Category: books

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#TeamLyons Blog Tour: Critical Incidents – Lucie Whitehouse

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A missing girl. A murdered friend. No one left to trust.

‘Seriously good suspense … trust me, you’ll need to know what happens’ Lee Child

‘Superb characterisation, humour and galloping plot’ Susie Steiner

‘This is that deeply satisfying thing, a strong, deft thriller with real depth’ Tana French

Detective Inspector Robin Lyons is going home.

Dismissed for misconduct from the Met’s Homicide Command after refusing to follow orders, unable to pay her bills (or hold down a relationship), she has no choice but to take her teenage daughter Lennie and move back in with her parents in the city she thought she’d escaped forever at 18.

In Birmingham, sharing a bunkbed with Lennie and navigating the stormy relationship with her mother, Robin works as a benefit-fraud investigator – to the delight of those wanting to see her cut down to size.

Only Corinna, her best friend of 20 years seems happy to have Robin back. But when Corinna’s family is engulfed by violence and her missing husband becomes a murder suspect, Robin can’t bear to stand idly by as the police investigate. Can she trust them to find the truth of what happened? And why does it bother her so much that the officer in charge is her ex-boyfriend – the love of her teenage life?

As Robin launches her own unofficial investigation and realises there may be a link to the disappearance of a young woman, she starts to wonder how well we can really know the people we love – and how far any of us will go to protect our own.

About the author

Lucie Whitehouse was born in Gloucestershire in 1975, read Classics at Oxford University and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of The House at Midnight, the TV Book Club pick The Bed I Made and Before We Met, which was a Richard & Judy Summer Book Club pick and an ITV3 Crime Thriller selection.

@LWhitehouse5

My thoughts: Robin is a senior detective at the Met police and makes a career crashing mistake, then she returns home to Birmingham, with teen daughter Lennie in tow. Sleeping in her childhood bunk bed, with Lennie up top, trying to get to grips with her situation.

Rob goes to work for a family friend, PI Maggie, who as well as cheating husbands, helps out women in trouble. They’re on the case of a young woman who’s gone missing.

Then Rob’s best friend Corinna is killed, her house set on fire and her young son seriously injured. Corinna’s husband Josh is missing, did he do this or were they involved in something more dangerous and is there a link between the missing girl and Corinna?

Rob can’t help but dig into Corinna’s death, despite being told by the police, in the form of ex-boyfriend Samir, to stay away. It turns out she didn’t know her friend as well as she thought.

Gripping from the start, Rob’s a great protagonist, she’s smart with great instincts if a bit too impulsive. She’s good at joining the dots and digging out the smallest clues and following them, even if they don’t lead anywhere good.

This case is incredibly personal to her, involving her closest friends but ones who really have too many secrets. And despite her less than official status she’s faster and more determined than the police.

This book really does set the series up, you get to meet Rob, her family, find out her story as well as learn about what she’s done to end up in her parents’ house in her mid thirties.

*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 Boot Camp Murders – Matthew Ross

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An an ambitious high-achieving young woman, unfairly bullied from her job, her career in ruins; her brother, a charming slacker getting by on good looks and charisma; an out-of-control unstoppable terrier called Winkle, and a popular social media star bludgeoned to death – who said pet-sitting would be a walk in the park?

Monica was on the corporate ladder striving to be a high-flying executive, but when the misogynistic bullying from the privileged pale stale males becomes too much she snaps and quits on the spot. At her lowest ebb, a chance remark from her charming slacker brother Paddy identifies a business opportunity – she becomes a pet-sitter!

She’s enthusiastic, she loves animals, and she’s got the management it’s bound to be a success, isn’t it? Monica quickly finds dealing with her team of misfits as easy as herding kittens.

Monica and Paddy soon very publicly clash with a much beloved personal trainer that has made their local park his own personal kingdom. However, after he is brutally murdered with his own dumbbell, legions of his online devotees are quick to pronounce Monica guilty in the court of social media opinion.

When the demands for retribution threaten to overspill into Monica’s real life, she knows she must find the killer before the lynch mob comes for her.

Goodreads Buy Links

Matthew Ross is the author of 3 published novels to date. His first novel, “Death Of A Painter” was selected by The Sun newspaper as one of its picks of the week. Matthew wrote his first novel after undertaking the prestigious Faber Academy 6-month novel writing course under the tutelage of Richard Skinner.

Prior to that Matthew wrote material for a leading British stand-up comedian for their live performances, corporate bookings, national theatre tours and their appearances on tv and radio shows such as “Have I Got News For You”, “Mock The Week” and “The News Quiz”.

