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@dhalovesbooks

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Honest book reviews 📚 Mum 👩🏾👦🏾🧒🏾 Surrey, UK📍🇬🇧 Enjoy chatting with booksta friends so please stop by + say Hi! 👋🏾 Here my love for books comes alive 💜

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🔹️ Review 🔹️ Ad/PR product review

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Overall - 4.5 out of 5
Goodreads rating - 3.88
Genre - Romance
Emotional rating - 😍😍😍😍
Speed and ease to read - 🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️
Number of pages - 377
Publication Year - 2026
Makes you think about a bigger topic - No
Recommend the book - ✔

▪️Synopsis

What if the person you love the most is the one you can’t have?

Grace has loved Jackson since she was fifteen – when they spent every childhood summer exploring France's breathtaking Ardèche region together. They were best friends, until life took its course and Jackson married someone else.

Years later, Jackson re-enters Grace’s life with an irresistible offer: her dream job in the very town where their story began. And he’s newly single.

As memories from those idyllic summers flood back, Grace encounters an old friend Étienne, who proposes a plan to help make Jackson jealous. But as their scheme unfolds, Grace finds herself questioning if the sparks between them might not be so pretend after all…

Unbeknownst to Grace, Étienne is harbouring a secret that could shatter her world.

▪️ How I found the book

The book starts with Grace returning to France for a new job, and Jackson having split from his wife. She has always had unrequited love for Jackson, and now she may have a chance. Enter Etienne and a love triangle starts.

There was enough tension in the love triangle that had me hooked. I was rooting for one couple and wanted to know where this would go.
Most new novels have such an obvious romance with no tension, that I find them so dull. This felt like old style romance writing.

The descriptions are beautiful in the book and I had some lovely summer imagery in my mind. There is a twist in this novel that was bitter- sweet. I loved all the characters and though initially Grace's love for Jackson was irritating, she grew on me quickly.

A lovely summer romance, I highly recommend.

Thank you to netgalley for a free copy, in exchange for an honest review. by @dhalovesbooks

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9

9 days ago

🔹️ Review 🔹️

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Overall - 4 out of 5
Goodreads rating - 3.97
Genre - Romance
Emotional rating - 😍
Speed and ease to read - 🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️
Number of pages - 339
Publication Year - 2018
Makes you think about a bigger topic - Forbidden love
Recommend the book - Unsure

▪️ Synopsis

What if you met the right person at the wrong time?

Nell and Van meet as children when their parents fall in love, but soon they are forced worlds apart.

Five years later, they find each other. Their bond is rekindled and new feelings take hold, but once again they must separate.

For the next two decades, fate brings Nell and Van together every five years, as life and circumstance continue to divide them. Will they ever find true happiness? And will it be together?

‘One day, maybe five years from now, you’ll look back and understand why this happened…’

▪️ How I found the book

This book has been on my shelf a few years and I originally bought it due to all the amazing reviews.

I enjoyed the concept of the book with a relationship that moves forward every 5 years over 35 years. However, this was a bit of a strange book for me, as the main love story was between a step-brother and step-sister. So most of this book makes you think about forbidden love.

Due to them being in the same family, it created a tension and angst that spanned over many years. Then, other complications make the relationship difficult.

All the characters were likeable, but unfortunately, I struggled to have the full 'feels' and emotions with the romance due to step-siblings falling in love.

This had all the ingredients for a great book with forbidden love, coming back together every 5 years and the tension of will they end up together. However, you need to be on board with step-siblings falling in love. If you can, then this is an interesting romance.

Have you read this? Did you love it? by @dhalovesbooks

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10 days ago

New books added to the collection! Most have come through reviews.

Beth O'Leary is an autobuy author and I'm collecting books from Will Dean and Lucinda Riley.

I'm also doing a hopeless job of collecting books in a series.....without having read any of them! 😂

Which series have you started to buy.....and not read any of them? by @dhalovesbooks

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11 days ago

🔹️ Review 🔹️

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Overall - 4 out of 5
Goodreads rating - 4.32
Genre - Thriller
Emotional rating - 😐
Speed and ease to read - 🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️
Number of pages - 162
Publication Year - 2025
Makes you think about a bigger topic - No
Recommend the book - ✔

▪️Synopsis

Being in limbo, 30,000 feet in the air, offers time to reflect and take stock. For Aaron Umber, it’s an opportunity to connect with his 14-year-old son as they travel halfway across the world to meet a woman who isn’t expecting them.

Unsettled by his past, and anxious for his future, Aaron is at a crossroads in life. The damage inflicted upon him during his youth has made him the man he is, but now threatens to widen the growing fissures between him and his only child. This trip could bind them closer together, or tear them further apart.

