Roberta Reads

Esme's Gift by Elizabeth Foster My rating: 5 of 5 stars I really enjoyed Esme’s Wish, so I was excited to get my hands on an ARC of Esme’s Gift. I was not disappointed. This book has all the elements I loved from the first one: the magic, the dragons, the friendship, the complex alternative world. Added to that is a whole new adventure: trying to wake up Esme’s mum. The characters are (again) fully believable. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes magic, great writing and dragons. I was given a free copy of this book. My opinions are my own. View all my reviews

Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Identity by Lydia Sherrer My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have read and enjoyed all the previous instalments of Love, Lies and Hocus Pocus, so I was thrilled to receive an ARC of the 6th: Identity. This is rather longer than the previous books, though it doesn’t feel excessively long. There are all the elements that we love about this series: magic, Sir Kipling (and his snark), a little romance, fighting for good, writing that flows well, is easy to read and so on. There are a number of little references to other books, tv, films - I particularly enjoyed the one about Firefly. I missed Sir Kipling’s snark a bit - to start with he isn’t able to communicate directly with Sebastian. I also missed Lily, though that obviously couldn’t be helped! Most of the book was told from Sebastian’s viewpoint, and it was great to see his character development, to see him starting to fight his feelings of uselessness and find worth in things oth...

Wisteria Wonders by Angela Pepper My rating: 4 of 5 stars 🎧 Audiobook Review 🎧 Sorry, mild spoilers - I’ve tried to avoid specific plot points, but it’s tricky! I did not enjoy this instalment as much as the others I have listened to. I found the way that Zara and Chet’s relationship went all skewy a bit too weird, and the betrayal of how Zara ended up in Wisteria was a little too upsetting for my taste. It also made me sad that both Zara and Chet were left with feelings for each other at the end. However, all the things I love about this series are still there, the snark (especially between Zara and Zoe), the magic, the mystery, the magical creatures, etc etc. And as usual, Tiffany Williams totally nails the narration and brings the book to life. View all my reviews

Peter Pan [Audible Original] by J.M. Barrie My rating: 2 of 5 stars 🎧 Audiobook Review 🎧 So, I’ve somehow escaped ever seeing, hearing or reading Peter Pan before, so since Audible we’re giving this version away as their Christmas member gift, I thought I’d give it a try. I found it to be a very odd tale, with some very strange ideas. Perhaps I’d have liked it more as a child? The narration is pretty good, though it’s a dramatisation, and consequently read by multiple people. This also means it doesn’t necessarily stick closely to the book (I can’t say as I’ve not read it). I found the music excessive and the sound effects intrusive, though some weren’t too bad. This is why I normally go for single narrator audiobooks, rather than dramatisations. I don’t think I’ll be listening again. However, I imagine this would be a good version for children as it would hold their attention better. And if you love music, dramatisations, sounds effects and the st...

Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis My rating: 3 of 5 stars I have enjoyed a number of other books by Jill Shalvis, so I thought I’d give this one a whirl. It is more emotional than the other Jill Shalvis books I’ve read, and hence is slightly less my cup of tea. There’s still all my favourite things, the romance, the beautiful places, people taking care of each other and so on, but all the characters have been through such a lot that I found it a bit too heavy going, emotionally. However, I did love the way they all came together to make a family, and worked through the issues that they’d been left with. And there are two romances, a bonus. If you don’t mind a few tears, then this is an excellent book. I was given a free copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own. View all my reviews

No 2 Feline Detective Agency by Mandy Morton My rating: 2 of 5 stars DNF - it wasn’t bad or anything, but a world entirely populated with humanoid cats is not for me! View all my reviews

Murder at Enderley Hall by Helena Dixon My rating: 4 of 5 stars Having read and enjoyed Murder at the Dolphin Hotel so much, I was thrilled to get an ARC of Murder at Enderley Hall via NetGalley. I felt right at home the moment I started reading. Helena Dixon is one of those writers who write so well that I immediately feel comfortable and relaxed, and the story just flows. I was really pleased that Matt is in this adventure as well as Kitty, I like them both so much. They are complex, believable characters who seem very real. The story held my attention throughout, apart from one brief section where there were a lot of “interviewing the suspects/witnesses” scenes in a row. Fortunately, we moved on to other scenes before I got fed up. I was also slightly disappointed that Kitty wasn’t as involved in investigating as much in the first half of the book. This was mostly because she wasn’t in the interview scenes. However, these were both very minor nig...

The Tanglewood Wedding Shop by Lilac Mills My rating: 2 of 5 stars I chose this book because I enjoyed the previous book in the series (The Tanglewood Flower Shop). Unfortunately, I was rather disappointed. Mild spoilers below. The overwhelming problem was that I strongly disliked both of the main characters. Edie was very judgemental, both of James, jumping to the conclusion that he’s rich and doesn’t work, and of people in general. She thinks “you never see a poor farmer”! Most farmers are very poor indeed, they do it for the love of it, not the money. Edie also jabs a pin into a bridesmaid because they were discussing setting her (the bridesmaid) up with James. James is twice emotionally manipulative towards Edie near the beginning of the book, and combined with the way he thinks about her, and treats her generally, makes me think he is very likely a controlling person. He refers to her as a “little seamstress” and “his little doe”. I worry he wou...

Queer Heroes: Meet 53 LGBTQ Heroes From Past and Present! by Arabelle Sicardi My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love the artwork in this book, it is bright and colourful, and each page reflects the person on it (as far as I can know without actually knowing them personally). It’s great to read about so many well known LGBTQ+ people, though it is a pity that some members of the community, for example intersex people, have not been included. I think this would be a great introductory book for a child - the joy of the internet is that if they find people they are particularly interested in, they can look up more details. Overall, some interesting information on a number of LGBTQ+ people, but it loses a star for not being quite inclusive enough. I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

Temptress by Lola Dodge My rating: 4 of 5 stars I chose this book because I enjoyed the first book of the series (Ivory) so much. Temptress did not disappoint. With all the sassiness, sexiness, superheros, and humour of the first volume, this brings us a brand new story. As expected, this was really easy to read, not a single error (that I noticed), and the story just made me feel happy. I don’t particularly like Steel as a character, but I’m hoping he’ll be redeemed when we get to his story. I do love the way each character has their own symbol at chapter headings (and changes in POV), and the covers of these books are great. If you love superheros written with humour and a little romance, definitely give this series a try. I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews