“A. J. Park is a master of suspense who knows how to keep readers hovering tensely over the edges of their seats.” Sophie Hannah
THE FIRST LIE BY A.J. PARK
“This is a real page-turner. I finished it in one go!” Martina Cole
A husband and wife cover up a murder. But the lie eats away at the fabric of their relationship and things unravel till they can’t trust anyone – even each other.
“A great thriller that will keep you turning the pages late into the night.” Luca Veste
A freak accident. An impossible choice. But what was the first lie?
When Paul Reeve comes home to find his wife in the bathroom, bloodied and shaking, his survival instinct kicks in.
Alice never meant to kill the intruder. She was at home, alone, and terrified. She doesn’t deserve to be blamed for it. Covering up the murder is their only option.
But the crime eats away at the couple and soon they can’t trust anyone – even one another…
But there is much more at stake than anyone realises – and many more people on their trail than they can possibly evade…
“Fast-moving, gripping, the ground shifting perpetually beneath your feet as you read… I read it in one sitting.” Alex Marwood
Today is my stop on the blog tour for Facade by Melody Saleh, thank you to Kelly at Love Books for organising it and inviting me to take part.
Pages:364
Synopsis: Four Friends…Each Hiding Behind a Facade. Is Fantasy Better Than Reality?
Dealing with a tragic death, health issues, and difficult lifestyle choices, the lives of Amber’s closest friends spiral out of control. Despite feeling frustrated and helpless, she somehow finds a way to put everyone, including herself, back together again. Suddenly her sister, the one she wrote off years ago, appears. What could she possibly want? What devious plans has she set in motion to ruin Amber’s life?
When Debra closes her eyes, why isn’t the man in her dreams, the one that put a ring on her finger? Can Dominque truly love a man who is everything she’s never wanted? Will Zya trust her heart and allow herself to love…another woman?
Hurt for the last time by Patrick Simpson, Amber pours her time and energy into her friendships, her career, and a sexy Frenchman. The day Patrick found his father’s suicide note, he made a promise to him that no woman would ever get the chance to break his heart. One he kept…until he met Amber.
Who comes to Amber’s rescue when all her friends end up in the emergency room?
If you like thrilling and provocative romance novels, then you’ll love, Melody Saleh’s, Facade, Book I in the Unbroken Series.
To find out if fantasy is better than reality, buy Facade today.
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My thoughts: I really loved this story, at first I thought the multiple perspectives would be hard to keep track of and really confusing & to begin with they were, but once you get into the main bulk of the story it’s really easy to tell the characters apart.
We have Amber, who seems to be the glue that holds their friendship group together, but unbeknownst to all of them whilst she is helping them work through all their issues, she’s hiding a big secret from them all, but as everyone knows secrets always come out in the end!
Debra, who is at home cooking her husbands birthday meal, waiting to tell him that the one thing they’ve wanted for years is finally happening, but he’s late home, he’s just stuck in traffic, right?
Dominique, who spends her life sleeping with anyone, not eating and over exercising in the hopes that she will one day land the perfect modelling job, but what will it take for to realise that there is more to life than your job?
And finally Zya, who converted to Islam for her long term boyfriend, their relationship had recently fallen apart (again) and she’s decided enough is enough, she has a 14 year old daughter Ashanti, and Zya is starting to realise they both deserve more and it’s time for her to put them first and teach Ashanti what it’s like to be a black Muslim teenager, are things going to be that straight forward?
Each of the main characters is hiding something that means they’re going to more important to each other than any of them will ever know.
The book really is a testament to how strong friendships can be and how you really never know what is happening behind closed doors.
Today is my stop on the blog tour for Aris Adventure, thank you to Emma at Damp Pebbles blog tours for organising it and inviting me to take part.
Pages: 175
Synopsis:
Welcome to Moonshire Bay – the small town lakeside community that has love in the air ♥
Finding out her husband of over twenty years is cheating on her? ✓ Laid off from her job the very same day? ✓
Ari had a very bad day and flees to Moonshire Bay to relax, heal and figure out what she really wants. At least she knows what she doesn’t want – a relationship.
Jack Callahan has been playing it safe in all aspects of his life after a failed business and a horrible misjudgment of someone’s character. Living in Moonshire Bay allows him to coast through life with his shields up and blinders on.
So what happens when Jack and Ari start working on a project together? Can their newfound friendship and attraction overcome their lack of trust?
