10th August 2022

Publisher:- Bookouture

No. of pages:- 268 pages

Genre:- Romance

Rating:-

Plot:- 3/5

Writing:- 3/5

Overall rating:- 3/5

Forgetting your troubles surrounded by golden sandy beaches, crystal-clear waters, and chiselled abs… what could possibly go wrong?

For Orla, moving in with her dad at twenty-nine after a health scare wasn’t exactly her plan. Neither was finding out he’s been keeping a huge family secret…

Ready to put the entire Mediterranean Sea between herself and her dysfunctional family, she packs her bags and checks in to a charming B&B on a sun-drenched Greek island. But the vines climbing the beautiful yellow front and the glittering blue sea aren’t the only gorgeous things in view. Her neighbour, sexy writer Georgios, is in search of inspiration, and Orla’s caught his eye… if only he would lighten up!

It’s a big fat Greek clash of wills as Orla encourages Georgios to put down his pen and start having fun. Who wouldn’t love a cruise on a pirate ship, complete with rum and fake swords? Her heart melts as she catches a glimmer of a smile… but over Greek wine and freshly made mezze by candlelight, he gets far too serious, urging Orla to talk about her past. However, as soon as Orla shares her secrets, Georgios abruptly ends the evening…

The next day, confused and angry, Orla heads to the harbour to leave the island. But something makes her hesitate. Should she get on the boat and keep running from her problems, or break free from her past and let her glorious Greek summer last forever?

A completely feel-good read about living life to the full! Perfect for fans of Carole Matthews, Jenny Colgan and Sophie Kinsella.

This is like the fifth book I have been reading written by Sue Roberts and nearly all of her books are based in Greece. So this book is no exception.

This book is about Orla, after a health scare settles down in a Greek island putting a distance between herself and her own dysfunctional family. She meets handsome Greek man, Georgios, but when her dark secret is revealed, Georgios leaves her..but has Orla found her love?

In the good side, Sue’s books always takes us to the places that we have never been–the vivid descriptions of the Greek islands and the beaches, the weather, the food, all makes the reader feel like they are in Greece with the character. The plot of the story was good and so is the writing and the characters, particularly the main character Orla was a favorable character. But on the bad side, unlike her previous books, this book didn’t really click well with me. I found this book slightly boring but nonetheless, I kept reading this book till the end. I have to say, this wasn’t her best book, compared to the other books that I have read of her. So worth only three stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Sue was born in Liverpool and moved to Lancashire as a teenager where she has lived ever since. She has written three books, the third ‘My Summer of love and limoncello.’ will be published on March 6th and she is busy working on a fourth book. When not busy writing, Sue spends her time with her ever growing family. She enjoys walking, cinema and travelling. Her first book ‘My Big Greek Summer.’ was inspired by frequent visits to the Island of Rhodes in Greece. All Sue’s books are available from Amazon in kindle and paperback format.