Category: reviews

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Throw Me To The Wolves – Lindy Ryan & Christopher Brooks

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Southern gothic meets urban fantasy meets supernatural horror, Throw Me to the Wolves is a series debut as much about surviving the monsters within as it is conquering those without.

Ten years ago a witch murdered Britta Orchid’s family and turned her into a werewolf. Now the witch has been killed, and rookie cop Aaron Labaye has dragged Britta back to southwestern Louisiana to help him solve the murder.

The bloodthirsty ghost of her brother, a jealous member from her pack, and a former friend with a serious prejudice against wolves all stand to stop Britta as she fights to finally get the truth about that night ten years ago.

As an unseen hand sets events in motion, Britta helps Labaye dig into the murders old and new. But, as she looks harder than ever into her own dark past, Britta will confront more than just her own demons as she fights for peace for herself and for her family. She can’t hide anymore when the past comes back to haunt her, but must instead find her place in a world she’s avoided—and discover what it truly means to be a wolf.

Some evil wants to live forever.

Lindy Ryan is a bestselling and multi-award-winning author-editor-director with numerous titles in development for film/television adaptation. An award-winning professor, Lindy has published two textbooks on visual data analytics as well as numerous papers and chapters. She also writes seasonal romance as Lindy Miller and is the author of the forthcoming books-to-film Renovate My Heart and The Magic Ingredient. Lindy currently serves as a board member for the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and was named a 2020 Publishers Weekly Star Watch Honoree. She is an active member and staff volunteer for the Horror Writers Association.

Christopher Brooks juggles writing and editing with a healthy dose of manual labor around the Pacific Northwest, where he lives with his wife and children. This is his first novel.

My thoughts: this was interesting, I found the method of turning someone into a werewolf unusual, it’s usually a straightforward whoopsie daisy biting thing, but this seemed to have a slightly more complicated edge to it, and they can shift at will – no full moon needed.

I liked Britta, she was an unusual protagonist, tortured and guilt ridden by the murders of her family but angry and ready to kick ass and take names if she had to. Although she really needs to learn how to spot trouble better – neither Alec or Aaron were good people and she just couldn’t see it.

Obviously New Orleans and rural Louisiana are drenched in witchcraft and Southern Gothic vibes, so it would be interesting to see how that works in Britta’s new home in Maine, where it’s a bit more Stephen King, monsters in the night, kind of thing. Do her problems follow her north or can she leave that in the swamps and find a clearer path in the forests?

And what is she going to do about the two useless and manipulative men in her life? Alec is heading home to cause problems there and Aaron clearly needs watching. Britta has just as many complications at the end of the book as she had at the beginning. Just slightly different ones.

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

books, reviews

Readalong Round-up: The Bloomsbury Girls – Natalie Jenner

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Time for another readalong round up post. This was a charming, gentle book set in a fictional bookshop and as you’ll see below, I rather enjoyed it! Thanks to Tandem Collective and Allison & Busby.

Natalie Jenner, the internationally bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society, returns with a compelling and heartwarming story of post-war London, a century-old bookstore, and three women determined to find their way in a fast-changing world in Bloomsbury Girls.


Bloomsbury Books is an old-fashioned new and rare book store that has persisted and resisted change for a hundred years, run by men and guided by the general manager’s unbreakable fifty-one rules. But in 1950, the world is changing, especially the world of books and publishing, and at Bloomsbury Books, the girls in the shop have plans:

Vivien Lowry: Single since her aristocratic fiance was killed in action during World War II, the brilliant and stylish Vivien has a long list of grievances–most of them well justified and the biggest of which is Alec McDonough, the Head of Fiction.

Grace Perkins: Married with two sons, she’s been working to support the family following her husband’s breakdown in the aftermath of the war. Torn between duty to her family and dreams of her own.

Evie Stone: In the first class of female students from Cambridge permitted to earn a degree, Evie was denied an academic position in favor of her less accomplished male rival. Now she’s working at Bloomsbury Books while she plans to remake her own future.

As they interact with various literary figures of the time–Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Sonia Blair (widow of George Orwell), Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and others–these three women with their complex web of relationships, goals and dreams are all working to plot out a future that is richer and more rewarding than anything society will allow.