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧.5
My Thoughts: this was such a heartwarming story, which was exactly what I needed right now, we follow Ari, who within the space of a few days loses the job she’s had for so long that she thought it would be the one she would retire from & found out her husband of 28 years had been cheating on her and living a double life for the past two years, but does he have anything else he’s not telling her?
Feeling the need to just get away, she takes up her friends offer of house sitting whilst her and her husband are staying closer to the hospital where he is getting treatment got cancer, this is exactly what she needs, right?
On the way to MoonShire bay, Ari meets Jack, he’s a grumpy cantankerous man who really rubs her up the wrong way, but we soon learn that there is more to him than meets the eye!
Throughout the story we see Ari and Jack get close and then fall apart again a few times with both of them misreading situations that we as the reader knew were completely innocent!
Can Ari find the life she wants in MoonShire Bay and find the love of her life whilst she’s at it, or will it all just be one big mistake?
I highly recommend this book to fans of nice, easy romance stories that are easy to get lost in.
Today is my stop on the blog tour for Just Friends by Holly McCulloch, thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part and to Transworld Books for my copy.
Pages: 304
Synopsis: It’s easy to put someone in the friend zone. But what happens if you change your mind?
Bea isn’t happy. Desperate for a change, she looks to her friends for inspiration. Every single one of them is paired off, perhaps that’s what she needs too.
So, she starts dating again. But everywhere she goes – amid the hilarious and scarring dates – there’s Peter. Good old, oddball Peter, her closest friend from university. He’s always been firmly in the friend zone but something’s happened lately – he seems taller, more handsome and suddenly making him smile is Bea’s favourite thing.
But how can Bea possibly risk their friendship? And how do you even go about taking someone out of the friend zone? What if Bea and Peter were only ever meant to be just friends…
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My thoughts: friends to lovers stories aren’t normally my thing, but for some reason this was different, maybe it was because Bea was such a disaster 😂
We follow Bea and Peter or “oddly Bodley as he’s been nicknamed, they have been friends since university, unbeknownst to her Peter has been in love with her for years, but Bea has placed him firmly in the friend zone, hasn’t she?
The characters were really different, Bea was really unlikeable in fact I’d say at times that I hated her, but as the book went on she really grew on me. Peter however was quite the opposite, he was loveable and warm, exactly what I’d want from a best friend. – In fact I’d even go as far as to say that at the beginning I couldn’t help but feel he deserved better than Bea!
As the story goes on though I really found myself warming to the two of them together & by the end it’s all I wanted!
Some parts of the story made me cringe for Bea and want to hide under my duvet, but it also made me really laugh to.
I can’t help but feel that the story wasn’t long enough though, don’t get me wrong I was happy with the ending, I just wanted more!
If you’re looking for a lighthearted funny romance story then this is definitely one you should consider picking up
Today is my stop on the blog tour for This is Not a Love Story by Mary Hargreaves, thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part & thank you to Trapeze Books for my copy.
Firstly let me say HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY! to Mary ❤️
Pages: 304
Synopsis:
Maggie Gardiner isn’t good enough. She had six glasses of wine at a work conference, woke up covered in curry and has accidentally ended up living with the boring guy who was supposed to be a one night stand. Something has to change. Every other twenty-something on Instagram seems to have their sh*t together, so why doesn’t she? And so she makes a list. When she’s ticked off every item, she’ll become Maggie 2.0 – the best version of herself, and the one she wants to be. Won’t she…?
1.Go vegan. It worked for that girl on Twitter.
2.Take up yoga – that woman she hate-follows swears by it
3.Start practising mindfulness – all those people can’t be wrong..
4.Quit smoking. It’s not 1999.
This Is Not A Love Story is a book for anyone who’s ever wished they were perfect. It’s a book for anyone who feels like a failure. And it’s not a love story, it’s a real story. And it’s hilarious.
My rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: I apologise if this is a rambling mess, my tour date got changed last minute so I thought I’d have a bit longer to process my thoughts and put them into coherent words.
The first thing you need to know is that I absolutely loved this and if I could give it more stars I would! – this is definitely by far my favourite book of the year, and I’ve read A LOT, having MS and being unable to go to work has left me with nothing else to do 😂 and I tell you it’s gonna take some beating to knock it off the top spot!
