It has always been Maddie Willand’s dream to take over her father’s plant nursery. But after his sudden death, she is devastated to discover that she might lose The Potting Shed forever. Maddie’s bossy older sister, Sabi, is joint owner of the nursery, and she’s convinced that the best thing for both of them would be to sell up. Determined to keep the business going, Maddie can’t afford any distractions, but staying focused might be harder than she thinks when – after a major garden centre chain puts in an offer – her search for legal advice throws her into the path of attractive lawyer Ed… Amazon
Jenny Kane is the bestselling author of many romantic fiction series. These include the Mill Grange series, Abi’s Cornwall series, and the Another Cup series. She has had bestsellers in the Amazon Romance, Contemporary Fiction and Women’s Fiction charts and multiple bestsellers. If you enjoy Jenny’s writing, then why not follow her author page, for updates on all of her new releases!
My thoughts: this is a sweet rom com full of misunderstandings between people who all need to learn to communicate better! Petra and Jake, Maddie and Sabi, Sabi and Henry, Maddie and Ed. Honestly, I kept muttering “talk to each other!”
If Maddie and Sabi can’t get their (sister) act together, they’ll fall out big time, Maddie wants to keep the family business and eventually develop it, like their dad wanted, but Sabi has her eye on a big new house.
Luckily, eventually, after a lot of misunderstandings, rows and silences, they get a bit better sorted. Ed does some hot shot lawyer stuff, Henry essentially knocks some heads together, and they all pitch in to make this Christmas season the best The Potting Shed has had. But is it enough to save it? And will love bloom in the polytunnels? Read it and find out!
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Five years ago, Helen lost her husband. Now she may lose her life.
Five years ago, Helen’s husband Paul went missing while skiing in the Swiss Alps. His body was never found, but he is presumed dead because no-one could have survived a night on that freezing mountainside.
It took Helen a long time to get over her loss, but now she has pulled her life back together – she is an acclaimed interior designer in a loving relationship with a new man.
Even better, Helen has just been offered her dream project, renovating a luxurious chalet in an idyllic location. There’s only one catch – it’s right next to the resort where Paul went missing.
She decides to take the job anyway, convincing herself that a visit to the scene of her great tragedy will actually be good for her, that it will give her a chance to lay old demons to rest.
But soon after she arrives, she makes an utterly shocking discovery and finds herself caught up in a nightmarish web of treachery and deceit where nothing is as it seems.
Only one thing is certain – the mountains want to claim another body… Buy Links
Miranda Rijks is a writer of psychological thrillers and suspense novels. She has an eclectic background ranging from law to running a garden centre. She’s been writing all of her life and has a Masters in writing. A couple of years ago she decided to ditch the business plans and press releases and now she’s living the dream, writing suspense novels full time. She lives in Sussex, England with her Dutch husband, musician daughter and black Labrador.
My thoughts: this was cleverly done, at first it seems like Helen’s tale of terror was going to be about the creepy cabin she’s staying in or maybe hostile locals who don’t like the chalet renovation. But no, it’s much more personal.
Her presumed dead husband, who vanished just after a young girl was killed on the Swiss Alps, leaving a trail of questions in his wake – did he knock that child down in the snow? Is he dead? What’s going on?
Bringing her daughter Emily over to stay with her introduces more jeopardy, Emily has a secret friend, buying her toys. Helen is understandably freaked out. But the neighbours keep reassuring her that everyone in the area is so friendly.
Not being one for skiing, too cold, and I’m way too clumsy, I’ve never got the appeal, but some people love it. However the Alps are beautiful and I can see how it can seem idyllic. Until it isn’t. There’s a creepy sense of menace in the mountains, which Helen certainly picks up on.
It’s also a bit sad, so many people dealing with loss, and not always in a healthy way. Helen is desperate for the seven years to be up and Paul declared legally dead so she can move on with her life. Her new neighbours are also grieving but in a different way. Past and present collide, and damage will be done but can amends be made?
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*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
How can you catch a killer When the only evidence is a dream…?
James Garrett was critically injured when he was shot following his parents’ execution, and no one expected him to waken from a deep, traumatic coma. When he does, nine years later, Detective Inspector Rebecca Kent is tasked with closing the case that her now retired colleague, Theodore Tate, failed to solve all those years ago.
