Mourning the death of her police inspector husband, Margot Renard moves to a small seaside town in the south of France. But when the body of a small boy washes up on a beach, Margot is drawn into a dangerous world of drug smugglers and people trafficking, and forced to cross paths with two feuding gangsters.
Rachel Green is the pen name of a writer from the UK. Rachel has twice been longlisted for both the Bath Novel Award and the BPA First Novel Award, as well as being on the shortlist for the Capital Crime New Voices Award. Rachel lives in a tiny village in England, but travels frequently to the south of France where the stories from the Madame Renard Investigates series are set. TwitterFacebook
My thoughts: this was interesting, I liked Margot a lot – her determination to solve the deaths of two immigrants, and get justice for them was heartening but the plot was a bit slow at times. I just wanted more to happen – I have no chill!
I felt a bit sorry for the friends who tried to help her, or stop her, she wasn’t going to let anything – not even death threats – stop her. I’m going to look out for the second book as I want to see where things go for Margot. I imagine she’ll get into a lot more scrapes but solve a lot more crimes the police seem unbothered by. I did enjoy this book, the second half was definitely faster moving and more engaging, once Margot got into her stride hunting down the perpetrators and refusing to be cowed, she’s a force to be reckoned with.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Inspiration can come from the most unlikely—and inconvenient—sources. Kara Sullivan’s life is full of love—albeit fictional. As a bestselling romance novelist and influential Bookstagrammer, she’s fine with getting her happily-ever-after fix between the covers of a book. But right now? Not only is Kara’s best friend getting married next week—which means big wedding stress—but the deadline for her next novel is looming, and she hasn’t written a single word. The last thing she needs is for her infuriating first love, Ryan Thompson, to suddenly appear in the wedding party. But Ryan’s unexpected arrival sparks a creative awakening in Kara that inspires the steamy historical romance she desperately needs to deliver. With her wedding duties intensifying, her deadline getting closer by the second and her bills not paying themselves, Kara knows there’s only one way for her to finish her book and to give her characters the ever-after they deserve. But can she embrace the unlikely, ruggedly handsome muse—who pushes every one of her buttons—to save the wedding, her career and, just maybe, write her own happy ending?
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one, Kara has basically my dream job – author and bookstagrammer, there’s an excellent dog, a trip to Italy (I love both dogs and Italy) and a possible romance rekindled. If Ryan and Kara can just get out of their own way!
The supporting characters are great too, I loved Maggie with her no nonsense approach to life and Kara’s sister Jen. I wanted more Duke the dog – like the whole thing from his perspective maybe!
This was a sweet, funny rom com and I needed that today – this week has left me feeling drained. Grab a copy and some snacks (there’s a lot of food in the book) and relax!
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Does first love deserve a second chance? Ava Flynn sometimes feels like the clothes donated to her charity shop have seen more life than her, but ‘maximum dedication for a minimal wage’ is what it takes to keep her mother’s beloved wildlife charity, All Critters Great and Small, running – especially in the village of Dapplebury, where business is certainly not booming. But when Ava’s first love, Henry Bramlington, returns to the village, suddenly life becomes a little too eventful. Henry escaped Dapplebury many years before, but now he has the power to make or break the village he left behind – All Critters Great and Small included. Can Ava trust the boy who ran away to give both her and her charity a second chance? Purchase
Carol Thomas lives on the south coast of England with her husband, four children and lively Labrador. She has been a primary school teacher for over twenty years and has a passion for reading, writing and people watching. When she is not in school, chasing after her children, or stopping her dog from eating things he shouldn’t, she can be found loitering in cafes drinking too much tea and working on her next book.
My thoughts: this was a lovely, heart warming rom com of errors. As Ava and Henry reconnect as adults, both misunderstand their intentions and it takes puppies, good friends, a festival and a ball to get things on course. There’s also some themed evenings at the local pub, lots of selling things in the charity shop (along with some worrying donations – flashbacks to my own time managing a charity shop!) and cake.
I really enjoyed this book, it was great fun and cheerful, I wish Dapplebury was a real village as it seems like a great place to live, did I mention the puppies?
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Alana Loxton was part of the all-female team to take down Barratt, a notorious serial killer. He is safely behind bars when one of the detectives goes missing. Her disappearance, and the connection to the killer, could be a coincidence – but when her body is discovered days later, a link begins to form. Then another detective from the team goes missing and the situation becomes horrifically clear. Someone is picking them off one by one – and Alana’s name is next on the list . . .
