Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Narrated by: Esther Wane Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins Publication date : January 24, 2024
This is the 1st booCategories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Narrated by: Esther Wane Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins Publication date : January 24, 2024
This is the 1st book I have read by Gillian Jackson and I have to say that this one surprised me.
I am not fan of multiple POVs nor when the story is told in present and past timelines but somehow I liked it. Author managed to drew me in from the beginning and I couldn't read fast enough to figure out what had happened to Amy's husband and who was that dead men who was discovered at the beginning of the story. Where they connected or was there something else going on?
If you are looking for a sad story about loss, grief, trust, friendship, secrets and lies, then give it a try. But be warned that some parts of the story will be really sad...
Contemporary Women Fiction / Romantic Comedy Publication Date: May 19, 2020
I don't mind stories with more serious topics but in this story it felt likContemporary Women Fiction / Romantic Comedy Publication Date: May 19, 2020
I don't mind stories with more serious topics but in this story it felt like the heroine, January (29), had the worst luck - her mother has been battling with cancer for years but it was her father who died unexpectadly, leaving behind a beach house and secret life she knew nothing about. On top of that her writing career isn't going well because she no longer can believe in long-lasting love and happy endings.
This should have been heartfelt story but for me it wasn't. Perhaps partly because author was telling me what was happening and how January was feeling. I had trouble connecting with her or other characters, their feeling and emotions. (view spoiler)[When January discovered that her father had cheated, she acted like she was the wife, not the daughter. And when she was so offended by his cheating, then why she moved into the house her father left her? A house where he met with his mistress? And why he left the house to January, not to the mistress? Where did he even got the money to buy the house, when her daughter was broke? (hide spoiler)]
I just finished Funny Story and both books have a very similar formula and writing style. One I am not very much a fan of. With so many similar scenes, this story was predictible and kinda dull. I really expected much more from the Nominee for Best Romance (2020)!...more
Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Publication date : August 18, 2022 Narrated by: Hannah Kelly-Turner Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
Story started Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Publication date : August 18, 2022 Narrated by: Hannah Kelly-Turner Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
Story started off well but at some point I got tired by the characters and their big secrets. Kate has some dark secret that involves her childhood friend Erin - something bad happened to her when they were 15. Author isn't revealing why she feels guilty but keeps referring to it, which I started to find annoying. There's also some big secret Kate's husband Mark is keeping from her. And there's their new neighbor, Darragh, who's also hiding something.
I hate it when author keep referring to some big secret all the time but not telling it. Eventually the big secret of what happened with Erin is revealed and much more but there were too many coincidences to make it believable. There were issues that bothered me and I often didn't get the behaviour of the characters. (view spoiler)[When you are not sure of your husband, then it is not time to bring a baby into this relationship!
Then her guilt about the past events. It was stupid that the 15-year-old girls got drunk and made themselves vulnerable. Erin was raped...but what happened with Erin wasn't Kate's fault, so why she constantly referred that she was to blame, and not the man who raped Erin??
And how likely is it that Kate would meet with her friend's rapist? And marry him? Then Erin's brother decide to kill Mark's mother, drug Kate, and rape her... who would do something so vile and stupid? Then Kate finding out she's pregnant but she can't be pregnant from her husband Mark because he had a testicular cancer which caused his infertility [which he never told her but his ex wife desperately try to tell Kate about it!]. Chemotherapy for testicular cancer causes temporary infertility in most men who have it. But usually fertility goes back to normal some months after the chemotherapy ends. The same could have happened with Mark? Why his ex-wife had to involve herself into it? Or if Mark didn't recover, why he was keen on starting a family when he knew he couldn't father a baby and the truth will come out eventually but causing more toruble?
Or Erin's brother killing Mark's mother at the care home...why? She was old and probably would have died anyway soon. Then drugging and raping Kate...again. why? Kate didn't rape his sister! He was no better than the man who raped his sister!! Or did he do all those things Kate and Mark suspected of him doing? He never confessed any of it? Or did he? Kate didn't realize that she had had sex, only later did she realized that something must have happened. Also the way Kate lied all the time was offputting.
And the ending left things open...did he get out and was after Kate and their baby? Or was it only Kate's guilty conscience that made her see things that weren't really there? (hide spoiler)]...more
Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
Synopsis sounded interesting and I was intrigued ... but TBH I didn't like any of the characters.Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
Synopsis sounded interesting and I was intrigued ... but TBH I didn't like any of the characters. They were one-dimensional, awful and often their actions didn't make sense.
First meeting of Charlotte and Philip was not promising - he was causing a scene, then showing off how rich, charming and generous he was. Everyone around him, including Charlotte, were smitten and forgave his bad behaviour. Then suddenly they were together, in love, about to get married. But I didn't really feel the connection between these two and why they were together.
In the present day events Charlotte meets someone else, a widower with a young son. Her quick action saves the boy from the worst. Once again she is quick to think about this new man, without really knowing him or knowing what she really wants from her life. (view spoiler)[She's in a relationship but fails to notice and question strong changes in Philip. Don't you notice when your partner looses weight and hair?Aren't you worried that something may be wrong with his health? Charlotte has first hand experience with cancer thanks to her mother but failed to connect the dots? Or she just didn't care? (hide spoiler)]
Perhaps if the story had been written in chronological order, then I would have understand Charlotte's choices better. Now I didn't get many things, and I disliked how the story dangled between the past and present day events. This was making reading very choppy and fragmented and for me the story fell flat. (view spoiler)[I'm also so tired of authors using cancer as a way of killing off the characters or using it to move on their plot. Philip wanting Charlotte to be together with Ben somehow didn't sound plausible! (hide spoiler)]...more
Contemporary Women Fiction Publication Date: July 14, 2015
Daisy (27), was diagnosed with a breast cancer in her early 20s. After the treatment she was Contemporary Women Fiction Publication Date: July 14, 2015
Daisy (27), was diagnosed with a breast cancer in her early 20s. After the treatment she was glad to get the "all clear". On the eve of what was supposed to be a triumphant “Cancerversary” with her husband Jack to celebrate three years of being cancer-free, she gets devastating news - the cancer is back. Even worse - it has spread to other parts of her body. How to deal with this terrible blow? How her husband will cope without her?
