Tag: July 2020

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If I Can’t Have You by Charlotte Levin

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Published: July 9th, 2020
Publisher: Mantle
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Urban Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Romance

I’m thrilled to be closing the blog tour for this sensational debut. Thank you to Megan ed PR for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the book.

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.

MY REVIEW:

“If you love someone, never let them go.” 

If I Can’t Have You is a story of love, lies and obsession. This book wasn’t what I expected, but in a good way, with the biggest surprise being how much deeper and darker of an emotional journey it takes you on as the author examines the warped, murky side of love. Laced with dark humour the author has created a story that is riveting and compelling. 

Constance was a character I both loved and loathed. She was someone I could relate to in some ways and I found her likeable at times. But she would also do the most appalling things and act in ways that can only be called crazy, which made me want to reach into the book, shake her, and tell her he wasn’t worth it. But we slowly come to understand a little more about Constance’s fragile psyche and why she behaves the way she does thanks to her sessions with Dr Franco. My heart broke for her and this time I wanted to reach into the book not to shake her, but to hug her instead. As for Samuel, I hate that man with a passion! As his true colours are revealed it was clear he was not just a bit of a cad, but a cruel manipulator who views women as objects to use and discard, calling them crazy when they are hurt by his actions. But it wasn’t all crazy and dark characters and I loved the sweet friendship between Constance and Edward. It was a great dynamic and showed another side to Constance that I think helps the reader see her as a three dimensional person rather than just a crazy stalker. 

If I Can’t Have You was as addictive for me as Samuel was for Constance. Taut, twisty, layered and simply brilliant, this is an outstanding debut. I’m excited to see what Levin writes next. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

Charlotte Levin author photo

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. Charlotte lives in Manchester and If I Can’t Have You is her first novel.

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The Resident by David Jackson

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Published: July 16th, 2020
Publisher: Viper
Format: Hardcover, Kindle
Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Happy Publication Day to The Resident. I’m thrilled to be opening the blog tour for this creepy thriller. Thank you to Viper for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the book .

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.

MY REVIEW:

Deliciously dark, sinister and addictive, The Resident is the kind of twisted story you won’t forget. Get ready to read your new favourite thriller…

Serial killer Thomas Brogan is on the run, but residents are hopeful that he’s long gone from the area after the police found his latest hiding place and victims. But for five people he’s much closer than they think. They are unaware that the ruthless killer is hiding above them, sneaking into their homes when they sleep and waiting for the perfect time to strike…

WHAT. A. BOOK! This chilling thriller is the thing nightmares are made of. I devoured it in one breathless sitting over the course of just a few hours. It jumps straight into the action and the author doesn’t take his foot off the brake, keeping me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

The story is told from Brogan’s point of view and I enjoyed reading from his sick, twisted perspective (though I don’t want to think what that might say about me lol). The Brogan we meet is a cunning, vicious, merciless predator who delights in toying with people before slowly torturing and killing them, but through flashbacks we are given glimpses of his past that offer small clues as to how he became a killer. I found myself feeling really sorry for Brogan at times and came to have a real affection for him. This is a testament to the spectacular talent of the author who manages to evoke feelings of revulsion and affection simultaneously, The potential victims are also brought vividly to life and I had a particular soft spot for Elsie. I spent the whole book really hoping that she wouldn’t end up Brogan’s victim and loved the arc of her story.

The Resident is like no other psychological thriller I’ve read – and I’ve read a lot of them. Sharp, searing and filled with dark humour, this was an easy five-stars from me. Read it now!

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

David Jackson is the author of eight crime novels, including the bestseller Cry Baby. When not murdering fictional people, David spends his days as a university academic in his home city of Liverpool.

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Spirited by Julie Cohen

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Published: July 9th, 2020
Publisher: Orion
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance

Today is my stop on the blog tour for this captivating novel. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and Orion for tbr gifted copy.

SYNOPSIS:

A moving and gripping story about three women who keep unspeakable truths, from the Richard & Judy recommended bestselling author Julie Cohen.

‘Haunting, tender and true – this story cast a spell on me’ Kirsty Logan

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!

MY REVIEW:

“All stories are true or none. I find more beauty if they are all true.”

