May 28, 2026 – My Sanctuary

First Dates At The Cat Cafe By Rachel Rowlands

Love is in the air at the cat café… Will everyone find their purr-fect match?

☕🐈☕💘💘💘☕🐈 ☕

Grace adores her job as a barista at the café, but dreams of one day setting up her own matchmaking agency to help pet lovers find true love.

When Catpurrcino partners with a dating festival for the whole of August it seems like it is meant to be.

The last thing on Grace’s mind is her own love life.

Until she is matched with musician Nathan, who is only at the festival so he can perform.

Grace knows from the very first moment that Nathan is not the man of her dreams.

But no one is going to take romantic advice from someone who can’t even get through one successful date. So Grace and Nathan make a pact: they will pretend to be smitten with each other until the end of festival.

The more time Grace and Nathan spend playing the perfect couple, the more Grace wonders if her fake feelings are becoming real… Could Nathan ever feel the same?

Uncover Honeymoon By Jo Watson

When Private Investigator Lizzy Brown is hired to follow a cheating spouse, the last person she expects to run into is Cameron Anderson: the man she dated for a grand total of 6 hours, and the real reason she left the Police Academy all those years ago. Something Lizzy definitely isn’t still bitter about.

Cam, tasked with a money-laundering case, never thought he’d find himself once again squaring off with Lizzy – and most certainly not in a romantic and glamorous Seychelles resort. But when their separate cover stories are put at risk, the pair are soon forced to masquerade as a honeymooning couple to cover their tracks.

Faking a marriage with your ex is bad enough, but when Lizzy and Cam find themselves tangled in a criminal conspiracy bigger than their bitterness, they realise that their relationship lie might be the only thing keeping them alive.

But as old feelings resurface, are they really just playing the part?

Two couples. Four sides of the story. A hundred ways to break their families apart 💔

Every Tuesday night, two couples see the same therapist for marriage counselling. At 8pm, as Liv and Jay are leaving their session, they see Maya and Hugo waiting to go in.

When their young boys start at the same school, things are initially awkward, but as the women get to know one another, they become friends, sharing the fractures in their respective marriages. Soon, they are confiding their deepest secrets.

Then Liv and Jay’s son comes home from school upset, saying that Maya and Hugo’s son is bullying him. There’s no choice but to confront the issue, but what should be a civil conversation between grown-ups soon takes a turn. As the delicate threads holding their relationships together start to unravel, they are all left to question the foundations that both their marriages and friendships have been built on.

About The Author

My Review

This book is about the quiet unraveling of two marriages and the unexpected bond that forms when secrets begin to surface. This is a subtle yet gripping exploration of friendship, fidelity, and the stories couples tell themselves to survive.

The novel opens with an awkward meeting in a therapist’s waiting room, where Liv and Maya slowly develop a connection that feels tentative but deeply real. As they share the cracks in their respective marriages, their conversations become the emotional heart of the story—raw, intimate, and uncomfortably honest. Finnerty excels at showing the contrast between outwardly polished lives and the private disappointments simmering beneath.

Tension escalates when a conflict between their sons at school forces long-suppressed issues into the open. What should be straightforward quickly turns messy, exposing blurred boundaries, simmering resentments, and fragile trust. The author handles these moments with empathy, never tipping into melodrama, but allowing the emotional consequences to land naturally.

What truly stands out is the lack of judgment. Every character feels flawed, human, and believable. With shifting perspectives and moral ambiguity, the novel keeps you questioning loyalties until the end.

Thought-provoking and emotionally rich, this is a compelling, quietly powerful read about how easily certainties can fall apart.

Marriage in crisis

Domestic drama with secrets

Female friendship

My Rating