My thoughts: I like books set in bookshops and libraries (I used to be a librarian and bookshops are my kryptonite) and this book, with elements of 84 Charing Cross Road (a delightful book if you haven’t read it) was a pleasure to read.

I loved the women of the bookshop – fed up with their stuffy, old-fashioned male colleagues and the hidebound way of doing things, they’re ready to shake things up, with the help of Daphne De Maurier, and several other literary adjacent ladies.

Evie was an interesting figure, working class, but with a Cambridge degree, interested only in cataloguing the books in her search for a mysterious rare edition. She doesn’t seem too involved with the goings on around her, but she’s paying attention. Her gentle, and for the time, highly controversial, relationship with Ash was a delight.

Vivien and Grace were also fascinating. The 1950s were a time of huge social change, especially for women, many of whom had worked through the war, and like Grace, weren’t prepared to down tools and return to their kitchens. Vivien is also a newly emerging type of woman – independent, unmarried and happy with her lot. Although I wish she wouldn’t keep getting involved with awful Alec.

I really enjoyed this book, a real treat for book loving bookshop loitering readers, and hugely fun too.

As with every readalong there were stops through the book for questions – despite my best intentions I didn’t get much up on Instagram so I include them here for your interest. If you read this book, let me know what you think. It’s out now.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Beach House Summer – Sarah Morgan

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When Joanna Whitman’s famous ex-husband dies in a car accident, she doesn’t know what to feel. Their dysfunctional marriage held more painful secrets than she cares to remember. But when she discovers that the young woman with him in the crash is pregnant, Joanna feels compelled to act, knowing exactly how brutal the media spotlight will be on celebrity chef Cliff Whitman’s ex-wife and his mysterious female friend.

Ashley Blake can’t believe it when Joanna shows up in her hospital room and suggests they hide away at her beach house on a sleepy stretch of California coast. Joanna should be hating her, not helping her. But alone and pregnant, Ashley can’t turn down Joanna’s offer. Yet she knows that if Joanna ever found out the real reason Ashley was in that car, their tentative bond would shatter instantly.

Joanna’s only goal for the summer is privacy, but her return causes major waves in the local community, especially for the man she left behind years ago. All Ashley wants is space to plan for her and her baby’s future, and to avoid causing any trouble for Joanna. But as secrets spill out under the hot summer sun, this unlikely friendship is about to be put to the test.

My thoughts: I do enjoy a Sarah Morgan novel, they’re excellent cheery reads and perfect for days just lounging about reading. Ideally on holiday. In this one we’re in California, by the beach as Joanna and Ashley navigate their unusual connection and Joanna revisits her past.

Cliff Whitman was not a nice man and it took his now ex-wife a long time to see it, but once she did she was done. Joanna wants to help Ashley and protect her, knowing exactly how it feels to be thrust into the limelight and over a summer, the two women bond and cook and chat.

It’s not a complex read, but there are a few plot twists and surprises lurking in this book, the light and intelligent story whizzes along and Joanna, Ashley and their old/new friends are charming company.

*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: Keep You Close – Mary Burton

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Old secrets are hard to keep buried in this gritty and gripping novel of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton.

Kelsey Warren may now be a high-flying journalist, but she’s never forgiven her reckless mother Donna for abandoning her as a teenager.

Yet when Kelsey returns to her hometown and discovers her mother’s body at the bottom of a flooded quarry with a gunshot wound in her chest, Kelsey’s world is flipped upside down. Her mother didn’t desert her; she was killed.

Despite Sheriff Mitch Garrett’s pleas to leave the case alone, Kelsey is determined to uncover the truth about her mother. But small towns hide big secrets, and someone has their eye on Kelsey and is set on silencing her for good.

Previously published as In Dark Waters

My thoughts: I liked Kelsey and Mitch, the way they bickered and her irritation at his need to protect her from everything, even though she had a right to know what was going on, after all it was her mother’s disappearance they were looking into.

However this book contained one of my biggest bugbears and it distracted me from the plot – the phrase “making love” as a euphemism for sex. If you can happily write a steamy sex scene, then please use the phrase “having/had sex” instead of “making love” which just makes me gag. Especially when it’s in the back room of a dive shop or a one off, they’re having a shag, not *gag* “making lurve”. Please stop.

