Category: reviews

books, reviews

Book Review: The Nice Guy and the Devil – Tom Trott

ramblingmads

Nice, France — Retired CIA agent, Cain, is living a quiet life, trying to stay out of trouble.

But he can’t turn off his old instincts like a lightswitch.

When an unsuspecting American woman becomes the target of criminals, he can’t sit back and do nothing.

What starts as one good deed puts Cain in the sights of highly-trained mercenaries, brings him to the attention of INTERPOL, and puts him on a collision course with evil personified.

With no one he can trust, in a land of double-crosses, Cain must rely on his wits to survive.

My thoughts: Cain is a complicated character, a former agent of some sorts, definitely a killer, but also seemingly a nice man. He wants to help people, either as a sommelier suggesting the perfect wine, or when a wedding gets shot up by terrorists, by hunting down the bad guys and putting a stop to them.

In this case he gets entangled with the Interpol agent who should really be arresting him, and a supposedly dead man. Known as The Devil, he’s an African warlord, terrorist and somewhere in France is his army. And they want someone from that wedding. Cain goes after the kidnap victim, and winds up in a whole heap of trouble.

I was hooked from the get go. A one night stand leads to his wedding invite, which he engineered because of something he’d overheard. He gets himself involved, when he could just go back to his nice quiet life. I think he misses being an international man of mystery. With his trusty and beloved car, he won’t let anyone else drive, he’s chasing after blacked out trucks full of crazy men with guns, relying mostly on his wits. Cracking stuff.

Currently available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited on Amazon. This is the sequel to The Florentine – also available now.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for writing a review. All opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Thirty Days of Darkness – Jenny Lund Madsen, translated by Megan E. Turney

ramblingmads

Winner of the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel of 2020 Shortlisted for the Glass Key Award

A snobbish Danish literary author is challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days, travelling to a small village in Iceland for inspiration, and then the first body appears…

Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and her novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actually reads them, and frustrated by writer’s block, Hannah has the feeling that she’s doing something wrong.

When she expresses her contempt for genre fiction, Hanna is publicly challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days. Scared that she will lose face, she accepts, and her editor sends her to Húsafjörður – a quiet, tight-knit village in Iceland, filled with colourful local characters – for inspiration.

But two days after her arrival, the body of a fisherman’s young son is pulled from the water … and what begins as a search for plot material quickly turns into a messy and dangerous investigation that threatens to uncover secrets that put everything at risk … including Hannah.

Jenny Lund Madsen is one of Denmark’s most acclaimed scriptwriters (including the international hits Rita and Follow the Money) and is known as an advocate for better representation for sexual and ethnic minorities in Danish TV and film. She recently made her debut as a playwright with the critically acclaimed Audition (Aarhus Teater) and her debut literary thriller, Thirty Days of Darkness, first in an addictive new series, won the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel of the year and was shortlisted for the coveted Glass Key Award. She lives in Denmark with her young family.

My thoughts: come with me to an Icelandic village in the middle of nowhere, in winter, where writer Hannah is attempting to write a crime novel in 30 days to win a bet. When there’s a murder, which she gets involved in and puts her safety at risk. She doesn’t speak the language, forcing others to have to speak English or Danish, she doesn’t know the people, but she’s pretty sure she can catch the killer. As you do.

I found Hannah a bit grating, she pushes her way into people’s lives and business with little regard for their feelings and clearly thinks very highly of herself. Her career is stalling as not many people seem that keen on her literary fiction – preferring crime writers like her nemesis Jørn. Which is why she boasts she can write a whole crime novel in a month. This tickled me, I do love it when writers poke fun at the industry and their own genre.