But, between that, and hunting for Copy Joe – a murderer on a spree, who’s imitating Christchurch’s most notorious serial killer – she’s going to need Tate’s help.
Especially when they learn that James has lived out another life in his nine-year coma, and there are things he couldn’t possibly know, including the fact that Copy Joe isn’t the only serial killer in town…
Paul is an award-winning author who often divides his time between his home city of Christchurch, New Zealand, where his novels are set, and Europe, where none of his novels are set. His books have been translated into over twenty languages. He’s won the won the Ngaio Marsh Award three times, the Saint-Maur Crime Novel of the Year Award, and Foreword Reviews Thriller of the Year, and has been shortlisted for the Ned Kelly, Edgar and Barry Awards. He’s thrown his Frisbee in over forty countries, plays tennis badly, golf even worse, and has two cats – which is often two too many. The Pain Tourist is his (lucky) thirteenth novel.
My thoughts: I hadn’t heard the term pain tourist before, but it definitely makes sense – it’s for those people who are obsessed with other people’s suffering, reading about murders or podcasting about them for example, stealing “souvenirs” from crime scenes. Basically forgetting that behind every over sensationalised crime, there are victims – the family and loved ones left behind, whose world no longer makes sense to them or feels right. And there are certainly plenty of both in this ingenious book.
Serial killers are rare but Christchurch apparently has several bopping around killing people, or at least this version does, and that doesn’t include the men who killed James’ parents and left him in Coma World for nine years.
There’s the original Slasher Joe, his copy cat Copy Joe, then there’s another one James somehow intuited while unconscious. And then there’s the nutcases who want to kill him and sister Hazel, just in case he remembers them. Which he doesn’t, not really. It’s locked in a filing cabinet in his mind. Along with the alternate reality he’s been living in his head all this time.
That’s the heartbreaking part, if he’d stayed in the coma, he would have stayed in the amazing world he built for himself, where his parents are still alive and happy. Where he didn’t lie in a hospital bed from age 11 to 20, unaware.
The question of whether the real world or James’ internal one is better is something he struggles with. And I empathise. The real world is full of murderers and danger. His coma world was kinder, happier. But in waking up he can help the cops catch the people who killed his parents, and another depraved killer too.
Totally brilliant, packed full of moments that really make you think, a cracking plot and characters, I was gripped from start to finish. I’d love more with Kent and Tate, the detectives, and maybe even a what happens next for James and Hazel – they deserve to be happy.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
When a body is discovered at an abandoned Suffolk farm, DS Rob Minshull and the squad believes it’s the latest casualty of the drugs war terrorising rural communities. But when the victim is identified as a well-respected local teacher, the case is thrown wide open. While they hunt the murderer, the South Suffolk CID team face a new threat. A brutal vigilante group dispensing their own twisted justice puts the investigation in grave danger, as well as the detectives. Educational psychologist, Dr Cora Lael, is called in to work with Lottie Arundel, a troubled teen who stopped speaking a year ago. As Cora enters Lottie’s world, it seems that the teen’s silence might hold the key to the case. But as Cora and Rob work together to find a vicious killer, it’s clear that uncovering Lottie’s secrets will take Cora and Rob into the most dangerous of places – where the price to pay for the truth might be death… Purchase
MJ White is the pseudonym of bestselling author Miranda Dickinson, author of twelve books, including six Sunday Times bestsellers. Her books have been translated into ten languages, selling over a million copies worldwide. A long time lover of crime fiction, The Secret Voices is her debut crime series. She is a singer-songwriter, host of weekly Facebook Live show, Fab Night In Chatty Thing.. TwitterInstagram
My thoughts: a local high school teacher found brutally murdered looks likely to be linked to county lines drug smuggling, but there’s a lot more to Oliver O’Sullivan, and none of it good. His relationships with some of his students at the all girls school crossed lines and it might be that which got him killed, if a local vigilante group can be believed.
Cora’s new job, helping troubled children, brings her to a teenage girl who has spoken in months – selective mutism. I once worked with a little girl who had this, it’s very sad really. But choosing to be silent is powerful, in a way, using your voice and speaking out can be very hard.
Lottie might be connected to the case and Cora tentatively speaks to Rob – if she can get Lottie to talk, they might solve the murder.
There are a lot of quite dark themes here but they’re handled sensitively and without turning into sensationalism. Lottie’s silence is something she has chosen, painful as it is for her parents, and her reasoning is that of a child, not an adult. Which makes it hard to understand, her methods to get help are tragic and misguided, yet understandable when you see how previous attempts failed.
