Left on the Shelf

About the Author

Eva Glyn writes escapist relationship-driven fiction with a kernel of truth at its heart. She loves to travel and finds inspiration in beautiful places and the stories they hide.

Set mainly in Croatia, her contemporary stories are more about friendship than romance, the coming together of people through shared interests, and the opportunity to make fresh starts in their lives. A love of books is a common theme too, so her publisher, One More Chapter, has christened them the Bookish Escapes collection which currently includes The Dubrovnik Book Club, and The Santorini Writing Retreat, with The Croatian Island Library to be published in January 2026.

In addition Eva has written two Second World War dual timeline romances, An Island of Secrets and The Collaborator’s Daughter, and a new beginnings novel entitled The Olive Grove. All are set in Croatia, a country she loves.

Although she considers herself Welsh, Eva lives in Cornwall with the man she met and fell in love with more than thirty years ago. She also writes as Jane Cable.

You can also find Eva at:

The Croatian Library Cover Reveal

Bluesky

My Other Blog Posts Featuring This Author

The DuBrovnik Book Club - Book Review

(media courtesy of the author's website)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Tuesday, 3 March 2026

10 Ten Books I Want to Read in March 2026

If it stops raining for long enough we may experience March winds this month. Obviously, like almost everyone in the UK, I am hoping for some lovely spring sunshine. Realistically though, we are more likely to have windy weather in March.

Whatever it is like where you live, I hope you find some great books to read. Here are just ten that have caught my eye this month.

Nova Scotia House by Charlie Porter

A story of loss and grief, sex and love, and refusing to relinquish dreams

He said he would understand if it was too much for me, that I could leave him, that I was young, I should be living, I said to him, I am living.

Johnny Grant faces stark life decisions. Seeking answers, he looks back to his relationship with Jerry Field. When they met, nearly thirty years ago, Johnny was 19, Jerry was 45. They fell in love and made a life on their own terms in Jerry’s flat: 1, Nova Scotia House. Johnny is still there today – but Jerry is gone, and so is the world they knew.

As Johnny’s mind travels between then and now, he begins to remember stories of Jerry’s youth: of experiments in living; of radical philosophies; of the many possibilities of love, sex and friendship before the AIDS crisis devastated the queer community. Slowly, he realizes what he must do next—and attempts to restore ways of being that could be lost forever.

Nova Scotia House takes us to the heart of a relationship, a community and an era. It is both a love story and a lament; bearing witness to the enduring pain of the AIDS pandemic and honouring the joys and creativity of queer life. Intimate, visionary, and profoundly original, it marks the debut of a vibrant new voice in contemporary fiction, and a writer with a liberating new story to tell.

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams of a friend to alleviate her isolation.

Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind, passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions for becoming 'lion women.'

But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.

Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.

Purchase Link - Bookshop.org

What Have You Done with my Son? by Rick Rosenberg

The year is 2008. Americans Heather and John Ricci are about to leave Vietnam with their amazing, adopted baby boy when something unimaginable happens-the child is abducted. This, after several, grueling years of trying natural conception, multiple rounds of in vitro, and attempting to adopt from China first, then Nepal.

Having fallen in love the moment she laid eyes on her baby, Heather will do anything to get her child back, no matter the danger. John, a sweet, loving man, isn't so sure it's worth risking their lives. Eventually, Heather wins out, and with the help of a grizzled, old Vietnam war vet, the couple desperately follow clues they hope will lead to the baby. A treacherous journey ensues through the maddening streets of Hanoi and Vietnam's Northern jungle full of poisonous snakes, rats, and armed kidnappers.

Only when they've been through hell and back is the astonishing truth revealed.

Preorder Link - Amazon UK

Beyond Belief by Katie Baskerville

Call it what you will: the fact remains that gossip is entwined into our daily lives. From group WhatsApp chats to click-bait headlines, social media snooping to reality television, there is nothing more devilishly delicious, scandalous, and satisfying than a juicy piece of gossip.

All too often dismissed as the past-time of silly schoolgirls and bored housewives, there’s more to gossip than meets the eye. In today’s world of misinformation, where the voices and stories of women are being silenced, gossip has the power to shatter reputations and destroy credibility. Yet it can also be a vital political tool; a communication style that strengthens relationships and can even act a life-saving measure.

