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.
Just before Christmas I was kindly sent a signed copy of this lovely book. A collection of wonderful poems to help us through some of life’s challenges. As some of you may know I love poetry and find it soothing and powerful. I dip into my poetry books when I need a mood boost or to sit with my feelings, but feel comforted, knowing that I’m not the only one to feel that way. Which is what this book is meant to do. There’s a wonderful selection of poems, old friends and some new faces too. Whatever you’re going through, poetry can help remind us to keep going. You’ll be ok.
A wise and soulful poetry prescription for every season and every mood. Words can be a way to unlock our feelings. Poetry allows us to be in touch with our emotions and explore our vulnerability. You’ll Never Walk Alone is a collection of the kind of inspirational texts – mainly poems – that can accompany us, whatever we are feeling, from sorrow to delight. These are poems that allow us to enjoy a full range of emotions. The poems are organised according to the season in which they ‘belong’: we all have seasons of our minds, be they wintery and dark, or more spring-like and hopeful. With this book by your side, you will feel comforted when times are tough and cheered when they are joyful. The texts are introduced by Rachel Kelly, writer and mental health advocate, whose gentle voice will show you how each poem might become your friend and become part of your emotional reality. Poetry can be a new tool for wellbeing. And one that means you’ll never walk alone.
Rachel Kelly is a keynote speaker, bestselling writer and mental health campaigner. She shares her experience of depression and evidence-based strategies that have helped her recover, and has long been an advocate for the therapeutic power of poetry. She runs Healing Words poetry workshops for mental health charities, at festivals and in prisons, and has been a judge for the Koestler Poetry Prize and the Rethink Mental Illness Poetry Awards. Her passion for poetry led to her becoming the co-founder of the iF poetry app and co-editor of iF: A Treasury of Poetry for Almost Every Possibility (Canongate, 2012). Her memoir Black Rainbow: How words healed me -my journey through depression describes how poetry was an integral part of her recovery. Her critically acclaimed books include The Happy Kitchen, Walking on Sunshine and Singing in the Rain and have been published in over 10 countries. Rachel has spoken all over the world from Delhi to Sydney, America and across the UK. She is also a well-known media commentator and former Times journalist as well as an official ambassador for mental health charities Rethink Mental Illness, SANE, The Counselling Foundation and Head Talks. Rachel lives in London with her husband, Sebastian, and their children.
Thank you to Rachel, the publisher and Midas PR for my copy. I’ll treasure it.
Today I’m excited to participate in the Creative Blog Tour for Over the Moon by S.E. Anderson hosted by MTMC Tours. An illegal clone of the recently murdered princess of the galaxy. A flying kitchen timer bot. A girl out of time with some defrost issues. A theme park droid with the mind of a prince. And a lost beast who’s not sure who he’s meant to kill. Over the Moon is an exciting F/F YA Science Fiction Fantasy published on January 10th, 2023 from Sea Breeze Books!
Title: Over the Moon
Author: S.E. Anderson Publisher: Sea Breeze Books
Publication Date: January 10th, 2023 Genres: F/F Young Adult, Sci-Fi Fantasy
As an illegal clone of the murdered galactic princess, Dora’s face would get her killed the minute she steps off her dull farming moon. She spends her days tinkering with gadgets and gears, with Tau, her kitchen-timer-bot, for company. But when forces close in and threaten her family, her escape attempt lands her deep in the Outer Zone — and on top of the Technowitch of Night, crushing her in the process.
Now a fugitive in two solar systems, Dora’s only chance of survival is to find her way to the mysterious Technomage on his Emerald moon. In a place where science has advanced to be indistinguishable from magic, she must accept the help of an unlikely trio: a cryogenically-preserved girl with no memory, an obsolete theme park droid, and a bioengineered beast with a penchant for the dramatic.
As Dora realizes there’s more to the princess’s death than what the universe has been told, she must choose — save her family, or risk everything to right a centuries-old wrong.
——– Character Art Reveal:
Meet the main characters of Over the Moon with these stunning character illustrations!
