Review of I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

This novel by Sophie Kinsella novel has had a second release after it first arrived on book shelf in 2020. The main character in this novel is Poppy Wyaat and the opening scene involves her frantically looking for her engagement ring. This would not be a crisis for her if this had been a standard ring, however her ring had been in her fiance family for over three generations. She wouldn't normally be in a panic however her fiance parents are returning for Chicago.

Poppy couldn't be any luckier and in a better place in her life, she is about to marry her fiance Magnus Tavish however her dream life is beginning to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring she has also had her mobile phone stolen....Who has it? She then finds a discarded mobile phone and thinks the old childhood saying finders keeps and passes the number to the hotel staff to call her when they find her ring. 

However the owner of this mobile phone does not agree with this saying and Sam Roxton wants his back and doesn't appreciate that Poppy is going thorugh his private life. This is a story of a love triangle that Poppy is stuck in - she is set to marry Magnus and she has strong feelings for Sam.

I love Sophie Kinsella and her female heroines so much. In this story i can relate to Poppy. I know that if my phone had been stolen and a piece of jewellery had gone missing I would be acting just like Poppy. I found my self agreeing with the steps that she has taken and also helping someone in need. But by helping Sam she is putting her relationship with Magnus in jeopardy and would put everything on the line. She made me laugh and cry with this book as is my typical emotional reactions to her writing. I love that Sophie has included footnotes in this novel to further explain what is happening in the story, giving up snapshots of backgrounds.

I can not wait to see what other novels come in the future.

Review of Turned (Book One of Vampire Journals) by Morgan Rice

Turned (Vampire Journals #1) by Morgan Rice

18 year old Caitlin Paine finds herself being uprooted and in a new school and New York Apartment when her mom moves. The one saving grace in the new dangerous school is a classmate name Jonah and he has taken an instant liking  to her.

However before any feelings can blossom, Caitlin find that she is staring to change. She is overcome by new abilities including superhuman strength, sensitivity to light and a desire to fed - however these are feelings that she does not understand. So she starts to seek answers to why she is feeling these feelings and all the time her cravings lead her to be in the wrong place and the wrong time. Her eyes are being opened to a hidden world in the thriving underground world under New York. She finds herself being trapped between two dangerous sides and right in the middle of a Vampire war. 

During this time Caitlin meets another new friend Caleb, who is a powerful vampire who rescues her from the dark forces. She embarks on an adventure with Caleb to locate and find a legendary lost artefact. She realises that she needs to be with him for answers and also to remain protected. During this adventure she wants only one answer ..... Who is her real father?

She find that she is caught between Caleb and Jonah as something else arises between them and she feels a forbidden love. A love which will risk both of there lives and she will have to decide whether to risk it all for love. Imagine finding out your father is a vampire and that you are a half breed and everything you know has been brought into question.

I love Morgan Rice, i have read several of her other fantasy series and she has a writing style as she has a funny yet serious tone. I find that she has a writing style which puts me at ease and wants me to stay cocooned into the world she is describing. The characters are always roundly formed and she inputs a lot of thought into them which makes you want to be friend with them. I always feel the emotion of the characters and have the urge to wrap them in a hug when they are sad and give them a piece of my mind when they have been stupid. I have recommended her to some of my family and everyone i talk to enjoys her writing style. If you want a light and well rounded book, i recommend her book to you.

Review of If It Bleeds from Stephen King

If It Bleeds by Stephen King

The book is a small collection of short stories from the bestselling author Stephen King. He has put together 3 wonderful novellas and a stand alone sequel to The Outsider.

1. Mr Harrigan's Phone 

In this story a young teen Craig helps a retired business tycoon to the wonders of a smartphone. During this process they form a formidable bond which is still evident once the tycoon has passed one. The story starts with Craig giving the reader a bit of back story and how he ended up working for Mr Harrigan. He gives the reader an insight into Mr Harrigan building his character before moving on with the story and how he came to be working for Mr Harrigan. As Craig moves on from the death of his close friend he find that he has started to get messages from the dead mans phone. This is the phone that he buried with Mr Harrigan and it is from this act that the depth of the relationship between the two - like the grandfather that Craig never had. So why does Craig continue to call the dead mans phone after he has died ....... and was this still answering after so many years.

2. The Life of Chuck

Stephen King has set story which is split up into 3 parts with the being told in reverse from the oldest version of Marty coming first and progressing to the youngest version of himself.

