prdgreads

Today I am on the tour for It Never Rains by Tony Bassett, 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: 260

Synopsis: It never rains but it pours…

When a ruthless gang burgles the home of a Premier League football player, DCI Gavin Roscoe and DS Sunita Roy suddenly have a murder and a kidnap on their hands.

The footballer’s stepson, Marcel, is taken from the palatial property whilst it is being ransacked, and his bodyguard is shot, stone cold dead.

To help them with their task, DI Parkes from the National Crime Agency’s Kidnap Unit joins the investigation but he has very different ideas about how the operation should be run.

While rain lashes the surrounding countryside, tempers rise, as do the flood waters.

Can the police track down this dangerous gang, unmask its malevolent ringleader, and reunite the boy with his family before it’s too late?

My Thoughts: as seems to be the way for this year this is the first book I’ve read of Tony’s and typically it’s book 6 in a series 🫣

It read really well as a stand alone but obviously you miss out on the backstory of the main characters, which means this one gets straight into the nitty gritty, it’s fast paced from the off, when a football stars house is broken into & they take far more than they intended to when they kidnap his son.. they saw their opportunity and they took it!

This then leads to a whole tangled web of events that DCI Roscoe and DS Roy have to use all their expertise and all the people at their disposal to get to the bottom of it and hopefully save a life in the process.

The pace never lets up & you literally never know which way is up, I found myself holding my breath throughout when things got really exciting!

I now have a new series that I need to catch up on and add future ones to my TBR.

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Today I am on the tour for A Deadly Plot by Dawn Treacher, 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: 244

Synopsis: Brenda Quinn’s cat has gone missing – and who better to find him again but the village’s very own Green Fingered Sleuth, retired vicar Cedric Malleson. After an initial meeting with Brenda, Cedric and his sidekick and friend, Tanya, discover there is more to the disappearance of Brenda’s cat than meets the eye. But what is the link between a missing cat, a missing woman, an elderly gentleman falling down the stairs and then, the disappearance of Cedric’s own cat, Rubens? To take Cedric’s mind off missing cats, his daughter Scarlett, arranges for him to take ownership of an allotment, where she can develop her father’s YouTube career into vegetable growing and the organic lifestyle. However, Cedric soon finds out that allotment life isn’t so much of a relaxing enterprise as he thought when he finds himself in the midst of a deadly plot.

My Thoughts: I love a cosy crime everyone now and again, because it’s fun, it’s an easy read and you can guarantee it’s never too heavy, but yet still twisty. I thoroughly enjoyed Dawns last book & couldn’t wait to be back in the village of Hebbington with Cedric and Tanya.

This time they’re hired by Brenda Quinn’s granddaughter, one of Brenda’s many cats has gone missing and although their organisation focuses on missing people.. missing pets can’t be that different can they??

What they don’t expect is that this seemingly innocent disappearance goes far deeper than you’d think and leads to a missing person too!

Yet another absolutely brilliant book by Dawn.. her writing is just so much fun yet evokes real emotions in the reader too, my heart was in my mouth at certain points.

I am eagerly awaiting the third instalment 😍

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Today I am on the tour for The Village Killer by across Greenwood, 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: 401

Synopsis: After three years behind a desk, Inspector John Barton wonders if he’s still got what it takes.

An opportunity arises to return to Major Crimes, so he jumps at it, after all he’s been around the block a few times. When he and his team are called in to investigate an attempted murder which seems to be linked to the case of a missing child, Barton is immediately thrust back into the life of a detective – early mornings, late nights and endless pressure to get to the truth.

Then a man dies.

Something deadly is going on behind the high walls and imposing gates of the mansions in the sleepy village of Castor. The locals are keeping each other’s secrets and if Barton doesn’t find out why soon, the bodies will start mounting up.

The Village Killer knows who’s next, and the clock is ticking…

My Thoughts: I’m not sure if people know this about me but I have a real soft spot for police procedural series, so this one was right up my alley.

