Up Close by Henriette Gyland

Publisher Choc Lit were recently awarded 'Publisher of the Year' at the 2012 Festival of Romance, and quite rightly so.  Choc Lit consistently publish well-written, intelligent and grown up contemporary fiction.  Up Close by Henriette Gyland will be published on 7 December and is sure to be another winner for them.

The setting is deepest Norfolk with it's chilling winds, deserted fens. swirling fogs and close-knit communities.  Dr Lia Thompson has arrived back to her roots; a cold, damp and unsettling old house that she must sort through after the sudden death of her grandmother.   Lia has a new life, she is a successful A&E doctor in America, engaged to a high-flying lawyer and seemingly settled, it's difficult for her to have to start dealing with the memories that are evoked as she goes through her grandmother's possessions.   Then there are the niggling doubts that start to crop up.  Why did her grandmother get a dog?   What made her order a high-spec security system and did this traditional, set in her ways old woman really order a take away curry just before she died?

And then there is Aiden, injured during an accident whilst serving in the Navy, now producing some quite disturbing works of art and most definitely hiding something.   How much does he really know about the death of Lia's grandmother?

Henriette Gyland

Up Close is a chilling story that literally sent a shiver or two down my spine.  It's a complex story, with a cast of characters that are not to be trusted, who have back-stories that interleave together to create a quite unexpected conclusion.   Lia and Aiden are complicated characters who at first fight against their attraction to each other, hurting each other in the process.  There is real passion in this story, not just the blossoming romance, but also the passion felt by the characters for what they believe in - there is also an undercurrent of hate running through the book - terrible deeds carried out in the past that have shaped the characters and their futures.

This is a clever and gripping read - with a twist.