Viola and her new husband Jonah have moved to the south coast to begin their married life together. But instead of the closeness they once shared growing up, they seem to be growing further apart with each day. Henriette, a celebrated medium, arrives in town and is immediately drawn to Viola. With her encouragement, Viola starts to take photographs again and discovers an astonishing talent that sends shockwaves through society. Meanwhile, Jonah is grappling with a secret trauma from his time in India that he feels unable to share with his new wife.

The author explores themes of love, gender, sexuality, faith, prejudice and freedom in the victorian era in this wonderfully written story. Captivating, evocative, haunting and tender, I savoured every word. The extracts from books, newspapers and webpages gave the story an authentic feel and I found myself googling the characters to be sure I was reading fiction. This was my first time reading this author and I now understand why people rave about her books and can’t wait to read more of her work.

The characters are compelling, memorable and richly drawn and the author has created strong, fascinating female characters that go against the cultural norms of their societies to live the life they want for themselves, rather than the one they are told they should have. I liked Viola but it was Henriette, the fiesty, wiley and charming medium, who I loved most of all. Despite her duplicity, there is a sincerity to her that we slowly saw more of as the story went on, particularly around Viola, and it was this, along with her backstory, that endeared her to me.

Atmospheric, immersive and moving, Spirited is an imaginative piece of historical fiction that I highly recommend.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5

Julie Cohen Author pic

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Julie Cohen grew up in the western mountains of Maine and studied English at Brown University and Cambridge University before pursuing a research degree in nineteenth century fairies. After a career as a secondary school English teacher, she became a novelist. Her award-winning novels have sold over a million copies worldwide. Dear Thing and Together were both selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club. Julie runs an oversubscribed literary consultancy which has helped many writers go on to be published. She is Vice President of the Romantic Novelist’s Association, founder of the RNA Rainbow Chapter for LGBTQ+ authors, and a Patron of literary charity ABC To Read

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All My Lies Are True by Dorothy Koomson (Ice Cream Girls 2)

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Published: July 9th, 2020
Publisher: Headline
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction

Trigger Warning: Domestic Abuse

Thank you to the Tandem Collective for the invitation to take part in this readalong and Headline for the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

From the bestselling author of Tell Me Your Secret and The Brighton Mermaid comes the breath-taking sequel to the iconic Sunday Times bestseller The Ice Cream Girls.

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?

MY REVIEW:

After reading The Ice Cream Girls in May, I was excited to read the highly anticipated follow up, which takes place ten years after the first. This time the story focuses mostly on Verity, the daughter of one of the Ice Cream Girls, and examines the legacy of the Ice Cream Girls and how it has affected those around them. It also tells the story of someone who has been in an abusive relationship and discovers that someone close to them is in one but isn’t sure if they are the victim or abuser. 

I LOVED this book! It was utterly addictive and I couldn’t put it down. At almost 600 pages it isn’t a short book, but I devoured it quickly and wasn’t ready for it to end, wishing I could stay with the characters even longer. I loved getting to know Verity and seeing how different life was for Poppy and Serena ten years later. This was my second time reading a Dorothy Koomson book and she is now an auto-buy author for me. My only regret is waiting so long to read her work. Her writing is exquisite and she manages to cover emotional and thought-provoking topics with sensitivity while having you on the edge of your seat as tension radiates from the pages and I tried in vain to predict what would happen next. 

The Tandem Collective ran this readalong a little differently and it started with a IGTV Live with the author where she read from the beginning of the book and then talked with fans and answered questions. In that chat she said that she had returned to the Ice Cream Girls because she thought it would be easier than creating new characters to tell. The premise of not knowing if your loved one is the victim or abuser in a relationship is one nobody wants to think about. As someone who has been in an abusive relationship I know it would kill me if someone I loved became an abuser. In fact, trying to stop that happening is the very reason I took my four-year-old son and left his father. It was a fascinating journey to follow the characters on and I related to both sides as the heartbreaking truth was revealed. 

One of the things that stood out to me most of all was how authentic the journey of the character who is being abused was. Their initial disbelief, how they rationalised abusive behaviours and their devastation as the truth finally dawns were all reminiscent of my own journey. In fact, some of the things written in this book made me see things that had happened in my past in a new light and realise that the journey is not yet over even many years on. I also appreciated the fact that she shines a light on domestic abuse  towards men as well as women as this is something not talked about enough.

