My thoughts: This could be subtitled “when a true crime obsession goes too far”
Our narrator is a journalist covering crime stories, but one without a home these days, as she’s been let go from various papers, luckily an old friend is editor at one of the nationals, because her competition is at one of the local papers, and she’s determined to get to the story first.
Her obsession with crime leads her to consume a huge amount of it, books, documentaries, the news, to the point where it’s become a bit unhealthy, and now this new serial killer, who might just be someone close to home…
Dark, twisted, blackly comic at times, this is a really enjoyable addition to the genre from a new writer and I really liked it.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour,but all opinions remain my own.
When investment banker Adrian and software engineer Rowena started the day, they didn’t expect to end it engaged!
But Adrian has invented a fake fiancée to impress his CEO, regretting the lie almost immediately, and now he is in hot water. Meanwhile, Rowena’s career has just gone up in flames, leaving her unemployed, unexpectedly expecting with no father in the picture, and short of options. When fate throws these two hot messes into a meet-cute of epic proportions, it’s a match made in rock-bottom heaven. They say love is blind, and with nothing to lose, Adrian gets down on one knee… and Rowena says yes!
The rules of engagement are simple: Pretend to be madly in love Keep their real lives separate Absolutely, positively do NOT catch feelings
However, faking it is harder than they thought, especially when every overnight stay comes with only one bed and zero personal space—blurring that imaginary line between ‘just business’ and ‘definitely personal.’
Soon, their carefully constructed charade starts to feel alarmingly… real. Can Adrian and Rowena stick to their engagement pact, or will their fake relationship graduate to something authentically messy, complicated, and wonderful?
Find out in this hilarious, heartwarming tale of two strangers who said “I do” before they even said “Hello.” Because sometimes, the worst day of your life just might lead to the best mistake you’ll ever make.
If the Ring Fits is an age gap, marriage of convenience rom-com with a multi-millionaire MMC and a STEM FMC perfect for fans of Lynn Painter, Sarah Adams and Fallon Ballard**
Camilla Isley is an engineer who left science behind to write bestselling contemporary rom-coms set all around the world. She lives in Italy and her first title for Boldwood, The Love Theorem, a Hollywood-meets-STEM romance, was be published in June 2023.
My thoughts: These loosely interconnected rom coms are a lot of fun, and this one’s no exception.
Getting fired on the day she’s just learnt that she’s pregnant with her awful ex’s baby isn’t exactly what Rowena planned. Her day could be going better, but when a handsome stranger throwing up in the bathroom stall next to where she’s throwing up, suggests they play fake fiancée to convince his boss he’s not all about work, without really hesitating, she says “why not?” And it gets crazier from there.
The handsome stranger is Adrian, a financial whizz who’s in line for CEO but his boss wants to see more from him, basically he needs to get a life. And he’s invented a pregnant fiancée in a panic, now he actually needs to find one.
As the pair play house (albeit with a housekeeper, driver, maids and very little to do around the huge fancy apartment) and try to convince people they’re madly in love and not plotting their relationship on a spreadsheet, the inevitable happens.
But will it be ok? Can a romance you cooked up in a desperate moment actually become something real? Well, you’ll have to read it and find out! I’m not telling.
Fun, funny and hugely entertaining, I can’t wait for the next one!
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Escape to a beautiful Italian island with this wonderfully romantic story, threaded with secrets and intrigue.
It’s time to return to Ischia…
Alessia knows her grandmother grew up on the beautiful Italian island off the coast from Naples. But Ornella seldom talks about her life there – or why she never went back.
So Alessia is amazed when Ornella reveals that, in the months before she left Ischia, she had worked on the set of a famous 1950s movie filmed on the island. Is there a link between the film set and the tragic death of Ornella’s teenage sister? Ornella has kept her past – and the heart-wrenching promise she made – a secret for over sixty years. She has tried not to think about the love she gave up. But now, perhaps the truth should finally be revealed…
Travelling to Ischia together, Alessia falls in love with the utterly captivating island. Meeting handsome journalist Roberto helps her dig deeper into her family’s past, too. Just what happened to Ornella’s sister? What heart-wrenching secret is her grandmother hiding?
This summer, can Alessia and Ornella put the past to rest and find the happy ending they both deserve?
A wonderfully escapist, romantic and compelling story of secrets and sacrifice, love and loyalty, that is perfect for fans of Karen Swan, Louise Douglas and Rosanna Ley.
Victoria Springfield writes contemporary ‘wish you were here’ evocative women’s fiction set in Italy. Her feel-good books follow unforgettable characters of all ages as they deal with love, loss, friendship and family secrets. Readers can feel the sunshine!
Facebook: VictoriaSpringfieldAuthor
Twitter: @VictoriaSwrites
Instagram: @victoriaswrites
My thoughts: This was a lovely, sun drenched read, perfect for chilly January, although it would work pretty much any time!
