Today is my stop on the blog tour for Sorry, it’s a Girl by A.A. Khan, thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to the author and the publisher for my copy.
Pages: 552
Synopsis: Lahore, 2018: In a city teeming with gossip and rumours, where the spoken word is as sharp as a whip, five women lead extraordinary lives.
Born into wealth and opulence, Maya and Arzoo are best friends, achieving everything that is expected of them, from top grades to entry into the exclusive Ivy League schools. Gliding through Lahore’s glittering soirees, Ariyana is the picture of perfection. Charming Laila is married to a business tycoon, living a life of luxury that others could only dream of. But life is rarely perfect…
In this world where image is everything and tradition prevails, these women struggle to negotiate friendships, family and society’s expectations. Beneath the designer clothes lie hidden scars and secrets that cannot be told. And in amongst it all, love blooms.
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: this was a complete eye opener of a book, based in Pakistan, it gives you a small glimpse in what the culture is like and I can tell you it’s totally different to what I’m used to and I found it very honest but also very shocking.
We get to see it from 2 sides, the rich families and the house servants who are quite regularly beaten and spoken down and let me tell you both sides are flawed, it turns out being rich and coming from a well known family isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
There’s arranged marriages, domestic abuse and rape, it’s a hard read, but also one I feel is very important.
Parts made me smile, parts made me cry and some parts were very, very difficult to read. It shows that people just never know what’s going on behind closed doors, but as long as everything looks perfect to everyone on the outside that’s all that matters right?
I don’t know what I expected to I’m this going going in, but it went a LOT deeper than I ever expected.
Today is my stop on the blog tour for Evanthia’s gift by Effie Kammenou, thank you to the team at Love Books Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to the author for my copy!
Pages: 570
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: I absolutely loved this book, it’s a multi generational love story following the same 2 families as they grow up together and discover new things in the beautiful setting of Greece!
I finished this book whilst sat on the sofa with my stepmum and I turned to her and said “aww wow, I loved that it made me all warm and happy” ❤️ and that sums the story up completely.
We start with Ana, who after catching her husband in a compromising situation with someone who Ana thought could never sink any lower she finds out she’s pregnant! & in walks Alex who unbeknownst to Ana is going to be her one true love and will fix everything, sounds perfect, right?
Then later on we follow Sophia (Ana’s daughter) As she’s growing up with Demi and Dean or Dino as she likes to call him.
Dino is off for Ana, she’s 14, he’s 16. He would never look twice at her, he see’s her as his little sister, these are all things that Ana tells herself, but is that really now Dino feels? – I have to be careful here not to say too much, but you’ll have to dive into the story to find out, I promise you won’t be disappointed 😂
There was so many layers to the story, but underneath it all it’s about love, loyalty, friendships that can withstand anything and never giving up on your dreams!
This is a story that I will be recommending to everyone!
I’m currently almost finished with book 2, so you’ll have to look out for my thoughts on that one next month!
Today is my stop on the blog tour for poppy flowers at the front by Jon Wilkins, thank you to Emma at Damp Pebbles blog tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to the author for my copy.
Pages: 129
Synopsis: 1917: with her father in the British secret service and her brother Alfie in the trenches, under-age Poppy Loveday volunteers against her parents’ wishes to drive ambulances in France. We follow her adventures, racing to save wounded men driven to the Casualty Clearing Station, and back to the Base Hospital.
During one battle she finds Élodie Proux, a French nurse, at a roadside clutching a dead soldier. Poppy rescues her. Élodie becomes her dearest girl as they fall in love.
Poppy and Élodie encounter frightening adversaries at the Western Front as well as away from it during the closing weeks of World War One.
My Rating:🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: this was such a powerful read, for such a short book it really made me feel a whole load of different emotions.
It felt so real, I was totally immersed in the story, I even had dreams about going to war after reading it!
