Author: Patricegotting

Today I am on the tour for Anyone But The Superstar by Sara L Hudson, thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 338

Synopsis: What happens when a moviestar and an heiress, both traveling incognito, have a one-night stand?

Johnny, aka Felix Jones, is Hollywood’s go-to action star. About to film his first romantic comedy, he’s looking to change his image and show he’s more than just a six pack with pithy one-liners. But off screen, he’s got a reputation for other things too, and not all of them are good.

Anne, aka Elizabeth Moore was, until a year ago, heiress to one of New York’s biggest business dynasties. Blindsided at the discovery that she is not, in fact, the daughter of the man who raised her, Liz has spent the past year on a journey of self-discovery. Her most recent discovery? Southern Texas is hot. The weather, the food and the men.

And temperatures do nothing but rise when ‘Anne’ sits next to ‘Johnny’ at the bar. Add in a trip to the ER, a hairless cat, and a NASA movie set, and things get even spicier.

Never mind that Felix has plenty of complications in his life, and the last thing Liz needs is more drama. In fact, when it comes to one-night stands, anyone but the superstar would be better…

My Thoughts: I now need a Felix in my life 😩😍

This is book 3 in the Anyone But You series and although this can absolutely be read as a stand alone, I would highly recommend reading all 3 to get the most out of the book.

This was by far my favourite book in the series, it had strangers to lovers, forced proximity.. he falls first.. there’s just one big problem, they both gave each other a false name & that kind of thing is hard to erase/explain.

This book really is the epitome of a romcom, u found myself laughing out loud within the first couple of chapters and didn’t really let up at all throughout!

Adding in the spice, the banter between the main characters a hairless cat and an interfering family who mean well in the grand scheme of things and what you end up with actually a really heartfelt story about second chances and not getting caught in the legacy of your family.

🐧🩷

Today I am joining the blogathon for Do No Harm by Jack Jordan, thank you to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to the author and the publisher.

Pages: 432

Synopsis: MY CHILD HAS BEEN TAKEN.
AND I’VE BEEN GIVEN A CHOICE . . .
KILL A PATIENT ON THE OPERATING TABLE
OR LOSE MY SON FOREVER.

The man lies on the table in front of me.
As a surgeon, it’s my job to save him.
As a mother, I know I must kill him.
You might think that I’m a monster.
But there really is only one choice.
I must get away with murder.
Or I will never see my son again.

I’VE SAVED MANY LIVES.
WOULD YOU TRUST ME WITH YOURS?

My Thoughts: Well after reading this book there is one thing I know for sure I will be having a serious anxiety attack if I ever have to have an operation ever again. The idea of literally putting your life in someone else’s hands is something that doesn’t even bare thinking about. 

That being said, this was amazing. It all felt so incredibly real that at times I was so invested that I forgot I was reading a book. 

All of the little details were cleverly thought out and so we’ll put together that I genuinely had no idea which way the story would go or how it would end. 

The story was told from 3 different perspectives.. 

Anna – the surgeon who has an impossible decision to make 

Margot –the scrub nurse with a past that she scared to reveal

Rachel – the police detective who can’t seem to focus on the right part of the investigation because certain parts are just too close to home for her. 

By the time I’d finished this my heart was in my mouth and I’d cut my lip from biting it repeatedly 😂

🐧🩷

Today I am on the tour for The Night Pixie by Hazel Knox, thank you to Hannah at Hygge Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part.

Pages: 84

Synopsis: Star, the night pixie, is tired of hiding – from daylight, humans and Granny’s dandelion farts.

She wishes life in the garden was more exciting. So, when she bumps into a human, Star ignores Mum’s warnings and dives into her new friend’s world.

A wild adventure follows as Star discovers chocolate cake, toilets and just how dangerous day can be…

This book is not to be missed. It is a heartwarming and funny children’s story about friendship and being brave, written by Hazel Knox and beautifully illustrated by Chris White.

About The Author:

Hazel is a children’s author, poet and occupational therapist. Her writing is packed with adventure, humour and heart-warming moments. 

She was a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Awardee in 2021 and has had several poems and short stories published, including in The Toy and Little Thoughts Press.

If you think this book is something you’ll enjoy it can be bought here!  

🐧🩷

Today I’m on the tour for How To Slay At Work by Sarah Bonner, thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 354

Synopsis: A sharp, funny and deliciously dark thriller that fans of Katy Brent, Bella Mackie or Killing Eve will love.

When your boss is at a conference in a city where there’s a suspicious death, it’s unlucky.

If it happens twice, it’s odd.

But when she’s in the same city at the same time as a third unexplained death . . .

Could she be a stone-cold killer?

Millie’s always known her boss Freya is a psycho – the demanding and ever-changing coffee orders, the cryptic instructions, the apparently expected mind reading and don’t even start on the insistence that Millie wears heels . . . All. The. Time.

But it only extends as far as exacting office standards. Right?

As Freya’s assistant, Millie has privileged access to her diary and travel history and when a pattern emerges of men (who seem to have no connection to each other) dying in cities where Freya is travelling, Millie is determined to figure out what’s going on.

