Tag: HQ

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Blog Tours book reviews

The Wish List by Sophia Money-Coutts

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Published: August 6th, 2020
Publisher: HQ
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Coming-of-Age Story

Today I’m sharing my review of The Wish List as part of Blogger Day. Thank you HQ for the invitation to take part and the gifted eBook ARC.

SYNOPSIS:

‘You want me to write a list? Like a shopping list?’
Gwendolyn nodded. ‘Exactly. But for what you want from a man, not ASDA.’

Florence Fairfax isn’t lonely. She loves her job at the little bookshop in Chelsea and her beloved cat Marmalade keeps her company at night. She might have been single for quite a while – well, forever actually, if anyone’s asking – but she’s perfectly happy, thank you. And then Florence meets eccentric love coach Gwendolyn, and everything changes.

When Gwendolyn makes Florence write a wish list describing her perfect man, Florence refuses to take it seriously. Finding someone who likes cats, has the sexual athleticism of James Bond and can overlook her ‘counting’ habit? Impossible! Until, later that week, a handsome blond man asks for help in the bookshop…

Rory seems to fit the list perfectly. But is he ‘the one’, or simply too good to be true? Florence is about to find out that her criteria for Mr Right aren’t as important as she thought – and that perhaps she’s been looking for love in all the wrong places…

MY REVIEW:

“You want me to write a list? Like a shopping list?’

Gwendolyn nodded. ‘Exactly. But for what you want from a man, not ASDA.”

32-year-old Florence Fairfax has never had a boyfriend or been in love. But she’s sure it will happen one day. After all, even Hitler had a girlfriend. When her stepmother books her an appointment with a love coach Florence is mortified. But after the coach instructs her to write a wish list of what she wants in a man, she meets Rory, a handsome man who ticks everything on her list. But is he the right man for Florence? Is there such a thing as the perfect man? Or is love to be found in the place you didn’t expect, with the one who’s differences balance you out?

This was a funny, lighthearted and entertaining read. I loved the author’s last novel, so I couldn’t wait to read this one. Again the author has crafted a book that has that great mix of wit, romance and sauciness, making it an ideal book for summer.

Our protagonist, Florence, is unlucky-in-love but tells herself she’s fine without a man. But deep down she wants nothing more than to be loved and to be in love. I really liked her. She’s sweet, awkward, self-deprecating and a little weird. She keeps her life unvaried and ordered to avoid anything bad happening and doesn’t do well with change. When she meets Rory she must learn to navigate the nuances of a relationship while trying to find confidence in herself. I enjoyed her journey and was rooting for her to find a happy ending.

The author is great at writing entertaining characters and filled the story with a great cast of secondary characters. I particularly liked Ruby, Mia and Zach, but had mixed feelings about Rory. He was well written and the scenes with his snobby family and friends were perfectly cringey.

The thing that I loved most about this book was the humour. This is definitely a book I’d recommend picking up if you need a good laugh; I laughed out loud so many times and will never be able to hear the word cowabunga again without a smile and thinking of this book!

The Wish List is a quirky, fun, feel-good read with heart. It is predictable in places, but for me that was part of its charm. If you’re looking for a book to brighten a summer day, then this is the book for you. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✫

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Sophia is a British journalist and author who spends most of her time writing at her kitchen table in West London and making 59 cups of tea a day. She has written two novels – The Plus One and What Happens Now? – and hopes to carry on writing books that make people laugh forever. Because we could all do with more of a laugh, these days, couldn’t we? Sometimes, if she’s not drinking lukewarm cups of tea in her leggings at home, she appears on radio and television talking about important topics such as Prince Harry’s wedding and the etiquette of the threesome.

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Monthly Wrap Up

Monthly Wrap Up – July 2020

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Welcome to another wrap up. I read nineteen books this month, which is my best month yet. I read some great books and took part in two great readalongs with Tandem Collective UK and other bookstagrammers. The first was for All My Lies Are True, the sequel to The Ice Cream Girls. This took a different format and I particularly enjoyed having it start with the author reading the beginning of the book. The second was for A Court of Mist and Fury, the second book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series. I am now totally hooked on this series and am counting down to August’s readalong of book three. 

So here is what I read in July:

  1. Nine Elms by Robert Bryndza
  2. All Fall Down (DI Helen Grace 9) by M. J. Arlidge
  3. The Bad Mother’s Virus by Suzy K. Quinn
  4. The Paper Bracelet by Rachael English
  5. The Unwinding: and other dreamings by Jackie Morris
  6. Somebody’s Daughter by Carol Wyer (Natalie Ward Book 7)
  7. All My Lies Are True by Dorothy Koomson (Ice Cream Girls 2)
  8. Lost by Leona Deakin (Dr Bloom 2)
  9. Fleishman Is In Trouble
  10. If I Can’t Have You by Charlotte Levin
  11. Spirited by Julie Cohen
  12. The Resident by David Jackson
  13. Playdate by Alex Dahl
  14. Precious You by Helen Monks Takar
  15. The Storm by Amanda Jennings
  16. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Mass
  17. Eleven Lines To Somewhere by Alyson Rudd
  18. Shed No Tears by Caz Frear (DC Cat Kinsella Book 3)
  19. The Missing Pieces of Nancy Moon by Sarah Steele

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I had been trying to decide if my favourite book this month was All My Lies Are True or The Resident when The Missing Pieces of Nancy Moon swooped in at the final hour and claimed the title. I highly recommend all three books, particularly Nancy Moon.

Thank you to the tagged publishers for my gifted copies of the books.

What did you read in July? Did we read any of the same books?

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

Eleven Lines To Somewhere by Alyson Rudd

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Published: July 23rd, 2020
Publisher: HQ
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Urban Fiction

Thank you to HQ for the invitation to take part and the gifted eBook ARC.

SYNOPSIS:

In a world of what-ifs, a connection has been made …

When Ryan spots a young woman on the tube on his commute, he can’t take his eyes off her. Instantly attracted and intrigued, he’s keen to find out more about his mysterious fellow passenger.

The woman he thinks of as Millie spends all day travelling the Underground, unable to leave for reasons unbeknownst to Ryan. For some inexplicable reason, he just can’t shake the feeling he wants to help her escape her endless commute.

This is a story of love and loss from the author of The First Time Lauren Pailing Died, perfect for fans of Anna Hope’s Expectation, David Nicholls’s Sweet Sorrow and Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life.

MY REVIEW:

“And so the conversation ended as it had begun, with tales of the Underground and the girl who never got off it.”

Ryan has struggled to move on since the death of his girlfriend fifteen years ago. Then one day he notices a young woman on the tube and is instantly smitten. He tries to learn more about her and travels on the same train each day hoping to find the courage to speak to her. He soon discovers that the young woman appears to be trapped on an endless commute, spending her days travelling the underground but going nowhere. 