In addition, he was commissioned to provide material and sketches for several comedy series that were broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Matthew lives in Kent with his family and pets.

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My thoughts: I’ve read a couple of this author’s other books, so was keen to read his new crime fiction, and it was really enjoyable.

From the moment Monica loses it as she leaves her terrible job, to the gathering of the dog walkers and the utter chaos of the murder in the park investigation with a total idiot in charge of the case (I feel so sorry for Nicci, his DC, who should really be in charge), it’s just a tremendously fun and entertaining read, with enough gripping whodunnit? energy to keep me hooked. Can’t wait for the next one!

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*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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Cover Reveal: Umbra: Sentient Stars – Amber Toro

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We’re thrilled to present the cover of Amber Toro’s spring release, Umbra: Sentient Stars!

1 COVER ONLY LARGE IMAGE

Umbra: Sentient Stars

Expected Publication Date: April 24, 2024

Genre: Sci-Fi Fantasy/ Space Opera

✨Enemies-to-Lovers

✨Found Family

✨Multiple POVs

✨Intergalactic Adventure

✨Slow Burn

✨Militaristic Society

✨Fully Sentient Starships

Earth That Was has faded into myth. After millenia spent wandering, humans are no longer nomads. Twelve tribes stand allied under the United Tribal Axis; but there is a signal in the darkness that threatens to destroy everything.

All Skyla wanted after leaving the Navy was to be left alone. Just her ship, the stars, and a new adventure. But when a strange virus disables her ship, she is thrown into the middle of a conflict she doesn’t understand, forcing her to take on responsibilities she swore she never would again.

Hinata always followed the rules, honor above all else. He always won, until he didn’t. Sentenced to exile for his failures, he is determined to prove himself, until a mysterious woman arrives on his station and chaos threatens to break already fragile alliances.

Freyja was always angry, an outcast, playing the part of admiral and black ops operative. But she is tired of being a pawn in the Empress’ games and when she’s stranded on the wrong side of enemy lines after a vengeful battle, she’s forced to ally with her adversaries to clear her name.

A Rogue.

A Commander.

And an Admiral.

Brought together by circumstance, held together by duty.

Can they find a way to work together to save humanity?

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About the Author

Amber Toro is the director of data science at a machine learning startup working to make the world a better place with AI. She is a big believer in using tech for good.

Always dreaming Amber writes epic sci-fi and fantasy.

Amber grew up in Seattle with a great love of the outdoors. She now calls Utah her home and when she is not writing or coding you can find her biking, hiking, and camping in the mountains with her amazing partner and two tiny humans, or curled up with a good sci-fi/fantasy book.

Discover more at ambertoro.com

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Blog Tour: A Deadly Promise- Rachel Amphlett

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When a woman’s mutilated body is discovered in a remote countryside property, Detective Kay Hunter is faced with one of the most challenging investigations of her career.

There is nothing in the victim’s past to explain her brutal slaying and no clues as to how her killer got away.

Then a second body is found in a run-down storage facility, the man’s remains covered in horrific injuries that bear the hallmarks of prolonged torture.

With two families demanding justice, Kay is under pressure from her superiors to deliver a swift result – but there is no evidence to connect the two victims.

When a third victim is found just a short distance from her own incident room, Kay realises that the killer has no intention of stopping – and they already have their next victim in their sights…

A Deadly Promise is the 13th book in the Detective Kay Hunter series by USA Today bestselling author Rachel Amphlett, and perfect for readers who love fast-paced crime thrillers.

Before turning to writing, USA Today bestselling crime author Rachel Amphlett played guitar in bands, worked as a TV and film extra, dabbled in radio as a presenter and freelance producer for the BBC, and worked in publishing as an editorial assistant.

She now wields a pen instead of a plectrum and writes crime fiction with over 30 novels and short stories featuring spies, detectives, vigilantes, and assassins.

Rachel’s stories are available in eBook, print and audiobook formats from libraries and retailers as well as her own shop on this website.

A keen traveller and accidental private investigator, Rachel has both Australian and British citizenship.

She loves hearing from readers and personally replies to every email.

Email: info@rachelamphlett.com
Website: http://www.rachelamphlett.com

My thoughts: a dark and compelling crime thriller from Rachel Amphlett, who writes some very gripping stuff.

The shocking murder of a young woman in the bathroom of the house she cleans leads the police to more horrific deaths, all of people who turn out to be in debt to some seriously nasty people  – loan sharks, but sharks don’t torture their food, these people do.