After all, a stone-cold killer could be exactly what Millie needs . . .

My Thoughts: Not sure if I should say this but this was laugh out loud funny & it was bloody brilliant.

Freya wasn’t my favourite villain, but after a while you start to understand why she is the way she is.. but then you start questioning yourself again, is anything she says true?

Millie also has her own ulterior motive, so imagine her surprise when she suddenly becomes the assistant to Freya.. what happened to Sam? Although her first thought is confusion we soon learn that actually she’s pretty happy with this new arrangement but why?

That is until she starts to suspect that Freya is a serial killer.. & then she gets anonymous messages telling her to connect the dots! How deep does this whole thing go?

So much fun.. lighthearted at times yet completely dark and twisty at others which means you never know what much way the story is going!

Absolutely recommend this one.

🐧🩷

Today I am on the tour for the personal Assistant by Becki Willis, 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: 287

Synopsis: I’m having a really bad day. I lost my phone. My purse was snatched. And I got fired . . . by my best friend.

But now I’ve got a lifeline. I’ve just been offered a new job. PA to the millionaire businesswoman Mrs Lillian Samson. An amazing salary. Impressive benefits package.

I soon realize there’s something not quite right about Lillian and the company she inherited from her late husband. Sometimes, when she thinks I’m not looking, I catch her watching me with a glint in her eye, like a lion stalking its prey.

Some of the things she asks me to do are weird — like volunteer at the local children’s hospital. When I come back, she questions me about the young patients.

She sends me on pointless errands, but won’t give me any responsibility. There’s only so many times I can arrange and re-arrange my desk.

And things are going to get even crazier.

My boss is dangerous. And work is about to get very personal for this personal assistant.

My Thoughts: this one had me all tied up in knots.. poor lexis life falls apart fairly quickly and everything she knows disappears, she loses her job, she drops her phone and is at a bit of a loss of what to do when the seemingly perfect job comes along.. she gets paid a lot and asked to do very little which obviously makes her twitchy and uncomfortable.

She can’t work out why her boss is so lenient and something just doesn’t feel right, she keeps seeing people that she recognises for absolutely no reason, she knows she doesn’t know them, but yet she does!

Add to the mix the return of someone from Lexis past and you have the perfect thriller, everything seems fine, whilst also feeling off at the same time & the two perspectives come together perfectly in the end.

It made me feel uncomfortable and twitchy and I couldn’t read it with the light off when it got dark!

The story is so twisty and darkly compelling that it was just impossible to put down!

🐧🩷

Today I am on the tour for Angels and Stars by Stephanie Wood, 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: 103

Synopsis: You are invited to spend CHRISTMAS ON THE CLOSE where each of the neighbours are celebrating in their own special way.

Denise and Greg are very supportive of their daughter, Charlotte, as she competes in the regular pageants in the local area, but they begin to disagree when an opportunity to attend some larger events abroad becomes a possibility.

Charlotte loves dancing almost as much as she loves her dog, Justin, but is she really interested in taking her hobby any further, or is she simply giving in to her mother’s wishes? More to the point, does she even have the talent to compete at such a high level?

The eighth standalone episode of ‘Christmas on The Close’ reveals how an unfulfilled dream for one member of the family can lead to difficult decisions for the others.

My Thoughts: this is a really hard book for me to review, partly because it’s so short & partly because I really disliked Denise, I found her pushy, she didn’t listen to Charlotte and what she wanted, she was just trying to live her dream through her daughter.. a dream that Charlotte has started to realise that she might not want.

She did start to redeem herself towards the end, but for me it was possibly too little too late.

I loved Charlotte as a character, she was only young but she really seemed to have her head screwed on, she knew what she wanted, although wasn’t always forthcoming with her wishes for fear of upsetting her mum, she’d just throw little bits into conversation about what she was thinking and a new idea she had.

Overall the book was heartwarming, made me smile and really got me in the mood for Christmas 🎅🏽 🎄

This is book 8 in the Christmas On The Close Series & I have read them all so far, it’s a real tight knit community who all help each other out and feature in each others stories.

I will definitely be finishing the series.

🐧🩷

Today I am on the tour for That Day by Frances Fleur, 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: 272

Synopsis: Book 3 in the Purple Hearted Series – Can be read as a stand-alone book,

Sophie doesn’t sing, not since that day.

The day her world was turned upside down and living amongst the shadows now seemed like her only option.

But out of the ashes, hope can arise. To protect her heart and mind, Sophie starts a new life and tries to forget. But distancing herself from the past always comes at a price.

When she meets Oliver, former frontman of the hottest band on television, chemistry and contempt intertwine. And she learns, first hand, that there’s always a fine line between love and hate…

My Thoughts: oh this book, it broke me completely.

I laughed, I cried, I shouted, I swore.. it really did make me feel the whole range of emotions which is really quite impressive for a book less than 300 pages. But honestly it was so beautiful.

It’s a book that deals with a lot of really tough but very real subjects, goes into some detail too so please check trigger warnings! – I absolutely loved the way it dealt with the fall out of certain events and the recovery, it was never rushed which made the whole thing feel true to life.

