Blog Tour: I Knew You Were Trouble by Sandy Barker

 

When a stranger knocks at Kate's door on a Friday night telling her that he has something important to tell her she is immediately wary. There is no way she is going to let him into her flat, so she runs a quick google search to check if the name he has given her is legit or associated with any scams, and then when the search is clear goes to meet him at the local pub. The news that the Dutchman, Willem de Vries, gives her turns her world upside down. Her pilot fiance, Jon, is also engaged to Willem's sister Adriana, and he needs her help to get his sister to believe it. He therefore asks Kate to come to Amsterdam with him to prove that they have both been duped. 

Kate had met Jon through a matchmaking agency. She had registered with two agencies. The other agency was the Ever After Agency where she met matchmaker Poppy Dean.  Soon, Kate is putting together a plan to get revenge on Jon, a plan that will need Adriana and Poppy to be involved. But first, she needs to know if there are any other fiancees out there.

Willem has done a good job of investigating Jon, but Poppy has other resources at her disposal, in the form of grumpy French detective Marie. Soon, Willem and Kate are crisscrossing Europe, putting the plan in place to bring Jon back down to earth with a thud.

This is the fifth book in the Ever After series, featuring Poppy, and this one was interesting because here Poppy isn't acting as the matchmaker, even though she can quite clearly see that Kate and Willem have some serious chemistry going on! Instead, she becomes more and more involved in the plot to snare Jon in the honey trap, which could be quite awkward with her husband, Tristan.

I loved the Amsterdam setting, and the other places that are visited throughout the book too! I also definitely appreciated the Dutch hero! I have one of those myself. My husband was born and raised in South Africa, but his parents are both Dutch so he is 100% Dutch blood with a touch of South African accent, and an Australian passport!  And I have one of the difficult to pronounce Dutch surnames!

I am really sad to see the end of the Happy Ever After series featuring Poppy and her friends and colleagues. It has been an enjoyable series.  I am going to a readers retreat in May where Sandy Barker is one of the attending authors and I am really hoping that we will hear about what comes next! I will be reading it!

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. 

Rating 4/5

About the book

I Knew You Were Trouble

Don’t get mad. Get even.

Kate Whitaker has always believed in love, but when a stranger named Willem shows up on her doorstep, the news he has to share isn’t as exciting as his god-like looks might suggest. He’s come to tell her that Kate’s fiancé is also engaged to his sister.

Kate doesn't know how she didn’t see the red flags: Jon’s work as an airline pilot having him flying around the globe, the postponed dates, the huge rock of an engagement ring that isn’t her style at all.

Overcome with fury – and entranced by the Nordic god’s piercing blue eyes and quiet allure – Kate agrees to accompany Willem to his hometown of Amsterdam to help break the news to his sister. Yet what begins as a simple gesture of support soon twists into a deliciously devious plan to get back at Jon.

Kate is drawn into a world of retribution, revenge and – unexpectedly – romance. Because sometimes the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else…

A laugh-out-loud romantic comedy about broken trust, sweet revenge, and the surprising places we find love. Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella and Emily Henry.

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/KnewYouWereTrouble

About the Author 

Sandy Barker is a writer, traveller and hopeful romantic.

Sandy’s first novel, One Summer in Santorini, a romantic comedy set in Greece and inspired by her own real-life love story with her partner, Ben, was published in 2019 by One More Chapter (HarperCollins), launching the 5-book Holiday Romance series. Also with One More Chapter are her Christmas Romance series, celebrating her favourite time of year, and The Dating Game, a stand-alone romcom set in the world of Reality TV.

Sandy’s new 5-book romcom series with Boldwood Books is about the Ever After Agency, a bespoke matchmaking agency based in London, with a brilliant cast of characters and settings around the world.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: @SandyBarkerAuthor

Instagram: @sandybarkerauthor

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/SandyBarkernews

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/sandy-barker

The Truth by Terry Pratchett

I have a somewhat potted history with the Discworld series. I love them and even hosted a Terry Pratchett Reading Challenge back in 2010. They make me laugh and I think that Pratchett was just so clever with his observations on life and death, whether you are talking about the big things in life or just the inane. And yet, I have only read the first 9 books in the series, some more than once, plus a couple of other random books here and there, in particular the Industrial books. It's a good 7 years since I read a new Discworld book. And then there is Hogfather.

