My book list for March

 Here we go with my reading list for March, three very different books!

Once again Freida McFadden has had me thinking I know which way a storyline is going and then completely taken me by surprise. Before I go any further I need to say that this book is not for the squeamish!

Sydney is looking for a caring, compassionate partner but is having little luck with the men she is meeting via a dating app.  Then she meets someone who seems to tick all the boxes of the qualities she is seeking, he's charming, successful and is a doctor at a local hospital.  

But let's go back in time to a young boy called Tom and his friend 'Slug', both boys are unpopular with the 'cool' kids and both seem to have slightly odd interests.  Tom is obsessed with the girl across the street, Daisy, whose father is a local police officer.  After the disappearance of a girl who Tom was tutoring, Daisy's father says that she should have nothing to do with Tom anymore as he suspects he may not be all he seems.    

Let's return to the present day, where Sydney discovers that her best friend has been brutally murdered.  In a total state of shock she is supported by a mutual friend, Gretchen, and her boyfriend who happens to be the caretaker of the apartments where the girls live.  But Sydney's boyfriend is starting to act suspiciously and she is now wondering if he could be the mystery doctor that her murdered friend was dating before she died.

I smugly thought I knew where this was going.  I confidently believed that I could match up the characters from the past to those in the present.  Reader, I was wrong!

What a twist at the end and what a feeling that things have not been tied up as neatly as it seemed!

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I decided it was time for a different genre of book for my next read, I needed a break from murders!

Emilie de la Martinieres travels to her family home following the death of her mother.  The two had never been close and Emilie feels that she knew little about her. Being an only child, Emilie inherits all her mother's worldly goods, which includes a chateau and vineyard in the South of France.  Here she meets Sebastian, with whom she falls in love and marries before moving to his family home in England while renovations to the chateau are taking place.

In the midsts of checking out the chateau and trying to make decisions for the future she discovers a book of poems written by a previous occupant.  These lead her to search for more information about the author, her aunt Sophie, whose love affair changed the course of the family history.  

The story moves between 1943 and 1998, as Emilie discovers more and more information about her family's connection to the chateau. This part of the story introduces Constance, a young British agent who finds herself involved in the de la Martinieres family. Realising that their lives are in danger at their home in Paris she travels with the daughter of the family (Emilie's aunt Sophie) to their home in the south.  

There is a lot of family connections in this story but it is one that I enjoyed and would recommend.

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For my last book I decided to try something different.

I really enjoy the TV series Gavin and Stacey and wondered if Ruth Jones would be as good an author as she is a scriptwriter.

Us Three follows three girls who are best friends at school and swear an oath on a Curly Wurly sweet wrapper that they will always be there for each other no matter what life holds for them.

After they leave school and before they go to university they plan a fantastic trip but on their return, things take a huge turn and their friendship possibly lies in tatters.  Their innocent childhood promise looks unlikely to be fulfilled.  Sometimes it is hard to be the one in the middle of two friends who fall out and are either unwilling or unable to forgive and forget.

I enjoyed this book, and I changed my opinion of the characters several times before the ending! If you are looking for a nice easy read, this is one to try.