Category: blog tour

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: One Summer Sunrise – Shari Low*

ramblingmads

Read my reviews of What If? and What Now?

As the sun rises on a hot summer’s day, four lives are about to be changed forever…
Brand new from the bestselling author of What If?, What Now? and One Day In Summer.
Today, Maisie McTeer decides to track down the ex who jilted her at the altar. Today, she’ll find out
that revisiting the past can also rewrite her future.
After losing her husband, Harriet Bassett can no longer bear her lonely life. Today, a familiar face in a crowd will spark a quest to discover if there’s something and someone worth living for.
Scott and Kelly Bassett’s daughter is leaving home. Today, Scott plans to tell Kelly that he’s ending their marriage to pursue his rock and roll dreams.
However, Kelly, has a bombshell of her own. How will Scott react to the news that a new arrival is on the way to fill their empty nest?
Between sunrise and sunset, there’s love, heartbreak, laughter and tears, but who will find happiness at the end of the day?
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Shari Low is the #1 bestselling author of over 20 novels, including One Day In Winter and With Or Without You and a collection of parenthood memories called Because Mummy Said So. She lives near Glasgow and her first title for Boldwood was My One Month Marriage in January 2020.

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My thoughts: Shari Low does it again with another fun, funny and delightful romantic comedy. The importance of family, their different shapes and sizes, both bio and found is at the heart of this book.

Maisie is supposed to be one of hands being broken as her best friend gives birth, but instead she’s drafted into look after the catering at a graduation celebration, and keep an eye on the hilarious Janice and Jane.

Meanwhile Carny’s parents are dealing with their own issues as they prepare to celebrate their daughter’s bright new future. And a lonely widow, Harriet, makes plans.

The party in full swing brings all these different families together and while old ties might be severed, new ones will be formed and it’s all so much fun and joy.

I love Shari’s books, they’re so entertaining and enjoyable and always leave me with a smile and a few happy tears (note to self; do not read while hormonal, you get all emotional!)

*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: Widowland – C.J. Carey*

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To control the past, they edited history. To control the future, they edited literature.

London, 1953, Coronation year – but not the Coronation of Elizabeth II.

Thirteen years have passed since a Grand Alliance between Great Britain and Germany was formalized. George VI and his family have been murdered and Edward VIII rules as King. Yet, in practice, all power is vested in Alfred Rosenberg, Britain’s Protector. The role and status of women is Rosenberg’s particular interest.

Rose Ransom belongs to the elite caste of women and works at the Ministry of Culture, rewriting literature to correct the views of the past. But now she has been given a special task.

Outbreaks of insurgency have been seen across the country; graffiti daubed on public buildings. Disturbingly, the graffiti is made up of lines from forbidden works, subversive words from the voices of women. Suspicion has fallen on Widowland, the run-down slums where childless women over fifty have been banished. These women are known to be mutinous, for they have nothing to lose.

Before the Leader arrives for the Coronation ceremony of King Edward and Queen Wallis, Rose must infiltrate Widowland to find the source of this rebellion and ensure that it is quashed.

My thoughts: with elements of 1984 and Handmaid’s Tale, this is a dark and sinister dystopia where rather than fight against the Nazis Britain signed an agreement with them and became part of Hitler’s new Europe.

Women are assigned roles based on their looks – the more Aryan the better, and age. Older women with no children are banished to Widowland – deserted suburbs with little or no hope of redemption. But in a land rife with censorship and revisionism, tiny buds of resistance bloom.

Bits of this book chilled me – the idea of going back through literature and history and changing things to suit the government is so sinister and disturbing, I’d definitely be fighting back against that. It’s something that makes me look askance at our current Government and their heavy handed input into education and funding. We need the arts and humanities to remind ourselves who we are, where we come from and what we stand for. In Widowland one of the resistance widows says that the ruling powers are afraid of books and that’s true. Letting people have knowledge is dangerous for dictators and tyrants – knowledge is powerful stuff.

The ending is very clever and leaves the reader to fill in the gaps – what happens next to Rose, to Britain? Will there be a better future than the Leader plans? A thought provoking and timely reminder of how important it is to resist the propaganda and lies of government.

*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 Secrets of Thistle Cottage – Kerry Barrett*

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The truth can be dangerous in the wrong hands…

1661, North Berwick
One stormy night, healer Honor Seton and her daughter Alice are summoned to save the town lord’s wife – but they’re too late. A vengeful crusade against the Seton women leads to whispers of witchcraft all over town. Honor hopes her connections can protect them from unproven rumours and dangerous accusations – but is the truth finally catching up with them?

