Gloss contributor and book lover Laura shares her opinion on two new books for March.

Lasting Damage
Sophie Hannah

It's 1.15 a.m. Connie Bowskill should be asleep. Instead, she's logging on to a property website in search of a particular house: 11 Bentley Grove, Cambridge. She knows it's for sale; she saw the estate agent's board in the front garden less than six hours ago.

Soon Connie is clicking on the 'Virtual Tour' button, keen to see the inside of 11 Bentley Grove and put her mind at rest once and for all. She finds herself looking at a scene from a nightmare: in the living room, in the middle of the carpet, there's a woman lying face down in a huge pool of blood.

In shock, Connie wakes her husband Kit. But when Kit sits down at the computer to take a look, he sees no dead body, only a pristine beige carpet in a perfectly ordinary room . . .

It took me four evenings to read this, I would leave work and go straight home not bothering to go to the gym or socialize on any level as this book had me  gripped to the point that I would have read it in a day if I had no other commitments!

I was terrified at some points through this thriller, as its story and characters are chilling. Sophie Hannah is by far one of the most talented psychological crime writers I have come across. Nothing is ever as it seems in this rollercoaster read full of unexpected twists and turns.

To the Moon and Back
Jill Mansell

When Ellie Kendall loses her husband Jamie in an accident, she feels her world has come to an end. But life has to go on and eventually she’s ready for a new start – at work, that is. She definitely doesn’t need a new man, not while she has a certain secret visitor to keep her company...

Entrepreneur Zack McLaren seems to have it all, but the girl he can’t stop thinking about won’t give him a second glance. Why can’t she pay him the kind of attention she lavishes on Elmo, his time-share dog?

Having moved to an exclusive flat in North London, Ellie becomes friendly with neighbour Roo who’s harbouring a secret of her own. Between them, can both girls sort out their lives? Guilt is a powerful emotion.

A heart warming and romantic novel but at times a little too ‘slushy’ and often predictable. This is my first Jill Mansell novel and I must say I was a little disappointed, being a British novelist I was expecting more humour from her. I am however intrigued to read more from Mansell and see if I can change my opinion.

Reviews by Laura Hodge

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