blog tour, books, reviews

#TeamDaniels Double Review: Without a Trace & Her Last Request – Mari Hannah

A FATAL CRASH

A plane on route from London to New York City has disappeared out of the sky. This breaking news dominates every TV channel, every social media platform, and every waking hour of the Metropolitan Police and US Homeland Security.

A PRIVATE TRAGEDY

The love of DCI Kate Daniels’ life was on that aircraft, but she has no authority to investigate. This major disaster is outside of her jurisdiction and she’s ordered to walk away.

A SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH

But Kate can’t let it lie. She has to find out what happened to that plane – even if it means going off book. No one is safe.

And there are some very dangerous people watching her…

My thoughts: when Kate believes Jo is on a plane that has just been destroyed, she leaps into action, crashing into the investigation and demanding full access. Bright is playing catch up getting the paperwork in place, and as the case builds, it seems there’s a link not to terrorism, but to a murder in Kate’s own back yard. Could this all be about a war between drug dealing gangs in Northumberland?

Kate is recruited to help the FBI to investigate and get justice for the flight’s passengers, which may or may not include Jo. This case is personal and then becomes something so much bigger than Kate could imagine, and also incredibly local. It’s all hands on deck and it could end up costing the MIT everything.

A Hidden Clue

A victim leaves a note for the SIO who will investigate her death. This not what DCI Kate Daniels expects to find concealed at a crime scene.

A Desperate Plea

The note contains a last request: ‘Find Aaron’. But is Kate searching for a potential second victim, or a killer?

The Countdown is on…

Following the clues, Kate becomes the obsession of her adversary who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Will she find Aaron before he does?

My thoughts: imagine you know that you’re going to die, in fact, you’re going to be murdered. Would you carefully leave a trail of evidence to lead the police to your killer? Ensuring that they can’t reach the one person you’d do anything to keep safe in the process.

Kate’s newest case has a victim so determined to protect someone and ensure their killer ends up where he belongs. But only if Kate can figure out all the clues and follow the trail left behind. It’s a clever, complex case, and Kate needs to ensure the team is at their best, but after the events of the last book, they’re still reeling.

This series just gets better and better, the cases more intriguing, complex and ingenious. And Kate finally starts to understand the concept of a work/life balance, as opposed to her eat sleep breathe the job behaviour. Thankfully the ever loyal Hank Gormley is always right behind her, trying to stop her going off the rails completely.

*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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BBNYA Semi-finalists: Where Fate Whispers – E.G. Tudor

This year, the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the 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 15 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.

BOOK ONE IN THE FATED PARTNERS TRILOGY

In the Twin Realms of Nos and Sol, Ceridwen Moonshade anxiously awaits the Fated Pair Choosing; she hopes to be partnered with her best friend, Malakai Ostara.

But the Fates have other plans.

Something insidious lurks amongst the shadows, and Ceridwen’s whole life will turn on its head, when an ominous prophecy is foretold. In order to save the realms and stave back the horrors of the lower realm of Fog, she must put aside her own growing feelings for Malakai and do what is right.

But in the process of discovering who she really is, and what she is capable of… will she realise that Fate isn’t always set in stone?

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E.G. Tudor is an award-winning multi-genre author from the original land of myth and legend; Wales. She lives on the beautiful coast with her husband, four children and crazy dog. She loves to connect with her readers and can be found on Twitter: @E_G_Tudor or on Instagram: @from_the_shelf_of_e_g_tudor

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: To Kiss The Sea – C.H. Carter

ToKisstheSea copy

Welcome to the tour for To Kiss the Sea by C.H. Carter. Read on for more details!

cover

To Kiss the Sea

Publication Date: October 31, 2023

Genre: Sapphic Fantasy/ Fairy Tale Fantasy

🌊 Fairytale retelling
🌊 Mermaids, pirates, and spies – Oh my!
🌊 Force proximity
🌊 Enemies-to-friends
🌊 LGBTQ/Queer normative society
🌊 Found family
🌊 Mental health rep
🌊 Multi-POV

In the Birde Isles there’s a saying: You cannot take what the sea is not willing to give.

Ally Kingfisher never gave it much thought until she experienced the sea’s wrath firsthand. But after a near-drowning leaves her with a deeply ingrained fear of the water, Ally still finds herself inexplicably drawn to its depths. As if something is calling to her from beneath the waves, and it only grows louder each year.

