My 2020 Book Reading Statistics

From 1 January to 31 December 2020 I have read 68 books.  

The shortest book was Rescue Me by Cathy Bramley which was only 40 pages (a Kindle short story). 

The longest book was A Wedding in Cornwall by Laura Briggs which had 528 pages. 

I have read a total of 24,646 pages over the year which is almost 10,000 more than in 2019.  

 

I also read the Jojo Moyes 'Lou in Lockdown' story which is available on the Penguin Books website. 

I have just started my next book but will count that in my 2021 statistics. 

Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan

The Cupcake Cafe is a small but thriving new business.  Owner Issy works really hard to keep all her customers and staff happy.  As Christmas time approaches her colleagues Pearl and Caroline have very different ideas of when and how the cafe should be decorated.  

Issy's boyfriend Austin, who works for a local bank, has been sent to their New York office to work for a few weeks and it looks highly likely that they will want him to stay there.  Issy loves her business and doesn't want to give it up.  She also loves Austin and wants to be with him.  Together they have to work out if a long distance relationship will work or if one of them will have to give up their dream job to be with the other.  

There are lots of Issy's recipes within the text of the story which can be tried out. 

Christmas at Mistletoe Cottage by Lucy Daniels

Vet Mandy Hope is working with her parents in their veterinary practice.  Alongside this she has set up Hope Meadows which is an animal rescue centre.  The centre has been open for a few months, is doing well, and there are a few animals in her care.  

Mandy has a date with Jimmy Marsh, the owner of the local outward bounds centre.  She really likes him but wants to take the relationship slowly.  Slowly to Mandy does not mean that they also see other people and is upset that Jimmy seems to also be seeing someone else as well as her.

A few strange things start to happen at Hope Meadows, someone is definitely trying to make trouble for Mandy and the centre. As Christmas approaches Mandy helps the local animal welfare officer rescue two baby donkeys and takes them to her centre to care for and start to train them.

Angels at Christmas by Debbie Macomber

There are two Christmas stories in this book which feature the three angels Shirley, Goodness and Mercy. 

Those Christmas Angels: 

Divorcee Anne Fletcher is worried about her son Roy.  She prays that he will find someone to love as since her divorce from his father he has been bitter.  Roy has not spoken with his father since the divorce.  He has concentrated on his work and has built up a thriving business.  Gabriel sends his three prayer ambassadors to earth to try to find someone special for Roy to love. 

Where Angels Go: 

The three prayer ambassadors are each sent to earth with their own individual missions which need to be completed by Christmas Eve when they are due to return to heaven.  

Shirley has to help 8 year old Carter, his only wish is to have a dog.  His parents had promised he could have one when he was 8, but now that his mum is out of work and money is tight they can't afford the commitment of a dog. 

Goodness has to find someone for Beth Fischer to love.  She has been single for 10 years since her divorce and her parents are worried about her.  They want her to bring someone special to the family Christmas Day lunch.  

Mercy has to help Harry Alderwood.  He is 86 years old and has a serious heart condition.  Before he dies he wants to ensure that his wife Rosalie will agree to move into a local assisted accommodation unit so that she will have help and company when she is on her own. 

The Holdout by Graham Moore

Ten years ago the members of the jury on the case of the disappearance and murder of 15 year old Jessica Silver delivered a verdict of not guilty.  Her teacher Bobby Nock, who was on trial, walked free.  During the trial, which went on for months, the jurors had been held together in a hotel with no access to all the details about Bobby Nock which everyone in the outside world knew.  They knew nothing of any of his past crimes.  They just had to decide whether or not there was reasonable doubt from the information they had received in court.  

Following the verdict all the members of the jury became infamous for their part in letting a killer go free.  

Now, in the present day, on the tenth anniversary of the trial, Rick Leonard one of the jurors wants to get the group of jurors together again and says he has evidence to share with them which will prove that Bobby Nock was guilty.  Maya Seale, who was initially the only juror to vote not guilty and who then convinced all the rest to do the same, was not interested in taking part in the reunion which was to be televised.  Her employer then convinced her to attend.  On the first night of the reunion, before the great reveal takes place, Rick is found murdered and Maya is the only suspect.  She did not kill Rick and the only way to clear her name is to find out who did. 

The Cosy Christmas Chocolate Shop by Caroline Roberts

For the last 6 years Emma has owned and run her business The Chocolate Shop by the Sea in Warkton-by-the-Sea, Northumberland. She set up the shop as a career change following the death of her fiancé. 

The business is doing well and the run up to Christmas is busy and profitable, but then her landlord suddenly increased the rent.  Being determined to keep her shop, Emma has to look for alternative ways to expand the business and bring in more cash. 

On Boxing Day whilst out walking her dog on the beach, Emma meets an attractive man.  She hopes that they can meet again, but she is nervous of starting a new relationship as she doesn't want to get hurt again. 

I also have Rachel's Pudding Pantry on my bookshelf by the same author. 

Mince Pies and Mistletoe at the Christmas Market by Heidi Swain

Having decided that she no longer wants to study for her Masters degree, Ruby returns home to her parents in Wynbridge just before Christmas.  She knows that her dad will be disappointed in her, but she hopes that by securing herself a Christmas job he will see that she has plans to earn her own money before setting off on her travels.  Ruby will be running a Christmas market stall for her friends who own The Cherry Tree Cafe. The theme of the stall will be 'makes and bakes'.  

The market is under threat and Ruby helps the stall holders to plan new events to promote the area and bring in more shoppers.  She is surprised that her dad is not very enthusiastic about her new job, he works for the local council and suddenly doesn't seem too keen on keeping the market running.  Also to add to Ruby's problems, Steve Dempster her ex-boyfriend is working on the neighbouring stall.  

Other books by Heidi Swain I have on my bookshelf are:
Summer at Skylark Farm
Coming Home to Cuckoo Cottage

There's Something About Christmas by Debbie Macomber

Since the death of her mother, journalist Emma has not really celebrated Christmas.  She has preferred to spend the day quietly on her own.  

Emma is asked to interview 3 ladies who have all made it in to the final of a national Christmas cake competition.  She does not like fruit cake.  She also does not like flying and finds that she is being flown to each of the locations by local pilot Oliver Hamilton in his small cessna plane.  

Oliver is determined to get Emma into the Christmas spirit and wants her to take notice of him as a man too as he finds her very attractive. As she interviews each of the ladies, and tries a sample of their cakes, Emma learns there is something special about each of them. 

