Take A Look At Me Now by Miranda Dickinson

Synopsis :

How far would you go to make a new start?

When Nell’s on-off boyfriend Aidan calls her into his office, losing her job is the last thing she expects.

Heartbroken and unemployed to boot, she makes a radical decision to blow her redundancy cheque and escape to the untested waters of San Francisco.

But is the glamour of the city too good to be true? And can Nell leave her past behind?

This is what I say :

If I remember correctly, I read Take a Look At Me Now end of last year during my reading marathon.  I can't quite remember :)

I also can't quite remember what I read! :) That's the consequences when I don't review the book immediately after reading.

So, what can I say about Take A Look at Me Now?  It's a chic lite...meant to be read and enjoyed and forgotten! No specific story line that's out of the world but the success of chic lite would be (in my opinion) in the way it's written and so far only a few managed to be exceptional.  Unfortunately, Miranda Dickinson is not one of such authors.  

Having say that, she's not all bad and while reading, the book is enjoyable...just not memorable.

And Then She Was Gone by Rosalind Noonan

Synopsis :

Eleven-year-old Lauren O'Neil vanished one sunny afternoon as she walked home from school. Six years later, her parents Rachel and Dan still tirelessly scour their Oregon hometown and beyond, always believing Lauren will be found. Then one day, the call comes.

Lauren has been rescued from a secluded farm mere miles away, and her abductor has confessed. Yet her return is nothing like Rachel imagined. Though the revelations about what Lauren endured are shocking, most heartbreaking of all is to see the bright-eyed, assertive daughter she knew transformed into a wary, polite stranger.

Lauren's first instinct is to flee. For years she's been told her parents forgot her; now she doubts the pieces of her life can ever fit together again. But Rachel refuses to lose her a second time. Little by little they must relearn what it means to be a family, trusting that their bond is strong enough to guide them back to each other.

Intensely moving and absorbing, this is an extraordinary story told with sensitivity and grace, and filled with the depth and breadth of a mother's love.


This is what I say : 

I thought this would be rather heart breaking and I was right, it was rather heart breaking but wasn't that much though.  In the hands of another author, perhaps it might be and in the hands of yet another author, it can also be a thriller...as such is the basis of  And Then Shew Was Gone which can be rather versatile to any of these genre.

I actually got bored halfway through before I motivate myself to complete it before I move on to other titles.  I didn't like Rachel, the mother and Lauren wasn't really that likable so it was a bit difficult to warm up to the family.  The story didn't really focus on Lauren as a hostage but more on how she cope with her family upon released from captivity.

There was a slight twist to the story line but I was kinda expecting it but it wasn't really that impactful as to bring a wow to the book.

I read this title as an e-book.   Reading will again have to take a back seat as yet again, I have assignments deadline to complete.

Purchase #1 - February 2019

I was just wondering when I would make my first book purchase for the year when I suddenly remember that I already did!

It was in early February or was it late January? that someone posted a few titles for sales in a FB page of which I am a member of and among the titles that she wanted to sell is this one - Mightier Than The Sword by Jeffery Archer.

This title is part of a series that I have been collecting, the last purchased for this series being in September last year where I managed to get hold of 3 titles from a charity sales.

I now have five titles under this series and am missing two more titles as at now.  

For my own record, the titles under this Clifton Chronicles Series are :

1. Only Time Will Tell
2. Sins of the Father
3. Best Kept Secrets
4. Be Careful What You Wish For (missing this)
5. Mightier Than The Sword
6. Cometh The Hour
7. This Was The Man (missing this)

I didn't realised that I was missing Be Careful What You Wish For.  I always thought I have this title.

I guess I will have to keep a watch out for the two titles that I don't have in order to complete the series.

Wish Me Luck.

ps. this would be my first purchase for 2019.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Synopsis :

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. 

Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. 

Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

This is what I say :

Gone Girl is an insanely psychotic thriller that delivers from all front.  Having read Dark Places end of last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, I was very eager to get my hands on Gone Girl which is sitting on my shelf.

Gone Girl is better than Dark Places in my humble opinion.  The characters are more animated and surprising much darker and the persona of psychoticism is very much hidden.

