Book picks similar to
Blood Brothers by Heather Atkinson


crime-fiction
heather-atkinson
loved-it
netgalley-books-reviewed

Winter Whimsy: Escape this Christmas to the Boardwalk by the Sea


Georgina Troy - 2020
    

All the Fun of the Fair


Lynda Page - 2018
    But when the fairgoers head home, the Grundys are left behind. Hours are long and the work back-breaking. But family and friends hold things together.Gemma married into the lifestyle, her reliable husband Solomon making the work worthwhile. Solly’s Dad Samson is still the boss, but his other son, known as Sonny, is getting a reputation...Times are changing. Can the family – and the fair – survive? A saga with a twist, join the Grundy family in a gritty but heartwarming novel of love, friendship and secrets. Perfect for fans of Kitty Neale, Lyn Andrews and Rosie Goodwin. Praise for All The Fun of the Fair'What a delightful read! I loved this story from beginning to end!' Lucy's Reading Record'An excellent book with a captivating storyline with lots of interesting and diverse characters, what more can you ask for?' Goodreads reviewer'I absolutely loved this book. From page one I was drawn into the lives of all the characters... A thoroughly enjoyable read.' Reader review'This book is full of secrets, romance, heartbreak and a couple of twists I never saw coming. I loved this book from beginning to end.' Reader review'This story has so much packed into it... the strength of friendship and the value of community. A great read and an author who I want to read more of.' Jo's Book Journey

Bedlam & Breakfast at a Devon seaside guesthouse


Sharley Scott
    She is certain she and Jason have a strong and loving relationship that can weather any storm. Hooked by the beauty of Torringham with its quaint harbour and stunning coastline, they purchase Flotsam Guesthouse which needs more than a lick of paint to keep it afloat. Soon, Katie finds that renovating and running a guesthouse is taking its toll, especially when dealing with challenging guests and madcap neighbours, Shona and Kim. Katie comes to learn that trouble is afoot whenever Shona begs a favour. However, when her adored daughter moves back to their old hometown, she wonders if they’ve made a huge mistake, especially when cracks begin to show in her marriage. Her seaside idyll is crumbling along with her relationship. Should she let Flotsam Guesthouse founder while she salvages her marriage? Katie needs to decide where her priorities lie. The only issue is, she doesn’t know.

Mavis and Dot


Angela Petch - 2018
    Introducing two eccentric ladies who form an unlikely friendship.Meet Mavis and Dot - two colourful, retired ladies who live in Worthington-on-Sea, where there are charity shops galore. Apart from bargain hunting, they manage to tangle themselves in escapades involving illegal immigrants, night clubs, nude modelling, errant toupees and more. And then there’s Mal, the lovable dog who nobody else wants. A gently humorous, often side-splitting, heart-warming snapshot of two memorable characters with past secrets and passions. Escape for a couple of hours into this snapshot of a faded, British seaside town. You'll laugh and cry but probably laugh more."This book is quirky and individual, and has great pathos...[it] will resonate with a lot of readers." Gill Kaye - Editor of Ingenu(e). Written with a light touch in memory of a dear friend who passed away from ovarian cancer, Angela Petch’s seaside tale is a departure from her successful Tuscan novels. All profits from the sale of the books will go towards research into the cure for cancer.

Annie's Autumn Escape


Debbie Viggiano - 2021
    Sixty! She feels half that age, even if the mirror tells her otherwise. Hubby Keith promises her a birthday to remember, and doesn’t let her down, but packing his suitcase to shack up with a forty-something isn’t quite the memory Annie wants to make. Suddenly she’s single and – as an empty nester – very, very alone. The Bucket List she and Keith had promised to work their way through is but a dream, until besties Bella and Caz rally around Annie and whisk her away for a trip that will be remembered for ever. Dubai. But it’s not all skyscrapers, bling, sand dunes and sheikhs. As the sun sinks over the horizon of Jumeirah Beach… might there also be love?

Danube Street


Linda Tweedie - 2018
    Danube Street was always the first port of call when Merchant or Naval ships docked in Leith, and was the attraction, never to be missed by visiting clergymen of every denomination. Stella Gold began life far from the bright lights of the city. Born Agnes McLeod, she was reared in the wilds of Ayrshire. The only daughter of a tenant farmer, she endured a harsh, rugged upbringing. Now, although the darling of Edinburgh’s glitterati, she finds herself the victim of a vendetta by the city’s most dangerous and violent criminal brothers,and a corrupt Chief of Police.Survival was a constant challenge which Stella thought she had under control. How wrong could she be?

