Today I have something different for you, sort of.. I was part of the Tandem Read Along for the Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley, was my first time taking part in a readalong and it was a lot of fun… I did a reel on Instagram and posted prompt cards on my Instagram stories! – today I’m posting the review.. sorry it’s a little late, I work in a supermarket and retail at Christmas is craaazy!
Pages: 416
Synopsis: In a beautiful old apartment block, deep in the backstreets of Paris, secrets are stirring behind every resident’s door.
The lonely wife The party animal The curtain-twitcher The secret lover The watchful caretaker The unwanted guest
One resident is missing. Only the killer holds the key to the mystery…
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: this was my first time reading one of Lucy’s books, but I can promise you it won’t be the last.
Short snappy chapters, multiple perspectives and secrets behind every door, what more could you possibly want?
Jess had found herself in a bit of trouble at home so has talked her brother Ben into letting her stay with him in Paris for a while until things blow over, the only problem is when she gets there he’s not waiting up for her as promised – in fact when she gets to the apartment he’s not there at all..
Instantly Jess knows there’s something wrong and takes it upon herself to get to the bottom of it.
The story that follows is fast paced and a real page turner once you get into it, with a whole host of characters you’re left knowing you can’t trust any of them.. you just don’t know why!
With the story being told from everyone’s perspective i feel you get a well rounded version of the story. Feeling like you know it all whilst also knowing there is something you’re missing.
This one really messed with my head but in the best way possible!
Would I recommend this story? absolutely yes. Just be prepared for a bumpy ride! 😅
Today I’m on the tour for Her Husbands Lies by T.J. Brearton, 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: A GRIPPING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GONE.
HUSBAND IN A COMA. TWO MISSING TEENAGE GIRLS. WHO CAN SHE TRUST?
Callie lives in a ten-acre home in the stunning Adirondacks with her husband. She misses her son, who’s away at college, but she’s coping pretty well with her empty nest.
SIX WEEKS AGO THE NIGHTMARE BEGAN.
Her husband Abel skidded off the road into an icy lake. His truck hit a tree and plunged into the frigid water below.
Now this once-vital 43-year-old carpenter lies in a coma, surrounded by bleeping machines and the hushed rumble of the ward at Pearl Medical Center in Vermont.
The police say it was an accident, but the details remain murky.
For some reason, he’d been an hour away from home, in a region where he had no clients that Callie was aware of.
THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET WORSE.
Callie keeps getting calls from an unknown number.
Finally she picks up. ‘Hello?’ she asks. ‘Excuse me, who’s calling?’
A woman’s voice: ‘I know what happened to your husband.’
But what comes next is even more shocking. Police tell Callie her husband is a person of interest in the disappearance of two teenage girls.
CAN CALLIE CLEAR HIS NAME? DOES SHE EVEN WANT TO?
Her Husband’s Lies is a twisty and utterly addictive thriller that will keep you turning pages. You won’t see the ending coming . . . !
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: I’ve never read a book by T.J. Brearton before but after this one I want to have a look and see if he has a back catalogue.. I was absolutely enthralled…
The writing just draws you in and consumes uou completely.
So many twists and turns and each one makes you think there can’t possibly be anything else & then another one gets thrown at you 🤣
Is Abel in a coma because someone rear ended him by accident or was it in purpose? and did he have anything to do with the missing girls?
Can Callie really trust the woman who keeps calling her claiming to know what happened that night?
So many options and so many potential ‘bad guys’ that not even I guessed what the truth was before it was revealed!!!
A thriller that will really keep you on your toes and will keep you up at night if you don’t finish it all in one sitting!
Today I’m on the tour for Hopes and Fears by T.A. Belshaw, 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: 270
Synopsis: Christmas 1940. Despite the rationing and the Blackout, excitement at Mollison Farm is building as Alice and her workforce prepare for the annual Christmas Eve party. The snow has arrived, bang on time.
And this year, Alice has a big secret.
She has invited her evacuee children’s mother to spend a few precious days with her kids at Christmas, but disaster strikes and Alice is given the shock news that Rose’s home is now nothing more than a pile of bricks and the woman herself is missing, lost in the Blitz.
Amy, Alice’s best friend is despatched to the capital in a race against time, to find Rose and if possible, get her out of London.
