Reading Round Up 2021 #4

 Hello there lovely book worms, I hope you are all well.

Welcome to another reading round up, stick around if you'd like to see what novels I've had the pleasure of reading this week and which ones I'm recommended that you look at too.

My current pace of reading seems to be about 4 books a week. Not bad considering one of stories was over 600 pages long.

Quick shout out to Cynthia Murphy for sending me a copy of Last One to Die after I won a giveaway on Twitter - cannot wait to start reading this one this week!

Now onto the books that I've actually managed to devour....

The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick 5 out of 5 stars

Ren is a con artist who has come to the sparkling city of Nadežra with one goal: to trick her way into a noble house, securing her fortune and her sister's future.

But as she's drawn into the elite world of House Traementis, she realizes her masquerade is just one of many surrounding her. And as nightmare magic begins to weave its way through the City of Dreams, the poisonous feuds of its aristocrats and the shadowy dangers of its impoverished underbelly become tangled…with Ren at their heart.

                                                                                                                                                                           

I have a full review of this novel going live on my blog in a couple of weeks but I'll share my basic thoughts with you now.

This is adult fantasy at its very best!

An aristocratic world which is full of masquerades both in the literal and mythological sense. With an undercurrent of magic (not all of it good) flowing through Nadezra and its occupants - some of whom seem to be oblivious to the dangers that surround them.

Filled with magic, mystery and manipulations, this is a fantasy novel like no other. With plenty of twists, this isn't a story that just reveals itself to you instantly. The more you read, the more you get sucked into their world and the politics in which they all find themselves involved in.

Say You'll Stay by Corinne Michaels 4 out of 5 stars

One word.

Stay.

It was all he had to do. Instead, he got on that bus and took my heart with him.

That was seventeen years ago.

I moved on. Marriage. Kids. White picket fence. Everything I ever wanted, but my husband betrayed me and I was left once again.

I should’ve been safe. However, fate has a way of stepping in.

Alone, penniless, and with two boys, I had no choice but to return to Tennessee. He wasn’t supposed to be there. 

This time around, the tables are turned. It’s my decision. Second chances do exist, but I don’t know if we can repair what’s already been broken . . 

                                                                                                                                                                           

I'll just say I wouldn't mind one of the Hennington Brothers wanting to date me!

A nice easy read filled with family, friends and frolics.

Loved the banter with all the brothers and despite sad moments within the book, it was over all a very sweet read.

Just what's needed for a little bit of escapism.

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam 5 out of 5 stars

Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But a late-night knock on the door breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older black couple—it’s their house, and they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has swept the city. But in this rural area—with the TV and internet now down, and no cell phone service—it’s hard to know what to believe.

Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple—and vice versa? What happened back in New York? Is the vacation home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another? 

                                                                                                                                                                           

This book is brilliantly quiet in its deliverance. Slow and deliberate.

When a typically white family (2 adults, 2 children) head out on vacation to I'd guess a sort of air bnb all seems normal. They eat, they swim, they visit the beach. What you'd think a holiday would be about.

But all that changes when the owners of the house turn up, worried after a blackout occurs in the city and they drove here where they feel the safest.

The changes are subtle, not everyone feels them but each and every person knows that all is not as it used to be. Could it be a terrorist attack, aliens? With no wifi, TV of phones, communications to others becomes impossible. They have to trust their instincts - and each other.

Things become more frightening when the son falls ill, no one knowing what to do for the best.

Leave the World Behind is an intelligent piece of writing. One that is subtle yet meaningful. Everything described with poetic detail.

It was extremely eerie, haunting even but ultimately compelling.

The ending I guess left things open to interpretation, each reader able to form their own opinion on what had occurred. Who might have survived.

Two Wrongs by Mel McGrath 4.5 stars out of 5

One girl jumped.

And then another followed…

In the city of Bristol, young women are dying in mysterious circumstances. The deaths look like suicides – but are they something more sinister?

Honor is terrified that her daughter might be next. But as she looks for clues as to what really happened to the girls, she stumbles upon a link to a dark secret in her own past – one that she’s kept from her daughter.

Now Honor has the chance to avenge her child for the terrible events of years ago. But how far will she go to protect her daughter and right the wrongs done to her family?

                                                                                                                                                                           

I'll be joining the blog tour for this novel in March and I cannot wait to share my full review with you all.

For now I'll say a few words that will hopefully entice you.

This is a crime thriller that is and quietly feisty.

Deaths that look like suicides. Hints at student - teacher affairs that to say are complicated would be an understatement.

Just who is in trouble and who really needs protecting? 

A novel that infers plenty but gives away very little. Fascinatingly, fast-paced reading!

I'm currently enjoying The Last Goodbye by Fiona Lucas. Let me know which of the above books you fancy reading next.