Author: ramblingmads

I am a thirtysomething from London, with a cat, a husband, bookshelves which keep threatening to crush me under their load and chronic health conditions. Basically your average over stressed millennial. Welcome.
blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: #TeamScilly Double Review – Hell Bay/Ruin Beach – Kate Rhodes

ramblingmads

Today is my first post on this epic tour covering all of Kate Rhodes’ Isles of Scilly Mysteries series, featuring DI Ben Kitto. Follow the hashtag #TeamScilly on social media for the other hosts.

DI Ben Kitto needs a second chance. After ten years working for the murder squad in London, a traumatic event has left him grief-stricken. He’s tried to resign from his job, but his boss has persuaded him to take three months to reconsider.

Ben plans to work in his uncle’s boatyard on the tiny Scilly island of Bryher where he was born, hoping to mend his shattered nerves. His plans go awry when the body of a sixteen-year-old girl is found on the beach at Hell Bay. Her attacker must still be on the island because no ferries have sailed during the two-day storm. 

Everyone on the island is under suspicion. Dark secrets are about to resurface. And the murderer could strike again at any time . . .

THE ISLAND OF TRESCO HOLDS A DARK SECRET SOMEONE WILL KILL TO PROTECT.

Ben Kitto has become the Scilly Isles’ Deputy Chief of Police. As the island’s lazy summer takes hold, he finds himself missing the excitement of the murder squad in London. But when the body of professional diver Jude Trellon is discovered, anchored to the rocks of a nearby cave, his investigative skills are once again needed.

At first it appears that the young woman’s death was a tragic accident, but when evidence is found that suggests otherwise, the islanders close ranks. With even those closest to the victim refusing to talk, it seems that plenty of people might have had reason to harm her. As the islanders remain guarded, Ben Kitto suspects a killer is on the loose in Tresco.

Everyone is a suspect.
Nobody is safe.

My thoughts: Ben Kitto has returned to the Scilly Isles off Cornwall’s Atlantic coast, the place he called home as a child. He hasn’t been back for a while and he’s on extended leave from the Met following his partner’s death.

More or less immediately after arriving on the island of Bryher, he’s drawn into the search for a missing teenage girl. When her body is found on the beach, he volunteers his services as a Murder Team detective to the local DCI. He’s a local and has the skills to catch a killer.

There’s not many people on the island and the killer has to be a local, in a tight knit community, this is devastating. When another teenager disappears, the DCI decides it’s case closed – the missing boy killed his girlfriend and then himself, but Kitto doesn’t believe that at all. His unorthodox methods and willingness to ignore orders put his life in danger, but he will find the truth.

I really like Ben, I like his silly dog Shadow too, even though Ben doesn’t want a dog. I like the islanders, they’re a tough bunch, isolated by tides and weather at times, dependant on fishing and tourism for much of their income, in a place famous for its historic smugglers and not known for violent crime. A murder sends shockwaves through the community, but they pull together and help Ben where they can.

I think his deputy, young detective Eddie, is a sweetheart, desperate to do a good job, delighted by his impending fatherhood, keen as mustard and with good instincts too, he’s the perfect foil for Ben’s jaded cynicism.

In book two, Ruin Beach, the tragedy is on another island, Tresco, but it’s still Ben and Eddie’s patch so off they go to investigate.

The victim this time is another woman, older than in their last case, mother to a small child and a well known diver. Born and raised on the island, she knows the waters well so her drowning is shocking.

Under the seas around the islands lay hundreds of shipwrecks, some ancient, and there are a lot of people keen to find the possible treasures still aboard. I always feel a bit uncomfortable about things like this, as those ships are also grave sites, a lot of sailors will have gone down with their ships and their remains rest at the bottom of the ocean.

But others have no qualms, and while taking anything without handing it over to the authorities is very illegal, people in nedd of money, like some of the islanders, might be willing to do desperate and stupid things. Did Jude and did her killer find out and murder her for her treasure?

