Tag Archives: mental health

Book Review: The New Wife by Amanda Brittany and Karen Clarke

Posted in Book review tours, Book Reviews by

About the Book:

The people you trust are the people who hurt you the most.

Nell Cosgrove is the new wife who got it all. She married her handsome, wealthy boss within six months of meeting him. They live in a beautiful riverside home. She has a flourishing career.

The only problem is her two stepdaughters, Ruby and Poppy, who are fiercely loyal to their mother, and reject all her overtures.

But now everything is falling apart. Nell’s marriage is starting to crack. Her husband spends more and more time away on business.

She gets creepy text messages from an unknown admirer. He sends mysterious bouquets of flowers to her office. She starts making mistakes at work.

Everything Nell thought she knew about her marriage and her new life is about to be turned upside down.

Book Links:
Buy Links – https://geni.us/dtHHa2
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63045634-the-new-wife

About the Authors:

Author Bio – Amanda Brittany


Amanda lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and cute dog. When she’s not writing, she loves spending time with her family and friends, walking her dog, reading (her go-to is fictional crime and psychological thrillers) and she is far too keen on red velvet cake. She loves sunny days by the sea, and snowy days through the window of a cozy room. Amanda has raised over £8700 in eBook royalties for Cancer Research UK in memory of her sister. She is the author of six psychological crime thrillers, and co-writer of psychological suspense novels with author Karen Clarke.

Follow her at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amandajbrittany
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mandy.brittany
Instagram : http://www.instagram.com/amanda_brittany_author

Author Bio – Karen Clarke


Karen is a multi-published author of romantic comedies and psychological suspense novels, as well as co-writing thrillers with Amanda Brittany. She lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband and three grown-up children and when she’s not writing, she reads (a lot), loves walking and taking pictures — the birds in her garden are probably the most photographed in the country.

Follow her at:
Website: https://www.karenclarkewriter.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/karenclarke123
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karen.clarke.5682
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenanne37/

My Thoughts:

It’s my stop on the Book Tour for The New Wife today! I am grateful to be on this tour with so many wonderful bloggers and reviewers.

The New Wife is a suspense filled psychological thriller that will have the reader on the edge of their seat. The story is narrated from two points of view. One is of Nell, “the new wife” as she is called and the second is of one of her step-daughter’s, Ruby. Nell has a very unsteady relationship with her two step-daughters as they blame her for their parents break-up and divorce. They are rude to her and make life difficult for her in the hope that their father will leave her and reconcile with their mother.

All the characters in the story are portrayed in grey shades. As cracks start to appear in Nell’s marriage, she decides that perhaps couples counselling is the best way to save them. A fiercely independent woman, Nell hoped that marriage would bring stability and happiness to her life. However, she did not expect her husband to change as he did, or perhaps this was how he always was and she did not see it from the beginning.

A lot of things start to go wrong and Nell doesn’t know whom to trust. The authors have done a great job in throwing the reader off track while always focusing on Nell’s and Ruby’s thoughts and feelings. Little do we know that there are other forces and people at play and soon everything will come crashing down. I truly enjoyed the story and the twists and turns. Though some parts of it were predictable, I definitely did not see the ending and the events of the epilogue coming. That was a major curve ball which made me realize that I could not guess the complete story after all.

The story focuses on mental health issues and how the characters deal with it. It also shows us how the decision of each person affects them and the others around them. Overall this was a gripping read and I recommend this for all fans of psychological thrillers. It is definitely worth reading!

Book Review – My Name is Anton: A Novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde

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About the Book:

My Name is Anton: A Novel

New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde returns with a hopeful novel of sacrifice, two lost souls, and enduring love.

It’s 1965, and life has taken a turn for eighteen-year-old Anton Addison-Rice. Nearly a year after his brother died in a tragic accident, Anton is still wounded—physically and emotionally. Alone for the holidays, he catches a glimpse of his neighbor Edith across the street one evening and realizes that she’s in danger.

