Another great book in this series. It’s gritty and exciting. It is written so well. It is a multi layered storyline. The characters in this book are well developed.

Yet another brilliant novel from Heather Burnside.
Couldn’t put it down, had to find out what happened next and I was pleasantly surprised with it.
Highly recommended

Sapphire (The Working Girls #5)
by Heather Burnside

Another great series of books tha i have finally managed to catch up with. Gripping yet easy read. A great book for curling up with in an evening and losing yourself. Forget the real world and get lost in the world of the working girls.
Two sisters who are as close as sisters can be end up living very different lives when their mother is cruelly taken from them by cancer.
a superb addition to this great series.

Oh my god I seriously loved this book and only wish I had read it sooner. Heather burnside at her very best exactly what you would expect from her.

The story of a young girl whose life is thrown into peril after losing her Mother.

I'm a little regretful I didn't realise this was part of a series, but goes to show it can most definitely be read as a standalone.

This was a great read, it was gritty, highly emotive (albeit sorrowful!) and at times, uncomfortable. I enjoyed the characters and found myself rooting for Sophie. I have to say, I felt genuine sadness a number of times whilst reading this book; It got me thinking about how true to real life this story may be to so many people who are living their life on the streets, at no fault of their own. To simply be dealt a bad hand over and over again.

This is the first book I've read by Heather Burnside and I will eagerly be looking out for others!

Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review 📖

I have been a fan of Heather’s work for a little while now. I haven’t read every single book that she has written to date but I hope to achieve that target very soon. I especially like the ‘Working Girls’ series and I (im)patiently wait for each new book in the series to be released. So imagine my excitement when I read the synopsis for ‘Sapphire’. I just knew that I had to read the book as soon as I could. Well ladies and gents, the wait is over because ‘Sapphire’ was released in e-book format on 6th January 2022. It’s another corker of a read and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it but more about that in a bit.
I have to say that I really felt for the characters of Sophie and Kelsey. When we first meet them, we learn that they are a pair of sisters with an extremely close bond. They haven’t had the easiest of lives so far but they have each other and each gathers strength from the other. I won’t go too far into what happens as I would hate to spoil the book for anybody but needless to say they have the rug pulled out from underneath them and their lives are shattered. Both girls are hurting a lot but they don’t quite know who or what to trust. Something happens which leads to their separation from each other although Sophie is determined that she will find Kelsey again. I just kept wanting to give each girl a hug as they were going through the toughest of times.
It didn’t take me long at all to get into ‘Sapphire’. In fact the sight of Heather’s name on the cover of the book was enough to grab my attention and the fact that ‘Sapphire’ is part of ‘The Working Girls’ series drew me in. From then on the book seemed to develop a hold over me and it was a hold that I wasn’t willing to break. I found it impossible to put this book down. My Kindle wasn’t exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I couldn’t bear to miss a single second of the story. I was so wrapped up in the story that I lost all track of time and just how quickly the time was passing and the pages were turning. All too quickly, I reached the end of ‘Sapphire’. I found ‘Sapphire’ to be a gripping, tense and dramatic story that kept me guessing and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.
‘Sapphire’ is superbly written but then I have come to expect nothing less from the extremely talented Heather Burnside. Heather has one of those easy going writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. She certainly knows how to grab you attention and draw you into what proves to be one hell of a read and then some. I love the way in which the different characters in the book manage to get under my skin to the degree that I find myself becoming far too involved in the story and reacting to the characters as if they were in the same room as me. I can’t tell you how much I wanted to hug certain characters or I wanted to slap other characters across the chops with a wet flip flop. Reading ‘Sapphire’ took me on a bit of an unpredictable, scary and emotional rollercoaster ride with several twists and turns along the way. I felt as though I was part of the story which is all thanks to Heather’s very vivid and realistic storytelling.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Sapphire’ and I would recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Heather’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

A great author who writes about young girls whose lives are thrown into peril. This one is mainly about Sapphire ( Sophie ) who due to the death of her mother finds herself parted from her sister Kelsey.
Things happen and Sapphires life take a big downturn.
A gritty read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Gritty, gutsy and explosive, Sapphire is the latest must-read gangland thriller from Heather Burnside.