According to my spreadsheet which I started back in 2005 I first read Hogfather in 2007. In 2021, I listened to the audiobook in the lead up to Christmas, and then I have listened to it every year since. It's become part of my annual Christmas traditions!

Based on that it is probably a bit strange that I chose to listen to The Truth, especially seeing as I generally have a big aversion to reading series out of order, but I did have good reason. My read-on-a-theme bookclubs theme for our February meeting was 25. The Truth is both book 25 in the Discworld series, and was published in the year 2000, which makes it 25 years old! Perfect for the theme!

The Truth is about a man called William de Worde, who accidently becomes the editor of the first newspaper in Ankh-Morpork. He brings together a disparate group of people who become the staff of the newspaper. There are the dwarves who do the typesetting and printing, Sacharissa Cripslock, the woman reporter, Otto the vampire iconographer and more! William is determined that he will share the Truth, but soon the paper brings all kind of attention on him. He also does not want the paper to become just a vehicle for stories about funny shaped vegetables. When Lord Veterinari is accused of a terrible crime, William suddenly finds himself involved in the story rather than just reporting the story. The Watch aren't happy with him, the guilds aren't happy with him. In short, no one is really happy with him!

There are many familiar characters within these pages, from Foul Ole Ron and his friends, to CMOT Dibbler, the Watch and more. Then there are the new characters, in particular the bad guys Mr Pin and Mr Tulip. These are career criminals, and pretty violent ones at that, and yet even then Pratchett manages to give at least one of them some nuance. Mr Tulip is a thug and yet he has a strong appreciation for fine art!

Whilst I did enjoy the story and narration of this book, I must confess that I struggled a bit with getting into the audiobook. I think this is mainly because for the last 4 years I have listened to the audio of Hogfather which is narrated by Sian Clifford, and it took me a while to get used to Matthew Baynton's narration. Fortunately Bill Nighy was still there for the footnotes, and Peter Serafinowicz still made an appearance as DEATH, but he didn't come onto the page until around 75% of the way through the book. I also missed Susan.

My favourite part of the narration of this book was Otto the vampire iconographer. I loved the way that this character was performed, especially the parts where he was taking flash photography and that caused him to disintegrate, having to be revived with a drop of non human blood otherwise he would break his vow of abstinence as part of the black ribbon society (think Alcoholics Anonymous for vampires). It literally made me laugh out loud many times!

As usual, there are the cutting observations of life and death. There is one scene where Death is meeting a character and the character says something along the lines of is this where my life flashes before my eyes and Death responds with this is where how others saw your life flashes before your eyes. So clever.

When I think about all the social commentary in the Discworld books, I can't help wonder what Sir Terry might make of everything going on in the world right now.

My plan is to read or listen to another Discworld book in the next few months. Or if not, I will be very likely to be revisiting Hogfather come December for my next reread/listen.

March Magics is an annual event to celebrate both Diana Wynn-Jones and Terry Pratchett. It is now hosted by Calmgrove Books

Top Ten Tuesday: Books set in Japan

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books I Did Not Finish (DNFed) (feel free to tell us why, but please no spoilers!). It's very rare for me to DNF a book deliberately. Do I put them down with the intention of picking them up again? Sure, happens every now and again. 

Instead of the DNF topic, I am going to share some Japanese books that I have read, and some that I want to read. This is because I am currently on a cruise from Tokyo to Seoul in South Korea, so it seems a fitting time for this topic. As I looked at the covers with just a couple of different choices I could have also called this Books Set in Japan with cats on the cover!

First the books I have read over the last couple of years:

The Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahaski- the second book is due to be released in the next couple of months (review)

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes by Hisashi Kashiwai- This the second book in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series (review)

Before We Forget Kindness by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - This is the fifth book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, but the only one I am going to include on this list

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa - This book caught my eye when we were in San Francisco a while ago. I read this early last year.

What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama - I reviewed this last year for the Japanese Literature Challenge.

Books I Want to Read

Butter by Asako Yuzuki - I have wanted to read this since I first heard about it but haven't managed it yet!

The Library of Heartbeats by Laura Imae Messina - Isn't this cover sweet!

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami - I saw a review of this over at Words and Peace and added it to my TBR list straight away.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki - I did commit to read this soon in my TTT post last week!

White Mulberry by Rosa Kwon Easton - This is about a Korean girl who moves to Japan just before WWII

Have you read any of these or have any other recommendations?

My Jane Austen adventure 2025

For our March meeting, our read on a theme bookclub theme was Classics. Given that it is Jane Austen's 250th birthday this year, it seemed like the time had come for me to read another book by her. I had previously read Emma and Sense and Sensibility, so this time I chose to read Pride and Prejudice, which I listened to on audiobook. It was narrated  by Rosamund Pike, who played the eldest Bennett sister, Jane, in the 2005 movie version. It has, somewhat surprisingly, started me on a bit of a Jane Austen path over the last few weeks.

I am not going to write a review as such, because let's face it, this book has been being reviewed for 210 years. My thoughts are somewhat irrelevant. I thought that, instead, I would provide a few comments and then ponder some instances of the impact of Jane Austen in modern pop culture.

Like a lot of classics, it is fair to say that I knew the story before reading the book. Sometimes I think that is the case and then find myself being surprised by some of the directions the book take. Not in this case though. 

There were other things that surprised me though, one of which was the wit in the dialogue. There were times when I did laugh as I was listening, particularly at Mr Bennet. For example, there is a scene where Lizzie is telling her father about Mr Collins proposal. 

An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.

His wry observations of his wife and daughters, of his heir and of life in general were somewhat amusing. He wasn't a great judge of character about everyone though. 

I also found myself pondering about Jane Austen's observations of the human condition. Whilst her setting was somewhat limited to the upper middle class of the early 1800s, many of the things that people worry about now can be reflected through the pages of the book. For example, Mrs Bennet was mostly concerned with the marriage of her daughters which would give them a home and financial security. Whilst these days we would not necessarily be concerned about the wedding itself, those same concerns for how our children will make their way in the world is real. When talking about historical fiction, I often think we can clearly see that while life in the 13th century, or 19th, or 21st century, the reality is that our main concerns are how do we keep a roof over our heads, food in our mouths, keep our loved once safe and make ends meet. It looks very different in terms of technology, housing, transport etc but the fundamental needs are similar.

Before I start to talk about some of the things that I have done recently, I have been thinking a lot about something that was all the rage around 12 years ago. If you were in the book world back in 2013, you may recall the phenomenon that was The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. It was a multimedia, episodic modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice using Youtube, Twitter and more as the storytelling vehicle. 

Like many others, I was completely obsessed with this show. I am always a bit of late to the party when it comes to fashion and social media trends so I came late to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, but that meant that I was able to binge the whole thing, which I did. I found a post in my blog archives where I talked about just binge watching the show from beginning to end over the Easter weekend, watching the first 40 episodes more than once, and then repeating other episodes over and over.  The same team then went on to give this same treatment to other books but it wasn't quite the same phenomen that The Lizzie Bennet Diaries were. Should I start watching the Youtube videos again? I really shouldn't. 

More recently, I went to the movies to watch Bridget Jones Diary 4: Mad About You. I realised that I didn't think that I had seen the second and third movies, and so I sat down and watched the first three in quick succession. There are many ways that BJD borrows elements from Pride and Prejudice, and not just because one of the two love interests is called Mark Darcy. It was fun to spot the Austen references from lines like "It's the truth universally acknowledged that the moment one area of your life starts going OK, another part of it falls spectacularly to pieces." to the rollercoaster emotions that Brigid has for Mark Darcy, and the Wickham-esque bad behaviour of Daniel Cleaver.  Helen Fielding openly admits that she got a lot of inspiration from the book!