At the end of this book there is another bonus Christmas story, it doesn't seem to have been given a title.  The story features the angels Shirley, Mercy and Goodness (who have appeared in other Debbie Macomber books).  The three angels are sent down to earth by the Archangel Gabriel to help Greg Bennett who's vineyard is in financial danger due to a virus which has affected the leaves of the vines.  He has not spoken to his brother since a fall out at their mother's funeral many years ago.  He is about to divorce his third wife and he has a child he is unaware of from a relationship many years ago.  They need to encourage Greg to have a chance of redemption. 

Now You See Them by Elly Griffiths

This book is from The Brighton Mysteries series. 

Teenager Rhonda has gone missing from her boarding school.  She has left a note and it is thought that she has gone to London to see the young American film star Bobby Hambro who is in the country to begin a new film.  

Superintendent Edgar Stephens is in charge of the police force in Brighton and has to look into the disappearance of Rhonda.  Edgar's wife Emma, who used to be one of his detectives before they married and had a family, realises that there could be a link between Rhonda's disappearance and two other young women who have also disappeared in similar circumstances, each leaving a note.  One of them suddenly turns up on the beach.  She has been murdered. 

Edgar's friend, the magician Max Mephisto, has returned to Brighton as he too will be taking a part in the film with Bobby Hambro.  Max's daughter Ruby goes missing, also leaving a note, which is very unlike her as she never misses a day's work.  Together they need to work out who is taking the girls and find them before any more murders take place.

Gone by Leona Deakin

On the day of her birthday Lana Reid received an unusual birthday card.  On the front was 'Happy 1st Birthday' and inside the message was 'Your gift is the game, dare to play?'  She then went missing. Her 16 year old daughter Jane reported her disappearance to the police, but they didn't investigate as she seemed to have gone willingly.  

Jane contacted Marcus Jameson, the brother of the family she is staying with, to ask for help in finding Lana.  Marcus works with Dr Augusta Bloom, a psychologist who also assists the police with their investigations, and together they start to uncover the details of a number of other people who received the same card, also on their birthdays, and then disappeared.  

Looking into the lives of those who have disappeared, they all seemed to have been living a lie in one form or another.  More and more disappearances are uncovered.  What links all these people and makes them walk away from their lives needs to be found so that the people themselves can be found.  

I really enjoyed this story it was unusual and quite involved.

The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson looks back over his childhood in Des Moines in the 1950s and 1960s.  He reminisces about his family life, going to school, or not going to school, and playing with different friends.  

A few chapters cover the politics of the times and the current news events.  

He was the Thunderbolt Kid who tried to illiminate people who annoyed him.  

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I have enjoyed other travel books by Bill Bryson.  I have read: 

Notes from a Big Country

Notes from a Small Island

A Walk in the Woods 

Down Under

and I have A Short History of Nearly Everything on my bookshelf.

A Wedding in Cornwall by Laura Briggs

American Julianne can't believe her luck when she is offered the job of events planner in a  country house in Cornwall.  She moves to England to take up the post and the first event she has to arrange is a high profile wedding between a footballer and a model.  

The bride and groom have different ideas about what they want and this is the first time Julianne has had to arrange a big event on her own.  Although everyone in the house is happy to help, not everything goes as smoothly as it might.  

Julianne meets Matthew Rose in the garden when she accidently steps on some of his protected plants.  She is attracted to him but he has some history with the unhappy bride to be.  

This is the first book in a series.  

I also have A Cornish Christmas Reunion by the same author.

Steeped in Suspicion (A Pebble Cove Teahouse Mystery) by Eryn Scott

Rosemary has not visited Pebble Cove since she was a child.  Following the death of her father, her mother and paternal grandmother had a falling out and had not been reconciled. This meant that Rosemary did not visit again and had lost touch with her grandmother. Having received a letter from a solicitor advising that her grandmother had died and left her house and teahouse business to Rosemary, she returns to Pebble Cove. 

 

On entering the house Rosemary meets Asher, who is a ghost who had lived in the house 100 years ago.  He is surprised that Rosemary can see him.  He tells her that as her grandmother died and her spirit passed him, she told him that she had been murdered.  The body of an unknown man then washes up on the beach outside the house.  The police think that Rosemary is a suspect as they find her name within his belongings. 

 

Rosemary sets out to find who murdered her grandmother and why.  Whilst she is investigating each of the people she thinks is a possible suspect, she realises that her own life could now be at risk too.   

 

This is the first book in a series.  This was a free Kindle download.  Also available to download is an extra chapter which tells the story of Rosemary and Asher's first meeting but from his point of view. 

Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

Emma has tried a few different career paths.  She is currently working as a marketing assistant and is hoping for a promotion in a months time when she gets to the end of her first year.  

 

She is sent to Scotland to attend a meeting as the company representative to finalise a deal.  It doesn’t go well.  On the plane back home there is a lot of turbulence and a very scared Emma, who thinks she is going to die, tells all her secrets to the man sitting next to her.  

 

Unfortunately the stranger on the plane ends up being one of the founders of Panther Corporation, her employer, who is travelling to London to visit the company’s head office.  To her embarrassment he has a very good memory and has remembered everything that Emma told him.  

Final Cut by SJ Watson

Film-maker Alex is looking for a place to shoot her new documentary film.  It is to be a compilation of clips filmed and submitted by locals. 

 

Blackwood Bay is suggested anonymously to the film backer.  It has a history of young girls going missing and there has also been a suicide.  This will give an added interest to the storyline. 

 

Alex, who has no memory before turning up on Deal beach a number of years ago, knows she has some connection to Blackwood Bay from her childhood and is very reluctant to return.  

 

She travels to Blackwood Bay and knows that no-one there will recognise her as she has changed a lot over the years.  Whilst doing her own filming in the area and accepting in the clips submitted, she becomes concerned for some of the local girls and as well as wanting to help them she starts to investigate some of the disappearances from years ago.  

 

This is a really involved story which investigates what happened to Alex and what is continuing to happen to the young girls in the village.  

 

I have also read Before I Go To Sleep by the same author. 

Girl with the Cat Tattoo by Theresa Weir

Two years ago Melody's husband David was shot and killed.  She has been living with just Max who had originally been David's cat.

Max decides that it's time for Melody to find a good man to have in her life.  He is fed up of her occasionally bringing home unsuitable men.  Max, who doesn't usually go outside the garden, heads off out to find a perfect partner for Melody.  

Max finds Joe serving food in a homeless shelter.  Joe returns Max back to Melody who is frantic with worry as he has disappeared.  At first Max is happy that he has found the right person for Melody, but then he has doubts and even begins to wonder if it was Joe who had shot David.  

This was a free Kindle download. 

Hercules and the Farmer's Wife by Chris Wadsworth

This is the autobiographical story of Chris Wadsworth setting up an art gallery in the Lake District.  

