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Today I’m on the book tour for Black is The Colour by Seamus Connolly, 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: 204

Synopsis: It has been almost three decades since the brutal murder of a young father took place on the streets of Glasgow.

Fleeing the country as a child Cal Lynch returns to Scotland a man, a lawyer, determined to exact vengeance on the gangster who killed his father and tore his family apart.

His desired retribution would be complex and challenging. He had dreamed, trained and prepared for the day of his return.

Falling in love was not part of the plan.

As Cal’s revenge on Eddie Quinn draws ever closer, what happens next will leave him broken and fighting for his very existence.

Black Is The Colour is a gritty gangland tartan noir thriller set against the turbulent backdrop of Thatcher’s Britain.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: I wish I could tell you that every book I read is easy to devour and get lost in, but being honest I originally struggled with this one! – it opened strongly with the murder of a man after a disagreement over £2.

Then we’re 22 years in the future, meeting Cal and all the other lead characters although not all at once & I got a little lost, the crime thriller part of this book was drip fed slowly to begin with so it took some adapting to and getting used to, I like my thrillers fast and to the point 😂

The benefit to the slow story telling though was that you didn’t realise you were being pulled in until you were so invested that it was too late to pull back.

You soon realise that the initial confusion of all the characters being thrown at you at the beginning is for your benefit as once the introductions are done you can get into the ‘real’ story with no interruptions so to speak.

At times I struggled with the dialogue, with n out being Scottish sometimes I didn’t really understand what was being said, but I did hear the accents in my head as I was reading.

There was humour effortlessly interwoven into the book with gave a lighthearted feel despite the serious nature of the story.

I definitely did not see the twist and reveal coming which to me is always the sign of a good thriller! – I will definitely be recommending this one.

🐧❤️

Pages: 352

Synopsis: Hollywood superstar Josh Lander swept me off my feet at my first ever Cannes Film Festival. Our NSFW dance floor meet-cute went viral. I fell hard for him, while the press fell hard for us. Until he dumped me. On Twitter.

I’ve moved on, winning Oscars, battling an invisible illness, and forgetting all about He Who Shall Not Be Mentioned. Until we’re both cast in the biggest TV period drama of the decade. I’m the Duchess. And the Duke is… you’ve got it. Twitter Boy, straight from rehab and a box office bomb (karma’s a bitch).

The world is watching, giving me the perfect platform to show him he was out of his mind to cast me aside. It should all be fine, save for a few minor hurdles: this guy was made for tight breeches. His fake British accent and ducal demeanour send shivers down my spine. And most alarmingly, he’s says he’s reformed. I call BS.

Can I stand my ground? Withstand his temptations? Or will I disgrace my feminist image by swooning at His Grace’s fine ankles IRL?

Falling Stars is a celebrity, lovers to enemies to lovers, second chance romance with lashings of heart and heat and a #CrohnsWarrior heroine.

This trope-tastic romp forms part of the Love in London series of interconnected stand-alones.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: firstly let me apologise that it’s taken me soooo long to write this review… I finished this book at the beginning of the month, like literally the first book I read in April! – but I was recovering from covid and then got an ear infection so I just kept putting it off.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again as many times as I need to, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Sara’s writing, I have read avery single one of her books except one that Sara herself advised me not to read for personal reasons and they just keep getting better and better.

Her writing just grips me in a way that I’ve only ever experienced once before. (The Carrero Series by Leanne Marshall in case you were wondering😂)

I have to say this is the best one yet.

We’re following Ellery Hart, who has just got her first big break, her first serious acting role and she’s now at the Cannes film festival, she’s living in a bubble, she can’t quite believe it… just when she thinks things can’t get any better in walks Josh he is the number one heart throb in Hollywood right now and he’s putting his moves on Elle!

What ensues is the perfect whirlwind romance. It’s cute and loving and they’re just meant to be… until their not. After being dumped on Twitter indirectly Elles life falls apart.. but when we see her again 5 years later she’s being offered the lead role in a regency drama… the only catch is that Josh will be her costar.

I may be the only girl on the planet who hasn’t, but I’m not ashamed to admit that I haven’t watched Bridgerton but let me tell you after reading this book I am VERY tempted to give it a go.

Witnessing Josh and Elle rediscover each other whilst initially using their characters as a cover was everything I wanted, heartwarming, beautiful but also incredibly sexy!

It’s been amazing to see Sara’s confidence when writing spicy/sexy scenes grow, believe it or not her first books were tame, I think it’s fair to say after reading this one she’s found her stride 🌶🥵

As someone with MS I really appreciated the representation of chronic illness (Crohn’s disease) in this book, it felt real and was done in such a sensitive but informative way.

