Book Review: Break the Rules (Loveless Brothers #3) by Roxie Noir

Break the Rules

 (Loveless Brothers #3) 

by Roxie Noir

Some lines shouldn’t be crossed.

Some rules shouldn’t be broken.

June is one of them, and I know it.

Break the Rules, an all-new hilarious, brother’s best friend romance from Roxie Noir, is available now!

As a forest ranger, I believe in the simple life. I prefer cabins to apartments, trails to freeways, and trees to people. My life is orderly, predictable, and quiet.

Until it’s hit by a woman I never saw coming -- Hurricane June.

She’s fierce. She’s feisty. She has a laugh like the first day of spring, and she’s so pretty that I can’t breathe when I look at her. June will only be in town for a few months—just while job-hunting. She won’t last until winter, but how can I resist?

Except I have to. She’s my best, oldest, and most loyal friend’s baby sister.

Betraying him would be the worst thing I’ve ever done. Not betraying him might be the hardest.

Especially once we start working together on a secret project. All this spending time together, sneaking around at night, and lying to her brother about what we’re doing sure feels like more than friendship.

June might break my heart. Her brother might break my nose.

But I guess some things were made to be broken.

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Levi is a mystery wrapped in an enigma stuffed into a crate labeled puzzle, and I don’t think he likes me.


There are reasons besides loyalty and friendship that June is a bad idea for me. Reasons like Silas has extensive combat training and Silas is not a reasonable human being when it comes to his little sister.


“June, there’s a bottle of your father’s pizzazz sauce on the door if you’d like some for the chili,” my mom says. “And I think there’s still some of his butt burner if you want to go ahead and use that up.” I make a face, because your father’s pizzazz sauce is a phrase I could happily go a lifetime without hearing, and that goes double for your father’s butt burner. He’s turned to making hot sauces in his retirement, because everyone needs a hobby…


“It’s not hoarding if it’s books,” Charlie says. “Then it’s knowledge collection, and that makes you fancy.”



“There are animals who won’t breed in captivity,” he says. “Is that why you’re not married?”


“Give me more advice, please,” I say. “Fart before you go into the interview room,” he says instantly. “Don’t hold it in, because then you’ll end up gassing everyone in there, and they’ll know it was you, and you will not get hired at that job. You will not.”


“Who is this?” I demand…”You’re being nice and my brother Silas once held me down and farted into my mouth, so you’re obviously an imposter,” I say.

My Review:

I barked with laughter and giggle-snorted repeatedly while reading this delightfully clever tale. This was my first experience reading the feisty and talented Roxie Noir but I plan to be hitting her page like a binge dieter at the all-you-can-eat buffet on cheat days.


I was euphoric over this adorable couple and well enamored with most of the secondary characters as well; they were smart, sweet-natured, witty, well suited, funny, sexy, and thoughtful and kind with each other. Levi and June’s harmonious relationship was gentle, supportive, and considerate, as well as atomically sensual and gasp ~ hot enough to melt my Kindle.


Swoon, Levi is my forever BBF. The storylines and writing style were highly amusing, unfailingly engaging, fun, lively, easy to follow, and laden with sharp wit and comical observations. I have a new favorite author to fangirl, I need more of her stellar arrangements of words in my life.

About Roxie

I love writing sexy, alpha men and the headstrong women they fall for. My weaknesses include: beards, whiskey, nice abs with treasure trails, sarcasm, cats, prowess in the kitchen, prowess in the bedroom, forearm tattoos, and gummi bears. I live in California with my very own sexy, bearded, whiskey-loving husband and two hell-raising cats.

