Ready for a few page turning recommendations for summer reading? When it comes to books, I like something easy to read yet engaging. The genres I read, vary I could pick up a mindless chicklit book one week and the next it would be a gruesome murder mystery. Lately I have leaned a lot towards a “who did it” type book. For the purpose of this blog post, I have picked 8 of my most recent enjoyable reads and a few that I just didn’t like!!
If you’re looking for bloggers who regularly post book reviews, I highly recommend Sharon from Behind Green eyes and Chloe from Nurse Fancy pants. Both read a mammoth amount of books and blog about them!! There reviews are detailed and varied!!
Another source of summer reads, is the Richard and Judy Book club. I find a lot of my books there and I find the readers reviews excellent.
The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond
The marriage Pact tells the story of newly married couple Alice and Jake. Both have successful careers and what seems to be a picture perfect life. Deeply in the joys of being newlyweds, they receive a wedding gift with a difference. Thanks to a client of Alice, the couple receive a membership of a secret group called “The Pact” . The main aim of the Pact, is to keep the sanity of marriage and make sure that no members marriage ends in divorce. The Pact demands that members adhere to a list of rules including, always answer your spouse’s calls, exchange thoughtful gifts, plan trips together and never keep secrets. It all sounds easy until rules get broken and there is epic consequences.
This is a physiological thriller that is 100% a page turner. I couldn’t put this book down. The story is gripping but at the same time, it isn’t very taxing on the brain!! This is a real pool side read for me!
The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain
I am a big fan of Diane Chamberlain books. They are easy to read, the story gets going very quickly and they are always real page turners. That being said, some of her books can be a little too dumbed down, so always read the readers reviews on Amazon or Good reads.
The Stolen Marriage is my most recent Chamberlain read and one I throughly enjoyed. Set in North Carolina in 1944, it tells the story of Tess DeMello who finds herself, caught in a loveless marriage after a one night stand. The story tells of how she not only has to cope with a love she left behind in New York, a marriage that leaves her deeply unhappy but also the racial tensions in North Carolina at this time.
If you want a book, that you don’t have to think about too much, but at the same time want a story line that will keep you reading, then this is the one for you. Again, this is easy to read but the storyline is one with lots of twists and turns to keep you entertained.
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
If you’re a fan of books like Gone Girl and Girl on a train, then you will like The Couple next door.
Anne and Marco Conti seem to be a couple who have it all. A big house, great jobs and a brand new baby. Life seems perfect until one night they head next door to a dinner party leaving the baby in their own house with the monitor on. What happens next is any parents worst nightmare, as upon checking the baby later in the evening, it is quickly discovered that she is gone!
The Couple Next Door will have you gripped from the very first chapter. We follow Anne and Marco, as they try to find the whereabouts of their little girl. Like any good thriller it will have twists and turns to keep you guessing to the very end!
The Lavender Keeper by Fiona McIntosh
When it comes to books, my guilty pleasure 100% is historical fiction. Oh but not just any type of historical fiction. There needs to be a little bit of romance thrown in too! Corny I know!
The Lavender Keeper is the story of Luc Bonet, a Lavender farmer from the south of France, whose life is left in pieces because of the actions of the brutal Nazi soldiers who invade his small town. He joins the French Resistance to try and get the revenge he needs.
Lissete is an English waitress who finds herself coming to the attention of the Special Operations team in the UK. She is sent to France to undertake training for a secret operation that is crucial to the Allies winning the war.
Of course both Luc and Lissete’s paths cross, leading to many ups and downs for both their romance and their wartime roles. It all sounds very Mills and Boom but trust me, if you like historical fiction, you will love this. I found it gave good insight in the wartime Paris and the role of the Resistance during the war.
I really enjoyed this one, so much so that I followed it straight away with the sequel ” The French Promise”. Although I only found that one ok!
I let you go by Clare Mackintosh
If you like books with twists and turns that you don’t see coming, you will love this. I am normally someone who guesses the twists in books but this is a book that kept me guessing right until the last page.
The story opens with a hit and run accident that sees a little 5 year old boy lose his life. The police investigate but with little to go on, it leaves the little boys mother in a heap. It sees Jenna walk away from everything she knows, to try and rebuild her life in cottage on the coast in Wales. Keeping herself to herself and learning to come to terms with what has happened back in Bristol. I can’t really tell you too much more because I will give the plot away but what I will say is if you find that you’re someone who enjoys books where you find yourself thinking like the detective trying to piece together all the clues, then you will love this story . I will say, the first part is a little slow moving, but stick with it,as it is a fantastic read.
The Captain’s Daughter by Leah Fleming
The Captain’s daughter begins onboard the Titanic, where we meet two women, Celeste Parkes and May Smith. Both on board for different reasons, they find themselves in the same life boat on the night the Titanic struck the iceberg. Having being separated from her husband and small baby, May is handed a baby by Captain Smith and she believes the baby to be her own. Celeste takes a distraught May under her wing and so begins a friendships that isn’t to be broken.
The story spans from 1912 to 1959 and tells the story of how the two women’s friendships grow during times of death, marital abuse and two wars.
I absolutely loved this book and in my eyes it is a must read. It is an easy read but there is enough meat to get your teeth sunk into. There is also a nice dose of history thrown in too, as the story is based on the legend of Captain smith handing a baby into a lifeboat after the ship went down.
The American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
This is another super book that I can’t recommend enough!!
Alice is a quiet small town girl who after a tragic accident finds herself winding up in the arms of the son of a powerful republican family. Coming from humble beginnings, she is swept off her feet by this charismatic man and enters into a world of privilege and politics. Like his father that went before him, Charlie, Alice’s husband, finds himself in the role of Governor and soon after the president of the United States. Throughout the book we see Alice in conflict with her morals and beliefs compared to those of her husband and his family. It also shows the turmoil they face in trying to keep their private life off the public record.
The American Wife is very close to the story of Laura and George Bush and I found myself googling the whole time trying to find out if George W had really done some of the stuff suggested in the book.
This is a super summer read because while it is very enjoyable, it isn’t your typical pool side read and will keep you thinking once you put the book down.
The Guilty Wife by Elle Croft
Bethany Reston is a happily married woman who happens to find herself caught up in an affair with billionaire and client, Callum Croft. When Callum is brutally murdered, Bethany finds herself under investigation by the police for a crime she didn’t commit. The story takes many twists and turns and it really is a case of who did it, with Bethany frantically trying to clear her name without bringing attention to her affair with Callum.
From beginning right to the very last chapter I was guessing and guessing again as to the perpetrator was! This is a serious page turner, it’s not too taxing on the brain and for once I was totally wrong as to who actually killed Callum!!
Books to avoid!!
Here are 3 books I just didn’t love!!! Instead of giving a full detailed review, I am just going to tell you what I didn’t like about them!!
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine : Eleanor might be fine but I will never get back the hours I wasted reading this book!! I just do not get the hype around it. I found the characters bland and the story line boring!!! Yes, I can see why others might like it but for me it was a big waste of time!
Everything you told me by Lucy Dawson: This was one of amazons highly recommended books, but again it was a story about nothing!! It had a promising start with the main character Sally finding herself waking up in the back of a taxi, in her pyjamas 4 hours from her house and not knowing how she got there but it just kept going over and over the same arguments. I found Sally to be a complete moaning Myrtle!!
The woman in the window: This is another much hyped thriller that Amazon said I needed to read! Let me save you a few hours , don’t bother! This who did it physiological thriller was more a sleeping aid than a page turner. The main character was a dose! At like with ” everything you told me” . The main character just kept going over and over the same points. The actually climax of the book was about as climatic as Sunday Mass!!