As the cost of living crisis, rising unemployment and stagnant benefits force desperate people to take money from dubious sources, the police are racing against time to stop the killers and save lives. A chance comment in lock up could hold the key to who these genuinely awful people are.

Gripping, intelligent crime fiction.

*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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Cover Reveal: Bottle Service: A Bomb-Ass Genie Vacation Story – Brindi Quinn

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We’re thrilled to present the illustrated Cover of Bottle Service: A Bomb-Ass Genie Vacation Story by Brindi Quinn!

Bottle Service Cover

Bottle Service: A Bomb-Ass Genie Vacation Story

Publication Date: Summer 2024

Publisher: Evermore Books (@neverandeverbooks)

Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romcom

The first time, she found it in a thrift store. The second, it washed up on a shore.

Unofficial newlywed Dolly Jones deserves a bomb-ass genie honeymoon.

So it would be really nice if none of her new brothers-in-law would upset the fantasyland flora and sparkling waves of her perfect magical vacation, orchestrated by her perfect magical boyfriend. But for the new laird and his lady, a peaceful island getaway may be nothing more than wishful thinking, when a familiar bottle appears washed up on the beach in relentless pursuit of Dolly as its master—who, by all accounts, already has a genie and a soulmate.

While Velis works to strengthen the cloaking magic over their beach rental in hopes of hiding them from his meddlesome family, Dolly begins to experience strange occurrences around the island that may or may not be charm magic at work. Is that feeling of fate tugging at her all in her head? And in the aftermath of a crumbling family, who will have to sacrifice what in order to live their happily ever after?

BOTTLE SERVICE: A BOMB-ASS GENIE VACATION STORY is the romantic, fantastic second-coming-of-age story of five flawed twenty-somethings from different realms, battling their inner demons and each other, one wish at a time.

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Blog Tour: A Sign of Her Own – Sarah Marsh

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Ellen Lark is on the verge of marriage when she and her fiancé receive an unexpected visit from Alexander Graham Bell.

Ellen knows immediately what Bell really wants from her. Ellen is deaf, and for a time was Bell’s student in a technique called Visible Speech. As he instructed her in speaking, Bell also confided in her about his dream of producing a device which would transmit the human voice along a wire: the telephone. Now, on the cusp of wealth and renown, Bell wants Ellen to speak up in support of his claim to the patent to the telephone, which is being challenged by rivals.

But Ellen has a different story to tell: that of how Bell betrayed her, and other deaf pupils, in pursuit of ambition and personal gain, and cut Ellen off from a community in which she had come to feel truly at home. It is a story no one around Ellen seems to want to hear – but there may never be a more important time for her to tell it.

Sarah Marsh was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish prize in 2019 and selected for the London Library Emerging Writers programme in 2020. A Sign of Her Own is her first novel, inspired by her experiences of growing up deaf and her family’s history of deafness. She lives in London.

My thoughts: I knew of Alexander Graham Bell as the Scottish born inventor of the telephone, as I’m sure many people do, but not that he worked with D/deaf people and taught something called Visible Speech – essentially getting his students to speak by teaching them the shapes of letters and words in the mouth  – but they still couldn’t understand another person. 

I used some of his techniques as an ESL teacher, teaching English, when it comes to voiced and invoiced letters – B and P – for example. Ellen compiles lists of homophenes, words that appear the same when lipreading, which are harder to parse, for Bell, and writes an essay he never publishes as promised, on the subject. It’s an early sign of his reluctance to really engage with the deaf community.

Sign language is a valid and completely legitimate way of communicating, but it wasn’t always so. Deaf students were banned from using their hands in schools and expected to learn to speak, and lip read the responses. Through the characters of Ellen and Frank, both of whom attended these Oral Schools, the story of how sign language was oppressed is told.

Much like any language, it has its own rules, grammar and syntax  – and varies both nationally and even regionally. BSL (British Sign Language) is not the same as ASL or AusLan (American Sign Language and Australian Sign Language), nor is it the same as spoken English, much as American or Australian English varies from British English, despite being nominally the same.

Ellen speaks both ASL and BSL. Her mother is British, and while she grows up in America, she moves to Britain and learns the signs. She is lucky to be exposed to other members of the deaf community and to have a supportive and loving mother, who understands when she quits her lessons with Bell. Visible Speech, which gives him the idea for the telephone, feels to Ellen in the end, a betrayal of the deaf community and sign language.

