The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Review - The Woman he Loved Before, Dorothy Koomson

Hello book lovers!

It's time for the monthly Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Review in which we choose our best read for the month and write a review. Thanks to the Armchair Squid for starting this meme. Go here for more book reviews.

My favourite book this month is a re-read. I loved this book SO much I dusted it off and got lost in the story again. I first read it last year, lent it to someone, then couldn't resist another read. Definitely the best book I've read this month, so here we go...

Before you read my review, I warn you, if you pick this book up, you won't want to put it down until you finish it, so clear your slate. 

She is out of his life, but is she out of his heart?

I read in the back of the book (I'm someone who has to read Prefaces and Acknowledgements etc) that the author wanted to explore the position of the second wife, with all the variables in the relationship. Dorothea Koomson grabs you by the throat on the first page, and keeps hold of you all the way through, and shakes you at times. 

Koomson is master of dribbling in the backstory in the most salient of places. The re-read helped me to make more sense of the inter-twined storylines. At times the POV is not easily decipherable as the author doesn't use names at the top. I admit I got a little annoyed when I had to really concentrate on what was happening to get the POV.

The main character, Libby, has a cosy life as a beautician, with a gorgeous husband Jack and a big home by the sea in Brighton, England. (The author paints the setting with gentle brushstrokes, which I love. Settings should be characters IMHO). But over time Libby is becoming more unsure if Jack has ever really loved her and if he is over the death of Eve, his first wife. 

When fate intervenes in their relationship in the form of a car crash, Libby has to convalesce. Jack has a secret which Libby slowly remembers during her convalescence, so she decides to find out all she can about the man she hastily married and the seemingly perfect Eve, the woman Jack had loved before, and obviously hasn't let go. 

The ugly interview with the police after her injuries makes Libby question everything about her husband. There is a clever scene where Detective Sergeant Morgan is interviewing Libby after the accident where Jack describes his inquisitor: 'She is not ugly to look at, she is simply ugly to be around. They say beauty is only skin deep; ugliness, when it comes to this woman, begins at the core, slimes its way through every artery and vein, fills every organ then spills out to show the world who she really is.' 

Libby brushes aside all questions regarding Jack's intention to kill her, despite that near the beginning of the book she says: 'He wasn't my type when I first met him. But look at us now; him with one dead wife and another on the way.' 

Eventually Libby stumbles across some startling truths about Eve, (which will probably shock you as it did me! Not something you read about everyday!) and is soon unearthing more and more devastating family secrets. Frightened by what she finds and the damage it could cause, Libby starts to worry that she too will end up like the first woman Jack loved--dead. Has she married a murderer?

Tense and alarming, yet moving, The Woman He Loved Before explores if the love you want is always the love you need or deserve.

I'm thrilled that Dorothy Koomson has written several novels. I've just embarked on a mission to read them all. I find it hard to categorise her -- women's fiction, contemporary fiction, thriller, chick lit? A bit of everything which fits together perfectly.

READ IT!!

A word from the author: Writing my seventh novel has reminded me AGAIN why I love being an author. It pushes me, it stretches me, it challenges me. The Woman He Loved Before did all of that and more. I found myself in the pits of despair sometimes with the subjects I was writing about, and also questioning everything I’ve ever thought about beauty and looks. I probably wasn’t a whole lot of fun to live with while I was living the lives of Libby, Jack and Eve but as always I’m very proud of the results and hope that anyone who picks it up enjoys what they read.

Note from Denise: 
Sometimes I contact the author when I've loved a book a lot. I tweeted @DorothyKoomson and was thrilled when she replied. Okay, it may have been her PR person, but at least she acknowledged the tweet. 

@DeniseCCovey Really pleased you enjoyed it enough to re-read it. Will look out for the review. x
— DOROTHY KOOMSON (@DorothyKoomson) September 23, 2013

And her website is great. She offers a free e-book. Always good. Visit her here.

Now I can't leave without announcing WEP's great October blogfest, HAUNTING! I hope you'll find your scary place and join in! There is a $10 Amazon Gift Card for Denise's favourite entry! Sign up at Write...Edit...Publish or in my right-hand sidebar. Thanks, scary ones...

The Bookseller, by Mark Pryor...my book review for The Cephalopod Coffeehouse.

Hi there!

I've joined another regular bloghop, The Cephalopod  Coffeehouse, a bloggers' bookclub, brainchild of the Armchair Squid. As I read so many books, I'm always looking for somewhere to review them - other than the usual suspects, Amazon, Goodreads etc. Armchair Squid's bloghop is for reviews of your best recent read.

Here is the brief:

The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you've finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same.  In this way, we'll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers.  Please join us:

Best! Definitely! Recently finished The Bookseller, by Mark Pryor, and was so sad to reach the end. It is the first in what is to be a series of Hugo Marston novels, so I have more to look forward to. 

Hugo Marston is the head of security at the US Embassy in Paris. One of his passions is book collecting, which leads to the main storyline of the novel.

Early in the story, Marston indulges himself by buying some first editions from his friend Max, an elderly bookstall owner, a bouquiniste, the owner of one of those green metal shops along the Seine. 

Shortly after Marston's purchase, Max is dragged from his bookstall at gunpoint. Marston tries to intercede, but Max is thrown into a boat. The police don't seem uninterested in investigating, so of course, this becomes Marston's mission.

