Today is my stop on the blog tour for Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone thank you to Dave at Write Reads Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part.
If you click the photo you will be taken to amazon where you can buy your own copy.
I have a spotlight for you today to let you know about about the book & the author!
Synopsis: With the startling twists of Gone Girl and the haunting emotional power of Room, Mirrorland is a thrilling work of psychological suspense about twin sisters, the man they both love, and the dark childhood they can’t leave behind.
Cat lives in Los Angeles, far away from 36 Westeryk Road, the imposing gothic house in Edinburgh where she and her estranged twin sister, El, grew up. As girls, they invented Mirrorland, a dark, imaginary place under the pantry stairs full of pirates, witches, and clowns. These days Cat rarely thinks about their childhood home, or the fact that El now lives there with her husband Ross.
But when El mysteriously disappears after going out on her sailboat, Cat is forced to return to 36 Westeryk Road, which has scarcely changed in twenty years. The grand old house is still full of shadowy corners, and at every turn Cat finds herself stumbling on long-held secrets and terrifying ghosts from the past. Because someone—El?—has left Cat clues in almost every room: a treasure hunt that leads right back to Mirrorland, where she knows the truth lies crouched and waiting…
A twisty, dark, and brilliantly crafted thriller about love and betrayal, redemption and revenge, Mirrorland is a propulsive, page-turning debut about the power of imagination and the price of freedom.
About the author: Carole Johnstone’s award-winning short fiction has appeared in annual “Best of” anthologies in the US and UK. Her debut novel, Mirrorland, will be published in spring 2021 by Borough Press/HarperCollins in the UK and Commonwealth and by Scribner/Simon & Schuster in North America. She lives in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. More information can be found at carolejohnstone.com
Today is my stop on the blog tour for When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin, and I’m coming at you with a spotlight where I tell you all about the book, the author 🙂 Thank you to Kelly at Love Books Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part.
If you click the photo you will be taken to amazon where you can buy your own copy!
Synopsis: Evelyn Brand is an American foreign correspondent determined to prove her worth in a male-dominated profession and to expose the growing tyranny in Nazi Germany. To do so, she must walk a thin line. If she offends the government, she could be expelled from the country–or worse. If she does not report truthfully, she’ll betray the oppressed and fail to wake up the folks back home.
Peter Lang is an American graduate student working on his PhD in German. Disillusioned with the chaos in the world due to the Great Depression, he is impressed with the prosperity and order of German society. But when the brutality of the regime hits close, he discovers a far better way to use his contacts within the Nazi party–to feed information to the shrewd reporter he can’t get off his mind.
As the world marches relentlessly toward war, Evelyn and Peter are on a collision course with destiny.
About The Author: Sarah Sundin is the bestselling author of several popular WWII series, including Sunrise at Normandy, Waves of Freedom, Wings of the Nightingale, and Wings of Glory. Her novels have received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly. Her novel Through Waters Deep was a Carol Award finalist, and both Through Waters Deep and When Tides Turn were named on Booklist’s ‘101 Best Romance Novels of the Last 10 Years.’ Sarah lives in Northern California. Visit www.sarahsundin.com for more information.
Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Darlings by Angela Jackson, thank you to Emma at Damppebbles for organising it and inviting me to take part and thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.
Ihave an extract for you today!
Pages: 288
Synopsis: When Mark Darling is fifteen years old, he is the golden boy, captain of the school football team, admired by all who know him. Until he kills his best friend in a freak accident. He spends the next decade drifting between the therapy couch and dead-end pursuits. Then along comes Sadie. A mender by nature, she tries her best to fix him, and has enough energy to carry them both through the next few years. One evening, Mark bumps into an old schoolfriend, Ruby. She saw the accident first hand. He is pulled towards her by a force stronger than logic: the universal need to reconcile one’s childhood wounds. This is his chance to, once again, feel the enveloping warmth of unconditional love. But can he leave behind the woman who rescued him from the pit of despair, the wife he loves? His unborn child? This is a story about how childhood experience can profoundly impact how we behave as adults. It’s a story about betrayal, infidelity and how we often blinker ourselves to see a version of the truth that is more palatable to us.
Extract: Mark and Sadie’s wedding anniversary fell on a Tuesday, and they had tickets for that evening’s preview of an exhibition of silica-preserved body parts. It wasn’t a traditional way to spend an anniversary, but the gallery owner was a friend of Sadie’s.
‘We can zip in, then go on somewhere nice for something to eat,’ she said.
She had developed a habit of speaking with her right hand splayed across her bump. Sometimes, usually when contemplating, she would rhythmically rub the bump in such a way that made him think she might, at any moment, start patting her head with her other hand. It wouldn’t have surprised Mark in the least to discover that Sadie was, in addition to everything else, effortlessly ambidextrous.
She decided to give the dead babies section of the exhibition a miss. ‘Gruesome. I’m going to sit here and read through the catalogue,’ she said, hand on bump. Mark kissed her cheek before walking towards the signs that warned visitors they may experience distress at the contents of the next room.