Apart from that, and this isn’t the worst offender, it was a good and enjoyable crime story – I didn’t guess the killer right away and couldn’t see at first how the other deaths were connected, which was good. If it’s too obvious, it’s boring. Which this wasn’t.

*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 Break Up – Charlotte Barnes

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You don’t know what you’re looking for until you find it.

Edi Parcell thought she had life all planned out, so when her childhood sweetheart proposes a three-month break to date other people, she’s shocked. Unexpectedly back on the dating scene after years with the same guy, this is the first opportunity Edi’s had to think about what she really wants from life – and love.

From disastrous first dates to meet-cutes at museums, Edi is soon on a voyage of self-discovery – and she has her best friends on hand to help with everything from deciphering WhatsApps to deciding whether that cute woman in the art gallery really was flirting with her. When the break is over, will Edi even want her old relationship back?

My thoughts: I liked Edi and her hilarious friends, I was in agreement with them about how much her stupid boyfriend needed to be dumped for good, and kicked in the shins for good measure. He’s so pathetic, he didn’t like it when Edi realised she didn’t need him any more.

I didn’t really get why they were together in the first place and for so long, but never lived together and just, there was something off about him from the start and his parents seemed like total nightmares too.

He also went into typical hetero panic mode when Edi met Fred, shock horror, a woman! As a queer person, I just rolled my eyes at this, sexuality is fluid, especially for women, and heaven forbid Edi find a woman attractive. Cemented his loser status right there. I cheered when Edi finally realised she wanted to make some serious changes and not stay stuck in a rut forever.

*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: Keep Her Sweet – Helen Fitzgerald

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Desperate to enjoy their empty nest, Jen and Andeep downsize to the countryside, to forage, upcycle and fall in love again, only to be joined by their two twenty-something daughters, Asha and Camille. Living on top of each other in a tiny house, with no way to make money, tensions simmer, and as Jen and Andeep focus increasingly on themselves, the girls become isolated, argumentative and violent. When Asha injures Camille, a family therapist is called in, but she shrugs off the escalating violence between the sisters as a classic case of sibling rivalry … and the stress of the family move. But this is not sibling rivalry. The sisters are in far too deep for that. This is a murder, just waiting to happen… Chilling, vicious and darkly funny, Keep Her Sweet is not just a tense, sinister psychological thriller, but a startling look at sister relationships and they bonds they share … or shatter.

Helen FitzGerald is the bestselling author of ten adult and young adult thrillers, including The Donor (2011) and The Cry (2013), which was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and adapted for a major BBC drama. Her 2019 dark-comedy thriller Worst Case Scenario was a Book of the Year in the Literary Review, Herald Scotland, Guardian and Daily Telegraph, shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and won the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award. Her latest title Ash Mountain was published in 2020. Helen worked as a criminal justice social worker for over fifteen years. She grew up in Victoria, Australia, and now lives in Glasgow with her husband. Follow Helen on Twitter @FitzHelen.

My thoughts: I don’t have the easiest relationship with my sibling but Asha and Camille take things to a whole new Cain and Abel level with their violent, relentless fighting, bitching and casual cruelty. Even the therapist they hire to help the family mend some fences is a bit at a loss and some things are beyond talking about it.

After their parents spiral off in their own problems, the sisters are left alone, rather unwillingly, and war breaks out. Asha definitely has some serious issues and Camille can’t take the constant abuse anymore. They aren’t children so the violence is all the more shocking, Asha knows exactly what she’s doing when she attacks her sister. The brutal behaviour worsens the longer they’re together and in the end it might just break them.

Shocking, unrelenting and disturbing, this takes sibling squabbles to an extreme beyond the norm and then some. Brilliant writing, jaw dropping stuff.

*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: To The Grave – John Barlow

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Will the truth be buried with the dead?

When DS Joe Romano first meets Ana Dobrescu she’s nervous, in serious danger, and clearly needs help. The next time Romano sees her, she’s dead.

There was nothing more he could have done, but that’s cold comfort for Romano. He’s determined to catch Ana’s killer. Although the prime suspect, her millionaire boyfriend, is in a coma.

With the help of his larger-than-life partner Rita Scannon-Aktar, Romano begins to piece together a puzzle that places Ana at the centre of something much bigger than they could have imagined.

