prdgreads

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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Today I’m on the tour for Her, Too by Bonnie Kistler, 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: 322

Synopsis: A high-powered lawyer learns firsthand the terrible truth about her client . . . a discovery that propels her on a quest for justice and revenge in this addictively readable thriller.

Lawyer Kelly McCann, defends men accused of rape.

She’s fought to build a successful career as a criminal defence attorney, with a speciality in defending men accused of sex crimes – falsely accused, she always maintains.

Her detractors call her a traitor to her gender, but she doesn’t care: she loves to win.

Kelly’s most recent victory is securing an acquittal for a world-renowned scientist accused of sexually assaulting his female employees.

But the thrill of her victory is short-lived. That very night she, too, becomes the victim of a brutal sexual assault. And almost as horrific as the attack is the fact that she can’t tell anyone who the perpetrator is – not without destroying her career in the process.

Kelly has never backed down from a fight and she’s not about to start pulling her punches now. As she joins forces with her rapist’s victims, for the first time it’s not about winning ― these wronged women are out for justice and for revenge.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: I would definitely give this a higher rating if I could, it’s fast paced and unputdownable!

The writing was compelling and engaging, it drew you in and then left you feeling like you couldn’t leave, you were almost helpless watching everything unfold knowing there was absolutely nothing you could do!

Kelly as a character is strong willed and feisty and isn’t afraid to twist a few arms and throw incentives into the ring to get the result she’s after, she has a 100% success rate after all, she’s definitely the lady to have in your corner, but on the flip side of that, she’s the last person you want as an enemy!

How far is she willing to go to see justice done? is she willing to destroy the career she’s worked so hard to build?

With there being heartbreaking issues at home too, Kelly is definitely burning the candle at both ends and eventually something has to give, but what?

The story is brutal and hard hitting but one I would definitely recommend!

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Hi 👋🏼 you’ll remember I posted a review for this fab horror book on Saturday! – well today is release day so let me tell you a bit more about the book. ☺️

Pages: 261

Synopsis:When Meg Wyatt inherits a manor house in Cornwall from the grandmother she didn’t even know she had, she seizes the opportunity to start her life afresh, embarking on a new adventure with her husband and twin daughters.

Of her birth family, all she’s ever known was that her parents died in mysterious circumstances during the Second World War, when she was just four years old – did her mother kill her father or was there more to the story?

As soon as she arrives in the ancestral home of Wexley Heights, which has belonged to the Barrett family since Elizabethan times, Meg starts having visions and aural hallucinations, at the same time that she discovers her formerly hidden talent as a painter – just like her birth father before her. Antipsychotic medication brings things back under control, until a few years later, her four-year-old son starts displaying signs of being possessed by the spirit of Wexley Heights. Once again, Meg feels she is losing her mind. Is Wexley Heights haunted, or is she cursed like the rest of the Barretts?

This dark supernatural horror by author Carole Bulewski is a must read for horror and literary fans.

If you like the sound of this is can be bought here! and is also available on Kindle Unlimited.

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Hi 👋🏼

Now if you’ve been here a while you’ll know that I am a huge fan of Sara Madderson/Elodie Hart & today I have a review for Unveil for you!

Pages: 412

Synopsis: Gen

I’ve made my fortune from liberation, but I’m far more comfortable with discretion.

I’ve built the pre-eminent sex club in London, but I don’t play there.

Not publicly, anyway. Not beyond its darkest corners.

I talk the talk, but I don’t walk the walk. Not like my male co-founders do.

Because I’m the immaculate one. The flawless, perfectly turned-out woman who’s cultivated her glacial facade so carefully she’s scared the slightest smear will ruin it.

I want to run a sex empire and be taken seriously in the old boys’ club that is the business world. I want to be the poster child, not the plaything.

So I stay polished. Tasteful. Beyond reproach.

Until Anton Wolff joins Alchemy. He’s the UK’s most charismatic billionaire, and he’s looking for a club that’s as discreet as it is debauched. As classy as it is carnal.

I think I’ve seen it all, until he shares what he desires from his Alchemy experience.

And what he desires, above all else, is me.

The pull is mutual.

The tension is unbearable.

And the risk that he unveils me, seduces me into abandoning any vestige of control, is very, very, real.

I think I’m afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this is book 3 in the Alchemy series and let me tell you they just get better and better!

I won’t lie, this one took me a little bit longer to get into, but that’s because to begin with I didn’t like Anton as a character, he was cocky and arrogant, but now having read the whole book I can see that that was fine intentionally.. I love a book where the man falls first & believe me when I say he falls hard!

But when Gen puts up a no touching rule he has to find other ways to make her realise how good they could be together and boy does he do that 🥵🔥

I really enjoyed getting to know Gen as a character and watch her discover the freedom she had with Anton to tell her exactly what she wanted with no judgement and no shaming, he just absolutely worships her and the ground she walks on.

I don’t want to say too much, but this one is spicy, I’ve read books that have had scenes similar to the ones that Elodie has written in this book that felt forced, and cringy and weird, Elodie had found a way to make it feel right, almost reaching the limit of what’s comfortable but finding a way for the reader to enjoy it.

