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So pleased I have managed to catch up with my book reviews this year! This year our reading challenge, which I am doing with my Mum and my best friend, is to read a book starting with every letter of the alphabet. I have just done a little catch up and have a few letters to go, so will be concentrating on those in the next month or two for sure!
Do you do a reading challenge every year? Last year we did a set of prompts, I know some people just choose a number. Let me know in the comments below and just a reminder – you can find me on GoodReads too!
Read more: Book Reviews – July and August 2026A Cult of a Different Kind*
by Kate Shelton
The Blurb
Beylynn never meant to join a cult—at least not the kind without incense or scripture. This one comes wrapped in pastel branding, protein shakes, and the promise of a Skinny, Happy Life™. As the rising star of the SHL Lifestyle MLM, she’s cashing in while teaching other women that joy comes with a shrinking number on the scale.
But everything changes when Beylynn vanishes during an exclusive incentive trip.
Her disappearance is the company’s worst nightmare: their glossy, influencer “boss babe” has either been murdered… or she’s finally had enough and escaped. Either way, it’s a PR disaster waiting to explode.
Behind the filtered photos and motivational mantras lies a world steeped in obsession—social media manipulation, dangerous ambition, illicit affairs, and money powerful enough to make people kill. SHL isn’t a sisterhood; it’s a cult built on control.
And if Beylynn wants to survive, she’ll have to find a way out before the perfect life she sold becomes the one that destroys her.
What I Thought
I snapped this one up from NetGalley as I loved the premise – such a relatable topic in today’s world.
While I didn’t hate it, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. The pace was a bit on and off for me and I didn’t particularly like any of the characters. While I don’t mind a book where I dislike or even hate a character, I want to feel something and these people left me feeling a bit ugh!
There were so many little sub-plots, which isn;t always a bad thing, but I didn’t feel like they all got tied up property and that was quite frustrating – particularly the DV storyline. Sometimes it felt like there were rather too many wild and crazy coincidences and the ending was wild and felt rushed.
I so wanted to love it as the idea is great, but I did feel a little let down in the end by the story.
Where To Buy
Check out my Amazon StoreFront
Just One Bite*
by Miranda Rijks
The Blurb
Brittany has gone viral. And not in a good way.
Celebrity chef Brittany Cole has it all. Fame, success, and the perfect family. From her restored Vermont farmhouse, she’s built a wholesome brand that is trusted by millions.
But when her four-year-old has a meltdown, a video of Brittany shouting at the little girl goes viral. It’s a PR nightmare that threatens to destroy Brittany’s squeaky-clean image—and her career.
And it’s about to get so much worse.
More videos of Brittany abusing her daughter are released and #bitchmom trends within hours. But Brittany knows something truly terrifying: none of these new videos are real. Someone out there is trying to destroy her with deepfakes. Someone who has been watching her home, her studio, her marriage.
As more damning videos surface, Brittany’s perfect life unravels. Her sponsors flee. Her husband files for divorce. And then, when someone close to her is murdered, the police start asking questions Brittany can’t answer.
Her only hope is to find out who is behind this campaign to destroy her. Because it’s clear that they don’t just want to ruin her life—they want to end it.
What I Thought
A new Miranda Rijks? Sign me up!
This kept me guessing all the way through – I kept changing my mind about what was going on!
I found the storyline interesting and really relevant to today with the reality TV and social media fame plus the deep fake storyline. I did feel the pace dropped a little in the second half of the book, but it didn’t dim my overall opinion of the story which was very good!
Where To Buy
Check out my Amazon StoreFront
The Last Love Song
by Lucinda Riley
The Blurb
When Sorcha O’Donovan encounters struggling musician Con Daly – the strikingly handsome outcast in their small village on West Cork’s windswept coastline – her days will never be the same.
Con strikes gold with rock band The Fishermen in London, but their lives change beyond recognition as the dark side of fame rears its head and secrets from the past threaten to destroy everything he has worked for.
Twenty years later, The Fishermen agree to re-form for the Music for Life charity concert at Wembley Stadium. But Con has been missing for more than a decade. There’s only one person who can find out what happened; only one person who knows how vital it is to uncover the truth.
Because should Con Daly reappear before the facts emerge, then history could repeat itself with even more tragic consequences . . .
What I Thought
It has been a while since I picked up a Lucinda Riley and I shouldn’t have left it so long!
Lucinda’s stories are always beautifully written, displaying such emotional depth, with the most captivating and atmospheric settings. This one is no different!
Beautifully reworked and revised by her son Harry following her death, the book takes us and the main characters from the stunning Irish coast to the middle of 1960’s London – however, the secrets cannot remain at home and follow them.
A gorgeous book and must read for all Lucinda Riley fans – and if you haven’t read one of her books yet, you really need to!