The characters were strong and well developed, I found myself feeling what they were feeling constantly. Poppy was by far my favourite, she really was a force to be reckoned with and I loved the fact that she was able to show her vulnerable side when things just got too much, it added to the realistic feel of the book because we all have a breaking point, but she was quick enough to build herself up and go back to doing the job in hand.
I don’t want to say too much, I don’t want to give the whole story but the letters too and from home were my favourite part, they gave us a little insight into the way Poppy was before she went away to war as a teenager.
I feel this is an important read & one that should even be put into the school curriculum because it didn’t try to sugarcoat anything.
Today is my stop on the blog tour for Forgotten Lives by Ray Britain, Thank you to Emma at Damppebbles blog tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to the author for my copy.
Pages: 422
Synopsis: A man is murdered with quiet efficiency on his doorstep. A strange emblem left behind suggests a gang killing but when more bodies are found with the same emblem, and one of them a cop, DCI Doug Stirling’s investigation takes a sinister turn. But what linked the victims in life, and now in death? When more deaths are uncovered, miles away and years apart, but all with the same emblem left behind, pressure mounts on Stirling. Is it the work of the same person? If so, why are they killing again, and why here? One thing is clear. The killer is highly skilled, ruthless, and always one step ahead of the investigation. Is someone feeding information to them? Working in a crippling heatwave with too few investigators, too many questions and not enough answers, when wild media speculation of a vigilante at work sparks copycat attacks, demonstrations for justice and with politicians fearing riots, Stirling needs a result – fast! Meanwhile, Stirling’s private life is falling apart, not helped when Lena Novak of the National Crime Agency is assigned to his team. But is she all that she seems? Things could not get worse. Stirling takes a call from a retired cop. Things just got worse! As Stirling closes in on the killer he finds the killer’s trademark inside his home – he is being targeted.
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: Crime fiction is amongst one of my favourite genres & this book really cemented why to me.
Ray Britain is a new author for me and after this o will definitely be looking forward to seeing what else he comes up with.
The story was gripping and twisty and I found that I just couldn’t put it down.
People keep turning up dead and at first it seems like there is no link but it soon comes to light that the link is more disturbing than anyone wants to admit, especially when they realise that one of their own is involved,
The only clue they have to lead them to the killer is the blue V shaped badges that are being left at the scenes, sometimes in obvious places, other times they have to do serious searching to find it.
We are constantly being pulled in different directions so I honestly had no idea who the culprit was until it was revealed .
I would recommend this book to everyone, those who are fans of the genre and those who are new and wanting to give it a try.
Today is my stop on the blog tour for Amari and the Night brothers by B.B. Alston, thank you to The Write Reads Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to the publisher for my copy.
Pages: 416
Synopsis: Amari Peters knows three things.
Her big brother Quinton has gone missing. No one will talk about it. His mysterious job holds the secret . . .
So when Amari gets an invitation to the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, she’s certain this is her chance to find Quinton. But first she has to get her head around the new world of the Bureau, where mermaids, aliens and magicians are real, and her roommate is a weredragon.
Amari must compete against kids who’ve known about the supernatural world their whole lives, and when each trainee is awarded a special supernatural talent, Amari is given an illegal talent – one that the Bureau views as dangerous.
With an evil magician threatening the whole supernatural world, and her own classmates thinking she is the enemy, Amari has never felt more alone. But if she doesn’t pass the three tryouts, she may never find out what happened to Quinton . . .
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: This book was EVERYTHING 🤩😍
I’ve never read a middle grade that gripped me quite like this one, I would definitely say it’s marketed towards the older range of middle grade.
We quickly learn that Amari’s brother Quinton went missing 6 months ago, he went to work & never came back, whilst Amari and her mum don’t actually know what Quinton does they know in their hearts that something has happened to him, because he wouldn’t just run out on them, right?
One day Amari receives a visitor with a package for her and only her, but little does she know that when she signs for it her life will change forever, could this be the clue she needs to find her brother?
Like I said before this book is gripping, the writing is fast paced and the story just flows so well, I found my self itching to pick it back up whenever life happened and I had to put it down.