Clever, dark and troubling,but shot through with moments of humour and the growing bond between Cora and Rob is nice. The other members of the team get a bit more space too, making them more interesting and less just names to immediately forget!
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own
Amelie has always been a survivor, from losing her parents as a child in Paris to making it on her own in London. As she builds a career for herself in the magazine industry, she meets, and agrees to marry, Ned Hawthorne.
NOW
Amelie wakes up in a pitch-black room, not knowing where she is. Why has she been taken? Who are her mysterious captors? And why does she soon feel safer here, imprisoned, than she had begun to feel with her husband Ned?
In true B.A. Paris style, The Prisoner is a gripping survival story, a twisted tale of love and at its dark heart a thriller to keep you up all night.
My thoughts: this was really good, a #MeToo thriller from the point of view of a woman caught in the middle of a terrible scandal. When Amelie agrees to marry Ned, she has no idea what he’s done and that he’s using her too. It’s only after they’re married that she learns what a monster he is, being kidnapped is actually almost a relief.
While held in the dark she replays everything over, she’s only twenty and naive, vulnerable because she has no family, only her best friends and something might have happened to them.
She’s determined to find out who is behind their kidnapping and escape their clutches, but Ned can stay right there, she’s safer away from him.
Gripping, clever and packed full of unexpected twists, this was a can’t put it down, stay up all night 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.
“I was born on the full moon under an auspicious constellation, the holiest of positions-much good it did me.”
So begins Kaikeyi’s story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on tales of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the devout and the wise. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear.
Desperate for some measure of independence, she turns to the texts she once read with her mother and discovers a magic that is hers alone. With this power, Kaikeyi transforms herself from an overlooked princess into a warrior, diplomat, and most favored queen, determined to carve a better world for herself and the women around her.
But as the evil from her childhood stories threatens the cosmic order, the path she has forged clashes with the destiny the gods have chosen for her family. And Kaikeyi must decide if resistance is worth the destruction it will wreak-and what legacy she intends to leave behind.
A stunning debut from a powerful new voice, Kaikeyi reimagines the life of the infamous queen from the Indian epic the Ramayana, weaving a tale of fate, family, courage, and heartbreak-of an extraordinary woman determined to leave her mark in a world where gods and men dictate the shape of things to come.
My thoughts: featuring characters from the epic Hindu tale the Ramayana, which tells the story of Rama, an incarnation of the god Vishnu, and his quest to rescue his kidnapped wife Sita from the demon king Ravana. This is actually set before the events of the Ramayana, inspired by a tiny plot point where Rama is exiled by his stepmother Kaikeyi.
By giving Kaikeyi a voice and a story of her own, growing up a princess and marrying a king as his third wife, this creates a rich and fascinating world in which to explore gender and caste dynamics as well as the complex family life that Rama and his brothers were raised in.
Kaikeyi is clever and kind, but sometimes misguided. Convinced the gods do not care for her, she attempts to learn some magic and manipulate matters and people around her.
As she ages and becomes a wife and mother, her desires change. She wants to make the kingdom better, happier, and help women to find their voices. But as she makes these changes and improves some things, there are those who oppose her and their power over her beloved sons is dangerous.
I was utterly fascinated, I vaguely know the story in the Ramayana from school, but it isn’t a myth cycle I know as well as some others. Possibly because it is part of the founding stories of Hinduism and is taught in RE and not as literature, like Norse or Greek myths are.
Which is a shame as the epic stories of gods, monsters, heroes and battles that make up not just the Ramayana are incredible and deserve a wider audience. Hopefully more retellings of these stories like Kaikeyi will introduce new readers to them. Kaikeyi is a wonderful character, a real force of nature and all too human, even as she meets gods and sees demons slayed, making this not just a myth but a human story of one woman trying to do what she believes is right.
Thank you to Orbit Books and Nazia for my gifted copy of this book.
A stunning gothic historical hybrid genre story perfect for Halloween!
Max Fould, an aristocrat from the Fould banking family, goes off to war under the leadership of Napoleon.
While stranded in Russia, he encounters a creature that sets his life on an unimaginable path based on Russian folklore.
