Mix & Match 12

Today I made a Last Laugh cocktail. It's a variation on the Last Word cocktail but I think this one is a bit more easy going. 20ml each of gin, green chartreuse, maraschino and lemon juice. Shake with ice and strain into a champagne glass. Top with Cava.

Breathing Underwater by Sarah Allen

All Olivia wants is to help her big sister Ruth, to make her smile again. She even has a plan to recreate a road trip they took, which she believes was the last time they were really happy. 

There are so many touching moments. The author really manages to express how the characters are feeling and makes the reader feel it too.

Squire by Sara Alfageeh, Nadia Shammas

Aiza dreams of being a knight, a way to make a better life for herself. Finally she gets the opportunity, though it's not exactly what she was expecting. She meets lots of new people and learns a lot about what she is capable of too.

Aiza is such a compelling and lovable character. She's so positive despite everything she goes through, I really love how she never gives up. The book has lots of interesting twists and a very unexpected ending. My only complaint was that the ending was quite sudden, but the pacing of the rest of the book was excellent.

A Hunter's Moon by Danny Weston

Callum is stuck working for Fraser to cover his father's debts. Until recently all he needed to do was keep his head down and follow orders, but now there's an important job for the local Lord and Fraser needs his help. A huge wolf has been killing and the people of the village are terrified they or their animals could be next.

There's a supernatural element as the creature is rumoured to be something supernatural and a creepy forest which everyone is warned to keep out of, but of course they have to go in! This book was very fast paced, short but action packed and gripping.

Hexed by Julia Tuffs

What do you do when you're fed up of boys' behaviour and getting angry just isn't doing working?

I loved Jessie's voice from the start. She's so wry and self deprecating, but also somehow quite stoic in some ways, she just powers through times when most people would want to run away and hide.

Her reaction to magic really surprised me as I would have loved to find out I was a witch and had magic powers! I liked that everything wasn't necessarily all magically perfect at the end, it was more realistic. This was a really strong and uplifting book.

Escape Room by Christopher Edge

Ami is excited to get the chance to play The Escape, as she absolutely loves escape room games. There she meets 4 other kids to team up with and find The Answer, though none of them even know what the question is. However, as they play it seems to get more and more dangerous and less like a game at all.

Some lessons on awareness and environment but they didn't feel preachy at ll.

I could feel the excitement, intrigue and suspense right from the first page. I thought I knew what was going to happen at one point but I was so wrong, I definitely didn't expect what actually happened!

The Mermaid in the Millpond by Lucy Strange

Bess is determined that she is not going to care about anyone else any more. She is going to be tough and hard hearted so she won't be hurt again.  But someone won't give up trying to break through, and is there really a mermaid in the pond?

This is such a charming story with wonderfully lovely writing. My only complaint is that it is so short and I would have loved it to be longer! Trying to avoid spoilers, but I would really like to know what happens next. Maybe this could be made into a longer book sometime in the future???