Category: blog tour

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Blog Tour: The Cursed Writer – Holly Hepburn

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Harriet White is no stranger to odd correspondence. Ensconced in the basement of the Baker Street building society, her job is to reply to the mail they receive on behalf of Sherlock Holmes.
But while letters to the fictional sleuth may be plentiful, telegrams are rare, and so when she receives one describing the grave situation of celebrated author Philip St John, her interest is piqued. The writer describes St John as being consumed by terror, seeing ghostly apparitions on the fens, and only at ease in the company of his loyal wolfhound.

Before long, Harry finds herself in Cambridgeshire under the guise of being Holmes’ assistant. The residents of Thurmwell Manor believe their master is cursed. Harry is sure there must be a logical explanation, but inside the echoey halls of the grand gothic house, her confidence in science and reason begin to crumble…

Can Harry solve the mystery before the fens claim their next victim?

Join Harriet White in 1930’s London for another glorious Sherlock Holmes-inspired mystery, for fans of Nita Prose and Janice Hallett.

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Holly Hepburn writes escapist, swoonsome fiction that sweeps her readers into idyllic locations, from her native Cornwall to the windswept beauty of Orkney. She has turned her hand to cosy crime inspired by Sherlock Holmes himself. Holly lives in leafy Hertfordshire with her adorable partner in crime, Luna the Labrador.

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My thoughts: This series is so much fun, and this story, inspired by The Hound of the Baskervilles, is another excellent edition. I think Harry makes a fantastic sleuth, and Oliver a great Watson. The pair of them head off to the Cambridgeshire Fens under the guise of assisting a very old Sherlock (if he was a detective in the Victorian period, still going in the 1930s, he’d be quite an old man) who has retired to Sussex to keep bees (per Conan Doyle).

I know that people do still write to Holmes, the museum in Baker Street has them on display in his office, but I don’t know that anyone there carries out investigations, I imagine they pass anything of real concern onto the police. But Harry is willing to help where perhaps the police and in this case, doctors, cannot.

The author Philip St John lives in a manor house out in the Fens with a few staff and his nephew, who is the one who writes to Holmes. His uncle appears to be haunted by some strange apparition and is terribly ill. His huge dog is his only comfort. Harry knows there’s a logical explanation and is willing to brave unknown dangers to get to the bottom of it. And go to the library to do some research too.

She might not have Holmes’ legendary powers of deduction but she’s smart and resourceful and nothing, not even her creep of a former boss, can get in her way. 

Lots of fun, a clever conundrum and a very real solution to a strange problem. Really enjoyable and I can’t wait for more!

*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: Fool Me Once – Mark Gillespie

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Kate thought she knew her neighbors. But they’ve been keeping secrets…

Kate’s quiet evening at home is shattered when a car crashes into a neighbor’s fence. The police and emergency services are quickly on the scene.

Kate saw the crash. The neighbors saw it too. So why is everyone saying it never happened? And how is it possible that the neighbor’s fence doesn’t have a scratch?

Is Kate going crazy or is everyone lying?

Strange things start happening in Kate’s life. A man follows her home after work. An intruder tries to break into her house in the middle of the night.

Kate is convinced these events are connected to the crash. Someone wants to silence her. But why? Who was in that car on Saturday night?

And what is the deadly secret that everyone is trying to hide?

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Mark Gillespie writes psychological thriller and suspense novels. He’s a former professional musician (bass player) from Glasgow, Scotland who spent ten years touring the UK and Ireland, playing sessions and having the time of his life. Don’t ask though. What happened on the road stays on the road.

He now lives in Auckland, New Zealand with his wife and a small menagerie of rescue creatures. If he’s not writing, he’s jamming with other musicians, running on the beach, watching mixed martial arts and boxing. Or devouring horror and thriller movies.

This is his third psychological thriller with Inkubator Books.

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My thoughts: This is a book that will completely wrong foot you in a really good way. Reading the first section, Kate’s story makes you think one thing is happening and then that gets completely thrown up in the air and becomes a very, very different story and without spoiling it, a very interesting story.

I was totally hooked, at first I thought I knew what it was going to be about, but then, bam, it went off in another direction and it was so good, such an interesting, clever, almost a discussion about right and wrong, punishment and revenge. Absolutely cracking 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.

