We’re celebrating the release of The Healer by Frost Kay. Read on for more details and visit our Instagram page to enter a giveaway!
The Healer
Publication Date: December 12, 2024
Genre: Fantasy Romance/ Standalone/ Novella
The Healer is a second chance, fantasy romance with the following:
✓ Cinnamon roll MMC shifter with a traumatic past
✓ Strong FMC who fights for what she wants
✓ First loves that leave marks
✓ Rejected mates
✓ HEA.
Nyx has been in love with the same man for as long as she could remember. She’s tried to tame his demons, heal the hurts of the past, but he keeps her at arm’s length no matter what. When her last attempt to sway him to her side fails epically, Nyx decides to walk away from her mate and move on.
Dark memories from the past have always haunted Briggs. He’s never been able to trust himself with anything precious—especially his mate. Too much blood stained his hands to take Nyx as his wife, so he must settle as her friend and protector. But it’s not enough for either of them. When she leaves him behind for good, he knows that he’s made a mistake and can’t let her slip through his fingers. It’s time to put the past when it belongs and fight for the only woman he’s ever loved.
TW for those who deal with PTSD or have spouses or family members who struggle with the last effects of trauma. This story heavily delves into themes of coping with PTSD and the fear of forming bonds because of violent pasts.
This story is about healing. About fighting for those you love. And choosing the future over the past.
It should have been the happiest night of her sister’s life. When she was crowned Miss Sunshine Sands.
But nothing was ever found except her pink satin sash that washed up on the shore.
Now
Journalist Zoe Kincade arrives in the rundown seaside town of Sunshine Sands to report on this year’s talent show. The motionless Ferris wheel blurs into the dark sea beyond and polystyrene chip trays bounce along the pavement.
She checks into the Forget-Me-Not hotel, a faded Edwardian terrace that has seen better days.
The last place her beautiful older sister Jane was seen alive.
Zoe has spent forty years trying to block out the pain. Any chance of a happy marriage and living in some kind of peace were shattered because of that night.
She was only a little girl when Jane disappeared. She just remembers how much she looked up to her big sister.
Now Zoe is determined to find out the truth.
And no amount of glitter and sparkle can hide the dark truth of that night.
Sally-Anne grew up in a small village just outside Sheffield. Her mum was a beautiful homemaker with numerous practical skills and talents, who kept the home going. Her dad on the other hand was not at all domestic, he was an avid reader of true crime books, lover of Carry On films, political scandals and wine. Sally-Anne takes after her dad.
Much to her parent’s disappointment, at 16 years old Sally-Anne left a promising job in the advertising department of the Derbyshire Times to pursue a performing arts course. This led to many jobs, few of which involved acting. She has tended bars, worked as a film and television extra and provided care in one of the last Victorian asylums in England.
Coming from a working-class background, her writing is inspired by those women who are constantly left on the side-lines and ignored. She takes the underdog and gives her the freedom to do what she wants (good or bad) and see where that takes her. With a diet of Hammer House and Tales of the Unexpected as a child, along with a love for the ridiculous, it is no surprise that her books have chilling themes with a hint of dark humour.
After living all over the UK and USA, she is currently residing back in the North of England and living alongside a menagerie of animals, including five pet pigs.
My thoughts: Two things that are always a bit seedy, faded seaside towns and beauty competitions combine in this clever and dark read.
Decades after her older sister vanished after winning the Miss Sunshine Sands competition, journalist Zoe heads back to the tatty B&B they stayed in before to document the latest incarnation of the competition and look for evidence about her sister’s disappearance. What she finds is darker and more disturbing than she could have imagined.
Full of twists and creepy moments, with unreliable and untrustworthy people all around, both in the flashbacks and in Zoe’s present, this is a clever and compelling read.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Every morning, I sit at the same table of my favourite café, sip my cappuccino, and watch them. The woman has no idea I’m watching, day after day, unravelling the secrets of her life. I see the way she smiles when he arrives, how she glances over her shoulder… like someone who is hiding something. She thinks she’s in control, but has no idea I’m on to them…
I know a lot more about the man. For a start, he’s not who he pretends to be – his lies are as plain as the nose on your face. There’s more to this story than meets the eye, a lot more than I’ll ever let on. I already know a lot about the man, but have learnt so much more from watching. Why do I think the man should tell me what’s going on? Because he’s my husband. That’s why.