Tracing gossip’s roots from old wives’ tales and the witch trials to reality TV, whisper networks and defamation lawsuits, Beyond Belief asks, have we lost the ability to listen; to hear, and to believe women who speak up and speak out?

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran

In 1928, Emily Locke's final year at the isolated Briarley School for Girls is derailed when Violet, the school's brightest star (and a cunning beauty for whom Emily would do anything), falls to her death on her eighteenth birthday. Emily and her buttoned-up rival Evelyn are, for once, in agreement: Violet's death was no accident. There's an obvious culprit, the French schoolmistress with whom Violet was getting a little too close - they just need to prove it.

Desperate for answers, Emily and her classmates turn to spiritualism, hoping for a glimpse of wisdom from the great beyond. To their shock, Violet's spirit appears, choosing pious Evelyn as her unlikely medium. And Violet has a warning for them: the danger has just begun.

Something deadly is infecting Briarley. It starts with rotten food and curdled milk, but quickly grows more threatening. As the body count rises and students race to save themselves, Emily must confront the fatal forces poisoning the school. Emily's fight for survival forces her to reevaluate everything she knows: about Violet, Evelyn, Briarley, and, ultimately, herself.

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

The Secret Society of Librarians by Kate Thompson

Two women, torn apart by war. One shared belief in the power of books...

London, 1939. When war breaks out on librarian Joyce Kindred's doorstep and a call for help rings out across the libraries of London, she's determined to act. Joyce knows only the world of books can offer safety and comfort to her neighbourhood - and she will make sure no one is left behind.

Joyce sets up a mobile library scheme, but soon her acts of resistance go beyond sharing books. She shelters a young Jewish refugee, Adela - and it's not long before she discovers Adela has a secret that could turn their world upside down again...

Occupied Poland, 1942. Dorotha knows any chance of her escaping the barbed wire fences and cruelty of the Łódź ghetto dwindles by the day. Reading isn't just an act of defiance: it's the only thing left in her life over which she has any control. And so she shares books under the cover of darkness, creating a secret library away from her captors - that is, until even that last ray of hope is taken from her...

Joyce and Dorotha were once librarians, ordinary women, and best friends. The war has forced them into acts of unimaginable bravery - but will they ever find each other again?

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

The Quiet Girls by Dorothy Koomson

When MJ Hudson, an old work acquaintance, shows up at Dr Kez Lanyon's house in the middle of the night, Kez knows she has no choice but to help.

At the prestigious boarding school that MJ's daughter attends, a teacher has been killed and a pupil is missing. And it seems that the same thing happens every few years. Only this time, the school haven't been able to cover things up and MJ's daughter and her group of nice, quiet friends are right at the heart of the scandal.

Undercover as the new school therapist, Kez quickly realises there are some seriously powerful, well-connected forces at play. And by continuing to investigate the mystery, perhaps even stepping outside the law to do so, Kez risks putting her own family in serious danger.

Because no one wants their secrets aired. And some will go to any length to keep them buried.

Preorder Link - Bookshop.org

Like Me by Katharine Light

It’s summer 2008 and Jessica drives two hundred miles back to Manchester for her twenty-year school reunion. She had planned to have her life so much more together by now. She had not expected to be a divorced, exhausted mother of two small children.

When she turns up on old friend Sam’s doorstep, her secret crush for most of her teens, she realises how much they have in common. He’s a divorced father of three, and despite the open hostility of Kate, his elder daughter, and the two families living so far apart, she cannot stop her fantasy life fast-forwarding to an idyllic happy ending.

Both Jess and Sam have reasons not to delve into the past; particularly the episodes involving James, the larger-than-life leader of their teenage pack, who is a newly elected MP.

But, when Sam invites Jess to come to James’s wedding, it’s an invitation she can’t resist…

Purchase Link - Amazon UK

No One Would Do What The Lamberts Have Done by Sophie Hannah

You think it will never happen to you: the ring of the bell, the policeman on the doorstep. What he says traps you in a nightmare that starts with the words, 'I'm afraid…'

Sally Lambert is also afraid, and desperate enough to consider the unthinkable. Is it really, definitely, impossible to escape from this horror? Maybe not. There's always something you can do, right?

