Strictly Between Us by Jane Fallon Book Review

It's been a little while since my last book review, which was Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon back in March, which to me feels like ages ago! I had every intention of posting more before now but life kind of took over and I had quite a big break from reading, well for me anyway given how many books I'd read since the start of the year. The ones I'd picked up since Everything Everything had also all left me a little disappointed too and some I even gave up on halfway through which I hate doing so I was just a bit meh about it all. Because of that I thought I'd try another book from one of my new favourite authors Jane Fallon. I've loved the last two books I've read from her, Tell Me A Secret and Faking Friends so I picked up Strictly Between Us and I had high hopes for it.

'Rumours, secrets and lies. It's all in a day's work. Tamsin and her best friend Michelle have been inseparable since they were teenagers. Even now they spend all their time together, along with Patrick, Michelle's handsome husband. So when Tamsin hears a rumour that Patrick is having an affair, she is furious. Unwilling to ignore it, Tamsin plots a scheme to catch Patrick in the act, using her assistant Bea as live-bait. It should be fool proof. After all, Tamsin can trust Bea with anything. From her daily coffee order to fetching her dry-cleaning, writing reports and doing all the filing - Bea does everything with a smile on her face. Except Tamsin never considered Bea might have her own agenda. And if she does, then Tamsin really needs to watch her back.'

My review

From the beginning I felt so invested in this story, despite not knowing what to think of the main character Tamsin. As you can tell from the synopsis, Tamsin takes it upon herself to try and catch her best friend Michelle's husband cheating after hearing several rumours. Straight away the way she went about things was a bit dubious and I didn't really think it was going to end up helping Michelle in any way. She then ends up making a huge mistake herself, within the first few chapters, so it was hard to feel sympathy for when things got difficult later on. That being said, the hate I felt for Patrick was on another level! How either Michelle or Tamsin ever thought he was a good man, I honestly don't know. I was willing throughout the whole book for him to get his comeuppance. One thing Jane always seems to do so well is write unlikable characters.

Speaking of unlikable characters, Tamsin's assistant Bea also wasn't to be trusted and we get a better insight into why when the two person narrative starts in the second half of the book. I actually liked being able to see her point of view too just to give the book a bit of a different spin and see the whole situation between Tamsin, Michelle and Patrick from another perspective. I do think this is when the book really started to pick up the pace and that's when I was really starting to think 'it's getting interesting now.'

From there I then ended up finishing the book in a matter of hours as I was just hooked by it. I genuinely didn't know where it was going to end. Tamsin had got herself in such a mess trying to do the right thing, as had both Patrick and Bea for other reasons, and Michelle was still none the wiser to any of it. There was always a thought in my head though that she had to find out at some point so I was just constantly tense waiting for that. I genuinely couldn't see how there would be a happy ending (not that every book has one but I prefer it when they do!)

Following on from that, I have mixed feelings about how it was rounded up. As much as Tamsin probably didn't deserve to go on and live a happy life as if nothing had happened, her intentions were good so I was a little disappointed that her story seemed to be going one way then went another right at the very end. It also left a little mystery around it all for Michelle and I'm not sure if I was in her situation that's what I'd have wanted, it did feel a bit like Tamsin, Patrick and Bea all didn't quite get what they deserved. It just didn't feel completely finished.

Overall though, I did really enjoy the book. I went back and forth on every character, as I'm sure you can tell by this rambly review but I like that it made me question things and wonder myself what I would do in Tamsin's situation. Jane is just a brilliant writer and every time I read one of her books it always makes me want to read another.

I'd love to know if you've read Strictly Between Us or any other books from Jane Fallon?

Book reviews - Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton // One Perfect Summer by Paige Toon 

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Random Question Generator Q&A #2

A while ago I did one of those Random Question Generator Q&A's on my blog and I absolutely loved writing it. So, why not do another one? I had no idea what questions were going to come up so they're all just a bit random!

What's the ideal way to celebrate your birthday?

I always dread my birthday a little bit so I like to keep it quite low-key. Maybe breakfast in bed then a trip to the cinema or out for a meal, followed by cake that evening. Going to see a show in London would be pretty perfect though!

What is your favourite drink?
Definitely not something alcoholic. I'm a fizzy drink addict, honestly it's so bad. I've definitely got better with it but you can't beat an ice cold glass of coke. Pretty much any pop. I do love fresh juice though too, so refreshing.

