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Today I am on the tour for The Secrets We Buried by Becca Day, thank you to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the publisher and the author for my copy.

Pages: 277

Synopsis: ‘If you ever tell my secret, you’ll be dead to me.’

THE FRIEND: When ordinary mum Frankie moves into her new seaside home, it is a dream come true. Her new neighbours – glamorous Zara, ambitious Nadine and social butterfly Geneva – soon take her under their wing. The four women become inseparable. Until the morning when Geneva’s body is found on the beach.

THE HUSBAND: Suspicion is immediately cast on Geneva’s husband. Everyone believes he must be guilty. But when the police don’t charge him, he vanishes without trace. Now, five years later, he’s back.

THE SUSPECTS: And he’s not the only one. Soon no one is beyond suspicion. Dark secrets that have been hiding behind closed doors begin to be revealed, with devastating consequences.

But one person will do whatever it takes to make sure that one secret never comes to the surface…

A totally gripping and page-turning psychological thriller with a killer twist you just won’t see coming.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧.5

My Thoughts: I instantly loved the mixed media aspect to this, the opening chapter is a transcript from a YouTube video from true crime enthusiast Juniper Rose and I felt instantly thrown into the story!

She’s looking into the death of Geneva, the leader of a group of four friends who was found dead on the beach 5 years ago, her husband has just got out of prison after serving time for said murder and now they’re all in the same place again for Zara’s mums funeral.

As you can imagine this digs up certain thoughts and feelings for them all, we soon learn that Geneva wasn’t the nice person everyone makes her out to be, she used secrets and blackmail to get where she wanted..

The book was packed full of secrets that were revealed slowly which added to the grit and suspense of the the story.

Told from various perspective and dual timeline which is one of my favourite formats for a book, with short chapters, all adding up to make this a one sitting read for me!

The shocks and twists just kept coming right until the end!

This is my first ever Becca Day book and one of my top thrillers of the year so I will definitely be looking into more of her books in the future!

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Today I am on the tour for 101 by Tracy Martin-Summers, 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: 278

Synopsis: Alice glanced at the property brochure resting on her lap and let out a sigh. She was on her way to Cedar Grove which, according to the brochure set out before her, was the answer to her prayers. The estate agent had promised that this was the one. The most perfect house, with everything she had asked for.
She smiled as she took in the sight of the pretty, quirky semi at the end of the road with its royal blue shutters and coordinating front door. There was something about this house that moved her. Something was drawing her to it.
So why was it that their world started to crumble around them bit by bit, as though they had been hit by a demolition project, destroying everything they held dear, especially one another?
Who was doing this to them and why had her neighbour, Sally, disappeared along with the rest of the neighbourhood? There was no one left. The vision, as described on the day of the viewing had vanished, fallen off the face of the earth and she was deemed psychotic. Was she losing her mind? She didn’t think so…

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: now when I tell you I went into this book completely blind, I am not kidding I did the thing we’re all not supposed to do and judged the book by it’s cover.. I was expecting a nice soppy romance and what I got was an utterly gripping psychological thriller 🤣

It’s very clear when Alice and her husband turn up to the house they’ve just bought it is not the same one that Alice viewed mere months ago, everything has changed including the neighbours.

There was something about Tracy’s writing style that had me completely captivated despite the story being eerie, I found myself unable to put it down because I just constantly felt compelled to keep reading.

There were many parts that gave me goosebumps and sent shivers down my spine I love it when you get so engrossed in a book that you have actual physical reactions!

Definitely one to be added to your TBR!

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Today I’m on the blog tour for The Opposite Of Lonely by Doug Johnstone, 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: 334

Synopsis: Even death needs company…

The Skelf women are recovering from the cataclysmic events that nearly claimed their lives. Their funeral-director and private-investigation businesses are back on track, and their cases are as perplexing as ever.

Matriarch Dorothy looks into a suspicious fire at an illegal campsite and takes a grieving, homeless man under her wing. Daughter Jenny is searching for her missing sister-in-law, who disappeared in tragic circumstances, while grand-daughter Hannah is asked to investigate increasingly dangerous conspiracy theorists, who are targeting a retired female astronaut … putting her own life at risk.

