prdgreads

Today is my stop on the blog tour for the English Girl by Sarah Mitchell, thank you to Sarah at Bookouture for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

I was supposed to be posting a review today, but after a family bereavement I just can’t get my thoughts in order, so I have a spotlight for you today & my review will be up in the next few days!

Synopsis: He is German. She is English. Their countries are enemies. Can love bring them together? Inspired by an incredible true story, this is a sweeping tale about the power of hope in the face of war and the legacy of an impossible choice.

1946, Norfolk, England: Grief and fear spill over in Fran’s small village when German prisoners of war are sent to the nearby camp. After the death of her beloved brother on the front lines, Fran cannot see the new arrivals as anything but his killers.

When one of the mines the Germans are clearing from the beach explodes, Fran is thrown into the path of prisoner Thomas as they rush to help the wounded. Thomas’s kind, artistic nature and his bravery, putting himself in danger to save others, changes everything for Fran. She realises he is a boy just like her brother and was forced to fight in a war he never believed in.

From that day on, there is something powerful and unspoken connecting Fran and Thomas. But as battle lines are drawn across Europe and tensions within the village reach breaking point, they could be about to unleash something neither of them can control…

1989, Berlin: Tiffany arrives in Berlin from London, just as the wall that divided a nation finally falls. With only a few words of German, she celebrates with strangers in the streets, and crosses the border between West and East. In her pocket is a crumpled letter addressed to her grandmother, yellowed with age, that has led her in search of a wartime secret with the power to change her future…

A book that you will carry with you long after having turned the final page. Fans of Fiona Valpy, The Forgotten Village and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society will be absolutely gripped from the very beginning until the final, heart-stopping conclusion of this unforgettable wartime story.

About the Author: Sarah Mitchell grew up in Norfolk and studied law at Cambridge University. She practised as a barrister in London for nearly 20 years before turning to writing. Her debut novel, THE LOST LETTERS, was inspired by her parents’ and grandparents’ experiences in the Second World War and her desire to explore the heartbreaking impact of the war on women and children. By contrast, THE COUPLE is a dark psychological thriller that twins themes of right and wrong with the age-old complication of an all-consuming past love. Sarah and her husband now live in beautiful North Norfolk with three almost-grown-up children, two extremely affectionate dogs and a horse called Joey.
You can follow Sarah Mitchell on Twitter at @SarahM_writer

I absolutely loved this book, it was a 5 star read for me!

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Today is my stop on the blogtour for instructions for dancing by Nicola Yoon, thank you to Dave at The Write Reads for inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy

Pages: 320

Synopsis: Evie is disillusioned about love ever since her dad left her mum for another woman – she’s even throwing out her beloved romance novel collection.

When she’s given a copy of a book called Instructions for Dancing, and follows a note inside to a dilapidated dance studio, she discovers she has a strange and unwelcome gift. When a couple kisses in front of her, she can see their whole relationship play out – from the moment they first catch each other’s eye to the last bitter moments of their break-up.

For Evie, it confirms everything she thinks she knows about love – that it doesn’t last.

But at the dance studio she meets X – tall, dreadlocked, fascinating – and they start to learn to dance, together. Can X help break the spell that Evie is under? Can he change Evie’s mind about love?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My thoughts: This book was everything I was hoping it would be and more, a seemingly anti romance with a bit of magical realism thrown in.

Evie was a big reader, romance being her favourite genre, any kind of romance, but then her dad shattered any illusion of a happy ever after when he cheated on her mum, Evie gave away all her books and now doesn’t believe in love!

One day she meets an old lady whe she finds a little library on the street, the old lady reminds her that if she’s leaving books then she needs to take one, the only other one there is a book about dancing, so she takes it.

But when she turns round to say thank you the lady is gone!

Ever since the day she took the book whenever she sees people kissing she sees the past present and future of their relationship, the only problem is.. they all seem to be splitting up, further solidifying her belief that love doesn’t exist!

Seeing an address inside the book she goes their to return the book and is thrown into entering a dance competition, but has no partner – in comes X.

Does X have what it takes to show Evie that love does exist if you’re looking in the right place?

Obviously there is a lot more that happens in this story, but if I told you it all then you wouldn’t get the joy of reading it 😂 so if you trust my judgment at all, just go and pick it up, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

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Today is my stop on the blog tour for Wautibg for the Miracle by Anna McPartlin, thank you to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 400

Synopsis: 2010

Caroline has hit rock bottom. After years of trying, it’s clear she can’t have children, and the pain has driven her and her husband apart. She isn’t pregnant, her husband is gone and her beloved dog is dead.

