Book Spotlight: The Time of My Life by Samantha Tonge

14 June 2026 by Melissa

About the book: The Time of My Life

How far would you go to change your life?

When Eliza Woods sees an advertisement for someone’s whole life for sale – their house, car, all their belongings, even their clothes and cat – not to mention a trial-run in their job and an introduction to their friends… she decides it’s fate.

Grabbing a different life with both hands is exactly what she needs. Even if 26-year-old Carrie’s wildly-social life and job in a bar couldn’t be more different from Eliza’s quieter existence.

As for Carrie, she’s heading off to Greece, desperate to run away from everything she’s familiar with in England. The two women message each other after the deal has gone through, with Eliza excited to go for cocktails with Carrie’s friends before her first shift at her new job.

What Carrie doesn’t tell her is why she put her life up for sale. And what Eliza doesn’t tell Carrie is that she’s about to turn 75. And that isn’t her only secret…

Don’t miss this absolutely brilliant, escapist read. Available now!

Buy this book!

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/TheTimeofMyLife

The Time of My Life Is currently available for only 99p! (99 cents in the US!)

About the author: Samantha Tonge

Samantha Tonge lives in Manchester UK. She studied German and French at university and has worked abroad, including a stint at Disneyland Paris. She has travelled widely.

Samantha has sold many dozens of short stories to women’s magazines. She is represented by Darley Anderson Agency & Associates. In 2015 her summer novel, Game of Scones, hit #5 in the UK Kindle chart and won the Love Stories Awards Best Romantic Ebook category. In 2020 one of her novels won the RNA’s Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller Award. Currently Samantha writes uplifting, emotional women’s fiction for Boldwood Books. She seeks to raise a smile, and make a reader feel they are not alone with the challenges of life.

Connect with Samantha:

Facebook | Instagram | X (Twitter)

May Flowers at The Three Coins Inn Full Tour Banner

Book Review: May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn by Kimberly Sullivan

15 May 2026 by Melissa

About the book, May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn

fter a successful seasonal opening in April, friends Emma and Annarita are eager to welcome a new set of guests to their Umbrian inn during the full bloom of May.

Upstate New Yorker Lisa needs an escape from betrayal and the prying eyes of her smalltown neighbors. Elderly, reclusive artist Antonio hopes leaving Milan for a country sojourn will spark his long dormant creative muse. Manhattan socialite mother Sharon grudgingly embarks on a country holiday with her young son, Josh, with whom she shares few interests. Roman author Margherita prefers time spent alone, but her career may depend on a stay in bucolic Todi among fellow guests. And Emma and Annarita are anxious to embrace their close friend Tiffany on her brief stay in the heart of Umbria.

The swallows may have returned and colorful petals now dot the countryside, but will the inn’s atmosphere allow hurts to heal and friendships to blossom?

Purchase Links:

Amazon US: Amazon.com: May Flowers at The Three Coins Inn eBook : Sullivan, Kimberly : Kindle Store

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0GLTQ967Q

All links: May Flowers at The Three Coins Inn | Kimberly Sullivan

Until 31^st May you can purchase May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn for a special release price of 99 cent/99 pence.

About the author, Kimberly Sullivan

Kimberly is the award-winning writer of six novels and one short story collection. Kimberly is also the co-editor of two historical fiction anthologies in the Feisty Deeds series. She writes the women’s fiction stories she loves to read, both contemporary and historic tales of women and the rich lives they lead along their journeys of self-discovery. A lifetime admirer and longtime resident of Italy, Kimberly is often guilty of sneaking the bel paese into her stories.

Connect with Kimberly:

Website: Kimberly Sullivan

Instagram: Instagram

Pintarest: Pinterest

Goodreads: Kimberly Sullivan (Author of Dark Blue Waves) | Goodreads

BookBub: Kimberly Sullivan Books – BookBub

YouTube: Kimberly Sullivan – YouTube

My Thoughts

Kimberly Sullivan’s May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn turned out to be exactly the sort of novel I needed. Even though I haven’t read the earlier books in the series, I never felt adrift; the story works beautifully on its own while still hinting at a larger world and history surrounding the inn and its regulars.

While Lisa is the first guest we really come to know, it was Antonio — prickly, aging, artistic Antonio — who held my attention most completely. Sullivan creates characters with rich emotional interiors, and I found it wonderfully easy to settle into each shifting perspective. Every guest arrives carrying something tender or unresolved, yet none of them feel flattened into clichés or simple archetypes. They feel lived in.

