Tag: linda corbett

Uncategorized

Summer Book Recommendations

theblindscribe

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today.

Seeing as it is now fully summertime I thought it would be fun to think back on the books I have read and give a few summer recs!

Dead man’s Folly by Agatha Christie

This is my second favourite Agatha Christie novel, second to Halloween Party, and there are village fairs and secrets and I adore this book.

Lying About Last Summer by Sue Wallman

It is literally in the title, and it is a great, twisty mystery. I know a lot of people like to read thrillers and mysteries in the summer and this would be a great choice.

What Would Jane Austen Do by Linda Corbett

This is a nice, sweet, summery romance novel and I think it is set in summer because it features a literary festival and they are mostly held in the summer months if they are outside.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

This book is a sweet, cosy fantasy with some romance and it feels like a good summer read.

Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell

Even the colours on the covers of this series scream series, same as Vampire Academy the series gets dark in some places but it is a brilliant fantasy series great for the summer.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

This is a nostalgic one for me, I love this series and it is a young adult vampire series, to me it just feels like a summer series, it gets dark in places but the characters and their humour keep things light.

Book Reviews

What Would Jane Austen Do by Linda Corbett Book Review

theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today!

Today I am bringing you my book review of What Would Jane Austen Do by Linda Corbett, have any of you read this book? If you have let me know I’d love to hear what you thought about it!

Blurb/Synopsis:

It’s a truth often acknowledged that when a Jane Austen fan girl ends up living next door to a cynical but handsome crime writer, romantic sparks will fly!When Maddy Shaw is told her Dear Jane column has been cancelled she has no choice but to look outside of London’s rental market. That is until she’s left an idyllic country home by the black sheep of the family, long-not-so-lost Cousin Nigel.

But of course there’s a stipulation… and not only is Maddy made chair of the committee for the annual village literary festival, she also has to put up with bestselling crime author –and romance sceptic – Cameron Massey as her new neighbour.

When Maddy challenges Cameron to write romantic fiction, which he claims is so easy to do, sparks fly both on and off the page…

My Review:

Okay, first of all I picked up this book because it mentions that he is a romance sceptic and he is a crime writer which I thought was going to be an interesting take on the romance plot. I struggle with the predictability of romance novels and admittedly this one was very predictable so it was a middle of the road read for me but I will give you some more of my thoughts.

I liked most of the plot, forced to live in a small town, the forced proximity, the bet between them all those kinds of things I enjoyed and it felt very cosy and focused a lot on developing the relationship between Maddy and Cameron but also Maddy and the people of the village she’s moved to which I liked because I have found before that some novels forget about friendships in favour of a romance. Some of the parts I didn’t like were: I would have liked more of the enemies before they became lovers if you know what I mean, they – this may be a slight spoiler – do hate each other at the beginning an this does continue but I would have lied this to go on for longer, maybe I’m just greedy like that. Also, and I am not sure this is a complaint because I am glad it wasn’t a miscommunication issue because I hate them, the tension in the relationship came from something that seemed very insignificant, like it had been put in there just because the author felt they needed something bad to happen and I didn’t like that much.

Overall, as far as romances go, this was an okay read. I enjoyed it but I don’t think it is a book I would be thinking about in a few months time. if you like romances though this is a solid book.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Monthly Wrap Ups

May Wrap Up!

theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well. What a month May has been. I have been almost completely locked into research mode with my PhD draft, it is getting there slowly but surely and in a way that us completely unlike me, the more I am writing it the more I am enjoying it. The worst part now is that I can see the end in sight and not only will I have to do my exam but then it will be time to start sending the novel off to agents which I didn’t think would scare me but it fills me with a mixture of excitement and dread. I have spent so long working on it, it has become very dear to me so sending it off for critiquing is terrifying!

Anyway, you’re not here to listen to me blab on about that, we are here to discuss the books I read, or did not read which is more like it.

The Trial by Robert Rinder

I am currently reading this book and loving it by the way, I am hoping to meet Rob Rinder at Crime Fest next week and I am very excited about that.

Helle and Death by Oskar Jensen

I have not read this. Unfortunately, I have to read this book for my PhD thesis and its gotten to be one of those situations where I know I have to read it so the more I think about reading it the less I want to which is unfair to the book and the author because it sounds good.

