The Ultimatum by Karen Robards #bookreview

About The Ultimatum

The first thriller in the Guardian series by New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards, perfect for fans of Karen Rose and Sandra Brown.

Bianca St. Ives is smart, talented and beautiful. She's also a high-end thief, a master manipulator, a card shark, and a genius of disguise.

A femme fatale Robin Hood running a multinational firm with her father, she makes a living swindling con men out of money they stole and giving it back to those who should rightfully have it. Her father has prepared her well to carry on the family business, and now the prodigy has surpassed the master.

But her latest mission didn't go to plan - millions of dollars and top secret government documents went missing, and her father was supposedly killed. But not everyone believes in his death, including the US government. They'll stop at nothing to capture Richard St. Ives - a high-value target who has been on most-wanted lists all over the world - even if it means using Bianca as bait.

With only a fellow criminal for backup and her life on the line, it's up to Bianca to uncover the terrifying truth behind what really happened . . . and set it right, before it's too late.

 

My review of The Ultimatum

Well, The Ultimatum is my first ever Karen Robards book and it won't be the last. Wow! This book was amazing. It left me breathless, from the gripping and very scary prologue, right through to the last word, I just couldn't put it down. Ms Robards really is a wonderful storyteller. This is a fast paced thriller that pulls no punches, is action packed, but is also heavily character driven,  and this surprised me. It's an entertaining and compulsive read.

I couldn't put this book down, it really does have it all: action, suspense, crime, romance and a female protagonist who is utterly spellbinding, Bianca St. Ives. The beginning of the novel describes Bianca's situation, as she finds herself in the middle of an aborted mission that has gone horribly wrong. Wow,  as I read these first few chapters that described her predicament, I saw the movie playing in my mind. The descriptions of what was going on around her, as well as her inner monologue were so captivating. I actually felt that I was Bianca, as my heart raced and the panic began to set in... and the book continued at this relentless pace.

The book is obviously plot driven and focusses heavily upon action and suspense. However, this book is also heavily character driven. I often find when reading this genre that character is less important than that of action, but this book redresses the balance, as character is incredibly important. Bianca is obviously the main focus and I really got to know her and her thought processes throughout the novel. I needed to understand her I feel to fully appreciate the novel. Without such a strong female lead, and a likeable one who has a soft and vulnerable core than you otherwise might expect, this book would not be as much of an emotional read, and it is highly emotional.

The Ultimatum is a crime thriller that is packed full of plot and exciting, memorable characters and I loved it. I loved Bianca and what she stood for. It was an incredibly fun, enjoyable and emotional read... and oh my, that ending! I can't wait to read book two in the series.

With thanks to the publisher and Bookbridgr for an advanced hardback copy for review purposes.

The Ultimatum is released in hardback by Hodder & Stoughton on 15 June. 2017. It is available
from Amazon on the following link.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimatum-Guardian-Karen-Robards/dp/1473647339/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497193365&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Ultimatum

About the author

Karen Robards is the internationally bestselling author of over forty romantic suspense novels, which have regularly appeared on the New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists, among others. She is the mother of three boys and lives with her family in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

You can find out more at www.karenrobards.com and on Facebook at

www.facebook.com/AuthorKarenRobards or follow her on Twitter @TheKarenRobards.

The Comfort of Others by Kay Langdale #bookreview

 

About The Comfort of Others

Minnie and her sister Clara, spinsters both, live in a dilapidated country house in the middle of a housing estate, built when their father sold off the family's land. Now in their seventies, their days follow a well-established routine: long gone are the garden parties, the tennis lessons and their suffocatingly strict mother. Gone, too, is any mention of what happened when Minnie was sixteen, and the secret the family buried in the grounds of their estate.

 

Directly opposite them lives Max, an 11-year-old whose life with his mum has changed beyond recognition since her new boyfriend arrived. Cast aside, he takes solace in Minnie's careful routine, observed through his bedroom window.

 

Over the course of the summer, both begin to tell their stories: Max through a Dictaphone, Minnie through a diary. As their tales intertwine, ghosts are put to rest and challenges faced, in a story that is as dark as it is uplifting.

 

My review of The Comfort of Others

The Comfort of Others is a novel about friendship, family and living with secrets that are too painful to reveal.  I loved this novel for its gentleness, its honesty and for its poignancy. This is such a beautiful book. It is both heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. 

The novel is told from the viewpoints of two central characters. Max is an eleven-year-old boy who lives with his mother in a terraced house on a council estate. Opposite where he lives stands Rosemount House, where two elderly ladies live, Minnie and her sister, Clara. The house once stood alone in he middle of sprawling fields, but their father decided to sell the land and to build houses for the workers. 

The story begins with Max. He wants to be an author, but because his writing skills aren't that great, he decides to use his mother's old Dictaphone to tell his story. The story he tells is of life with his mother and her new boyfriend. He feels unwanted, cast aside, and so his oral journal becomes his coping mechanism. It is this decision, that has a direct and positive impact upon Minnie. She watches the little boy from the comfort of her living room, she sees him speaking into his Dictaphone, and from doing so gets the idea that she too, could perhaps write a diary and tell the story of her own life. Although they have never met, just merely seen each other when sitting in their own homes across the wide road from each other,  they begin to share a bond, a common understanding, and their two stories inevitably become one.