What stayed with me most was how recognizable each character’s struggles felt, even when their lives looked nothing alike on the surface. Antonio’s reflections on growing older and carrying the weight of past choices had real emotional depth. Sharon’s attempts to bridge the widening distance between herself and her son felt achingly familiar. Margherita’s instinct to withdraw from the world rather than risk disappointment especially resonated with me as someone who understands the temptation to disappear into solitude. Sullivan approaches all of these characters with compassion, quietly reinforcing the idea that hardship, longing, and self-doubt are universal human experiences.

This novel shines in its quieter moments. Shared meals, tentative conversations, small gestures of kindness, and the slow easing of emotional loneliness become the heartbeat of the story. The setting in Todi only deepens that atmosphere. Sullivan writes about the Umbrian countryside with such warmth and affection that the entire novel feels restorative, filled with sunlight, fresh air, and the promise that people can still surprise one another in beautiful ways.

More than anything, May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn is a deeply comforting story about friendship, vulnerability, and the importance of letting ourselves remain open to connection. It left me feeling calmer, softer, and reminded of how much healing can happen simply by being seen and welcomed exactly as you are.

Goes well with: Umbrian lentil soup, warm rosemary focaccia dipped in olive oil, a slice of pecorino, and a glass of Montefalco red enjoyed slowly while the evening light fades.

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Book Review: No More Tomorrows by Olivia Lockhart & Hal Lambert

9 April 2026 by Melissa

About the book, No More Tomorrows

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 3, 2026
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 410 pages
Scroll down for Giveaway (UK Residents Only)

Two eras. One aching heart.

1917 – At Cambridge University, American scholar Harry Turchin never expects to lose himself to desire. But Annie Mackenzie—soft-spoken, grieving, and luminous—claims his heart from their very first kiss. Their love is swift, fierce, and intoxicating. Married just days before Harry is sent to war, their passion is ripped apart when the trenches claim everything he knows, and Harry is thrown into a future that should not exist.

1967 – The free-spirited sixties are alive with rhythm, rebellion, and possibility. Harry awakens to a world he doesn’t recognise—and to Annalise Taylor, as bold and captivating as the era itself. Brilliant, independent, and achingly alive, she rouses a desire he thought belonged solely to the past.

Caught between the love he was ripped away from and the passion he cannot resist, Harry is torn between two women, two lives, and two versions of forever. Because time will not bend twice … Or will it?

Sweeping from the blood-soaked battlefields of World War One to the fevered nights of the swinging sixties, No More Tomorrows is a sensual time-slip romance about desire, devotion, and the devastating power of love that refuses to be bound by time.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads

About the author, Olivia Lockhart

Olivia Lockhart (Livvie to her friends) is an English author who can’t quite decide if she wants to write contemporary romance, historical romance, or paranormal romance. So she writes them all, because it HAS to be romance!

She loves to write about the underdog, the one who got away, the bits of love stories we can all relate to.

When not writing she can be found drinking wine, cuddling with her beloved pooch, or with her head in a book.

Connect with Olivia:

Instagram | X (Twitter)

My Thoughts

I am an easy mark for time travel, fish-out-of-water stories, and novels that play with structure, so No More Tomorrows was already speaking my language. Once it opened with that beautifully presented letter—rendered in a way that makes it feel personal and immediate—I was all in. It sets the tone perfectly for a novel that is as interested in longing and connection as it is in plot.

What makes this story work so well is that it is not simply one romance dropped into an unusual situation. It is a true parallel narrative, and both halves carry equal emotional weight. Harry’s life in 1917, and his connection with Annie, is not a prologue to be brushed aside. It is full, immediate, and deeply felt. At the same time, what unfolds in 1967 with Annalise is vivid, electric, and impossible to dismiss as anything less than real.

Layered over that is the novel’s central question, and it is a powerful one: where does Harry belong? This is not just about choosing between two women. It is about choosing between two lives—between the past that shaped him and the future that is asking him to become someone new. The tension isn’t theoretical, either. The story keeps that question active, pressing gently but persistently: does he stay in the 1960s and build something new, or does he find a way back to 1917, to the life that was taken from him? That uncertainty gives the entire book its forward pull.

Lockhart and Lambert handle that balance with care. Harry feels consistent across both timelines—reserved, marked by war, not always equipped to articulate what he feels, which makes his emotional journey all the more compelling. Annie and Annalise are distinct and fully realized in their own right, which is essential. Annie brings a quiet, aching tenderness to the earlier timeline, while Annalise meets Harry with intelligence, confidence, and a refusal to be anything less than fully present. Neither relationship feels like a placeholder for the other, and that is what makes the stakes land.

