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Today I am delighted to be kicking off the blog tour for Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough, thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to Harper Collins UK for my copy.

Pages 416

Synopsis: Something old…
When Marcie met Jason Maddox, she couldn’t believe her luck. Becoming Jason’s second wife catapulted her into the elite world of high society. But underneath the polite, old money manners, she knows she’ll always be an outsider, and her hard-won life hangs by a thread.

Something new…
Then Jason’s widowed boss brings back a new wife from his trip to London. Young, beautiful, reckless – nobody can take their eyes off Keisha. Including Jason.

Something you can never, ever undo…
Marcie refuses to be replaced so easily. People would kill for her life of luxury. What will Marcie do to keep it?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧.5

My Thoughts: for me this is a really hard book to review, not because it was bad, I really enjoyed it. – it just didn’t seem like much of a thriller to me until the last 100 pages.

It has a very slow build to it, we are following Marcie who is married to one of the Elite in Savannah & the book opens on the wedding day of William – the head of the group – & Keisha is new wife who is a lot younger than him!

Instantly Marcie feels threatened, because she is no longer the youngest in the group, the only saving grace is that she is also no longer the only second wife, so maybe she won’t be the one that’s constantly looked down on anymore.

It very quickly become clear that Marcie and Keisha have secrets buried deep that they don’t want the group to find out, but secrets always have a way of making themselves known, don’t they?

I would say the first half of this book is getting to know the characters, their quirks and what makes them tick, I appreciated this because I felt like I really knew them, that nothing would surprise me about them but not was I wrong 😂

Because the story is very heavily focused on Marcie and Keisha, with a little bit of William and Jason thrown in you don’t seem to notice what the background characters are up to!

The last half of the book started setting the scene for that big mystery & I was pulled in all sorts of different directions trying to work out where the story was going!

Needless to say when the big event happens I didn’t see it coming & I definitely didn’t work out who was behind it all, the book kept me guessing all the way through!

This is the first novel of Sarah’s that I have picked up and I will definitely be looking at her back catalogue in the future.

If you click the photo of the book it will take you to amazon where you can buy your own copy 🥰

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Today is my stop on the blog tour for Bound to You by Alyson Caraway, thank you to the team at Love Books Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to Vulpine Press for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

THIS BOOK WILL BE RELEASED ON FRIDAY 7TH AUGUST 2020!

Pages: 213

Synopsis: She’s a power-hungry battle angel
Coriel is determined to rid the world of demons and prove she has what it takes to be archangel. But when a fierce battle ends in tragedy on her orders, she is banished from the Heavens—and finds herself at the mercy of Hell’s sexiest and most powerful demon knight.

He’s the demon knight who wants her
Rather than take his rightful place on Hell’s throne, Zagan prefers to spend his days in the human realm corrupting souls—and he’ll end the life of any angel who tries to stop him. But rather than slay the beautiful battle angel when he has the chance, he binds her to him with his life-saving kiss, forcing her to obey his every command.

The line is drawn
Coriel has no choice but to submit to her captor, though the curse of his kiss is not what lures her to him. While Zagan takes great pleasure in exerting his dominance over the Heavens’ fiercest warrior, he soon wants her to do more than just his bidding. As the war between angels and demons rages, he wants her by his side … to rule Hell as his queen.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧.5

My thoughts: as soon as the invite for this tour fell into my inbox I read the description and was instantly intrigued, I felt I needed to be a part of it!

I’ll be completely honest though, I did the one thing us as readers should never do & I judged the book by its cover (it just didn’t appeal to me, please don’t shoot me) and even after reading the book, I don’t think it fits the story at all, which by the way was totally gripping!

I was reminded again whilst reading it why we really shouldn’t do what I did – right from the beginning there was action and it didn’t stop or slow down at all! – for such a short book (for fantasy) it had everything you needed! – the world building was incredible and felt so real, as much as a book set in Heaven and Hell can anyway 😂🙄

Coriel was the perfect main character, full of sass, attitude and sarcasm but endearing with it that just made you love her even more!

Zagan, was the epitome of a villain, but does he have a softer side?

And are the angels Ouranos (how do you even pronounce that?!😂) and Michael really as good as they seem?

You’ll have to read the book to find out!

Full of action, hilarity and some seriously sexy but totally badass characters, if you’re a fan of fantasy & like the idea of a battle between heaven and hell that is far from straight forward then this is the one for you.

I definitely can’t wait to dive into the rest of the series! 😍

If you click the cover image it will take you to amazon where you can preorder your own copy!

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Today I’m on the blog tour for The Big Chill by Doug Johnstone, thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to Orenda books for my copy.