As much as I enjoyed The Ice Cream Girls, I loved this even more. This gripping book is the definition of unputdownable, keeping you guessing until the final page. An intense and jaw-dropping thriller that you don’t want to miss.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Dorothy Koomson is the award-winning author of 15 novels and has been making up stories since she was 13 when she used to share her stories with her convent school friends. Her published titles include: Tell Me Your Secret, The Brighton Mermaid, The Friend, When I Was Invisible, That Girl From Nowhere, The Flavours of Love, The Woman He Loved Before, Goodnight, Beautiful and The Chocolate Run.

Dorothy’s first novel, The Cupid Effect, was published in 2003 (when she was quite a bit older than 13). Her third book, My Best Friend’s Girl, was selected for the Richard & Judy Summer Reads of 2006 and went on to sell over 500,000 copies. While her fourth novel, Marshmallows For Breakfast, has sold in excess of 250,000 copies. Dorothy’s books, The Ice Cream Girls and The Rose Petal Beach were both shortlisted for the popular fiction category of the British Book Awards in 2010 and 2013, respectively.

Dorothy’s novels have been translated into over 30 languages, and a TV adaptation loosely based on The Ice Cream Girls was shown on ITV1 in 2013. After briefly living in Australia, Dorothy now lives in Brighton.

In 2019 Dorothy was awarded the Image Award by The Black British Business Awards to celebrate and honour her achievements.

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Somebody’s Daughter by Carol Wyer (Natalie Ward Book 7)

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Published: July 9th, 2020
Publisher: Bookouture
Format: Kindle, Paperback, Audio
Genre: Crime Fiction, Crime Series, Police Procedural, Mystery, Thriller

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this sensational thriller. Thank you to Bookouture for the invitation to take part and the gifted eBook ARC.

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?

An unputdownable crime thriller from an Amazon bestselling author that will have you sleeping with the light on. This gripping rollercoaster ride is perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Rachel Caine. Prepare to be totally hooked!

MY REVIEW:

“Look around you. Do you really know what dark secrets your neighbour or your husband or your daughter are hiding? You judge people by how they look or how they seemingly live their lives, but if you could spend an hour in my shoes and really see what goes on, you would be horrified. Truly horrified. “

The discovery of the body of a teenage girl is the start of a new investigation for DCI Natalie Ward and her team. Amelia Saunders is a teenage runaway who worked the streets and was found strangled to death in a car park. Just a day later, the body of another vulnerable teenage girl is found on a park bench. Katie Bray was also a runaway who worked the streets and had connections to the same man thought to be Amelia’s pimp. But when the body of a wealthy woman is found with the word ‘guilty’ written on her forehead, the team is forced to reassess everything they thought they knew. As they search for a connection between her and the other victims, Natalie and her team are in a race against the clock to find their killer before they strike again.

Carol Wyer has done it again. This fast-paced, layered thriller was impossible to put down. In the seventh installment in the Natalie Ward Series we see a happier, more settled Natalie in her private life. But professionally, things are as intense and crazy as ever.  Natalie has recently been promoted to DCI, with Lucy Carmichael taking over her old role, and she and the team are still getting used to the new dynamics. There’s some tension in the ranks, Lucy feels unsure of her abilities, and someone is leaking information to the press; all while they are hunting a clever, confident and methodical killer and a case that keeps throwing up surprising developments at every turn. The pressure is as the body count increases and they race to stop the killer. 

As with all Wyer’s books, this is skillfully written and had me hooked from the first page. I found this one impossible to predict, keeping me on my toes and then knocking me for six with the big reveal. I feel like with each book she just gets better and better, proving why she is one of my favourite authors and her books are ones not to be missed.

Seven books in, I know Natalie and her team well, and I really enjoyed seeing a happier and more settled Natalie this time. I liked her and Mike together and she deserves a bit of a break. I liked that we also finally got some answers about why she is estranged from her sister, Frances, and am looking forward to seeing where the author takes that in the next book. Compelling, tense, intricate and twisty, Somebody’s Daughter is a spectacular thriller from a series every crime lover should read. And, please, someone pick this up for a TV series already!

Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Winner of The People’s Book Prize Award, Carol Wyer is a best-selling author and stand up comedian who writes feel-good comedies and gripping crime fiction.

A move to the ‘dark side’ in 2017, saw the introduction of popular DI Robyn Carter in LITTLE GIRL LOST, the #2 best-selling book on Amazon, #9 best-selling audiobook on Audible and Top 150 USA Today best-seller.