Dora (and Tau)NemoNekkan Crow
INTL Tour-wide Instagram Giveaway!
Enter the Rafflecopter below where One Grand prize winner will receive: a hardcover of Over the Moon with a woodmark, postcard + other spacey swag AND Two Runner-ups will get: an Ebook copy of Over the Moon + signed postcard! Ends on January 18th, 2023. Winner will be announced in the Rafflecopter & contacted via email. Enter Here
S.E. Anderson can’t ever tell you where she’s from. Not because she doesn’t want to, but because it inevitably leads to a confusing conversation where she goes over where she was born (England) where she grew up (France) and where her family is from (USA) and it tends to make things very complicated.
She’s lived pretty much her entire life in the South of France, except for a brief stint where she moved to Washington DC, or the eighty years she spent as a queen of Narnia before coming back home five minutes after she had left. Currently, she is working on her PhD in Astrophysics and Planetary sciences in Besançon, France.
When she’s not writing, or trying to science, she’s either reading, designing, crafting, or attempting to speak with various woodland creatures in an attempt to get them to do household chores for her. She could also be gaming, or pretending she’s not watching anything on Netflix.
My thoughts: this was a great, fun Wizard of Oz/Wicked inspired sci fi adventure. Dora is desperate to get off the farming moon she lives on with her aunt and uncle. Her life is boring and she wants more. But unfortunately she’s an illegal clone of the recently deceased princess and wanted by various factions – some to destroy her and some to undermine the ruling class.
So when she escapes (by accident) during a storm, drops the ship on top of a technowitch, liberates some tiny droids and gets sent on a mission to see the technowizard (as you do), makes some new friends and accidentally starts a war. It’s all going so well. But there’s more. And to find out what, you’ll have to read it!
Lots of fun, spot the Oz-ian references as you go and meet the gang – Crow, Nemo, Nekkan and Tau, who help Dora to get across the scary planet to the wizard’s moon in the hope he can help them too.
Story time!
Over the Moon is inspired by Frank L. Baum’s classic The Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy Gale is swept away from her aunt and uncle’s farm to the mysterious land of Oz. There are actually 14 books in the series. Only a couple have been adapted into films (and musicals) and imo Return to Oz (1985) should be a horror film, definitely not the Judy Garland technicolour extravaganza.
I’m related to a real life Dorothy Gale – my great-great-aunt, known as Doll. No wizards or witches would mess with her. She was an incredible woman and a bit of a character, mother of 3, Win (who lives in America and is still going in her 90s), Mick and Jeff (aka The Baby!). During the war my Nan lived with them too in West London.
Auntie Doll had a job cleaning the buses at the depot. When the bus she needed to get to was blocked in, she hopped in and moved another one of the way. The manager said to her “I think we’d better teach you how to drive that Mrs Gale” and she spent the rest of the war as a bus driver! She also introduced my grandparents to each other, she worked in a laundry in the early 60s where my Grandad was working too, and decided he’d be perfect for her niece. I’m glad she did or I wouldn’t be here! She was a feisty, hard working woman and I’m really proud to be related to Dorothy Gale.
A dead body. A hoard of forged banknotes. A gangster out for blood. Newcastle, December 1955. Returning home after a weekend away, singer and amateur sleuth Rosie Robson discovers a man lying on a baggage trolley with his throat cut. After the police get involved, an attack on Rosie and her boss prompts Inspector Vic Walton to find a safe house for the pair. But the bad guys seem to be one step ahead of them and Rosie is forced to track down a possible witness to the murder in a bid to learn the truth. Can the canny crooner solve the mystery before a Newcastle gang boss catches up with her? Set on Tyneside, Blood on the Tyne: Red Snow is book #3 in the Rosie Robson Murder Mysteries series. Purchase Link
True-born Geordie Colin Garrow grew up in a former mining town in Northumberland and has worked in a plethora of professions including taxi driver, antiques dealer, drama facilitator, theatre director and fish processor. He has also occasionally masqueraded as a pirate. Colin’s published books include the Watson Letters series, the Terry Bell Mysteries and the Rosie Robson Murder Mysteries. His short stories have appeared in several literary mags, including: SN Review, Flash Fiction Magazine, The Grind, A3 Review, Inkapture and Scribble Magazine. These days he lives in a humble cottage in Northeast Scotland.
