Today is my stop on the blog tour for the darkly voyeuristic The Ugly Truth. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part, and Bantam press for the proof copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
‘A whip-smart and ingenious thriller that homes in on our toxic addiction to celebrity’ Lesley Kara, bestselling author of THE RUMOUR
Melanie Lange has disappeared.
Her father, Sir Peter Lange, says she is a danger to herself and has been admitted to a private mental health clinic.
Her ex-husband, Finn, and best friend, Nell, say she has been kidnapped.
The media will say whichever gets them the most views.
But whose side are you on? #SaveMelanie #HelpPeter
Told via interviews, transcripts and diary entries, The Ugly Truth is a shocking and addictive thriller about fame, power and the truth behind the headlines.
‘#FreeBritney meets The Appeal in this addictively unique thriller. Get ready to be utterly hooked’ Jack Jordan, author of Do No Harm
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MY REVIEW
“My father is keeping me prisoner. I don’t think I’ll ever be free again. ”
Melanie Lange has not been seen in public since the day before her 33rd birthday. The next day, the influencer, businesswoman and former modeposted a video to her YouTube channel saying she was taking a break from public life. She hasn’t been seen since.
Six months later videos surface of Melanie claiming she’s being kept prisoner by her father and begging for help. They spark an online movement to save her. But while many believe her claims, there are just as many others who believe her father, business tycoon Sir Peter Lange, who says she’s safe in a private mental health clinic.
It’s time to find out which team you are on.
#SaveMelanie or #HelpPeter
Addictive, unique and darkly voyeuristic, The Ugly Truth is a topical thriller exploring the toxic side of celebrity and social media. Soaked in salacious gossip, sensational headlines, it keeps you guessing right up until its metaphoric punch-to-the-gut finale. So buckle up and hold on tight, because you’re in for one hell of a ride!
I’d heard a lot of great things about L.C. North’s books, but this was my first time reading one. Now I’m wondering what took me so long?! Fast-paced, skillfully written and scalpel sharp, this character-laden epistolary novel had me hooked from start to finish. North perfectly portrays the poisoned chalice of modern celebrity in this thought-provoking thriller; exploring our growing obsession with every facet of celebrities’ lives, our harsh judgement of their every move, and the toll of media harassment. She also explores topics such as trauma, grief, anxiety and depression, examining the toll the pressure of the spotlight puts on those illuminated by it. It really makes you wonder if the price of fame and fortune is too high. It feels part #FreeBritney and part ‘I Am Paris’, adding to the authentic and familiar vibe you get as you’re reading.
The story is told from multiple points of view, seamlessly moving between the different voices, formats and timelines. This immerses you in the story and creates an atmosphere that makes the reader feel like you are part of the action, rather than just reading a book. The multiple narrators also help to add confusion about who is telling the truth, who you can trust, who the good guys are, and who are the villains. I found my thoughts on this vacillated throughout the book and I really enjoyed the tension this extra uncertainty brought to the story. The characters are all messy as hell, unsympathetic and not that likeable, but fun and compelling to read. And while Melanie is the centre of the storyline, she feels quite enigmatic, being seen mostly through the eyes of the other characters. There is no denying her glamour and allure, but she feels ‘other’, lost, and out of reach. Though I was desperate to know the truth of what had happened to her, I only found myself connecting and relating with her as she became more human than ‘celebrity’. I think there’s a lesson in that…
Jaw-dropping, original and totally bingeable, this cautionary taleis a must for every thriller lover’s TBR.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
L.C. North studied psychology at university before pursuing a career in Public Relations. Her first book club thriller – The Ugly Truth – combines her love of psychology and her fascination with the celebrities in the public eye. L.C. North is currently working on her second novel, and when she’s not writing, she co-hosts the crime thriller podcast, In Suspense. L.C. North lives on the Suffolk borders with her family. L.C. North is the pen name of Lauren North.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for the extraordinary All The Little Bird-Hearts. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to tkae part and to Tinder Press for the gifted copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
‘Glorious. Unforgettable’ Melissa Harrison ‘Funny, lyrical, deft and devastating’ Amy Sackville ‘A distinct and poetic new voice’ Clare Pollard
I lived for and loved a bird-heart that summer; I only knew it afterwards.
Sunday Forrester lives with her sixteen-year-old daughter, Dolly, in the house she grew up in. She does things more carefully than most people. On quiet days, she must eat only white foods. Her etiquette handbook guides her through confusing social situations, and to escape, she turns to her treasury of Sicilian folklore. The one thing very much out of her control is Dolly – her clever, headstrong daughter, now on the cusp of leaving home.
Into this carefully ordered world step Vita and Rollo, a couple who move in next door, disarm Sunday with their charm, and proceed to deliciously break just about every rule in Sunday’s book. Soon they are in and out of each others’ homes, and Sunday feels loved and accepted like never before. But beneath Vita and Rollo’s polish lies something else, something darker. For Sunday has precisely what Vita has always wanted for herself: a daughter of her own.
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MY REVIEW:
“I lived for and loved a bird-heart that summer, I only knew it afterwards.”
An enthralling and beautifully crafted debut, this book stole my heart. Filled with joy, anguish, judgement, honesty, and love, this is a story about being an outsider, and about overcoming the difficulties life throws at us. Lyrical and poetic, it is so exquisitely written that I lost myself in the prose and could have highlighted every word. Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow is a phenomenal new talent and definitely one to watch. I still can’t believe this is a debut novel and am very excited to see what she writes next.
“I still believed, then, that my way of not seeing only made me strange and unpopular; I did not know, then, that it blinded me to all the fires that were not in the fields.”
And while the writing is a huge part of the beauty of this book, what makes it extraordinary for me is the protagonist, Sunday Forrester. Sunday is the outsider. The oddity. The one who is always misunderstood. But inside she is kind, loving, genuine and funny; the sort of person we should aspire to be. Sunday also has autism. And she takes centre stage in the book, telling her own story in the first person; her acerbic, eye-opening and witty observations permeating the narrative. This puts the reader inside her head, offering us a unique insight into how it feels to see the world differently and giving us the chance to experience what it’s like to navigate a world you don’t really understand. I laughed with her, cried with her, felt her joy, and felt her pain. She has taught me so much about humanity and acceptance and is now one of my favourite protagonists.
“I do not expect to know another Vita. She was a person-shaped precious stone, something mined and brought up to the surface to live among the pebbles, a shiny reminder of our comparative dullness. Where I am pale and insubstantial, Vita was dark and deliberately formed, as real as a piece of marble.”
The other characters were also brilliantly written. I loved watching the friendship between Sunday and Vita grow, how Vita opened Sunday up to things she had never experienced, and how she was the yin to her yang. We know from the start that something went wrong between them and a sense of darkness and foreboding hovers over the pages. Yet I couldn’t quite decide how things would play out and was kept guessing right up until the end, creating a tension you can’t escape.
“I existed already in a form of maternal grieving, a refusal to accept that I had somehow lost my greatest love while still living alongside her.”
I also enjoyed how the author explores the complexities of the mother/daughter relationship throughout the book through many of the characters. But it is most evident in the relationships between Sunday and her mother, and Sunday and her daughter, Dolly. Sunday’s love for Dolly is all-consuming. She doesn’t understand her, but loves her fiercely and is incredibly proud of her headstrong only child. At 16, Dolly is full of teenage disdain for her mother and Sunday is left trying to navigate this new dynamic to their relationship. As a mother of two teenagers, I could relate to this, as well as to the pain Sunday felt at having lost her child in some way already, even though she was still there. But Sunday isn’t a good mother by example. Sadly her own mother never shows her any love and is often cruel and dismissive. She sees her as strange and wrong because of her autism. Sunday’s pain at this rejection leaped from the pages in heartbreaking clarity, as did her determination to ensure Dolly never feels the same rejection and pain she did. This made me love her character all the more.
“I do not envy other people’s ability to adapt; I find it alarming. Their minds are like caught fish, shining and struggling and engaged in a perpetual and pointless circular motion. Those like me swim on, unaffected by the change in currents around them.”
Illuminating, magnificent, heartbreaking and hopeful, All The Little Bird-Hearts is an unforgettable debut. It will stay with me for a long time and I cherish the new understanding it has given me. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow left school without any qualifications. When her youngest children started school she began studying too, and earned first-class undergraduate and postgraduate degrees followed by a PhD. Her first book, All the Little Bird-Hearts, will be published in 2023 and she is currently writing her second novel.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for If I Let You Go. Thank you to Chloe at Pan Macmillan for the invitation to take part, and to Bookbreak for the gifted copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
‘Simultaneously tragic and uplifting. And I have to say at times funny. Charlotte Levin is SUCH a clever writer . . . A magnificent read.’ – Ruth Jones, author of Love Untold
A gripping, darkly comic tale of searing loss, coercive control and the consequences of taking the wrong path.
Every morning Janet Brown goes to work cleaning offices. It calms her, cleanliness, neatness. All the things she’s unable to do with her soul can be achieved with a damp cloth and a splash of bleach. However, the guilt she still carries about a devastating loss that happened eleven years ago, cannot be erased.
Then, Janet finds herself involved in a train crash and, recognising the chance to do what she couldn’t all those years ago, she makes a decision. As news spreads of Janet’s actions, her story inspires everyone around her, and for the first time her life has purpose and the future is filled with hope.
But Janet’s story isn’t quite what it seems, and as events spiral out of control, she soon discovers that coming clean isn’t an option. Because if Janet washes away the lies, what long-buried truths will she finally have to face.
