Books I Read in June 2025

This month I went on holiday.  Two weeks in the glorious Lake District filled with good food, good books and good walks. In fact, my dog Roxie, is finding home walkies far inferior as there are no lakes in which she can paddle in the shallows!

We had a fabulous time and were able to sit in the sunshine with a good book or two. In fact, I have read several five star reads this month so it will be difficult to choose a favourite, but I will try.

What have you been reading this month? Anything you would think I might enjoy?

The Last Train to Freedom by Deborah Swift

I seldom give books of this type five stars, but this one fully deserves it for bringing something new and refreshing to the genre. If you would like to read my review of this book you can find it here.

Rainbows and Lollipops by Mo Fanning

This is a wonderful book about friendship and family that I enjoyed reading very much, and it earned a five star review from me. If you would like to read my review of this book you can find it here.

What Will Survive of Us by Howard Jacobson

I really struggled to like the characters in this book. Well written but I found it somewhat lacking.

Great and Horrible News: Murder and Mayhem in Early Modern Britain by Blessin Adams

I haven't had an opportunity to review this excellent non-fiction title yet. It was extremely well researched and put together. 

The Rabbi's Suitcase by Robert Kehlmann

This was an enjoyable book based on the discovery of the author of a cache of hidden letters and will appeal to those interested in Jewish history. You can find my mini review by clicking here.

Wartime Comes to the West India Dock Road by Renita D'Silva

This was a really enjoyable read. My review won't be available until my stop on the blog tour on 25th July. Watch this space.

Libby and the Highland Heist by Jo Clarke

This is another book by my granddaughter's favourite author. It's a really enjoyable continuation of the Libby series.

A Murder for Miss Hortense by Mel Pennant

An enjoyable book in the cosy crime genre. My review of this book will be up on 3rd July.

Ladies Lunch and Other Stories by Lore Segal

I really wanted to enjoy this book of interconnected stories but alas, the book didn't live up to my hopes.

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

This was very different to anything I have read recently. I enjoyed it and my review is scheduled for the 8th July.

The Heirloom by Julie Brooks

Probably my favourite read this month.  It had everything that I love in a book. It is a dual timeline narrative, being set in both 1821 and 2024. Consequently, historical fiction runs alongside a contemporary narrative. I loved it. If you would like to read my review of this book you can find it here.

The Union Street Bakery by Mary Ellen Taylor

This was a gripping and engaging novel which I really loved, and it's about three sisters who are running the family bakery.  If you would like to read my review of this book you can find it here.

Women in Lockdown by The Wayfinder Woman Trust

The book is full to the brim with the writing, artwork and photographs of women in lockdown.   If you would like to read my review of this book you can find it here.

The Union Street Bakery by Mary Ellen Taylor - #bookreview

Life can turn on a dime. It’s a common cliché, and I’d heard it often enough. People die or move away. Investments go south. Affairs end. Loved ones betray us... Stuff happens.

***

The Blurb

This was a charming story which I really enjoyed.

Daisy McCrae’s life got off to a rocky start. Abandoned by a mother she never really knew, she was adopted into a family she’s never truly felt a part of. Thirty years later, her life is just as rocky. Between losing her job and her boyfriend, she’s lost all sense of self.

Now Daisy is back where it all began: the Union Street Bakery. She’s resigned to living in the bakery’s attic, learning the family business, and saving it if she can. But patching up the holes in her relationship with her sisters is another story.

So, too, is the century-old journal she inherits. Written by an enslaved girl named Susie, the weathered pages offer Daisy a glimpse into a past that has everything to do with her present.

As Daisy learns more about Susie, the town, and her family, she starts to see who she’s been and who she wants to be―and realizes that maybe, no matter how much you’ve lost, there’s always something more to find.