As Ben and Eddie dig into the case, more people are put in danger as this very ruthless killer stops at nothing to evade the police and find the sunken ship, hoping to make their fortune. There’s a few red herrings, Jude seems to have fallen out with her brother and several others, and there’s a dodgy couple from the States hanging around, but after working his way through the suspects, can Ben stop anyone else from being harmed?

If anything, this was even more chilling than than Hell Bay, with the killer kidnapping people and leaving them to drown – a truly horrible way to die. Their desperation makes them do awful things, but Ben Kitto isn’t a man to let it go, and even risking his own life to save another, won’t slow him down.

Join me next time for more #TeamScilly crimes and don’t let them put you off heading to the Isles for a visit, they’re meant to be truly stunning and are on my list for the next time I head to my beloved Cornwall.

*I was kindly gifted copies of these books in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Darkness on the Edge of Town – Matthew Hattersley

ramblingmads

They thought John Beckett would be an easy target. They thought wrong.

Deep undercover as the right-hand man of a ruthless crime lord, secret service officer John Beckett’s mission suddenly takes a deadly turn. When a mysterious data leak puts his life on the line, he must make a choice that will change his life forever.

On the run and with danger tailing him, Beckett races against time to save his niece, Amber, from vicious kidnappers. But with deadly threats closing in, he comes to the startling revelation he can trust no one… not even his closest allies.

The streets of London become a battlefield as Beckett struggles to stay one step ahead of his enemies and protect Amber – all the while confronting the dark truth about The Consortium, a shadowy organization that will stop at nothing to maintain its grip on power.

Can Beckett save Amber and bring down those intent on destroying him? Or will he become the ultimate pawn in their deadly game? Only one thing is certain… danger lurks in every shadow and time is not on Beckett’s side.

Darkness On The Edge Of Town is a fast-paced thrill ride that’s perfect for fans of  David Baldacci, Lee Child, David Silva and Mark Dawson.

Goodreads Buy Link

Matthew Hattersley was born in Yorkshire, in the UK. Over the last twenty years he has toured Europe in a rock n roll band, trained as a professional actor and founded a theatre and media company.

He’s also had a lot of boring jobs to help sustain his creative endeavours.

Now we writes action thrillers and crime fiction. He is the author of the bestselling Acid Vanilla series and the upcoming John Beckett series.

He lives with his wife and daughter in Derbyshire, UK and is not too comfortable writing about himself in third person.

Facebook Twitter Instagram Website

My thoughts: from the very first pages I knew this was going to be a gripping, no holds bared thriller as British secret agent John Beckett has been doxxed and the criminals he’s undercover amongst discover the traitor in their midst.

As the bosses of various security agencies and the politicians scramble to uncover their mole and call their agents in, Beckett must rescue his only weakness – his niece, and get her and himself somewhere safe. The Consortium, the criminals he was investigating, will stop at nothing to find him, and kill him. He must do the same, knowingly risking the lives of his allies too.

Amber is an innocent in all this but must be as tough as her uncle to survive. Even Beckett’s old friend at the agency, Beaumont can’t be 100% trusted, he has bosses to answer to. So Beckett is on his own. As he races across London with Amber, forces close in on him, some supposedly friendly. Can they make it or will it end here?

Smart, gripping, full of twists and turns, politicking and shoot outs. A high octane start to what could be an excellent new series.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Paris Model – Alexandra Joel

ramblingmads

After a shocking discovery, Grace Woods leaves her vast Australian sheep station and travels to tumultuous post-war Paris in order to find her true identity.

While working as a mannequin for Christian Dior, the world’s newly acclaimed emperor of fashion, Grace mixes with counts and princesses, authors and artists, diplomats and politicians.

But when Grace falls for handsome Philippe Boyer she doesn’t know that he is leading a double life, nor that his past might inflict devastating consequences upon her. As she is drawn into Philippe’s dangerous world of international espionage, Grace discovers both the shattering truth of her origins – and that her life is in peril.

Inspired by an astonishing true story, The Paris Model is a tale of glamour, family secrets and heartbreak that takes you from the rolling plains of country Australia to the elegant salons of Paris.

Alexandra Joel is a former editor of the Australian edition of Harper’s Bazaar and of Portfolio, Australia’s first magazine for working women. She has also contributed feature articles, interviews and reviews to many national and metropolitan publications.

