Today I’m on the tour for A Scottish Country Escape by Julie Shackman & I have a spotlight for you, thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for organising it and inviting me to take part.
Pages: 399
Synopsis:
Determined to overcome a family tragedy, Elle Cassidydecides to reopen her late mother’s ailing newsagent as a stationery shop in the quiet Scottish town of Fir Haven.
But when the arrogant yet handsome crime writer Dexter Grayling almost runs over Elle in his beast of a sports car, the town is thrown into a tailspin – especially when Dexter claims that local resident Linda Carlucci has put a curse on him and he is no longer able to write.
Can Elle put aside her dislike for the self-absorbed writer and help Dexter uncover what is really going on with the Carlucci family? And in the process will Elle realise that there’s a lot more to her beloved Fir Haven than she first thought…
About the Author:
Julie Shackman is a former journalist from Scotland, who has always wanted to write feel-good romance. As well as being an author, Julie also writes verses and captions for greetings card companies. Julie admits to having an obsession with stationery and handbags. She is married, has two sons and adopted a Romanian rescue puppy, Cooper. A Scottish Highland Surprise is Julie’s sixth novel.
If you like the sound of this is can be bought here!
Today I’m on the tour for Shooters by Julia Boggio and I have a spotlight for you, thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for organising it and inviting me to take part.
Pages: 403
Synopsis: Stella is determined to become a successful wedding photographer, even if it means learning from Connor Knight, a wedding shooter with sexy rock star status and an ego to match.
Burned by an affair that ended her last career, Stella should know better than to get entangled with Connor during a residential course in a romantic French chateau. But while his arrogance turns her off, his talent turns her on.
Their clashes lead to a whirlwind of passion, but Stella struggles to frame a future with a man who’s come to distrust “happily ever afters” and hides a softer side behind his image. Can Stella learn from her past mistakes and teach Connor about real love before he disappears from the picture?
About The Author:
Originally from New Jersey, Julia moved to London in her early twenties. She worked as an advertising copywriter until discovering her love of photography on a 6-month trip around South America. She started a wedding photography business which received some great PR when her own Dirty Dancing-themed wedding dance went viral on YouTube. She appeared on Richard & Judy and The Oprah Winfrey Show, where she danced with Patrick Swayze. In 2009 she opened a luxury portrait studio and has photographed everyone from the Queen to Queen, the band. After 15 years as a photographer, she returned to her first love: writing. Julia Boggio books focus on strong female characters with real, complicated lives, delivered with humour and feel-good factor.
If you like the sound of this is can be bought here!
Today I’m on the tour for The Magical Moonglow Sleepover by Jocelyn Porter, thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for organising it and inviting me to take part. I have an extract for you today.
Extract:
Chapter Eight
Flying through the Clouds
“Hold on tight! We’re off to find Sophie,” shouted Dylan.
Dylan’s strong wings beat the
air and we shot forward like a rocket.
Everything became a blur as we dived in and out of the clouds.
“Dragons should have seat belts,” I gasped, holding on to Charlie as tightly as I could.
“Don’t worry, I’ve never fallen off,”
said Charlie. “Dragons have a special magnetic force that holds you on. Dylan told me all about it.” Charlie leant forward. “Dylan, loop the loop! Let’s show Katherine what I mean!”
My heart was in my mouth as Dylan flew straight up then rolled over.
For a second, I was hanging upside down at the top of the loop, but I seemed to be glued to Dylan’s back. Dylan swooped down at breakneck speed and straightened out, then continued flying as if nothing had happened.
It had been the most terrifying few seconds of my life, but I was filled with
a sense of excitement I’d never know before. As shivers ran down my spine, I found myself thinking, Wow! That was fantastic!
“The carousel is behind the next cloud,” whispered Dylan. “I’ll have to get rid of that mischievous moonbeam before it can cause any more trouble.”
“How?” I mumbled, still trying to catch my breath.
“You’ll see!” laughed Dylan as we flew through the cloud and emerged right in front of Sophie.