Pasha is being punished for something she didn’t do, sentenced to a life of solitude until her kin return. But mermaids aren’t meant to live alone. Desperate for companionship, Pasha makes a deal that goes spectacularly awry, affecting the lives of everyone on the Isles for years to come.
When a pirate captain kidnaps Ally’s mother and demands Ally deliver the ransom personally, she is forced to leave land for the first time. Turning to Pasha, the one creature whose help she doesn’t want but whose power over the water she needs, Ally strikes a new bargain to get her to her mother. But she’ll have to confront more than her fears along the way…
Because even those in favor are still at the mercy of the sea.

Amazon * Kobo * Barnes & Noble * Walmart

Book Tour Schedule

December 18th

http://rrbooktours.com – Landing Page

https://www.instagram.com/authormariereed/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/betterthantherapy?igshid=MzMyNGUyNmU2YQ&utm_source=qr – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/naileycormier?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA&utm_source=qr – Feature

https://instagram.com/the_bookish_cave_of_wonders?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA== – Feature

December 19th

https://www.instagram.com/sharingthebooklove – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/acourtofsaltandsnow/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/ychg_?igshid=MW5ldGdla3czODR4bw%3D%3D – Review

https://www.instagram.com/squeakeysundergroundlibrary/ – Review

December 20th

https://www.instagram.com/samanthainfantasyworld/ – Feature

https://darkfantasyreviews.wordpress.com – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/literary_dystopia?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D – Review

http://ramblingmads.com – Feature

December 21st

https://www.instagram.com/mythicmelancholy/ – Review

https://rissreviewsx.wixsite.com/website – Review

https://www.instagram.com/junebug_reads/?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA – Feature

December 22nd

https://ilovebooksandstuffblog.wordpress.com – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/ilovebooksandstuffblog/ – Feature

https://www.instagram.com/amanda_coffee_books/ – Review

https://www.instagram.com/beastreader/ – Review

Book Tour Organized By:

RRBookTours Button

R&R Book Tours

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BBNYA Semi-finalists: What I Hid From You – Heleen Kist

This year, the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the 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 15 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.

SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS HER OWN WORST ENEMY … UNTIL THEY CAME ALONG

Following the death of a patient in her care, Radha begins taking Valium to control her anxiety.

She tells herself she’s fine, but as the pressures of being a perfect wife, mother and daughter mount, her little habit spirals into addiction.

When she’s forced to find a new source of pills, she stumbles into the blackmailing clutches of Glasgow’s underworld.

A mistake that could cost her everything.

They give her an impossible choice: face personal and professional ruin or have blood on her hands by helping them deal.

As she fights to protect all she holds dear, can she protect herself?

A gripping and emotional suspense novel about a woman who risks it all to juggle it all.

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Heleen Kist is a Dutch, formerly globetrotting career woman who fell in love with a Scotsman and his country, and now writes about its (sometimes scary) people from her garden office in Glasgow. ‘What I Hid From You’ is her third novel, inspired by many an overworked dentist friend. Her fourth, ‘KIller Bodies’ is out now.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Dead Sweet – Katrin Júlíusdóttir, translated by Quentin Bates

When a celebrated government official is found dead after his surprise birthday party, a young police officer uncovers a terrifying world of financial crime, sinister cults and disturbing secret lives. Icelandic politician KatrÍn JÚlÍusdÓttir’s award-winning, breathtaking debut, and first in a chilling series.

When Óttar Karlsson, a wealthy and respected government official and businessman, is found murdered, after failing to turn up at his own surprise birthday party, the police are at a loss. It isn’t until young police officer SigurdÍs finds a well-hidden safe in his impersonal luxury apartment that clues start emerging.

As Óttar’s shady business dealings become clear, a second, unexpected line of enquiry emerges, when SigurdÍs finds a US phone number in the safe, along with papers showing regular money transfers to an American account. Following the trail to Minnesota, trauma rooted in SigurdÍs’s own childhood threatens to resurface and the investigation strikes chillingly close to home…

Atmospheric, deeply unsettling and full of breakneck twists and turns, Dead Sweet is a startling debut thriller that uncovers a terrifying world of financial crime, sinister cults and disturbing secret lives, and kicks off an addictive, mind-blowing new series.

KatrÍn received the Blackbird Award, an Icelandic crime-writing prize, for her first novel, Dead Sweet. Her debut novel was reviewed well by critics and hit the best-selling lists in the first weeks after publication. KatrÍn has a political background and was a member of Parliament from 2003 until 2016. Before she was elected to Parliament, KatrÍn was an advisor and project manager at a tech company and a senior buyer and CEO in the retail sector, as well as the Managing Director of a student union during her uni years.

