Four Fantastic Books Published Today (February 27)

Well today is a great day for new books!

To read my reviews click on the book covers

First up is The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

Blurb

One single mum
With two jobs and two children, Jess Thomas does her best day after day. But it’s hard on your own. And sometimes you take risks you shouldn’t. Because you have to . . .
One chaotic family
Jess’s gifted, quirky daughter Tanzie is brilliant with numbers, but without a helping hand she’ll never get the chance to shine. And Nicky, Jess’s teenage stepson, can’t fight the bullies alone.
Sometimes Jess feels like they’re sinking . . .
One handsome stranger
Into their lives comes Ed Nicholls, a man whose life is in chaos, and who is running from a deeply uncertain future. But he has time on his hands. He knows what it’s like to be lonely. And he wants to help . . .
One unexpected love story
The One Plus One is a captivating and unconventional romance from Jojo Moyes about two lost souls meeting in the most unlikely circumstances. Goodreads

This is one emotional read but utterly satisfying. Jojo Moyes is one of those writers that has the power to make you really care about the characters she has created so much so they become your friends. A publisher’s dream for Penguin Books.

Next up is Mrs Sinclair’s Suitcase by Louise Walters

Blurb

Forgive me, Dorothea, for I cannot forgive you. What you do, to this child, to this child’s mother, it is wrong…
Roberta likes to collect the letters and postcards she finds in second-hand books. When her father gives her some of her grandmother’s belongings, she finds a baffling letter from the grandfather she never knew – dated after he supposedly died in the war.
Dorothy is unhappily married to Albert, who is away at war. When an aeroplane crashes in the field behind her house she meets Squadron Leader Jan Pietrykowski, and as their bond deepens she dares to hope she might find happiness. But fate has other plans for them both, and soon she is hiding a secret so momentous that its shockwaves will touch her granddaughter many years later…Goodreads

A fantastic dual time-line novel with the modern day Roberta finding out about Dorothy’s life at the time of World War II. Who couldn’t forgive Dorothea and why is the big question at the heart of this novel published by Hodder & Stoughton.

Next up is the debut novel by Sarah Hilary, Someone Else’s Skin one of my favourite crime novels written this year, published by Headline.

Blurb

Detective Inspector Marnie Rome. Dependable; fierce; brilliant at her job; a rising star in the ranks. Everyone knows how Marnie fought to come back from the murder of her parents, but very few know what is going on below the surface. Because Marnie has secrets she won’t share with anyone.
But then so does everyone. Certainly those in the women’s shelter Marnie and Detective Sergeant Noah Jake visit on that fateful day. The day when they arrive to interview a resident, only to find one of the women’s husbands, who shouldn’t have been there, lying stabbed on the floor.
As Marnie and Noah investigate the crime further, events begin to spiral and the violence escalates. Everyone is keeping secrets, some for survival and some, they suspect, to disguise who they really are under their skin.
Now, if Marnie is going to find the truth she will have to face her own demons head on. Because the time has come for secrets to be revealed…

This is just my sort of crime fiction, one where there are a myriad of storylines, expertly handled and with likeable characters to compensate for the baddies! This book was so much more than I had expected!

And lastly out of the fab four is the superbly creepy A Pleasure and a Calling by Phil Hogan published by Doubleday

Blurb

You won’t remember Mr Heming. He showed you round your comfortable home, suggested a sustainable financial package, negotiated a price with the owner and called you with the good news. The less good news is that, all these years later, he still has the key.
That’s absurd, you laugh. Of all the many hundreds of houses he has sold, why would he still have the key to mine?
The answer to that is, he has the keys to them all.
William Heming’s every pleasure is in his leafy community. He loves and knows every inch of it, feels nurtured by it, and would defend it – perhaps not with his life but if it came to it, with yours… Goodreads

This book has haunted me since the day I read it and I know I am going to have to pick it up again to experience the sheer cleverness of the tale of a boy who started by hiding in wardrobes and finished up living amongst unsuspecting families.

The One Plus One – Jojo Moyes

Contemporary Fiction
5*’s

Well Jojo Moyes has done it again! By that I mean she has made me fall in love with the characters, made me laugh and made me cry. There I was on my sick bed giving into my emotions at a particularly sad part of the tale, when the doorbell rang. Not only had I been suffering with a high temperature meaning I was sweaty, my hair stuck unflatteringly to my head and in my most comfy pyjamas, I then had to answer the door to the DHL man. He looked seriously concerned probably because the red blotches from crying looked even more alarming against my deathly pale skin,  so I muttered ‘a virus’ signed on the magic machine and scooted upstairs, straight back to this book.

So what is it about? The One Plus One is very different to both The Girl You Left Behind and Me Before You; although the storyline keeps you reading in exactly the same way, the underlying plot is in many ways less defined. This isn’t about war-time or living life as a quadriplegic, there is no ‘big issue’ instead The One Plus One looks at the more mundane, but perhaps because of that, the more significant issue of hope.  At its root the story is that of Jess Thomas who is trying to improve the lives of two children, her daughter Tanzie and her step-son Nicky.

This book provides a social commentary on many issues covering the core subjects of low income families seemingly fruitless struggle to improve their lives and those of their children, blended families and the way that it isn’t uncommon to live in an unusual mix of relationships as well as the gap in perception between those better off members of society.  It also packs fractured family relationships, parental illness and bullying, so there is plenty to get your teeth into!

