CXVI: Secrets Broken (CXVI Trilogy #2) by Angie Smith

Blurb - Book II in the CXVI trilogy is not intended as a stand-alone read and should follow Book I, CXVI - The Beginning of the End. The frantic search for Detective Sergeant Maria Barnes is on. She's linked to the murder of the former Home Secretary and is desperate to prove her innocence, but she's trapped. Her captor, Freddy Williams, a ruthless serial killer, holds all the cards; including the one she cannot allow him to reveal. Barnes is forced to adopt a dangerous bluff and double-bluff strategy, which ultimately involves the Secret Intelligence Service and her former boss, Detective Superintendent Greg Woods, combining forces. But who will survive? And who can you believe? And just what is the relationship between Barnes and Woods? Perhaps her nemesis Faulkner-Brown holds the answer, but will he be the one who brings this reluctant heroine crashing down? Hold tight for a fast paced, edge of your seat thriller. Captivating, unpredictable and shocking.

Publish Date ~ October 4th 2015

Published By ~ Livers Publishing

My thoughts - CXVI: Secrets Broken is book two in this fabulous trilogy and as soon I picked it up I knew I wasn't going to be able to put it down. It had me in its clutches and I wasn't getting away.

Having just finished CXVI: The Beginning of the End I was desperate to get stuck straight into book two which now makes me very glad I didn't read the first book when it was published and had both beauties sitting on my kindle.

Secrets Broken starts where The beginning of the End finished on the massive cliff-hanger. Maria Barnes and Greg woods are on different sides this time but still working together.

Maria is a fabulous character , she's strong, determined and very capable but in this book we find out more about her past and her character really comes alive.

Greg Woods is like a father figure to Maria and through the story you can really tell he cares for her. The partnership between the two is remarkable and really has you routing for them both.

I really don't want to give to much of the story away but Angie Smith has wrote an incredible, riveting and shocking story that has twists and turns galore. This is a book you will want to sit down with and have plenty of time to read as you wont want to put it down.

Angie Smith is now one of my new favourite authors and I'll definitely be buying all three books in paperback so they can sit on my bookshelf. These are books I could go back to and read again and I'll be recommending them to all my friends.

I've been lucky enough to get an advanced copy of book three, CXVI: Desperate Measures courtesy of Angie and TBConFB which I can't wait to get into and will have a review up for that soon I'm sure. this will be released on 31st of March and is available for pre-order.

CXVI: Secrets Broken gets a massive

CXVI: The Beginning of the End by Angie Smith

Blurb - Who will survive?

When the murder of a colleague is linked to a series of suspicious deaths, Detective Superintendent Greg Woods’ team are tasked with solving the mystery. New to the team is Maria Barnes, whose besmirched character sadly precedes her. However Woods quickly discovers there is more to the detective sergeant than meets the eye: her skill level, knowledge base, and investigative talents far outshine his own formidable qualities…

And why is the Secret Intelligence Service so interested in Barnes and the investigation?

It’s a race against time to stop the killer, but he’s meticulous, cunning and ruthless. He leaves the police and intelligence service questioning if they are all out of their depth…

When forces contrive against them, Woods’ life hangs in the balance and for the first time in his career he risks breaking the rules… He and Barnes decide to go it alone to uncover who or what CXVI really is… The shocking truth lies at the heart of the Government and is trapped deep underground.

Publication Date ~ February 13th 2015

My thoughts - I've had this on my kindle for a while and finally got round to reading it as part of my TBC Book challenge and I really wish I had read it sooner.

This is a fast paced gritty story with twists and turns galore. The two main characters, Greg Woods and Maria Barnes are well put together and very intriguing. From quite early on you can tell there is more to Maria than meets the eye and I liked the chemistry between Wood and Barnes.

The story had me gripped from page one and it's one of those books you just have to keep reading. It leaves you breathless at some points and Angie has done a wonderful job of writing a story that keeps you guessing all the way through. I loved the ending, and can't wait to get stuck into book 2.

