Category: blog tour

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Messenger – Megan Davis

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Wealthy and privileged, Alex has an easy path to success in the Parisian elite. But he and his domineering father have never seen eye to eye. Desperate to escape the increasingly suffocating atmosphere of their apartment, Alex seeks freedom on the streets of Paris where his new-found friend Sami teaches him how to survive. But everything has a price – and one night of rebellion changes their lives forever.

A simple plan to steal money takes a sinister turn when Alex’s father is found dead. Despite protesting their innocence, both boys are imprisoned for murder. Seven years later Alex is released from prison with a single purpose: to discover who really killed his father. Yet as he searches for answers and atones for the sins of his past, Alex uncovers a disturbing truth with far-reaching consequences.

In the heart of Paris, against a backdrop of corruption, fake news and civil unrest, The Messenger is a mind-racing new thriller that follows one son’s journey to find redemption and expose the truth.

Megan Davis was born in Australia and grew up in mining towns across the world. She has worked in the film industry and her credits include Atonement, In Bruges, Pride and Prejudice and the Bourne films. Megan is also a lawyer and is currently an associate at Spotlight on Corruption. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Her debut The Messenger won the Bridport Prize for a First Novel in 2018, judged by Kamila Shamsie, as well as the Lucy Cavendish Prize for unpublished writers in 2021. She has lived in many places, including France for a number of years, but now lives in London.

My thoughts: Alex was convicted of a serious crime but he knows he’s innocent, and now he’s out of prison he wants to prove it. His journalist father was working on something big but no one wants to tell him anything and one of his dad’s friends supposedly committed suicide too.

As he digs into his dad’s last story, he’s threatened and beaten up. He and old school friend Lisa get trapped in a riot, tensions are running very high in Paris. Could it be connected?

Clever and twisting, this is an intelligent and complex thriller with interesting things to say about the world we live in and how we can resist the manipulation of society and stand up for what we believe in. Inspired in part by real cases of undercover operatives and planted articles, this is an impressive and well written debut. I expect we’ll see more good writing from Megan Davis.

*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 Lazarus Solution – Kjell Ola Dahl, translated by Don Bartlett

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Daniel Berkåk works as a courier for the Press and Military Office in Stockholm. On his last cross-border mission to Norway, he carries a rucksack full of coded documents and newspapers, but before he has a chance to deliver anything he is shot and killed and the contents of his rucksack are missing.

The Norwegian government, currently exiled in London, wants to know what happened, and the job goes to writer Jomar Kraby, whose first suspect is a Norwegian refugee living in Sweden, whose past is as horrifying as the events still to come…

Both classic crime and a stunning expose of Norwegian agents in Stockholm during the Second World War, The Lazarus Solution is a compulsive, complex, richly authentic historical thriller from one of the godfathers of Nordic Noir.

One of the fathers of the Nordic Noir genre, Kjell Ola Dahl was born in 1958 in Gjøvik. He made his debut in 1993, and has since published fourteen novels, the most prominent of which is a series of police procedurals cum psychological thrillers featuring investigators Gunnarstranda and Frølich. In 2000 he won the Riverton Prize for The Last Fix and he won both the prestigious Brage and Riverton Prizes for The Courier in 2015. His work has been published in 14 countries, and he lives in Oslo.

My thoughts: oh this is clever, sending you all over Sweden and occupied Norway, looking for a killer, a conspiracy, when actually it’s something else entirely. Nobody seems to be able to explain, people are double crossing every way, and somehow writer Jomar Kraby, who’s very good at pretending to be a bit thick, must solve it to satisfy the government in exile, and more importantly himself.

Even when he’s told to stop digging, he doesn’t, even when the Germans are on his heels, he keeps going. He wants answers and he’s not satisfied with only knowing a little. He wants the whole lot.

Dragging along behind him is the man he suspects killed Daniel Berkåk, brother to another man who is linked to this whole mess. Soldier, sailor, internment camp inmate, Kai Fredly claims to want to go to the UK and join the Norwegian army, but hasn’t left Stockholm and has some interesting acquaintances. Sucked into a conspiracy, not exactly connected to the one Kraby’s chasing, he’s afraid to leave and recruited by both sides, he’s stuck.