I won’t lie I was a little nervous going into it because this is book 7 and it’s the first book of Ross’s that I’ve ever read, but I needn’t have worried because I loved this, the story was gripping and made me feel uncomfortable in the best way possible.

I loved Barton and his wife Holly, the banter between them was perfect and I found myself with a smile on my face whenever they were together in the page.

And the way he treated his team was like every single one of them mattered and was a valued member.

The main part of the story was so intricate that if you missed one part then the rest of it wouldn’t make sense, so many laters and so many characters that you had to unravel it slowly.

We get various perspectives throughout with I appreciated.. and 100% didn’t work out the culprit!

I will be going back and reading the rest of the series because I need more Barton.

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Today I am on the blogathon for Conviction by Jack Jordan, 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: 429

Synopsis: TO STEAL A MAN’S FREEDOM ALL IT TAKES IS . . . CONVICTION

Wade Darling stands accused of killing his wife and teenage children as they slept before burning the family home to the ground. 

When the case lands on barrister Neve Harper’s desk, she knows it could be the career making case she’s been waiting for. But only if she can prove Wade’s innocence. 

A matter of days before the case, as Neve is travelling home for the night, she is approached by a man. He tells her she must lose this case or the secret about her own husband’s disappearance will be revealed.

Failing that, he will kill everyone she cares about until she follows orders.

Neve must make a choice – betray every principle she has ever had by putting a potentially innocent man in prison, or risk putting those she loves in mortal danger.

My Thoughts: I absolutely ate this book up, it read like a tv show and when I tell you I was so invested that I felt like part of the jury I promise you I’m not over exaggerating.

The story seems to unfold slowly on both sides, but once it all starts unraveling it is so intense that it feels like your whole life depends on finding out the truth.

Neve’s job is to defend Wade, he stands accused of killing his wife and children, but things get complicated when we find out Neve is hiding her own secret that could bring her entire life crumbling at her feet, a secret that she thought nobody knew until someone threatens to bring it to light if Wade doesn’t go to prison..

I wasn’t sure which side of the fence I stood on for this book and constantly changed my mind throughout, total mind f*ck.. excuse my language but I couldn’t think of a more eloquent way to say it.

My sleep suffered reading this book because I dreamt about it the first night and then refused to sleep the next day until it was finished.

There’s something about Jacks writing that I just adore and I can’t wait to read the rest of his books!

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Today I am on the tour for The Midnight Of Eights by Justin Newland and I have a promo for you.

Pages: 288

Synopsis: 1580.

Nelan Michaels docks at Plymouth after sailing around the world aboard the Golden Hind. He seeks only to master his mystical powers – the mark of the salamander, that mysterious spirit of fire – and reunite with his beloved Eleanor.

After delivering a message to Francis Walsingham, he’s recruited into the service of the Queen’s spymaster, where his astral abilities help him to predict and thwart future plots against the realm.

But in 1588, the Spanish Armada threatens England’s shores.

So how could the fledgling navy of a small, misty isle on the edge of mainland Europe repulse the greatest fleet in the world?

Was the Queen right when she claimed it was divine intervention, saying, ‘He blew with His winds, and they were scattered!’?

Or was it an entirely different intervention – the extraordinary conjunction of coincidences that Nelan’s astral powers brought to bear on that fateful Midnight of Eights?

About The Author:

JUSTIN NEWLAND’s six novels represent an innovative blend of genres from historical adventure to supernatural thrillers and magical realism. 

Author, speaker and broadcaster, Justin gives historical talks and radio interviews. 

In a previous life, he gained a Ph.D. in Mathematics, but now he lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.

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

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Today I am on the tour for Mother Daughter by Anya Mora, 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: 209

Synopsis: My teenage daughter is missing . . . and it’s my fault.

THE DAUGHTER
I thought I loved him. That it would end in some sort of happily ever after. That the conversations that brought us together were signs. Like this was one of the miracles Mom always talked about.
But they weren’t signs at all.
They were warnings.
“I don’t want to die,” I plead, his hands wrapped around my neck. Squeezing tight. His eyes are like the ocean, dark and deep, but I don’t want to drown.
I want to breathe. This can’t be how my life ends; before it ever really began.