From the bestselling author of The Brighter the Light comes a bittersweet and hopeful story about how one woman’s journey into her family’s past helps her embrace her future.This is the first in the Union Street Bakery and I'm already looking forward to reading the next one, Sweet Expectations, which I already have downloaded to my kindle.

My Review

The book centres around three sisters, Rachel, Margaret and Daisy McCrae with the latter of the three being the main character. Daisy is a successful and determined woman but when she loses her high powered job in finance, and separates from her fiance, she moves back home to her family in Virginia. There she finds the family bakery business close to financial ruin and she steps in to help save it.

Daisy is also the only one of the sisters to be adopted and has always struggled with feeling like 'a real McCrae' and finding her place in the family. When Daisy inherits a 19th century journal from an elderly customer she couldn't be more surprised. At first appearance, the journal seems to have been written by a literate slave girl called Susie.

Susie is someone that Daisy has known all her life. Her ghostly form has appeared to her since her childhood and now she is back at the bakery, Daisy still hears her... along with another ghostly presence who makes it clear he wants her gone.

The bakery itself is every bit as important as the characters.  I thought it was a lovely touch to include some of the recipes at the back of the book.

This was a gripping and engaging novel which I really loved. It is a multi-faceted story and the author does a fabulous job in bringing together the present and the past, and with a paranormal aspect thrown in.

The book is about love, belonging and identity. It is about second chances and having sufficient faith and trust to start again, not just for the people but for the bakery itself.

An excellent novel which I highly recommend.

Book Details

ISBN:  978 1662531002

Publisher:  Montlake

Formats:  e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages:  335 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Blackwell's

About the Author

Amazon Charts bestselling author, Mary Ellen Taylor’s love of her home state Virginia is evident in her contemporary women’s fiction, including After Paris, The Promise of Tomorrow, Winter Cottage, Spring House, and Honeysuckle Season. She brings her new home on the Outer Banks of North Carolina to life in her latest novel The Brighter The Light and When the Rain Ends.

As do so many people, her protagonists search for their place in the world, exploring issues of family, home, love and belonging. Inevitably, Mary Ellen’s stories interweave setting, history and mysteries that span past and present.

You can also find her at:

Author Website

Facebook

Instagram

(ARC courtesy of NetGalley)

(author media courtesy of the Author)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Playing the Witch Card by KJ Dell'Antonia - #BookReview

 

Other people, when forced to start over, do so in appropriate places. New York. Los Angeles. Bozeman. Only Flair would wind up in Kansas, dragging a hand-painted, life-sized figue of Jack Skellington into her bakery and wondering where to hide it until the horror show that was Halloween in Rattleboro finally lurched to an end this weekend.

Flair hated seeing even the outside of her tidy space besmirched with the trappings of a ridiculous holiday that invited exactly the kind of chaos that she normally kept firmly at bay...

***

When Flair Hardwicke returns to the tiny town of Rattleboro to take over her grandmother’s beloved bakery, she believes she’s prepared for anything. All she needs is her daughter Lucie, and to get as far away from her cheating ex-husband as physically possible. But sweet treats weren’t the only thing her grandmother was known for in Rattleboro, and as determined as Flair is to avoid it, a misbehaving deck of tarot card-shaped cookies draws her back into the web of family magic she’s fought so hard to escape.

Even worse: her first love is in town. Flair hasn’t spoken to Jude Oakes, now a famous chocolatier, since he broke her heart at seventeen. When Flair finds she’s accidentally summoned Lucie’s father to Rattleboro under a curse she can’t break, the recipe for Halloween chaos seems to be complete.

But not everything in Rattleboro is as it seems. As Flair’s family is threatened, she is forced to put aside everything she thinks she knows about love, witchcraft, motherhood―and herself. Because Flair might think she’s done with magic, but magic certainly isn’t done with Flair.

***

This is a lighthearted cozy witchy book that is ideal to read in the run-up to Halloween.

Set in the town of Rattleboro, this book oozes with the atmosphere of this small town in America. It sparks with rivalry, romance and relationships. It was very much about the relationship between mother and daughter.