As the search intensifies and the bombs start to fall again, Amy meets Rose’s sleazy husband Terry, a draft dodger, and Kevin, the ARP man with something to hide.
Meanwhile, on the farm, Stephen and Harriet discover the truth about their mother’s disappearance and Alice finds herself having to deal with the consequences.
The snow will fall and the farmyard carols will be sung, but will it be a happy Christmas on Mollison Farm?
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: now this isn’t my usual type of book, I’ve said this a lot recently but historical fiction isn’t something I naturally reach for.. but this sounded so cute so I had to give it a go.
Now bear in mind that this is the fourth book in the unspoken series.. I haven’t read the others but didn’t really feel like I was missing much, maybe a little of the back stories but this was a delightful read and definitely works as a stand alone.
I found myself caught up in the kids excitement for Christmas, but also their sadness that they wouldn’t see their parents, it felt genuine and believable and at times caused me to have a lump in my throat.
The writing in this book struck up real feelings for me, sometimes I felt like I was within the pages, especially when they were in the bomb shelter. It really gave me anxiety, but I’m a good way.
The characters were all likeable, Amy being one of my favourites, I wanted her to be my friend!
Overall a lovely story with some difficult undertones but with an overwhelming sense of community and team work.
Today I’m on the tour for The Concierge by Miranda Rijks, 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.
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: now if you’ve been a reader of my book reviews for a while you will know that I am an avid fan of Miranda Rijks writing, they’re just such easy reads to get lost in and I tend to fly through them because they just grip me effortlessly… this one was no different.
We have a budding actress filming her first major role, but just as the filming is brought to an end she’s found dead in the most tragic of circumstances.. the police and the coroner are saying it’s drug related… bur Ally has a sister who knows ally didn’t do drugs.. she knows there has to be more to it and makes it her mission to get to the bottom of it.
There was so much action in this story that at times there was more than one way thing going on.. I was invested in it all!
The book is told from various perspectives which gives us a well rounded view but also plants seeds of doubt in your head about all of the characters.
Yet again this was another one that once I started I couldn’t put it down, it had my heart not knowing what it was doing.. at times it was beating erratically and other times it was stuck in my throat!
Today I’m on the tour for The Christmas Holiday by Mikayla Davids, 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.
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: firstly, before we get started on the review properly can we just talk about this cover?? 😍 it instantly draws you in, it looks perfect for the season and just looks all idyllic, warm and cosy.. doesn’t match the thriller enclosed within its pages but yet is utterly perfect at the same time!
This story is a slow burn, pulls you into the story bit by bit and then before you know it you’re totally eager to get to the bottom of what’s happened!
We’re following Alicia who is meeting the family of her husband Jack for the first time, she’s really being thrown in at the deep end she’s meeting them all at the same time… this year she’s been invited to the annual family Christmas holiday.. the only problem is she doesn’t fit in, she’s different to the rest of them and it doesn’t take them long to notice.
The characters are brilliant, they’re all so different that it makes you wonder how they even work together 🤣
We learn quite early on that there are secrets between them all, although not always what the secrets are..
Something tragic happens that I didn’t see coming and weirdly it really shocked me even though there are chapters that are hunting towards it interwoven in the story!
A good solid psychological thriller that is perfect for this Christmas season.
Today I’m on the tour for The Watson Letters Volume 6: The Haunting of Roderick Usher by Colin Garrow, thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for organising it and inviting me to take part!
I have an extract for you today, but let me tell you a bit about the book and the author first!
Synopsis: An invitation. A ghostly spectre. A criminal mastermind.
When Sherlock Holmes is invited to visit an old school friend, he and Doctor Watson are plunged into the first of three adventures involving the Dark Arts and the supernatural. From the ghostly spectre of a dead sister to the search for an ancient book of spells, the detecting duo learn that each case is connected, leading them into a final showdown with their deadliest adversary yet.
Adult humour throughout.
‘The Watson Letters – Volume 6: The Haunting of Roderick Usher’ is book #6 in this Victorian comedy adventure series set in a not quite Post-Victorian, steampunk parallel universe. If you love historical mysteries, buy something else instead, but if you’re into murder, fart-gags and innuendo, this’ll be right up your Victorian street.