Thank you Sara for writing the kind of Romance that I can repeatedly get lost in.

🐧❤️

Today I’m on the book tour for A Kinder City by Peter Taylor-Gooby, 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: 284

Synopsis: The City is governed by the grim law of profit and loss. No exceptions, no place for compassion, pleasure, the warmth of friendship or the ardour of love. David, an Enforcer committed to the Law, meets Sarah, a villager from outside, and begins to understand that a different, more joyful, life is possible.

A Kinder City tells the story of their tangled relationship and of how they fall in love, and of their struggle against Franklin, the richest man in Market World. If the only law is the market, why not sell everything – and that includes the air we breathe, the land we stand on, the water we drink? No exceptions. His giant factories spew forth the road beasts – the huge machines that devastate the lands beyond the City in pursuit of yet more wealth. Not content with cloning animals, he traps horses in exo-skeletons and works them to death. Torn between her growing passion for David and her revulsion at the City that he is pledged to protect, Sarah turns her back on him.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧.5

My Thoughts: this book freaked me out, although it’s a dystopian novel I kind of felt like it could be at least in some parts maybe a reality in the future.. we seem to be becoming more of a cashless society, people are paying on their phones & watches.. as a cashier I’ve noticed that it almost shocks me now when people pay with cash 😂

Market world is a place where absolutely everything is transactional, no doing favours for people, that’s against the law so as a result no one is friendly.

that is until David meets Sarah, she’s broken the law and he was The Enforcer to bring her in, but hearing her talk of The Village in which she lives, where they don’t have wristbands that contain their credits & do things out of the kindness of their heart just because they can, it opens his eyes as to what a different place the world can be & finds himself falling in love with her.

There were a lot of things that happen in this book that had me on the edge of my seat, I couldn’t believe some of things that happened, people disappearing never to be seen again…

Can the faith and love of 2 people (along with the help of a few others along the way) right the wrongs of Market World? or is it just too late?

🐧❤️

Today I’m on the blog tour for Fires of Hate by Heather Peck, 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: After a successful day in court, Greg Geldard is hoping to clear up some routine cases. Then a government laboratory receives a mysterious threat, a terrorist attack precipitates a multi agency emergency response and his investigations are seriously compromised by interference from the security service.

The enquiries lead down dangerous paths, with both Greg and someone he cares for put at risk, before he runs the perpetrators to ground. Then he’s posed an ethical conundrum in court. Can hate ever be wholly sane?

‘Fires of Hate’ continues the Greg Geldard series; a compelling narrative of crime, emotion and one man’s fight to do the best he can.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: Now this is book 3 in a series and I had every intention of reading the other 2 before this book life got away with me and I didn’t manage to find the time! I was pleasantly surprised though to find that this can be read as a stand alone if you ignore the references to the court case at the beginning. The only other thing that could be considered ‘missing’ is the back story of the main characters.

This book opens with a very sad scene, one that actually nearly made me cry! – I really felt for Jack but it means that you understand why his life goes the way it does and a little bit of the reasoning why he makes the decisions he does, I got it.

We’re following some animal activists, and a government lab who feel they’re doing everything the right way in regards to the way they keep/treat the animals they have on site.. unfortunately the activists don’t agree, so when an anonymous threat doesn’t work they take things to the next level.

This was fast paced & gripping, the story just took me along with it! – this was a one sitting read, it wasn’t supposed to be but I was so invested that I just needed to know what happened.

It also got a lot darker than I expected which I was definitely here for.

Trigger warnings for the slaughter of animals, PTSD and poisoning of people.

But if you can handle that then I would bump this one up your TBR!

I’ll definitely be trying to make time to read the first 2 in the series in the next few weeks 🙂

🐧❤️

As promised here is the review that I was supposed to post yesterday.. again my apologies to Zoé at Zooloos book yours and also to the author Johanna.

Pages: 496

Synopsis: What if everything you thought you knew about society was wrong?
Jodie Fletcher’s world is rocked on its axis when she stumbles into the knowledge that shape shifters are real. Not only that, but they have their own parallel justice system, which is endorsed by governments worldwide. Jodie is drowning in a world she no longer understands and to top it all off, there is a target on her back. The only thing it seems she can count on is the leopard-shifter who has taken it upon himself to protect her. With their connection deepening after each encounter, and danger ever present around them, decisions need to be made. Can they find a way to bridge the divide between their two worlds?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: I was instantly hooked by the synopsis of this book, I’m a massive fan of books like this but it’s been a while since I read something about shapeshifters that gripped me so quickly!

I think meeting Danny in leopard form before meeting him as a human worked really well because it meant I was already in his corner by the time he showed up at her door, I found him arrogant and a little cocky in his human form so may not have warmed to him as much.