The main character, Flair, is at times funny and there were many times I chuckled at her reactions. Indeed, many of the characters were larger than life. I particularly enjoyed watching the relationship between Flair, her mother and her daughter play out. 

Flair originally left Rattleboro in an attempt to leave behind her magical skills, and she certainly does not want her daughter, Lucie, to be any part of it. However, now that she has inherited her grandmother's bakery, she is back in her home town, attempting to resist it's and her magic. However, when she makes tarot shaped biscuits they are imbued with a magic of their own and she and the magic are thrust back together.

This is a fun and entertaining read which will appeal to fans of light hearted witch themed books.

ISBN: 978 1803366845

Publisher: Titan Books

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  336 (paperback)

About the Author:

KJ Dell’Antonia is a New York Times best-selling author whose novels The Chicken Sisters and In Her Boots explore the same themes she once explored as a journalist: the importance of finding joy in our families, the challenge of figuring out what makes us happy and the need to value the life we’re living more than the one in our phones and laptops, every single time. Her third novel, Playing the Witch Card, throws magic into the mix, but witchcraft, like reality TV and literary fraud, rarely really solves anyone’s problems. She is also the former editor of the New York Times’ Motherlode blog, the co-host of the #AmWriting podcast,  and a passionate bookstagrammer (@kjda).  She lives in Lyme, New Hampshire, with her husband, children and assorted dogs, cats, chickens and horses.

(author photo and bio courtesy of the author's website https://kjdellantonia.com/)

(ARC courtesy of NetGalley)

(all opinions are my own)

My Top Ten Books for Christmas 2022

Well, it's exactly one month until Christmas Day and I thought it time that I shared with you the top ten Christmas books which have me excited. So, in no particular order, here they are.

Driving Home for Christmas by Joanna Bolouri

THREE CHRISTMASES. TWO BROKEN HEARTS. ONE HELL OF A JOURNEY.

Driving home marks the start of the holidays for Kate and Ed, who have made this journey every Christmas of their ten-year long relationship. Normally the seasonal hits blare from the car stereo, and they are guaranteed to be wearing ridiculous jumpers in anticipation, but this year a frosty silence fills the car...

A massive argument leads to the immediate collapse of their relationship. But the show must go on, so they decide to brave their families together one last time.

With three Christmases to celebrate, an old flame waiting under the mistletoe and a shed load of expectation around their future together, this most wonderful time of year is anything but. There will be turkey, tiffs and tantrums galore, but it's sure to be a Christmas they'll never forget.

A Christmas Celebration by Heidi Swain

When Paige turns up unannounced at Wynthorpe Hall, she discovers the place she knew when she was growing up has changed beyond all recognition. She’s only planning to stay for a short time, but is quickly pulled into local life.

 One night while driving home after delivering library books and shopping to residents she stumbles across an isolated cottage and meets Albert, its elderly and rather grumpy owner. She quickly realises there’s more to Albert than meets the eye and the same can be said for the other man she can’t seem to help running into, handsome but brooding Brodie.

 All three of them have a secret and a desire to hide away from the world, but with Christmas on the horizon, is that really the best way to celebrate the season?

Christmas at the Borrow a Bookshop by Kiley Dunbar

'Tis the season for finding love… and the perfect book

With just two weeks until Christmas, everything in Clove Lore should be perfect. But the latest holidaymaker to the Borrow a Bookshop is feeling far from festive…

Icelandic ex-bookseller Magnús Sturluson might be surrounded by love stories in the Bookshop, but he’s nursing a sadness that not even fiction can fix.

When Alexandra Robinson finds herself stranded in Clove Lore, she finds a safe place to hide from heartbreak. After all, all that’s waiting for her at home is a cheater boyfriend and the memories of her parents. As Alex finds herself embraced by the quirky village community, she finds her tough exterior thawing – and as she grows closer to Magnús, she finds an equally soft heart under his gruff shell.