Act 3 starts with Marty, a high school teacher, Making his journey home when he notices a strange thing on a billboard. He see a retirement message for Charles (Chuck) Krantz thanking him for 39 years. When he gets home he receives a call from his ex-wife Felica saying that there has been 6 suicides in the local hospital City General. You may think that this is shocking news to receive however this was the norm and the way the world is. The world as we know it is gone with all the things that we are used to has stop working, everywhere has major natural disasters .... how do you survive? And who is Charles (Chuck) Krantz?

Act 2 starts with Jared and Mac who both work at the local record shop. Mac is also a street performer who sets up on the high street once he is finished with work. Then the story introduces us to Janice Halliday who has finished her day at Paper and Page and when she has been at work she has received a message to advise that her relationship is over. It is at the point we are introduced to the elusive character Chuck who is a trained accountant and attending a banking conference in Boston. We get the first indication about his health and how his story is linked and intertwined with Mac and Janice. But why?

Act 1 starts at a time in Chucks life when he is awaiting the birth of his little sister and looking forward to holding her once she was born. However things never turn out as expected all because of a crash involving his father and pregnant mother on I-95. It shows how Chuck's life had changed when living with his grandparents and how he slowly recovered from the loss of his parents and unborn sister. Describing his life living with his grandparents and the quirks of family life and the relationship he has develop with them. This is where we are advised of Chuck's life threatening brain tumour which would take his life in Act 2. But did he have an idyllic childhood ...?

3. If It Bleeds

This is the further adventures of the detective Holly Gibney from the Outsider and this is the sequel to that. When reading this, I have noted that you do not need to have read the outsider as this is a stand alone story line. This has enough of bulked out story that you do not need as previously stated need  to have read this however there is links to that story. It has elements of King's usually cat and mouse story line and he has added additional elements of supernatural events to have me sitting on the edge of my seat. The opening scene is when a elementary school is bomb as an act of terrorism, and it is as Holly Gibney is watching the reports for this that she notices something not quite right with the on the scene correspondent. When she is looking into this she starts to feel paranoia about the situation, but as she investigates this further her understanding of the horror that she leaves in an Texan cave starts to hit her.

4. Rat

Most wives would be excited when their partner comes home and announces that he has the next best idea for a new book. Drew the leading make in the story follows the yellow break road to his Oz. To be able to write this story, Drew decides to go up to his fathers cabin and while in seclusion rescues a dying rat. He then starts to hear the rat talking to him. However he starts to find that the words are playing hide and seek moments with him, the rat starts making suggestions and he feels that it is best to head home before the rat makes a suggestion that he can nt refuse.

The four novels all have the tell tale makers for Stephen kings work and this is one of the things i love about all f his works. They pull you into the story and have you investigating the individuals that he writes about and makes you wants to continue reading until the last page and leaves you asking more questions than he has answered. This is one of the books in my top five and will be recommending with all of my friends and family.

Review of The Devil and Harper Lee by Mark Seal

This novel is set in the 1970's when a mysterious man captivates and terrorized a small community. This individual is an elegant and charismatic  priest when rumours are forming that he is preaching on Sunday and killing on Monday. While this is happening in Alabama, one of American's most beloved writers is about to be swiped up and dragged into the strange and captivating story of Reverend Willie J. Maxwell.

When the modern day classic of To Kill a Mockingbird, is formulating her next story and is unsure of the subject for this. The perfect idea was dropped in her lap and this involved no other than Reverend Willie j. Maxwell. She hears the story of a preacher who is rumour to killing 5 members of his own family and the way that he has been able to collect sizeable amount of money as a result of life insurance policies that he has taken out in the victim's name. This tale as elements of dark magic - including voodoo - which the preacher using to his advantage and helps him evade being held responsible for the deaths. 

Once Harper Lee has heard this she knows that she is set to return to her home town Alexander City, Alabama. She spends several months fitting into the community and getting to know the individuals again - people she remembers from her childhood - and this result in her to be able to pull together the pieces of the puzzle. Once she has collected these puzzle pieces she is able to give this horrific tale the time and attention that it needs. However she does not completed the book and she drops the story with no explanation - Why?

This is when the author of this book picks up the scent and follows the chain of evidence so that he can finish the work that Harper Lee has started. To do this he has to follow the breadcrumbs of the previous investigation and this novel is a reflection of one of his idles Harper Lee.

This novel includes some of the key players in the morbid and astonishing tale and describes the way that these characters have characteristics of the characters in To Kill A Mockingbird. He finds that there is evidence that she has writing something on the story however she up and leaves without finishing the story.