Especially when the book is so good, like this one. Jenny Lund Madsen has written a cracking crime thriller, with all the good ingredients – remote location, nosey outsider, secrets that have been buried for years, lots of possible suspects, a conflicted community, a lone policeman, and winter closing in. Iceland’s unique geography and the fact that the sun isn’t in evidence for much of the winter adds to the sinister atmosphere – snow bound crimes are always a bit more macabre than sunny ones. The winter darkness adds to the sense of claustrophobia and paranoia, someone here is a killer. They can’t leave, but neither can anyone else.

Full of suspense, intrigue and horror, this dark and twisted tale of murder and tragedy is absolutely perfect for a dark and stormy night’s reading. Or not, if you don’t want to stay up all night!

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Hex Next Door – Lou Wilham

ramblingmads

TheHexNextDoor copy

We are so happy to share The Hex Next Door with you all!

Lou Wilham has written a truly ‘magical’ story, and on May 3rd will be revealing a brand-new special hardcover edition! Visit one of our Bookstagram hosts for a chance to win a signed hardcover!

Hex Next Door Kindle 2

The Hex Next Door (Witches of Moondale #1)

Genre: Cozy Fantasy/ LGBTQ +

Publication Date: Special Edition Coming Soon

Publisher: Midnight Tide Publishing
What’s a little necromancy between family?

For the Crow Witch, Icarus “Rus” Ashthorne, Moondale seemed the perfect hiding place. But like they always say, you can’t go home again, and Rus finds out quickly that nothing is how she remembered, while at the same time very little has changed. Then she comes face to face with the only woman she’s ever loved, Az Elwood, and… well, things get messier than she thought they ever could.

The Elwoods are a staple of Moondale, respected, feared, powerful, and Azure Elwood was always happy with her place amongst them. Happy to play the part of the good little witch, until Rus Ashthorne. Eleven years ago, Rus got on a bus and left Azure behind, but she’s back, with two little girls trailing her like ducklings, and enough unspoken things between them to drown the town.

Now witch hunters are knocking at their proverbial door, the council of magic is being a real pain in the ass, and Rus wonders how much magic it’ll take to protect the people she loves from herself and the danger following her.
A LGBTQ+ cozy urban fantasy novel for fans of The Ex Hex, and October Daye.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

Born and raised in a small town near the Chesapeake Bay, Lou Wilham grew up on a steady diet of fiction, arts and crafts, and Old Bay. After years of absorbing everything, there was to absorb of fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi she’s left with a serious writing/drawing habit that just won’t quit. These days, she spends much of her time writing, drawing, and chasing a very short Basset Hound named Sherlock.

Lou Wilham

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book about a witch family moving back to the town the head of that family Rus came from. Moondale is a place of sanctuary for magic users, witches, druids and mediums.

Rus has taken her adopted daughters there to raise them safely and happily in a community that won’t turn against them and to protect them from witch hunters. Youngest daughter Ailuan has a much sought after gift, and she’s at risk.

Rus also has to deal with being back around her ex, Azure and old friends from her youth.

Luckily Az doesn’t hold anything against Rus, and wants to help keep her girls safe. As do the other friends living in and around Moondale.

As things start to go bad, they rally around Rus and her family to protect the girls and get little Ailuan safely back to her family.

This is the first in a new series and I’m looking forward to the next book.

Book Tour Schedule

May 1st

R&R Book Tours (Kick-Off) http://rrbooktours.com

Reads & Reels (Spotlight) http://readsandreels.com

@books.and.salt (Review) https://www.instagram.com/books.and.salt/

@happily_undignified (Review) https://www.instagram.com/happily_undignified/

@bookswithstacie (Review) https://www.instagram.com/bookswithstacie/

May 2nd

@xxpandorasbooksxx (Review) https://www.instagram.com/xxpandorasbooksxx/

https://www.tiktok.com/@xxpandorasbooksxx

Rambling Mads (Review) http://ramblingmads.com

@dreaminginpages (Review) https://www.instagram.com/dreaminginpages/

@waggybookworm (Review) https://www.tiktok.com/@waggybookworm?_t=8a1EBJNLCO3&_r=1

