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Today is my stop on the blog tour for deception by T.J. Blake thank you to Kelly at Love Books Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Synopsis: Through the stark and leafless trees, I see her.

I remember the first day I saw her; an instant attraction. I think she’s beautiful. She has such pensive blue eyes; they remind me of a blue sky right before the sun descends. Every time I see her I want to talk to her, I want to get to know her, and I want to be her friend.

She usually completes the lower woodland walk in six minutes and forty-two seconds; she misses the deeper woodlands and goes home, I believe.

I walk down the road at the same speed as her. She reaches the crossroads at the bottom of the road, looks both ways, and then jogs across into the garden of a house. I stop walking and concentrate on which house is hers.

I can’t stare too long but I am intrigued already, I will come back.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this was a compelling read, one that had me gripped and kept me guessing throughout the fact that I listened to it on audio added a whole new depth to the story too!

We’re following Billy, who is walking his dog Ella, she’s the only thing he has left since the tragic death of his wife, and it’s on one of these dog walks that he see’s Eve, she’s also walking her dog & something about her intrigues him, so he follows her and watches from the shadows until he works up the courage to say hello.

Things develop quite quickly into a relationship until one day Billy is approached by a man telling him to leave Eve alone. – who is he? Why does he feel the need to get involved?

It’s then that things get dark and complicated, it soon becomes clear that Eve is keeping secrets and she starts turning herself into who she knows Billy really wants, can he escape before things go too far?

I highly recommend this to all psychological thriller fans, please give the audio book a go if you’re able to because it just enhanced the enjoyment for me!

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Today is my stop on the blog tour for Glittering A Turd by Kris Hallenga, 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: 280

Synopsis: Kris was living a totally normal life as a twenty-three-year-old: travelling the world, falling in love, making plans.

However, when she found a lump in her boob and was told that it was not only cancer, but also incurable, life took on a completely new meaning. She was diagnosed at an age when life wasn’t something to be grateful for, but a goddamn right.

Little did Kris know it was cancer that would lead her to a life she had never considered: a happy one. From founding a charity to visiting Downing Street, campaigning at festivals to appearing on TV, and being present at the birth of her nephew; in the face of all the possible prognoses, Kris is surviving, thriving, and resolutely living.

Glittering a Turd is more than just another cancer memoir; it’s a handbook for living life to the fullest, shining a new perspective on survival and learning to glitter your own tu*d, whatever it might be. Kris has survived the unsurvivable for twelve years. Here, she begins to discover why.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: I have no coherent words for this book, it was a tough read from start to finish with such an important message – check your boobs!

I want to say that Kris is an inspiration, that her strength is unparalleled, but as a disabled person I totally get what she said in the book about those words feeling strange when you just have a condition out of your control so I won’t say it.

What I will say is that her ability to educate you on certain situations without feeling patronising or making you feel small for not understanding straight away was incredible and very much appreciated, it kind of felt like she took us along for the journey with her.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows and she never tried to make it seem that way, she was honest about the hard bits too but did it in a way that it didn’t become overwhelmingly sad

Don’t get me wrong, i shed a few tears whilst reading this, but I also laughed a lot too.

This book is about a tough hard hitting topic that will affect every single one of us, but it hun we positive and uplifting.

Thank you for giving me the chance to read your story Kris!

After reading this story I will be making sure I check my boobs regularly and you should do the same! – for more info on how exactly to do that please visit this page on CoppaFeel!’s website!

https://self-checkout.coppafeel.org/onboarding

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Today is my stop on the blog tour for The New Friend by Alex Kane, 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: 281

Synopsis:

Be careful who you let into your life

Arabella MacQueen had a tough start. Growing up surrounded by drugs and alcohol, getting into trouble as a teen, she’s now in her late-twenties and has turned her life around.

Until the fateful night that sees her imprisoned for 10 months.

She’s hit rock bottom … but unexpectedly forges a bond with cellmate Roxanne McPhail that lasts beyond the prison walls.