In this penetrating examination of action and consequence, fault and attribution, acceptance and resolution, John Boyne gives us a redemptive story of a father and a son on a moving journey to mend their troubled lives.

▪️ How I found the book

This is part of a four part series using the four elements. I didn't know that when I started the book, but for me, it was easy to follow as a stand alone. Other reviews have said this book ties all the characters together from previous books, so may be worth reading the books in order

This is a simple story of a son and father taking a flight. However, during that time you learn the depth of Aaron's life and marriage, with the human element of how our past shapes our future, even when we dont realise. The relationship between father and son felt real with the correct amount of tension and underlying love.

For a short book, this has depth about relationships, past trauma and forgiveness.

A captivating book I'd recommend.. by @dhalovesbooks

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4

16 days ago

🔹️ Review 🔹️

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Overall - 3 out of 5
Goodreads rating - 3.79
Genre - Thriller
Emotional rating - 🤔🤔
Speed and ease to read - 🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️
Number of pages - 334
Publication Year - 2024
Makes you think about a bigger topic - No
Recommend the book - ✖️

▪️Synopsis

There was someone in the house.

Home alone with her young children during a blizzard, a mother tucks her son back into bed in the middle of the night. Then she hears a noise - old houses are always making some kind of noise. But this sound is disturbingly familiar: it's the tread of footsteps, unusually heavy and slow, coming up the stairs...

In that split second, she has three choices.

Should she hide? Should she run? Or should she fight?

▪️ How I found the book

I may be in the minority with this, but this was one slow book that could have easily been a DNF. It was also really strange where I couldn't work out what was happening, and just felt very confused!

The first part of the book is the initial break-in. It starts with lots of tension, but then goes on and on, without anything actually happening!
Then the book really slowed down in the middle with the investigation but finally the book picked up at the end.

There is a lot of internal monologue of the main protaganist. This worked for me, but this may irritate others.

Unfortunately, this book was just too slow for me and really strange. This book could have been so much more than it was as the ending was good, but sadly not one I can recommend.

Have you read this? Did you find it slow or strange? by @dhalovesbooks

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10

2 months ago

Some New Summer Books added to the collection!

I hope to read some of these over the next few weeks.....but usually my expectation and reality are very far apart when it comes to the speed of my reading! 😂

A few have had high recommendations. Thanks to

@bookswithgemma_ - Our Perfect Storm and @another_read_by_angie_ - Gray after Dark

I've only seen high reviews for Adrift so looking forward to that one. And Kristin Hannah is an auto-buy for me.

Have you read any of these? And favourites in here? by @dhalovesbooks

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11

2 months ago

Ask for Andrea

🔹️ Review 🔹️

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Overall - 4 out of 5
Goodreads rating - 4.07
Genre - Thriller
Emotional rating - 😬😬
Speed and ease to read - 🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️
Number of pages - 304
Publication Year - 2025
Makes you think about a bigger topic - No
Recommend the book - ✔

▪️Synopsis

Meghan, Brecia and Skye have just one thing in common. They were all murdered by the same man.

He hunted them online, masquerading as an eligible bachelor. Then he played the perfect gentleman – a thick layer of charm and a thousand-watt smile hiding the fact that his first dates end in shallow graves.

He’s got away with murder three times now.

The only thing that could keep him from killing again? The women he murdered.

Meghan, Brecia and Skye might be dead, but they’re not gone. They’ve found each other. And they won’t rest until they find a way to stop him.
The haunt is on!

▪️ How I found the book

This was an easy read that kept me reading, but it did take a long time to get going. The first part of the book was describing how Meghan, Brecia and Skye had died. The book did pick up pace, building up to stopping the killer. Though the main characters are ghosts, it didnt take away from the story and didn't feel like a paranormal book.

I've seen lots of people loving this book so I thought I would love it too - but it was just good for me. Maybe my expectations were too high seeing all the positive reviews 🤷🏾‍♀️

I will read the next book 'Forget you saw her' and keep an open mind.

I was planning to read more by this author as her books are getting rave reviews. Do you love her? What is your favourite book by this author? by @dhalovesbooks

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9

2 months ago

🔹️ Review 🔹️

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Overall - 4 out of 5
Goodreads rating - 4.02
Genre - Historical fiction
Emotional rating - 😐😐😐
Speed and ease to read - 🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️
Number of pages - 176
Publication Year - 2025
Awards - LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025
WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARDS 2025
WINNER OF THE WINSTON GRAHAM HISTORICAL PRIZE 2026
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2026
Makes you think about a bigger topic - No
Recommend the book - ✔

▪️ How I found the book

This isn't a book I would normally pick up, but I read it for a book club. This main protaganoist Thomas is a quiet, unassuming character, who is 20 but seems older in his years. Out of duty and his home being everything he has ever known, he has carried on his Grandfather's profession as a shanker waking early to catch shrimp on the Northwest English coast, using the old fashioned method of a horse and cart. Underneath, he has a desire to be a singer/songwriter.