And my thoughts on Mad About You? I laughed a lot. I cried even more. I was so glad that Daniel Cleaver was back. I missed Hugh Grant in the previous movie. Patrick Dempsey was good, but he didn't bring that naughty boy energy that is so Daniel Cleaver. And now, I think that Bridget Jones can stroll off into the sunset. I will probably watch the first and last movies again a few times. I might watch the third one again too, but I can take or leave the second one!

The French Film Festival is currently on here and last week I took myself off to the movies to watch Jane Austen Wrecked My Life. In the book, the main character is a massive Jane Austen fan and can find a JA recommendation for any occasion. She finds herself at a Jane Austen Residency writers retreat. The movie itself was a lot of fun, with some great scenes talking about books and reading, a nice romance, and it does show that the influence of Jane Austen is felt across the world. If you get a chance to see it, please do. Here's the trailer

The final thing that I have done recently is to go  to a library event. They had put on a one woman show where the actor depicts acts as the author whilst dressed in accurate period clothing, sharing letters that she sent and received, as well as excerpts from Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma. Given that I have only recently read P&P, the section she read was very familiar to me!

You know one thing I haven't ever done? Watched the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice from beginning to end. Maybe it is time to rectify that when we get back from holidays!

Weekend Cooking: Lemon Cheesecake Mousse

 

I have mentioned before that we have recently been gifted a lot of lemons, and so I needed to come up with some ways of using it! I ended up making another batch of lemon curd. Of course, then I needed to figure out what to do with all the lemon curd.

I therefore went searching and I found a recipe to make Lemon Cheesecake Mousse. It is super simple, so I am going to share the recipe here.  I didn't do the fancy piping suggested. I just put some curd in, piped the mousse, repeated, and then sprinkled some biscuits on the top for some crunch. I also spread the mixture over 3 glasses not 8 as I didn't have any tiny glasses! 

I ended up making this twice. The first time it was just for us, but the second time I took it to a friend's place where she was making the main meal and we were providing dessert! She agreed it is a winner, especially when it is so simple to make.

Lemon Cheesecake Mousse

250g cream cheese, at room temperature, chopped
220g (2/3 cup) bought lemon curd
300ml thickened cream

Use electric beaters to beat the cream cheese in a bowl until almost smooth. Add half the lemon curd and beat until smooth and combined. Beat the cream in a separate bowl until firm peaks form, then use a spatula to fold into the cream cheese mixture until combined.

Spoon 2 tbsp of the remaining lemon curd into one side of a piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm plain nozzle (see tip). Spoon half of the cream cheese mixture down the other side of the piping bag. Twist top of bag to seal. Pipe among four small serving glasses. Repeat with remaining curd and cream cheese mixture and pipe among four small serving glasses (eight glasses in total).

Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour (or up to 4 hours) or until mixture firms slightly. Serve.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Vintage: The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

Recently I saw that Susanna Kearsley, one of my all time favourite authors, was doing a webinar about her latest book The King's Messenger. I have this book, but I haven't read it yet. As she was talking I looked at my bookshelves to see which of her books I had to hand, and there was The Winter Sea! This was the first book I ever read by Kearsley and it made me an instant fan. I thought I would just read a couple of chapters, but you know how that goes. I ended up rereading it again. Given that I don't often reread, and this is the fourth time I have read this book, I guess you would have to call it a favourite book too. 

I wanted to make sure that I counted this as a contribution towards the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, so I thought I would post my original review of this book from 2009

Interestingly, if I was to write a new review today, it would be pretty much the same. I still got sucked in within a couple of pages, I still love the history and the characters and it is still a 5/5 read for me. Since reading this the first time I have bought it, and I have also listened to it on audio. Oh, and I have read and loved a lot more of her books!

