The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 1 day

Pages - 329

Publisher - Bookouture

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

“Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…

Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of…



My Review

I feel like I am the last one to the party and everyone and their granny has read this book. Millie didn't think for a second she would actually land the job as live in nanny et al for the Winchesters, the house is dripping money/class and Millie is living in her car with all kinds of baggage following her around. Get the job she does and she is determined to keep it, even if the wife blows hot and cold and seems off the scale at times. Seriously the more you read the more unhinged you see just how bad the wife is. Her kid is a brat and her husband is not only attractive but super nice and Millie can't help but find herself wondering how his wife bagged him and just how nice he is. Millie find that not is all it seems in the Winchester house but then nor is Millie dun dun duuuuuuuuun.

I read this in under a day, like maybe 7 or 8 hours, had to stop for food and an appointment but immediately picked it back up. The majority of the book we hear from Millie and maybe the last quarter we hear from the perspective of Nina (the wife).

It is shocking - an absolute page turner, normally I give themes in our reviews but to do so would give spoilers this time so apologies I cannot. If you are triggered by certain topics I would maybe check out some other reviews to prepare yourself.

I couldn't predict where it was going and felt the rug pulled a few times which is always a good thing in a book, for sure. 4.5/5 this was my first dance with McFadden and I have just bought book two!

View all my reviews

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 4 days

Pages - 482

Publisher - Wildfire

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

There’s power in a book…

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master” (NPR).


My Review

So I kept seeing this on Booktok and I am a total FOMO so of course I had to buy and we had a wee visit to a witch fair so time to read it. It kicks off with a young girl being driven by her furious father, she is being taken to a house for girls like her, girls with a belly of trouble. Once there she is named after a flower, you help around the house, chores, you don't tell anyone anything personal and at the end you give birth in hospital and your baby gets adopted. Each girl is coming from a different scenario but all are to hide away until their "mistake" over and then forget it happened and go to their old life. However the girls end up coming across some magic and find they can have some power, revenge and some say in their predicament and those who have harmed them, dun dun dun.

So the first 100 odd pages we are focused on the girls and their tentative relationships, little bits of their information coming forward and friendships forming. Then we have some witchcraft, magic and things go quite dark. These girls are young teens, some really young and discussions of SA, abuse of power and details, graphic in some places about births. How badly some are treated because they are pregnant out of wedlock, it can make for difficult reading.

The magic parts, especially the offerings, ooft I have a thing about some body parts so I found one particular scene quite barbaric that others may not feel it quite as bad. I think most of us as youngsters watched The Craft so anything with magic/witches will always be a draw.

This isn't my first Hendrix book and it won't be my last, 4/5.

View all my reviews

The Family by Mandasue Heller

The Family by Mandasue Heller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 356

Publisher - Orion

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

HER BOYFRIEND'S A DREAM. HIS FAMILY'S A NIGHTMARE.
Since her mother died of an overdose, kind-hearted Cheryl's always had to look out for herself. Until Dale Moran walks into her life.

Dale and his family have just bought the house across the street, and within a day, he's chased off the violent thugs who've been threatening Cheryl for her ex-boyfriend's debts.

Dale is devastatingly handsome and a fierce protector. It's no wonder Cheryl falls fast and hard. But when Cheryl finally meets the family; when she notices that they go quiet as she enters rooms; when she hears gunshots in the middle of the night on their estate, she has to wonder whether her new romance has taken her out of the frying pan and into the fire...

Cheryl's not sure how wrapped up Dale is in his family's secrets. But she's certain of one The Morans are hiding something. And unfortunately for Cheryl, finding the truth could mean losing her life...


My Review

Cheryl is having a time of it, trying to dodge the thugs who are pressing her for cash her ex owes, a best friend who is a shady biscuit can anything ever go right? Well when handsome Dale scares off the thugs and lets Cheryl know he has no interest in her pal well spark fly. Cheryl feels she has landed on her feet, Dale is head over heels, his mum loves her, his sister in law is a cold fish and clearly doesn't like her. Things are moving super fast but is Dale what he seems to be or has Cheryl jumped from the frying pan into the fire?

Well this book has some really bad shady characters, lots of dealings in the underworld and sweet Cheryl has no idea what is in store. We see some of the darkest sides of humanity, people who do not care for anything or anyone bar themselves and everyone has a price.

Whilst Cheryl is sweet she really irritated me at times, like some of her choices and that best pal needed to go in the bin, pals like that who needs enemies. I so wanted Cheryl to be strong but often she was so blinkered I could have screamed and or her trust in people I was like GIRL COME ON but the book keeps you hooked. You absolutely wanted to know what was coming next, will X get their comeuppance, will Cheryl find a backbone and can we actually trust anyone! Drugs, murder, manipulation, SA, some really dark stuff, coercion and much more, 4/5.