What is one thing you would change about your home?
Ooh I'm pretty happy with most of it now to be honest but our bedroom is the one room I walk into and feel a bit flat about. It's not awful, we've done our best with it but ideally I'd love a whole new load of furniture, a fresh carpet and a new colour on the walls. That's one room I really can't wait to make our own when we eventually move.

Do you prefer to travel far away or closer to home?
Closer to home. I love going away for weekend breaks or little holidays but the thought of being too far away just makes me anxious. There are so many places in the UK I'd love to visit one day and so many city breaks that aren't too far which are on my list. 

What was your least favourite subject in school?
Probably science. I didn't love maths either but science was something I could just never properly get my head around. I dreaded each lesson.

What's your favourite book?
How do I possibly choose?! I've read so many great books over the last few years so I might have to narrow it down to a few instead. The Tattooist Of Auschwitz by Heather Morris, Tell Me A Secret by Jane Fallon, Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon and really anything I've read from Paige Toon has been a winner. 

If you were at home on a rainy Sunday afternoon, what film would you want to see on the TV?

Definitely Harry Potter. Those films always make me feel so warm and cosy and they just make me long for Christmas! I love when they're on the TV in Winter.

What are you most thankful for this year?

Our little puppy Bear. We'd wanted a dog of our own for so long, and so many times I felt it was never going to happen so to have him sat curled up on my lap while I write this just makes me want to cry. He is the best thing to happen to us.

What kind of music do you like to listen to?
Most things really but musicals are definitely my favourite. It's not often I'll put anything other than a musical soundtrack on when I want to listen to something.

What is your favourite ice cream flavour?

OMG I love all ice cream but you can't beat chocolate. Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie in particular is heaven.

I always love taking part in tags or Q&A's like this, and they're some of my favourite to read too. Feel free to use any of these questions if you want to take part in something like this too.

Similar posts - The PR Secrets Tag // 50 Questions You've Never Been Asked

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A Spring Beauty Haul

When a new season starts, I always like to treat myself to a few new bits. Whether that's clothes, makeup, homeware, or a little bit of everything, I just get a bit of an urge to shop! Over the last few weeks I've received a few PR bits and I've also picked a few things up myself so I thought it was about time for a little Spring haul.

Sally Hansen Nail Polishes

A few weeks ago we popped to an outlet village for a little coffee date and a bit of shopping and I found a brilliant beauty outlet shop. So many big brands, product after product so of course I picked a few bits up, mainly nail polishes. I've been wanting to try some Sally Hansen polishes for ages but for the usual price of around £10 a bottle in places like Superdrug and Boots, I've just never wanted to take the risk. For that price I'd rather stick with brands I know and trust like Essie. Well I found so many gorgeous shades for £1.99 each! I picked up the shades 'Rose To The Occasion' which is a pastel pink, 'Peach Of Cake' which is a lovely coral shade and 'Hooked On Onxy' which is black, you can never have too many black nail polishes. I also picked up a Salon System Nail Lux Top Coat Polish as I seem to get through them so quickly.

Soap and Glory Pore Refine range*

I've been lucky enough to work with Soap and Glory a few times now and each time a parcel arrives, I get so excited. It's still mindblowing I'm one of the many bloggers they work with and it never gets taken for granted. This time the products I received are from the new pore refine range. The range contains a Foam Cleanser which lathers up beautifully with warm water, Blotting Sheets which are great for oily patches of skin and finally a new Sheet Mask, which you know I'm already a big fan of. I can't wait to use each of these more over the next few months, and I've already set aside the face mask for a little bit of self care this weekend.

Sunkissed Hydrating Jelly Tan*

Now, I never fake tan. I'm not sure I've ever really dabbled with it even when growing up it was something all the girls were doing, I just never wanted to and to be honest thought it would just be a mess if I tried. With Summer coming up though and the bouts of warm weather we keep having, it would be nice to have a bit more of a tan than I have now so I was thrilled to receive the new Hydrating Jelly Tan £13.99 from Sunkissed. I'd never seen anything like this before but the few times I have used it so far it's left a really lovely colour. I always worry with fake tan I'll end up overdoing it and not knowing what to do but this is just nice and subtle, and really easy to apply with the mitt provided.

