prdgreads

Pages: 424

Synopsis: AIDA
I’ve endured fifteen years of underwhelming marital sex with Lord John Russell.
One front-page tell-all from his secretary puts an end to that misery pretty efficiently.
As the media furore rages around our divorce, two things become abundantly clear.
One. It’s time for some decent orgasms.
Which is why I’ve joined the Unfurl programme at London’s top sex club, Alchemy.
Two. It’s time to take control of the narrative. For myself and for other women.
And that’s why I plan to document my sexual revolution on camera.

CAL
Sexy AF celebrity, Aida Russell, is looking for a mentor on her journey to reclaim her sexuality.
As co-founder of London’s most exclusive sex club, I’m her man.
I’ll make her come.
Make her forget.
Untether her from the constraints of her past.
I warn her at the outset not to get emotionally attached. I don’t do commitment.
But when she begins to revel in the new-found liberty I helped her find, I’m the one who struggles.
I should be proud. Relieved.
Job done, right?
But the higher she soars, the more attached I get.

Untether is a spicy reverse age gap romance (10 years’ age gap) where he falls first. It’s full of the searing heat levels, glamour, and mega-feels you’ve come to expect from the Alchemy series.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Review: welll.. I think Cal might just be my favourite Alchemy founder. 😩🥺

I started this book feeling this book was a little different to the others, there was less sex, well not necessarily less, but it was later in the book it started, but boy was it worth it!

It was hot, steamy & very intense, but it all made for fantastic reading 😂 the chemistry between the two was off the charts & let me tell you the bloke who we all thought wasn’t one for settling down, fell first and fell hard, he was very aware of Aida’s wants and needs & was very gentlemanly in the way he looks after her feelings. I just wanted to wrap him up and give him a bloody big cuddle.

Aida was a lady who knew what she wanted & went after it, but in a very public way to show women that it’s ok to still want good sex in their 40’s.. everyone sees her as a force to be reckoned with & for the most part she is, but she has a vulnerable softer side that Cal seems to bring out of her.

Some of the role play on this book was just spot on 👌🏼👌🏼 it’s not my tastes but something about seeing a woman finally admit her sexual desires and receive them with no judgement from the other party just hit the spot, I was almost cheering them on 😅

Although these books do read as stand alone’s I do think you need to start from the beginning to appreciate the growth in all the characters.

Well done Elodie for surpassing my expectations once again.

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Today I am on the tour for Hurt Runs Within by Zoltan Vincze, 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: 300

Synopsis: Afghanistan, 2012. Mackay Connolly has been medically discharged from the British army following an IED explosion killing three members of his team. He barely survives. To keep Mackay alive, a cutting-edge synthetic bone structure called Phragazom is implanted.

Back in the UK, PTSD engulfs him, leading to a deep depression. However, a budding friendship with Renee Cross, a wheelchair-bound military boxing instructor with her own traumatic past brings a glimmer of hope.

When tragedy strikes again and Mackay’s brother and most of his family are killed at an Australian winery, he is driven to uncover the truth and find his surviving nephew. Together, Mackay and Renee embark on a quest, travelling from one corner of the world to the other to bring those responsible to justice. Mackay, however, has no idea how powerful his synthetic upgrade really is…

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: well this one was bloody brilliant, I wasn’t sure if I’d like it.. I totally judged the book by the cover and I was convinced it was going to be too heavy for me, but boy was I wrong.. although I will say the first couple of chapters were very medical explanation heavy which did put me off slightly

Mackay is a force to be reckoned with, especially with his fancy new bone structure it almost makes him superhuman 🤣

Renee is quite possibly my favourite fictional character ever, as a disabled woman myself, it’s always brilliant when the representation is not only positive but absolutely blew my expectations out of the water, she’s strong independent and an absolute badass!

This book is one hell of a wild ride that will make you laugh, possibly make you cry and also have you on the edge of your seat..

I’ve been very vague with this review but their are reasons, trust me and just pick it up and give it a read.

I will be looking out for more books by Zoltan in the future.