If I Let You Go by Charlotte Levin is a deeply moving and gripping portrayal of a woman coming to terms with loss.
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MY REVIEW:
“That’s what she does. Smile through it all. And it’s exhausting.”
Moving, heartrending and achingly real, If I Let You Go packs an emotional punch. It is one of those books where it is best to go in blind and just enjoy watching the story unfold. Charlotte Levin has written a compelling tale enmeshed in drama and heartache that has some great moments of dark humour to lighten the mood. I was transfixed and inhaled it in just a few hours.
Narrator Janet’s world is a bleak place filled with grief, guilt, despair and dysfunction. She lives in prison with bars made of blame and coercive control, her husband cruelly and methodically chipping away at her daily to make her a shadow of the person she once was. She dreams of freedom, but also believes she doesn’t deserve it because her daughter Claire’s death was her fault. She is very real and I liked how the author lets the reader into her innermost thoughts and feelings, allowing her to confide her darkest secrets so that we understand her rather than judge. I loved that she was morally complex, reminding us that even the nicest people with the best of intentions can make terrible choices.. The background characters are just as well written, with Colin making my skin crawl every time he was on the page. As an abuse survivor reading this story was like stepping back into the life I broke free from and I appreciate the authentic way in which it was written. It made me feel all the more invested in the story and I was rooting for Janet to finally find the strength to leave.
A deeply human story that manages to be both heartbreaking and hopeful, I highly recommend adding this one to your TBR.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Charlotte Levin has been shortlisted for the Andrea Badenoch Award, part of the New Writers North Awards, and for the Mslexia Short Story Competition. IF I CAN’T HAVE YOU is her debut novel, and IF I LET YOU GO is out in March 2023. Charlotte lives in Manchester with her cat Opal Moon and kittens Leonard and Walter.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this unflinching locked-room thriller. Thank you to Avon Books for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
They’re locked up for your safety. Now, you’re locked in with them.
Dr Connie Woolwine has five days to catch a killer.
On a locked ward in the world’s highest-security prison hospital, a scream shatters the night. The next morning, a nurse’s body is found and her daughter has been taken. A ransom must be paid, and the clock is ticking.
Forensic profiler Dr Connie Woolwine is renowned for her ability to get inside the mind of a murderer. Now, she must go deep undercover among the most deranged and dangerous men on earth and use her unique skills to find the girl – before it’s too late.
But as the walls close in around her, can Connie get the killer before The Institution gets her?
A claustrophobic, haunting crime thriller that will keep you up at night, perfect for those who couldn’t put down The Sanatorium and Amy McCulloch’s Breathless.
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MY REIVEW:
“The people inside these walls are broken. All of them. It’s bad enough being here against your will. Imagine having so little to live for that of all the places in the world, you would choose to spend the precious years allocated to you in this godforsaken place. “
She’s done it again! A crime fiction powerhouse, Helen Fields can always be relied upon to write sinister, never-shredding stories that leave you breathless. And with The Institution she has done exactly that. This chilling masterpiece certainly packs a punch. The prose is brutal poetry, every word gleaming with malice, and there’s an undercurrent of danger and foreboding running through the pages that made dread crawl up my spine as I read. I couldn’t put it down and devoured the story whole. The many twists, turns, and red herrings left me unable to catch my breath and, as I approached the finale, the threads began to tangle together at breakneck speed. And that ending! I did not see it coming. Bravo, Ms. Fields. Bravo.
“She turned as she walked, looking around, uncharacteristically spooked. Not that it was ghosts she feared. The killers she was profiling were so much worse than the spectres of myths and legends. Ghosts were simple in comparison.”
How do you find a killer when you’re surrounded by them? That’s the dilemma facing Dr Connie Woolwine in this dark, twisty and unnerving thriller. Dropped inside of a nightmare, Connie is sent to The Institute, a high-security prison, to investigate the death of Tara, one of the nurses who works there. Tara has been found brutally slain, her unborn daughter ripped from her womb in the attack, and there is a ransom demand for her safe return. With one life already extinguished and another whose clock is ticking down to death, the forensic profiler goes deep undercover to try and find the killer.
A dark, forbidding and eerie fortress, The Institute houses the criminally insane. It is a cesspit of evil where the worst of society are sent to live out the rest of their days. The saying ‘humans are the scariest of monsters’ has never been more apt, and the humans inside these walls are truly terrifying. Violent, disturbed, depraved, repugnant and mercurial, you would be crazy yourself if you weren’t scared of these men. And it is amongst them that Connie must live and work, going undercover to find a killer. But when a frightful storm cuts them off from the rest of the world, the only person who knows her real identity is stranded elsewhere, leaving Connie even more vulnerable.
“Don’t believe anything they tell you. Remember; the truth can be witnessed, but it can never be told.”
Helen Fields delves deep into the darkness that lurks inside the crevices of a twisted mind in this cast of richly drawn, compelling and completely unreliable characters. Even our protagonist can’t be trusted, the PTSD from her traumatic time in a psychiatric hospital giving her nightmares and making her see and hear things that even she isn’t sure are real. I was delighted to see Connie at the heart of another book after loving her character so much in The Shadow Man. Fierce, tenacious, intelligent and unorthodox, that quirky side is what has endeared her to me so much from the start. I enjoyed how we explored her intricately layered backstory more this time around, and how it intertwines to complicate the investigation in ways she hoped to avoid. Her trauma was powerfully and evocatively written, making my heart race as everything spiralled more and more out of control. I desperately hoped she was going to make it out of this okay and that we get to see more of her in the future.
Deliciously creepy, unflinching and addictive, The Institution gives you everything you could want from a first-class locked-room thriller. It’s Ms. Fields’ best book yet so make sure to add it to your TBR.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
An international and Amazon #1 best-selling author, Helen is a former criminal and family law barrister. Every book in the Callanach series has claimed an Amazon #1 bestseller flag. ‘Perfect Kill’ was longlisted for the Crime Writers Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger in 2020, and others have been longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize, Scottish crime novel of the year. Helen also writes as HS Chandler, and has released legal thriller ‘Degrees of Guilt’. In 2020 Perfect Remains was shortlisted for the Bronze Bat, Dutch debut crime novel of the year. In 2022, Helen was nominated for Best Crime Novel and Best Author in the Netherlands. Now translated into more than 20 languages, and also selling in the USA, Canada & Australasia, Helen’s books have won global recognition. She has written standalone novels, The Last Girl To Die, These Lost & Broken Things and The Shadow Man. Her first UK hardback, The Institution, comes out in March 2022. She regularly commutes between West Sussex, USA and Scotland. She lives with her husband and three children.
Apologies for the delay, but today I’m finally sharing my review for the mesmerising and unforgettable Beautiful Shining People. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and to Karen at Orenda books for the gifted copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
A damaged teenager meets an enigmatic waitress in a tiny Tokyo café, sparking an epic journey across Japan that will change everything, forever…
‘A fascinating exploration of what it means to be human in a world where everything can be faked, and an alarming projection into a not-too-distant and all-too-plausible future … wonderful, insightful and thoughtful’ James Oswald
‘Totally engrossing from the start – the story, characters and settings will linger in your imagination long after you’re finished … truly wonderful’ Jonathan Whitelaw
‘Exquisite world-building, this book had me invested from the very first page. Vivid plot and irresistible characters and a real tug at the soul … you’ll drown in it’ Lisa Bradley
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This world is anything but ordinary, and it’s about to change forever…
It’s our world, but decades into the future…
An ordinary world, where cars drive themselves, drones glide across the sky, and robots work in burger shops. There are two superpowers and a digital Cold War, but all conflicts are safely oceans away. People get up, work, and have dinner. Everything is as it should be…
Except for seventeen-year-old John, a tech prodigy from a damaged family, who hides a deeply personal secret. But everything starts to change for him when he enters a tiny café on a cold Tokyo night. A café run by a disgraced sumo wrestler, where a peculiar dog with a spherical head lives, alongside its owner, enigmatic waitress Neotnia…
But Neotnia hides a secret of her own – a secret that will turn John’s unhappy life upside down. A secret that will take them from the neon streets of Tokyo to Hiroshima’s tragic past to the snowy mountains of Nagano.
A secret that reveals that this world is anything ordinary – and it’s about to change forever…
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MY REVIEW:
“Before, I thought I understood the world. At least where it was heading. But now? Now, what do I know?”
Tokyo, many years into the future. 17-year-old John, a tech prodigy, enters a small cafe late at night and meets Neotina, a beautiful and enigmatic waitress. The spark is instant and they slowly begin to get to know each other. But they are each hiding a shameful secret, one they try to hide from the world and are terrified of being discovered. But it is what Neotina is hiding that will turn their worlds upside down and change things forever…
This book is a masterpiece. Mesmerising, dreamlike, and unforgettable, it took my breath away. A story about those who never fit in—the alienated outsiders who want to belong. It’s about the search for purpose, pain, suffering, and the shadows that live within all of us, and what it is that makes us human.
“Let people misjudge you – condemn you, even. Smile at them, then carry on with your life. Their faults weaken only them.”
Speculative and dystopian fiction is my least favourite genre, yet I was utterly blown away by this book. I lost myself in these pages, unable to stop reading yet also tried to savour every exquisite word. I loved how eclectic the vibe of this story was. It starts out calm and chilled but with a twist of anguish from the secret shame John is hiding, then the air fills with the flush of first love as he and Neotina get closer, before moving into an atmosphere that crackles with danger as shocking revelations change their entire world. Each shift in tension and pace was smooth and seamless, holding mehostage in the author’s web of words.
