prdgreads

Today I am on the tour for Stardust by Hope C. Tarr, thank you to Hannah at Hygge Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 454

Synopsis: 1938, Paris.

War is looming and 18-year-old Daisy Blakely arrives in Paris as apprentice to the renowned fashion designer Coco Chanel. Enchanted by the beauty and glamour of the City of Light, Daisy’s life is a whirlwind of couture and culture. And when she meets charming and enigmatic Jean-Claude Jacob, a Jewish doctor, an instant connection cements Daisy’s happiness.

Everything changes when the Germans march into the city. Daisy and Jean-Claude join the resistance. But her world comes crashing down when Jean-Claude is taken by the Gestapo. Learning to live with her loss, Daisy’s life becomes one of secrets and danger as she works tirelessly to undermine the Nazi regime.

The arrival of German soldier Fritz causes Daisy to question everything she thought she knew about life, and love, as she’s drawn to a man tied to the enemy she has vowed to defeat. But Fritz may not be all that he seems . . .

At a time when the world is torn apart by secrets and betrayal, how will Daisy know who to trust? More importantly, how will she know who to love . . .

My Thoughts: stardust was a beautiful story that had me engrossed the whole time which is impressive for a historical fiction as it’s not a genre I reach for often.

We’re following Daisy, who is taken to Paris by her grandmother for an 18th birthday present, what Daisy doesn’t know is that Rose has an ulterior motive and has secured her an apprenticeship with Coco Chanel!

Daisy soon realises that although it’s only supposed to be for a few months that Paris is where she belongs – an opinion that doesn’t change once the war starts and Daisy finds ways to help!

After falling for a doctor at The American (a hospital she volunteers at) she finds out there is a whole underbelly that is helping the people that the Germans are trying to get rid of.

The story is heartbreaking and honest yet oddly positive and uplifting too! – had me feeling real emotions. I guess because although it was fiction you know it was someone’s reality.

Daisy and everything she went through will stay with me for a long time.

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Today I am on the tour for Don’t Make Me Laugh by Julia Raeside, thank you to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 333

Synopsis: Don’t Make Me Laugh balances anger and humour with the deftest of touches. It is a story about power and control and manipulation, about gendered roles in both the workplace and our personal lives, and about how women are set up in competition with each other. And ultimately – satisfyingly – it’s a story about fighting back.

My Thoughts: what an important book this was, I went in expecting a light hearted book with added humour that was easy to get lost in and to start with that’s what I got, I was drawn into Ali’s world whilst the tried to find herself a cohost for a new radio show.

the one she was tasked to enroll isn’t as nice as she was led to believe as she has people whispering in her ear that he has a reputation for making girls feel uncomfortable! – she then finds Ed, and has an instant connection with him, he’s the one she wants for the job, but can she find away to convince her boss that it was his idea?

Before we know it the story gets darker, but in a way so subtle that you almost don’t notice it until you’re right in the thick of it and wanting to help the ones involved get the justice they deserved and help them get their stories out there.

I really feel that this book will stir up a lot of conversations, conversations that need to be had, it shows the underbelly of the entertainment industry whilst also showing the importance of friendship and sticking together.

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Today I am on the tour for Delectable Sins by Shauna Richmond, 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: 38

Synopsis: They call me many things—murderer, mob boss, monster. I prefer to think of myself as a necessary evil.

Katie and I recently returned from Hawaii, sun-kissed and newly united by vows exchanged on a secluded beach. Romantic, isn’t it? Too bad the homecoming is less honeymoon, more courtroom circus. They want me to answer for David Walsh’s murder—and the others. Those men who thought taking Katie from me was a good idea.

Moore believes the tail he put on me will keep me in check, keep me from slipping back into the shadows to do what I do best. He’s wrong. You can’t catch a killer who doesn’t want to be caught.

Let them try, let them build their case, let them pin their hopes on rules and reason. They’ll all learn the same hard lesson soon enough: I’m AJ Quinn. And I don’t play by their rules—I write my own.