Follow Max Fould from post-revolutionary France to the First World War, where his past and present come full circle. Buy Link
Alan Derosby, a Maine native, has spent the past several years focusing on his passion: writing. Alan has created original and spooky short stories, having several published in a variety of anthologies. MAN OF CLAY is his debut novel.
When not writing, Alan is teaching history at Messalonskee High School in Oakland, Maine, spending time with his wife and daughter, or watching the New York Mets suffer through another disappointing season.
My thoughts: Maximilian Fould makes a Faustian pact with the devilish immortal bird Katkh, a creature that sows chaos and destruction. Linked together forever, Max attempts to outwit the creature and die – thus ending its power. His only friend through the centuries is Death.
From revolutionary France, to post Industrial Revolution Britain, the freezing fields of Russia to the First World War, Max lives a life far longer than he should and encounters terrible losses in his attempt to stop the raven of chaos destroying everything.
A clever and interesting exploration of history – from Napoleon to the First World War, via the palaces of Russia. Max can’t predict the bird’s next terrible plot (hint: it involves creepy monk Rasputin) and what monstrous things it will do but he knows it must end.
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*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Congratulations to author K.C. Smith on her stunning debut, A Lust for Blood! Read on for details and a chance to win a book box complete with a copy of the book!
When Oriana awakens in a field of blood and bodies, she is devastated to realize the patchwork of death was caused by her own hand. A curse lingers in the air, and there is only one option to save herself from further bloodshed. Oriana uses her magic to create an enchanted forest imprisoning the monster responsible for the massacre–herself.
Garren has built a career around slaying demons. When he learns of a centuries old creature locked away in the strange Phantom Wood, the opportunity is too great. He will stop at nothing to destroy the demon filth that lurks in those shadows if only to satisfy his own haunting memories.
Oriana soon finds herself caught in a cat and mouse game, fighting to keep her identity secret. As the two grow closer, secrets unravel. But could they each be the answer the other has been searching for?
A gender bent reimagining of the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde meets the Witcher! The first in the Realm of Curses series, this book is full of monsters, curses and dark forests! Perfect for the autumn and spooky seasons!
K.C. Smith is a writer of Adult Fantasy from Maryland where she lives with her husband and their chihuahua, Tank. Writing allows her to escape from her busy life as an Accountant and small business owner. When not writing or reading, she can be found rock climbing or traveling the world! A Lust for Blood is K.C.’s debut novel and will be releasing November 1, 2022!
My thoughts: I liked Oriana, cursed to be a monster, she tries everything she can to stop that side of her from killing, turning the forest into an elaborate labyrinth. When monster hunter Garren comes to find the creature terrorising the local village, he finds instead a beautiful woman – Oriana.
Can she trust him with her secret or will it lead to her death? As they become close, and the blood moon approaches, it becomes a terrible weight. The truth could set her free but it could also cost everything.
She was lying as if asleep on the wooden kitchen floor, beneath the fridge covered with a child’s colourful crayon drawings. But her frozen expression showed she would never wake again…
When Detective Jackie Cooke is called out to the scene, she’s expecting a routine check. The bottle of pills on the kitchen table, next to the note with the single word SORRY written in a shaky hand, make it seem obvious what’s happened. But Jackie is shocked when she recognises her old schoolfriend Claire – and she is convinced Claire would never take her own life.
Determined to dig deeper, Jackie soon discovers evidence that proves her right: a roll of notes has been thrust down the victim’s throat. And when she finds another woman killed in the same way, she realises someone may be targeting lonely single mothers. As Jackie talks to Claire’s distraught children, one of them too young to understand his mummy is never coming home, she vows to find answers.
Both victims were in touch with someone calling himself Nice Guy – could he be the killer? Pursuing every clue, Jackie is sure she’s found a match in dead-eyed Tyler, part of a dark world of men intent on silencing women for daring to reject them. But just as she makes the arrest, another single mother is found dead – a woman who never dated at all.
Forced to re-evaluate every lead she has, with her boss pressuring her to make a case against the obvious suspect, Jackie knows she is running out of time before another innocent woman is murdered. And, as a single mother herself, she cannot help but wonder if she is in the killer’s sights. Can she uncover his true motivation and put an end to his deadly game… or will he find her first?
A completely unputdownable crime thriller that will have you reading long into the night. Perfect for fans of Kendra Elliott, Rachel McLean and Val McDermid.