Of course, no one would ever do this particular something – except the Lamberts, who might have to.

No one has ever gone this far. Until Sally decides that the Lamberts will…

Purchase Link - Bookshop.org

A Theory In Vienna by Heidi Gallacher

‘I bring to light a truth, which was unknown for many centuries with direful results for the human race.’ – Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis.

Imagine you’d discovered something. Something that could save hundreds of thousands of lives. But they wouldn’t let you tell anyone. Wouldn’t it drive you mad?

Young Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis uncovers the real reason thousands of young women are dying after childbirth. Yet, in mid-19th century Europe, his simple methods are ridiculed. Semmelweis faces the battle of his life to convince others that the cause is simple…

Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, A Theory in Vienna brings the remarkable story of this man to life.

Purchase Link - Bookshop.org

(header photo courtesy of Johnny McClung)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Monday, 2 March 2026

The Three Witches by Elena Collins - #bookreview #blogtour

1048

The young woman stood before the group of soldiers and her accusers, her head down, her wrists tied roughly with rope. She stared at her bare feet, her muddy legs...

The Blurb

Now: When Ruthie gets the part of one of Macbeth’s famous three witches she can’t wait to get started. Inspired by the beauty of the film’s Scottish locations and the camaraderie of the cast and crew, she can leave behind the expectations of her family and her lacklustre love life, at least for now. But as echoes from the past begin whispering in Ruthie’s ear and a restless spirit draws her further into its centuries-old secrets, it soon becomes clear that only she can uncover the truth of a terrible injustice.

1050 Scotland: Isobel and her two sisters have learnt about healing from their loving mother Sidheag, and she in turn has kept them safe. But without the protection of their late father, Sidheag knows that her daughters must find husbands or their futures are at risk.

Isobel believes in love over duty and when she catches sight of King Macbeth’s stepson Lulach she can picture a happiness she had hardly dare imagine. But as heir to a Scottish throne that is drenched in blood, Lulach’s destiny is to be a warrior. When Isobel’s actions leave her and her sisters vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft there may be nothing that can keep the three women safe, not even the great Macbeth himself.

As the calls from the past grow ever louder, Ruthie has no choice. Macbeth’s witches have a story that needs to be told and the truth can no longer stay hidden…

My Review

This was a fabulous book and I devoured the whole thing over one weekend. It had me gripped from the very first page.

It has a dual timeline narrative, set in Scotland in both the eleventh century and the present. It moves seamlessly from one period to the other.

The titular three witches are those that we find in Shakespeare's Macbeth. In the earlier time period, the main character is Isobel. She is the youngest of three daughters and folklore suggests that it is the third daughter who can be the powerful one when compared to her sisters.

Isobel lives with her two sisters. She is a healer and midwife who is respected in her community. However, when the villagers begin accusing her of witchcraft, it isn't long before the story takes a much darker turn for Isobel.

In the present day, Ruthie is an actor who has been cast as the third witch for a documentary that is being filmed about Macbeth. It is being made in Forres, the small Scottish village believed to be the place where Macbeth and the witches lived. It's not long before Ruthie begins to feel a connection to Isobel. This enabled both main characters the opportunity to experience similar feelings, whilst bringing folklore and romance into the story.

I really enjoyed the way Ruthie challenged the stereotypes of the women who were labelled as witches, and the reader is led to consider them through modern eyes.

It is a highly atmospheric and haunting read and I don't hesitate in giving it five stars. The author's description of both the setting and time periods has been done brilliantly.

It has been well researched, making this a believable foray into the story of the witches in Macbeth. The author brought both timelines together brilliantly and it makes for wonderful reading.

I absolutely adored this book. If you are a fan of historical fiction, particularly that which concerns women who were labelled as witches, you will enjoy this book very much. It is publishing today and I highly recommend this book and I now cannot wait to get stuck into more of this author's books.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1785131912

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Formats: e-book, audio, hardback and paperback (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)

No. of Pages: 360 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

About the Author

Elena Collins is the pseudonym for Judy Leigh, the million-selling author of Five French Hens , The Old Girls' Network and The Silver Haired Sisterhood. Judy writes uplifting novels in the 'second chances' and ‘it’s never too late’ genre of women’s fiction.