Web of Deceit: A DI Sally Perker Novella by M.A. comley and Tara Lyons

Blurb - DI Sally Parker is called to one of the best hotels in the area after one of the guests, Megan Carmen, reports her friend, Tina, missing. Sally investigates Megan’s background when the woman reveals that she has just arrived from France and Tina is a woman she met on the Internet. Do genuine people truly arrange to innocently meet people they’ve only just met online? Or, in light of Tina’s disappearance, is there something far more sinister afoot? My thoughts - Having just recently read W Blurb - DI Sally Parker is called to one of the best hotels in the area after one of the guests, Megan Carmen, reports her friend, Tina, missing. Sally investigates Megan’s background when the woman reveals that she has just arrived from France and Tina is a woman she met on the Internet. Do genuine people truly arrange to innocently meet people they’ve only just met online? Or, in light of Tina’s disappearance, is there something far more sinister afoot? Publish Date ~ 20th January 2016 Published By ~ Jeamel Publishing Limited My thoughts - Having just recently read Wrong Place and No Hiding Place by Mel Comley I was very excited to see she had teamed up with the lovely Tara Lyons to bring us this novella Web of Deceit. Although I don't know these authors personally we are all members of The Book Club of FB and I've seen how passionate they are about books and knew this would be a cracker and I wasn't disappointed at all. Web of Deceit may not be a full length book but the authors have certainly packed it all in and nothing seemed to be left out, it all flowed nicely and told the story perfectly. I've kind of avoided novellas with the thinking that how can it possibly be as good as a full length book but I've just been proved completely wrong. This is a real can't put down book that I read in one sitting, I was hooked. I found Megan quite annoying at the very beginning of her journey and at one point thought "just grow a pair" but she grew on me really quickly as the story unfolded and turned out to be a great character. I'm maybe reading to much into it but is there a possibility we could read more about Megan again? I do hope so. A gripping novella, packed full to the brim and leaves you wondering how well do we know our Facebook friends ;) Thank you to the authors and TBC on FB for the Arc. Just brilliant.

The Brazilian Job by Michelle Vernal

Blurb - Nobody’s Perfect Are They?

Rebecca Loughton’s bumbled her way through her thirty something years making a few cock-ups along the way. Of course, these wouldn’t be so glaringly obvious if it wasn’t for her golden haired, older sister Jennifer.
In a bid to escape Jennifer’s lengthy shadow and to find her happy ever after Rebecca, high-tails it out of her hometown of Christchurch to the other side of the world landing a legal secretary job in the buzzing city of Dublin. A few drinks later, all she has to show for her new life is an embarrassing one-night stand and a dollop of flirtatious banter with her boss Ciaran who just happens to have a predatory receptionist in hot pursuit of him.
Amidst plans of preventing such a merger, Rebecca receives news that Jennifer’s picture perfect life has a big, fat crack down the middle of it in the form of a philandering husband. Summoned home to look after her sister’s children and cooking school while she works on her marriage, Rebecca finds the reality of looking after two young children along with the bizarre array of guests booked into the cooking school grim. The only bright spot on her horizon are Ciaran’s e-mails but then she meets David Seagar whom she thinks might just be the ending to her happy ever after but will he prove to be far from perfect too?

Publication Date ~ 7th December 2013

Published by ~ Michelle Vernal Publishing Limited

Kindly received from TBC and the author in exchange for an honest review.

My Thoughts - The Brazilian Job was an easy read and an enjoyable one too. This is the second book by Michelle that I have read, the first being Second Hand Jane (review here) and I have The Travellers Daughter on my TBR list.

The main story is set around two sisters Rebecca and Jennifer, Rebecca being the youngest. They are completely different but so very alike. I like both characters and the relationship between the two was very realistic. Jennifer is having marital troubles and Rebecca has flown over from Ireland to help her big sister out for two weeks. Needless to say things don't go to plan and both sisters have a lot of soul searching to do and bridges to build.

I really enjoyed this story, there are some laugh out loud moments and emotional ones as well and it really does show that not everyone is perfect and looks can be deceiving. A thoroughly enjoyable read x