Month: June 2021

Unbreak your Heart by Katie Marsh

Unbreak your Heart by Katie Marsh

Summary:

Seven-year-old Jake’s heart is failing and he doesn’t want to leave his dad, Simon, alone. So he makes a decision: to find Simon someone to love before he goes.

Beth is determined to forget the past. But even when she leaves New York to start afresh in a Lake District village, she can’t shake the secrets that haunt her.

Single dad Simon still holds a candle for the woman who left him years ago. Every day is a struggle to earn a living while caring for his beloved son. He has no time for finding someone new.

But Jake is determined his plan will succeed – and what unfolds will change all three of them forever.

My Review:

I have been a fan of Katie Marsh’s writing since her debut novel My Everything that became a bestseller in 2015. Katie now returns with her latest Unbreak Your Heart (Hodder). A story of broken hearts and is also a love story that will make you laugh and will move you.

Katie has a real gift for writing such beautiful novels, the characters she creates for her stories are so real and here in Unbreak Your Heart There are three main characters in her latest novel.

Beth has left her life behind in New York and starting a new life in the beautiful setting of the Lake District, a place that can heal many a broken heart, but Beth is struggling to leave her past life behind. Sometimes life throws up chance encounters that were always meant to be and it is a sudden encounter with seven-year-old Jake, that is just such an encounter even if the first meeting is an accident. Simon is Jake’s father, and we get to meet the three characters stories as Jake is suffering from a heart condition, Simon is a single father and Jake is fully aware of his heart problem and his fear is that one day he will be leaving his dad alone and so wants to find someone to be there for the father he loves so much. Jake’s condition is so serious that Simon is not able to work and so he spends his days with his son.

Life can be a real struggle in a situation where you are a single parent alone and looking after your child whose health is so serious and the financial implications this brings. At this point I am not going to give any more away as I want you to discover the story of Beth, Jake, and Simon. It is a story that is just so full of love, and you will begin to understand why each day is so important and just how important it is to love.

Yes, Katie Marsh you have done it again.  

432 Pages.

My thanks to Niamh Anderson and Hodder Books for the review copy of Unbreak Your Heart by Katie Marsh.

Unbreak Your Heart is published by Hodder and was published on 27th May 2021. Available to order through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org

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Oracle by Julie Anderson

Oracle by Julie Anderson

Summary:

High on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, near the ancient Temple of Apollo, a group of young idealists protest against the despoiling of the planet outside a European governmental conference. Inside, corporate business lobbyists mingle with lawmakers, seeking profit and influence. Then the charismatic leader of the protest goes missing.

Oracle is about justice, from the brutal, archaic form of blood vengeance prevalent in early human societies to modern systems of law and jurisprudence, set in the context of a democracy. This is the law and equality under the law which allows democracy to thrive and underpins the freedoms and safeguards for individuals within it. The story is interlinked with Greece’s past, as the ancient cradle of democracy and source of many of western ideas of government, but also to its more recent and violent past of military strongmen and authoritarianism in the twentieth century.

Oracle also considers, in the form of a crime thriller, the politicisation of the police and the justice system and how that will undermine justice, especially following the banning of Golden Dawn, the now criminal organisation which wrapped itself in the mantle of politics. It touches on the new academic discipline of zemiology, the study of ‘crime’ through the prism of the harm it does to people, especially those without power.

My Review:

Last year I read the brilliant Plague by Julie Anderson and she has followed this up with her latest Oracle which is out now via Claret Press, and I have to say it is just as good as Plague. It is great to catch up again with Cassandra Fortune, she is one strong leading character and now she is back but not in the role you may recall if you have read the first in the series. Cassie has been sent to Greece at the behest of the Prime Minister to a conference. But a murder soon will stalk the conference centre.

