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Today I am on the tour for the Detective Marcy Kendrick Boxset by Theo Baxter – Specifically Kill count today which is book 4. 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.

Synopsis: The City of Angels is in the hands of the devils.

LAPD detective Marcy Kendrick and her partner, Angel Reyes, are called to investigate the brutal sex murder of an up-and-coming starlet.

A calling card has been left at the crime scene. This was the work of a professional, Alejandro ‘El Gato’ Gómez, an infamous drug lord who has evaded LA police for over a decade.

Gómez has a right-hand man, a mysterious assassin known as El Mariachi de los Muertos. The assassin, for reasons unknown, is on a murderous rampage across LA. The bodies are piling up.

But why?

As Marcy soon discovers, El Gato has secrets. But drug lords don’t want their secrets to become public knowledge.

Especially not these secrets…

The race is on. Have Marcy and Angel got what it takes to stop El Gato and his right-hand man? Or will they themselves end up in the assassin’s crosshairs?

My Thoughts: firstly let me just say I have ADORED this whole series, might be my favourite police procedural series I’ve ever read!

We’re back with Marcy and Angel, who are just the perfect pair, they’re best friends which helps them to just have each others back, I found myself constantly smiling at the little things they do for each other without even thinking about it.

As is to be expected with this series Kill Count was full of action throughout! – is it a serial killer, is it a copy cat? Calling cards left at the scene brings a new face to the team, one that Marcy and Angel are reluctant to trust and let too close, but neither of them can explain why.

They’re all left chasing their tails as the killer always seems to be one step ahead of them!

this honestly had my heart racing and I felt like I had a constant lump in my throat because I had no idea which was the story would go.

I 1000% recommend this series, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

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Today I am on the tour for And The Devil Danced by Janey Clarke, 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: 2482

Synopsis: In the unforgiving heart of the Old West, the peaceful lives of frontier settlers are in turmoil as the vengeful figure known as Shadow Hawk strikes under cover, spreading darkness. His brutal campaign, marked by Bible verses foretelling divine retribution, leaves fear in his wake as he seeks to settle a long-buried score.

Amid the rising terror, Josh and Amy must face yet another ruthless threat—a relentless pursuer bent on taking Josh’s life. Their trials deepen when a devastating grasshopper swarm ravages their land, leaving their livelihood at stake.
Desperate to protect her family’s future, Amy pins her hopes on a legendary treasure—the fabled Jesuit gold, a prize that could pay for her younger brother’s education back East and provide for her ailing father. Together, Josh and Amy must conquer foes both human and natural to reclaim peace and secure a brighter future.

My Thoughts: I loved being back with Amy and Josh whilst they try to work out both the mystery of the Jesuit gold and trying to work out Josh’s really identity and what happened to lead him where he is now.

Filled with action that will keep you turning the pages from the beginning with enough of a proper story line to keep you fully invested in all the characters that we have grown to love.

We definitely see more of the side characters in this one and really felt like part of ‘the gang’ like I could have a seat at the table with Amy’s family.

As if all the secrets & the very real threat to Josh’s life weren’t enough we have an absolutely terrifying grasshopper swarm and a baby who needs caring for.

We did get slight hints of romance but it just wasn’t enough.. I need more and will definitely continue on with the series!

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Today I am on the tour for Sallowsfield by Cliff Hudder thank you to Zoé at Zooloos Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part, I have a spotlight for you!

Pages: 390

Synopsis: Wyatt W. Sallow, MBA–poet, business ethics professor, and coach of the 8th ranked collegiate chess team in East Texas–travels to the heart of northern England to trace his family origins in mundane Sallowsfield, only to find his supposed ancestry a mirage. He does have a real past, however: one that stalks him across the green hillsides in echoes of his catastrophic marriage, the lingering shadow of a lost child, and–there, in person, inexplicably emerging from the town’s faux-Victorian train station–”X,” the enigmatic object of his unrequited passion and a figure as perplexing as an algebraic variable. On his eight-day tour/pilgrimage/mock epic journey, Wyatt pursues the specter of his lost love and crosses paths with the citizens of this down-at-its-heels market town as they struggle to grasp the all-consuming obsessions, ghosts, and X-factors that confound their days. Thought-provoking yet dryly humorous, Sallowsfield weaves diverse elements into a story both light-hearted and philosophical, exploring along the way universal human touchstones of obsession, ruined love and the inexplicable mysteries that shape our lives.