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Today I am on the tour for Death Flight by Sarah Sultoon, 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: 300

Synopsis: Cub reporter Jonny Murphy is in Buenos Aires interviewing families of victims of Argentina’s Dirty War, when a headless torso has washed up on a city beach, thrusting him into a shocking investigation…

Argentina. 1998. Human remains are found on a beach on the outskirts of Buenos Aires – a gruesome echo of when the tide brought home dozens of mutilated bodies thrown from planes during Argentina’s Dirty War. Flights of death, with passengers known as the Disappeared.

International Tribune reporter Jonny Murphy is in Buenos Aires interviewing families of the missing, desperate to keep their memory alive, when the corpse turns up. His investigations with his companion, freelance photographer Paloma Glenn, have barely started when Argentina’s simmering financial crisis explodes around them.

As the fabric of society starts to disintegrate and Argentine cities burn around them, Jonny and Paloma are suddenly thrust centre stage, fighting to secure both their jobs and their livelihoods.

But Jonny is also fighting something else, an echo from his own past that he’ll never shake, and as it catches up with him and Paloma, he must make choices that will endanger everything he knows…

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this is the second book in The Jonny Murphy series, now this reads as a standalone, but I did miss the introductions to the main characters, but you soon get to learn their personalities!

I didn’t know anything about the dirty war so this was a real eye opener for me, I was fascinated and horrified at the same time, there was layers upon layers and just when you think it doesn’t go any deeper something else happens.

As I was reading it I had to keep reminding myself that it was based on real life events because it was just so shocking, the story was absolutely relentless, the pace is fast and the dangers are constant!

The twist with Paloma threw me for a loop completely, although looking back there was small hints throughout the book that could’ve been followed like a trail left by Hansel and Gretel..

I will definitely be picking up more books from Sarah in the future!

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Today I am on the tour for The Phantom Child by A J Wills, 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: 316

Synopsis: With cracks beginning to show in her marriage, Karina thinks a short break to a luxury villa in Turkey with her husband, Ronan, and their four-year-old son, Jacob, is just what the family needs.

It’ll be a chance to relax, enjoy some good food, and more importantly to reconnect with the people she loves the most.

But on their first morning, Karina is startled to discover she’s slept in late and not been woken by Jacob.

He’s an early riser who always comes into their bed pestering them to make him breakfast.

So where is he? A needle of fear spikes through Karina’s veins.

She rushes to his room, but his bed is empty and he’s nowhere to be found in the villa.

But when she wakes Ronan, frantic with worry, and tells him their son is missing, he stares at her blankly.

He says he has no idea what she’s talking about. They don’t have any children, and he’s certainly never heard of a boy called Jacob…

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: I am genuinely still in awe of what this book did, I can’t even tell you the amount of times I was shocked!

We open to Karina waking up and realising her 4 year old son Jacob had gone missing, but everyone is telling her she didn’t have a child, that she’s imagined the whole thing.. but surely she can’t have imagined the last 4 years of her life.. can she?

She slowly starts to rebuild her life, leaves her husband, gets a new job and a great friend… and then she receives an email that turns her life upside down and had her questioning everything again…

It’s fast paced, it’s proper heart in your mouth stuff, I even shouted “no fucking way” at one point and had to explain to my stepmum what I’d just read because I was so shocked I just needed to let it out!

I found myself turning the pages so fast, but also not wanting the story to end..

If you can deal with the difficult subject matter you definitely need to had this one to your TBR, it’s one hell of a wild ride and I promise you won’t be disappointed!

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Today I am on the tour for A Soul For A Soul by Carol Wyer, thank you to Zoé at Zooloos a book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 381

Synopsis: The syndicate have taken everything from her. It’s time to take them down—or die trying.

DCI Kate Young never meant to shoot Superintendent John Dickson at the reservoir that night—even if, as a scheming corrupt cop and head of the shady syndicate, he probably had it coming. But now Kate has photographic evidence that someone else knows her terrible secret…

Tormented by guilt and the voices of the dead, Kate is desperate to unmask the rest of the corrupt officers before her own sins catch up with her. When DI Harriet Khatri, awaiting trial for the murder of Kate’s mentor, claims she was framed by Dickson’s syndicate, Kate reluctantly agrees to help in the hope of finding answers.