It seems that Clove Lore is working its magic once again – until a great flood on Christmas Eve brings devastation in its wake. It’s up to Magnús and Alex to batten down the hatches and help bring the village back together again, while also introducing the locals to the Icelandic tradition of the jólabókaflóð – Yule book flood – where families and friends gather on Christmas Eve to exchange books and read together.

But can Magnús and Alex truly rescue the ruins of the village, and salvage their Christmas spirit? Or is there another complication lurking even closer than they thought?

Murder on the Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict

Eighteen passengers. Seven stops. One killer.

In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the sleeper train to the Highlands is derailed, along with the festive plans of its travellers. With the train stuck in snow in the middle of nowhere, a killer stalks its carriages, picking off passengers one by one. Those who sleep on the sleeper train may never wake again.

Can former Met detective Roz Parker find the killer before they kill again?

All aboard for . . . Murder on the Christmas Express.

The Christmas Spirit by Debbie Macomber

Will they find their happy-ever-after this Christmas?

Peter and Hank are lifelong friends, but when it comes to their jobs they couldn't be more different. Peter is a small-town pastor and is devoted to helping the community, while Hank runs the local pub and is never too far from a party. But this Christmas, everything is about to change . . .

Having never settled down, Peter and Hank believe their demanding jobs are keeping them from finding love. Convinced that the other has it easier, they hatch a plan to swap places the week before Christmas to put their theories to the test and find time for themselves.

But as Hank quickly becomes overwhelmed by nativity plans, and Peter struggles to control the rowdy festive pub-goers, they each begin to worry they're in over their heads. Luckily, church assistant Grace is on hand to help Hank navigate a church/life balance, and a young woman seeking shelter at the pub might be exactly what Peter needs to realise there's more than one way to help his community . . .

This Christmas, will Peter and Hank's stunt fall flat, or will it open their eyes to the possibility of love at last?

A Royal Christmas by Jeremy Archer

A Royal Christmas is a Christmas pudding of a book, full of silver threepenny pieces.

Organised thematically, it covers such topics as Christmas and conflict in the 20th century, Christmas pastimes, festive feasts, Christmas and the Commonwealth, and many more, to reveal the many ways in which the Royal Family have celebrated the festive season through the ages.

Jeremy Archer has delved into the Royal Archives to uncover the personal thoughts of many members of the Royal Family during the Christmas period. What comes over most strongly from Queen Victoria’s journals is the importance of family: the joys they shared, the trials they endured, and the carefully-selected gifts they exchanged. Although there is much happiness, tragedy is a common bed-fellow, particularly in earlier times. And conflict is seldom very far away.

But this is a celebration – both of an enduring festive season and an extraordinary family.

A White Christmas on Winter St. by Sue Moorcroft

When Sky Terran returns to the village of Middledip after losing the job she loves, she anticipates a quiet Christmas getting used to her new life. However, the annual street decoration competition is coming up and this year, the residents of Winter Street are determined to win.

As she is pulled into the preparations, Sky quickly grows to love the quirky, tight-knit community she is now part of. Including the extremely handsome Daz, who soon becomes more than just a friendly neighbour.

But when Daz’s ex turns up determined to win him back and it seems he might not be the man Sky thought he was, she remembers how much allowing people into her life – and heart – can hurt. As the snow falls, will she and Daz find a way through – and help win a Christmas victory for Winter Street?

Snowed in for Christmas by Sarah Morgan

She’s snowed in with the family. The only problem? They’re not her family.

A family gathering

This Christmas the Miller siblings have one goal – to avoid their family’s well-meaning questions. Ross, Alice and Clemmie have secrets that they don’t intend to share, and they are relying on each other to deflect attention.

