Roberta Reads

The Midnight Swan by Catherine Fisher My rating: 5 of 5 stars I enjoyed the previous two books in this series (The Clockwork Crow and The Velvet Fox), so I was expecting to enjoy this one. It exceeded my expectations! I absolutely loved this story. I loved all the usual elements, the Fae, the magic, the Crow, the couplets at the start of each chapter, but this one had so much more. I really enjoyed the fact that Tomos got to take a more active part in this book, rather than just being enchanted by the Fae, as he was in the previous two. I can’t say too much without spoilers, but the ending was wonderful, with love and happiness for all. I sincerely hope this won’t be the last book in the series, but this feels very much like all the threads have been wrapped up. If so, I’ll be looking out for Catherine Fisher’s next book with great eagerness. On another note, the covers of all three of the books in this series are enchantingly beautiful. I esp...

Good Blood: A Doctor, a Donor, and the Incredible Breakthrough that Saved Millions of Babies by Julian Guthrie My rating: 4 of 5 stars I had never heard of Rh disease, despite my interest in all things medical and biological. When I came across this book, I thought it sounded fascinating. It was. This book tells the story (so far) of Rh disease - a devastating illness where a mother’s body attacks her baby, due to a blood type incompatibility, leading to miscarriages, babies dying, and children born with brain damage. It shows how an effective treatment was found, and how we still don’t understand how it really works. I found most of this book really interesting, but there were a few chapters that I found really tedious - mostly extraneous (to me) bits of James’s life. However, there weren’t many. It was so fascinating to read about the initial idea, the frustrations of trying to get funding, the medical trials, the not so legal first use, and...

Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson My rating: 5 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this book. I’ve always loved insects, and other small things that creep and crawl, so when I saw the beautiful cover of this book, I had to read it. This book is informative, and engagingly written. It both educates and entertains. Although basically factual, there is a vein of humour running through it, and it’s so well written that it is easy to read. It neither uses too much technical language, nor talks down to the reader, or over simplifies. I think the author has done an excellent job of taking her obviously vast knowledge of the insect world, and teasing out an interesting book that is accessible to all. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful, so detailed, and unlike a lot of pictures, come across really well on my black and white kindle. As well as entertaining and informing us about the insect world, Chapter 9 covers a very important topic - h...

The Saturday Morning Park Run by Jules Wake My rating: 5 of 5 stars I loved this book, it was great. Ash and Claire meet under one set of circumstances, and then they both have setbacks, and end up meeting again. I love the character development for all the characters: Claire, Ash, Hilda and Poppy especially. I loved the community feel of the story - it starts off with a few isolated people, but by the end, they’re a family, surrounded by a supportive community. There’s also plenty of humour sprinkled throughout the book. I love the way that Claire and Ash’s initial sexual chemistry turned into so much more, and the way they adapted their lives to changing priorities. The story was definitely a page turner, I really got sucked in, and couldn’t wait to see what happened next. I think that’s down to all the characters being so believable and lovable. Overall, this was a real feel good, heartwarming story, with family and community at its heart. ...

A Year at Appleyard Farm by Emma Davies My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book is a little different to most - it’s more like four novellas published together than one book in four sections. In fact, that is how it was originally published. There is definitely an overarching theme, but each section very much focusses on two people. I didn’t realise this in advance, and found it confusing, especially the third section (Summer), because it starts with two characters that have not even been mentioned in the previous two sections. However, I did enjoy all four sections of this book. Each one contains a lovely romance, and Appleyard Farm and the village are the setting for all four.  Autumn (the final section) was my favourite. It includes both Stephen’s character development, and such a sweet romance. It also ends with the wedding of the two characters from Winter (the first section). However, I was disappointed that although the romantic side of...

A Deadly Ride: A Charleton House Mystery by Kate P. Adams My rating: 4 of 5 stars It’s always so easy to slip back into the Charleton House world. The writing flows well, and I enjoyed the cyclemania event setting. There were a good few interesting historical bike facts thrown in. This instalment of a favourite series had all the usual touches of gentle humour, likeable characters, a charming setting, and a fun mystery. It was interesting getting to know DS Harnby a little better, whilst Joe was away. I didn’t guess who the killer was until right near the end, which makes a nice change from a lot of the cozy crimes I read. I do love the scene at the end of each book, after the murder has been solved, where Sophie and her friends all get together. If you’re looking for an easy to read cozy crime to chill out with, this is the book for you. I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own. View all my reviews

The Christmas Swap by Melody Carlson My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was a short and sweet romance. I liked West and Emma, they seemed like two genuinely nice people, but most of the rest of the characters were not really likeable. Gillian and her mother, in particular, were unkind. Gillian was manipulative, judgemental, a snob and just plain nasty. I’ve no idea why someone like Emma is still friends with her. Gillian rescued her when they were younger, but that’s no reason to put up with such a toxic “friendship”. The setting of West’s house and the town, skiing etc was well done, though a little more description would have made the various restaurants etc a little more distinguishable from one another. However, the mountains, snow and decorations in West’s house did give a nice Christmas atmosphere. I was rather disappointed that Emma and West were somehow in love after only spending a total of one day together. I think it would have been more ...

To the Land of Long Lost Friends by Alexander McCall Smith My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, so I was very pleased to receive a copy of this book via NetGalley. It is always a great pleasure to return to Botswana, and the world of Mma Ramotswe. I love the way that she thinks, and the way conversations and thoughts often go rambling around! The mysteries are always interesting - this particular one involves friends from long ago. The characters are ones I love, and well written. They all have their own motivations, but rub along well together. I love the general attitude of kindness to others that most characters adhere to, the feeling that all people are our sisters and brothers. If you’re looking for a really relaxing, but interesting read, then this book (and this series) is the one for you. I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own. View all my reviews

Shadow in the Empire of Light by Jane Routley My rating: 1 of 5 stars This book really wasn’t to my taste. Too many horrible people - even a paedophile. Really not what I want to be reading about. I really liked the idea of Katti, Shine’s telepathic cat. I also enjoyed the Mooncats. I’d have liked to have seen a lot more of these two aspects. There were too many different characters introduced too quickly for me to keep track of. Almost none of them had enough page time for me to get to know them. The vast majority of them were nasty, and only out for themselves, just wanting to spend their time drugged, drunk and having sex. Every single character seems to look down on “the peasants”, and even Shine, who does consider them to some extent, seems to see them mostly as a mass of nameless servants. The plot itself seemed to take forever to get going, it wasn’t until three quarters of the way through that any progress was made. Unfortunately, the ...

The Little Cottage in Lantern Square by Helen Rolfe My rating: 3 of 5 stars I’ve read two books by this author before, one of which was great, and one of which I didn’t enjoy as much. I decided to have one more go before giving up, and I’m glad I did. This book was really enjoyable. It was relaxing to read, and there were lots of different likeable characters (as well as one I really disliked right from the start). All of them were well written and had their own stories going on. I loved Hannah, the way she was kind to everyone (except Joe!), and drew them out and got them involved in village life. I really didn’t enjoy the plot with Georgia though, she’s just such an awful person, and I found it odd that Hannah forgave her so easily, and then took so long to twig to what she was now up to. But there have to be some difficulties in a book or there wouldn’t be any plot! I’m just not a fan of reading about toxic people. The romance element of th...