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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Today I have a review for you for book 6 in the incredible Alchemy series by Elodie Hart! it’s publication day today so you’ll all be glad that you can instantly grab a copy for yourself!

Page: 456

Synopsis: Natalie
Why is life so unfair?

It wasn’t fair when my dad lost his company and we were ruined.

It wasn’t fair when my brother lost an eye, courtesy of the most brutish, unhinged bully at our school.

And it certainly wasn’t fair when the same bully got out of prison, turned his fortunes around, and became a billionaire.

It’s not fair when he shows up in my life again as the newest member of the exclusive sex club where I work.

But most grievous of all? While his soul may be rotten to the core, the guy looks like a fallen angel.

Adam
You know what they say. An eye for an eye…

But it seems I’ve got away too lightly.

Atoning for my wrongs is the only thing that allows me to face myself in the mirror each day.

I’ve atoned in more ways than anyone knows, but I’ve failed to make amends for my sins with the people who deserve it the most.

I join Alchemy to find the kind of absolution only the sins of the flesh can provide.

Instead, I find hatred burning in the eyes of the stunning brunette at the front desk.

She’s a mirror reflecting every dark and loathsome part that still pulses within me, and she gives me a new purpose in life:

To become worthy of her.

Unbind is an enemies to lovers, billionaire, forced proximity, age gap romance set within the luxurious decadence of the Alchemy club for adults. It forms part of a series of interconnected standalones and has a monogamous HEA.

My Thoughts: I have sooo many thoughts on this book that I don’t know where to start.

We’re following Adam and Nat, Nat is the hostess at Alchemy, she greets the guests and signs them in, so imagine her shock when in walks in the bloke that she’s hated ever since she was a little girl, the bloke who beat her brother so badly that he lost an eye.. Adam.

Adam is a very successful billionaire, who has essentially risen from the ashes of a really neglectful childhood, unimaginable grief and then doing prison time too.. you’d think he would be your typical bad guy… but we soon discover that actually he’s an absolute delight.

This was a lot different to the other books in the Alchemy series, it was heavier on the plot and the story itself than the spice.. but it absolutely needed to be that way for Adam and Nat, there’s a lot of history there that they both need to work through first.

The character development is so on point in this book that just thinking about it brings to tears to my eyes all over again.

I took my time with this one because I just felt the characters deserved that, that I needed to take in all the small details that would hint towards Nats walls finally coming down.

The poor girl was burning the candle at both ends and at times it really felt to me as a reader that some cruel person had a lighter to the middle of the candle too because she just couldn’t catch a break!

Unbind has everything you need in a romance book.

He falls first and he falls hard, it’s almost a forbidden romance, the spice is there and it is hot and intense, but there’s also moments that just take your breath away with how beautiful, raw and honest they are.

My heart broke more than once, I cried a lot, I squealed I just absolutely adored the whole thing.

When I tell you this series has my life I am not exaggerating, it’s by far my favourite romance series and I’m a little sad that it’s over, although we do still have Always Alchemy where we’ll get to catch up with everyone.

There are so many beautiful quotes in this book but I’ll leave you with this one that really resonated with me..

I don’t need to tell you that a good life can be forged from the ashes of tragedy.

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Today I am on the tour for Button Box: Rascals and Revenge by Ruth Enright, 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: 273

Synopsis: When Susan and Baxter fall into the employ of Bram Jarvis, a man with revenge on his mind, they are soon caught up in strange new adventures. Meanwhile, old enemies are still on the loose.

Susan time slips between two very different worlds. Her everyday present is at home and school but by night she has a magical past in Victorian London. There Baxter, a Pearly King coster boy and rat catcher, has taken her under his wing. Children alone in the crowded city, Baxter’s trades bring them into unusual company across a richly varied society.

Each of her worlds is just as real to Susan, who never knows what might happen next in either of them during the twists and turns of this exciting sequel to Button Box.

My Thoughts: this sequel was a lot of fun, with the whole timeslip through a button box aspect explained in the first book, this one was less about word building and more about the story!

