The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water - Erin Bartels

I’ve been a fan of Erin Bartels’ novels since her first was published.  They’ve each been complex and compelling reads and The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water is equally so.  

 

This story, though, is a darker tale than Erin’s previous books.  It begins with what seems a quite simple if not very nice problem – a letter from A Very Disappointed Reader about Kendra Brennan’s first, and very successful, book.  

One ‘hate mail’ letter could be brushed off, but the writer of this particular letter makes accusations which stick in Kendra’s mind. Stick so intrusively that she is struck with writer’s block while the deadline for her next book looms ominously before her.  

So she heads back to her grandfather’s old cabin on Hidden Lake, the place where she spent all her childhood summers, to face the demons of her past and settle in her mind the accusations made in the letter.  To do so will mean facing Tyler, the brother of her childhood friend Cami, and facing the breakdown of her friendship with Cami.

 

Just as Kendra is getting settled in she has a further challenge to deal with when the German translator of her first book, someone Kendra thought was Andrea-the-girl, but who turns out to be Andreas-the-guy, arrives unexpectedly on her doorstep.

 

This is a book which you need to keep focussed on. It’s not an easy read and deals with some very tough issues of which the key one is sexual assault. It explores a number of relationships, not just that of Kendra and Cami, and the connections of  the wider community around Hidden Lake.  It’s a book which makes the reader ask themselves questions when they come up for air. 

 

Tightly-written, moving, and powerful, this is a strongly recommended read. It would be an excellent book for a reading group or book club read. 

9780800738372, Revell, Pub date: 28 February 22 in the UK, out now in the USA

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own. 

Ramah - Rob Munday

Sarah, a young woman abandoned in love, is returning home to Bethlehem with her young son Issa when she meets young couple Mary and Joseph on the road and is warned of coming danger.  This is the start of a connection between Issa and Yeshua which will last their whole lives.  

 

In the face of rejection, suspicion and hatred, Sarah and Issa struggle to survive, eking out an existence on the fringes of Bethlehem both physically and socially.  They meet kind shepherd Daniel, who apprentices Issa, and deaf-mute Moshe who is at the birth of Yeshua in the cave stable where he tends his animals and who becomes almost a brother to Issa.

 

Moshe was my favourite character of the whole story, and I was constantly curious as to who he was and what would happen to him.  Despite his disability he is shown to be caring, supportive, and able.  

 

This is a fascinating and compelling read.  The author’s gift for descriptive writing immerses the reader into the dust, heat and struggle of the Bible lands so effectively that you can almost feel and taste it.  The story brings biblical characters to life in sometimes surprising ways with depth and richness in the telling.  I loved the use of song and Psalm throughout  and it lifts the text.  This is a hard-hitting novel, sometimes shocking and often unexpected.  An excellent read for both male and female readers.

9781912863907, Malcolm Down Publishing

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own. 

To Treasure an Heiress - Roseanna M White

I enjoyed reading The Nature of a Lady (book 1 in The Secrets of the Isles series) but I loved To Treasure an Heiress.  This second book in the series absolutely sparkles with wit and energy and there were plenty of times where it raised a chuckle or even outright laughter from this eager reader.

The search for pirate treasure is an enticing element throughout, and I very much liked the telling of the much earlier history of the Pirate Prince Rupert and his bride, where the author masterfully entwines fact and fiction. 

 

Beth Tremayne is the local lass from the Scillies, firmly connected to her island roots, but with a thirst for adventure.  She is fascinated by the tale of Rupert and Briallen and very unimpressed by the interloper from the Lake District, Lord Sheridan, particularly as she believes he stole her beloved inherited trinket box.

Sheridan is smitten with Beth almost immediately, and there are some nice little quotes from him from Pride and Prejudice and some very amusing calculations which vary wildly depending on how long he thinks it will take him to win Beth!  Although his and Beth’s relationship develops at lightning speed, something I usually strongly dislike in novels, here it works really well perhaps in part because although the overall time span of the book is short, such a lot happens within it.  Underpinning everything is the search for ‘pirate treasure’. Is it really there? What is it? Will Beth and/or Sheridan find it?

 

One of the reasons I like Roseanna M White’s books is the depth she gives to her wider cast of characters and this is no exception.  Early in the story we meet Senara, newly home on the Islands after making a very bad choice which has catastrophic consequences.  Once back things don’t become simpler for her and she risks compounding her mistake.  But the truly lovely Ainsley, Sheridan’s Valet, is there to help guide her.  The episode with the pearl is one of my favourite parts of the book and I’m not going to say any more than that as to do so would spoil it for any new reader.  I would love to read more about Senara and Ainsley.  Please, Roseanna, do mention them again!  I also thought Sheridan’s sisters Lady Abbie and Lady Millicent were wonderful, and again I’m not going to say more in case I give a spoiler away…

 

The bad guy in the book is far more than a caricature and has a really evil streak which means there’s a hefty ‘threat level’ to the story. Unfortunately he’s the brother of Beth’s friend Emily, about whom I very much look forward to hearing more in book 3 of the series.

 

To Treasure an Heiress can be read as a stand alone although the reader will certainly want to read the earlier book as quickly as possible afterwards to find out how Libby and Oliver met.

 

Highly recommended as not merely an adventure story (though it’s a superb one) but also a tale of renewal and redemption.

9780764237195, Bethany House, £9.99

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.

The Crystal Crypt - Fiona Veitch Smith

The Crystal Crypt is the sixth book in the well-established Poppy Denby Investigates series from Lion Fiction.  Although a series, each book is a stand-alone story. 

In this volume, professional reporter and amateur sleuth Poppy Denby is asked to find out what really happened to Dr June Leighton, a female scientist who is far from welcomed by the men she works alongside in an Oxford laboratory.  Her death has been recorded as an accident, but her lab assistant is unconvinced.  As Poppy begins to investigate, under the guise of writing an article about June, it’s not long before an ‘accident’ on her bike shows that someone is not happy about her enquiries.  

 

Fiona Veitch Smith’s craft as a mystery novelist is well honed. This is an excellent novel with lots of action and twists and turns in the tale.  Poppy is, as always, an engaging heroine and the Oxford of the story will ring true to anyone who knows the city.  As it happens, I also know Somerville, as a family member used to work in the Porter’s Lodge there!  The story is set in the 1920s, and much of the book addresses the gender inequality of the time, as well as references to other prejudices of the time period.

 

An excellent historical mystery, with plenty of pace and interest, and wonderful characters (hello, Rollo!). Perfect for whiling away a few hours in a comfy chair. And then going to look for the others in the series…

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.