My Thoughts: firstly can we all just take a moment to appreciate how beautiful this cover is?! – draws you straight in! it’s subtle yet eye catching and perfect for the book.

Secondly oh it was nice to be back in the world of AJ Quinn, this one picks up pretty much from where book 1 left off, AJ and Katie are in court on murder charges & although you know the way it’s going to go because it’s the start of the book, it’s not all black and white and was very cleverly done.

The book is just as graphic and gory as you expect but with a bit of tongue in cheek humour with it which makes you forget that actually what you’re reading is actually someone being murdered or tortured 🤣

I live for the banter in Shauna’s writing AJ and Katie have it & we also got a snippet of Raven and Ciara’s in here to set us up for the next book!

It’s hard to put into words just why and how much I adored this book, the representation of certain conditions is on point, which as a disabled person, although I don’t have the same as said character in the book it warms my heart to see it.

It’s not all blood and guts, there’s a lot of spice/smut whatever you want to call it and it is perfect, which almost feels weird to say, but I’ve said it now so…

Shauna’s writing is so descriptive and so immersive that you almost feel like you’re right in the middle of the action & experiencing it for yourself in fact at one point I had to put the book down and take my anti dizziness meds because Shauna had set my vertigo off 🫣 now if that’s not a sign of a fantastic author then I don’t know what is!

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Today I am on the tour for The Outsider by C.R. Howell and I have a spotlight for you, thank you to Zoé at Zooloos Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part.

Pages: 295

Synopsis: A passionate affair. A marriage in crisis. A painful family secret.

Megan’s marriage is hanging on a knife-edge. The remote Welsh farm she loved so much when she and Noah were newlyweds has become a millstone around their necks. After thirteen years, Megan still feels like an outsider. People round here look at her strangely. They make it clear she doesn’t belong.

It’s not only lack of money that’s threatening Megan’s relationship. After three failed rounds of IVF, her longing for a child is all-consuming.

It’s then she meets Gethin, an intense, complicated young man almost twenty years her junior.

Against her better judgement, Megan embarks on a passionate affair. But this unhappy farmer’s wife is unleashing forces she cannot control.

Because there are secrets in her husband’s family. Unwittingly, Megan has unearthed long-buried tensions that lurk within this isolated, fiercely proud community. The dark past is about to come to light. And there’s far more than Megan’s marriage at stake . . .

About the Author:

C.R. Howell is a writer of psychological women’s fiction, exploring themes such as motherhood, family, trauma and abuse. Her first novel, The Woman in My Home, was published by Joffe Books in 2024. She is completing an MLitt on women’s lament in the poetic tradition and lives in northwest Wales with her partner, three children and two dogs.

If you like the sound of this it can be bought here! and is also available on KU.

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Today I am on the tour for The Rune Stone by Julia Ibbotson, 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: 376

Synopsis: When Dr Viv DuLac, medievalist and academic, finds a mysterious runic inscription on a Rune Stone in the graveyard of her husband’s village church, she unwittingly sets off a chain of circumstances that disturb their quiet lives in ways she never expected. She, once again, feels the echoes of the past resonate through time and into the present. Can she unlock the secrets of the runes in the life of the 6th century Lady Vivianne and in Viv’s own life? Again, lives of the past and present intertwine alarmingly as Viv desperately tries to save them both, without changing the course of history.

My Thoughts: Now we all know that historical fiction isn’t really a genre I reach for, but Julia has a magical way of weaving the present day with the 6th century and I have loved the previous 2 so just had to finish the trilogy!

Dr Viv DuLac is now a wife and a mother and when on a walk in a graveyard with her daughter she finds herself being pulled back to the 6th century, which instantly tells her there is more to what she saw and there’s yet another mystery to be solved to put everything back to how it should be.

The writing is immersive and really pulls you in, leaving you very quickly invested.

The story is told from 2 perspectives giving you a very rounded look at the story.. unlike the other 2 books I actually found the modern day chapters more compelling this time & I loved that Dr DuLac found a way to involve the local sceptic into the reveal of everything.