Now I need to find some time to read her latest book, The King's Messenger.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Every now and again you are lucky enough to pick up a book that fits your reading tastes perfectly. For me, this was one of those times. Within the first two pages I knew that I was going to love this book. The big question was could the enjoyment be maintained all the way to the end, and the answer was a resounding yes.

Carrie McLelland is a best selling historical fiction author. When the story opens she has been living in France trying to research a little known character in history (to most of us anyway) who was involved in some of the early Jacobite attempts to restore the Stuarts to the Scottish throne. She is however struggling a little. On her way to visit her agent in Scotland she finds herself drawn to an old castle ruin called Slains.

As a result of the visit, Carrie decides to make two significant changes. The first is to add a fictional female character to her book to give her a different perspective through which to view the events as they unfolded. She decides to name this character after one of her own family members that lived around the same time.

The second is to relocate to the small town near the castle, and to live in a rustic cottage there whilst she writes. This is not really unusual for Carrie as she lives a some what nomadic life style, moving from place to place in order to enable her to research the stories she is writing.

As soon as she is there, the story really picks up momentum. At first Carrie thinks that she is only dreaming her story, but as more and more things happen, and she is able to discover that her ancestor really was there, she realises that it is more than a dream, more like having shared memories. As she learns more about the events that happened during the events of 1708, the present begins to eerily echo the past.

In the past, Sophia is a young orphan who has been sent to stay with distant relatives at Slains after the death of her guardian. Little does she know when she arrives there that her influential family members are Jacobite sympathisers who are playing a direct role in a plan to bring King James to Scotland to try to reclaim his throne, and to stop the Union between England and Scotland. Among those who visit her new home are two men - one a captain in the navy and the other an outlaw sent to Scotland to drum up support for the cause.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about this novel was the fact that it was set in the earlier events of the Jacobite uprisings. Through my reading of other books and more famous incidents in history, I was relatively aware of the events that led up to the carnage at Culloden, and I vaguely knew that that wasn't the first attempt to bring the Stuarts back to the throne, but I really didn't know much more than that.

In her own life, Carrie soon feels comfortable in the town with the assistance of her landlord and his two sons who have very different temperaments. If I had to choose which of the romantic story lines I enjoyed more, I would say it was Carrie's story but I am not going to say not much more than that so that if you do choose to read this book you will discover it for yourself.

Normally if I am reading a book which has these two different time frames it will be the historical setting that I am most anxious to revisit, but with this book I was as engrossed in both settings. When I was with Sophia in 1708 I found myself wondering about Carrie, and when I was with Carrie I was wondering what Sophia was getting up to!

The ending is possibly a little too convenient, but not enough to impact my enjoyment. It isn't often that I do this, but I am seriously considering buying this book. Normally if I read a library book I don't go out and buy it, but I suspect that this is going to be a book that I might want to immerse myself in more than once.

I hope that I have been able to convey just how much I loved this book. I had not previously read any Susanna Kearsley, but you can be guaranteed that I will be reading more, and I will be making every attempt to read everything on her back list and looking out for anything coming out in the future as well.

Please note that in some places this book is published under the title Sophia's Secret. This book was also nominated for the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year 2009 which was eventually won by East of the Sun by Julia Gregson which I really enjoyed as well.

It is not very often that I give a book full marks, but I have no hesitation in rating this book as a 5/5 read. Loved it, loved it, loved it!

Blog Tour: Undercover Billionaire by Amy Andrews

 

When this book came up as being available for a blog tour I immediately said yes because Amy Andrews is an Aussie and I try to support Aussie authors as much as I can, and I have read her books before. If I am going to be totally truthful, I never even read the blurb. I then missed adding it to my tour list so kind of forgot that the tour date was coming up.

We are going on holidays in the next few days and I have been reading away trying to get all my reviews written before we leave. I was therefore quite surprised when I realised on Monday that I still needed to read this! I was even more surprised when I realised that this book is set on a cruise ship (we are going on a cruise), and that the ship is called Hellenic Spirit (our ship is called Spirit too but with a real cruise line). That's probably where the similarities end. The Hellenic Spirit is sailing the Mediterranean and we are doing Japan and Korea. Oh, and I am not going to be falling in love with an undercover billionaire. I am pretty sure my husband would be pretty upset at me if that were to happen.