Elena Collins' novels are historical/ dual timelines. In 2025, her novel The Wicked Lady received the RNA award in this category. Judy has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.

You can also find Elena at:

Bluesky

Author Newsletter

(ARC and media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Friday, 27 February 2026

Books I Have Read This Month - February 2026

As we near the end of winter, the only thing keeping me going is the thought that spring isn't too far away. When I see the crocuses popping up their glorious little mauve coloured heads, it fills my heart with joy as they promise that spring is just around the corner.

Of course, the other thing that has kept me going through this grey, wet February is the books that I have read.

The Heart-Shaped Box by Lucy Kaufman

This novella was a quick and excellent read. If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

Fireflies in Winter by Eleanor Shearer

I felt very privileged to have had the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication. If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

I have read that the author of this book wrote it as it combined two of her greatest pleasures – reading and knitting. If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

The Man Who Wore All His Clothes and Other Stories by Allan Ahlberg

This is a collection of very funny stories. The humour contained in both text and illustration are very well done and it made these stories come alive. If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

The Other Mother by Heidi Field

This book made for fabulous reading. If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

Less by Patrick Grant

This is a fabulous book written by The Sewing Bee's Patrick Grant. It discusses over consumerism and is quite the wake up call. My review will be following.

Love Struck by Ally Bloom

This was a tense story line. Review to follow.

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

This is one I'd been wanting to read for ages. It's set in a Jewish/Black neighbourhood. It made for excellent reading.

Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur

My review of this book about Iranian women will follow.

The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer

Written with a dual timeline, this book kept me hooked throughout. If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

Thursday, 29 January 2026

Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan - #bookreview

It is definitely the short straw of hospital medicine. A & E in a trauma centre on a Friday night in late January; almost midnight, and the waiting areas are rammed...

The Blurb

You think you know her…

But look a little closer

She is a stay-at-home mother of three with boundless reserves of patience, energy and love. After being friends for a decade, this is how Liz sees Jess.

Then one moment changes everything.

Dark thoughts and carefully guarded secrets surface – and Liz is left questioning everything she thought she knew about her friend, and about herself.

From the bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal – a new thought-provoking novel exploring the complexity of motherhood and all that connects and disconnects us.

My Review

This book had me on the edge of my seat from the first page to the last.

When Jess takes her baby, Betsey, to the A&E department at hospital, she finds her best friend, Liz, is the doctor on duty. What unfolds is every mother's nightmare, as Betsey is found to have an unexplainable fracture, and the finger is pointing straight at Jess, leaving Liz with a duty to inform social services and the police.

This was a powerful book, and it is thought-provoking from beginning to end. My sympathies lay with both of these characters, as they both find themselves in an impossible situation. Whilst Jess has always appeared to be the perfect mother, we get a glimpse of what is really going on beneath this façade of capability. Having myself been a mother to four boys under the age of seven, I could really identify with how utterly exhausted Jess was feeling. The book questions how this sleep deprivation can result in poor choices being made, how alone she felt, and how she did not understand her own feelings. My heart went out to her.

Liz was an equally interesting character. She is a busy doctor, wife and mother whose own busyness has meant that she hasn't been there for Jess as much as she would have liked. Nonetheless, she doesn't believe that Jess could have harmed her child, despite the evidence suggesting otherwise. She also has to deal with the secrets of her ageing mother, and come to terms with those. There is a strong parallel between both her mother and Jess's experiences.

Although the book is over 400 pages, I read it very quickly as it kept pulling me back. It was well written and perfectly paced, leaving me keen to get back to it between reading sessions.

Sarah Vaughan is a great storyteller and has the ability to hold her readers interested throughout. She is an author I will definitely be reading again. I highly recommend this book.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1471165061

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Formats: e-book, audio, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages: 432 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

About the Author

Sarah Vaughan is the Sunday Times and international bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal, Little Disasters and Reputation, plus two earlier novels. Translated into 26 languages, Anatomy of a Scandal became a worldwide number one Netflix limited series, watched for 200 million hours in its first month alone, and starring Sienna Miller, Michelle Dockery and Rupert Friend. Little Disasters dropped on Paramount Plus in May 2025, and stars Diane Kruger, Jo Joyner and a “powerhouse cast” including JJ Feild, Shelley Conn, Emily Taaffe and Stephen Campbell Moore. Reputation has been optioned by Made Up Stories and 3dot productions, the team behind Anatomy of a Scandal.

