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One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot #Review

  We are travelling to France for Mandy Baggot's latest romcom, One Winter at the French Chalet which was published by Boldwood Books on October 4th. Things aren’t going well for travel writer Orla Bradbee. With Christmas fast approaching, her boss is insisting Orla must travel to a rural village in France to interview a man who doesn’t speak. But with trouble at home – her teenage sister Erin is in a ‘situationship’ with a man online – Orla’s only plan is to take Erin with her. Get the interview done, find out more about this online Romeo and still be back in time for Christmas dinner. Easy, right? Saint-Chambéry is a picturesque French village nestled in the snow-capped mountains, but Jacques Barbier – gorgeous and brooding, yet a man of few words – makes it clear that Orla is wasting her time here. Orla can’t deny that Jacques intrigues and infuriates her, but what is the mysterious Frenchman hiding exactly? And can she get close enough to uncover his secrets with

My Sister by Michelle Adams ** Blog Tour Review**

Today I am participating in the blog tour to celebrate the publication of Michelle Adams', My Sister, in paperback. In April 2017, I was lucky enough to feature a guest post by Michelle where she talked about writing her first novel. You can read it here.

My name is Irini. I was given away.

My name is Elle. I was kept.

All her life Irini thought she was given away because her family didn't want her.  What if the truth is something worse?

Two sisters.  Two separate lives.

One family bound by a harrowing secret. 

MY SISTER tells the story of Irini Haringford, who was given away by her parents at the age of three, whilst her volatile, destructive sister was kept within the family. Twenty years later Irini receives a phone call from her estranged sister to say that their mother has died, compelling her to return for the first time to the family home, and to uncover once and for all the shocking truth that has defined both their lives…
 
My Thoughts
 
In My Sister, Michelle Adams sets the tone of suspense and foreboding from the opening sentence and maintains it to the very end. There is a claustrophobic feel to the story as the focus stays on Irini and her sister, Elle. There is the feeling of being caught in a spider's web. No matter how hard Irini tries, she cannot evade her sister who is totally unpredictable and difficult to fathom. However, for that matter, so is Irini, herself. You find yourself thinking just how reliable is she as a narrator anyway?
 
    Family secrets abound and the frustrating thing is that it takes a long time for the truth to begin to appear. For the most part of the novel, the story twists and turns, with tension built in. It is certainly a chilling tale with a dark heart. You feel that the family home might somehow hold the key to the truth and I also gasped at times at Irini's reactions and actions. It is the relationship between the sisters which keeps you hooked as they seem unable to break apart from what appears to be a toxic bond.

In short: A disturbing tale of two sisters bound by family secrets.
 
 
About the Author
 
Michelle Adams grew up in the UK and now lives in Cyprus, where she works as a part-time scientist.  She read her first Stephen King novel at the tender age of nine, and has been addicted to suspense fiction ever since.  My Sister is her first novel. 
You can follow Michelle on Twitter  on her Website and on Goodreads 
 
Book links:Amazon UK 
Thanks to Millie Seaward of Headline Press for a copy of the book and a place o
n the Book Tour.


Follow the rest of the Tour! 
 
 

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