Marnie Riches grew up on a rough estate in north Manchester. Exchanging the spires of nearby Strangeways prison for those of Cambridge University, she gained a Masters in German & Dutch. She has been a punk, a trainee rock star, a pretend artist and professional fundraiser.
Her best-selling, award-winning George McKenzie crime thrillers were inspired by her own time spent in The Netherlands. Dubbed the Martina Cole of the North, she has also authored a series about Manchester’s notorious gangland as well as two books in a mini-series featuring quirky northern PI Bev Saunders.
Detective Jackson Cooke is Marnie’s latest heroine to root for, as she hunts down one of the most brutal killers the north west has ever seen at devastating personal cost.
When she isn’t writing gritty, twisty crime thrillers, Marnie also regularly appears on BBC Radio Manchester, commenting on social media trends and discussing the world of crime fiction. She is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Salford University’s Doctoral School and a tutor for the Faber Novel Writing Course.
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My thoughts: Jackson and Dave are a great duo, racing round Manchester bickering, eating a lot of junk food, Jackie worrying about her kids, Dave grateful his wife Hannah’s holding down the fort. That they’re also excellent detectives isn’t in doubt. Jackie knows that this case isn’t a suicide, or misadventure. This is murder.
Diving into the online world of incels – men who feel women owe them sex and that they’re overlooked for more attractive, successful men, and unfortunately sometimes turn to violence as a result. Jackie and Dave are sure their killer is posing on dating sites and apps too, using a photo from an overseas modelling agency, catfishing women.
Finding several other deaths and carefully weeding out the links between the victims, looking at the men around them, throwing up potential suspects. There’s a lot of deeply unpleasant men out there, but only one is their killer. And when a second one of Jackie’s old friends is put at risk of being the next victim, she dives into action. Against orders. Her charming Inspector boss (who seems to hate her) isn’t happy at all. But when Cooke and Tang go after their man, they’re all in.
This series just keeps getting better. The characters feel more bedded in now, you know them better and feel for Jackie, she’s supposed to be on maternity leave but they’re short staffed. Her ex is a pathetic time waster who needs to get a job and put a bit more effort in with the kids, her mother’s acting like a teenager – out every night, and she really needs a good night’s sleep. If only the killers of Manchester would comply.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
On holiday in Egypt with Sidney and Dean, young writer Maisie is—in her mind—on top of the world. Her long-labored manuscript is finally going to be published, she and Sidney are deeply in love, and the future looks bright on every level. In one moment, however, it all changes. Tragedy leads to overwhelming loss that Maisie can’t even begin to process. As the world itself turns upside down, there’s no solace for Maisie from the growing sense that her wonderful future is finished. No dream about to come true. No certainties of new chances in life. No Sidney. Even if the first two did not break her, the last one is determined to. It’s up to Maisie to find her strength and determination to find a new future, even if—unthinkably—it may be nothing like the one she dreamed of. Purchase
Laura Briggs is the author of several feel-good romance reads, including the Top 100 Amazon UK seller ‘A Wedding in Cornwall’. She has a fondness for vintage style dresses (especially ones with polka dots), and reads everything from Jane Austen to modern day mysteries. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, caring for her pets, gardening, and seeing the occasional movie or play.
Giveaway – Win an e-copy of The Girl of Lost Petals and Possibilities (Open Internationally).**T&Cs below.
My thoughts: if you’ve read the Little Hotel in Cornwall series, you’ll know these characters, but it also works as a standalone book. Maisie and Sidney are so happy, after a wonderful trip to Egypt with their snarky pal Dean, they’re back in Cornwall and looking forward to the rest of their lives.
But when Sidney has a terrible accident (heart in my mouth, because I kind of love Sidney) and they’re separated (his poor dogs, subjected only to the vicar’s mad housekeeper’s cooking – I love her too), it’s heartbreaking. And the blows keep coming- the publication of Maisie’s book is delayed, then Covid hits and the hotel shuts its doors. The staff all move in to deep clean the place and stay employed.
Will Maisie ever leave the Penmarrow? Will Sidney and Dean be ok? Who is feeding the dogs now? And will Riley and Brigette kill one another or finally admit they’re clearly mad about each other?
Utterly heart rending and sad, but with funny and sweet moments (the girls movie night, the crazy cocktails, Maisie’s mum coming to visit, Dean’s cranky emails), this is lovely and moving and I very much enjoyed it.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
**Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter. 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 Random Resources 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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