Tag: May books

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Blog Tours book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures

Blog Tour: Worst Idea Ever by Jane Fallon

Published: April 29th, 2021
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Genre: Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance, Domestic Fiction, Humour, Humorous Fiction

SYNOPSIS:

Best friends tell each other everything.Or do they?

Georgia and Lydia are so close, they’re practically sisters.

So when Lydia starts an online business that struggles, Georgia wants to help her – but Lydia’s not the kind to accept a handout. Setting up a fake Twitter account, Georgia hopes to give her friend some anonymous moral support by posing as a potential customer.

But then Lydia starts confiding in her new internet buddy and Georgia discovers she doesn’t know her quite as well as she thought. Georgia knows she should reveal the truth – especially when Lydia starts talking about her – but she just can’t help herself.

Until Lydia reveals a secret that could not only end their friendship, but also blow-up Georgia’s marriage . . .

Georgia’s in too deep.

But what can she save?

Her marriage, her friendship – or just herself?

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MY REVIEW:

Worst Idea Ever is a sharply-observed story of tumultuous female friendship, a misguided act of charity, jealousy, vengeance and betrayal. 

Georgia and Lydia have been best friends for over twenty years. But while on the surface they appear to be soul sisters who are more like family and friends, they are both hiding secret jealousies and rivalry that lurks beneath their love and support of one another. When Georgia, a successful children’s author and illustrator, drunkenly creates a fake twitter account to secretly try and boost Lydia’s confidence in her own creative endeavours, she sparks a chain of events that sees their resentment and irritation boil over and threatens to tear them apart forever. 

Why on earth have I waited so long to read one of this author’s books?! After inhaling this book in pretty much one sitting and staying up until 3am to finish it as I NEEDED answers, I’m kicking myself for letting her books languish on my shelves for so long. I loved how she pulled the rug from under me with a jaw-dropping twist that took this from an entertaining but predictable read, to one that had me on the edge of my seat trying desperately to figure out what would happen next. It was pure genius and made it impossible to put the book down. 

Expertly written, Fallon entertains while examining the complexities of issues such as friendship, jealousy, deception and revenge, putting the reader in the shoes of both sides of the story so they can make their own mind up about who and what is right or wrong. She also looks at the lies we tell ourselves to excuse our bad decisions, the damage we can cause to others when trying to do the right thing, and the masks people can wear to hide who they really are. 

Georgia and Lydia are great characters that I enjoyed individually and as a duo. They have that easy rapport of long-standing, close friendship, that I’m sure we all recognise. They’ve been there for each other’s highest highs and lowest lows and feel like they know each other inside out. But there are things unspoken, fragments of envy and conflict they don’t give a voice to, that lurk under the surface and fester. It is a combination of all of these things that leads to Georgia’s misguided act of kindness and Lydia’s Judas kiss of betrayal. 

If you’re looking for an entertaining read full of twists and tension, then this is the book for you. Compulsive, clever, witty and utterly brilliant, I am an instant fan. Now I’m off to buy more of her books…

Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Jane Fallon is the multi-award-winning television producer behind shows such as This Life, Teachers and 20 Things to Do before You’re 30. Her debut novel “Getting Rid of Matthew’ was published in 2007 and became a Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller as have her subsequent books ‘Got You Back’, ‘Foursome’, ‘The Ugly Sister’, ‘Skeletons’, ‘Strictly Between Us’,’My Sweet Revenge’, ‘Faking Friends’ and ‘Tell Me a Secret’
Her 10th novel Queen Bee is available now to pre order in both paperback and for Kindle.

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

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BUY THE BOOK:

Waterstones* | Bookshop.org* | Amazon* | Google Books | Apple Books | Kobo
*These are affiliate links

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Thank you to Michael Joseph for the invitation to take part in the blog tour and for the gifted ARC. Please check out the reviews from the other bloggers taking part in the tour.