May 3rd

@aebennettwrites (Review) https://www.instagram.com/aebennettwrites/

@my_books_and_coffee (Review) https://www.instagram.com/my_books_and_coffee/

@booksnsnax (Review) https://www.tiktok.com/@booksnsnax

@nite0wl29 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/nite0wl29/

@tralynsbookbag (Review) https://www.instagram.com/tralynsbookbag

@ameliaveganreader (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/ameliaveganreader/

@sharingthebooklove (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/sharingthebooklove/

May 4th

@the.polished.diamond (Review) https://www.instagram.com/the.polished.diamond/

@ems.readsandreviews (Review) https://www.instagram.com/ems.readsandreviews/

@by_hckilgour (Review) https://www.instagram.com/by_hckilgour/

@justsokristin (Review) https://www.instagram.com/justsokristin/

Liliyana Shadowlyn (Review) https://lshadowlynauthor.com/

Mx. Phoebe’s Viewpoints (Review) https://mxphoebesviewpoint.wordpress.com/

@nerdybookmama (Review) http://www.instagram.com/nerdybookmama

I Smell Sheep (Spotlight) http://www.ismellsheep.com/

May 5th

@excavating.my.tbr (Review) https://www.instagram.com/excavating.my.tbr/

@bookishbaddie (Review) https://www.instagram.com/bookishbaddie/?igshid=MDM4ZDc5MmU%3D

@itsabookthing2021 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/itsabookthing2021/

@demigodreading19 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/demigodreading19/

Book Tour Organized By:

R&R Button

R&R Book Tours

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Lords of Uncreation – Adrian Tchaikovsky

ramblingmads

From Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time and winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, Lords of Uncreation is the final high-octane instalment in the Final Architecture space opera trilogy.

He’s found a way to end their war, but will humanity survive to see it?

Idris Telemmier has uncovered a secret that changes everything – the Architects’ greatest weakness. A shadowy Cartel scrambles to turn his discovery into a weapon against these alien destroyers of worlds. But between them and victory stands self-interest. The galaxy’s great powers would rather pursue their own agendas than stand together against this shared terror.

Human and inhuman interests wrestle to control Idris’ discovery, as the galaxy erupts into a mutually destructive and self-defeating war. The other great obstacle to striking against their alien threat is Idris himself. He knows that the Architects, despite their power, are merely tools of a higher intelligence.

Deep within unspace, where time moves differently, and reality isn’t quite what it seems, their masters are the true threat. Masters who are just becoming aware of humanity’s daring – and taking steps to exterminate this annoyance forever.

My thoughts: Idris sometimes reminds me of Rincewind from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, a rather nervous man who seems to have stumbled into something bigger than him and doesn’t quite know how to get out of it. In Idris’ case it really is much, much bigger than him. Universe sized really.

He has finally, almost delved enough into the unreal to find the masters behind the planet warping Architects. But can he convince everyone else to go after that and not just the crystalline creatures?

There’s also an attempt at a coup, a very angry Aklu the Unspeakable, the Vulture God limping on, complete with Olli and Kit still on board, even as the rest of crew travel on the Eye with Idris.

This series is hard to explain in a way, it plays with some huge and complex ideas – unspace, the Architects, the Ints like Idris. There are some brilliant concepts too, terrifying ones like the Parthenon and the Essiel and brilliant ones gone a bit awry, like Hugh. The characters are all great, I love Olli and Kittering, their racketing around the universe, holding the ship together with not much more than a few nuts and bolts and determination.