The characters in the book are a motley crew of outsiders who were likeable and very entertaining to read. Our narrator, John, is an American teenage coding genius hiding a secret shame he wants to fix. Like all teenagers, he just wants to be like everyone else, and he thinks if he fixes what’s wrong with him he’ll finally be ‘normal’. John’s voice perfectly captures the insecurity of those teenage years. That time where, more than ever, the opinion and acceptance of our peers matters so much and we want to fit in rather than stand out. These feelings are also explored in Neotina, the charismatic Japanese waitress he meets. Their relationship perfectly captures the innocence, joy, confusion and fear of falling in love for the first time. But we soon learn that these aren’t any other young people in love. There’s something extraordinary that sets them apart. Stealing the show on many occasions were Goeido, a former Sumo who owns the cafe where Notina works, and his dog, Inu, who has the craziest haircut and a strange story of his own. And then there is Joe, a character who appears briefly but makes a huge impact.
“My shadow is deep, and its ingredients are many. It’s rich in loneliness. Isolation. Alienation. Loathing.”
This may have been my first book by Michael Grothaus, but it will not be my last. Not only is his writing and characterisation exquisite, but transported me to the world he had created. A world that is fictional, yet believable, future. I can imagine everything he wrote coming true and it felt like a glimpse into the world that my grandchildren or great-grandchildren will know. But at the same time it was totally familiar, and it was only when I read a line about self-driving cars or bots serving you in a restaurant that I’d remember this is set in the future. I also loved how detailed the research was and I learned a lot about Japanese culture while reading the book. But what I think I enjoyed most is how he keeps the reader guessing. He had me on the edge of my seat with no idea where things were headed, even halfway through the book. But what I did know is that wherever this led, it was going to be spectacular. And then there is that twist. Wow. I sat there in awe, trying to make myself believe what I’d just read and wondering how I didn’t see it. The clues were all there in hindsight and I totally missed them, feeling as floored and as the character did when all was revealed.
Moving, powerful and enthralling, Beautiful Shining People is a phenomenal story that will stay with you. I have no doubt that this is going to be one of my books of the year and highly recommend it to everyone, even if the genre doesn’t seem like your thing. Just try it. I know I’m so glad that I did.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Michael Grothaus is a novelist and author. Born in Saint Louis, Missouri. He spent his twenties in Chicago where he earned his degree in filmmaking from Columbia and got his start in journalism writing for Screen. After working for institutions including The Art Institute of Chicago, Twentieth Century Fox, and Apple he earned his postgraduate degree with distinction in creative writing from the University of London. His writing has appeared in Fast Company, VICE, The Guardian, Litro Magazine, The Irish Times, Screen, Quartz, and others. His debut novel, EPIPHANY JONES, a story about sex trafficking among the Hollywood elite, was longlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger Award and named one of the 25 “Most Irresistible Hollywood Novels” by Entertainment Weekly.
His first non-fiction book is TRUST NO ONE: INSIDE THE WORLD OF DEEPFAKES. The book examines the human impact that artificially generated video will have on individuals and society in the years to come. His next novel is BEAUTIFUL SHINING PEOPLE, a speculative story set in Tokyo that explores how the things that cast us as outsiders can be the very things that draw us together, and examines whether there is an inherent meaning in the world to come, or if we must create our own.
Published: March 2nd, 2023 Publisher: Century Genre: Romance Novel, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Romantic Comedy Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audiobook
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for the utterly delightful One Enchanted Evening. Thank you to EdPR for the invitation to take part and to Century for the gifted copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
Step into the world of Katie Fforde where love, romance and the happiest of happy endings are just around the corner. The new novel by the number one bestselling author and queen of feel-good romance. ____________
Ever since she can remember, Meg has wanted to be a professional cook.
But it’s 1966, and in restaurant kitchens all over England it is still a man’s world.
Then she gets a call from her mother who is running a small hotel in Dorset.
There’s an important banqueting event coming up. She needs help and she needs it now!
When Meg arrives, the hotel seems stuck in the past. But she loves a challenge, and sets to work.
Then Justin, the son of the hotel owner, appears, determined to take over the running of the kitchen.
Infuriated, Meg is determined to keep cooking – and soon sparks between them begin to fly.
Will their differences be a recipe for disaster? After all, the course of true love never did run smooth…
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MY REVIEW:
It’s 1966 and professional kitchens are still a man’s world. But all Meg has ever wanted is to be a chef. So when she gets a call from her mother asking her to help with an important banquet coming up at the hotel she’s running, Meg jumps at the chance.
Nightingale Woods Hotel is quaint and charming, but stuck firmly in the past and in need of some TLC. When Meg meets the owner’s son, Justin, it is clear that he has already consigned the hotel to the rubbish heap. Always up for a challenge, Meg sets to work updating the hotel, determined to modernise and attract new customers while proving Justin wrong. But she gets more than she bargained for when sparks begin to fly between them. Is this a recipe for disaster or has she found her happily ever after?
If you’re looking for an uplifting, feel-good read, then One Enchanted Evening is the book for you. A joy to read from start to finish, I was transported from the grey February skies of Sheffield to the summer sun of Dorset. I’m also a sucker for any book that has a good enemies-to-lovers romance, and this one certainly delivered with the bumpy road to love between Meg and Justin.
I liked Meg immediately. She’s a protagonist and it was easy to root for both her and her crusade to save Nightingale Woods Hotel. I was totally invested in the outcome of her endeavours and it was heartbreaking to think that this charming and quirky little country haven might be sold. I was also rooting for Meg’s happy ending to include not only saving the hotel she’d grown to love, but the man she loves too. Like he did with Meg, Justin took a while to grow on me as a character. And while their love story was predictable in places, it was no less compelling, with me shouting at them to get their act together and admit they were in love already!
This book also has a fantastic cast of background characters. I loved the sweet mother/daughter relationship between Meg and Louise and the friendship between Meg and her trio of old school friends. It was obvious that these characters have appeared in Ms. Fforde’s books before, but they soon felt like they were old friends of mine too. But my favourite character in this book was Ambrosine. Oh, I loved this sweet old lady. When her back story was finally revealed I loved her even more and would happily read an entire book about her life during the war (hint hint).
While I’d obviously heard the name Katie Fford, I must admit that this was my first time reading one of her books. Why did I wait so long? I have already bought some of her backlist books, including one of the books featuring Meg and her friends, and will be adding her future releases to my TBR.
Captivating, heartwarming and utterly delightful, One Enchanted Evening was a pleasure to read. Highly recommended.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
From her Amazon author page: I live in the beautiful Cotswold countryside with my family, and I’m a country girl at heart.
I first started writing when my mother gave me a writing kit for Christmas, and once I started I just couldn’t stop. Living Dangerously was my first novel and since then, I haven’t looked back.
Ideas for books are everywhere, and I’m constantly inspired by the people and places around me. From watching TV (yes, it is research) to overhearing conversations, I love how my writing gives me the chance to taste other people’s lives and try all the jobs I’ve never had.
Each of my books explores a different profession or background and my research has helped me bring these to life. I’ve been a porter in an auction house, tried my hand at pottery, refurbished furniture, delved behind the scenes of a dating website, and I’ve even been on a Ray Mears survival course.
I love being a writer; to me there isn’t a more satisfying and pleasing thing to do. I particularly enjoy writing love stories. I believe falling in love is the best thing in the world, and I want all my characters to experience it, and my readers to share their stories.
Today is my stop on the blog tour for this chilling debut novel. Thank you to Serpent’s Tail for the gifted copy and the chance to take part in the tour.
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SYNOPSIS:
‘In her beautifully written debut, Kate Collins gives the haunted house novel a refreshing renovation, while retaining a deliciously chilling atmosphere that fans of Shirley Jackson will love. I was entranced’ Francine Toon, author of Pine The perfect place to destroy a family…
The Reeve stands on the edge of the Dorset cliffs, awaiting its next inhabitants. Despite Orla’s misgivings, her husband insists this house will be the perfect place to raise their two children.
In 1976, Lydia moves to Dorset as a nanny for a family grieving their patriarch. She soon starts to hear and feel things that cannot be real, but her bereaved employer does not listen when Lydia tells her something is wrong.
Separated by forty years, both Lydia and Orla realise that the longer they stay at the Reeve, the more deadly certain their need to keep the children safe from whatever lurks inside it…
Nothing is quite what it seems at the Reeve, and with its pervasive atmosphere of claustrophobia and dread, Kate Collins’ gothic creation will chill you to the core.
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MY REVIEW:
“Her children would devour her, if they could; they would eat her up and make her live inside of them forever. The house wanted them to live inside of it forever. She had become a mother to a monstrous child. The Reeve had spoken to her, whispered, and she had listened.”
Unsettling, eerie, and atmospheric, A Good House For Children is a chilling Gothic story that will leave you sleeping with the lights on.
On the edge of cliffs in Dorset the house stands waiting for a new family to inhabit it. But no one stays for long at The Reeve and there are whispers in the local village of ghostly figures and curses. Following two families forty years apart, can they protect their loved ones from the darkness that lurks in this strange home, or will it claim them forever?
“It’s not somewhere you’d want to keep a family, is all… It’s a bad house. It’s a bad place… It’s not safe. It’s not right.”