Pages: 318

Synopsis: Haunted by their past, the Skelf women are hoping for a quieter life. But running both a funeral directors’ and a private investigation business means trouble is never far away, and when a car crashes into the open grave at a funeral that matriarch Dorothy is conducting, she can’t help looking into the dead driver’s shadowy life.

While Dorothy uncovers a dark truth at the heart of Edinburgh society, her daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah have their own struggles. Jenny’s ex-husband Craig is making plans that could shatter the Skelf women’s lives, and the increasingly obsessive Hannah has formed a friendship with an elderly professor that is fast turning deadly.

But something even more sinister emerges when a drumming student of Dorothy’s disappears and suspicion falls on her parents. The Skelf women find themselves sucked into an unbearable darkness but could the real threat be to themselves?

Following three women as they deal with the dead, help the living and find out who they are in the process, The Big Chill follows A Dark Matter, book one in the Skelfs series, which reboots the classic PI novel while asking the big existential questions, all with a big dose of pitch-black humour.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: I absolutely loved this, but being completely honest, I didn’t realise this was book 2 in a series until Wednesday as I was about to pick it up 😂 cue me panicking and reading book 1 first, which luckily for me I did already own! – and although yes this would work as a stand alone you would miss ALL of the back story about Craig & all the intricate details that Doug puts into A Dark Matter when introducing us to the women who make up the amazing group of main characters.

This story follows on 6 months from the events of the first book, Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah are all starting to come to terms with what happened & maybe start to move on too, but is it really over?

The Skelfs are back to running both sides of their business, they are inundated with funerals to organise, but it also seems that they have a lot of private investigating to conduct too! (I LOVE how they manage both sides at the same time, but manage to keep it all separate when needed)

This story is full of so much to keep you gripped, but without getting overwhelming. – we have a death at a funeral, a suicide, a missing dad, maybe? A one eyed dog and so much more, but in true Skelf style nothing is that straight forward!

I can’t actually tell you anything about it because part of the joy of reading it was discovering it all for yourself.

But what I can tell you is that there is so much character development within the book, especially for Indy and Jenny in my opinion & I particularly enjoyed seeing a vulnerable side to Archie that we didn’t really get to see in book 1.

I cannot recommend this book enough. It was so good!

If you click the cover photo it will take you to amazon where you can buy your own copy.

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Today I’m on the blog tour for The Garden of Forgotten Wishes by Trisha Ashley thank you to Anne From Random Things Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part.

Pages: 400

Synopsis: All Marnie wants is somewhere to call home. Mourning lost years spent in a marriage that has finally come to an end, she needs a fresh start and time to heal. Things she hopes to find in the rural west Lancashire village her mother always told her about.

With nothing but her two green thumbs, Marnie takes a job as a gardener, which comes with a little cottage to make her own. The garden is beautiful – filled with roses, lavender and honeysuckle – and only a little rough around the edges. Which is more than can be said for her next-door neighbour, Ned Mars.

Marnie remembers Ned from her college days but he’s far from the untroubled man she once knew. A recent relationship has left him with a heart as bruised as her own.

Can a summer spent gardening help them recapture the forgotten dreams they’ve let get away?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: This is the second Trisha Ashley book I’ve had the pleasure of reading for the purposes of a blog tour & although this one didn’t suck me in as much as the first one it was still magical.

We follow Marnie who after escaping her controlling ex husband has come to Jerichos End, the place her mum grew up but always told Marnie to never return.

Consumed by the need to know why Marnie finds herself there after accepting a job offer to help maintain a fade-in full of lavender and restore the rose Garden of a nearby property – the job doesn’t pay the best but includes a self contained flat so she’s left feeling like she’s found the perfect hideaway, nothing could ruin that, right?

Along comes Ned, an old school friend and unbeknownst to Marnie the owner of the property with the rose garden, neither of them trusts each other and feels there has to be an ulterior motive somewhere.

Throw into the mix lovely elderly characters, a returning ex who’s determined to ruin everything, family members who ate determined to keep your identity hidden & a cat that talks Russian & I promise you you’re in for a treat!

Click the cover photo and you will be taken to amazon where you can buy your own copy

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Today is my stop on the Audio Book Blog Tour for The Heatwave by Katerina Diamond, Thank you to Avon Books UK for the invite and providing me with a copy of the audiobook.

Pages: 400

Synopsis: One summer. One stranger. One killer…
Two bad things happened that summer:
A stranger arrived. And the first girl disappeared.

In the wake of the crime that rocked her community, Felicity fled, knowing more than she let on.

But sixteen years later, her new life is shattered by the news that a second girl has gone missing in her hometown.

Now Felicity must go back, to face the truth about what happened all those years ago.

Only she holds the answers – and they’re more shocking than anyone could imagine.

The heatwave is back. And so is the killer.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: oh my.

WOW.