Meanwhile, DI Emma Donaldson finds herself on the hunt for a double murderer—a man who incapacitates his victims with a powerful narcotic called Devil’s Breath. Desperate to measure up to her role-model boss, Emma finds herself hurled into the deep end in more ways than one…

While Kate’s grip on reality wavers and the syndicate closes in, and with the mystery killer taking a special interest in Emma, could this be the case that defeats both detectives?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this is book 5 in the Detective Kate Young series, this one felt very different to the others as Kate had been promoted to DCI, she’s no longer on the front line so to speak, she now has to delegate to both Emma and Morgan, she finds this frustrating as she likes to be in the thick of things, but it does give her more time to look for evidence to bring down the syndicate..

I really enjoyed this one, it had all the twists of previous book with an added layer of suspense and fear because you’re constantly wondering if this will be when all Kates secrets come to light.. whilst really hoping not at the same time.

Even whilst Kate is alone, she’s never really alone as she always has the voice of John Dickson in her head, he’s definitely a part of her past that won’t leave her alone, constantly goading and scaring her, but then we also have the voice of William in the party, always the voice of reason and mentor in life. He continues to be that for her her in death.

I can’t help but feel like this might be the end of the Kate Young series, the book had a kind of finality to it that the others didn’t! – I won’t lie there will be a part of me that will be heartbroken if it is.

I would 100% recommend this book to all fans of crime books and police procedurals, however you will need to start from the beginning of the series, it’s a wild ride but totally worth it!

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

Pages: 395

Synopsis: Five old friends.
One glamping weekend.
A storm that will change everything.

Max and Annie Kingsley have left the London rat race to set up a glamping site in the wilds of Cornwall. They invite old university friends – TV star Dominic, doctor and new mum Kira, and free-spirited Jim and Suze – and their children for a trial weekend but the reunion quickly veers off-course.
First, there’s The Incident around the campfire on the first night. The following afternoon, a storm quickly develops off the rugged North Coast. When one of their group goes missing, all hell breaks loose. And as the winds batter the bell-tents, emotions run high and tension mounts for all the characters.
Who is lying in hospital, who has gone missing and who is the body on the beach below the cliffs . . .?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: I think it’s fair to say that this book has convinced me that I never want to go glamping.

What started off as a group of friends supporting the possible new business venture of others turned out to be everyone’s worst nightmare when kids start to go missing & someone ends up dead!

Told from various perspectives across different timelines which is always my favourite when it comes to a mystery thriller because it gives you a well rounded look at everything/everyone whilst also leaving you with questions to be answered.

The suspense and the atmosphere in this book were palpable, you could literally feel it oozing through the pages, it had my heart racing, I was holding my breath and biting my lip constantly throughout!

Absolutely brilliant book and I cannot wait to see what Hannah comes up with next.

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Today I am on the tour for Merciless Waters by Rae Knowles, 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: 125

Synopsis: Aboard the ship Scylla, there is no future or past. Jaq, her fickle lover Lily, and their all-female crew exist in an endless present. It’s better this way. At least it keeps Lily by Jaq’s side, where she belongs. But the meddling gods care little for Jaq’s longing, and despite her protective rituals, their punishmentarrives all the same:

A man, adrift on the open ocean. Delivered to snatch Lily from Jaq’s arms forever.

Jaq knows what to do. She’s lost Lily before. Her lover will return-when this interloper, this distraction, is snuffed out. But Jaq’s murderous schemes may not be enough. The intruder’s presence infects her crew with a plague her spells cannot cure: memory. And as the women recall how they came to Scylla, their minds bend one by one towards revenge.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this one is really hard to review because it’s so short and I don’t want to give anything away.

It’s weird, it’s wonderful, it’s dark and strangely compelling I found myself unable to put it down until it was finished!

Let’s just say you don’t want to find yourself aboard the ship Scylla, especially if you’re a male, it throws everything off balance and they won’t stop until you’re gone..

It’s totally gruesome yet completely romantic at the same time 😅 add the beautiful cover to the mix and I would say this is definitely one that needs to be added to your tbr!

I am aware that this review is short and sweet, but so is the book. Just go read it, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

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Today I am on the tour for Halfway House by a Helen Fitzgerald, 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: 300

Synopsis: They’re the housemates from Hell…

When her disastrous Australian love affair ends, Lou O’Dowd heads to Edinburgh for a fresh start, moving in with her cousin, and preparing for the only job she can find … working at a halfway house for very high-risk offenders.