This is definitely not a book to read right before bed! In her accomplished debut, author Kate Collins has created a gothic mystery that will chill you to your core. Narrated by artist Orla in 2017, and nanny Lydia in 1976, the writing is exquisite, almost poetic at times, and filled with evocative descriptions that bring the story and characters to life. A rich tapestry of a novel, Ms. Collins toys with the reader, making you wonder if this truly is a ghost story or simply a case of isolation messing with the women’s minds. But as I tried to rationalise what was happening, she slowly built the tension to an unbearable fever pitch, and the strange and chilling moments were no longer able to be rationalised. I was now as convinced as Orla and Lydia that this house was haunted, and was screaming at them to run as far away from the house as they could and burn it to the ground before anyone else got caught in its clutches.
Intricately woven, vivid and compelling, it had me on the edge of my seat as it moved seamlessly between timelines and narrators. All of the characters felt real and relatable, building a real connection between them and the reader. Orla and Lydia each had their own distinct voice and were very easy to like and root for. But for me it was the children, particularly little Philip and Sam, who stole the show and a piece of my heart.
“She felt the weight of the house at her back, the whole house, waiting for her to turn so that it might embrace and swallow her – as though it were a living animal, ready to bite.”
But this is also a book where the biggest character is not a person, but the house itself. The author mentions in her authors note that ‘reeve’ is an old Dorset word for ‘unravel’, making it the perfect name for this house. Haunting and forbidding, it seems to call to families who are already troubled in some way. Families looking for a fresh start or healing. It has a sinister atmosphere before anything has happened, but soon the families become aware of strange events as the house begins to interactwith its inhabitants, playing with what they see, hear, think and feel. It quite literally haunts them, the house feeling alive and like there is something evil dwelling in it. An inescapable sense of claustrophobia and fear lingers over every page and as things begin to unravel and I was on tenterhooks waiting to find out if the families would escape or fall victim to this terrible place. For despite what the title claims, The Reeve is NOT a good house for children…
A stunning yet nerve-shredding gothic tale, A Good House For Children is perfect for those who enjoy a twisty and unnerving story. A gripping debut from an exciting new voice in the genre, it will haunt you long after reading.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Kate is a writer of long-form and short fiction. From West Cork, Ireland, she now lives and works in Oxfordshire.
Her short fiction has been longlisted for the Bath Short Story Award 2021, and her debut novel, A GOOD HOUSE FOR CHILDREN, will be published by Serpent’s Tail in the UK in March 2023, and by Mariner Books (Harper Collins) in the US in Summer 2023.
The third month of the year is almost upon us, and it’s a month bursting with books I want to read. It’s no wonder my TBR never gets any smaller with my most anticipated releases for March alone being a whopping thirty-seven books! Lord help me. And my bank account.
So, what’s on my list? There’s some exciting new releases from favourite authors such as Helen Fields, Margaret Atwood and Louise Swanson (Beech), as well as releases from debut and new-to-me authors.
Here are are the books I’m most looking forward to next month:
SYNOPSIS: They’re locked up for your safety. Now, you’re locked in with them.
Dr Connie Woolwine has five days to catch a killer.
On a locked ward in the world’s highest-security prison hospital, a scream shatters the night. The next morning, a nurse’s body is found and her daughter has been taken. A ransom must be paid, and the clock is ticking.
Forensic profiler Dr Connie Woolwine is renowned for her ability to get inside the mind of a murderer. Now, she must go deep undercover among the most deranged and dangerous men on earth and use her unique skills to find the girl – before it’s too late.
But as the walls close in around her, can Connie get the killer before The Institution gets her?
A claustrophobic, haunting crime thriller that will keep you up at night, perfect for those who couldn’t put down The Sanatorium and Amy McCulloch’s Breathless.
Published: March 2nd, 2023 Publisher: Michael Joseph Genre: Historical Fiction, Mythology, Fairy Tale
SYNOPSIS: As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her best . . .
‘Vivid with fury, passion and strength, this is a fabulous myth retelling’ JENNIFER SAINT
‘A powerhouse of a novel. Clytemnestra’s rage, heartbreak and determination radiate off the page’ ELODIE HARPER
‘A thrilling tale of power and prophecies, and the fierce Queen who fought back at those who wronged her’ COSMOPOLITAN, ‘The best books to look forward to in 2023’
‘A heroine of fierce spirit. With the fire and spark of Madeline Miller and the depths of Mary Renault, Clytemnestra will keep you reading well into the small hours’ MANDA SCOTT
Perfect for fans of ARIADNE and THE SONG OF ACHILLES, pre-order this extraordinary retelling of history’s most infamous heroine.
Published: March 2nd, 2023 Publisher: Wildfire Genre: Historical Fiction, Suspense, Historical Mystery, Historical Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Fantasy Fiction
SYNOPSIS: The Binding meets The Handmaid’s Tale – Discovering a book of dark and ancient power, a convent librarian must defend it with her life. Perfect for fans of dark academia and historical feminist fiction.
‘A wonderfully rich and absorbing tale’ Observer ‘Expertly crafted and beautifully told’ Jennifer Saint ‘All so good. I read it in two days flat, and wish I had spaced it out more’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ READER REVIEW
Beatrice is the convent’s librarian. For years, she has shunned the company of her sisters, finding solace only with her manuscripts.
Then, one carnival night, two women, bleeding and stricken, are abandoned outside the convent’s walls. Moments from death, one of them presses something into Beatrice’s hands: a bewitching book whose pages have a dangerous life of their own.
But men of the faith want the book destroyed, and a zealous preacher has tracked it to her door. Her sisters’ lives – or her obsession. Beatrice must decide.
SYNOPSIS: Power. History. Love. Hate. Vengeance. She will be Queen. Whatever it takes…
Daughter of an ousted king, descendant of ancient druids, as a child it is prophesied that one day Gruoch will be queen of Alba.
When she is betrothed to Duncan, heir elect, this appears to confirm the prophecy. She leaves behind her home, her family and her close friend MacBethad, and travels to the royal seat at Scone to embrace her new position.
But nothing is as Gruoch anticipates. Duncan’s court is filled with sly words and unfriendly faces, women desperate to usurp her position, and others whose motives are shrouded in mystery. As her coronation approaches, a deadly turn of events forces Gruoch to flee Duncan and the capital, finding herself alone, vulnerable and at the mercy of an old enemy. Her hope of becoming Queen all but lost, Gruoch does what she must to survive, vowing that one day she will fulfill her destiny and take up the future owed to her. Whatever it may take.
A suspenseful, sweeping historical epic, Lady MacBethad is the origin story of the woman who inspired one of Shakespeare’s most iconic characters.
SYNOPSIS: She gave you life. What if she wants it back? Perfect for fans of MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER, MAGPIE and HOW TO KILL YOUR FAMILY. ‘Mother’s Day is terrific. So dark, so twisted’ HARRIET TYCE, AUTHOR OF BLOOD ORANGE
‘Superbly written and darkly funny. I simply couldn’t look away.’ JANICE HALLETT, AUTHOR OF THE APPEAL AND THE TWYFORD CODE
The last thing Anna needs is a baby. Abandoned, adopted and living hand to mouth, she never dreamt of having a real family.
But when she meets her birth mother, everything changes – because the same day, she learns she’s going to be a mother too.
Marlene is eccentric, generous with her considerable fortune and overjoyed to become a grandmother. Anna’s living the dream. But is it her dream, or someone else’s?
Now she will have to decide what she’s willing to sacrifice for a real family – her future, her freedom, even her unborn child.
The Reeve stands on the edge of the Dorset cliffs, awaiting its next inhabitants. Despite Orla’s misgivings, her husband insists this house will be the perfect place to raise their two children.
In 1976, Lydia moves to Dorset as a nanny for a family grieving their patriarch. She soon starts to hear and feel things that cannot be real, but her bereaved employer does not listen when Lydia tells her something is wrong.
Separated by forty years, both Lydia and Orla realise that the longer they stay at the Reeve, the more deadly certain their need to keep the children safe from whatever lurks inside it…
Nothing is quite what it seems at the Reeve, and with its pervasive atmosphere of claustrophobia and dread, Kate Collins’ gothic creation will chill you to the core.
SYNOPSIS: A gripping, darkly comic tale of searing loss, coercive control and the consequences of taking the wrong path.
Every morning Janet Brown goes to work cleaning offices. It calms her, cleanliness, neatness. All the things she’s unable to do with her soul can be achieved with a damp cloth and a splash of bleach. However, the guilt she still carries about a devastating loss that happened eleven years ago, cannot be erased.
Then, Janet finds herself involved in a train crash and, recognising the chance to do what she couldn’t all those years ago, she makes a decision. As news spreads of Janet’s actions, her story inspires everyone around her, and for the first time her life has purpose and the future is filled with hope.
But Janet’s story isn’t quite what it seems, and as events spiral out of control, she soon discovers that coming clean isn’t an option. Because if Janet washes away the lies, what long-buried truths will she finally have to face.
If I Let You Go by Charlotte Levin is a deeply moving and gripping portrayal of a woman coming to terms with loss.
SYNOPSIS: ‘Glorious. Unforgettable’ Melissa Harrison ‘Funny, lyrical, deft and devastating’ Amy Sackville ‘A distinct and poetic new voice’ Clare Pollard
I lived for and loved a bird-heart that summer; I only knew it afterwards.
Sunday Forrester lives with her sixteen-year-old daughter, Dolly, in the house she grew up in. She does things more carefully than most people. On quiet days, she must eat only white foods. Her etiquette handbook guides her through confusing social situations, and to escape, she turns to her treasury of Sicilian folklore. The one thing very much out of her control is Dolly – her clever, headstrong daughter, now on the cusp of leaving home.