Jodie was a brilliant female main character, she exuded strength and complete composure at all times but the little insight we had to her inner thoughts showed us that she had a vulnerable side too. Shows that she put everyone else’s feelings before her where possible.

This book was full of some of the strongest friendships that I’ve read in a while between Jodie, Ainsley and Laura & The Unit. It was really nice to see them all pull together when they needed to.

This was such a well put together story with so much action and intrigue that despite it being almost 500 pages I still wanted more & cannot wait to carry on with the series when I get a break between blog tour commitments

I have a feeling we’ve only scratched the surface of the shape shifter world and what they’re all capable of I’m excited to see where it goes next.

🐧❤️

Today I’m on the book tour for The Mercenary by Johanna M Rae, thank you to Zoé at Zooloos Book Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 496

Synopsis: What if everything you thought you knew about society was wrong?
Jodie Fletcher’s world is rocked on its axis when she stumbles into the knowledge that shape shifters are real. Not only that, but they have their own parallel justice system, which is endorsed by governments worldwide. Jodie is drowning in a world she no longer understands and to top it all off, there is a target on her back. The only thing it seems she can count on is the leopard-shifter who has taken it upon himself to protect her. With their connection deepening after each encounter, and danger ever present around them, decisions need to be made. Can they find a way to bridge the divide between their two worlds?

My Thoughts: So this was supposed to be a review but unfortunately life has got on top of me and I just haven’t managed to finish it & don’t feel like I’ve read enough to do the book justice… that being said I am LOVING it and have already looked and seen that it’s part of a series and will definitely be carrying on & I will come back and do a proper review once I’ve finished it.

About the Author: Author Johanna M Rae is a former fashion designer and married mother of three. She lives in Hamilton, NZ, with her family and two gorgeous ragdoll cats: Macchiato (Macky) and Smudge.
Balancing the needs of three sporty and musically inclined teenagers and her writing schedule doesn’t always leave much time for leisure, but in the quiet moments, Johanna can be found crocheting up a storm or nursing her caffeine addiction.
She is partway through writing a shapeshifter series called Therian Secrets. The first four books are available at Amazon and selected online retailers, while book five is due for release in 2021. Johanna also has an urban fantasy series called Immortal Trinity, currently consisting of two books. The third is due out in 2022. Johanna has also written a stand alone novel called Alpha Stray, which was her NaNoWriMo project; and two poetry collections. There are a few other stories in the works, which she plans to publish in the near future. Until then, there is coffee to be had…

🐧❤️

Today I’m on the blog tour for Behind The Olive Trees by Francesca Catlow, 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: She thought she’d found her lost past, but did she uncover all the secrets?

Melodie returns to her mother’s house in Corfu for the first time since inheriting it. Only, she discovers it isn’t empty. She finds someone has been living there; a girl who claims the property is hers.

Dismissing the claim, Melodie tries to enjoy her new life in the beauty of Corfu. The girl soon resurfaces and it becomes impossible to ignore her any longer.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: oh I loved being back in Corfu with Melodie, Anton and Gaia!

They are just the perfect little family and make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

This book picks up not long after the end of the first one, Melodie and Anton are getting married now and she is trying to work out what to do with her mums house but soon realises that it might not be as easy as she thinks… after all not knowing much about her parents past was bound to catch up with her eventually right?!

I don’t want to give anything away because that’s the main bulk of the story, but there’s lots of mystery, lots of twists but also lots of the fun carefree story telling of the first book.

I’d recommend this to all fans of romance but if you’re going to try it make sure you pick up book one first!

I read somewhere that this is going to be a trilogy and I definitely can’t wait for the third one, that being said though I will be sad to finish it..

Melodie and Anton are definitely my favourite fictional couple at the moment & I feel like I could read endless books about them.

🐧❤️

Today I’m on the book tour for The Wives of Crimson Avenue by Sadie Ryan, 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: 305

Synopsis: Ladies. Are you a perfect wife wanting to live in suburban utopia?
Then Crimson Avenue is for you!
Come and join other like-minded women in our idyllic community.
We might even let you into our little secret…

When a striking young woman turns up to Adele Love’s antique shop acting suspiciously and gives her a cryptic message …

Tell Sam that they know…

On leaving the shop, to Adele’s horror, the woman is bundled into a white van and abducted.

Beginning a search for the missing woman, DI Vincent Sullivan and DS Josephine Jenkins conduct their house-to-house investigations, which lead them into a sinister world of diamond smuggling and drugs, all happening behind the perfect façade of Crimson Avenue.

As the pressure mounts with the severity of the crimes committed, the wives close ranks and deny all knowledge.