A second series featuring DI Natalie Ward quickly followed and to date her novels have sold over 750,000 copies and been translated for various overseas markets, including into Norwegian, Italian, Turkish, Hungarian Slovak, Czech and Polish.

Carol has been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing ”Irritable Male Syndrome’ and ‘Ageing Disgracefully’ and on BBC Breakfast television. She has had articles published in national magazines ‘Woman’s Weekly’ featured in ‘Take A Break’, ‘Choice’, ‘Yours’ and ‘Woman’s Own’ magazines and the Huffington Post.

She currently lives on a windy hill in rural Staffordshire with her husband Mr Grumpy… who is very, very grumpy.

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The Paper Bracelet by Rachael English

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Published: July 9th, 2020
Publisher: Headline
Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery

Welcome to my stop on the tour for this poignant novel. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tour for the invitation to take part, and Headline for the gifted copy.

SYNOPSIS:

Every paper bracelet held a mother’s heartbreaking secret…

Inspired by heartrending true events in a home for unwed mothers, set in Ireland, Boston and London, this novel is perfect for readers of Jill Childs, Emily Gunnis and Kathryn Hughes.

For almost fifty years, Katie Carroll has kept a box tucked away inside her wardrobe. It dates from her time working as a nurse in a west of Ireland home for unwed mothers in the 1970s. The box contains a notebook holding the details of the babies and young women she met there. It also holds many of the babies’ identity bracelets.

Following the death of her husband, Katie makes a decision. The information she possesses could help reunite adopted people with their birth mothers, and she decides to post a message on an internet forum. Soon the replies are rolling in, and Katie finds herself returning many of the bracelets to their original owners. She encounters success and failure, heartbreak and joy. But is she prepared for old secrets to be uncovered in her own life?

MY REVIEW:

“For the first time, she was seeing how the sins of the past reverberated around them. She’d realised that the story wasn’t confined to black-and-white film and bleached-out Polaroids. The women weren’t exhibits in a museum.”

Moving, powerful, compelling, and utterly heartbreaking, The Paper Bracelet is a fictional novel based around the infamous unwed mother and baby homes and forced adoptions that took place in Ireland in our not too distant history. 

Told in dual timelines from multiple points of view, we follow Katie, a former nurse at Carrigbrack, a home for unwed mothers in west Ireland, as she tries to reunite babies born during her time at the hospital with their paper identity bracelets, which she has kept secretly in a box for nearly fifty years, and twenty-year-old Patricia, an unmarried, pregnant woman who is taken to Carrigbrack under a cloud of shame. But there is more to Katie’s story of her time at the home than she’s admitting. Is she ready for her own secrets to be revealed?

What an emotional read. This is certainly one of those books where you need a pack of tissues close to hand whilst reading. I have obviously heard of the homes for unwed mothers in Ireland and some of the horrors that took place there, but it isn’t a subject I’d read a lot about. Rachael English has clearly done a lot of research, and her wealth of knowledge, along with richly drawn and believable characters, made the novel feel so authentic it was like I was reading Katie and Patricia’s memoirs, rather than a work of fiction. This was my first read by the author and I will be buying her previous books after falling in love with her wonderful storytelling. 

While the whole novel is moving, it was the flashbacks to Patricia’s time at Carrigbrack and the stories of what happened to the young women forced to live in the homes, that touched me most of all. Patricia is a twenty-year-old woman studying to be a nurse when she falls pregnant. Knowing that if this had happened just a decade or two later, she would have not been sent to a home and been allowed to make her own choice about whether or not she kept her child was devastating. The lack of autonomy she had, even as a grown woman, was unimaginable to those of us living in the UK in 2020. While there is nothing graphic, it was still difficult, and eye-opening, to read about the bleak, cruel life they were forced to live at the home and the appalling way in which they were treated. I don’t want to say more about the storyline or characters as I don’t want to ruin the book for those yet to read it. 

The Paper Bracelet is a  poignant, affecting and beautifully written novel. There are still many people living today that are living with the repercussions of the events depicted and it is vital we remember them and what they were subjected to. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Rachael English is a presenter on Ireland’s most popular radio programme, Morning Ireland. She lives in Dublin, but was born in England and grew up in County Clare on Ireland’s west coast. Her first novel, GOING BACK, was shortlisted for the most-promising newcomer award at the 2013 Bord Gáis Irish Book Awards.