Connect with Roxie

Amazon: https://amzn.to/31ab2a6

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2YyYtDh

Twitter: http://bit.ly/2SRXTPK

BookBub: http://bit.ly/2owNy18

Join her reader group The Roxettes: http://bit.ly/2K5fRLU

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http://roxienoir.com

Book Review: Every Stolen Breath by Kimberly Gabriel

Every Stolen Breath

by Kimberly Gabriel

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU / B&N 

Hardcover: 336 Pages

Publisher: Blink (November 5, 2019)

The Swarm is unrecognizable, untraceable, and unpredictable—random attacks on the streets of Chicago by a mob of crazed teens that leaves death in its wake. It’s been two years since the last attack, but Lia Finch has found clues that reveal the Swarm is ready to claim a new victim.

Lia is the only one still pursuing her father’s killers, two years after attorney Steven Finch’s murder by the Swarm. Devastated and desperate for answers, Lia will do anything to uncover the reasons behind his death and to stop someone else from being struck down. But due to debilitating asthma and PTSD that leaves her with a tenuous hold on reality, Lia is the last person to mount a crusade on her own.

After a close encounter with the Swarm puts Lia on their radar, she teams up with a teen hacker, a reporter, and a mysterious stranger who knows firsthand how the mob works. Together, they work to uncover the master puppeteer behind the group. Though if Lia and her network don’t stop the person pulling the strings—and fast—Lia may end up the next target.

Inspired by the real-life “flash mob” violence that struck Chicago in 2011, Every Stolen Breath by debut author Kimberly Gabriel is a fast-paced and immersive thriller that shows just how hard one girl will fight back, knowing any breath might be her last.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Then she hung up before I could think of an articulate rebuttal, leaving me sitting there, mouth gaping like some taxidermized fish.



It’s the side effect of attending a pretentious private school, where people treat Everybody’s Business like it’s a class they can ace and add to their transcripts.



I can’t help but wonder if I’m caught in some sick and twisted Alice in Wonderland dream where my world has turned upside down and nothing is as it seems.



Strength isn’t defined by who can hit the hardest in a fight, but by who’s still standing at the end.





My Review:

I rarely read YA and to be honest, I purposely avoid it, but I’m thrilled I had the foresight to make an exception for Kimberly Gabriel’s brilliantly plotted debut. I couldn’t seem to resist the intriguing synopsis and a colorful book cover that required a full stop and several minutes to thoroughly examine.



Ms. Gabriel’s storylines were diabolically clever and fiendishly crafted while populated with uniquely compelling and intriguing characters of all ages and levels of mistrust and suspicion. I was immediately sucked into Lia’s mono-focused and quivering vortex of distrust and dramatic catastrophic thinking. This mesmerizing tale was written from the first person POV of an angsty sixteen-year-old asthmatic who proved to be rather unstable with significant features of PTSD including panic attacks, auditory and visual hallucinations, paranoia, delusions, and crippling anxiety and self-consciousness. She was also stubbornly persistent, grief driven, highly resourceful and had the arrogance of youth in her toolkit.



With cunning and deftly written twists and turns, Ms. Gabriel has made a stunning and flawless debut. As I was making my way through this tautly penned and complex tale, I had a striking epiphany of why I tend to eschew this genre while simultaneously realizing this book was well worth the disheartening and stark reminders of the painful sense of powerlessness and nettling subjugation and disregard experienced as a teenager with two XX chromosomes. While I vastly enjoyed her work, I still haven’t decided whether I should thank the author for the personal insight or swear a pox on her instead.

 About The Author

Kimberly Gabriel is an English teacher who writes every chance she gets and struggles with laundry avoidance issues. When she’s not teaching or writing, she’s enjoying life with her husband, her three beautiful children, and a seriously beautiful boxer in the northern suburbs of Chicago.