BEFORE I GO was tiresome, depressing and sad story to read. The characters annoyed me at times and they were often immature. This story reminded how fragile life can be. How little time we may have left. Just because you are in your 20s doesn't mean that you are guaranteed long life ahead. Many countries have the national breast and cervical cancer early detection program, use them.
I symphatized with Daisy's challanges, but at times the story fell a bit flat and was one-dimensional. I couldn't help but wonder why Daisy wasn't explained that sometimes treatment can't destroy all the cancer cells? If you remain in complete remission for 5 years or more, some doctors may say that you are cured. Daisy's last treatment was 3 years ago, so she wasn't out of danger. I also wondered if she had cancer all over her body, she had a tumor the size of an orange, then how she didn't have any symptoms?
Daisy and Jack were nice together. But I often felt that Daisy was more like a mother or housekeeper to Jack than his wife and equal partner (cleaning after him, seeing that he was fed, looked that he had everything he needed). Instead of finding him a new wife, she should have told him that when she's gone, he should move back to his childhood home, let his mother take care of him till he is ready to find a new wife. And then make the most of the the time she had left, live for the moment, not worry about tomorrow, let alone her husband's future wife...
If you are looking for an uplifting story, then this isn't it. If you are looking for more stories dealing with cancer, then try these: Six Weeks to Live, The Wish....more
Contemporary Women Fiction Publication Date: September 28, 2021
This is a story about talented photographer Maggie Dawes (39) who's struggling to come tContemporary Women Fiction Publication Date: September 28, 2021
This is a story about talented photographer Maggie Dawes (39) who's struggling to come to terms with a skin cancer diagnosis. As she has to cope with her growing weakness, she finds herself more and more dependent on her young assistant Mark. To her surprise she begins to tell him the story of her teenager years from the 1990s—and the love that introduced her to photography, a passion that defined the rest of her life; she also has to face the decisions that have haunted her...
I like how THE WISH remind you that good can come out of hard times; that there are lot of kindness around you when you open your heart. But this story also remind you that life is short and every moment is precious because you never know how many days are left for you or for your loved ones.
I was drawn to Maggie's story. It was interesting to read about her as a 16-year-old pregnant teenager, and the woman she had become. I couldn't stop reading at the same time fearing approaching sad ending for Maggie... The present day chapters were difficult to read as story progressed. To be honest those past chapters were no easier as I knew what struggles she has to go through two decades later and I feared something bad will happen to Maggie's first love, Bryce as well. Lets say that there were too many things that were predictible although I hoped author won't go that path!
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This was bittersweet story of life, love, loss, friendship, lost chances and so much more. I think they should sell this book with extra large box of tissues included because there are lots of unhappy and sad moments! (view spoiler)[I hate that Sparks did something I dislike in my books -- no author should kill the main characters or put her through so much misery and loss. Okay, Maggie find peace in the end when she get her "wish". In a way she continue to live on in her child and his children. But there were still guilt and "If onlys" about things that could have gone so differently and could have changed lives of so many people. I read for relaxation and I don't need to be reminded how cruel cancer can be and that most often its still terminal illness with very painful ending for the cancer patient.... (hide spoiler)]...more
Woman's Contemporary Fiction Publication date : July 5, 2018
Alex Appleby (44) is a recovering anorexic who is estranged from her husband and children.Woman's Contemporary Fiction Publication date : July 5, 2018
Alex Appleby (44) is a recovering anorexic who is estranged from her husband and children. She meets Carrie (24) in a local support group. They form some sort of friendship or mother/daughter relationship. Alex openly admits that she is an irreparable liar. Carrie is facing premature death by terminal breast cancer. But why young woman like Carrie is so lonely? Where is her family? Why they are not supporting her when she's so ill? Which snippets of information shared are true? Perhaps both Alex and Carrie have a little problem with telling the truth?
THE PERFECT FRIEND is a story about love, lies, manipulation, friendship. It touches difficult issues like anorexia, cancer, domestic abuse, but also explore how far people will go to believe their own and other people's lies. The main characters are not nice or truthful but there's something interesting and facinating about them despite all their flaws. Its one of those stories that offers many of those moments when I say “What?! No. Wait. What?!” and I have to re-read and come to terms with the surprises and twists.
“It’s my philosophy for life: be more dog. Right, I don’t worry about the past or the future, just live in the moment, like pooches do. Even if a dog loses its leg, it just runs on three legs rather than crying about what it’s lost. What’s the point of worrying about things you can’t control?”
Psychological Fiction / Woman's Fiction Publication date : September 29, 2017
“Something stops in my chest, and the guilt is almost impossible tPsychological Fiction / Woman's Fiction Publication date : September 29, 2017
“Something stops in my chest, and the guilt is almost impossible to breathe through. I tighten my fingers around the pen and force myself to lower it to the page.”
This was sad and emotional story about lonely woman dying from cancer, only three month to live. With the help of a ghostwriter she rush against time to write her final story...her confession...her dark secret she had kept hidden from everyone for four years...
Have to say that Helena was not very easy to like. But the more I read on, the more I felt sorry for her. Her solitude, grief, pain, guilt, regret, her need for absolution were all relatable. Not one of those stories that will have (view spoiler)[ a smile on your face when you finish because there's really no HEA (hide spoiler)] but still I liked this story a lot.
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