I loved watching the big bad Wolff become Gens big cuddly teddy bear, I could definitely read more about those 2, I wasn’t ready for it to end!

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Hi 👋🏼 today is my stop on the tour for Blood Sisters by Rebecca Frost & I have a spotlight for you where I tell you all about the book and the author. Thank you to Zoé at Zooloos Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part.

Pages: 351

Synopsis: For almost a decade now, Brent Wright has been in prison for the murder of seven women – unless the surviving twin sister of one of his victims is right and Brent didn’t kill anyone at all.

She goes to Brent’s sister in her last attempt to prove that Brent didn’t kill Sunni. 

In fact, Sunni’s alive … and she’s the real murderer behind everything. 

If the theory is true, Sunni is dangerous and they should leave well enough alone, but neither sister will be entirely satisfied until they find out for certain.

About The Author:

Rebecca Frost is a published academic who researches and writes about serial killers. Her dissertation was about the history of written true crime in the United States. She is the author of three books published through McFarland on Jack the Ripper, H.H. Holmes, and Making a Murderer, is currently under contract for two books about the works of Stephen King, one through McFarland and one through Lexington. She is also the author of Psychological Thriller Not Your Mary Sue published through Aesthetic Press. BLOOD SISTERS is her second published title through Aesthetic Press. Rebecca uses her research into both real and fictional serial killers in order to realistically craft her own murderous characters.

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

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Today I’m on the tour for the Haunting of Wexley Heights by Carole Bulewski, 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: 248

Synopsis:

When Meg Wyatt inherits a manor house in Cornwall from the grandmother she didn’t even know she had, she seizes the opportunity to start her life afresh, embarking on a new adventure with her husband and twin daughters.

Of her birth family, all she’s ever known was that her parents died in mysterious circumstances during the Second World War, when she was just four years old – did her mother kill her father or was there more to the story?

As soon as she arrives in the ancestral home of Wexley Heights, which has belonged to the Barrett family since Elizabethan times, Meg starts having visions and aural hallucinations, at the same time that she discovers her formerly hidden talent as a painter – just like her birth father before her. Antipsychotic medication brings things back under control, until a few years later, her four-year-old son starts displaying signs of being possessed by the spirit of Wexley Heights. Once again, Meg feels she is losing her mind. Is Wexley Heights haunted, or is she cursed like the rest of the Barretts?

This dark supernatural horror by author Carole Bulewski is a must read for horror and literary fans.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: horror isn’t a genre I reach for often and then every time I do I wonder why I don’t read more of it!

This book was the perfect mix of creepy yet believable, was very cleverly written because everything that happened could almost be written off with a plausible reason and ‘managed’ with the antipsychotic meds that Meg is prescribed!

The length of the book would normally mean I could read it in one go, but this one made me so uncomfortable in the best way that I had to keep putting it down 🤣

Every time I thought we’d reached the limit, something else happened that shocked me, this one really kept me on my toes constantly!

I would absolutely recommend this one to fans of horror and I will definitely be looking out for more from Carole in the future.

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Today I’m on the tour for Stay by Jane Bailey, 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: 358

Synopsis: I simply slung my rucksack on my shoulder and climbed into the car – and into the life – of perfect strangers.

It was meant to be Caitlin’s perfect summer, but betrayed by her best friend and her boyfriend, she finds herself hitchhiking home alone, heartbroken, and penniless.

When a smiling family pulls up on the roadside to help her on her way, she’s relieved – they seem so friendly, safe. And when they offer her a warm bed in their isolated house for the night, she’s grateful not to have to travel back alone in the dark. In any case, she’s in no rush to get home, where a grave secret is lying in wait to blow her family apart.

One night soon turns into two, and then three. The increasingly spellbinding couple wants her to stay, and why shouldn’t she? Their children need a tutor, and the longer she can avoid home, the better. But then an older member of the household warns her to leave immediately. And when her phone suddenly goes missing, when she realises that this perfect family is a perfect lie, it might not be so easy for her to leave…

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧.5

My Thoughts: this book was slow paced but kept my attention throughout, it’s the kind of book that reels you in slowly and then catches you by surprise when you realise it’s got you completely compelled.

The main character Caitlin knew after a while that things were odd & wasn’t completely comfortable in the environment she’d found herself in, but they were in the middle of a lockdown & anyway she’d got herself too attached to the children to leave, or so she thought.. how far do you turn a blind eye before you can’t ignore what’s going on anymore?

When her phone goes missing and she’s not getting a reply to letters she’s sent to her family, she knows she has to get out.. can she find someone she can trust to help her?

Some of the things written about in this book were done so in incredible detail and were quite disturbing to read & the scary thing is that the things depicted in this story happen in real life all the time.

Absolutely brilliant story dealt with in a really sensitive way, this is my first read by Jane but I will be looking out for more in the future.

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Today I’m on the tour for The Adopted Daughter by JJ Burgess, 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: 285

Synopsis: She says she’s his daughter. But what does she really want?

Alice and Richard are happily married and about to achieve their lifelong dream – giving up their jobs to sail around the Mediterranean on their own boat.

