Shelley's Book Nook

☆☆ .ePUB, 326 pages Expected publication: October 15th 2020 by Amazon Publishing UK About the Book: Eve and Leah are identical twins—but beyond that, they’re polar opposites. Struggling journalist Leah envies Eve’s seemingly perfect life—the loyal husband, the beautiful twin daughters, the stellar career—little knowing that what Eve longs for most is Leah’s independence. When a shocking event upends their world, one woman seizes a split-second chance to change everything and follow her sister down a different life path. It’s a spontaneous choice, but there’s no going back. How will she deal with the fallout when covering up one untruth means lying to everyone—about everything? One thing is clear: both twins have secrets, and both just want to be happy. But what price will they pay to live the life they’ve always wanted? My Review: The idea of this book really intrigued me, twins with different personalities and family secrets. I just felt that the beginning of the book didn't live...

☆☆☆ .ePUB, 299 pages Expected publication: October 15th 2020 by Avon Books UK About the Book: Two weeks before her wedding, a stranger stops Amy in the street and warns her she’s in danger. Then that night, Matt, her fiancé, doesn’t come home. Desperate, Amy calls the police – but when Matt fails to emerge, she’s forced to call off her wedding day. Then another man is reported missing, by a woman called Fiona – a man meeting Matt’s description, who was about to leave his fiancée for her. He was supposed to be moving in with her – but instead, he’s vanished. Amy refuses to believe Fiona’s lover can be her Matt – but photos prove otherwise, and it soon becomes clear that Matt has been leading a double life. As the police dig deeper, two conflicting, yet equally plausible stories emerge from two women who allegedly have never met. The wedding day never happened. But the funeral might. My Review: This book wasn't bad. I enjoyed the writing and the plot was interesting enough. There wa...

☆☆☆☆ ☆ ebook, 309 pages Expected publication: October 13th 2020 by Harper 360/HQ About the Book: Ben’s always loved the month of December, but this year, with his relationship with Daphne on the rocks, it’s missing its usual magic. And then his old friend Alice gets back in touch. Ben’s always thought of Alice as the one that got away, and he can’t help but wonder: what if he’d done things differently all those years ago? He never imagines he might get to find out… but when a stranger sells Ben a mysterious watch one freezing winter’s night, he’s astonished to wake up the next morning on 5th December 2005: the day he first kissed Daphne, leaving Alice behind. Now Ben must make the biggest decision of his life, all over again. But this time around, will he finally find the courage to follow his heart? My Review: A modern-day reworking of A Christmas Carol? Yes please!  I absolutely love this type of book, romantic time travel, and getting the story from the man's point of view was s...

☆☆☆☆ ebook, 389 pages Expected publication: October 13th 2020 by Boldwood Books About the Book: On a normal day, in a normal house, on a normal street, wife and mother Fran has had enough. She packs a case, leaves a note for her bullying husband Pete, and one for her beloved twenty-year-old son Harry, and heads to the airport - and freedom. In another house, on another street, Helena is desperately baiting her husband Jack into a fight. These days it feels like the only way to get Jack to take notice of her. Passionate, volatile, increasingly fragile, Helena is fast running out of hope. What Helena and Fran don’t know, is that soon their lives are going to collide in ways neither expect nor understand. And if Fran and Helena are going to change their own futures, then first they will have to change each other’s. My Review: We were two random married people having a random coffee. This is my first book by Amanda Brookfield and I went into this thinking it was a thriller. I don...

☆☆☆☆ .PDF, 239 pages Expected publication: October 6th 2020 by She Writes Press About the Book: Eve Prince is done—with college, with her mom, with guys, and with her dream of fashion design. But when her best friend goes MIA, Eve must gather together the broken threads of her life in order to search for her. When Eve’s grandmother, Boop, a retiree dripping with Southern charm, finds out about the trip, she—desperate to see her sister, and also hoping to alleviate Eve’s growing depression—hijacks her granddaughter’s road trip. Boop knows from experience that healing Eve will require more than flirting lessons and a Garlic Festival makeover. Nevertheless, Boop is frustrated when her feeble efforts yield the same failure that her sulfur-laced sip from the Fountain of Youth wrought on her age. She knows that sharing the secret that’s haunted her for sixty years might be the one thing that will lessen Eve’s growing depression—but she also fears that if she reveals it, she’ll lose her famil...

Halfway to Free by Emma Donoghue My rating: 4 of 5 stars I am not a big fan of science fiction but I love Emma Donoghue so I thought I'd give this short story a go. Halfway to Free is set in a future where having children is for the rich or "drop outs". Miriam and Ned start to discuss if they should have a child together. I won't give anything away but I will say I enjoyed the plot and the writing style so much I wish it was longer, I could have read a whole novel about this...but...Donoghue really packs a punch in twenty-seven pages. Sweet Virginia by Caroline Kepnes My rating: 3 of 5 stars It seems to me that Shelby hates everything about her life...lack of ability to write, being a mother, her husband and her own mother. I guess that's what the "out of line" reference is. She is also a liar and a lover of Hallmark movies. When someone starts messaging her he sounds too good to be true. Then one day Shelby goes to check the mail and all hell bre...

  Snowflakes by Ruth Ware  My rating: 3.5  of 5 stars With vibes of The Village by M. Night Shyamalan this is the kind of story that will make you think. The reader is never quite sure what will be over that wall and that is what makes this short story so great. I felt for most of the characters and was pleased with the happy ending. The Gift by Alison Gaylin My rating: 5 of 5 stars Wow, this was a pretty powerful read as a short story and it had me enthralled from beginning to end and I was totally surprised by the twist...I didn't see it coming. I've only read one book by Alison Gaylin but after enjoying this story so much I will have to check out more. I highly recommend this one...my favourite of the collection so far. Treasure by Oyinkan Braithwaite My rating: 1 of 5 stars Oh this was not for me. I couldn't get past the Nigerian language (slang?). I know the dangers of social media is a timely topic but I couldn't care for the characters and did not enjoy ...