Chris and her husband Michael moved from Bristol to a large house in Cockermouth in the Lake District.  The house was large enough for Chris to turn part of it into an art gallery.  Each chapter tells a story about meeting different artists, or a part of the history/life of an artist whose work Chris has found and exhibited. 

The house has a walled garden which allows sculptural exhibits to be shown outside too. 

Don't Want to Miss a Thing by Jill Mansell

Dex's life is completely turned upside down when his sister suddenly dies and he becomes the guardian of her 8 month old daughter Delphi.  

At first he doesn't think he will be able to cope but after talking with his neighbour Molly she convinces him that this is something he can do.  He moves from his apartment in London to permanently live in Briarwood next to Molly.  He has to quickly learn how to become a parent and live life at a different pace with no late night drinking, clubbing and girlfriends.  

Other books by Jill Mansell I have read are:
An Offer You Can't Refuse
A Walk in the Park
To the Moon and Back
Perfect Timing
Falling for You

Beating about the Bush (Agatha Raisin) by M C Beaton

Private Detective Agatha Raisin, when driving past hedgerows in the countryside, will often say 'nice place to dump a body'.  She shouts at her assistant Toni and tells her to stop the car as she has seen something in the hedge.  They go back to look and find a severed leg. 

This then links into their current investigation job of industrial espionage at a local factory.  Agatha realises that she has been set up to investigate something which is not really happening but is a cover for other dodgy dealings.  Then there is a murder.  Agatha is determined to find out who the murderer really is when the police decide that the death was an accident involving a donkey.

I have also read:
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener
Agatha Raisin: Hell's Bells (a Christmas e-book)

Casper the Commuting Cat by Susan Finden

This is an autobiography by Susan Finden who was the owner of Casper, a very friendly and inquisitive cat.  

Susan has rescued and given a home to many cats over many years.  She tells the story of Casper, a black and white cat who initially was very timid and hid under the bed when he was first brought home.  He liked to be able to go outside and would escape if kept indoors for any amount of time.  Casper liked to go on adventures and initially unbeknown by Susan he visited shops and factories to see people.  After a house move to Plymouth to a road with a bus stop opposite, Casper began waiting in the bus shelter and was soon boarding the bus along with the queueing pasengers and having a regular ride around town.  He even had his favourite seat. 

The story of Casper and his travels appeared in a local newspaper, and was then picked up by national papers and he became a national celebrity.  A picture of Casper and Susan was placed on the side of the number 3 bus on which he used to travel.  

Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues by Trisha Ashley

Bright's Shoes has been a family run shop in Sticklepond for many years.  Aunt Nan at age 92 is planning to pass the shop on to her great neice Tansy.  The shop is getting a bit run down so Tansy decides to give it a new lease of life as a wedding shoe shop and to re-name it Cinderella's Slippers. 

Tansy lives in London with her husband-to-be Justin and visits Aunt Nan each weekend.  Her life becomes complicated by her two step sisters who are always interfering in her relationships, and an old ex-boyfriend who moves into the adjoining cottage to the shoe shop wanting some time of peace and quiet just as Tansy is re-vamping the shop and making a lot of unwelcome noise. 

There are lots of characters in this story who appear in other Trisha Ashley novels which are set in the same village.  

As Tansy does a lot of baking there are a few receipes at the end of the book to try out. 

Springtime at Cherry Tree Cottage by Cathy Woodman

Horse-mad Flick had given up her career to re-train as a farrier.  Her first job is to cover for Mel, who is the blacksmith in Talyton St George, whilst he has a back operation.  She is not well received by a lot of the villagers who all expect a man.  

Robbie Salterton, a very handsome local stunt rider, is on Flick's side and happy for her to deal with his horses.  They become quite friendly, but Robbie has an 8 year old daughter who seems to be standing in the way of there being a chance for them to have a relationship. 

How to Fall in Love by Cecelia Ahern

Christine Rose has accidentally met and talked to a suicidal man who held a gun.  She had talked him into putting it down and had called the police.  He then suddenly picked up the gun again and shot himself.  She knows that she said something wrong to him but can't remember what this is.  

Just a few days later she sees a man on the Ha'penny Bridge in Dublin who is on the wrong side of the railings and is about to jump off.  She talks to him and they agree on a deal, she has 2 weeks until his 35th birthday during which time she has to convince him that life is worth living. 

Christine refers to every self-help book she possibly can so that she can show Adam how to enjoy life and all the things around him.  She also has to help him to win back his girlfriend and work out what to do about the family business he is being forced to take over when this is not what he wants to do.  For 2 weeks they spend almost every minute together and Christine is determined to convince him that he will want to continue to live. 

A Scattering of Daisies by Susan Sallis

This is the first book in the series about the Rising family.

Teenage Will Rising, apprentice tailor, fell in love with Florence.  They married and have children.  Will has set up his own tailoring business and works from their home.   

Florence is a devoted mother to their children and always wants the best for them.  Their eldest daughter March helps out around the house until she finishes school.  The middle daughter May is very like her mother, she is an attractive and sensitive child.  The youngest daughter April is quite spirited.  The eldest son is Albert, when he is old enough he is called up to fight in the first world war.  The youngest child is their son Teddy who is doted on by his mother.  

The family started out in difficult time but as Will gets more work they are able move to a larger house at the end of the road. The story starts in 1902 with the birth of April, the children growing up, the girls' ambitions and first loves and finishes at the end of the war.  

I have already read the second book in this series which is The Daffodils of Newent. 

Unexpected Lessons in Love by Lucy Dillon

In the car, on her way to her wedding, Jeannie begins to panic.  She is struggling to breathe and suddenly feels that everything has moved too fast.  She realises that there are all sorts of things she doesn't know about Dan and she wants to stop the wedding.  

As she is trying to reach Dan on the phone she gets a call from Owen, the best man, to tell her there has been an accident.  Dan has been hit by a bus and is taken to hospital with a head injury.  He remains in a coma. 

Jeannie and Dan had just moved into a house in Longhampton where Dan had taken a job as a vet in the local practice.  Jeannie become friends with Rachel, the vet's wife, and helps her with her dog rescue centre when they suddenly receive in 20 dogs rescued from a puppy farm.  

Jeannie visits Dan at the hospital everyday and is really supportive, but what will happen when he eventually wakes up? Had he listened to her message before the accident? 

The Understudy by David Nicholls

The play 'Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know...' is running at a London West End theatre. Josh Harper, the 12th sexiest man in the world, is playing the lead role of Lord Byron.  Josh seems to have everything he could ever want - fame, fortune, lovely wife, nice house.  