Ari Callisthenes is the CFO of his family's shipping line. He is on board the Hellenic Spirit undercover because it is a ship that doesn't perform as well as the other ships in the line, whether you are talking about customer satisfaction, repeat business, or staff turnover. He has been sent by his brother, the CEO, to find out what is going on. Because he is undercover he is even staying in an inside cabin - no luxury suite here. Part of the reason that he has been nominated for this job is because his family think he needs a holiday as he suffered a terrible tragedy a few years before and has thrown himself into work ever since.

Australian Kelsey Armitage has been working on cruise lines for 6 years. Her plan is for one more year and then she will have saved enough money to be able to buy a cottage in a small seaside country town with her mum. Of course, she would have been able to do this a lot earlier if her love rat ex boyfriend had not stolen her savings all those years before. In doing so, he also stole her ability to trust in men.

When Ari meets Kelsey, sparks fly, which is unusual for both of them. Kelsey is usually pretty good at sticking to the no fraternisation with passengers rule, but she just can't seem to resist Ari. And Ari is writing a report on what is going wrong on the ship in terms of health and safety, interpersonal relationships, and yet he also can't resist Kelsey.

There were a couple of things that I had to just let go which enabled me to really enjoy this book, and I sped through it in a couple of hours. I kind of struggled with the idea that no one on board the ship would recognise Ari. I got that he deliberately wasn't very public, and had a fake name, but surely his picture would still be in the board report? The other thing was the shower sex. I've been in a couple of standard cruise ship bathrooms and there is no way that there is room for shenanigans. Or maybe that is just for me and my husband who are both on the bigger side. I am pretty sure we won't be testing it out on our cruise! lol

I should mention that this is a steamy romance, so there is a lot of open door sex scenes! 

I really liked Ari, and I enjoyed reading about his investigation on the ship. Kelsey was good too, although maybe a bit stubborn. She had been hurt by her ex and it had taken a lot to get her dreams back on track, but even when Ari showed how committed he was to her it took her a long time to come round.

In the end notes, the author mentions that there is a story featuring Ari's brother and Kelsey's best friend. I am there for that story! 

Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. 

Rating 4.5/5

About the book

Undercover Billionaire

A SPICY Billionaire forbidden romance from USA Today Bestseller Amy Andrews

Cocktail waitress Kelsey Armitage needs her job on board the Callisthenes cruise ship. Nursing a broken heart and an empty bank account, her trust is destroyed and she’s vowed never to fall for a man again. Instead, she’s only in the mood for one-stands. Not Happy Ever After’s.

But when a mysterious passenger orders a drink from her, she’s powerless to resist him. And soon one night turns into stolen and illicit moments at every opportunity. But romances with the passengers is strictly forbidden… and Kelsey is enjoying breaking all the rules.

Brooding billionaire Ari Callisthenes, heir to a Greek shipping line is undercover on his own cruise liner. His standards are impossibly high but his business is underperforming. He’s determined to find out why. However, he doesn’t expect the instantaneous chemistry with sexy cocktail waitress or the whirlwind fling they find themselves entangled in. She awakens a part of himself he believed dead. But a future together is out of the question because he can’t tell her who he is…

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/undercoverbillionaire

About the Author

Amy is an award-winning, USA Today best-selling, triple RITA nominated, Aussie author who has written eighty-nine contemporary romances in both the traditional and digital markets. Her books bring all the feels from sass, quirk and laughter to emotional grit and sizzling heat.