Thanks for reading Bibliophiles 😊 Emma xxx

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Blog Tours book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures

Blog Tour: The Cat and the City by Nick Bradley

Published: May 6th, 2021
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Genre: Urban Fiction, Historical Fiction
Format: Paperback, Hardcover, Kindle, Audio

SYNOPSIS:

In Tokyo – one of the world’s largest megacities – a stray cat is wending her way through the back alleys. And, with each detour, she brushes up against the seemingly disparate lives of the city-dwellers, connecting them in unexpected ways.

But the city is changing. As it does, it pushes her to the margins where she chances upon a series of apparent strangers – from a homeless man squatting in an abandoned hotel, to a shut-in hermit afraid to leave his house, to a convenience store worker searching for love. The cat orbits Tokyo’s denizens, drawing them ever closer.

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MY REVIEW:

This delightful book was not at all what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be a book from the cat’s perspective about it’s life and experiences in Tokyo, but instead found myself reading a collection of short stories featuring different narrators set throughout the city that each feature appearances from the same stray calico cat.

While they appear at first to be connected only by the cat, the author skillfully interweaves the stories and characters, intricately connecting them to craft a rich and vivid tapestry of Tokyo and it’s residents. The book is filled with a cast of fantastic and captivating characters. The most memorable ones for me were Flo, an American woman working as a translator, and Kensuke, a young boy being bullied at school for being half Korean. My only complaint is that we don’t see enough of the cat. While I liked reading about the residents of Tokyo, I would have liked a chapter from his perspective or more of him in their stories.

You are taken through a rainbow of emotions as the author fills the stories with heartbreak, hope, humour and tenderness. He takes you on an adventure of the best and worst that this city has to offer, touching on subjects such as the moral standards in Japanese culture, sexuality, homelessness and loneliness, expertly blending them in amongst the lighthearted aspects of the stories such as cute cat cafes, Street Fighter and manga comics. 

Moving, original, immersive and evocative, this striking debut brings Tokyo to life. Wonderfully written and surprising, I devoured it in just a few hours. I would highly recommend this book, especially if you’re looking for something a little different. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Nick Bradley was born in Germany in 1982 and grew up in Bath. After graduating with a master’s degree in English literature, he went to Japan for “just one year” and returned to England ten years later to attend the Creative Writing MA at UEA, graduating in 2016.

He has worked in a variety of jobs, including: Japanese teacher, English teacher, video game translator, travel writer, and photographer. He speaks Japanese fluently, and recently completed a PhD funded by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation in Creative & Critical Writing at UEA, focussing on the figure of the cat in Japanese literature.

The Cat and The City is his first novel

His favourite Street Fighter II character is Ken.

He lives in Norwich. (Aha).

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BUY THE BOOK:

Waterstones* | Bookshop.org* | Amazon* | Google Books | Apple Books | Kobo
*These are affiliate links

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Thank you to Lisa at TLC Tours for the invitation to take part in this blog tour and to Atlantic Books for my gifted copy of the book.

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Thanks for reading Bibliophiles, Emma xxx

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures

Book Review: The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary

Published: April 29th, 2021
Publisher: Quercus
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Romance Fiction
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio

Thank you to Quercus books for the gifted ARC of this book.

SYNOPSIS:

THE BRAND NEW NOVEL FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR, BETH O’LEARY.

Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in rural Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed.

But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie’s ex, Dylan, who she’s avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.

Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they’ve totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with four-hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can’t avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship…

Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly, is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?

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MY REVIEW:

The Road Trip is a story about the joy and terror of falling in love, and the piercing pain and grief of heartbreak. This claustrophobic, locked-room novel centres around Addie and Dylan, a former couple who are forced to share a car ride to their mutual friend’s wedding after a car accident. In close quarters for the first time since their split, they remember the halcyon days of their relationship and then examine the charred ashes that remain, forcing them to confront what went wrong between them.