All the characters are strong in their own right. Elsie and Amari were my favourites, they were the ultimate misfit girl gang who always had each other’s back no matter what.
If you love a story full of magic & mystery, a story that is never predictable & will have you thinking it’s heading in one direction whilst also pulling you in the opposite direction (in the best way possible I promise!) then this one is definitely the one for you.
Today I’m part of the blog tour for incognito by Michael Winson, organised by the ladies and Love Books Tours 🥰
Pages: 190
Synopsis: Betrayal deserves vengeance….Redemption needs sacrifice Still reeling from leading a disastrous raid, SO15 anti-terror officer Lisa Reid is grateful for an easy assignment this time out; identify and bring in a target thought to have information on a fugitive cell leader
There is no such thing as a routine job for Lisa though, and a devastating chain of events quickly plunges her, and her partner Will, into a dangerous game of cat and mouse with thousands of lives hanging in the balance
As the scale of the threat is revealed, and the body count starts to rise, the pair have to make choices that could cost their partnership, if not their lives. But one of them has a deadly agenda all of their own, and as the man that’s been pulling all the strings steps out of the shadows to choreograph his masterpiece, that could end up costing a lot more…..
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: wow… what a book.
I knew absolutely nothing about this going in, with it being such a short book I was worried that reading the synopsis would give the story away so I went in blind & being honest I am so glad I did!
This story packs a punch right from the very beginning, we’re following Abdul, who is in a big shopping Mall in Manchester and he’s up to something but as of yet we don’t know what, but you instantly get the feeling that whatever it is, it’s definitely not good.
The chapters were short and snappy for the most part with a few slightly longer ones thrown in that tell more of the back story of the events that have happened to lead up to today’s seemingly devastating conclusion.
I honestly don’t want to give too much away because I feel it’ll take away from the feel of the story, but can someone from Abduls past stop him from making the worst decision of his life?
This book felt so real!! – I’m normally a quick reader, but I had to spread this one over a few days because of the emotions it was making me feel, I’m nor ashamed to admit that I cried more than once. The story was so atmospheric that I felt that I was actually there experiencing the events rather than just reading about them.
There is no way this felt like a debut novel and I honestly cannot wait to see what Michael comes up with next.
Thank you so much for giving me the privilege of reading your story.
Today is my stop on the blog tour for Faith In Him by Julia Firlotte, thank you to the team at Love Books Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part, and thank you to Julia for providing me with copies of her books!
Pages: 314
Synopsis: When loving her is dangerous, will leaving her be worse?
Adam’s deepest wounds are abandonment and betrayal. He’s spent years searching for that special someone who can fill his desolate world with love and trust. He thought he’d found her once, but instead got dragged into a dangerous criminal underworld that tore his wounds wide open and left him broken.
But like he falls in love, Adam fights back hard and fast against the darkness that surrounds him. Fidelity, bravery, and integrity become his values, and he’s sticking to them. That is until he meets Ella, the tender-hearted soul mate he’s yearned for. Now suddenly there’s more at risk than just himself.
Adam’s an all or nothing kind of guy. How far will he go to keep Ella safe? And will Ella have enough faith in him to love him anyway?
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: This is the second book in Julia’s “Falling for You” series, which I obviously knew, but what I didn’t realise before going in is that it’s the same story as book 1 but told from Adam’s perspective so for me filled in ALL the blanks which I really appreciated.
Sometimes books like that can feel ‘samey’ because obviously you know the story already, but I didn’t feel like that at any point whilst reading, I think part of that was because there were sections told from both 5 & 3 years ago which gave us a real insight into why Adam is the way he is & his overprotective sometimes controlling nature.
I fell in love with him in book 1 but book 2 really cemented that for me. 😍
There was a lot of character development in both Adam and Ella, which feels strange to say with it being the same story for some parts but they just felt more confident and sure of themselves & Ella felt less like a damsel in distress but this could be just because we were seeing her the way Adam does? 🤷🏻♀️
We saw a different side to some of the side characters in this book which just shows us that perspective is everything!
