Sylvia Day is a multi-million bestselling author primarily known for her romance novels. Her bestselling Crossfire series has sold over 13 million copies. Her new book, Butterfly In Frost, introduces readers to a host of new characters, the protagonists being Teagan and Garrett.
Teagan is a successful reality-TV surgeon who moved from NYC to the state of Washington after a lot of personal trauma, including a divorce from a famous actor. She isn't quite agoraphobic but she has to work quite hard to take small steps, including going outside. However, her quiet world is turned upside down when Garrett Frost, a photographer and artist, moves next door. They literally collide into each other on their first meeting and, despite his simmering anger, sexual tension immediately simmers between them. It's not long before Garrett barges into her life and sweeps her off her feet. Teagan is not the only one who is hurting, though, and she fears opening herself up to Garrett when he is clearly battling demons as well.
The romance between them builds up slowly but intensely. The description of their relationship will surely be a delight for any romance fiction fan, but there are deeper layers to the story as well, as they reveal more about their pasts and entrust their secrets to each other.
There is an unexpected ending, however, and I did not see this twist coming at all. In fact, afterwards I did a quick scan of the whole book again to see how I could have missed the clues.
If you are a fan of steamy romance fiction with a good story and happy ending then this book will definitely be for you.
Friday 30 August 2019
Monday 26 August 2019
Upcoming Review: Butterfly in Frost by Sylvia Day
I'm taking part in the blog tour for this upcoming release! Come back on Friday for my review.
Review: We Have Always Lived In The Castle, Shirley Jackson
This was one of the books suggested to me by the librarian of the school I work at as a History teacher. I'd never read any of Jackson's work before, although I had heard of "The Haunting of Hill House", thanks to the Netflix adaptation.
For those whom have not read this book either, We Have Always Lived In The Castle centres around the remaining three members of Blackwood family. I say remaining, because the rest were murdered six years before the beginning of this book. The beginning of it perhaps inspired the start of another book, I Capture The Castle, as the two seemed very similar in tone, although the protagonists artre very different.
Mary Katherine, called 'Merricat' by her sister, Constance, is the only one of the Blackwood family to leave the house since the murder. She meticulously documents the family's weekly routine. Tuesdays and Fridays are the worst days, she explains, as she has to go to the village for groceries and books. Most of the villagers believe that Constance, accused but acquitted of the murders, is responsible, and as such they treat Merricat with the same contempt. She treats her walks to the village like a game, and she wins if she makes the round trip without anyone tormenting her. If they do, she imagines the harm she would do to them with alarming detail.
Uncle Julian is the last of the three of the surviving Blackwoods. He seems to be senile, whether that's from old age or the lingering effects of the arsenic (the murder was committed through someone putting arsenic in the sugar bowl) but is determined to document the whole event and write it in a book.
Their comfortable existence is soon disrupted by an apparent cousin called Charles. Merricat dislikes him straight away, calling him a ghost and a demon. He has more luck charming Constance, but is no match for Merricat and Uncle Julian, although he does slyly threaten to turn Merricat out of the house. It seems his only motive to be there is not to reacquaint with the family but to try and get his hands on the Blackwood fortune.
For a short book, (only 146 pages), it packs a hell of a punch. The small world consisting, (apart from the walk through the village at the start), solely of the house is built up room by room and the grounds around. There is even a jaunt to the ruined summerhouse in which Merricat enacts in her mind a dinner, of sorts, with her deceased ancestors, in which they treat her as she imagines they should have done.
The twist at the end is not altogether shocking - the book builds it up piece by piece throughout - but the rest of the story, particularly Merricat's inner mind, makes more sense once that piece of knowledge is secure.
It's a commanding, strange, and (at times) whimsical piece of fiction, with enduring and endearing (in Uncle Julian) characters. It's hard to guess at an ending for this kind of story but it is done remarkably well - I'll leave it for you to find out.
For those whom have not read this book either, We Have Always Lived In The Castle centres around the remaining three members of Blackwood family. I say remaining, because the rest were murdered six years before the beginning of this book. The beginning of it perhaps inspired the start of another book, I Capture The Castle, as the two seemed very similar in tone, although the protagonists artre very different.
Mary Katherine, called 'Merricat' by her sister, Constance, is the only one of the Blackwood family to leave the house since the murder. She meticulously documents the family's weekly routine. Tuesdays and Fridays are the worst days, she explains, as she has to go to the village for groceries and books. Most of the villagers believe that Constance, accused but acquitted of the murders, is responsible, and as such they treat Merricat with the same contempt. She treats her walks to the village like a game, and she wins if she makes the round trip without anyone tormenting her. If they do, she imagines the harm she would do to them with alarming detail.
Uncle Julian is the last of the three of the surviving Blackwoods. He seems to be senile, whether that's from old age or the lingering effects of the arsenic (the murder was committed through someone putting arsenic in the sugar bowl) but is determined to document the whole event and write it in a book.
Their comfortable existence is soon disrupted by an apparent cousin called Charles. Merricat dislikes him straight away, calling him a ghost and a demon. He has more luck charming Constance, but is no match for Merricat and Uncle Julian, although he does slyly threaten to turn Merricat out of the house. It seems his only motive to be there is not to reacquaint with the family but to try and get his hands on the Blackwood fortune.
For a short book, (only 146 pages), it packs a hell of a punch. The small world consisting, (apart from the walk through the village at the start), solely of the house is built up room by room and the grounds around. There is even a jaunt to the ruined summerhouse in which Merricat enacts in her mind a dinner, of sorts, with her deceased ancestors, in which they treat her as she imagines they should have done.
The twist at the end is not altogether shocking - the book builds it up piece by piece throughout - but the rest of the story, particularly Merricat's inner mind, makes more sense once that piece of knowledge is secure.
It's a commanding, strange, and (at times) whimsical piece of fiction, with enduring and endearing (in Uncle Julian) characters. It's hard to guess at an ending for this kind of story but it is done remarkably well - I'll leave it for you to find out.
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