Vicki Bradley is a detective constable in the Metropolitan Police Service. She has had a varied career, as a uniformed response driver in Brent and then as a Detective Constable in Southwark CID. She has managed High Risk Sex Offenders and worked on the Serious Organised Crime Command.
Before I Say I Do won the Write Here, Right Now competition, came 3rd in the First Novel Prize and has been shortlisted for the Virago New Crime Writer 2017 and Peters Fraser and Dunlop Prize 2016. Vicki lives in London with her husband and baby. Twitter
My thoughts: this was a really good, gripping police thriller, set in South London, where the author works as a police detective, adding extra authenticity. I used to work in Elephant & Castle so recognise some of the places the detectives go to as they investigate the kidnappings and murders of several female detectives, emulating a serial killer, safely locked away in Broadmoor.
Is there a copycat or did Barratt have an accomplice? Alana Loxton is in the killer’s sights but she’s determined to solve the case and save the lives of her friends as well as her own.
The story was fast paced, never letting up as we follow Loxton and her partner, Polish transfer Dominik, across London, out to Kent and back, with the killer closing in. They turn up a few suspects, and think they’re getting close, keeping the suspense up as the killer taunts them and manages to be one step ahead.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
From the brilliant mind of New York Times bestselling author David Yoon comes a lightning-fast and scorchingly observant thriller about how we can save ourselves from the very real perils of a virtual world.
Max, a data whiz at the social media company Wren, has gotten a firsthand glimpse of the dark side of big tech. When he questions what his company does with the data they collect, he’s fired…then black-balled across Silicon Valley.
With time on his hands and revenge on his mind, Max and his longtime friend (and secretly the love of his life) Akiko, decide to get even by rebooting the internet. After all, in order to fix things, sometimes you have to break them. But when Max and Akiko join forces with a reclusive tech baron, they learn that breaking things can have unintended–and catastrophic–consequences.
My thoughts: this was an interesting, chaotic adventure in cyberspace as two young programmers, attempt to put right all the wrongs of social media and the internet. Taking on the big companies by hacking into them is one thing, but when they’re co-opted into a reclusive tech billionaire’s slightly less hopeful schemes, things go a bit sideways.
Max is incredibly optimistic and slightly naive, he genuinely thinks he can make people reject the mega corporations that own their data and rule their lives by pulling back the curtain, and it seems to work but we all know the wizard is some guy in a black polo neck or grey t-shirt. It isn’t enough in a way, as angry as people get, the convenience and addiction to the internet won’t be replaced quickly or easily.
Pilot – the worrying former tech god turned total hermit taps into Max’s naivety and manipulates the hopeful bright young things by offering them access and support, a back way in to the CEOs and programs they want to bring down, but he has other plans.
It all becomes a spiralling nightmare for Max, and saving his friends becomes his priority, but can he save the world too? A timely and thought provoking book, which ironically I’m telling you about via a blogging platform and sharing it over social media. Max would not be impressed.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
From the worldwide bestselling author NGK, and Louise Gregory, a new contemporary love story based around the first human mission to Mars.
A timeless love story.
Ambitious and hardworking, astronaut Jessica Gabriel refuses to let love get in the way of becoming the first person to walk on another planet. Or maybe she is just afraid of losing her best friend? Fellow astronaut, John Eden, is determined to prove he is more than his family name. Yet his insecurities might cost him his place on the mission. Neither of them are looking for love, and mission protocol forbids it. But love doesn’t follow the rules, and the two friends have to decide whether they want to risk everything they’ve worked for to be together.
Louise Gregory is the debut co-author of It’s Not Never, and uses her extensive background in psychology, coaching and team dynamics to create multi-layered characters with deep rooted feelings and motivators.
Louise lives by the “three r’s” – reading, writing, and running, all of which she would do more of were it not for her addiction to social media. She lives in the Cotswolds with her husband, two daughters, and a cat who is plotting to kill her.
N.G.K. is the best-selling author of seven books, including the popular Harry the Happy Mouse and Ridgeway Furrow series which have collectively sold over a million copies around the world. It’s Not Never is his first book for adults.
N.G.K. lives in the Forest of Dean with his wife, two children, and Lulu the cat.
My thoughts: this was a hugely enjoyable and rather lovely book. It did what all the best love stories do, so have tissues on standby.
