Stella’s life has changed beyond doubt and she has the rock of her spritely grandmother Beth who at 70 is running marathons and a bit of a sneaky past. Can Stella get Beth to open up and vice versa?
What a beautiful strong read that I loved! Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

What do you do when everything you thought you wanted is taken away? That's the question facing Stella. Luckily, she has her grandmother Beth to help her work through her trauma and grief to find a new path. A good read.

Another Great book; Guide Star from Joy Ellis. This is not a book from her crime Detective Series she has out at the moment. I am a avid reader of a good crime book and not a fan of romance etc however I found this book beautifully written and a lovely read. I really warmed to all the characters and enjoyed the way Joy told the story of their lives.
I found this book hard to put down once I read a few pages.

Thank you to Joffe publishers and Joy for letting me have an advanced copy of this book.

5 star read from me.

I loved this book from start to finish! A fast, intriguing story that I didn't want to put down. Very interesting topics & very satisfying.

Guide star by joy ellis.

Who do you turn to when life goes wrong?

Stella’s life has changed forever. Her only support is her amazing grandmother, Beth. But Beth also faces the biggest challenge of her life.

Stella North, a rising star in the police, has her life torn apart by a gunman’s bullets. All her life she has faced danger, but these injuries mean she must give up the job she loves. Her grandmother Beth is her rock. And Beth is no ordinary woman. At seventy, she runs marathons and has an exciting past that Stella knows very little about.

Will Stella find the strength to overcome the challenges of her new life, and will her grandmother at last resolve the deep emotional turmoil of her past?

A Fantastic read with brilliant characters. I loved Stella and her grandmother. Wow. What her grandmother did for the war. I was shocked. This book is fall of surprises. A lovely read. 5*. Netgalley and Joffe books.

Wowzers, I enjoyed that one. 5 super starts from me.
​This is certainly a change from all the other books I have read from Joy Ellis, but a brilliant change too.
​I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book.
​Stella North was a police officer until she was shot. This book is Stella's journey on trying to rebuild her life, trying to adapt to all that she has lost and trying to find herself again.
​Memory loss, mood swings are just a couple of the things that Stella has to endure on a daily basis, alongside this she has lost the job that she loved doing. To Stella there is nothing left for her. It takes a long time to come to terms with life changing events.
​As well as the impact this has had on Stella we also see how it has affecter her grandmother who she is living with while trying to get her life back. I loved these two characters and I could have read a whole lot more about them.

​A truly enjoyable read, and although I was a little apprehensive about the change, at the end of this book I realised that Joy Ellis is one hell of a writer and even with the change can hold my attention throughout any book she has written.

This one is well worth reading in my opinion, and I don't think anyone reading this would be disappointed.

​I certainly look forward to reading more from Joy and can't wait for the next book in the Fens series.

​A big fat 5/5 from me.

This book was about getting on your feet again after a traumatic experience, it is also about second chances. This was the first time that I've heard about urban exploration and decay photography and this part of the story was really intriguing, this is something that I also now want to explore a bit further in the future. Joy Ellis is a gifted story teller and not once in the book did I wish for it to end. Lots of twists and turns that keeps you glued to the pages with really likable down to earth characters.

I would really recommend this book.
Thanks to Joffe books via Netgalley for the copy.

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher. This is a different book that the author normally writes although set in the fens. I actually really enjoyed it

I absolutely loved this book. Joy Ellis is one of my favourite authors and this book does not disappoint. It's nice to know that she can write something other than crime novels.

Enjoyed this Joy Ellis. Different to her previous Fen titles, not as gritty.

I have read many books by this author and this one although it is different to the Fens series I still enjoyed it. It is well written and the characters are likeable and believable

What an absolutely wonderful book. Joy Ellis has captured the heartache, distress and depression of a life changing accident and walked Stella through her recovery to a new understanding of what life can be. Stella was sure her life ended along with her career as a police officer when she was shot in the head. Her grandmother Beth will not allow her to wallow in self pity and brings her home and loves and heals her with exercise. Beth recruits help from an old flame who is a doctor and Tom, an old boyfriend of Stella's who was her Urbex partner(explored old abandoned factories )when they were younger. This great story captures the love of a Grandmother for her granddaughter but also recounts the love story that covers 50 years. It appears that Ms. Ellis has several police/crime procedural series that I'll have to explore. This is one great novel.

Always enjoy Joy Ellis books they are easy reading with likeable characters. A stand alone book with a feel good story . Look forward to the next one

A lovely read and a feel good book. Joy Ellis never disappoints. Not my usual genre but a thoroughly enjoyable feel good read. Thank you Net Galley for my copy. I reviewed on Goodreads and Amazon.

I had only read my first book by Joy Ellis a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it as I am a devoted fan of crime novels. I wasn't sure what to expect with this book but once I had started it I could not put it down. I found the characters likeable and believable and the stories intertwined really well. My only criticism would be that I thought the ending was a little rushed. But I certainly would recommend reading this book. An uplifting read and a well deserved 5 stars. Thank you Net Galley and Joffe Books for giving me the opportunity of reading this book.

