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Today I am on the tour for Christmas At The First Sip Coffee Shop by Emma Bennet, thank you to Zoé at Zooloos Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 252

Synopsis: Mince pies. Gingerbread snowmen. Choose your favourite Christmas treat, grab a blanket and settle in with this heartwarming cosy romance.

Lucy Wilson built the First Sip coffee shop from nothing. She loves every mismatched chair, every cosy corner, every friendly face that comes through the door.

She doesn’t love Dylan Benjamin. Charming, cocky and far too sure he can fix everything. He’s the last person Lucy would ask for help.

But when her landlord decides to sell the building, it’s Dylan who steps in and saves her beloved coffee shop. Now he is part owner of First Sip and in her space every single day.

Then the consequences of the night neither of them will talk about come to light and keeping her distance gets a lot harder. Because Lucy is starting to see the man behind the cocky smile.

It’s Christmas in Castle Cove. The tree’s going up on the High Street, the choir’s singing and First Sip is filled with gingerbread lattes, mince pies and unexpected second chances.

Dylan has proposed twice. Lucy has said no twice.

But with Christmas Eve approaching, she’s running out of reasons to say no again.

My Thoughts: this was officially my first Christmas book of the year and I honestly cannot think of a better one to start with, this was just so good!

It is the second book in the Castle Cove series and I think it would work fine as a standalone but I have read both and loved the appearance of the characters in the previous book it gave it a real feel of community.

This time we’re following Lucy who owns The First Sip Coffee Shop and Dylan who is the joker of Castle Cove, he has a reputation of being a real ladies man.

Lucy is an independent woman after having her life torn about by a man in the past she’s very reluctant to even let friends get too close incase it all comes crashing down again, but after a town meeting she finds herself being nurse to Dylan after he slips on her doorstep.. could there be more to him than she thought?

Right from the start I adored this, you could tell very early on that Dylan was a total goner for Lucy, the only person who couldn’t see it was her..

This had me squealing and giggling, getting shy and hiding my face behind my hands, Dylan really was swoon worthy, but in subtle ways, he gave off real golden retriever energy 😍

Lucy’s inner monologue made me want to hug her at times she was so unsure of herself and her emotional insecurities really broke my heart.

One of my favourite parts of this was Lucy helping Dylan discover the love and magic of Christmas that he didn’t get to experience back then. It really brought the saying “like a kid at Christmas” to life and it really was just everything. 🥺

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Today I am on the tour for Good Twin Bad Twin by Renita D’Silva, thank you to Zoé at Zooloos Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 307

Synopsis:

I’m shaking as I turn the postcard over. A picture of a pretty Cotswold village.

And a message: Bitter Honey, here I come.

It’s in my twin sister’s handwriting. She’s the only person who ever called me that.

Except that can’t be true. Because, if it is, then whose body is buried under the patio?

She was the golden one. I was the shy, bookish one. Living in her shadow.

Now I have everything I ever wanted. A stunning home on the Dorset cliffs. A handsome husband. A beautiful teenage daughter.

But my husband disappears at night. Our dog is the only member of the family that really loves me.

And if my twin sister is alive, then everything I believed about my life is a lie.

My Thoughts: oh my god this book, it had me tied up in knots and questioning everything more than once!

I loved everything about the way this book was written, the style, the format it was just incredible.

We’re following twins Nish and Ash, and not only are we seeing 2 different points of view, we’re seeing two different timelines too, now if you’ve been reading my reviews for a while you’ll know I love a multi p.o.v or timeline book because it gives you a more rounded look at the story, so to get both in one book?! I felt like I was being spoilt.

So with the chapters told from the past we very much get the picture that one twin is front and centre whilst the other I overlooked and quite often forgotten about, which left the present chapters more intriguing because we don’t know who we’re with, there are little hints that make you think your right… but are you?

This book gave me chills, like actual goosebumps down my spine, it was fast paced at times, but then slow and repetitive in others, but I think that was fine on purpose to throw you off the scent.

The twists in this one were off the charts, I didn’t feel like I could turn the pages fast enough.

Such a fantastic book, very well written.

Renita is another new author for me and what a book to start on!

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Today I am on the tour for Mystery In The New Forest by Carol Cole, thank you to Zoé at Zooloos Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 263

Synopsis: A single shot fired. A body lying dead in the heather. A village with something to hide.

On a raw March morning in the New Forest, a man is found dead on the open heath. Angus Darnell was shot through the heart while out for his morning run.

Detective Inspector Callum MacLean is used to dealing with shootings after his time on the Glasgow force, but never expected to come across one on this quiet patch in Hampshire.

Angus was a photographer, Sunday school teacher and chairman of the local gun club. A man everyone agrees had no enemy in the world.

So why can’t MacLean’s team find any trace of him before 2005?