With an enormous whoosh, smoke
shot out of Dylan’s nostrils and engulfed Sophie. When the smoke cleared,
Sophie was still sitting on the horse, but the moonbeam had gone.
“Mischievous moonbeams cry when smoke gets in their eyes,” said Dylan with a satisfied wiggle. “They dissolve into moon rain and fall gently
to the ground, their mischief-making days over.”
Sophie was unusually silent for
a moment and then a torrent of words
flew out of her mouth. “How did I get
on this carousel? What are you doing
on that dragon? Why is Charlie Broccoli here?”
“No time to explain,” I said, squeezing my earlobe and shouting,
“Snickerdoodles! Sophie, come here!”
And she did. She flew off the horse and landed between Charlie and me, pushing me backwards in
the process. It was a tight squeeze
and Sophie’s nose ended up buried in Charlie’s hair.
“Gerroff,” growled Charlie, scratching the back of his head.
A very confused Sophie sat bolt upright and snorted. “I can’t believe
I just sniffed Charlie’s hair!” she said, rubbing her nose in disgust.
Dylan said a few words in Moongook to the carousel, and the carousel acknowledged him by playing a tune on the organ.
“Meet Carrie,” said Dylan. “She’s a very loving carousel. She knows her horses don’t like storms and she’s glad we warned her. Carrie’s going to fly to Oak Tree Hollow and wait for us there. She always goes to the full-moon carnivals.
We watched as Carrie floated
away, spinning slowly as she went, and then Dylan set off back towards the train.
In no time at all he was floating next to the carriage window. Dylan curled one of his claws round the window frame, and we climbed safely back on board.
Today I’m on the tour for The Scapegoat by Michael V Solomon, thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part.
I have an extract for you today, but first let me tell you a little about the book.
Synopsis: Publius Ovidius Naso (43BC – 17/18AD), known as Ovid, was known as much for his disgrace as for his poetry. By pleasing his contemporaries, befriending patricians and subtly mocking the emperor Augustus, he was transformed from a provincial outsider to Rome’s darling – and, for some, its corrupter. Banished without trial to a remote port on the Black Sea, he continued to write. It is fortunate that most of his work has not been lost. The transformation stories of his masterpiece – The Metamorphoses – inspired not just Shakespeare, Chaucer and Milton, but have been a major influence on European culture. His handbooks of erotic love taught men and women the art of dealing with the opposite sex. They brought him instant literary glory and notable adversaries. His works were banned by the emperor Augustus, by Savonarola, by the Bishop’s Ban, by the Vatican and eventually by the US Custom Office; this latter only lifted in 1930. To discover who was Ovid the man, Michael Solomon travelled in his footsteps, seeking the same landscapes today that Ovid found two thousand years ago.
About the Author: Michael V. Solomon is a Romanian and German writer living in London. He started to write – mainly plays and poetry – during his teenage years in Bucharest, Romania. Later he became an engineer, designing and building bridges throughout Europe, America and the Middle East. During the pandemic, with new insights, he rewrote his debut novel The Scapegoat: Ovid’s Journey Out Of Exile for an anglophone audience who, following years of lockdowns and isolation, understand freedom and exile perhaps more than ever before.
Extract: Prologue
The Palatine Hill, Rome, September, AD 8
Ovid’s attention, as he climbed the Palatine Hill towards Augustus’ palace, latched on to the pigeons taking flight around him. It was a bad sign, and if he believed in auguries he should heed it, flee Rome and make for Sulmo without a moment’s delay. His friends had warned him the moment they had heard of the Emperor’s summons. This meeting, they had said, will end in disaster.
The pigeons descended earthward once more, coming to settle on the palace’s fence, where they watched Ovid approach and pass though the Imperial Gateway. Two lictors stared at him with surly disregard as he neared. Either they did not recognise him or they did not care who he was.
‘Publius Ovidius Naso. Here by order of Emperor Augustus.’