About the Author Colin Garrow grew up in a former mining town in Northumberland. He has worked in a plethora of professions including: taxi driver, antiques dealer, drama facilitator, theatre director and fish processor, and has occasionally masqueraded as a pirate. All Colin’s books are available as eBooks and most are also out in paperback, too.
His short stories have appeared in several literary mags, including: SN Review, Flash Fiction Magazine, Word Bohemia, Every Day Fiction, The Grind, A3 Review, 1,000 Words, Inkapture and Scribble Magazine. He currently lives in a humble cottage in North East Scotland where he writes novels, stories, poems and the occasional song.
He also makes rather nice cakes.
Extract:Now held prisoner by Colonel Sebastian Moran, Holmes, Lestrade and the Watsons contemplate their fate.
Doctor Watson’s Diary.
‘D’you still think Blackwood is involved in this?’ I said.
Holmes shrugged. ‘It seems unlikely, given their previous relationship. However, I can’t imagine he’d allow Moran to take over Londen’s criminal empire without a fight.’ He took out his meerschaum and stuffed it with tobacco. ‘Besides, Blackwood still has that damned book of Ravensburg’s. Christ knows what he might achieve with that.’
Lestrade took a slurp of tea and swallowed noisily. ‘What exactly is this book he’s got, then?’
‘Magic and witchcraft,’ I said.
‘Oh. Gonna murder us wiv witchy stuff, eh?’
‘I doubt it,’ said Holmes. ‘Blackwood is far too clever to believe in such nonsense.’
‘But vou told me he brought himself back from the dead, put in Marv.
Holmes let out a sigh. ‘Mary, Mary, Mary. The book may be stuffed with ancient spells and incantations, but we all know magic doesn’t exist. Whatever Blackwood did to apparently come to life again, will have a perfectly simple explanation. That book will prove effective for him only if he can make others believe he possesses supernatural powers.’
Lestrade grunted. ‘He’s done that, afore, an’all.
Mary tapped his knee. ‘What did he do, exactly?’
Lestrade straightened up in his chair. ‘He made out he were able ter cast a spell over all the politicians an that in the ‘ouses of Parliament. Course, what he really done was try to gas them with cyanide, after givin his own men the antidote. He winked at Holmes. ‘Would’ve got away wiv it, too, if it weren’t for Sherl!
‘Yes, said Holmes, a smile creasing his face. ‘We chased him across Tower Bridge, which at the time was still under construction. Silly sod fell off and hanged himself with a loose chain.
I nodded. ‘Still bloody survived, though didn’t he?’
‘Perhaps, Doctor, said Holmes, banging a fist on the arm of his chair. ‘But we may be getting away from the point.’
‘Which is?’
‘Which is, that by this time tomorrow we shall all be as dead as dumplings unless we come up with an escape plan.’
One of the thugs looked over. ‘Don’t mind us. We won’t say nufink, will we?’ He guffawed loudly and after a moment, his mate joined in.
‘And we shall have to do it, added Holmes, ‘quietly.’
The door to the other room opened and one of the other thugs came in, picked up the tray with the soup bowls and went out, leaving the door open. For a moment, I wondered if it might be worth having a look inside, but just then Maudie Ratched appeared. She crooked a finger at Mary.
‘Come along, girlie. Me an you are going to have some fun.
I saw Mary press herself into her chair, gripping the arms with white knuckles. ‘I’m not going anywhere with you, bitch.’
Maudie produced a dagger and waved it around. ‘We can do it the easy way or the fuckin painful way. You choose -I don’t care.
Holmes had his back to the door. He raised an eyebrow at Mary and, opening his hand, showed the silver teaspoon he’d been hiding. Mary gave a quick nod.
‘Very well, she said, standing. Crossing to me, she crouched and kissed my cheek.
She did the same with Lestrade (which must have made his day) then, passing Sherlock, bent down to kiss him and slid the teaspoon up the sleeve of her dress.
‘Bye, boys, she said, turning at the door. ‘If you hear screaming, it won’t be me.’
If this story sounds like something you’d enjoy it can be bought here ☺️
Today I’m on the tour for Burning Secret by R J Lloyd, thank you to Zoé from Zooloos Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧.5
My Thoughts: I was a bit dubious about picking this one up because historical fiction is not a genre I normally reach for.