Sisters Sophie and Kelsey are as close as two siblings can be. They’ve always had each other’s backs and they have always been there for one another – until tragedy strikes. When their mother is diagnosed with cancer and their dad fails to do the right thing by his daughters, the two sisters’ world is shaken to its very core. With everything they’ve always known cruelly snatched away from them, the girls only have each other now and Sophie vows to do everything within her power to protect her sister. However, that decision is cruelly taken away from her when a foster family is found for Kelsey and Sophie is unable to join her. But worse is to come for Sophie…

Sophie is in grave danger at the children’s home and she is coerced into doing things against her will. When a foster family is found for her, Sophie is elated – until she realizes that she has swapped one prison for another. Making a risky bid for freedom, Sophie finds herself homeless. On the streets, she is taken under the wing of the working girls and renamed as Sapphire. Sophie’s new life is full of danger and challenges. There are enemies round every corner intent on maximum destruction, but Sophie refuses to let anyone get in the way of fulfilling her long-cherished dream of reuniting with Kelsey.

Heather Burnside’s writing continues to go from strength to strength and with Sapphire, she has written a fast-paced thriller packed with heart-stopping suspense, larger than life characters and spine-chilling intrigue. Sapphire is a highly engaging tale about family, the ties that bind us together and the lengths people go to for the ones they love that will grab readers from page one and keep them gripped until the very end.

A terrific read that will break readers’ hearts and keep them up all night, Heather Burnside’s Sapphire is a must-read for Kimberley Chambers fans.

5*

Although this is book 5 in the series it reads as a stand alone.

I have since downloaded the previous 4 and enjoy them just as much.

For fans of Martina etc

Heather Burnside is an author who is new to me, but I HAD to to buy myself a few more of her books. She is such a talented writer and I needed to know more about this world.

This story was very close to my heart and dealt with such heavy topics that had me very emotional at times. I really felt for the characters and just wanted to reach inside of the e-reader and hug them at many points in the book. Sophie and Kelsey were such beautiful characters to read about, very flawed but still very sweet and kind. Two of my favourite characters I have read about in a while.

I throughly enjoyed reading Sapphire and look forward to reading more from this author.

Sophie and her younger sister, Kelsey, are placed in care following the untimely death of their mother. Life in this Manchester children's home is far from easy and unfortunately it's made more unbearable when Kelsey is soon placed with a foster family, and Sophie is not. Staying on in the children's home opens Sophie's life up to even more betrayal which doesn't ease even when she is placed with a foster family of her own.

This is now the fifth book in the Working Girls series of urban crime novels which are set in the mean and moody streets of Manchester and as such follows a similar northern theme. The author writes with such conviction that the area, and it's people, the good, the very bad and the seemingly indifferent, soon start to bounce into life. The inherent hardship, and danger, of living life on the streets is convincingly described, and there's a gritty authenticity to the writing which doesn't pull any punches, describing, with harrowing efficiency, the dangers of life for those who find themselves homeless and alone.

All through reading Sapphire I felt that the system failed Sophie, her life was blighted by a downward spiral into drugs, prostitution and violent abuse. The story doesn't always make for easy reading but throughout the adversity Sophie, or Sapphire, as she becomes known as a working girl, shows a tenacity and strength of will even when everything transpires against her.

Whilst Sapphire can be read, and enjoyed, as a standalone story, it does sort of make more sense to read the series from the beginning as that way you will become accustomed to the characters and the way the author, herself a Mancunian, brings the city, with all its many undercurrents, sharply into focus.

Sapphire is the 5th book in the Working Girls series and is a fantastic read. I think I have enjoyed this book the most out of all of them.

Sophie/Sapphire's life changes when her mother dies and she enters the care system along with her sister Kelsey. The lives of the 2 girls take very different paths and Sophie's story will pull at your heartstrings.

Cannot recommend this series of books highly enough.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“She’s got her street family but who can she trust?”


Oh My Goodness! How many more of these tear-jerkers can I read in such quick succession. I know I like to become immersed in a storyline, but this much dread and anguish, I can do without, especially when you take into account the ‘gritty’ undertones of the story and the fact that it involves vulnerable young people! However author Heather Burnside’s addictive narrative and dialogue and some truly heartfelt and authentic storytelling, held me in angry thrall from the very first, to the very final word and then only reluctantly was I able to tear myself away from its clutches.

The story hit the ground running and the first tissue was needed after just a few pages. The storyline moved along seamlessly at a cracking pace, with the tension ratcheted up exponentially, helped by some short, well signposted chapters keeping the timeline in clear focus. I was holding my breath by the time the end was in sight, as things didn’t look as though they were going to pan out too well, however there was more than a glimmer of hope on the horizon for a more stable future and that I definitely was not expecting, so the tears were more of the happy kind by then!

Whilst I am detailing the outline of the story, believe me, this really only does touch the sides and scratch the surface, of the journey I was taken on in my reading of this book, so no real ‘spoilers’ as such!