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Blog Tour: To The Last Page – Chantal Gadoury

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Welcome to the tour for newly released charmer, Until the Last Page by Chantal Gadoury!

Until the Last Page

Publication Date: October 1, 2024

Genre: Fantasy Romance

  • Portal Fantasy
  • Fairytale Retellings
  • Witty Banter
  • Enemies to Friends to Lovers
  • For Fans of Princess Bride & Once Upon a Time
  • One Bed (A pillow, and a bowl of soup)

Discover what happens when a young woman unexpectedly finds herself inside a book of fairytales where she is charged with breaking a frog prince’s curse and searching for a way home.

Every good fairytale begins with “Once Upon a Time,” or they’re supposed to at least. But for twenty-five year old Josephine Hart, her “Once Upon a Time” began with her literally crash landing inside a book of fairy tales and nearly crushing a frog—who is actually a prince. An annoying, snarky frog prince named Aneurin, seeking the kiss of true love to break his curse. He vows that if Jo agrees to help him find his princess, he will get her home.

With every turn of the page, their adventure leads them deeper into fairytales familiar to Jo. Through their journey, they discover that despite their initial clashing, they’re both exactly what each other needs. It is only when they encounter a devious man with a talent for spinning straw into gold that they realize just how quickly their plot can take an unexpected twist.

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Blog Tour: Beautiful Liars – Isabel Ashdown

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Liar, Liar

In the photograph Martha Benn has kept for two decades, three girls lounge on the grass during a school field trip. Beside Martha, there’s Liv, petite and wickedly funny, and Juliet, their unofficial leader, brave, kind, and effortlessly beautiful. Back then, they meant the world to each other. But when Juliet disappeared, the bond between Martha and Liv unravelled too.
 
Martha was the last known person to see Juliet alive, and she still has no idea what happened after the two said goodnight on a towpath beside London’s Regent’s Canal. The next day, Juliet’s abandoned bicycle was discovered, but no sign of Juliet. Without witnesses or clues, the investigation fell apart.
 
Martha, now a TV celebrity preparing to host a show investigating cold cases, finally has a chance to get answers. As Martha tries to piece together what happened to Juliet, she realizes that her memories of those long-ago bonds may not tell the whole story. And someone else may know more about Juliet’s fate, and their friendship, than she could ever have imagined . . .

My thoughts: Friendship is a weird thing, it changes over time, sometimes getting stronger, sometimes it just falls away. But we never forget, not really.

Martha is trying to put the pieces together about the disappearance of her friend Juliet, years after the fact. The third member of their group, Liv, might have some idea but it’s been tricky getting in touch, she’s vague over email, and Martha is desperate to meet up and compare notes.

But there seems to be more to all this, and maybe one of the few witnesses, someone always on the sidelines, in the background, knows the truth.

It’s a bit creepy, with a stalker’s perspective on the events around Juliet’s disappearance and on Martha’s attempts to figure it all out. I imagine we don’t notice those people, the ones on the fringes of our lives, very often, and that’s certainly the case here, with a controlling and manipulative person who seems incredibly innocent as well.

Isabel’s books just get better, and more sinister, this is definitely the darkest one yet I reckon. I really enjoyed reading it, she has a brilliant knack at getting you to understand the characters and their strange minds without being put off or disturbed. I felt for Martha, and for Casey, both held in place by something that happened so long ago that many people have forgotten.

*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 Red Woman and the White Bear – Fern A Ellis

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Have you read The Red Woman and the White Bear yet? We highly recommend you add this beauty to the top of your reading list! You won’t regret it!

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The Red Woman and the White Bear

Publication Date: September 24, 2024

Genre: Romantic Fantasy

✨️Fae courts
✨️Enemies to lovers
✨️Hurt/comfort
✨️Shadow magic
✨️Court politics
✨️Opposing religions/religion is magic
✨️Slow burn forbidden love
✨️Hidden identity
✨️Morally grey characters
✨️Reluctant chosen one
✨️Soul-deep connection

It is both the fate and the burden of the Red Woman to bring peace.