Connect with Kimberly

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Book Review: All Fired Up (Road to Love #3) by Lori Foster

All Fired Up 

(Road to Love #3)

by Lori Foster

ISBN: 9781335505071

Imprint: HQN Books

Categories: Contemporary Women's Fiction, Contemporary Romance

Harlequin / Amazon / Apple Books

Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million

Google Play / IndieBound / Kobo

He’s tantalizing trouble she can’t resist…

Charlotte Parrish has always wanted a certain kind of man: someone responsible, settled, boring. Bad boys need not apply. But when her car leaves her stranded and a mysterious stranger with brooding eyes and a protective streak comes to her rescue, she can’t deny how drawn she is to him. In town searching for family he’s never met, Mitch is everything she never thought she wanted—and suddenly everything she craves.

Finding his half brothers after all these years is more than Mitch Crews has allowed himself to wish for. Finding love never even crossed his mind…until he meets Charlotte. She’s sweet, warmhearted, sexier than she knows—and too damn good for an ex-con like him. But when his past comes back to haunt him, putting Charlotte—and the family he’s come to care for—in danger, Mitch isn’t playing by the rules. He’s already surrendered his heart, but now he’ll risk his life.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Howler’s good with other animals. Basically, he’s an affectionate grandma in a loose suit of fur. If he could bake biscuits, he would.


Good times or bad, family hangs on like a too-tight shirt. You don’t get to outgrow it, you can’t wash it when it’s dirty and it clings even worse when you sweat.



My Review:

This was only my second experience reading the prolific Lori Foster, but I plan to make perusing her engaging stories a frequent habit. I enjoyed her curiously endearing yet flawed characters as much as her compelling storylines with a heinous villain everyone had reason to revile and despise due to his repeated and unthinkable cruelty toward women, children, and animals. The overall emotional tone held a steady thrum of tension and sense of impending peril due to the lurking dangers that were constantly and incrementally building; yet there were also liberal sprinkles of levity, a blossoming romance, curiously tantalizing backstories, steamy sensuality, and captivating family drama interspersed throughout. I had not read the previous books in the series but I adored this extraordinary family and know I would enjoy going back to fully feast on their storylines as well.

About The Author

Lori Foster is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author with books from a variety of publishers, including Berkley/Jove, Kensington, St. Martin's, Harlequin and Silhouette. Lori has been a recipient of the prestigious RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award for Series Romantic Fantasy, and for Contemporary Romance. For more about Lori, visit her Web site at www.lorifoster.com.

SOCIAL LINKS:

Facebook - @lorifoster

Twitter - @LoriLFoster

Pinterest

Instagram - @LoriLFoster

GoodReads

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Book Review, Giveaway: The Perfect Fit (Love in the Dales #2) by Mary Jayne Baker

The Perfect Fit

(Love in the Dales #2)

by Mary Jayne Baker

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA / 
B&N / Apple

'A wonderful book with a great story and a sparky, unusual voice. I loved it!' KATIE FFORDE

Escape to the frost-sparkling Yorkshire Dales for some festive fun under the mistletoe! A saucy comedy-romance with more than a sprinkle of Christmas spice – this will lift your spirits and your excitement level!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas for costume shop owner Becky Finn. Leaving London to move back home to the twinkly rural village of Egglethwaite, she plans to build a new life for herself with fiancé, Cole.

Keen to raise funds for the struggling village hall she loved as a child, Becky finds herself at the head of a colourful group aiming to revive the Egglethwaite Christmas pantomime. But when that festive feeling sets in, she discovers there's more to panto than innuendo and slapped thighs.

Falling in love was not in the script! But as opening night grows closer, she starts to wonder if the panto will ever make it to the stage and, with handsome co-star Marcus on the scene, if she has chosen her right leading man...

The perfect stocking-filler gift!

My Rating: 

Favorite Quotes:

I’ll never get the British pantomime tradition. Still remember the first time I saw one. I thought you must be slipping psychedelic drugs into the tea.


Him? I wouldn’t widdle on him if he’d been stung by a flock of jellyfish then set on fire.