But as I got further into the story I couldn’t stop reading, I genuinely couldn’t believe some of the things that Enoch/ Harry got up to.
A lot happens to him in his life, he starts in England but he gets caught up in something which leave him with no choice but to flee to America where he attempts to start a new life..
We all know that things are never that simple though and I spent the whole book on the edge of my seat wondering if his two worlds would collide.
Despite some of his ways being questionable at best, I really liked him and wanted things to work out for him.
With this book being set in the 1800’s some parts were hard to read but I feel the fact that those parts were included was important.
To find out that it was all based on a true story was incredible.
This book has made me realise that I need to give historical fiction more of a chance in the future.
Today I’m on the tour for Hunters Revenge by Val Penny, 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.
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: this is the second book in the DI Hunter series l & although yes it would work as a stand alone I would 100% recommend picking up book one first.
This one follows on not long after the first and a lot of the characters are reoccurring (not just the obvious ones)
This time the crime that we’re trying to solve is more personal, a friend and colleague is murdered with no obvious reason as to why..
The thing about Hunter is that he’s like a dog with a bone and he won’t rest until he gets to to bottom of his case.
The story was fast paced and hooked me in from the beginning.. I was left constantly questioning myself, there were so many people in the story that could’ve committed the crime all we needed was one last piece of evidence to clinch it.
I loved that we got to see more from characters that I thought would’ve been left in the previous story it made everything feel more real and fleshed out.
I really hope there is more to come in this series because I’m not yet ready to say goodbye to Hunter and his team!
Today I’m on the tour for Hunters Revenge by Val Penny, 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.
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: this is the second book in the DI Hunter series l & although yes it would work as a stand alone I would 100% recommend picking up book one first.
This one follows on not long after the first and a lot of the characters are reoccurring (not just the obvious ones)
This time the crime that we’re trying to solve is more personal, a friend and colleague is murdered with no obvious reason as to why..
The thing about Hunter is that he’s like a dog with a bone and he won’t rest until he gets to to bottom of his case.
The story was fast paced and hooked me in from the beginning.. I was left constantly questioning myself, there were so many people in the story that could’ve committed the crime all we needed was one last piece of evidence to clinch it.
I loved that we got to see more from characters that I thought would’ve been left in the previous story it made everything feel more real and fleshed out.
I really hope there is more to come in this series because I’m not yet ready to say goodbye to Hunter and his team!
Today I am on the tour for Behind Closed Doors by Carol Wyer, 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: 335
Synopsis: Two kidnappings, thirty years apart. Can Stacey face her own dark past in order to save her stepdaughter?
When Stacey’s ex-husband turns up on her doorstep begging her to help save his kidnapped thirteen-year-old daughter, Lyra, the terror is all too familiar. Stacey’s own violent kidnapping thirty years ago was never solved, and while a severe case of amnesia spares her from recalling the specific horrors, she remembers enough…
Stacey knows her father never paid the ransom—she has the missing pinkie finger to prove it. She knows she was only saved because of an anonymous tip-off to the police. And she knows her captor was never apprehended.
Lyra’s kidnappers have made it clear the police must not get involved. But Stacey can’t shake the eerie similarities between the two cases, and she’ll use whatever she can, from her journalistic powers to her shady contacts, to save Lyra from the same nightmare. Desperate to find any link between Lyra’s abduction and her own, Stacey forces herself to revisit her forgotten, traumatic past for clues.
But can she make sense of the terrible secrets she unearths in time to save Lyra? And if she does, is she ready to face her own tormentor?
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: I love Carols writing but this is the first stand alone I have read by her and I wasn’t sure if it would hit the same, needless to say by my 5 penguin rating I should not have doubted her skill.
I loved this book from start to finish, the pacing was perfect and had me turning the pages so fast that I almost couldn’t keep up.
The snippets of the story that were from Stacey’s past abduction made me feel uncomfortable and panicky but in the best way, they had my heart beating fast and almost covering my eyes so I didn’t need to read the words that I knew would be coming.
I didn’t like Jack from the get go, something about him just rubbed me up the wrong way, but hey you can’t like every character in every book can you?
I did guess some of the twists coming but that’s to be expected when you read so many thrillers, but I was that invested in the story that it didn’t take away from the overall enjoyment!
prdgreads 