But while they’re hunting a murderer, those higher up are more concerned about the money. So it’s up to Romano to get justice for Ana. And whatever she knew, he’ll just have to pray that she didn’t take her secrets to the grave.

My thoughts: from what looks like a simple pub fight on the surface, to murder, people trafficking, exploitation and dodgy financial dealings in the small town of Batley, Yorkshire.

DS Romano, himself the grandson of immigrants, is sensitive to the plight of a group of trafficked Romanians, stripped of their passports and forced into horrible jobs for little to no pay, living in squalor. But Ana had a plan to help them, can Romano and his team unravel all the threads in this gritty and dark thriller?

I liked Romano, even if he really could use a clean suit and a good night’s sleep, he’s very determined and forges on even when he’s told that Ana’s death is “probably a domestic”, he knows there’s more to it than that and he won’t rest till he’s helped the same people Ana wanted to. I liked his partner in solving crime, Rita, not your stereotypical copper, and her no nonsense, take no prisoners attitude too, she was good fun.

The case felt timely and real – Brexit may well mean more people trafficking as it’s harder for migrant workers to come into the country legally to do the work Brits don’t want to do, some unscrupulous individuals will take advantage wherever they can. Hopefully the real DS Romano’s out there will put a stop to them.

*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: Her Child’s Cry – S.A. Dunphy

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‘I just want my little girl back. She’s so little, she needs her mummy. And she doesn’t even have her panda bear with her. Find her, please find her, before it’s too late.’

Little Rosie Blake has been taken. Since going missing from the hospital where she was being treated for cancer, Rosie’s distraught parents haven’t heard a word. And time is swiftly running out. They have to find her, and right away, because Rosie can only survive for ten days without her medication.

With the police unable to find any leads at all, criminal behaviourist Jessie Boyle and her team are brought in to help. Who would be so evil as to steal a sick child? Narrowing down on a suspect, Jessie quickly moves to arrest them, only to discover the suspect’s dead body instead… And with no Rosie in sight, the case becomes even more desperate.

Who killed their chief suspect, and where is Rosie now? And is Rosie’s disappearance linked to the sudden revival of Dublin’s Hellfire Club, an ancient and terrifying cult obsessed with death and human sacrifice?

As the race to find Rosie intensifies, her heartbroken parents know their little girl’s time is running out. The clock is ticking, but Jessie clings on to the hope of finding her safe. Then her search leads her to Ireland’s remote mountains… Will Jessie be able to survive the deadly threat that awaits her, rescue Rosie, and get her back to safety, before it’s too late?

An utterly compelling crime thriller that will have you hooked from the very first line. Fans of Patricia Gibney, Lisa Gardner and Lisa Regan will not want to miss this.

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Shane Dunphy (S. A. Dunphy) was born in Brighton in 1973, but grew up in Ireland, where he has lived and worked for most of his life. A child protection worker for fifteen years, he is the bestselling author of seventeen books, including the number one Irish bestseller Wednesday’s Child and the Sunday Times Bestseller The Girl Who Couldn’t Smile. His bestselling series of crime novels (written under the name S. A. Dunphy) feature the criminologist David Dunnigan. Stories From the Margins, his new series of true crime books written for Audible, has been critically acclaimed and the second title in the series, The Bad Place, is an Audible True Crime bestseller. 

https://shanedunphyauthor.org/

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My thoughts: the team return for another case with folkloric overtones, although this time they’re rooted in more human behaviour – the Reavers are a strange band planning a sacrifice, spun out of the infamous Hellfire Club, and a child’s life is at stake.

There seems to be several different groups interested in little Rosie’s life – why did the hospital porter report that she wasn’t safe, what does an old school gangster have to do with any of this?

Dawn gets to go all Die Hard, kicking in doors and wielding guns, while Jessie goes off on her own and Terri is put in danger. It’s absolutely cracking, heart in mouth, stuff. There were several moments where it seemed as though we might lose a character as they’re up against possibly the nastiest bunch so far. And of course Jessie’s creepy serial killer stalker Uruz is still around sending her messages, are they any closer to identifying him? Cannot wait for book four.