One of the lictors looked at Ovid with mounting contempt and then gestured for him to follow them inside the palace and through a sequence of labyrinthine corridors. They came to a stop in a large hall.
‘Wait here’, they said in unison – as if Ovid had a choice – before leaving him alone.
Ovid looked about him. The hall was filled with statues of old men, all now dead. Some of them he had met, and only two he had liked. One of the latter was Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, a staunch republican, his late patron and a good friend of the Emperor. Since his death last year, without his protection everything had changed for the worse for Ovid – his Ars Amatoria had been banned straight away, while the publishing of the Metamorphoses had been restricted. And now this meeting.
A soft-footed servant appeared. ‘Caesar Augustus is waiting in the study’, he said.
Ovid’s blood froze. The study. It was well known amongst the Roman elite that should the Emperor greet you there only trouble awaited. Few had ever seen it, and for those who had, not a single one would dare speak about it afterwards – with the exception of Corinna, the muse of his Amores, the woman whom he loved and abandoned to sex-obsessed Augustus to save his career. And who was now Ibis’ wife.
Ovid followed the servant out of the hall and through a door into the dreaded space. There, in the middle of the room, a laurel tree – full grown and enormous – rose up from the floor and out through the opened ceiling, where its branches reached freely towards the sky. Ovid’s breath quickened.
The Emperor’s low voice sounded from behind the laurel tree. ‘No greetings, Naso? Good. Spare them.’
Unsure how to reply, Ovid kept his mouth shut. Such was always the safest course of action around Augustus, who could misconstrue a single word with fatal consequences.
‘Do you like my tree?’
Ovid took a few steps to his left, so he could see the Emperor reclining on a couch pressed up against a back wall. The most powerful man in Rome did not seem to be in a hurry.
‘It’s Apollo’s love tree’, Augustus continued. ‘Like my patron god, I enjoy love very much. Yet I have banned your books
If this is something you think you’ll enjoy the book can be bought here!
Today I’m on tour for Ten Dates by Rachel Dove, thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to author and the publisher for my copy.
Pages: 282
Synopsis: Is it the end of their love story or just the beginning?
Callum Roberts and Alice McClaren have spent two wonderful years building a life and a home and making plans for a future together. But when Alice is involved in a car crash, Callum fears that he has lost her forever. As he sits by her bedside he promises he’ll do anything if only she’ll open her eyes…
But when Alice does finally wake up, she has absolutely no memory of being in love with Callum or the life they once shared. In fact, all she remembers about him is how incredibly annoying he once was! How can she have forgotten him if she really did love him so deeply?
Callum is determined to prove to Alice that what they had was special, so he makes her a deal: he’ll recreate their first ten dates and make her fall in love with him all over again!
Alice isn’t sure Callum can fill in all the gaps in their story.And what if going back to the start only means the end?
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: this book was just an absolute delight from start to finish.. the book opens with Alice just coming out of a coma.. it soon becomes clear to her family that she doesn’t recognise Callum as the love of her life.. to her he’s just her brothers best friend.
Determined to win her heart again and help her regain the memories of the last 2 years that she’s lost he recreates the ten dates from the first time round..
We get the story from the perspective of both Alice and Callum which really helped to open the story up.
You could feel the need, the want and the love dripping from Callum’s chapters, I was really hoping that his plan worked, but let me tell you I was Alice I’d have been professing my undying love for him a lot sooner! 🤣
This really was a lot of fun with a lot of laugh out loud moments, moments that made you swoon but also moments that pulled at your heart strings!
Today I’m on the tour for Indelibly Yours by Monica Myers, 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: 293
Synopsis: Will she be the first to slip past his cranky façade and imprint herself on his heart?
Joel’s got the whole “gruff Viking pirate” thing nailed, with his somewhat-cranky attitude and a body that’s a living billboard for his arty tattoo studio.
But underneath the bad boy façade, he harbors a devotion to his adopted family that’s as true blue as his deepest indigo inks. All he wants is to make his business a success so that his people will be proud of him.
