And Then I Turned Into A Mermaid by Laura Kirkpatrick

In this book we meet Molly and her family of mum and four sisters who she discovers as she's turning thirteen are mermaids!

However as she crushes on a football mad guy, has best friend fall outs with Ada and remembers how her mum was not long ago sick with cancer and having to juggle a business of a chip shop with no partner around a lot is happening in her life and being a mermaid adds to it as she starts to transform with the slightest touch of water!

She also befriends Eddie a regular customer at their chip shop she comes to realise is better than football guy...

This is a super fun book, I was laughing so much at points throughout and Molly was a character forever facing a tough time it seemed as she comes to terms with her new mermaid half life! If you want a funny book filled with a wacky family this is for you!

Birthday by Meredith Russo

Eric and Morgan have known each other since they were born and always spend their brithday toegther.

However when Morgan loses her mum, she shuts off from the word after trying and failing to come out to her friend about really being a girl, trapped in seemingly a boy's body and tha she's actually transgender.

As they grown up, we see how they both question their sexuality over thoughts they have for the other, how they feel attracted to each other and especially how they deal with girls who they encounter.

There's a heavy aspect of homophobia bought up too as in their small town, many of the football players speak horrifically about gay people and especially Eric's dad is a very cruel man pushing his family away and seemingly only caring about how rich he can be, a fickle bitter man indeed.

Morgan was a brave and strong character throughout even if I was screaming when little young Morgan wasn't heard coming out about her true self when she was with Eric for their first birthday mentioned in the book!

I really enjoyed this book, not only for the transgender topic being handled and executed so well but the eighteen year development of a loving relationship, the pair truly were made for each other and this book's ending is movie style for sure this should be adapted and be a Netflix craze for all to see!

Mistletoe and Murder Murder Most Unladylike Book 5 by Robin Stevens

In this next book, set at Christmas time in Cambridge, Daisy and Hazel are staying at a local Great aunt's of Daisy's to visit her brother as well as Alexander and George his friend at their school.

However, the boys dorm experience not only one murder, but two! As the girls team up with the boys, they uncover a longer suspect list than they first though and come to realise anyone isn't ruled out, those unexpected could still play a role as much as those close to home.

We see there is more students from outside England, the girls witnessing and feeling crushes on others, as well as some family surprises too along the way. The gift giving scene was fun and very realistic for them both!

A story with family legacy at the heart of it as well as jealousy and greed. Set to the scene of Christmas, devilishly good spread of seasonal foods and decorations whilst complex with murder but beautifully set in scenic Cambridge with a snowy setting for investigating to this is a Christmas mystery of a gift to us for solving and enjoying!

Cream Buns and Crime by Robin Stevens

This book is full of Daisy and Hazel's tips to sleuthing and Crime solving as well as recommendations for other murder mystery books, inspiring detectives and short mini mysteries which they've solved in the past from their first mystery to their friends at the boy's school whom are also detectives.

It's a great book to begin with reading to get into the series I feel and makes more sense to introduce you to Hazel and Daisy's detective world more so than being a late comer to the series. However I do prefer full length mysteries much more and can't wait for the next one but this did have mini stories in it to give you a taster of the series if you've never picked it one of them up before!

The Case Of The Missing Treasure by Robin Stevens

In this mini mystery we join Hazel and Daisy as she tells us the story of her birthday and the treasure hunt she had set for her by her Uncle Felix and Aunt Lucy as they join up with the Pinkertons again and work together to solve the mystery which coincides with a real crime being solved thanks to them.

As a lover of museum's I really enjoyed this mystery as artefacts were going missing due to theft. The girls and boys detective and intellectual skills were as sharp as ever and are still acting but not seeming at times older than their young teen years a fun and interesting mini mystery addition to the series!

A Spoonful Of Murder by Robin Stevens

In this book, we travel with Hazel and Daisy to Hong Kong where Hazel will be with her family as they mourn her grandfather's death.

As the pair get shocks and discover a horrid murder plot wrapped around and interwoven through Hazel's family as she uncovers some horrid truths about her family life.

We see how Daisy struggles with Hong Kong and gets a taste of how Hazel feels to be in England as their roles reverse. We see how Hazel's family unit works as her father has two wives but a whole family. There are some shocking things in the plot and to be fair I guessed one of the main characters to be involved but it only made the story better to have guessed right and then had a shock when another character also appears in the situation too. It kept me on my toes whilst allowing me a taste of Hong Kong culture especially as Daisy thinks Hazel's super rich after visiting her the divide is a good reflection of the girl's lives they knew before Deepdean!

Death In The Spotlight by Robin Stevens

Daisy and Hazel are back this time in London with Daisy's uncle and find themselves starring in a real London theatre play where of course death strikes once again...

Being cast in Romeo and Juliet, meeting up again with the Junior Pinkertons and a dreadful flu striking the cast down as well as murders behind and in the spotlight it's a more widespread murder mystery case as we see the girls investigate in London.

With Daisy realising how she feels with her sexuality and a fellow cast member, Simon being not only American but gay as well, it raises the big topic of how back years ago it was illegal and forbidden by law and was a prison sentence!

The girls are growing up and it's delightful to see their maturing through the novels and feel like we're growing with them! The mystery wasn't my favourite of the series but it was still a tale full of twists and turns to surprise you nonetheless and the murderer wasn't a simple guess this time either!

Boy Meets Hamster by Birdie Milano

Dylan is forced to go on one of the newspaper £9.50 holiday deals to a caravan park in Cornwall along with him is his best friend too and once they get to the caravan park it soon becomes clear they're in for an interesting time from oldie Elviss to dancing hamsters, not forgetting the cute boy, Jayden next door.

However after a lot of incidents Jayden starts to come across as more of a nightmare as the cracks start to show in his perfect image Dylan see's him as leading him to a change of thoughts after an incident at the swimming pool...

Only as he and his mate start to partake in the crazy so called fun of the park, he finds that Nibbles the crazy hamster may not be as bad as he thought right away and that his brother Jude needs protecting from bullying Jayden's brother, Troy a little terror who wreaks more havoc than Dylan does only to people and not the actual holiday park!

I loved this book it has been one of the funniest books I've read whilst also having and LGBT edge as our main characters are gay and having to deal with coming out, finding love and dealing with homophobic language from bullies.

Secret Suffragette by Barbara Mitchelhill

When close to her family home the suffragettes appear fighting for women's rights, Daisy knows she's interested in joining and helping out even though folk around don't like them, mostly the men who feel like her dad to her mum that they won't and should control their wives.

However after her mum loses her job she gets up the fight to campaign harder despite the consequences after trying to get better working conditions which angers her husband and forces him to throw out their mum and move in their horrible auntie.

Daisy sticks by her mum and helps her right for women's rights despite being so young and shocked by the actions she sees the women doing around her. A courageous young girl, Daisy is a good role model of a strong girl who knows what she believes in and it was a thrilling read about an interesting time in history.

The Curse Of The School Rabbit by Judith Kerr

Tommy hates the school rabbit Snowflake while his sister loves him and even makes a dance up about him!

So when Snowflake comes to stay things go wrong with their actor dad out of work, Angie falling ill and then inspiration strikes Tommy to write about the curse of The Rabbit and after his stay ends, things take a dramatic turn for the better...

This is a fun little book that animal lovers will enjoy and by the great Judith Kerr too what a way to finish her wonderful career with this tale.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!