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All Fall Down (DI Helen Grace 9) by M. J. Arlidge

78c4a0fcPublished: June 11th, 2020
Publisher: Orion
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Crime Series

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for the latest installment in my favourite crime series and one of my most anticipated books this year. Thank you to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for the invitation to take part and Orion for the gifted copy of the novel.

SYNOPSIS:

“You have one hour to live.”

Those are the only words on the phone call. Then they hang up. Surely, a prank? A mistake? A wrong number? Anything but the chilling truth… That someone is watching, waiting, working to take your life in one hour.

But why?

The job of finding out falls to DI Helen Grace: a woman with a track record in hunting killers. However, this is A case where the killer seems to always be one step ahead of the police and the victims.

With no motive, no leads, no clues – nothing but pure fear – an hour can last a lifetime…

MY REVIEW:

D.I. Helen Grace and her team are back in another gripping installment of my favourite crime series. I had been eagerly anticipating this one for months and it was worth the wait. 

There is a killer lurking in the shadows, stalking their prey. Their targets are the survivors of a group of schoolchildren who were abducted by Daniel King eight years ago. All but one of them got away but the killer was never caught and has been an illusive phantom ever since with no definitive sightings despite rumours over the years. Could he be back and looking to finish what he started all those years ago? And are the survivors telling the full story about what happened in that farmhouse? Are there secrets still waiting to be revealed?

M. J. Arlidge has done it again. I was hooked from the first page and immersed in the world he’s created, one that feels so familiar after eight previous books with Helen Grace and her team. The narrative uses multiple points of view and extracts from a book written by one of the survivors to slowly reveal the shocking truth about the killer they are hunting and the events eight years ago. 

Arlidge has a knack for writing characters that feel real and jump from the pages. The ones in this book felt so real that I had to go back and check his previous books as it felt like I’d read the story of the kids in the farmhouse before. I hadn’t, he’s just that good at immersing you in their world. Helen is the kind of flawed, complex and compelling character I love and I’ve enjoyed following her journey over the course of this series. This time Arlidge explores the politics of policing through the lens of interpersonal relationships, with Helen and her colleague Joseph Hudson in a fledgling relationship when the story opens. Their dynamic shifts as the story progresses and I am excited to see where he takes things next for them after how the book ended. 

Skillfully and cunningly crafted, Arlidge has once again written a dark, twisty, layered and tantalising thriller. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for this series in book ten. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✫

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

M. J. Arlidge has worked in television for the last twenty years, specializing in high-end drama production, including prime-time crime serials Silent Witness, Torn, The Little House and, most recently, the hit ITV show Innocent. In 2015 his audiobook exclusive Six Degrees of Assassination was a number-one bestseller. His debut thriller, Eeny Meeny, was the UK’s bestselling crime debut of 2014. It was followed by the bestselling Pop Goes the Weasel, The Doll’s House, Liar Liar, Little Boy Blue, Hide and Seek and Love Me Not. Down to the Woods is the eighth DI Helen Grace thriller. In 2019 he published a standalone thriller, A Gift for Dying.

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Book Feature: The Girl From Widow Hills by Megan Miranda

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Published: July 2nd, 2020
Publisher: Corvus
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Suspense, Coming-of-Age Story

Happy Publication Day to Megan Miranda!

Today I’m featuring this exciting new thriller on the blog. Thank you to TLC booktours for the invitation to take part and Corvus for my gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

Everyone knows the story of the girl from widow hills…

When Arden Maynor was six years old, she was swept away in a terrifying storm and went missing for days. Against all odds, she was found alive, clinging to a storm drain. Fame followed, and so did fans, creeps and stalkers. As soon as she was old enough, Arden changed her name and left Widow Hills behind.

Twenty years later, Olivia, as she is now known, is plagued by night terrors. She often finds herself out of bed in the middle of the night, sometimes streets away from her home. Then one evening she jolts awake in her yard, with the corpse of a man at her feet.

The girl from Widow Hills is about to become the centre of the story, once again…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Megan Miranda is the New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls, The Perfect Stranger, and The Last House Guest, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. She has also written several books for young adults, including Come Find Me, Fragments of the Lost, and The Safest Lies. She grew up in New Jersey, graduated from MIT, and lives in North Carolina with her husband and two children.