Translator – Quentin Bates escaped English suburbia as a teenager, jumping at the chance of a gap year working in Iceland. He is the author of a series of crime novels set in present-day Iceland (Frozen Out, Cold Steal, Chilled to the Bone, Winterlude, Cold Comfort and Thin Ice which have been published worldwide. He has translated all of Ragnar JÓnasson’s Dark Iceland series.

My thoughts: this was really good, but also really awful because when the truth comes out about the victim, Óttar, he turns out to have been one bad man and I didn’t really want the cops to find his killer, because weirdly I felt bad for them – not him!

SigurdÍs is a really good investigator, even if she does go off on her own – she just wants to prove to her bosses that she’s a great cop and not keep getting left out of investigations or given paperwork to shuffle.

I really hope this grows into a series as I was completely hooked, the writing (and Quentin’s brilliant translation work) was so gripping and compelling, even as I realised, oh no, he’s guilty of really gross and horrible things, I wanted to keep reading.

*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

BBNYA Semi-finalists: Unbound – Ash Finley

This year, the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the 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 15 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.

Sometimes it’s the family you can’t choose who are the ones to save you.

un·sound /ˌənˈsound/ adjective not safe or robust; in poor condition. not based on sound evidence or reasoning and therefore unreliable or unacceptable not competent, reliable, or holding acceptable views.

As I watched the rich Washington landscape of mountains and thick green forests, I didn’t know what to expect. Granted, I was watching it from the back of a squad car, so it’s not like I had a choice in the matter.

High school is hard enough—dealing with hormones, grades, the pressure of college, social media, prom, sex ed… the list can go on forever. I wished for that kind of normalcy. Instead, I was being shipped way up to the middle of nowhere woods of Washington state—a serene community of cozy cabins, the smell of burning firewood… and enough troubled, drug-addicted, almost-criminal teens to make me wonder if this was a better option than juvie.

Little did I know that these drug-addled, societal misfits were exactly what I needed to become myself again.

Written in four cohesive POV’s, Unsound follows a tight-knit group of troubled teenagers living at a boarding school for at-risk youths up in a remote forest in Washington State. These kids have had childhood ripped away from them but they’re on the journey to take their lives back.

345 page standalone with a sequel is in the works!

But no cliffhangers, because who really likes a cliffhanger!?

There are TRIGGER WARNINGS ranging from mental abuse, eating disorders and depression to underage drug & alcohol use, underage sex and mentions of rape. But I promise, it’s not as dark as the warning sounds.

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Author Bio:

I’m an author in Brooklyn, trying to promote my first book Unsound. Unsound is a 20+ year project and I’m so proud of where it is now from where it was in 1999 coming out of a 14-year-old brain.

I love Manhattan. I love my cat. I have the best boyfriend in the world who tries not to show his frustration when I want to write and therefore need to ignore him for hours.

I love music, my latest obsessions being Bastille, 21 Pilots, Old Dominion, Dan+Shay, and AJR. I love having the radio play all day long in the background. I love old school WB: Buffy, Dawson’s Creek, Charmed, just to name a few.

And most importantly, I’m constantly reading. After all, Stephen King said: “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.” “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

Besides the sequel to Unsound, I’m also working on a new project that is fantasy based.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Beggar and the Ghost – Vincent Holland-Keen

At the very moment when Daniel Littlewood decides to end his worthless life, he’s not himself any more.He’s the suave and deadly hero of a Hollywood dream filled with fast cars, beautiful women and jetsetting intrigue.As fantasy and reality begin to collide and a global conspiracy threatens the fate of the world, the only question is,𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙗𝙖𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝘿𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙡 𝙇𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙬𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚…

The Beggar and The Ghost is Part One in the stunning high concept thriller Eidolan Trilogy. Part Two coming Summer 2024.

Vincent lives in Leeds with his wife and an assortment of plush hippos. As a child he was constantly disappointed that his wardrobe didn’t open into Narnia, but eventually realised writing about excitement and adventure is a lot less stressful than living it. He works for a major metropolitan university doing the kind of IT that doesn’t involve telling people to switch it off and on again.

My thoughts: this was quite interesting, Daniel’s life is falling apart, it can’t get much worse but now he’s having strange blackouts and waking up in someone else’s body, someone else’s life. In which he seems to be a kickass assassin or something. If only he could work out what’s going on.

As he flips back and forth between his two lives – the rubbish old one and the exciting but terrifying alternate one, he’s spiralling and the two lives are slowly scaring him. Especially as his dream one is edging into reality, and reality is bad enough.

*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

BBNYA Semi-finalists: Under the Lesser Moon – Shelly Campbell

This year, the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the 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 15 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.

Dragons once led our people across the wastelands, away from storms, and toward hunting grounds.’