The other women at her infertility support group have their own problems, too. Natalie’s girlfriend is much less excited about having children than her. Janet’s husband might be having an affair. And then there’s Ronnie, intriguing, mysterious Ronnie, who won’t tell anyone her story.

1976

Catherine is sixteen and pregnant. Her boyfriend wants nothing to do with her, and her parents are ashamed. When she’s sent away to a convent for pregnant girls, she is desperate not to be separated from her child. But she knows she might risk losing the baby forever.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: Anna has done it again, written a powerful hard hitting story that I devoured in one sitting and found really difficult to put down!

The story is told in 2 different timelines.. 2010 where we are following a group of Ladies from a TTC support group, all there for the same reason but all have totally different experiences & 1976 where we are following Catherine, she finds herself pregnant at 16 and in a whole heap of trouble.

I found each individual story heartbreaking on its own, but felt that they had all found each other at just the right time, little did they know that someone was going to join their group that would add fun, excitement and also maybe a little bit of danger to the group!

I think the chapters based in 1976 were my favourite, just because I couldn’t believe that what I was reading actually happened, I was really hoping for a happy ending!

I will say I did work out the slight twist towards the end before it was revealed but it just made the story a little more exciting for me.

I laughed, I cried, I got angry it’s always a good sign when an author can make you feel so many different emotions in one book! – I can’t wait to se what Anna comes out with next.

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Today I’m on the blog tour for The Three Impossibles by Susie Bower, thank you to Poppy at Pushkin Press for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to the author & the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 320

Synopsis: An enchanting, suspenseful story of a curious girl, a family curse and impossible alchemy from the acclaimed author of School for Nobodies

Mim grew up surrounded by secrets. On the day she was born, her mother died and a strange curse was cast on her family. Ever since, she’s been isolated in a dismal castle behind high walls, forbidden from venturing to the Outside.

But Mim has never been able to stop asking questions. And when her father hires a bogus governess, Madame Marionette – who brings along an entourage of thugs and a secret, caged ‘pet’ – Mim sets her enquiring mind to work on unravelling the mysteries all around her.

Longing for a taste of freedom, she is willing to break all the rules to set out on an epic quest for the truth. But will it be enough to bring happiness back to the lonely castle

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: This was a really delightful read full of magic and hope and the belief that anything is possible including the impossible.

Mim is a young girl with an enquiring mind who struggles to just accept that what she is told is the only option in life, her dad is the king but she had absolutely no desire to be a princess – she would rather be left to her own devices in the library with the thousands of books that is has to offer..

But On her 11th birthday her dad decides it is time for her to become the princess he has always dreamed she would become on her own, so brings in someone to help get her there!

So in comes Madamè but she brings something with her that is hidden, but kept in the library which makes it out of bounds to mim, will she listen?

The whole crux of the story is to get the gold back to counteract what is know as “curse day” and get the kingdom back to its former glory, but with the only people out there to help being an old alchemist, a young girl with a tail and a frog, can they make the impossible happen?

I really enjoyed this book and found it quite difficult to put down!

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Today I’m on the blog tour for the reckoning my Marisa Noelle and I’m hitting you with an extract, this is book 3 of the trilogy and I have thoroughly enjoyed the first w so far! 😍

About the book: THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER.

A NEW NEMESIS HAS AWOKEN.

Sinister visions of an evil entity with looming yellow eyes haunt Silver’s dreams, threatening to destroy the new world she and her friends have created. The terrifying omens push Silver to experiment with her abilities, but awaken a burgeoning thirst for more power.

As Silver walks a fine line between good and evil, her friends become wary of her intimidating abilities. She finds understanding in a sympathetic newcomer, but their deepening friendship drives an even deeper wedge between Silver and her suspicious friends.

Tragedy strikes during preparations for the final stand, bringing a terrible choice. Grief drives Silver toward reckless actions that may doom the final battle. Can she repair the relationships with her friends and control her powers before her vision becomes reality?

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Extract: Turning to face the voice, rough, leathery skin sweeps past my cheek. I startle backward, looking for the attack. Ripping my glove from my hand, I ready my knife and my lightning power. But it’s just a bat. A lone bat getting an early start on the night’s hunt.
“Silver…”
I turn again, closing my eyes against the lowering sun. I’m facing the doorway, the blackhole of my nightmares.
With a rushing flurry of wings, more bats emerge. A handful to begin with, bringing the smell of death. Then a dozen more. Fifty. A hundred. Hundreds quickly become thousands. A tumultuous flow of bats dart and weave around each other, as though trying to evade the last rays of the sun before they are saved by nightfall.
“Silver…”
The wind howls, dislodging the last remaining snowflakes from the mountain peaks. The bats are joined by clicking, cackling insects. They fly in a chaotic group of directionless fury, as if controlled by an unseen puppet master.
“Silver…”
I cover my ears against the noise of their deafening wings. The stench of wrongness fills my nostrils. There are thousands of them. More. Tensing, I watch the gaping entrance of the cave.