This is a really fascinating look at the history of the deaf community more than it is a book about Bell, and I really liked Ellen and her story. Bell is apparently quite a controversial figure in deaf history, with his insistence on speech and dislike of sign language, even after working with deaf people and being married to a deaf woman. Ellen may be the fictional character but she was much more appealing and likeable than the real life one, who doesn’t come across well at all.

*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: Token – Beverley Kendall

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Kennedy Mitchell is brilliant, beautiful and tired of being the only Black woman in the room.

Two years ago, she was plucked from reception for a seat at the boardroom table in the name of “representation”. Rather than play along, she and her best friend founded Token, a boutique PR agency that helps diversity-challenged companies and celebrities. With famous people getting into reputation-damaging controversies, Token is in high demand and business is booming, but when her ex shows up needing help repairing his reputation, things get even more complicated and soon Kennedy finds herself drawn into a PR scandal of her own.

My thoughts: this was a really interesting, thought provoking and enjoyable read. It’s part romance, part looking at issues in modern life, specifically around race and gender.

Kennedy is hastily thrust into a job in order to secure some diversity points and instead of just letting herself be steam-rollered, she siezes the opportunity to take being the token woman, the token black person, and turn it into a business that helps companies recruit a more diverse and proportional workforce, educating the dinosaurs as best she can along the way.

She’s also falling hard for her best friend/business partner’s brother Nate. They had a very brief thing years before, and despite starting out sniping at each other, it’s pretty clear that they’re meant to be. And Aurora (the bestie) is thrilled.

However an email hack of several companies, including some of Kennedy’s clients, threatens to ruin it all when Kennedy gets dragged into a scandal and has to find a way to salvage her business and her sanity. Navigating the mess left behind by her two-faced clients takes a lot of energy and it causes some stress with Nate. Can Kennedy save her business and her relationship?

I found it really interesting to read a book that blends discussion of these serious issues – racism, sexism, in a romance novel, mixing serious issues with something light and frothy. Readers can be both – a lot of writers have inserted serious things into their books, but not necessarily as explicitly as this. Putting it front and centre in the form of Kennedy’s experiences.

Kennedy is a strong and smart woman, she’s fully aware that she’s exploiting the stupidity and full on ignorance of the white executives of these companies, and why not. Turn the tables on them, show them what they’re missing by being close minded and plain wrong.

This is intended to be the first in a series starring these characters, and it will be interesting to see what Beverley Kendall does next.

*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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Cover Reveal: Unless It’s You – Chrissy Hopewell

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How adorable is this cover?! Unless It’s You comes out this spring! Pre-order your copy now!

Unless It's You cover

Unless It’s You: An Enemies-to-Lovers London Romance (The Hart Sisters Book 2)

Genre: Sports Romance/ Enemies-to-Lovers/ Interconnected Standalone

Expected Publication Date: April 15, 2024

💮Enemies to Lovers

💮Second Chance

💮Bucket List

💮English Ex-Pro Rugby Player

💮American FMC in Her 30s

💮Hot Man w/ a Kitten

💮Light Sports Romance

💮Open door/ Medium Spice

ONE MONTH. TWO ENEMIES. SOMEONE ELSE’S BUCKET LIST.

Stella Hart, an American advertising executive living in London, is reeling from the death of her beloved aunt. But Stella learns her aunt included a stipulation in the will: a bucket list Stella must complete within a month, or the estate—meant for her and her sisters—goes to charity. The entire list is unreasonable, especially the final item, where she needs to Find the One that Got Away. The last thing she wants to do is face her ex.

Ethan Fraser is not Stella’s ex-boyfriend—that title belongs to his best friend, who got him through a traumatizing childhood. Ethan’s a grumpy, bearded, ex-professional rugby player who can’t bring himself to enter the flat of his late troubled mother.

When they’re forced to collaborate on a work project, both find themselves remembering the night they kissed, days before she started dating his best friend. Ethan wants to hate her for choosing someone else, just like his mother always did, but he can’t fight his attraction to Stella. So when she needs an advisor for the list, he offers to help, and the time spent together re-ignites their chemistry. But Ethan’s fierce loyalty to his best friend stands between them.

With a looming deadline for their project and the bucket list, soon everything bringing Stella and Ethan together will disappear… unless Stella figures out what that final item—and the whole list—really means.

Unless It’s You is an interconnected standalone romance novel for fans of Meghan Quinn, Tessa Bailey, and Christina Lauren. It’s the second book in the Hart Sisters trilogy, which can be read in any order.