Guide Star is a bit of a departure from the usual books that Joy Ellis writes. This time rather than focusing on crime she focuses on the aftermath of a crime and what happens to the victims and their friends and family as they all come to terms with what has happened.
In Guide Star you meet Stella North a policewoman who is recovering from an off duty shooting that basically meant she had to totally re-evaluate her life and her career. Due to the injuries she sustained she is no longer able to remain in the police force as she now has trouble remembering things and suffering from severe mood swings. After her release from hospital she moves in with her grandmother but she also has a lot of support from her ex-husband and his new wife.
What I loved about this book is the fact that although the story is essentially about Stella and how she deals with all that has happened to her, you also get to see the effects it has had on all those around her.
Her grandmother Beth has remained very determined that Stella will get better and pushes her through her rehabilitation. When it seems that the mood swings are getting the better of her granddaughter she even contacts a man from her past who she knows has the ability to help even if it means dragging up painful memories that she had tried to put behind her.
Her ex-husband Ed and his wife Lexi have been a big support through it all; however Ed is hiding health issues of his own that are threating his marriage. With everything going on he doesn’t want to burden anyone with his problems but those around him won’t let it rest until they know what is going on.
There is her ex- partner in the force Robbie who has been basically left to drift in his career. He feels that neither he nor Stella is given any support from their superiors and he is in danger of ruining his career. He comes across as quite a sensitive character that misses having someone to work with. Quite often in books when an officer is injured they are always the focus of everything and the partners they leave behind just seem to carry on as if nothing happens. Joy Ellis has decided to take a different route by showing that they can be just as deeply affected by what has happened and can also sometimes suffer from a form of PTSD.
During the course of her therapy she makes contact with friends from the past and re discovered her love of photography.
There is also a nod to Joy’s latest books when Stella contacts DS Marie Evans in the hope of helping Robbie and preventing him from destroying his career.
Guide Star is a great story about how despite life changing events there is always the possibility to go on and make a new life if you take the chances available. It may not be a fast paced book but it is packed with characters that you want to get to know and become invested in. This is a good stand-alone story by Joy Ellis and you don’t need to have read any of her other books to enjoy this one.

This is not one of Joy Ellis' crime series, although it is set in the fens and the main character was with the police until serious injuries changed her life course.

Brief description:
Who do you turn to when life goes wrong?
Stella’s life has changed forever. Her only support is her amazing grandmother, Beth. But Beth also faces the biggest challenge of her life.
Stella North, a rising star in the police, has her life torn apart by a gunman’s bullets. All her life she has faced danger, but these injuries mean she must give up the job she loves. Her grandmother Beth is her rock. And Beth is no ordinary woman. At seventy, she runs marathons and has an exciting past that Stella knows very little about.
Will Stella find the strength to overcome the challenges of her new life, and will her grandmother at last resolve the deep emotional turmoil of her past?
As much as I've love Ellis' fen series, this book doesn't fall in my typical choice of genre. It is classified as Women's Fiction. I didn't dislike it by any means, but I was hoping for more of Nikki Galena and her crew.

I was already familiar with urban exploration and urban decay from seeing photos on different sites for the last several years, but the novel does an interesting job in discussing this pastime/obsession. Many of the photos urban explorers take are gorgeous, but most of the locations have a an air of desolation that is hard to shake. The explorations range from the grand to the industrial, and there is always that combination of fascinating and sad about abandoned buildings.

Source

NetGalley/Joffe Books

Women's Fiction. Apr. 28, 2017.

4 stars

Stella wakes up in the hospital. She is told she has been shot. Beth, her grandmother, is by her side.

Recovery is difficult and Stella is heartbroken at the prospect of giving up her policing job. She considers suicide. Meanwhile, Beth’s old friend, Michael Lindenfeld, returns from Germany. She tells Stella about their relationship. Beth is a remarkable woman. She still runs marathons and engages in other very active pastimes.

Michael is a neuropsychologist whose specialty is brain damaged persons. He is perfect for Stella. If only Beth can bear having her old friend in the area. He is of great help to Stella.

At the same time, Stella’s former partner, Robbie, is having severe difficulties at work. He is lost without her. Lexi is having problems with Ed. Ed is Stella’s former husband. What is going on? These are two important subplots. A tie in is a cameo by DS Marie Evans and DI Will Jackman.

This is a very well written and plotted novel. While it is not Joy Ellis’ usual fare, it is still very enjoyable. It flows nicely and the words are well chosen. It did have some points in it that did not follow well. I said to myself, “And just how did that happen?” a couple of times. It bothered me a little that Stella felt she had to rescue/take care of everyone.

I want to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this nice little novel for me to read.

My review as posted on Goodreads:

Having read many of the crime fiction novels by Joy Ellis, I was keen to see how she writes this slightly different genre.

I was pleasantly surprised. I liked the fact that Stella, the main character is an ex-detective. I also liked the use of DI Rowan Jackman and DS Marie Evans as characters within this story.

The journey of self-discovery for Stella following a life changing injury is cleverly knitted in with the story of Beth, her grandmothers past.

This is not a genre which I read frequently, but it makes a change. Joy Ellis manages to create an entertaining story using a setting and style with which she is familiar.

Thanks once again to Netgalley and Joffe Books for a copy in exchange for this review.