About the Author:

Cliff Hudder flunked out of law school in 1981, but received an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Houston in 1995, and a PhD in American Literature from Texas A&M University in 2018. He has been an archaeological laborer, a film and video editor, a photographer, air compressor mechanic, electrical lineman, and educator. In addition to articles on regional and American literature, his short stories have appeared in several journals, including Alaska Quarterly Review, The Kenyon Review, and The Missouri Review. His work has received the Barthelme and Michener Awards, the Peden Prize, the Short Story Award from the Texas Institute of Letters and the Ruth Vande Kieft Prize from the Eudora Welty Society. His novella, Splinterville, won the 2007 Texas Review Fiction Award, and his novel, Pretty Enough for You, (2015 Texas Review Press) was named a top-10 Texas favorite for 2015 by the Lone Star Literary Life website. He teaches English at Lone Star College-Montgomery in Conroe, Texas. In 2017, Cliff was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters.

If you like the sound of this it can be bought here!

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Today I am on the tour for Jacob by VH Nicholson, 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: 285

Synopsis: Resisting temptation will test me to my limits

I’ve been in love with Skye since we were kids. But she’s off-limits, not just because I’m her boss, but she’s my best friend’s ex. And, together we made a pact as teenagers. And unbreakable bro code. Never Touch each other’s ex. Ever.

But I’m forced to spend hour after hour, day after day, with her beauty. In meetings, conference calls, emails, business trips. Every. Single. Week. It’s hideously torturous, and I shouldn’t want her the way I do. But then I think she might feel the same way…

Jacob is my boss. He’s broad, toned, dripping in ink and it turns out the man I’m falling for has been under my nose this entire time and yet I can’t have him. It’s too complicated and he won’t betray his best friend and my ex.

So we resist. Although it’s amazing how much naughtiness you can get up to without touching. But then it becomes clear this is more than just lust. This might be real. How can we ever make this work? I wanted a fairy tale, but right now I’d settle for a chance to at least kiss my prince.

My Thoughts: oh my word this was hot 🥵

Imagine your boss is your best friend, you’ve had a thing for him since you met at 16 years old.. but his other friend showed his feelings for you first, so you never got to find out if he felt the same..

You then split up with your boyfriend and find your boss in a compromising position at work & saying your name..

This is the second book in the Billionaire Boys series and this will be a hard one to beat, I just loved everything about it.

The characters were strong yet not afraid to show each other their vulnerable side and the vulnerability was evident in both characters which was a breath of fresh air as it’s normally just the females.

Jacob loves with his whole heart, which he wears on his sleeve. He remembers the little important things, things you wouldn’t even think to remember and I was just a puddle on the floor through his chapters his was so adorable that I just melted.

Skye knows she deserves better than Owen, it just took her 14 years to get there, to realise she deserves more than a boyfriend who literally puts everyone else before her, but once she gets there she’s a force to be reckoned with and refuses to backtrack.

The build up and the tension in this book was done to perfection, which meant when they finally got together it really felt like they deserved it.

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

Pages: 349

Synopsis: Fiction can be fatal…

Living in exile in Venice, the disgraced Lord Byron revels in the freedoms of the city

But when he is associated with the deaths of local women, found with wounds to their throats, and then a novel called The Vampyre is published under his name, rumours begin to spread that Byron may be the murderer…

As events escalate and tensions rise – and his own life is endangered, as well as those he holds most dear – Byron is forced to play detective, to discover who is really behind these heinous crimes. Meanwhile, the scandals of his own infamous past come back to haunt him…

Rich in gothic atmosphere and drawing on real events and characters from Byron’s life, Dangerous is a riveting, dazzling historical thriller, as decadent, dark and seductive as the poet himself…

My Thoughts: this is a strange one for me.. because I shouldn’t have liked this, the premise intrigued me, but it’s a historical fiction with an old writing style, 2 things that as a rule I dislike in books!

That being said I flew through this one, it’s one of those books that had me saying just one more chapter, but I just couldn’t put it down, it was like the writing was almost hypnotic.

Byron as a main character was someone I really for behind, I really felt for him.. I didn’t believe for a second that he was the killer not really, but there were times when I started to doubt myself, questioning whether I was reading things wrong.

The book really transports you to Venice, it all felt scarily real, the descriptions were vivid enough that I was really able to picture it in my head.. it also meant that on the day I finished it I had a dream about a vampire 😂

A fair bit of action that keeps you turning the pages eager to find out what will happen next.

I really enjoyed it!

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Today I am on the tour for The Best Wrong Move by Lily Parker, thank you to Zoé at Zooloos Book Tours for organising ur and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 331

Synopsis: Fake-dating has never been so hot.

Celebrity news anchor Olivia’s live-streamed marriage proposal ends in public humiliation — her almost-fiancé Rex says no.

Desperate to escape, Liv flees to Hawaii. Stunning sunsets and ocean views will help her plan her next move. Only to find Rex there too . . . with his new girlfriend!