The existing order is in free fall and the ragtag gang trying to fix the universe are all that stands between complete destruction and what’s left of humanity and its allies/enemies/whatever the Hegemony is. I am sad it’s ended, but it was an incredible ride.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Ex-Wife – Sally Rigby & Amanda Ashby

ramblingmads

My life was perfect until she came along. Norah.
Younger, prettier and about to marry my own ex-husband, they are a walking cliché.
I hate her. I hate them both.
She’s taken everything from me – my husband, my life, my home – but I refuse to allow her to take Cassie, my beautiful daughter. That’s a step too far.
Now I’ve discovered that Norah plans to have a baby of her own and that causes me no end of problems. She could destroy everything and reveal my deepest, darkest secrets.
That can never be allowed to happen.
No matter what it costs…
A brand new psychological thriller that will keep you guessing till the end! Perfect for fans of Sue Watson, Nina Manning, Shalini Boland
Purchase


Amanda Ashby and Sally Rigby are a crime writing partnership. Both authors live in New Zealand, have been friends for eighteen years and agree about everything (except musicals). They decided to collaborate on a psychological thriller which they then entered into a competition, run by Boldwood, and which they won!

Amanda: Facebook Instagram
Sally: Facebook Instagram
Joint Instagram

My thoughts: this was another clever, assured thriller from the writing team of Sally Rigby and Amanda Ashby. Family dynamics are at the heart of this book. Those of parents, children, couples and siblings.

It’s a tangled mess and a teenage daughter – with a dodgy boyfriend, doesn’t help. As Alice tries in vain to get over her ex, Mark, with his new fiancée Norah a source of huge envy, and co-parent seventeen year old Cassie. Norah only has her brother for support.

And yes, Alice goes too far in basically stalking Norah. But did she kill her? There’s secrets upon secrets here, some of which could ruin lives. Knotty and with some twists that’ll make your jaw drop, this is a brilliant and absorbing read.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Dust Child – Nguyên Phan Qué Mai

ramblingmads

During the Việt Nam War, tens of thousands of children were born into relationships between American soldiers and Việtnamese women. Tragic circumstances separated most of these Amerasian children from their parents. Many have not found each other again…

In 1969, two sisters from rural Việt Nam leave their parents’ home to find work in Sài Gòn. Caught up in the war that is blazing through their country they, like many other young Việtnamese women, are employed as hostesses in a bar frequented by American GIs. Soon they are forced to accept that their own survival, and that of their family back home, might mean compromising the values they have always held dear. As the fighting moves closer to the city, the elder sister, Trang, begins a romance with a young American helicopter pilot.

Decades later, two men wander the streets and marketplaces of modern Sài Gòn. Phong is a ‘Dust Child’ – the son of a Black American soldier and a Vietnamese woman, abandoned by his mother and ostracized all his life – and is looking for his parents and through them a way out of Việt Nam. Meanwhile war veteran Dan returns with his wife Linda, hoping to ease the PTSD that has plagued him for decades. Neither of them can escape the shadow of decisions made during a time of desperation.

With the same compassion and insight that has made The Mountains Sing a favourite of readers across the world, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai brings to life the interwoven stories of these four unforgettable characters, and asks what it takes to move forward.

NGUYỄN PHAN QUẾ MAI is an award-winning Vietnamese poet and novelist. Born in the Red Delta of Northern Việt Nam, she grew up in the Mekong Delta, Southern Việt Nam. She is a writer and translator who has published eight books of poetry, short stories and non-fiction in Vietnamese. Her debut novel and first book in English, The Mountains Sing, is an international bestseller, runner-up for the 2021 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and winner of the 2021 PEN Oakland/ Josephine Miles Literary Award, the 2020 Lannan Literary Award Fellowship, and others, and has been translated into fifteen languages. She has a PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University, and her writing has appeared in various publications including the New York Times. Quế Mai was named by Forbes Vietnam as one of the twenty most inspiring women of 2021. Dust Child is inspired by her many years working as a volunteer helping family members unite, and reflects the real-life experiences of Amerasians and their family members. Moving between the Việt Nam war and the present day, DUST CHILD is a powerful and compelling tale of family secrets and hidden heartache nguyenphanquemai.com @nguyen_p_quemai

My thoughts: this is a moving and at times profoundly sad book, chronicling the lives of young Vietnamese women and their children during the years of the war and after. Trang and her younger sister move to the city, hoping to make money to help their parents. Finding work as bar girls, getting American GIs to buy drinks and sometimes their bodies, far from their dreams of a better life.