Present day, North Berwick
After an explosive scandal lands her husband in prison, Tess Blyth flees Edinburgh to start afresh in Thistle Cottage. As she hides from the media’s unforgiving glare, Tess is intrigued by the shadowy stories of witchcraft surrounding the women who lived in the cottage centuries ago. But she quickly discovers modern-day witch hunts can be just as vicious: someone in town knows her secret – and they won’t let Tess forget it…

My thoughts: Drawing on historical records of witch hunts in Scotland during the 1600s, moving between the former and current residents of a small cottage, and exploring the idea of the modern witch hunt as well as the historical ones, this is a clever and compelling story.

In the 1660s Honor and Alice live quiet lives, offering tinctures and basic medical aid to their neighbours, supported by the financial decisions Honor’s late husband made and the land he purchased. They don’t cause trouble but it comes anyway, in the form of a hothead laird, whose wife Honor cannot save from a fever.

In the 2020s Tess and Jem have moved to the same small cottage to escape from press attention over Tess’ ex-husband’s terrible crimes. But someone knows who they are and is harassing them with disturbing graffiti and weird threats left outside their door.

Both plotlines are interesting and thought provoking, there’s a project in Scotland seeking official exonorations for the women and men accused and killed for being witches, and it’s simple, ordinary people like Honor and Alice who suffered but in their case there’s hope for redemption.

Similarly Tess and Jem are targeted for something they didn’t do, something they’ve moved away from their home and friends to try to avoid the limelight. Neither of them is guilty of the crimes they’re accused of but someone wants them to pay a price.

I thought this was really well written and drew parallels in a smart and precise way, it left me with plenty to chew over when it was finished as well as being enjoyable and satisfying a 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: Local Woman Missing

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People don’t just disappear without a trace…

Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.

Now, eleven years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find…

In this smart and chilling thriller, master of suspense and New York Times bestselling author Mary Kubica takes domestic secrets to a whole new level, showing that some people will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.

My thoughts: this was a really clever and twisty thriller. I could not work out what was going on and what had happened to the two women and the little girl at all. Everything is slowly and tantalisingly revealed in flashbacks and bit by bit the shocking answers are given.

Absolutely gripping and totally stunning, I got to the end and could not believe it. Such fantastic writing.

*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: Castle Shade – Laurie R. King*

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A queen, a castle, a dark and ageless threat–all await Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes in this chilling new adventure.

The queen is Marie of Roumania: the doubly royal granddaughter of Victoria, Empress of the British Empire, and Alexander II, Tsar of Russia. A famous beauty who was married at seventeen into Roumania’s young dynasty, Marie had beguiled the Paris Peace Conference into returning her adopted country’s long-lost provinces, singlehandedly transforming Roumania from a backwater into a force.

The castle is Bran: a tall, quirky, ancient structure perched on high rocks overlooking the border between Roumania and its newly regained territory of Transylvania. The castle was a gift to Queen Marie, a thank-you from her people, and she loves it as she loves her own children.

The threat is . . . well, that is less clear. Shadowy figures, vague whispers, the fears of girls, dangers that may be only accidents. But this is a land of long memory and hidden corners, a land that had known Vlad the Impaler, a land from whose churchyards the shades creep.

When Queen Marie calls, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are as dubious as they are reluctant. But a young girl is involved, and a beautiful queen. Surely it won’t take long to shine light on this unlikely case of what would seem to be strigoi?

Or, as they are known in the West . . . vampires.

Laurie R King giveaway! There’s a great giveaway on the Allison & Busby website at the moment, it’s open to everyone and closes on June 30th. (Please let me win it!!)  

Order a copy of this book for £15, get a signed bookplate. Use code share15 and get free P&P too!

Listen to the author reading from Castle Shade on YouTube.

My thoughts: this was a really enjoyable edition to the Russell and Holmes series – one I’ve dipped in an out of but haven’t quite managed to read all of them yet. Mind you it took me a while to read all of the original Sherlock Holmes stories too.

An older Holmes and his spirited young wife and partner Mary Russell, head off to Romania at the request of its Queen Marie – granddaughter of Queen Victoria and one of the real figures in this series.

She is worried about a threat against her youngest daughter’s life and their happiness in Castle Bran (which may have inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula) is damaged by her fears. Holmes and Russell investigate the spate of strange incidents that have occurred during the queen’s visits.

There’s lots of adventure and derring do in the nighttime countryside as the pair attempt to keep watch over the village and identify the culprit – then things escalate.

A really fun, slightly silly romp through 1920s history – royalty, the looming threat of the Bolsheviks in Russia (Queen Marie was Nicholas II’s cousin), hysteria, folklore and bitterness. Mary Russell is a tremendous character, a perfect modern female foil to Holmes’ slightly old fashioned ways and a lot quicker on the ball than dear Dr Watson back at home in London.