When his planned expansion is thwarted, Joel can’t help holding a grudge against the woman who stole his perfect location, no matter how enticingly adorable Olivia’s mussed hair and bunny slippers are.
For her part, Olivia has no idea she’s coming across as “bed-rumpled sex goddess” rather than “sleep-interrupted, perpetually frazzled single mom,” but either way her skin prickles the first time she meets the presumptive, cocky Joel.
She’s dreamed of meeting a Mr. Nice Guy to offer her and her daughter Abby some stability, and while she knows she shouldn’t judge a book by its cover (or a man by his ink, in this case), nothing about Joel screams “smooth sailing ahead.” So why then is she so drawn to him?
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: I wasn’t sure this would be possible but I think I loved this one more than book 1.
We’re following Olivia, a single mum to 7 year old Abby who will go out of her way to help those she loves, which is why she’s out opening her sister in laws bakery in her bunny slippers at stupid o’clock in the morning ..
And Joel, a local tattoo artist who was hoping that opening new premises could help save his business and his family’s finances, he was a bit of a dick to his employees the night before, hence why he is also out in the early hours of the morning hurting donuts as an apology.
This results in a chance encounter and a case of mistaken identity and a falling out that the still sassy Abby helps to fix by making them apologise to each other. 🤣
I won’t give away anymore because I don’t want to spoil the fun, but I LOVED this, seeing Joel and Olivia discover what they both thought they needed was wrong and find what they truly need is each other was beautiful.
Some swoonworthy moments and a lot of spice.
This was perfect and exactly what I needed at the time.
I’m already eagerly awaiting book 3 (if there is one)🤞🏼🤞🏼
Today I’m on the tour for Killer Casting by Simon Maltman, 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: 313
Synopsis: ‘A Docu-drama about a murder. And the killer’s in the cast.’
Jessica, an up-and-coming young director is helming her first full documentary.
It focuses on the story of a young girl, murdered fifteen years before in New York.
The girl’s father was convicted and has been in prison ever since.
But he’s innocent.
Joe killed her.
Joe’s killed a lot of people.
When Joe sees the call for amateur actors to join the cast, he has an idea.
Joe gets lots of ideas. That’s how he’s survived this long.
But this time, has he gone too far?
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: anyone who knows me knows that I love a crime docu-series, I’ve been known to binge them on Netflix for hours 🤣 so reading about one was just up my street!
I do love a thriller that already outlines who the bad guy is for the reader, it adds an extra element to the story.. like it’s letting you in on its secrets.. but it takes a special kind of thriller that can do that and still keep you hooked on the story..
Simons ability to do just that was incredible.. this was yet again another one sitting read for me because I was so invested that everything else in my life was put on hold.
I found myself cringing at some parts of the story whilst also being in awe of Joes audacity in others.
The only thing I didn’t get was why Joe was killing people, there’s normally a reason or something that the culprit thinks they are gaining from the murders but this time they felt random and for no reason which left me feeling more than a little uncomfortable 😂
This might sound daft to say but the book actually read like a tv show 😅 I could picture what was happening so easily!
Will definitely be making sure I pick up more books from Simon in the future.
Today I’m on the tour for In Too Deep by Rose McClelland, 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: 277
Synopsis: Lucy, stunning lead singer of a local band, is found dead on a beach.
Everyone assumes it’s suicide or accidental death. However, band member Tony thinks his sister Olivia might be involved. Not only was she insanely jealous of Lucy, but her husband Barry died in suspicious circumstances too.
Detective Sergeant Kerry Lawlor isn’t convinced its suicide either. The more she looks into the case, the more ‘accidental’ deaths she discovers. As she digs deeper, she finds motive and intrigue at every turn.
Following in Lucy’s footsteps is drop-dead gorgeous Roxie. Will Olivia’s jealousy strike again? Tony fears Roxie could be next.
Detectives Simon and Kerry are on the case. Will they intercept in the nick of time?
Or is Olivia in too deep?
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: this one really kept me on my toes!