I enjoyed all the science-y, space travelling stuff as much as the slow burn romance between Jessica and John, from their first meeting at university to reconnecting at astronaut training and into space. The characters are deftly drawn and fully realised, two very different people on the same path to the stars. Moving and inspiring.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE: The Baby is Mine (Atlantic) LOUISE CANDLISH: The Skylight (Simon & Schuster) KATIE FFORDE: Saving the Day (Arrow) PETER JAMES: WishYou Were Dead (Macmillan) CAITLIN MORAN: How to Be a Woman, abridged (Ebury) KHURRUM RAHMAN: The Motive (HQ)
One in six adults in the UK – approximately 9 million people – find reading difficult, and one in three people do not regularly read for pleasure. Quick Reads, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, plays a vital role in addressing these shocking statistics by inspiring emergent readers, as well as those with little time or who have fallen out of the reading habit, with entertaining and accessible writing from the very best contemporary authors.
Over 5 million Quick Reads have been distributed since the life-changing programme launched in 2006. From 2020 – 2022, the initiative is supported by a philanthropic gift from bestselling author Jojo Moyes. This year, for every book bought until 31 July 2021, another copy will be gifted to help someone discover the joy of reading. ‘Buy one, gift one’ will see thousands of free books given to organisations across the UK to reach less confident readers and those with limited access to books – bring the joy and transformative benefits of reading to new audiences.
Review of Louise Candlish’s The Skylight
They can’t see her, but she can see them… Simone has a secret. She likes to stand at her bathroom window and spy on the couple downstairs through their kitchen skylight. She knows what they eat for breakfast and who they’ve got over for dinner. She knows what mood they’re in before they even step out the door. There’s nothing wrong with looking, is there? Until one day Simone sees something through the skylight she is not expecting. Something that upsets her so much she begins to plot a terrible crime…
Louise Candlish is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Other Passenger and thirteen other novels. Our House won the Crime & Thriller Book of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards. It is now in development for a major TV series. Louise lives in London with her husband and daughter.
Louise Candlish, author of The Skylight (Simon & Schuster) said: It’s an honour to be involved in this [next] year’s Quick Reads. Reading set me on the right path when I was young and adrift and it means such a lot to me to be a part of literacy campaign that really does change lives.”
My thoughts: this was a short and sweet thriller, and I loved it. I recommend these books all the time – Quick Reads are perfect for your commute or when you take a break. I think it’s a fantastic project and the choice of books this year is great.
As always Louise Candlish crafts a brilliant and shocking story that could be going on behind any door on any street. Simone really hates her downstairs neighbours and has been spying on them through their skylight from her bathroom for a while.
Her buttons get pushed by something she sees and she decides to wreck a terrible revenge. She’s a selfish, rather monstrous person but so are some of the other characters, none of them could be described as innocent, except one. The claustrophobic nature of living so closely together doesn’t help, the loud music, the shared hallway, bring people into proximity that maybe otherwise would never meet, and be better for it. But Simone’s past actions make her more likely to behave badly, and have things take a turn for her too. A cracking read, with all the pleasure of a longer novel but without the length that puts some people off.
**Some of the above post contains extracts from a press release but the review is entirely my own words and opinions. I received a copy of the book in exchange for this post.**
Leigh Fletcher: happily married stepmom to two gorgeous boys goes missing on Monday. Her husband, Mark, says he knows nothing of her whereabouts. She went to work and just never came home. Their family is shattered.
Kai Janssen: married to wealthy Dutch businessman Daan and vanishes the same week. Kai left their luxurious penthouse and glamorous world without a backward glance. She seemingly evaporated into thin air. Daan is distraught.
Detective Clements knows that people disappear all the time—far too frequently. Most run away from things, some run toward, others are taken but find their way back. A sad few never return. These two women are from very different worlds. Their disappearances are unlikely to be connected. And yet, at a gut level, the detective believes they might be.
How could these women walk away from their families, husbands and homes willingly? Clements is determined to unearth the truth, no matter how shocking and devastating it may be.
My thoughts: I love Adele Parks’ books and this was no exception. What starts off as a simple crime thriller about two missing women becomes so much more twisted and shocking. I had absolutely no idea who the villain of the piece was right up till the reveal.
Leigh and Kai are very different women, keeping massive secrets. Their husbands, children and friends have no idea about the real them. None whatsoever. Which makes their disappearance and the secrets that are uncovered as the police investigate all the more stunning.