An unforgettable tale of deceit, lies and revenge, from the bestselling author of The Girl in Seat 2A.
Diana Wilkinson was born and bred in Belfast, Northern Ireland and is the number 1 bestseller of The Girl in Seat 2a. Diana spent most of her working life in the business of tennis, and the inspiration for much of her work has come from the ladies she coached over the years.
My thoughts: Giving relationship advice to fictional characters isn’t my usual thing, but for goodness sake, why doesn’t anyone ever talk to their partner?
Spying on your husband, thinking he has another family, without any real proof, is a lot. But then so are his lies too. If the people in this book talked to each other, there would be no plot.
The whole situation spirals out of control as Izzy and Jed fail to communicate and Izzy starts using the Agony Aunt column she writes to air out her worries and solicit advice from her readers. She’s also getting far too interested in builder Adam, the brother of the woman she thinks Jed is seeing. Messy.
Short, punchy chapters, full of twists and turns, as Izzy and Jed’s marriage falls apart around them and things build to a head.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
PUT THE KETTLE ON AND DISCOVER AN UTTERLY CHARMING MURDER MYSTERY SET IN A SLEEPY ENGLISH SEASIDE TOWN.
It’s a perfect summer’s day in Southbourne. And Partial Sue’s in one of her rare generous moods. She wants to treat all the ladies of the Dogs Need Nice Homes charity shop to supper.
But before the ladies can shut up shop and head to the chippie, the air is filled with the strains of ‘Greensleeves’. And a clapped-out old ice-cream van lurches into view. The gang can barely believe their eyes. Especially when they see who’s behind the wheel. Daisy’s daughter Bella.
Newly divorced Bella’s only just rid herself of her rotten husband. Now she’s landed herself in an even stickier situation. This banger may be stocked with sweet treats, but its freezer once held something much more sinister — the dead body of its former owner!
Everyone in the village knows the van’s sinister history. Except poor Bella. The culprit slipped away without a trace. But the village folk all say it’s just a matter of time until the Vanilla Killer strikes again!
When Bella starts receiving poison pen letters, the ladies can’t help but worry. What if their beloved Bella’s next?
There’s only one thing for it, the ladies agree over a steaming pot of tea. They need to put the Vanilla Killer on ice . . . before anyone else dies.
Fans of Richard Osman, Robert Thorogood, Janice Hallett, Simon Brett, Ian Moore and Sarah Yarwood-Lovett will adore this exciting new talent in cozy crime.
After studying to be an architect, Pete realised he wasn’t very good at it. He liked designing buildings he just couldn’t make them stand up, which is a bit of a handicap in an industry that likes to keep things upright. So he switched to advertising, writing ads for everything from cruise lines to zombie video games.
After becoming disillusioned with working in ad agencies, he switched to writing thriller novels (or was it because he just wanted to work at home in his pyjamas?). He soon realised there’s no magic formula. You just have to put one word in front of the other (and keep doing that for about a year). It also helps if you can resist the lure of surfing, playing Nintendo Switch with his son, watching America’s Next Top Model with his daughter and drinking beer in a garden chair.
My thoughts: After Daisy’s daughter Bella buys an old ice cream van at auction, which the gang recognise as having been the scene of its previous owner’s death, they get embroiled in the town’s mysterious underbelly. Is there an ice cream mafia as Partial Sue keeps saying or is it something else?
The three most unlikely detectives start looking for the Vanilla Killer, and whoever it is that has the local ice cream sellers running scared.
You wouldn’t expect a cosy seaside town to be so crime-ridden, but the Charity Shop Detectives always manage to find the worst of the local community. Although, that could just be Sophie from the other charity shop!
This series is funny, wry and very entertaining. This book made me laugh and I do enjoy Partial Sue’s deeply unusual view of the world.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Embark on a gripping voyage of intrigue and danger in this fast-paced murder mystery.
Six friends agree to go on the cruise of a lifetime and leave their complicated past behind them. On night one of the cruise someone is murdered, and everyone is a suspect. As the calm facade unravels, deep secrets and complicated histories are exposed and one thing is for certain, not everyone is getting off the ship alive.
N.G.K. (Nathan) is an international bestselling author whose first children’s picture book ‘Harry The Happy Mouse’ has been featured on the bestseller lists in Paperback and eBook around the world. Harry The Happy Mouse is also now part of the curriculum in many UK schools to teach children about kindness.