My thoughts: this is a fast paced thriller set during one snowy winter in 1955. Without mobile phones or CCTV, the race is on to find a killer. All they can go on is Rosie’s memory and the evidence, all of which points in one direction but the prime suspect says it wasn’t him and scarpers.
Is there a new gang boss making a play for Newcastle? Rumours of a woman with a penchant for red hot pokers and a man with a scarred face have Rosie running scared, nowhere is safe and her friends are at risk too. Can Vic arrest the villains before anyone else gets hurt?
I was totally gripped, the pacing was relentless and I could not put this down. Rosie is a compelling protagonist and her friends and colleagues are a great bunch.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
I am so excited to share this cover with you all. I love Cassie’s books and this sounds amazing. Read on to learn more…
CASSANDRA CLARE is back with her first foray into adult fantasy, Sword Catcher, and we’re delighted to help reveal the stunning UK cover.
Sword Catcher, published by Tor UK on 10 October, 2023 (pre-order here), is a stunning introduction to a brand new fantasy series – perfect for fans of Game of Thrones, VE Schwab and Brandon Sanderson.
A dramatic epic of power, intrigue and magic. Here, a boy is born to rule a divided city. A girl is destined to return lost magic to the world. And a prince will betray his people to win a crown. They’ll discover the dark side of themselves and those they love, as their kingdom faces war, plague and the end of hope. But the blackest night comes before dawn.
Cassandra Clare is the author of the #1 New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Shadowhunter Chronicles. She is also the coauthor of the bestselling fantasy series Magisterium with Holly Black. Her books have already sold over 50 million copies worldwide in 35 languages. The Shadowhunter Chronicles have been adapted as both a major motion picture and a television series. Cassandra lives in western Massachusetts with her husband and three fearsome cats. Visit her at CassandraClare.com.
Two outcasts find themselves at the centre of world-altering change in the start of a riveting epic fantasy series from the No.1 New York Times bestselling author of The Shadowhunter Chronicles.
In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, the richest of nobles and the most debauched of criminals have one thing in common: the constant search for wealth, power and the next hedonistic thrill.
Kel is an orphan, stolen from the life he knew to become the Sword-Catcher – the body-double of a royal heir, Prince Conor Aurelian. He has been raised alongside the prince, trained in every aspect of combat and statecraft. He and Conor are close as brothers, but Kel knows he has one destiny: to die for Conor. No other future is possible.
Lin Caster is one of the Ashkar, a small community who still possess magical abilities. By law, they must live behind walls in the city, but Lin, a physician, ventures out to tend to the sick and dying of Castellane. Despite her skills, she cannot heal her best friend Mariam without access to forbidden knowledge.
After a failed assassination attempt brings Lin and Kel together, they are drawn into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King, the criminal ruler of Castellane’s underworld. He offers them each what they want most; but as they descend into his world of intrigue and shadow, they discover a conspiracy of corruption that reaches from the darkest gutters of Castellane to the highest tower of its palaces. As long-kept secrets begin to unravel, they must ask themselves: Is knowledge worth the price of betrayal? Can forbidden love bring down a kingdom? And will Lin and Kel’s discoveries plunge their nation into war – and the world into chaos?
Welcome to the book tour for Queen and Conqueror by Isabelle Olmo! Read more about this stunner below!
Queen and Conqueror (The Queen’s Guard #1)
Publication Date: August 2022
Genre: Fantasy/ Romantic Fantasy
How does one conquer a kingdom without spilling blood? You offer your hand in marriage to the king who killed your husband.
Almira’s father raised her in political cunning. Since childhood, she’s prepared for this moment. She lays out the players one by one like pieces on a board.