We follow Maggie, who having just dumped her boyfriend feels like now is the time to get her life together, but like so many of us has no idea where to start.
I was in agreement with Maggie when she said she needed to get rid of Martin, I didn’t like him at all, I may or may not have actually told him to piss off and stop mothering her out loud whilst reading 🙈
I felt sorry for her when she was listing all her faults and the things she felt she needed to change about herself but was 100% behind her achieving her goals like she was a friend I’d known forever.
One piece of advice I would give you if you’re going to read this book (which I highly recommend you do) I’d make sure you’re alone, because it will make you laugh, out loud a lot! – several times I got looks from my family because I just couldn’t hold it in! – one particular part, the unfortunate yoga incident, I thought I was safe, I was in my room on my own but forgot my window was open, I laughed so loud that I then heard a neighbour say to his wife “I wonder what’s tickled her”
I don’t want to give too much away, but there are so many layers to this story, you have friendship groups that are being tested, you have hilarious mishaps throughout but it’s not all lighthearted, there’s a very serious storyline about a family member with the onset of a very serious condition, you have another family with a big secret that they’ve been keeping about themselves and they were all dealt with in a sensitive way. I’m not ashamed to admit that parts of this even made me cry.
An absolutely beautiful story, that will stay with me for a long time & one that I will definitely be recommending to you everyone.
With her debut novel Mary Hargreaves has cemented herself as an autobuy author for me, I will gladly pick up anything she comes up with in the future.
Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Lies I Tell by Joel Hames, thank you to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for organising the tour and inviting me to take part.
Pages: 372
Synopsis: Meet Polly. Meet Emily. Meet Belinda.
They’re all me. My name is Lisa and I’m an identity thief. If I’m not inside your system stealing your money, I’ve probably already stolen it. I’m your friend. I’m a thief. I’m gone. I’m in control.
Only now, the tables have been turned. I’m in danger. My son is in danger. And I don’t know where that danger’s coming from.
Any friend. Any enemy. Any stranger.
Anyone from the past I’ve been trying to outrun for years.
NOBODY CAN BE TRUSTED.
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧.5
My Thoughts: this story really packs a punch, At the beginning with all the names that we were given I was worried that it would all be too much and I’d confuse them all, but I couldn’t have been more wrong, they all fit around Lisa seamlessly and on a really clever way to help the reader take them all on without even really realising that someone else has been introduced.
The story is told in Dual timelines which was someone I wasn’t expecting but worked really well within the story and means that we soon find out they not even Lisa is her real name! – she was brought up in an abusive household with more responsibility than any child should have something tragic happens which makes her leave home and change her name for the first time.
Lisa is a scam artist and a bloody good one, she can be in and out with all your money & erase all trace of her ever being there before you’ve even thought it could be a possibility. But she’s messed up somewhere, she’s being watched, she’s being lead to scenes of crimes by people she though she could trust, or is she?
She no longer feels safe, the lives of her and her young son are in danger, is there anyone she can trust to protect him whilst she tries to work out where she went wrong?
The story was brilliant, it had me on the edge of my seat needing to know what was going to happen! – I even changed my passwords for some things because it felt so real, which i guess it is, the story is fiction, but stuff like this happens all the time.
So Joel, thank you for writing a brilliant story that I couldn’t put down, but also for bringing the issue to light, it’s something that is probably happening more than we think with all the craziness that’s going on in the world right now.
Today is my stop on the blogtour for festival fireworks by Ann Burnett, thank you to Love Books Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part.
Pages: 216
Synopsis: Aussie Jill arrives in Edinburgh at Festival time, at the start of a gap year. Unfortunately, her boss at the temporary job she’s taken turns out to be her grumpy neighbour, Andrew, aka Mr Bossy. As the Festival fireworks explode over the city every night, they start to fall in love. Then Jill has to return suddenly to Australia. Can their budding romance survive or will the fireworks fizzle and die?
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧.5
My thoughts: this book right here is the epitome of why I love doing blog tours, being completely honest I wouldn’t have picked this up if I’d seen it in the shelf, purely because the cover doesn’t really stand out to me, and that’s not to say it’s a bad cover, I’m just normally drawn to the cartoony covers 😂 – having read the book I can tell you that the cover fits perfectly & actually starts telling you the story before you’ve picked it up.