Trang falls in love with one American but he leaves her pregnant and alone. A story sadly common to many young women like her.

Phong is the child of one such story – abandoned at an orphanage, his life is never easy and as the son of a Black soldier, his appearance marks him out as different. He is lucky in his wife and children, and wants to emigrate to America for a better life for them.

He meets Dan and Linda, Americans on holiday, but with a purpose. Dan was one of those GIs, and he left behind a young woman and their child. He wants to find them and try to make amends. But are they even still alive?

All of the characters have suffered, and some are still suffering, from the after effects of the war. PTSD, poverty, trauma, none of it is easy to bear. But slowly as their stories interweave and the truth begins to reveal itself, they find ways to start to heal, to forgive and move on from the painful past.

Inspired by the author’s work with Amerasians (the children of American GIs and Vietnamese women), this is an important story about love, hope and family.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Covert in Cairo – Kelly Oliver

ramblingmads

Cairo. December 1917.
Following a tip-off from notorious spy Fredrick Fredricks, Fiona Figg and Kitty Lane of British Intelligence find themselves in the hustle and bustle of Egypt. But ancient mummies aren’t the only bodies buried in the tombs of Cairo.
When a young French archeologist is found dead in a tomb in the desert with his head bashed in, and an undercover British agent goes missing, the threat moves closer to home.
As they dig deeper, soon Fiona and Kitty uncover a treasure trove of suspects, including competing excavators, jealous husbands, secret lovers, and belligerent spies! Fiona wonders if the notorious
Fredrick Fredricks could be behind the murders? Or is the plot even more sinister?
One thing is clear – If Fiona and Kitty can’t catch the killer, they might end up sharing a sarcophagus with Nefertiti.
With humor as dry as the Arabian desert, and pacing as fast as a spitting camel, Fiona and Kitty are back in another sparkling adventure, this time in WW1 Egypt.
Purchase


Kelly Oliver is the award-winning, bestselling author of three mysteries series: The Jessica James Mysteries, The Pet Detective Mysteries, and the historical cozies The Fiona Figg Mysteries, set in
WW1. She is also the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She is bringing new titles in the Fiona Figg series to Boldwood, the first of
which, Chaos in Carnegie Hall, was published in November 2022.

Facebook Twitter Instagram Newsletter Bookbub

My thoughts: we’re in British occupied Egypt in 1917, Lord Caernarvon, Howard Carter, T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) and Gertrude Bell are all present when Kitty and Fiona arrive (with chauffeur/chaperone Clifford and pooch Poppy in tow). They’re on the trail of the ever annoying Frederick Fredericks and a missing British agent.

The army is in town, with soldiers travelling back and forth to the Western Front, unlike WW2 where fighting took place in North Africa (my great-uncle was a Captain of a tank at the time), there’s no fighting in Egypt but as a British territory, there’s certainly a lot of war related activity. So of course there are spies, and undercover Germans (officially they’d been expelled from the country) as well as unhappy natives who wanted all of the Europeans gone. Then there’s the archaeologists and crooks stealing ancient artifacts to either sell on the black market or send home to museums.

With all this going on, Fiona and Kitty need to locate the agent, arrest Fredericks, hunt down black market smugglers, ensure the Suez Canal is in one piece, oh and Fiona would quite like to find Archie too. Easy. Armed with their collection of costumes, assistance from the local British intelligence bureau, Kitty’s array of skills (definitely not learnt in a French boarding school) and Fiona’s nose for trouble, they’ll be done in no time. Just a few balls, murders and kidnappings first.