The Fae are real—this is a fact that Aisling Morrow has believed with varying degrees of certainty since she was a child. Her late mother’s accounts of their beauty still linger in her mind, but always with the caveat: Do not involve yourself uninvited with matters of the Fae. Aisling has no plans to do so—until she discovers an arcane prophecy which names her the Red Woman, destined to turn the tides of war in the realm of Wyldraíocht by ensuring the fall of the Unseelie Court.

On a quest to understand her role, Aisling ventures into Wyldraíocht. Except Fae prophecies aren’t so easily interpreted, and she is soon ensnared in a dangerous web of political machinations, opposing religions, and dark magic—at the center of which stands the fierce and vengeful Unseelie King.

King Kael Ardhen, a vessel for raw power bestowed upon him by an eldritch god, is consumed by his own unbridled rage—a rage which he would not hesitate to turn on the human woman prophesied to destroy his court. Yet something about the way Aisling calls to his shadows draws him in, at once both granting him control over his violent magic and inviting him to relinquish control over his guarded heart.

As unsettling truths about the world her mother so loved challenge Aisling’s convictions and call into question the true purpose of the Red Woman, the Veil between realms grows ever weaker with the echoes of war. Soon, the crueler sorts of Fae will no longer be confined to Wyldraíocht. With time running out to protect those she loves, Aisling finds herself at the crossroads of fate and choice—and the ultimate price of peace may demand more than she is willing to pay.

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Blog Tour: A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal – Darcy McGuire

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Wallflower at risk of ruin…

Secret femme-fatale in training Millicent Whittenburg needs to escape her unpleasant betrothal.

Taking matters into her own hands, she plans her eventual ruin! Then she can disappear from society to carry out the Queen’s deadly missions. Step 1: seduce the one man who despises marriage more
than her!

However, she hugely underestimates her target. Major General Beaufort Drake. Fearsome private investigator, he’s notoriously cold and visibly battle scarred. But Millie’s scandalously public kiss
awakens a deeply suppressed desire in Drake. Instead of allowing them both to succumb to shame he does the unthinkable, and offers for her hand in a convenient marriage.

Nothing prepares them for the fireworks when a fearless damsel collides with a dangerous Major General! And as their secret missions align they face their hardest test on the glittering battlefield – a
week long wedding house party where there is nowhere to escape…only new and wicked lessons to be learnt!

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Darcy McGuire is a high school counsellor who grew up in the wilds of New Zealand but happily settled in the Pacific Northwest. In between dodging territorial geese, gathering duck eggs, taking the
dog for long walks, Darcy loves writing about fierce female protagonists who may dodge daggers and bullets but never seem to escape Cupid’s Arrow.

Facebook: @AuthorDarcyMcGuire
Instagram: @authordarcymcguire
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My thoughts: I really like this series, we’re only on book two but it’s just a lot of fun. Queen Victoria’s lady agents have to basically avoid being trapped in a marriage to some miserable sod, as they’ll have to give up their role and play domestic angel instead.

Millie’s ghastly stepmother wants to marry her off to a fossil so Millie decides to go for disgrace and being packed off away from society in order to carry on her vital work as a spy. Only she’s picked the one man who won’t back down.

Major General Beaufort Drake is an agent for the Prime Minister – and they’re investigating the same case from different angles. Can they fall in love, stop bickering and stop the trade in young women?

So much fun, a bit saucy, quite romantic (they face off against the horrible stepmother, his wet blanket of a brother and miserable sister-in-law together) and just very enjoyable. Highly recommend.

*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 Witch’s Daughter – Imogen Edwards-Jones

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A city burning. A revolution raging. A woman on the run.

Nadezhda has never wanted to be a witch. But the occult is in her blood. Her mother, Militza, conjured Rasputin and introduced him into the Romanov court, releasing the devil himself. 

Now he is dead, but Militza still dreams of him – stalking her sleep and haunting her waking hours. As Petrograd burns and the Russian Empire crumbles, Nadezhda escapes through the capital, concealing a book of generational magic. But as danger grows closer, she may be forced to embrace her heritage to save what she loves most…

Based on a true story, The Witch’s Daughter is an epic tale of women rising from the ashes of an empire, perfect for fans of Elodie Harper’s The Wolf Den and Madeline Miller’s Circe.