Sylvie has travelled the underground each day since being fired from work eight months earlier. She’s caught in a meandering and never ending loop, waiting to find that elusive something that will enable her to feel able to stop her endless journey.

Can Ryan and Sylvie help each other break free of the ties that bind them to actions that prevent them from moving on with their lives?

Affecting, heartwarming and tender, Eleven Lines To Somewhere is a story of love, loss and moving on. Beautifully written, this was a slow burner for me, but by about a third of the way into the book I felt like I could really get into the story. 

I liked Ryan and Sylvie. They were quirky characters who we meet at a difficult time in both their lives, but I found them easy to like and relate to. I was soon fully invested in their lives and rooting for a happy ending after all the grief and trauma they suffered. 

In addition to the central characters, the author crafted a supporting cast who enhance and add depth to Ryan and Sylvie’s story that included friends, family and some strangers, who we don’t see how they connect with until late in the book. The London Underground that provides the backdrop for most of the book also feels like a character in itself, one that has entrenched the lives of the characters and become a part of them. It also felt symbolic of the lives of the characters; how they were confusing and chaotic, intersecting with one another in different patterns that change the course of their journey. 

This charming, poignant and uplifting story is like nothing I’ve ever read before and has made me eager to read the author’s previous novel. A beautiful, character-driven story that I would recommend.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✫

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Alyson Rudd is a British journalist with The Times who writes about sport, mainly football, and literature in the book club section. She was born in Liverpool in 1963 and grew up in rural Lancashire. She is a graduate of the London School of Economics but began her career in fashion before becoming a financial journalist. She was an enthusiastic footballer with Leyton Orient Ladies. She is married, has two sons and lives in West London.

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Blog Tours book reviews

The Storm by Amanda Jennings

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Published: July 23rd, 2020
Publisher: HQ
Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Domestic Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story

Trigger Warning: Domestic and Psychological Abuse

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this absorbing novel. Thank you to HQ for the invitation to take part and the eBook ARC. Picture courtesy of Twitter.

SYNOPSIS:

Doesn’t every marriage have a dark side?

‘Beautifully written, chilling and absorbing’ Adele Parks, Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author of Lies Lies Lies

‘Her best novel yet… Twisty, malevolent and gripping’ Lisa Jewell, No. 1 bestselling author of The Family Upstairs

To the outside world Hannah married the perfect man. Behind the closed doors of their imposing home it’s a very different story. Nathan controls everything Hannah does. He chooses her clothes, checks her receipts, and keeps her passport locked away. But why does she let him? Years before, in the midst of a relentless storm, the tragic events of one night changed everything. And Hannah has been living with the consequences ever since. Keeping Nathan happy. Doing as she’s told.

But the past is about to catch up with them.

Set against the unforgiving backdrop of a Cornish fishing port in the ‘90s, this is a devastating exploration of the power of coercive control in a marriage where nothing is quite as it seems…

MY REVIEW:

“It’s a storm glass… Seems there’s always been a storm coming, right from when he gave it to me.”

This beautifully written family drama was instantly intriguing and immersive. Questions swam in my head as I was transfixed by the mystery of what happened on ‘that night’ fifteen years ago. Just what is the secret still haunting Hannah and keeping her chained to a man she can’t stand?

Told in dual timelines from multiple points of view, The Storm is a story of secrets, lies and love set in Cornwall, one of my favourite parts of the world. But this isn’t a sunny summer tale, and the air is charged with something dark and foreboding, a powerful storm unleashing its fury, destroying lives in its wake. What will Hannah’s life look like once the storm has finally passed?  

“Nathan drains me. The way he twists everything and the mental gymnastics I have to perform in order to keep my head straight is exhausting. It doesn’t matter how strong I feel when we begin a conversation, by the end I’m shattered.”

The characters are real and relatable, with Hannah someone I connected with on a very deep and personal level. To the outside world, Hannah and Nathan have a picture-perfect marriage. But behind the facade is a marriage of abuse and fear. While the author avoids being graphic, the abuse is written in an authentic way; Nathan ruling the house through fear, threats, isolation and financial control. I hated him. He sent shivers down my spine and anger coursing through my veins. He was a typical bully who cycles between demands, playing the hero and then the victim. A man terrified of being unmasked. Just thinking about him is making my blood boil! 

Spectacularly written, absorbing and emotive, the malevolence and dread drip from the pages. I couldn’t put this down, compelled to keep reading late into the night as the truth is slowly revealed through clever twists and turns. The Storm is an outstanding mystery that I highly recommend.  

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✫

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Hello and welcome to my Author Page! So what do I write? Well, I love anything with a dark vein and secrets which affect families, and my books tend to fall into the psychological suspense category. My most recent books – In Her Wake and The Cliff House – are set in Cornwall. Cornwall is where my heart lies! My mother’s side of the family is from Penzance and I have many blissful memories of long summers spent here. I am never happier than when I’m beside the sea. Though I’m fond of a mountain too, especially when it’s got snow on it. I’ve skied since I was a child and it’s a huge passion. When I’m not beside the sea or up a mountain or sitting at my desk, you can usually find me chatting on the radio as a regular guest on BBC Berkshire’s weekly Book Club, or loitering on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. I love meeting and engaging with readers, whether that’s on social media, or at libraries, book clubs and literary festivals. If you see me out and about at an event do say hello! What am I doing now? Well, I live just outside Henley-on-Thames with my husband, three daughters and an unruly menagerie of pets, and am currently writing my fifth book which will be published in 2020.

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Blog Tours book reviews

Emma’s Anticipated Treasures – August 2020

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Another month is fast approaching so it’s time for another blog sharing my most anticipated books.

August is packed to the brim with books I can’t wait to read so this has been difficult. And even after a lot of trimming down I’ve ended up with seventeen books on my list.

Here are the books being released in August that I’m most anticipating:

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True Story by Kate Reed Petty
Published: August 4th, 2020
Publisher: Riverrun
Genre: Psychological Fiction

From the moment I’ve first heard about this novel I knew I had to read it. I am fortunate to have a copy and it’s been sitting on my shelf begging me to read it for a while. It it certainly one of the books highest on my list when I get a chance to do some free reading.

SYNOPSIS:
Inventive, electrifying and daring, True Story is a novel like nothing you’ve ever read before.

After a college party, two boys drive a girl home: drunk and passed out in the back seat. Rumours spread about what they did to her, but later they’ll tell the police a different version of events. Alice will never remember what truly happened. Her fracture runs deep, hidden beneath cleverness and wry humour. Nick – a sensitive, misguided boy who stood by – will never forget.