It’s more like chaos in Cairo, as a French archeologist is murdered, they both get kidnapped several times, a British agent is poisoned, Fredericks appears and disappears, they hob nob with the local British celebrities and functionaries, and Fiona eats a lot of toast (local cuisine not suiting her). Tremendous fun and a bit silly, even with a war raging away in the background, Fiona even gets to dig out her beard and mustache collection.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Acapulco – Simone Buchholz, translated by Rachel Ward

ramblingmads

State Prosecutor Chastity Riley faces her most challenging case yet, with a violent serial killer at large, who might just be uncatchable…

A serial killer is on the loose in Hamburg, targeting dancers from The Acapulco, a club in the city’s red-light district, taking their scalps as gruesome trophies and replacing them with plastic wigs.

Chastity Riley is the state prosecutor responsible for crimes in the district, and she’s working alongside the police as they investigate. Can she get inside the mind of the killer?

Her strength is thinking like a criminal; her weaknesses are pubs, bars and destructive relationships, but as Chastity searches for love and a flamboyant killer – battling her demons and the dark, foggy Hamburg weather – she hits dead end after dead end.

As panic sets in and the death toll rises, it becomes increasingly clear that it may already be too late. For everyone…

Simone Buchholz was born in Hanau in 1972. At university, she studied Philosophy and Literature, worked as a waitress and a columnist, and trained to be a journalist at the prestigious Henri-Nannen-School in Hamburg. In 2016, Simone Buchholz was awarded the Crime Cologne Award as well as runner-up in the German Crime Fiction Prize for Blue Night, which was number one on the KrimiZEIT Best of Crime List for months. The critically acclaimed Beton Rouge, Mexico Street, Hotel Cartagena and River Clyde all followed in the Chastity Riley series, with The Acapulco out in 2023. She lives in Sankt Pauli, in the heart of Hamburg, with her husband and son.

My thoughts: Chastity Riley is back. After her travels to Scotland, she’s back at work investigating crimes in Hamburg as a prosecutor, aided by detectives from the local police. Murdered pole dancers are being found in the streets, scalped and wearing cheap wigs. They’re all young, and work in the same club – The Acapulco.

The team look into their lives and the customers at the club. Someone really wants to humiliate these women – taking their hair and scalp, replacing them with gaudy wigs that you could buy anywhere. And is there a connection to a murdered pimp?

Chastity’s relationship with her neighbour has also stepped up a notch, spending nights in each other’s beds. Then there’s the theatre director, is he connected to the killings or just after Chastity? And her best friend, possibly her only friend, is acting a bit strange. Can she solve that mystery too?

I really like Chastity, she’s a complicated person, with a weakness for drinking and staying out all night, at odds with her professional life. She doesn’t let many people in and she takes too many risks. Faller and the other detectives worry about her, but she even shrugs them off. She’s put herself in danger before and probably will again.

This was another dark, twisted, clever thriller, looking deep into the heart of the nightlife in this district of Hamburg, itself a city of many faces. I enjoyed learning more about the area and the culture, and the passion for football that a lot of the characters share. This series gets better with each book and you learn a little bit more about Chastity each time too.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Death on Cromer Beach – Ross Greenwood

ramblingmads


A brutal double murder on a Norfolk beach horrifies the town of Cromer. The way the victims died is chilling and so Norfolk’s Major Investigation Team task DS Ashley Knight to manage the case.
It soon becomes clear that the murders were carefully planned and the finger of suspicion points to an organised crime gang, but as the evidence mounts, a far more sinister theory emerges.
Ashley has been allocated a young but opinionated partner in Hector Fade, and sparks soon fly.
Annoyingly for Ashley, Hector is no pushover and looks destined for great things. When the pair delve into the case, they struggle to understand who would inflict such suffering on their victims and
hope the crime is a one off from a deranged and dangerous individual. But then another body is found.
There’s a killer on the loose who wants them to believe that the beach has a memory. They must be caught, or others will meet their end by the sea.
Purchase


Ross Greenwood is the author of crime thrillers. Before becoming a full-time writer he was most
recently a prison officer and so worked everyday with murderers, rapists and thieves for four years.
He lives in Peterborough.