For many, many years she was a registered nurse which means she knows things. Anatomical things. And she’s not afraid to use them! She lives in a pretty little coastal town where she gets to look at the ocean all day.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: @AmyAndrewsAuthor

Twitter: @AmyAndrewsbooks

Instagram: @amyandrewsbooks

Newsletter Sign Up: bit.ly/AmyAndrewsNews

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/amy-andrews

Blog Tour: The Girl from Sicily by Siobhan Daiko

 

When Jess find out that she has received an inheritance from her grandmother, she is most surprised. She had never met or even spoken to her grandmother. There was a big rift between her mother and grandmother and it is something that was not ever spoken about, so Jess has no idea what caused the rift.

The inheritance is a baglio, a farmhouse on the island of Sicily. Jess does have the option to refuse the inheritance, but she does need to visit the small town before making that decision. There she meets some family who are pleasant enough, but it is clear that there is some kind of weird vibe. And then there are some threats. Jess has no idea what any of that is about. She also meets Piero, a local man with a couple of kids. Whilst there is an attraction between them Jess is not in any hurry to pursue a relationship for a number of reasons. She doesn't know if she is going to accept the inheritance, she has a career in the UK and he lives in Sicily, and she is still going through a painful divorce.

Alternating with Jess' story, we learn about her grandmother's story. Lucia was originally raised in America but her family returned to Sicily and now that is home. She is surprised when one of her childhood friends turns up. Gero is helping the US Army by building relationships with influential business leaders and families in the area. At first, Lucia resists Gero's charms, but soon she needs his assistance to avoid a nasty situation. In the meantime, Lucia's twin brother Dinu, has been trying to get an in with the local mafioso, leading him down a path that has long term consequences for his extended family including Lucia and even Jess.

I have read a few books by this author now, and I have liked them all. I think the strength of this one is in the choice of subject matter. It was really interesting to read the history of the Sicilian mafia, and especially how the Allies used them for assistance during WWII. A lot of the characters in the book are based on real life stories, even the one that seems the most fictional!

The author also did a really good job at bringing the town to life, along with the food and drink culture of the area. When we visited Italy a couple of years ago, we were originally planning to go to Sicily, but we couldn't make it work! Maybe next time!

This is the fourth book in what is being called the Girls of the Italian Resistance series. I have read the first and fourth books, but not the two in the middle. I wouldn't let the fact that this is the fourth book in the series put you off if you haven't read the previous ones. The only connection really is that the books are set in different parts of Italy and are set in WWII. As far as I can tell, there is no other connection between the books. I do have the two that I haven't read yet so I will try to read them at some point.

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews, and the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge when I host here. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. 

Rating 4/5

About the Book

The Girl From Sicily

Lucia loved her brother Dinu to the depths of her soul, but she also worried about him. He was intelligent yet ambitious, resilient yet hot-headed, and there was a dark side to him that could lead him into terrible trouble one day.

Sicily, 1943: Lucia and her twin brother Dinu have always been inseparable, but their bond is threatened when Gero, the son of close family friends in America, arrives in their village. Although she finds herself developing feelings for him, Lucia worries about Gero’s dangerous connections and their influence on her brother.

As the chaos of World War II closes in, Lucia must navigate love and loyalty to make a difficult choice. Will she risk that the consequences of her decision could bring untold horrors and affect her family for decades to come?

2005: When Jess inherits a baglio, an ancient feudal farmhouse in Sicily, from the grandmother she never knew, she’s determined to uncover the truth about her family’s hidden past. Following the death of her parents and on the brink of divorce, Jess travels to the island alone. There, with the help of a charming Sicilian, she embarks on a quest to unearth a web of long-buried secrets.

But answers come at a price, and Jess must decide if she’s ready to confront a truth that could change everything…

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About the Author

Siobhan Daiko is a British historical fiction author. A lover of all things Italian, she lives in the Veneto region of northern Italy with her husband, a Havanese dog and a Siberian cat. Siobhan was born of English parents in Hong Kong, attended boarding school in Australia, and then moved to the UK — where she taught modern foreign languages in a Welsh high school. She now spends her time writing page-turners and living the dolce vita sweet life near Venice. Her novels are compelling, poignant, and deeply moving, with strong characters and evocative settings, but always with romance at their heart.

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