That’s just the beginning of this extraordinary journey into memory, fear and self-portrayal. Through university applications, a terrifying abusive relationship, a fateful reckoning with addiction and a final mind-bending twist, Alice and Nick will take on different roles to each other – some real, some invented – until finally, brought face to face once again, the secret of that night is revealed.

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The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne
Published: August 4th, 2020
Publisher: Sphere
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Suspense

I was a huge fan of Dionne’s first novel, The Marsh King’s Daughter, so I’ve been counting down to the release of her second book ever since it was announced.

SYNOPSIS:
She thought she’d buried her past. But what if it’s been hunting her this whole time?

You have been cut off from society for fifteen years, shut away in a mental hospital in self-imposed exile as punishment for the terrible thing you did when you were a child.

But what if nothing about your past is as it seems?

And if you didn’t accidentally shoot and kill your mother, then whoever did is still out there. Waiting for you.

For a decade and a half, Rachel Cunningham has chosen to lock herself away in a psychiatric facility, tortured by gaps in her memory and the certainty that she is responsible for her parents’ deaths. But when she learns new details about their murders, Rachel returns, in a quest for answers, to the place where she once felt safest: her family’s sprawling log cabin in the remote forests of Michigan.

As Rachel begins to uncover what really happened on the day her parents were murdered, she learns – as her mother did years earlier – that home can be a place of unspeakable evil, and that the bond she shares with her sister might be the most poisonous of all.

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The Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell
Published: August 6th, 2020
Publisher: Century
Genre: Thriller, Suspense

When I read The Family Upstairs last August I was immediately mad at myself for waiting so long to read her books and she became an auto-buy author for me. Her latest book sounds fantastic and is one I will be adding to my collection.

SYNOPSIS:
MIDNIGHT: In an area of urban wasteland where cats hunt and foxes shriek, a girl is watching …

When Saffyre Maddox was ten, something terrible happened, and she’s carried the pain of it ever since. The man who she thought was going to heal her didn’t, and now she hides, learning his secrets, invisible in the shadows.

Owen Pick is invisible too. He’s never had a girlfriend; he’s never even had a friend.
Nobody sees him. Nobody cares.

But when Saffyre goes missing from opposite his house on Valentine’s night, suddenly the whole world is looking at Owen.

Accusing him, holding him responsible for Saffyre’s disappearance …

INVISIBLE GIRL: an engrossing, twisty story of how we look in the wrong places for bad people while the real predators walk among us in plain sight.

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The Honey and the Sting by E. C. Freemantle
Published: August 6th, 2020
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Domestic Fiction

I’ve heard so many great things about this book, including that it is one that every fan of Historical Fiction should read it. I’m so excited to read this one.

SYNOPSIS:
Three sisters.

Three secrets.

Three ways to fall . . .

England, 1628.

Forcibly seduced by the powerful George Villiers, doctor’s daughter Hester is cast aside to raise her son alone and in secret. She hopes never to see Villiers again.

Melis’s visions cause disquiet and talk. She sees what others can’t – and what has yet to be. She’d be denounced as a witch if Hester wasn’t so carefully protective.

Young Hope’s beauty marks her out, drawing unwelcome attention to the family. Yet she cannot always resist others’ advances. And her sisters cannot always be on their guard.

When Villiers decides to claim his son against Hester’s wishes, the sisters find themselves almost friendless and at his mercy.

But the women hold a grave secret – will it be their undoing or their salvation?

Because in the right hands, a secret is the deadliest weapon of all . . .

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We Are All The Same In The Dark by Julia Heaberlin
Published: August 6th, 2020
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Genre: Psychological Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Crime Fiction, Suspense

As soon as I saw the creepy cover and read the synopsis for this thriller I knew I had to read it. I am thrilled to be taking part in the blog tour for this book. Keep an eye out for my review on publication day.

SYNOPSIS:
It’s been a decade since the town’s sweetheart Trumanell Branson disappeared, leaving only a bloody handprint behind.

Since her disappearance, Tru’s brother, Wyatt, has lived as an outcast, desperate to know what happened to his sister.

So when Wyatt finds a lost girl, he believes she is a sign.

But for new cop, Odette Tucker, this girl’s appearance reopens old wounds.

Determined to solve both cases, Odette fights to save a lost girl in the present and in doing so digs up a shocking truth about that fateful night in the past .

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The Missing Pieces of Nancy Moon by Sarah Steele
Published: August 6th, 2020
Publisher: Headline
Genre: General Ficiton, Women’s Fiction

Ever since being part of the cover reveal for this beautiful story earlier in the year I have been excited to finally read this book. My review will be published as part of the blog tour on August 1st.

SYNOPSIS:
If you love taking a journey with the novels of Kristin Hannah or Kathryn Hughes, this novel is for you.

To unravel that long-lost summer, she had to follow the thread…

Florence Connelly is broken hearted. Her marriage has collapsed under the weight of the loss she shares with her husband, and her beloved grandmother has just died. Even the joy she found in dressmaking is gone.

But things change when Flo opens a box of vintage 1960s dress patterns found inside her grandmother’s wardrobe. Inside each pattern packet is a fabric swatch, a postcard from Europe and a photograph of a mysterious young woman, Nancy Moon, wearing the hand-made dress.

Flo discovers that Nancy was a distant relation who took the boat train to Paris in 1962 and never returned. With no one to stay home for, Flo decides to follow Nancy’s thread. She unravels an untold story of love and loss in her family’s past. And begins to stitch the pieces of her own life back together.

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The Stray Cats of Homs by Eva Nour
Published: August 6th, 2020
Publisher: Doubleday
Genre: Coming-of-Age Story, Biographical Fiction, Political Fiction

This one piqued my interest as soon as I saw the cover. Anything with cats is my thing and I love novels that are based on true stories.

SYNOPSIS:
‘A cat has seven souls in Arabic. In English cats have nine lives. You probably have both nine lives and seven souls, because otherwise I don’t know how you’ve made it this far.’

Sami’s childhood is much like any other – an innocent blend of family and school, of friends and relations and pets (including stray cats and dogs, and the turtle he keeps on the roof).

But growing up in one of the largest cities in Syria, with his country at war with itself, means that nothing is really normal. And Sami’s hopes for a better future are ripped away when he is conscripted into the military and forced to train as a map maker.

Sami may be shielded from the worst horrors of the war, but it will still be impossible to avoid his own nightmare…

Inspired by extraordinary true events, The Stray Cats of Homs is the story of a young man who will do anything to keep the dream of home alive, even in the face of unimaginable devastation. Tender, wild and raw, it is a novel which will stay with you for ever.

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Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis
Published: August 6th, 2020
Publisher: Trapeze
Genre: Fiction, Romance

This is a book I’ve had on my list ever since the author announced it’s release. It’s getting a lot of love on book twitter and bookstagram and I’m excited to get my hands on it at last.