Facebook Twitter Instagram Newsletter Bookbub

My thoughts: a new series from Ross Greenwood and he’s moved on to Norfolk, a place that seems very popular with crime writers, despite its sleepy reputation. I know that Cromer is famous for its crab, and indeed one of the characters is a crab man. When a severed head and a buried woman are found by an older lady walking her dog on the beach, the local CID spring into action.

The victims are a pair of local drug dealers, and hippies, mostly harmless. But they’re connected to a tragedy years before. As is the next victim, and there’s some strange graffiti that seems to be linked to these deaths.

While the Norfolk tourist board might not enjoy this book, I certainly did. I liked the relationship between Ashley and her newbie Hector, on the fast track to management, if he survives his training.

Ashley is experienced and dedicated, if a bit frazzled. Her personal life’s falling apart but she’s sure she can close this case and stop the killer. She just needs to work out the link between the victims, oh and find out how her boss is connected.

Clever, with plenty of twists and turns, and some entertaining characters, I think this is going to be a good series.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Fires of the Forsaken – Stephanie E. Donahue

ramblingmads

FireoftheForsaken copy

Welcome to the tour for Fires of the Forsaken, a sassy, adult, romantic fantasy by Stephanie E. Donohue! Preorder a copy today!

image1

Fires of the Forsaken (Across #1)

Expected Publication Date: May 17th, 2023

Genre: Adult Fantasy/ Romantic Fantasy

Addie wanted a gosh-darn pizza.

Lass wanted to avoid being cooked over a spit.

Neither figured they’d end up with a one-way ticket to the end of days.

Addie did not have “getting plucked from the 21st century and thrown into a rudimentary fantasy world” on her “fun things to do at 30” checklist. Yet here she is, struggling to survive in the hellscape known as Sakar, a place where Wraiths flame-broil humans and Celestial armies wage war with each other over a centuries-old spat. Thankfully, Cheriour, the hunky commander of the human army, takes her under his wing—although he’s allergic to giving straight answers. And talking.

As Addie reluctantly starts to care for him, and the rest of the Sakarians, she also learns why she was sent to this world. And it’s a doozy…

The violent society of Sakar is the only home Lass has ever known, and it’s been a wretched one. She has spent her life being tormented and twisted into an inhuman hybrid by the Celestials and hunted by the humans who fear her. But she finds solace with a cocky, blue-eyed boy who comforts her, even after she accidentally slaughters innocents.

As Lass struggles to control her volatile powers, she slowly transforms into the monster the humans believe her to be. And even the boy she loves is in peril…

At the end of time, there is only fire. And neither Addie nor Lass will escape unscathed.

Pre-Order Here!

About the Author

image0

As a child, Stephanie E. Donohue roamed Narnia with the Pevensie siblings and rode the Hogwarts Express with Harry and his friends. She never tired of discovering new and magical worlds through the pages of a book. And, when the yearning to explore still wasn’t satiated, Stephanie turned to writing. With a pen and a few sheets of paper, she learned to craft new worlds, and vibrant characters to explore with.

That passion has never died. Stephanie still enjoys writing stories that take readers on exciting, and sometimes dangerous, adventures.

When she’s not writing, Stephanie can usually be found cuddling with her two cats, obsessively re-watching The Office, or rocking out to a Pound Fitness class.

Stephanie E. Donohue

My thoughts: when Addie is kidnapped from the parking lot of her favourite pizza place and finds herself in what she thinks is an extreme LARP-ing nightmare. Except it isn’t, it’s another world where humans are engaged in a desperate fight for their lives against flesh eating creatures called Wraiths and their creators – Celestials.