*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: It Calls From the Sea – An Eerie River Publishing Anthology*

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Prepare to die. The sea awakens.

Within the Mariana Trench, a research vessel’s crew is threatened by a mysterious force. A father and daughter’s holiday by the ocean turns deadly as a sinister creature stalks them. A group of friends learn that some things should remain in the ocean. Filled with a sense of wonder, a young biologist discovers a new species of kelp, but with disastrous consequences.

It Calls From the Sea is an all-original anthology of twenty brutal tales of horror from the deep blue sea.

Eerie River brings you another round of insatiable horror. There is no end to the terrors we have in store and there is nowhere left to hide. Get comfy, this is going to be a wild ride.

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Available on Amazon

Featuring Stories By:

Chris Bannor“Euphoria”, Chris Hewitt “Reef Encounter” Christopher Bond “The Ocean Sings Softly”, Dan Le Fever “Xook” David Green “Into The Depths”, Georgia Cook “Dead Ships”, Holley Cornetto “Heaven’s Lake”, Julie Sevens “Shoney’s Revenge”, Lin Darrow “Cry of the Hunger Fish”, M.B.Vujacic “Jelly”, Mason Gallaway, “The Sea Reaches Up”
McKenzie Richardson “The Hunter and the Prey”, R. L. Meza “Long Pork”, S.O. Green “The Shadow Over Innsmouth High”, Steve Neal “Hostile Territory”, T. M. Brown “Buoy 21415”, Tim Mendees “Fronds”, Trey Dowell “Abyssal Horror”, Watt Morgan “Please Leave”

Win a $25 Amazon gift card – open internationally.

My thoughts: this collection of creepy and weird stories about creatures from the deep was enjoyable and suitably unnerving. Considering our planet is 70% water we know surprisingly little about what lives in our deeps. So we created stories about the things we saw as we sailed across it. From sirens and giant squid, mermaids and kraken, these stories draw on our earliest stories – Homer’s Odyssey features plenty of sea monsters, in contemporary settings, fishing trawlers and tourist boats.

I may never go swimming again!

*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: Not In My Name – Michael Coolwood*

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Private Eye meets Agatha Christie
What if the British people had been given a vote about invading Iraq in 2003. And the referendum split the nation with a 52% to 48% yes vote. A young activist is beaten to death after an anti-war demonstration. The police say her murder was random. It wasn’t. More activists will be murdered.
The activists only trust each other. Maybe that trust has already been betrayed. Witty, political and
provocative, this New Adult mystery is based on real events, and keeps the reader guessing to the very end.

Amazon UK (paperback)
Amazon UK (e-book)
Amazon US (paperback)
Amazon US (e-book)
Waterstones (paperback)


Michael Coolwood writes feminist cosy mysteries. His work is deeply political and his characters are
driven by a desire to make the world a better place. This is partly due to a respect for passionate, caring people, and partly because cuts to the health service in the UK have ensured he can barely leave the house due to his swamp of health problems. Read about his books and ongoing crises at
coolwoodbooks.com

Michael Coolwood

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Giveaway to Win a Paperback of Not in My Name by Michael Coolwood (UK Only) a Rafflecopter giveaway rules below.

My thoughts: this was a really interesting book, both in premise and in execution. The idea that a referendum on the Iraq War could be as aggressive and divisive as Brexit is very intriguing – and in this instance leads to shocking violence and tragedy.

It also draws on real events that were only brought to light in the early 2000s – and does so in a clever and compelling way. No spoilers here but I will say I am impressed with how it is done, reminding readers that there is injustice that still hasn’t been addressed.

The investigation that Phoebe and Sefu carry out among their fellow activists on the farm and how they learn the truth about Cassie’s death has an element of the Agatha Christie country house it-must-be-one-of-us stories, but the conclusion is both more shocking and sadder than anything Poirot could have found. A decision is made that will change some of the characters lives forever. I really enjoyed this thought provoking novel, its humour and pathos were engaging and entertaining while leaving plenty to ruminate on.

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

**UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box. 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 organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.**

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Out of Sight – Paul Gitsham*

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His biggest mistake was trusting someone he shouldn’t have…

When a body is found abandoned under a bridge, teeth and fingerprints removed, DCI Warren Jones and his team have little to go on. And once they finally identify the victim, the case doesn’t get any easier.

Estranged from his family but desperate to reconnect, the victim led a solitary life – apart from secretive liaisons with a series of partners he met online. Could one of them be guilty of his murder? Or does the truth lie closer to home?

The more Warren digs, the murkier the picture becomes – re-written family wills, sabotaged CCTV footage and black-market deals are just the beginning. Only one thing is for sure: whoever was behind the brutal murder, they carefully won the trust of their victim before ending his life…

My thoughts: a complex and clever case, where nothing is straightforward and there are more than a few suspects.

