blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Old Bones in Puglia – Tom Benjamin

Discover Italy’s bewitching region of Puglia with the seventh Daniel Leicester mystery, the most propulsive yet . . .

English detective and Bologna resident Daniel Leicester has been summoned by a dying relative to the wildest corner of Puglia, home to revered saints, fearsome mafia clans, hidden catacombs and sinister ceremonies.

As Daniel discovers that his Italian family’s history runs deep in the veins of the region, old grudges resurface, superstitions awaken and he is drawn into a case of stolen antiquities. But when a contact is murdered by mobsters, it’s clear that mafia rule is more powerful than local mysticism.

Lured by magic but trapped by the mob, Daniel is unable to return to his beloved Bologna. His family is bound to Puglia more tightly than he ever imagined, and powerful people want answers he can’t give. And when Daniel’s daughter is snatched during a Holy Week procession, he sees first-hand just how far they’re prepared to go . . .

Tom Benjamin grew up in the suburbs of north London and worked as a journalist before becoming a Scotland Yard spokesperson.

He later moved into public health, where he developed Britain’s first national campaign against alcohol abuse, and led FRANK, a drugs awareness programme.

He now lives in Bologna. Old Bones in Puglia is the seventh book in his Daniel Leicester series of mysteries.

My thoughts: Daniel is accompanying the Commandante to Puglia, where the older man once served and met his wife, who comes from the region.

They’ve been asked to come to the aid of archaeologists, who think their most recent finds are actually forgeries and the real ancient relics have been stolen to sell to the highest bidder.

But it’s all a lot more complicated than it first seems, there are secrets galore in a region where no one wants to talk to the police, or to a PI.

Then Daniel’s beloved daughter Rose is kidnapped in broad daylight. Is it connected to the case or something older, more confusing?

As Daniel attempts to understand the layered, complex tangle of superstitions, secrets and history in the place, he finds himself entangled with witchcraft, revenge and murder.

A clever, well written story that draws you in and keeps you hooked until the very last page. This series just gets better with every book.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Of Sisters and Spitfires – Frank Francis

On the brink of war, one secret will tear a powerful family apart.

The Hartford sisters gather for one final night at Bonsall Hall, their once-grand family estate, on the eve of it being lost forever. The dinner is meant to mark an ending — a farewell to the house, the past, and the life they once knew. But before morning comes, everything changes.

Audrey, the youngest, is reckless and curious, always pushing against the rules that bind her. Katherine, the eldest, is controlled and calculating, fiercely protective of thefamily’s reputation at any cost. Beatrice clings to elegance and influence through her  dangerous political connections, while Sophia’s radical beliefs place her on the opposite  side of everything the family stands for.

When a guest disappears under suspicious circumstances, the fragile balance between  the sisters begins to fracture. As Europe edges closer to war, their personal loyalties  collide with their political convictions, and Audrey is drawn into a shadowy world of  secrets, surveillance and power struggles that reach from country houses to intelligence offices.

With Britain racing to prepare for a conflict, the sisters must decide where they stand — with each other, with their country, or with their own beliefs. Because some truths could change the course of history… and some are deadly enough to destroy a family.

Of Sisters and Spitfires is a gripping historical thriller about family and the moral  compromises made in the shadow of war, perfect for fans of Kate Atkinson and Robert Harris.

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Frank Francis is a pseudonym for the combined work of George F. Brown and
Guillaume Jest, known for their contributions to the historical thriller genre.

Website

My thoughts: The Hartford sisters made me think of the Mitford sisters (probably intentionally), where they were on opposite sides of the political spectrum. Although they still had their parents and brother, and I think at least one of them was properly nuts.

The Hartfords struggle with their relationships, politics causing division, but they pull together when they have to. When a guest to the family home is killed mysteriously in the middle of the night, after visiting to bring them their brother’s journal, it seems there’s more to his visit than it first appears. 

Youngest sister, Audrey, investigates with the help of a journalist friend, and is soon caught up in the huge changes sweeping Europe, especially in Germany, where she finds a cell of resistance fighters against the Nazi threat. 

But what she soon learns is that things are much more complicated than it first appears, and her family secrets go deeper than she could imagine. 

It’s a clever concept, a complex plot and reflects the real situation of the 1930s and 40s, as Europe headed to war. 

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Murder with a side of Shrimp and Grits – Skylar Warren

Welcome to Honeybee’s diner, where the scent of butter and garlic wraps itself around you, thick and comforting. Jessie Haynes’ homestyle cooking feeds the hearts and souls of the good people of Willow Bluff. Until someone puts murder on the menu!