With a body lost at sea, funerals for those with no one to mourn them, reports of strange happenings in outer space, a funeral crasher with a painful secret, and a violent attack on one of the family, The Skelfs face their most personal – and perilous – cases yet. Doing things their way may cost them everything…

Tense, unnerving and warmly funny, The Opposite of Lonely is the hugely anticipated fifth instalment in the unforgettable Skelfs series, and this time, danger comes from everywhere…

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: honestly this series just gets better and better, where else would you find a family of women running a funeral directors and a private investigation firm who find themselves tangled up with an astronaut and a group of travellers whilst also getting caught in the middle of a police investigation!

There were so many layers to this story, with 3 different parts all slowly coming together towards the end, I’m trying to be really careful what I say so I don’t give any of it away, because where’s the fun in that.

But as well as the investigations and the funerals there is a very personal element to the story too, that really pulled at my heartstrings!

There is humour and sass cleverly interwoven within the book to lighten the mood slightly..

The book was tense and gripping, but somehow in a very different way to the rest of the series, I devoured this one & can quite confidently say that this is my favourite instalment so far, there was a new addition to Dorothy’s group of waifs and strays and I just loved him so much 🥺

and I’m secretly hoping we will have many more in the The Skelfs series because these guys will be hard to say goodbye to!

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Today I’m on the tour for The Infertile Midwife by Sophie Martin, 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: 288

Synopsis: An insightful, moving memoir, capturing life working as a midwife in a busy NHS hospital at the same time as dealing with experiences of infertility, IVF and loss.

As a young married couple, Sophie Martin and her husband spent years trying to conceive. They went through several rounds of IVF, at great expense, and even travelled overseas for treatment, never quite knowing whether they would one day have a family. Alongside this, Sophie was working hard at a job she loved: looking after expectant mothers and newborn babies as a midwife in a busy hospital, where the patients’ daily new additions were a constant reminder of Sophie’s own setbacks in pursuit of motherhood. 

The Infertile Midwife is a deeply personal, moving account of chasing something that you want so desperately. It also offers a much-needed look at how society treats infertility – from the language we use to the small talk we make – and the ways in which we can all do more to make things better for hopeful parents. With great warmth and honesty, Sophie shares her experiences of the bursts of hope and moments of great loss, but also the humour, love and joy that can be found in even the darkest places.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: ahhh this book, I’m really struggling to find the words, it’s raw, honest and overwhelming beautiful.

I was utterly captivated by the whole thing, such a hard read but one that I just couldn’t put down.

I can only imagine how hard it was for Sophie working as a midwife whilst having problems with her own fertility, the fact that she has willingly opened up and shared her story in the hopes of helping other women feel less alone is admirable really!

I never expected this book to effect me the way it did, considering I haven’t yet started thinking about children, but this had me crying so many times & with each chapter it just felt heavier.

A very insightful read, but one that I feel is important to share, I would absolutely recommend this to the people who feel strong enough to read it.

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Today I am on the tour for Blue Lunar and the Apex Grail by Ricky Baxter, 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: 394

Synopsis: In a world where the gods have long deserted mortals, a powerful sorcerer emerges from a 100-year-old prison. Releasing an army of beasts, he enters a path of destruction while searching for an ancient relic.

Tasked with challenging the darkness, a pure and naive-hearted boy named Luke embraces his destiny to defeat the wizard for the promise of a better tomorrow.

Equipped with a divine armour, fashioned by the most powerful goddess, Luke will journey across the land in pursuit of the dark sorcerer, making unforgettable allies and bonds along the way. However, as a long-buried tragedy slowly comes to light, the boy will question everything he believes in… including his destiny.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this book definitely surpassed my expectations, I’m not really a reader of YA fantasy/adventure stories anymore, I just feel I’m slightly too old for them and they don’t hold my attention.. but this was so good!

Incredible world building with simple yet powerful descriptions making it easy for the reader to visualise the environment that out characters were in and the things that they were seeing!

With the unlikeliest of heroes and some friends he finds along the way, the story is full of adventure and intrigue with bits that will make you laugh and bits that will break your heart!

I will say I found the different characters hard to differentiate between and keep track of, especially towards the end, but I got there eventually 🤣

Tagging along for the journey was a lot of fun, you just don’t know what’s coming next, I’m definitely looking forward to the next instalment!

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Today I am on the tour for Mine by Marlene Hauser, 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: 312

Synopsis: When is enough, enough?

High-powered Sophie Taylor thinks baby-making can happen on the fly. Managed alongside work, marriage, an MBA and travel, she decides to launch Project Bébé. Successful at everything, Sophie expects and always scores one hundred per cent. That is until the shocking failure of one fertility treatment after the next.