With an honours degree from the University of Sydney and a graduate diploma from the Australian College of Applied Psychology, she has been a practising counsellor and psychotherapist.

Alexandra has two children and lives in Sydney with her husband.

My thoughts: from the sweeping vistas of Australia to the glamour of Christian Dior’s Parisian atelier in 1940s Paris, Grace Woods (a real person, fyi) swaps her rural life for one of extreme elegance and romance a world away.

Fabulous fashions, famous faces, as well as romance with a handsome French spy, Grace’s new life doesn’t leave room to miss home. Swept up in the whirlwind of delight, her life seems to be perfect but deep down she misses her mother, Olive, and her search for her beloved lost “Siddy” consumes her.

When she falls pregnant and leaves Paris for her friend’s family chateau, she leaves everything behind. Hoping to be forgotten by handsome Philip, she buries herself in the countryside. But questions still haunt her. Can it all be put right?

Inspired by the details of Grace Woods’ life and that of Christian Dior’s emergence as the forefront of post-war glamour, this is a moving and entertaining read. Highly enjoyable.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Ravensong – TJ Klune

ramblingmads

Gordo Livingstone never forgot the lessons carved into his skin. Hardened by the betrayal of a pack who left him behind, he sought solace in the garage in his tiny mountain town, vowing never again to involve himself in the affairs of wolves.

It should have been enough.

And it was, until the wolves came back, and with them, Mark Bennett. In the end, they faced the beast together as a pack . . . and won.

Now , a year later, Gordo has found himself once again the w itch of the Bennett pack. Green Creek has settled after the death of Richard Collins, and Gordo constantly struggles to ignore Mark and the song that how ls between them.

But time is running out. Something is coming. And this time, it’s craw ling from within.

Some bonds, no matter how strong, w ere made to be broken.

Ravensong is the second book in the Green Creek series by bestselling author TJ Klune.

My thoughts: filling in some of the gaps from Wolfsong, this starts with Gordo and the Bennett brothers away from Green Creek hunting down the murderer of their father – Richard Collins.

Gordo’s story, especially his relationship with Mark, is filled in with flashbacks, bringing us up to date with the complicated situation before they return to Green Creek and Gordo sees Mark again.

More trouble is coming, because the Green Creek pack seem to attract it, and they will be betrayed by someone they should have been able to trust. They will have to fight, not just for their own lives, but those of every human in town and in the process their secrets will be laid bare.

I really liked Gordo, he’s a complicated person, way too much responsibility was laid on him when he was far too young, but he’s mostly borne it well. Except for when the Bennetts left him alone in the town and went East. Then he rebelled, against them, against his assigned destiny, against his bond with Mark. I don’t really blame him, it was a terrible situation.

But he built his own family, with his friends, Rico, Tanner and Chris. And added Ox years later. They sustain him, even as they tease him mercilessly.

Reconnecting with the Bennetts will take time, something neither he nor the pack really has, and it’s a struggle for him. Ravensong is told from his perspective and it’s interesting to read all his internal wrestling and confusion. The threat they face is big, but he can do it, he’s tied to the land, just like the wolves, and is more powerful than his enemies realise.

Another wonderful visit to Green Creek and the wolves there. Bring on Heartsong, aka book three!

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Someone Like Her – Awais Khan

ramblingmads

A young Pakistani woman is the victim of an unthinkable act of vengeance, when she defies tradition, facing seemingly insurmountable challenges and danger when she attempts to rebuild her life.

Multan, Pakistan. A conservative city where an unmarried woman over the age of twenty-five is considered a curse by her family.

Ayesha is twenty-seven. Independent and happily single, she has evaded an arranged marriage because of her family’s reduced circumstances. When she catches the eye of powerful, wealthy Raza, it seems like the answer to her parents’ prayers. But Ayesha is in love with someone else, and when she refuses to give up on him, Raza resorts to unthinkable revenge…

Ayesha travels to London to rebuild her life and there she meets Kamil, an emotionally damaged man who has demons of his own. They embark on a friendship that could mean salvation for both of them, but danger stalks Ayesha in London, too. With her life thrown into turmoil, she is forced to make a decision that could change her and everyone she loves forever.