‘She’s volunteering me for stuff again,’ Gerry muttered. ‘I’ll never get a moment’s peace while I’m married to that woman.’ ‘You’ll get plenty of peace when you’re dead,’ Sue told him. ‘I bet even then I won’t be allowed. I bet you’ll be there, standing over the fresh-shoveled earth.’ He put on a high-pitched voice, jamming his hands on his hips. ‘“Gerald! What’re you lying about down there for? Don’t you know it’s lambing time?”’


‘You gotta have Baby Jesus at Christmas,’ the child repeated stubbornly. She puffed herself up. ‘Last year I was Mary and I had him. Hid him in my dress so’s he could pop out when Miss said and I put him in his manager.’ ‘Manager?’ Marcus said. ‘’S’like a cot what cows eat their tea off.’


It was a baptism of fire, for Dad especially, but he took to it like a duck to hoisin.


‘You’re, er, a bit lopsided there.’ Gerry glanced down at his bosom, which had deflated on one side. ‘Oh. Right. Just a sec.’ He started pumping his arm like a one-winged chicken, and Yolanda giggled as his left breast grew before our eyes… ‘Now you’ve got one bigger than the other,’ my dad told Gerry. ‘You’re just jealous.’

‘My official age is forty-five, thank you, and I plan on keeping it that way until I’m at least seventy… Well, I think I can pass for forty if the lighting’s right.’ ‘She means if there’s a blackout,’ Sue whispered to us.

My Review:

I smirked, giggle-snorted, and gleefully barked my way through this delightfully witty and deftly crafted tale. Written from the first-person POV of returning village resident Becky Finn, this wily author’s highly engaging and deliciously alluring writing style left me unable to put my Kindle down. Her clever and enticing arrangements of words were laced with humorous observations and perceptive insights that were keenly honed, brilliantly paced, and vividly detailed in a highly comical manner. This quirky little village housed an odd assortment of uniquely dynamic personalities who were lured into staging an original pantomime performance to raise funds to save their community center. Bedlam and chaos befell the unusual production at various times throughout their rehearsals with an ever-changing script, wardrobe, ego, and talent issues that caused an alarming eye-twitch to the beleaguered director and new alliances and interesting exchanges among the cast and crew. I had a fantabulous time in the Yorkshire Dales and hope to return soon.



Mary Jane Baker is a comedic genius and I covet her mad word skills and creative imagination. In addition to an excellent day of indulgent reading, she has also provided me with two new words for my Brit Word and Phrases List with widdle – urinate; and manky – worthless, rotten, in bad taste. While the later does not apply to this book, the former may have occurred during reading due to uncontrollable eruptions of mirthful amusement.

About The Author

Mary Jayne Baker grew up in rural West Yorkshire, right in the heart of Brontë country... and she's still there. After graduating from Durham University with a degree in English Literature, she dallied with living in cities including London, Nottingham and Cambridge, but eventually came back with her own romantic hero in tow to her beloved Dales, where she first started telling stories about heroines with flaws and the men who love them. More information can be found about Mary Jayne on her website at www.maryjaynebaker.co.uk

Social Media Links – 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaryJayneWrites/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/maryjaynebaker

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryjaynebaker/

Giveaway

Win signed copies of both books in the Love in the Dales series 

(Open to UK Only)

A Bicycle Made for Two and The Perfect Fit 

*Terms and Conditions 

Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve 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 be passed to the giveaway organizer and used only for the fulfillment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data. I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.

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Book Review: A Forgiven Friend (Friends #3) by Sue Featherstone

A Forgiven Friend

(Friends #3)

by Sue Featherstone

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA / B&N

A Forgiven Friend: Lies, Loss, and Love, But Always Friendship

Friendship will always come first.

There’s only one way out from rock bottom and that’s up, and Teri Meyer is finally crawling out from the worst time of her life – no thanks to her best friend Lee. But no matter, she’s finally found love – real love with a real man, a successful man, a man who accepts all her flaws. Teri’s never felt like this before, and yet it’s changing her in ways she doesn’t understand.