I’m not really sure yet how to put my thoughts into words, I’ve been sitting on it a few days, but now it’s my stop on the blog tour and now I’m out of time so bear with me 😂

The book opens with a missing girl in Felicity’s home town of Sidmouth in Devon, a place she left behind 16 years ago, but now suddenly she feels the desperate need to return with little to no explanation.

The book is told from two perspectives, Felicity’s and Jasmine’s.

Felicity is on a mission to see if the current missing person is tied to the one that went missing when she was last here.

Jasmine is felicity’s childhood best friend, who’s parents are perfect, the opposite of felicity’s and everything she has always wanted. They take people in, the newest one being Tim. They go on holiday all the time doing charity work in lots of different locations all over the world, but is all as perfect as it seems?

The way the 2 seemingly separate stories neat together in the end is incredible and really kept me on the edge of my seat & I for one did not see the conclusion coming!

But then it seemed so real, like something that could actually happen which really creeped me out.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough, & if you’re in a position too, definitely pick up the audiobook, it sets the atmosphere to the book perfectly and added a whole new depth to it.

pssst... if you click the cover image it will take you to amazon where you can pick up a copy of the book 🙂

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Thank you to Avon books (ebook) Harper Collins (audiobook) and Netgalley for providing me with my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pages: 400

Synopsis: She’s single. But it can still be complicated…
Penny Bridge has always been unlucky in love.

So she can’t believe it when she meets a remarkable new man.

Followed by another.

And then another…

And all of them want to date her.

Penny has to choose between three. But are any of them The One?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My thoughts: this is the second book of Laura’s that I’ve read, after reading our stop last year and absolutely adoring it I knew I had to read The Love Square too and it definitely didn’t disappoint.

We follow Penny, who after fighting cancer and freezing her eggs after having them fertilised with some German sperm, she feels like she’s ready to find love and maybe take her eggs off ice!

After falling in ‘friendship’ with Francesco, something happens within the family and she needs to move away, she is desperate to ask him to come with her but she’s just not brave enough.

6 months pass and she’s settled into her new life, she meets Thomas, who she very quickly learns is not “the one” but is always down for a bit of fun.

And then as if things aren’t complicated enough along comes Priyesh at the Christmas party, she seems to have found herself stuck in a live square with no idea who she wants!

What follows is absolutely hilarious and I absolutely adored it.

I had both the ebook and the audiobook, I won’t lie most of the book was read via audiobook because it was narrated by Carrie Hope Fletcher and she is a force to be reckoned with!

Laura Jane Williams has now cemented herself as an autobuy author for me and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

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I was approached by Tim via email asking if I would be interested in reviewing his book, I was provided with a free copy in exchange for an honest review, but that has is no way influenced my thoughts on the book, all thoughts are my own.

The book is actually part of Amazon’s monthly deals for July and it’s currently 99p on kindle! – if you click on the front cover it will take you to amazon where you can buy your own copy.

Pages: 250

Synopsis: A cow looks out to sea, dreaming of a life that involves grass.

Jan is also looking out to sea. He’s in Goa, dreaming of the passport-thief who stole his heart (and his passport) forty-six years ago. Back then, fate kept bringing them together, but lately it seems to have given up.

Jan has not. In his long search he has accidentally held a whole town at imaginary gunpoint in Soviet Russia, stalked the proprietors of an international illegal lamp-trafficking scam and done his very best to avoid any kind of work involving the packing of fish. Now he thinks if he just waits, if he just does nothing at all, maybe fate will find it easier to reunite them.

His story spans fifty-four years, ten countries, two imperfect criminals (and one rather perfect one), twenty-two different animals and an annoying teenager who just…

Will…

Not…

Leave.

But maybe an annoying teenager is exactly what Jan needs to help him find the missing thief?

Featuring a menagerie of creatures, each with its own story to tell, We Are Animals is a quirky, heart-warming tale of lost love, unlikely friendships and the certainty of fate (or lack thereof).

For the first time in her life the cow noticed the sun setting, and it was glorious.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: the synopsis of this book tells you all about the book and sets the scene, which is what I would normally do at the start of a review.. I guess I don’t need to do that now so I feel a little lost 😂

This book was heartbreaking and hilarious and so easy to get lost in. Poor Jan is just sat at the bar on the beach like he normally does waiting for the love of his life to arrive, when along comes a young ‘vest’ who despite being ignored and told to go away, just won’t leave Jan alone! – we soon find that this annoying kid might be exactly what Jan needs!

Shakey – which by the way is the vests name, gets drunk with Jan and listens to him tell his life story that has led him to be waiting for LadyJan on the beach and I swear some of it you just can’t make up – the whole thing took you on a journey that was so emotional and felt so real.

