Book Review: I Have Something To Tell You, by Susan Lewis

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher Harper Collins for my copy of this book. I asked my book loving friends Irena and Ani if they wanted to buddy read this with me, which made the reading experience a lot more enjoyable.

Description

High-flying lawyer Jessica Wells has it all. A successful career, loving husband Tom and a family she adores. But one case – and one client – will put all that at risk.

Edward Blake. An ordinary life turned upside down – or a man who quietly watched television while his wife was murdered upstairs? With more questions than answers and a case too knotted to unravel, Jessica suspects he’s protecting someone…

Then she comes home one day and her husband utters the words no one ever wants to hear. Sit down… because I’ve got something to tell you…

Now Jessica must fight not only for the man she defends, but for the man she thought she trusted with her life – her husband.

Published September 16th 2021

My Thoughts:

I have read quite a few of Susan Lewis’ books, so I had high hopes for this one. This Author has never disappointed me before. Unfortunately there is a first time for everything and this one did not meet the expectations I had from her previous books.

I Have Something To Tell You gives the impression in the blurb of being a legal thriller, a lawyer defending a man who is accused of killing his wife. Then the lawyer’s husband has something to tell her. I rightly or wrongly went into this book with some kind of pre expectations of what the plot would be. I was wrong!

While the legal case of the man who is accused of killing his wife gripped me for the first half of the book, from the second half onwards I felt it was being dragged out longer than necessary and I became a little frustrated that it wasn’t moving along faster.

The plot about Jay ( the lawyer) and what her husband has to tell her is a good storyline and does add the personal part to Jay’s story. But again I thought this was far to drawn out and her husband was given too many chances ( in my opinion).

I read in the acknowledgements that this is based on a real life story, although made to be fictional so I can’t say that the plot was unrealistic, however I would not appreciate a lawyer like Jay. I felt Jay was quite unprofessional in many ways. I certainly would not want to her to represent me.

I became totally dismayed with the book at about three quarters of the way through when a plot twist is revealed. If it had stayed this way, my rating would have been 2 stars. It was only raised that extra star because of a later twist that redeemed it slightly.

I hope that future books by Susan Lewis will go back to the standard of her earlier works.

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Book Review: Hiding In Plain Sight, by Susan Lewis.

Thank you very much to Louise Page and  Century Publishers for my copy of Hiding in Plain Sight, and thank you to Author Susan Lewis for writing yet another fantastic book. Below is my unbiased review in thanks for my lovely hardback book.

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Description:

Andee Lawrence is in heaven. Well, the South of France to be exact. 

Ex-detective Andee has swapped freelance investigation and a broken marriage, for two months in Provence, renovating a beautiful villa with the new man in her life. Pottering around a small picturesque town on an early summer’s day, she is at peace.

But her world is about to be shattered.

‘Remember me?’ 

Two words spoken by a woman from the back of a car that say so much yet reveal so little.
As the car drives away Andee is left reeling, overwhelmed by shock, confusion, self-doubt and mounting trepidation.

Almost thirty years ago, fourteen year old Penny had disappeared from her family’s life, never to be heard from again. It is the missing child case that has haunted Andee her whole life; And now Penny – Andee’s sister – is back.

The question is: why?

Published by Arrow on 25th January 2018

My Thoughts:

As many book lovers will know, Susan Lewis is a much loved best selling Author. Susan has done it once again with Hiding in Plain Sight. We start off with characters that we met in previous books. (though it wouldn’t matter if you haven’t read them). Ex detective Andee Lawrence is France when a voice and face from long ago in her past stops right in front of her. This is no spoiler as its in the blurb, but Andee’s sister who went missing when she was fourteen is back! What we don’t know is:

Why is she back?

What does she want? 

Where has she been all these years?

The story is the usual brilliant Susan Lewis writing with a contemporary plot that gives the reader food for thought. I wasn’t expecting what happened at all. Penny (Andee’s sister) has had a very different life from the family that she left. The Author does a great job of understanding how past events can scar you mentally and how this can affect your life choices. 

In many ways this book reminds me of the type of books that Jodie Picoult writes. It made me think of human nature, choices, emotions. I was totally engaged in the plot, the characters and in Susan Lewis’ writing. 

Hiding in Plain Sight is an enjoyable thought provoking read from an incredible author.