Beth O’Leary has done it again. She is one of my auto-buy authors and is always one of my first recommendations when someone wants an uplifting read. Her books are always a comfort, like putting on your favourite warm and cosy cardigan on a cold day. They warm your heart and make you smile. You know you’re getting quality writing and an entertaining story filled with real and compelling characters. The Road Trip certainly ticked these boxes, but it also had a slightly more sedated tone. It is still funny, but it focuses more on the emotion of the story than the author’s previous books. 

The storytelling is compelling and as the story progresses we see that Beth has cleverly woven together two love stories about the same couple. I love how she always finds a way to put an original spin on the traditional romance tropes to create something special. I really enjoyed the contrast of seeing the beginnings of their love story and how the author explored the nuances of love and heartache through the two timelines. We see them in the heady days of falling in love: the passion that sizzles between them and how they can’t bear to be apart.  And then it’s demise: the anger and bitterness of betrayal, and  how the person you once shared everything with is now a stranger.

As always, Beth has filled the story with an entertaining and familiar cast of characters. Along for the ride with Addie and Dylan – and driving up the tension – are  Addie’s siter Deb, Dylan’s best friend Marcus and Rodney, who they don’t know but the girls took pity on and  agreed to take to the wedding. I had a soft spot for feisty Deb and loved any scene she was in. I could easily read a book with her as the protagonist as she is just so entertaining to read. 

Fun, fresh and surprising, The Road Trip is a heartwarming and uplifting novel that is the perfect summer read.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Beth O’Leary is a Sunday Times bestselling author whose books have been translated into more than 30 languages.
She wrote her debut novel, The Flatshare, on her train journey to and from her job at a children’s publisher.
She now lives in the Hampshire countryside and writes full time.

Website | Instagram | Facebook

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BUY THE BOOK:

Waterstones* | Bookshop.org* | Amazon* | Google Books | Apple Books | Kobo
*These are affiliate links

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Thanks for reading Bibliophiles😊 Emma xxx

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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

The Glass House by Eve Chase

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Published: May 14th, 2020
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Mystery, Gothic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Suspense, Domestic Fiction

Today is my stop on the blog tour for this captivating mystery. Thank you to Gaby at Michael Joseph for the invitation to take part and the eBook ARC.

SYNOPSIS:

Outside a remote manor house in an idyllic wood, a baby girl is found.

The Harrington family takes her in and disbelief quickly turns to joy. They’re grieving a terrible tragedy of their own and the beautiful baby fills them with hope, lighting up the house’s dark, dusty corners.

Desperate not to lose her to the authorities, they keep her secret, suspended in a blissful summer world where normal rules of behaviour – and the law – don’t seem to apply.

But within days a body will lie dead in the grounds.

And their dreams of a perfect family will shatter like glass.

Years later, the truth will need to be put back together again, piece by piece . . .

From the author of Black Rabbit Hall, The Glass House is an emotional, thrilling book about family secrets and belonging – and how we find ourselves when we are most lost.

MY REVIEW:

“Only the trees know what happened in the woods that night.” 

August 1971. The Harrington family are spending their summer at Foxcote Manor in the Forest of Dean in the hope that the idyllic setting will help them recover after a family tragedy. But it doesn’t seem to be working and they feel more fractured than ever. 

But then a baby girl is found on a tree stump in the woods by their house. The family decide to keep her secret and take her in rather than alerting the authorities and it seems like their answer to their healing has arrived.

But then a few days later a body is found in the woods and their idyll is shattered. None of their lives will be the same again. 

The Glass House is an atmospheric, mysterious, compelling and riveting story about deep, dark family secrets that hold the key to the truth of a mystery that has lingered for almost fifty years. It is one of the most beautifully written mysteries that I’ve read and each word has been perfectly polished so that not one is wasted. The author has created a memorable cast of characters and a richly drawn sense of place that gave the novel a mysterious, eerie and haunting ambience. 