View all my reviews

With Promises to Keep by Ellie Dean

With Promises to Keep by Ellie Dean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 3 days

Publisher - Penguin books

Pages - 383

Blurb from Goodreads

The year of 1947 is almost upon them, and the community of Cliffehaven is still reeling from the tragic loss of Gracie, who left behind two young orphans.

Polish refugee and nurse Danuta made Gracie a to love and cherish her children as her own. But with her husband’s health failing, can Danuta’s promise be fulfilled?

Then a bitter winter storm cuts the town off. Peggy Reilly and the rest of Cliffehaven must pull together to survive.


My Review


So first off this is book twenty one in a series, I did not know this lol but it is all good and after reading this I will be going back, buying book one and starting there. It is 1947, folk are still feeling the effects post war, we meet (or if you know the series, reacquaint) with Polish refugee nurse Danuta and her husband Stan. Danuta made a promise to Grace she would look after her two children, one being a baby. It is all a bit precarious, adoption has a lot of expectation an standards, Stan has health issues with his stumps (amputee), they both work and struggle to make ends meet. However a promise is a promise and they will do what they can to keep their word, plus Danuta has always wanted a family, after the tortures during the war she cannot have her own. It is an emotive multifaceted road Danuta is on, many struggles and hurdles facing her, can she get the family she always wanted despite the odds stacked against her.

So I am absolutely getting the other books, it is a small community, it has what you know in these wee towns, classism, snobbery, even when you are all a bit skint there are folks who will gossip and judge so we do see a bit of that. Danuta and Stan are so in love and clearly already been through so much, I reckon if you know the previous books things will pack a bit more of an emotive punch but I still liked it and got it despite this being my first foray into the series, 4/5 for me.

View all my reviews

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 336

Publisher - Michael Joseph Books

Source - Netgalley & bought one from Amazon

Blurb from Goodreads

From the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time comes an addictive thriller about a new mother’s world upended when her husband commits a terrifying crime. How well does she truly know the man she loves? And what danger does she face if her entire life has been built on a lie?

It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But, when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.

Then it starts. Breaking news: there's a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive, and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn't a hostage. Her husband—doting father, eternal optimist—is the gunman.

What she does next is crucial. Because only she knows what the note he left behind that morning says...


My Review

New baby, finally heading back to work all is great except your husband isn't here for day one of your return and babies first day in daycare, where is he? Heading through the day getting increasingly more nervous, no response to calls, no contact and then news of a hostage situation and then the police arrives at Camilla's (Cam's) work place and life as Cam knows it is gone!

Oooft dun dun dun, what a sweeping start eh. Cam goes through all the emotions, there is no way he could do this, she knows him, she loves him but the police show her, it is indeed her husband. Talk about the rug being pulled out from under you, I think the reason these type of stories grip you so much is the main character is normal, just a worker, a mum a normal person who finds themselves thrown into your worst nightmare.

The book takes us across X span of time, the day of the siege, after the siege and then seven years later, all clearly marked. Different time periods, Cam trying to sort her life, processing, recovering and I think, as the reader, you can't help but put yourself in her shoes. Would you react like that, would you do/think x,y,z way? How do you recover from that, what changed, what did you miss, how could that be your husband, how could he do that?

I was sucked in pretty much from the get go, I could not gage where it was going next, like all this has happened in the first X pages/chapter, where can it go next. I love when a book does that, I am the first to admit I never or rarely ever know the how or why but I think even those who do wouldn't be able to figure out where it is going. An author who keeps you guessing has a talent indeed. The first quarter of the book was intense and packing a punch, it then takes a slower turn but continues to be pacey, engaging and for me anyway invested in the character(s), 4/5. This isn't our first McAllister, it won't be our last, I need to bump the others up the tbrm.

View all my reviews

The Hospital by Leslie Wolfe

The Hospital by Leslie Wolfe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 322

Publisher - Bookouture

Source - Review copy & bought one

Blurb from Goodreads

I should feel safe here. I don’t.

I thought I had it all. The loving husband I married on a beach, sand between my toes. The career I fought for. The beautiful home tucked away between pines and mountains.

But my perfect life crumbled when my husband betrayed me. And then it started. Everywhere I went, someone was following me… But no one believed me. Were they right? Was I losing my mind?

Then, one day, I wake up with a searing pain in my head, and only the sound of sirens and distant conversations to pierce my confusion.

I’ve been attacked. I’m in the hospital.