As the plot winds it’s way through the Venice of the North, through bars and restaurants, homes for refugees, the offices of the Norwegian delegation, apartments and parks, taking in more and more people for Kraby to wonder about, it slowly reveals who the players are and the game they’re all in. Oh, and the reason it’s called The Lazarus Solution…well maybe Kraby has the answer to that too. Deliciously ingenious and thoroughly enjoyable, a spy thriller that hooks you in and definitely not just another WW2 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.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Always on my Mind – Beth Moran

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Sometimes when you can’t see the way forwards, the best thing to do is to look back…
When Jessie left home at eighteen, she swore she’d never go back. But when life takes a turn for the complicated, she’s forced to move in with her twin, Isaac, and his two best friends. To her dismay, one of these is Elliot, the boy Jessie once loved, until his life was changed forever by a terrible accident that Jessie still blames herself for.
Cohabiting with three alarmingly unhouse-trained males was not in Jessie’s life plan so when Isaac, Elliot and Arthur offer her a generous rent discount if she’ll help them with their ‘Boys to Men Project’, designed to end years of disastrous dating, she reluctantly accepts the challenge.
As Jessie embraces the comfort of being home, revelling in her new job at her parents’ day centre, full of people determined to grow old disgracefully, she realises her housemates aren’t the only ones needing to make some changes. And maybe, if she can finally forgive herself for Elliot’s accident, she can start to look forward to a future, with or without him by her side.
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Beth Moran is the bestselling author of romantic novels including Christmas Every Day and Just The Way You Are. She regularly features on BBC Radio Nottingham and is a trustee of the national
women’s network Free Range Chicks. She lives on the outskirts of Sherwood Forest.

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My thoughts: this was lovely, I want to be an Outlaw now, please don’t tell me I have to wait till I’m older! Jessie moves home after things take a downturn and into the house her twin shares with his two equally hopeless housemates and best friends. Honestly I knew a few men at uni that were like this – the never washed multi cooker might even be a gross thing too far for them. These three, Isaac, Arthur, and Elliot are hopeless. Not at everything, but their home is a pit, they’re all single and not thrilled about it, and they dress like teenagers (and a funeral director).

They ask Jessie to help them out of their life slump, and in the process the four become closer and Jessie realises a few things about her life too.

Her job as the activities manager at the day centre is hilarious, those Outlaws are a handful, but what joy! Even if they drive everyone crazy, throw water fights at a Jubilee picnic (I always thought the Queen had a gleam in her eye, she might we have joined in), dye their lifelong nemesis’ hair green, potentially run away and give the centre’s cook a breakdown, but they’re having a great time.

The friendships between Jessie, her housemates, Connie, Wilf, and the football team are delightful. This is just a rather lovely book with a sweet and charming cast, and some love stories too!

*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: Fan Mail – Joseph Lewis

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One Sentence Pitch:
Fan Mail is a multi-layered coming-of-age story about a family of adopted brothers, embedded in a gripping thriller that will keep the reader guessing who is behind the letters and the car bomb, and fearing one or more of the boys may die before the culprit is found.


Short Blurb:
A car bomb, threatening letters, and a heart attack cause the once tight-knit and supportive family of adoptive brothers to turn on each other. Can Detectives Graff, O’Connor and Eiselmann solve who
is behind it before the family is torn apart? Before anyone is seriously injured? Before one or more of the boys die?


Long Blurb:
A barrage of threatening letters, a car bomb, and a heart attack rip apart what was once a close-knit family of adopted brothers. Randy and Bobby, along with fellow band member and best friend,
Danny, receive fan mail that turns menacing. They ignore it, but to their detriment. The sender turns up the heat. Violence upends their world. It rocks the relationship between the boys and ripples
through their family, nearly killing their dad. As these boys turn on each other, adopted brother Brian flashes back to that event in Arizona where he nearly lost his life saving his brothers. The scars on his face and arms healed, but not his heart. Would he once again have to put himself in harm’s way to save them? And if faced with that choice, will he?