Wise cracking and a fan of pop culture references, Addie does not fit in at all. She hasn’t got any skills that might be of use, she’s a hairdresser, and that’s not a priority right now.

There’s also venomous horses, Púcas, to contend with, and people who just don’t trust her. Luckily there’s a hunky “Viking” around to help her out.

Running parallel is the story of Lass, an orphan living in this awful world, struggling to survive. She has a terrifying power – she can produce fire from her fingers, in a world with a lot of wooden buildings, that’s a problem.

A clever, funny and entertaining read set in a world a bit like ours, but mostly not, thankfully.

Book Tour Schedule

April 24th

R&R Book Tours (Kick-Off) http://rrbooktours.com

@word.addict914 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/word.addict914/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D

@amber.bunch_author (Review) https://www.instagram.com/amber.bunch_author/

@over.on.my.bookshelf (Review) https://www.instagram.com/over.on.my.bookshelf/?hl=e

@bingingbooksandcoffee (Review) https://www.tiktok.com/@bingingbooksandcoffee

@squeakeysundergroundlibrary (Review) https://www.instagram.com/squeakeysundergroundlibrary/

@in_todaysreads (Review) https://www.instagram.com/in_todaysreads/

@_toris.thoughts_(Review) https://www.instagram.com/_toris.thoughts_/

Book Reviews by Taylor (Spotlight) https://www.bookreviewsbytaylor.com/

April 25th

@my_books_and_coffee (Review) https://www.instagram.com/my_books_and_coffee/

@_kellymariewrites (Review) https://www.instagram.com/_kellymariewrites

@mandioyster (Review) https://www.instagram.com/mandioyster/

Rambling Mads (Review) http://ramblingmads.com

Bunny’s Reviews (Review) https://bookwormbunnyreviews.blogspot.com/

@magicalmushroombookshelf (Review) https://www.instagram.com/magicalmushroombookshelf/

I Love Books & Stuff (Spotlight) https://ilovebooksandstuffblog.wordpress.com

April 26th

@its_b.e.l.l.e (Review) https://www.instagram.com/its_b.e.l.l.e/

@mymagicalbookself (Review) https://www.instagram.com/mymagicalbookself/

@bonggirlinabookworld (Review) https://www.instagram.com/bonggirlinabookworld/

@mybookworld96 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/mybookworld96/

@seetaylorreview (Review) https://www.instagram.com/seetaylorreview/

@through_the_booking_glass (Review) https://www.instagram.com/through_the_booking_glass/

@darling_book_mage (Review) https://www.instagram.com/darling_book_mage/

@feyasbooks (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/feyasbooks/

April 27th

@thestarlitbooks (Review) https://www.instagram.com/thestarlitbooks/

Riss Reviews (Review) https://rissreviewsx.wixsite.com/website

@bookswithstacie (Review) https://www.instagram.com/bookswithstacie/

@dreaminginpages (Review) https://www.instagram.com/dreaminginpages/

@rozanne_visagie (Review) https://www.instagram.com/rozanne_visagie/

Freelance Writer, Janny C (Spotlight) https://freelancewriterjannyc.com/

Books + Coffee = Happiness (Spotlight) https://bookscoffeehappiness.com/

April 28th

@elissaarmitstead7 (Review) https://www.tiktok.com/@elissaarmitstead7

https://www.instagram.com/elissa_a22/

@bouviebooks (Review) https://www.instagram.com/bouviebooks/

@books.and.salt (Review) https://www.instagram.com/books.and.salt

@justsokristin (Review) https://www.instagram.com/justsokristin/

@itsabookthing2021 (Review) https://www.instagram.com/itsabookthing2021/

@bookishlyrieka (Review) https://www.instagram.com/bookishlyrieka/

The Faerie Review (Review) http://www.thefaeriereview.com

Stine Writing (Spotlight) https://christinebialczak.com/

Book Tour Organized By:

R&R Button

R&R Book Tours

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