And there’s only one person who can help, one person who truly understands Teri.

It seems that no matter how hard Lee Harper tries, there’s a battle awaiting her at every turn these days, and she’s tired. And as if she needs the extra stress, Teri continues to create constant and unnecessary drama. But Lee’s the only one who really knows what’s going on under Teri’s hard, convoluted exterior, and that’s why she’s always been there for her.

But the question is: will Teri be there when Lee needs her most?

The brilliant and entertaining final book in the unique FRIENDS trilogy dishes out another dose of rib-tickling mayhem for our favourite thirty-something professional women.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:



Good Lord! Where were the toilets? Ms Kostanechi had gestured towards the shrubbery at the bottom of the garden. ‘We have the very latest in sustainable lavatory technology.’ What did that mean? A hole in the ground and a handful of moss, in place of a roll of aloe vera toilet paper?



She’d been as co-operative as a chattering of four-year-olds with earthworms in their knickers.



‘You’ve done what?’ Dogs three streets away howled in anguish, Connie-behind-the-Portly & Groops-counter dropped the tray of coffee cups she was carrying, and a toddler, who’d been struggling to climb out of his highchair, slid back into his seat and buried his face in his hands. Teri blinked… ‘Why? Why?’ I’d lowered my voice, largely because the huge lump in my throat was making it difficult to speak.



I’m not really into food where the steak is so lightly cooked there’s a good chance it’ll leap off the plate and start chewing the cud.



… those flirtingly sparkly blue eyes and heart-shaped ruby lips belie one of nature’s meanest gossips. She works on the basis that if a rumour has even a smidgen of truth in it, it’s worth spreading around the whole university on the basis that it’s bound to come true by the time it’s finished its travels… ‘Well, don’t you think it’s exciting?’ she chirruped, leaning in slightly and glancing into the back of my car in the hope there might be something incriminating there – like a naked man whose wrists were tied perhaps.



‘But, what about the age gap?’ She waved an elegantly painted finger. ‘Oh, age is just a number.’ ‘But aren’t there rather a lot of numbers between you?’

My Review:

While almost all of the characters in this book were personalities I would avoid on pain of death and would definitely not enjoy personally sharing air with as they were deeply flawed and rather abhorrent, I smirked and barked my way through this witty and snarky tale. So much so, that I plan to read the two earlier books in the series. The writing was stellar and packed with highly amusing observations and rib-tickling descriptions that pulled sharp visuals to mind. I cringed and groaned at some of the awful things that Teri said and did, but I also couldn’t wait to see what happened next.


The character of Teri was the most loathsome to me as she was a thoughtless loose cannon and an obnoxious, red Louboutin shod drama-queen. She was basically a self-involved diva who couldn’t see or concern herself with anything beyond her own nose. She was selfish, impetuous, demanding, petty, lazy, gorgeous, insecure, and a honey trap for men. I couldn’t imagine why the stodgy academician, Lee, remained her friend. Teri thoughtlessly blundered on creating huge scenes and life-altering messes and Lee would seethe and grind her teeth, but eventually, she would sigh and forgive her. I must confess to never being that kind or patient towards anyone – friend or family. When someone screws me over - I make sure they aren’t able to do it more than once, and the earth beneath them is usually scorched!


I gained a treasure trove of new additions for my Brit Words and Phrases List with make a decent fist – make a worthy effort; lolloped – moving in an ungainly or awkward manner; and the multi-tasker of pipped which has several meanings such as – shoot with a gun, drunk, insult, molest, or defeat by a narrow margin; and twonk – which is Victorian slang for a stupid or foolish person, and although it may no longer be in use today, it is still fun to say.

About The Authors

 Sue Featherstone and Susan Pape

Sue Featherstone and Susan Pape are both former newspaper journalists with extensive experience of working for national and regional papers and magazines and in public relations.

