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

BBNYA Blog Tour: Inheriting Her Ghosts – S.H. Cooper

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This year, the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the 55 books that made it into Round Two with a mini spotlight blitz tour for each title. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 10 finalists and one overall winner. If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

Inheritance often comes with strings attached, but rarely are they as tangled as those hanging over High Hearth.

When Eudora Fellowes learns she’s the sole heir of her estranged great-aunt’s seaside manor, she believes it will be the peaceful escape she’s longed for. What awaits, however, is a dark legacy shrouded in half a century of secrets, and it doesn’t take long before Eudora realizes she’s not the only one to call High Hearth home.

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S.H. Cooper is a Florida based, multi-genre author with a focus on horror and fantasy. Her work has been published by Sleepless Sanctuary Publishing, Cemetery Gates Media, and Brigids Gate Press. In addition to short story collections and novels, she is also the writer for the horror comedy podcast, Calling Darkness. When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about writing, talking about writing, or sleeping (wherein she dreams about writing). She is kept up and running through the tireless efforts of her extremely supportive family and coffee.

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My thoughts: the premise of this book really intrigued me, a house full of ghosts, a woman with two huge dogs (called Cerberus and Black Shuck – both hellhounds of a sort) and the battle to rid the house of its wrathful spirits.

Eudora is a bit strange herself, and doesn’t actually seem hugely perturbed by the unquiet dead lingering in the house or the fact her great-aunt is deeply unpleasant in death as she was in life.

But rather than doing what I’d do, burn the damn place down, salt the earth and never step foot there again, Eudora is determined to take control and stop the terrifying visions and poltergeists of the house from destroying her.

A strange, twisted tale of ghosts, the terrible things people can do and one peculiar woman with her two hounds.

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

books, reviews

Book Review: The Nice Guy and the Devil – Tom Trott

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Nice, France — Retired CIA agent, Cain, is living a quiet life, trying to stay out of trouble.

But he can’t turn off his old instincts like a lightswitch.

When an unsuspecting American woman becomes the target of criminals, he can’t sit back and do nothing.

What starts as one good deed puts Cain in the sights of highly-trained mercenaries, brings him to the attention of INTERPOL, and puts him on a collision course with evil personified.

With no one he can trust, in a land of double-crosses, Cain must rely on his wits to survive.

My thoughts: Cain is a complicated character, a former agent of some sorts, definitely a killer, but also seemingly a nice man. He wants to help people, either as a sommelier suggesting the perfect wine, or when a wedding gets shot up by terrorists, by hunting down the bad guys and putting a stop to them.

In this case he gets entangled with the Interpol agent who should really be arresting him, and a supposedly dead man. Known as The Devil, he’s an African warlord, terrorist and somewhere in France is his army. And they want someone from that wedding. Cain goes after the kidnap victim, and winds up in a whole heap of trouble.

I was hooked from the get go. A one night stand leads to his wedding invite, which he engineered because of something he’d overheard. He gets himself involved, when he could just go back to his nice quiet life. I think he misses being an international man of mystery. With his trusty and beloved car, he won’t let anyone else drive, he’s chasing after blacked out trucks full of crazy men with guns, relying mostly on his wits. Cracking stuff.

Currently available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited on Amazon. This is the sequel to The Florentine – also available now.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for writing a review. All opinions remain my own.

books

Longlist Announced for Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Award

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I am really excited to share the incredible longlist for this year’s award. I’ve read almost all of the books and will try to read the rest ASAP. The link to vote is also below, so do join in. Good luck to all the amazing writers.

This year’s longlist features twenty incredible crime novels, with literary icons vying with debut authors for the prestigious award. Contenders include: Bad Actors, the gruelling bestseller from 2022 winner Mick Herron; the penultimate Dr Ruth Galloway thriller The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths; All I Said Was True, the ticking clock thriller from barrister-turned-author Imran Mahmood; historical mysteries set on a 18th Century mail-ship bound for Philadelphia in Blue Water by Leonora Nattrass, and the turbulent streets of 1950s Bombay in The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan; Sarah Vaughan with her masterful psychological page-turner Reputation; the deftly suspenseful The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett; and many more.