Into this carefully ordered world step Vita and Rollo, a couple who move in next door, disarm Sunday with their charm, and proceed to deliciously break just about every rule in Sunday’s book. Soon they are in and out of each others’ homes, and Sunday feels loved and accepted like never before. But beneath Vita and Rollo’s polish lies something else, something darker. For Sunday has precisely what Vita has always wanted for herself: a daughter of her own.
Violet Hamilton is a woman who knows her own mind. Which, in 1896, can make things a little complicated…
At 28, Violet’s father is beginning to worry she will never find a husband. But every suitor he presents, Violet finds a new and inventive means of rebuffing.
Because Violet does not want to marry. She wants to work, and make her own way in the world. But more than anything, she wants to find her mother Lily, who disappeared from Hastings Pier 10 years earlier.
Finding the missing is no job for a lady, but when Violet hires a seaside detective to help, she sets off a chain of events that will put more than just her reputation at risk.
Can Violet solve the mystery of Lily Hamilton’s vanishing before it’s too late?
A delightfully quirky and clever book club read, perfect for fans of Dear Mrs Bird, The Maid and Lessons in Chemistry.
Published: March 2nd, 2023 Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Genre: Historical Fiction, Dystopian Fiction
SYNOPSIS: From the Booker Prize-nominated author of The Water Cure comes a chilling new feminist fable based on the true story of an unsolved mystery…
A recommended read for 2023 in The Times, Guardian, Irish Times, Scotsman, iD, Good Housekeeping, Big Issue and Our Culture
‘Sensual, luminous, transcendent. It confirms Mackintosh as one of our finest young writers’ The Bookseller If you eat the bread, you’ll die, he said. The statement made no sense, but it filled me with an electric dread.
Elodie is the baker’s wife. A plain, unremarkable woman, ignored by her husband and underestimated by her neighbours, she burns with the secret desire to be extraordinary. One day a charismatic new couple appear in town – the ambassador and his sharp-toothed wife, Violet – and Elodie quickly falls under their spell. All summer long she stalks them through the shining streets: inviting herself into their home, eavesdropping on their coded conversations, longing to be part of their world.
Meanwhile, beneath the tranquil surface of daily life, strange things are happening. Six horses are found dead in a sun-drenched field, laid out neatly on the ground like an offering. Widows see their lost husbands walking up the moonlit river, coming back to claim them. A teenage boy throws himself into the bonfire at the midsummer feast. A dark intoxication is spreading through the town, and when Elodie finally understands her role in it, it will be too late to stop.
Audacious and mesmerising, Cursed Bread is a fevered confession, an entry into memory’s hall of mirrors, a fable of obsession and transformation. Sophie Mackintosh spins a darkly gleaming tale of a town gripped by hysteria, envy like poison in the blood, and desire that burns and consumes.
SYNOPSIS: From the Number 1 bestselling author of Our Little Cruelties and Skin Deep
Sally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died.
Now Sally is the centre of attention, not only from the hungry media and police detectives, but also a sinister voice from a past she cannot remember. As she begins to discover the horrors of her childhood, Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends and big decisions, and learning that people don’t always mean what they say.
But who is the man observing Sally from the other side of the world? And why does her neighbour seem to be obsessed with her? Sally’s trust issues are about to be severely challenged . . .
SYNOPSIS: ON THE TOUGHEST REALITY SHOW ON TELEVISION A KILLER IS HIDING OUT OF SHOT
Frozen Out is set to be a TV sensation. On a small ship off the coast of Greenland, eight contestants will push themselves to breaking point for a £100,000 prize.
The show is Tori Matsuka’s baby. After years working her way up the ladder, she’s finally launching her own production company with Frozen Out, and the late nights, the debts, the strain on her relationship will all be worthwhile. Everything is riding on the next twelve days. For camerawoman Dee, it’s a chance to start again after the tragedy that tanked her undercover journalism career. Not even Tori, her oldest friend, knows the full truth of why Dee left her previous job, and she plans to keep it that way.
But as errors and mishaps mount on set, tempers among the cast and crew start to fray. And when one of the contestants is found dead, only Dee realises the death wasn’t natural – and from what she’s seen from behind the camera, it won’t be the last. As the Arctic ice closes in around them and all chance of escape is cut off, it becomes clear that although the world outside wants them dead, it’s the secrets inside the ship that might cost them their lives.
Packed with suspense from the first page to the last, Freeze is a must-read for fans of Shiver, The Sanatorium and One By One. This thriller isn’t just chilling: it’s sub-zero.
Published: March 2nd, 2023 Publisher: Magpie Genre: Psychological Thriller, Suspense
SYNOPSIS: The dark, atmospheric, feminist offspring of Squid Game, The Hunting Party and Misery
A book deal to die for.
Five attendees are selected for a month-long writing retreat at the remote estate of Roza Vallo, the controversial high priestess of feminist horror. Alex, a struggling writer, is thrilled.
Upon arrival, they discover they must complete an entire novel from scratch, and the best one will receive a seven-figure publishing deal. Alex’s long-extinguished dream now seems within reach.
But then the women begin to die.
Trapped, terrified yet still desperately writing, it is clear there is more than a publishing deal at stake at Blackbriar Estate. Alex must confront her own demons – and finish her novel – to save herself.
This unhinged, propulsive, claustrophobic closed-door thriller will pull you in and spit you out…
Published: March 2nd, 2023 Publisher: Fourth Estate Genre: Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: A Best Book of 2023 in Vogue, AnOther Magazine, i-D, Independent, Evening Standard and Huffington Post
An extraordinary, original and heartbreaking debut novel about the bonds that connect people even when separated by seas or death itself, from a thrilling new voice.
There are the goodbyes and then the fishing out of the bodies – everything in between is speculation.
One night, not long after the last American troops leave Vietnam, siblings Anh, Thanh and Minh flee their village and embark on a perilous boat journey to Hong Kong. Their parents and four younger siblings make the crossing in another vessel but as weeks go by it becomes clear that only one party has survived the voyage.
Anh, Thanh and Minh suddenly find themselves alone in the world, without family or home. They travel on, navigating refugee camps and resettlement centres until, by a twist of fate, they arrive in Thatcher’s Britain. Here they must somehow build new lives with only each other to turn to, but will that be enough in a place that doesn’t seem to want them?
In this piercing debut, the siblings’ faltering journey is deftly interwoven with the voice of their lost younger brother, Dao, following them from a place between the living and the dead, and the records of an unknown researcher intent on gathering together the strands of their story. Revelatory and inventive, Wandering Souls paints a heart-wrenching portrait of a family in unimaginable adversity while exploring the power of stories to heal generational wounds. It heralds the arrival of an essential new voice in fiction.
Published: March 2nd, 2023 Publisher: Corvus Genre: Contemporary Romance, Urban Fiction, Ghost Story
SYNOPSIS: ‘An emotional read about love and trust, with an OMG ending’ Jill Mansell
One moment in time can change everything…
The day Scarlett dies should have been one of the most important of her life. It doesn’t feel fair that she’ll never have the chance to fulfil her dreams. And now, she’s still … here – wherever here is – watching the ripple effect of her death on the lives of those she loved the most.
Evie cannot contemplate her life without Scarlett, and she certainly cannot forgive Nate, the man she blames for her best friend’s death. But Nate keeps popping up when she least expects him to, catapulting Evie’s life in directions she’d never let herself imagine possible. Ways, perhaps, even those closest to her had long since given up on.
If you could go back, knowing everything that happens after, everything that happens because of that one moment in time, would you change the course of history or would you do it all again?
Published: March 2nd, 2023 Publisher: Allen & Unwin Genre: Thriller, Domestic Fiction, Humorous Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ***A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick 2023*** ‘A radically feel-good story about the murder of no-good husbands by a cast of unsinkable women’ – New York Times ‘Original, memorable, and endearing’ Charmaine Wilkerson, author of BLACK CAKE
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For Geeta, life as a widow is more peaceful than life as a wife…
Until the other women in her village decide they want to be widows, too.
Geeta is believed to have killed her vanished husband – a rumour she hasn’t bothered trying to correct, because a reputation like that can keep a single woman safe in rural India. But when she’s approached for help in ridding another wife of her abusive drunk of a husband, her reluctant agreement sets in motion a chain of events that will change the lives of all the women in the village….
A darkly irreverent and fresh take on a feminist revenge thriller, perfect for readers of My Sister the Serial Killer, How To Kidnap The Rich and the Sharon Horgan series Bad Sisters.
Published: March 2nd, 2023 Publisher: HarperCollins UK Genre: Mystery, Dark Comedy, Humorous Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Supernatural Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Horror Fiction, Fantasy Comedy
SYNOPSIS: Winner of the Comedy Women in Print Unpublished Prize!
How do you solve your own murder when you’re already dead?
Purgatory (noun): 1. Where the dead are sent to atone. 2. A place of suffering or torment. 3. A youth hostel where the occupants play Scrabble and the mattresses are paper thin.
When Dave wakes up in his own personal purgatory (St Ives Youth Hostel circa 1992), he’s shocked to discover he’s dead. And worse – he was murdered.
Heaven doesn’t know who did it so with the help of two rogue angels, Dave must uncover the truth.
As divine forces from both sides start to play the game, can Dave get out of this alive? Or at the very least, with his soul intact?