Ornella never talks about her past, or why she and her husband left Ischia to move to the UK when they did, so her apparently sudden decision to open up and then to return takes granddaughter Alessia by surprise. Triggered by the death of an Italian film star, Ornella’s story takes us back to the 1950s full of glamour and tragedy.
In the present day Alessia and journalist Roberto delve into the events of that past, searching for answers, the stories don’t add up and there has to be more to it. A tragic event throws their investigation into relief as history seems to be repeating itself, but can something good come from so much sadness?
Romantic and sweeping, with the Mediterranean glistening in the background, this little island has a story to tell. Inspired by the truly glamorous film stars who once graced Italy’s southern coast and its unique history, this transported me to the warm glow of an Italian summer. Marvellous.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
It is 1597 and Kit Skevy and Mariner Elgin have just robbed the wrong grave.
They are young criminals in the pocket of a gang Lord named Will Twentyman, the Grave Eorl of Southwark. Mariner is the best cutpurse around, a strange Calvinist girl who dresses like a boy and is partner in crime to Kit Skevy, Southwark’s best brawler who carries a secret: he cannot feel pain.
When caught out in their unfortunate larceny, Kit is kidnapped by the menacing alchemist Lord Isherwood (a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his hopes for the Red Lion elixir) and his studious son, Lazarus Isherwood, with whom Kit develops a complicated intrigue. When Mariner enlists the help of a competing French alchemist, Lady Elody Blackwater, Mariner and Kit are thrust into the shadowed, political world of Tudor alchemy, testing both their friendship and their lives.
It matters not who you are born to… but where you are made!
Emma Hinds has a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of St Andrews and has settled in Manchester, where she is a Queer playwright and Novelist. Her work focuses on telling untold feminist narratives. Her latest play, PURE, was featured in Turn On festival at Hope Mill Theatre Manchester in 2021 and she was the recipient of the Artist Development grant 2021 at Hope Mill Theatre. Emma’s debut novel, The Knowing (Bedford Square) was published January 2024 and is an exploration of female trauma in the vivid and cruel world of the Victorian freak show. This thrilling historical fiction title swiftly became a Sunday Times Historical Fiction Book of The Month. She has written a few previous non-fiction books in her capacity as an academic (in another life she was a theologian) with an essay published, Tarantino and Theology; with Gray Matter Books and her book, Ineffable Love: Christian Themes in Good Omens; published by Darton Longman Todd.
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this historical fiction adventure set in Elizabethan England (the first Queen Lizzy, not the more recent one!), mostly in the wild and infamous Liberty of Southwark, where theatres, inns, bear pits and brothels flourished away from the rules and influence of the City and the court.
Kit and Mariner work for the rather nasty Twentyman, a crime lord of sorts, and have been sent to dig up a corpse for a mysterious alchemist, then all Hell breaks loose in the graveyard and Kit is kidnapped.
Both young and more or less alone in the world, Kit and Mariner are not as they first appear, beneath their clothes are secrets, Mariner may look like a boy, dress like one too, but is in fact female, although she was raised as a boy by her uncle aboard ship. Kit is slightly more complicated and that’s the reason he’s been taken. Mariner determines to rescue him and the two are drawn into dark plots and schemes by a pair of dangerous nobles.
I loved Mariner, her boldness, her courage, her fierce love of Kit, even in the face of being forced to work in the brothel, although the woman who runs it for Twentyman doesn’t want her as one of her girls – too boyish.
Kit was fascinating as well, and somewhat more fantastical, as the story unfolds. Rescued from a past he can’t remember, raised by the gentle Griffin, who produces special effects for the theatres, and his sister Squire Kay, he might not be able to grow a beard yet, but he is impulsive, bold, clever and extraordinary.
Their adventures lead them close to death at times and into the finest houses and palaces in the land, not bad for two scruffy thieves from Southwark. They both get their hearts broken and fall apart, but finding their way back to each other, to the bond they share, offers hope of a better life, a life they dreamt of. Marvellous stuff.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Since Amber started the Bad Girls’ Detective Agency, she’s been feeling the pressure. So – when she and her best friends win a trip to a new luxury castle retreat on a remote island – she hopes it will be a chance to relax in style.
The girls are all excited to experience world-famous chef Valerie la Fontaine’s tasting menu. But none of them expect there to be another dish being served that weekend: revenge. And when Valerie is found dead inside a locked room in a tower, the Bad Girls know this is a case that only they can solve…
Hilarious and gripping mystery – perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club, The Traitors, and How to Kill Men and Get Away With It.
Katie Marsh wrote five bestselling, uplifting women’s fiction novels before turning to cosy crime for Boldwood. Previously published by Hodder, the first in her new crime series How Not To Murder Your Ex, following the fortunes of the Bad Girls Detective Agency, will be published in December 2023.