That’s what the elders say, but eleven-year-old Akrist has squinted at empty skies his whole life. The dragons have abandoned them, and it’s Akrist’s fault. He’s cursed. Like every other firstborn son, he has inherited the sins of his ancestors. In his camp, he’s the only eldest boy left. Something happened to the others.

Something terrible.

When Akrist befriends Tanar, an eldest boy from another tribe, he discovers the awful truth: they’re being raised as sacrifices to appease the Goddess and win back her dragons. The ritual happens when the dual moons eclipse. Escape is the only option, but Akrist was never taught to hunt or survive the wastelands alone. Time is running out, and he has to do something before the moons touch.

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At a young age, Shelly Campbell wanted to be an air show pilot or a pirate, possibly a dragon and definitely a writer and artist. She’s piloted a Cessna 172 through spins and stalls, and sailed up the east coast on a tall ship barque—mostly without projectile vomiting. In the end, Shelly found writing fantasy and drawing dragons to be so much easier on the stomach.

Shelly’s tales are speculative fiction, tending toward literary with dollops of oddity. She enjoys the challenge of exploring new techniques and subject matter, and strives to embed inspiring stories in her writing.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Waitress – Emily Shiner

Secrets can be kept. If you’re willing to pay the price.

Anne Marie’s life isn’t easy. She’s a single mom in a dead-end waitressing job with a beater car and bills to pay. Adding to the pressure, her teenage son, Dave, is out of control, and no matter what she does, Anne Marie can’t seem to get through to him.

Then, out of the blue, Dave completely changes. He’s kind, he’s thoughtful, he helps out around the house and looks after his mom. Anne Marie can’t believe her luck.

Until she discovers the reason for her son’s sudden transformation – he’s done something really awful and he’s terrified he’ll be caught. Even worse, someone out there knows about it and they’re blackmailing him.

Anne Marie is desperate to protect her son and knows she has to somehow stop the blackmailer. But how?

As she considers her choices, Anne Marie realizes she may be taking the first steps on a path that will lead her straight to the gates of hell.

How far is she willing to go to save her only child?

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Emily Shiner always dreamed of becoming an author but first served her time as a banker and a teacher. After a lifetime of devouring stacks of thrillers, she decided to try her hand at writing them herself. Now she gets to live out her dream of writing novels and sharing her stories with people around the world. She lives in the Appalachian Mountains and loves hiking with her husband, daughter, and their two dogs.

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My thoughts: Anne Marie is trying to keep all the plates spinning – her dead end waitressing job, her struggle to pay the bills, her son Dave, who’s getting into trouble at school. But after a hit and run on their street, Dave changes for the better. Can it last and does he have anything to do with the death of their elderly neighbour?

When he finally opens up to her, it’s with the horrifying news that he did indeed hit their neighbour and somebody saw – now they’re blackmailing him. He needs his mother’s help to get the blackmailer off his back. And from there it all spirals out of control.

Anne Marie no longer has any control of what’s going on, and increasingly her son, who’s not a particularly nice person, is and he doesn’t care who he has to hurt to get his own way.

There are twists and turns along the way, as Anne Marie’s life falls apart, all the things she’s scrabbling to hold onto are escaping her and she’s on her own with no one to turn to. I felt sorry for her, she’s lost in her own life and nothing seems to be improving. Even when she tries to take back control it goes wrong. The final twist was gasp worthy, but no spoilers here.

Click the image for more on the tour

*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

BBNYA Semi-finalists: The Warriors of Bhrea; The Lost King – T.M Kohl

This year, the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the 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 15 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.

She’s trapped on another world. With a strange voice in her head. What will it take to get back to Earth?

Lauren Strauss wanted a normal life, but fate had another idea in mind. Plagued by bizarre dreams and questions about her family’s past, Lauren hopes the day of her college graduation will lead to her getting answers…

When she’s caught up in a violent attack that rocks downtown Chicago, her mother arms her with a mysterious amulet which she will soon realize has a mind of its own. Tearing her from Earth and dropping her in an alien place, it abandons Lauren and leaves her to navigate this new world by herself. With the help of a young warrior, she discovers the secrets of her past and a new destiny she must embrace.

She will do anything to return home. But can she?

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T. M. Kohl’s passion is writing fantastic stories with unique worlds, cultures, and languages. Every day, her worlds grow a little bigger as she learns and gets inspired. Her current works include the epic fantasy series, The Warriors of Bhrea. When not writing, she enjoys hiking, playing the piano, and cuddling her cat Loki. Visit her website at www.tmkohl.com