RoroblusMumReadsReviews/Rants

3* it almost felt like this tale was more about the female lead's libido and closure on the failed marriage than the blurb. And goodness, the woman barely showered! This is readable but the female lead isn't likeable and being in her head is tiresome. She's a lot me, me, me and she doesn't deserve Sebastien after cheating on him with her ex. Yes, she does come clean and he's understanding of it, expecting of it, almost, but ick.  She's paranoid, I'd say, not with the good instincts that the book tries to make you think, with reason. Her sleuthing at the end is what results in a tragedy, but she doesn't seem all that bothered by it. The result is that she discovers her daughter's killer's identity but it feels quite a bit of a stretch and quite weak after a tale with several red herrings. An OK read but not what I was expecting. 

4* Good red herrings in a tale with multiple characters, any number of which could've killed the awful Ellen.  Ellen seems to be a very twisted Hyacinth Bucket-type character; keeping tabs on everyone and their - in her eyes, misdemeanours - making threats; interfering in their business; reporting them; spreading rumours and more. We don't fully learn what motivates her, as she's killed in the first few pages. She seems to have been a half-decent sleuth, with a very unchristian heart, sadly. Did she deserve her ending? For most of the tale I thought she did, but when the killer was revealed, perhaps Ellen had been trying to do a form of...not quite good, maybe, but the right thing? I mean, she'd have still had an ego boost out of it had she succeeded in unmasking the killer, but some people got the closure they needed after far too many years.  The characters in this were decent as was most of the police work. I'm not sure that some of the police should've been ...

4* Another good outing for Liam and Maya. It just seems a tad tiresome and unbelievable that the almost personality-less Liam is so sought after by so many females... So, the last part of my title - Liam's given a number by a female tech he casually knows, in an awkward scene for them both; it jarred. He's sleeping with Grace, an ex, because it's something to do. He'd have us think he's still got a thing for Millie, his son's former teacher who he just happens to bump into and can't get out of his mind despite knowing she had a new boyfriend in book 2, and was traumatised at what happened to her because of her connection to Liam. Kinda doesn't really ring true, as the guy lacks personality, social skills and is a workaholic. But, at the end, there might be hope for him in book 4. That aside, the book was decent, although he has almost no tine to be a part-time dad to George who's growing up fast and seems mature beyond his years, and is a pretty dece...

5* A touching, but not soppy, read with Barbara Elsborg's usual tugs on my heart; with a couple of guys brought together by fate - or maybe a higher power; with an organic mystery element that's seen through with devastating consequences. But remember, it's a BE tale, so it all works out 😃 I've never read a BE book that I've not enjoyed, and this is one of her most organic-feeling. It starts with a punch for both River and Newt - River's blow is devastating in how he may never regain control of his body, voice, mind and agency, and Newt's is devastating in how his life and future are taken away from him by betrayal by family, by people who should've loved and protected him. The two don't know of each other's existence until a good deed to a stranger results in Newt being offered a job in River's life.  The tale is perhaps a bit slower than some of BE's, but that makes it more realistic as we see River's physical and mental struggles....

4* Brutal, sadly all too believable in the orange twat's 2026 USA. Decent storyline; decent, strong females; horrible, racist, hypocritical bandwagon rednecks who're most likely MAGAs. This book has gone there. It's fiction based on today's USA that's gone backwards in so many ways, bringing out the worst in people who've become emboldened because of that orange twat who's just a mouthpiece for all things horrible, shameful, racist, jealous, wrong and countless other negative adjectives. It's a sad reflection that makes me grateful to be a Brit, although we have a good few twats of our own who're giving Reform acceleration, frighteningly and sadly. But, we at least have backbone and we have courts that will hold people to task. It's a tale of a Black female judge who's respected by many; hated by many more who're racist, Caucasian, barely disguised MAGAs, including her peers. In one scene where she overhears how her peers describe her, in...

3.5* A decent storyline that thankfully is pretty much trope-free, although you do need to suspend disbelief a bit. This is a cute, romantic and if you can get over the prince-pauper thing - to use this purely as a comparison between the leads' backgrounds and upbringing - the tale works. Adan is sweet and family orientated, and he's got working-class parents who've sacrificed a lot for him. I loved that when he hit the big time, he insisted that they both retire. Nils didn't have a stick up his royal arse, which helped, but that was the bit that required suspension of disbelief, because who in 2026 isn't friends with Google? It didn't seem believable that no one clocked who he was.  The tale was plausible, giving them an organic reason to meet, but that both embraced being bi so easily and quickly felt a bit 'hmm...yeah...' Nils was more believable than Adan, so that's where the tale lost 1* for me. Too much immediate acceptance, not a worry about w...