More recently they have worked in higher education, teaching journalism – Sue at Sheffield Hallam and Susan at Leeds Trinity University.

The pair, who have been friends for almost 30 years, wrote two successful journalism textbooks together – Newspaper Journalism: A Practical Introduction and Feature Writing: A Practical Introduction (both published by Sage), before deciding to turn their hands to fiction.

The first novel in their Friends series, A Falling Friend, was released in 2016. A Forsaken Friend followed two years later, and the final book in the trilogy, A Forgiven Friend, published on November 19.

Sue, who is married with two grown-up daughters, and the most ‘gorgeous granddaughter in the whole world’, loves reading, writing and Nordic walking in the beautiful countryside near her Yorkshire home.

Susan is married and lives in a village near Leeds, and, when not writing, loves walking and cycling in the Yorkshire Dales. She is also a member of a local ukulele orchestra.

They blog about books at 
 https://bookloversbooklist.com/

Follow them on Twitter: @SueF_Writer and @wordfocus

Book Review, Giveaway: It’s Not PMS, It’s You by Rich Amooi

It’s Not PMS, It’s You

by Rich Amooi

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA 

Ruth “Ruthless” Harper is on the verge of becoming managing partner at her all-male consulting firm and she won’t let anything stand in her way. That includes men, relationships, and that dreaded F word, FEELINGS—distractions she eliminated long ago.

After the worst day ever (a near-death experience and a public wedgie, for starters), Ruth realizes she doesn’t want to live and die alone. She puts together a business plan to find the perfect man and dives headfirst into the murky online dating pool. All she wants is a high-powered executive who understands how important her career is. If only it were that easy.

Problem is most men are intimidated by Ruth’s confidence and shocked by her bluntness. The exception being her landscape designer, Nick, whose cool demeanor and unsolicited dating advice are driving her nuts. He’s the antithesis of the business-oriented man Ruth envisions for herself, so why do all signs keep pointing back to him?



My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

...like me, she wouldn’t take crap from male colleagues who thought they could do or say whatever they wanted just because they were packing two olives and a cocktail weenie in their shorts.



Stewart was right next to him, a cocky grin on his face like he had just found out his penis was two inches long instead of one.



Run, you fool! There’s a chance you are going to be killed! Never call a woman wedgie girl!



There are certain things that women ask men that are problematic and have to be dealt with properly and delicately. Some are legitimate questions. Some are tricks. To this day, most men haven’t figured out which is which. It’s like playing a game of Russian Roulette when answering, only there is a bullet in every chamber.



“I own a bagel shop. I told you I made a lot of dough. Ha!” He laughed and slapped the table, causing the trout on his plate to go airborne for a brief second.



Wait, you sell toilets and your last name is Butts? That is classic. Do you mind if I keep the card? I want to show my friends. Good thing for you that your parents didn’t name you Harry or Seymour.



Could you see yourself with the last name of Butts? … Ruth Butts. It kind of has a nice ring to it. Can I get you anything else, Mrs. Butts? Butts, party of two! At your wedding, the guests will say, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen so many Butts in one place!’



I could see my first date approaching me and my BS detector was already pegging in the red. It was the way he walked. Was he going for a swagger like Mick Jagger or a drunk pimp limp? It was kind of a mix of the two. Or maybe he had an injured leg or a bad case of hemorrhoids.

My Review:

Rich Amooi is my go-to guy for a pleasurable, witty, and delightfully amusing rom/com. His stories are refreshingly light on conflict and a tonic for my beleaguered brain between intense thrillers and heartrending dramas. Not to say his tales are mindless fluff as his likable characters have considerable substance and are typically working through real-world issues while gathering insights and experiencing hard-won epiphanies, just in a more comical manner than most. I adore his humorous observations, easy to follow writing style, engaging storylines, and a unique sense of levity that injects a much-needed sense of buoyancy to my spirits and reading rotation. This is why his name is listed in ink, having earned a permanent slot on my list of favorites.