You can vote for your favourites at harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com. The shortlist will be announced on 15 June, with the winner of the most coveted award in crime fiction crowned at the opening night of the world’s largest celebration of crime fiction and thriller writing – Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival – which runs from 20 – 23 July 2023 and is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with an extra special line-up of killer events. 

The full Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2023 longlist is:

·       The Murder Book by Mark Billingham (Little, Brown Book Group; Little Brown)

·       The Botanist by M.W. Craven (Little, Brown Book Group; Constable)

·       Into The Dark by Fiona Cummins (Pan Macmillan; Macmillan/Pan)

·       The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (HarperCollins; HarperFiction)

·       The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)

·       The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett (Profile Books; Viper)

·       Bad Actors by Mick Herron (John Murray Press; Baskerville)

·       The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell (Cornerstone; Century Fiction)

·       Black Hearts by Doug Johnstone (Orenda Books)

·       The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton)

·       The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh (Little, Brown Book Group; Sphere)

·       All I Said Was True by Imran Mahmood (Bloomsbury Publishing; Raven Books)

·       Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (Penguin Random House; Michael Joseph)

·       1989 by Val McDermid (Little, Brown Book Group; Little Brown)

·       The Heretic by Liam McIlvanney (HarperCollins; HarperFiction)

·       Blue Water by Leonora Nattrass (Profile Books; Viper)

·       May God Forgive by Alan Parks (Canongate Books)

·       Truly Darkly Deeply by Victoria Selman (Quercus)

·       Reputation by Sarah Vaughan (Simon & Schuster)

·       The It Girl by Ruth Ware (Simon & Schuster) 

*this post was created using information from a press release but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Thirty Days of Darkness – Jenny Lund Madsen, translated by Megan E. Turney

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Winner of the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel of 2020 Shortlisted for the Glass Key Award

A snobbish Danish literary author is challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days, travelling to a small village in Iceland for inspiration, and then the first body appears…

Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and her novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actually reads them, and frustrated by writer’s block, Hannah has the feeling that she’s doing something wrong.

When she expresses her contempt for genre fiction, Hanna is publicly challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days. Scared that she will lose face, she accepts, and her editor sends her to Húsafjörður – a quiet, tight-knit village in Iceland, filled with colourful local characters – for inspiration.

But two days after her arrival, the body of a fisherman’s young son is pulled from the water … and what begins as a search for plot material quickly turns into a messy and dangerous investigation that threatens to uncover secrets that put everything at risk … including Hannah.

Jenny Lund Madsen is one of Denmark’s most acclaimed scriptwriters (including the international hits Rita and Follow the Money) and is known as an advocate for better representation for sexual and ethnic minorities in Danish TV and film. She recently made her debut as a playwright with the critically acclaimed Audition (Aarhus Teater) and her debut literary thriller, Thirty Days of Darkness, first in an addictive new series, won the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel of the year and was shortlisted for the coveted Glass Key Award. She lives in Denmark with her young family.

My thoughts: come with me to an Icelandic village in the middle of nowhere, in winter, where writer Hannah is attempting to write a crime novel in 30 days to win a bet. When there’s a murder, which she gets involved in and puts her safety at risk. She doesn’t speak the language, forcing others to have to speak English or Danish, she doesn’t know the people, but she’s pretty sure she can catch the killer. As you do.

I found Hannah a bit grating, she pushes her way into people’s lives and business with little regard for their feelings and clearly thinks very highly of herself. Her career is stalling as not many people seem that keen on her literary fiction – preferring crime writers like her nemesis Jørn. Which is why she boasts she can write a whole crime novel in a month. This tickled me, I do love it when writers poke fun at the industry and their own genre.

Especially when the book is so good, like this one. Jenny Lund Madsen has written a cracking crime thriller, with all the good ingredients – remote location, nosey outsider, secrets that have been buried for years, lots of possible suspects, a conflicted community, a lone policeman, and winter closing in. Iceland’s unique geography and the fact that the sun isn’t in evidence for much of the winter adds to the sinister atmosphere – snow bound crimes are always a bit more macabre than sunny ones. The winter darkness adds to the sense of claustrophobia and paranoia, someone here is a killer. They can’t leave, but neither can anyone else.

