10 Books I'm Lending to My Friends Right Now

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I love to read - but I probably don't need to tell you that if you've been reading Southern In Law for a while.... 

But whilst I love to read, there's something I love even more than reading books myself - and that's sharing books with my friends. 

At any given time, I usually have 10+ books missing from my bookshelves, borrowed out to friends because I've either thrust the book into their hands telling them they need to right it right this second (so we can talk about it) or because they've come over to browse my bookshelves in search of a new book to read.

And since I currently have 193 books in my office alone (yes, I put all my books into a spreadsheet - but I don't have the energy to do all the books I own just yet), they've got a lot to choose from.

So let me share the 10 books I'm lending to my friends right now! >>

The Mummy Bloggers Holly Wainright

Who will love it? I've been lending this book to friends who also loved Big Little Lies as I feel like it has the same sort of vibe. 

It's a lighthearted chicklit read that also covers some pretttttyyy controversial ground. This would make a perfect book club read - especially if it's a book club of bloggers/blog readers!

The Blurb: 

Meet three Mummy Bloggers - each of them followed, idolised, imitated, taunted and trolled online. 

Elle Campbell is a glossy, lycra-clad mum with washboard abs, a ten-year plan and a secret past. Abi Black has quit sugar, moved to the country and is homeschooling her kids. Leisel Adams slogs away at her office job each day before rushing home, steeped in guilt, to spend precious moments with her kids before bedtime. All three share a label that they simultaneously relish and loathe-mummy blogger. And the connections don't stop there . . .

When all three women are nominated for a prestigious blogging award with a hefty cash prize, the scene is set for a brutal and often hilarious battle for hearts, minds-and clicks. As the awards night gets closer, their lies get bigger, their stunts get crazier - and some mistakes from the past become harder and harder to hide.

Buy it here in paperback, eBook or audiobook.

The French Girl Lexie Elliott

Who will love it? Someone who loves a good mystery or thriller. 

It's a psychological suspense that hooks you in and does not let you go until you turn the last page. It's creepy and intriguing and so so good. 

The Blurb: 

We all have our secrets...
They were six university students from Oxford--friends and sometimes more than friends--spending an idyllic week together in a French farmhouse. It was supposed to be the perfect summer getaway...until they met Severine, the girl next door.

For Kate Channing, Severine was an unwelcome presence, her inscrutable beauty undermining the close-knit group's loyalties amid the already simmering tensions. And after a huge altercation on the last night of the holiday, Kate knew nothing would ever be the same. There are some things you can't forgive. And there are some people you can't forget...like Severine, who was never seen again.

Now, a decade later, the case is reopened when Severine's body is found in the well behind the farmhouse. Questioned along with her friends, Kate stands to lose everything she's worked so hard to achieve as suspicion mounts around her. Desperate to resolve her own shifting memories and fearful she will be forever bound to the woman whose presence still haunts her, Kate finds herself buried under layers of deception with no one to set her free...

Buy it here in paperback, eBook or hardcover.

The Dirty Book Club Lisi Harrison

Who will love it? Anyone who dreams of the ultimate book club. You'll be wishing you had Gloria the bookclub fairy godmother to start your own Dirty Book Club... and it's not the kind of book club you think...

The Blurb: 

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Clique comes Lisi Harrison's debut adult novel about four modern-day strangers who inherit a dirty book club that was started in the 1960s.

M.J. Stark's life is picture-perfect-she has a dream job as a magazine editor, a sexy doctor boyfriend, and a glamorous life in Manhattan. But behind her success, she can't shake a deep sense of loneliness, so when her boyfriend offers her a completely new life in California, she decides to give it a try. Once there, M.J. is left to fend for herself in a small California beach town, with only the company of her elderly neighbor, Gloria. One day M.J. receives a mysterious invitation and a copy of Prim: A Modern Woman's Guide to Manners. She recognizes the book as an outdated classic, but when she opens it, she discovers that it's actually a copy of Fear of Flying by Erica Jong and the invitation is to join Gloria's secret book club-one that only reads erotic books.