SYNOPSIS:
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…

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A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville
Published: August 6th, 2020
Publisher: Canongate Books
Genre: Historical Fiction

I am hoping that this novel will be as stunning on the inside as it is on the outside. I’ve heard great things so I can’t wait to read it.

SYNOPSIS:
It is 1788. Twenty-one-year-old Elizabeth is hungry for life but, as the ward of a Devon clergyman, knows she has few prospects. When proud, scarred soldier John Macarthur promises her the earth one midsummer’s night, she believes him.

But Elizabeth soon realises she has made a terrible mistake. Her new husband is reckless, tormented, driven by some dark rage at the world. He tells her he is to take up a position as Lieutenant in a New South Wales penal colony and she has no choice but to go. Sailing for six months to the far side of the globe with a child growing inside her, she arrives to find Sydney Town a brutal, dusty, hungry place of makeshift shelters, failing crops, scheming and rumours.

All her life she has learned to be obliging, to fold herself up small. Now, in the vast landscapes of an unknown continent, Elizabeth has to discover a strength she never imagined, and passions she could never express.

Inspired by the real life of a remarkable woman, this is an extraordinarily rich, beautifully wrought novel of resilience, courage and the mystery of human desire.

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The Wish List by Sophia Money-Coutts
Published: August 6th, 2020
Publisher: HQ
Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Coming-of-Age Story

Sophia Money-Coutts last book was one of the highlights of the summer so I’m delighted to have a place on the blog tour for her next book.

SYNOPSIS:
‘You want me to write a list? Like a shopping list?’

Gwendolyn nodded. ‘Exactly. But for what you want from a man, not ASDA.’

Florence Fairfax isn’t lonely. She loves her job at the little bookshop in Chelsea and her beloved cat Marmalade keeps her company at night. She might have been single for quite a while – well, forever actually, if anyone’s asking – but she’s perfectly happy, thank you. And then Florence meets eccentric love coach Gwendolyn, and everything changes.

When Gwendolyn makes Florence write a wish list describing her perfect man, Florence refuses to take it seriously. Finding someone who likes cats, has the sexual athleticism of James Bond and can overlook her ‘counting’ habit? Impossible! Until, later that week, a handsome blond man asks for help in the bookshop…

Rory seems to fit the list perfectly. But is he ‘the one’, or simply too good to be true? Florence is about to find out that her criteria for Mr Right aren’t as important as she thought – and that perhaps she’s been looking for love in all the wrong places…

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The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Published: August 13th, 2020
Publisher: Canongate
Genre: Science Fiction, Time Travel Fiction

I am a big fan of Matt Haig and fell in love with his work when I read How To Stop Time. I am on the blog tour for his latest book and my review will be published on August 17th.

SYNOPSIS:
Between life and death there is a library.

When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.

The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren’t always what she imagined they’d be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger.

Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?

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Sisters by Daisy Johnson
Published: August 13th, 2020
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Genre: Gothic Fiction, Psychological Fiction

I saw another blogger rave about this at the beginning of the year and instantly had to add it to my list. This sounds fantastic.

SYNOPSIS:
Something unspeakable has happened to sisters July and September.

Desperate for a fresh start, their mother Sheela moves them across the country to an old family house that has a troubled life of its own. Noises come from behind the walls. Lights flicker of their own accord. Sleep feels impossible, dreams are endless.

In their new, unsettling surroundings, July finds that the fierce bond she’s always had with September – forged with a blood promise when they were children – is beginning to change in ways she cannot understand.

Taut, transfixing and profoundly moving, Sisters explodes with the fury and joy of adolescence. It is a story of sibling love and sibling envy to rival Shirley Jackson and Stephen King. With Sisters, Daisy Johnson confirms her standing among the most inventive and exciting young writers at work today.

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Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi
Published: August 20th, 2020
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Noir Fiction

This is one of my most anticipated thrillers of the summer. It’s been all over book twitter and bookstagram and I’m excited to finally read it for myself.

SYNOPSIS:
All murder mysteries follow a simple set of rules.

Grant McAllister, an author of crime fiction and professor of mathematics, once sat down and worked them all out.

But that was thirty years ago. Now he’s living a life of seclusion on a quiet Mediterranean island – until Julia Hart, a sharp, ambitious editor, knocks on his door. His early work is being republished and together the two of them must revisit those old stories.

An author, hiding from his past, and an editor, probing inside it.

But as she reads the stories, Julia is unsettled to realise that there are parts that don’t make sense. Intricate clues that seem to reference a real murder.

One that’s remained unsolved for thirty years . . .

If Julia wants answers, she must triumph in a battle of wits with a dangerously clever adversary.

But she must tread carefully: she knows there’s a mystery, but she doesn’t yet realise there’s already been a murder . . .

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The Lies You Told by Harriet Tyce
Published: August 20th, 2020
Publisher: Wildfire
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction

I’m excited to be taking the part in the blog tour for this highly anticipated thriller. My review will be published on August 19th.

SYNOPSIS:
Can you tell the truth from the lies?

Sadie loves her daughter and will do anything to keep her safe.

She can’t tell her why they had to leave home so quickly – or why Robin’s father won’t be coming with them to London.

She can’t tell her why she hates being back in her dead mother’s house, with its ivy-covered walls and its poisonous memories.

And she can’t tell her the truth about the school Robin’s set to start at – a school that doesn’t welcome newcomers.
Sadie just wants to get their lives back on track.

But even lies with the best intentions can have deadly consequences….

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The Quickening by Rhiannon Ward
Published: August 20th, 2020
Publisher: Trapeze
Genre: Historical Fiction

I’m finding myself increasingly drawn to Historical Fiction. The stunning cover, the synopsis and the fact the author is local to me, all made this a book I have to add to my list.

SYNOPSIS:
An infamous seance. A house burdened by grief. A secret that can no longer stay buried.

England, 1925. Louisa Drew lost her husband in the First World War and her six-year-old twin sons in the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. Newly re-married and seven months pregnant, Louisa is asked by her employer to travel to Clewer Hall in Sussex to photograph the contents of the house for auction. Desperate for money after falling on hard times, she accepts the commission.

On arrival, she learns Clewer Hall was host to an infamous séance in 1896, the consequences of which still haunt the family. Before the Clewer’s leave England for good, the lady of the house has asked those who attended the original séance to recreate the evening. Louisa soon becomes embroiled in the strange happenings of the house, unravelling the longheld secrets of what happened that night thirty years before… and discovers her own fate is entwined with Clewer Hall’s.

An exquisitely crafted mystery that invites the reader into the crumbling Clewer Hall to help unlock its secrets alongside the unforgettable Louisa Drew.

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The Search Party by Simon Lelic
Published: August 20th, 2020
Publisher: Viking
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller

2020 has been a great year for outstanding thrillers and this sounds like it will be another one to remember.