Whatever Angus Darnell was trying to hide goes back a lot further.

And MacLean and his team must unpick thirty years of secrets to find out who was waiting for him in the heather.

My Thoughts: firstly let me start by telling you this is book four in a series, I went in not knowing this and it read perfectly fine, but it did make me twitchy to read the others so I may go back at some point.

You get the feeling very quickly that the team are well established and very close knit with the casual use of nicknames and banter that actually had me giggling.

There was obviously seriousness thrown in with the banter too and they worked so well together, throwing ideas back and forth.

A Police procedural is one of my favourite genres to read and this one really reminded me why, the pacing was perfect, the story was gripping lots of little pieces were dropped throughout to keep you on your toes and constantly second guessing yourself.

Will definitely be looking out for more from Carol in the future.

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Today I am on the tour for The Sleeping Beauties by G N Lawson, thank you to Zoé at Zooloos Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 240

Synopsis: Gordon White has a problem: there is a hole in his memory and four murders he may be connected to. Fleeing to a remote seaside town, the retired civil servant does not know whether he is hiding from danger or from the police. When news breaks of an arrest, fragments of the missing hours begin to surface.

Pushed by a Catholic priest to write down everything he can recall, and drawn into an uneasy relationship with Josie, aunt of one of the victims, Gordon starts piecing together the truth. Notes left by a former colleague point him back to Manchester’s long-abandoned underground railway, where two of the killings took place, and where Gordon now realises he had been.

Twenty years later, living in a care home, Gordon is given an identity tracking chip that maps every step of a person’s life. It finally reveals part of what happened during those lost hours, but not everything. Some answers remain buried, and some memories refuse to return.

My Thoughts: this was a really intriguing book, imagine being able to look back on your life when you’re older, just by being given a tracking chip, you can look back and relive all your favourite moments, but also try and remember the things you may have forgotten.

Gordon is given this exact opportunity, the problem being he doesn’t necessarily want to relive parts, he knows he connected to, but he doesn’t know how or why or if he was even the culprit! His brain had blacked it out for a reason.

The book is fantastically written, the writing flows so easily whilst also being eerie and a little creepy, I don’t know how the author has done it but the book is written in a way that makes you as the reader feel like you’re the one missing chunks of your memory, yet gives you enough to get glimpses whilst still leaving most of it just out of reach.

I really enjoyed the whole experience, I thought I would be disappointed after reading the synopsis at the idea of not getting all the answers but really it just added to the overall intrigue of the book and made it feel more real.

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Today I am on the tour for The Cold Shore by Rachel Amphlett, thank you to Zoé at Zooloos Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 263

Synopsis: A chilling murder.

A coastal town full of secrets.

A detective with everything to prove.

When a man is found savagely murdered on an abandoned vessel off the north Kent coast, what begins as a routine inquiry turns deadly.

Detective Gavin Piper had intended only a brief visit to assist his superior officer – but when circumstance forces him to take command, he finds himself leading his first homicide case in a place that feels both unfamiliar and unforgiving.

As the investigation deepens, a key witness is found dead and dark secrets begin to surface. With the body count rising and the pressure mounting, Gavin must race against the clock to find the only surviving link – before the killer strikes again.

Will Gavin’s inexperience cost him more than just the case?

Or can he uncover the truth before it’s too late?

My Thoughts: I am almost ashamed to admit that this is my first Rachel Amphlett book, but what a perfect place to start with it being the start of a new series! I am aware it is a spinoff of one of her previous series but I found it read perfectly fine without reading that.

We’re following Gavin Piper, who just so happens to be in the area of a murder so is asked to help out until someone else can get there.. he’s nervous, this is the first investigation he’s been in charge of, but after soon realising that most of his team are newbies he knows he has to dig deep and exude confidence even if he doesn’t always feel it!

Someone had been found washed up on a boat, a boat that shouldn’t be there.. with an axe in his chest and the boat in complete disarray,

They really are working with nothing, no clues, no idea who the victim is, or even why the boat is somewhere is shouldn’t be.

Questioning the locals gives them both nothing concrete and far too many questions.. they just need a break in the case, can they find it before someone else has to take over?

The book was perfectly paced, giving us enough hints to keep the pages turning and the intrigue needed to make the book impossible to put down.

It was eerie, gave me chills and left me excited to read the next instalment in the series a definite must read!

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Today I am in the tour for Love In A Hurry by Mari Jane Law, thank you to Hannah at Hygge Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 432

Synopsis: A Catholic priest needs an heir. A virgin mother wants another baby.
Will they need a miracle to make it work?

Father Kieran Quinn is in crisis. His brother does not want children, so there won’t be anyone to inherit the long-standing family business—unless Kieran defies the Church by seeking marital bliss. Then he meets Miranda with a child in her arms, looking like a Madonna. But isn’t she taken?

