Never has a quote been so relevant to EVERY book worm around the globe (and further!). SO many books, but so little time! The same can also be said for book bloggers. We read that many books so we can share them with our audience, but we find ourselves short of time to write all our thoughts down in a comprehensive review.
This brings us nicely to ‘Mini Review Monday’. A place where, to compliment our current content, we can share with you some of our initial thoughts on books we have been reading over the last week.
The Corner Shop In Cockleberry Bay – Nicola May
Blurb:
Rosa Larkin is down on her luck in London, so when she inherits a near-derelict corner shop in a quaint Devon village, her first thought is to sell it for cash and sort out her life. But nothing is straightforward about this legacy. While the identity of her benefactor remains a mystery, he – or she – has left one important legal proviso: that the shop cannot be sold, only passed on to somebody who really deserves it.
Rosa makes up her mind to give it a go: to put everything she has into getting the shop up and running again in the small seaside community of Cockleberry Bay. But can she do it all on her own? And if not, who will help her succeed – and who among the following will work secretly to see her fail?
There is a handsome rugby player, a sexy plumber, a charlatan reporter and a selection of meddling locals. Add in a hit and run incident and the disappearance of a valuable engraved necklace – and what you get is a journey of self-discovery and unpredictable events.
With surprising and heartfelt results, Rosa, accompanied at all times by her little sausage dog Hot, will slowly unravel the shadowy secrets of the inheritance, and also bring her own, long-hidden heritage into the light.
Review:
When we first meet Rosa she is sharing a house with a friend, working a dead end job which barely pays the bills, let alone lets her actually have a life. But then a mysterious legacy appears, she moves herself down to a run down corner shop in a little bay in Devon, determined to make the shop a success.
I found this to be a lovely story, that keeps you reading. I loved Rosa’s character and her interactions with the other people that appear in the book.
I cannot wait to see where Rosa’s story takes her next!
[K]
Ricochet Joe – Dean Koontz
Blurb:
Can an ordinary guy make extraordinary choices in a battle between humanity and unearthly evil?
Joe Mandel is a perfectly ordinary guy from a perfectly ordinary town—a college student and community volunteer who dreams of one day publishing a novel. When a series of strange intuitions leads him to a crime in progress, Joe jumps headlong into danger without hesitation. In the aftermath, he wonders about the uncanny impulse that suddenly swept over him.
Until new friend Portia Montclair, the strangely wise daughter of the local police chief, explains to him what sent him ricocheting around town like a crazy pinball. Portia tells of another reality, a reality more thrilling—and terrifying—than Joe ever imagined. Timeless, elemental forces of good and evil have come to the quiet town of Little City: a cosmic entity capable of infecting human beings, and the seeker who has chosen Joe to find it.
To stop the malevolent invader, this average Joe must be braver than he ever thought possible…and face the hardest decisions of his life.
Review:
When we meet Joe, he is just an average person, an ‘Average Joe’ if you will. But when working as a community volunteer he has a strange intuition which propels him to go to where the vision is. There he finds a crime being committed Joe intervenes without a thought for his own safety.
After meeting a new friend Joe learns what his new impulses are actually leading him to…
When I first picked up this book it was via Prime Reading and with the added animation I thought this would be a fun read. I was not disappointed.
I found this to be a very inventive story and loved the idea of someone having visions that propels them around the city like a pinball in a machine, meeting some strange and wonderful characters, eventually leading them to fight humankind.
Even though this is a standalone story, I do wonder if we will be seeing Ricochet Joe again sometime in the future.
[K]
Have you read/listened to any of the books above? Or any previously featured on Mini Review Monday? Let us know your thoughts!
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