'You Think You Know Me' by Clare Chase

Goodreads * Amazon * Amazon UK

Choc Lit

Book summary: Sometimes, it’s not easy to tell the good guys from the bad …

Freelance journalist, Anna Morris, is struggling to make a name for herself, so she’s delighted to attend a launch event for a hip, young artist at her friend Seb’s gallery.

But an exclusive interview isn’t all Anna comes away with. After an encounter with the enigmatic Darrick Farron, she is flung into the shady underground of the art scene – a world of underhand dealings, missing paintings and mysterious deaths …

Seb is intent on convincing Anna that Darrick is up to no good but, try as she might, she can’t seem to keep away from him. And as she becomes further embroiled, Anna begins to wonder – is Seb’s behaviour the well-intentioned concern of an old friend, or does he have something to hide?

Finally I've found a book that combines mystery, dark secrets and a light read. I was glued to it from the first chapter and had a lot of questions in my mind. Anna meets a stranger who gives her a false identity. Despite being warned by people that something's not right, she stays in touch with him and tries to unravel secrets that turn up all along the way.

I had my suspicions about who the bad guy is and what happened after reading about 50% of the book. In the end it turned out I was right, but the last few chapters were very dramatic and dynamic - I didn't expect that and was pleasantly surprised. On the other hand this dynamics wasn't really balanced with few parts of the book which were slow-paced and detailed.

The story line is good and solid and characters are diverse and well built. I enjoyed how author was giving out pieces of information about Sebastian's life and drama he went through when he lost his girlfriend Julia. I also grew fond of Anna's housemates - scenes with them were bringing some refreshment and fun. 

This was my first book written by Clare Chase but I very like her style of writing - it's solid and neat. I would happily give this author another go! And on a side note, as an UK-Lover I was happy that the book was set in London.

I'd recommend this book to everyone that seeks a good, solid but light read with a lot of mystery and questions to answer.

'501 time-saving tips every woman should know' by Georgia Varozza

to be published: 1/2/2015
Harvest House

Book summary: Well-known cookbook author and avid blogger Georgia Varozza has collected tidbits of wisdom and hundreds of how-to skills during her life. She's a master food preserver with a passion for all things natural, time-saving, and simple. Reading this book is like having her as a personal coach to teach you how to be a savvy keeper of your home. After years of use, the baking sheets have built up brown grease deposits. What's the simpler solution to removing those troublesome spots? Want to grow vegetables from seeds? Make an easy, inexpensive cold frame using hay bales to get them started. Plan that road trip with confidence by taking along this list of car games the kids will love.

Whether you're young or mature, married or single, a novice or veteran do-it-yourselfer, you'll find valuable new skills to take from this book and put to good use. With cheery snippets of inspiration and a Scripture verse tucked here and there, all these tips, tricks, and treasures will cultivate a definite "can do" attitude.

Sometimes I like to read self-help books, especially when authors promise that after reading them I'll be more organized. This book sounded like a perfect way to start a new year. Unfortunately I didn't really get what I expected... If you read women's magazines you'll know almost all of these "tips", lots of them are rules that we learn from our mothers or just are obvious . The whole book basically feels like a mash-up of advice found in different sections of periodicals. Tips are organized in chapters: kitchen, house, garden, family life etc. Book is filled with inspirational quotes, some strongly linked to Christianity (the author herself is Christian).

Overall - it can be a good book for a really young girl who just starts to run her own household and doesn't have a clue how to do it. It can also be a good read for those who like to read life advice, but I'm not sure if anyone can find here anything life changing...

*Provided to me by Harvest House via NetGalley in exchange for honest opinion*

'Skating at Somerset House' by Nikki Moore

Book #1 in #LoveLondon Series
Goodreads * Amazon * Amazon UK
Harper Impulse

Book Summary: The first short story in the fun & flirty #LoveLondon series from exciting new chick lit author Nikki Moore!

There’s nothing Holly Winterlake loves more than Christmas and skating, so working as an Ice Marshall at London's Somerset House is a dream come true.

Noel Summerford hates the festive season and is a disaster on the ice, so taking his godson to Somerset House is his idea of the nightmare before Christmas!

Things are bound to get interesting when these two collide…

With a forty foot Christmas tree, an assortment of well meaning friends and relatives, and a mad chocolate Labrador, will this festive season be one to remember … or forget?

I'm still in the festive mood so wintery-Christmassy reads are still on my to-read list. This is the first book in #LoveLondon series by Nikki Moore - second 'New Year at the Ritz' is already released, and the third 'Valentine's at Primrose Hill' will be out at my birthday (15/01/2015). 

'Skating at Somerset House' is a short story, easy to read at one go. Characters are nicely built and even that we know that Christmas-lover Holly will get together with Christmas-hater Noel at the end, it's an enjoyable and heart-warming book. The story is too short to dig deep into both Noel's and Holly's past but I feel like what we've learnt about them is sufficient. In short writings like this fast pace is a good thing - I really liked that there were no unnecessary descriptions slowing down the events.

I love that the whole series has a theme which is London. It will be a nice experience to get to know some significant places in this city by reading Nikki Moore's books. I liked her writing style and I definitely will continue reading #LoveLondon as those light, short, delightful reads will for sure give me some refreshment between heavier books.

*Provided to me by Harper Impulse via NetGalley*

What 2014 gave to me? Few reflections!

Past year had changed my life. I've gained self confidence and faith I can achieve more in life. I've read tons of amazing books in my native language (Polish) and started my adventure with books written in English (with a little help of my best friend - Kindle Paperwhite 2). I was thinking a lot about starting a new blog fully in English and decided to go for it in November. One of my most important New Year Resolutions is to keep it updated, develop it and maybe even begin booktubing (I'm doing it in Polish already). 

Being a book blogger writing in English while it's not even my second language is hard sometimes but I have a lot of faith and support from my other half who is Scottish. Without him I wouldn't even be here so here's a shoutout and thank you to him <3. I take this blog as a challenge and opportunity to develop my language skills and to meet new friends who share the same love for books as I do. 

I hope 2015 will bring me new followers who'll like to come back here, read what I have to say about books, leave their comments and discuss their thoughts with me! I hope among them I will find new friends and I won't ever regret the decision I've made about launching this blog.

xx