Five Favourite February Reads

February has been SO cold. Which for me was the perfect excuse to stay in with a good book or two. March isn’t much warmer so stay in and add this collection to your #TBR pile immediately... 

The Stylist by Rosie Nixon  

When Amber Green, a shop assistant in an exclusive London boutique is plucked from obscurity and mistakenly offered a job working with Mona Armstrong, the infamous, jet-setting 'stylist to the stars', she hits the ground running, helping to style some of Hollywood's hottest (and craziest) starlets.

As awards season spins into action Mona is in hot demand and Amber's life turned upside down. Suddenly she catches the attention of two very different suitors, TV producer Rob and Hollywood bad boy rising star Liam. How will Amber keep her head? And what the hell will everyone wear?

I LOVED The Devil Wears Prada and The Stylist provides just as many LOLZ.

Author Rosie Nixon is the editor of Hello magazine so she’s certainly in the know for all the behind the scenes gossip and drama which makes this book even more brilliant.

Plus with the Oscars having just taken place (can we just take a moment for Margot Robbie’s sequined Tom Ford dress? HEART EYE EMOJI!) this is THE book to read right now. Lots of fun and super sassy, the perfect weekend read. 

Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner 

Mid-December, and Cambridgeshire is blanketed with snow. Over the airwaves come reports of a missing woman – door ajar, keys and phone left behind, a spatter of blood on the kitchen floor. Detective Sergeant Manon Bradshaw knows the first 72 hours are critical: you find her, or you look for a body. And as soon as she sees a picture of Edith Hind, a Cambridge post-graduate from a well-connected family, she knows this case will be big. And when a body is found, is it the end or only the beginning?

 

This was SUCH a page-turner, full of secrets and mystery – and shocking revelations. If you like crimes with a big twist, this is for you. 

Fix You by Carrie Elks 

On New Year's Eve, 1999, Hanna and Richard meet. She is a born and bred Londoner with plans for a career in journalism. He is the son of a wealthy New Yorker and destined for Wall Street. As Hanna and Richard go back to their own worlds they keep in touch, and when Hanna has her heart broken its Richard she turns to. They reunite and fall deeply, madly in love.

But they can't possibly imagine the ways their love will be tested. Fifteen years after they first meet, neither can bear to hear the other's name spoken. Then one day Hanna walks into Richard's office and reveals a shocking secret. Richard must decide if he can forgive her. And both need to choose whether to take a second chance on happiness - or if their love is beyond repair?

I almost didn’t read this. I picked it up and then put it to one side, completely judging it by it’s cover and declaring it to be a ‘too soft a read.’ How wrong I was.

After picking it back up and deciding to give it a whirl I was hooked from the very first page.

You can’t help but fall in love with the characters and really route for them. It was funny and very cleverly written with so many twists and just went to prove you really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover… 

 Out of the Darkness by Katy Hogan

Following the sudden death of her beloved mother, Jessica Gibson's world falls apart. But after meeting a man who seems heaven-sent, she starts to feel she has something to live for again, and soon discovers that their connection holds far more significance than she could ever have imagined. And when Jessica strikes an unlikely bond with Alexandra Green, the two new friends are taken on an emotional journey into the world of the supernatural, where psychic mediums pass on messages from beyond the grave...

If you’re a ‘believer’ (as I am) then you’ll really love this debut novel form Katy Hogan.

Deeply moving and unsettling in places, I truly loved it. 

The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin 

Noah is four and wants to go home. The only trouble is he's already there….
Janie's son is her world, and it breaks her heart that he has nightmares.
That he's terrified of water.
That he sometimes pushes her away and screams that he wants his real mother.
That it's getting worse and worse and no one seems to be able to help.

In desperation, she turns to someone who might have an answer - but it may not be one she's ready to hear. It may also mean losing the one thing she loves more than anything - Noah.

A novel that spans life, death and everything in between, The Forgetting Time tells an unforgettable story - about Noah, about love, and, above all, about the things we hold onto when we have nothing else...

This lovely book had a real feel of The Lovely Bones to it. A fascinating read that is a little hard work in places, but will keep you riveted until the very last page. 

Happy Reading!