Out of curiosity, M.J. goes to the meeting at a local bookstore, and discovers three other women who have also been selected by the club's original members-who have suddenly left the country to honor a fifty-year-old pact. As these unlikely friends bond over naughty bestsellers, each woman shares not only the intimate details of her own sex life, but all areas of her life. Inspired by the characters in the novels they read-and the notes passed down by the club's original members-the new members of The Dirty Book Club help each other find the courage to rewrite their own stories and risk it all for a happy ending.

Buy it here in paperback, eBook, audiobook or hardcover.

The Memories That Make Us Vanessa Carnevale 

Who will love it? Lovers of romance and anyone in a book club (this would make the PERFECT book club book). It's an emotional story that I couldn't get enough of - and it's been a hit with every single one of my friends who's read it so far.

The Blurb: 

'If you had your time over, would you fall in love with the same person? Would you live the same life twice?' After a car accident, Gracie loses all the memories that define her and is forced to examine the person she has become. Addictive and heartfelt reading from a new Australian voice.

Dear Gracie,
Here are some things you should know:
The yellow toothbrush is mine.
You sleep with your socks on.
You set your alarm for 5:45 am every morning and then you go for a run.
You and I were the closest thing to perfect I ever knew in my life.
Love, Blake 

After an accident leaves Gracie with severe amnesia, she's forced to decide: live a life that is made up of other people's memories of who she was, or start a new life on her own. Leaving her fiancé Blake behind, she moves to the country where she takes on the task of reviving her late mother's abandoned flower farm.

While attempting to restart a business with an uncertain future, she tries to decide whether to let Blake back into her life now that he's a stranger. What she doesn't count on is developing a deep connection with Flynn, a local vet who is her neighbour.
Forced to examine the person she has become, Gracie confronts the question: if you had your time over, would you live the same life twice?

Buy it here in paperback or eBook.

Water Under the Bridge Lily Malone 

Who will love it? Anyone who loves a good romance. This book is set in an Australian country town and is absolutely gorgeous. There should be a trigger warning though as it does speak of rape and sexual abuse. 

The Blurb: 

Ella Davenport hasn't been in a swimming pool since a bad decision ruined her chance of Olympic gold. So when Ella decides on a new career selling property, she chooses Chalk Hill. The country town is a long way from the water, with no pool in sight. Perfect!

Jake Honeychurch doesn't want to sell his nanna's house, but circumstances force his hand. Listing the property with the rookie real estate agent in town and asking a hefty price means it shouldn't find a buyer. Perfect!

But determination and persistence are traits Jake admires, and Ella has them in spades. After all, no one ever made an Olympic team by being a quitter.

When news breaks of a proposed waterski park, a local developer starts sniffing around Honeychurch House. Ella's first sale is so close she can taste it, until a sharp–eyed local recognises her. Between sale negotiations with Jake that keep getting sidetracked, and a swimming pool committee hellbent on making a splash, Ella has more to contend with than kisses and chlorine.

Can she throw off the failures of the past and take the chance of a new start? Or will her dreams of a new life be washed away?

Buy it here in paperback or eBook.

The Right Girl Ellie O'Neill 

Who will love it? Lovers of contemporary fiction. I am SERIOUSLY hoping this book becomes a movie because it would be an awesome movie. 

Freya lives in a modern world where your phone makes the decisions for you. With clever algorithms and data analysts, Bbest always knows what choices you should be making.... or so they say. But when Freya finds herself engaged to a man she's just not that into (but is a 99% match), she starts to wonder if there's something suspicious going on behind the scenes...

The Blurb: 

What do you do when your perfect life . . . isn’t?

Freya has the best life – she’s officially in love and her floristry business, Blooming Brilliant, is going from strength to strength.

Two years ago, it was a different story. She was barely employed as the worst waitress in the world, with no hope of a boyfriend, and no bank balance. But then she got BBest, a lifestyle app that knows you better than you know yourself. It changed everything. It streamlined her life, taking her likes and dislikes and skills and foibles, and gave her the best options so she doesn’t make mistakes anymore. Freya has never looked back – and neither has anyone else. Everyone loves BBest, it’s a game changer.

But if she’s so in love, why doesn’t it feel exactly right? And who is that mysterious man in her beloved grandfather’s bookshop with soulful eyes that leave her unstitched? All of a sudden Freya has so many questions – and no one seems to be able to answer them. She begins to wonder what she really agreed to when she let BBest into her life. Then her grandfather is arrested, and Freya is thrust into a world she could never have imagined in her shiny, successful existence.