DCI Jones digs into the victim’s life as he hunts for a killer, finding a broken and bitter family with plenty of secrets and a double life that led to murder. Obsessed with spy films and living beyond his means, a desperately lonely man who didn’t have much in the way of friends or happiness, trying to keep his life from his unpleasant father and find a way to please him. There’s a knotty web to untangle to get to the truth and some other criminal activity comes to light as the case unfolds.

In a way the victim is very present throughout the story, despite it beginning with his death, Warren and his team have to dismantle all his carefully built secrets, the hotel room, hire car, credit cards that lead them to finally solving a case. It would help if the various suspects would just tell the truth, but that would make quite a dull story!

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Preacher Boy – Gwyn GB*

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IT’S TIME FOR A NEW CRIME MYSTERY HERO

Dr Harrison Lane is everything you wouldn’t expect from a man with a psychology doctorate. For victims, he’s everything they need.
They look, but they don’t see…

As Head of the Metropolitan Police’s Ritualistic Behavioural Crimes Unit, Dr Harrison Lane knows his Voodoo from his Aum Shinrikyo and a Satanist from a Shaman.
Harrison had an unusual childhood, raised by a bohemian mother and one of the native American Shadow Wolves – the elite tracking squad that works with US Drug enforcers. After his mother’s murder, he dedicated his life to tracking down those who hide behind spiritualism and religion to do
evil.
Following the discovery of a missing boy’s body in what looks like a Satanic killing, Harrison is called in to help detectives. When a second boy is snatched, it becomes a race against time to save him, and sees Harrison come face-to-face with some dark secrets from his own childhood.
Preacher Boy is the first book in a gripping new crime mystery series from Amazon Top 20 bestselling
author, Gwyn GB. Perfect for fans of LJ Ross, JD Kirk, J.R. Ellis, J M Dalgliesh, Rachel Abbott, Joy Ellis and David Blake.

Amazon UK
Amazon US


Gwyn is an Amazon Top 20 bestselling author. She’s a former UK national TV newscaster and presenter, and journalist for national newspapers and magazines. Gwyn became a journalist because all she wanted to do was write and has finally realised her dream of being a full-time fiction author.
Born in the UK, Gwyn now lives in the Channel Islands with her family, including a rescue dog and 17-year-old goldfish.

Gwyn launched her debut novel, Islands as Gwyn Garfield-Bennett in 2016, the romantic suspense book rose quickly into the Amazon top 20. Her first crime mystery series, featuring DI Falle, launched with Lonely Hearts in 2017.
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My thoughts: this was a fast paced and clever police thriller, with a missing boy’s life at stake. The killer has a disturbing religious bent to his beliefs that he’s recreating in his crimes. Can Dr Harrison Lane decipher the clues and find the child in time?

Tense and gripping, the writing was so good I was completely hooked, this was a “can’t put it down” 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: Glass Coffin – Gabby Hutchinson Crouch*

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The tyrannous Huntsmen have declared everyone in one village to be outlaws, since they insist on supporting the magical beings of neighbouring Darkwood. Why won’t they accept that magic is an abomination?

Far from being abominable, the residents of Darkwood are actually very nice when you get to know them, even Snow the White Knight, who can get a bit tetchy when people remind her she’s a Princess.

In order to stop the Huntsmen from wiping out all magical beings, Snow and her friends have to venture into the Badlands of Ashtrie, and seek the support of the Glass Witch – but she has plans of her own, and let’s just say they’re not good ones.

Gabby Hutchinson Crouch (Horrible Histories, Newzoids, The News Quiz, The Now Show) has a background in satire, and with the global political climate as it is, believes that now is an important time to explore themes of authoritarianism and intolerance in comedy and fiction. Born in Pontypool in Wales, and raised in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, Gabby now lives in Canterbury.

My thoughts: this series is hilarious, mashing up many fairy tales and characters and making new and highly entertaining stories. This volume finds our heroes – Snow the White Knight (do not call her Your Majesty), Gretel, Hansel, Daisy, Trevor, Buttercup and new friends finally take the fight to the Huntsmen (and women) at the Citadel. But first they need to try and convince the Glass Witch to join them, stage a dramatic rescue or two and feed the hungry.

The entire thing is utterly ridiculous and laugh out loud funny, with Buttercup still turning everything into baked goods, Snow’s dwarves still haven’t learnt a new word since “yummy”, and Trevor might just get to do some cool spy stuff.

I’m a big fan of fairy tale retellings, a bit nerdy about them to be honest, but these are such joyous books, definitely read the previous two, Darkwood and Such Big Teeth, so you meet all the characters and learn the entire story first before venturing into Glass Coffin. You won’t regret 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.