Both Nick and Amy are pretty strong characters but I can't decide who is more psychotic.  I think they are both equally psychotic towards the end of the book.

The story line is rather unique and pretty mess up in a good way where thriller is concerned.  It is really a most interesting read and I was actually quite surprised that  the author has only three titles under her name.  So far, I have read two of it and watch the Netflix of the other.

Gone Girl has also been made into a movie which starts Ben Affleck as Nick.  I shall be checking it out soon.

Down The Darkest Road (Oak Knoll Series #3) by Tami Hoag

Synopsis :

California, 1990—Four years after Lauren Lawton's sixteen-year-old daughter disappeared, the world has given up the girl for dead. Lauren's husband took his own life. Her younger daughter is looking only for what's left of her childhood. But Lauren never surrendered. She knows who took her child, and there's not a shred of evidence against him. 

Looking for a fresh start, Lauren and her younger daughter Leah move to idyllic Oak Knoll. So has Lauren's suspect. And it feels that history is about to repeat itself.

Leah is turning sixteen, and Oak Knoll has a cunning predator on the hunt. But as sheriff's detective Tony Mendez and his team sift through the circumstances of an increasingly disturbing case, a stunning question changes everything they thought they knew...

This is what I say :

Down The Darkest Road is the third and last book in the Oak Knoll Series but with totally new characters and totally new storyline.  Characters like Vince, Tony and Anne made appearance but the main focus is on Lauren.

It is also the shortest book in the series with just over 60 chapters compared to about 90 chapters in the earlier two titles.  In fact, it don't have to feature the above characters and be a totally stand alone title altogether and it would have worked equally well for the readers.

It's an enjoyable thriller but it gives a different vibes than the first title Deeper Than The Dead  and the second title Secrets to the Grave. 

Anyway, I am glad to have read this series but equally glad to end it too.

Secrets to the Grave (Oak Knoll Series #2) by Tami Hoag

Synopsis :

Marissa Fordham is dead, but her daughter is found at the crime scene, injured but alive. Now sheriff's detective Tony Mendez and child advocate Anne Leone begin to peel back the layers of Marissa's life. 

And the shocking truth they discover puts them directly in the sights of a killer with a stunning secret to keep; because Marissa Fordham never existed...


This is what I say :

I was so excited to read this particular title as I really enjoyed the first book in this Oak Knoll Series by Tami Hoag, Deeper Than The Dead which I read in December last year.  

While this review is only done in February, I actually read Secrets to the Grave in January.  Like the first book, I read this as an e-book.

I would also like to share that while this is the second book in the series, the stories are actually stand-alone and not connected.  What connects are just the characters which I have kinda grown to appreciate.  Anne who was a school teacher and whom I didn't really quite like becomes more likable in this book and so is Tony.  I am still not so partial to Vince, the profiler from FBI who has a bullet in his head.

The story itself is quite thrilling too and again, I was determined to succeed in guessing who the killer was or who the killers were....*hint* there could be more than one killer?  I am not saying... taking that secret with me.  You just have to read it yourself to find out!

Next is book three entitled Down the Darkest Road and yes, I read that already.  

Review coming up real soon! 

A Modern Fairy Tale by Jane Green

Synopsis :

Introducing A Modern Fairy Tale: William, Kate and Three Generations of Royal Love, written by New York Times bestselling author Jane Green. 

This ebook tells the story of how Prince William and Kate Middleton grew up, fell in love, and got engaged. This unique storytelling experience offers details about a modern young prince and his captivating bride, and their upcoming wedding. 

The ebook also delves into the history of William's parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and his grandparents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, their love stories and their historic weddings.


This is what I say :

This is a ebook that took me half a day to read.

It's extremely easy to read but very shallow as in not in-depth but quite refreshing as an opportunity to kill some time that I happen to have.

It's accompanied by some rather nice photos too of the three couples featured in the book.

There's even a link to an introductory video but I didn't watch it.

With this real life love story, here's a belated wishes to everyone, a very Happy Valentine's Day... to you hugs and kisses from me.