Tash's Book of the Month
Welcome to Tash's Book of the Month, the fabulous fiesta where I dive into a new read each month and spill the juicy deets with my no-holds-barred review! But here’s the scoop: if a book and I didn’t click, I’m not shoving it in your face. I totally respect the blood, sweat, and tears that go into crafting (and actually finishing!) a book. Just because it wasn’t my cup of tea doesn’t mean it won’t dazzle someone else! So, buckle up for a sunny spot dedicated to celebrating literary treasures and must-read masterpieces!
SEPTEMBER
MAD MABEL by Sally Hepworth
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If you have never read anything I have previously recommended, which is fine, you MUST read this. It’s phenomenal and that’s not an accolade I use lightly.
Elsie lives on an ordinary street in Australia, but she is far from just ‘ordinary’ lady. Growing up friendless save for ‘Daphne’, Elsie’s life is truly unenviable, especially after the death of her mother.
But now she finds herself a woman in her 80’s and with a new ‘best friend’ in the form of 7 year old Persephone, from across the road.
Persephone tells Elsie one day that she thinks one of the other neighbours is dead, and Elsie goes off to investigate. She is soon caught up in suspicion of being the one that killed him. And all because ‘Mad Mabel’ has form.
But do rumours and hearsay ever really know the truth?
I laughed, I gasped and I cried during this book. I HIGHLY recommend.
Although I listened to this as an audiobook (the narration was utter perfection) it is available both as an eBook and a physical copy.
By the end, I felt like I knew Mabel and she truly was magnificent.
BLURB
Eighty-one-year-old Elsie Fitzpatrick lives a quiet life in the suburbs. Few would guess that Elsie, aside from being a curmudgeon who minds everyone else’s business, harbours a secret she’s worked hard to bury.
Because when it comes to murder, no one ever suspects little girls or old ladies. And Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick – once a little girl and now an old lady – has a strange history of people in her life coming to a foul end.
When an elderly neighbour is found dead, no one suspects a thing – until they uncover Elsie’s true identity: Mad Mabel, the youngest Australian in history to be convicted of murder, more than sixty years ago.
The police are asking questions. The media is circling. Has the past finally caught up with Mad Mabel? Or is it time for her to set the record straight?
Tash's BOTM: After dark
Any recommendation here are intended for an 'adult audience'. If you don't like spice (some are going to be so spicy you might even spontaneously combust) so reading will be at your own discretion and therefore, I won't be taking the blame is you are shocked/offended/or unprepared.
For those not of a nervous nature....enjoy....but only after dark!
SEPTEMBER
THE DEAL MAKER by Louise Bay
Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
An enemies’ to lovers book? Fake dating? Grumpy/Sunshine? Oh, go on then! I think I’ve said this before (but I do love to repeat myself) Louise Bay is the perfect beach or Sunday afternoon read and her new book, The Deal Maker, hit all my tick boxes.
Lucy’s sister, Catherine is perfect. Lucy knows this because she hears it constantly. And Catherine is getting married (to Ed) and Lucy will be maid of honour. Hunter is Ed’s business partner and best man and when the two meet it’s not exactly fireworks between them…well, not the good kind anyway. They most definitely get off on the wrong foot, not least because whilst Ed is super busy with wedding preparations, the business is left to Hunter to run single-handedly and he’s not happy. Hunter is a workaholic, having one failed family business behind him, he’s rather paranoid about making this one succeed.
Playing a pivotal role in the book is Lucy and Catherine’s domineering and actually rather nasty mother. According to her, Lucy can’t do anything right and Katherine is perfect. Lucy has long-since accepted this is the way her parents feel but she’s out of their immediate grasp as she lives in New York, away from the family in Boston.
As best man and maid of honour, it’s left to Lucy and Hunter to come up with a perfect joint Batchlor and Hen party weekend. It’s not easy when you don’t really like each other.
‘Somehow’, they end up in a fake relationship to keep everybody happy and yes, you’ve guessed it, what was once fake becomes real. And that’s when the fun starts.
It’s a book about trusting yourself and your capabilities and making your own happiness and left me with a smile on my face and needing a cold shower.
If you want an easy-to-read romance, you can’t go wrong with The Deal Maker, it really will hit all the buttons.
BLURB
When the maid of honor and the best man fabricate a romance to keep the peace, the only thing they can’t fake are the sparks.
Lucy Jones is tired of being the “other sister.” Elizabeth is the golden child—beautiful, serene, and engaged to the perfect man. Lucy? She’s thirty, single, and still dodging her mother’s digs about how she never quite measures up. But when Elizabeth names Lucy as her maid of honor, she vows her sister’s wedding will be her grand rebrand. She’ll prove she’s polished, sophisticated, and totally in control.
Enter Hunter Bain. Best man. Business bro. Walking scowl emoji. Also the rudest, most aggravating man Lucy has ever met—and her new partner in planning the joint bachelor/bachelorette weekend. Fantastic. Because nothing says “reinvent yourself” like clashing with a man who thinks party planning is beneath him.
From drunken disasters to shenanigans on Martha’s Vineyard, Lucy and Hunter can’t stop butting heads. Until one impulsive lie forces them to pretend they’re dating. It’s supposed to be temporary. It’s supposed to be fake. But every lingering glance, every stolen kiss, every unexpected laugh makes it harder to remember what’s real and what’s not.
Full of sharp banter, slow-burn tension, and laugh-out-loud chaos, The Deal Maker is a swoony enemies-to-lovers rom-com about messy families, fake relationships, and finding love when you least expect it.
Tash's own book
Secrets and Lies
Just in case you are interested in reading my book, you can order via the link on Amazon. It’s available in paperback, kindle e-book and KU (if you know, you know!). I’m told it’s good… but you can always find out for yourself. Please do consider leaving a review as for newbie authors’ it’s a really great way of getting our books out there.
So what’s it about?
Lucie
I was happy being lost; it was, after all, on my terms. Meeting Jack was not part of my plan. Nor was falling in love with him. But when the unexpected happens, will he pull out all the stops to find me?
Jack
Months after living out of the country, I was tired. I wanted to rest. Who knew the girl in the coffee shop would have me chasing her down the street? But it turns out, Lucie turned out to be the love of my life and now I find myself travelling across Europe to save her.
Lucie is happily living her new life; hiding in anonymity from her family’s criminality and still grieving the death of her mother, when she meets Jack. Jack who is firmly on the right side of the law.
When Lucie receives a coded message in the middle of the night telling her to return home, she slips from Jack’s bed and his life.
But fate has other ideas for Lucie and Jack. A tearful reunion becomes a nightmare when Lucie is kidnapped. Secrets and lies are revealed and it’s a race against time for Jack to find her.
You think this is just another love story. You’re wrong. It’s a story of deliberately being lost but having no control when it happens again.
It’s a story of betrayal and paying the price for the mistakes made by those closest to you.
It’s a story of a race against time to find the one you love.