I don’t want to say too much because I want people to pick up the book for themselves! – it can be read as a stand alone but to get the most out of it I highly recommend that you pick up Trust in You first & then move on to Faith in Him
Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Other Couple by Cathryn Grant, thank you to Emma at Damp Pebbles Blog Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to Inkubator Books for my copy.
Pages: 314
Synopsis: They planned a dream vacation. They got a trip to hell.
Maggie and Brad are on vacation at Lake Tahoe when they meet another couple, Skye and Joe. The four hit it off so well that Maggie invites their new friends to share her beautiful lakeside rental.
What she doesn’t realize is Skye and Joe aren’t just some random couple. They have been watching Maggie and Brad, have chosen them carefully….
And now, when they discover that Maggie has a secret which could destroy her marriage, they start turning the screws, pushing their own sinister agenda. But have they chosen their victim wisely? Or does Maggie also have a dark side?
As the pressure builds, what should have been a dream vacation begins to look more like the inner circle of hell. Before it’s over all four will be changed forever – and at least one of them will be dead…
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧.5
My Thoughts: this story started off so well, we meet Joe and Skye and straight away we realise they’re up to something but no idea what, when they see Brad and Maggie and decide these two are the “right couple” for what they have planned.
As dysfunctional as the relationship between Joe and Skye was they were my favourite couple as they had more substance to them, I couldn’t help but feel like Brad and Maggie fell a little flat, this might’ve been intentional though 😂🤷🏻♀️
I found myself getting annoyed with Brad, I found him really condescending & actually started to understand what made Maggie stray!
There was a lot of action and gripping storylines in the book which kept me turning the pages – I did think that the book was a little bit too long for the story and some parts felt a little slow, still enjoyable just not the fast paced story I was expecting.
I loved Brads blog post chapters, they broke the story up and gave us a real insight into his real personality.
If you’re looking for a psychological suspense story that feels a little different & isn’t a story that is told over and over again then this is the one for you
Today I’m hosting a guest post from Billy Moran, the author of “Don’t Worry Everything is going to be amazing!” He’s compiled a list of 10 amazing floor fillers for a banging New Years Eve to make sure you say goodbye to 2020 in the right way!
10 Amazing Floorfillers, for a Banging New Years Eve
Music has been my single greatest obsession since the age of 12, and I’ve spent a fair bit of time selecting tunes for other people too, DJing all the way from my student days in 1989-1992 – a time which inspired my debut novel, Don’t Worry, Everything Is Going To Be Amazing – up to the present day. I still find it hard enough to narrow down to an evening worth of music though, let alone a top ten.
My mystery novel is inspired by the early 90s rave scene, but when you want to get the party started, and it’s New YearsEve, and there are kids who want to do some skidding, and Aunt Gladys is giving you the stink eye, you need to roll out the floor-fillers – so whilst as a listener, BBC 6 Music is my natural habitat, and some of the following are big on cheese, I make no apologies whatsoever, because I love each and every one of these songs, and if you have three hours and a pub to hand, I’ll happily chat your head off telling you why J! I think the idea of Guilty Pleasures – tunes which aren’t cool but are OK despite this, is a bit pretentious – I think you either like something or you don’t, and I love all ten of these floor-fillers…they’re amazing!
This New Year’s Eve will be quieter than normal for most of us in terms of numbers – but don’t let that dampen your ambitions – crank up the stereo, stick these ten tunes on, and dance like an idiot.
Rave on!
Billy
Club Tropicana by Wham
The sound of those crickets and the car door shutting as the party arrives at Pikes in Ibiza are instantly recognisable – and whilst this is a slow way to start, it’s guaranteed to fill the dance floor.
Thriller by Michael Jackson
OK, so we’ve warmed up, now it’s time to get silly and start dancing like we think we’re MJ – or at least a zombie extra.