SYNOPSIS:
16-year-old Sadie Saunders is missing.

Five friends set out into the woods to find her.

But they’re not just friends…

THEY’RE SUSPECTS.

You see, this was never a search party.

It’s a witch hunt.

And not everyone will make it home alive…

THE CHALK MAN meets THE HUNTING PARTY in this gripping story; witness four suspects as, alongside DI Fleet, you attempt to discover the truth about what happened to Sadie…

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Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh
Published: August 27th, 2020
Publisher: Hamish Hamilton
Genre: Dystopian Fiction, Domestic Fiction

This is one of the books I’ve been most excited about since the start of the year so I am thrilled to finally be reaching the month of its release.

SYNOPSIS:
Calla knows how the lottery works. Everyone does. On the day of your first bleed, you report to the station to learn what kind of woman you will be. A white ticket grants you children. A blue ticket grants you freedom. You are relieved of the terrible burden of choice. And, once you’ve taken your ticket, there is no going back.

But what if the life you’re given is the wrong one?

Blue Ticket is a devastating enquiry into free will and the fraught space of motherhood. Bold and chilling, it pushes beneath the skin of female identity and patriarchal violence, to the point where human longing meets our animal bodies.

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

Precious You by Helen Monks Takar

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Published: July 23rd, 2020
Publisher: HQ
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Noir Fiction

Today I’m delighted to share my review for this outstanding debut. Thank you to HQ for the invitation to take part and the eBook ARC.

SYNOPSIS:

She’s got your job. She wants your life…

When Katherine first meets her new intern Lily, she’s captivated. Young, beautiful and confident, Lily reminds Katherine of everything she once was – and it’s not long before she develops a dark fascination with her new colleague.

But is Lily as perfect as she seems, or does she have a sinister hidden agenda? As Katherine is drawn into an obsessive power struggle with the intern, a disturbing picture emerges of two women hiding dark secrets – and who are desperate enough to do anything to come out on top…

Breathlessly addictive and deeply unsettling, Precious You is a thriller like no other. Taut, terrifying and with shocking twists at every turn, it will keep you guessing until the very last page.

MY REVIEW:

“It all began when I met you, Lily. Beautiful, dangerous, precious you.” 

Obsession. Secrets. Revenge.

Precious You puts the psycho in psychological thriller. This was one of my most anticipated reads of the summer and I’ve been eagerly waiting to read it since hearing about it last year; it was worth the wait. Bold, unsettling, tense and fast-paced, this was like a rollercoaster ride I didn’t want to get off and had me holding on for dear life from the first page until the last. 

Katherine has worked for Lifestyle for twenty years and has managed to survive the recent takeover. On her way to meet the new owner of the magazine she meets Lily, a young, ambitious journalist who also happens to be a new intern at Lifestyle. The battlelines are instantly drawn in the duo’s toxic rivalry and what follows is a story of two women who will go to drastic lengths to not only keep their secrets, but get what they want. 

“I never fully realised how much danger a person is in when the individual they trust least is themselves. After you, Lily, I’ll never ignore my first instincts again.” 

What a book! This is an outstanding debut novel. The writing is sharp, suspenseful and dripping with malice. Like Katherine, I was trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together to figure out exactly why Lily wanted to tear her life apart but other than one wild theory that came out of leftfield, I had nothing. I won’t tell you what it was or if I was wrong, but I will say this was cleverly written, full of an array of twists and turns, and kept me on my toes right until the end. 

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I was hurt first. That’s where it started. I’ve been made this way and it isn’t all my fault anyway. I can’t help it if other people are weaker than me. But they don’t see it like that.” 

The story is told from both Katherine and Lily’s points of view, with Katherine telling the story in past tense to Lily and extracts from Lily’s diary offering her perspective. I liked this difference in the narrative as it gave a clear distinction between the two voices. Though I thought I’d relate to Katherine with us being the same age, Despite the fact I didn’t really like either woman, I loved reading both of them. Lily in particular was fascinating to me. She was the anti-heroine and enjoying her felt like enjoying Villanelle’s character in Killing Eve, her dark, chilling psychopathy leaping from the page. It was addictive and I needed to know more. What would she do next? Just how would she take everything from Katherine? And why? The author has created two memorable women who made for enthralling and entertaining reading. The one thing that was a little strange to me, was both characters’ obsession with their ages and generational differences. For me this distracted a little from the rest of the plot as I didn’t understand their hostility based solely on these things.

So if you love deliciously dark and menacing thrillers full of psycho characters that you love to hate, then this is the book for you. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Helen Monks Takhar worked as a journalist, copywriter and magazine editor having graduated from Cambridge in 1997. She began her career writing for financial trade newspapers in 1999 before contributing to UK national newspapers including The Times and The Observer. Born in Southport, Merseyside in 1976, she lives in North London with her husband and two daughters. Precious You is her first novel.

Website |Twitter

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon |Waterstones |Hive |Google Books |Kobo

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Categories
Blog Tours

Emma’s Anticipated Treasures – July 2020

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Another month, another round of anticipated books.

July is a month filled with great books and July 9th is rivaling February 6th for it’s bumper publication day spot; I could have easily added another four or five books out that day.

So here are the books out in July that I’m most excited about:

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Spirited by Julie Cohen
Published: July 9th, 2020
Publisher: Orion
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance

It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of Historical Fiction, and as soon as I saw the cover and read the synopsis of this book I was dying to read it. I’ve been lucky enough to get a spot on the blog tour for this so look out for my review on July 16th.

SYNOPSIS:
Viola has an impossible talent. Searching for meaning in her grief, she uses her photography to feel closer to her late father, taking solace from the skills he taught her – and to keep her distance from her husband. But her pictures seem to capture things invisible to the eye . . .

Henriette is a celebrated spirit medium, carrying nothing but her secrets with her as she travels the country. When she meets Viola, a powerful connection is sparked between them – but Victorian society is no place for reckless women.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, invisible threads join Viola and Henriette to another woman who lives in secrecy, hiding her dangerous act of rebellion in plain sight.

Faith. Courage. Love. What will they risk for freedom?

Driven by passionate, courageous female characters, SPIRITED is your next unforgettable read!

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The Shadow Friend by Alex North
Published: July 9th, 2020
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Horror Fiction, Police Procedural

The Whisper Man was one of my favourite books of last year so when I heard the author had a second book coming out it became a must-read. This one sounds just as chilling as his last book and I can’t wait to read it.

SYNOPSIS:
The victim was his friend. So was the murderer.

Twenty-five years ago, troubled teenager Charlie Crabtree committed a shocking and unprovoked murder.

For Paul Adams, it’s a day he’ll never forget. He’s never forgiven himself for his part in what happened to his friend and classmate. He’s never gone back home.

