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Thursday, 30 May 2019

Blog Tour - The Chain by Adrian McKinty






You just dropped off your child at the bus stop. 

A panicked stranger calls your phone. 

Your child has been kidnapped, and the stranger explains that their child has also been kidnapped, by a completely different stranger. 

The only way to get your child back is to kidnap another child within 24 hours. 

Your child will be released only when the next victim's parents kidnap yet another child, and most importantly, the stranger explains, if you don't kidnap a child, or if the next parents don't kidnap a child, your child will be murdered. 

You are now part of The Chain





The Chain is a fast paced, engaging and highly addictive read which grabs the readers attention from the very start and keeps that attention to the very last word.

A parent's worse nightmare is that their child is missing, only made worse when they receive a phone call to say that they have actually been kidnapped. I am sure that a parent will do anything necessary to get their child back in their arms, however if the only way is to kidnap another child what would you do?

The Chain would make a great book to read and discuss within a book club as I am sure that there will be many opposing views towards the content. 

I really enjoyed the book and although I found the second half of the book weaker, I still had to read to the end. The plot was addictive and the characters were believable and I cared about them. 

I received this book as part of Orion Books The Chain blog tour in return for an honest review. 

Wednesday, 29 May 2019

Books on Tour - Fierce Girls by Emma Tallon



Fans of Martina Cole, Kimberley Chambers and Jessie Keane will be hooked by Fierce Girl.

When loyalty is everything, betrayal hits harder.

Anna Davis has grown up. She’s not the naive runaway who escaped her vicious gangland boyfriend anymore. She’s tougher than ever and she won’t let anyone take advantage of her – or the people she loves.

Anna’s devoted boyfriend, East End baron Freddie Tyler, is in trouble. There’s a rat in his organisation and he needs to stop the leaks before a very big mistake from his past is revealed to people who will want swift and brutal revenge.

Anna wants to help Freddie but she’s got problems of her own. Her best friend Tanya’s mother has turned up, and is staking a claim on Tanya’s share of their club. With Tanya buying her mum’s reformed sinner act, Anna knows she needs to act before both their friendship and Club Anya goes up in flames.

But if there’s one thing Anna and Freddie have learned, it’s how to play the game, and as their enemies close in they’ll fight with everything they’ve got to protect the life they’ve built.


Fierce Girl is Emma Tallon's fourth book in the fantastic series featuring Anna Davis, a girl who has had to grow up quick and left her gangland boyfriend to make it on her own in the world. 

I would recommend that readers catch up on the three previous books in the series before picking up 'Fierce Girl' as storylines continue and are picked up from previous books throughout the book. 

I would love to see Emma's novels being made into a television series. There are fantastic characters and the storylines are perfect for television. Each new book adds more fantastic characters and storylines and the pace increases and draws the reader in.

The storylines are believable and there are dark and gruesome crimes within, however these are all in keeping with the setting and genre.

Thank you to Bookouture for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and for a copy of the book in return for an honest review. 

Blog Tour - Confessions of a Bad Mother: The Teenage Years by Stephanie Calman




When you’re pregnant you think: ‘I’m having a baby’, not a person who will eventually catch trains by themselves, share a fridge with ten strangers, go to a festival in Croatia without succumbing to a drug overdose, and one day, bring you a gin and tonic when your mother is dying. 
Confessions of a Bad Mother - The Teenage Years

We imagine the teenage years as a sort of domestic meteor strike, when our dear, sweet child, hitherto so trusting and mild, is suddenly replaced by a sarcastic know-all who isn’t interested in the wisdom we have to pass on. But with great honesty and refreshingly bracing wit, Stephanie Calman shows that adolescence in fact begins much earlier, around the age of seven.

And having nurtured them through every stage of development, from walking to school by themselves to their first all-night party, you find yourself alone – bereaved even – as they skip off to university without a second glance.
Candid, touching and very, very funny, Confessions of a Bad Mother: The Teenage Years offers hope to despairing and exhausted parents everywhere. Read it and discover that your teenager is not the enemy after all.