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About the Author

Chrissy Hopewell author photo

Chrissy Hopewell started sneaking her mom’s spicy romance novels in middle school. She has spent varying amounts of time overseas, including working at a pub in Dublin, waitressing at a hotel in the Scottish Borders, and studying and living in London for five years. Because of these experiences, international flair and accents often show up in her stories. Chrissy now lives in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio with her family, where she quite openly reads delightful contemporary romances.

Find Chrissy on TikTok (@chrissyhopewellbooks), Instagram (@chrissyhopewell), or Facebook (facebook.com/chrissyhopewellauthor). Sign up for her newsletter for a free novella at www.ChrissyHopewell.com.

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BBNYA Blog Tour: Sorrow’s Forest – Kaitlin Corvus

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BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner.

If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

Sorrow’s Forest teems with beasts, some ugly, some beautiful, all unnatural. A ban restricts travel beneath her branches, existing for as long as Lakeview Township has, and most who disobey do not return.

To win a bet, twelve-year-old Mackie King enters the forest, and in its depths, he discovers a boy-like devil. Then he steals him from the trees.

In as little as an hour, the devil names himself Blue and fits seamlessly into the Kings’ life. No one seems to remember he wasn’t always there. Only Mackie knows the truth.

Now, Mackie and Blue are grown, Queen Sorrow has awakened, and she wants her devil back. She’s willing to tear the town apart to reclaim him. Mackie has always been resourceful, but it will take every bit of ingenuity he and Blue possess to thwart Queen Sorrow and her minions, save the town, and free themselves from the shadow of the bittering forest.

Amazon: Canada USA UK Goodreads  StoryGraph

Kaitlin Corvus is from Ontario, Canada. The north holds the best part of her. She writes about nobodies, monsters, and gutter glitter, loves the stars, the deep dark sea, and a good horror mystery.

My thoughts: when Mackie steals a forest devil, Blue, from Sorrow’s Forest, she doesn’t forget and eventually she wants to claim back what’s hers. The forest consumes the missing, and never gives them back.

But Mackie is afraid, afraid of the forest and increasingly of Blue. He is exhibiting strange power over people and events, and keeps spending time with his school bully, in what Mackie thinks is an abusive situation. Blue has always been openly gay, and the relationship between him and Mackie is shifting into something different, something more.

As the forest attempts to assert its power and draw Blue back to it, Mackie fights harder to keep his brother/friend/lover with him. Meanwhile his father is dying and more people are being swallowed up by the forest.

An intense bond and a story that draws you into it, as the forest does the two young men. What will become of them if the forest succeeds or indeed, if it doesn’t?

*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 Summer of Lies – Louise Douglas

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The summer is the hottest yet in the Brittany coastal town of Morranez, but when a new case lands on the desk of the Toussaints detective agency, there can be no time to relax.

As wild fires bear down on the town, the alert goes out for a missing girl. Nineteen-year-old Briony Moorcroft has seemingly been taken from her sleepy Welsh village and brought to France. Her parents are baffled and scared – Briony needs her life-saving medicine or this case will become even more sinister, and with the police dragging their heels, the Moorcrofts are relying on Mila Shephard and Carter Jackson’s sleuthing skills.

Meanwhile there are mysteries troubling Mila’s life too. Two years after the accident that swept her sister Sophie and brother-in-law Charlie away and left their daughter Ani in Mila’s care, new evidence resurfaces that makes Mila doubt everything. Can Carter and Mila find Briony before it’s too late? And is the truth about Sophie and Charlie finally about to be revealed…

Purchase Link

Louise Douglas is the bestselling and brilliantly reviewed author and an RNA award winner.TheSecrets Between Uswas a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. She lives in the West Country.

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My thoughts: Mila and Carter are tracking down two young women, one critically ill, who have run off to Brittany. But all is not as it seems there.

There’s also the possible sighting of the boat Mila’s stepsister Sophie and her husband Charlie were sailing when they went missing, or at least the remains of it. How will Mila’s niece, Ani, cope with hearing her father’s boat and maybe his remains have been found?

As thunderstorms threaten and wild fires destroy the Breton countryside, Mila must juggle her worries for Ani with the time crucial case, and discovers secrets hidden behind an every day facade.

Intelligent, gripping writing that brings the beautiful but threatened Brittany coastline and villages to life, with a cast of fascinating characters and stories. Sophie and Charlie had secrets too, will finding the boat bring them to the surface and what of Mila’s long distance relationship with fiancé Luke, back home in Bristol? Everything feels very delicate and tense, a delightful 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.