Told in dual timelines by multiple narrators, the complex and layered story is tightly plotted and I loved how the author slowly wove together the mysterious and tragic events of 1971 with those in the present day. I was utterly immersed in its pages and inhabited the world inside this book along with the characters. 

The Glass House is an enthralling, dark, and twisting mystery. It was one of my most anticipated books this year and did not disappoint. I highly recommend this exquisitely written book. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

From Amazon:

I’m an author who writes rich and suspenseful novels about families – dysfunctional, passionate – and the sort of explosive secrets that can rip them apart. I write stories I’d love to read. Mysteries. Page-turners. Worlds you can lose yourself in. Reading time is so precious: I try to make my books worth of that sweet spot.

My office is a garden studio/shed. There are roses outside. I live in Oxford with my three children, husband, and a ridiculously hairy golden retriever, Harry.

 Website  | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon | Watersones |Hive | Google Books | Kobo

The Glass House blog tour

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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

Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Published: May 14th, 2020
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Historical Fiction, Biographical Fiction

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this magnificent  debut. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and Bloomsbury for the gifted copy.

SYNOPSIS:

Lover. Murderer. Mother. Meet TSARINA, the most powerful woman history ever forgot.

Spring 1699: Illegitimate, destitute and strikingly beautiful, Marta has survived the brutal Russian winter in her remote Baltic village. Sold by her family into household labour at the age of fifteen, Marta survives by committing a crime that will force her to go on the run.

A world away, Russia’s young ruler, Tsar Peter I, passionate and iron-willed, has a vision for transforming the traditionalist Tsardom of Russia into a modern, Western empire. Countless lives will be lost in the process.

Falling prey to the Great Northern War, Marta cheats death at every turn, finding work as a washerwoman at a battle camp. One night at a celebration, she encounters Peter the Great. Relying on her wits and her formidable courage, and fuelled by ambition, desire and the sheer will to live, Marta will become Catherine I of Russia. But her rise to the top is ridden with peril; how long will she survive the machinations of Peter’s court, and more importantly, Peter himself?

MY REVIEW:

“He is dead. My beloved husband, the mighty Tsar of all the Russias, has died – and just in time.”

Tsarina is a story of power, lust, sex, murder and betrayal. Of rags-to-riches. Of Catherine, the first Tsarina of all the Russias. 

It begins in February 1725, on the night that Peter the Great, Tsar of All the Russias, dies. Catherine, her children and his advisors try to conceal his death for as long as possible to delay their fate. It is a matter of life and death. The story then moves between that night and flashbacks to Catherine’s life, beginning when she was just thirteen-years-old, still known as Marta and living with her serf family. We then follow her journey from poor peasant girl to Tsarina; a story that would be deemed too far fetched if you tried to sell it to a publisher. But every word of this novel is based in fact, with just a few liberties taken as the details of Catherine’s early life is shrouded in mystery.

I have always had a love for history and ever since studying the fall of the Tsars for my History A Level I have been fascinated with their story. So when I saw this book advertised I knew from just the title that I HAD to read it and after reading the synopsis it became one of my most anticipated books of the year. Thankfully, this magnificent debut surpassed every one of my high expectations. It was an all-encompassing read. A book that I took my time with, taking time to soak in every word, but also one that I couldn’t put down or stop thinking about when I had to do so. 

Ellen Alpsten is a new talent to watch. Exquisitely written and wonderfully crafted, her meticulous research shines through on every page, bringing back to life those who lived and died three hundred years ago and making you feel like they are right there beside you with her powerful storytelling. I was hooked from the start and became totally lost in Catherine’s story, living every word of this book while reading it. Every moment of love and joy, every piercing pain of heartbreak and every gut-wrenching horror she witnessed and experienced, I felt along with her. 

“Together, we have lived and loved, and together, we ruled.”

