Last year the Booker prize winner was Milkman by Anna Burns and what a disappointing read that proved to be. Set in Belfast this was a book of gossip told in the first person by "middle sister" in a very claustrophobic and confusing style. Why should I tell you this? quite simply it is only to draw a comparison between a book that did not deserve the prize and a book published in 1992 that was Booker shortlisted but did not win....and what a pity it didn't......

The Butcher Boy is a highly entertaining tour de force novel set in a small Irish Village. The prose is direct and very similar in style to The Wasp Factory by Ian Banks where the main character is also the narrator. In The Butcher Boy our narrator is Francie Brady probably best described as a bit of a scallywag, a good-for-nothing who with his best friend Joe spend their days in a carefree way more an inconvenience to the residents than a real threat. When they make the acquaintance of a local lad Philip Nugent and act in a somewhat dishonest way, refusing to return his comics, Mrs Nugent steps in to rescue the situation and in so doing changes the life of not only Francie but indirectly hers which is only revealed when the book concludes.

This is a startling novel giving great insight into life in a small Irish community in the early 1960s. Through the eyes of Francie we soon become acquainted with the somewhat joie de vivre  attitude of the locals none more accommodating  than Brady himself. However the second part of the novel displays a bitter and disturbing series of events; events that will have a long reaching affect on not only our narrator but an unsuspecting target. What starts off as a jovial account suddenly changes direction with impromptu  violence and a very dark ending, with echoes of Charles Manson. Along the way it is easy to see how it only takes a little act to upset the balance of peace and how such an act can have deadly consequences...nothing is what it seems, people are not what they seem...With a very snappy dialogue that crackles along the book deserves to be read in one sitting..."He had a big breeze block of a head and a pair of eyebrows like two slugs trying to stand up"...."it was funny that face it slowly grew over the other one until one day you looked and the person you knew was gone."....."Oh ma I said the whole house is burning up on us then a fist made of smoke hit me a smack in the mouth its over says ma its all over now".....Highly recommended.

The Governess's Convenient Marriage - Am...

This was a sweet tale of young love that had divergent paths that then led back together and after some struggles ended up in romance.

When they were young Lady Alexandra Mannerly met Malcolm Gordonson when he was a crofter's son and she the daughter of the manor.  Scandal has damaged her family and now she works as a governess.  Given an opportunity to be governess to two girls in Paris she jumps at the chance and finds Malcolm as a wealthy owner of a very fashionable shop in Paris, part of his chain of stores.  

The romance was well done, you could see how the misseps could start and how the puppy love turns to full blown romance. Charming and quite a fun read.

Set during the Paris Exposition in 1889 where the Eifel Tower was intended as a temporary structure and now is the iconic image of Paris itself.  Into this mix comes Diana Martin, searching for a future and Sir William Blakely who is searching for something.  He's just back from Foreign Office shenigans in India and he's still working for them, but now he's just trying to keep the Prince of Wales happy and safe.  Only Diana keeps distracting him.

His parents had a disaster of a marriage and he's not sure he wants to deal with similar heartache and enxiety and to add to his woes his brother and his ex seem to be embroilled in a jewelry theft.

The two work well together and I liked how the romance developed.  You could see the change in women's place in the world and how he respected her, I hope she continues to write if she wants to.

Rowena Connor's ex was a monster, and she'd do anything to protect her son from him. Including fake her death and sequester her son in another country. But somehow her ex figured it out. Now he's kidnapped her son and wants her dead—for real this time.

US Marshal Ryan McCabe had to leave Rowena to save her. It gutted him. But now she's dropped into his life unexpectedly, on the run from the man McCabe has been hunting for years. He still burns for her, but it's clear she definitely hasn't gotten over what he did to her. Who can blame her? But her only hope to stay alive is to trust him, dark secrets and all.

Her only hope to find her son and stay alive, is to trust US Marshal Ryan McCabe even though she hasn’t gotten over their past.