Links:

Goodreads

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com

Twitter – @susandlewis

www.susanlewis.com

 

‘TBR’ for Autumn. Books I hope to read this season.

‘TBR’ is a common term for bookbloggers and booklovers. It is my ‘to be read’ list. As with most readers, book lovers and especially bookbloggers, there is always a pile bigger than our bodies that we want to read, whether this be personal choice books, books agreed to read for reviews or blog tours. The whole ‘TBR’ pile is an exciting pile of words, stories and characters that will lead us to a different world for the hours we spend reading them.

 

These are the books I hope to read this Autumn. They are a mix of ones I have chosen myself and ones gifted to me by Authors for reviews. In no particular order, lets begin. 

Grannie Pants are Under Rated by Gayle Erickson.

Elle Martin has it all. Handsome and successful husband. Check. Daughter and son attending exclusive private high school. Check. Privilege, status, and wealth. Check, check, check.

But there is more to Elle’s story. 

Already struggling to keep up appearances in a social set full of pretension and ultra-competitiveness, Elle’s facade of perfection is threatened when her husband makes an announcement that will force her to confront a dark past she has successfully hidden for years. 

What will happen when long-buried secrets are unearthed and haunting new revelations are discovered? Will Elle be able to find the happy ending she so desperately seeks?

Toggling between the early nineties and the present day, Grannie Panties Are Underrated captures the Gen X experience from latchkey kid to helicopter parent with keen insight and precision. A page-turner full of surprising twists, it is a must read for anyone who has struggled to reconcile the chasm between the person they once were, the person they have become, and the person they long to be.

Thank you to Author Gayle Erickson for my copy of this book, which I am currently reading and enjoying now. I love the title, as it is so true!! 

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Jennifer Brown’s Journey by Angie Langley.

Five feet one and full of fizz, Jennifer Brown lights up the room. She has a gorgeous partner, a wicked best friend, and a boss who doesn’t mind that she’s the worst typist on the planet. She’s loyal, generous and irredeemably ditzy. Everyone loves Jennifer Brown. But can she learn to love herself?

When her world caves in, she needs every ounce of her steely core to step back from the abyss and take charge of her life, reinventing herself first as cook and housekeeper to a saucy sexagenarian, then as manager of a tumbledown country estate with sensitive secrets. Peopled by a battalion of hilarious characters from the caustic, cross-dressing confidant to the besotted ex-boyfriend with a barmy ex-wife, Jennifer Brown’s Journey is a heartwarming, thoughtful, often poignant portrait of the trials of life as a thirty-something woman. Jennifer Brown champions the importance of self-belief, and the value of a bucket-sized glass of wine in a tight spot. And, always in the background, there’s the quiet man with the warm eyes and the velvet vowels. What on earth is Jennifer Brown going to do about him?

The first in a series of three, Jennifer Brown’s Journey is a story of female self-empowerment and the triumph of the human spirit in the face of challenges that many women will recognise. Lighthearted and poignant, the story gives readers a very real sense of a woman, initially rather ditzy, maturing into a redoubtable, self-possessed individual who faces her many challenges with developing aplomb. 

Thank you to Author Angie Langley for my copy of this book. I love the cover, and I think I will find it even more interesting since the Author told me that the story is based on truth!

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The Accident by Glen Ebisch.

 

 

Karen Walker is an ex-homicide detective slowly recovering from the trauma of an automobile accident in which she was injured and her husband was killed when a drunk driver struck the car she was operating.

After a year of surgeries and attempts to come to terms with her feelings of guilt, she finds herself living the narrow life of a semi-recluse. Her seclusion comes to an end when an old friend from college, Clarissa Hammett, asks Karen to help in the search for her missing sister, Justine. Karen agrees, and she goes to live alone in the family’s summer home on the coast of southern Maine, which Justine was occupying at the time of her disappearance.

Karen even goes one step further and takes on Justine’s job as hostess in a local restaurant, hoping to learn more about the missing woman’s life from her co-workers. Conversations with the sister’s estranged husband, her present boyfriend, and a mentally disturbed young girl on the beach, lead Karen to believe that Justine’s disappearance was not voluntary and that, if still alive, she may desperately need help. 