Now both women are free, and Arabella is excited about the future with boyfriend Eddie, with Roxanne at her side.

But Arabella doesn’t know the truth about her new best friend; about Roxanne’s reputation as the head of Glasgow gangland, about the violence in Roxanne’s past.

She doesn’t know that Roxanne has plans for Arabella that might lead her into some very dangerous places.

In this dirty game, Arabella is going to have to learn you can’t always trust those closest to you…

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this was a gripping story once you got into it which made it really hard to put down!

The beginning of the book wasn’t an easy ride though, there were quite a few characters to be introduced to and to begin with there didn’t seem to be a link.. luckily they do all knit together quite seamlessly once the story really gets going!

Poor Arabella has had a tough life, starting as a child she got taken into care and nothing has been great since, just when she feels she’s got her life back on track her ‘friends’ make a reappearance and before she knows that’s happening she’s in prison! – there she meets Roxanne, who at the time seems like she is taking Arabella under her wing, but with Roxanne knowing she’s leaving prison just a few short days after Arabella could there be an ulterior motive?

Jez lives in Spain, had done since he went on a lads holiday 20 years ago and just never left! – he worked his way up and went from being a barman to the club owner, he’s just been stabbed in the back (figuratively) by a friend & is having to return to Scotland to confront him, will his past finally catch up with him whilst he’s there?

The action in this story is never ending and you never know who to trust, even the ones who seem innocent have secrets that they’re hiding!

I loved how everything came together in the end, it was definitely an ending that I didn’t see coming and would never have guessed!

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Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Great Silence by Doug Johnstone, thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 300

Synopsis: The discovery of a human foot in an Edinburgh park, the inexplicable circumstances of a dying woman, and the missing daughter of Jenny’s violent ex-husband present the Skelf women with their most challenging – and deadly – cases yet…

Keeping on top of the family funeral directors’ and private-investigation businesses is no easy task for the Skelf women, and when matriarch Dorothy discovers a human foot while walking the dog, a perplexing case presents itself … with potentially deadly results.

Daughter Jenny and grand-daughter Hannah have their hands full too: The mysterious circumstances of a dying woman lead them into an unexpected family drama, Hannah’s new astrophysicist colleague claims he’s receiving messages from outer space, and the Skelfs’ teenaged lodger has yet another devastating experience.

Nothing is clear as the women are immersed ever deeper in their most challenging cases yet. But when the daughter of Jenny’s violent and fugitive ex-husband goes missing without trace and a wild animal is spotted roaming Edinburgh’s parks, real danger presents itself, and all three Skelfs are in peril.

Taut, dark, warmly funny and unafraid to ask big questions – of us all – The Great Silence is the much-anticipated third instalment in the addictive, unforgettable Skelfs series, and the stakes are higher than ever.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this is book 3 of the Skelfs series, I thoroughly enjoyed the first two so I couldn’t want to dive in and let me tell you I was not disappointed!

The Skelfs are a unique family who you just can’t help but fall in love with, but with them running two businesses, both businesses are a little different and out there, they run a funeral directors and a private investigation business from the same premises so as you can imagine things can get a little complicated, not to mention the fact that trouble just seems to follow them around 😂

This time Einstein finds a human foot on his walk and if that wasn’t weird enough after further investigation they can see that it’s been embalmed, but it’s pretty shoddy work. This leads Dorothy on an investigation that actually leaves her life in danger on more than one occasion!

Jenny is left investigating twins that have just buried their grandmother and it seems that their mother is heading in the same way, little do they know that their mums young lover has hired her to investigate them too, what a mess!

Hannah has an investigation of her own to run a wedding to plan and a father to find before it’s too late!

This story was intense and gripping, just when you think the Skelfs couldn’t possibly find any more trouble they prove you wrong. – I cannot wait for the next instalment to see what they get up to next time!

