coffeebooksandescape's reviews
312 reviews

The Girl from Paris by Ella Carey

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

👗 What was your dream job when you were younger? 👗

Vianne Mercier was too young to help out during the war, except sewing uniforms and such, but the one thing she always wanted to be was a fashion designer. When her mother, sister, and later father pass away, she follows her own path. A story of a potential choice between a dream and romance, because back then a married woman was not supposed to work, and a story of familial obligation all make this book interstellar. 

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸."

I always love an Ella Carey novel. This is the 3rd book by her I've read now, and I know they always tend to have a strong female lead within a wartime tale. This one I wasn't expecting. Before I read chapter 9 i just assumed what the MC would be called back to Paris for, and boy was I wrong. The shellshock I had reading this one... Authors minds absolutely amaze me how they come up with these amazing intricate plots and weave a story so deep that it all makes sense. It was intense and page turning, emotional and loveable all at once. 

The only thing I would have asked for more of would be maybe an epilogue about Amelie (no spoilers!) 

Highly recommend this book if you love a war time hisfic, or even a slight historical romance. Actually scratch that, I recommend this whole darn series. Read your hearts out. 

The Boardwalk Bookshop by Susan Mallery

challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Thirty Days in Paris: The Gorgeously Escapist, Romantic and Uplifting New Novel from the Sunday Times Bestselling Author by Veronica Henry

adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Do No Harm by Jack Jordan

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 • 𝙳𝚘 𝙽𝚘 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚖

𝐀𝐃-𝐏𝐑 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭

~ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮

~ @jackjordan_author

~ thriller

“𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴, 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴. 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥?”

𝙴𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝:

💰 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚕

🔫 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛

🔪 𝚐𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚢

👩 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚗

👮‍♀️ 𝚊 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚞𝚝

Ahhhh I was supposed to post this on publication day so throw me a bone! I got distracted! I just want to tell you to pick this book up. This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire way through, and the blurb? A teaser. I swear that the blurb was played out within the first ten percent of this book! I also loved the three main characters - read on!

You’ve got this main character, Anna, who is an incredible heart surgeon, she’s got money, and then suddenly she comes home, her neighbour is dead and her son is gone. A gang want her to murder a politician during heart surgery! If she doesn’t, her 8 year old dies. What would you do? She was quick witted and made some incredibly fast and brilliant decisions in this book.

Then you’ve got Margot. She’s also a main character, but not the lead. She’s got money troubles and stealing from coworkers to eat and live. She made a lot of bad decisions in this book, but her character was really well built and thought out! Then there’s Rachel, the police woman. Her son was kidnapped 15 years ago and the case was never solved. So when she gets put on a murder case and the last person to see the victim alive was Anna’s son, she becomes obsessed. 

Absolute credit where it’s due to Jack Jordan. This was an incredible book, and makes you think about how far you would go to save your child. Thriller fans run run run to the shops and get this!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster UK for the gifted copy!

The Lost Girl of Berlin by Ella Carey

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 • 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝙶𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚗

~ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮
~ @ellacarey_author 
~ historical romance

“𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳? 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘺!”

𝙴𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝:
🔫 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚆𝚊𝚛 𝚃𝚠𝚘 
👗 𝙰 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚗’𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍
💰 𝙰 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 
👧 𝙰 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚘𝚜

This book was set in the aftermath of the Second World War where women are being told to marry and have children, go back to normalcy. But the MC Kate in this book wants to become a political journalist, but she also has a thing for fellow journalist Rick. But in a post war world, no woman can have a career and a man. 

Kate and Rick’s characters are connected from the beginning of the book when they bond over helping a small child in Berlin, and work to reunite her with any family she may have. So there are two intertwining stories playing out. 

Ella Carey has done a brilliant job of describing post war life for women, and how life was unfair to them in those times (and that it still can be) and the uphill battles many women faced. It was a really eye opening book that showed that even when war has supposedly stopped, it hasn’t everywhere. 