Stephen C McQueen is not so lucky, he gets offered parts to play of dead bodies, passers-by, and a singing squirrel in a childrens educational film. He is the understudy in the play for Josh Harper, but as Josh is never ill the chance for him to get his big break and play the lead role is slim.  

At a party Stephen meets Josh's wife Nora and instanty falls in love with her. 

The Girls by Lisa Jewell

After losing their home and all of their belongings in a house fire, Clare and her two daughters Grace and Pip move into a small flat in Virginia Terrace.  The Terrace, along with Virginia Crescent encircles a large communal garden which is used by all the residents.  

The girls make friends with the other children and they all spend time together in the garden. 

On the evening of the annual garden party Grace is found unconscious in a corner of the garden.  Both the police and some of the residents try to work out what has happened to Grace.  This could be a case of history repeating itself as many years before a young girl was found in the garden and her death was unexplained. 

I See You by Clare Mackintosh

On her way home from work, whilst sitting on a train, Zoe Walker flicks through a London newspaper.  As she gets towards the back, to the classified ads, she sees a photograph of herself.  Next to the photograph there is a telephone number and a website address. 

When she gets home she shows her family who agree the picture looks a lot like her but think it must be someone else.  The phone number is invalid and the website is a blank white page asking for a password.  The next day there is a photograph of another woman in the newspaper with the same phone number and website address.  

A woman is murdered on her way home from work.  Zoe recognises her picture and goes back to the newspaper to check, it is one of the women who has appeared in the classified ad.  

Zoe is worried that she is being followed and her life could be in danger.  When she tries to contact the murder investigation team to tell them about the ads she is frustrated by their initial lack of response.  

This is a great psychological thriller which keeps you guessing right up to the last page.

Where the Truth Lies by MJ Lee

This is the first DI Ridpath crime thriller in a series.  

Ten years after his first arrest, DI Tom Ridpath becomes involved in the investigation of serial killings which have quite a lot of similarities to those seen before, but James Dalbey is still in prison for the murder of Alice Seagram.  

Tom is just returning to work after a period of ill health and is asked to spend 3 months working as the Coroner's Officer before he can return to normal detective work.  As the Coroner's Officer he has to help with investigations and as he looks at the evidence, both past and present, he starts to doubt the earlier conviction as he finds so many flaws.  

On his first day in the new job he oversees the exhumation of Alice Seagram, and when it is discovered that her body is missing he has to go back over the events of 10 years ago to find out what happened to her and where her body could be. 

The body count is growing and, as before, the police are aware of other missing women in the Manchester area who may have been victims of the killer, but their bodies have not turned up.  

When one of their own, DS Sarah Castle, goes missing there is a race to find her before she becomes the next victim. 

Rescue Me by Cathy Bramley

Fearne lived with her brother who has recently been killed in a motorbike accident and she is feeling very sad and alone.  She lives next door to elderly Ethel and her dog Scamp. 

Fearne regularly does bits of shopping for Ethel and takes Scamp out for walks.  She can often be the only person Ethel sees all day.  Ethel is worried about Fearne and also worried about what will happen to Scamp when she is no longer able to take care of him if she has to move into residential care.  She knows that neither her son nor daughter will want to take him in. 

This is a free short story which tells us that "A dog fills a space in your heart you didn't know was there". 

A Place to Call Home by Fay Keenan

Set in the new age town of Willowbury in Somerset, Holly Renton owns and runs a shop called ComInsence which specialises in herbal remedies, wellbeing aids and candles.  She lives in a flat above the shop with her cat Arthur.  

After the sudden death of the local MP, new boy Charlie Thorpe is sent to replace him.  This is Charlie's first seat in the House of Commons and he is determined to work hard for his constituents and to make a difference to their lives.  

Holly's sister Rachel had previously approached the old MP to ask for help in getting a new drug for Cystic Fibrosis available through the NHS but he had not been interested.  Charlie is approached by Rachel and he agrees to help the family with their campaign. 

There are quite a few ups and downs in the relationship between Holly and Charlie, and Charlie has to learn how to undertake his new role as MP and ultimately do the best he can for everyone.  

This was another free Kindle download.  It was a really good story, built around a true event.  This is the first book in a Willowbury series.

Until We Collide by Charlotte Fallowfield

Clumsy and accident prone Paige Taylor sees Alec Wright and falls in love with him.  Paige tries to get noticed by Alec and ends up at the wrong and of Daisy the cow and is covered in cow poo.  A few weeks later Poppie, Paige's best friend, sets up Alec as Paige's date for their graduation night.  All seems to be going well and they arrange to meet again for a date before Alec heads off to start his new job in London as a fashion photographer.  The timing is not right for them as Paige has just been offered a 3 year contract as a nanny with a local family who have to move out to the Grand Cayman.  

On her return, and following a recommendation from Alec, Paige approaches a fashion agency in London and is taken on as a trainee model.  Paige and Poppie end up renting Alec's flat in London whilst he is working away and travelling around the world. 

Over the years every time they bump into each other one of them is in a relationship and so they remain just friends. 

Paige's antics and poor choice of men makes a really humorous story.  

This was a free kindle download.  I really enjoyed the story and will look out for more books by this author.

The Olive Harvest by Carol Drinkwater

This is the third book in the series.  

Carol and Michel have returned to Appassionata after a short absence as they have, separately, been working elsewhere.  On their return they find the farm to have been neglected as Quashia, their farm helper, has been busy starting to build a large structure to use as a shed/workshop.  

Following an accident Michel becomes withdrawn and needs time alone.  He leaves Carol to run the farm.  His business is in trouble and he needs to concentrate on what to do next. 

Carol has to turn the farm around, clear all the overgrown foliage and try to manage the constant devastation by wild boars walking through their land.  To add to all the problems, there are almost no olives on the trees so this year there will be no harvest.  This could be a disaster as the AOC application is still pending. 

The Olive Season by Carol Drinkwater

This is the second book in the olive series. 

Carol and Michel finally get married.  Carol is often left on her own at the farm as Michel is away working.  They are still waiting to see if they can achieve AOC accreditation but there is a lot of form filling and then they are told they will have to plant many more olive trees to increase the size of their farm to be eligible.  To have more trees means more water is required and so a water diviner is needed to search their land.  He appears to be an elusive character.

In this book Carol is pregnant with a much awaited baby.  There is a lot more reminiscing about past events in life and time spent looking at fauna and flora. 

Still Me by Jojo Moyes

This is the third book about Louisa Clark. 

Louisa has just arrived in New York to start her job with the Gopnik family.  She is to be the paid companion/assistant to Agnes Gopnik.  As the younger second wife, Agnes is not accepted by many of the ladies at the society events she has to attend.  Being an employee of the family Louisa is to know and see many things but must never speak of them. 