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Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Spanish House by Cherry Radford 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: 352

Synopsis: Juliana makes a modest living as an ‘ethnic’ TV/film extra – even though the only connections with her Spanish heritage are her cacti, Spanish classes, and some confused memories of a Spanish mother she hasn’t seen since she was seven.

When her beloved Uncle Arturo offers her the chance to discover her roots while housesitting his coastal home in a quiet corner of Andalusia, Juliana can’t believe her luck. Especially when he reveals that the house will be hers if she fulfils ten life-enhancing ‘Conditions’ within 90 days. Redecoration of the house and a visit to the old film studio where her mother used to sew costumes seem ridiculously simple tasks for such a wonderful reward. But little does Juliana realise that there are family secrets and inherited rivalries awaiting her in sunny Spain, and the condition that she has to ‘get on with the neighbours’ – who include a ruggedly handsome but moody artist – may be harder than she thinks.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this was a nice easy read to get lost in, we follow Juliana as she goes to Spain to visit her uncle who has a proposition for her that she just can’t say no too, if she completes his list of instructions within 90 days then she can have the house!

Little did she know that this list would take her on a journey of rediscovery and help her trace her family history and her heritage!

The challenges aren’t always as straight forward as they seem, a lot of them seem to have a hidden depth, could it be that Arturo has a hidden motive behind it all, does he know what Juliana needs more than she does?

There’s friendship, heartbreak, hot Spanish men, hidden secrets and a little goat, what more could you need?

I thoroughly enjoyed this, I appreciated the fact that there were serious hard hitting moments as well as the moments that made me actually laugh out loud.

I need more Josemi and Juliana in my life though, the ending came too soon!

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Firstly let me apologise to Claire for the delay in getting this review up, time just runs away with me these days!

Today I’m bringing you a review of Elle’s A to Z of Love by Claire Huston, it’s been a while since I brought you a review that wasn’t part of a blog tour! – I reviewed Claire’s other book Art and Soul last year and loved it so much that when she approached me asking if I’d like a copy of her new book to review I couldn’t say no! So thank you Claire for thinking of me and giving me this opportunity!

Pages: 381

Synopsis: Haileybrook, a beautiful village in the peaceful Cotswolds countryside, is most people’s idea of heaven on earth.

Born and raised in this small slice of paradise, Elle Bea can’t wait to leave.

It should be easy, but every time she packs her bags for exotic adventures, old loves and loyalties pull her back.

Will Elle be forced to forget her dreams of far-flung places and epic romance, or can she grab one last chance to have it all?

An uplifting, romantic story about friends, family and the relationships that make a place a home.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: Elle has big dreams one day of escaping the small village in which she grew up, travelling and then making a life for herself as a journalist in London – but as we al know making dreams a reality isn’t always easy, so she spends her life getting lost in books and doing her travelling that way instead – something I’m sure a lot of us can relate to right now?!

So far, she’s managed to escape to Uni to study journalism, one day she meets Zach in the library, he’s geeky and adorable and she can’t help but stare, subtly of course. but when he drops a book on his head she goes to help him and they strike up a conversation – he invites her to a party the following day, but unfortunately disaster strikes back home in Haileybrook and she has to leave without saying anything.

The story that follows is full of missed opportunities for Elle, whenever she starts to realise part of her dream something or someone comes along to knock her down a peg or two and I couldn’t help but feel for her, it just seemed like nothing ever went right for her and she wasn’t allowed to be happy.

But the heartwarming bit is that Elle and Zach mange to get back in contact and he becomes a constant friend to her via emails, although at this point he’s loved up and so is she, but can he help her realise what she wants?

In true romance book style nothing ever goes the way you think, but in this book the relationship I was rooting for seems to come together in the end, there’s a will they won’t they aspect, are they just friends or are they more?

There’s a whole bunch of loveable characters that made this such a joy to read and so hard to tear myself away from… Aunt Cath, Serena, Toby to name just a few!

Will Elle ever make it out of Haileybrook? will she realise who the man of her dreams is before it’s too late?

I promise this story takes you on a journey that you won’t regret, just be prepared for some bumps along the way!

