Tag: The Bride

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

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:

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BUY THE BOOK:

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The Bride - BT Popster