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After having been in education for forty-six years as a teacher, coach, counselor and administrator, Joseph Lewis has semi-retired and now works part-time as an online learning facilitator. He uses his psychology and counseling background to craft thriller/crime/detective mysteries, and has taken creative writing and screen writing courses at UCLA and USC.
Lewis has published eight books, all available on Amazon and each to excellent reviews: Taking Lives (May 2021) the prequel to the Lives Trilogy; Stolen Lives (May 2021) Book One of the Lives Trilogy is
a BestThrillers 1st Place Award Winner for Crime Fiction, and a Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner; Shattered Lives (May 2021) Book Two of the Trilogy; and Splintered Lives (May 2021) Book Three of the Trilogy (May 2021); Caught in a Web (April 2018), which was a PenCraft Literary Award Winner for Crime Fiction and named “One of the Best Crime Fiction Thrillers of 2018!” by Best Thrillers; Spiral Into Darkness (January 2019), which was named a Recommended Read by Author’s
Favorites; Betrayed November 2020 is a Top Shelf Award 1st Place Fiction-Mystery; Top Shelf Award Runner-Up Fiction-Crime; PenCraft Award 1st Place Winner, Maxy Award Runner-Up for Mystery-Suspense, a Literary Titan Silver Book Award Winner, and a Reader’s Favorite 5 Star Rating Winner; Blaze In, Blaze Out January 2022 has already won a Literary Titan Gold Book Award, A Reader’s Favorite Recommended Read, and was an Editor’s Pick by BestThrillers.com . Lewis has another thriller-crime-mystery, Fan Mail hitting the market March 30, 2023.

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Lewis has been happily married to his wife, Kim. Together they have three wonderful children: Wil (deceased July 2014), Hannah, and Emily. He and his wife now reside in Virginia.


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My thoughts: a book about a band of brothers,biological, step, adopted, and found family. A book about a stalker and the band they’re obsessed with, a book about an escalating crime, a book more than anything about family, the ties that bind and when they can stretch and break.

Brian is the brother the others turn to in a crisis, but he’s struggling at the moment with his own issues, their dad’s heart attack making things more complicated. Can the boys turn to him now? They don’t want to put each other in danger but the stalker sending letters to the band that several of the brothers are in, are escalating and the police seem unsure what to do next.

The pressure on these young men is intense, can their family hold it together?

In this intense thriller, with a mysterious and increasingly dangerous stalker, lives are on the line. The detectives are close to the family but not to catching the letter writer and there are plenty of twists and turns that hold them back. The pace is quick and there’s a lot of detail to hold on (could I have Danny’s eidetic memory please) but the writing keeps you there and in the end, while I couldn’t remember how all the boys were connected, it didn’t matter, and they learned to lean into each other when needed.

*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: A Manhattan Heiress in Paris – Amanda McCabe

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Step into the roaring 1920s Parisian music scene
Leaving Manhattan…
For a secret Parisian affair…
New York darling Elizabeth Van Hoeven has everything…except freedom. But now Eliza’s traveling to study piano at the Paris Conservatoire and falling for jazz prodigy Jack Coleman in the process! A love like theirs is forbidden back home, and as they make beautiful music together under the
Parisian lights, Eliza and Jack face a difficult choice: the life they’ve always known, or the possibility of a life they never could have imagined…

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Amanda wrote her first romance at the age of sixteen–a vast historical epic starring all her friends as the characters, written secretly during algebra class (and her parents wondered why math was not her strongest subject…)
She’s never since used algebra, but her books have been nominated for many awards, including the RITA Award, the Romantic Times BOOKReviews Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Booksellers Best, the
National Readers Choice Award, and the Holt Medallion. She lives in Santa Fe with a Poodle, a cat, a wonderful husband, and a very and far too many books and royal memorabilia collections.
When not writing or reading, she loves taking dance classes, collecting cheesy travel souvenirs, and watching the Food Network–even though she doesn’t cook.

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Giveaway to Win a signed copy of A Manhattan Heiress in Paris plus a 1920s locket (Open to US Only) a Rafflecopter giveaway T&Cs below.

My thoughts: Paris in the Twenties was the place to be, artists, musicians, writers all flocked to the City of Lights following the First World War, jazz was the music and these Bright Young Things were living life to the full, drinking and dancing the nights away. So much incredible art came out of that period, even if the creators were all a bit of a mess.