About The Author

Amazon
Goodreads
Website
Twitter
Facebook



Fun, Quirky Romantic Comedies from a Guy's Perspective. Rich Amooi is a former radio personality who now writes romantic comedies full-time. He is happily married to a kiss monster imported from Spain. Rich believes in public displays of affection, silliness, infinite possibilities, donuts, gratitude, laughter, and happily ever after.

GIVEAWAY

Win a $25 Amazon Gift Card (Open INT)

*Terms and Conditions 

Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve 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 be passed to the giveaway organizer and used only for the fulfillment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data. I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.

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Book Review: The Mother I Could Have Been by Kerry Fisher

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA / 

B&N / Kobo / Apple / GP

Why would you walk away from the one person you can’t live without?

As a child, Vicky Hall never had the sort of family she wanted. The least important person in her new step-family, ignored by her mother in favor of her two younger half-siblings, Vicky was always an afterthought. Sitting alone at her graduation ceremony at the age of twenty-one, she vows to create her own family and her own life, one which is full of the love and attention she has always craved.

When Vicky meets William and falls pregnant in Greece that summer, it isn’t planned. But the two of them believe they can make it work, showering their child with the love which they believe should be enough.

But when her son Theo is two, Vicky leaves him in the care of her mother-in-law, walks out of her front door and drives to a hotel where she takes a room for the night. She doesn’t return.

It’s unthinkable.

What kind of mother does that?

The kind who is hiding a story you can never imagine.

The Mother I Could Have Been is a heartbreaking story of impossible decisions and second chances, from the bestselling author of The Silent Wife and The Woman I Was Before. Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Liane Moriarty and Diane Chamberlain.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

I couldn’t resist Rowan. He was my favourite by far because he was innately naughty. He hadn’t yet mastered the art of throwing a bomb and not being anywhere in the vicinity when it went off. I adored him.



I sometimes couldn’t believe she was my daughter, with her endless stream of rules and regulations. ‘Who is coming tonight?’ She managed to say it as though I’d have invited all the local miscreants and some dodgy men with an unhealthy interest in children.



You’re brilliant with customers. I love how you tell them to bugger off so politely they enjoy the journey.



It was amazing how clearly I could see the flaws in other people’s mothering but would need surgical intervention to patch up the gaping wounds in my own.



He carried the message like a wise man cupping a gift of myrrh, reverential, with a sense of ceremony, big man coming through with big news.



The woman pursed her lips so tightly, I wanted to tell her that in twenty years’ time, her lipstick wouldn’t bleed, it would haemorrhage .



You are such a drama queen. I don’t even recognise the childhood you think you had. No, Mum and Dad weren’t perfect, but they were good enough. You talk about them as though we were left chewing on scraps in a dungeon, fending for ourselves.



My Review:

I have a new favorite author - despite her heavy deployment of angsty and emotive story threads. I was so absorbed by her brilliantly insightful and evocative writing, complex and profoundly flawed characters, and witty wordplay that I didn’t seem to mind the eye-burning, heart-squeezing, or ire-producing storylines that I typically eschew. I was instantly mesmerized and sucked into this perceptive and thoughtfully crafted tale and resented any intrusion or interruption to my perusal for those unimportant distractions such as sleep, hygiene, whining husband, or nutritional sustenance. Kerry Fisher is a phenomenal writer with powerful word voodoo. I am driven to amass all her clever words and have added her entire listing to my TBR.

About The Author

Amazon
Goodreads
Website

Kerry Fisher is the bestselling author of five novels, including The Silent Wife and The Secret Child. She was born in Peterborough, studied French and Italian at the University of Bath and spent several years living in Spain, Italy, and Corsica. After returning to England to work as a journalist, she eventually abandoned real-life stories for the secrets of fictional families. She now lives in Surrey with her husband, two teenage children and a naughty Lab/Schnauzer called Poppy.