And when Liv locks herself out of her rental, wearing nothing but red lacy underwear, she knows things definitely can go from bad to worse.

Until she’s rescued by gorgeous and mysterious surfer, Dom, who looks like he’s walked straight out of the ocean and into Liv’s fantasies!

Their not-so-meet-cute turns out to be the perfect solution to get back at Rex — a fake date. The plan is foolproof. Dom needs a distraction. Liv needs revenge.

But the more Liv and Dom fake it, the more the kisses start to feel a little too real — and in paradise, playing pretend has never been so tempting . . .

My Thoughts: I think Dom might just be my new favourite book boyfriend, he was just everything. Soft and soppy, but yet fiercely protective when the time calls for it.

I felt so sorry for Liv, she’s the ultimate people pleaser, always going out of her way and stepping out of her comfort zone to do things because other people think it’s a good idea, she’s full of self doubt which honestly broke my heart, so I just wanted to jump inside the book and give her a big cuddle when she realised that the one person she was going to Hawaii to escape was living on the other side of the wall.. talk about bad luck.

Luckily for her she has a landlord who is willing to go above and beyond to make her feel comfortable and also show her a good time, he helps her get out of her own head and helps her to realise her worth.

This book is funny, sassy, sexy and just a whole lot of fun, I ate it up completely & was a little sad when it finished because I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the characters.

I am already eagerly awaiting Lily’s next book.

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Today I am on the tour for The Swimming Group by Bella Elwood-Clayton, 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: 328

Synopsis: My name is Emma Brennan, and I never thought I’d find myself in this position — standing on a Cape Cod beach at sunrise, wondering which of my friends is a killer.

I came to the idyllic seaside town of Provincetown, to raise my young niece and figure out what to do next with my life. Eleven months ago my sister vanished off the coast of Ocracoke Island. No body, no answers. Just a teenage daughter left behind — and me. At the same time, the man I thought I was going to marry cheated on me with a cute young florist.

I joined the Tragic Wives’ Group — a tight-knit, cold-water swimming group with enough personal drama to fill a bestseller. And one of us has put it in a manuscript, spilling all our secrets.

Then she disappears . . . leaving just a pile of clothes on the sand. She’s the second person I’ve lost in twelve months.

My Thoughts: I am being spoilt with my psychological thrillers at the moment, this was another one sitting read for me, I couldn’t put it down!

I found it’s more of a slow build thriller which added to the overall tension and the atmosphere, this one put the fear in me because although I can swim I hate open water so this was like one of my worst nightmares come to life.

Every time the tragic wives club got into the water I found myself questioning my life choices and theirs 🤣

The twists just kept coming, really throwing you off the scent and making you doubt what you thought you knew.

With a whole bunch of characters all very different but it worked for the dynamic of the book and left you feeling like part of the gang.

This book made me laugh out loud one minute and had my jaw on the floor the next.

A fantastic anxiety inducing book that has left me feeling I should stay on dry land for the foreseeable!

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Today I am on the tour for Catch A Falling Star by Laura Carter, 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.

Synopsis:

What happens when the wedding singer and photographer have history? Sparks will fly! 📸💖🎸
A sweet second chances romantic comedy you won’t be able to stop reading! Perfect for fans of B. K. Borison, Sarah Adams and Beth O’Leary!

When fate crashes the wedding…

Tropes: 💓 Second chance romance 💒 Wedding setting 🔥 Forced proximity 💼 Workplace romance 💘 Will-they-won’t-they

📸 Wedding photographer Lyra Clarkson has built a career capturing other people’s perfect moments. She loves her job – despite her family’s disapproval – but she’s never quite found her own path.

🎸 Wedding singer Guy Walker, former rock star, has hit a new low. Desperately needing cash, he’s agreed to take any gig his manager can get him, even if this new form of entertainment isn’t just singing.

As Lyra and Guy’s paths cross – in the most bizarre way possible – an unexpected kiss will change everything. But was it simply a chance encounter or is fate bringing them back together?

Now forced into each other’s lives for the entire wedding season, the unlikely pair may just figure out together how to realise both their dreams…

My Thoughts: catch a falling star is quite possible one of the cutest spicy romances I’ve read in a while. I just couldn’t put it down I was thoroughly invested in the lives of both Lyra and Guy.

Both equally flawed and feel like they have a lot of making up to do and ground to cover & both hiding secrets the whole book felt more like an even playing field which doesn’t normally happen in a romance there’s normally a lot of oneupmanship which can sometimes leave you unsure of who’s side to take.

It’s laugh out loud funny right from very start!

A dual P.O.V. Romance with main characters you can really get behind who help each other confront their pasts and fall in love in the process whilst discovering the big secret that we as readers have known all along.