Into this hedonistic world steps shy young Manhattan debutante and pianist Eliza, daughter of an illustrious New York family, but determined to spread her wings and choose her own life. Then there’s Jack, a talented jazz musician from Harlem, in town to play his trumpet and feel free in a country where people don’t cross the street to avoid walking near you. Eliza has never had to consider anything like that in her privileged world but here in Paris, free and without her family, they don’t have to. Paris, the city of love.

Their romance is intense, they can’t resist, and their music improves too. Seems love is good for you. But can Eliza break free of her family expectations and follow her heart? Paris is one thing, but what if she has to go home?

I loved Eliza and Jack, their story is obviously bittersweet, they can be together but not in the country they both come from, only in Paris and only amongst the artistic set they run with. The 1920s were an incredibly free time but not everywhere or for everyone and Jack feels this much more than Eliza. Although she is trapped too, in a way, by the expectations of society and her family, to marry one of their set and basically become her mother. Rather than the concert pianist she could be if she stays at the conservatoire and works hard. She’s talented and determined.

I liked the glimpses of the Paris arts set – Hemingway, Sylvia Beach (of Shakespeare & Co fame), the Fitzgeralds, Picasso, but they weren’t the focus, which was nice. Eliza and Jack are on the periphery of the hard drinking, fast living crowd, preferring to picnic and play music, to be together.

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

**Terms and Conditions –US entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by
Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway
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Bookstagram Tour: Lucha of the Night Forest – Tehlor Kay Mejia

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Join me over on Instagram today for my thoughts on this new fantasy novel from acclaimed author Tehlor Kay Meija, and read on for more about the book and a short extract.

An edge-of-your-seat fantasy about a girl who will do anything to protect her sister—even if it means striking a dangerous bargain. Dark forces, forgotten magic, and a heart-stopping queer romance make this young adult novel a must-read.

A scorned god.

A mysterious acolyte.

A forgetting drug.

A dangerous forest.

One girl caught between the freedom she always wanted and a sister she can’t bear to leave behind.

Under the cover of the Night Forest, will Lucha be able to step into her own power…or will she be consumed by it?

This gorgeous and fast-paced fantasy novel from acclaimed author Tehlor Kay Mejia is brimming with adventure, peril, romance, and family bonds—and asks what it means for a teen girl to become fully herself.

TEHLOR KAY MEJIA is the author of the critically acclaimed young adult fantasy duology We Set the Dark on Fire and We Unleash the Merciless Storm. Her debut middle-grade series, Paola Santiago and the River of Tears, is in development at Disney as a television series to be produced by Eva Longoria. Tehlor lives with her daughter, partner, and two small dogs in Oregon, where she grows heirloom corn and continues her quest to perfect the vegan tamale.

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Excerpt 1 

The forest was said to be uninhabitable. The governors of the Elegidan continent—skittish as squirrels and twice as greedy—refused to recognize any territory north of the river. They took their shares of Robado’s ill-gotten profits readily enough, but they claimed no authority in the city. Or any of the responsibility that would go with it.

The mapmakers, for their part, blotted the wood into their landscapes without sparing a stroke for this wound of a place clinging to its edge.

Like we don’t even exist, Lucha thought, still loitering in the middle of the road.

“Watch it!” snarled a man heading south. Lucha staggered backward, reminded of the dangers of standing idle. The little cart the man pulled turned sharply and splattered her shoes with mud. She was about to shout something rude when she saw the cart’s tiny passenger. A girl of no more than four. She dangled her bare feet over the edge as her father rolled her along. 

Lucha smiled, remembering her younger sister, Lis, at that age. Her huge brown eyes and shining curls …

“Better watch out!” the girl called in her lisping baby voice. “El Sediento will get you if you look too long!” Sticking her fingers into the corners of her mouth, the girl stretched her smile too wide and rolled her eyes back so only the whites showed.

Excerpted from Lucha of the Night Forest by Tehlor Kay Mejia. Copyright © 2023 by Tehlor Kay Mejia. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

*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: The Little Venice Bookshop – Rebecca Raisin

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A bundle of mysterious letters. A trip to Venice. A journey she’ll never forget.
When Luna loses her beloved mother, she’s bereft: her mother was her only family, and without her Luna feels rootless. Then the chance discovery of a collection of letters in her mother’s belongings sends her on an unexpected journey.
Following a clue in the letters, Luna packs her bags and heads to Venice, to a gorgeous but faded bookshop overlooking the canals, hoping to uncover the truth about her mother’s mysterious past.
Will Luna find the answers she’s looking for – and finally find the place she belongs?