An uninvited guest

Lucy Clarke is facing a Christmas alone, and the prospect of losing her job – unless she can win a major piece of business from Ross Miller. She’ll deliver her proposal to his family home in the Scottish Highlands and then leave. After all, she wouldn’t want to intrude on the Miller’s perfect family Christmas.

A Christmas to remember

When Lucy appears on the Miller’s snow-covered doorstep, she is mistaken for Ross’s girlfriend. But by the time the confusion is cleared up, a storm has hit and Lucy is stuck. As everyone settles in for a snowed-in Christmas, tensions bubble to the surface and suddenly Lucy finds herself facing a big family fallout with a family that isn’t hers…

Christmas Feasts and Treats by Donna Hay

In this re-issue, Donna Hay takes the stress out of Christmas cooking and entertaining with this must-have collection of over 170 stunning yet simple festive recipes. Featuring all the nostalgic favourites and some fun twists on the classics, this is the only cookbook you need for the festive season.

From easy starters to show-stopping mains - including a cheat's glazed ham that doesn't need studding or basting - to dazzling desserts that are sure to impress, and some special edible gifts, these recipes are peppered with Donna's best-ever tricks and shortcuts to make it the most relaxing Christmas yet. You'll also find plenty of beautiful styling tips to add some extra sparkle to the festivities.

Also included are step-by-step images to walk you through it all, whether you're attempting a glossy ham, succulent bird, fruity pudding or a shimmering trifle. Or perhaps you want to try your hand at a roast pork with the perfect crackle, a gingerbread wreath or a rocking rocky road?

No matter what's on the menu, Christmas Feasts and Treats will give you the confidence to have a very delicious and stress-free Christmas.

All I Want for Christmas is Yarn by Lindsey Newns

Crochet yourself into the Christmas spirit with these 30 gorgeous patterns for decorations, festive outerwear and personal gifts..

Deck the halls with boughs made of yarn! Just grab your hook and this book and get cracking. With 30 patterns from Lindsey Newns (@lottieandalbert), you’ll have Christmas decorations and gifts sorted for many years to come, with crochet crafts including:

A super chunky wreath

Tasselled baubles

Garlands

Reusable crackers

Festive amigurumi

Candy cane present toppers

And many, many more…

It’s beginning to look a lot like Crochetmas!

(header photo courtesy of Andrea Radu / Unsplash)

Tea at the Palace: 50 Delicious Recipes for Afternoon Tea by Carolyn Robb - #BookReview

 

During my thirteen years as a royal chef, I was very privileged to call some of Britain's most splendid royal palaces and castles my 'place of work'. It was immensely inspiring to cook for such incredible people in such impressive surroundings. Each royal residence has its own distinctive character, traditions and ambience, dictated by its whereabouts and its history, which in many cases, dates back hundreds of years. I have created this collection of special recipes in celebration of a unique aspect of each of the twelve superb locations.

***

Set against a backdrop of twelve of Britain’s most stunning palaces and residences, the recipes are a mix of traditional, contemporary and whimsical; each one with its own unique twist.

 

Every chapter tells a tale, with inspiration drawn from sources as diverse as a 200-year-old royal banquet menu, an intriguing 17th-century chocolate kitchen commissioned by William III and Queen Victoria’s highland retreat.

Gingerbread soldiers in sentry boxes, striking raspberry swirl meringues, miniaturised cream scones, cacao nib nuggets and warm salmon tartlets are just a few of the teatime temptations.

 

Written by the Former Personal Chef to TRH the Prince and Princess of Wales.  

***

I don't often review cookery books, but when I do I always like to have a go at one of the recipes before I write it, and this is no exception. I needed to make a cake as the centre piece for my WI's Jubilee Celebration so this book was perfect to find a recipe for this occasion (more about my efforts later.)

There are some truly sumptuous looking cakes and bakes in this book, all of which have all been beautifully photographed by John Kernick, making it a visual delight. I could have happily baked my way through most of the recipes. 