But when his elderly mother has a fall, it’s finally time to stop running.

It’s not long before things start to go wrong. A copycat killer has struck, bringing back painful memories. Paul’s mother insists there’s something in the house.

And someone is following him.

Which reminds him of the most unsettling thing about that awful day twenty-five years ago.

It wasn’t just the murder.

It was the fact that afterwards, Charlie Crabtree was never seen again . . .

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The Waiting Rooms by Eve Smith
Published: July 9th, 2020
Publisher: Orenda
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Science Fiction, Urban Fiction, Dystopian Fiction

Orenda are one of my favourite publishers. I’ve loved everything I’ve read that they publish. When I heard about this earlier this year I instantly pre-ordered it and started the count down. Who would have thought it would become so timely by the time it was released. I’m on the blog tour for this one and my review will be published on June 18th.

SYNOPSIS:
Decades of spiraling drug resistance have unleashed a global antibiotic crisis. Ordinary infections are untreatable, and a scratch from a pet can kill. A sacrifice is required to keep the majority safe: no one over seventy is allowed new antibiotics. The elderly are sent to hospitals nicknamed ‘The Waiting Rooms’ … hospitals where no one ever gets well.

Twenty years after the crisis takes hold, Kate begins a search for her birth mother, armed only with her name and her age. As Kate unearths disturbing facts about her mother’s past, she puts her family in danger and risks losing everything. Because Kate is not the only secret that her mother is hiding. Someone else is looking for her, too.

Sweeping from an all-too-real modern Britain to a pre-crisis South Africa, The Waiting Rooms is epic in scope, richly populated with unforgettable characters, and a tense, haunting vision of a future that is only a few mutations away.

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If I Can’t Have You by Charlotte Levin
Published: July 9th, 2020
Publisher: Mantle
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Urban Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Romance

I am so excited to be taking part in the blog tour for this debut thriller. Look out for my review on July 16th.

SYNOPSIS:
What if the problem with your love life is you?

If I Can’t Have You by Charlotte Levin is an all-consuming novel about loneliness, obsession and how far we go for the ones we love.

Samuel, the day we met I knew I’d finally found what I’ve been waiting for.

You.

Happiness, at last.

Then you left me.

And now I am alone.

Everyone I love leaves in the end.

But not this time.

I’m not giving up on us.

I’m not giving up on you.

When you love someone, you never let them go.

That’s why for me, this is just beginning.

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How To Disappear by Gillian McAllister
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Published: July 9th, 2020
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller,  Legal Thriller

Over the last few years Gillian McAllister has become a must-read author for me and her latest book sounds like it could be her best yet.

SYNOPSIS:
You can run, you can hide, but can you disappear for good?

Lauren’s daughter Zara witnessed a terrible crime. But speaking up comes with a price, and when Zara’s identity is revealed online, it puts a target on her back.

The only choice is to disappear.

To keep Zara safe, Lauren will give up everything and everyone she loves, even her husband.

There will be no goodbyes. Their pasts will be rewritten. New names, new home, new lives.

The rules are strict for a reason. They are being hunted. One mistake – a text, an Instagram like – could bring their old lives crashing into the new.

They can never assume someone isn’t watching, waiting.

As Lauren will learn, disappearing is easy. Staying hidden is harder . . .

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Somebody’s Daughter by Carol Wyer (Detective Natalie Ward 7)
Published: July 9th, 2020
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Mystery, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural

The Detective Natalie Ward Series is one of my favourites and any new installment makes my most anticipated list that month. Keep an eye out for my review as part of the blog tour on July 11th.

SYNOPSIS:
One by one the girls disappeared…

When the frail body of a teenage girl is discovered strangled in a parking lot, shards of ice form in Detective Natalie Ward’s veins. As Natalie looks at the freckles scattered on her cheeks and the pale pink lips tinged with blue, she remembers that this innocent girl is somebody’s daughter…

The girl is identified as missing teenager Amelia Saunders, who has run away from home and her controlling father. Natalie’s heart sinks further when it becomes clear that Amelia has been working on the streets, manipulated by her violent new boyfriend Tommy.

A day later, another vulnerable girl is found strangled on a park bench. Like Amelia, Katie Bray was a runaway with connections to Tommy, and Natalie is determined to find him and track down the monster attacking these scared and lonely girls.

But when a wealthy young woman is found murdered the next morning, the word ‘guilty’ scrawled on her forehead, Natalie realises that the case is more complex than she first thought. Determined to establish a connection between her three victims, Natalie wastes no time in chasing down the evidence, tracing everyone who crossed their paths. Then, a key suspect’s body turns up in the canal, a mole in Natalie’s department leaks vital information and everything seems to be against her. Can Natalie stop this clever and manipulative killer before they strike again.

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All My Lies Are True by Dorothy Koomson (Ice Cream Girls 2)
Published: July 9th, 2020
Publisher: Headline
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction

In May I took part in a readalong of The Ice Cream Girls with Tandem Collective. I loved the book so much that this one instantly went on my anticipated list for this month. You can imagine my excitement when I was offered the chance to take part in a readalong of the sequel. Keep an eye out for my posts on Instagram starting around June 25th.

SYNOPSIS:
Verity is telling lies…

And that’s why she’s about to be arrested for attempted murder.

Serena has been lying for years. . .
And that may have driven her daughter, Verity, to do something unthinkable…

Poppy’s lies have come back to haunt her . . .
So will her quest for the truth hurt everyone she loves?

Everyone lies.
But whose lies are going to end in tragedy?

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The Resident by David Jackson
Published: July 16th, 2020
Publisher: Viper
Genre: Mystery, Thriller

This is another thriller I’m excited to be on the blog tour for. Look out for my review on publication day.

SYNOPSIS:
THERE’S A SERIAL KILLER ON THE RUN
AND HE’S HIDING IN YOUR HOUSE

Thomas Brogan is a serial killer. Having left a trail of bodies in his wake, and with the police hot on his heels, it seems like Thomas has nowhere left to hide. That is until he breaks into an abandoned house at the end of a terrace on a quiet street. And when he climbs up into the loft, he realises that the can drop down into all the other houses on the street through the shared attic space.

That’s when the real fun begins. Because the one thing that Thomas enjoys even more than killing, is playing games with his victims. And his new neighbours have more than enough dark secrets to make this game his best one yet…

Do you fear The Resident? Soon you’ll be dying to meet him.

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The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
Published: July 23rd, 2020
Published: Picador
Genre: Historical Fiction, Medical Fiction, Dystopian Fiction

Room is one of my favourite books of all time and I’m a huge fan of historical and medical fiction, so I have high hopes for this novel.