A New York Secret by Ella Carey

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 • 𝙰 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚈𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝

𝐀𝐃-𝐏𝐑 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭

~ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮

~ @ellacarey_author 

~ historical romance

“𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮. 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴.”

𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 ➡️

𝙴𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝:

🔫 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚆𝚊𝚛 𝚃𝚠𝚘 

💒 𝙰𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚐𝚎

❤️ 𝙰 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚕 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚛

💍 𝚃𝚠𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢

🧑🏼‍🍳 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚜

Those of you that know me well, know I am a foodie. Big time. This book was set in a New York restaurant during World War II, I’m not even over exaggerating when I say most of these pages were mouthwatering! Not only is this the story of passion for food, but the story of a young woman rebelling in every form possible.

Lily Rose rebels against her classism, raised as upper class but wanting to be working class. She rebels against the marriage that was prearranged for her to give her the best future, and instead chooses someone lower on the class chain. She wanted a life full of passion, not to become an upper class housewife and mother. 

It was a really moving story and had me in tears a lot. I loved Tom, but I also had a soft spot for Nathaniel who truly was in love with Lily. The characters were built brilliantly, and this will really give you all the feels. 

Herrick's Lie by T. M. Blanchet

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 • 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚔’𝚜 𝙻𝚒𝚎

~ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮
~ @t.m.blanchet 
~ fantasy

“𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, […] 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺.”

𝙴𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝:
🧙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜
🦔 𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚜
🗒️ 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜
💥 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍

When Trisha contacted me and offered me a paper ARC I couldn’t say no. This is the second book in the Neath trilogy and I demolished book one in one sitting so I was really excited for this one, and it didn’t disappoint!

The Neath is this world created by witches and is directly beneath our own world, it was created as an escape for victims (abuse etc) that wanted to take control of their lives and provided a very real underground where they couldn’t be found unlike the safe houses and similar that are provided in real life. The topic of abuse, just like in the first book, was handled really well and added an extra dimension to the books.

I love all the creatures in this one, it definitely added an extra to what I felt was missing from the “fantasy” elements in book one. The twists and turns were super too! The whole George Herrick thing really surprised me in this book and it took a real turn I hadn’t been expecting. I’m excited to see who’s been the real mastermind behind Ollie’s entire thing! I’m excited to see where book three takes us, and will be impatiently waiting! The set up for the next book is completely there, and I’m excited to follow Ollie into the next adventure!

If you’re looking for a new fantasy author, I recommend checking out the first book in this trilogy, and then this one when it releases later this month! It’s really imaginative, relatable and page turning all at once!

Thank you so much to Trisha for the gifted copy of book two 🙏🏻

𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲.

The Cook: From the award-winning author of The Waiter by Ajay Chowdhury, Ajay Chowdhury

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 • 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚘𝚔

~ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮
~ @ajaychowdhury.author
~ crime / mystery

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵.’ 
‘𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.”

𝙴𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝:
🔎 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜
❤️ 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚜
🕸️ 𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚋 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜
🖼️ 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎

A brilliant second mystery in this debut series from Ajay Chowdhury! This one features a double (if not, triple) mystery with several different scenarios to investigate. First, you’ve got a Muslim student nurse murdered in her apartment, and secondly, homeless individuals dying from no obvious cause. So Kamil and his entourage start to investigate these goings on, behind the police’s back!

I have to say, while the mystery of the storyline was incredibly interesting and a complicated web that truly would have taken a master to solve in real life, Kamil just didn’t grow on me in this second book. The first book I almost sympathised for him, but this one he was really rude to Anjoli, and tended to forget his promises and the fact he had a full time job. However he improved towards the end, maybe the investigative work stresses him out!

However, again I just can’t write the words to convince anyone of this mystery to the depth it was written. It was unique, and complicated, and everything tied up in a neat little bow at the end. Considering how many loose ends there were, it shows the master behind the writing! I highly recommend for a mystery lover!