Louisa meets Josh who immediately reminds her of Will Traynor as they look so alike.  He keeps making contact and asking her to meet him for a drink.  Sam is still in England and trying to get time to talk to each other is difficult as they both have busy jobs and are in different time zones.  

Not everything goes according to plan with the job or the relationship as things are strained between them when Sam visits New York for a long weekend.  

This was supposed to be the last book about Louisa Clark but there is a short story on the Penguin Books website telling her 'Lou in Lockdown' story. 

The Olive Farm by Carol Drinkwater

This book is autobiographical.  It is the story of Carol and her partner Michel finding and falling in love with an old abandoned olive farm in France.  They are able to live on the farm during the time they are trying to finalise the purchase, which is a long and difficult process.  If the purchase does not go through by an agreed date they will lose all the deposit money they have already paid over and the money used to begin the renovations.  

They are both also simultaneously working on their own acting, writing and producing projects.  They are both travelling around the world undertaking work, sometimes together and sometimes apart.  But they keep meeting up back at Appassionata, their new home.  

The land needs a lot of clearing and the trees need pruning.  They then have to pick the olives from their first harvest and find the right mill to press them.  Due to bad weather conditions, fire and the collapse of production companies they face financial ruin and may lose the farm. 

This is the first of a series of books, I have the next two in the series to read, these are: 
The Olive Season
The Olive Harvest  

Also by the same author I have previously read The Hunger which is from the 'My Story' series.  

It Started with a Kiss by Miranda Dickinson

Just before Christmas Romily tells her best friend Charlie that she loves him.  His response is not what she expected and in embarrassment she runs away.  Romily then bumps into a handsome stranger who helps her pick up some items which have fallen from a Christmas market stall.  He tells her she is beautiful, kisses her and is then called away by his friend.  

Romily begins a quest to find her handsome stranger.  She is helped by her Aunt and Uncle who encourage her to set up a blog.  She gives herself a year in which to find him. 

Trouble at the Little Village School by Gervase Phinn

This is the second book in the series.  

Mrs Elizabeth Devine is now in her second term as headteacher at Barton-in-the-Dale Primary School.  The school has been saved from possible closure but may now have to amalgamate with another local primary.  The most likely school will be Urebank Primary.  There will be one headteacher and one deputy head, each looking after a school site, one for infants and one for juniors.  Mrs Devine will have to go head to head on an interview with Mr Richardson from Urebank.  The two headteachers do not like each other, do not get along and do not want to work together. 

The Little Village School by Gervase Phinn

Barton-in-the-Dale is a small primary school in the Yorkshire Dales.  Miss Sowerbutts, the headteacher, is about to retire and interviews take place for her replacement.  Mrs Devine is offered the job.  She buys an old run down cottage in the village and is helped by local handyman Les Stainthorpe to make it habitable again.  

Within her first term at the school Mrs Devine makes a few changes and improvements which are all welcomed by the staff.  The local education officer then announces that the school has been earmarked for possible closure.  Mrs Devine and many of the locals campaign to keep the school open. It is proving a much more popular school now that Miss Sowerbutts is no longer in charge and many of the pupils who had moved to another local school are starting to move back and the numbers are rising again.  

Mrs Devine has lots of challenges to face, one of which is the chair of governors who is voting for the school to close.   

This is the first book in a series.  I have the next book which is Trouble at the Little Village School which I will read next.  

I have previously read a few books by Gervase Phinn from The Dales series which are all stories about this time as a school inspector: 
The Other Side of the Dale
Over Hill and Dale 
Head over Heels in the Dales 
Up and Down in the Dales 
The Heart of the Dales

The Yorkshire Pudding Club by Milly Johnson

Three friends Helen, Janey and Elizabeth visit an ancient fertility symbol as Helen is desperate to become pregnant.  They sit on the symbol and have a picnic.  Within a short time they all find that they are pregnant. 

Helen is married to Simon who is not at all happy about the pregnancy.  It does not fit into his vision of the perfect executive lifestyle.

Janey has never wanted a baby, although husband George would love to become a dad.  Janey is concentrating on her career.

Elizabeth is in a casual relationship with Dean which is going nowhere and she keeps meaning to end it.  Dean isn't the baby's father.  

They support each other through the ups and downs of their situations and they each need to make a significant change in their lives so that they can be truly happy. 

A Desirable Residence by Sophie Kinsella writing as Madeleine Wickham

Liz and Jonathan have recently bought Silchester Tutorial College.  They are heavily mortgaged and were supposed to sell their house to help with the debt.  Unfortunately with a downturn in the housing market the house has not sold and the debts continue to mount.  

Local estate agent Marcus Witherstone suggests that they rent out their house to gain some income and finds them a young couple who want to move into the area from London.  

Liz starts an affair with Marcus and loses interest in her work at the college leaving Jonathan to sort out the accounts and worry about the debts.  And their unhappy daughter Alice keeps sneaking back to the old house to secretly smoke in the garage.  

Blue Moon by Lee Child

This is a Jack Reacher story. 

Jack is travelling on a bus and sees an elderly man sleeping in a seat across the aisle with an envelope of cash hanging out his pocket.  The young man in the seat in front has also spotted the cash and keeps looking over at it, as if making a plan to take it.  When the elderly man gets off the bus the young man follows, so Jack follows too. 

Jack manages to help the elderly man as he is being mugged and then assists him home.  He gets involved in the lives of Aaron Shevick and his wife who are paying off their debt to local gangster money lenders.  But as soon as the debt is repaid they need to borrow more. 

There are two rival gangs in the town, the Albanians and the Ukrainians.  They each have their own areas of the town but are competing to gain further control.  Jack's interference confuses the gangs but he is determined to help out the Shevick's.  

The story take place over just a few days.  I do like Jack Reacher stories but this one was one of the most unbelievable I have read.  Within a very short time of meeting people he has them unquestioningly on his side against the local mobs and the killing rate is huge. 

The Place We Met by Isabelle Broom

The chapters alternate between the stories of Taggie and Lucy.  

Taggie left London to live on the banks of Lake Como in Italy.  It is a place she visited regularly as a child and an old friend of her grandmother's still lives there.  It is her most favourite place in the world.  She has moved to escape her old life and take time out to heal. She is definitely not looking for love and so is not interested in Marco.  

Lucy is in a fairly new relationship with Pete and books for them to travel to Lake Como for a few days at New Year.  She used to holiday there with her parents until they parted when she was a teenager and she has not been back since.  Lucy is not a confident person, and once she has seen Pete's ex-girlfriend in a photograph, she is worried that she is not glamorous enough nor slim enough to be able to maintain a lasting relationship with him.