First Lucy, the lead singer of the band is found dead on the beach with all the other members saying she disappeared at dinner the night before, she went to the loo and never came back.. now I thought this would be the main crux of the story but boy was I wrong.. In fact it very quickly seemed to be forgotten which threw me for a while 😂
DS Kerry Lawlor isn’t happy with the verdict of suicide, so with the help of the person you’d probably least expect she decides to dig a little deeper!
Every single person is hiding something and people keep turning up dead..
The short snappy chapters and the fact that this story was told from multiple perspectives meant that you got a full well rounded story.. some chapters even recapping the same scene from a different characters view.. this is something I didn’t know I needed but really helped when following the story along!
I was so engrossed in the book and the lives of the characters that this book was read in one sitting, I absolutely loved it.. it took what I thought would be the outcome and totally flipped it on it’s head, it’s not often that happens when you read as many books as I do and I was here for it!
Definitely feel like I should go back and read the first 2 in the series now, but this one read absolutely fine as a stand alone & I would definitely add it to your list, it’s worth the read!
Today I’m on the tour for The Sleepwalker by L C George, 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: 398
Synopsis: Our dreams can be forgotten. But our nightmares will haunt us forever.
Sam Fulford is living a perfectly normal life, except for one little thing: a strange sleep condition that causes him to roam in the night and occasionally become violent.
So when Sam wakes one devastating morning to discover his wife dead beside him and his baby daughter missing, his whole world implodes. Did he accidentally kill his wife during a night time episode? If so, where is his baby?
Just as Sam begins to accept the possibility that he is guilty, he finds a photograph that makes him realise someone else may be involved, that he may be innocent and might yet find his missing daughter.
But there’s a complication. Sam has a dark secret that he just can’t allow to surface. And it’s soon made clear to him that if he presses on with his quest to find out what happened that terrible night, his secret will be revealed to the world.
Leaving Sam wondering whether it might be better to confess to a crime he’s not even certain he committed. Faced with an unimaginable dilemma, Sam begins to wonder: would it be better for everyone if he was guilty?
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: this book was definitely one hell of a ride! A ride that I didn’t want to get off, at almost 400 pages this is quite a long thriller for me, but yet I still read it in 2 sittings.. if I didn’t need to sleep it would have definitely been a one sitting read for me!
It’s told from different perspectives across different timelines, but yet never got confusing because the timeline and the lead character from each chapter was made clear, with there being a definite change in the writing for each character.
This was eerily dark at times and constantly building the tension.. I didn’t guess the twists either which is a nice bonus for me.
There is a moment near the end of the book that actually made me about ‘nooo!’ at my kindle 🤣
another one to be added to the top of your list, it’s fantastic!!
Today I’m on the tour for Waters Edge by T. J. Shepherd, 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: 492
Synopsis: David Green suffers a dramatic breakdown at work. Since his first visit at sixteen, Venice has come to symbolise for him a time before starting the long decline into being lived by life rather than living it. Forced by the breakdown to take action, he decides to return, hoping its influence will begin the process of healing. As Venice and the people he meets there, begin to bring about the changes he seeks, he is faced with a new and urgent dilemma.
My Thoughts: David is doing a presentation at work when he has a breakdown, unsure of what to do he thinks that returning to Venice will help, he went when he was younger and thinks that the answer to all his problems is there.
With his wife unable to join him straight away they agree that he will go that day and she will join him a week later, after all they like different things, he’s a fan of sight seeing and she prefers to relax in the sun.
When he gets there, he feels like a huge weight has been lifted and spends his time getting to know the local area and the people there.
This was quite a heavy book to read, not only is it a long book, but the chapters were long and felt like they were over descriptive at times, which meant that I kept having to put it down.
David isn’t a very likeable character but I did feel for him throughout the book and the difficult choices he had to make – his whole life will change no matter which way he decides to go so which one is best?
The story wasn’t what I thought it would be at all, but it did keep me interested throughout and I definitely needed to know how it ended!
prdgreads 