What Would Jane Austen Do by Linda Corbett

I did read this book, I thought okay you have been reading a lot of fantasy and msytery novels so you need to break it up with something a bit lighter so I decided to pick up this romance book, it has a crime writer in it as the love interest which create a nice dynamic – I will tell you more of my thoughts in a review coming soon!

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

I have not read this book but I am still very excited to get around to it soon.

I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan

Again, like Helle and Death, I have to read this for my PhD and I stayed it a while ago but I couldn’t get into it so I put it down and I haven’t managed to get back to it yet.

Murder At The Dolphin Hotel by Helena Dixon

I did not get the chance to read this book yet.

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

I have heard such good things about this book and I wished I could have gotten to it this month but unfortunately I didn’t manage it.

So, I read two books this month which isn’t great but I have been enjoying the reading I have been doing which is a good thing. I actually didn’t start my first book until halfway through the month as I was finishing Kingdom of the Wicked so two books in 15 days is quite good for me.

How was your reading in the month of may? What was the best book you read?

Monthly TBRs

May TBR!

theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a great day.

It is now May, this year is going by so quickly, and of course, that means it is time to share what I will be reading in May!

The Trial by Rob Rinder

Helle and Death by Oskar Jenson

What Would Jane Austen Do by Linda Corbett

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan

Murder at the Dolphin Hotel by Helena Dixon

Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

What are you all reading in May? What are you most looking forward to reading soon?

Monthly Wrap Ups

January 2024 Wrap Up

theblindscribe

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today.

Today I am bringing you my January Wrap Up, as I am writing this it is the 28th January 2024 so there are a few days left in January but I don’t think I’ll have time to start any of the other books from my January TBR, but I should be able to finish the one I am currently reading.

  • Manslaughter Park by Tirzah Price – I did not get around to reading this book
  • What would Jane Austen Do by Linda Corbett – I wasn’t feeling any romance books this month, I am devoting a lot of my time to reading mysteries that I can reference in my PhD thesis so unfortunately other books have to be pushed to the side for the minute.
  • The Housekeepers by Alex Hay – I did read this book this month, my review is coming on the 9th February.
  • The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St James – I did not read this book.
  • The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent – I did not read this book
  • Grave Expectations by Alice Bell – I am currently reading this book, I am about halfway through and I hope to have finished it by the end of January. Review coming on 19th February.

That was all the books on my January TBR but I actually read two books from outside of my TBR which were: The Magic Faraway Tree by Jacqueline Wilson and The Cat Who Solved Three Murders by L T Shearer, a review coming on the 12th February.

What books did you read in January? Which was your favourite read of the month? My favourite was probably Grave Expectations but for me it was a bit of a meh month, the books were okay but nothing spectacular.

Monthly TBRs

January TBR

theblindscribe

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today.

Today I am sharing what I hope to be reading during January 2024, let me know if you have read any of these books and what you thought of them!

Grave Expectations by Alice Bell

I am very intrigued by this book, I love a good murder mystery especially when they have something a bit different about them and this book definitely does. A traditional manor murder mystery with the twist of the investigator being a psychic, I am looking forward to reading it.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

I am very excited to read this one. It sounds like a rich adult fantasy that I could get engrossed in easily.

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St James

I have wanted this book for a while, I saw lots of people talking about it a while back. It sounds slightly spook but very interesting.

The Housekeepers by Alex Hay

This is another book I have wanted for a long time and I was excited to get it for Christmas. I am actually reading it right now, I am about 40 or so pages in and I am hooked. It is about a group of women who are all connected as they are or were once staff in this particular house on Park Lane and they plan to stage a heist in that house while a ball is happening. I love a good heist plot so I have high hopes for this book.

What Would Jane Austen Do?

To be honest I don’t know a lot about this book, I know that it follows two neighbors and one is a romance writer and one is a crime fiction writer, I think? That sounds intriguing to me but it’s not a book I think I am going to love, we shall see.

Manslaughter Park by Tirzah Price

This is the third book in the Jane Austen inspired murder mystery series and this one is based on Mansfield Park, following Fanny Price. I have loved the previous two books in this series so I hope I will love this one just as much.