Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The story starts with Sophie and her best friend Jay sat in a cafe playing with a ouija board app that Jay had downloaded. Whilst using the app, Sophie inadvertently releases her cousin Rebecca's spirit who died in mysterious circumstances. From there things start to go wrong. Sophie goes to stay at her uncles house (Rebecca's dad) which was Dunvegan School for Girls now converted into a family home. This gives her the perfect opportunity to investigate Rebecca's death.

I bought this book and thought that it would remain forever on my TBR list because it is a YA book. I can't think of one YA book that I have enjoyed no matter how intrigued I was with the story and so I thought this would be the same. This book surprised me. It really drew me in from the first page. I found the ending a bit predictable and for me it wasn't really very scary but nevertheless it was a great story.  If the thought of dolls coming alive at night and speaking scares you then this may be the book for you.

The Story Of Us by Dani Atkins ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the story of Emma who is about to get married to Richard.  On the way home from her hen do Emma and her two best friends are involved in a horrific car crash. This changes her life and leaves her with decisions to make.

This is one of those stories that starts at the end and then goes back and tells the story from the beginning. I found that I could not wait to pick the book up each night and get into the story. Then something changed for me. I did not want to pick it up anymore and I found myself delaying reading it.  The problem is with this book that after the first few chapters where all the action is, the story slows down dramatically and I just wanted to get to the ending. It was a shame really because it was not a bad story. The thing that saved this book for me and kept me reading was every so often the story went back to the ending again.  The author did an amazing job at giving a surprise ending, it was definitely not what I was expecting. In order to keep the ending as a surprise I think that the author either made an error with this book or just did not make something clear. I was a little confused. I don't want to say anymore because I don't want to give away the ending.

The biggest lie by Lisbeth Foye. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I  was kindly given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  This is the story of Lana. The book starts when she is 23 yrs old and spans around 40 years. The book mainly deals with an affair she embarks on with a married man she meets through work. I really could not connect with Lana at the start of the book. She makes herself out to be the victim and I felt that we were supposed to feel sorry for her. The character did grow on me later on in the book. The book is so much more than a book about an affair. As the book spans 40 years it deals with all the ups and downs of her life. The biggest problem that I had with the book was that there was far too much detail which could have very easily been cut out. This is a long book so any unnecessary detail which could have been cut outin my opinion should have. I did enjoy the story but it did not always hold my attention which was ashame.

Crash & Burn by Lisa Gardner ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was kindly given a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is the story of Nicky. She has a car crash and is discovered trying to flag down some help by the side of the road. Nicky insists that her daughter Vero is missing and the police are called. The detectives who arrive at the scene set up a search to find Vero whilst Nicky is taken to hospital. Later on when Nicky wakes up in hospital, she finds her husband Thomas there. Thomas insists that Vero does not exist and that Nicky has amnesia after a series of accidents. Nicky does not know whether she can trust her husband. The investigating officer is sure that there is more to this case than he first thought.

When I first started reading this book it had a feel of the book before I go to sleep and thought that it was going to be a similar theme. The book quickly takes a totally different direction than to what is expected. There is so many twists and turns and it can get confusing.  The problem that I had with this book is, although it is a good story it starts off quite slowly and does not really pick up until towards the end of the book.

Dawn French bought my Lava Lamp & other stories by Lisbeth Foye. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was kindly given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  This is a collection of 7 short stories with fate being the common theme that ties them altogether. Each story is very different. From the story which is the title of the book where a couple who have fallen on hard times believe that Dawn French buying their lava lamp is the answer to all their problems to an office worker who gets into trouble at work because of an innocent meeting with a man in a bar.

I have not had much luck with books of short stories in the past with only one or two of the stories being any good. I can honestly say that I did enjoy every single story. Obviously some were better than others. I would highly recommend this book and will be looking out for more books by this author.

Temorarily Employed by Vicki Batman ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was kindly given a copy of this book in exchange for a review.  This is the story of Hattie Cook who has fallen on hard times. She is coming home from an interview that she is convinced that she has messed up and gets stopped by the traffic police for having a missing taillight. She later realises that the policeman who pulled her over and gave her a ticket was Detective Allan Wellbourne the brother of her best friend. Out of desperation she takes a temporary job at Buy Rite insurance company because she now has a ticket to pay for as well as replacing the parts that have been stolen from her car.   Allan tries to help Hattie recover her stolen car parts and they become friends which quickly turns to romance.  When she starts her job at Buy Rite she uncovers an embezzeling scam and Allan reveals that he is investigating the death of the emloyee that Hattie has replaced at Buy Rite.

This book was not what I was expecting. I thought that the book was going to be more of a mystery with a bit of romance thrown in. This is more of a romance with a little bit of mystery thrown in. I was more interested in the mystery aspect of the book rather than the romance. I liked most of the characters in the book but I could not believe how naive, trusting and at times stupid the main character could be to the point were it annoyed me. I liked the humour that carried on throughout the book. It made a nice change to read something that is lighthearted. 

Ashwood House by L.K.Jay.

This is the story of Savannah. She is coming out of prison following a life sentence for murdering her husband. She quickly gets a job in a cafe with the help of her probation officer.  Things are going well until her ex brother-in-law turns up there having tracked her down.  Because having any contact with her former husbands family is a breach of her conditions she finds another position as a caretaker of an old house in the country. Previous caretakers have not stayed around for very long and the reason for this soon becomes clear to Savannah.

I don't think that I am giving too much away by revealing that this is a ghost story. I feel though that the main focus of the book is actually Savannah's story. The book kept me very interested and kept me up late at night. Some of the things that Savannah did and some of the things that she didn't do really frustrated me at times. She really could be far too selfless. At times I really wanted to shake her. In a way though this made her a more realistic character. I would highly recommend this book but there were parts of the story that were far too predictable so I could not give it the full five stars.