Like A Prayer by Madonna
Now I love my Borderline 12 inch above all other Madonna songs. But this is pure OTT drama, guaranteed to get all the am-dram luvvies into full performance mode; plus, just when you think it can’t go anywhere else, it hits 3mins 30 and kicks into a gospel refrain which is one of my favourite 30 seconds in pop.
Lost In Music by Sister Sledge
No list of floor-fillers is complete for me without a Nile Rogers disco track, and this just beats Good Times andGreatest Dancer to the rush, with the Bee Gees also having to step aside and look on forlornly from the sidelines – sadly gripping their pints like some well-dressed frontiersmen who’ve consumed too much helium – as the ultimate in disco escapism rips up the party.
Rapper’s Delight by The Sugarhill Gang
I said-a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie, to the hip hip hop-a you don’t stop the rock it to the bang-bang boogie, say up jump the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat.
Jump Around by House of Pain
I played this one at my wedding. My ex-wife and I had written a quiz for all the tables to take part in to help them get to know each other. I deliberately engineered it so there was a draw and I could make the top two tables compete in a dance-off! The winner – judged by crowd cheers – was the guy whofirst introduced me to my wife. Perfect. At the time…
Love Sensation by Loleatta Holloway
This soulful rare groove classic was an early free party favourite back in 1988 before rave went ravey – and will be recognized by most people for its vocal line, later sampled in Black Box’s mega-hit Ride On Time.
Anthem by N Joi
This is my one nod to the 1990-92 rave scene which is so beloved to me and so central to Don’t Worry, Everything Is Going To Be Amazing. There are a million acts I could have chosen, from The Prodigy to SL2, Altern-8 to Two Bad Mice, Acen to Phuture Assassins (a member of whom later became one of my best friends, without me realizing his Top 40 past for a decade) – but I’ve been kind to y’all and gone for this chart-tastic choon which everyone will recognize, and hopefully not be too appalled by!
Insomnia by Faithless
I can’t get no sleep. You don’t need any sleep mate, it’s New Year’s Eve – live a little. This darkly erotic dance floor dominator is bound to keep the feet pounding for a few more minutes, I promise.
I Am the Resurrection by The Stone Roses
And then finally, one last long stomp through to the end, for those who like a guitar and some drums. Getting together and dancing with all my mates is like church to me – a chance for everyone to come together and throw off their burdens. So this is a fittingly religious end to all this New Year’s Eve floor-filler fun. Now I need a sit down and a glass of water…and then we go again. Have an amazing 2021.
prdgreads here again 👋🏼 what a fantastic list of songs, I don’t know them all but will be making sure I check them out when I get chance! – since you’re here I still leave a link to Billy’s book here so you can go and check it out!
Thank you to Emma at Damp Pebbles Blog Tours for inviting me to take part & thank you to After Dark for providing me with the game!
WELCOME TO EDWARDIAN ENGLAND
The Lord of the Manor is dead! The servants are our lead suspects and it’s up to you as detectives to prove which one committed the dastardly deed. Playing good cop or bad cop? Picking from these two game versions will determine the type of investigators you’ll be whilst you try to solve the crime, but which detective will crack the case first?
My review: when approached about reviewing this game I jumped at the chance, I couldn’t believe my luck this was right up my street & I knew my boyfriend would love it too!
Setting the game up was easy once we understood that there were different coloured cards 😂
We decided to play good cop, we just assumed that a lot of people would choose bad cop and wanted to make sure there was some variety! – I’m not going to lie it took us a long time and a few games to actually understand what we were supposed to be doing – the rules on the card are slightly confusing, so if I were you I’d definitely go to the website where there is a clearer more in-depth version! Rules of play!
We had a lot of fun and actually became really competitive as we got into it – we never actually got a o play bad cop but we will definitely give it a go at some point!
The look of frustration when he realised the card he took wouldn’t help him! 😂The evidence and suspect we had matched! YAY!
prdgreads 