blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Bovine Tricks – Seelie Kay*

Lady Annabelle Trask is missing. Unfortunately, MI6 doesn’t know if they’re looking for a woman, a cow, or something in between!

Is it real or is it fantasy? That’s the question MI6 Agent Mathilda Honoria Spencer struggles with on her latest assignment. Tasked with discovering the whereabouts of Lady Annabelle Trask, Tillie is thrust into the world of Hucows and other human animals. It’s a world that raises serious questions about sexual fetishes, intentional physical enhancements, and even pornography, but in the end, Tillie has only one mission—to rescue and return Lady Annabelle to the Queen. However, as she and her partner, Agent Abdul Ali, attempt to find Lady Annabelle and keep her out of the clutches of terrorists bent on destroying the monarchy, they must also wrestle with their feelings for each other. Can they draw the line between their duty to the Crown and their relationship with one another? Or must they embark on separate paths to continue to serve the Queen?



Goodreads * Amazon.in * Amazon.com * B&N * Kobo * XtasyBooks

Award-winning author Seelie Kay writes about lawyers in love, sometimes with a dash of kink.

Writing under a nom de plume, the former lawyer and journalist draws her stories from more than 30 years in the legal world. Seelie’s wicked pen has resulted in nineteen works of fiction, including the new paranormal romance series Donovan Trait, as well the erotic romance Kinky Briefs series and The Feisty Lawyers romantic suspense series. She also authored The Last Christmas, The Garage Dweller, A Touchdown to Remember, The President’s Wife, The President’s Daughter, Seizing Hope, The White House Wedding, and participated in the romance anthology Pieces of Us.

When not spinning romantic tales, Seelie ghostwrites nonfiction for lawyers and other professionals. Currently, she resides in a bucolic exurb outside Milwaukee, WI, where she enjoys opera, the Green Bay Packers, gourmet cooking, organic gardening, and an occasional bottle of red wine. 

Seelie is an MS warrior and ruthlessly battles the disease on a daily basis. Her message to those diagnosed with MS: Never give up. You define MS, it does not define you!
Website * Blog * Twitter * Facebook * Instagram * Author’s Amazon Page

Read an Excerpt from Bovine Tricks

Harun stood and hugged his brother. Then he turned to Tillie. His gaze was steady, but his eyes were cold. “Forgive me if I cannot give you a similarly warm welcome, but my wife and I have not yet recovered from the brutal attack on our daughter.”

“Harun.” Marianne Benson spoke softly, but her gaze was fierce. “I believe Hope and the Agency have settled the matter. You don’t need to pursue it further.” She turned to Abdul and smiled. “I am pleased to see you, Abdul.” She cocked an eyebrow. “Though for a while there, the rumor was that you had gone rogue and were dancing with the devil.”

Abdul laughed. “I may dance with the devil occasionally, but that does not mean he owns my soul. I am still slaving away for the Queen.” He smiled at Mari. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”

“Well, it’s hard to ignore a summons from the Queen, and when your husband has a plane, it is much easier to respond quickly.” Mari motioned to the chairs at the table. “Please sit. Let’s get down to business. It was made clear that time was of the essence.”

Everyone sat, and Mari walked over to a control panel set into a console. She pushed a button, and a whiteboard lit up. “As you know, after we rescued the people off Flight Eight Seven Zero and The Mars were prosecuted, Dianna and Anders interviewed them extensively at Guantanamo Bay. We were able to collect a considerable amount of information on the organization, its members, and its financing.”

Twelve photos appeared on the screen. “These are the current members of Marwolaeth I’r Frenhines. Six are incarcerated at Guantanamo, three have been released, and three are recruits.”

Tillie leaned forward and studied the faces. It always amazed her how normal terrorists appeared. There was nothing in their faces to indicate that they were evil. Most were smiling in their photos. However, the tell was in the eyes. They were stone cold.

Mari pointed at the photos of those recently released. “These three have been fairly quiet. We could not detect any significant communication or contact between them and the new members, which makes me think this may be a new group that merely adopted the name.” She brought up a few more photos. “These gentlemen are believed to be the financiers of the new order.”

Tillie studied the group and gasped. “But that’s a former member of Parliament.”

Harun nodded. “And someone who wishes to dissolve the Monarchy. Apparently, he has put his money where his mouth is.” Another screen popped up. A bank statement.

Abdul cleared his throat. “Fifty million pounds? That’s pretty significant. Has this been verified?”

Harun gazed at Abdul. “I’m afraid so. We have transfers to the account, bank acknowledgments, and proof the newest members of The Mars have been drawing on these funds.”

Mari pulled up another screen. “Though we were a little puzzled by their purchases until now. We thought they had gone into farming.” She pointed at an invoice. “Everything you need to raise a cow, or in this case, a human cow.”

Tillie hugged herself and shuddered. “Lady Annabelle is most certainly in their sights.”

Mari gazed at her husband and nodded. Harun opened a file he had set in front of him. “Apparently, it is much worse. There were also several purchases for the care of an infant. Either Lady Annabelle is pregnant, or they intend to impregnate her.”