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Today is my stop on the blog tour for The House on The Waters Edge by C.E Rose, thank you to Zoé at Zooloos book tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to the publisher and the author for my copy.

Pages: 268

Synopsis: Sometimes the past is best left buried

Since the birth of baby Joe five weeks ago, Ali Baker has been struggling to cope. Starved of sleep and haunted by painful memories from the past, she’s a million miles away from the polished, professional barrister she has worked so hard to become.

Then her mother tragically and unexpectedly dies, leaving Ali an orphan. Haunted by her loss, Ali can’t forget her mother’s last words to her: There is something I really need to tell you…

Heading back to the Norfolk Broads to sort her mother’s things, Ali is plunged into memories of her family’s picture-perfect summers on the river.

But as she starts to uncover secrets hidden within the isolated house, Ali is drawn into a dark web that threatens to destroy everything she believed about her childhood – and her very sanity.

Ali may finally discover her mother’s secrets… but at what cost?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this is the kind of book that draws you in slowly so you don’t realise it’s happening until it’s too late and it already has its teeth in you and you realise you can’t put it down until you know how it ends!

Honestly when I first started reading it I thought it was just going to be about a new mum dealing with her new baby and the death of her mum together and her struggles (or triumphs) in doing so & although that was a small part of it, it was also so much more than that!

My heart broke for Ali several times in this book, first with her husband doubting everything she’s feeling or experiencing and belittling her going running to his mum when things got too difficult I didn’t like him 😂 if I could’ve slapped him through the pages I definitely would’ve done. – but as if that wasn’t bad enough Ali knows that her mum had something she wanted to tell her before she died & Ali rushed her off the phone, after all she was seeing her in a few days.

The secrets start coming out once she has the strength to go to her mums house to start sorting the place, but when she gets there the gardener is there still tending to the gardens, is he keeping it up for her, for himself or is there more going on?

This is the story that just keeps giving every time you think you’ve worked it out something else is added you just get used to the new direction and then something you thought was a dead cert is then taken away and I was left just not knowing where the story was going – my favourite thing is when an author manages to keep you guessing until the very last chapters!

Thanks again for having me I had loads of fun with this book, it consumed for life for the time I was reading it!

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Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Handover by David M. Barnett, 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: Daisy does nights and Nate does days, which causes no end of hilarity at the Manchester Museum of Social History. ‘It should be Daisy on days and Nate on nights,’ Marion on the reception says to her at least once a month, as though Daisy hasn’t yet got the joke.

Daisy is the night security guard at the Manchester Museum of Social History. She takes her job very seriously, protecting the museum from troublemakers and anyone who openly mocks the fact they have a dinosaur on display.

Nate works the day shift, though he’d be more suited as a museum guide the way he chats with the visitors. Daisy doesn’t approve: every one of them is a potential threat and befriending them could impair his judgement.

Daisy and Nate don’t have much to do with each other except for the five minutes when they’re shifts overlap at handover. He passes the torch over to her – like a baton – always with a smirk on his face, and she asks him for a full report of the day, which he gives reluctantly. It’s the only interaction they have… until strange things begin to happen at the museum.

Daisy notices priceless objects are going missing but then reappearing, with no explanation (and nothing showing on the CCTV, which is why she doesn’t trust technology). No one believes her except Nate, and he agrees to help her solve the mystery.

They soon discover they have a lot more in common than they realised… and their investigations uncover more than just the truth. Could they have feelings for one another?

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: This book 😍

I loved everything about this, the characters, the plot, the cover, the premise, it was just perfect I couldn’t fault it at all!

Nate and Daisy are both security guards at the Manchester Museum of social history and it’s not just their shift patterns that are totally opposite 😂 Nate is easy going with both his job and the visitors always up for a laugh, even naming a couple of the dinosaurs, whereas Daisy is very serious, everything has to be just right or done in the right away and starts to feel uneasy if anything changes without prior notice! – structure and routine are what she thrives on.