Y’all are invited to dig into a steamin’ plate of meatloaf. The diner’s well-worn red chairs have cradled folks from every corner of Willow Bluff—Jessie’s podcasting bestie, Tee, Old Mr Higgins, two mighty mischievous kittens, Biscuits and Gravy, and every tattling townsperson in between—so when the mayor turns blue after a bite of Jessie’s famous shrimp and grits, she finds herself in seriously hot water…

Suddenly, all eyes are swivelled toward Jessie. For fifty years her family has fed Willow Bluff, and Jessie won’t let one mouthful shatter the legacy of her grandmother’s secret recipes. The mayor’s peanut allergy was talk of the town, so when traces are found in his food, Jessie must fight to clear her name.

An empty peanut packet in the diner’s pantry has Jessie and Tee hot on the heels of the murderer when another case of food tampering occurs at a nearby bakery. Someone is dishing out delicious death sentences. How many locals will get served before Jessie can crack the case? Her investigation must be a recipe for success or Honeybee’s will be toast…

This unputdownable and addictive cozy mystery is full of Southern charm, a gripping whodunnit and a feisty amateur sleuth. It’s perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Ellery Adams and Joanne Fluke.

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Skylar Warren is a Chicago native and a graduate of Chicago State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, Media Arts and Theatre. She now lives in New York City and works as a claims adjuster. In her spare time, she enjoys watching mysteries and solving puzzles.

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My thoughts: This was a fun and enjoyable crime caper centering on a diner in a small town called Willow Bluff. Jessie has taken over the diner her grandmother founded, cooking her recipes for the town.

Until disaster strikes and the mayor drops dead of anaphylaxis on the diner’s anniversary. He’s well known to be allergic to peanuts and Jessie is insistent that her kitchen is peanut free, so how did the nuts get into his food? 

Did someone murder the mayor and frame Jessie? Luckily she has a crack team of investigators  – also known as her friends – to solve the case. And it helps that the sheriff is on her side too, the evidence has been collected and is being analysed.

Unfortunately the town is a gossip’s paradise and the local estate agent, a rather nasty woman, cannot stop spreading rumours and undermining Jessie’s attempts to assert her innocence.

I hope this becomes a series, with Jessie and her friends solving crimes in their small town, the characters are fun and there are cats called Biscuits and Gravy.

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

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    Blog Tour: The Shadow Appears/The Shadow Grows – Burt Tyson

    A man returning from war often expects to find something left behind, some piece of life waiting to be reclaimed. In The Devil’s Shadow series by Burt Tyson, Captain Robert Hester instead faces a reality where everything he once relied on has vanished, leaving him to confront what comes after loss.


    For Captain Robert Hester, the end of the war does not bring closure. It leaves him wounded, hunted, and without direction in a world that has moved on without him. The structures that once defined his life have fallen away, replaced by a path shaped entirely by consequence and personal choice.

    His story begins in The Shadow Appears, where he emerges from the war with his name placed on a Union kill list as the Confederacy collapses around him. Returning home offers no refuge. Instead, he is met with a devastating loss that erases everything he expected to find. What follows is no longer about causes or commands, but a deeply personal pursuit. Riding with his loyal sergeant through a fractured landscape, he confronts a world where survival often outweighs honor and former soldiers have become something harder and less certain.

    Without that driving force, The Shadow Grows places Hester in unfamiliar land, moving forward without purpose and carrying the weight of what remains. A chance encounter with a wounded Apache elder draws him into a different way of living, one grounded in patience and discipline. When violence threatens those around him, he must decide whether to remain apart or step forward, knowing the choice will define his future.

    Amazon

    Goodreads: 

    THE SHADOW APPEARS

    THE SHADOW GROWS

    Burt Tyson writes historical Western fiction rooted in the aftermath of the Civil War, where questions of honor, loss, and survival take center stage. Influenced by classic storytellers like Louis L’Amour, Larry McMurtry, and the Western television heroes he grew up watching, his work explores what happens when the fight is over and a man is left to decide who he is without it.

    His Devil’s Shadow series follows Captain Robert Hester through a fractured post-war America and into the unforgiving frontier beyond.

    Tyson lives in a small town in South Carolina, where the landscape is quiet—but the stories he tells are anything but. Visit Burt at his website.


