Book Review – Bandy by Craig R Hipkins

Blurb Isaac’s only friend is a passenger pigeon named Bandy. He deludes himself in believing the bird talks to him. Bullied, he is resigned to a life of being the misunderstood bookworm by neighboring boys until a disastrous fire kills his parents and little sisters, sparing only his younger brother, Thomas. He and Thomas are … Continue reading Book Review – Bandy by Craig R Hipkins

AnaRose and the Templar’s Quest by Mary Ann Bernal

AnaRose Preston is a respected museum curator and antiquities expert. When she travels to France to authenticate a ring believed to have belonged to Balian of Ibelin, the knight who surrendered Jerusalem to Saladin, she embarks on what quickly becomes a quest to locate a legendary relic, the Holy Nail, possibly hidden in a dagger … Continue reading AnaRose and the Templar’s Quest by Mary Ann Bernal

Book Review – Teatime Trouble by Tonya Penrose

Teatime Trouble by Tonya Penrose is set on idyllic Shell Island, a place of sunshine, glittering water and friendly people. Page Wright and her cousin Betsy Ross, who run the Honey Bees Bakery there, are asked to provide a high tea for a group of bestselling British authors staying at Three Fables Inn, a place … Continue reading Book Review – Teatime Trouble by Tonya Penrose

Book Review: Ancestry by Simon Mawer

‘A past that only consists of the artefacts is like a skeleton unearthed in an archaeological dig. Where is the flesh and blood? Who were the people? What did they feel? Where have they gone?‘ (Ancestry p.1) In Ancestry, Simon Mawer imagines the flesh and blood of two sets of his great-great-grandparents, ordinary people from … Continue reading Book Review: Ancestry by Simon Mawer

Book Review – Dancing in the Ring by Susan E Sage

Detroit 1920 – the Great War and the influenza pandemic are over and people are looking towards a better future. Catherine Macintosh and Robert Sage are law students in their final year. Robert is a charming, exuberant, up-and-coming boxer. Catherine, one of the first women in Detroit to become a lawyer, is beautiful, intelligent and … Continue reading Book Review – Dancing in the Ring by Susan E Sage

Book Review – No Stone Unturned by Pam Lecky

When Lucy Lawrence’s husband, Charlie, is killed in what appears to be an accident, her world falls apart as she discovers that not only was Charlie far from the man she imagined him to be but that she is almost penniless. In the aftermath of Charlie’s death, friends melt away and those Lucy should be … Continue reading Book Review – No Stone Unturned by Pam Lecky

Book Review – The Convent Girl by Tania Crosse

Beginning in 1926, The Convent Girl follows Maisie O’Sullivan from age four to her early forties. Brought up in a Catholic convent in Cobh, Ireland from two years old, Maisie has been told that both her parents are dead. Remembering no other life, she has adapted to the regulated life of the convent and, like … Continue reading Book Review – The Convent Girl by Tania Crosse

Book Review – Fat Dogs and French Estates by Beth Haslam

Fat Dogs and French Estates is a delightful and humorous memoir of the adventures of Beth Haslam and her husband, Jack, as they look for a second home, a domaine, in France. They have a list of requirements: around 100 hectares complete with game, space for long walks with their dogs, a few outbuildings and … Continue reading Book Review – Fat Dogs and French Estates by Beth Haslam