After reading this novel it seems unimaginable that Catherine’s story has been forgotten. That such a strong, brave and remarkable woman had been consigned to a footnote in history. At that time life for most of Russia’s people was hard, harsh and bleak. Even those in the upper classes lived in fear of falling out the Tsar’s favour and losing not only their wealth but their lives. Peter had a new vision for Russia and was a ruthless leader who was willing to sacrifice anyone and everything to achieve it. Even as his wife Catherine walked a tightrope knowing she could be stripped of everything and either sent to a convent or killed should the fancy take him. The brutality of life at that time and the lack of rights that were held by even the highest-ranking women is starkly illuminated in Catherine’s story in sobering detail. 

Tsarina is a masterpiece of historical fiction. Atmospheric, intoxicating, unsettling, and compelling, this outstanding novel is one that will linger long after you close it’s pages. This gloriously decadent debut is one you don’t want to miss. 

Ellen Alpsten Author Pic

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ellen Alpsten was born and raised in the Kenyan highlands. Today, Ellen works as an author and as a journalist for international publications such as Vogue, Standpoint, and CN Traveller. She lives in London with her husband, three sons, and a moody fox red Labrador. Tsarina is her debut novel.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

Twitter

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon
Waterstones
Book Depository
Google Books
Apple Books
Kobo

Tsarina BT Poster

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Bride by Wendy Clarke ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Published: May 20th, 2020
Publisher: Bookouture
Format: Kindle
Genre: Psychological Thriller

Happy Publication Day! I’m thrilled to be sharing my post on the day of release. Thank you to Bookouture for the invitation to take part and the eBook ARC.

SYNOPSIS:

The moment Joanna told me she was engaged, I had this awful feeling that something was wrong.

We used to speak on the phone every day. Growing up I spent more time at her house than I did at my own. I’d always imagined what it would be like to see her get married, and now I didn’t even know her fiancé’s name.

She asked me to come and meet Mark and I intended to tell her to slow down. You can’t know someone for a month and be sure that you want to spend the rest of your lives together.

When I got to Joanna’s front door, only Mark was there. He was charming and gorgeous and nothing but nice to me, and I started to understand.

And then he told me that Joanna was missing.

The Bride is a twisty, unputdownable psychological thriller that will have you reading until late at night. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl and anything by Lisa Jewell.

MY REVIEW:

Alice and Joanna were best friends for years. They were inseparable: doing everything together and even dressing alike, until one day something happened that changed everything. They haven’t spoken for 10 years until Alice gets a message out of the blue from Joanna saying she’s getting married and she wants to see Alice. So Alice travels to London hoping that this trip will get their friendship back on track. But when she arrives she is greeted by Mark, Joanna’s fiance. Though he’s charming and kind Alice can’t help but feel there’s something a little off. And then he tells her Joanna is missing.

The Bride is a story filled with secrets, lies, betrayal and revenge. A mysterious, dark, sinister and suspicious read. It starts at a steady pace but the tension soon ramps up and I was on the edge of my seat as it reached its crescendo. 

When we meet Alice her life is falling apart so the text from Joanna is just what she needs. When she learns Joanna is missing she is steadfast in her determination to do everything she can to help find her. But there are two mysteries in this story and while Alice is helping Mark solve the mystery of Joanna’s disappearance, flashbacks telling the story of their friendship offer small clues to the mystery of what terrible thing happened to tear them apart. And while Mark seems genuinely concerned for his fiancee, I had a strange feeling about him from the start. Was this because he was behind it all or a case of the author cleverly throwing me off the scent of the truth? I couldn’t decide. Thrown into the mix were other suspicious and unreliable characters who made it even harder to predict what had happened and where the story would go next. 

Atmospheric, unpredictable, claustrophobic and filled with twists and turns, I flew through this entertaining thriller in under a day.  A great read for anyone who likes their thrillers gore-free.

Wendy Clarke

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Wendy Clarke started her career writing short fiction and serials for national women’s magazines. After having over three hundred short stories published, she progressed to writing novels. With a degree in psychology, and intrigued with how the human mind can affect behaviour, it was inevitable that she would eventually want to explore her darker side.