When you have the perfect life, should you listen to your head or your heart?

Buy it here in paperback or eBook.

Don't Believe It Charlie Donlea

Who will love it? Anyone who loves a crime/murder mystery. I was NOT expecting how this book went but I loved every suspense filled minute of it!

The Blurb: 

From acclaimed author Charlie Donlea comes a twisting, impossible-to-put-down novel of suspense in which a filmmaker helps clear a woman convicted of murder—only to find she may be a puppet in a sinister game.

The Girl of Sugar Beach is the most watched documentary in television history—a riveting, true-life mystery that unfolds over twelve weeks and centers on a fascinating question: Did Grace Sebold murder her boyfriend, Julian, while on a Spring Break vacation, or is she a victim of circumstance and poor police work? Grace has spent the last ten years in a St. Lucian prison, and reaches out to filmmaker Sidney Ryan in a last, desperate attempt to prove her innocence.

As Sidney begins researching, she uncovers startling evidence, additional suspects, and timeline issues that were all overlooked during the original investigation. Before the series even finishes filming, public outcry leads officials to reopen the case. But as the show surges towards its final episodes, Sidney receives a letter saying that she got it badly, terribly wrong.

Sidney has just convinced the world that Grace is innocent. Now she wonders if she has helped to free a ruthless killer. Delving into Grace’s past, she peels away layer after layer of deception. But as Sidney edges closer to the real heart of the story, she must decide if finding the truth is worth risking her newfound fame, her career . . . even her life.

Buy it here in paperback, hardcover or eBook.

Mine Susi Fox

Who will love it? Suspense novel fans. This book is SO interesting and hooked me in from the very first page. It truly is an addictive psychological thriller.

The Blurb: 

The baby in the cot is not your baby. You wake up alone after an emergency caesarean, desperate to see your child. But when you are shown the small infant, a terrible thought seizes you: this baby is not mine.

They say you're delusional. No one believes you. Not the nurses, your father or even your own husband. They say you're confused. Dangerous. But you're a doctor - you know how easily mistakes can be made. Or even deliberate ones. Everyone is against you; do you trust your instincts? Or is your traumatic past clouding your judgement? You know only one thing. You must find your baby.

Buy it here in paperback, audiobook or eBook.

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe  Lauren James

Who will love it? Anyone - especially if they like Sci Fi or Suspense Novels. I read this book in THREE HOURS, immediately made Jesse read it so we could talk about it (and he read it in about the same time, staying up really late because he could not put it down) and I've been making friends read it ever since. SO good and nothing like I expected.

The Blurb: 

Can you fall in love with someone you've never met, never even spoken to – someone who is light years away?

Romy Silvers is the only surviving crew-member of a spaceship travelling to a new planet, on a mission to establish a second home for humanity. Alone in space, she is the loneliest girl in the universe until she hears about a new ship which has launched from Earth – with a single passenger on board. A boy called J.

Their only communication is via email – and due to the distance between them, their messages take months to transmit. And yet Romy finds herself falling in love.

But what does Romy really know about J? And what do the mysterious messages which have started arriving from Earth really mean? Sometimes, there's something worse than being alone...

Buy it here in paperback or eBook.

Small Spaces Sarah Epstein

Who will love it? This is another book I read in just a few hours. It's thrilling, engrossing, entriguing and so so good. You'll have to lend it to someone who isn't afraid of thrillers as the suspense is REAL!

The Blurb: 

Tash Carmody has been traumatised since childhood, when she witnessed her gruesome imaginary friend Sparrow lure young Mallory Fisher away from a carnival. At the time nobody believed Tash, and she has since come to accept that Sparrow wasn’t real. Now fifteen and mute, Mallory’s never spoken about the week she went missing. As disturbing memories resurface, Tash starts to see Sparrow again. And she realises Mallory is the key to unlocking the truth about a dark secret connecting them. Does Sparrow exist after all? Or is Tash more dangerous to others than she thinks?

Buy it here in paperback or eBook.

But tell me, 

How many books do you have at your house? Or do you prefer to borrow from friends/the library?

What's the best book you've read so far this year?

    

   

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