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Pages: 400

Synopsis:

Emma Patrick’s life is spiralling out of control. On the cusp of her 50th birthday, she realises that she’s been so focused on work that she’s lost any real connection to people.

When Emma’s ageing father needs her help, she decides to go back home to the countryside to spend some time with him. But returning to Little Bramble after years away is filled with complications and people she’d rather avoid.

To her surprise, as Emma settles in she finds herself loving village life. When the opportunity to get involved in the running of the summer fête comes her way, soon she’s embracing jam making, cake baking and bunting. And with romance brewing, Emma begins to doubt the glamorous city life that she worked so hard to build . . .

My Rating:🐧🐧🐧.5

My Thoughts: this is such a heartwarming read of someone on the cusp of turning 50 who feels like she should have her life in order and to be fair Emma is doing really well with that, a job that she’s happy with in a place that she loves with a great group of friends around her.

But then life throws her a curve ball, her dad is poorly, he’s getting forgetful and his neighbours aren’t sure he’s safe to be living on his own anymore, they’re doing what they can but Emma decides it’s time to uproot her life for a few weeks to make sure he’s ok, she just didn’t expect her past to be waiting for her when she got there, will she be sucked back into the simple idyllic life that Little Bramble has to offer or will she return to the busy life she had in London?

This book has a lot of different elements to it but the main theme is that you can’t change the past only learn from it and move on and that when a little village pulls together even things that seem impossible become possible!

I really enjoyed this one and would definitely recommend it to my reader friends 😊

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Today is my stop on the blog tour for Talk Bookish to me by Kate Bromley, thank you to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 376

Synopsis; Inspiration can be found in the most unlikely – and inconvenient – places

Kara Sullivan is definitely not avoiding her deadline. After all, it’s the week of her best friend’s wedding and she’s the maid of honour, so she’s got lots of responsibilities. She’s a bestselling romance novelist with seven novels under her belt, so she’s a pro. Looming deadlines don’t scare her, and neither does writer’s block, which she most certainly does not have. She’s just eager to support Cristina as she ties the knot. Right? Right.

But then who should show up at the rehearsal dinner but Kara’s college ex-boyfriend, Ryan? Turns out he’s one of the groom’s childhood friends, and he’s in the wedding party, too. Considering neither Kara nor Ryan were prepared to see each other ever again, it’s decidedly a meet-NOT-cute. However, when Kara sits down to write again the next day, her writer’s block is suddenly gone. Are muses real? And is Kara’s muse . . . Ryan?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: What a fun book this was! Poor Kara is a writer who’s next book is due very soon but she has writers block and just can’t seem to sit down and put pen to paper, luckily for her, her best friend is getting married and she is the maid of honour so she has plenty to distract her, that’s a good thing. Right?

She’s really looking forward to the rehearsal dinner, a chance to let her hair down and just relax, however those plans are turned upside down when her college ex boyfriend Ryan turns up, she wants to hate him, she knows she should… so why isn’t she able to?

The story that follows is one of the best romances I’ve read in a while, it’s fun, it’s flirty, it’s sassy and sarcastic & I just loved it so much!

You could feel the tension oozing from the page so much so that I was worried that when they did finally both realise where things were heading that we would be disappointed and that it would maybe fall a little flat…. but let me tell you those scenes were quite the opposite 🔥🔥

I did at one point think that things were too easy.. obviously things can never be that simple, they’re both keeping secrets from each other and we all know secrets always come out in the end,

This is one of those rare books that I wish I hadn’t read just so I can experience it for the first time all over again.

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Today is my stop on the blog tour for Save Her by Abigail Osborne, thank you to Kelly at Love Books Tours for organising it and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 336

Synopsis: Bonded by their traumatic childhoods, Flora and Sophie are inseparable friends who married brothers.

What they could not have anticipated was their mother-in-law, Cecelia. Disappointed that her children have married beneath them, Cecelia takes every opportunity to belittle and taunt her daughters-in-law.

When Cecelia learns that Flora and her son are moving away, her wrath escalates, and Flora’s world begins to fall apart.

Meanwhile, Sophie’s life is also crumbling around her. Her marriage is not what it seems, and she is desperate to escape the clutches of the poisonous family she has married into.

Is Flora being tormented or is she losing her mind?

Will Sophie and Flora be forced to leave their husbands in order to survive?

With a mother-in-law like Cecelia, anything is possible…

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: Oh I loved this so much, such a gripping story line that left you not knowing where to turn or who to trust.