The epistolary elements are one of my favorite aspects of the novel. Letters allow us to see what characters are willing to admit when they believe no one is watching—or when they are writing across a distance that may never be crossed. It adds a layer of intimacy that suits a story built on separation, time, and longing, and it ties the two timelines together in a way that feels organic rather than gimmicky.

The settings are equally strong. The wartime sections carry weight and shadow, while the late-sixties academic world feels alive with movement, change, and possibility. Harry’s displacement isn’t just chronological; it’s cultural, emotional, and deeply personal, which makes the 1967 sections particularly engaging.

I should also note that I am still coming to terms with 1967–68 being considered historical fiction, since I was born in 1970, and frankly that feels a little rude. Still. Fine. I accept the paperwork.

If you enjoy romance that asks bigger questions—about time, identity, and what it means to choose a life—this is a satisfying and emotionally layered read that lingers well beyond the final page.

Goes well with: a strong cup of coffee, a stack of old letters tied with ribbon, and a vinyl record playing something a little wistful in the background.

Giveaway (UK residents only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Gleam box below. The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize

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Book Review: Hidden Truth, by C.D. Steele

6 March 2026 by Melissa

About the book: Hidden Truth

Private Investigator Joe Wilde is investigating the murder of Philippa Redmond a former Labour MP. She had been found dead in her sauna over the Christmas holidays six weeks ago. The majority of her family had been staying with her at the time, but the police didn’t regard any of them as suspects. Evidence suggested an intruder had got into her home.

Joe also takes on a cold case of a missing woman named Julie Turnbull. She had disappeared six years ago without a trace. Meanwhile Joe’s good friend DI Whatmore is investigating the horrific murder of a woman who was burnt to death in her own home. His investigation crosses over with Joe’s missing person investigation. As they conduct their own investigations there are more killings.
DI Whatmore and Joe must join forces to track down a serial killer and solve a puzzling mystery, but doing so puts them and others in grave danger.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Amazon UK: Paperback | eBook | Amazon USA: Paperback | eBook | Goodreads

About the author, C.D. Steele

C.D Steele works as an Executive Officer in the Civil Service. He has a degree in Recreation Management and lives in County Down, Northern Ireland. This is his third novel and is the next book in the Joe Wilde Series after False Truth and Dark Truth.

Connect with C.D.:

Amazon Author Page

Giveaway (UK Only)

Giveaway to Win 3 x copies of False Truth (book 1 in the Joe Wilde series) and 1 x copy of Dark Truth (book 2). (Open to UK Only)

ENTER TO WIN

My Thoughts

I had a difficult time getting into Hidden Truth, and I suspect part of that is because I was jumping into an established series without having read the two preceding books.

A number of characters appear fairly quickly, and for a while I felt as though I was being introduced to people whose histories I was expected to already know. It took some time to settle into who everyone was and how they related to one another.

The novel also carries several different narrative threads at once. I normally enjoy a layered mystery, but at times it felt like there were a lot of moving pieces competing for attention. In addition, the editing could have used a more careful pass. There were a few moments where characters were misnamed, which briefly pulled me out of the story, and I noticed several grammatical errors that stood out.

That being said, my overall reading experience was still a favorable one. Steele clearly knows how to weave together complex story lines, and the dialogue throughout the book felt rich and convincing. He also demonstrates a willingness to tackle difficult subject matter without shying away from it, which I respect.

Joe Wilde himself is a likeable lead character, and I particularly appreciated his strong sense of justice. He anchors the story well and gives the reader someone solid to follow through the darker corners of the narrative.

Despite my initial difficulty settling in, Hidden Truth ultimately proved to be a solid investigative thriller. If you enjoy crime fiction with multiple threads and morally driven protagonists, this series is definitely one worth exploring, whether you begin here or go back to the first book.

Goes well with: strong coffee and a Reuben sandwich.

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Book Review: Dragon Kin’s Blood by Jo Jo Gatenby

5 March 2026 by Melissa

About the book: Dragon Kin’s Blood

Who do you trust when you can’t go home?

After centuries of hiding themselves and their shifting abilities from outsiders, the Dragon Kin decide to send a delegation of “dragon riders” to a nearby Lowlander territory. Eager to see the world, young Lauran quickly volunteers. But not all Lowlanders can be trusted. As the visit comes to an end, Lauran finds herself trapped in her draconic form—and hunted by an evil warlock. Desperate to protect herself and her people, she flees along the Dragon Spine Mountains, away from friends and foes alike.

Meanwhile, the last place Jenny wants to be during her summer break from university is on a family vacation with her mother’s new husband and his young son, Davy. Hoping for some peace and quiet, she explores a nearby cave—only to stumble into a portal to the Kingdom of Galahar, a land of magic and mythological creatures.

