Book-Mad-Mum

The Weekend Away by Sarah Alderson Published by Avon Books 4 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐ New Mum Orla and Party girl Kate have been best friends forever and so with Orla adapting to motherhood, and Kate facing a messy divorce, they decide to have a girl’s weekend away in Lisbon. Kate has booked the perfect apartment, complete with hot tub and they kick the weekend off in style with champagne, a fancy dinner, and drinks at a trendy bar. Returning to the apartment that evening Orla feels a bit woozy and goes to bed but the next morning, she wakes up very groggy and is convinced that her drink was spiked and she tries to piece the night back together again. When she checks on her friend, Kate is not in the apartment, and hasn’t left a note – she has simply disappeared. As Orla frantically retraces their steps she makes a series of discoveries that may change her life forever. The main character in this book is Orla who is been married to Rob, together they have baby Marlow who they conceived with IV...

The Garden Of Forgotten Wishes by Trisha Ashley Published by Bantam Press 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐ Gardener Marnie wants to put down roots having escaped to France from a controlling marriage, she decides she needs a fresh start and gets a job in a rural west Lancashire village which her dying mother made her promise to stay away from. The job comes with a flat above a café run by two sisters, and she tends their garden, and also assists next door neighbour Ned Mars with his. Marni e remembers Ned from her college days but he’s far from the untroubled man she once knew. A recent relationship has left him with a heart as bruised as her own. This is a lovely cosy read especially if you love gardening, and even if you don’t, it’s a nice, heart-warming story.   I particularly loved the fact that I recognised characters from a previous book “The Christmas Invitation”, and I thought the tie in was a lovely touch, although saying that, this is a stand alone story, and you won’t feel like you...