Instructions For Falling In Love Again


Lucy Mitchell - 2019
    Buried at the bottom of a drawer are a collection of notebooks full of Dan's advice on how to live without him. Pippa's notebook is red and contains his instructions on how to fall in love again. But Dan doesn’t just want Pippa to fall in love with anyone - Dan’s crazy suggestion is that Pippa should date his handsome friend, Mikey Stenton, a known thrill-seeking ladies’ man. Reluctant to follow Dan’s advice, Pippa enters the world of dating. She embarks on a humorous journey of self-discovery, with the help of her children and two best friends.  It isn't long before Pippa is finding it hard to ignore Dan's instructions and Mikey Stenton. Is Mikey really the man that everyone thinks him to be? Or was Dan right, and Mikey’s simply been misunderstood?   An uplifting and heart-warming story about friendship and finding love, the second time around.

Lucy Mathers Goes Back To Work: A romantic comedy about the trials and tribulations of returning to the workplace!


Julie Butterfield - 2019
    Four years later, she’s a stay at home mum with two adorable children, has swapped her Louboutins for rabbit slippers and spends her day making crustless sandwiches and colour co-ordinated lunches instead of signing up high profile clients. When her husband is suddenly made redundant, there is panic in the Mathers’ household. With a mortgage the size of the national debt and a credit card balance that’s in danger of toppling, Lucy reluctantly decides she must return to work. So she digs out her old power suits from the back of the wardrobe and leaves Will to become a house husband. But sitting in Lucy’s old office is Grant Cassidy, suave, handsome and ruthless and with no intention of letting Lucy walk back into the number one job. At home, despite his breezy declaration that swapping boardroom battles for toddler groups would be a doddle, Will’s belief that parental issues could be solved with forward planning and a spread sheet soon falls by the wayside. With both Will and Lucy struggling to adapt, could their previously happy marriage be developing some cracks?

The M Word


Eileen Wharton - 2018
    She dislikes her children, detests her ex-husband and despises her colleagues.When her mother dies, Roberta is left with a pile of letters and a mystery surrounding her son. The letters reveal Roberta’s heritage is not what it seems and she is soon on a mission to become a better person.Told with humour and emotion, The M Word is the tale of one woman’s journey to find out where she came from. As she looks to the past for answers, more questions are raised. Will Roberta discover who she really is?

Dark of Night (Glasgow Kiss, #1)


C.S. Duffy - 2017
    When Lorna’s body is found in the Campsies, Ruari sets out to retrace her last steps in the hopes of finding her killer – but somebody has beaten him to it. Now the hunt is on for a serial killer terrorising Glasgow.Dark of night is a fast-paced, twisty serial killer thriller set in Glasgow, turbo-charged with Scandi-esque noir and black humour.

Toys In The Dust


N.M. Brown - 2019
    He is sad that he doesn’t have a doll to play with like the girls do, so Suzy hurries home to fetch one. When she returns, Suzy discovers both Tina and the stranger have vanished. A short while later, traffic officer Leighton Jones, who is fighting his own demons, is driving home from the scene of a near-fatal accident. When Leighton sees a young girl race out in front of his car and vanish into the countryside, he reports the sighting. Unfortunately, his superiors, who are increasingly concerned about Leighton’s mental health, doubt the child exists. But after Tina’s mother confirms her daughter’s disappearance, Leighton risks his job by pursuing his own investigation of the case. Meanwhile, in the Californian countryside, a child killer is relentlessly searching for the one who got away. Leighton has his work cut out. But can he prove his sanity and find Tina before the stranger does? Toys in the Dust is a gripping and fast-paced serial killer thriller, which will appeal to fans of authors like Damien Boyd, Keith Houghton, Mark Edwards and Angela Marsons. It is loosely connected to N.M. Brown's previous thrillers, also featuring Leight Jones, The Girl on the Bus and Carpenter Road, and can be read as part of a series or as an unmissable stand-alone.

Simon Says


Jo Wesley - 2019
    Until she makes a terrible decision – and learns the hard way that home is not a place of refuge. Not while Simon lurks in every shadow. He groomed her as a teen: terrorised her into fleeing and leaving her baby behind. Now the man who destroyed her childhood has become the perfect father to her teenage daughter. And her return threatens his future. A desperate man is a dangerous one. Simon says she must leave or suffer the consequences. She refuses. Now it’s his move. Because it's not enough to face your demons. Sometimes, you must destroy them.