When my husband and I found out we were expecting our first child we bought a book 'What to expect when you are expecting', when our daughter was born we bought 'What to expect during the first year' and as our daughter grew so did our bookshelf of 'self-help' books about our developing child and they helped us through a number of stages in our daughter's (and subsequent son's) early years. They were informative but very regimented and politically correct solutions to things like potty training and sleeping through the night.

However as our children grew, the number of new additions to the bookshelf decreased as we learnt that every child is unique and will do things how and when they like and not as is written down in a book. Advice was less from the 'expert books' and more from our peers or from internet chat groups but again this advice dried up as the children grew older- welcome to 'Confessions of a Bad Mother: The Teenage Years!'

'Confessions of a Bad Mother: The Teenage Years' is a laugh out loud book that had me, as a reader and parent of two teenagers, realise that my children are normal, that we haave done an okay job of bringing them up and they have turned out okay! 

It is a book that I will be recommending to all my friends and to anyone who has a child beginning their teenage years or to those who are in the midst of their teenage years to remind them that the end is in sight and there is a life after those turmustolous years. Everyone should read this - it is a real hoot!

Thank you to Picador Books for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Monday, 27 May 2019

Blog Tour - Bonnie and Stan by Anna Stuart






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After 50 years together Stan still adores his wife... so why is he dating again?

Bonnie and Stan are soulmates. They met during the Swinging Sixties, to the soundtrack of The Beatles and the Merseybeat scene. Now they've grown up and grown old together, had children and grandchildren. They are finally building their dream home, when disaster strikes.
Stan is running out of time, and can't bear the thought of leaving Bonnie alone. Alongside his teenage granddaughter Greya, he forms a plan to find Bonnie a new love of her life. And she must never find out...
Bonnie & Stan is a poignant, surprising love story set during the Swinging Sixties and the present day. Ultimately feel-good and full of emotion, Bonnie & Stan will make your heart sing.

Bonnie and Stan is a fantastic, nostalgic read that, although it does feature a character who is dying, is a beautiful book that celebrates romance and the need for a man to protect his wife long after his own death.

Bonnie and Stan is a celebration of love and which started in the Swinging Sixties in Liverpool and is a celebration of the era. There is a nostalgia within the writing as Anna celebrates the famous music scene and there are lots of great memories that will resonate with the reader. Anna has included lots of small details within the book and it is great to read about the Cavern Club and other areas of Liverpool.


I really liked both Bonnie and Stan, a couple who have been together for 50 years and are still in love with each other. They reminded me of my grandparents, a generation where couples stay together and ride the roller coaster of life, taking each high and low together and attacking life. Stan is a very proud man and protects his lady to the end.

Although the book does address a relationship where one is dying, I found the book to be a celebration and a happy read. There are times of sadness and memories but I found myself smiling while reading the book, not tears down my face.

Thank you to the publishers, Trapeze Books, and to Compulsive Readers, for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and for a copy of the book in return for am honest review.



Saturday, 25 May 2019

Books on Tour - The Woman Next Door by Sue Watson

Today I am pleased to be taking part in Bookouture's Books on Tour to celebrate the publication of Sue Watson's latest release, The Woman Next Door.


‘Have you ever had a secret that you couldn’t tell a soul, even the people you love? I have.’

Lucy has a kind and adoring husband, a job she loves as a teacher, and a house on Mulberry Avenue with floaty curtains and the softest bed linen. After her troubled childhood, she knows life will never be perfect, but it’s pretty close.

She’s also got Amber, right next door. They never run out of things to talk about. Even if Amber’s life – with her high-profile job and handsome, wealthy boyfriend – is more glamorous than Lucy’s.

But then Amber starts to hint that her life isn’t all it seems, and when she comes to Lucy, terrified, saying that she’s getting threatening messages, Lucy promises to protect her.