As Jenny searches for Davy, who follows her through the portal, and Lauran struggles for freedom, they come together with the help of Nath, an apprentice shaman of the Anishinabe people. Between Jenny’s technology and Nath’s magic, can they help Lauran escape the warlock’s relentless pursuit before he gets his hands on the Dragon Kin’s blood?

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Amazon (UK) | Amazon (USA) | Goodreads

About the author: Jo Gatenby

Thanks to her great-grandmother, Jo Gatenby is a status Algonquin, of the Pikwakanagan First Nation, in Canada. The mountain people in this, her first novel are heavily influenced by native beliefs, and the magic words used are Algonquin language based.

Jo writes whatever the voices shouting in her head tell her to. As a result, she has had over two dozen stories and flash fiction published in on-line magazines. Links to many of these can be found on her website. She has also self-published five children’s books, which can also be found on her website.

Connect with Jo:

Website | Facebook | Instagram

My Thoughts

I’m always drawn to fantasy that takes familiar ingredients and mixes them in slightly unexpected ways, and Dragon Kin’s Blood by Jo Gatenby does exactly that. We get dragon shapeshifters, a secluded mountain culture, political ambition in the form of a power-hungry duke, and a warlock who is clearly bad news for anyone in his path. It’s YA fantasy, but with some cozy touches—most notably the presence of kaffee—and the added wrinkle of two kids from our world suddenly finding themselves in the middle of a magical one.

The story begins with several characters moving through their own separate threads. When those threads finally weave together, the narrative gains momentum and becomes especially engaging. The dynamic between the characters is fun to watch develop, and a number of the side figures are interesting enough that I would happily spend more time with them in future installments.

The women in this story are particularly well drawn. Each one feels like an individual, with her own perspective and reactions rather than blending into the background. Gatenby’s prose is also approachable in the best way: clear, descriptive, and easy to follow without getting bogged down in excess detail.

At the same time, there are places where the story seems eager to move forward just when a moment might benefit from a little more space. Certain turning points arrive and resolve quickly, leaving me curious about how those experiences truly shaped the characters involved. The climactic sequence, which carries major stakes for the world and the people in it, might have landed even more strongly with a deeper look at what everyone was thinking and feeling as events unfolded.

One small personal note: I am absolutely the reader who flips to the map before beginning chapter one. The map included here is impressive in scope, though intricate enough that I occasionally had to pause and trace things out to keep track of where everyone was headed.

Overall, this is the kind of fantasy you can sink into without emotional whiplash or relentless grimness. The adventure unfolds steadily, the characters are enjoyable company, and the world hints at more stories still waiting to be told.

Dragon Kin’s Blood offers an inviting introduction to a magical setting filled with dragons, shifting alliances, and journeys across rugged landscapes.

Goes well with: a mug of kaffee, fresh bread, and a crackling fire.

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Book Review: Under Vixens Mere by Kit Fielding

5 February 2026 by Melissa

About the Book, Under Vixens Mere:

After Harry Jones takes his life in the chilling waters of Vixens Mere, not one body is found by the police rescue team, but two. Tucked away in the English countryside, the run-down marina at Vixens Mere hosts a ragtag community of houseboats whose lives are as tangled as their mooring ropes. Harry Jones’s death dredges up more than grief: a second body in the water, hidden love affairs, and old grudges. As the marina begins to reveal the truths of the past, its dwellers unify against investigators, vindictive exes, and anyone else who tries to break them. The boats of Vixens Mere brim with secrets…. A marriage broken by war, a guilty lover returning, a ramshackle haven for aging hippies, a newcomer chasing a better life, a home haunted by addiction, and a loyal outcast whose devotion turns deadly. Step aboard and lose yourself in the secrets, betrayals, and unbreakable ties of a small community.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Purchase Link | Goodreads

Enter the Giveaway to Win 3 x Stacks of 5 Inkspot Publishing books (UK Only):

https://gleam.io/7fwwo/win-3-x-stacks-of-5-inkspot-publishing-books-uk-only

About the Author, Kit Fielding:

Kit Fielding plans and writes his novels in a motorhome at various locations around the country.

The feeling of impermanence is natural to him due to his mother’s traveller roots and a childhood succession of tied-cottages accommodation in different parts of England.

Kit Fielding says that there was always a curiosity about what was waiting, or was lurking, just around the corner. This legacy has stayed with him to the present day and it feeds into his work.

Connect to Inkspot Publishing:

Facebook | Instagram

My Thoughts:

Under Vixen’s Mere is one of those novels that quietly gets under your skin and then refuses to leave.