We follow Jill, who is from Australia but has come to Scotland for a break, swapped places with her aunt, who had gone to Australia to visit the rest of the family. The book opens with Jill parking in the wrong space & upsetting her neighbour from the flat opposite hers, Andrew, they get off on completely the wrong foot, could this gorgeous man really be as grumpy as he comes across?
Unbeknownst to both of them at the time Jill finds herself working for Andrew as his PA a fact that neither of them are happy about to start with, he feels like she isn’t capable of filling the shoes of his previous PA who is taking some time out, little does he know though that she is on the other end of the phone whenever she’s needed to help Jill succeed!
There was something that happened near the end of the book, that as much as I was hoping it would happen and was so happy that it did, for me it happened too quickly almost like it was an I stand decision with no thought (from the characters NOT the author.) it made me feel a bit unsure of it which is why I knocked half a star off and this didn’t get the full 5.
I can’t tell you too much more without giving away everything that made this the wonderful story it was, all you need to know is that it was hilarious, heartbreaking and full of surprises! – it was an absolute joy to read and some parts made me smile so much my cheeks hurt!
I received a copy of this book from The Book Club Reviewer Group in exchange for an honest review.
Pages: 320
Synopsis: Elusive online journalist Scott King examines the chilling case of a young vlogger found frozen to death in the legendary local ‘vampire tower’, in another explosive episode of Six Stories….
In the wake of the ‘Beast from the East’ cold snap that ravaged the UK in 2018, a grisly discovery was made in a ruin on the Northumbrian coast. Twenty-four-year-old vlogger Elizabeth Barton had been barricaded inside what locals refer to as ‘The Vampire Tower’, where she was later found frozen to death.
Three young men, part of an alleged cult, were convicted of this terrible crime, which they described as a ‘prank gone wrong’.
However, in the small town of Ergarth, questions have been raised about the nature of Elizabeth Barton’s death and whether the three convicted youths were even responsible.
King speaks to six witnesses – people who knew both the victim and the three killers – to peer beneath the surface of the case. He uncovers whispers of a shocking online craze that held the young of Ergarth in its thrall and drove them to escalate a series of pranks in the name of internet fame. He hears of an abattoir on the edge of town, which held more than simple slaughter behind its walls, the tragic and chilling legend of the ‘Ergarth Vampire’.
Both a compulsive, taut and terrifying thriller and a bleak and distressing look at modern society’s desperation for attention, Beast will unveil a darkness from which you may never return….
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: I’m not going to lie at first I really struggled with the format of this book, probably my own fault for starting with book 4 in an already well established series 🙈 but I was pushed by a friend not to give up, was told it would be worth it & she quite honestly wasn’t wrong!
The story is told in the form of interviews for a podcast called “6 stories” it looks at past cases, this one a murder and gets 6 different sides of the story from people who knew or were close to the victim.
Each ‘story’ was thrilling in its own way, but I have to say if I thought the first one was bad then I was in for a shock, I soon learnt that they start off tame, the further along you get the more gory details you get.
By 20% I couldn’t put it down and needed to know what happened 😂
The only reason this book got 4 stars instead of 5 was because it took me so long to get into it and I’m not one for enjoying books with long chapters, so some parts dragged for me, this is complete personal choice and does not take away from the amazing piece of art that Matt has managed to create.
It was just so atmospheric, it drew you in and felt so real! – I will be going back and reading all of the other previous books at some point!
Todayis my stop on the blog tour for Promises Forged (Venators #2) by Devri Walls, thank you to The Write Reads Tours for organising it and inviting me to take part.
Pages: 428
Synopsis: It has been mere days in the world of Eon, where Rune Jenkins, her twin brother Ryker, and their friend Grey have been trapped, fighting for their lives. After discovering the truth of their ancestry, the three are far from home, and far from anything resembling their mundane lives of the past. While Ryker is still held captive by the eerily beautiful Zio and her goblins, Grey fall into the clutches of Feena, the Fae queen. She begins to drain his soul bit by bit to feed her dark underground garden, and Grey has no hope of escaping on his own. It is now up to Rune to save Grey, as his precious time slips away inexorably. But the Council has denied her permission to embark on a rescue mission, until she can harness her Venator gifts and prove herself capable of venturing into the Fae queen’s territory. As Rune discovers that promises in Eon are forged with life-or-death consequences, she realizes that she must act quickly, or else be swallowed – and Grey along with her – by the dangers of Eon.