One. King Alton, the brother-killer. The spare heir who killed his brother for the throne.
Two. The perfect seamstress. The people must admire a queen and welcome her with open arms even when she arrives with a deadly armada behind her.
Three. The Queen’s Red Guard. These warrior women have one purpose; to protect the queen at all costs. Even from her husband. Even from herself.
Queen & Conqueror is the first book in an epic feminist fantasy series told from the perspective of the women who rule and shape the future.
He cleared his throat. “The High Lord seeks aid from Istok. Your native country hasn’t been plagued with war like we have. Perhaps if your father–“
“Istok did not begin a war. My father will not risk Istokian lives because my husband has a vendetta against a king that toys with our Suidian forces. We should retreat and regroup. Sit with King Alton and negotiate,” she said with a steady voice.
She surprised herself. She’d never challenged a messenger as such. But she was damn tired of sitting like a protected porcelain plate, while the world crumbled.
He looked at her incredulously. “My lady, forgive me, but shouldn’t you let your father decide that?”
His words filled Almira with sudden anger, but she controlled and subdued it. She moved slowly as she stood and faced the captain. He was a large man, and she was small even for a woman. That mattered little.
“Captain, your job is to deliver news of the front. You’ve done that. But to presume I would take advice on state matters from you is insulting.”
He stepped forward and opened his mouth.
“Apology accepted,” she said and raked him over in disapproval. “You didn’t mean to insinuate anything. You have, after all, the utmost respect for my house. However, you will deliver a message from me, captain. Each day I sit in this room while my husband fights a war that drags on and continues killing our soldiers. Each day more lives are lost. At first it was fifty. Now, you tell me 2,000. Inform High Lord Edgar that I want the number.”
He blustered. “The number?”
“Yes. I want the number.” She pressed her index finger against the map. “I want the exact number of deaths we must reach to determine this cause is folly. It’ll give me something to look forward to while I practice my half-stitch.”
She sat and pushed her dinner plate away with disgust. The time had finally come for her value to be placed on the table. Even at a young age she knew he married her because of her connections to Istok. Her father wisely kept their country out of the squabbles and in the years since the war started, her home country grew rich with trade.
“That means you’re dismissed, captain,” Sanaa said.
Clearly astounded at being addressed in such a manner, he left. Not before his helmet slipped and rolled about on the stone floor. It caused a great deal of noise. He rushed after it, while the women watched the display.
Isabelle Olmo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and was raised on a steady diet of 80’s fantasy films and Sweet Valley High. Her love of literature was developed at an early age when her grandmother gifted her a poetry collection. Queen & Conqueror will be her first published novel.
She graduated with a degree in English Literature and a minor in Political Science from the University of Central Florida.
When she’s not writing she loves to travel, cook, and drink wine. One day she hopes to live in Barcelona, her favorite city in the world.
An unbelievably believable time travel escapade. Casual antique dealer Jake Patch picks up an unusual object and can’t put it down. Literally. His find is a time travel device, and he hatches a bold plan to acquire objects from the past and sell them at modern day prices. But when the mysterious Infinity Glass leaves Patch stranded in a dangerous past, it falls to his teen daughter Cass to save him. With hints of The Time Traveller’s Wife and Back to the Future and a smattering of Lovejoy, Patches through Time will send you spinning headlong into the past, then spit you back into the twenty-first century. This book contains occasional profanities. Trigger warning: bereavement (parent, spouse).
Sian Turner was born in Wales, but lives in East Sussex. She has recently started learning Welsh (and can categorically testify that Welsh is difficult). She works as a part-time volunteer in her local RSPCA cat re-homing centre, from where she keeps adopting new family members (only one or two at a time). Sian enjoys reading and reviewing some of the many truly amazing novels by Independent Authors, and she is secretary of her local writers’ group, Shorelink Writers.
My thoughts: this was a fun time travelling adventure, with lots of pop culture references and some reminders of learning history at school – Jake’s first trip is to 1066, but he’s a bit far away from the battlefield, probably a good thing as it was pretty bloody.