My thoughts: I am constantly surprised at how many people willingly go to remote, easily cut off islands in crime novels, Amber is a former cop turned PI and even she doesn’t think it could end badly, but it does.
Having won a supposedly glamorous weekend at a luxury hotel run by a famous chef, with food so good they’re salivating on the boat across to the island, Amber’s hoping for some time to relax, to stop worrying about running out of money and not being able to pay her team/friends. However life has other plans.
Someone really doesn’t want Valerie La Fontaine to continue, they know her biggest secret and they want revenge for something she did years before. And they’ve chosen this weekend, as she launches her new hotel, as the perfect time for her to get her comeuppance.
Of course they didn’t know that Amber and co would be there, how could they? Trapped in a storm, phone line cut, no mobile signal, no WiFi, guess it’s up to them to work out who among their fellow guests and the skeleton staff is the killer, preferably before anyone else dies.
There’s lots of secrets and hidden agendas at play as they try to stay together and investigate in a house full of secret passageways and locked doors. Is there someone else on the island? Supposedly, some protesters are hiding somewhere, but Amber’s not so sure. Something isn’t quite right.
Funny, a bit silly at times (in the best way), clever and highly entertaining.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Follow the stories of incredible women in modern history, including Greta Thunberg, Emma ‘X’ Gonzalez and Malala Yousafzai among others.
Beautifully illustrated by a diverse, international creative team, fans of extraordinary real-life stories will love this!
“From what age are we allowed to change the world?”
Six girls, five empowering adventures. From climate activism to fighting for education and gun control, each story delves deep into the personal struggles and triumphs of remarkable individuals.
The Girl Rebels graphic novel shares the extraordinary journeys of six young women who refused to be silenced in the face of adversity and have since become symbols of change. Through rich storytelling and stunning visuals, readers will be inspired by the unwavering spirit of Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai, Yusra Mardini, Emma ‘X’ Gonzalez and the Parkway Kids, and Melati and Isabel Wijsen.
Each turn of the page will draw readers into the lives of these young girls, who never intended to become spokespeople or flag-bearers, but have now become inspiring icons and role models for thousands of young people all over the world.
Carefully crafted by a talented team of international authors, the anthology presents a compelling exploration of youth activism and social change. The noblest battles of the modern world are brought to life by diverse and renowned illustrators, such as Bret Parson and Gijé.
Girl Rebels is for fans of thrilling real-life stories and youth activism around the globe. Join these brave young women on their journey to change the world and discover the power of resilience, determination, and solidarity.
Girl Rebels is on sale January 21, 2025 at bookstores, comic shops and digital.
My thoughts: This was really good, bringing these incredible stories to life with fabulous art work. Six young women, each determined to make change and survive the odds, from Malala Yousafzai demanding education for girls in Pakistan and surviving being shot in the head, to the brave American teens, encapsulated by Emma X Gonzalez, demanding an end to the horrors of school shootings in America.
What unites each of these brilliant girls is their courage and determination, their desire to stand up and be counted.
This is a gorgeous book, perfect for inspiring young women everywhere, and older ones too!
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
French Huguenot Anastasia believes working in one of Sinai’s mirror factories will allow her to trap the imaginary Arctic fox which lives in her womb.
Whilst Jack escapes from London to Sinai to avoid being conscripted to fight in the trenches with strange imaginings that do little to alleviate his feelings of cowardice. Jack is captivated by Anastasia, seized with a fierce desire to possess her from the first second, and nothing can diminish his obsessive urge to be noticed by her, not even her obvious disgust in the face of his crude advances.
Their journeys twist together like a fugue, filled with phantasmagorical delays, as they both fail to accomplish what they set out to do. Unable to escape the consequences of their false beliefs, relentlessly they approach the brink, and eventual schizophrenia, on a quest for moral truths.
This book is a revelatory, hallucinatory account of the growing insanity of two young people who happen to be in the same place at the same time.
M Laszlo lives as a recluse in Bath, Ohio. Rumour holds that he derived his pseudonym from the Victor Laszlo character in the classic film Casablanca. M Laszlo’s works are written in strict form but contain a great deal of symbolism and/or objective correlative. This is because each work is intended to illustrate the eternal or Socratic truths that make up the human experience.
My thoughts: There is a trippy, dream-like quality to this book, which reflects the way Jack and Anastasia’s minds weave their reality around their imaginings. Anastasia is mourning her mother, her loneliness and grief bringing a childhood phantom – the Arctic fox spirit she believes lives inside her – back. Jack has been sent away by his father to escape conscription. It is 1917, and the First World War rages across Europe.