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: if I’m being completely honest I have absolutely no idea where to start with this review, I loved it so much that when I think about doing a completely spoiler free review words have completely failed me, I have literally been staring at my phone trying to put my thoughts into words and I’m having no luck at all 😂 so this could be a load of rambling rubbish, good luck trying to decipher it.
The second book started off pretty much right where the first one left off, I really appreciated that, because I find that most fantasy series leave a bit of a gap to them be filled in later leaving me slightly confused.
This book had so much more than the first one, we got to experience more of Eon and the descriptions really immersed me into the story, when we got to the Fae world, everything felt so real that I found myself shifting constantly in my seat whilst I was reading because I could just imagine everything around me, whilst making me feel totally uncomfortable, it shows Devri’s skills as an a writer.
We still follow Rune and Grey, who are learning slowly how to be Venators and what it involves. Because this is the second book you didn’t have the slow burn of having to learn about the characters and how they fit into the story, so I found myself getting lost in the writing a lot quicker than with the first one.
The character development in this one was astounding, especially with Rune, at the end of the first book I found her a very unlikeable character who grated on me, but have now done a complete 180! her confidence in her abilities really shone through this time, whilst also learning that it’s ok to ask for help, and for once she wasn’t the one who found herself in trouble and in need of rescuing! – I really loved seeing her find the skills needed to step up and rescue Grey and become the badass that I had hoped was hiding underneath in book one.
We also got to see a change in Grey and witness his vulnerability and learn more about why he is the way he is, some of it was hard to read but it was nice to err his sensitive side.
A lot of the side characters from book one had a much bigger role in this one, sharing their histories with us, which helps to explain all the angst between the council members now.
Verida, Tate & Beltran are amongst my favourite characters and we saw different sides to all three of them in this book compared to the first one.
No romance has happened yet in the series but it had been hinted at several times so I will be looking forward to seeing how that develops & if anything comes of it in the third book, which by the way I need like now.
If you hadn’t already guessed I cannot recommend this series to butch to all lovers of fantasy.
Today is my stop on the blog tour for Love is what you bake of it by Effie Kammenou thank you to Love Books Tours for Organising it and inviting me to take part.
Pages: 278
Synopsis: The only love Kally Andarakis is baking is in the form of the sweet treats she whips up in her café, The Coffee Klatch.
Kally never believed herself to be a person worthy of love, but when an intoxicating man she considered out of her league pursues her, she risks everything to be with him. Later, when tragedy strikes, truths are revealed that leave Kally brokenhearted and untrusting.
Eight years later, Kally is a successful pastry chef running the café she’d always dreamed of owning. With a home of her own, a profession she’s passionate about, and the support and love of friends and family, Kally is content with the life she has carved out for herself.
Until the day Max Vardaxis walks into her café…
With arguing parents, meddling relatives, an overly energetic grandmother, a man-crazy best friend, and the long ago, mysterious disappearance of a grandfather, this new man in town is just one more complication in Kally’s life, if not the main one.
Kally must now decide whether to keep her heart safe or to once again take a ‘whisk on love.’
My Rating: 🐧🐧🐧🐧
My Thoughts: I know the saying says you should never judge a book by its cover, but for this particular book I was totally guilty of that, it just looks fun, flirty and lighthearted and I was totally in need of some of that.
The story did not let me down with the fun and flirty aspect and it totally sucked me in, I did find though that it wasn’t as lighthearted as I thought it would be in some places, but I found that I appreciated that, it gave the story a depth that I wasn’t expecting and made me love the main characters even more!
We follow Kally, a baker with her own shop, she has issues with letting people in and has already decided (and is ok with) that love is not on the cards for her.
But one day Max, a police officer but one she hasn’t seen before walks into her shop and she starts feeling things that she thought she’d never feel again, however she’s been hurt before, can she trust her heart again?
This story was told from 2 different timelines, and the last chapters really help you to realise why Kally is so closed off to love, I’m really glad they were put in and went into as much detail as they did, they really made me feel her pain, I just needed to know how the past ended 😂
This book had me laughing, it had me swearing at my kindle, I loved the whole will they won’t they aspect but when you as the reader can see things from both sides it’s easy to get so invested that you get frustrated when the main characters just can’t see what’s right in front of them!
It was an absolute joy to read and made my heart happy, I cannot wait for the next instalment
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