Anton is determined to help Edith leave her abusive marriage. Frightened and fifteen years Anton’s senior, Edith is slow to trust. But when she needs a safe place to stay, she lets down her guard, and over the course of ten days an unlikely friendship grows. As Anton falls hopelessly and selflessly in love, Edith fears both her husband finding her and Anton getting hurt. She must disappear without telling anyone where she’s going—even Anton.

If keeping Edith safe means letting her go, Anton will say goodbye forever. Or so he believes. What would happen, though, if one day their paths should cross again?

My Thoughts:

Catherine Ryan Hyde’s books always have a theme and a message and they are delivered so beautifully, it is impossible to miss her books! I have read many books by her and I am left amazed every single time. Even though a lot of the themes focus on loss, life, unconditional love, memories, relationships, bonds and so many more, each book is different from the other.

My Name is Anton is the story of a seventeen year old boy named Anton, who is trying to figure out his identity as well as reconcile the death of his grandfather, his brother and the partial loss of his right hand. Anton is both physically and mentally wounded and in the midst of the emotional conflicts, he happens upon Edith. Edith is in an abusive marriage and after one incident is witnessed by Anton, by chance, he makes it his mission to help her get away!

This book is a romance novel, which in itself is a different book for the author. It talks of unconditional love that lets go, the kind of love where a person learns to be unselfish and sacrifice all for the safety and happiness of the other person. Anton let’s Edith go one time and as fate brings them back many years later, it remains to be seen whether such love endures and how it affects people.

I love the characters of Grand-uncle Gregor and Grandma Marion. They bring light into Anton’s life and support him when he needed it the most with compassion and understanding. The circumstances behind the death of Anton’s brother are extremely sad and the author touches upon Mental Health and discusses it in a very delicate manner. The fact that it is important to acknowledge and deal with is brought out in a subtle yet straight forward manner through the experiences of the characters.

Overall this story starts of a little slowly, first focusing on the growing friendship between Anton and Edith and later focusing on how Anton learns to cope with life, his disability and grows into a more confident individual all things considered. The reader is in for an emotional rollercoaster that will make you sad at times, empathize with the characters and finally laugh with them as they find the light and joy!

I highly recommend this book just as I do with all of the books by the author!

Note: I was approved a copy of the book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

Book Review: 337 by M. Jonathan Lee

Posted in Book Reviews by

I was provided with a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Please note that the double-ended upside-down opening for this book is available in books ordered in hard copy from UK booksellers only.

About the Book:

337 follows the life of Samuel Darte whose mother vanished when he was in his teens. It was his brother, Tom who found her wedding ring on the kitchen table along with the note. While their father pays the price of his mother’s disappearance, Sam learns that his long-estranged Gramma is living out her last days in a nursing home nearby. Keen to learn about what really happened that day and realising the importance of how little time there is, he visits her to finally get the truth. Soon it’ll be too late and the family secrets will be lost forever. Reduced to ashes. But in a story like this, nothing is as it seems.

My Thoughts:

A wonderfully written novel, the story follows Sam as he goes through the motions of living every day. However, not everything is at it seems, and this is a constant theme running in the background of the plot.

Sam’s mother vanished during his teens leaving behind a letter and her rings. We do not know whether she simply decided to leave one day or something more serious happened. In the current day, Sam reconnects with his Grandmother whom he has not seen or spoken to in years in an attempt at reconciliation and a final attempt to solve the mystery behind his mother’s disappearance. We are introduced to a variety of characters including his younger brother, his father, about whom we gradually learn things, his wife, from whom he is now separated and finally his grandmother, old and dying. There are so many layers to this story and the characters that the reader is always forced to stop and contemplate the goings-on.

The descriptions are rich and vivid bringing the place and characters to life. There is love and loss interspersed with the trauma Sam and his brother faced when they were younger. Having dealt with so much in life, Sam constantly talks about the advice his therapist has provided which are very much applicable in some way to all of us. The chapters are short and easy to read and the scenes with Sam and his grandmother are beautifully written with a lot of unspoken emotions in them.

This latest book by the author is a pleasure to read and though it raises many questions that ensure the reader is kept engaged long after finishing the book. This book is a must read!

Book Review : The Day I Lost You by Alex Sinclair

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About the Book: