Leah Smith Portfolio

You and Me on Vacation

*this post contains affiliate links* I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I still haven’t read Beach Read – which was huge last year. In the immortal words of Ron Weasley, I need to sort out my priorities. The fact that I’ve not yet gotten to Beach Read didn’t dissuade me from requesting Emily Henry’s follow up and I finally started reading it over the early May Bank Holiday. Which my fellow Brits…

Mini Reviews: 3 Recent Romances

I am loving romances at the moment, maybe its because the sun is shining? Whatever it is I’ve read some doozies recently and here are three I want to talk about, an adult one, a YA one and a regency one. All three of these were received via Netgalley, so thank you! The Road Trip – Beth O’Leary Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in the north of…

Bloody hell, I’m glad that’s over, January felt like it was 10,000 days long. Anyway, the UK is in lockdown so like, barely anything has happened for me to recap, so let’s get on to all the media I’ve consumed this month instead! What I read this month: Charlie Bone and the Wilderness Wolf (Children of the Red King 6) – Jenny Nimmo Paperback// Library Charlie Bone and the Shadow of Badlock…

The Long, Long Afternoon – Inga Vesper There are two things I love – true crime and well written mysteries and this book serves up both. I’m convinced this is inspired by an actual unsolved mystery… I’m sure I saw a Buzzfeed Unsolved that was literally the disappearance aspect of this book? Anyone else know what I’m talking about? Housewife vanishes from her home, blood in the kitchen, kids…

Hello from my new home! I moved in August, so I don’t really have all that much to report… but here’s the round up of everything I read/watched this month!

What I read this month:

Sherwood – Meagan Spooner Audio // Library DNF

Anna K – Jenny Lee Ebook and Audio // Library

Paper Girls of Paris – Jordyn Taylor Audio // Library

How it all blew up – Arvin Ahmadi Ebook // Netgalley DNF

No one is too small…

Look, I know there’s been some controversy about the Reading Rush, especially regarding the final live show, so I was in two minds about posting this… As this was my first ever time joining in with the Reading Rush, I am a bit disappointed about how it has turned out, especially because I was so excited about actually managing to complete so many prompts during a busy week. It’s hard doing…

The Last Paper Crane – Kerry Drewery

This was such an interesting read! If you’ve been here before you’ll know that I have a real thing about books set in the 1940s, particularly those that are based outside of Europe, so when I saw that this follows the aftermath of Hiroshima, I knew it had to go on my Netgalley shelf.

One thousand paper cranes to achieve your heart’s desire. 1945, Hiroshima:…

The Forgotten Sister – Nicola Cornick You know when you pick a book just for a palette cleanser but it ends up being one of the most addictive things you’ve read all year? That is the only way I can describe this book. I honestly didn’t read too much into this when I picked it on Netgalley,  it looked like a thriller and as I hadn’t read one of those in ages and I really fancied one, I was like,…

Pretending – Holly Bourne

Oh Holly Bourne, how I love thee, let me count the ways. Honestly, I was already convinced that Holly Bourne is nothing sort of a genius. She’s long been one of my go-to authors and Pretending, her second journey into adult fiction, is definitely up there with one of my favourites of the year.

April is kind, pretty, and relatively normal – yet she can’t seem to get past…

Hello, welcome to another selection of recent reads that I wanted to tell you about, and as you can probably guess from the title (which I am not in any way sorry for) I’ve found myself reading a couple of romances this month! Anyway, romance – completely out of my usual comfort zone, it’s just not a genre I tend to pick up. Not for any particular recent, just that as someone who is chronically…

Havenfall – Sarah Holland

Wow. What a wild ride this was! This was an emotional roller coaster from start to finish, there were moments where I debated DNFing, the narration was weirdly paced in some places, which you’ll know if you follow me on Twitter.

It literally went from ooooh to meh to OH GOOD GOD. I’m so glad I stuck with it because when the action got started and the conspiracy starts…

Mini Reviews | The Women at Hitler’s Table, The Night Country, The Eve Illusion

Greetings once more from isolation. I am missing having the choice as to whether I go out or not, but I am loving that all the free time means I can read more. I don’t think I’ve ever managed to read three books in three days before! My massive list of Netgalley titles is coming down much quicker than I thought it would, here are my thoughts on another three of them. This time around, we have…

Hello from the isolation station! I hope you’re doing well and that the lockdown extension isn’t going to scupper too many of your plans. Like the rest of you, I am using a lot of my new found free time to get some reading done and I thought I’d tell you a bit about some of the books I’ve read recently, especially because they seem to be a bit of a random mix! I have a historical fiction, a sort…

This Green and Pleasant Land – Ayisha Malik

As if Ayisha Malik managed to better the Sofia Khan duology. I am shook. SHOOK. Basically, if you thought Sofia Khan is not Obliged and the Other Half of Happiness were works of genius, take a seat because you ain’t seen nothing yet.

I don’t think I have the words to quite articulate what this book stirred in me, from our main protagonist, Bilal, with…

So many ARCs, so little time. I did, however, manage to read a couple of the ones I’ve had hanging around on my Netgalley shelf this month. These are all out now, that’s how far behind I am, but I got there in the end! If you’ve read any of these, let me know what you thought!

Scars Like Wings – Erin Stewart

Everyone has scars. Some are just easier to see … 16-year-old Ava Gardener is heading…

The Recovery of Rose Gold

The Recovery of Rose Gold – Stephanie Wrobel

Ok, boy was this a wild ride.

First off, to avoid any confusion, this book appears to have two names, it is also known as Darling Rose Gold… I think the title is different depending on whether you’re in the UK or the US… Or maybe the title was changed for the release? Who knows, but basically, they are the same book and in my opinion, the Recovery of…