Books
Festive and not-so-festive reads for Christmas and beyond.
Christmas on Fifth Avenue
by Julie Caplin
Evie Green’s Christmas dream turns into a nightmare when a viral video makes her the laughing stock of the internet. But then a five-star hotel sees a PR opportunity and invites her to New York for Christmas. But when she’s forced to fake a festive romance with disgraced soccer star Noah Sanderson, sparks fly.
This festive rom-com sparkles like the fairylights on a Christmas tree. Julie immerses the reader in the holiday bustle of New York, and her characters are charmingly flawed. The dual perspectives keep the pace lively and the City That Never Sleeps is as much a character as the romantic pair. A cosy, upbeat read, this seasonal romance makes an ideal stocking filler.
It was an evening course in Tring, entitled Writing for Profit or Pleasure, that really set Julie Caplin on her novel-writing career. The six-week adult education course, which was run at Tring School, taught her everything she didn’t know about writing and needed to learn. Now, some 15 years later, she’s about to publish her 28th book. Julie also writes romantic and historical fiction as Jules Wake.
The Last Train Home
by Sherry Hostler
The Last Train Home may be set in the period before Christmas – but it’s no cosy festive read! Instead it’s a gripping, psychological thriller that grabs the reader from the outset.
When Molly finds herself alone, in the dark, on an empty train, she has no idea how she got there, why she’s not wearing her usual clothes, and why her phone is missing. Then she realises she’s not alone…
Sherry’s a master at creating tension in her books, and this is another that has the reader eager to turn the page for the next revelation, as we switch between past interactions between Molly and her controlling boyfriend, flashbacks to her childhood, and the terrifying events unfolding on the train. A must-read.
A former Tring resident, Sherry now lives in Quainton with her husband and dog, but often hankers for the sunny beaches of Australia where she used to live. Sherry is the author of the psychological thrillers Hypnotic and Free Fall. She enjoys a bit of 90s dance music and thinks she does her best writing (and dancing) after a few glasses of Rioja, but this is possibly not the case. Her award-winning short fiction and non-fiction articles have been featured in Writers Forum, Hertfordshire Life, Vale Life, Dogs Monthly and various Cake magazines. www.sherryhostler.com
Painters, Philosophers and Poets Sustain a Seven-Year Cycle
by Lyn Drummond
Lyn Drummond takes readers on an insightful journey, walking in her own footsteps over seven years of her life, while reflecting on the philosophies, beliefs, and life’s work of famous artists, philosophers and poets who have influenced and shaped the society that we all live in.
Rooted in historical fact, this engaging work blends insight with warmth, reading like a gentle conversation with a friend living a deeply layered and lived life.
We all have something to learn from both Lyn and the people she writes about – historic and contemporary – who ‘have taken risks, dared to be different and accepted the consequences’.
The book is a sequel to an earlier one – Where To Go For A Seven-Year Cycle. The books’ titles are based on the philosophical view that seven years of our lives represent a particular cycle.
Lyn Drummond, who has dual UK/ Australian citizenship, is the owner of Living Magazines and lives in Berkhamsted. She is an international journalist who has written a wide range of articles for daily newspapers and magazines from political, economic and environmental stories to adventure travel. This is her third book.
No One Hears You Scream…But Silence Will Be Heard
by Alastair McIver
This unsettling thriller sets the tension from the shocking opening scene.
The central character, haunted by a past they can neither escape nor comprehend, navigates a world where silence speaks louder than screams. Indeed the silence is as much a character as the people in this story.
The denouement leaves more questions than certainties, which, while frustrating to this reader, who likes a ‘proper ending’, in this case it only deepens the impact.
A strong psychological thriller that excels in atmosphere and emotional resonance, it’s ideal for readers who appreciate mood, character and a twist of unsettling ambiguity. A well-crafted suspense story that lingers long after the last page.
Alastair is a Berkhamsted-based writer and journalist. He has been widely published in tennis, Christian and mainstream media over a career spanning three decades. After many visits to central and south Asia, hearing testimonies from women about the widespread injustices perpetrated on them, he was moved to write a series of fictional books imagining what might ensue if such misdemeanours snowballed and were then dramatically challenged. This is Alastair’s second novel in the Roza Beshimov Investigates trilogy. www.alastairmciver.com
Another Pony for Taren
by Pam G Howard
It’s been two years since we featured Pam’s first book about football- and pony-mad Taren, who wins a scholarship to a private school. In this second instalment of the Ponies and Taren series, Taren navigates a tangled web of school drama and surprising family revelations. Wrongly accused of injuring a peer, she retreats to the secret stables for solace, while her bonds with friends shift under pressure of a new girl and ambiguous loyalties.
Meanwhile, the sudden discovery of a grandmother and relatives tied to her late father’s stud farm shakes her identity and sense of belonging. Howard blends pony-pasture charm with adolescent stress, offering an engaging, warm-hearted tale about friendship, change and the courage to fit in.
Pam lives in Little Gaddesden and has had a lifelong passion for horses and riding. She says: ‘I loved writing this book, as well as the first one in the series because it brought back the fun memories I had of the days that I used to spend as a young girl learning to ride and looking after ponies.’
Only A Nurse
by Nicholas Roxburgh
This wartime tale follows wounded First World War veteran Brian and the headstrong Julie, who nurses him, and later their son Paul and his wartime romance in France. Nicholas balances historical upheaval with personal intimacy, showing how love, loss and European transformation intertwine.
The story is written around the author’s parents’ lives during the Second World War, which adds authenticity. Some plot threads – such as the mysterious bequest from Edna – feel slightly rushed. However, the novel’s strength lies in its empathetic portrayals and vivid period detail.
Nicholas Roxburgh, now residing in Australia, lived in Tring for 16 years. His home was Grove Farm, which was at the time a prosperous dairy farm, and his father edited Farmers Weekly from 1950 to 1966. He went to school in Berkhamsted.
Lucifer’s Game
by Cristina Loggia
Author Cristine Loggia visited Berkhamsted Library recently to talk about this story of the Second World War, inspired by the wartime tales told by her Italian grandfathers.
She told Living: ‘The Hertfordshire libraries purchased the highest number of copies of my novel to distribute. In Berkhamsted, in particular, it seemed to be borrowed all the time – back to back sometimes. I asked Sandra Blake, the librarian, if she had any clue why that was, and she said that in Berkhamsted people particularly liked reading thrillers; there seemed to be an insatiable appetite for them. Therefore I can only assume that mine was thrilling enough!’
Lucifer’s Game is a spy novel full of suspense. Unusually, it’s centred around a woman who becomes a spy against the German and Fascist forces.
While Cristina isn’t planning a sequel, she is working on another World War II thriller.
Local authors! Let us know about your book releases. Email editorial@livingmags.info.