Flora and Sophie have grown up together as best friends they’ve been through everything together, traumas, heart break, love and loss throughout everything they have always had each other, even as grown ups that hasn’t changed as they have married into the same family, brothers Sam and Greg!

Sounds perfect doesn’t it? – but they also have their mother in law Cecelia to deal with and she doesn’t like feeling like she’s losing her grip and the control she has over her beloved children.

Flora let’s slip that her and Sam are moving into her childhood home & Cecelia makes no bones about the fact that she is not happy and will do anything she needs to do to put a stop to that.

The. Weird things start happening to Flora making her feel unsafe and unsure of her future, can she get to the bottom of it before it’s too late?

I went through stages of suspecting every single person in this book, it could literally been any of them & I loved that for a while I didn’t know which way was up.

I did work out who was behind it all before it was revealed but that in no way took away from the enjoyment of the book and I would recommend it to ALL fans of psychological thrillers

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Today is my stop on the blog tour for Love By Design by Effie Kammeanou thank you to Kelly at Love Books Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to the Author for my copy.

Pages: 325

Synopsis: Mia Andarakis just landed her dream job at a luxury magazine. And even better, her boss is the handsome and enigmatic Nicholas Aristedis, a man she has crushed on from afar. But Nicholas isn’t who she imagined. Irascible and mercurial, his instant dislike for Mia makes it almost impossible for her to work with him.Nicholas has faced many losses and heartaches in his thirty-two years. Determined to avoid heartbreak, he has closed his heart to love. But Mia awakens feelings in him he had long since denied. And soon he discovers their connection is deeper than he realized.Mia and Nicholas embark on an adventure across picturesque locations as they launch a new publication and uncover the mystery behind her grandfather’s disappearance. But perhaps the greatest challenge is in learning to set aside their insecurities and fears. Can the two forget the traumas of their past? And will they ever learn to trust in the possibility of love? Find out in the second novel of The Meraki Series.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: Effie has done it again! 😍 I have loved every single one of her books and this one was no different.

As main characters Kara was loveable yet slightly unsure and unconfident where as Nicholas just exudes confidence wherever he goes, or at least that’s how things seem on the surface, is it right?

Kara had just landed her dream job working for the man she’s had a crush on for a while, the only snag is he’s married to the equally attractive Kara!

Can Kara cope with working so closely with someone that she has such intense feelings for, or is her dream over before it’s begun?

What follows is a will they won’t they romance where the tension just never stops, I absolutely devoured it and needed more 😍

I don’t want to give ANY of the story away, but please please please pick it up.

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Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Mix-up by Elizabeth Neep, thank you to the team at Bookouture for organising it and inviting me to take part! & thank you to the author for my copy.

Pages: 311

Synopsis: What if you meet the love of your life, but he thinks you’re someone else?

Anna and Marley are best friends. So when Anna rings Marley, panicking because she has to miss a tour of an exclusive wedding venue, Marley agrees to go in her friend’s place.

After being totally ignored by the glamorous receptionist who can tell she doesn’t belong there, Marley meets handsome hotel manager Cameron. He assumes she’s Anna and instead of admitting that she’s not the blushing bride, but the unlucky-in-love single friend, Marley plays along to see what it’s like to be Anna for a day.

After all, Marley is unemployed, single and was woken up that morning by her flatmate playing the bagpipes. Anna has a high-flying career and is planning the perfect wedding. Why wouldn’t Marley want to be her?

Only she wasn’t counting on Cameron being so smart and funny. Or this spark between them that she can’t ignore. She hasn’t felt this way about a guy in forever. But he thinks she’s somebody better.

Marley needs a way out of this mix-up to get her shot at true love. But her fictional fiancé is now standing in her way and it’s harder than she thought to stop living someone else’s life…

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this was everything I wanted it to be and more, I couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting! – the writing flowed nicely and just constantly left you wanting to know what would happen next?

Have you ever done something for a friend, but found yourself telling a little white lie to begin with and then finding yourself telling more to fit the story that you’ve now created? – that is exactly what happened to Marley when she pretended to be her engaged best friend Anna so she wouldn’t mind out on her dream wedding venue!

In Marley’s defence she thought it would only be for an hour, after all Anna has everything. (At least one Marley’s eyes… the perfect job, money to burn, the perfect fiancé..) what harm could it do to pretend that’s you for a day?

As it turns out it can cause a lot of trouble😂

What follows is an at times laugh out loud book that also found me cringing and hiding under the blanket for poor Marley at the situations she found herself in, I thought this was going to be a full on romance story and I guess it kind of was but nothing at all in the way I expected! – I won’t say anymore because I don’t want to spoil the story for everyone else, but please pick it up and find out for yourself! – I promise you won’t be disappointed.

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