    The Shadow Appears

    Chapter 1

    The buzzing woke me. I opened my eyes. It was morning. I saw the blowfly on the sheet that covered my chest, staring at me through his two large eyes, his wings vibrating in the still air. 

    I didn’t even bother to shoo him away. It was a waste of time. There were too many of them. There shouldn’t have been. It was the last week of March in Richmond in 1865, and there should have been a few in sun-warmed windows and no more. 

    But this was the Chimborazo Hospital and blowflies were everywhere, along with the groans and cries of wounded men— many dying—and the ever-present stench of disease, gangrene, human waste, and blood. 

    We were a sad lot. Too little medicine. Too little food. Too little hope. Too much pain. Too much fear. And for many, too few limbs. 

    But it was far better than the field hospital where I had lain for a day after being shot. Or the jolting, painful wagon ride to Richmond. 

    I had been here since the middle of December. First, it was the wound and the blood loss. Then, the fever had come. And, now, it was just the weakness. I didn’t have the strength to get out of bed—a pretty pitiful sight for a cavalry officer. 

    I heard the click of cavalry boots on the wooden floor before I saw the figure. Captain Jonathan Washburn stood at the end of my bed. His left sleeve was folded up and pinned at the shoulder. I could never get used to seeing him without his arm. 

    “Well, Captain, I suppose you’ve malingered long enough. You have new orders. Get yourself dressed. We’re taking you out of all this.” 

    “I’m being released from this hell-hole? You mean that?” 

    “I do, indeed. Turley, front and center, man. Get yourself out here and help the captain.” 

    Sergeant Josiah Turley materialized as if out of thin air. A lean, wiry mountain boy, Turley was raw-boned, with a shock of red hair and a disposition to match. 

    It was Turley, more than anyone else, who had saved me. 


    The Shadow Grows

    Chapter 1

    I rode out of Parral with no sense of purpose, no mission. I was lost. I still had the dreams. Every night. 

    They began as they always did, with the bloody tears streaming from my mama’s portrait, the wraithlike figures of Aunt Callie, my daddy, my sister, and my fiancée swirling about me, asking why I hadn’t saved them. And then, after the fire and the blood of my home place, the faces of Ruth and Laurie and the bodies of Abby and Jacob. And then all of the loved ones in the dream swirled around me like tormented spirits. Their voices joined together in a single chorus. Though their mouths never moved, I heard their words.

    You’ve failed us. Where is our vengeance? Where is our peace? What are we to do? 

    Their haunting bodies pressed around me, choking me with their presence. 

    And each night I would come awake, unable to breathe, my heart racing. It always felt like I would never regain my breath or still my heart. The oppression of sadness and pain and guilt never seemed to go away. 

    As I rode westward, riding the big gray stallion, Quicksilver Ghost, and leading three other horses, Lady Red, the bay I had given my sister, and two black geldings, I still carried the hope of revenge on George Stoneman for what his bummers had done to the ones I loved back in Virginia and North Carolina. But with the failure of Jo Shelby’s plans to regroup and reenter Texas to continue the fight against the Yankees, I had little left but despair. I rode the lonely wastes of Chihuahua State in Mexico, heading for the Copper Canyon. I had nothing else to do that mattered. 

    I decided I would enter the Barrancas del Cobre, the Copper Canyon, from the west and ride back toward Texas. I rode through the towns of La Noria, El Tule, San Pablo Balleza, La Loma, Yoquivo, Batopilas, La Bufa, and Cusarare. At each of the towns, I found a place for my horses and cared for them. I ate in whatever cantina the town had to offer and drank mescal. 

    At Cusarare, I rode east toward the canyon, descending into the most desolate country I had ever seen. And the most beautiful. From the high mountain ridges to the bottom of the canyon, I went from alpine peaks of pines and Douglas fir at almost eight thousand feet to huge figs and palm trees at the bottom of the canyon at just eighteen hundred feet above sea level. 

    For the next two weeks, I rode through the Copper Canyon. I marveled at the copper and green color of the canyon walls and the beauty and stillness of it. There was plentiful game, and I ate well while riding through this marvel of nature. I saw no one and no sign of anyone. 

    The peace and solitude felt good. I thought a lot. About my life for the past few years. And about what the Padre had said to me. But I still had the dreams. 


    Q & A

    What’s a detail, theme, or clue in your book that most readers might miss on the first read but you secretly hope someone notices?
    That men, at least prior to current times, were never taught to deal with failure.  And, yet, the loss of the War and the “Cause” carried with it, often, the loss of home, family, future and purpose.  What better metaphor for failure than the Confederate soldier after the Civil War?

