Book-Mad-Mum

  Little Joe aged six sits down in front of the tv every Saturday morning to watch Scooby Doo cartoons while his mum goes running and his dad looks after him. Joe is told by his dad not to move from the spot, so one Saturday when the tv screen goes black just before the villain is revealed in the cartoon, Joe makes the decision to move from the sofa and find his dad. It’s a decision which will change all their lives as little Joe makes a gruesome discovery. Fast forward six years…Joe and Mum Kelly are now living in a small Devonshire village. She is struggling to make friends but carries a massive secret – her husband is a convicted serial killer serving time in prison whilst herself and Joe had to relocate and change their identities.  Joe is now in Year 6 at school and has put the past behind him (or has he?) he’s built a friendship group with Mia and Leon, but when best friend Mia goes missing accusations start flying left, right and centre. This is the second book at Bryony’s that

  Nurse Nell Sweeney walks to and from the hospital where she works every day believing that no harm will come of her until one day when she is taken.   When Nell’s friend and flatmate makes the call to say that she hasn’t seen her for two or three days, her parents Marian and Stephen who bought their daughter up to be an independent woman, are now questioning their judgement especially as she flew the nest at a young age. A man in their area is also targeting women through fear and logging his intentions and results on the dark web. Working alone, he thrives on the responses he gets on the website until someone suggests they team up and work together –but this is one step too far for “him”. I really enjoyed this book, although the subject matter was hard hitting and sometimes a little too difficult to read for a long while. I think it’s fair to say that it was a disturbing read and wasn’t the kind of book that I could devour in one or two sittings. I found that I had to pu

  Lucy is at a crossroads in her life – after walking out of her job in a small, local ad agency, she meets Caleb, a photographer in her seaside town. On the same night, she also bumps into her ex-Max, who was once the love of her life. Lucy must choose which path she is going to go down, does she pursue her dream of writing a novel and stay in her hometown, or does she move to London to work as a Copywriter for a large Advertising agency. This book is a tale of two stories – the “Go” part of the book tell us what happens if Lucy goes to London, lives in a room in her best friend’s house, she lands her dream job and addresses the issues of Max and what happened to their relationship. The other part of the story “Stay” tells us what would have happened if Lucy had stayed in her seaside town and finally sat down to write the novel she’s always dreamt of writing. Initially I wasn’t sure if I liked this story of not – and at times it felt like a real slog to get through it, but I am so

    Villa Sesame is a wedding venue on the French Riviera run by two sisters Rebecca and Delphine…imagine an azure blue swimming pool, gorgeous terraces, and the chirping of the cicadas of a balmy evening and you’re halfway there! Freya and Marcus have rekindled their love and are getting married to each other…again and decide to have their wedding at Villa Sesame, gathering their friends and family to share their special day. However behind the scenes at the villa Delphine has announced to her sister that she wants to retire and travel, however Rebecca doesn’t know where life is going to take her especially when Rufus turns up at the villa as a guest at the wedding.   Jennifer writes books that are completely relatable even if they are set in exotic locations that you may never get to visit – but we can all dream though can’t we? I am a similar age to most of the characters so it was refreshing to read about people in their 50s falling in love and getting a second chance at