What more could you want? 😍

Swoonworthy and quite possibly my favourite Laura Carter book yet, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to these guys.

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Today I am on the tour for Death at Inishmore Castle by Lucy Connolly, thank you to Sarah at Bookouture for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 225

Synopsis: A grand castle, a glass of Irish whiskey, a good book by the fire… and a rather mysterious murder?

Historic Inishmore Castle is opening its doors for the first time, hosting a charming weekend of whiskey tasting and soda bread baking. Sisters Mercy and Lizzie McCarthy are badly in need of a break, but their relaxing trip takes a decidedly unrestful turn when Mercy finds fellow guest Father Brennen slumped over the desk in the library… Did he have one glass too many or did someone want him dead? 

Even more curiously, Mercy swiftly learns that the priest was no priest at all. So why was he searching through dusty old journals? Can the legend of Inishmore’s lost treasure possibly be true?

Mercy’s suspicions of foul play are confirmed when another of their party is found drowned in the lake at the edge of the manor’s estate. It can’t be a coincidence! Someone in this idyllic Irish castle is up to no good and Mercy is determined to find out who’s behind it, accompanied by her reluctant fellow sleuth and beloved dog Mr. Poe.

With a host of frightened guests and worried staff, and a storm closing in, Mercy soon has more suspects than bedrooms in the castle. Could it be the unconvincing nun, the busybody birdwatcher, or are the owners hiding something sinister? When Mercy realises there are secret passages in the walls, she thinks she might have cracked the case… but will she track the killer down, or will Inishmore be her resting place forever more?

My Thoughts: this is book 3 in the Mercy McCarthy Mysteries series and each one gets more fun as we go on, although with the main premise being murder maybe that’s not the right word to use?! 🤣

As far as cozy mystery series go this one is up there as one of my favourites, it’s all about the community, the friendship and all pulling together to work things out and the characters are just so much fun.

This time around they’ve all been invited to trial a weekend getaway at a neighbouring castle, it promises fun, whisky tasting and baking.. what could possibly go wrong?!

Not long into their stay Mercy finds the first dead body (of course she does!) at this point I’m starting to feel like she’s the bad luck charm & I’m sure other characters within this series are feeling the same.

This one has an added element of making you feel on edge because we’re not based in the lovely area of shamrock cove that we’ve all started to get used to, so everyone is feeling a little bit at a loss of what they can actually do, how far can Mercy push it without being told to back off?

I thoroughly enjoyed this one, I really liked the fact that it was a little bit more twisty than the other 2, it really left you doubting yourself, but as always with a cozy mystery it didn’t get too dark and had a really satisfying ending!

I will be looking forward to seeing what the gang get up to in book 4!

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Today I am on the tour for The Good Parents by Jessica Huntley, 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: 330

Synopsis: They offered her everything she wanted… they wanted everything she had.

Pastry chef Brittany Young is still grieving for her recently deceased twin when she realizes she is pregnant. Certain she is in no shape to care for a baby, she feels utterly trapped.

Salvation arrives in the form of a wealthy couple, John and Angela Dalton. They offer to adopt the child and raise it as their own. Brittany will come and work for them in their luxurious villa during the pregnancy.

But there is something off about the Daltons. John’s gentle demeanor has a sinister edge, and Angela’s erratic behavior grows more threatening by the day. A series of accidents that can’t be mere coincidence forces Brittany to ask a terrifying question.

Is someone trying to harm her and her unborn child?

As the truth begins to emerge, Brittany realizes she’s trapped in a deadly game. Can she uncover the Daltons’ dark secret before it’s too late? Or will her dream job become her worst nightmare?

My Thoughts: the one problem with an author being an ‘auto buy’ author for you is that you don’t read the synopsis before diving into the book… end up crying real tears, get cross at said author for breaking your heart & then realising if you’d read the synopsis you’d have been able to prepare yourself 🤣

I knew from that moment that this bloke as going to be a whole other level and hit different than the others & I was right.

Brittany finds out she’s pregnant at the worst moment, she’s just lost her sister, just started a new job and then finds out she’s pregnant after her first one night stand, she thinks maybe shes landed on her feet though when her employers say they will adopt the baby and let her keep her job, but then little things start niggling, it’s obvious that secrets are being being kept at all levels.. now the NDA she was forced to sign starts to feel less like security for her employers and more like a nightmare for her.

Parts of this book had me holding my breath (again 🫣) and biting my lip so hard I made it bleed.

There’s just something about Jessica’s writing that hooks me right away, refuses to let me go and leaves me all tied up in knots by the end questioning what kind of twisted magic goes on in her head.

Fast becoming one of my favourite authors & another book that I highly recommend

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