SYNOPSIS: Half fairy tale and half historical account of a revolution that never was, Owen King’s The Curator is full of sly humor, sensuality, and strangeness – Holly Black From Sunday Times bestselling author Owen King comes a Dickensian fantasy of illusion and charm where cats are revered as religious figures, thieves are noble, scholars are revolutionaries, and conjurers the most wonderful criminals.
At first glance, the world has not changed: the trams on the boulevards, the grand hotels, the cafes abuzz with conversation. The street kids still play on the two great bridges that divide the city, and the smart set still venture down to the Morgue Ship for an evening’s entertainment.
Yet it only takes a spark to ignite a revolution.
For young Dora, a maid at the university, the moment brings liberation. She finds herself walking out with one of the student radicals, Robert, free to investigate what her brother Ambrose may have seen at the Institute for Psykical Research before he died.
But it is another establishment that Dora is given to look after, The Museum of the Worker. This strange, forgotten edifice is occupied by waxwork tableaux of miners, nurses, shopkeepers and other disturbingly lifelike figures.
As the revolution and counter-revolution outside unleash forces of love, betrayal, magic and terrifying darkness, Dora’s search for the truth behind a mystery that she has long concealed will unravel a monstrous conspiracy and bring her to the very edge of worlds.
In The Curator, Owen King has created an extraordinary time and place – historical, fantastical, yet compellingly real, and a heroine who is courageous, curious and utterly memorable.
Published: March 7th, 2023 Publisher: Chatto & Windus Genre: Literary Fiction, Short Stories
SYNOPSIS: Margaret Atwood is celebrated as one of the most gifted storytellers in the world. This new collection showcases her many talents — and the return of her beloved characters Nell & Tig
They explore the full warp and weft of experience, from two best friends disagreeing about their shared past, to the right way to stop someone from choking; from a daughter determining if her mother really is a witch, to what to do with inherited relics such as World War II parade swords.
They feature beloved cats, a confused snail, Martha Gellhorn, George Orwell, philosopher-astronomer-mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria, a cabal of elderly female academics, and an alien tasked with retelling human fairy tales.
At the heart of the collection is a stunning sequence that follows a married couple as they travel the road together, the moments big and small that make up a long life of love — and what comes after.
The glorious range of Atwood’s creativity and humanity is on full beam in these tales, which by turns delight, illuminate and quietly devastate.
Published: March 9th, 2023 Publisher: Viking Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, War Story, LGBT Literature, Gay Fiction
SYNOPSIS: A gripping, heart-shattering love story between two soldiers in the First World War – available for pre-order now
‘Assured, affecting and moving. Alice Winn has written a devastating love story between two young men . . . Gaunt and Ellwood will live in your mind long after you’ve closed the final pages’ Maggie O’Farrell
It’s 1914, and talk of war feels far away to Henry Gaunt, Sidney Ellwood and the rest of their classmates, safely ensconced in their idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. At seventeen, they’re too young to enlist, and anyway, Gaunt is fighting his own private battle – an all-consuming infatuation with his best friend, the dreamy, poetic Ellwood – not having a clue that Ellwood is in love with him, always has been. When Gaunt’s German mother asks him to enlist as an officer in the British army to protect the family from anti-German attacks, Gaunt signs up immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings for Ellwood.
The front is horrific, of course, and though Gaunt tries to dissuade Ellwood from joining him on the battlefield, Ellwood soon rushes to join him, spurred on by his love of Greek heroes and romantic poetry. Before long, their classmates have followed suit. Once in the trenches, Ellwood and Gaunt find fleeting moments of solace in one another, but their friends are all dying, right in front of them, and at any moment they could be next.
An epic tale of both the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip, InMemoriam is a breathtaking debut.
SYNOPSIS: Mariel Spark knows not to trust a demon, especially one that wants her soul, but what’s a witch to do when he won’t leave her side – and she kind of doesn’t want him to?
Mariel Spark is prophesied to be the most powerful witch seen in centuries of the famed Spark family, but to the displeasure of her mother, she prefers baking to brewing potions and gardening to casting hexes. When a spell to summon flour goes very wrong, Mariel finds herself staring down a demon – one she inadvertently summoned for a soul bargain.
Ozroth the Ruthless is a legend among demons. Powerful and merciless, he drives hard bargains to collect mortal souls. But his reputation has suffered ever since a bargain went awry – if he can strike a deal with Mariel, he will earn back his deadly reputation. Ozroth can’t leave Mariel’s side until they complete a bargain, which she refuses to do (turns out some humans are attached to their souls).
But the witch is funny. And curvy. And disgustingly yet endearingly cheerful. Becoming awkward roommates quickly escalates when Mariel, terrified to confess the inadvertent summoning to her mother, blurts out that she’s dating Ozroth. As Ozroth and Mariel struggle to maintain a fake relationship, real attraction blooms between them. But Ozroth has a limited amount of time to strike the deal, and if Mariel gives up her soul, she’ll lose all her emotions – including love – which will only spell disaster for them both.
Published: March 16th, 2023 Publisher: Electric Monkey Genre: Mythology, Fantasy Fiction, Fantasy Romance, Young Adult Fiction, LGBTQ+ Literature
SYNOPSIS: A fantasy romance, by dazzling new talent Sarah Underwood, inspired by Greek mythology and the tale of Penelope’s twelve hanged maids.
”A lovely, lyrical fantasy which takes the fate of the hanged maids of the Odyssey and weaves something brand new. A story overflowing with emotion and full of magic.” Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Ariadne and Elektra
In the cursed kingdom of Ithaca, each spring brings the hanging of twelve maidens, a gift to the vengeful Poseidon. But when Leto awakens from her death on the shore of a long-forgotten island, its enigmatic keeper Melantho tells her that there’s only one way the curse can be broken. Leto must kill the last prince of Ithaca . . .
In Lies We Sing to the Sea, debut author Sarah Underwood delivers a thrilling and breathtaking tale that will enthral readers from the very first page as they are transported to the cursed shores of Ithaca.
A reclamation of a story from thousands of years ago, Lies We Sing to the Sea is about love and fate, grief and sacrifice, and, ultimately, the power we must find within.
Her father, Sir Peter Lange, says she is a danger to herself and has been admitted to a private mental health clinic.
Her ex-husband, Finn, and best friend, Nell, say she has been kidnapped.
The media will say whichever gets them the most views.
But whose side are you on? #SaveMelanie #HelpPeter
Told via interviews, transcripts and diary entries, The Ugly Truth is a shocking and addictive thriller about fame, power and the truth behind the headlines.
‘#FreeBritney meets The Appeal in this addictively unique thriller. Get ready to be utterly hooked’ Jack Jordan, author of Do No Harm
Published: March 16th, 2023 Published: Michael Joseph Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Police Procedural, Horror Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ARE YOU READY TO ENTER THE HALF BURNT HOUSE?
The spine-tingling new thriller from the internationally bestselling author of THE WHISPER MAN, a Richard and Judy pick.
*****
Katie always looked after her beloved younger brother Chris – until she left him alone for one selfish afternoon, and their picture-perfect family fell apart. Although Chris survived the attack, the scars ran deeper than the ones left across his face. Now they’re adults, and they haven’t spoken in years. Then she gets a call, from Detective Laurence Page.
Page is facing an unusually disturbing crime scene. Alan Hobbes, a distinguished and wealthy philosophy professor, has been brutally murdered. Hobbes was living in a sprawling mansion – but one that remains half-ruined by a decades-old fire, wind and rain howling through the gaping, creaking roof.
Page only has one suspect: Chris, caught on CCTV at the house. But he has plenty of questions. What could cause a man as wealthy as Hobbes not to repair his home? Why did he seem to know his death was coming, yet do nothing to stop it? And why was he obsessed with a legendary local serial killer?
But Katie only has one thing on her mind. She knows this is her last, best chance to finally save her brother, and make up for her negligence all those years ago. But she can’t possibly imagine just how much danger he’s in…
SYNOPSIS: A damaged young man meets an enigmatic waitress in a Tokyo café, and they embark on a journey that will change everything … an emotive speculative literary novel set in a near-future Japan
It’s our world, but decades into the future … an ordinary world, where cars drive themselves, drones glide across the sky, and robots work in burger shops. There are two superpowers and a digital Cold War, but all conflicts are safely oceans away. People get up, work, and have dinner. Everything is as it should be…
Except for seventeen-year-old John, a tech prodigy from a damaged family, who hides a deeply personal secret. But everything starts to change for him when he enters a tiny café on a cold Tokyo night. A café run by a disgraced sumo wrestler, where a peculiar dog with a spherical head lives, alongside its owner, enigmatic waitress Neotnia…
But Neotnia hides a secret of her own – a secret that will turn John’s unhappy life upside down. A secret that will take them from the neon streets of Tokyo to Hiroshima’s tragic past to the snowy mountains of Nagano.
A secret that reveals that this world is anything ordinary – and it’s about to change forever…
SYNOPSIS: ‘The Company is diabolically good . . . J.M. Varese’s gothic tale is sinuously elegant and claustrophobic as deadly Victorian wallpaper’ Kate Griffin, author of Fyneshade
London, 1870.
Lucy Braithwhite lives a privileged existence as heir to the fortune of Braithwhite & Company – the most successful purveyor of English luxury wallpapers the world over. The company’s formulas have been respected for nearly a century, but have always remained cloaked in mystery. No one has been able to explain the originality of design, or the brilliance of their colours, leaving many to wonder if the mysterious spell-like effect of their wallpapers is due simply to artistry, or something more sinister.