Where To Buy
Check out my Amazon StoreFront
My Husband’s Wife
by Alice Feeney
The Blurb
Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into – Spyglass, an enchanting old house in the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls – nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that this stranger is his wife.
One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying.
Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner named Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to Hope Falls. But then Birdy stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person’s date of death, including her own. Secrets start to unravel and, as the line between truth and lies blurs, Birdy feels compelled to right some old wrongs.
My Husband’s Wife weaves a tangled web of deception, obsession and mystery that will keep you guessing until the last page. Prepare yourself for the ultimate mind-bending marriage thriller and step inside Spyglass – if you dare – to experience a story where nothing is as it seems.
What I Thought
I bowed to the hype with this one! I recently posted a poll on my Instagram and TikTok asking people to choose my next read and this one was the resounding favourite.
I was around three quarters of the way through when I turned to Tom and said I don’t get it! I wasn’t sure if my expectations were too high, but I just wasn’t enjoying it anywhere near what I thought I would.
All of the twists and turns came in the last two hours (I listened to this one on Audible) but this was far too late and with the amount of them, far too confusing!
There were also lots of plot holes which it was really hard to get past when they mounted up and the story became more and more unbelievable.
I have read books by the author before and enjoyed them, but this one wasn’t for me and in my opinion, not worth the hype!
Where To Buy
Check out my Amazon StoreFront
Three Sisters
by Heather Morris
The Blurb
When they are little girls, Cibi, Magda and Livia make a promise to their father – that they will stay together, no matter what. Years later, at just 15, Livia is ordered to Auschwitz by the Nazis. Cibi, only 19 herself, remembers their promise and follows Livia, determined to protect her sister, or die with her. Together, they fight to survive through unimaginable cruelty and hardship.
Magda, only 17, stays with her mother and grandfather, hiding out in a neighbour’s attic or in the forest when the Nazi militia come to round up friends, neighbours and family. She escapes for a time, but eventually she too is captured and transported to the death camp.
In Auschwitz-Birkenau the three sisters are reunited and, remembering their father, they make a new promise, this time to each other: That they will survive.
What I Thought
I have previously read and loved The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey, so this was next on the list.
And it didn’t disappoint!
Another beautifully written story of three sisters from Slovakia, who end up in Auschwitz during World War 2. There are many sad and awful moments during the story, as you would expect, but also so much hope and courage and resilience shown.
After reading the story I did some research to find out more about the sisters this story was based on and was saddened to learn they have all now died, but glad to see what long lives they lived and still so close.
A must read!
Where To Buy
Check out my Amazon StoreFront
The Woman Who Lied
by Claire Douglas
The Blurb
Emilia Ward lives quietly in suburban London with her husband and two children.
Just an ordinary wife and mother. But also a bestselling crime writer.
When she starts writing her tenth Detective Miranda Moody novel, however, life takes a frightening turn: an incident straight out of one of her novels occurs in real life.
Just an unsettling coincidence, she thinks. Until it happens again.
Then someone she knows dies exactly like a victim in the book she’s still writing . . .
Why is someone doing this?
How do they know what she is writing?
What I Thought
This book was mostly well written and definitely a page turner. I thought the ending let it down however.
I really liked the premise and the book played it out well and kept the pace up, making me not want to put it down.
However, the ending was a little too obscure for me. Maybe using a character who didn’t play much of a part in the rest of the book was a choice, so people wouldn’t be able to guess the ending… but I found it actually ended up leaving me frustrated with it.
I still enjoyed the boko overall, but would have preferred a different and more thought out ending.
Where To Buy
Check out my Amazon StoreFront
The Women
by Kristen Hannah
The Blurb
They answered the call. Then they fought to be remembered.
‘Women can be heroes, too’.
When twenty-year-old nursing student, Frances “Frankie” McGrath, hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on California’s idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl.
But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different path for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurses Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the young men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed America. But Frankie will also discover the true value of female friendship and the heartbreak that love can cause.
‘Thank God for girlfriends. In this crazy, chaotic, divided world that was run by men, you could count on the women’
What I Thought
I do believe I saved the best for last!
I read and adored Kristen Hannah’s The Nightingale and loved it – I wasn’t sure this one would get me as much. Being about the Vietnam War, which I know less about, I thought I wouldn’t connect with the story as much, but I was wrong! This book has stayed with me long since finishing it!
Frankie is a great main character, flawed but likeable. I spoke to my mum about this one, as she had previously read it, and said I love the stories that do more than follow the problem, resolution, happily after after line.
Frankie’s journey is difficult, interesting, moving, shocking and just so captivating. If you read any of my recommendations this month – let it be this one for sure!
Where To Buy
Check out my Amazon StoreFront
I hope you enjoyed my reviews – this one has some downs but some amazing ups too! What are you looking to read next?
Take care and keep reading,
The Spoonie Mummy 
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