The closer Lucy gets to anyone, the harder it is to keep her past to herself. But Amber’s boyfriend has left her just when she needs him most, and she doesn’t have anyone else.

Lucy knows all too well that people aren’t always what they seem. Sometimes they have secrets. And they’d do anything to keep them. Lucy’s still sure: she can trust her friend... can’t she?

Gripping and unputdownable, The Woman Next Door tells a story about the dark side of friendship, and has a final twist that will shock every reader. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, Friend Request, and Clare Mackintosh.



Sue Watson has done it again! The Woman Next Door is a gripping psychological thriller that explores the friendship between two women and the darkside that underlies beneath the happy appearance that outsiders see.

Sue has created some fantastic characters in Lucy, the woman who has it all, the perfect life with a husband and a great reliable job,  and Amber, a celebrity who has it all and the gorgeous boyfriend. But of course not all is as it seems and as a mysterious narrator interrupts the story with their narrative the reader is left wondering what the truth is and eagerly reads just that little bit more to find out the truth - but Sue keeps the big reveal to the very end with a twist that I never saw coming.

A fantastic psychological thriller read that I recommend to all this summer.

Thank you to Kim Nash at Bookouture for inviting me to take part in this Books on Tour and a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Thursday, 23 May 2019

Blog Tour - My Mother's Daughter by Ann O'Loughlin





County Wicklow, Ireland. Margo has just lost her husband Conor and is grieving his passing, unsure how she and her daughter Elsa will survive without him. Then she receives a letter that turns everything she thought she knew on its head. Not only has she lost her husband, but now Margo fears she could lose her daughter as well.

Ohio, United States. Cassie has just split from her husband acrimoniously. Upset and alone she does not know how to move forward. Then her ex-husband demands a paternity test for their daughter Tilly and sorrow turns to anger as Cassie faces the frightening possibility of losing her daughter.

A powerful, moving story of family, resilience and compassion, and how women support each other through the most difficult times. My Mother's Daughter takes the issues closest to our hearts and makes us ask ourselves the most difficult questions - what would we do in Margo and Cassie's place?

Today I am pleased to be taking part in Orion's Book Blog Tour to celebrate the publication of Ann O'Loughlin's latest release, My Mother's Daughter.


When I picked up this book I was expecting to read a heart wrenching novel and, yes, I was expecting tears but I don't think I was quite prepared for the number of tears as this is such a great read which left me invested in the characters and their stories for a very long time after I had finished it.

My Mother's Daughter is a very emotional read which will pull on a mother's heart strings and, I am sure, will make the reader question what they would do in the same situations.

There are a fabulous cast of characters within the book and Ann, the author, very cleverly narrates the story from number of viewpoints, which all adds depth to the story.



Thank you to Orion for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Monday, 20 May 2019

Blog Tour - Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly



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LAPD Detective Renée Ballard teams up with Harry Bosch in the new thriller from #1 NYT bestselling author Michael Connelly.

Renée Ballard is working the night beat again, and returns to Hollywood Station in the early hours only to find a stranger rifling through old file cabinets. The intruder is retired detective Harry Bosch, working a cold case that has gotten under his skin. Ballard kicks him out, but then checks into the case herself and it brings a deep tug of empathy and anger.

Bosch is investigating the death of fifteen-year-old Daisy Clayton, a runaway on the streets of Hollywood who was brutally murdered and her body left in a dumpster like so much trash. Now, Ballard joins forces with Bosch to find out what happened to Daisy and finally bring her killer to justice.






Michael Connelly is one of my top three crime authors and I love Bosch, a detective who has been Connelly's main character since his very first book. Dark Sacred Night sees Bosch team up with Renee Ballard, a new character, who I am beginning to enjoy meeting and hope to see in many more of Connelly's novels.