After You by Jojo Moyes

This is the sequel to 'Me Before You' and continues the story of Louisa Clark. 

After spending a few months travelling around Europe Lou decides to return home, but realises she doesn't actually have a home anymore.  Her mother won't talk to her as she disagrees with how Lou helped Will so she can't go back to her parents house.  

Lou buys a flat in London and gets a job working at an airport bar.  She is reunited with her parents when she has an accident.  After recuperating she returns to her job at the bar but isn't really very happy.  Her father convinces her that she needs to attend grief counselling.  

One evening there is a knock on her door and 16 years old Lily is standing there who claims to be Will's daughter.  Lily is a difficult teenager who has been expelled from school and fallen out with her mother.  Lily wants to know about Will and meet her unknown family.  

I enjoyed finding out how Lou had got on, but preferred the first book.  At the end of this book there is a bonus short story called 'A Bird in the Hand'. 

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Louisa Clark is looking for another job as The Buttered Bun, the cafe where she has worked for the last 6 years, has just closed.  There are not very many jobs available in her home town and after trying out a few, unsuccessfully, she attends an interview to be a carer for a quadriplegic.  She has no qualifications or experience in this field but is generally chatty and good with people, and the job pays well for a 6 month contract. 

Will Traynor, the 35 year old quadriplegic, is not a happy man.  Having been a successful businessman, who was always very active and adventurous, he is struggling to come to terms with the significant changes in his life following the accident which damaged his spine. 

The 6 months they spend together signficantly changes both of their lives.  After a bad start they begin to get along, talk to each other about all sorts and share information about their lives.  Will encourages Louisa to think big, have ambition and do something significant with her life.  

This is a great story with lots of highs and lows.  It has been made into a film.  I am now about to start the sequel 'After You' to see where the story goes next. 

Parting Shot by Linwood Barclay

Teenage Jeremy Plimpton, who has been nicknamed the Big Baby, has been given a suspended sentence for running down and killing a teenage friend during a drunken party.  There are many people who feel this is far too lenient and are out to get revenge for the killing.  The family employ private investigator Cal Weaver to help them keep Jeremy safe.  

Detective Barry Duckworth, of Promise Falls Police Department, is investigating the strange abduction and harming of local man Brian Gaffney.  Whilst looking at CCTV to establish Brian's whereabouts, Barry sees his own son was in the same place and has to question him about what he may have seen.  

There are lots of people keeping secrets and lots of people looking to get revenge for past wrongs. 

Second Time Around by Erin Kaye

Jennifer has been divorced for a number of years.  She has two children, Matt who lives at home with her and is looking for his first job after leaving college, and Lucy who is away at university but comes home every weekend.  

Whilst out with a friend celebrating her 44th birthday Jennifer sees Ben, the Manager of The Lemon Tree restaurant.  She is instantly attracted to him.  Ben is young, handsome and heir to the Crawford family business and fortune.  He is also 16 years younger than her.  Jennifer and Ben start to see each other but she is worried about what people will think of their age gap.  Ben's parents make it quite clear to her that they are not happy.  They expect Ben to provide them with grandchildren who will continue to run the family business.  Lucy is also very disapproving.  

I have one other book on my bookshelf by this author, which is: 
The Art of Friendship
 

The Darkest Day by Tom Wood

Victor is a lone hitman, he has many enemies due to the nature of his work.  Whilst on a job he finds himself to be the target of a hit.  He goes head to head with Raven a female assassin.  

Victor wants to know why Raven is trying to kill him and who has ordered the hit.  He trails her to New York where they meet.  They know they are being followed and watched.  When all the power is suddenly cut in the city they realise they are in the middle of something much bigger than just a simple hit and work together to try to stay alive and stop a possible terrorist attack. 

This is the first Tom Wood novel I have read.  Victor leaves quite a trail of dead bodies behind him!  I have one other book by this author on my bookshelf to read, which is: 
The Final Hour

The Butcher's Hook by Janet Ellis

The story is set in London during the summer of 1763.  

Anne Jaccob's mother has just given birth to a new daughter.  Following the hurt over the death of her younger brother, Anne doesn't want anything to do with this new baby.  Having another baby in the house takes her mother away from her.  Anne has spent most her of 19 years at home on her own.  For a while she was allowed a tutor, but this did not last.  

Mr Jaccob, Anne's father, is a businessman and he sees a way of mixing his business with the opportunity of finding a suitable husband for Anne who is now approaching a marriageable age.  Anne is introduced to Mr Onions at about the same time as she meets Fub, the butcher's apprentice, to whom she is instantly attracted.  Anne is very devious and plots lots of ways that she can see Fub, whilst at the same time avoiding Mr Onions.   

Anne is determined to look after her own happiness, and at any cost. 

The Sunday Lunch Club by Juliet Ashton

Anna and her family meet up regularly on a Sunday to have lunch together.  Each member of the family has something in their lives they are struggling with or a past secret. 

Older brother Neil, who is married to Santiago and has adopted baby Paloma, is struggling with his sexuality and fatherhood. 
Sister Maeve is always looking for a new love in her chaotic life whilst bringing up her son Storm as a single parent. 
Ex-husband Sam is Anna's business partner and still very much a member of the family. 
Younger brother Josh is protected by his older siblings but has a secret of his own the family are not aware of. 
Grandmother Dinkie has moved into residential care but is not happy there.  
Anna herself has a secret that most of the family do not know about. 

Anna's life is about to change dramatically as she faces single parenthood.  And then she receives a letter which opens up old wounds and brings a past secret to the present.  

This is the first book I have read by Juliet Ashton, I enjoyed the story and felt involved with the family.  I have one other book by her on my bookshelf to read: 
The Women at Number 24 

Walking Back to Happiness by Lucy Dillon

Newly widowed Juliet is struggling to get herself out of the house.  Her mum Diane insists that she needs help walking her dog Coco and drops her off with Juliet along with a very precise schedule which needs to be followed.  Whilst out walking Coco, and her own dog Minton, Juliet is mistaken for a dog walker and end up being asked to help out other people with walking their dogs and looking after their other pets.  She is turning into the local pet-sitter. 

At home she is being talked into continuing with the renovations she and Ben had planned to undertake in their old house and is helped out by the next door neighbour who shows her how to tackle some of the plumbing and decorating jobs which are desperately needed.  

With the help of her own family, and the huge noisy family next door, she slowly begins to rebuild her life again. 

