As is common in a first book setting up a series, it struggles to juggle pace & interest with the development of their world. Anyway, the premise was great. The execution? Let's say not so much. Some of the characters were just flat-out unlikeable, a few were unbelievable and/or caricatures of a type, and there was _way_ too much angsty deep dark secret malarkey going on for my taste. Like, I literally started rolling my eyes any time any of those dead horses got beaten again after about a third of the way through the book.

Thank you to Bookishfirst, Zondervan, Tanya Rad, and Raquelle Stevens for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review. Apart from Sunny, her grandfather is also an inspiring character. His words of wisdom are great and really heart touching. I alongside Sunny also enjoyed his tales about his own youth🤭 Okay, so I seriously pondered over whether to give this book three stars or four. In the end, I DID enjoy it so I felt generous and gave it four, but it's not without its faults. I can promise that it almost worked and they were almost home free except they'd miscalculated one thing - my short attention span. Sure the ice cream was delicious and kept me entertained but there was just so much of it and the mint ice cream was just a little too much in ratio to the choc chip that I like and even the chocolate sauce couldn't entirely keep my concentration. And Philip and Lizzie seem to have some skeletons in their past as well. Although Philip retired due to health issues, Lizzie seems to believe there is more to his story than he is telling her which breaks her heart that he feels he needs to keep secrets from her.As for the murder mystery, I have to say that had me completely stumped. I didn’t even have a list of suspects and had no idea where to even begin. That is not to say the reveal comes from nowhere but just that it was hidden well and made me think I missed hints somewhere along the line. As the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together, it was all very plausible. offered before you make your booking. If you do not receive an ATOL Certificate then the booking will not be

When writing a devotional, or book geared towards helping a Christian grow in their faith, the focus should always be God. Thank you to bookish and the publisher for sending me this free copy of The Sunshine Mind. I was pleasantly surprised to get a hardcover, The book is so beautiful. Loved the glitz, glam, cash, drinkies, friendships and lingerie throughout the whole book, enough so that I actually thought I wished I delved into that profession when I was in my 20's. I didn't have the extrovertness enough to pull it off like she did. Seems like the men who run these Clubs are all douchebags as well as the men behind the scenes who attach themselves to the women working hard to earn a living. I don't generally care about the person or tense of a book's narrator as I'm pretty flexible, but this is told in 3rd person present tense, which is unusual, and it took a little getting used to.

Read the first chapter

Constantine is not the usual sensual, attractive vamp, all interested in human women. Indeed, he's very removed from humanity and actually rather reptilian, but seems to have some sense of honour or comradeship or something. Sunshine frequently wonders what she has gotten herself into. Her disappearance has brought her to the attention of the police of the supernatural and their questions make her feel guilty that she feels responsible and has friendly feelings for a vampire. She and Con seem to adhere to the old saw that when you save someone you are then responsible for them forever. Since they escaped as a team, they seem destined to remain a team. Their strange entanglement develops as the book progresses and as they decide to deal with the vamp who trapped them together in the first place. Firstly, loved that it was an Aussie who wrote this. There's something about reading a book set in the Country you live in and you can visualise as well as understand the culture she's describing. I kept wanting to know who all these "celebrities" were that she hinted to, throughout her career. Sunshine certainly has a great sense of humour and had me giggling at her "rhetorics" to certain people and situations she found herself in. Actually, she summed up one year in her Downside quote which ends each Chapter - "if this year were a drink, it would be colonoscopy prep." Think we could all relate that one to 2020 covid year we've just been through. Also, Steph Broadribb's writing got in the way of her story some because of how she had British phraseology in play when the characters in a given situation were Americans. Sorry, love, you need to write everything in American English except for what the British characters are saying and/or thinking. (A descriptive sentence about a car by the kerb and several references to "hospital" instead of "the hospital" were particuarly irksome.) That's me saying this as a real Anglophile, too! I pray that you would give me the wisdom and discernment to know your will today and every day. I pray that you will always open the right doors and close the wrong ones and give me the inner peace and gut feeling to know what you would have me do or say. Thank you for always protecting me. Amen. As they begin to discuss the evidence Moira has witnessed at the crime scene, they come to the conclusion that not only do the police not want any outside help but have missed important clues. They decide that as a group they will secretly investigate the death and if they find out anything then they will bring it to the police.

I fear this devotional leans more towards what's known as prosperity gospel (if you follow God's rules, you'll be wealthy and have all you need) which is not Biblical. In fact, being a true Christ follower will bring persecution and difficulty. 1 Peter 4:14 in the ESV Bible says, "If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you." Grandpa Bobby is also a great source of everyday wisdom, and he always makes Sunshine feel better about things, no matter what's bothering her. But sometimes Sunshine struggles to find within herself the special things that Grandpa Bobby assures her are part of her birthright. This middle grade story of Sunshine Simpson and her larger than life Granddad made my heart sing. It combines, love, laughter and heart-wrenching teenage moments that EVERYONE will connect with. Additionally, the vampires in this story are nothing we have come used to expect. There is an alieness to them that makes them more than just 'Other' - somehow even repulsive. I have the worst touch pad in the world on my computer, which just erased an entire review. So here's the short version:

There is one particular swearword I wished the book hadn't used (it starts with C and rhymes with bunt... figure it out.)