The bringing together of two characters means that Dark Sacred Night is a must read novel that fans of Connelly's back catalogue will enjoy and the introduction of Ballard brings another dynamic to the cases being investigated. I hope that Bosch and Ballard have many more oppurtunities to work as a partnership in future novels as I would love to see it develop.

Dark Sacred Night is a fantastic crime thriller read and one that I would recommend to all my blog readers.

Thank you to Orion and Compulsive Readers for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Sunday, 19 May 2019

Blog Tour - Never Be Broken by Sarah Hilary




The compulsive, gripping and twisty new London crime novel featuring DI Marnie Rome, from
award
-
wining novelist Sarah Hilary
Children are dying on London's streets. Frankie Reece, stabbed through the hear
t, outside a corner shop. Others
recruited from care homes, picked up and exploited; passed like gifts between gangs. They are London's lost.
Then Raphaela Belsham is killed. She's thirteen years old, her father is a man of influence, from a smart part of
town.
And she's white. Suddenly, the establishment is taking notice.
DS Noah Jake is determined to handle Raphaela's case and Frankie's too. But he's facing his own turmoil, and it's
becoming an obsession. DI Marnie Rome is worried, and she needs Noah on
side. Because more children are
disappearing, more are being killed by the day and the swelling tide of violence needs to be stemmed before it's too late.
NEVER BE BROKEN is a stunning, intelligent and gripping novel which explores how the act of
witness alters us and reveals what lies beneath the veneer of a glittering city
.
The compulsive, gripping and twisty new London crime novel featuring DI Marnie Rome, from
award
-
wining novelist Sarah Hilary
Children are dying on London's streets. Frankie Reece, stabbed through the hear
t, outside a corner shop. Others
recruited from care homes, picked up and exploited; passed like gifts between gangs. They are London's lost.
Then Raphaela Belsham is killed. She's thirteen years old, her father is a man of influence, from a smart part of
town.
And she's white. Suddenly, the establishment is taking notice.
DS Noah Jake is determined to handle Raphaela's case and Frankie's too. But he's facing his own turmoil, and it's
becoming an obsession. DI Mw,, A SERrried, and she needs Noah on
side. Because more children are
disappearing, more are being killed by the day and the swelling tide of violence needs to be stemmed before it's too late.
NEVER BE BROKEN is a stunning, intelligent and gripping novel which explores how the act of
witness alters us and reveals what lies beneath the veneer of a glittering city
.

Children are dying on London's streets. Frankie Reece, stabbed through the heart, outside a corner shop. Others recruited from care homes, picked up and exploited; passed like gifts between gangs. They are London's lost.

Then Raphaela Belsham is killed. She's thirteen years old, her father is a man of influence, from a smart part of town. And she's white. Suddenly, the establishment is taking notice.

DS Noah Jake is determined to handle Raphaela's case and Frankie's too. But he's facing his own turmoil, and it's becoming an obsession. DI Marnie Rome is worried, and she needs Noah on side. Because more children are disappearing, more are being killed by the day and the swelling tide of violence needs to be stemmed before it's too late.

NEVER BE BROKEN is a stunning, intelligent and gripping novel which explores how the act of witness alters us, and reveals what lies beneath the veneer of a glittering city.

Never Be Broken is Sarah Hilary's sixth instalment in her fantastic series featuring DI Marnie Rose. The series has won many prizes and awards and it just gets better and better as each new instalment is released and I am sure Never Be Broken will soon be winning awards too.


I really enjoyed Never Be Broken. It is a hard hitting  and fast paced and begins with a prologue that is both intriguing and worrying and draws the reader in straight away and keeps their attention throughout. 

I would recommend that this book is not read as a standalone as there are many threads within the story that relate to the previous title in the series. The storylines within the book are hard hitting and at times disturbing but the storyline that I found the most intriguing was that of DS Noah Jake and his mental health, a topic which is high priority at the moment and this is a great account of a professional  man's struggle with his own mental health. 


Thank you to Headline Books for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.