Other books I have on my book shelf by the same author are:
The Ballroom Class
Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts
The Secret of Happy Ever After

The Resurrectionist by James Bradley

This story is set in 1826 in London.  Gabriel Swift is orphaned and begins an apprenticeship with Edwin Poll who is an anatomist.  In the night they receive visits from men delivering and selling dead bodies which are used to teach about anatomy.  Many of these bodies have been stolen from new graves.  

After Gabriel is dismissed by Poll he begins to work for Lucan who runs a lot of the trade in these bodies.  Gabriel is pulled into the night time world of stealing bodies and selling them on.  He gets involved with some evil and dangerous people.  

A French Affair by Katie Fforde

Sisters Gina and Sally inherit a space in The French House from their aunt.  The French House is an antiques centre in the Cotswolds which is owned and run by Matthew Ballinger.  Dealers rent a space or display cabinet for their goods and take turns in looking after the shop.  According to the aunt's wishes Matthew has to help the sisters to sell, and make a profit from, their antiques.  Neither of the sisters has any experience of antiques but they agree to the terms and to give the proposition a try.  

Gina spends much more time in the centre than Sally and soon starts to pick up information and enjoys learning about the stock, how to sell it on and what to look out for.  With her experience in PR she sees lots of marketing opportunities which would help to turn around the ailing business.  Matthew is less than enthusiastic and seems very set in his ways.  Gina is very determined and when she realises that the centre is at risk of having to be sold she does all she can to try and save it. 

Haven't They Grown by Sophie Hannah

Beth has not seen her old best friend Flora for 12 years.  She has to take her son to an away football match which is near to where Flora now lives and can't resist the temptation to drive past to have a look at the house.  Beth parks across the road to get a good look at the house and sees a car arrive.  Flora gets out the car followed by 2 young children.  Beth hears Flora call them Thomas and Emily.  

When Beth last saw Thomas and Emily, 12 years ago, they were aged 5 and 3.  They still look that age now.  How can this possibly be?  Beth is determined to find out what is happening in that house, why, and to make sure that Flora and the children are safe. 

A Time Like No Other by Audrey Howard

This story is set in the 1850s at a time when there were many woollen mills in Yorkshire. 

Lally Fraser is widowed at the age of 20 and discovers that her husband had been spending lots of money and not collecting rents from the farms on their estate.  She now has no money and needs to turn around the ailing estate which is the inheritance of their 2 young sons.  She is helped by Harry Sinclair, the older brother of her friend Roly.  Harry and Roly are joint owners of 3 local woollen mills.  

Just after Roly returns to America to get orders for their woollen cloths, Lally finds that she is pregnant.  She turns to Harry for help and he offers to marry her even though he knows the child has been fathered by his own brother.  

On his return to Yorkshire the following year, Roly has become bitter and aggressive and threatens Lally that he will expose her secret.  He also sets out to ruin Harry and split up the mills.

Other books by the same author on my bookshelf are: 
Rose Alley
The Long Way Home

Long Lost by Harlan Coben

Myron Bolitar receives an unexpected phone call from someone he has not seen for 8 years.  Terese Collins asks Myron to meet her in Paris for the weekend, she needs his help.  He flies over to see her and discovers that her ex-husband has been murdered and Terese is the prime suspect.  Myron and Terese are being hunted by the police and they end up running for their lives.  Myron tries to find out who killed Rick Collins and why.  Lots of bits of information keep coming to light and there is obviously more behind the murder of Rick than they first thought.  

This is the first Harlan Coben book I have read.   I have seen dramatisations of his books Safe and The Stranger and found these really gripping stories to watch.  I perhaps, therefore, expected a bit more from this book.  Overall I enjoyed the story but thought it started off a bit slowly.

N is for Noose by Sue Grafton

This is one of the Kinsey Millhone Mysteries in the alphabet series.  

Kinsey is a private investigator.  She is asked by recently widowed Selma Newquist to find out what was troubling her husband Tom before he died. Tom was a local detective who had died from a heart attack.  His death was not considered to be suspicious.  

Kinsey starts asking around and the locals all close ranks against her, and anyone who will talk to her has nothing bad to say about Tom.  Kinsey discovers that Tom was looking into some old, but not closed, cases.  She looks through all his papers to try to find clues, but within all the paperwork she can not find his most recent pocket book.  On the verge of giving up, she finds a trail to something Tom had been investigating for a while.  

In this series I have already read: 
A is for Alibi
B is for Burglar
C is for Corpse
D is for Deadbeat
E is for Evidence
F is for Fugitive
G is for Gumshoe
H is for Homicide
I is for Innocent
J is for Judgment 
K is for Killer
L is for Lawless
M is for Malice
O is for Outlaw
P is for Peril
S is for Silence
T is for Trespass

I also have the following books on my bookshelf:
Q is for Quarry
R is for Ricochet
U is for Undertow

Books with the letter V, W, X and Y are also now available in the series. 

Telling Liddy by Anne Fine

Sisters Bridie, Stella, Heather and Liddy are very close and see each other regularly.

Stella tells Bridie some information she has learned about George, Liddy's boyfriend.  Bridie is concerned that Liddy does not know and feels that she should be told.  The three sisters together agree and the information is shared.  

Liddy becomes really upset and angry and refuses to talk to Bridie.  When Bridie seeks support from Stella and Heather she finds that Liddy is still talking to, and seeing, them and it is only Bridie who is being ostracised.  This does not seem fair as the sisters together agreed that Liddy should know and it was not Bridie who told her.  

Bridie feels left out and separated from her sisters, but with the help of her work colleagues she is able to look at and analyse her family life from a different perspective. 

I Found You by Lisa Jewell

Alice is a single mum of three children.  One day she looks out of her window and sees a man sitting on the beach in the rain.  Hours later he is still sitting there.  She heads out to the beach with an old coat for him.  He doesn't know where he is or how he got there.  He doesn't even remember his own name.  Alice takes him in and lets him sleep in her converted shed which she sometimes rents out to lodgers.  She tries to help him regain his memory.  

Lily has been married to Carl for three weeks.  She is new to the country and does not yet have any friends.  She is expecting Carl to arrive home from work at 6pm as usual but he does not appear.  She has to wait 24 hours before the police will accept a missing persons report.  When being questioned by the police she realises that she does not know a lot about Carl's life, she has not yet met his mother and does not even know where she lives.  She is frantically searching for Carl, he would not have willingly left her.  The police have taken Carl's passport and find that it is a fake.  Carl Monrose does not exist.  

Every Woman for Herself by Trisha Ashley

Charlie's husband Matt suddenly announces he wants a divorce and her life is turned upside down.  She is alone, without any money and having to start all over again.  