N.G.K. was named one of the Top 10 worldwide children’s authors in 2018 by the Author Academy Awards, and ‘Harry Saves The Ocean’ won a gold standard at the Mom’s Choice USA awards.
NGK’s eighth book ‘The Fox Who Stole The Moon’ has been in the top 20 children’s books in the UK for the past two years since its release.
The Silent Wave is Nathan’s first book for adults.
My thoughts: Another book set on a cruise, reminding me to stay on dry land. They never end well, and this one certainly has a body count.
A group of old friends, none of whom seem to like each other anymore, or who are particularly happy, go on a cruise towards Norway. They don’t quite make the fjords after someone goes overboard, and it only gets worse from there. All sorts of old entities, grudges and schemes emerge, pitting the friends against each other and forcing them into secret pacts of equal jeopardy.
By the time they make it back to Southampton’s docks, things will never be the same for any of them again.
So that’s one – stay away from old “frenemies” and two – no cruises. Got that.
None of the characters are particularly likeable, even the ultimately innocent ones, and one character turns out to be a truly awful person, but not the one you might suspect. There can’t be many worse places than trapped at sea with people you don’t actually like anymore. Twisted and shocking, this is a clever and enjoyable read.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Meet Detective Sophie Allen. She’s an expert on murder and violent crime. Her brilliant mind works tirelessly to put the most vicious criminals behind bars, but conceals dark secrets from her own past.
A dark, wet night on a lonely road in west Dorset. Bryony O’Neil stops her car when she spots a distressed young woman by the side of the road. But all is not as it seems . . .
The following day, keen rambler Robin Pryor sets off along the clifftop path from the pretty seaside town of Lyme Regis — and never comes home.
The subsequent search reveals a badly beaten body hidden in the undergrowth beside the path.
It’s the third time that week the police have been called out to the quiet little town. First an attempted car-jacking. Then a break-in — where nothing was taken. And now murder.
Detective Barry Marsh’s instincts tell him that a particularly callous killer has descended on his patch. And their timing couldn’t be worse. His boss and mentor, Detective Sophie Allen, is still in hospital, recovering from the injuries she sustained in their last case. Not that she’d let that stop her!
Then a second body is discovered, a few miles further along the coastal path. And the case takes a terrifying new twist . . .
Discover a captivating crime mystery which will have you gripped from start to finish.
If you like Joy Ellis, Ann Cleeves, J.D. Kirk, J.M. Dalgliesh, or Pauline Rowson, you will love this thrilling crime mystery.
I try to write thoughtful, contemporary crime novels and include several plot layers in my books. The adult novels feature DCI Sophie Allen and her close-knit team of detectives. I don’t write simple whodunnits, nor violent, all-action, gun-toting thrillers
My thoughts: When a woman is forced off the road in a nasty accident, followed by the disappearance of one of her colleagues and a break in at another’s home, the police start to think there might be something very weird going on. All three work at a company developing an eco park for a South American country, one that clearly has some objections. And not from local protesters but dangerous criminals.
Sophie Allen is in charge of the team, but currently in hospital, where she meets the first victim. It also allows her to gather some evidence the victim hasn’t shared with the police. As they dig into the company and it’s new project, they uncover an international conspiracy, which calls in Sophie’s old friend, the Home Secretary and the consulate. People are at serious risk and there seems to be someone on the inside. Can they team crack the case before anyone else gets hurt?
This was so clever, totally gripping and intense, lots of twists, red herrings and moments where you just can’t guess what they might uncover next. Totally had me hooked from the first page.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
We’re celebrating the release of A Crown Forged in Blood this week. Read on for more details!
A Crown Forged in Blood (The Forged Queendom #1)
Publication Date: December 10th, 2024
Genre: Dark Fantasy Romance
A dark, spicy, morally gray story with strong women, dying magic and unexpected villains.
🗡️Emotional scars
🗡️Friends to Enemies to Lovers
🗡️Grumpy x Grumpy
🗡️Redemption
🗡️Forced Proximity
🗡️Fated Mates
🗡️Shadow Mommy
🗡️Morally Gray MCs
🗡️Perilous Quests
🗡️Bisexual FMC
The land is dying.
Magic is withering.
Death lies within the void.
Lithia has been a general for a century, but no battle could prepare her for the chaos that has befallen her world, nor has it given her time to adjust to being High Queen of Suviel. A day after becoming queen, reports flood in that a curse has seized the heart of Suviel leaving a void of magic slowly making its way across the land. As the land and the fae upon it watch their magic begin to wither, Lithia’s magic is the only hope to bring life back to the heart of Suviel.