Full of suspense, intrigue and horror, this dark and twisted tale of murder and tragedy is absolutely perfect for a dark and stormy night’s reading. Or not, if you don’t want to stay up all night!

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

books

Cover Reveal: A Blood Deep Darkness – Tish Thomas

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We are thrilled to share the beautiful cover of upcoming release, A Blood Deep Darkness by Tish Thomas! Read on for more info!

Tish Thomas 1 ebook

A Blood Deep Darkness (The Dark Reunion Series, Book 1)

Expected Publication Date: Summer 2023

Genre: PNR/ Vampire Romance

  • Wolf Packs
  • Vampire Dystopia
  • Enemies to Lovers
  • Partners in Crime
  • Revenge
  • Reincarnation
  • Psychic connection
  • Interracial relationships
  • Magic
  • Sisterhood
  • Dysfunctional family
  • Warfare and prophecies
  • Redemption

Vampire insurrectionist Camden Moretti is determined to put an end to the vicious blood-system that has held the world captive since the Human Annihilation war. An undercover operative for a rebellion group, Camden feels he can only make up for the failure of his assignment by procuring the only known chapters of the Vampiric Triumph, a secretive book that contains the ritual of the King of Darkness, the key to controlling a child with enormous power.

Beautiful Lycan heiress Danielle Calen is on the run from her lethal pack. Her sister is the beta wolf of a violent extremist pack who believe murder and vengeance is the best means of remaining free. But those views killed their parents and sent her sister down a spiraling path of blood thirsty madness. When that madness results in violence, Danielle is determined to rescue her sister from a death sentence.

Camden and Danielle meet in the storm of their lives. The prophecy they’d grown up ignoring suddenly casts their intense and forbidden attraction in a whole new light. Surrounded by violence and betrayals, in a world where blood is currency, their attraction reveals devastating consequences linked to a time-transcending curse of love and death. Will they have the courage to challenge destiny, oppression, and war, or will their passion be the trigger for their shocking end?

Coming Soon!

About the Author

release image

Tish Thomas has been avid reader and science fiction enthusiast since the age of nine and since then has written six science fiction novels and several short stories. She studied English at the University of Central Florida and is a long-time member of the Algonkian Writers Conference Organization. Tish was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida and currently resides in Jacksonville Florida with her husband and two daughters. Tish writes full-time and enjoys helping other authors improve their craft through meaningful advice and free resources. You can visit her website at http://www.authortishthomas.com.

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Blog Tour: The Hex Next Door – Lou Wilham

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TheHexNextDoor copy

We are so happy to share The Hex Next Door with you all!

Lou Wilham has written a truly ‘magical’ story, and on May 3rd will be revealing a brand-new special hardcover edition! Visit one of our Bookstagram hosts for a chance to win a signed hardcover!

Hex Next Door Kindle 2

The Hex Next Door (Witches of Moondale #1)

Genre: Cozy Fantasy/ LGBTQ +

Publication Date: Special Edition Coming Soon

Publisher: Midnight Tide Publishing
What’s a little necromancy between family?

For the Crow Witch, Icarus “Rus” Ashthorne, Moondale seemed the perfect hiding place. But like they always say, you can’t go home again, and Rus finds out quickly that nothing is how she remembered, while at the same time very little has changed. Then she comes face to face with the only woman she’s ever loved, Az Elwood, and… well, things get messier than she thought they ever could.

The Elwoods are a staple of Moondale, respected, feared, powerful, and Azure Elwood was always happy with her place amongst them. Happy to play the part of the good little witch, until Rus Ashthorne. Eleven years ago, Rus got on a bus and left Azure behind, but she’s back, with two little girls trailing her like ducklings, and enough unspoken things between them to drown the town.

Now witch hunters are knocking at their proverbial door, the council of magic is being a real pain in the ass, and Rus wonders how much magic it’ll take to protect the people she loves from herself and the danger following her.
A LGBTQ+ cozy urban fantasy novel for fans of The Ex Hex, and October Daye.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

Born and raised in a small town near the Chesapeake Bay, Lou Wilham grew up on a steady diet of fiction, arts and crafts, and Old Bay. After years of absorbing everything, there was to absorb of fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi she’s left with a serious writing/drawing habit that just won’t quit. These days, she spends much of her time writing, drawing, and chasing a very short Basset Hound named Sherlock.