Before writing fiction, Sarah spent 15 years as a journalist, including 11 at the Guardian as a political correspondent and news reporter: great preparation for thrillers exploring power, privilege and misogyny, and incorporating police investigations and criminal trials. Brought up in Devon, she lives near Cambridge, England with her family and dog.

You can also find Sarah at:

Author Website

(media courtesy of the author's website)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Wednesday, 10 December 2025

Heartache on West India Dock Road by Renita D'Silva - #bookreview #blogtour

Two years into the war, West India Dock Road is tired and looks it, regardless of how much its residents try to spruce it up...

The Blurb

1941 - Amid the bombs falling over London’s East End, the residents of West India Dock Road endure wartime with courage, defiance and a good dose of humour.

From nights spent sheltering together in the Underground station to sharing gossip, pastimes and meals, they lean on each other as their world is turned upside down.

Since the bombing of her family’s boarding house, Charity has held her loved ones together, and now, with her heart set on becoming a ‘sugar girl’ working for Tate & Lyle, she’s determined to forge a new path, despite prejudice about her relationship with the Indian soldier she loves.

Her best friend Divya serves up warmth and spice in her beloved curry house, but is hiding a secret that grows more urgent with each passing day. What will happen when it is revealed?

Ruth is a newcomer, recently arrived from war torn Europe and haunted by the atrocities she’s experienced. On West India Dock Road she finds not just refuge but an unlikely family.

As heartache affects them all and bonds are tested, can these three women find hope and happiness, even in the darkest of times?

My Review

This is my favourite series of books at the moment. I have previously read and reviewed New Arrivals on West India Dock Road and Wartime Comes to West India Dock Road. You can find the links to my reviews by clicking on the titles. However, it is not necessary to have read the books before this one, as they each work very well as standalone novels. However, if you read one, I think you will probably want to spend more time in the company of the residents of West India Dock Road, whichever order you read them.

Whilst the book brings us up to date with all of the characters who reside on the street, the two main characters remain Divya and Charity. Charity is fulfilling her dream of working at the nearby Tate and Lyle sugar factory, whilst Divya is hiding a secret which is sure to come out soon.

In this book we are introduced to a new character, Ruth, who has escaped Germany following Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) in order to deliver a letter to Mrs. Rosenbaum from her sister. Part of the book is devoted to Ruth's story of how she came to West India Dock Road, and it is a moving and emotive account.

The book deals with themes, that although would not be seen as scandalous today, they certainly were in 1940's Britain. I really like the way the author depicts attitudes as they were historically, and not through a twenty-first century lens. This lends the book an authenticity and demonstrates that she has done her research thoroughly.

The narrative is interspersed with letters written by Divya. She writes to Jack, a long-time resident of West India Dock Road. Her letters are on behalf of all of the residents, but Jack hasn't replied to any of them for a while. She also spills her heart into letters to her lost love. It is a great device for hearing her inner thoughts.

In my opinion, each book in this series gets stronger, and I am already excited for the next one. I read a fair number of this genre of book and this is by far my favourite.

Have you read any of this series? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1806560998

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Formats: e-book, audio and paperback (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)

No. of Pages: 256 (paperback)

Series: Book 3 in the West India Dock Road series

Purchase Links

About the Author

Renita d’Silva is an award-winning author of historical fiction, often set partly in India, where she is from.

You can also find Renita at:

The Mid-Life Trials of Annabeth Hope

Author Newsletter

(ARC and media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)

(all opinions are my own)

Wednesday, 22 October 2025

A New Recruit for the Resistance Girls by Alice G. May - #bookreview #blogtour

April 1942

I didn't know what to say to break the silence. I'd never seen Connie so furious. She seemed fine when we left our shared billet in the Nissen huts...

The Blurb

They said women were a liability in war. They were wrong...

March 1940

A woman desperate for escape…

A skilled mechanic, Fliss Makepeace chafes under the suffocating expectations of her family and society. Ordered to abandon her beloved engines for a 'woman's job' and pressured into a brutal marriage with the menacing Jake, Fliss feels trapped. But as the drums of war beat louder, she vows to serve King and Country rather than surrender to a life of quiet torment.