Pakistani author Awais Khan is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario in Canada and Durham University in the UK, and he is an alumni of the Faber Academy. His debut novel, In the Company of Strangers, was published to great critical acclaim, as was his next novel, No Honour – which convincingly and emotively explored honour killings – was published in 2021. When he’s not writing, Awais teaches a popular online creative writing course to aspiring writers around the world, and regularly appears on TV and Radio in his native Lahore.

My thoughts: this is, in a word, stunning. Ayesha is an incredible character, I imagine she’ll be with me for a while. She undergoes horrific and life changing torture, mutilation, kidnap, rape and terror. But someone survives it all and doesn’t back down in the face of adversity, threats and slurs. After being the victim of an acid attack by her so-called fiancé, a cruel and dangerous man, whose wealth and family reputation protect him from prosecution, Ayesha moves to London to stay with her mother’s friend Jamila and her family.

There she meets Kamil, himself struggling with a tragic past and slowly piecing himself back together. The two become friends and help each other, attending a support group for survivors and building a new life for Ayesha, safe from her evil ex. Until she isn’t.

But even after she disappears, Kamil doesn’t give up. He tracks her down and makes the police pay attention with a powerful social media campaign. He won’t stop until Ayesha is safe, even if that means risking his own life.

This powerful and captivating novel brings the terrible realities of honour-based violence, political machinations and the very dangerous way wealthy people use their power and influence to get what they want. A feudal system coming into collision with the modern world, where other forces, social media, a globalised community and education means that the old ways are struggling to maintain their hold on society.

While this is set in Pakistan, the reality is that acid attacks are happening everywhere. I can think of several stories in recent years here in the UK, and affect not just the South Asian community. Ayesha is marked by the attack but it doesn’t stop her being beautiful and powerful in her own way. She is dignified and defiant, while some, including her own aunt (horrible woman) think she should just stay silent, she has the support of friends and her parents, as she chooses to stand up against Raza and his rich parents and seek justice.

The book is a call for change in society, both in the author’s home country, and elsewhere. Women like Ayesha should be allowed to choose their own lives, lovers, husbands, jobs, whatever, and old antiquated ideas of “honour” and virginity, of patriarchy, need to stop. Ayesha could be many women, and her story, which is also Kamil’s story, of love overcoming horror, is powerful, moving and deserves a huge audience.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Operation Nassau – Dorothy Dunnett

ramblingmads

Dr B. McRannoch, a savvy and tough young woman, is staying in the Bahamas with her father. However, when Sir Bart Edgecome, a British agent who has been positioned with arsenic falls ill on his way back from New York, she becomes involved in a series of events beyond her wildest imagination. Drawn into an espionage plot with multiple suspects, it is only the presence of enigmatic portrait painter Johnson Johnson on his yacht, Dolly, that saves the day. But nothing is quite as straightforward as it at first seems.

Dorothy Dunnett (1923-2001) gained an international reputation as a writer of historical fiction. She moved genres and turned to crime writing with the acclaimed Dolly books, also known as the Johnson Johnson series. She was a trustee of the National Library of Scotland, and a board member of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. In 1992 she was awarded an OBE for her services to literature. A leading light in the Scottish arts world and a renaissance woman, Dunnett was also a professional portrait painter and exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy on many occasions.

My thoughts: if you’ve been around for a bit, you’ll probably know that I’m really enjoying this series and as we’re now on book 4, I don’t see that changing any time soon.

This time we’re in the Bahamas, before the recent change to a Republic, when it was still a British colony of sorts as part of the Commonwealth. So most of the white characters are wealthy and privileged beyond the native population. They travel to Nassau (the capital) to holiday, play golf, fish, swim and generally enjoy themselves.

Dr B. Donald MacRannoch works at the main hospital, she’s Scottish, but moved to the Bahamas to look after her father, The MacRannoch of Clan MacRannoch, chieftain and apparently a terrible asthmatic. She’s rather severe and remote, looking down on most people from her lofty scientific height. She needs to learn to relax and not be quite so uptight and unhappy. Her only pleasure is playing golf. I’m of the Mark Twain theory on golf – it is a long walk spoiled. I’d rather a park or jungle than the finicky water wasting greens of a golf course.