Set just before lockdown last year, Parks weaves the real world events into the narrative, the fears and distractions that could mean the police stop looking as other things rise to the top of the agenda, the shift to being at home all day distracting from the worries about the missing women, how people seem less inclined to report suspected sightings as they prepare for lockdown. Which is all very cleverly done and grounds the story in the real world with a deft touch.
As always the writing is excellent, the characters feel genuine and the plot grips tight. My jaw dropped a couple of times and I genuinely followed every red herring. Very enjoyable.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
The war is over. Its heroes forgotten. Until one chance discovery . . .
Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade him in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers. After earth was destroyed, mankind created a fighting elite to save their species, enhanced humans such as Idris. In the silence of space they could communicate, mind-to-mind, with the enemy. Then their alien aggressors, the Architects, simply disappeared—and Idris and his kind became obsolete.
Now, fifty years later, Idris and his crew have discovered something strange abandoned in space. It’s clearly the work of the Architects—but are they returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy hunting for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, that many would kill to obtain.
Adrian Tchaikovsky is the author of the acclaimed Shadows of the Apt fantasy series, from the first volume, Empire In Black and Gold in 2008 to the final book, Seal of the Worm, in 2014, with a new series and a standalone science fiction novel scheduled for 2015. He has been nominated for the David Gemmell Legend Award and a British Fantasy Society Award. In civilian life he is a lawyer, gamer and amateur entomologist.
My thoughts: after the genre bending epic Doors of Eden this is something of a more traditional sci fi story, set years after the final destruction of Earth by an alien species known as the Architects for their remodelling of everything, planets, ships, that crosses their paths.
Idris is one of a tiny handful of people who can communicate with these strange creatures and he helped turn the tide of the war against them. But now he and the ship he currently crews on have discovered that the Architects might not be as gone as they’d hoped.
With stolen ships, warrior women, alien races and various crime factions and religious acolytes in pursuit, Idris and his colleagues, those his captain refers to as family, must retrieve their ship and prepare to face the Architects again.
I liked the crew of the Vulture God, Rollo was an emotional and mostly benevolent captain, and his misfits suited their roles well. I thought the crab-like Hanni were interesting and Kit, as Idris’ sort of personal attorney, was a clever touch; Idris constantly needing to prove he was a free man so has a lawyer around to defend him, made for an interesting comment on a trope of sci fi – the humans enslaving or being enslaved by aliens, here instead they’re just enslaving other humans, again.
The Parthenon and Solace was also intriguing, vat grown female super warriors, extremely long lived and battle ready, especially with Mr Punch to hand.
All the different factions competing for resources and bodies, all keen to get Idris to work for them, considering what he can do, all the trappings of a rollicking space adventure. This was a fun and highly entertaining book, I really enjoyed it, the ideas and concepts were very interesting, the writing hooked me in straightaway with the giant space monsters and exploding spaceships. I highly recommend 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.
Get swept into a summer of sunshine, soul-searching and shameless matchmaking with this delightfully big-hearted road trip adventure!
Kathleen is eighty years old. After she has a run-in with an intruder, her daughter wants her to move into a residential home. But she’s not having any of it. What she craves – what she needs-is adventure.
Liza is drowning under the daily stress of family life. The last thing she needs is her mother jetting off on a wild holiday, making Liza long for a solo summer of her own.
Martha is having a quarter-life crisis. Unemployed, unloved and uninspired, she just can’t get her life together. But she knows something has to change.
When Martha sees Kathleen’s advertisement for a driver and companion to share an epic road trip across America with, she decides this job might be the answer to her prayers. She’s not the world’s best driver, but anything has to be better than living with her parents. And travelling with a stranger? No problem. Anyway, how much trouble can one eighty-year-old woman be?
As these women embark on the journey of a lifetime, they all discover it’s never too late to start over.
My thoughts: this was a fun and delightful read about finding yourself at any age, whether you’re in your 80s like Kathleen, 20s like Martha or somewhere in between like Liza.
The road trip that Kathleen and Martha embark on brings in an element of adventure, while Liza has some realisations in her childhood home. There’s also a bit of romance along the way. Old relationships are rekindled and new ones begun.
Sarah Morgan’s books are always enjoyable, mixing interesting characters and a lot of heart and this is no exception. Really comforting reading.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 