    When did this story or idea “click” into place for you—was there a single moment you knew you had to write it?
    The issue of men and loss had been around since the mid-1980s when I was forced to close a business and my wife divorced me.  Around 1990, I wrote a novel which would become the 5th novel in this series.  After my 2nd wife died in 2016, I started writing again and wrote the 1st novel in the series which sets the tone and the themes for the rest of the series: loss, failure, guilt, despair…and, perhaps, redemption.

    Which character or real-life person surprised you the most while writing this book, and why?
    The Mexican Padre (not a real-life person).  His thoughts and questions surprised me as they were not ones I had had.

    If your book had a soundtrack, which songs would be on it and what scenes or moments would they pair with?
    The Theme Song of the Gray Ghost TV series about John Singleton Mosby for the opening of the novel.
    “Lorena,” during and after the destruction of his home and the killing of his family and his fiance.
    “The Bonnie Blue Flag,” during the journey through the devastated South to rejoin Jeff Davis and then to reach Texas.
    “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” as Captain Hester, Sergeant Turly and Corporal Travis enter and ride through Texas.
    A Mexican song celebrating the Battle of Puebla (e.g., La Paloma Juarista), as a foretelling of the outcome of Shelby’s attempt to negotiate with Maximillian, to be played during the scene when Hester explains his break with Shelby.
    Mariachi music in the scene in the cantina with confrontation with Mexican vaquero.
    “Ave Maria instrumental” for the scenes with Padre Jose as Hester is recovering from wounds.
    The theme song for the movie The Outlaw Josie Wales for the final scene of the novel.

    What’s one belief, question, or emotional truth you hope readers carry with them long after they finish your book?
    That the Cowboy Code endures…honor.,honesty, courage, knowing right from wrong.

    Tell us about a moment during the writing process when the story (or message) took an unexpected turn.
    The introduction of Jim Dandy Travis and the events in Dogtown and on the Travis ranch.

    If your protagonist (or central figure) could give the reader one piece of advice, what would it be?
    Fight for right and saddle up no matter how high the risk.

    What real-world place, object, or memory helped shape a key element in your book?
    Jo Shelby’s retreat into Mexico.

    What’s something you had to research, learn, or experience to write this book that genuinely surprised you?
    Almost everything.  Civil war guns, post-war Natchez, Shelby’s march into Mexico, horses, etc.

    If your book were invited to join a shelf with three other titles, which ones would make you happiest—and what would that shelf say about your story?
    Lonesome Dove, The Daybreakers, Kilkenny, Appaloosa
    That this is a Western about strong men with honor, fighting for a place to live and overcoming life’s circumstances.


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    Blog Tour: Blood Pact – Cameron Curtis

    A kidnapped girl. An impenetrable fortress. Sounds like a job for Breed.

    Keen to discover what she knows about a looming conspiracy, Breed and Stein plan to question German cabaret performer Käthe Ziegler in New York.

    Their plan is derailed when Käthe is kidnapped by a team of professionals. They want her and a piece of jewelry she’s been hiding — an ancient gold seal she stole from the most dangerous man in Europe.

    Karl Graf is Germany’s Vice-Chancellor, the head of a secret society of senior
    politicians and industrialists, and a man with a plan to reshape the continent. He wants his seal back. He wants Käthe back. And he’s prepared to kill anyone who gets in his way.

    Breed and Stein discover that Kathe has been taken to a castle high in the Bavarian
    Alps. Against all odds, they climb to the fortress, which sits atop a lethal three-thousand-foot peak.

    Inside, they find Käthe, Graf, and the truth about an eighty-year-old conspiracy that
    began in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany and ends — in a bloody climax —
    on Christmas Eve.

    Blood Pact — Book Thirteen in the stunning Breed action thriller series. Perfect for fans of Jason Kasper, Jack Carr, and Lee Child.

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    Cameron Curtis has spent thirty years on trade floors as a trader and risk manager. He was on the trade floor when Saddam’s tanks rolled into Kuwait, when the air wars opened over Baghdad and Belgrade, and when the financial crisis swallowed the world.

    Having written fiction as a child, he is the author of the Breed action thriller series.

    My thoughts: Breed and Stein are in Germany, which is supposed to be an ally, but as they attempt to keep Käthe from her captors, they discover a conspiracy that dates back to during WWII and the Nazi obsession with the supernatural.

    As with all the Breed thrillers, the plot moves very quickly and I found the parts where Käthe is relating the history of her family and their relationship with the Grafs, quite slow in comparison.

