"Jane" by April Lindner [5]

Forced to drop out of an esteemed East Coast college after the sudden death of her parents, Jane Moore takes a nanny job at Thornfield Park, the estate of Nico Rathburn, a world-famous rock star on the brink of a huge come-back. Practical and independent, Jane reluctantly becomes entranced by her magnetic and brooding employer and finds herself in the midst of a forbidden romance.

But there's a mystery at Thornfield, and Jane's much-envied relationship with Nico is soon tested by an agonizing revelation from his past. Torn between her feelings for Nico and his fateful secret, Jane must decide: Does being true to herself mean giving up on true love?

I couldn't put it down...

Jane Eyre is my favourite love story of all time and when Irish told me that a modern version is being written, well I just had to give it a try. You will not be disappointed...

This book has been so cleverly written into a modern day version of the wonderful classic story of Jane Eyre. You will be swept up into it right until the amazing, and truly satisfying end. Jane has all the mystery, romance and laughter that the original has and will enchant you all over again.

Jane is a young girl who has had a very sad and unhappy childhood, while away at college her parents are killed and Jane is forced to find work. Applying for a nanny position she is sent to Thornfield Park to look after young Maddy, there she meets her brooding and handsome employer Nico Rathburn. He is a famous rock star who has an interesting past, and slowly Jane falls in love with him. There are dark secrets in Nico's life that will keep these two apart, but will love triumph in the end...that is the decision that Jane will have to make for herself. You will totally fall in love with these two characters they are remarkable.

This novel stays true to all the poignant parts from the original and has been cleverly brought into the modern times...so well written and very easy to read...you won't be able to put it down until your finished. I just can't rave enough about this book...if you don't read anything else for the year, please read this one, you will just love it. This would be a awesome Christmas present for the person who loves romance and a great introduction to the younger generation of a truly marvellous classic love story.

I definitely rate this book 5 stars.

"Bright Young Things" by Anna Godbersen [5]

The Year is 1929.

New York is ruled by the Bright Young Things:

Flappers and Socialites seeking

Thrills and chasing dreams

in the anything-goes era of

the Roaring Twenties.

Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey escaped their small Midwestern town for New York's glittering metropolis. All Letty wants is to see her name in lights, but she quickly discovers Manhattan is filled with pretty girls who will do anything to be a star...

Cordelia is searching for the father she's never known, a man as infamous for his wild parties as he is for his shadowy schemes. Overnight, she enters a world more thrilling and glamorous than she ever could have imagined - and more dangerous. It's a life anyone would kill for ... and someone will.

The only person Cordelia can trust is Astrid Donal, a flapper who seems to have it all: money, looks, and the love of Cordelia's brother, Charlie. But Astrid's perfect veneer hides a score of family secrets.

Across the vast lawns of Long Island, in the illicit speakeasies of Manhattan, and on the blindingly lit stages of Broadway, the three girls' fortunes will rise and fall - together and apart.

For all those fans of the divinely written 'Luxe' series comes the brand new novels from Anna Godbersen, this time set in the late 1920's in the last summer of the jazz age.

I absolutely loved this first book from the new series, it was a lot more fast paced than the Luxe books and the girls in this one are more independent and more feisty. The boys at the moment are just the dressing for the girls and it's nice to see that role reversed. The detail from the era is just breath taking you really feel like your in the 1920's surrounded by all the glitz and glamour of the flapper period. It has mystery, romance, betrayal, humour, jealousy and all the things that you come to expect from the Luxe series...but I think even better.

'It is easy to forget now, how effervescent and free

we all felt that summer. Everything fades: the shimmer

of gold over White Cove; the laughter in the night air;

the lavender early morning light on the faces of skyscrapers,

which has suddenly become so heroically tall.

Every dawn seemed to promise fresh miracles,

among other joys that are in short supply these days.

And so I will try to tell you, while I still remember,

how it was then, before everything changed -

that final season of an era that roared'.

So just a little taste of what is to come and what to expect in this new and exciting series from Anna Godbersen. A must read for the year and a definite stocking gift for Christmas, your girls will just fall in love with this series.

I rate this book 5 stars.

"Bad Girls Don't Die" by Katie Alender [4 1/2]

Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence: dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy, thirteen-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own antisocial, anti-cheerleader attitude.

When a family argument results in tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunctional to dangerous. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green; she uses odd, old-fashioned language - and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her weird behaviour. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves, water boils on the unlit stove, and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough for the girls to see their breath.

Alexis wants to believe it's all in her head, until these seemingly harmless occurrences become life-threatening - to her, to her family, and to her budding relationship with the student council vice president. Alexis knows she's the only person who can stop Kasey; but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?

This is a cool new series by a first time author Katie Alender. It is the first of three novels with the second coming out in June 2011 entitle 'From Bad to Cursed' and the third is due out in 2012.

Great teen read and introduction to ghost type novels, nothing gory or real scary in this book, probably just a little creepy... Really well written and very easy to read, the story flows well although just a little slow to begin with. The characters are very believable and you do become involved in what is happening to them.

"I stood perfectly still, looking up at the house and the

dark sky beyond it.

A band of mist drifted away from the moon,

making way for the next set of clouds -

what I hoped would be the picturesque backdrop

I'd been waiting for".

This has a really interesting cover to it and if your like me you just had to have the hardback version. This series is worth trying and the girls will love reading it...perhaps not at night for them though! Great introduction the the wonderful world of spooks and specters.

I rate this book 4 1/2 stars.

"The Shack" by WM. Paul Young

Book club read for November

Mackenzie Allen Phillip's youngest daughter, Missy,

has been abducted during a family vacation

and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered

is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness.

Four years later, in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack

receives a suspicious note, apparently from God,

inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgement, he arrives at the shack

on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest

nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's

world forever.

In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly

irrelevant, The Shack wrestles with the timeless question:

Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?

The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform

you as much as they did him. You'll want everyone you know

to read this book!