It should be reassuring. But all I can think is: I’m trapped.

I must escape. But I know I can’t trust anyone, and I’ll do whatever it takes to save myself.

You will never see the twists coming in this jaw-on-the-floor gasp-out-loud rollercoaster from the no.1 bestselling author of The Surgeon. Fans of Freida McFadden, Lisa Jewell and Shari Lapena won’t be able to put it down!



My Review

She is running, she is injured, she wakes in a hospital, unable to move, unable to see - she can talk but that is about it. She knows she was attacked and she knows she isn't safe, how can she protect herself when she doesn't know who hurt her and can't get her body to move.

So the book bounces between the main character Emma confined to a hospital bed, immobile and we hear from the bad guy, the person who committed the atrocity against Emma and they are OBSESSED! So we know Emma was assaulted and almost died and now is essentially locked in, cared for around the clock, frustrated with her lack of memory and her body's brokenness. We bounce around as she grasps for her memories, tries to get any kind of movement going and frantically find out who is after her.

I did take a bit to settle into the book as the narrator is so unreliable, she has a traumatic brain injury so we are finding out about her as she is. Things jump around a bit which I found a wee bit distracting but I think it adds strength to the character, you are meant to be unsettled and frustrated because she is and it is her story. I had suspicious/guesses galore, I was a bit like when watching an episode of Murder She Wrote lol, I have about twenty theories so one ought to stick!

Some shady characters, cheating, manipulation, frustration, health/recovery (or lack of) and processing her past as it is all coming back to her slowly as she is confined to body and bed. I would say the last quarter really came into its own so I was back and fourth on my rating. I am going for 3.5/5 (I added the .5 because the later part really was WOW, well for me anyway). This was my first by this author, it won't be my last.

View all my reviews

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 1 day

Pages - 352

Publisher - William Morrow

Source - Given by a fellow blogger

Blurb from Goodreads

In this game, even winning can be deadly...

Amy Whey is proud of her ordinary life and the simple pleasures that come with it—teaching diving lessons, baking cookies for new neighbors, helping her best friend, Charlotte, run their local book club. Her greatest joy is her family: her devoted professor husband, her spirited fifteen-year-old stepdaughter, her adorable infant son. And, of course, the steadfast and supportive Charlotte. But Amy’s sweet, uncomplicated life begins to unravel when the mysterious and alluring Angelica Roux arrives on her doorstep one book club night.

Sultry and magnetic, Roux beguiles the group with her feral charm. She keeps the wine flowing and lures them into a game of spilling secrets. Everyone thinks it’s naughty, harmless fun. Only Amy knows better. Something wicked has come her way—a she-devil in a pricey red sports car who seems to know the terrible truth about who she is and what she once did.

When they’re alone, Roux tells her that if she doesn’t give her what she asks for, what she deserves, she’s going to make Amy pay for her sins. One way or another.

To protect herself and her family and save the life she’s built, Amy must beat the devil at her own clever game, matching wits with Roux in an escalating war of hidden pasts and unearthed secrets. Amy knows the consequences if she can’t beat Roux. What terrifies her is everything she could lose if she wins.

A diabolically entertaining tale of betrayal, deception, temptation, and love filled with dark twists leavened by Joshilyn Jackson’s trademark humor, Never Have I Ever explores what happens when the transgressions of our past come back with a vengeance.


My Review

Well this starts off with a bit of a bang, nice neighbourhood, mummies book club, the pregnant host holds the book meet in her besties house, Amy (more space). When a new arrival Roux shows up and takes over the meeting. She is beautiful, forceful and enraptures everyone's attention. Instead of holding to the norm Roux turns everyone upside down, plies everyone with booze and introduces a game, Never Have I Ever. Secrets are spilled but Roux was already armed with knowledge and had one of the groups deepest secrets, now she has more and an agenda.


Dun dun duuuuuuuuun. So Roux should be short for ruthless because man that woman is TROUBLE! Roux quickly lets Amy know she knows and what she wants, her very presence threatening everything Amy has build and holds dear. Thing is, Amy does have a secret, one that could ruin her, how far will they go, who will come out on top?

So the book is like Stepford house wives meets a foxy shady she devil who has no morals and seemingly nothing to loose. She thrives on drama, upturning folks lives, sometimes for gain, sometimes for her own amusement. There are twists and turns galore and even folk who seem able to predict everything in books will struggle with this one. It has mentions of death, abuse, violence, partner violence, sa so quite a few dark ones and some real bottom of the barrel type of people, I can't list them all cos we don't do spoilers so be prepared. I struggled to put this down because it was total cat and mouse and hard to see how this was going to end, 4.5/5.

View all my reviews