Lou Wilham

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book about a witch family moving back to the town the head of that family Rus came from. Moondale is a place of sanctuary for magic users, witches, druids and mediums.

Rus has taken her adopted daughters there to raise them safely and happily in a community that won’t turn against them and to protect them from witch hunters. Youngest daughter Ailuan has a much sought after gift, and she’s at risk.

Rus also has to deal with being back around her ex, Azure and old friends from her youth.

Luckily Az doesn’t hold anything against Rus, and wants to help keep her girls safe. As do the other friends living in and around Moondale.

As things start to go bad, they rally around Rus and her family to protect the girls and get little Ailuan safely back to her family.

This is the first in a new series and I’m looking forward to the next book.

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May 3rd

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May 4th

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May 5th

@excavating.my.tbr (Review) https://www.instagram.com/excavating.my.tbr/

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

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Blog Tour: Lords of Uncreation – Adrian Tchaikovsky

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From Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time and winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, Lords of Uncreation is the final high-octane instalment in the Final Architecture space opera trilogy.

He’s found a way to end their war, but will humanity survive to see it?

Idris Telemmier has uncovered a secret that changes everything – the Architects’ greatest weakness. A shadowy Cartel scrambles to turn his discovery into a weapon against these alien destroyers of worlds. But between them and victory stands self-interest. The galaxy’s great powers would rather pursue their own agendas than stand together against this shared terror.

Human and inhuman interests wrestle to control Idris’ discovery, as the galaxy erupts into a mutually destructive and self-defeating war. The other great obstacle to striking against their alien threat is Idris himself. He knows that the Architects, despite their power, are merely tools of a higher intelligence.

Deep within unspace, where time moves differently, and reality isn’t quite what it seems, their masters are the true threat. Masters who are just becoming aware of humanity’s daring – and taking steps to exterminate this annoyance forever.

My thoughts: Idris sometimes reminds me of Rincewind from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, a rather nervous man who seems to have stumbled into something bigger than him and doesn’t quite know how to get out of it. In Idris’ case it really is much, much bigger than him. Universe sized really.

He has finally, almost delved enough into the unreal to find the masters behind the planet warping Architects. But can he convince everyone else to go after that and not just the crystalline creatures?

There’s also an attempt at a coup, a very angry Aklu the Unspeakable, the Vulture God limping on, complete with Olli and Kit still on board, even as the rest of crew travel on the Eye with Idris.

This series is hard to explain in a way, it plays with some huge and complex ideas – unspace, the Architects, the Ints like Idris. There are some brilliant concepts too, terrifying ones like the Parthenon and the Essiel and brilliant ones gone a bit awry, like Hugh. The characters are all great, I love Olli and Kittering, their racketing around the universe, holding the ship together with not much more than a few nuts and bolts and determination.

The existing order is in free fall and the ragtag gang trying to fix the universe are all that stands between complete destruction and what’s left of humanity and its allies/enemies/whatever the Hegemony is. I am sad it’s ended, but it was an incredible ride.

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

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Blog Tour: Soul Sucker – Kayla Maurais

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SoulSucker copy

Welcome to the tour for Soul Sucker by Kayla Maurais! Read on for more, and make sure to visit one of our Bookstagram hosts for a chance to win a hardcover edition and some other bookish goodies!

OFFICIAL SUCKER COVER

Soul Sucker

Publication Date: February 17th, 2023

Genre: YA Sci-fi/ Fantasy

If the horror planet they’re trapped on doesn’t kill them first, their sibling rivalry just might . . .

For siblings Dash and Shea, stealing and selling rare artifacts across the galaxy is the family business. Meticulous planner Shea yearns to make her father proud, while chaos comedian Dash secretly wishes to be a normal teen.

When Dash fails to return from a classified heist on a planet in the Realm of Shadows, his negligence falls on Shea, and it’s up to her to rescue him. Again. Locating her brother is tricky enough, but upon her arrival Shea discovers that not only has Dash lost the portal key that was meant to deliver them home, the vile creature he was sent to steal has latched onto him and now feeds on his soul.

