The Burning Air - Erin Kelly

5/5

The MacBride family - on the surface they are a perfect nuclear family. Sadly, the matriarch of the family, Lydia has passed away and the family is gathering all together for their annual bonfire night celebrations for the first time without her. She is survived by her huband, two daughters, one son and several grandchildren.

But not all is as it seems. This family, which prizes education, justice and a fair chance for all has a dark secret and an enemy they don't even know about. The idyllic atmosphere is soon shattered. Firstly, the son brings a girlfriend along - a stranger encroaching on their shared grief. Next thing, this stranger has disappeared and taken eldest daughter, Sophie's newborn baby with her!

At first, I thought this book was going to be (another) snatched baby-hysterical mother plotline, which seems in vogue at the moment. Wrong. As with Erin Kelly's other books, this is a dark, twisty tale full of brooding resentment, obsession and revenge.  I can't say much more without giving away any of the (many) twists. This is probably one of the best books I've read all year, and Erin Kelly is firmly one of my favourite authors.

My only slight irk with the book was - there is a character called Darcy who appears about a third of the way in. For about 50 pages or so I thought Darcy was a woman, when its actually a man!

The Women He Loved Before - Dorothy Koomson

  5/5

Following a whirlwind romance, Libby marries Jack - but right from the start their marriage is overshadowed by the ghost of Jack's first belated wife, Eve. Jack clams up and refuses to talk about her everytime Libby tries to ask about her. The book starts with a crash - literally! After being involved in a car accident, beauty therapist Libby has to reassess her place in the world, her ideas about beauty and her own self image - and most importantly, her relationship with her relatively new husband.

:: Spoilers below this point! ::

While recovering at home, Libby happens upon the diaries of Eve, hidden in the cellar. Unable to resist, she reads them and discovers Eve is not what she thought. Having to escape from her mother's abusive boyfriend Eve finds herself in London and on poverty row. She reluctantly becomes a stripper, or really, a lap dancer, but it spirals into prostitution, escorting and eventually ends up as the virtual slave of a very nasty pimp. Despite this, you cannot help but love Eve. She was easily the best character in this story, as as you already know she's dead from the start - it's not going to turn out well for poor Eve. All she really wants is to wear her pink dress, to be loved and respected and not to have to live in fear.

I feel I'm not being a very good reviewer, handing out 5/5 ratings for everything - I should be harsher - however, I cannot give The Woman He Loved Before anything lower. I think I loved this book even more than The Ice Cream Girls. At first the book deals with the whirlwind romance between Libby and Jack and for me that dragged a little bit, but once you get through to Eve's story, I found I could not put it down.

In the Kindle edition there were some questions for reading groups, which had also been answered by the author, Dorothy Koomson. Two interesting ones - she said her least favourite character was Jack (mine too - he's the romantic male lead, but he didn't protect Eve and he's rather useless for Libby too) - and the question about themes - there are the obvious themes in this story - love, marriage, death etc but one that wasn't mentioned was loss. I think loss - and the fact that with true loss you cannot do anything about it - you just have to find a way to live with it -  is perhaps one of the most important themes in this book. All the character suffer loss - Eve loses her innocence and home when she has to escape to London, later she loses her respectability - for herself and from others - her baby, her mother, Jack once or twice, and then eventually her life. Libby loses her identity and her confidence. Jack loses Eve, his family and more than he probably even realises.

This is a wonderful book I would encourage anyone to read. Right, plunging into The Rose Petal Beach now! 

The Ice Cream Girls - Dorothy Koomson

5/5

When they were teenagers, both Poppy and Serena were drawn in to a relationship with the same teacher, Marcus - old enough to be their father and definitely old enough to know what he's doing. The girls are groomed initially with romance and sweet nothings, but both relationships turn darker when he becomes abusive and violent. Flash forward 20 years, and we discover Marcus was murdered. Both girls were accused. Serena was found not guilty but Poppy was sent down for it. Poppy's just been released from prison and is keen to prove her innocence - and the only way she can think to do that is by making Serena confess.

The story is told in a dual format with flash backs and forwards so you experience both the past and present concurrently.

Very much enjoyed The Ice Cream Girls. I had read a Dorothy Koomson book before which I hadn't liked very much and that had put me off reading any more of her books, but this one was excellent! The plot is outside of the normal chick lit realm, but not quite a hard boiled thriller either. Great characterisation and plot - you're never sure who to believe, or which side you're rooting for - you'll choose one side and then something will happen to change your mind. I guessed the twist, but it was still a very complicated, very intriguing plot. I read it in a few days as I couldn't put it down. Very much interested in reading more Dorothy Koomson books now. (Haven't seen the recent ITV adaptation, but I'm sure it can't be as good as the book!)