In her previous life, Wendy has published three collections of short stories and has been a short story judge for the Chiltern Writers Group, Nottingham Writers Group and The Society of Women Writers and journalists.

Wendy lives with her husband, cat and step-dog in Sussex and when not writing is usually dancing, singing or watching any programme that involves food

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

Website
Twitter
Facebook

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon
Google Books
Apple Books
Kobo

The Bride - BT Popster

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

Dear Child by Romy Hausmann ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Published: May 14th, 2020
Publisher: Quercus
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery

Welcome to my spot on the Social Media Blast for this sensational debut. Thank you to Quercus for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of this book.

SYNOPSIS:

You escaped. But your nightmare has just begun.

The No 1 International Bestseller – 250.000 copies sold in Germany – 5th bestselling paperback in Germany in 2019

A windowless shack in the woods. Lena’s life and that of her two children follows the rules set by their captor, the father: meals, bathroom visits, study time are strictly scheduled and meticulously observed. He protects his family from the dangers lurking in the outside world and makes sure that his children will always have a mother to look after them.

One day Lena manages to flee – but the nightmare continues. It seems as if her tormentor wants to get back what belongs to him. And then there is the question whether she really is the woman called ‘Lena’, who disappeared without a trace over thirteen years ago. The police and Lena’s family are all desperately trying to piece together a puzzle that doesn’t quite seem to fit.

MY REVIEW:

I first heard about this book when I received a sampler of it last summer. I devoured it quickly and was left wanting more. Lucky for me, I received an ARC of the full novel and was excited to finally have the answers to all of my questions. Once again, I devoured this story, only reluctantly putting it down when my eyelids became too heavy to keep reading. I was addicted and completely unprepared for the rollercoaster ride this story took me on. 

Dear Child begins at the point where most novels would end; when Lena and her daughter Hannah escape after years of imprisonment in a cabin in the woods. The police think that they’ve finally found Lena Beck, a woman missing for thirteen years, but when her father Matthias arrives he is adamant the woman lying in the hospital bed is not his daughter. But when he lays eyes on Hannah he sees a clone of his daughter as a child. With Lena injured by a car in the escape she is unable to answer any question and Hannah is reluctant to talk. As snippets of information are slowly revealed, the police begin to piece together the puzzle. But they soon find that things aren’t quite what they first appear to be.

OMG! What a book! Spectacularly written, masterfully plotted, surprising and sizzling with suspense, this complex and layered thriller had me hooked from start to finish.

The author filled the pages with dark, nuanced and compelling characters and unreliable narrators. Of the three narrators Hannah was the one I felt most drawn to. It was heartbreaking to read how normal she thought her world was, especially how she would berate her mother when she was beaten by her father for doing something to deserve it rather than thinking it was him in the wrong.  But while I felt a lot of empathy for her, I also felt there was something not quite right about her. She is a peculiar child and while at first I put that down to her secluded upbringing, after a while I started to wonder if she was all that she seemed. 

The abductor, known only as ‘Papa’, is another character who stood out to me. Papa is an enigma, his identity shrouded in mystery. Even Lena doesn’t ever say his name. He is a loathsome, sadistic, controlling and violent man who strikes fear into Lena and the children. Most of the abuse is inferred but enough detail is included to give the reader an understanding of the complete terror they felt and understand why Lena would acquiesce to his will.

Tense, chilling, twisty and unpredictable, Dear Child is a riveting and spectacular debut that you won’t want to put down. This is one you don’t want to miss!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Romy Hausmann was born in the former GDR in 1981. At the age of twenty-four she became chief editor at a film production company in Munich. Since the birth of her son she has been working as a freelancer in TV. Dear Child is her thriller debut. Romy Hausmann lives with her family in a remote house in the woods near Stuttgart.