Two killers, a celebrity paedophile and a paranoid coke dealer – all out on parole and all sharing their outwardly elegant Edinburgh townhouse with rookie night-worker Lou…

And instead of finding some meaning and purpose to her life, she finds herself trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse where she stands to lose everything – including her life.

Slick, darkly funny and nerve-janglingly tense, Halfway House is both a breathtaking thriller and an unapologetic reminder never to corner a desperate woman…

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: I have to be completely honest, this one was a bit hit or miss for me to begin with. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the book but the story itself confused me, it’s marketed as a darkly funny and tense thriller. But the first half felt like a contemporary comedy book.

Lou’s life in Australia has fallen apart so she moves to Edinburgh to live with her cousin and start a new life.. what she doesn’t find out until she gets there is that her cousin takes in a lot of waifs and strays so she’s constantly sharing the place with a variety of different characters, some likeable & some not so much & then she finds Tim and thinks he just may be the love of her life and all seems perfect until she starts her new job as the nighttime supervisor of a halfway house full of high risk male offenders.. one or two she might even recognise!

Once Lou starts her job that’s when the book becomes a real page turner, at times you’re left not knowing which way is up & who you can trust, at times I could see Lou making a choice and found myself shaking my head and her and wanting to shout at my kindle 🤣

Now that I’ve finished it I can see how effective the first half of the book is at lulling you into a false sense of security! – thoroughly enjoyed it and was on the edge of my seat by the end!

Today I am on the tour for Manky Business by Ewan Fraser, 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: 252

Synopsis: Tanya Johnson had it all. Looks. Charm. A pure heart.

Until that night she was found dead in a port building. 

Will her murder bring a corrupt Edinburgh city councillor’s manky business to light?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧.5

My Thoughts: this one felt like a comfort read, which is a really strange thing to say about a crime novel, but the writing was just easy and flowed so nicely 🤣

That doesn’t by any stretch of the imagination that the story was easy going because it wasn’t, in places it was actually quite brutal.

I did find myself smiling at Angus’s constant inner monologue, because in a way it lightened the story a little

The pace of the story was varied, it started off slow and then increased as the book went on, almost like it didn’t want to give too much away too quickly, which make think that this may be the start to a new series & definitely one I would be interested in continuing because I liked the characters a lot!

If you’re a fan of a book that has the feel of a police procedural that deals with heavy topics and is full of secrets then this is definitely one I would recommend.

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Today I am on the tour for If I Can’t Have You by G.M. Lawrence, 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: 324

Synopsis: Freya hopes there’s one man she never sees again. Her husband.

Freya has recently escaped from her violent and abusive husband, Liam, and has moved to the city where she is fighting to build a new life for herself.

But she knows in her heart that Liam won’t give up so easily, that he’ll do everything in his power to find her and bring her back.

Determined to stay hidden, Freya keeps a very low profile. But then she notices a young woman, Ava, who seems to be caught up in an abusive relationship. Knowing only too well the kind of anguish Ava may be enduring, Freya decides to get involved and save Ava from her partner, Elliot.

But when Freya calls the police, she inadvertently reveals her whereabouts to Liam who soon comes to see her. He seems a different man, contrite, tender, full of apologies. But is it all an act?

And Freya has other problems – Elliot isn’t pleased that she interfered in his relationship and is becoming ever more menacing.

Caught between these two terrifying men, can Freya confront her past and hold onto the future she’s fought so hard to create?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: G.M. Lawrence has done it again & created a thriller full of suspense and twists, whilst also being laced with reality, it’s really scary how the story is a way of life for some people.

I found myself almost reluctant to turn the pages because the story broke my heart and I almost felt that if I didn’t turn the page the bad things wouldn’t happen 🤣

I was urging Freya on to escape, sometimes even out loud as if she wasn’t a fictional character and my encouragement could make the slightest bit of difference!

The book is full of shocking moments that will have your heart in your throat and you holding your breath.

Luckily for Freya she had the best sister and brother in law that were constantly in her corner which helped to make the story a little lighter.

If you’re a fan of a psychological thriller then get this one added to your TBR!

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