I’m back! What did I miss?!

Hello again everyone and I’m sure nobody noticed but I’ve been off on my summer holidays for the last week or so. I had an amazing time and the intermittent WiFi connection meant I was able to switch off totally (well, nearly as I do have a terrible fear of missing out on things while I am not in contact!!). I find it difficult to believe that in the 28 years that we have been going to Greece that we have never been to Crete before! It was absolutely gorgeous and had the most stunning sunsets I have seen for a very long time. All we did was eat, sleep, swim, read and repeat!! The food in our hotel was so delicious that although I went away committed to eating meats and salads, the temptation of all the amazing Greek and Italian dishes on offer plus the most visually appealing dessert bar (which included my favourite-rum baba!) means that I have piled on the pounds. My daughter also now has a serious Nutella addiction that she has to break as well!!

I did manage to read a good selection of books while I was away and here is the list of those I read along with the star rating I gave them on Goodreads. I will be bringing you a more detailed review of most of these books over the next few days but here is my holiday reading selection for Crete 2016!

Day 1-In The Barren Gound by Loreth Anne White

Goodreads rating 3.5 *

I have loved this authors last two books and had been excitedly anticipating this one but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I enjoyed the setting but struggled to connect with Tana and the storyline.

 

 

Day 2-Never Alone by Elizabeth Haynes

Goodreads rating 5 *

Eh 5*? I would have given it 10 or more as this is going to be in my top 10 for 2016. It was bloody amazing so look for my more detailed review very very soon!

 

 

Day 3-Her Darkest Nightmare by Brenda Novak

Goodreads rating 3.5*

This was my first ever book by Brenda Novak and I will definitely be looking at others by her after this.

 

 

 

 

Day 4-Valentina by S.E. Lynes

Goodreads rating 5*

What can I say? Amazing just doesn’t cover it so will try to put my thoughts into some sort of review and post it very soon. This author is probably my favourite discovery of 2016 and want more of her work to read ASAP!!

Day 5-The First Wife by Erica Spindler

Goodreads rating 3*

As a huge fan I was a little bit disappointed in this one. A heroine I was constantly wanting to slap for being a naive and irritatingly bland character and a plot that she could have come up with when drinking her first morning coffee.

 

Day 6- Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard

 Goodreads rating 4.5*

I have been wanting to read this ever since it came out and was determined to read it on my holiday as I had wanted to do a cruise this year. Glad to say I didn’t but I found this book absolutely fascinating and may still go on a cruise one day!

 

 

Day 7-Untouchable by Sibel Hodge

 Goodreads rating 4*

This was a tough one to read but very topical so a hard hitting fictional account like this did work well. May upset some people but real life cases like this are out there and we all need to be aware!!

 

 

Day 8-Portraits of the Dead by John Nicholl

Goodreads rating 4*

What a creepy cover-everyone else hates clowns too, right? And John Nicholl is back with another horrible, nasty vicious series killer who will make your skin crawl.

 

 

And that was my reading journey through the hot and sunny days of my break. I also have to mention that I always take a Julie Corbin book away with as I love her Scottish settings for the gripping psychological thrillers she writes. This year I took What Goes Around but only managed 20 minutes on the plane home before I fell into a contented doze, dreaming about holidays where there is a whole new wardrobe waiting for you at home so there is no post holiday washing! One day maybe……