Cassie has been given the role of getting a visit to London the of the fellow ministers and it is in the mountains close to the Temple of Apollo that the conference is being held but nearby an environmentalist group are protesting. Cassie is with her interpreter Helena but Cassie’s main reason for being in Greece is suddenly thrown into confusion after the body of a young woman is found, if this is not bad enough a second body is found that of an academic. Now Cassie together with Helena and the security chief Yannis, they must discover what happened to both with the worry that a killer could be stalking the conference.

Cassie still raw after what happened to her previously clearly wants this cleared up and fast but now, she is drawn into the investigation but is there a direct threat to her very own personal security.

When a major conference hits town with many minsters present there is always groups protesting with agendas on many sides and this adds to the confusion as tension rises.

Julie Anderson has written a blinding thriller that is fast paced and set in the beautiful location that she sets out for the reader and the characters really come to life as the scene is set for another brilliant novel involving Cassandra Fortune and look out for the ending. I am already looking forward to book three.

If you have not read Plague before now, go, and treat yourself when you buy a copy of Oracle. You will not be disappointed.

286 Pages.

My thanks to Julie Anderson and Claret Press for the review copy of Oracle.

Oracle by Julie Anderson is published is Claret Press 2021and released on 5th May 2021 and is available to order through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop or through Bookshop.org that supports your local independent bookshop. UK Bookshop.org

The Puma Years by Laura Coleman

The Puma Years by Laura Coleman

Summary:

Laura was in her early twenties and directionless when she quit her job to backpack in Bolivia. Fate landed her at a wildlife sanctuary on the edge of the Amazon jungle where she was assigned to a beautiful and complex puma named Wayra. Wide-eyed, inexperienced, and comically terrified, Laura made the scrappy, make-do camp her home. And in Wayra, she made a friend for life.

They weren’t alone, not with over a hundred quirky animals to care for, each lost and hurt in their own way: a pair of suicidal, bra-stealing monkeys, a frustrated parrot desperate to fly, and a pig with a wicked sense of humor. The humans too were cause for laughter and tears. There were animal whisperers, committed staff, wildly devoted volunteers, handsome heartbreakers, and a machete-wielding prom queen who carried Laura through. Most of all, there was the jungle—lyrical and alive—and there was Wayra, who would ultimately teach Laura so much about love, healing, and the person she was capable of becoming.

Set against a turbulent and poignant backdrop of deforestation, the illegal pet trade, and forest fires, The Puma Years explores what happens when two desperate creatures in need of rescue find one another.

My Review:

There is a quote on the front cover by Jane Goodall and she says, “You will love this book” and indeed I really did. I read The Puma Years (Little A) by Laura Coleman in one sitting. Laura’s memoir is so inspirational. When Laura was in her twenties, she walked away from her job packed her backpack and headed off into the Amazon jungle.

It is a brave thing to do just to walk away from your job and head off to Bolivia but what happened next is simply breathtaking. Two months into her three- month trip to Bolivia, Laura found her way to an animal sanctuary deep in the jungle to look after animals that were part of the worldwide illegal pet trade, this would change her life forever.

Within the sanctuary there were around 100 animals of all kinds to look after, many will never be wild again so they will spend their days within the sanctuary. But when Laura arrived it was the camps living conditions that at first would challenge her. Suffice to say that I will not go into detail, but many would not be able to cope with the conditions let alone the Mosquitoes and rats. But no sooner had Laura had arrived than it was time to introduce her to a stunning but also a complex Puma called Wayra. Coming face to face with a puma must have been scary beyond words. But this was to become a relationship and a friendship that would last. It takes time for a puma to get to know you and the trust and bond would be so strong.

But this is not just about Wayra, because you get to meet so many other of the quirky animals of the sanctuary. There is the pig with a sense of humour and a pair of monkeys that seem to have a thing stealing bras from the living quarters.

Deep in the jungle there is so much to discover, and it was here that Laura found Wayra and it was Wayra found Laura and together they seem to help each other. It is so beautifully written and through Laura’s words you can almost get a sense of the sights and sounds of the jungle.

When you purchase a copy of The Puma Years by Laura Coleman proceeds will be going to support Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi

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