As the heart-breaking reality of infertility sinks in, Sophie owns up to another almost unspeakable loss and faces difficult decisions when she’s targeted as the love interest of a high-powered financier. Through a colleague, a mother of four, she learns that motherhood is not all it’s cracked up to be. Just as Sophie feels satisfied with the advantages of a childfree lifestyle, a fateful meeting changes everything…

Triumphant, joyous and full of hope, Mine is a captivating story about a less understood route to motherhood: the fertility option Sophie almost forgot.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this book is something a little different for me, I’m learning to read out of my ‘comfort zone’ and this was a perfect example of why!

Sophie has always wanted children, but had believed that it will just happen when she’s ready. She still has things she wants to achieve in her life first.

She’s now got the husband, but she still wants a degree and a high flying job, so she works at both, then one day realises that time is no longer on her side, with a husband who is in another country most of the time and a dog to look after too, having a baby hasn’t always been the biggest priority until she realises it might not happen, now she’s fixated on it, she sees babies everywhere she goes, she even dreams of what she imagines to be her future child!

The story is beautiful, I really enjoyed reading about Sophie’s life, not just about her need for a child, but her relationship worries and her academic and work life achievements too.

I’ll be honest I didn’t like Tucker, it just seemed like for the most part he wasn’t on the same page and his business was more important which I’d obviously fine. But be honest. He was eventually but even that was sort of swept under the carpet 😅

We go on a journey with Sophie through all of her options and fertility treatments & we experience the highs and lows with her, sometimes I just wanted to open my arms to her and give her a big cuddle.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely yes, but some of the topics dealt with can make it a difficult read for some so please please do some research.

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Today I am part of the Blogger Day for One Moment by Becky Hunter, 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: 306

Synopsis: The day Scarlett dies should have been one of the most important of her life. It doesn’t feel fair that she’ll never have the chance to fulfil her dreams – all because she stopped to help a stranger. And now, she’s still … here – wherever here is – watching the ripple effect of her death on those she loved the most.
Evie cannot contemplate her life without Scarlett, and she certainly cannot forgive Nate, the man she blames for her best friend’s death. But Nate keeps popping up when she least expects him to, catapulting Evie’s life in directions she’d never let herself imagine possible.
If you could go back, knowing everything that happens after, everything that happens because of one choice you made, would you change the course of history or would you do it all again?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: what a beautiful story of friendship this was, the way Scarlett still looks out for Evie even after death made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

It made me laugh, it made me ugly cry and feel an array of emotions in between. I really liked the fact that although Scarlett’s death was a huge part of the story the main theme is friendship and both sides learning to accept the loss, Scarlett having to come to terms with losing her life and Evie with the loss of her best friend.

It really brought home that one moment, one chance decision can change the course of not only your life but the lives of everyone who knew you too.

Evie as a character will always have a special place in my heart, not only had she lost her best friend, but she’s now all on her own, whilst also dealing with a life changing diagnosis! As someone who has had MS for 12 years, I won’t lie when I saw that Evie had been diagnosed with it I rolled my eyes and my first thought was “this won’t be done right” but I was pleasantly surprised, it wasn’t all doom and gloom and the symptoms being described were the most accurate I’d read in a book without being over the top! & not only that but she had a love interest, the diagnosis wasn’t the end of her life!

A beautifully written story that had me captivated from the first page to the last. One I will be shouting about for a long time!

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Today I am part of the Blogger Day for One Moment by Becky Hunter, 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: 306

Synopsis: The day Scarlett dies should have been one of the most important of her life. It doesn’t feel fair that she’ll never have the chance to fulfil her dreams – all because she stopped to help a stranger. And now, she’s still … here – wherever here is – watching the ripple effect of her death on those she loved the most.
Evie cannot contemplate her life without Scarlett, and she certainly cannot forgive Nate, the man she blames for her best friend’s death. But Nate keeps popping up when she least expects him to, catapulting Evie’s life in directions she’d never let herself imagine possible.
If you could go back, knowing everything that happens after, everything that happens because of one choice you made, would you change the course of history or would you do it all again?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: what a beautiful story of friendship this was, the way Scarlett still looks out for Evie even after death made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

It made me laugh, it made me ugly cry and feel an array of emotions in between. I really liked the fact that although Scarlett’s death was a huge part of the story the main theme is friendship and both sides learning to accept the loss, Scarlett having to come to terms with losing her life and Evie with the loss of her best friend.

