Cover Image: Mine

Mine

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Member Reviews

Francine as the lead character is brilliant, confused as to her part to play in the disappearance of her boyfriends soon to be ex wife. Made worse by her being his lawyer and her bipolar condition.
Then there is martin with his lies and sometimes erratic behaviour.
Her best friend Clare hiding her own resentments.
Then their is the secretive Alex and Sophie cole.
The story spins so manybwebs you don't know where it leads you and are forever guessing though never right.
An engrossing, and thrilling read.

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An excellent whodunit with plenty of plot twists. The legal background was well researched and the detailed locations were well described - making the whole story very believable. I thought I had guessed the outcome but was mistaken and the denouement was better than I expected. I was able to devour this in two sittings and thoroughly enjoyed it

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Oh dear. I can find very little to recommend in the clique ridden, charicature filled novel.

The main character is Fran who has dragged herself up by her northern bootstraps to forge a successful career as a barrister in the mecca that is London. She is portrayed as clever and sharp but one smoldering look from Martin, a client consulting her about his divorce proceedings, turns her into a simpering wreck. He is, of course, very good looking and very rich.

Part way through the divorce proceedings his wife vanishes and he becomes a major suspect in her disappearance. We are constantly reminded that she only married Martin for his status and money. Only Fran can save him now!

This book does nothing for strong female characters. Most submit to the concept of the alpha male and in one excruciating scene Fran yields to the sexual advances of a spotty PhD student in order to save her man, Martin and her reputation.

The throw away references to mental health are unnecessary and seems to be an excuse for the way Fran behaves. In this day and age this is really not acceptable. The sympathetic background drove me slightly nuts. There are only so many ways to describe a wet and cold day in London.

I only finished this book to see what happened and the ending was predictable and equally sexist. The term ‘psychological novel is banded around far too frequently and it does not describe this book which is more Mills and Boon gone a bit wrong.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

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This book started quite slowly and I wasn’t sure I was going to like it, but then the pace picked up and I couldn’t put the book down. A really good story with a twist.

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Francine is a successful lawyer who’s life unravels when she meets client Martin. With unexpected twists and turns, great detail about the workings of Fracines occupation, and an ending I didn’t predict, I can highly recommend this book.

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4 stars from me!

I confess to struggling for the first few pages - maybe a different writing style, maybe the sex, maybe just my own expectation - but then, suddenly, BAM, I was hooked!

The further I read into this book the less I was able to put it down. In truth, I read a couple of chapters yesterday morning and then read the entire rest of the book today. It is most definitely a page turner AND I didn't guess whodunnit!

Really loved the psychology and the legal talk and most definitely felt echoes of Apple Tree Yard. For me, I have gone with 4 stars rather than 5 because the sex nearly put me off the book. Not because I am a prude, but because I almost mistook it for a lesser book than it actually is - I had a horrible feeling I'd stumbled into 50 shades novel, I know it is meant to get across that there is passion, risk and obsession but it felt cheap.

On the whole though, it is a really great read and you won't want to put it down!

Synopsis: Fatal Attraction meets Apple Tree Yard. This debut novel is compulsive and will be your new obsession.

My CLIENT
My LOVER

Francine Day is a high flying lawyer about to apply for silk, ambitious and brilliant. She just needs one headline grabbing client to seal her place as queen's counsel … Martin Joy. The attraction is instant. Obsessive.

They embark on a secret affair and Francine thinks she can hold it together. But then Martin's wife goes missing. And Martin is the prime suspect. Francine is now his lawyer, lover and the last person to see Donna Joy alive.

As the case unravels so does Francine.

Her HUSBAND
My OBSESSION

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I LOVED this book! Poor Francine is in danger of losing everything for love - her job, her friends, her pride and her integrity. I thought this book was well written, with lots of red herrings thrown in along the way and the characters were all realistic and likeable, in their own way. I would highly recommend this book.

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This has got to be my favourite thriller of the year. 5* plus is not enough. It is true how it was defined, Apple Tree Yard meets Fatal Attraction. It is so good, I read it in a day, and there was such a lot to get your teeth into. I really liked the characters and the vulnerability of Francine, Martin with his multi billion pound business and all the other characters thrown together makes a heady combination of lust, greed and plotting. The plot was very very clever. As an avid reader I couldn’t work it out who’d done what, and just when I’d got it all together, the rug is pulled out from underneath me. I did feel for Francine as Martin was the Love of her life, she was completely and utterly overwhelmed and spellbound by him and was swept along with all the clandestine assignations and the excitement.

I just can’t praise this enough and i would like to thank you the author and netgalley for the ARC.

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This is bound to be a Summer best seller. It has all the ingredients - a female barrister on the way up, advising a handsome and rich husband seeking a divorce.

The inevitable happens and soon they are enmeshed in an affair as well as in a murder mystery in which nothing is quite as it seems.

The writing is excellent, the plot well thought through and clever and the action takes hold of you from the opening chapter.

An excellent psychological thriller that is sure to do well - and fully deserves to do so!

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Whilst the writing was good (and considering the author's alter ego unsurprisingly) I just didn't get along with this one that well, although I did read to the end to see if the resolution upped the ante. It didn't.

Don't get me wrong this isn't terrible by any means, if you are a fan of psychological thrillers this one will probably hit a lot of marks for a lot of readers. I AM a fan of psychological thrillers, even though I'm probably over saturated with them I can't seem to stop reading them -but these days I look for so much more than the well worn cliche's in order to give the higher rating. I need either a character I can get behind, a story that follows a dissimilar path to it's peers even if that path is somewhat well worn, a twist in the tale that is surprising or that edgy unsettling feeling that can come from reading an oft told tale written with an emotional grit or underlying fear factor. Sadly in my honest opinion "Mine" provided none of those things.

So we follow a so called professional barrister, a family lawyer, about to apply for Silk, respected in her field, building a name for herself. So far so good. But God she is stupid, so honestly the whole "brilliant lawyer" thing didn't ring true AT ALL. Bi-polar. Ok fine. Drinks a lot. Yawn. Even when faced with extreme danger follows the stupidest path possible. Oh God. Here are my main issues (minor spoilers please don't read further if you don't want to know)


LAST CHANCE.


Right

She drinks a lot even whilst talking about how she knows her bi-polar meds don't sit well with alcohol. Not just once either. She starts a hot and heavy affair with her client. She obsesses to the point that she follows him - see's him with his wife who he is divorcing - then drinks herself stupid to the point she blacks out and can't remember what she did later in the evening. Oh and the wife goes missing the same night...PLEASE.

Upon her lovers insistence that she should probably delete all their hot and heavy messages so as not to get caught up in white noise during the search for his missing wife, she ums and ah's then DOESN'T delete them as she doesn't want to lose their history. SIGH.

She walks out in the middle of a case she is unprepared for (due to drink and you know BEING STUPID) just walks out before final argument, after receiving a text message about her lover - just LEAVES mumbling about urgent situations - this respected ,professional lawyer. Please pull the other one, the first one is beginning to ache.

At that point I'm all just I don't care. So I skim read through watching her get more and more stupid then we find out who did what to who and it was a little pulled out of nowhere (although not entirely so at least there's that)

Plus she still had a job at the end of it.

Anyway let's end on a positive note. This is one for those of you looking for a light, bang through beach read, that has occasional hot and heavy scenes, a decent eye for characters even if you hate them. You'll enjoy it if you like that sort of by the numbers, well written, not badly plotted psych thriller that you've loved before and will love again.

I'm just a grumpy old reviewer.

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