In Sinai, Egypt, both troubled young people meet amidst a clash of cultures and religions, reeling from the strangeness of the time and place. Jack composes music in his head, strange discordant pieces that reflect his loose grip on reality. Anastasia seeks relief from the cruel fox within her, desperate to force it out and away from her.
As they travel and attempt to work out their troubling mental health crises, they cross paths with others and each other but can not help one another as they can not truly help themselves. A strange journey into the desert and to England, seeking always answers to soothe their troubled minds.
Not always the easiest book to read and hard to place yourself in the shoes of the protagonists in a time before mental illness and grief were better understood (though it’s still not perfect), this odyssey that Jack and Anastasia undertake is moving and tragic, the help they both seek is not within reach.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
“She was the endless darkness between life and death. Bitter, and consuming. A poison I couldn’t stop drinking, and a cold lake I wanted to drown in. Their souls were one, but Isolde had taken everything Evlyn’s life had to give and sharpened it into power.”
Isolde:
Being pulled from the wreckage of an elven ship by bloodthirsty sirens, I was now surrounded by an entirely different set of creatures with claws and teeth. Achelous, the Father of Sirens and son to the blood mage Medea shines a light on Caspian’s hunt for the mythical blade, the God Killer. His finned daughters are nothing like how I had imagined them, they’re worse, and they are weary of my foul magic. Achelous is reluctant to join the war on the continent, but when the siren’s home is attacked by the Elf King, he’s Helbent on revenge.
Everyday the darkness grows louder and more corporal, and I swear that I can feel its frigid breath on my neck when it whispers its sweet promises of power and revenge. After traveling with Cadmael, the messenger god who followed me overboard and onto the Elven ship, and the siren Thelxi to the City of Souls, we find out that Silas’ depravity knows no bounds.
If we usurp the treacherous Queen Athalia, who will sit on the Arramorian throne? Who will be the voice of humans, in a war wielded by villainous gods and wicked creatures?
Death:
Watching Isolde die the first time was painful, and every other time was like ripping my heart in two. She now knew that I had taken her first life in a twisted deal with the darkness, but what she didn’t know was the depth of her attachment’s powers. This ancient, unfathomable being is manipulating her in front of my eyes and all I can do is plead with her to push it away. To not take the deal I did.
The greatest fear of a creature who’s claimed power is that someone more cunning and vicious will steal it from him, and Isolde just might be that creature, but she still doesn’t know the whole truth. Her world with Caspian is a lie, and the truth might not set her free.
There is a killer on the loose. Scotland Yard’s brightest talent is chosen to head up the high-profile taskforce, a DCI who must confront his own past as the body count rises. There are few leads, and Jack Hawksworth can only fall back on instinct and decades-old cold cases for any clue to the killer’s motive and identity.
Fiona McIntosh is an internationally bestselling author of novels for adults and children. She co-founded an award-winning travel magazine with her husband, which they ran for fifteen years while raising their twin sons before she became a full-time author. Fiona roams the world researching and drawing inspiration for her novels, and runs a series of highly respected fiction masterclasses. She calls South Australia home.
My thoughts: This was an excellent slice of crime writing, with a compelling plot and a committed killer, who’s willing to do whatever it takes to stay one step ahead of the police and complete their plan.
DCI Jack Hawksworth and his hand picked team of officers must find the murderer before another person is harmed. But what is the connection between the victims and what does the way their bodies have been left mean to their killer?
With twists and turns, a killer as smart as the detectives on their trail and a motive spanning decades, this will keep you hooked till the very last page.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Welcome to the tour for the book that started it all! Crown of Earth and Sky is the first book in the Arthurian inspired romantasy series, Secrets of the Faerie Crown by Emberly Ash. You can read the complete series on Kindle unlimited now!
Crown of Earth and Sky (Secrets of the Faerie Crown Book 1)
Publication Date: September 2023
Genre: Romantasy
What do I want?
A quick death.
Barring that, I only dream of one thing—revenge.
Veyka Pendragon was crowned queen in a farce fit for any circus. Now, as her traitorous court plots around her, the new Queen of the Elemental Fae must take revenge on the humans who betrayed her while also guarding a dangerous secret.
The arrival of her betrothed, the storied Brutal Prince, is merely another cog in the wheels of time and space spinning around her.
Arran Earthborn is the strongest terrestrial fae in millennia. If Veyka wishes to keep the peace her ancestors fought and died for, she must join with him soon.
But the Brutal Prince has not earned his name by playing nice. The torture he exacts will enrage and enflame her—and endanger a secret that would rip their world to shreds.
The days are slipping by.
Very soon I will have to choose…
The crown that destroyed my life but protects my kingdom…
Or settling the scores that haunt my every step.
Crown of Earth and Sky is a twisted mythology retelling of the Arthur legend. It is a high-steam fantasy romance with dark elements.
ramblingmads 