Thank you to Author Glen Ebisch for my copy of this book. I am ready for another book of murder and suspense, and this looks to be a good one.

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A Time for Penance by Robin Storey.

 

She murdered her husband. Now she has a chance to undo her crime.

For 20 years, wealthy socialite Eva Dennehy has borne the guilt of murdering her first husband Charlie, who was planning to leave her for his mistress.

When Eva is offered the opportunity to travel back in time, and undo her crime as penance, she accepts – what does she have to lose? Back in her old life with Charlie, her passion for him surpassed only by her torment at his infidelity, she is more determined than ever to prevent him from leaving her.

But her plan plunges her into a world of crime and depravity, and she soon discovers she has even more to lose this time around.

This taut, gritty novel about jealousy, betrayal and the dark side of love will appeal to fans of suspense, crime and modern noir.

Thank you to Author Robin Storey for my copy of this book. I have only read one book of time travel, and that was The Time Traveller’s Wife. This sounds totally different, very intriguing, and as a big fan of crime and suspense books, I’m really looking forward to reading this one. 

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Dear You by Tessa Broad.

 

Tess Broad wanted children. She longed for them. It wasn’t to be. 

In this candid and moving memoir, Tess writes to the children that never were. She writes to them as their adult selves with openness and honesty and tells them of the childhood she envisaged for them and the mother she believed she would be. She describes her reluctant transformation from the woebegone, wannabe mummy that she once was, to the woman she is now; childless but chilled, sailing through Mother’s Day with a smile on her face. Happy. 

From the ‘trying for a family’ stage to the relentless treadmill of infertility treatment, Tess recounts her story with humour and pathos, taking the reader on her journey with her, sharing her experiences, the roller-coaster ride of IVF, the sudden departure of the husband whose children she wanted to have and ultimately to acceptance that the life she wanted and expected was not hers for the taking. This is a breathtaking memoir that offers a shoulder to lean on for everyone experiencing the uncertainties and pain of infertility.

Thank you to Red Door Publishers and Author Tessa Broad for my copy of this book. I am expecting this book to be heart wrenching, therapeutic and relateable. This will be reviewed as part of a blog tour for Infertility Week at the end of October. 

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Hiding In Plain Sight, by Susan Lewis.

 

Andee Lawrence is in heaven. Well, the South of France to be exact. 

Ex-detective Andee has swapped freelance investigation and a broken marriage, for two months in Provence, renovating a beautiful villa with the new man in her life. Pottering around a small picturesque town on an early summer’s day, she is at peace.

But her world is about to be shattered.

‘Remember me?’ 

Two words spoken by a woman from the back of a car that say so much yet reveal so little.
As the car drives away Andee is left reeling, overwhelmed by shock, confusion, self-doubt and mounting trepidation.

Almost thirty years ago, fourteen year old Penny had disappeared from her family’s life, never to be heard from again. It is the missing child case that has haunted Andee her whole life; And now Penny – Andee’s sister – is back.

The question is: why?

I read the last Susan Lewis book that was published and really enjoyed it. This one sounds like it has a slight carry on story with the main characters missing sister, but also a whole new plot. Susan Lewis’ books come highly recommended to me, so I’m hoping this one will be really good too.

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So this is my Autumn reading list so far. It may change, I am a mood reader, so we shall see where it goes. But for now my tbr is looking good. 

Have you read any of these? Which do you think looks good. 

 

Book Review: The Moment She Left, by Susan Lewis. #Giveaway

I am very happy today to bring you my stop on the blog tour for the brilliant new Susan Lewis book ‘The Moment She Left’. Thank you to Louise Page for gifting me a copy of the book  which I very much enjoyed. Below I will tell you why I loved it and also I am thrilled to be able to offer one of my lovely readers a free copy of this wonderful book. See the rafflecopter section at the bottom of the post, and if you love the sound of this book then enter away.

The Moment She Left, by Susan Lewis.

 

Description:

Kesterly-on-Sea is full of secrets.

Some are darker than others; many are shameful. One is even deadly.

Andee is an ex-detective whose marriage is breaking up. So when a young female student disappears without trace, she throws herself into the search.

Meanwhile, the town’s beloved Rowzee Cayne has just discovered that she is terminally ill, and doesn’t want to burden her family and friends with the news.