Imogen Edwards-Jones studied Russian at Bristol University. Her first book, The Taming of Eagles, was about the first 100 days of the collapse of communism. A writer and journalist, she has travelled extensively within the old Soviet Union, studying in Kyiv. She is the author of twenty books including the best-selling Babylon series. Married with two children, Imogen lives in London. She is also a member of the London College of Psychic Studies and an honorary Cossack. Her latest novel, The Witch’s Daughter, is the sequel to The Witches of St Petersburg.

My thoughts: I was really excited to read this book, I am a huge Russian history nerd and have been to St Petersburg some years ago, and even been to the palace that features in the opening of this book, where Rasputin was killed. It’s very creepy, our tour guide was a descendant of the Prince who organised the murder. And behind a door on the way out is a terrifying waxwork figure of the monk himself. I think she kept it there to traumatise visitors. It worked!

This is the sequel to The Witches of St Petersburg, but you can read it as a standalone if you haven’t read the first book (but I also recommend it). Opening with the dramatic death of the monk many blamed for the Romanovs’ downfall (he was poisoned, shot and drowned) is very dramatic, winter on the river Nev, beautiful and deadly.

It’s 1916, the First World War is consuming millions of young men from across Europe, including Russia, unrest is gathering as the serfs finally have enough of their aristocratic masters, the boyars and princes of the Russian Empire, there have been poor harvests, people are starving but the Imperial Family continue to throw parties and enjoy life.

As the wartime years gather pace, so do the Bolsheviks, including Vladimir Lenin, and the tide turns against the Romanov dynasty. It can be hard to feel sorry for them but when you read about the deaths, torture and imprisonment, including children, you do, all their wealth and privilege did not stop them being horrifically murdered (the deaths of the Tsar and Tsarina’s siblings, burnt alive in a mine shaft are particularly gruesome and cruel).

I have been to Peter and Paul Fortress where the Romanovs were interred after their bodies were recovered from Ekaterinberg, they lie under huge marble blocks in an austere and silent chapel, far more fitting than the holes they were thrown into by the furious soldiers.

The family members that survived, rescued from house arrest in Crimea, by the British navy, are the ones this story focuses on, the Dowager Empress never truly believing her son the Tsar, and his family had been murdered. Terrified and traumatised the extended remaining royals stayed in their summer homes, guarded by soldiers, surrounded by their enemies, the chef is something of a hero, valiantly scrounging up meals from potatoes and a few bits and pieces in the kitchen, providing a feast from almost nothing.

Militza and Stana are survivors, but the life their children are living is tough and frightening, Nadezhda loses her first love to war, and almost loses her second to the revolution. Struggling to survive in Yalta, she finally embraces the gifts of her mother’s line, the witchcraft she has long denied.

There is tragedy and heartbreak aplenty as the Russian Revolution takes grip, it’s something when the German army are seen as heroes, arriving to relieve the house arrest of the family and negotiate their eventual release.

This was a fascinating read, seeing the Revolution from a very different angle, not that of the Bolsheviks or the Soviets but from the perspective of the extended Romanov family, those that survived the horrific deaths of so many.

*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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Book Blitz: A Modern Midlife Christmas Carol – Alana Oxford

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Christmas cheer was dead, to begin with.

The world rests on Eliza’s shoulders. The kids, her husband, work, her elderly mother and don’t forget her newest friend, perimenopause. It’s too much to carry, but she’s been doing it for years. It’s just what a good wife and mother does, isn’t it?

When another Christmas rolls around, Eliza is drained by all the expectations and logistics of the holiday season. She’s fast approaching her breaking point, only no one around her notices she’s on the edge.
After an incident at her in-law’s on Christmas Eve brings things to a boiling point, she finds herself with three unexpected visitors. The spirits of the past, present, and future take her on a journey
through her life to shake her out of the rut she’s gotten into. Their messages leave her with new possibilities: reconnect with her past, reclaim her present, or forge a new future, and you, the reader, decide which option is best!

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Alana Oxford is a Michigan author of romcoms, sweet romance, and humorous women’s fiction. She wants her stories to bring sunshine and smiles to her readers. She enjoys improv comedy, moody music, everything book related, and has an ongoing love affair with the United Kingdom.