His writing style is perfect for this novel as he uses description throughout the to help build the story and helps you to see both his and Harper Lee's investigation but he does go off tangent. While he is in the town that the surreal story is based there is another murder which has resulted in the killer gaining insurance payout and then you find that there is crime happening in the same manner. I like the way this book reads as is very similar to the writing style of Harper Lee. However this is not one of my favourite novels. I would recommend this to a reader who likes Harper Lees but there is so many other authors i would pick first for this type of book. I find that the author rambles and goes of off track when writing this book and this is the main reason that i didn't enjoy the book from chapter 20. Unfortunately this is one of the books that i have to put on dislike pile in my reading in 2020.

Review of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Since this was first published in 1813, it has had major success and once you have read it once you will fall in love with the band of characters.

Jane Austin, herself, called this her most brilliant work and referred to it as her 'darling child'. She also referred to the heroine Elizabeth Bennett the most delightful developed character in print at that time. The plot of the book is the clash between the heroine and the proud Mr Darcy and is a timeless battle and roller-coaster of emotions.

I lover this book and have read it several times, to the point that I purchased the Penguin Cloth bound Edition of this novel. I think it is my love for the characters which pulls me back to it at least once a year. The elegance of the language and the writing style pulls you in and transports you to the fly on the war witnessing this happening. I think that I have read this at least once a year since I was studying for my highers. Every time i read it I fall in love with the characters putting my support behind the notion of love and opposites attract.

The historical fiction genre is my all time favourite as i love the dress code and the way that people interact with each other with respect and courtesy. I don't know whether it is the hierarchy of the time period or if it is that and every girls dream to net her own Mr Darcy and have him sweep her off their feet. It is however evident that no matter where you are in society, if there is a scandal then it spreads like wildfire.

Jane Austen is one of the few writers from the time period who can pull me into the story. You can not help but cheer when Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy finally marry towards the end of the novel, she leaves you wanting more and a further dozen chapters so you can see what married life is like for the two of them. She also ensure that she doesn't ignore the realities of marriage as she ensures that she show this through the other marriages in the novel and these are looked at in details.

Jane Austen leaves you wanting a sequel to this ...... unfortunately this is not the case and leaves the reader in limbo about the outcome of Elizabeth and Darcy marriage.

Review of Lolita by Valdimir Nabokov

The hype of being one of the books which every reader should read - I don't know how I feel about it. The book follows Humbert Humbert a know scholar and  romantic.

The first 10 chapters help to build Humbert character and explains the reason for the choices he make in his life. He has a number of flings and when she rents from his landlord her daughter strikes him and being wonderful. As she is growing up we get glimpses of the family model, the only problem is Lolita Haze is 12. As she is growing Humbert beginnings to become obsessive with her. On of his tactics is to marry her mother and he whisks her away on an adventure.

I am not a fan of this books, however at least I can say that I have read it. For me the subject of this novel is a trigger for me so this is a book that I wouldn't recommend to anybody.

Review of Year One by Nora Roberts

Year One is the first book in the Chronicles of The One trilogy by Nora Roberts. 

The book starts at New year in Scotland and where Patient 0 was infected before leaving to return to the USA. The virus and its symptoms came on suddenly while Patient 0 is on the flight home, however by the time this has happened he has already infected at least a dozen people before landing. 

Within a matter of weeks life as the world know has changed dramatically and the governments which are in place start to fail them. Along with this failing, the electric grid splatters and has periodic outages, and law & government collapsing. This Virus has infected and resulting deaths has already claimed 50% of the world's populations. 

Nora Roberts describes the state of chaos which has happened with the kind of detail which make you blood run cold but holds your attention and makes you want to keep reading and and not put this down. It is in the descriptive language she uses that she has explained that with the demise of order, magic has surfaced with both good and bad elements. It becomes evident that there are some individuals who are immune and the gifted realise that even though they are immune there is no safety for them from the authorities who patrol the empty streets. 

The novel depicts the pockets of immune and gifted travelling in the same direction. It is clear that all of the characters on edge when they meet other groups because anyone that you meet could be either friend or foe. It is the journeys and eventual settlement of the group together is this story line will give them all a purpose in the community that has been created. I have read several other novels by Nora Roberts and this is a welcome change in direction as she has started to bring in fantasy on a classic thriller. The way that she ensures that you have a backstory for each of the main characters and love listening to the way that they develop. 

I will say that this has made me think how bad the real world could have been if the governments had not introduced lock down. It has shown how quickly a virus can be spread and the way it mutates as conditions change. I would advise that any one which has been effected by Covid-19 may find that this a hard book for them to read, however i would recommend this book to everyone.