When Mr Luckhurst, the company’s manager, and the man who has acted as surrogate father to Lucy and her invalid brother John since they were children, suddenly dies, Lucy is shocked to discover that there is no succession plan in place. Who will ensure that the company and her family continue to thrive?
The answer soon arrives in the form of the young and alluring Julian Rivers, who, unbeknownst to Lucy and John, has been essential to the company’s operations for some time. At first, he seems like the answer to their prayers, but as Lucy begins piecing together Julian’s true intentions, and John begins seeing spectral visions in the house’s wallpaper, it becomes clear to Lucy that she must do everything within her power to oppose the diabolic forces that have risen up to destroy her family.
Set against the backdrop of the real-life arsenic wallpaper controversy of the late 19th century, The Company is a dark and haunting slice of gothic Victoriana, following one woman’s fight to preserve all that she holds dear.
SYNOPSIS: A luminous debut novel about love, the trauma of war and the miracle of human resilience, for readers of Anna Hope, Sadie Jones and Elizabeth Jane Howard.
No one survives war unscathed. But even in the darkest days, seeds of hope can grow.
It is 1946 and in the village of Oakbourne the men are home from the war. Their bodies are healing but their psychological wounds run deep. Everyone is scarred – those who fought and those left behind.
Alice Rayne is married to Stephen, heir to crumbling Oakbourne Hall. Once a sweet, gentle man, he has returned a bitter and angry stranger, destroyed by what he has seen and done, tormented by secrets Alice can only guess at.
Lonely and increasingly afraid of the man her husband has become, Alice must try to pick up the pieces of her marriage and save Oakbourne Hall from total collapse. She begins with the walled garden and, as it starts to bear fruit, she finds herself drawn into a new, forbidden love.
Set in the Suffolk countryside as it moves from winter to spring, The Walled Garden is a captivating love story and a timeless, moving exploration of trauma and the miracle of human resilience.
SYNOPSIS: From the author of the intoxicating bestseller The Lost Apothecary comes an entrancing exploration of the blurred lines between truth and illusion and the grave risks women take to avenge the ones they love.
May mercy be upon the man who finds himself the enemy of a vengeful medium…
1873. At an abandoned château on the outskirts of Paris, a dark séance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire. Known worldwide for her talent in conjuring the spirits of murder victims to ascertain the identities of the people who killed them, she is highly sought after by widows and investigators alike.
Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to find answers about her sister’s death, but to do so, she must embrace the unknown and overcome her own logic-driven bias against the occult. When Vaudeline is beckoned to England to solve a high-profile murder, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy. But as the women team up with the powerful men of London’s exclusive Séance Society to solve the mystery, they begin to suspect that they are not merely out to solve a crime, but perhaps entangled in one themselves…
SYNOPSIS: Too much imagination can be a dangerous thing
It has been five years since writing fiction was banned by the government.
Fern Dostoy is a criminal. Officially, she has retrained in a new job outside of the arts but she still scrawls in a secret notepad in an effort to capture what her life has become: her work on a banned phone line, reading bedtime stories to sleep-starved children; Hunter, the young boy who calls her and has captured her heart; and the dreaded visits from government officials.
But as Fern begins to learn more about Hunter, doubts begin to surface. What are they both hiding?
SYNOPSIS: This second novel from the author of The Deception of Harriet Fleet takes us back to the aftermath of the Great War in another haunting, atmospheric Gothic tale.
London in 1919 was a city of ghosts and absences, haunted by the men who marched away but never came back from ‘the war to end all wars.’
Grace Armstrong believes that she has come to terms with her own loss, the death of her fiancé, the brilliant and dazzling best friend of her brother. He was declared Missing in Action during the Battle of the Somme, but he starts to reappear both in her waking life and dreams.
Grace is appalled when a body, dragged from the Thames, is identified as Elizabeth Smith, who has lodged with Grace and her family for the last eight years before suddenly disappearing.
Elizabeth had been more than a lodger; she had become a close friend to Grace, who feels compelled to find out what happened. In doing so she is drawn reluctantly into the sordid and dangerous underbelly of London and a scandal that rocked Edwardian society. Soon Grace finds herself under threat, and the only person prepared to listen is the brooding Tom Monaghan. But Tom has dark shadows of his own to navigate before being able to put his past behind him to help Grace in her quest for the truth.
Published: March 30th, 2023 Publisher: Michael Joseph Genre: Gothic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Suspense
SYNOPSIS: Pre-order Katie Lumsden’s mysterious and atmospheric debut novel NOW, for fans of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Stacey Halls and Bridget Collins
‘I loved this fresh take on the gothic genre. Vivid, haunting, surprising’ STACEY HALLS, author of Sunday Times bestsellers The Familiars, The Foundling and Mrs England
It’s 1852 and Margaret Lennox, a young widow, is offered a position as governess at Hartwood Hall. She quickly accepts, hoping this isolated country house will allow her to leave her past behind.
Cut off from the village, Margaret soon starts to feel there’s something odd about her new home, despite her growing fondness for her bright, affectionate pupil, Louis. There are strange figures in the dark, tensions between servants and an abandoned east wing. Even stranger is the local gossip surrounding Mrs Eversham, Louis’s widowed mother, who is deeply distrusted in the village.
Margaret finds distraction in a forbidden relationship with the gardener, Paul. But despite his efforts to reassure her, she is certain that everyone here has something to hide. And as Margaret’s own past threatens to catch up with her, she must learn to trust her instincts before it’s too late…
The Secrets of Hartwood Hall is an authentic and atmospheric love letter to Victorian fiction.
Published: March 30th, 2023 Publisher: HarperVoyager UK Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Romantic Fiction, High Fantasy, Fairy Tale
SYNOPSIS: From SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Kate Heartfield comes a glorious, lyrical retelling of one of Norse mythology’s greatest epics
Brynhild is a Valkyrie: shieldmaiden of the Allfather, chooser of the slain. But now she too has fallen, flightless in her exile.
Gudrun is a princess of Burgundy, a daughter of the Rhine, a prize for an invading king – a king whose brother Attila has other plans, and a dragon to call upon.
And in the songs to be sung, there is another hero: Sigurd, a warrior with a sword sharper than the new moon.
As the legends tell, these names are destined to be lovers, fated as enemies. But here on Midgard, legends can be lies…
For not all heroes are heroic, nor all monsters monstrous. And a shieldmaiden may yet find that love is the greatest weapon of all.
Published: March 30th, 2023 Published: Simon & Schuster UK Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
SYNOPSIS: A good deed Can turn deadly…
When Liam unexpectedly turns up in Jude’s life after ten years of no contact, asking her for a favour, she just can’t say no. He was her first love, and even though she is now a successful doctor and about to get married, he will always be someone special to her. But after she does the favour, she is contacted by the police, informing her that Liam has been found dead, and suddenly she is caught up in a murder investigation.
And she realises this one decision could cost her everything – even her life…
SYNOPSIS: SECRETS, DESIRE, BLOOD… It all comes out in the wash
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Keep your friends close and your neighbours closer…
Ciara has it all – a loving husband, well-behaved children and an immaculate home. But behind the filters, her reality is far from what it seems.
Mishti is stuck in a loveless marriage, raising her daughter in a country that is too cold, among children who look nothing like her.
Lauren is mostly happy, despite being judged for letting her kids run naked, wild and free.
Then Ciara is found murdered in her pristine home and suddenly everyone is a suspect.
Hushed whispers, secret rendezvous and bloody betrayals . . .
Everyone has their dirty laundry, but this goes beyond gossip.
This is all-out war.
A deliciously scandalous page-turner about the dark side of suburbia that peels back the layers of Ciara’s insta-perfect life to reveal friendships gone rotten, manipulation masquerading as love and families riddled with lies . . .
SYNOPSIS: The closer you are, the more damage they do.
Minnie and Bert are over the moon to have their three grown-up children home for the first time in a decade. But having Lizzie, Jess, Owen and the grandchildren under one roof isn’t without its dramas.
Lizzie is off the alcohol (although emergency gin doesn’t count), Jess is juggling a toddler and a newborn, but it’s Owen who has the power to throw a grenade into everything.
It all stems from an incident that happened years ago. And it involves Nora Skelly – a name you don’t mention in front of Minnie.
With Nora also back in town, the past is about to come crashing into the present. And what better time to revisit old secrets and resentments than around the family dinner table?
SYNOPSIS: Welcome to a hen do where the cocktails aren’t Sex on the Beach, but Revenge Served Cold …
A story of secrets, payback and finding out it’s never too late to break the rules, MOTHER HENS is hilarious, scandalous and a battle-cry for everyone who’s ever wanted to see what life is like when we stop trying to please other people.
Cara Carmichael’s bestie is finally getting hitched, and she’s over the moon because it means one thing and one thing only… Whoah, they’re going to Ibiza! Swapping the school run for old skool club classics; four friends are leaving behind their kids, partners and better judgement for a mini-break filled with sun, sea, and sex…y Spanx. Mums on Tour: What could possibly go ‘Pete Tong’?
Lazy days, crazy nights and child-free hangovers might seem like hedonistic heaven – but it turns out you can get into a hell of a lot of trouble, very fast, on the party island where rules are meant to be broken.
For Cara, it’s her first holiday post-divorce, and a chance to forget about an explosive family feud with her stardom-seeking sister and Pina-Colada-pickled mother. With emotional baggage squeezed into her 10kg hand luggage, ultimate escapism and a chance to spread her wings beckons, or so she thinks… Even on holiday, the darkness of your past has an alarming way of catching up with you.