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Giveaway to Win an ebook of The Gingerbread Christmas Village by Kiley Dunbar (Open to UK & US Only).

Alana Oxford has kindly said that she would like to do an ebook giveaway for another author who writes charming and cozy Christmas books. A Kindle copy of The Gingerbread Christmas Village by
Kiley Dunbar, which is a lovely holiday romance featuring a protagonist in her early 60s.

Click the link above to enter.**

My thoughts: This was a fun addition to the adaptations of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Transported to modern America, where an exhausted and perimenopausal Eliza has just about had enough. Her husband announces that they’ve been invited to his brother’s for Christmas, throwing the plans Eliza’s made up in the air and pushing her to breaking point. Her mother expects them for the day and is upset that plans have changed, her teenage children barely look up from their phones and she’s had enough.

Staying in her in-laws’ fancy guest room on Christmas Eve, wishing she was anywhere else, she’s visited by strange apparitions who offer her visions a bit like those Ebenezer Scrooge had. Except she’s not a grumpy old miser, just a woman in need of a break.

The twist is that there’s three different endings to the story – three lives Eliza can choose, and the reader gets to decide which ending they like the most – does Eliza choose her family or go a different way? Up to you. Like a Choose Your Own Adventure. Fun!

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

*Terms and Conditions –UK & US entries welcome. 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 RandomResources 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. 

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Blog Tour: Blood for Blood – J.N. Eagles

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A spooky collection of poetry to curl up with on these dark and dreary evenings

Blood for Blood

Publication Date: October 2024

Genre: YA Poetry/ Supernatural

An older vampire secretly resides in a neighborhood, preying off those who hike in the nearby woods. One night, he becomes distracted by a second attack and allows his prey to escape. Following a trail of blood, he comes face to face with his old mentor who only wants revenge and to keep the vampire laws. His mentor will either kill or transform everyone he cares for into vampires. After being arrested and interrogated for a crime his mentor framed him for, can he escape the police station before the sunlight diminishes him? Can he save his great-grandson? Will he be able to convince a stranger, who thinks of him as a monster, to help him? He would do anything as long as he didn’t have to accept his final death.

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Blog Tour: To Defend a Bride – Daniela A. Mera

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To Defend a Bride is LIVE! The Entangled with the Enduar series continues with Ra’Sa and Melisa’s story!

To Defend A Bride: An Enemies to Lovers Bodyguard Fantasy Romance (Entangled with the Enduar Series)

Publication Date: October 14, 2024

Genre: Fantasy Romance

  • Bodyguard x Courtesan
  • Epic Angst
  • Secrets
  • True Love Against All Odds
  • She’s Using Him
  • Fated Mates

Bodyguard romantasy meets courtesan turned spy.

Melisa needs a new life for herself and her family. And she finds just that in a troll named Ra’Sa. He’s tall, strong, serious, and unattached.

And yet, he doesn’t fall for her attempts to seduce him. Frustrated, she gives up and crafts a new plan: make herself indispensable.

So far, Ra’Sa is unimpressed with the weak, helpless creatures he escorts across the land. The one with long, silky black hair and a red gown is intriguing, but his crystal doesn’t sing, meaning she’s not his mate. Thus, it doesn’t matter that she’s clever. And beautiful. And strangely hard to stop watching.

However… he is furious when she surprises everyone and offers to return to the giant capital, where she will use her position as a comfort woman to glean information for the trolls.

So he demands to go with her—to watch over and defend her in a land of cruel men.

Her secrets unravel, revealing her true nature. He finds it… breathtaking. Despite the forbidden nature of their relationship, feelings stir within his stony heart.

Will they succeed their mission or let their desire burn them to ashes?

To Defend a Bride is a standalone novel, but it is part of a larger series called Entangled with the Enduar. It can be read by itself but it is recommended to be read after To Steal a Bride and To Ignite a Flame for the best experience.

It is dark monster romantasy featuring a cunning heroine and a brooding hero. This adult fantasy romance is perfect for readers of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Danielle L. Jensen.

Note: This story is an adult/new adult novel with mentions of trauma, abuse, and other mature themes.

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