From the opening pages, the prose immediately stood out to me. It’s spare without ever feeling sparse—clean, confident, and quietly assured. Dialogue and description are held in careful balance, each doing its work without calling attention to itself. Nothing strains for effect, and that sense of restraint builds trust early on, inviting the reader to settle in and follow where the story leads.

I was drawn to this book for deeply personal reasons. I’ve long fantasized about living on a boat, and I happily lose hours watching The Mindful Narrowboat on YouTube (mercifully free of mysterious bodies). What I didn’t expect was how fully this novel would deliver not just a setting, but a lived-in way of life—one that feels authentic rather than romanticized.

This is, in many ways, vicarious travel: across years, across seasons, and into a rare, largely off-grid canal-boat community tucked into the English countryside. The residents of Vixens Mere come and go with the rhythms of the water, maintaining an almost paradoxical balance—deep closeness paired with fierce privacy. Secrets are kept, histories linger, and yet there is mutual sympathy and loyalty that feels earned rather than idealized.

The cast is refreshingly outside the usual literary comfort zone: nightclub bouncers, pig farmers, laborers, drug dealers. These are not middle-class protagonists smoothed for palatability, yet each one climbs off the page with warmth, dignity, and unmistakable humanity. They love, fight, fear, and hope as fiercely as anyone else. I could picture every one of them.

Kit Fielding manages a large ensemble with impressive control, giving each character space to breathe—and yes, killing some of them. Tragedy and darkness are present throughout, threaded carefully among humor and joy. The mere itself—the body of water at the novel’s heart—becomes a quiet gravitational force, anchoring two stable, loving couples while secrets of adoption, unrequited love, affairs, suicide, and manslaughter drift in and out like the boats themselves.

What struck me most was the confidence of the writing. The scene-setting is assured, the revelations slow and satisfying, and the sense of jeopardy in the latter half is handled with admirable restraint. This is a writer who asks for your patience—and repays it fully.

Most of all, this book felt refreshing. Refreshing in its refusal to lean on stereotype. Refreshing in its complex, contradictory characters. Refreshing in a storytelling style that is unusual, engaging, and delivered with raw honesty and flair.

Choosing a favorite among the residents of Vixens Mere is nearly impossible, but if pressed, I’d gladly spend an evening with Big Ed and Millie aboard Crystal Lady—the emotional linchpins of this ragtag family. Their relationship feels utterly authentic, and I’d happily sink a beer (or three) with them in The Shed.

This is one of those rare books I was reluctant to finish—not because the ending faltered, but because I didn’t want to leave these people behind. I know they’ll be living in my head for a long time yet.

Goes well with: a pint in a weathered pub, damp boots by the door, and the quiet creak of ropes against wood as night settles over the water.

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Book Review: The Boulangerie on the Corner b y Susan Buchanan

26 January 2026 by Melissa

About the Book: The Boulangerie on the Corner

🥖🥐🥖🥐 Grab your passport for the first in the European Escapes series 🥐🥖🥐🥖

No home. No job. No boyfriend.

When Lia loses her job straight after a break-up, she escapes to the Molins’ family-run boulangerie in Toulouse – the place she was last happy, far away from her cheating ex.

Sworn off men, she isn’t prepared for the spark she feels for charming cheesemaker Jean-Luc, nor for things heating up at the family’s country home in Gascony when handsome, self-assured vineyard-owner Théo asks her out.

Torn between the two and her connections to the Molins family, Lia has some tough decisions to make.

Lia loves being back in France with the people she cares about, helping in the boulangerie. On discovering it is under threat of closure, she is devastated and resolves to do everything in her power to help it stay open.

Will she succeed? And will she be able to choose between the two handsome Frenchmen and live her happily ever after?

For fans of Gillian Harvey, Rebecca Raisin, Jo Thomas and Veronica Henry.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Purchase Link | Gooodreads

About the Author: Susan Buchanan

Susan Buchanan writes contemporary romance, women’s fiction and romantic comedies, usually featuring travel, food, family, friendship, community – also Christmas!

Her books are Sign of the Times, The Dating Game, The Christmas Spirit, Return of the Christmas Spirit, A Little Christmas Spirit, A Taste of Christmas Spirit and Just One Day – Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn, The Leap Year Proposal, You Can’t Hurry Love and The Boulangerie on the Corner.

As a freelance developmental editor, copyeditor and proofreader, if she’s not reading, editing or writing, she’s thinking about it.

She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Society of Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors.

She lives near Glasgow with her husband, two children and a crazy Labrador.

When she’s not editing, writing, reading or caring for her two delightful cherubs, she likes going to the theatre, playing board games, watching quiz shows and eating out, and she has a penchant for writing retreats.