I really don’t want to give any of the story away but if you trust my recommendations even a small amount, please please please pick this up… you will NOT be disappointed.

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Today I’m here to tell you all about Kissing Daisy Parker by Michael Milton.

Synopsis: First loves. Last chances. Street Fighter II.

Daisy is a Sylvia Plath reading, Robert Smith devotee, planning on a summer of Australian beaches with or without her two favourite boys. Obsessed gamer and jealous boyfriend Greg needs the prize money from the Scottish Street Fighter II championships to join Daisy in Oz. She wouldn’t really go without him. Would she?

Scottish-born, English-accented Junaid is the couple’s best friend. Haunted by that school dance and terrified of the future, he finds himself falling for his best friend’s girl. When a disastrous event at the video game tournament brings Daisy and J closer together, Greg attempts the ultimate redemption.

Each makes decisions which alter the course of their friendship, and their lives, forever. But do the answers to life’s biggest questions truly lie in kissing Daisy Parker?

About the author:

Michael Milton spent the first 25 years of his life pretending to be other people. After switching drama school for university, he travelled the world as an English teacher and returned home to complete his MA in Creative Writing.

His stories have been long and short listed for the Fish Prize, the Bath Short Story Award, the Mogford Prize and the Emerge Impact Creative Writing Prize. Kissing Daisy Parker is his first novel, and yes, he can beat you at Street Fighter

Pssst. If you click the cover image it will take you to amazon where you can buy your own copy.

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Today is my stop on the blogtour for Photographing Kate by Elle Sweet, thank you to Emma at Damp Pebbles Blog Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part

Pages: 188

Synopsis: Welcome to Moonshire Bay – the small town lakeside community that has love in the air ♥

After Kate’s husband of over twenty years is sentenced for embezzling and fraud, she loses everything and needs to start over. She decides to visit Moonshire Bay to regroup at the urging of her friend, Claire, who owns the diner there.

Knowing she needs a way to support herself, she rekindles her passion for photography and starts to think maybe staying in Moonshire Bay is her best chance at happiness.

Zach is the town attorney and a confirmed bachelor. After a scarring experience with love and almost marriage in his younger days, he vowed never to get any closer to a woman than a casual relationship.

When Zach meets Kate, the wounded look that lingers behind her smile grabs him and he wants to know her better, but Kate was burned by her lawyer ex-husband. Even if she wanted a relationship it wouldn’t be with a member of that profession.

Zach tricks Kate in order to get to know her better. When she finds out, will she understand and forgive him or will it push her further away?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts; this is my second dive into Elle Sweets writing and the lovely town of Moonshire Bay and this one was just as, if not more lovely than the first.

This time we follow Kate, who is trying to deal with the fact that her husband of many years had been given a prison sentence for fraud & on top of that is made redundant from the job she thought would see her into retirement! – needing to get away she gets in contact with her friend Claire who lives in Moonshire Bay to see if she is up for a visitor.

She doesn’t know what she wants from her visit or even how long she plans to stay, but she’ll work it out as and when, won’t she?

Just as she’s starting to find her feet she has a minor incident with Zach and his car, who just so happens to be the towns lawyer (oops🙈) the minute she sees him she can appreciate his beauty, but she’s sworn off men now hasn’t she?

What follows that is both funny and infuriating but makes for an enjoyable read.

Watching Kate find her new self and discover both old and new hobbies as well as gain new friends really made me smile and I cannot wait to jump into the next book in the series!

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Today I’m on the blogtour for Dragon River by Rob Saunders, thank you to Anne from Random Things Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to Rob himself for my copy!

Pages: 110

Synopsis: This story has everything:
A boy who turns into a dragon…and back
again.
The longest, most boring train ride ever.
Bully boys, making stuff, and a near disaster on the river.
There’s even magic, two court cases, a plane ride and a song.
Join the Drako family, the nasty Purkisses, teacher Hippolyta Scythe, singer Solange Luna, and Percy the phenomenal child artist, along with Gallo the superhero dragon!
A brilliant book for fans of Lemony Snicket.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this book is absolutely brilliant for young children, it’s packed with everything, magic, action packed scenes (obviously to suit a child ages between 7-10) beautiful illustrations and of course Gallo the dragon!

I know I’m too old to be the target audience of this book, but I was still able to appreciate the story and the messages it was trying to convey – it’s only very short but it covers a lot of important topics from bullying, the importance of following your dreams & above all to never be afraid to do the right thing no matter how scary it might feel at the time.

The illustrations in this book were incredible and really helped bring the story to life.

This is definitely a story I will be keeping hold of to read to my godson when he is a little older (he’s currently 5, so not long to go)

Thank you to Rob for also including a little 3D printed sculpture of Gallo, which you can see in the picture)

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