To begin with Sophie wasn’t my favourite main character, she started as a very unlikeable woman, but I think that that may have been done on purpose to make us appreciate how much trauma can change a person.

I personally loved Oliver, he was a bloke who had his own issues, but wasn’t afraid to show his emotions, even if sometimes those emotions didn’t always have the best outlet.

This is a story of how 2 people can come together and help each other heal without even knowing it & although it broke my heart, by the end it made it whole again.

🐧🩷

Today I am on the tour for Anastasia’s Midnight Song By M. Laszlo, thank you to Hannah at Hygge Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part.

Pages: 327

Synopsis: Longing to cure her deep, hysterical fears involving a diabolical dream fox living inside her womb, Anastasia T. Grace takes a post making occult mirrors in the hope she may someday convince herself that she commands the power to banish her nemesis into one of her creations. However, when a troubled, young Englishman grows obessed with her beauty, she is forced to confront the pressing, all-too-real, misogynistic danger of male psychopathy.

About The Author:

M. Laszlo is the pseudonym of a reclusive author living in Bath Township, Ohio. According to rumor, he based the pen name on the name of the Paul Henreid character in Casablanca, Victor Laszlo. M. Laszlo has lived and worked all over the world and has kept exhaustive journals and idea books corresponding to each location and post. It is said that the maniacal habit of journaling began in childhood during summer vacations—when his family began renting out Robert Lowell’s family home in Castine, Maine. The habit continued into the 1990s when he lived in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem and worked as a night clerk in a Palestinian youth hostel. In recent years, he revisited that very journal/idea book and based Anastasia’s Midnight Song on the characters, topics, and themes contained within the writings.

🐧🩷

Today I am on the tour for Lily, Unwritten by Olivia Lockhart, thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 344

Synopsis: Lily Forshaw stands on the brink of a bright future. A future she fought for, cried for, and risked her heart and soul for.

Yet, despite her fairy tale life, a deep scar remains etched upon her heart. It’s a wound that will never truly heal, a lingering memory and a haunting hope of what might have been.

Now, Lily faces challenges that will threaten her friendships, her career, and her blossoming love. Can she find a way through?

Meanwhile, the man she left in the past, holding a piece of her heart, has found his way back to her at a time when nothing else seems to make any sense.

Will Lily fight for what she might lose, or will she embrace a new beginning?

Catch up with Lily, Cassie, Zack, and Luke in the eagerly awaited sequel to ‘For The Love of Lily’

My Thoughts: I have been waiting for this book ever since I finished For The Love Of Lily back in July.. and believe me when I tell you this was everything I wanted and more.. it made my heart so happy!

It picks up from where book 1 leaves off and Lily is trying to build her new life with Zack, which means uprooting everything, her life, her job and moving away from her friends.. but she loves him, right? so that makes it the right thing to do..

Lily throws herself into her new life and even starts to genuinely fall back in love with Zack, but she can’t seem to forget about Luke, constantly asking their mutual friend Cassie how he is and what he’s up to.

It doesn’t take long for Zack to show his true colours, to become controlling towards Lily whilst doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants, nothing is ever up for discussion and he always seems to get his way using Lily’s past with Luke to constantly guilt her into doing what he wants even when she knows he’s wrong..

I may have squealed a little when something happens which leads Zack to end the relationship, obviously I hated the fact that it left Lily heartbroken and it was a hard read when she was so low, but I had hopes that things would come good for her in the end!

This book was just so much fun and I will be looking out for what Olivia comes out with next.

🐧🩷

Today I am on the tour for Loose Ends by Ninette Hartley, 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: 346

Synopsis: It’s March 1941 at the shirt factory in Ridley, Yorkshire. Ness is a typist in the office, and her friend Eileen works as a seamstress on the shop floor. Nobody could have imagined the consequences when as a result of a prank Eileen plays on her friend, Ness’s name and address ends up in the pockets of two shirts destined for Royal Navy personnel on active service.
The fallout from Eileen’s action takes Ness on a challenging, life-changing journey where she must develop her talent for dressmaking and acquire the skills needed to run a business. It is not easy during wartime, when money is short, clothes rationing is widespread and negative attitudes prevail. Can she win through? Or will a painful secret she must conceal destroy her chances?

My Thoughts: this book is compelling and engaging, kept me interested throughout and I absolutely loved it!

We all know that historical fiction is a genre that I either love or hate, it’s not a genre I reach for automatically, although this year I’ve been reading more or it ☺️

Ninettes writing flowed so easily that I was just carried away within the story… WW2 is in full force and Eileen decides to play a little prank on her best friend and put her name and address into the pockets of shirts that are being sent to naval officers.. all seems like fun and games until Ness gets a knock on the door and sees a man standing on her doorstep!

The book is full of surprises, both positive and heartbreaking and just when you think it can’t get any worse for Ness another layer is added and you start to think she might just be the unluckiest person in the world. That being said her experiences made her realise her value and her worth.

At times this was a really hard read but it was absolutely impossible to put down, I absolutely adored it, even though it made me cry more than once.

🐧🩷