After saving a man’s life, Dr MacRannoch gets drawn into the world of espionage, the man she saved is a member of Her Majesty’s Secret Service, as is our familiar bespectacled friend Johnson Johnson, handily in town to investigate this attempted murder, on the good ship Dolly.

He confides immediately in the Doctor and recruits her into helping him prevent Sir Bart Edgecombe from being bumped off. She’s not exactly happy about it. But after several more foiled attempts, a threat or two, someone else gets killed, and her father is planning a clan gathering (and a wedding), which means she needs to be around a bit more than usual. Which handily means she can assist Johnson in solving this mystery.

In almost every book someone tries to blow up Dolly, this is no exception. Thankfully Johnson and Spry, his loyal sidekick, are pretty good at keeping the yacht intact, otherwise they’d never be able to keep popping up all over the world, under the auspices of being a famous portrait painter. Into the mix this time are a Turkish ballet dancer, a Japanese golfer, a builder of bridges and an Army sergeant major, one of them might be the killer. And one of them might even end up married to the doctor. If they’re all alive at the end of it!

Enjoyable as always, with red herrings, plenty of suspects, eccentric characters, crazy carrying on and Johnson Johnson in the midst of it all, completely unruffled.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Foul Play at Seal Bay – Judy Leigh

ramblingmads


It was meant to be the start of quiet season in the sleepy Cornish village of Seal Bay, but not for sexagenarian librarian and wild swimming enthusiast Morwenna Mutton. Because when a local businessman is found on the beach with a bread knife is his back, bungling police officer DI Rick Tremayne is soon out of his depth. Morwenna knows it’s going to be down to her to crack the case.
The list of people the victim upset is long, the evidence is slight, and an arrest illusive. Morwenna has plenty to occupy her time what with ghostly goings-on at the library and skullduggery at her
granddaughter’s school, but she could never resist a challenge. And even the most ruthless of murderers should quake at the sight of this amateur sleuth getting on her bike to track them down.
If you love Miss Marple and The Thursday Murder Club, then you’ll love The Morwenna Mutton mysteries.
Purchase


Judy Leigh is the USA Today bestselling author of The Old Girls’ Network and Five French Hens and the doyenne of the ‘it’s never too late’ genre of women’s fiction. She has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.

Facebook Twitter Instagram Newsletter

My thoughts: having walked up and down some Cornish hills, the maddest thing about Morwenna might be her cycling! The wild swimming, the long hair in her sixties, her colourful wardrobe are all fine but I cannot imagine anyone willingly going up and down Cornwall’s steep and crazy hills on a bike.

Apart from that, I think Morwenna’s great, she’s smart, brave and more capable than she might appear. After finding a local businessman dead on the beach at her daughter’s engagement party, and seeing how utterly hopeless the local police are at solving it, she decides to find out who murdered him herself. And as her family get drawn into the killer’s crimes, it’s up to Morwenna, with a little help from her friends, to save the day and stop anything else from happening.

I loved her mad librarian friends, who think a local ghost is giving them clues via the library books as well as making a rather smelly mess. Her mother, Lamorna, is a wonderful classic British (Cornish) eccentric (and shares a name with a delightful pottery) and then there’s her granddaughter Elowen. Who has an invisible dog called Oggy. I loved Elowen, I loved Oggy, and Oggy 2. She’s delightful.