When a twist of fate causes sparks, and feathers, to fly – a dangerous opportunity for divine retribution arises. Faced with secrets, lies, and betrayal – does it pay to be a good egg, or do bad chicks reign supreme? Ibiza may have Amnesia, but one thing’s for certain: a woman scorned may forgive, but she’ll never forget.
Four friends, three nights, two murders – one heck of an adventure. A rollocking rollercoaster ride from Ibiza to Vegas, via Cheshire, Mother Hens will make you laugh, wince, and wonder what any of us are really capable of when push comes to shove…
Published: March 30th, 2023 Publisher: John Murray Press Genre: Dystopian Fiction, Science Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘A cold, hungry adventure story about the power of choice and the strength of solidarity’ SEAN MICHAELS
America, 2049: Summer temperatures are intolerably high, the fossil fuel industry has shut down, and humans are implanted with a ‘Flick’ at birth, which allows them to remain perpetually online. The wealthy live in the newly created Floating City off the coast, while people on the mainland struggle to get by. For Rose, a job as a hostess in the city’s elite club feels like her best hope for a better future.
At a Cold War-era research station, a group of highly trained women with the code name White Alice are engaged in climate surveillance. But the terms of their employment become increasingly uncertain.
And in a former oil town in northern Canada called Dominion Lake, a camp is being built-Camp Zero. A rare source of fresh, clean air and cooler temperatures, it will be the beginning of a new community and a new way of life. Grant believes it will be the perfect place to atone for his family’s dark legacy.
Everyone has an agenda. So who can you trust? Could falling in love be most the radical act of all?
Thrilling, immersive and disturbingly prescient, Camp Zero is about the world we’ve built and where we go from here.
I’ll Never Tell was the Squadpod Book Club pick for January. Tense and twisty, this one had me on the edge of my seat! Thank you to HQ for the gifted proof and Philippa East for a great month of events.
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SYNOPSIS: Gripping new suspense from the author of Little White Lies
‘A tense, cat and mouse tale . . . a compelling read’ Catherine Cooper, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Chateau
‘Had me gripped from start to finish. So original and clever’ Lesley Kara, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Apartment Upstairs
‘Wow! What a book! I couldn’t read it fast enough. The tension and pace were absolute magic’ Lauren North, author of All the Wicked Games
Keep your family close, and your secrets closer…
To the outside world, the Goodlights are perfect.
Julia is a lawyer, Paul a stay-at-home dad who has dedicated his life to helping their daughter Chrissie achieve her dreams as a talented violinist.
But on the night of a prestigious music competition, which has the power to change everything for Chrissie and her family, Chrissie goes missing.
She puts on the performance of a lifetime, then completely disappears. Suddenly every single crack, every single secret that the family is hiding risks being exposed.
Because the Goodlights aren’t perfect. Not even close.
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MY REVIEW:
“A sense of horror begins to creep through him, a sense of reality cracking apart. It feels as though the last forty-eight hours is unravelling backwards, all the dot-to-dot connections coming apart. He thought he had this; he thought he knew what he was doing… Now everything he’s assumed has been flipped on its head.”
To everyone they know, the Goodlights seem like the perfect, happy family. Julie is a lawyer, Paul is a stay-at-home dad who is committed to helping their daughter Christie, a talented violinist, achieve her dreams. But the truth is completely different and the Goodlights are each hiding secrets that could tear them apart. And when Christie goes missing, their secrets risk being revealed. Can they find their daughter while keeping their secrets safe? Or will their perfect facade finally be exposed?
I’ll Never Tell was the January pick for the Squadpod Book Club. And what an incredible way to start our 2023 reading! Tense, twisty and unexpected, I devoured this book. I loved Philippa East’s debut, Little White Lies, but this one surpassed my already high expectations. The fast-paced plot kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish and I loved that it was so hard to predict, my mind swimming with a multitude of questions and possibilities as the story unfolded. And that ending! It came out of the blue and left my jaw on the floor. I did not see it coming.
It’s no secret how much I love an unreliable narrator, and this book has two of them. Paul and Julie are not only hiding secrets from the police, but each other. Secrets that threaten to tear their happy family apart if discovered. The air is thick with suspicion and suspense, the lies they are trying to keep concealed threatening to choke them. They are flawed, shady and broken, but utterly compelling to read. And while I had my misgivings about them, I was hoping to be proven wrong and rooting for them to get their daughter back safely. And though Chrissie is at the centre of the story, we only really see her through the eyes of others, which I felt was a great decision by the author as it made her character even more cryptic and elusive, adding to the veil of mystery that surrounds her. The fact that we don’t know if she has been taken or run away also adds to the mystery, all coming together to create an awful, inescapable tension.
Atmospheric, gripping and nerve-shatteringly tense, this is a thriller you need on your TBR.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Philippa East is a fiction writer with HQ/HarperCollins and she also works as a clinical psychologist.
Philippa grew up in Scotland before moving to Oxford and then London to complete her clinical psychology training. A few years ago, she left the NHS to set up her own part-time practice and dedicate more hours to writing. The result was her debut novel LITTLE WHITE LIES, which was longlisted for The Guardian’s Not-The-Booker Prize and shortlisted for the CWA “New Blood” Award 2020.
Released in 2021, Philippa’s second book SAFE AND SOUND is another twisty and compelling tale. For a fun preview, check out the video trailer on Philippa’s Amazon Author page (best with sound on!). Philippa’s brilliant third book, I’LL NEVER TELL, will release in January 2023 and is available to pre-order via Amazon now. You can hear more about the book via Philippa’s latest two Author Update videos on this page.
Philippa now lives in the beautiful Lincolnshire countryside with her spouse and cat. She loves reading (of course!) and long country walks, and she also performs in a local folk duo called The Miracle Cure. Alongside her writing, Philippa continues to work as a psychologist and therapist.
‘A delightful story… You will love Dear Emmie Blue!’ JODI PICOULT
‘A sweet, poignant tale of love and friendship. I loved it’ BETH O’LEARY
Emmie Blue has a secret…
A long time ago, Emmie Blue released a red balloon with a secret message hidden inside – and against all odds, across hundreds of miles of ocean, it was found on a beach in France by a boy called Lucas.
Fourteen years later, on the eve of her thirtieth birthday, Emmie hopes that Lucas is finally about to kiss her. She never expected him to announce that he was marrying someone else!
Suddenly Emmie’s dreams are shattered and the one person in her life she can rely on is slipping through her fingers. But what if Lucas isn’t her forever? What if her love story is only just beginning…
Don’t miss the love story that everyone is talking about this summer! Perfect for fans of Beth O’Leary, Josie Silver and Cecelia Ahern.
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MY REVIEW:
“Sometimes you don’t realise how you feel, till something shines a light on it.”
Oh, my heart. Dreamy, uplifting and emotional, Dear Emmie Blue is a true love story. But probably not the one you’re expecting. Lia Louis has written a story that tugs on your heartstrings while wrapping itself around you like a ray of sunshine on a warm day.
It starts out as a simple friends to lovers story: 16-year-old Emmie had let go of a balloon with a hidden message and it had been found hundreds of miles and an entire ocean away in France by Lucas. The pair seemed fated to meet, even sharing the same birthday. And on the eve of their thirtieth Emmie is sure Lucas is going to finally ask her to be his girlfriend. Instead, he tells her he’s reconnected with his ex, is getting married, and asks her to be his best woman. Her world shattered, Emmie tries to pick up the pieces while also trying to make sense of her forever slipping out of her hands. But what if this isn’t the end of her happily-ever-after?
Ever since hearing my favourite author, Jodi Picoult, recommend Lia’s books I’ve been adding them to my TBR. But to my shame, it has taken me until now to read one of them. I decided to finally pick up Dear Emmie Blue as part of my #beatthebacklist23 challenge and am now kicking myself for taking so long. It was the perfect pick me up for the gloomy February weather. Full of heart, hope and humour, this is a story that will break your heart and put it back together again. Told in dual timelines, we get flashbacks to pivotal and defining moments in Emmie’s life that helped create a strong bond between her and the reader. Woven into the narrative, and every facet of Emmie’s life, is the traumatic incident with her former teacher when she was 16. This was moving, powerful and heartbreaking to read, but written with sensitivity. It is this storyline, along with the mystery of why she and Elliot had fallen out and her lifelong search for her father that gave the story greater depth and showcased the full range of Ms. Louis’ talent as a writer.
Emmie is a delightful protagonist who has that spark that makes you care about her. Exploring Emmie’s deepest and most emotional memories and feelings allows us to really feel like we understand her and feel everything alongside her, my heart breaking with hers and smiling when she did. I was rooting for her to find the happy ending she deserved. The background characters are just as compelling, with Emmie’s friends Rosie and Fox lighting up every page they were on. I loved their dynamic with Emmie and each other, as well as the sage advice they would give Emmie regarding Lucas, and how they reminded her that he wasn’t actually all she had.
Funny, heartwarming and captivating, this sparkling story is guaranteed to make you smile.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Lia Louis lives in the United Kingdom with her partner and three young children. Before raising a family, she worked as a freelance copywriter and proofreader. She was the 2015 winner of Elle magazine’s annual writing competition and has been a contributor for Bloomsbury’s Writers and Artist’s blog for aspiring writers. She is the author of Somewhere Close to Happy and Dear Emmie Blue.
Emma's Biblio Treasures 