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Rebecca Raisin writes heartwarming romance from her home in sunny Perth, Australia.
Her heroines tend to be on the quirky side and her books are usually set in exotic locations so her readers can armchair travel any day of the week. The only downfall about writing about gorgeous
heroes who have brains as well as brawn, is falling in love with them – just as well they’re fictional.
Rebecca aims to write characters you can see yourself being friends with. People with big hearts who care about relationships and believe in true, once in a lifetime love. Her bestselling novel Rosie’s Travelling Tea Shop has been optioned for film with MRC studios and Frolic Media.

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My thoughts: grab some tissues, this starts with a sad thing and then there’s some cute, happy bits that, if you’re a bit of a sap like me, will also make you cry. In a good way.

Set in one of the most interesting places I’ve ever been – Venice – in a bookshop filled with cats (yes please, can we go there now?) this is a heartwarming and tear jerking book about finding your family, your home, your person and your happiness.

Luna loses her freewheeling mother Ruby to stupid cancer and finding a bundle of mysterious letters from a Giancarlo in Venice, who owns a bookshop, hidden in her mother’s home, she decides to head there, with pal Gigi, to see if he might have some answers about her mother. Is he her dad?

There’s adventures, a bit of smooching, lots of pizza and vino, the righting of wrongs, cuddling of cats, tidying of a very messy bookshop and just general idyllic loveliness in one of the most beautiful places in the world. And a grumpy Spaniard called Oliver, who is either the one or a massive pain. Did I mention the many, many literary named shop cats?

Luna gets some answers, but they might not be what she’s expecting, and maybe sees her mum a bit differently afterwards. But she resolves a few personal questions and discovers more about herself too. It’s a really lovely read and like a big hug in book form.

*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: A Fae is Done – Danielle M. Orsino

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A FaeisDone copy

Welcome back to the Veil friends, and congratulations to Danielle M. Orsino on the release of A Fae is Done! Read on for details!

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A Fae is Done (Birth of the Fae #5)

Publication Date: March 30th, 2023

Genre: Epic Fantasy/ Fae

Prophecies, broken hearts, secrets, and scars. Bodies delivered on the wings of butterflies.

After Queen Aurora’s execution, the Court of Light falls into political unrest. The riots continue as new Queen Sekhmet takes her place on the throne and puts her long-planned agenda into action. Meanwhile, King Jarvok attempts to remedy his heartache but ends up divulging suspicions he has held close for centuries instead.

Alliances shift as dark mysteries bubble to the surface, but a prophecy reading brings a ray of hope. Unfortunately for others, it foretells certain doom. The Oracles speak of a future child who will unite the Fae courts and bring karmic retribution. Unlikely heroes will be forced together by fate, while unexpected enemies are revealed.

There are Fae in both courts who have plenty to hide. Some would kill to keep their secrets. Some are willing to die for them.

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About the Author

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Danielle M. Orsino is a fantasy novelist whose lifelong vision to create whimsical realms that her readers can escape to. Her compelling word-weaving pays homage to a multitude of personal muses, from Chris Claremont and George Pérez (both famous comic book writers), to Anne Rice and Wonder Woman.

The creative spark of storytelling has been with Danielle ever since she was a child, but martial arts and her nursing career took center stage into adulthood. Then, on a day like any other, it was reignited during the most unexpected of moments: while treating one of her patients. Seeing that they longed for a distraction during their arduous treatments, the floodgates of inspiration soon burst forth. So, Danielle took it upon herself to tell them a story; a fantastical narrative that would leave the confines of that IV room’s walls and land upon a page. Before she knew it, what started as an imaginative tale to pass the time, turned into book, followed by an entire series: The Birth of Fae. This awe-inspiring series includes Locked out of Heaven (Book One), Thine Eyes of Mercy (Book Two), and From The Ashes (Book Three), all of which are published by 4 Horsemen Publications, Inc. And with an unwavering passion for cosplay and comics, it was a unanimous decision to place her on the cover of each book in all her Fae cosplay glory. The Birth of Fae also features Los, an affable chameleon dragon inspired by her fun-loving Yorkie named Carlos.