It was silent in there. He crouched in the half-light, drawn to the tiny fingernails of a sixteen-week-old miscarried foetus. He read the blurb but it offered no clue as to why this particular exhibit came to be here, and he suddenly felt sorry for the poor sod who would have been charged with the task of asking the grieving mother if she would give permission for her child to be drained of blood and injected with silica gel before being sealed in a tube and put on display. A flat, uniform nap of down covered its almost transparent skin. He peered at the perfect pink fingernails again. Smaller than shirt buttons, thin as rose petals.
It was then he caught sight of someone familiar. He stared at her: Ruby Suddula. He skidded back two decades. Thwack. She adjusted her skirt, and his mouth remembered a snog of the end-of-term school disco, when she had twirled his hair and his heart around her forefinger. He could almost feel acne re-pustulating his chin and brace wires threading around his teeth. Ruby murmured to a couple standing next to one of the large exhibits. She moved around, pointing out various bones, joints and muscles of interest. Eventually, the couple moved on, and Mark walked towards her. She smiled at him, ready to answer his questions. ‘Ruby.’ She looked intently at the face of the man who knew her name. ‘Mark,’ he said. ‘Darling,’ she said. She stifled a wow and half-hugged him. As they separated from the awkward tangle, Ruby held onto his arms and leaned back, as if to take in the full Mark Darlingness of him. ‘I didn’t recognise you without your rugby kit.’ ‘Football,’ he corrected her. ‘Captain.’ ‘Oh, yeah, football.’ A smile. No mention of cricket. But he heard it. The thwack, the scream, the sirens. ‘You still play?’ ‘Sometimes.’ She arched a brow. ‘Are you still doing the art?’ Doing the art. Jesus. ‘I am still doing the art. Yes. Third floor. All me,’ she said, pointing upstairs. ‘Really?’ ‘There is no third floor.’ She was always sharper than him. At school, she had run quiet rings around most people. ‘So what are you doing?’ ‘I’m a stand-up.’ ‘A comedian?’ ‘On a good night, yeah.’ ‘Impressive. Brave.’ ‘Only if you’re not funny.’ A cagoule approached her, checked her name badge through his unfeasibly smeared glasses, and launched into a question that was more of a comment. Ruby handled it expertly, answered politely, and turned her beam back to Mark. ‘Someone said you were a writer.’ He let out a loud nervous laugh. A woman nearby shot him a filthy look. ‘Well, not really writing writing,’ he said, using air quotes for the first time in his life. ‘No great novel yet.’ He checked to make sure she wasn’t smirking. She wasn’t. ‘I do a bit of daytime work for an interior design company. Promotional stuff about reclining sofas and chairs, mainly.’ ‘I have one of those reclining chairs.’
He would, one day, come to realise that he should have walked away then, that he should have said: ‘Look, it’s been lovely seeing you again, and I am impressed and delighted to discover that you have clearly maintained your level of superiority over me in every way, but I am going to say goodbye and scoot back into the other room to my pregnant wife. I’ll doubtless take a moment later this evening to think of you in that reclining chair of yours, but I really do have to go.’ But he did not say any of those things.
I really love the sound of this book and if you click the photo of the cover it will take you to amazon where you can buy your own copy!
Today is my stop on the blog tour for Embers by Josephine Greenland, 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.
Firstly, I just want to say this is the first review I’ve tried to write since my Uncle died on Thursday and I’m still struggling to get my thoughts together properly, so I’m sorry if this review isn’t as good as previous ones!
Pages: 336
Synopsis: Two siblings, one crime. One long-buried secret.
17-year-old Ellen never wanted a holiday. What is there to do in Svartjokk, a mining town in the northernmost corner of Sweden, with no one but her brother Simon – a boy with Asperger’s and obsessed with detective stories – for company?
Nothing, until they stumble upon a horrifying crime scene that brings them into a generations-long conflict between the townspeople and the native Sami. When the police dismiss Simon’s findings, he decides to track down the perpetrator himself. Ellen reluctantly helps, drawn in by a link between the crime and the siblings’ own past. What started off as a tedious holiday soon escalates into a dangerous journey through hatred, lies and self-discovery that makes Ellen question not only the relationship to her parents, but also her own identity.
Embers is a chilling and haunting who-dunnit with a Scandi-Noir twist, set against the backdrop of the deep, Swedish forests and the mysticism of Sami folklore.
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this one, I have a step brother with autism so the fact that one of the main characters had Aspergers really made me smile, he was definitely my favourite character.
Emily and her brother Simon are sent away on holiday to the place where their dad grew up, when they get there they stumble upon a crime scene that was disturbing and completely horrific but yet seemed to have some order to it, which totally fascinates Simon and he is desperate to get to bottom of it!
His sister tries her best to put him off because she knows that the police will get frustrated with any interference, and it doesn’t take long for the police to get involved and caution him, but it doesn’t put him off 😂
What follows is a totally gripping story of 4 young people trying to get to the bottom of what happened with the help of a couple of adults, but they can’t help but feel that the people who should care the most about the crime are the ones blocking them at every turn! – is everyone who they claim to be?
I loved this and devoured it in a couple of sittings. I’d definitely recommend it to fans of the crime genre!
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!
Click the picture to be taken to amazon where yourown copy!
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 wasa5 star read for me!
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!
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.
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!
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! 😍
If you like the sound of the book, click the photo to be taken to amazon x
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?
🔽🔽🔽
🔽🔽🔽
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.
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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