Then other booksellers start to disappear. Working with his friend, former CIA agent, Tom Green, the team of two soon put together the pieces of a puzzle. There is a surprising answer to a quest which unearths Nazi collaborators, illegal immigrants and drugs -- why was Max a target? Or is someone just after a very valuable book? 

All the characters are well drawn, although Tom Green began to grate after awhile, but to be honest he is a great foil for Marston's slick heroism. There are plenty of red herrings in this plot, and no shortage of action to keep you turning the pages. And there's a sexy, wealthy reporter with great connections to provide the romantic element. 

Where Pryor really excels is in his depiction of Paris in winter. (Makes me all a'quiver for my next trip in December!) Pryor has written my type of book -- the setting is beautifully wrought -- a fully-fledged character. If you haven't already visited Paris, this book will have you lining up to buy your plane ticket. And if you've never seen Paris in winter, this will convince you to check her out.

I found The Bookseller an excellent escapist read -- it had it all for me -- Paris, books, history, intrigue, and a captivating main character and the requisite romance. It is an elegant debut novel for a fabulous new thriller writer -- intelligent, witty, suspenseful as all good thrillers should be. Hugo Marston is in the mould of Jack Reacher and Harry Bosch, another couple of my favourite action heroes. Marston is honourable, yet ruthless when he has to be -- a Texan in cowboy boots and a cashmere overcoat.

Can't wait for the second Hugo Marston novel.

• What's your best recent read? Share with us...

Roland D Yeomans' French Quarter Nocturne - what really happened in the wake of Hurricane Katrina? And a fantabulous contest!

Long before man. Long before light. Darkness reigned.

Who can keep up with Roland D Yeomans? In the last few months he has self published 11, yes, 11 e-books. Roland's lyrical prose and dark plots are amazing. I'd like to read and review all his books, but unless I put everything else on hold it's an impossibility. So I've been slow to read French Quarter Nocturne, but once I'd re-started it (I'd begun it some months ago) I was hooked into the story, which is the way it should be if the writing's good.


I've always been fascinated by this particular part of the States - New Orleans and the South in general. When Hurricane Katrina struck, I was dumbfounded at her fury and dumbfounded at how long it seemed to take to get help to these suffering citizens. Who knew what was going on in the Convention Centre? Obviously Roland's Texas Ranger, Samuel McCord knew exactly what was happening...


In Roland's synopsis he describes French Quarter Nocturne thus:


Hurricane Katrina has cast New Orleans into darkness. Predators, living and undead, close in on the helpless survivors. Can Samuel McCord and a vampire priest keep the French Quarter from being drowned in blood?


French Quarter Nocturne is set during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, which devastated the proud, unique and unfortunately low-lying city of New Orleans. People struggled with what was happening in the wake of this disaster. How could they make sense of it? How could they come to terms with the horror? 


Dark elements are abroad on the mean streets of New Orleans. The music is of a much darker cast in the jazz club Meilori's which has shimmered into life on Royal Street. Here it is a Crossroads of Worlds. Monsters  are stalking the streets. Ghosts and vampires are abroad in an attempt to provide leadership in a leader-less city, to bring at least a semblance of order out of the mayhem and destruction that has occured. There are normal reptiles slithering around in the dingy waters but they don't pose much of a threat.  Far worse than snakes, the chaos in New Orleans has given the European revenants a one-off chance to establish a beachhead in America. Worse yet, McCord's life-long enemy, DayStar, is plotting in the shadows.


Who can step up into the void? 


Against the backdrop of Katrina's aftermath, an agnostic jazz club owner and his best friend, a haunted priest, engage enemies in the shadows that challenge both their belief systems. Sam McCord, a Texas Ranger, is trapped in a nether world with those who cannot cross over to the other side. McCord is a hero in his own right, but all the same he has personal issues that often tug at his heartstrings. But it is the memory of one woman, Meilori, that never leaves him, that dogs his footsteps. Even in the murder and mayhem and lawlessness of post-Katrina, Sam never allows that others should commit atrocities. But is Sam McCord an innocent? Does he ever do the 'wrong' thing when dire need comes calling? 


The French Quarter Noctune is a fantastic read, and you get used to bizarre instances where persons from mythological tales take centre stage. We meet famous writers from the past, too, all adding gloss to the many-layered story. But I warn you, if you must read it at night at least keep the light on. 

If you've read any of Roland's books, you may be interested in:

Your mission, should you choose to accept it,
is to write a review on Amazon of one of my 11 eBooks. (I hope, of course, that it is a good review --
but bad breath is better than no breath at all.)
Write such a review and you get FIVE, that's right,
FIVE entries into my FANTABULOUS CONTEST.
The entries are being safeguarded by my best friend, Sandra Thrasher --
who says she will break my fingers if she catches them in the huge jar. She will pull.

And 3 lucky people will have won either

A FREE STEPHEN KING AUTOGRAPH!

A FREE DEAN KOONTZ AUTOGRAPH!

or

A FREE LAURELL K. HAMILTON AUTOGRAPH!

SEPTEMBER 1ST is the draw date. 

 Good reading and good luck!

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Just reading through all the blogs I subscribe to and they are really inspirational. Seems people are hard at it everywhere, whether travelling to write about it, attending writing workshops, finding they're mentioned in other blogs, reviewing books...all good...hoping to get one done soon. I'm looking forward to being settled again and being able to work every day, not in bursts. Of course your mind never stops. There's always stories floating around. Meanwhile I have a few to finish up and get out there...