SYNOPSIS:
In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city centre, where expectant mothers who have come down with an unfamiliar Flu are quarantined together. Into Julia’s regimented world step two outsiders: Doctor Kathleen Lynn, on the run from the police, and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney.

In the darkness and intensity of this tiny ward, over three days, these women change each other’s lives in unexpected ways. They lose patients to this baffling pandemic, but they also shepherd new life into a fearful world. With tireless tenderness and humanity, carers and mothers alike somehow do their impossible work.

In The Pull of the Stars, Emma Donoghue once again finds the light in the darkness in this classic story of hope and survival against all odds.

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Precious You by Helen Monks Takhar
Published: July 23rd, 2020
Publisher: HQ
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Noir Ficiton

Ever since I first heard about this debut thriller last year I’ve been desperate to read it. I’m hoping to be on the blog tour for this one so keep an eye out for my review next month.

SYNOPSIS:

She’s got your job. She wants your life…

When Katherine first meets her new intern Lily, she’s captivated. Young, beautiful and confident, Lily reminds Katherine of everything she once was – and it’s not long before she develops a dark fascination with her new colleague.

But is Lily as perfect as she seems, or does she have a sinister hidden agenda? As Katherine is drawn into an obsessive power struggle with the intern, a disturbing picture emerges of two women hiding dark secrets – and who are desperate enough to do anything to come out on top…

Breathlessly addictive and deeply unsettling, Precious You is a thriller like no other. Taut, terrifying and with shocking twists at every turn, it will keep you guessing until the very last page.

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The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman
Published: July 28th, 2020
Publisher: Kensington Publishing
Genre: Historical Fiction, Coming-of-Age Fiction

As soon as I read the synopsis of this novel I knew I had to read it. As with The Waiting Rooms and The Pull of the Stars it also feels like a particularly timely read right now.

SYNOPSIS:
Ellen Marie Wiseman, acclaimed author of What She Left Behind and The Life She Was Given, weaves the stories of two very different women into a page-turning novel as suspenseful as it is poignant, set amid one of history’s deadliest pandemics.

In the fall of 1918, thirteen-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia’s overcrowded streets and slums, and from the anti-German sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the U.S. Army, hoping to prove his loyalty. But an even more urgent threat has arrived. Spanish influenza is spreading through the city. Soon, dead and dying are everywhere. With no food at home, Pia must venture out in search of supplies, leaving her infant twin brothers alone . . .

Since her baby died days ago, Bernice Groves has been lost in grief and bitterness. If doctors hadn’t been so busy tending to hordes of immigrants, perhaps they could have saved her son. When Bernice sees Pia leaving her tenement across the way, she is buoyed by a shocking, life-altering decision that leads her on a sinister mission: to transform the city’s orphans and immigrant children into what she feels are “true Americans.”

As Pia navigates the city’s somber neighborhoods, she cannot know that her brothers won’t be home when she returns. And it will be a long and arduous journey to learn what happened–even as Bernice plots to keep the truth hidden at any cost. Only with persistence, and the courage to face her own shame and fear, will Pia put the pieces together and find the strength to risk everything to see justice at last.

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The Butterfly Lampshade by Aimee Bender
Published July 30th, 2020
Publisher: Hutchinson
Genre: Literary Fiction

I’ll admit it was the cover that initially drew me to this book, but it was the synopsis that earned it’s place on this list. This one sounds like a powerful novel that will linger long after reading.

SYNOPSIS:
On the night her mother is taken to a mental hospital after a psychotic episode, eight year-old Francie is staying with her babysitter. Next to the couch on which she’s sleeping, there is a lamp that catches her eye, its shade adorned with butterflies. When she wakes, Francie sees a dead butterfly floating in a glass of water. She drinks it before the babysitter can see.

Twenty years later, Francie is compelled to make sense of that moment, and two other incidents – her discovery of a desiccated beetle from a school paper, and a bouquet of dried roses from some curtains. Her recall is exact: she is sure these things were real. But despite her certainty, she wrestles with the hold these memories have over her, and with what they say about her place in the world.

Told in lush, lilting prose, The Butterfly Lampshade is a heartfelt and heartbreaking examination of the sometimes overwhelming power of the material world, and of a broken love between mother and child.

Categories
Blog Tours Monthly Wrap Up

Monthly Wrap Up – May 2020

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Another month is done and I’m writing another wrap up. These seem to come around quicker each month. Does anyone else think the same?

May has been my best reading month in quite some time. I finished sixteen books and took part in fourteen blog tours. The quality of books has again been high with all books being four stars or above.

Here’s what I read in May:

  1. He Started It by Samantha Downing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  2. Who We Were by B. M. Carroll ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  3. The Happy Couple by Samantha Hayes ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  4. The Secrets of Sunshine by Phaedra Patrick ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  5. One Mistake by Rona Halsall ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  6. Dear Child by Romy Hausmann ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  7. What Lies Between Us by John Marrs ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  8. Ash Mountain by Helen Fitzgerald ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  9. Her Last Mistake (Detective Gina Harte Book 6) by Carla Kovach ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  10. Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  11. The Bride by Wendy Clarke ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  12. The Glass House by Eve Chase ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  13. His & Hers by Alice Feeney ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
  14. The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson⭐⭐⭐⭐
  15. Water’s Edge (Detective Megan Carpenter Book 2) by Gregg Olsen ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  16. The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 You can read the reviews for all the books by clicking on the title except for The Ice Cream Girls and The Majesties. My reviews for those books will be posted in the coming week.

This month there were two books that stood out as favourites for me. They are very different books and I found it impossible to choose one over the over. Therefore, I have two books of the month: What Lies Between Us and Tsarina. What Lies Between Us is an outstanding thriller that was so twisted I can’t stop thinking about it. John Marrs really outdid himself with this book and I’m hoping it is turned into a series or film soon. Tsarina is the epic story of Catherine, Tsarina of All the Russias. Catherine’s story is one so crazy that you couldn’t make it up. The novel is beautifully written and I was utterly immersed in Catherine’s world while reading. I already had a fascination with the fall of the Tsars but this novel brought about a greater interest in the Tsars reign and Catherine and Peter’s stories in particular. I highly recommend both books.

Are any of these in your tbr? What is your favourite book you’ve read this month?

Next month I have a slightly more relaxed schedule of blog tours which I’m looking forward to as maybe I’ll get to do more free reading soon. I’m very excited about my buddy read of The Phone Box at the Edge of the World with Beth as it’s our first buddy read and the book is one of my most anticipated books of the year.

Thank you to all the tagged publishers for my gifted copies of these books.

Hope you are all staying safe and well,
Emma x

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

His & Hers by Alice Feeney

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Published: May 28th, 2020
Publisher: HQ
Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Police Procedural

Happy Publication Day to this spectacular thriller! Thank you to HQ for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

If there are two sides to every story, someone is always lying…

Jack: Three words to describe my wife: Beautiful. Ambitious. Unforgiving.
Anna: I only need one word to describe my husband: Liar.