A perfect end to what has been a fantastic trilogy.

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Today I am on the tour for I Dreamed of Falling by Julia Dahl, thank you to Tracy at Compulsive Reader’s Blog Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 256

Synopsis: Roman Grady is the sole reporter for the local newspaper in a tiny Hudson Valley town – a town so small that every store opening is considered newsworthy. But when Roman’s longtime girlfriend Ashley, the mother of his four-year-old son, is found dead, he realises he had no idea what was really going on in her life.

And when he starts asking questions, he’s not prepared for the answers.

What was Ashley doing at the cliffside home of her troubled ex-girlfriend? How did no one in a house full of people see what happened to her? And why does it seem like everyone in town suddenly has something to hide? As Roman and his mother dig into Ashley’s last few months, the truths they uncover threaten to expose painful secrets. The kind of secrets that can get you killed.

My Thoughts: this was the perfect small town crime thriller, how is it in a town where everyone knows everyone’s business and gossip spreads faster than wildfire that a young woman can be found dead and yet no one knows anything about it? – it’s all speculation and half truths.

Can Roman put his heartbreak and grief to the side and use his skills as the towns only reporter to get to the bottom of how his girlfriend and mother of his 4 year old son ended up at the bottom of the cliff on her own in the middle of the night?

This is a slow burn thriller that had me feeling like a resident of the small town itself, the writing really throws you right into the middle of the whole thing and I felt real emotions, my heart broke for Roman and Harrison especially, it took me back to when I lost my dad (not in such horrific circumstances but it was sudden)

As more and more of Ashley’s past is revealed I was questioning every single person and creating scenarios in my mind trying to come up with the outcome myself 😅

I feel like I’m not really doing this book justice but when I tell you the twist had me shaking my head in absolute disbelief, so cleverly done!

Please please pick this up, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

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Today I am on the tour for The Witness by Sadie Ryan, 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: 360

Synopsis: Wife. Mother. Witness. Liar.

Ten years ago, Jane witnessed an unspeakable crime. Her testimony put Curtis Murk in prison for manslaughter. She never told her husband.

Jane’s happily married to Patrick — although she wishes he wasn’t away on tour so often. Her beautiful teenage daughter is about to head off to university. Jane loves her days illustrating books in her lakeside home — even if she sometimes gets a bit lonely.

She’s been lying to her husband for a decade.

That’s not the only secret she’s hiding from him.

Now, Curtis is being released from prison. And he’s not willing to let the past rest. It’s only a matter of time before he finds her.

Her perfect life is built on lies. And it’s about to unravel . . .

My Thoughts: this one really allows you to get into the main characters head and believe me it’s not always a nice place to be, she’s on edge constantly and doubting everything which leaves us as the reader feeling entirely uncomfortable throughout and I loved it!

Jane’s past is about to come back and haunt her a lot sooner than expected which leaves her between a rock and a hard place.. does she admit to her husband that she’s been keeping secrets for 10 years or does she go along with his belief that she’s is an alcoholic who is slowly losing her grip on reality?

This one was gritty, it was tense & it made you question yourself as much as the characters and sometimes even the author 😂

I thoroughly enjoyed it, my only bug bear is that there was no concrete ending and it felt a little unfinished but that’s a personal preference and doesn’t take away from the overall enjoyment of the book.

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Today I am on the tour for The Only Child by S. Englefield, 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: 339

Synopsis: How well do you really know the people you love?

After her parents are killed in a tragic accident, Amelia Simpson retreats from her old life and moves to the sleepy Isle of Wight to be near her grandmother, her last remaining family.

But as the people closest to her start to die and secrets from her parent’s past are uncovered, Amelia is forced to question everything she thought she knew about her childhood and the people that she loved the most.

In order to find the killer, Detective Inspector Jennifer Stone will have to delve into Amelia’s past where she learns that there’s no such thing as a perfect family and that stopping them may end up costing her everything that she holds dear.