    There’s also a lot of gunfights and dead bodies – obviously they’re mostly henchmen so even their employer doesn’t really care, even when Breed is chucking them down the cliff the German castle they’re holed up in, stands on.

    As Käthe fills in the back story, Stein and Breed are working out what the group of powerful politicians are up to in their castle stronghold at Christmas. Could they be preparing to bring down the world as it currently stands and go back to their grandparents’ time?

    Thankfully Breed and Stein are there, as there seems to be a mole and worryingly their Director and President might be a bit more involved in this than either operative would like.

    We still don’t learn anything about Breed, his past is a closed book, but he does get to be the hero of the hour, and even if he doesn’t believe in the supernatural element of this mission – he is very clear on the potential fall out should it succeed. 

    After another success, he and Stein must head back to the US to confront their Director and try to locate the mole – the one who almost cost their lives this time. 

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

    blog tour, books

    Blog Tour: Brake Me – Athena & Marluxia Bliss

    We’re touring April release, Brake Me by Athena & Marluxia Bliss. Guaranteed to rev engines and curl toes!

    Brake Me

    Release Date: April 24, 2026

    Genre: Very Spicy MM Paranormal Romance

    • Possessive Love Interest
    • Only One Who Understands Me
    • Slow Burn to Obsession
    • Forbidden Love
    • Found Family (Garage Edition)
    • Touch-Starved Meets Touch-Hungry
    • Machine With A Soul
    • Love from the first Vroom

    “Fucking Fox was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. The shadows of the car wrapped around me, through me, surrounding every nerve with heat and motion.

    I knew how to drive him, and Fox clearly knew how to drive me crazy.”

    Buying a 1992 Mustang was a stupid idea, and Al knew it, but he had loved that car from the very first moment he’d laid eyes on him. He’d never expected that the car would love him back, until a dark, shadowy figure appeared in the passenger seat beside him, eager to show Al his gratitude. Al’s new car, Fox is a jealous, possessive, powerful machine that adores his new owner and will happily distract Al from his driving, but when the two are forced apart, both will have to make sacrifices before they can be reunited.

    Please be sure to read the content warning carefully!

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    Blog Tour: Brake Me – Athena & Marluxia Bliss

    We’re touring April release, Brake Me by Athena & Marluxia Bliss. Guaranteed to rev engines and curl toes!

    Brake Me

    Release Date: April 24, 2026

    Genre: Very Spicy MM Paranormal Romance

    • Possessive Love Interest
    • Only One Who Understands Me
    • Slow Burn to Obsession
    • Forbidden Love
    • Found Family (Garage Edition)
    • Touch-Starved Meets Touch-Hungry
    • Machine With A Soul
    • Love from the first Vroom

    “Fucking Fox was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. The shadows of the car wrapped around me, through me, surrounding every nerve with heat and motion.

    I knew how to drive him, and Fox clearly knew how to drive me crazy.”

    Buying a 1992 Mustang was a stupid idea, and Al knew it, but he had loved that car from the very first moment he’d laid eyes on him. He’d never expected that the car would love him back, until a dark, shadowy figure appeared in the passenger seat beside him, eager to show Al his gratitude. Al’s new car, Fox is a jealous, possessive, powerful machine that adores his new owner and will happily distract Al from his driving, but when the two are forced apart, both will have to make sacrifices before they can be reunited.

    Please be sure to read the content warning carefully!

    KINDLE

    PAPERBACK

     

     

    BOOK TOUR ORGANIZED BY:

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    Blog Tour: Immortal Connections – Tao Wong

    We’re celebrating the release of epic fantasy Immortal Connections by Tao Wong! Now available in all formats including audio!

    Immortal Connections (Celestial Cataclysms Book 1)

    Release Date: May 1, 2026

    Genre: Epic Asian Fantasy

    • Demons, dragons and immortals
    • Multiple dimensions
    • Celestial hierarchy
    • Reunited lovers
    • Multi-realm war
    • Multiple POVs

    A new Immortal has risen… and with him, the fate of all the realms hangs in the balance.

    Long Wu Ying has ascended to the Heavens, fulfilling the ultimate dream of all cultivators. However, the heavens are not all that it seems, and his vow to raise his lover to the realms of immortality conflicts with the Jade Palace’s rules.

