Thursday 10 December 2020

The Open House by Sam Carrington #NetGalley @AvonBooksUK #book #review #TheOpenHouse @sam_carrington1

 

The Open House by Sam Carrington
Published by Avon Books
Publication Date 10th December 2020
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers

Book Description:

Everyone’s welcome. But not everyone leaves…

Nick and Amber Miller are splitting up and selling their Devon family home. But despite the desirable location, the house isn’t moving. Not a single viewing so far.
 
When their estate agent suggests an open house event, Amber agrees, even as she worries about their gossiping neighbours attending and snooping around their home.
 
But Amber has more to worry about than nosy neighbours. Because thirteen people enter her house that afternoon, and only twelve leave.
 
Someone doesn't want the house to sell, and is willing to do anything to stop it…


My Thoughts:

Sam Carrington is an author I have had on my radar for some time but somehow have never managed to move to the top of my list. Having read The Open House her backlist will now be moving up the order.  What a masterclass in building tension and putting almost every character in the spotlight as a suspect!  You think you have the plot sussed then just a drip of doubt is all it takes for your whole theory comes crashing down.

The main character Amber Miller is mid-divorce after her husband Nick had a brief fling with a work colleague. Their family home which she shares with their two young sons is on the market - a sore point with soon-to-be-ex mother-in-law Barb. Because the house used to belong to Barb and her husband before he died and it made sense for Amber and Nick to move in and fill the house with a family; until Nick's exploits meant that the property needs to be sold and the equity split between them. But someone is clearly determined that the house is not going to be an easy sell. 

Amber arranges with the estate agent Carl to hold an open house event and this is where things really start taking a sinister turn. At first Amber doubts herself, thinks she's imagining things but then her youngest son starts having nightmares about the man who watches him from the end of his bed. Is she really just being paranoid or is there something going on that she needs to be concerned about?

Signing up her nosy neighbour Davina to help keep an eye on the house, whilst running her theories past her friends Jo and Keeley, husband Nick and her new partner Richard, Amber becomes more and more confused as to who could be responsible for the scuppering of her house sale. Each and every one of the people she knows ends up on her suspect list but the truth is way beyond anything her overactive imagination could come up with in the dead of night as she watched the clock tick round. But the biggest question is why anyone would go to such lengths - it all seems a bit extreme for a bitter ex mother in law with a soft spot for the house.

I love how the pace of the book builds alongside the tension. It starts with a mild feeling of dread and cranks up as the pages turn quicker the further through the story you get.  Brilliant writing, some great characters (good and bad) and a spectacular finale to put the cherry on the top.

About the Author:


Sam Carrington lives in Devon with her husband, two border terriers and a cat. She has three adult children and a new grandson! She worked for the NHS for fifteen years, during which time she qualified as a nurse. Following the completion of a psychology degree she went to work for the prison service as an Offending Behaviour Programme Facilitator. Her experiences within this field inspired her writing. She left the service to spend time with her family and to follow her dream of being a novelist.

Friday 4 December 2020

Just Between Friends by Rosie Nixon @HQstories @Rosie_Nixon #JustBetweenFriends #NetGalley #book #review

 

Just Between Friends by Rosie Nixon

Published by HQ

Publication date: 12th November 2020

Genre: womens fiction

My thanks to the publisher for approving my request to read this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Book Description:

Aisha Moore is eight months pregnant. She’s thrilled, and a little scared. Not least because her husband Jason hasn’t quite wrapped his head around the fact.

Lucy is having her first child too. She has finally got her wish – although the circumstances aren’t quite what she had hoped. Oscar will be a great dad though, won’t he?

When the two women join the same baby group, they quickly become friends and before long they’re confiding in each other.

Only there’s one thing Lucy hasn’t told Aisha. And while a baby may turn your life upside-down, a secret this big will change everything.

My Thoughts:

I think anyone who has attended antenatal classes or baby & toddler groups will be able to relate to this book. It certainly brought back memories of the diverse variety of parents-to-be in the classes I attended back in the day and the sense of everyone assessing/judging each others circumstances and relationships was portrayed very well by the author.

The story is mainly told from mum to be Aisha's perspective and she relates her worries about just about everything from how good a mum she will be to how invested her husband is in the antenatal group classes. She seems to click straightaway with one of the other mums, Lucy but the other woman seems to run hot and cold with Aisha, one minute she's wanting to be best mates then others she's hard to get in touch with. What is Lucy hiding? Or are Aisha's hormones just making her over sensitive? As a whole the group gels really well and there are some great comedy moments which I'm sure are very relatable to anyone who has experienced these type of groups. 

One by one the women have their babies and distance creeps in as the parents' lives get taken over with colic, nappies and breastfeeding dramas. But there's something else, something Aisha can't pin down which is making her feel like something isn't quite right. I really enjoyed this book because the characters are so real and credible. The later chapters were rather daunting and my heart went out to Aisha whilst I wanted to throttle both Lucy and Jason for their part in Aisha's traumas. On the other side of the story, I hadn't expected to like Oscar as much as I did by the end of the book.  The other peripheral characters in the group add depth to the story and make it an enjoyable novel despite the main plotline not being too pleasant for Aisha.

This would make a great book club read as there are plenty of contentious issues and moral dilemmas to discuss.

About the Author:



Rosie Nixon is an author, mother of two and Editor-in-Chief of HELLO! magazine where she has worked for over a decade and has a love of all things celebrity, royal and fashion-related. Rosie previously held senior positions at glossy women's magazines including Grazia, Glamour and Red. In her career she has been lucky enough to attend a multitude of glamorous award ceremonies, premieres, celebrity weddings and showbiz events all around the world. Ever discreet and protective of the stars she has worked with, Rosie's experience has undoubtedly enabled her to write her debut novel The Stylist (published February 2016) and the sequel The Stylist Takes Manhattan (published in 2017).

Follow Rosie on Twitter @Rosie_Nixon