Matt is selling the house and so Charlie heads back to Upvale to stay with her eccentric father and sister Em.  She sets herself up in the summer cottage with all her plants and continues with her painting.  Life in Upvale is chaotic, there is father's current mistress and her 2 children, then the third sister Anne turns up, soon followed by brother Bran.  They all have their own problems and need time to heal.  

Mace North, a bad tempered actor and screen writer, has also moved to Upvale along with his small daughter so that he can continue to write his plays in peace.  He gets mixed up with the Rhymer family antics and soon finds that he wants to spend a lot more time with Charlie.   

Dangerous Deception at Honeychurch Hall by Hannah Dennison

Kat Stanford has returned home to the estate of Honeychurch Hall.  She has set up an antiques business and she specialises in bears.  A BearFest has been arranged and Kat is the headline speaker and auctioneer for the day.  Just before the event Cassandra Bowden-Forbes appears, she is also going to attend the BearFest and undertake valuations in competition with Kat.  She also makes it clear to Kat that she is very much a part of the life of Piers with whom Kat is starting is date.  

Following the BearFest Kat finds herself at the scene of a mysterious death.  She needs to find out how the death occurred and investigate some strange happenings both to clear her own name and to ensure she is not the next victim.  

This book is one in a series about Honeychurch Hall.  It can be read as a stand alone story but there are a few references to things which must have happened in some of the previous books in the series.  

Out of Bounds by Val McDermid

Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie heads up Police Scotland’s Historic Case Unit.  She receives a phone call to let her know that DNA from a young joyrider has hit a familial match on the database with an old, cold crime case.  It shows a match with DNA left at the scene of a rape and murder 20 years earlier.  This looks to be a straightforward case of just finding the joyrider’s father, but it turns out not to be quite that easy. 

She is also drawn into the current ongoing case of the death of Gabriel Abbott.  She feels the investigating officer is too eager to sign it off as a suicide when there are things which don’t quite add up and it could be that Gabriel was murdered.  This in turn leads her to look at the unsolved murder of Caroline Abbott, Gabriel’s mother, who was killed when a plane she and three other passengers were travelling in was blown up by a bomb.  It was assumed to be a terrorist hit by the IRA but this was never proved.  When Karen is warned away from the case she is more determined than ever to find own what happened. 

I have previously read Wire in the Blood which is a Tony Hill story. 

I have the following titles on by bookshelf to read: 

Killing the Shadows

Trick of the Dark 

Night School by Lee Childs

Jack Reacher is sent by the army to a small elite school along with an FBI agent and a CIA agent.  Together they are tasked with finding out some answers.  All they know is that 'the American wants a hundred million dollars'.  They need to find out who the American is, where he is, what he is selling and who is going to buy.  They can have almost anything they need to complete their mission. 

The information initially came out of Hamburg so Reacher sets off there with Sergeant Frances Neagley to check out the area and to see what they can find.  

This Jack Reacher book has been written out of sequence with other stories.  In this book he is still in the army.  The story is set in 1996.  

Other Lee Child novels I have read are: 
The Tripwire
61 Hours 
Gone Tomorrow
Personal (which also contained the short story Not a Drill)
The Hard Way

I have Die Trying and The Enemy on my bookshelf.  

Lipstick and Knickers by Rosen Trevithick

The morning after being out partying with friends Ross wakes up hung over and with little memory of the end of the night before.  As he gets up and heads to the bathroom he finds a pair of ladies knickers on his bedroom floor.  In the bathroom he finds a lipstick on the sink.  Ross is in love with, and hoping to marry, Lizzy.  The knickers are not the type that Lizzy wears.  

Ross is in a panic about what has happened and sets out to find out who he spent the night with.  One by one he meets and eliminates women he remembers from the party.  

This was a free kindle download.  It is a short story.  

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

The family firm of BaileyTennants is being secretly investigated for money laundering by the Australian Federal Police.  

During a weekend corporate teambuilding event one of the groups goes missing and when they re-appear they have lost one of their team members.  The lost employee is Alice Russell, the whistleblower within the company, who has been working with the police to help them build their case against the Bailey family. 

The chapters in the book alternate in timelines between telling the story of the groups setting off on their weekend retreat and the point when the first group arrives back and the search begins for the lost group of women.  

Federal Agent Aaron Falk and his partner Carmen Cooper travel out to the Giralang Ranges to help in the search for Alice.  They need to find her alive and they need the contracts she has been tasked to find and pass on to them as part of their evidence against the family.  

Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella

Becky is settled in London, she is working in The Look which is a new fashion store. She and husband Luke are house hunting as they want to move out of their flat before the baby is born. 

Although Becky has told her sister Jess that she will economise and not buy lots of things for the baby, she just can't resist all the lovely designer items that are available.  

After hearing that all the celebs are going to Venetia Carter who has moved to London from Hollywood, she gives out goodie bags, holds tea parties and offers holistic water births with lotus flowers and Thai massage, Becky just has to get herself signed up.  But it turns out that Venetia is an old girlfriend of Luke from when they were at University.  Becky is convinced that Venetia is after Luke and she is determined to find out just what is going on.  

This is the next book in the Shopaholic series.  

Shopaholic and Sister by Sophie Kinsella

Becky Bloomwood, now Becky Brandon, is on honeymoon with husband Luke.  They have been traveling around the world for the last 10 months on their year long honeymoon.  When Becky receives an invitation to attend the christening of her best friend's twin babies that she has not yet met, she wishes that she was back at home.  They decide to cut the honeymoon short and return to London.  Becky expects her friends and family to be overjoyed to see her again, but things don't go quite how she imagines.  

Best friend Suze has found another friend with whom she seems to have much more in common.  Becky's mum and dad are acting a bit oddly and then tell Becky that whilst she has been away her dad has discovered that he has a daughter he didn't know about from a previous relationship.  

Becky is really excited to have a sister, she plans all sorts of things they can do together, and of course lots of shopping.  But when Jess comes to visit she and Becky don't really get along, they don't like any of the same things and Jess definitely does not like shopping.  

This is the fourth book in the Shopaholic series.  I have read the first two books in the series, The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Abroad.  I seems to have missed out the third book Shopaholic Ties the Knot, but do have the next one which is Shopaholic and Baby. 

Other books I have read by Sophie Kinsella are: 
The Undomestic Goddess
Remember Me? 
And I have these on my book shelf which I have yet to read: 
Can you Keep a Secret?
Wedding Night
I've Got Your Number
Twenties Girl

And books I have read by Madeleine Wickham (which are earlier books by Sophie Kinsella when writing under her real name) are: 
The Wedding Girl 
The Tennis Party
Cocktails for Three
Sleeping Arrangements 
Swimming Pool Sunday 
And I have A Desireable Residence on my book shelf 

They are all really easy reading chick lit stories.