One day he catches the eye of a film director and this sets of a catalyst of events that changes Thomas's path.

This was an easy read, that was quietly captivating. The writing and descriptions were exquisitly written with the author capturing the bleakness and atmosphere very well. He also does a great job of making the reader feel the hard work and dedication of Thomas to be a shanker. Some scenes captured me, especially the scene with a sinkhole, where my breath was held.
Also, for such a short book, the depth of the characters were well defined.

This was a captivating book about life, with a twist of fate, hope and the courage to follow your heart. by @dhalovesbooks

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8

3 months ago

💌 Book Mail 💌

Look at this lovely book mail that arrived, thanks to @harpercollinsuk @hqstories.

I don't remember entering a competition or ordering a book, so I am presuming this is book mail! 😂

With a teenager in the house, this is a useful, informative book that helps navigate all the skincare products and what is safe for her skin. The writing is easy to understand and has lots of pictures.

Looking forward to reading this with my teen! by @dhalovesbooks

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4

4 months ago

🔹️ Review 🔹️

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Overall - 4.5 out of 5
Goodreads rating - 4.49
Genre - Historical fiction
Emotional rating - 😬😬😥😥😥
Speed and ease to read - 🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️
Number of pages - 380
Publication Year - 2023
Makes you think about a bigger topic - WW1
Recommend the book - ✔

▪️ How I found the book

This book took me some time to get in too, i think due to the writing style, but by the end I liked this book.

Initially, the book is set at a boys' private school and the relationships between the boys. This is told with the difficulties in private boarding schools in 1910s with bullying and initiations, all in the name of fun and making men.

There you meet the main characters, Ellwood and Gaunt. They are both different in personality and over the book this changes due to the hardships they endure. What develops is their love for each other, initially hidden due to the laws against homosexuality and then their relationship slowly opens up.

Soon after the war starts they enlist to join the military. The book slowly unfolds with optimism that quickly changes to the atrocities of WW1 including the somme, the trenches and prisoners of war. Over the book you hope young men will survive, but you realise most were killed.

Some historical books have left me emotionally depleted with the horrors. However, this is a cleverly written novel, that uses humour and a romance to take the edge of the horrific reality of World War I. Though you can feel the horrors, it left me more emotionally intact than a lot of books.

An interesting, realistic and different take on WW1, including using private school educated boys to enter the military. One I would recommend but stick with it as it can take some time to get into it.

Have you read this? Did you like it? Did you like the characters? by @dhalovesbooks

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4 months ago

🔹️ Review 🔹️

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Overall - 5 out of 5
Goodreads rating - 3.96
Genre - Thriller
Emotional rating - 😬😬😬🫣🫣
Speed and ease to read - 🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️
Number of pages - 257
Publication Year - 2021
Makes you think about a bigger topic - Human trafficking
Recommend the book - ✔

▪️Synopsis

Her husband calls her Jane. That is not her name.
She lives in a small farm cottage, surrounded by vast, open fields But she is trapped. Visitors rarely come to the farm; if they do, she is never seen.

Her husband records her every movement during the day. If he doesn't like what he sees, she is punished.

For a long time, escape seemed impossible. But now, something has changed. She has a reason to live and a reason to fight. Now, she is watching him, and waiting . . .

▪️ How I found the book

This is one harrowing and depressing book....
that I couldnt put down. Will Dean has done a great job at portraying the horrors of Thanh who is held captive after being trafficked into the UK from Vietnam. Through the book you can feel the horror and hopelessness felt by Thanh and then things go from bad to worse.

The first part was slower but interesting enough to keep me reading. It follows Thanh's daily life, that doesn't have much to it. However, the mundane and the life that Thanh has to endure, paints the picture of her horror and hopelessness.

The last part of the book really picks up pace and was really tense. It even has a shock twist that I didn't see coming.

A great book but not for the faint hearted, with trigger warnings for trafficking and captivity. by @dhalovesbooks

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16

5 months ago

I'm excited for these new books that ive added to the collection, as I've seen good things about all of these.

Have you read any of these? Any favourites or recommendations? 😊 by @dhalovesbooks

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14

5 months ago