But shortly before they are due to leave, a young woman, Sally, appears on their doorstep and says she is Richard’s daughter, given up for adoption by his former lover.

After he gets over the shock, Richard is welcoming to Sally, but Alice is unsettled. Discovering that Richard is a father is a painful reminder of her own desire for a family and her inability to conceive.

But is this what makes her wary of Sally, or is her intuition trying to warn her that something much darker is happening here?

When one suspicious incident follows another, Alice starts to dig into who Sally really is and why she has suddenly come into their lives. What she finds is something she could never have imagined in her wildest nightmares…

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: now we all know I am a huge fan of a psychological thriller and I didn’t think it was possible for me to discover new authors within the genre, then enters JJ Burgess with what turned out to be a read that I devoured, this wasn’t quite a one sitting read as life and work for in the way but believe me if I’d started this on a day where I didn’t have to work I wouldn’t have moved until it was finished!

The story starts off slowly, introducing us to the characters, we have Richard and Alice, who on the surface seem like a happily married couple who are just preparing for early retirement and going cruising around the Mediterranean, sounds perfect right?

We soon discover that things aren’t quite as they seem, Richard is keeping secrets, but how bad are they? how deep do they go?

Then Sally appears, a lady claiming that Richard is her dad.. but yet again it all just seems too perfect.

Once you get deeper into the story the pace picks up massively, the chapters are relatively short which helps & the story goes back on itself so you see the same scenes from both sides of the story which helped to fill in some of the blanks!

Normally when this happens it takes away from the story for me because you know what the big reveal is, but this time it made me root for a certain character more, no spoilers here but I just wanted it all to go in their favour & believe me when I tell you at certain points this had me on the edge of my seat and unable to sit still 🤣

Will definitely be looking out for more by JJ Burgess in the future!

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Today I’m on the blog tour for Gods Galore by Rupert Stanbury, thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author for my copy.

Pages: 360

Synopsis: The Olympian Gods have made it to the 21st century AD. We may not have heard much about them in the last two thousand years, but they’re still controlling what we humans are up to – or at least they think they are.

The reality is that the Gods are like us – they’ve got problems!

Zeus is still Top God on Mount Olympus, but he’s got issues with many of the younger gods. His brothers, Hades and Poseidon, have issues with themselves – they’re getting too set in their ways ruling the Underworld and the Seas; they probably need a job change.

But help is at hand from an unexpected source – we humans.

It’s surprising what a dose of good common sense can do for even the most powerful of the gods, especially when it comes from a couple of teenagers!

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: I had absolutely no use what to expect going into this but I’ve started dipping my toe into stories about gods and mythology.

I bloody loved this one, it was light and funny with totally tongue in cheek humour.

Vesta and Totty were almost a law unto themselves mixing things up and making the gods and historical figures on Mount Olympus, on earth and down in the underworld realise that they were stuck in their ways and helping them to realise there were better/ easier ways, but then realising themselves that change isn’t always for the better 🤣

I don’t feel like I’m selling this very well, but I promise it’s worth the read, I flew through it and I’m pretty sure when I wasn’t laughing I had a big goofy smile on my face.

I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to watch Hercules in the same way again!

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Today I’m on the tour for The New Husband by Brian R. O’Rourke, 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: 307

Synopsis: Mary always dreamed of a perfect husband. Now she’s got one.

When Mary’s husband Brent returns from a month-long wellness retreat, he seems like a totally different person.

Before he went away, Brent was anxious, depressed, and in danger of losing his job.

Now, he’s decisive, optimistic, and full of energy. He also has big plans to start his own business … big plans which require a lot of capital.

As Mary spends more time around her husband, she begins to realise just how much he’s changed in every little way. Is the man she’s living with really the same person she married?

And who is the guy in the grey SUV who keeps following her? Does he know something sinister about her husband?

Little by little, Mary realizes Brent has been hiding a dark secret about what really happened on that wellness retreat. And as she draws closer to the horrifying truth, she finds herself trapped in a nightmare beyond her wildest imaginings.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: Mary is eagerly awaiting the return of her husband, after suffering from depression and losing himself in more ways than one he decided to go on a wellness retreat for a month. Things were starting to get rocky between the 2 of them before he left so now she’s excited to see him again and see if they can get there relationship back on track.. but when he comes home he’s completely different, yet still looked the same, to everyone but the ‘nosy neighbour’ who is convinced that he is not Brent!

What an absolute rollercoaster this one was, having the story told in 2 different timelines from different perspectives really added to the overall confusion of the whole thing, no matter how many times I tried to get it all to fit, it just didn’t, very frustrating but yet satisfying from the readers point of view 🤣

This thriller is a bit of a slow burn to begin with, now normally this is something I dislike in this genre but this time it worked in the books favour because it really helped to build the doubts I had!

Even as I saw the outcome unfolding I found myself shaking my head as I was reading because I just didn’t want to believe it!

Full of twists and lies, this book is like a very intricate jigsaw puzzle winds you up as you’re trying to get the pieces to fall into place but yet the end result is very satisfying. This is definitely one you need to be adding to your tbr!

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