Jess Thomas is one gutsy character, optimistic against seemingly impossible odds, a single mother since Marty left two years previously. She has a cleaning company with her friend, a second job in a pub and a paperback book addiction (all bought from charity shops) and although she adores the children, like so many mothers is so busy working she doesn’t always have time to enjoy them.

Ed Nicholls is having women problems, he is also the director of an up and coming software company has two homes and several cars. When Jess meets him while cleaning his home the enmity between them soon becomes apparent but in a strange twist of fate they are forced to spend quite a lot of time together….

This is very much a character based story and the characters Ed, Jess, Nicky and Tanzie all take turns in narrating events.  This is one book where this device works well to give a rounded picture of each of their individual personalities.  Jess and her family are instantly likeable the depiction of children of that age an authentic one, Moyes hasn’t fallen into the trap of making the teenage Nicky in the mould of the popular cliché, yes he is sullen at times but with good reason, but he is far more like the teenagers who came through the door of my house than many I come across in books.

I don’t want to say anything else as I don’t want to spoil the story for all of you who are going to pick it up, but I can’t conclude this review without saying that this is one  author who has an unerring eye for detail.  She perfectly captures the quirks of human nature and has the ability to tell a cracking story, one that will have you laughing one moment and fighting back (or not bothering if you are poorly) the tears the next. I would thoroughly recommend this one.

I received a free copy of this book from Penguin Books UK in return for this review ahead of publication on 27 February 2014.

“I don’t understand how our family can basically do the right thing and yet always end up in the crap.”

Other books by Jojo Moyes:

Click on the links to see my reviews

The Girl You Left Behind

A dual time-line tale set in France during the First World War and London in the present day.  Sophie and Liv’s lives are linked by a painting.

“Conned any other women out of their valuables lately ?” she says quietly, so quietly that only he will hear it.
“Nope. I’ve been too busy stealing handbags and seducing the vulnerable.”
Her head shoots up and his eyes lock on hers. He is, she sees with some shock, as furious as she is.”

Me Before You

Will Traynor is a quadriplegic whose life is changed when Lou Clark is employed to help him.  This grim sounding story-line is lightened to unrecognisable heights by Jojo Moyes’ expert writing which lightens the mood while sucking you and then Bam! you’re in a sad bit and sobbing….

“Do you know how hard it is to say nothing? When every atom of you strains to do the opposite? I had practiced not saying anything the whole way from the airport, and it was still nearly killing me.”

WWW Wednesday (February 19)

Hosted by Miz B at Should be Reading
To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

I am currently reading The Fall and Rise of Lucy Charlton by Elizabeth Gill

Blurb

1920, Durham. Since she was a child, Lucy Charlton has dreamed of working with her father in the family solicitor’s firm. But a scandal shatters her dreams and, when her father disowns her, she finds herself on the streets, fighting for survival.
Joe Hardy has returned to London after the Great War to find his life in tatters – his father is dead and his pregnant fiancée has disappeared. Then Joe learns he’s unexpectedly inherited an old river house in Durham from a stranger called Margaret Lee. With nothing left for him in London, he makes arrangements to travel north and claim it.
Lucy’s determination has finally secured her a job as a legal secretary, campaigning for the rights of the poorest in society. As Joe arrives in her office to collect the keys to his new home, she promises to help him uncover information about his mystery benefactor. But before long, the past comes back to haunt them both, with shocking consequences…NetGalley

I have just finished The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes which I will be reviewing later in the week. Jojo Moyes has an amazing ability to make this reader both laugh and cry by writing about characters that I fall in love with.

Next I will be abandoning the loveliness and returning to the psychopaths by reading Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent

Blurb

Oliver Ryan is a handsome and charismatic success story. He lives in the suburbs with his wife, Alice, who illustrates his award-winning children’s books and gives him her unstinting devotion. Their life together is one of enviable privilege and ease – enviable until, one evening after supper, Oliver attacks Alice and beats her into a coma.

In the aftermath, as everyone tries to make sense of his astonishing act of savagery, Oliver tells his story. So do those whose paths he has crossed over five decades. What unfolds is a story of shame, envy, breath-taking deception and masterful manipulation.

Only Oliver knows the lengths to which he has had to go to get the life to which he felt entitled. But even he is in for a shock when the past catches up with him. Amazon

What do you have to read this week?

Tuesday Teaser (February 18)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser this week is from The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

Blurb

Jess Thomas wants . . .
. . . to be more than a single mum getting by day after day
. . . to do her best for her gifted but sensitive daughter Tanzie
. . . to find a way back from the loneliest place on earth
Ed Nicholls is hoping . . .
. . . he won’t go to jail
. . . there’s a way back from the biggest mistake of his life
. . . something or someone will make it all go away
Jess and Ed are . . .
. . . two strangers looking for a little kindness
. . . two lost souls with a lot to learn from each other
. . . about to find out that one plus one makes more – so much more – than two.  Amazon

Teaser

Things they had found while cleaning people’s houses:
False teeth
An escaped guinea pig
A long-lost wedding ring (they were given a box of chocolates for this)
A signed photograph of cliff Richard (no chocolates; owner denied all knowledge)
Money.

‘She thought I worked too much.’
‘They never say that on Jeremy Kyle’