When writing wasn’t at the forefront of her mind, Danielle was a successful Martial Artist. Some of her achievements include “1999 World Martial Arts Hall of Fame Inductee”, “Female Martial Artist of the Year”, “WKA World Champion Silver Medalist 2008”, and numerous more. She has also garnered hundreds of martial art tournament wins, various other national and world titles, and features on big-name channels like TLC and CBS. She even had the rare opportunity to perform for former U.S. President Bill Clinton and collaborate alongside Vincent Lyn and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. From there, she pursued her Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science, and she is now a Licensed Practical Nurse who focuses on Lyme disease research.

This “New Queen of the Fae’s” unmatched world-building and masterful Fae-origin retellings have led to an ever-growing queendom of “Fae-natics”. To begin embarking upon a quest in an epic world unlike any other, visit Danielle M. Orsino’s official website at http://www.BirthOfTheFae.com.

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Blog Tour: Do No Harm – Jack Jordan

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MY CHILD HAS BEEN TAKEN.
AND I’VE BEEN GIVEN A CHOICE . . .
KILL A PATIENT ON THE OPERATING TABLE
OR LOSE MY SON FOREVER.

The man lies on the table in front of me.
As a surgeon, it’s my job to save him.
As a mother, I know I must kill him.
You might think that I’m a monster.
But there really is only one choice.
I must get away with murder.
Or I will never see my son again.

I’VE SAVED MANY LIVES.
WOULD YOU TRUST ME WITH YOURS?

My thoughts: I don’t have kids but I do know a fair few mums and I completely understand how dedicated and how much they love their children.

I don’t know however if they’d actually be able to kill for them as Anna is blackmailed into doing here. The people who took her little boy will kill him if the local MP makes it off her table. Doctors pledge to do no harm, but mothers will say they’d do anything for their child.

This is such a delicious and chilling set up and Anna can’t just leave it there. Especially when she doesn’t get her terrified son back straight away. Something else is in play here and it’s only by following every tiny lead (and dodgy nurse Margot) that she can finally get Zack back.

The cops are on the case so she also needs to throw them off the scent, survive a review at work, and keep her ex-husband from finding anything out. Easy peasy. Not like it’s oh, open heart surgery or anything.

I was totally hooked, the way the story plays out, the alternating viewpoints from Anna and Margot, as they’re pulled into a deadly world of crime and politics, it’s dark and clever and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

*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: The Cornish Hideaway – Jennifer Bibby

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All Freya has ever wanted to do is paint. So when she fails her Master’s Degree in Art, on the same day that her boyfriend decides he needs a ‘more serious’ partner, to Freya it feels like the end of the world.
 
Luckily, she has a saviour in the shape of best friend Lola, who invites her to the sleepy Cornish village of Polcarrow, to work in her café. With nothing keeping her in London, Freya jumps at the chance of a summer by the sea.
 
Freya needs time to focus on herself. But then dark and mysterious biker Angelo blows into town on a stormy afternoon, with his own artistic dreams and a secretive past, and Freya’s plans of a romance-free summer fly straight out of the window…

My thoughts: if anyone has a Cornish cottage I could run away to – please let me know. I love Cornwall (I have West Country roots and it feels so much like coming home being there) and I felt like I knew Polcarrow – it reminded me of several of the lovely villages I’ve been to – and made me weirdly homesick for the county.

I wanted to give Freya a massive hug, a Masters degree is sodding hard work (I’ve done one) and to be told you’ve failed would be heartbreaking. Then to be dumped. Ouch. No wonder she ups sticks to lovely friend Lola and the beautiful Cornish landscape. I would too.

Then there’s hunky, mysterious Italian Angelo on his motorbike, riddled with his own sorrows and need to escape. Of course these two lost souls connect. Cornwall has inspired so many artists, especially St Ives, that it’s not surprising it inspires these two to create.

I loved the villagers, and obviously a certain cheeky cake begging dog, as well as his retired fisherman owner. The slow-burning romance between Lola and the vicar was an added treat. And the gossipy WI women, never sure whether they approve or not (do they vote on what they agree on?). Basically it’s a whole heap of charm and cream teas (with locally produced clotted cream!) Lovely.

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