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The Love Island Bookshop by Kate Frost #Review #ARomanticEscapeBook

 If you can't fly over to the Maldives at the moment, how about escaping there through the pages of a book? Kate Frost's The Love Island Bookshop was published on 8th April by Lemon Tree Press. A dream job, two handsome men, one destructive act. Will Freya’s opportunity of a lifetime end in tears? When Freya leaves her publishing job in London to be a barefoot bookseller in the Maldives, it’s the push she needs to move on from her sadness and reignite her passion for life. While resort owner Zander is charming, it’s handsome dive instructor Aaron who befriends her when she needs it most. But all is not what it seems and there’s trouble brewing in paradise. Taking a chance on happiness is harder than she imagined. Can Freya let go of her heartache and allow herself to fall in love again? My Thoughts  Yes this novel certainly lived up to its series, A Romantic Escape . What could be blissful than spending the Summer on a remote island in the Maldives? Well, running the
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Lie With Me by Sabinne Durrant

     I love the way that Lie With Me by Sabinne Durrant  figures a central character who is such an anti-hero. Paul Morris, the narrator, is a would be author who has written one book in his early twenties and failed since to produce anything else worthy of publication. By chance he meets Alice, a widow, and sets about inveigling himself into her life, eventually getting himself invited to spend a holiday in Greece with her family and friends. In the heat of the sun, the lies he weaves close in on him. Sabinne Durrant conveys the claustrophobia he feels as he backs himself into a corner. We follow him through the story as he lies and manipulates. We begin to see how each lie is leading him further into trouble but he seems unable to stop himself. What is surprising is that although I could see how egotistical and self- serving Paul he is, I had sympathy for such a flawed individual.

    All the characters in Lie With Me have secrets. They seem to shadow box each other, each spinning their own facade. It is one of the pleasures of the book to try to second guess and to speculate as to what each person believes is going on. Paul is the ultimate unreliable witness. Alice's trip to Pyros is part of the annual visit she has made there following the disappearance of a young girl who was her friend. It seems that Paul was there at the time but says that he cannot remember anything about the time or indeed who he met or what he did. As we see him lie and invent his own backstory, everything he says is doubted. It is clear from early on in the book that he is a totally self-serving person. Of course of all the people he meets, he may not be the only one.  

    When the twist comes at the end, it did surprise me as I had been taking myself up a different path. It gave it a satisfying end and certainly repaid the reading of the book. 

In short: a clever and intriguing read with dark humour thrown in.

Thanks to the publisher, Mulholland Books for a copy of the book via Bookbridgr.   
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