THE MOTHER
Now, I look through the backdoor window, wanting a clue of where she might be. I was up early this morning trying to get some writing done, I didn’t hear her in the house at all . . . which means she must have left sometime in the night?
I have kept my past a secret, but right now I wish Maple understood just how dangerous the world can be.

My Thoughts: Firstly can we just talk about this cover? – I don’t know what it is about it, but even looking at it made me feel uneasy. Which I guess is a good thing because it kind of sets the tone for the whole book!

This one was brilliant, it was creepy and had some real edge of your seat moments but yet felt almost realistic at the same time, which is scary in itself!

We know very early on that the mother is keeping secrets from everyone, whilst also telling them all the truth by writing her life story as fiction.. so when her daughter goes missing without a trace, she just feels like it’s history repeating itself.. but is she thinking too hard?

When I tell you I couldn’t put this down I am not exaggerating, I refused to move until it was finished.. and the best bit? I didn’t work out the twist!

Full of suspense all the way through I sometimes even had to remind myself to breath!

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Today i am on the tour for About Last Night by Christy McKellen, 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: 186

Synopsis: Keeping it strictly professional…

Radio DJ Lula Lazenby isn’t often lost for words, but this time she’s speechless! The man she just shared an exquisite one night with turns out to be her new boss…and his first job is to fire her!

Executive Tristan Bamfield wasn’t planning to stay in London long. Turn up, handle his father’s business and leave. But his inconvenient and instantaneous attraction to Lula has really gone and complicated things!

Tristan is a professional and everyone deserves a second chance – especially when you can’t escape the red-hot memories so he quickly reinstates Lula. Until that leads to weeks of tantalizing torture working with Lula in the studio. Tristan’s not here for a happy ever after, but his challenge now is going to be figuring out how to keep their off-the-charts attraction under wraps until it’s time to leave.

My Thoughts: this is everything you want in a romance, it’s fun, it’s flirty, it’s spicy and it really draws you in.

We’re following Lula, who is on the verge of losing her job, she goes out with a friend to drown her sorrows and chat and she bumps into Tristan, a bloke who’s not from there he’s travelling for work.. she realises the perfect way to let loose is to pretend to be someone else for a night & have a bit of no strings attached fun with him..

All fun and games until you realise the next day at the meeting that he is the bloke who literally holds your future in his hands!

This one proved entirely impossible to put down I was invested in it from all angles, would Lula get to keep her job? would her sleazebag of a boss get his comeuppance? Would Tristan’s apologies work?

I really loved the fact that there was no dragging out certain elements of the story, the book itself is less than 200 pages, so everything happened pretty quickly but not unrealistically.

This book may be spicy, but it was also incredibly cute & had me saying “aww” more than once.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, devoured it in one sitting and I am eagerly awaiting what Christy comes out with next!

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Today I am on the tour for Cosy Nights and Snowball Fights by Rosie Green, 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: 179

Synopsis: As the nights draw in, gingerbread lattes and festive hot chocolates are on the menu, and the Little Duck Pond Café girls are gearing up for the cosiest time of the year. But new recruit Laurel just wishes she could sleep through the whole jolly affair! It might be October, but she’s still haunted by the events of last Christmas. Could a new start in Sunnybrook help to heal her heart?

My Thoughts: as seems to be standard with me at the minute this is the first book by Rosie that I’ve read but is actually book 36 in the Little Duck Pond Cafe series!

Cosy romance seems to be a genre I’m reaching for a lot recently & this one didn’t let me down.

We’re following Laurel who after a really difficult breakup, escapes to Sunnybrook in the hopes of a new start, but in her mind this fresh start means keeping herself to herself, not allowing anyone in or close & just getting through each day.

However the residents of Sunnybrook manage to get behind her defences a little and envelop her within the fold, which is what Laurel has needed for a while,

Josh is just an absolute sweetheart, oh he made me swoon and feel all warm inside, which baffles me since his big sweep her off her feet moment involved snow 😂

This was a lovely read & although it ended in a HEA it wasn’t always an easy read.