When a woman is murdered in Blackdown village, newsreader Anna Andrews is reluctant to cover the case. Anna’s ex-husband, DCI Jack Harper, is suspicious of her involvement, until he becomes a suspect in his own murder investigation.

Someone is lying, and some secrets are worth killing to keep

MY REVIEW:

“People might recognise my face, they may even know my name, but they’ll never know the real me.”

It is impossible to know who to trust in this compelling thriller where long-held secrets lead to revenge and murder. 

When a woman is found murdered in Blackdown, newsreader Anna Andrews reluctantly heads back to the village she grew up in to cover the story. Her ex-husband, DCI Jack Harper, is eager to solve the murder quickly. They are both hiding secrets they would like to keep hidden. Secrets that might even be worth killing to keep… 

Wow! This is exactly the kind of dark, twisted thriller I love. Fast-paced and deftly plotted, the short, quick-fire chapters kept me on the edge of my seat and the author had me in the palm of her hand from the start. I didn’t foresee the jaw-dropping twists she had in store and was left reeling after turning the final page. 

“Sometimes I think I am the unreliable narrator of my own life.
Sometimes I think we all are.”

The characters are flawed, complex, nuanced and richly drawn. Jack and Anna are both struggling to recover and move on after the tragedy that ended their marriage. They are both keeping secrets and are clear suspects from the start. I really enjoy a book that is told by unreliable narrators as I love having to decipher all the small clues in what they say and do and how it increases the tension as you try to figure them out. Anna and Jack are both unreliable narrators, with Anna also being a character that is far from warm or likeable.  

As the death toll rises it is clear from the brutal murders that this is personal to the killer. Someone wanted the victims to suffer and is out for revenge. The chapters from the killers point of view offered a chilling insight into their twisted mind, motives and the sadistic pleasure they took in the murders. Could Anna or Jack really be hiding such darkness? Though I had my suspicions about the killer’s identity from early on they would vacillate many times over the course of the book and I could never settle on a clear suspect. For me, that is the sign of great writing and a fantastic novel and I loved the breathless anticipation of waiting for the final reveal. 

His & Hers is the second time I’ve read and loved a book by this author and I can’t wait to see what she writes next. She is definitely now one of my auto-buy authors. Taut, twisty, breathtaking and full of suspicion, the twists and turns kept coming, taking you on a rollercoaster ride right up until the shocking climax. This is an electrifying thriller you don’t want to miss.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5 

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Alice Feeney is a New York Times and international bestselling author.

Her debut thriller Sometimes I Lie is being made into a TV series by Ellen DeGeneres and Warner Bros. starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.

His & Hers is her third novel and will be published around the world in 2020.

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon |Waterstones |  Hive |Google Books |Apple Books | Kobo

His&Hers BTB

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Secrets of Sunshine by Phaedra Patrick ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Published: May 14th, 2020
Publisher: HQ
Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Domestic Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Humourous Fiction

Today is my stop on the blog tour for this beautiful story. Thank you to HQ for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the book .

SYNOPSIS:

‘A wonderfully hope-filled story’ Sarah Haywood, bestselling author of The Cactus

A single father gets an unexpected second chance at love in the heart-warming new novel from the bestselling author of The Library of Lost and Found.

Only his daughter Poppy knows that behind his prickly exterior, Mitchell Fisher is deeply lonely. He may have sworn off romance, relishing his job cutting off the padlocks that couples fasten to his hometown’s famous ‘love story’ bridge… but underneath it all, he’s still grieving the loss of Poppy’s mum.

Then one hot summer’s day, everything changes when Mitchell bravely rescues a woman who falls from the bridge into the river. He’s surprised to feel an unexpected connection to her, but then she disappears. Desperate to find the mysterious woman, Mitchell teams up with her spirited sister Liza to see if she’s left any clues behind. There’s just one – a secret message on the padlock she left on love story bridge…

Brimming with Phaedra Patrick’s signature charm and a sparkling cast of characters, The Secrets of Sunshine follows one man’s journey to unlock his heart and discover new beginnings in the unlikeliest places.

MY REVIEW:

The Secrets of Sunshine is as heartwarming, uplifting and delightful as its name suggests and is the perfect read on sunny summer days. When I picked up this book I was in need of something lighthearted to refresh my reading pallet after a number of back to back thrillers and I couldn’t have chosen a better book for the job.

Single dad Mitchell Fisher spends his days removing love locks from his hometown’s famous ‘love lock’ bridge and his nights with his nine-year-old daughter Poppy. He is struggling to move on from the death of Poppy’s mother and still writes her love letters he will never send. 

Then one day everything changes. It begins when he rescues a woman who falls from the bridge into the river and then disappears as quickly as she seemed to appear on the bridge. Feeling an unexpected connection to her,  he agrees to team up with her sister Liza to try and find her, starting with a clue she left on her the lock she hung on love lock bridge…

I got totally lost in this beautiful story and devoured it in under a day. A story about celebrating love, finding, hope, overcoming grief and moving on, it was a breath of fresh air. Letter writing is a prominent feature of this story. There are the letters Mitchell writes to Anita, the ones she wrote him, and the many letters he receives from the public after being hailed ‘The Hero on the Bridge’. I loved the personal and emotional dynamic the letters added to the story and enjoyed the touching stories in the letters Mitchell received from strangers. It also made me nostalgic for the days where we took the time to write letters to each other and the joy of receiving them.

Mitchell isn’t an easy man to like at first. He is a prickly, rigid person who lives life by a strictly regimented schedule. But behind all of that he’s a man who’s had his world turned upside down, has been left brokenhearted, and is trying to do the best he can for the daughter he adores. I had a lot of empathy for him from the start but started to warm to him more as he moved out of his comfort zone and relaxed a little more. His story arc was one I thoroughly enjoyed and I loved his character by the end of the book. I found the secondary characters Liza, Poppy, Carl and Graham endearing and thought they added a lot of warmth and humour to the story.

The Secrets of Sunshine is an absolute gem. Charming, quirky, captivating and full of hope, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for something that will brighten their day.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Phaedra Patrick studied art and marketing and has worked as a stained glass artist, film festival organiser and communications manager. An award-winning short story writer, she now writes full time in Saddleworth where she lives with her family.

Her debut novel, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, was translated into over twenty languages worldwide and has been optioned by a major Hollywood film studio. Her second novel, Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone (named Wishes Under the Willow Tree in the UK), is also under option in the US as a TV movie. Her third novel is The Library of Lost and Found, and the fourth one is titled The Secrets of Love Story Bridge (The Secrets of Sunshine in the UK).

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