This was a lot of fun to read and the twist as to who the killer is was very unexpected. Although there were clues, that I missed, throughout. I hope there will be more Morwenna.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Midsummer Magic at Midwynter Hall – Lottie Cardew

ramblingmads

An enchanting, standalone, modern rom-com inspired by Jane Austen’s EMMA, about a matchmaking young woman whose heart may be in the right place… some of the time.
Emmeline – Em to her friends – has very little to vex her, except that she hasn’t left her beloved home, Midwynter Hall, in over two years.
But her isolation doesn’t stop her interfering in the lives of others, particularly when it comes to love.
As a romance writer, Emmeline obviously knows what she’s doing, increasingly plotting real-life matches rather than fictional ones.
When best friend Polly gets mixed up with the wrong sort of man, Emmeline has no choice but to swoop to the rescue. And when old family friend Jordi seeks solace after women and work troubles,
Emmeline has the perfect solution. You see, everything she’s written lately – pairing up lovelorn locals – has somehow (maybe magically) come true. So, if she pens a tale about Polly and Jordi despite their many protests, they’ll thank her eventually, once they’re blissfully happy together.
But no one is more surprised than Emmeline when she finds she wants to write herself into the story, especially if someone she cares about may get hurt in the process.
Because as it turns out, believing you’ve never been in love, doesn’t mean you’ve never (unknowingly) given your heart away…
Purchase


Lottie Cardew writes uplifting, contemporary romcoms set around the picturesque village of Pebblestow, and is an advocate for diversity in fiction.
Regarded as the bossy one at Novelistas Ink, Lottie often subdues the other members if they misbehave (they don’t really) including the popular authors Trisha Ashley and Sophie Claire. She is a
longstanding member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, scooping their New Writer’s Award in her twenties under a different pen-name. More recently, Lottie also joined the Society of Authors, where as an active participant in the ADCI group (Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses) she interviewed bestselling author Holly Smale in 2021 for the first ever Disability Issue of The Bookseller.
Lottie is diagnosed autistic with suspected ADHD. Her home in North Wales is overrun by husband, not-very-small children, and a ball of fluff masquerading as a Pomeranian, so Lottie frequently takes refuge at her desk.
Twitter Instagram Website Facebook

My thoughts: this was a fun and sweet rom com, loosely inspired by Jane Austen’s Emma. Emmeline is a former romance novelist, living back at the family seat, Midwynter Hall, with her dad, struggling with agoraphobia and unable to go beyond the gates of her home. The world comes to her in the form of her friend Polly who pops round with the local gossip, and the online writing group she’s joined, led by childhood pal Jordi, as well as visits from her mum.

When Jordi’s life falls apart and he comes to stay in the gatehouse, Em sees a chance to matchmake her two best friends. Only Polly’s got a casual thing going with a hunky gardener and Jordi seems to prefer someone else. Could Em be a bit oblivious to what’s staring her in the face? And could it be time to get some help with her condition?

As the friends hang out in the summer sunshine, and Em gets a few home truths, will there be romance and a potential new project to keep her busy? Charming and enjoyable, this is a gentle and heartwarming story.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Inheritance – Samantha Hayes

ramblingmads

I thought he took my secret to the grave. But the truth can’t stay buried forever…

In the wake of my darling husband’s death, I am so lucky to have my three beautiful, grown-up daughters by my side at our holiday home in Scotland. We need some time together, to recover from the shock. But I also need to set some things straight about their beloved father…

I’ve always known this house was the perfect place to bury secrets – remote, isolated, surrounded by nothing but miles of dense forest.

But this time I’m not here to hide more of my lies. I’m here to expose one.

I promise everything I’ve ever done has been to protect my daughters. I just hope they understand that too…

By the end of the trip, nothing will ever be the same again. I knew revealing the truth about the inheritance would have consequences, but I could never have imagined we wouldn’t all survive it.

And now the truth is out, am I in danger too…?

A totally gripping psychological thriller from an Amazon No1. bestseller that will have your head spinning and your jaw on the floor with every twist. Fans of The Housemaid, Gone Girl and The Family Upstairs won’t be able to put this down!

Amazon 

Samantha Hayes grew up in a creative family where her love of writing began as a child. Samantha has written eight thrillers in total, including the bestselling Until You’re Mine. The Independent said “fantastically written and very tense” while Good Housekeeping said “Her believable psychological thrillers are completely gripping.” Samantha’s books are published in 22 languages at the last count.

When not writing, Samantha loves to cook, go to the gym, see friends and drink nice wine. She is also studying for a degree in psychotherapy. She has three grown-up children and lives in Warwickshire.