A chance to serve her country…

Joining the ATS offers Fliss not just a uniform, but freedom. Yet, a chance encounter with the formidable Major Stapleton propels her into an even deeper secret: a clandestine Women's Army, poised to become the British Resistance should Hitler invade. For Fliss, it's an undeniable call to duty—and a thrilling escape from her past.

And turn the tide of war?

At a secret research base, Fliss and the other ATS girls join scientists in a race against time to intercept Hitler's deadly bombing raids. The work is exhilarating, exhausting, and fraught with peril. When a vicious attack rocks the isolated compound, a chilling question echoes through the ranks: Is there a German spy in their midst? With their vital mission now at risk, Fliss must draw on every ounce of her mechanical ingenuity and intuition to unmask the traitor before their secret war plans—and their lives—are shattered.

My Review

This is the second book in the Resistance Girls series. In this instance, I have previously read the first, The Resistance Girls and you can find my review here. That said, this book works perfectly well as a standalone novel.

The book is set during WWII, when women suddenly found themselves presented with opportunities that previously would have only been available to men. The main character in this book, Fliss, flees her home and joins the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Services.) It is not long before Major Stapleton realises that Fliss is a resilient woman and that she has the potential to become an undercover agent.

This is a compelling and easy read. I was rooting for Fliss all the way. The author has done a great job in developing her character. I loved reading of her refusal to just accept her lot in the society in which she lived. As an intelligent working class young woman, she was highly relatable, and it was satisfying to read how a woman could become so recognised for her skills in what was very much a man's world.

The story moved along at an appropriate pace for the genre, and I found myself turning the pages rapidly to see what would come next. It is an exciting read and anyone who enjoys historical fiction, especially that which portrays strong women during wartime, will enjoy this book very much.

I have also read and reviewed other books by this author, and you can find my reviews via the links below.

How to Draw a Giraffe: The Alice May Way

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1837035137

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Formats: e-book, audio, hardback and paperback (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)

No. of Pages: 368 (paperback)

Series: Book 2 in the Resistance Girls series

Purchase Links

About the Author

Alice G. May writes contemporary, historical and saga fiction. Her series, The Resistance Girls is inspired by the true story of a highly trained secret army of women working undercover to protect British coastal communities during World War Two.

Alice also writes non-fiction, including a memoir (The House That Sat Down Trilogy) and a colourful series of 'How to Draw The Alice May Way' books, suitable for all ages. She loves public speaking and regularly attends writing festivals, libraries and social groups to give presentations.

You can also find Alice at:

Author Newsletter

(ARC and media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)

(all opinions are my own)

Tuesday, 15 July 2025

10 Ten Exciting New Releases in August 2025

Hasn't the weather been glorious? A little too hot for some perhaps? However, there is nothing nicer than finding a shady spot, a long cool drink and settling back with a good book.

There are some exciting new releases coming out next month. Here are just ten that have caught my eye.

With Her Own Hands by Nicole Nehrig

A rich and intimate exploration of how women have used textile work to create meaningful lives, from ancient mythology to our current moment.

Knitting, sewing, embroidery, quilting—throughout history, these and other forms of textile work have often been dismissed as merely “women’s work” and attached to ideas of domesticity and obedience. Yet, as psychologist and avid knitter Nicole Nehrig wonderfully explores in this captivating book, textile work has often been a way for women to exercise power. When their voices were silenced and other avenues were closed off to them, women used the tools they had—often a needle and thread—to seek freedom within the restrictive societies they lived in.

Spanning continents and centuries, With Her Own Hands brings together remarkable stories of women who have used textiles as a means of liberation, from an eighteenth-century Quaker boarding school that used embroidered samplers to teach girls math and geography to the Quechua weavers working to preserve and revive Incan traditions today, and from the Miao women of southern China who, in the absence of a written language, pass down their histories in elaborate “story cloths” to a midcentury British women’s postal art exchange. Textiles have been a way for women to explore their intellectual capacities, seek economic independence, create community, process traumas, and convey powerful messages of self-expression and political protest.

Heartfelt and deeply moving, With Her Own Hands is a celebration of women who have woven their own stories—and a testament to their resilience.