L'oreal Elvive Shampoo & Conditioner

I've said many times before on my blog that I'm not usually fussy when it comes to my hair products. I'm usually fine with whatever is on offer but recently stress has been really affecting my hair which has therefore really affected my confidence and I was in desperate need of something to give it a bit of life back. Does anyone else find when they're stressed their skin and hair suffers? I usually have quite thick hair so for it to feel and look so thin actually really got to me. I wasn't sure what to try but I spotted the L'oreal Elvive Fibrology range for around £2.50 a bottle instead of £4.99, so I grabbed them. I can honestly say after just a few weeks they have made a huge difference. My hair feel thick again, it looks bouncy, it just feels refreshed and back to how it used to be. I think I'll end up sticking with both the shampoo and conditioner now as they really have worked wonders.

So that's a few bits I've been using and trying out over the last few weeks. I've got a few skincare reviews coming up soon so keep an eye out if you're after some new recommendations!

Have you tried any of the products/ranges I've mentioned?

This post contains PR samples. Affiliate links used in this post

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Meet BEAR!

I can't believe I finally get to write this post and introduce you to the newest addition to our little family, BEAR 🐶 He's only been home with us for a few days now but we are so in love with him. We've wanted a dog for such a long time so now it's happened, I couldn't wait to share it all with you! I thought a little post introducing him might be nice and then I'll probably update on him every few months or so.

So, why now?

If you've been a long time reader of my blog or if you follow on me on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest etc, you'll know how much I've been wanting a dog. Both George and I grew up with dogs and we've been hoping to get our own for such a long time. It's one of those things though where everything just has to fall into place. As much as I've literally yearned for a dog since we moved into this flat, it's only over the last year or so things have really been right. We're so happy in our flat now, we have a car, we've had lots of trips away, we're both able to be at home more, it was just important that we had a lot of things sorted before bringing a dog into our family. We wanted it to be right for them and right for us. 

Meet Bear 

So, after looking for months we finally found Bear. We were always intending to get a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel which is what I had when I was younger, just because we knew what to expect, they are of course absolutely beautiful and with us living in a flat, we didn't want anything massive. Unfortunately they are very hard to come by. We did also look into adoption too. I know there's always a massive thing when someone buys a dog rather than adopts but it just wasn't the time for us. I can't even tell you how long I was looking for a dog that we could adopt but because they've already gone through so much, there are lots of restrictions on who can re-home them and with us being in a flat, being first time owners, and a few other things, nothing ever really felt right. And I'd hate more than anything to have adopted and given a dog a home, for it to then not have been the perfect situation for them or us. I'd love love love to adopt in future but for our first dog, we wanted to be 100% sure. So now that's out of the way, because I did feel I had to mention it, we eventually started looking for other breeds and that's where we found Cavapoochons. I'd seen these bundles of fluff online countless times before so when I saw the advertisement, and a few things lined up for us, it just seemed like fate. If you didn't know, a Cavapoochon is a 1/4 Cavalier, 1/4 Bichon Frise and 1/2 Toy Poodle.

There were 6 pups when we went to visit and pretty much instantly we fell in love with Bear, though it was such a tough decision. He was actually called Bailey when we first met him, turns out the mum was obsessed with sniffing alcohol or being near it when she was pregnant so all of the pups were named after different alcoholic drinks! We'd had a few names in mind for both girls and boys just in case but Bear just seemed to fit. We spent ages sat with him, basically just staring and stroking him and it was so hard to leave. He was 3 weeks old when we first saw him, you can see from the photo below how small he was!

We then saw him again at 5 weeks and he had already changed so much. His little curls we're noticeable, his face looked so much older and he had already doubled his weight! He loves his food so he's going to fit in with us incredibly well 😂 

The next time we saw him was when we went to collect him! I'd imagined that moment so many times, and it was just everything. That was last Thursday so he's been here with us for almost a week and he's settled in so well. I just can't believe he's ours! The nights have been a bit up and down, sometimes he cries for ages and wakes up several times and other times he's a bit more calm and sleeps through til around 6, but it's one of those things that will just take time. He loves to play. Each day he seems to have mad half an hours throughout where he's trying to bite everything and running all over and then he'll crash and sleep for at least an hour at a time afterwards. He seems to go into such a deep sleep each time so if he's comfy, there's no moving him!

Aswell as loving his sleep, he's also always after a cuddle. He is like our little shadow. He's always waiting for us to sit down so he can snuggle next to us. He gets himself in all sorts of positions, he especially loves sitting near my neck like a scarf! He's just a bundle of fluff, so soft and warm. His little eyes when he looks at me just make my heart burst.

I'm sure it won't be long until Bear is featured on my blog again but for now if you want to keep up to date and see allllll the cute photos, feel free to follow my Instagram or Bear's. Yes I am that person who has made an account for my dog.

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