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Her Last Mistake (Detective Gina Harte Book 6) by Carla Kovach ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Published: May 11th, 2020
Publisher: Bookouture
Format: Kindle, Audio
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction, Noir Fiction, Police Procedural

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

SYNOPSIS:

Dressed in a sage green bridesmaid dress, and smiling for pictures, Holly is the happiest she’s ever been. Hours later, Holly is dead.

People love to hate Holly Long. Smart, beautiful and a woman who men find it hard to say no to, she’s the town’s most gossiped about resident.

Now Holly’s body lies in her hotel room, strangled at her best friend’s wedding party. And the gossip has stopped, because nobody wants to look like they did it.

When police search Holly’s immaculate apartment, amongst her stylish furnishings and expensive jewellery, they discover a different side to Holly. Orderly and precise, she wasn’t the chaotic party girl everyone thought her to be. In fact, Holly was a planner, and her next plan was to come out and tell her biggest secret – something she had been hiding for months, something that had the potential to ruin the lives of more than one wedding guest.

There are plenty of people who might have wanted to kill Holly, but only one who has finally made good on their promise.

An unputdownable crime thriller with an ending you will never see coming, this is the latest gripping novel from bestselling author Carla Kovach. If you like Angela Marsons, Cara Hunter and Clare Mackintosh, you’ll love Her Last Mistake.

MY REVIEW:

“The beast has escaped and it was never going back in its cave now, he was more than just a player – he had an urge.” 

Secrets, lies, betrayal, and a killer seduced by darkness; a perfect storm that leads to brutal murder in this compelling thriller. 

When Holly Long is found brutally murdered at her best friend’s wedding reception Detective Gina Harte and her team are called in to find her killer. Her family and friends seem bewildered that anyone could hurt her, but Holly was harbouring a secret that threatened to ruin the lives of more than one of the wedding guests. The question is, which one silenced her before she could tell?

I’m a big fan of a book series, especially in crime fiction. One of the things I love about them is that when you pick it up you know what you’re getting. Whenever I pick up a book in this series I know I’m getting a gripping, well-written, readable thriller with some violent murders thrown in for good measure. Her Last Mistake certainly lived up to those expectations and it was great to be back with Gina and her team. 

In this installment Gina is struggling with the fact that Briggs knows the dark secret she’s kept for two decades and the fear that she will lose herself if she opens up even more and relinquishes the control she’s kept all this time. And for Gina, losing herself means losing the ability to do her job and punish those who hurt others. It was good to see her wrestle with her vulnerable side during this book as she wrestled with relying on and confiding in someone else after so many years of only having herself for those things. I’m really rooting for her and Briggs though and would love to see Gina get her happy ever after. 

Carla Kovach has a talent for writing twisty crime fiction full of relatable characters and villains that send a shiver down your spine. I can honestly say that the mysterious killer in this book made my skin crawl more than any other that she’s written. His penchant for sadistic sexual thrills and murder mixed with the ability to charm those around him made him someone incredibly dangerous and hard to find. The chapters from his point of view were so well written that at times I felt sick and was covered in goosebumps from how much he creeped me out. 

Her Last Mistake is a dark, twisty and disturbing thriller that is hard to predict.  I flew through it in just a day,  hooked by the tension-filled plot and the need to know the killer’s identity and was on tenterhooks right until the pivotal moment when all was finally revealed. I would recommend this book and the previous books in the series to anyone who enjoys a well-written thriller.

Carla Kovach

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Carla Kovach was born in Birmingham, UK and now resides in Redditch, Worcestershire. Author of supernatural drama ‘Flame,’ psychological thriller ‘To Let,’ crime thriller ‘Whispers Beneath the Pines,’ and holiday comedy, ‘Meet Me at Marmaris Castle.’ Carla also writes stage and screenplays, some of which have been produced in the Worcestershire area. Her feature film ‘Penny for the Guy’ is being made and is set for release in 2019.

Her latest book, Her Last Mistake is the sixth book in the DI Gina Harte crime series.

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