    In the Middle Kingdom, the fracturing of an empire echoes across the kingdoms. As states rush to fill the power vacuum, war-weary armies march with little food, weakened by years of drought. Wu Ying’s mortal friends are caught in the middle of the conflict. As leaders among cultivators and within their sect, they must do what they can to hold the world together and carry on without their closest ally.

    When chaos consumes the realms above and below, even the greatest cultivators must surrender to the winds of fate.

    Immortal Connections is the first book in Celestial Cataclysms, the new epic xianxia fantasy series by Tao Wong. Taking place in the same world as A Thousand Li, it delves into realms old and new, making it perfect for longtime fans and first-time readers alike.

    Triggers: Mild violence and war

    AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

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    Blog Tour: The Night Before the Wedding – Emma Robinson

    Looking out at the crystal clear waters of Sorrento, my heart aches at the loss of the future I’d allowed myself to dream. But Tom’s lie is bigger than I could have imagined. How can we survive it? My decision will shatter more than just my own heart. Am I really ready to say the words that will change everything?

    It was supposed to be a week of bliss leading to our dream wedding on the Italian coast. But it’s obvious our families are against it. My mother questions why Tom has controlled so much of the planning, twisting his generous surprise into something sinister. Tom’s daughter, Lily, makes it known she’ll never see me as her mother.

    Trying to focus on our dream day, I can’t help but notice a woman who spends every day at the pool, alone. She seems fascinated by Lily in a way that worries me. When Tom finally locks eyes with her, he immediately pales.

    This week should have been the best time of our lives but before our future can begin, Tom will confess a secret that could destroy everything. But he’s not the only one who kept a past lie hidden for the sake of happily-ever-after. By the end of the week with both our secrets laid bare, will we really say, ‘I do’?

    A totally addictive novel about family secrets which will have you turning the pages long into the night. Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Liane Moriarty and Diane Chamberlain.

    Amazon

    Emma Robinson is a USA Today Bestseller with a passion for stories which explore the power of family and friendship in the most challenging circumstances. Focusing on emotional themes, her novels are both heart-breaking and life affirming.

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    My thoughts: Carrie has been whisked off to Sorrento by her fiancé Tom along with her mother and his daughter, to get married. They’ve only known each other eighteen months, and been a couple for eleven, but surely that’s long enough to know what you want?

    However, it appears Tom hasn’t been a hundred percent honest, with either Carrie or Lily, and now, in the brilliant sunshine and with days before they tie the knot, the truth is about to come out.

    Carrie has to make a lot of decisions in a short space of time  – and not just about her future spouse, as it turns out her overprotective mum might also have a few things to come clean about.

    I felt for Carrie, she’s struggling a bit with everything, part of her things have gone a bit fast, and she wants to be a good step-mum to Lily, who at twelve, is pushing back. When she finds out the secrets the people she trusted so much were keeping – she’s furious and has to stand up for herself.

    The secrets aren’t life threatening, but they do change things for Carrie, and make her decide to take charge for a change. A really interesting and enjoyable read.

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

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    Blog Tour: We Burned So Bright – TJ Klune

    The world is ending in thirty days.

    A wandering black hole is approaching Earth, and soon, everything will be gone. For husbands Don and Rodney, forty years of marriage suddenly feels like no time at all.

    One last road trip. One final chance to say goodbye.

    From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The House in the Cerulean Sea comes a story about what we owe the people we love when time runs out. Don and Rodney are in a race against the clock, driving from Maine to Washington State to settle unfinished business before the sky breaks.

    Is it enough to burn bright, even if nothing remains of the ashes?

    Along the way, they encounter a world choosing how to spend its final moments―from impromptu weddings and bright bonfires to those simply sharing a final meal. Under a kaleidoscope sky and a cracked moon, Don and Rodney must look back on a lifetime of highs and lows and ask the ultimate question: was our best good enough?

    A bittersweet, life-affirming masterpiece about love, legacy, and the beauty of a life well-lived.

    My thoughts: As the end of the world approaches, married couple Don and Rodney decide to carry out a promise they made to someone they both loved. They hope there’s enough time to carry out this final journey, driving from their home in Maine across the country to Washington state.

    It’s not a long book, but it is a bittersweet one as Don and Rodney encounter people all trying to get through the last week before the world ends in their own ways. As they go, the two remember their long years together, some happy, some full of pain. They still have a great love and affection for one another, and there’s no one else they’d rather spend the end of the world together.

    Some of the people they meet are struggling with the future, others are embracing their last few days, getting married, spending it with their loved ones (human or otherwise). It’s quite a heartwarming, life affirming book, despite the impending apocalypse.

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