My Thoughts: never in a million years would you think this was this authors first book because it had me invested from the beginning!

Poor Amelia had it rough, literally everyone she cared about was in danger and we didn’t even know it so the book was full of shocking moments & just when you think it couldn’t get any worse another spanner was thrown into the works..

As a main character Amelia was a really likeable woman but was riddled with insecurities after losing her parents at a fairly young age and uprooting her life and getting settled in the Isle of Wight to be near her gran, she had a boyfriend Sam who is quite frankly a bit of a knob.

DI Jennifer Stone or Jenny as she is known in the book really is a force to be reckoned with, she’s confident & unafraid to do or say what needs be, the only problem is that her husband and daughter Sophie sometimes get forgotten and she misses important moments.

The story had me so tense that I got cramp in my fingers with how tight I was holding my kindle at times.

The red herrings, the twists, the turns all had me feeling like I didn’t know which way was up & I just loved the whole experience! – I’m hoping there will be a second book & I can’t want to see what Jenny gets up to next!

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Today I am on the tour for The Little Girl In The Wardrobe by C.J. Grayson, 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: 352

Synopsis: The police receive a call.

‘Please help. He’s coming.’

The small voice is barely a whisper.

‘Who’s coming? Are you in danger?’

‘He has a knife. He killed her.’

The line goes dead.

Nine-year-old Anya crawls into a cupboard in her bedroom and calls the police again. The line connects as the bedroom door creaks open.

‘He’s here . . .’

A blood-curdling scream barrels down the phone, filling the earpiece of the operator.

For the second time, the lines goes dead.

Detectives Tanzy and Byrd are called to Anya’s home, a small, semi-detached property.

They’re hit by the familiar smell of death.

Something terrible happened here — and it’s up to Tanzy and Byrd to pull together the pieces of this terrifying puzzle.

My Thoughts: I’m going to start by surprising you all and telling that this is book 4 in the series and yes I have actually read all of them!

I adore C.J. Graysons ability to pull the reader in from the very start of the book & it’s that initial shock factor so early on that leaves you unable to stop turning the pages until your done, even if this means you’ve devoured a 352 page book in one sitting and lost track of time whilst doing it!

I thoroughly enjoyed being back with Tanzy and Byrd, they are hands down some of the most likeable and relatable fictional cops out there, it honestly feels like they as characters feel the emotions that their actions are evoking in the reader.

I’m trying so hard not to tell you too much about the plot of this one because it’s deep, it’s dark and it’s layered & the enjoyment is in unpicking it all.

I can promise you with 100% confidence that you will be thoroughly entertained and completely engrossed the whole time.

I’ll be honest, this would definitely work as a standalone, but in order to appreciate it properly I would recommend starting the series from the beginning.

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Today I’m on the tour for A Fatal Silence 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: 298

Synopsis:When the body of a young woman is discovered at an outdoor music festival, Detective Kay Hunter’s investigation stalls almost as soon as it starts.

Because the killer has left no trace, and the victim’s identity is unknown.

Amidst a media backlash, and faced with thousands of potential suspects, Kay must piece together the last hours of the woman’s life before her killer can escape.

But when Kay finds out the truth, her discovery will shake her investigation team to its core…

My Thoughts: firstly I feel like I need to tell you that this is book 14 in the series, also the first one I read, which seems to be very typical of me recently, however that being said this worked very well as a stand alone and I wasn’t left feeling like I’d missed much if anything.. I’m sure if I was to go back and start from the beginning I’d feel differently 😂 but this book was fantastic!

I took the audio book option for this tour & I feel like that was the right decision for me, it just helped me feel so much more real emotion, I was tense throughout and I know this is a weird thing to say, but I loved that, you know the story has you gripped when your body is just totally unable to relax!

The whole thing just felt too real to me, although I have never been to a music festival I have family and friends who love them & it made the story really hit home that this could & probably does happen more than we think!

The twist totally threw me for a loop, but was rather satisfying too after I had devoured the book in just one sitting!

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