Connect with Susan:

Website| Facebook | Instagram | Threads

My Thoughts

Before there was Captain Jean-Luc Picard, American audiences were once treated to a very different Jean-Luc—one who appeared in aggressively faux-European commercials for powdered cappuccino mix, urging us to believe we were sipping something international. That image lodged itself firmly in my cultural memory. It was the very first thing I thought of when Lia, newly arrived in Toulouse and reeling from three personal upheavals, meets the cheesemaker Jean-Luc in The Boulangerie on the Corner.

Maybe it was the name, but I knew he wasn’t a blink-and-you-miss-him character.

That instinct turned out to be right, and it speaks to one of Susan Buchanan’s real strengths as a writer. Her characters arrive fully formed, warm, and human. Even the so-called villains are likeable and relatable rather than cartoonish. Lia herself is a genuinely strong female protagonist—capable, bruised, and emotionally intelligent. Her friendship with Jules is a particular joy, showcasing the very best aspects of female friendship: loyal, supportive, and quietly sustaining.

Layered on top of that emotional core is a France that feels lived-in rather than staged. There is bread and pastry, cheese and wine, markets and architecture, rain and flowers. The Molins’ family-run boulangerie is not just a setting but a heartbeat, and when it comes under threat of closure, the stakes feel real and personal. Add two handsome French suitors—cheesemaker Jean-Luc and vineyard-owner Théo—each appealing in different ways, and the novel finds its romantic tension without cheap tricks or forced drama.

What makes this book especially satisfying is its sensory richness. The attention to detail is so precise you can practically smell the bread cooling on the racks, the sharpness of cheese, the damp stone after rain. It is comfort reading with substance: sunshine and laughter paired with the everyday complications life throws at us, and the quiet resilience required to meet them.

This is a story about refuge—about returning to the last place you remember being happy, and discovering that happiness can evolve rather than repeat itself. I loved the storyline, the characters, and the care Buchanan brings to every page. I finished the book feeling warm, well-fed, and genuinely hopeful there is more to come.

Goes well with: a café au lait, a still-warm croissant torn by hand, good butter, apricot jam, and the dangerous temptation to book a one-way ticket to Toulouse.

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Book Review: The Locked Room by Holly Hepburn

21 January 2026 by Melissa

About the Book: The Locked Room

Join Harriet White in 1930’s London for another glorious Sherlock Holmes-inspired mystery, for fans of Nita Prose and Janice Hallett.

After a very close call on the Norfolk Fens, Harriet White is about ready to hang up her deerstalker and settle back into her normal life, working in a bank on Baker Street. Until she discovers a letter in The Times newspaper challenging Sherlock Holmes to prove his status as the world’s greatest detective, by solving an impossible mystery. The letter, signed Professor James Moriarty, advises Holmes that the crime will be committed within the following seven days. There will be no further clues – Holmes himself must deduce which crime is the correct one to investigate.

Dismissing the letter as a prank, Harry goes about her business until news breaks of the theft of valuable jewel collection from a safe in an apparently locked room in a Mayfair townhouse.

Intrigued in spite of her misgivings, Harry dons a disguise and investigates. But as she begins to unpick the puzzle, a body is found. And now, a stranger, and far more deadly mystery begins to unfold around her…

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Purchase Link | Goodreads

About the Author: Holly Hepburn

Holly Hepburn writes escapist, swoonsome fiction that sweeps her readers into idyllic locations, from her native Cornwall to the windswept beauty of Orkney. She has turned her hand to cosy crime inspired by Sherlock Holmes himself. Holly lives in leafy Hertfordshire with her adorable partner in crime, Luna the Labrador.

Connect with Holly:

Newsletter Signup | Instagram

My Thoughts

Locked-room mysteries are my Kryptonite, so I was already inclined to be generous with The Locked Room. Add in a female sleuth, a Sherlock-adjacent premise, and 1930s London, and I was fully on board before the first page. What I did not expect was how thoroughly this book would delight me—or how quickly I’d be buying the first two installments in the series for pure, unapologetic pleasure.

The Locked Room drops us back into Harriet White’s world after a near-fatal case on the Norfolk Fens. Harriet is ready to retreat to the relative safety of her bank job on Baker Street, until a provocative letter appears in The Times, publicly challenging Sherlock Holmes to solve an “impossible” crime in seven days. When a jewel theft from a supposedly locked Mayfair room hits the headlines, Harriet’s curiosity—and sense of justice—prove impossible to ignore.