However, not only are the photographs of the bakes gorgeous but there are also wonderful photos of the royal palaces. The recipes are divided up by royal residence with appropriate bakes attributed to each venue. They are: 

Buckingham Palace

Sandringham House

Kensington Palace

Hampton Court Palace

Brighton Pavilion

Highgrove House

Blenheim Palace

Balmoral Castle

The Castle of Mey

Kew Palace

Windsor Castle

Caernarfon Castle

In each section, Ms. Robb writes about her experience at each royal residence, followed up with recipes she has cooked. I did, in fact, use two of the recipes to make one cake as I needed the quantities of cake mixture from the White Chocolate and Mint Cake (Highgrove House) but with the filling of the Strawberry Bunting Cake (Buckingham Palace).

I found the recipe in this timely publication easy to follow and I was very happy with the result.

Anyone who enjoys baking or reading about the Royal Family would enjoy this book, and I can envisage it one that I would come back to on several subsequent occasions.

ISBN: 978 0711279650  

Publisher: White Lion Publishing

Formats: e-book and Hardback

No. of Pages: 160 (hardback)

About the Author:

Born and raised in South Africa, Carolyn Robb’s culinary education began at ‘The Tante Marie School of Cookery’ in Surrey, UK. Her first job was at Kensington Palace cooking for TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester after which she served as the personal chef for TRH The Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince William and Prince Harry for 11 years. Since then she has lived and worked in Dubai, California and the UK, as a culinary consultant, in event management, product development, in the travel sector and as a food critic, judge and author. Tea at the Palace is Carolyn’s second book. 

(author photo courtesy of Speakers Connect 

 bio info courtesy of The Quarto Group

ARC courtesy of NetGalley)

Reading Roundup - May 2022

 

May has been a mixed month for me. We were finally able to take a long needed holiday. My husband and I packed up the car with the dog and a pile of books, and headed off to spend a week in Yorkshire followed by a week in Lincolnshire.

Yorkshire is a beautiful county and we had a wonderful week there. The photograph above is one that I took at the library in Cottingham. I love to visit libraries when I visit other parts of the country.

Our week in Lincolnshire got off to a great start. Our accommodation was beautiful and we were surrounded by yellow rape seed fields. It was stunning. Unfortunately, part way through this week we both contracted covid which was far from ideal. 

However, regardless of that, it was wonderful to get away for a while to two such beautiful parts of the country. It was so good to relax with our books and we had some lovely walks with the dog. We are back home now, refreshed and recovered and looking forward to a new month ahead.

Books I Have Read This Month

Still Life by Sarah Winman - this was my book group choice this month. I adored everything about this book.

Guidebook to Murder by Lynn Cahoon - a nice cosy read which was ideal for holiday reading. You can read my review by clicking here.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - this has been languishing on my TBR for so long. It was my favourite book this month and you can read my review by clicking here.

The Shocking Price of a Pair of Shoes by Andy Tilley - The premise of the book was interesting but I didn't enjoy it much.

A Rip in the Veil by Anna Belfrage - This did not work for me either.

Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen by Alison Weir - I am enjoying this series of books. My review is written and will be up very soon.

Tell Me Everything by Laura Kay - I enjoyed reading this very much and you can read my review by clicking here.

Tearoom on the Bay by Rachel Burton - This was my first foray into audio books in decades and I really enjoyed it. 

The Ascension of Mary by William West - An interesting story with chapters being told by three generations of a family.

Tea at the Palace by Carolyn Robb - This is a lovely book full of recipes fit for a Queen. I will be uploading my review for this in the next few days.

Books I Did Not Finish

Munich by Robert Harris

Books I am Partway Through

A History of Herbalism: Cure, Cook and Conjure by Emma Kay

A Silent Voice Speaks by Trishna Singh

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

The Manningtree Witches by A.K. Blakemore

Hope: a History of the Future by G.G. Kellner