I have no idea just how you tell two children, who are not yet even teenagers, that they are going to be left alone in the world because their father has refused to accept them back into his life, now that he has a new family making demands on his time, and more importantly his wallet! This story only goes to highlight, that as much as we might think the social care system in this country is broken beyond repair now, it was always that way as long as twenty years ago, only we just never got to hear about it in the same way. Foster parents were thin on the ground, especially those willing to take on older children and children’s homes were administered by some very corrupt and shady characters who immediately put the girls on their guard, that’s when they weren’t trying to fend off the bully adolescent whose anger manifested itself in some very inappropriate ways. Sophie and Kelsey were lucky, if you can call it luck!, that they had a conscientious, caring and attentive social worker in Janice, who was a constant throughout the next decade or more, in her efforts to help both the girls, to whom she had become very attached. Her dedication was to be applauded, although it seems as though her hands were tied behind her back, no matter who in authority she turned to for help, and someone with less compassion would have given up the fight much sooner.

Everyone seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the girls were grieving for their mother, as everything, out of necessity and because of Sophie and Kelsey’s age, had needed to be arranged and actioned almost immediately. That their grief should manifest itself in such completely different ways, was also an unknown that had not been foreseen and which no one apart from Janice was prepared to even try to understand and make allowances for. As the older of the siblings, it was in fact Sophie who was least able to cope and deal with her bereavement, in a way which was acceptable to the outside agencies, who would have been quite happy if she had only become compliant and invisible. Her anger and hatred for the system which she knows is failing her, is palpable and extremely physical, so when Kelsey is separated from her and sent to a good foster home, Sophie is completely devastated, although throughout the story, it is obvious that she never stops thinking about Kelsey, wondering how she is and trying to track her down, although eventually she realises just how low she has sunk on the depravity scale and convinces herself that no one good or nice, will ever want to get anywhere near her, let alone acknowledge their relationship with her. Sophie is finally fostered by what appears to be a very acceptable couple, who in fact turn out to be religious zealots and rather than helping Sophie when her teenage struggles with her sexuality surface, try to convince her that she has an illness which must be cured.

All out of trust, Sophie, now Sapphire, absconds and her next decade is spent rough sleeping on the streets of Manchester, with the inevitable slide into drug dependency, sexual depravity, beatings, and alcohol abuse. Her shame, guilt and sense of worthlessness, are quickly replaced by the need to survive, fight for everything she can get and not be taken advantage of any more than she already has been. When her self-appointed protector and boyfriend, dies of an overdose in front of her, a much matured Sophie takes matters into her own hands and decides that as all he really ever did was pimp her out, she would make her own way on the streets, selling her body. She is taken under the wing of a small group of much older more experienced girls, who try to protect her the best way they can, although there are some punters who will break them no matter how careful they are, as Sapphire discovers to her cost. When one punter in particular sickens Sapphire to her very core and a friend proves to be anything but, Sapphire is at her wits end and more vulnerable than she has ever been before! Can her faith in humanity and her hope for a better future be rekindled, when two faces from a past that just will not let her go, hope to prove to her that blood is thicker than water and that she is more loved and wanted than she ever dared to dream!

This is a powerful, well structured, gripping, multi-layered storyline, which is as much a work of disturbing cultural fiction, so clearly and succinctly does it highlight the forgotten world of those missing teenagers who wind up surviving on the streets in the best way that they can. The sheer desperate intensity of life’s struggle is visceral and highly textured, the writing skilled, fluid and evocative. The detailed descriptive narrative and down to earth dialogue, isn’t always pretty and nor is it meant to be, but it throws into sharp relief, a reality which is all around us, much as we might not like to accept or acknowledge it. The skilled imagery of Heather’s way with words, also evokes a genuine sense of time and place, offering an almost too perceptive and claustrophobic, three dimensional visual depth to this flat and lugubrious way of existence, as strangers pass by on the other side of the road in an effort to convince themselves that none of what they see is real.

Heather has developed a compelling and multi-faceted cast of characters, who, without needing any second bidding, are more than happy to make their voices heard, as they tell their story loud and clear, for those brave enough to listen and hear. Collectively they are a complex jigsaw of human emotions; duplicitous, manipulative, unreliable and volatile, making them almost impossible to invest in or identify with. However, strip away their bravado and their inherent vulnerabilities, raw passion and emotional starvation, soon surface in those few and far between, unguarded moments of lucid reality. I think my most hated character was that of Sophie’s father and the person I most respected would have to be social worker, Janice. Society would definitely be much improved with a lot less of the former and more of the latter, then maybe the Sophies and Kelseys of this world would not need to continue to fight battles they simply can’t win!