Website Facebook Twitter Instagram

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Samantha Hayes here

You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you’ll love

My thoughts: there are so many twists and turns in this book right from the start that my head was spinning, in the best way. This family has so many secrets and dodgy goings on that it’s a wonder they’re not all either in therapy or under arrest already. None of them are honest, including the teenagers, only little Charlie by dint of being a toddler, isn’t hiding anything.

Gathered at the family holiday home in Scotland, the Hunters are all about to learn some shocking truths, about the past, about the deceased patriarch (who sounds just awful) and about each other. It will tear some relationships apart and bring others closer. What a lovely holiday.

And it gets crazier as the week goes on, more secrets, more lies and is Kate ok? She doesn’t seem like herself but then again, everyone’s acting a bit suspiciously. A rainy clifftop confrontation brings everything to boiling point and someone loses their life. But can the Hunter family fix things and find a way to move on from the terrible truths they’ve finally told? Clever, gripping and full of shocking moments, this is an excellent thriller.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Lost Heir – Jane Cable

ramblingmads

Cornwall, 2020
At the beginning of lockdown, teacher Carla Burgess needs to make some changes to her life. She no longer loves her job, and it’s certainly time to kick her on-off boyfriend into touch. But then, while walking on the cliffs she meets, Mani Dolcoath, a gorgeous American with a dark aura.
Mani is researching his family history, and slowly their lives and their heritage begin to entwine. The discovery of a locked Georgian tea caddy in the barn on her parents’ farm intrigues Carla, but then
she starts to see orbs, something that hasn’t happened since her grandmother died. They terrify her and she’ll do anything to outrun them, but will she lose Mani’s friendship in the process?

Cornwall, 1810
Harriet Lemon’s position as companion to Lady Frances Basset (Franny) perfectly conceals the fact they are lovers. But when Franny is raped and falls pregnant their lives are destined to change forever.
The one person who may be able to help them is Franny’s childhood friend, William Burgess, a notorious smuggler. But he has secrets of his own he needs to protect. Will his loyalties be divided, or will he come through?
Purchase

Bassett Cove, Cornwall
Tehidy
Leat Tehidy woods
Portreath Harbour
View from North Cliff


Jane Cable writes romance with a twist and its roots firmly in the past, more often than not inspired by a tiny slice of history and a beautiful British setting.
After independently publishing her award-winning debut, The Cheesemaker’s House, Jane was signed by Sapere Books. Her first two novels for them are contemporary romances looking back to
World War 2; Another You inspired by a tragic D-Day exercise at Studland Bay in Dorset and Endless Skies by the brave Polish bomber crews who flew from a Lincolnshire airbase.
Jane lives in Cornwall and her current series, Cornish Echoes, are dual timeline adventure romances set in the great houses of the Poldark era and today. She also writes as Eva Glyn.

Twitter Facebook Website

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this story, although partly set during the recent pandemic lockdowns, not something anyone really wants to be reminded of, the forced isolation allows Carla to meet Mani during their mandated exercise and find ways to get to know one another without actually being together. Which is of course quite strange for the most recent past, but before dating was allowed, courtship happened by letter or heavily chaperoned. It’s a bit like a modern twist on old methods.

Franny and Harriet’s story is somewhat darker and sadder than Clara and Manny’s. Nowadays we would probably think Franny was neurodivergent, her unique way of seeing the world, her naive innocence. It makes her extra vulnerable and a truly awful man takes advantage of that fact. Having a child outside of marriage was a huge deal in the 1800s, and so her parents and Harriet devise a plan to minimise Franny’s suffering and preserve her reputation.

As we learn of Franny and Harriet’s sad predicament, Carla and Mani are digging into their families’ history. And what they find is a distant connection between them, and to Franny and William Burgess. While they won’t learn the details, we do and thankfully it’s not a miserable tale at all but one of love and kindness and a deep abiding friendship.

This is a sweet and gentle love story, two really, one in 2020 and one two hundred years before. Set in the beautiful Cornish countryside and peopled with characters who are genuinely likeable and interesting, some of them real historical figures, who inspired the author to weave them a new past from the limited records.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.