I probably didn’t appreciate some of it as much as the readers who have been there from the start but this just makes me more determined to read the series in its entirety at some point.

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Today i am on the tour for A Christmas Wish On Arran by Ellie Henderson, thank you to Hannah at Hygge Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the publisher and the author for my copy.

Pages: 269

Synopsis: This Christmas, can Beth and Callum find the second chance they need?

When Beth Ferguson’s journalism career in London ends in tatters just before Christmas, she’s offered a new start as the local reporter on the Isle of Arran.

The only problem? Returning to the place where she first met Callum. Her first love. The man who broke her heart.

Arriving as the close-knit community prepares for their Christmas festivities, Beth soon reconnects with Arran’s magic. But when she bumps into Callum — who is just as gorgeous as she remembers — it’s their shared past that pulls at her heartstrings.

It’s not just Beth whose heart broke that day 25 years ago. Callum, now a single parent to teenager Daisy, has never forgotten Beth, the ‘one who got away’.

Despite the time apart, the more Beth and Callum try to ignore their chemistry, the more it reignites the flame between them. And when Beth needs a shoulder to cry on, it’s Callum who shows her that time and distance can’t change what the heart reallywants.

Perhaps they are both about to discover the season of second chances and a Christmas to remember.

My Thoughts: I absolutely adore a small town Christmas romance, and this one had everything in it that I loved and more!

We’re following Beth, who has moved back to the Isle of Arran after her life in London didn’t go to plan, she moves in with her dad temporarily at his retirement complex, but then ends up back on the Isle of Arran where she grew up ready to take a job as a reporter for the local paper, she soon realises that Callum, the boyfriend she had her life planned out with all those years ago before he shattered her heart still lives there, not only that but he also has a daughter..

Callum is a perfect gentlemen, he’s single handedly raising a teenager, which has challenges but he’s always there for her when he needs her. You can imagine he got the shock of his life when a face from his past reappears after a quarter of a century.

This story did a very good job of weaving their past and present together whilst focussing on the future they both wanted, it wasn’t a easy road to get there and they both had to confront some hard truths.

Although parts of this book were a tough read, even making me tear up a little, the overall feel of the book was heartwarming and absolutely beautiful.

This is actually part of a series, but I’ll be honest I haven’t read the other ones and it did read perfectly fine as a stand alone, I will definitely be going back to read the previous books at some point.

A lovely cosy romance that was so easy to lose yourself in.

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Today I am on the tour for Me There With You Then by Edie D. Browning, 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: 225

Synopsis: Where’s home when you’re torn between two loves, two countries, and two lives?

What begins as a carefree getaway from Helsinki to Stockholm with her best friend Marja quickly transforms into a life-altering journey when Louise meets Mat, a captivating stranger whose warmth and charm ignite an unexpected connection. As their bond deepens into a passionate affair that defies borders, Louise is thrust into a whirlwind romance that challenges everything she thought she knew about love. Meanwhile, back in Ireland, her on-again, off-again boyfriend Sean has a dramatic revelation: Louise is his one true love—and he’s coming to Finland to win her back.
With Marja by her side, navigating the turbulent waters of love and loyalty should be straightforward. Yet as Louise stands at the crossroads between a thrilling future with Mat and the comfort of a familiar but unfulfilling past with Sean, the decision proves anything but easy.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this look at Louise’s life before the events in the first book, it showed the emotional turmoil she went through regarding Mat and Sean, the thoughts, feelings and events all felt so real, the story really pulls you in and doesn’t let go!

It honestly had me feeling a whole load of different emotions, one minute i was laughing, the next I was furious and then within a couple of pages I’d be crying, it takes a real skill for an author to be able to make their reader feel things so deeply that they have a physical response.

The characters are relatable because they’re all flawed which I really appreciated, nobody is perfect, not even fictional characters.

I know I haven’t really told you much about the storyline & I’ve just focussed on how the book made me feel, that’s been done on purpose, you’ll just have to trust me and give this one a go.

I can’t wait to see what Edie comes up with next time.

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