Book Review: Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey
Letters to the Lost
Author: Iona Grey
Published: May 26, 2015
Audiobook
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: August 29- September 10, 2022
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars
Book Description:
I promised to love you forever, in a time when I didn’t know if I’d live to see the start of another week. Now it looks like forever is finally running out. I never stopped loving you. I tried, for the sake of my own sanity, but I never even got close, and I never stopped hoping either.
Late on a frozen February evening, a young woman is running through the streets of London. Having fled from her abusive boyfriend and with nowhere to go, Jess stumbles onto a forgotten lane where a small, clearly unlived in old house offers her best chance of shelter for the night. The next morning, a mysterious letter arrives and when she can’t help but open it, she finds herself drawn inexorably into the story of two lovers from another time.
In London 1942, Stella meets Dan, a US airman, quite by accident, but there is no denying the impossible, unstoppable attraction that draws them together. Dan is a B-17 pilot flying his bomber into Europe from a British airbase; his odds of survival are one in five. In the midst of such uncertainty, the one thing they hold onto is the letters they write to each other. Fate is unkind and they are separated by decades and continents. In the present, Jess becomes determined to find out what happened to them. Her hope—inspired by a love so powerful it spans a lifetime—will lead her to find a startling redemption in her own life in this powerfully moving novel.
Jessica’s Review:
This is another one I read for a book club and it is one I had not heard of until it was the selected book. We have two time periods for the novel: London in 1942 and 2011. In 2011 we have Jess’s story with Will coming into the picture and in 1942 Stella’s story with Dan coming into the picture. We have a love story with Dan and Stella who are separated and this time period comes together with Jess in 2011 discovering the letters Dan wrote to Stella. Over time along with Jess we see Dan and Stella’s love story and Jess becomes determined to find out what happened to both of them.
This one was just an ok read for me. I was not really intrigued with most of the 2011 story other than Jess trying to find out what happened to Dan and Stella. And I wanted a different ending than what we got. ( I wanted an ending similar the movie Forever Young with Mel Gibson;-which also partly takes place in WWII. I just realized that as I was writing this! Oh wow!) I just didn’t connect with Jess, so as I listened I seemed to tune her parts with Will out.
This just wasn’t the novel for me, but fans of WWII historical fiction should really enjoy it. You really see the tough life Stella had in that time of 1942, the tough life that women in general had. No choices to what they could do. It’s hard for us in our 21st century minds to think about that!
Audio ARC Review: The Prisoner by B.A. Paris
The Prisoner
Author: B.A. Paris
Narrator: Georgia Maguire
To Be Published: November 1, 2022
Audiobook
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: September 12-16, 2022
Jessica’s Rating: 2.5 stars
Book Description:
Amelie has always been a survivor, from losing her parents as a child in Paris to making it on her own in London. As she builds a life for herself, she is swept up into a glamorous lifestyle where she married the handsome billionaire Ned Hawthorne.
But then, Amelie wakes up in a pitch-black room, not knowing where she is. Why has she been taken? Who are her mysterious captors? And why does she soon feel safer here, imprisoned, than she had begun to feel with her husband Ned?
Jessica’s Review:
I have enjoyed most of B.A. Paris’ novels, but last year’s The Therapist didn’t work for me and now The Prisoner failed me. And she started so strong with her debut of Behind Closed Doors.
We have Amelie who is our narrator for both past and present. And we get to know her and what has happened in her past to make her who she is today. The premise was intriguing for me: Amelie locked in a dark room alone, what’s she to do? Why is she being held there? Just what is going on?
The novel just became a muddled mess and I thought it was going in one direction, but it wasn’t. As it progressed and we started figuring things out at the end I found myself just not caring anymore. I felt this is a novel that had a lot of potential that just wasn’t for me. I did like that it shows how knowing some basic math and doing some quick figures can be important! I also liked how the chapters were short and that made the novel go by quicker. If the chapters had been longer, I don’t know if I would have completed it.
I listened to the audiobook and Georgia Maguire is the narrator. She is a new narrator for me and she portrayed Amelie very well. I felt the tension and fear that Amelie had when she was first in that room. I would be interested in listening to more from her.
Many thanks to the publisher Macmillian Audio for granting me an audio arc to listen to and review. I just wish my review had been favorable.
Pre-order Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Cover Reveal: How To Destroy Your Husband by Jess Kitching
Today I am helping in the cover reveal for the newest thriller by Jess Kitching: How to Destroy Your Husband The publication date for this one is October 23rd, and will be here before you know it!
Book Description:
“I gulp as I stare at the stranger before me. Who is this man I had wanted to spend the rest of my life with?”
Cassie Edwards swore she’d never fall in love… then she met Jamie. He changed everything, and Cassie’s never been happier.
But with less than one month to go to her wedding, Cassie discovers Jamie is cheating on her with his colleague. Blinded by rage, Cassie makes it her mission to seek revenge on the pair. When Cassie looks deeper into her fiancé’s life, she soon realises being faithful isn’t the only thing he’s lying about.
As her hunt for the truth takes her to some of the darkest corners of the internet, Cassie learns just how little she knows about the man she shares her life with. It leaves her wondering one thing – is Jamie someone she should destroy, or someone she should fear instead?
How far would you go to destroy your husband?
Now….. What does the cover look like?????? Keep scrolling to find out!!
Almost there!!!
Here it is:
Pre-order your copy here:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Contact Jess:
Website
Instagram: @jesskitchingwrites
Twitter: @kitching_jess