 

I found these characters hugely engaging. It was lovely to hear personal stories from both ends of the age spectrum. Max's voice was particularly strong and very much that of a young boy. The dialogue was clever and I believed what Max had to tell me. I felt for him, a little boy who simply wanted to be seen, heard and valued. For me though, it was Minnie who won my heart. Here is a woman who has lived a secret life, a life that cannot be seen on the lines of her face, or in her actions. It is through Max's strength in starting his own journal, that Minnie draws the strength to examine her own past. Minnie is the kind of woman I would dearly love to have a cup of tea and a slice of cake with, while putting the world to rights.

 

This really is such a beautiful story. It is seeped in sadness, a somewhat bittersweet story that had me sobbing in parts, but ultimately it is a story of strength and of dealing with the hardships of life. This is true for both characters, young and old. One particular scene concerning Minnie I found to be very upsetting, but it was pivotal to the plot, the novel centred on this moment in time, it made Minnie the woman she became. 

 

I adored this novel. In a world were many books are fast paced, it was lovely to simply sit and read this book at its natural, gentle pace. The Comfort of Others, truly is a delightful and very special book.

 

The Comfort of Others, published by Hodder Paperbacks on 6 April 2017, can be found on Amazon here.

About the author

Kay Langdale is the author of five novels: AWAY FROM YOU, CHOOSE ME, HER GIANT OCTOPUS MOMENT, WHAT THE HEART KNOWS (Rowolht, Germany) and REDEMPTION (Transita, published as If Not Love by Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press). Visit Kay's website at www.kaylangdale.com. Follow her on Twitter:@kaylangdale.

Boys Don't Cry by Tim Grayburn #bookreview

About Boys Don't Cry

Boys Don't Cry is a book that will make sense of depression and anxiety for people who might not recognise those feelings in themselves or others.

Suicide is the single biggest killer of men aged 20-45 in the UK. Depression and undiagnosed mental illness are huge contributors to these deaths as they're often more difficult to diagnose in men. And those men don't tend to talk about the typical symptoms or visit their doctor.

Meet Tim.

For nearly a decade he kept his depression secret. It made him feel so weak and shameful he thought it would destroy his whole life if anyone found out.

And Tim is not alone.

After finally opening up he realised that mental illness was affecting many men around the globe - and he knew that wasn't ok.

A brutally honest, wickedly warming and heart-breaking tale about what it really takes to be a 'real man', written by one who decided that he wanted to change the world by no longer being silent.

This is Tim's story, but it could be yours too.

My review of Boys Don't Cry

Boys Don't Cry is a poignant, honest and incredibly heartbreaking account of living with clinical depression and acute anxiety. Tim Grayburn writes with honesty, rawness and humour. I read the book with tears in my eyes, some tears were due to laughter, others because of what Tim lived though in isolation and silence, as he was ashamed to tell others about how he felt. This book well and truly breaks down all walls.

Before I write the rest of my review, I just want to state that this book is a must read for everyone. It really is such an important book about mental health and the fact that there is no shame, or stigma, in seeking help and support.

When I first saw the blurb for Boys Don't Cry I knew that I needed to read this book. My knowledge about clinical depression is very limited, information that was barely covered while doing my general nurse training many years ago. I have slightly more knowledge about anxiety, as my youngest son is autistic, and a huge part of his life is controlled by his anxiety. But, I wanted to know more about 'young men and depression' as I have two boys, plus the fact that autistic individuals are statistically more likely to suffer from depression.  I need to be more aware, and I know that reading personal  accounts is the best way for me to gain useful and credible knowledge, much more useful than reading a textbook on the subject.

Tim's personal account is powerful and poignant. The book deals with his life before diagnosis, during diagnosis and his life now. I was so happy to read that he is now in a good place, that he has a wonderful, caring wife and a gorgeous little boy.

This is an incredibly raw account of life with depression. On paper you might think that this kind of book wouldn't contain many laughs, but you would be wrong to assume so. This is a funny book, and an incredibly uplifting one, that pulls no punches, but is funny at the sane time. Tim writes with humour, detailing his many escapades as a young man, which help to shed light on what life it is like for young people living with depression.

It's an incredibly engaging book, one that I found hard to put down. Tim writes so well, the words flow, and I really felt that I got to know the real him. Ultimately though, I felt that I got a clear insight into what it must be like to live with depression and anxiety. I will never fully understand, but I now feel more aware of what signs to look out for, and what help and support I can offer.

I really do think that it takes much courage for anyone to write about their mental health so candidly. I really do feel that Boys Don't Cry will help those individuals who feel alone, who feel that they cannot talk about their mental health. I hope now that they can do so.

Boys Don't Cry is an important book, an honest book and one that I feel everyone should read, so as to end the stigma that is associated with mental health issues. The strong message from this book is that we all need to talk about metal health...let's end the silence.

Boys Don't Cry, published by Hodder & Stoughton on May 4, 2017. A link to the book on Amazon can be found here.

With thanks to the publisher and Bookbridgr for the proof copy.

About the Author

Tim Grayburn is a man. He's a dad, a brother and a son too. After working in advertising for ten years he quit the rat race to perform around the world in the award-winning show Fake it 'Til You Make It. This is his first book.