It really brought home that one moment, one chance decision can change the course of not only your life but the lives of everyone who knew you too.

Evie as a character will always have a special place in my heart, not only had she lost her best friend, but she’s now all on her own, whilst also dealing with a life changing diagnosis! As someone who has had MS for 12 years, I won’t lie when I saw that Evie had been diagnosed with it I rolled my eyes and my first thought was “this won’t be done right” but I was pleasantly surprised, it wasn’t all doom and gloom and the symptoms being described were the most accurate I’d read in a book without being over the top! & not only that but she had a love interest, the diagnosis wasn’t the end of her life!

A beautifully written story that had me captivated from the first page to the last. One I will be shouting about for a long time!

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Today I am part of the Blogger Day for One Moment by Becky Hunter, 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: 306

Synopsis: The day Scarlett dies should have been one of the most important of her life. It doesn’t feel fair that she’ll never have the chance to fulfil her dreams – all because she stopped to help a stranger. And now, she’s still … here – wherever here is – watching the ripple effect of her death on those she loved the most.
Evie cannot contemplate her life without Scarlett, and she certainly cannot forgive Nate, the man she blames for her best friend’s death. But Nate keeps popping up when she least expects him to, catapulting Evie’s life in directions she’d never let herself imagine possible.
If you could go back, knowing everything that happens after, everything that happens because of one choice you made, would you change the course of history or would you do it all again?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: what a beautiful story of friendship this was, the way Scarlett still looks out for Evie even after death made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

It made me laugh, it made me ugly cry and feel an array of emotions in between. I really liked the fact that although Scarlett’s death was a huge part of the story the main theme is friendship and both sides learning to accept the loss, Scarlett having to come to terms with losing her life and Evie with the loss of her best friend.

It really brought home that one moment, one chance decision can change the course of not only your life but the lives of everyone who knew you too.

Evie as a character will always have a special place in my heart, not only had she lost her best friend, but she’s now all on her own, whilst also dealing with a life changing diagnosis! As someone who has had MS for 12 years, I won’t lie when I saw that Evie had been diagnosed with it I rolled my eyes and my first thought was “this won’t be done right” but I was pleasantly surprised, it wasn’t all doom and gloom and the symptoms being described were the most accurate I’d read in a book without being over the top! & not only that but she had a love interest, the diagnosis wasn’t the end of her life!

A beautifully written story that had me captivated from the first page to the last. One I will be shouting about for a long time!

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Today I’m on the tour for The Fighter Of Auschwitz by Erik Brouwer, 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: 256

Synopsis: In 1943, the Dutch champion boxer, Leen Sanders, was sent to Auschwitz. His wife and children were put to death while he was sent ‘to the left’ with the others who were fit enough for labour. Recognised by an SS officer, he was earmarked for a ‘privileged’ post in the kitchens in exchange for weekly boxing matches for the entertainment of the Nazi guards. From there, he enacted his resistance to their limitless cruelty.

With great risk and danger to his own life, Leen stole, concealed and smuggled food and clothing from SS nursing units for years to alleviate the unbearable suffering of the prisoners in need. He also regularly supplied extra food to the Dutch women in Dr. Mengele’s experiment, Block 10. To his fellow Jews in the camp, he acted as a rescuer, leader and role model, defending them even on their bitter death march to Dachau towards the end of the war.

A story of astonishing resilience and compassion, The Fighter of Auschwitz is a testament to the endurance of humanity in the face of extraordinary evil.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: I really enjoy any books like this, people telling stories about experiences in Auschwitz, it absolutely fascinates me yet breaks my heart at the same time & this one was no different in that respect.

What set this one apart from a lot of the others I have read is that you got to experience a lot of Leens life before Auschwitz too, with really opened the story up and really intensified all of t he emotions that this book had me feeling!

This book focussed more on the facts than the feelings of the main character which again helped the reader remember that it all actually happened, that it’s not a novel!

The descriptions were perfect and made it easy to visualise the places mentioned and meant I could really immerse myself in the book, which I probably did a little too much given the dream I had the night I finished it 🤣🤦🏻‍♀️

An incredibly powerful story of a man who uses his gifts to his advantage, not just to help himself but to help provide for others too. A story of courage, resilience and ultimately doing what is right in a situation that is so very wrong.

One that should be added to the TBR of anyone with an interest on the subject, just be warned that the story can be harrowing at times.

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