Getting stuck in 1943 means his daughter Cass and her new friend Mia have to travel back and rescue him, while bombs are falling on the south coast. Luckily the sarcastic sprite Drusilla, their “guide” is on hand to help them figure out the time travelling rules.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
POWERS ARE RISING. AND SECRETS ARE JUST AS DEADLY.
Successfully obtaining the chalice in Noel has put Mellana at risk. Prince Lorian has ordered everyone to turn over those who possess gifts,
and a bounty looms over her head. Mellana may have the help of her friends, but when trouble strikes, the group finds themselves separated.
Stumbling upon a hidden fortress filled with people who have powers like herself, she learns Lorian isn’t the only one she needs to fear.
In search of the next article, Emery’s Emerald, Mellana makes it to the kingdom of Emery. But when the Queen and article come up missing all eyes are on her sister, Princess Opal, who has a deadly obsession with snakes and mirrors. Making Opal a deal, Mellana agrees to find the article in exchange for protection. When the deal creates a countdown Mellana must deliver her side of the bargain before her reality becomes twisted, and her plans of stopping Lorian are shattered.
During the month of Amira, the silver moon emerges, and the kingdom of Zyra comes alive with anticipation for its annual ball. Mellana Goodwick, finally at the rightful age of sixteen, receives her first invitation, but when unexpected events take place, immediate regret sets in. Mellana finds herself caught in a strange storm-casting down green lightning and filling the sky with ear-splitting thunder. To make matters worse, the kingdom comes under attack by Prince Lorian, a man removed from the line of succession for murdering his sister, the future queen, and her newborn child.
After escaping the attack with her best friends, Mellana stumbles upon a box left by a woman named Rose. With the power to see glimpses of the future, Rose warns Mellana of hidden powers the kingdom has covered up and Lorian’s desire to unleash them all. Rose instructs Mellana to gather the sacred article from each of the seven kingdoms before Lorian and his deadly group can gain access to them. Together, the items unlock a barrier that is meant to stay shut.
In Secrets of a Rose, Mellana will discover remarkable abilities that stir around her and some that even rise within. In order to keep what she loves, she must embark on a race against the person who dares to threaten it all.
Adina Chiles is a fantasy author who loves taking her readers on whimsical adventures. She adores stories with endearing friendships, people who possess unique powers, and witty banter.
She lives in Northern California with her family. When she is not writing, she is buying books she knows she doesn’t need or experimenting with new baking recipes.
Adina has partnered with Midnight Tide Publishing to bring you the young adult fantasy series Royal Blood.
He always said she was just a friend… What if she’d kill for more?
Sophie is perfect. She has blonde hair and blue eyes and when she smiles her teeth sparkle. And she cares; she’s passionate. Everybody loves her. So would I, except she’s my husband Mike’s best friend, and sometimes they seem a little too close for comfort.
This summer, Sophie is renting the grand house next door, bringing over fancy wine, offering to babysit our beautiful three-year-old daughter. It’s nice, actually. She’s smart and funny. Maybe the way she is with Mike – squeezing his arm, tilting her head when she laughs at his jokes – is just how she is with everybody.
But then she says something that sends a shiver down my spine – does she know something about me she shouldn’t?
And when her new husband arrives, looking slightly too familiar, I realise my time is running out. My baby girl and I are in terrible danger.
Sophie really is perfect. She has me perfectly trapped. And as my world begins to crumble, I start to wonder: does Sophie just want to steal my husband, or has she planned the perfect murder?
A completely unputdownable psychological thriller that will keep you flicking through your Kindle late into the night. Perfect for fans of The Housemaid, The Guest List and anything by Louise Candlish, Erin Kelly or TM Logan.
Author Bio – I’m the working mum of a bossy little girl and a bossier cat called Pesto. We live in the southwest of England and escape to the beach whenever we can. I’ve never stopped writing my whole life but this is the first time I’ve published a book!