Miranda Morton’s time is running out. She yearns to have a baby conceived naturally by a man who loves her, yet she’s never even been kissed! When she meets Kieran, he talks of returning to Ireland, but her life is bound in Bristol, where she’s a live-in help for arthritic Judith, her snappish, flame-breathing dragon of an employer.

Judith Gold generally can’t stand Catholics, especially priests. She must make her best-personal-assistant-ever see sense over this Kieran nonsense, before Miranda’s life echoes her own tragic past. But how?

The clock is ticking. Can Kieran and Miranda find happiness together before it’s too late?

Tropes:

• Catholic priest romance
• Forbidden love
• Cinnamon roll
• Virgin
• Single parent
• Found family
• Grumpy/Sunshine

My Thoughts: what a perfect ending to what has been a really good series, I was really hoping both of these characters would get they’re happy ever after and this book gave me everything I wanted and more.

We’re following Father Kieran who is having a bit of a midlife crisis after realising that no one will inherit the family business once he’s gone.. so he had to work out what means more to him, the church or the want to have a family? add to that he’s just found out his brother is gay so starts to doubt wether everything his religion has taught him is still accurate today.

Then we have Miranda who despite giving birth to a baby to help her friends become dads she is still a virgin, she wants another baby, but also want to find and experience love and being a proper family.. the only problem is her biological clock is ticking!

This book has so much heart and humour that I really struggled to put it down, I laughed out loud several times & had a smile on my face for most of the book!

Their are told from the past, which gives us a proper look into Judith’s life, to everyone she is just a cantankerous old woman stuck in her ways, but seeing the reasons why honestly shattered my heart just a little.

You get a real sense of community in this book & that made me feel all warm and fuzzy, like I was part of the gang too.

If you’re looking for a feel good romance that doesn’t shy away from dealing with some harder topics then look no further because you’ve found it.

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Today I am on the tour for Sleuth by Charlotte Langley, thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the publisher and the author for my copy.

Pages: 329

Synopsis: Two women hunting the same killer. One seeks justice. One seeks fame. Both have something to hide.

In a remote Scottish town where everyone knows everyone, the disappearance of local girl Lily Howard should be impossible to hide. But as Detective Ruth Lindsey discovers, some secrets run deeper than blood.

When internet sensation Mia Chaplin arrives to investigate, her viral YouTube videos about the case spark a media frenzy. The town divides: some worship Mia as a crusader for justice, others see her as a dangerous provocateur. For Ruth, she’s a threat – not just to the investigation, but to the fragile peace of a community already fracturing under pressure.

As Mia’s revelations start destroying lives, Ruth realises she’s dealing with something far more sinister than a fame-hungry influencer. Because Mia knows things about Lily she shouldn’t. And Ruth is beginning to suspect that the real predator isn’t hiding in the shadowy hills of Galloway, but broadcasting to millions from plain sight…

My Thoughts: Christ what a wild ride this was! – this is my first book by Charlotte and I promise you it won’t be my last, it had me itching to pick the book up, and hating the fact that I had to put it down to go work!

Fast paced, the action just doesn’t stop, and every new character added left you reeling whilst you try to find the connections, I found myself feeling a bit like Mia, trying to see if I can pick up on all the little crumbs and piece it together myself… I failed 😂

Mia was a likeable character to begin with, and then the secrets and lies kept coming, I started to hate her but also empathising with her, what a weird mix of emotions this book had me feeling. At times I did feel like maybe Ruth was too close to the family to be productive but a little nudge from Max every now and again kept her on the straight and narrow.

I cried, like full on sobbed at this book, there was a part I didn’t see coming and it absolutely broke me, but what an incredible book!

1000% you should add this one to your TBR.

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Hi 👋🏼 today I am here to reveal the cover for Buried in Silence by Deborah Stone, but before I do let me tell you a little about the book and the author!

Pages: 340

Synopsis: A fast-paced London conspiracy thriller about a disgraced former Scotland Yard detective, the ex-lover She draws back into her investigation and a powerful technology company using murder and political blackmail to seize power.

The police say Calvin Cross died naturally.

Former Scotland Yard detective Ember Lockhart lost her career following a scandal. Now working as a private investigator, she is hired by Amelia Cross to investigate her husband’s sudden death on a flight into Heathrow.

Calvin had been frightened before he died, and the corrupted USB stick he left behind suggests he had good reason. As Ember begins asking questions, she is followed, warned and threatened to abandon the case. With reluctant help from her former colleague and ex-lover, Leo Campbell, she traces Calvin’s death to a secretive technology company involved in political blackmail and corporate espionage involving an elaborate plan to destabilise the British government.