I jumped into this series with book three and never felt lost, which is no small feat. Author Holly Hepburn provides just enough grounding to orient new readers while rewarding longtime fans with deeper character beats. I was also intrigued to learn that the premise draws inspiration from a real historical incident, which adds an extra frisson to the cleverness of the setup.

Hepburn’s writing is witty, assured, and inviting, with a light touch that keeps the pages turning. The historical setting feels lived-in rather than performative. I could see the grand townhouses, the quieter streets, and the sharp contrast between wealth and hardship in interwar London. Period details are woven in naturally, never paraded for effect, which makes the world feel solid and breathable.

This particular mystery unfolds around a snowbound manor and delivers one of the most satisfying locked-room puzzles I’ve read in years. False identities, impossible footprints, and a wonderfully human subplot involving Harriet’s mischievous younger brother keep both the tension and the charm dialed high. Hepburn’s prose is richly evocative; the chill of the house, the glow of firelight, and the small rituals of comfort feel almost tangible, even as the tension tightens and the stakes rise.

The twists genuinely surprised me. The romantic thread simmers gently without ever hijacking the mystery. When the final reveal landed, I actually gasped—then immediately flipped back to earlier chapters to admire how skillfully I’d been misdirected.

The Locked Room is clever, cozy without being complacent, and deeply satisfying for puzzle-lovers. If you adore classic detective fiction but crave a fresh perspective, Harriet White deserves a place on your shelf—and very likely, in your reading rotation for a long while to come.

Goes well with: a blazing fire, a generous glass of brandy, and the delicious certainty that you’re about to be very cleverly fooled.

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A Treatise Martian Chiro Ebook Cover 10.18.25

Book Review: A Treatise on Martian Chiropractic Manipulation and Other Satirical Tales by Lisa Fox

18 January 2026 by Melissa

About the Book: A Treatise on Martian Chiropractic Manipulation and Other Satirical Tales

Human beings are flawed creatures, and humor is the perfect means to exploit the endless fodder of our shortcomings. This multi-genre collection of twenty-one short satirical stories will leave you smirking, chuckling, scratching your head, and maybe even muttering to yourself “WTF is this?”

From the award-winning author of the acclaimed short story collections “Core Truths” and “Passageways: Short Speculative Fiction” comes something a little bit irreverent and a whole lot of weird.

Ketchup-covered chiropractors on Mars. Wealthy vigilante housewives battling coffee-addicted aliens. Cheerleaders protesting unrestricted access to cupcakes. Canine doulas. Hallucinating marine biologists. No one is immune from the absurdity.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads

About the Author: Lisa Fox

Lisa Fox loves to ask questions. By day, she’s a pharmaceutical market researcher. By night, she channels that same inquisitive spirit into writing short fiction, building worlds and characters that explore the meaning of life, the universe, and everything in between. She survives, and sometimes thrives, in the chaos of suburban New Jersey with her husband, two sons, and quirky Double-Doodle dog. Lisa is an award-winning author of two short story collections: Core Truths and Passageways: Short Speculative Fiction.

Connect with Lisa:

Website | BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram | X (Twitter)

My Thoughts

If satire is a mirror, A Treatise on Martian Chiropractic Manipulation and Other Satirical Tales tilts it just enough to catch the light at an unexpected angle.

This multi-genre collection moves between speculative fiction, satire, social commentary, and moments that are deliberately unsettling. Humor is very much part of the mix, but it is not the whole of it. Fox allows different stories to do different kinds of work, and the tonal shifts feel intentional rather than scattered.

The titular piece is a standout and an effective entry point into the collection’s sensibility. Beyond that, some of my favorite stories include “A Feral Yearning,” “Community Watch,” and “Crazy for Coqui.” These pieces succeed for very different reasons. Community Watch is the most overtly tense, grounded in suspicion and collective behavior. As someone who has always struggled to fit in, and is now in her second term as a member of her HOA’s board of directors, this piece particularly resonated with me. A Feral Yearning and Crazy for Coqui feel more observational, exploring ideas and impulses without pressing for a single emotional response.

“Is That an Emotional Support Robot?” left me wanting more, which I mean as a compliment. “Population Management” and “Obfuscation Nation,” by contrast, are both brilliant and disturbing, stories that do not soften their implications or rush toward resolution.

Across twenty-one stories, Fox demonstrates strong control of craft while working across genres and tones. Some pieces are amusing, others thought-provoking or quietly unsettling. There isn’t a weak choice in the collection, only different entry points depending on what kind of story you’re in the mood for.

Goes well with: coffee made from real Brazilian beans and a chocolate-mint cupcake.

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Review: No Oil Painting by Genevieve Marenghi

10 December 2025 by Melissa

No Oil Painting

About the book, No Oil Painting

A respectable septuagenarian steals a valuable painting and later tries to return it, with a little help from her friends.