Six Steps To Happiness


Suzie Tullett - 2019
    But Nick and Gaye won’t budge.To add to her problems, Ronnie’s daughter and mother-in-law decide to stage an intervention. With her family keeping a close eye on her, Ronnie is forced to become more devious in her actions to get rid of Nick and Gaye.But just how far will she go?And is moving on ever that easy? Six Steps to Happiness is a hilarious look at just how far one woman will go to recover from a broken heart and find happiness again. What everyone is saying about Six Steps To Happiness: "I highly recommend this hilarious romance." "I definitely recommend this book, you won’t be disappointed!" "Some parts had me laughing and some parts left me wanting to cry." "A great happy read, with fun and laughter thrown in!" "A book with a message and also one with lots of smiles. Loved it." Suzie Tullett is the bestselling author of The French Escape, Little White Lies and Butterflies and The Trouble With Words. Six Steps To Happiness is an uplifting and laugh-out-loud Romantic comedy which will appeal to fans of authors like Sue Roberts, Marian Keyes and Sarah Morgan.

The Broken


Casey Kelleher - 2018
     Nancy Byrne was the apple of her daddy’s eye. He might have been one of the most-feared gangsters in London, yet Jimmy Byrne idolised his little Nancy. But now Jimmy is dead, gunned down in cold blood - and Nancy vows to avenge his death. She’s only twenty years old, but as the new head of the ruthless Byrne gang, running a lucrative world of drugs, sex and violence, she’s in over her head. Keeping her family together all while Joanie, her beloved grandma, falls apart, and her brother Daniel goes off the rails forces Nancy to grow up - fast. But while Nancy takes the men on at their own game, there’s a greater danger hiding on the dark streets. Jimmy’s killer is on her trail - and will stop at nothing to shut her up. Blood might be thicker than water, but soon, Nancy realises she can't trust anyone. Not even her own family. Especially her own family. A gritty, gripping read full of shocking thrills and suspense – readers of Mandasue Heller, Martina Cole and Jessie Keane will be addicted until the very last page. Read what everyone is saying about Casey Kelleher: ‘Hells bells…an explosive story, one that I found impossible to put down even for a few minutes…a gripping read.’ (5 Stars) The Book Review Café ‘Wow what a story…fantastic, I was hooked from the beginning and the story just got better and better.’ (5 Stars) Goodreads Reviewer ‘I actually think I read this book without breathing!…The plot will have you twisting, turning and screaming stop as your brain registers what is going on but there is no way out – you are hooked and you will not be able to put this book down until you have finished it!’ Chapter in my Life ‘OMG what a read that was…Had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through…This was one hell of a rollercoaster ride…loved every minute of it.’ (5 stars) Goodreads Reviewer ‘Had me hooked from the beginning…For fans of Martina Cole and Mandasue Heller this is a must read.’ (5 stars) Goodreads Reviewer ‘Wow…just W O W!…kept me enthralled until the wee hours of the morning. When I read the last word I was unable to stop thinking about what I had just read…a story that will stay with me a long long time.’ (5 stars) Goodreads Reviewer ‘Casey is fast becoming one of the best writers in this genre…I was literally holding my breath at moments. I feel like 5 stars really doesn't justify how great this book is. Easily one of the best books you'll read this year.’ (5 stars) Vix 2016 ‘Outstanding…nothing could stop me reading…truly enjoyed every page…A blinder of a book which I would hugely recommend to everybody.’ (5 stars) Best Crime Books and More ‘Hooked from the very first page and I read late into the night to finish it because I just HAD to know how it ended!…I totally recommend it!' Goodreads Reviewer ‘Sooooo good…did not put it down until I had read the very last page&hellip

Pendle Fire


Paul Southern - 2018
    That’s on a good day: things are about to get a whole lot worse. Two fourteen-year-old girls are found wandering Aitken Wood on the slopes of Pendle Hill, claiming to have been raped by a gang of men. With no female social workers available, Johnny is assigned to their case. But what, at first, looks like yet another incident of child exploitation takes a sinister turn when the girls start speaking of a forthcoming apocalypse.When Johnny interviews one of the girls, Jenna Dunham, her story starts to unravel. His investigation draws him into a tight-knit village community in the shadow of Pendle Hill, where whispers of witchcraft and child abuse go back to the Middle Ages.One name recurs, The Hobbledy Man. Is he responsible for the outbreaks of violence sweeping across the country? Is he more than just myth? Pendle Fie is a dark and absorbing thriller, it does contain scenes which some readers may some find disturbing.