Andee and Rowzee don’t know it yet, but their journeys are going to help them uncover a secret. One that is going to affect them more than they could ever imagine.

 

Published July 28th 2016 by Cornerstone Digital

 

My Thoughts:

This is actually the first Susan Lewis book that I have read, and now knowing that she has written over 30 novels, I am very happy to say that my ‘want to read pile’ has just grown a lot bigger! My Mum and my lovely bookblogger friend Irena both recommended Susan Lewis to me, so when the opportunity came up to take part in this blog tour, I jumped at the chance. (You can read Irena’s review of this book  HERE!

The first chapter is the setting of this book, where we hear about the girl who has gone missing Jessica. After that first chapter, we hear from all the other characters who all have their own separate stories but as the book continues, you see how they become linked up.

From the description on the front cover of this book, you read “Sometimes the truth is best kept secret”. This book is a lot about secrets and should we keep things to ourselves, is that the best way to protect others or protect ourselves. It is a book that makes you think. In a way the book kind of reminds a little bit like Jodi Picoult books. And I am a big fan of Picoult, so this is indeed a compliment to Lewis.

The book tells the story of Jessica’s family and those who love her, their grief and need to know what has happened to her. Then we have Andee, who is having family problems, but is the detective who has been asked to try to find Jessica. Then we have Rowzee and her sister Pamela. They both have secrets of their own. So with this big mix up of characters, secrets, lies and loss, Lewis has developed a brilliant novel which will keep you up late reading, and intrigued as to what happened to Jessica, what about the other secrets, will they come out or will they stay with the owner until death parts them?!!

Rowzee was definitely my very favourite character in this book, she is kind and generous to a fault. Even when she finds out terrible things about people she is still the person who says they should be given chances and understanding. Is she generous and caring to a fault? You will have to read and see for yourself. 

A quote that is quite prevalent to this whole story is said by one character who shall remain nameless until you read it yourself:

“It goes to show that you never know anyone as well as you think you do….”

 

 

Links:

Twitter/@susandlewis

SusanLewis.com

AMAZON.CO.UK

AMAZON.COM

GOODREADS.

 

Also published in paperback on July 28th was another of Susan Lewis’s best sellers, ‘The Girl Who Came Back’. This already has over 50 fantastic reviews on Goodreads, which you can read HERE!

 

But now for the much awaited giveaway! You know what to do, follow the rafflecopter link and do what it tells you too. Good luck, and I hope to hear your thoughts on this Susan Lewis book and any others of hers you have read and can recommend to me. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Susan Lewis was born in Bristol in 1956. Her father Eddie, was a Welsh miner, a poet, an engineer and an unashamed communist who loved to write. Her mother, Eddress, one of thirteen children, was a fiery, indomitable woman with great aspirations for her young family. Susan and her younger brother were brought up in a spanking new council house on the outskirts of town; money was tight, but they were a happy, lively family.

Susan was nine and her brother five when her mother died of breast cancer at thirty-three; Susan’s father was thirty-seven and he never married again. Sending Susan to boarding school was thought to be ‘for the best’ but Susan disagreed. No one listened to her pleas for freedom, so after a while she took it upon herself to get expelled. By the time she was thirteen, she was back in the little council house with her father and brother.

At eighteen, Susan got a job at HTV in Bristol and at twenty-two moved to London to work for Thames Television. She moved up the ranks; from a secretary in news and current affairs, to a production assistant in light entertainment and drama. It was whilst she was at Thames that she started writing fiction. Thirty-six novels later, Susan is one of the UK’s bestselling fiction writers. As well as fiction, Susan has written two moving memoirs about her childhood in Bristol: Just One More Day and the sequel One Day at a Time.

Losing her mother at such an early age had a profound effect on Susan’s life, which is why she is a long-term supporter of Breast Cancer Care, the only UK-wide charity providing specialist support and tailored information to anyone affected by breast cancer, and Winston’s Wish the charity for bereaved children.

After years living abroad in LA and France, Susan returned to England in 2009 and now lives in a beautiful converted barn in Gloucestershire with her husband and two dogs.

For further information about Susan Lewis visit www.susanlewis.com . Susan Lewis is available for interview and feature writing. Contact Louise Page PR on 020 8741 5663 or email louise@lpagepr.co.uk .