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

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Readalong Round-Up: The Plant Rescuer – Sarah Gerrard-Jones

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A simple, stylish and complete guide for any houseplant owner
Whether you have just one or many houseplants, this is the book they need you to read. It is a clear and practical toolkit on all aspects of plant care from how to choose a plant to tips for everyday care. Changes in your plant’s appearance are often a cry for help and this book will help you understand their needs. Learn how to help your plants not only survive but thrive.

Sarah, also known as @theplantrescuer, is a self-taught houseplant obsessive who firmly believes every plant deserves a happy life. Her determination to see beyond the ‘perfect plant’ and to rescue unloved plants makes her the go-to guide.

My thoughts: I don’t have green thumbs, notoriously my plants die, although those that survive are clearly very stubborn. But I love plants so I keep trying. With my fingers crossed.

Like a lot of people I really got into house plants during lockdown, I had some before but I bought quite a few while unable to go out, bringing that lovely green into my flat. However not everyone survived, including me, tearing my hair out as some of the plants just gave up – despite me trying my hardest to keep them alive.

Then comes along this book, and a spark of hope for some of my slightly droopy plants. It’s full of explanations to why plants go brown, or limp, and die. And ways to save them that don’t include “cry, chuck in bin and buy a new one” – aka my go to method.

Instead of spending ages on Google trying to solve the droopy leaf crisis of 2022, I dipped into this book to diagnose my sad little plants and do some clever plant healing. Though the fact that plants suffer from over and under watering will continue to drive me mad – how can I stop this nonsense!

A really useful and informative guide to houseplants, I’m hoping this will encourage and help me be a better indoor gardener and give me at least a tiny bit of a green thumb, just a tiny bit of plant magic.

Below I’ve posted the readalong challenges, if you read this book, please share your thoughts. And tag me @ramblingmads in your plant photos on Instagram.

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Readalong Round-Up: When Women Were Dragons – Kelly Barnhill

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I took part in another Tandem Collective readalong last week – this time for Kelly Barnhill’s first YA novel, When Women Were Dragons.

A rollicking feminist tale set in 1950s America where thousands of women have spontaneously transformed into dragons, exploding notions of a woman’s place in the world and expanding minds about accepting others for who they really are. • The first adult novel by the Newbery award-winning author of The Girl Who Drank the Moon

Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours, except for its most seminal event: the Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales, and talons; left a trail of fiery destruction in their path; and took to the skies. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex’s beloved aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn’t know. It’s taboo to speak of.

Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of this astonishing event: a mother more protective than ever; an absentee father; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and
watching her beloved cousin Bea become dangerously obsessed with the forbidden.

In this timely and timeless speculative novel, award-winning author Kelly Barnhill boldly explores rage, memory, and the tyranny of forced limitations. When Women Were Dragons exposes a world that wants to keep women small—their lives and their prospects—and examines what happens when they rise en masse and take up the space they deserve.

My thoughts: first up, I love the cover, all those lush greens and purples, the hint of scales and then that eye in the bottom left corner, hinting at hidden things and the mystery within.

Obviously being published right now when reproductive rights in the US are at risk makes a book about women – wives and mothers all, as the book says, spontaneously turning into giant fire breathing mythic beasts, breaking free of society’s confines, feels very prescient. As the law seeks to repress women yet again, an age old conflict, the idea of one of the oldest creatures in our collective folklore being within women is very intriguing. I wouldn’t mind being a dragon sometimes.

This is an incredibly moving book, I cried a few times, and very honest. Alex is a wonderful protagonist, my heart really ached for her as she loses her aunt, her mum, her home and struggles to get by, taking so much care of her sister Beatrice.

I was angry with her stupid dad and wanted a dragon to eat him – what a terrible man, so weak and cruel. Who in their right mind treats any child the way he does. He’s pathetic.

I loved librarian Mrs Gyzinska, she was amazing, what an incredible woman, total hero. Her support of Alex and Bea is so important to Alex’s survival.

Overall I thought this was a powerful, timely book about women, their strength and courage, about change and hope. I really enjoyed it once I got into the story, the use of extracts from various documents got a bit grating at times – I cared more about the characters.

I’ve posted the challenges from the readalong below – if you read the book, maybe you’d like to share your thoughts inspired by these starters.