What typically makes reading such a wonderful experience for me, is that with each and every new book, I am taken on a unique and individual journey, by authors who fire my imagination and stimulate my senses. This story had the power to evoke so many strong emotions, that I’m sure I won’t have felt the same way about it as the last reader, nor the next. It really is a journey you need to make for yourself and see where it leads you!

Although this is episode #5 in the “Working Girls” series and we do meet characters from the previous books, they are introduced as though we didn’t know them, with just enough detail to make them credible ‘extras’ in the plot, making this a perfectly good stand alone story.

Wow-what a book, it was gripping and addictive, I kept picking it up to read to see what happens next.
Very well written and compelling.

The story starts with Sophie and Kelsey, sisters who are very close.
After a sudden tragedy they end up in care, Life isn't good and when Kelsey is fostered to a loving family, Sophie can no longer bear t0 spend any more time in the home so flees. She soon is living on the streets and is drawn into selling her body to survive. As well as taking drugs to get through it. Her name becomes Sapphire.
Here the story unfolds, she goes through dramas, sadness, and sheer desperation. We meet some sad characters living on the streets that connect to Sophie/ Sapphire and try to protect her.
Heather certainly knows how to write a good story and keeps her readers glued to each page.
This book is an absolute corker.
Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this great book. xx

I hadn't read others in the series and it didn't impact on enjoyment or understanding, but I think reading them all would be useful. A great page turning read, but there are lots of sad bits, too. You want to know what happens, so read on, and the story doesn't disappoint, with lots of twists and turns, Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Thoroughly enjoyed this book by Heather starring Sophie (Sapphire) and her life. Reduced me to tears at times, but would recommend it! This is a story of Sophie and Kelsey who are left on their own after their mother dies of cancer. Just couldn't put it down once I started reading it.

Another five star gritty drama from Burnside in the Working Girls series of books. When reading this story you can see the inevitable downward spiral that Sophie is going to take due to the mismanagement of her care by her care home and your heart breaks for her.

Sophie gets used and abused throughout the story but there are glimmers of hope for her at times. I'm not sure if there are more books to come in this series but I'll definitely be reading them if there are!!!

WoW!!! Sapphire by Heather Burnside was a superb book. This is the 5th book in The Working Girls series and I loved it. I was hooked from the very first few pages and this book was great as you could read it as a standalone However, I do recommend you go back and read the other four books within this series and they will not disappoint. Heather has away of writing her books that will have you hooked, you want to learn more about the all the characters Plus, what happens to them, especially as these books are very addictive from the beginning till the end.
With this latest book I wanted to learn more about Sophie and Kelsey who are sister and are very close., Until one day their loving mum is diagnosed with cancer. Time is running out for their mum as she tries her hardest to get her daughters real father Roy to take care of them but he fails to step up. Sadly, time has ran out and Sophie and Kelsey are forced to move into the care system. Sophie who is the eldest, knows they'll be okay as long as she's there to protect her little sister.
Then, Kelsey is found a foster family and Sophie can't join her, she is too old, Sophie is left at this care home which is unsafe she has to do things against her will to survive. Then, out of the blue, Sophie is found a foster family to look after and care for her. Phew! but this is short lived when her new foster parents trust has betrayed. Sophie.
Sophie runs away and ends up on the streets, she has to survive all alone in this tough world with No money. No home No security and No friends to look out for her. Things around her gets tough and she has to fight for survival!

This is when the book becomes gritty has lots of twists and turns, You just want to find out what happens to Sophie and Kelsey.

Does Sophie survive living on the streets? and how does she survive?

Who is Sapphire?

Where is Kelsey? Does she get to see her sister again?

Does their father Roy step up and take charge and look after them?

This book is sad in some places and you just want to jump in the book and help them out.

I highly recommend this book. Superb from the start till the end. Another brilliant book by Heather. 5 stars. Perfect!

Big Thank you to Head of Zeus and Aries and the author Heather Burnside for a copy of Sapphire.

I couldn't put this down once I started reading and had to finish it in one go! A brilliant story that tugged at my heartstrings and left me frustrated with the system and how things are. Sophie and Kelsey are sent to a children's home when their mother dies and are eventually split up when one is fostered and the other one isn't. Sophie ends up on the streets and has to try to make a life for herself and protect her safety and those around her.

An excellent novel and I can't wait to read more from Heather Burnside.

Sapphire Heather Burnside.
The Working Girls Book 5.
Sophie and Kelsey have always had each other. When their mum is diagnosed with cancer and their dad fails to step up, they're forced to move into the care system. But Sophie knows they'll be okay as long as she's there to protect her sister.
A brilliant read. I loved the story. Especially how their lives were different after their mum. Highly recommend this series. 5*.