Her next adult suspense, The Girl from Widow Hills, will be published in 2020.

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Monstrous Souls by Rebecca Kelly

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Photo Credit: Agora Books

Published: July 23rd, 2020
Publisher: Agora Books
Format: Kindle, Paperback
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Trigger Warning: Sexual Abuse

Welcome to my spot on the blog tour for this compelling debut. Thank  you to Peyton at Agora Books for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the novel.

SYNOPSIS:

Over a decade ago, Heidi was the victim of a brutal attack that left her hospitalised, her younger sister missing, and her best friend dead. But Heidi doesn’t remember any of that. She’s lived her life since then with little memory of her friends and family and no recollection of the crime.

Now, it’s all starting to come back.

As Heidi begins retracing the events that lead to the assault, she is forced to confront the pain and guilt she’s long kept buried. But Heidi isn’t the only one digging up the past, and the closer she gets to remembering the truth, the more danger she’s in.

When the truth is worse than fiction, is the past worth reliving?

An addictive thriller about a case gone cold and the dangers lurking on our doorsteps, Monstrous Souls will have you gripped to the very end.

MY REVIEW:

“It had been a policewoman who had eventually discovered them – not on an illicit camp-out as they had assumed, but a devastating scene of death.” 

At thirteen-years-old Heidi was the lone survivor of a brutal attack that left her hospitalised, her little sister missing and her best friend dead. She has no memories of that day or her life leading up to it. Now, just over a decade later, small fragments of memories are beginning to reappear. As Heidi tries to put the pieces of her past together she finds herself in danger from those who want to keep the truth about that night hidden. But she is determined to find out what happened. Whatever the cost.

“I don’t like the way the memories come, like a letter bomb on the doormat. I don’t like the way they are tagged to feelings of grief and rage and self-recrimination. I am never prepared.”

Monstrous Souls is a pacy, gripping and layered thriller that was hard to put down. The story moves between the dual timelines and multiple narrators as we are given glimpses of events leading up to the night Heidi was attacked and follow her fifteen years later as she begins to regain her memories. As terrible truths are slowly unveiled it is soon clear that there is much more to the events of that night than anyone first imagined.

In this novel the author doesn’t shy away from the exploration of deep and difficult subject matters. She examines our psychology, the things we hide from the world, our deepest secrets and fears, and the effects they have on our actions and relationships with others. She also tackles the difficult subject of abuse with sensitivity, avoiding graphic descriptions while still managing to convey the full horror and depravity. She also shines a light on the reasons victims stay quiet, the guilt they feel and the long-lasting effects of abuse exploring if there are fates that can be worse than death.

“I don’t want to think about these places, about this other life she has to endure… what I have seen in the photograph seeps through me like a toxin.” 

For me the characters are a vital part of any book and the characters this author created were authentic and compelling. I found Heidi to be a very sympathetic and likeable character with an interesting character arc as her memories returned. We witness a seemingly fragile woman emerge into someone with great strength. In the flashbacks we witness the usual teenage angst and squabbles with her best friend become something much more serious when Nina confides in her. Heidi is filled with turmoil as she’s torn between the solace and security of her home and wanting to help her friend escape her private hell. We watch her anguish over how to help and if she should betray her friend’s confidence to do so. Nina is definitely the character I had a soft spot for. Between her awful homelife, the horrors she endures and the knowledge that she is brutally murdered so young, I desperately wished I could save her. Her sorrow, anguish and desolation lept from the page and left me heartbroken.

While I enjoyed all the different perspectives, the mysterious and sinister person stalking Heidi provides some of the best narration of the whole book and his story arc was probably the most nuanced of them all. When his identity was revealed I learned that all my predictions were wrong and my jaw hit the floor.

Monstrous Souls is a sensational, twisty and riveting debut that will have you hooked from start to finish.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

Rebecca Kelly Author Photo

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Rebecca Kelly was brought up with books but denied the pleasure of a television. Although she hated this at the time, she now considers it to have contributed to a life-long passion for reading and writing.

After a misspent education, Rebecca had a variety of jobs. She’s spent the last years raising her children but has lately returned to her first love – writing.

Rebecca lives in the UK with her husband and youngest son and an over-enthusiastic black Labrador, who gives her writing tips.