This intensely thrilling story has strong, captivating characters that grab readers’ attention and holds them hostage from the very beginning. The romance is full of obstacles, emotional turmoil, intense situations, danger and lots of heated passion. The attraction between McCabe and Rowena burns with undeniable sizzle, but the past has a strong hold on Rowena and she doesn’t know if she can forgive McCabe for what he did to her which causes some intense emotions and the readers can easily connect to their situation and their feelings in regard to what is happening not only between them but also what is happening in their world.

This thrilling and fast paced plot flows smoothly with lots of intriguing twists and turns, betrayals and exciting action as McCabe and Rowena try to unravel their enemy’s world and stop him while getting Rowena’s son back from his kidnapper. The story is a bit convoluted and readers really have to pay attention to keep up with all the twists and turns, but readers won’t have a dull moment and might find themselves biting their nails in anticipation of what might happen next.

Add Mccabe to your shelves at:

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40868035-mccabe

BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/books/dark-justice-mccabe-by-jenna-ryan

McCabe is the 3rd book in the Dark Justice series

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/series/217880-dark-justice

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GFQJHTV?ref=series_rw_dp_labf

which includes

1 Morgan
2 Hunt
3 McCabe

in print or ebook at:

Entangled - https://entangledpublishing.com/dark-justice-mccabe.html

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G73RBCY?tag=entangpublis-20&name=Dark%20Justice:%20McCabe

B&N - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781640636224?name=Dark%20Justice:%20McCabe

iBooks - http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781640636224?name=Dark%20Justice:%20McCabe&uo=8&at=1010lsQz

Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=9781640636224&name=Dark%20Justice:%20McCabe

GPlay - https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Jenna_Ryan_Dark_Justice_McCabe?id=Ak5nDwAAQBAJ

A-UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07G73RBCY?tag=entangpublis-20&name=Dark%20Justice:%20McCabe

A-AU - https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07G73RBCY?tag=entangpublis-20&name=Dark%20Justice:%20McCabe

A-CA - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07G73RBCY?tag=entangpublis-20&name=Dark%20Justice:%20McCabe

Jenna Ryan was born in Victoria, British Columbia. After long stints in different cities across Canada, she returned home to Vancouver Island where she has lived ever since. She has had thirty-one books published in the Harlequin Intrigue series. Her ideas come from real life, and she is helped in her writing by her sister Kathy.

She enjoys reading and is a big fan of women's fiction, psychological suspense and mystery novels. She also enjoys watching classic suspense movies. She loves strong heroines, heroes with character, romance stories and a good whodunit by the fire on a rainy night.

Her heritage is a blend of English and Irish — which is probably where the gift of blarney comes from. She is unmarried, but involved with a wonderful man. She also has a little white cat named Sheena.

Whenever she is not writing, she travels as much as time and finances will allow. After North America, Europe is her favorite continent to explore, because it was in those countries that many of the myths and legends she drew upon in her early years of writing were born.

Growing up, she considered various careers and dabbled in several of them, including, after university, the travel industry, tourism, sales and modeling. Work in the fashion industry in Toronto and Montreal gave her an interesting peek into various aspects of that world. She learned that where money, power and people come together, there will always be unpredictability — an element she feels is essential to a strong mystery. Add a healthy measure of personal conflict, an intriguing setting and a spicy romance into the mix, and you have the ingredients for what she believes to be the best of all possible stories — a great romantic suspense.

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/51119.Jenna_Ryan

BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jenna-ryan

Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/JennaRyanAuthor

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ReadJennaRyan/?ref=br_rs

Captain Harry St George has survived war but now he has to find a wealthy heiress to rescue his family estate that his father let run to rack and ruin. His former flame is now available, her husband having died, however they seem to have drifted apart (she and his brother seem to be drifting closer). Rose Parker is from a family where their father lost everything and they're trying to live, she has a position as companion to her cantankerous aunt.

They are both at a Christmas party and they both are technically unsuitable but they find themselves very attracted to each other.

It's interesting and the characters do spark off each other.