Preorder Link - Amazon UK

Wedding Bells for the East End Library Girls by Patricia McBride

The library girls are determined to keep their community’s spirits high.

With their beloved library damaged by bombing, they’ve found a temporary home in the local school, but they long to return to the place they love.

Mavis’s wedding should be a time of joy, but beneath the celebrations, she carries a secret. Determined to stay strong, she refuses to dampen the happiness of those around her.

Jane is finally stepping into the life she deserves. After years of self-doubt, she is beginning to find her confidence and – with the support of her two best friends – perhaps even an opportunity she never thought possible.

And for Cordelia, hope is also on the horizon. As the war winds down, her partner Robert may finally return from Africa. For the first time in a long time she is looking forward to a future filled with love and joy. But dare she dream of more wedding bells?

Cuckoo in the Nest by Diane Saxon

What secrets lie within?

I've moved into a shared house. My three new housemates aren't just reserved, there's a distinct chill in the air, an unspoken tension that makes me uneasy.

I'm not here to make friends, though.

I have my own secrets.

Nikki is like a sister to me and I'm here to find out what happened to her.

Where is she?

I'm convinced someone knows more than they're letting on. Is she simply missing? Or has something far more sinister occurred within these walls?

I'm not leaving until I find out if Nikki is alive or dead.

The Girl From the War Room by Catherine Law

Through the trees in St James's Park she spotted the white facades of the Whitehall offices, and her stomach contracted. But it wasn’t nerves. Fortitude, yes, and a kind of hell-bent willingness. An understanding of the importance of her work; to do something, however small, to help. A privilege.

1941: A world away from idyllic childhood summers spent in Devon, Cassie Marsh steps through the sandbagged entrance to the War Room, determined to do her part for the war effort.

The air crackling with tension, the urgency of whispered conversations, the weight of secrets – nothing in her quiet upbringing has prepared her for this. Here, women like her are expected to work tirelessly, remain composed, even as their homes – and lives – are devastated by the Blitz.

But Cassie’s heart is already divided between love and duty. She dreams of rich summers at Greenaways from a lifetime ago, before her world was torn apart. She dreams of one person… the one she cannot – but must – forget.

And as her family begs her to return to safety, to the soothing, reassuring walls of the country house, Cassie must decide where her heart really lies. In times of war, can you ever afford to question your loyalty?

Snowflakes Over Starr's Fall by Kate Hewitt

As the stars twinkle and the snow drifts over the town… someone’s about to find the magic she didn’t even know she’d been missing…

Jenna has lived in Starr’s Fall for most of her life, and has run the general store for over ten years. Secretly she might dream of love and romance, but she’s happy as she is. Really.

That is, until Starr’s Fall’s newest resident—ex-New Yorker, millionaire investment banker—Jack Wexler breezes into Jenna’s store, seemingly furious they don’t stock smoked salmon. Jenna is as amused as she is annoyed. Who is this ridiculous guy, and doesn’t he realize he’s not in Manhattan anymore?

Jack meanwhile can’t believe he lost it in public. But ever since being forced to leave his high-flying career to focus on his health, he’s not been himself. What’s more, the last person he’d expected to be attracted to is the shrew of a storekeeper he’s just encountered… which he might have called Jenna, in a moment of temper…

Neither of Jenna or Jack’s ideal of romance includes these sorts of furious sparks flying. But when they’re both roped in to organizing the town’s Winter Wonderland parade, they’re forced to work together. And as Christmas approaches – will two opposites merely attract? Or, in magical Starr’s Fall, could they fall in love for keeps?

Daughter of the Tarot by Clare Marchant

Two women, linked by the cards, unravel a secret spanning the decades...

1644: Portia is living in London, having escaped an abusive man in Italy, with just baby Vittoria and the clothes on their backs. Making her living reading tarot cards, she starts to realise there are other women like her – who need help. As she delivers the Devil card to their door, each has the chance to escape… But to what future? Because Portia is a woman with secrets. And they are about to come back to haunt her.