To save her brother, Shea must enlist the help of a runaway spellcaster in order to find the cure. Nobody else can guide them across a treacherous terrain filled with viscera-laden rivers and forests lurking with carnivorous predators. Relying on someone else means being vulnerable for the first time. And as Shea’s confidence in herself and her tolerance for her brother’s mistakes start to waver, she must decide what’s more important—being the perfectly-polished leader her father raised her to be, or letting her guard down to save her siblingship and her little brother’s soul.

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Get Soul Sucker Here!

About the Author

Author

Kayla Maurais is a Young Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy author from New England. She first started writing creatively when she was thirteen. Since then, she’s gone on to get a Masters in Screenwriting. When she isn’t writing, Kayla enjoys spending time in nature and going on road trips to discover new places. She is also a certified TEFL teacher, birth doula, and an intuitive empath.

Kayla Maurais

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Blog Tour: New Normal – Michelle Paris

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Welcome to the tour for Michelle Paris’ new book, New Normal. Read on for more details!

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New Normal

Publication Date: May 2nd, 2023

Genre: Women’s Fiction/ Light-Hearted

Publisher: Apprentice House Press

After the sudden death of her husband, Emilie Russell just wants to feel normal. But being a middle-aged widow doesn’t come with a how-to manual. Her well-meaning friend, Viv, believes the cure to all that ails is simple: a new man. So, she sets Emilie up with her handsome and charming new neighbor, widower Colin. There’s only one problem with the plan—Colin is gay.

Emilie embarks on a rollicking journey of self-discovery with Colin as her mentor and best friend. From learning to swipe right without cringing while midlife dating in constricting shapeware to cougar moments in Key West, Emilie reenters the dating pool with both humorous and soul-crushing results.

With the encouragement of her friends, including a new furry one, plus a little therapy, Emilie begins forging a new life, one where she exchanges tears for laughter, and one that maybe—just maybe—includes the courage to find love again.

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Available on Amazon

About the Author

Paris, Michelle 1 5x5

Michelle Paris is a Maryland writer who believes laughter can heal the heart. Her debut novel, New Normal is loosely based on her own experience as a young widow. Her personal story of overcoming grief was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. And her essays about grief and mid-life dating have appeared in multiple editions of the Chicken Soup for the Soul inspirational book series as well as in other media outlets. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America, the Maryland Writers’ Association, and the Women’s Fiction Writers’ Association. Currently, Michelle is enjoying chapter two of her life with her new husband, Kevin, who keeps her from being a cat lady but only on technicality.

Michelle Paris

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Blog Tour: The Ex-Wife – Sally Rigby & Amanda Ashby

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My life was perfect until she came along. Norah.
Younger, prettier and about to marry my own ex-husband, they are a walking cliché.
I hate her. I hate them both.
She’s taken everything from me – my husband, my life, my home – but I refuse to allow her to take Cassie, my beautiful daughter. That’s a step too far.
Now I’ve discovered that Norah plans to have a baby of her own and that causes me no end of problems. She could destroy everything and reveal my deepest, darkest secrets.
That can never be allowed to happen.
No matter what it costs…
A brand new psychological thriller that will keep you guessing till the end! Perfect for fans of Sue Watson, Nina Manning, Shalini Boland
Purchase


Amanda Ashby and Sally Rigby are a crime writing partnership. Both authors live in New Zealand, have been friends for eighteen years and agree about everything (except musicals). They decided to collaborate on a psychological thriller which they then entered into a competition, run by Boldwood, and which they won!

Amanda: Facebook Instagram
Sally: Facebook Instagram
Joint Instagram

My thoughts: this was another clever, assured thriller from the writing team of Sally Rigby and Amanda Ashby. Family dynamics are at the heart of this book. Those of parents, children, couples and siblings.

It’s a tangled mess and a teenage daughter – with a dodgy boyfriend, doesn’t help. As Alice tries in vain to get over her ex, Mark, with his new fiancée Norah a source of huge envy, and co-parent seventeen year old Cassie. Norah only has her brother for support.

And yes, Alice goes too far in basically stalking Norah. But did she kill her? There’s secrets upon secrets here, some of which could ruin lives. Knotty and with some twists that’ll make your jaw drop, this is a brilliant and absorbing read.

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