Then Amelia is murdered, and the evidence is carefully arranged to frame Ember.

Charged with killing her own client, Ember must prove her innocence while pursuing an organisation prepared to eliminate anyone who gets in the way of their ultimate political goal.

About The Author: Deborah Stone is the best-selling author of four gripping psychological thrillers that keep readers turning pages late into the night. Her novels have won multiple awards and critical acclaim, establishing her as a standout voice in contemporary psychological suspense and thriller fiction.

Her new crime thriller, Buried In Silence, will be available for pre-order on September 30, 2026 and will be released on October 14, 2026.

Her last release, Nowhere Man (October 3, 2024), is available in paperback, Kindle, and as an audiobook. It follows the success of Semi-Detached (April 3, 2023) which was recently honoured with the Chill With A Book Readers’ Award.

Deborah’s second novel, Me and My Shadow, received the prestigious Chill With A Book Premier Award, given only to books that earn outstanding ratings across all reviewer categories. Her debut, What’s Left Unsaid, won the Runner-Up Prize for Best Book of 2018 in the same awards and remains a reader favourite.

In addition to fiction, Deborah is the author of the highly respected non-fiction guide, The Essential Family Guide to Caring for Older People, a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2022.

A recognised expert on elder care, Deborah frequently appears on BBC, ITV, Sky, and Channel 5, offering expert advice on aging, care planning, and family support. She contributes regularly to national newspapers and lifestyle magazines, helping families navigate the complexities of caring for older relatives.

She lives in London with her husband and their delightfully mischievous golden retriever

Are you ready for the cover?!

Such an intriguing cover! – can’t wait to be part of the tour for this one next month ☺️

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Today I am on the tour for Nourish by Laura Baggaley, thank you to Zoé at Zooloos Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 331

Synopsis: Cal lives in a post-food world. People don’t eat. They have Nutritional Provision.

When Cal is enrolled in a fancy boarding school after the death of his father, he discovers a rare edible substance that forces him to question everything he’s been told about nourishment.

Determined to discover more, he joins forces with classmate Andi, heiress to the Nutritional Provision Corporation. But as their investigations lead to trouble and a friend’s life is in danger, will they dare risk everything to expose the truth?

My Thoughts: now if I’m being brutally honest, this book fascinated me and completely freaked me out at the same time!

The idea of having to plug yourself in every night to get everything your body needs made me feel a little squeamish, especially when the action of it was described in the book and strangely the idea of Cal and everyone else not eating made me feel hungry yet completely out off by the idea of food at the same time. Now I now that that was all psychological but it was very real at the same time.

The story itself just kind of showed that there is no perfect solution to the food problem in the world, we are on the whole a world of over consumption, which is scary but the alternate reality provided in this book was riddled with its own problems.

The whole thing elicited real feelings in me, I was shocked, angry, upset but then other times I found myself laughing at the situations Cal and Andi found themselves in.

This book will stay with me for a long time & has definitely made me think a little more about the food I put into my body.

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Today I am on the tour for Dead Mans Run by Murray Bailey (apparently 2 days late! I’m so sorry 😔) thank you to Murray himself for organising it and inviting me to take part and for providing me with a copy of the book!

Pages: 371

Synopsis: The war may have ended, but the cover-ups never did.

Israel 1950. SIB Captain Ash Carter is called into the British ’embassy’ to report on the death-in-service of a consular officer. Despite assurances that there is nothing suspicious, Carter begins a challenging investigation – one that the authorities disprove of. And the deeper he digs, the more complex it appears.

Meeting an Israeli private detective, investigating a linked crime, Carter forms an uneasy alliance. Together, they uncover something too shocking to be believed without hard proof. With the highest of political stakes, distrust at every turn, deceit, kidnapping and murder, Carter must find a balance between the law, justice and revenge. 

Dead Man’s Run is the fifth historical crime novel in the Ash Carter Near East series but can be read as a stand-alone

My Thoughts: Ash Carter has become a comfort character for me I get so excited whenever Murray messages me with another instalment!

Historical books aren’t normally for me, but Murray has a way of making them historically accurate whilst making the writing feel modern day which helps me to not get overwhelmed by everything and just enjoy it for what it is!

In this one Ash is brought in to investigate the death of James Morton, a very important political figure, the story being sold is suicide, but when looking at the scene something starts niggling at him that James was murdered, small clues that the average person wouldn’t notice.. can he put all these clues together and get the full picture?

Very quickly he realises that it will take more than just him so he uses his contacts which brings some familiar faces into the series! – I think I actually squealed when a certain person showed his face.

This book was slow paced compared to other Ash Carter books, but it fit well for the story, the tension was high and I was gripped all the way through.

I’m starting to think that maybe Ash can do no wrong, I’m already eagerly awaiting the next adventure he takes us on

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