It seemed faster pace wise and was so easy to get lost in, the 2 different timelines are woven together so seamlessly that sometimes I’d not realise the change until I saw a certain name and then I’d have to go back and reread it to make sure nothing had slipped through the cracks, but in a way I see that as a compliment to Ruth as the author.

The descriptions of the Victorian timeline were so vivid that it was so easy to picture the world around me.. I loved Baxter as a character he really gave me dodger vibes from Oliver! I found myself just constantly smiling at the book whenever he was on the page!

The modern day timeline was very true to life with Sudan being plagued of thoughts of not being good enough, being scared of letting her dad down & a lot of peer pressure.

A fab book, that although I am far older than the intended target audience I thoroughly enjoyed!

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Today I am on the tour for Look What You Made Me Do by Amy Andrews, thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the publisher and the author for my copy.

Pages: 258

Synopsis: A SPICY sports romance from Amy Andrews
A disgraced football star, a high school in need of saving and a reunion too hot to handle.

Headteacher Ella Lucas and football star Jake Prince have a very complicated history! Their mind-blowing encounter two years ago is proving impossible to forget now Jake has reappeared in Ella’s life after being booted out of the NFL.

She knew he was trouble back then but Ella has enough on her plate right now to worry about Jake and his shenanigans. Except, her school’s on the brink of closure, and it appears he’s the one person who can actually help. All he has to do is coach the underdog football team to a winning streak and maybe Ella can help Jake restore his tarnished reputation in the process. With nothing to lose, Jake reluctantly agrees.

As the school season heats up so does their inevitable chemistry. Far from being stuck in the past, the sparks between them are burning hot. And although he may look like her next mistake, Ella is determined that she will keep her hands off the anti-hero even if he does still have the best tight end on the planet. Because Ella has one golden rule: they are never ever getting together….

My Thoughts: firstly can we talk about the cover?? its bright, its colourful, its eye catching and just totally drew me into the story before I’d even read the synopsis!

Sports romances are all the rage at the moment and I couldn’t wait to get lost in the world of Ella and Jake, I don’t know why but this one just felt different.. in a good way I promise.. maybe because although the romance and the spice was a big part of the story and definitely hit the mark when it was there it wasn’t the main part of the story.

This is a book about second chances and not giving up on what you know is right, with a whole bunch of characters that you can’t help but fall in love with, one of my favourites being Cam, he was ‘raised’ by a mother who didn’t put him first and feels rejected by his big sister Ella, he can’t help but think that she should have ‘saved’ him sooner.

The book is fun and heartwarming but had a very serious undertones where it deals with some sensitive topics in just the right way.

This is the first book I’ve read by Amy but I will be looking for more in the future.

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Today I am on the tour for The Grandmother by Jane E. James, 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: 321

Synopsis: might be a grandmother. But I’m not some sweet, harmless old lady who people can push around.

Two little girls stand with their heads bowed in my living room. I’m told they’re my granddaughters. Daisy is nine, and Alice seven. Daisy is the spitting image of her mother. This is the first time I’ve met them since my daughter and I fell out after she married that waste of space, Vince.

They’ve come to live with me because their mother — my daughter — was murdered. In her own home while they slept close by.

I think Vince killed her. But the police can’t prove it. I’ve always known he was no good. He treated my daughter like dirt. I said he’d cheat on her — but she wouldn’t listen.

Now he wants his daughters back.

Over my dead body.

I finally have a family of my own. And nobody is going to take it away from me.

My Thoughts: this is the kind of story that you think you know what’s going to happen, yet it takes your expectations shakes them up and creates something totally new.

It’s a story told from the perspective of the grandmother and the father of Alice and Daisy, they’ve just lost their mum and have been taken to live with their grandmother who they’ve never met.. a lot of upheaval in a short space of time for 2 children that are so young and they both have different reactions to the situation.

You think the crux of the story is to work out who killed Scarlett, but the more you read the more you uncover that no one in this book is being honest, they’re all hiding something including Daisy and Alice!

It’s fast paced and intense, will have you second guessing yourself & then backtracking and thinking you had it right in the first place. It honestly baffles me how an author can think up some of the plot twists but I am absolutely glad they do!

If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers that will have you on the edge of your seat and unable to put the book down that look no further, you’ve found it!

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