But just as cracks begin to appear and the women start to turn on each other, they realise there’s also the small problem of Adele’s secret, which could get them all killed…

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧.5

My Thoughts: I love a police procedural book and books with lots of secrets and twists that you need to work out so I jumped at the chance to read this!

The book really opens with a bang, there’s a shooting and a woman screaming for help but we have no idea why… and then the book goes back 2 weeks and we’re left to work it out.

I found the friendship group of the 4 women very realistic, you always have a certain one within the group that you get in with more and there’s always one who’s left feeling a little like an outsider.

They all have their own secrets, but there’s a big secret that they’re all keeping together that was hinted at a few times.. could it all be linked to the gunshot victim at the beginning?!

I found DI Sullivan and DS Jenkins to be very likeable characters that I instantly warmed to, they worked well together and even had a bit of banter between them, but even the police are keeping secrets so how do you work out who can be trusted?!

There’s diamonds that have gone missing, Russian gangs, people being abducted, buildings being destroyed and people being shot, so much action packed into a book of just over 300 pages!

A read I would recommend to fans of crime fiction, a very well put together start to a new series and I can’t wait to see where the next one takes us!

🐧❤️

Today I’m on the book tour for Who’s Lying Now by Susan Lewis, 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: 496

Synopsis: You think you’re safe.
You think you know your neighbours.
But can you ever really know who’s telling the truth?

Jeannie Symonds is a force to be reckoned with – an eccentric, award-winning publisher, spending lockdown with her husband in a house near Kesterly-on-Sea. She seems to have it all: a high-flying career, a happy marriage, a niece she adores.

And then one day, she vanishes.

Cara Jakes is a new trainee investigator – young, intelligent and eager to prove herself. When she teams up with detective Andee Lawrence to look into the disappearance, she is determined to find out what has really happened to Jeannie. Cara begins to question the residents of this close-knit community, sure that someone has a secret to hide.

But how can she separate the truth from the lies?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: I’ve never read a Susan Lewis book before and this was a good one to start with!

Jeannie is a well established publisher, who appears to have the perfect life, a husband who dotes on her, the perfect job and a beautiful home, so why did she up and leave without a word?

It’s not a proper investigation yet because there isn’t actually any proof of a crime.. but they suspect foul play so they put trainee investigator Cara on the case to find the evidence they need to kick things up a notch.

Right from the off I felt there was something not right with some of the characters, there just seemed to be a lot of things that didn’t add up, everyone had their own secrets which made it hard to work out who to trust, just when I thought I’d worked it out another spanner would be thrown into the mix!

I did work out the culprit just before it was revealed BUT I’d say that’s a sign that Susan is a brilliant writer because before that moment I didn’t suspect them for a second!

Fliss was by far my favourite character, she just made me feel like she was there for everyone and put all her troubles to the side and I was really rooting for her throughout.

I did feel at times that this book was a bit repetitive and is possibly a little long but that’s just personal preference!

If you’re a fan of crime and thrillers then I would highly recommend this one!

🐧❤️

Today I’m on the book tour for Recursion by David J Harrison, 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: 262

Synopsis: Everything that is going to happen already has. During a disruption in the timeline of a sleepy Lake District village, the erratic and strung-out artist Haruki Kensagi cannot help but feel that he’s been here before, either in his past or in his future. Haruki, struggling with both his painting and his mental health, disappears. His long-suffering wife Jane Kensagi, herself a brilliant musician, interrupts her career to look for him unaware that a malignant and ageless entity awaits them both under the dark fells of the Lake District. The estranged couple becomes caught up in a dangerously recursive series of events surrounding a dormant cosmic force. They encounter a cabal of enigmatic characters who may hinder or help in equal measure. And over all this madness, the monstrous but charismatic Captain presides; part faith healer, part cult-leader, all saviour. Haruki and Jane are taken to the limits of sanity and beyond in their attempt to escape from the evil that has been unleashed.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: Well this was different, in a brilliant way.. I think 😂

Being totally honest this book has left me feeling confused and all upside down, but weirdly I think that may have been the point!

We’re following Haruki, who appears to be struggling with his painting, things just aren’t right he can’t get any inspiration and his wife’s just left him, so he goes to Barrowthwaite to try and recover? find himself? Get inspiration? I’m not really sure but that’s where things start getting confusing!

Frank and The Captain were the characters that really stick with you in this book, they’re both creepy and leave you feeling unsettled in different ways and for different reasons.

This book was strangely gripping, I found myself unable to stop reading even though it was causing me to doubt myself and go round in circles constantly.

I really enjoyed this and would recommend it to fans of a read that isn’t straight forward but being honest I wouldn’t even know what genre to put this in, it’s kind of thrillery, kind of suspensey but it’s definitely a lot of fun!

🐧❤️