Now: After her mother’s death and father’s hasty plans to remarry, Beatrice has left home to open a tarot shop in London. But when she’s unpacking, she finds a set of cards she’s never seen before, one that’s evidently been handed down through generations of her family. It’s a set that is missing a card though… the Devil’s Card. She begins to search for the lost card, but she also starts to hear rumours of that very card being linked to a series of murders of women in 17th century London…

Will she find the truth… or will she only see the illusions the cards are suggesting?

If Not for My Baby by Kate Golden

Clementine Clark isn't looking for love. She's a talented singer, but she's set her dreams of stardom - and romance - aside to care for her ailing mother.

And then her best friend calls her with a life-changing opportunity: join Irish megastar Halloran on his first US tour as a backing vocalist. Clementine wants to reject the offer, but the pay would change her and her mom's life. Overnight, Clementine goes from serving enchiladas at the Happy Tortilla to belting high notes before a cheering crowd.

But the whiplash of trading small-town Texas for sold-out stadiums is nothing compared to the rush of performing with the enigmatic Thomas Patrick Halloran. Poet, introvert, and lyrical genius, Halloran quickly gets under Clementine's skin. The two couldn't see the world more differently. And yet, over the course of the next eight weeks on tour, the romantic rockstar might just strike an unforgettable chord in Clementine. But will it be enough for an encore?

The Secret Librarian by Soraya M. Lane

New York, 1942: Avery is engaged to be married. Longing for adventure instead, she jumps at an unexpected offer to trade her library job for undercover intelligence-gathering in Portugal. But her new life in Lisbon, known as the Capital of Espionage, challenges everything she thought she knew about herself.

Local bookshop owner Camille, a French widow with access to the enemy newspapers and magazines Avery needs, befriends her. But are the rumours that swirl around Camille true—does she really have a Nazi boyfriend? And what secrets did she bring with her when she fled France? Avery must decide—fast—if she can fully trust Camille. Millions of lives depend on it.

As Avery discovers more about Camille’s world, she realises that living in a city of spies will take all her courage. With suspicions growing, they are both playing a terrifyingly dangerous game. And not everyone will live to tell their story. Can Avery and Camille stay far enough ahead of their enemies to survive?

Threaded through with daring, sacrifice and love, this is the inspirational story of two women prepared to risk everything to help others survive the horrors of World War II.

Rooms for Vanishing by Stuart Nadler

For the Alterman family, Fania and Arnold, and their children Sonja and Moses, the universe has been fractured.

In 1938 Sonja is lifted onto a Kindertransport train that will take her from Nazi-occupied Austria to London. She is the only member of her family to survive.

In 1966 Fania works as a massage therapist in Montreal, a place that has provided her safe haven after she lost her entire family in the war.

In 2016 Arnold lives out the last of his days and the last memories he has of his family in the city he has always called home.

And in 2000, Moses awaits the birth of his grandson, unaware that the strings that tie him to his past are being drawn tighter and tighter.

Surely none of these realities co-exist, and yet they seem to be drawing closer . . .

Moving between Vienna and Prague, London and Montreal, New York and Miami, Stuart Nadler's Rooms for Vanishing is a spellbinding exploration of what might happen when grief and hope collide.

In Berlin by Eric Silberstein

Software engineer Anna Werner lives at a rapid clip, relishing her work and adopted city as much as her early morning runs. All comes undone on a sweaty August evening when, in the course of a 20-minute commute, Anna goes from worrying vaguely over a sore shoulder to staggering her way into an ambulance. She has suffered a spinal stroke. Over the coming months, her parents join the insurance man in telling her to get ready for life in a group home.

The only person who recognizes what Anna is still capable of is Batul al-Jaberi, a recent Syrian immigrant who meets Anna while doing her rounds as a janitor at the hospital. Batul is applying to medical school, where she hopes to regain control of a life hijacked by her family's flight from persecution in the early days of the Arab Spring.

At first the friendship is what Anna and Batul each need to regain mobility. But as their relationship deepens, Batul finds she must choose between her family and Anna-a choice that will force both women to rewrite their notions of loyalty.

In Berlin is a work of empathetic precision, exploring both the unpredictable nature by which geopolitics and scientific breakthroughs touch our lives, and the brave, bold, and sometimes quiet ways in which people reassert agency in the face of loss. Most of all, it taps a throughline of emotion that binds characters and readers alike across geographies, cultures, and ambitions.