Unfortunately, they have to be able to find the heart to save it.
Calcas is angry. His friends are dead, and the one who killed them is sitting on a throne. He’s spent a decade running from his anger, fighting, hiding, and clawing his way out of his grief. Now here he is, helping a queen he loathes, fighting for a land he wants no part of, to save his family.
They will have to navigate treacherous alliances and dangerous terrain to find the heart of Suviel. But, as they draw closer, they realize that the cost may be higher than they ever imagined. Sacrifice everything or succumb to the darkness that threatens to consume them all.
We’re touring the upcoming fantasy romance City of Snakes, the exciting follow-up to Born of Starlight by Mariet Kay!
City of Snakes (Legends of Henosis #2)
Expected Publication Date: Dec 29
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Queen of a fallen city
Brooding Widower
Shadow wielding king
Enemies-to-lovers
She owes him a debt
He destroyed her ancestors’ city. She is bound by oath to be his ally. A prophecy ties their fates. Soon they will discover who the true enemy is.
After Source-wielders attack her city, it is left in shambles. Queen Sybilla Wymark sees only one opportunity to protect her independent reign: honor her blood oath to follow a grumpy, ill-tempered King into an enemy realm. Sybilla expected his land to be a desert wasteland—what she had always been told it was. But when she arrives, she is confronted with a vibrant place full of magic and a surprising prophecy that forces her to wonder what other lies had she been fed?
Centuries ago, King Krait Darvanda built a sanctuary away from the land that outcasted Source magic. An alliance with the strong-willed Queen Wymark seems prudent…until he finds out that she might be bound to his destiny. To his dismay, Krait realizes that the only way he can prevail against a long rising threat to his realm is fighting by her spoiled, foul-mouthed side.
My name is Linda. Most of my friends, not that I have many left, call me Lindy. I work as a housekeeper in a local hotel. I had the world at my feet once. Not anymore.
The first time I saw Mia was in the car park. She came over to help when my shopping bag split. There’s something about her delicate femininity that mesmerises me.
Ever since then, I’ve been kind of obsessed. Mia is stunning, with beautiful ash-blonde hair. I’ve had mine cut in the same style.
She has two beautiful children, the same age as mine. A gorgeous home on an exclusive estate. And a husband who’s the old-fashioned kind who picks her up after a night out. Mine wouldn’t even pick me up if I fell over in the street.
But then I get a call. Mia’s voice on the phone is breathy, edgy. She’s whispering, like she doesn’t want anyone to hear. ‘Lindy, I need your help. Listen to me, please.’
Sadie Ryan is the author of three books. Her latest, Guilty came out in April 2021, a psychological thriller. She loves animals and lives in leafy Cheshire in the North West of England with her daughter and rescue dog. When not writing she spends her time reading, gardening, walking her dog or watching old black and white movies.
When asked where she gets her ideas from, she says, ‘From observation, inspiration and lots of wicked thoughts.’
My thoughts: Lindy is quite messed up, driven by her grief, she’s been stalking Mia, spying on her, determined to see if Mia is the sort of person she thinks she needs to find.
Mia’s home life looks perfect on the surface, handsome TV presenter husband, two adult daughters, cute dogs, lovely house, but her husband is a controlling bully. She’s terrified of him and he’s got worse recently, taking her phone, changing the locks and holding her captive. Could new friend Lindy help?
As the two women become close and start to work together, events take a dark turn, and things only get worse from there.
Shocking, full of twists and turns and with a jaw dropping ending, this is a smart and gripping thriller.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
We’re thrilled to present the cover for Beyond the Iron Gate by M.A. Brown! This one is going to be eerie, sweet, and a little spicy.
Beyond The Iron Gate: A Pennies Worth Of Dread Novella
Expected Publication Date: January 15, 2025
Genre: Gothic Romance/ Fairytale Reimagining
Rosewynn has lived her whole life along the iron fence that divides the town from the deep dark wood, protecting it from the evils that live in its depths. But now one of it’s legendary beasts is stalking her from beyond the bars, and she isn’t nearly as afraid as she should be.
Beyond the Iron Gate is a dark winter, Little Red Riding Hood reimagining that is eerie, sweet, and a little spicy.
ramblingmads 