When Teddy Colne arrives in the small town of Rye, he believes he will be able to settle down and leave his past behind him. Little does he know that fear blisters through the streets like a fever. The locals tell him to stay away from an establishment known only as Berry & Vincent, that those who rub too closely to its proprietor risk a bad end.
Despite their warnings, Teddy is desperate to understand why Rye has come to fear this one man, and to see what really hides behind the doors of his shop.
Ada moved to Rye with her young son to escape a damaged childhood and years of never fitting in, but she’s lonely, and ostracised by the community. Ada is ripe for affection and friendship, and everyone knows it.
As old secrets bleed out into this town, so too will a mystery about a family who vanished fifty years earlier, and a community living on a knife-edge.
Teddy looks for answers, thinking he is safe, but some truths are better left undisturbed, and his past will find him here, just as it always has. And before long, it will find Ada too.
Ronnie Turner grew up in Cornwall, the youngest in a large family. At an early age, she discovered a love of literature and dreamed of being a published author. Ronnie now lives in the South West with her family and three dogs. In her spare time, she reviews books on her blog and enjoys long walks on the coast. Ronnie is a Waterstones Senior Bookseller and a barista, and her youth belies her exceptional, highly unusual talent.
My thoughts: this was really good, it got creepy very quickly and I really felt for Ada and Albie, terrified and trapped in Rye. With Teddy and the really disturbing Mr Vincent (he never speaks and collects really odd things). Teddy claims to want to escape the shadow of his father but proves to be more like him as the book goes on.
There is something a bit creepy about seaside towns, especially out of season, something sad and haunted about them. I don’t know Rye itself but it serves as the perfect setting for this tale of obsession and loneliness.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Last year was a weird old year and a pretty rubbish one for me personally. Thankfully books continue to be reliable. Most of these were published last year. All should be available from various bookshops and online.
In no particular order, here’s my 2022 books of the year, let me know what you loved in the comments or tag me on Twitter or even Instagram (which I will remember to post on one day…)
I read the Illumicrate edition which is so beautiful in black and silver. This was really interesting and current discourse shows that a lot of people really didn’t understand any of it. It’s definitely helpful to have some context – historically everything that happened in the book happened, minus the magic stuff. Britain really was the worst. Colonialism is never a good thing and honestly, Oxford (as a city and a university) benefited hugely from the evils of the British Empire.
Coming at the end of 2022, this was a delicious live story between a mindship with a beautiful avatar and her hostage turned wife bot builder. Dealing with the politics of pirates, the wholesale risk of invasion, a resentful son and the death of Rice Fish’s previous wife – the Red Scholar. The two women (is a ship a woman since they’re always female even when, as with some of the others in this book, they’re not?) must navigate all these complications and risks to survive.
I loved it, I thought I might as I really enjoyed Aliette’s alternate Paris set stories of dragons and angels. Drawing on the author’s Vietnamese heritage, it’s a space opera that just blew my mind.
The sequel to A Marvellous Light, this is an ocean set murder mystery with magic and sex and love and I adored it. I think I even liked it more than AML which was one of my favourites last year. I don’t know how the author does it but it works.
In a year when I seem to have read a lot of queer books, here’s another one! The science side of things or magic or whatever it is, is really interesting. A reader can read your mind and an architect can write your actions into you. Combine them with a sync and you have essentially one mind in 2 bodies. And then they fall in love and there’s a coup and the whole universe goes mad and they’re the ones who have to fix it! Just brilliant.
And now for something a bit different, but still LGBTQ+. This was a gut punch of a book, concerning the death of a teenage girl, her boyfriend, his mother and her bees. Absolutely beautiful in a stark, shocking and moving way. Jodi Picoult is the queen of the courtroom drama and this is just incredible. Have tissues on standby, you’ll need them. The two writers alternate protagonists and honestly it’s so well done.
I loved the trilogy before this, I love this series, the ending of this book made me cry. I don’t know how Brandon Sanderson manages to write multiple series but he somehow keeps track of it all, and the plan for the Mistborn universe is inspired. Even if it means saying goodbye to these characters.
ramblingmads 