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The Miseducation of Evie Epworth by Matson Taylor

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Published: July 23rd, 2020
Publisher: Scribner UK
Format: Kindle, Paperback, Audio
Genre: General Fiction, Humour

Welcome to my spot on the tour for this spectacular debut. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and to Scribner UK for the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

July, 1962

Sixteen year-old Evie Epworth stands on the cusp of womanhood. But what kind of a woman will she become?

The fastest milk bottle-delivery girl in East Yorkshire, Evie is tall as a tree and hot as the desert sand. She dreams of an independent life lived under the bright lights of London (or Leeds). The two posters of Adam Faith on her bedroom wall (‘brooding Adam’ and ‘sophisticated Adam’) offer wise counsel about a future beyond rural East Yorkshire. Her role models are Charlotte Bronte, Shirley MacLaine and the Queen. But, before she can decide on a career, she must first deal with the malign presence of her future step-mother, the manipulative and money-grubbing Christine.

If Evie can rescue her bereaved father, Arthur, from Christine’s pink and over-perfumed clutches, and save the farmhouse from being sold off then maybe she can move on with her own life and finally work out exactly who it is she is meant to be.

Moving, inventive and richly comic, The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is the most joyful debut novel of the year and the best thing to have come out of Yorkshire since Wensleydale cheese.

MY REVIEW:

“I am Evie, sixteen and a half, as wise as a tree, as tall as time, the fastest milk bottle in East Yorkshire, hurtling towards Womanhood.
This is all really strange.”

Witty, uplifting and simply irresistible, I devoured this book in almost one sitting; staying up until 3am to finish it. As a proud Yorkshirewoman I admit that it was the setting of this novel along with the brilliant cover that drew me to this book, but it is the delightful story between the pages and the fabulous characters that will make it linger in my heart long after reading.

1962. Evie Epworth,, sixteen-and-a-half, is on the brink of womanhood. But she has no idea what kind of woman she wants to be or what she wants to do next. She lives on a small farm in Yorkshire with her dad, Arthur, and Christine, the gold-digging housekeeper. This novel follows Evie over the course of one summer as she tries to figure out womanhood, the future, and how to help her dad escape Christine’s evil clutches.

“I don’t think I’m ready to be an Adult.
It’s all far too complicated and messy. Not to mention unfair. And cruel. In fact being an adult is so far proving pretty unpropitious (adjective – disappointing, not very promising). It’s not at all what I thought it would be like.
They don’t tell you this part of being an adult in Bunty or on the telly, about having your world torn asunder and being thrown into a world of enforced coiffured labour, wicked stepmothers and grisly water features.”

I love Evie Epworth. From the moment I opened the book and she leapt from the page I adored her. Feisty, funny, quirky, intelligent and caring, Evie is easy to like and root for and is someone I would love being around in real life. I loved how she would randomly  give the reader the definition of a word she’d read in the dictionary they kept in the downstairs loo. I think she could be one of  my favourite comic heroines of all time.

There is a lively cast of compelling and memorable characters in the book but the only one I hated was Christine. Christine was the epitome of the evil stepmother:  narcissistic, cruel, vapid and greedy. She is a wonderfully written villain and I loved her dynamic with Evie that was ripe for conflict, which the author exploits to perfection. 

Matson Taylor is a comedy master. He had me hooked from the first page with his witty, offbeat prose and he clearly has a talent for uproarious characters you won’t soon forget. Using richly drawn imagery he brought the Yorkshire countryside of the 1960s and the community he’d created to life as  vividly as any movie screen. 

Fresh, wry, and laugh-out-loud funny, this addictive debut  was like a hot cup of Yorkshire Tea on a cold day. It evoked a real sense of home for me and was a joy to read from beginning to end. Mastson Taylor is sensational new talent and I am excited to see what he writes next. 

I do have one small complaint about this book before I finish. And that is that the  many mentions of Bettys made me hungry and I started browsing online for their cakes. I’m still craving them days later! 

All jokes aside, I highly recommend this book if you need a pick-me-up, or are just wanting something fun to read.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

Matson Taylor Author Pic

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Matson Taylor grew up in Yorkshire but now lives in London. He is a design historian and works at the V&A museum, where he teaches on the History of Design programme and spends a lot of time trying to convince people that the luxury goods industry helped win the Second World War.

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