Bored National Trust volunteer, Maureen, steals an obscure still life as a giant up-yours to all those who’ve discounted her. The novice fine art thief is rumbled by some fellow room guides, but snitches get stitches, camaraderie wins out and instead of grassing her up, they decide to help.

Often written off as an insipid old fart, Maureen has a darker side, challenging ingrained ideas of how senior citizens should behave. Her new set of friends make her feel alive again. No longer quite so invisible, can this unlikely pensioner gang return the now infamous painting without being caught by the Feds?

I wrote this after hearing a radio interview in which an art detective revealed how a stolen Titian was dumped at a bus stop outside Richmond station. In a red, white and blue plastic bag! I just couldn’t shake such a compelling image. I volunteered at Ham House for many years, and my passion for this Jacobean gem, together with the volunteers’ indomitable spirit, gave birth to my unlikely anti-hero.

With over five million members, the National Trust is a huge British institution. Yet, next to nothing has been written about it in terms of contemporary fiction. Until now.

While No Oil Painting explores themes of insignificance and loneliness in older age, particularly for women, it is mainly intended to entertain and offer a small haven in dark, uncertain times.

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

Amazon USA (Paperback) | Amazon USA (Kindle) | Amazon UK (Paperback) | Amazon UK (Kindle)| Goodreads

About the Author, Genevieve Marenghi

With a BA in English and Philosophy, Genevieve worked for eleven years at the Weekend FT, where she helped create and launch How To Spend It magazine.

She volunteered for years as a National Trust guide at Ham House. This became the setting for her debut art heist novel, No Oil Painting, which was listed for the inaugural Women’s Prize Trust and Curtis Brown Discoveries, and was published by Burton Mayers Books on 10th October 2025.

Her writing uses dark humour to probe the difference between our perception of people and their true selves. The gulf between what is said and what is meant. She considers people watching an essential skill for any writer; overheard snippets of conversation or a bonkers exchange at a bus stop are like gold nuggets. She’s been known to follow people to catch the end of a juicy conversation or argument. Women aged over fifty are essentially invisible anyhow and she views this as a kind of superpower.

Unlike her protagonist Maureen, she hasn’t used this to commit art theft. Yet.

Connect with Genevieve

Instagram | Threads

Giveaway – UK Residents Only

Giveaway PRize - IMG_3766

Giveaway to Win National Trust chocolate, and a Ham House towel and fridge magnet (Open to UK Only)

Enter to Win National Trust chocolate, and a Ham House towel and fridge magnet (Open to UK Only)

My Thoughts

There is something irresistibly delicious about a crime novel that hands the spotlight to someone the world tends to overlook. Genevieve Marenghi’s No Oil Painting introduces Maureen, a septuagenarian National Trust volunteer who has spent a lifetime playing by the rules… right up until she decides not to. A cheeky lunch-table game — the sort of hypothetical mischief people joke about but never act on — becomes the spark that sets her audacious adventure in motion. Before long she is scheming, sweating, and slip-sliding her way through an ill-advised art heist that is equal parts chaos and charm.

What makes the novel shine is not the theft itself, although the caper is delightful. It is Maureen’s emotional landscape that lingers. Her great-niece is leaving for New York, her favorite painting is slated for relocation, and the soft, creeping loneliness of late life presses in on her. Rather than succumb, she lunges headfirst into trouble. The heist becomes her rallying cry, a way to shake off invisibility and rediscover purpose. The friends who join her — instead of reporting her — supply the heart of the story, proving that chosen community is sometimes the most life-saving kind.

Maureen is funny without being caricatured, vulnerable without being fragile. Her escapade becomes a gentle reminder that senior citizens contain multitudes, that adventure does not expire, and that sometimes the wildest thing you can do is insist on mattering. I found her journey both hilarious and unexpectedly moving, especially as a reader eyeing that demographic from not-too-far away. The whole book reads quickly, but it leaves a warm afterglow long after the final page.

It helps that Marenghi’s timing feels almost prescient. With its October 2025 publication date aligning with the very real October 2025 Crown Jewels caper at the Louvre, the novel gains an unintended relevancy. Art theft is having a moment, apparently, and Maureen’s pint-sized rebellion slots right into the cultural conversation.

No Oil Painting entertains, uplifts, and subtly encourages the reader to imagine their own cheeky museum caper. Hypothetically, of course. Mostly.

Goes well with: a steaming cup of builder’s tea, a shortbread biscuit, and the quiet thrill of plotting an imaginary art heist with your favorite partner in crime.

Then she climbed on.