These 2 very different people soon strike up the most unlikely friendship and it was such a delight to see, they bring our the best in each other, Daisy soon gets used to Nates teasing and his relaxed persona and starts to let go just a little & Nate shows a serious caring side his personality when Daisy is around, he just wants to look after her and make her smile.

Could they become more than friends?

They both have a lot going on at home, which neither of them ever brings to work but somehow the other always knows when they need a little pick me up.

This story was funny, heartbreaking, heart warming and thought provoking, so many emotions in a relatively short book and I will be recommending it to all of my friends

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Today is my stop on the blog tour for Fireborn by Aisling Fowler, thank you to Write Reads Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.

Pages: 432

Synopsis: Set in the snowy northern forests of an imagined prehistoric world, Fireborn is the middle-grade debut of the decade. At turns exciting, funny and heart wrenchingly sad, it marks the introduction of an unstoppable new voice in children’s storytelling.

Twelve has spoken the Pledge and now she is a Huntling. She has given up her name to train in the art of fighting monsters and keeping the peace, and she won’t get to choose a new one until she has earned it.

But when the Lodge’s walls are breached for the first time, and a little girl is taken, Twelve is the only one interested in going after a child . . .

Teaming up with Dog, the Stone Guardian of the Lodge, Twelve ends up on an epic adventure that will change her life, her name – and her entire world.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: this was incredible, it was fast paced yet incredibly easy to follow and really set my imaginative juices flowing! – the world building was incredible and left me with incredibly vivid images!

This gave me serious Harry Potter vibes in the best way possible, there were so many similarities but yet the story was completely different 😂

The children are referred to as numbers until they complete their training and become hunters, the story revolves around 5, 6 and 12. – 12 being the main character and I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to have a female main character who on the surface seems badass and fearless, not afraid to stand up for what she wants or believes in! (We so soon learn that even 12 has insecurities and certain things she relies on to help her through)

Anyway…. Back to 5,6 and 12, they’re on a mission to find 7 who was kidnapped when goblins broke into the school, she was the only one to be taken and no one knows why!

Throw in a stone guardian known as dog and other fantastic creatures alone the way one of them being a giant spider 😳🕷 then what you have is an adventure story that is so easy to get lost in, I finished the book in a couple of hours because I just couldn’t put it down and needed to know what was going to happen next!

The story wasn’t left on a cliffhanger as such, but felt partly ‘unfinished’ which I’m hoping means it has been left open for a sequel? I will be keeping my fingers crossed because I need more, I need to know what happens next 😂🤞🏼

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Today I’m on the blog tour for The Boy Who Couldn’t by R Coverdale, 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: 157

Synopsis: The school bully is the only one who can save them.
James’ life has been turned upside down and now the local bully has made him a target. So why would his mother insist he should invite him over? Especially when they’re hiding a secret badger clan at the bottom of the garden.

Now the badgers are under threat from a gang with fighting dogs and the badgers aren’t the only ones in peril.

Danger is approaching and it will make the most unlikely of heroes.

A story about becoming the person you can be, not the person you are expected to be.

My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

My Thoughts: if I could give this book more stars I would, it deserves ALL OF THEM.

This was such a lovely story told from 2 different perspectives, James and Greg.

James until recently hasn’t known what it’s like to have to go without, both parents had well paid jobs, so although they weren’t rich they were comfortable, were able to afford holidays and presents and trips out. – then his dad loses his job and that all had to stop so imagine his surprise when he gets a bike for his birthday!

Greg, is the completely opposite his family have never really had money, they don’t do anything anything together, feeling lost and unimportant had turned Greg into the school bully who makes Greg one of his targets!

Do bully’s deserve a second chance? – can a family of badgers, a dog and a treehouse bring everyone back together?

This book really brings home that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover and that you really don’t know what goes on behind closed doors.

I think it would be a really good book to be read in schools, it might make children think twice about certain situations.

I will definitely be sharing this with my 6 year old godson!

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