Abdul slammed his fist on the table. “Bloody hell. A royal baby? The Queen would move heaven and earth to protect her own blood. What a crafty way to manipulate her for their own purposes. She would be damned no matter how she responded. That could end the monarchy.”

Tillie stood. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Giveaway: – 2 eBook Copies of Martimus (Feisty Lawyers Book 5)- eBook Copy of Bovine Tricks (Royals Gone Rogue #1)

My thoughts: this was a bit strange, the human cows aka hucows thing was creepy and weird but if you can think of it, there’s probably somebody who’s into it I suppose!

Apart from that it was quite a fun read, the agents of MI6 are determined to crack the case, even if they have to work with the Americans. Was Lady Annabelle really kidnapped or did she voluntarily get involved with the disturbing world of animal human hybrids? I liked Tillie and her utter eye rolling disbelief at how some people get their kicks and especially the super rich.

*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: All My Lies – Sophie Flynn*

Anna wants to escape. She doesn’t know when her marriage to James began to feel like a trap or when he became so controlling. All she knows is that she needs to leave before it’s too late. And she has a plan.

When Anna reconnects with her childhood sweetheart, Sam, she sees it as the answer to her problems. Finally, they’ll have a life together, like they’d always planned – the life she was meant to have. But the lies are catching up with her . . .

On the morning of their escape, Sam goes missing. Anna knows he wouldn’t leave her, that something must have happened to him. Her search for answers will force her to confront her past, something that she has been running from for a very long time . . .

Sophie Flynn is a Cotswolds based psychological thriller author with an MA in Creative Writing from Oxford Brookes. Alongside writing, Sophie is the Head of Marketing at Jericho Writers. After being awarded a place at Swanwick Writers’ Summer School on the TopWrite scheme for young writers in 2017, Sophie began writing short fiction. She has since had many stories published and placed in competitions with organisations s uch as Writing Magazine and The Cheltenham Literature Festival.

When not writing, Sophie can mostly be found on muddy walks with her husband and rescue dog or disappearing to Cornwall whenever possible. She is represented by Kate Nash of Kate Nash Literary Agency.

To find out more, visit her website or follow her on Twitter.

My thoughts:

Everyone in this story seems to be telling lies – Anna, Sam, James, Sue, Louise, Rosie’s husband Richard. The lies range from fairly small to life wrecking. And they keep coming.

Honestly, it’s the children I feel sorry for – Rosie’s small sons, Lucy, none of them asked for such terrible adults as parents and role models.But it’s the way those lies take on lives of their own and get manipulated that leads to the tragedy in the final third of this story and almost cost Anna everything.

Those big lies, including the omitting of past secrets, can cause someone who’s already possessive and jealous to lash out and in really terrible ways.

*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: Lycanthropy & Other Chronic Illnesses – Kristen O’Neal*

Teen Wolf meets Emergency Contact in this sharply observed, hilarious, and heartwarming debut young adult novel about friendship and the hairy side of chronic illness.

Priya worked hard to pursue her premed dreams at Stanford, but a diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease during her sophomore year sends her back to her loving but overbearing family in New Jersey—and leaves her wondering if she’ll ever be able to return to the way things were.

Thankfully she has her online pen pal, Brigid, and the rest of the members of “oof ouch my bones,” a virtual support group that meets on Discord to crack jokes and vent about their own chronic illnesses.

When Brigid suddenly goes offline, Priya does something out of character: she steals the family car and drives to Pennsylvania to check on Brigid. Priya isn’t sure what to expect, but it isn’t the horrifying creature that’s shut in the basement.

With Brigid nowhere to be found, Priya begins to puzzle together an impossible but obvious truth: the creature might be a werewolf—and the werewolf might be Brigid. As Brigid’s unique condition worsens, their friendship will be deepened and challenged in unexpected ways, forcing them to reckon with their own ideas of what it means to be normal.

My thoughts: as someone with several chronic illnesses (so much fun guessing what’s trying to kill me today) I totally related to Priya and her friends, life is no fun when everything hurts.

The book is laugh out loud hilarious as Priya and Brigid, with the assistance of their Discord server pals and hot animal control guy Spencer, attempt to cure Brigid’s lycanthropy, and help her stop wolfing out. I loved the scientific approach they tried to take and then abandoned for slightly mad “cures” from old folkloric books in the antique shop Brigid works in.

I also loved their friendship, the way that they bonded over old TV shows and stupid internet jokes and being let down constantly by your own body – cos hard same.

I can’t believe this is a first novel, it’s so strong and well written and enjoyable, can’t wait to see what the author does next.

And now I have to go take my meds. Fun.

*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: Banana Devil Cake – Susan A. King*

With the murder of last year’s fête judge now but a hazy memory, the village of Elmesbury has
retired to its former tranquil existence.

That is, until a mysterious newcomer sets in motion a series of events that will see members of the W.I. crossing wooden spoons at dawn.
In the midst of preparing for her long-awaited engagement party, redoubtable village busybodyBeattie Bramshaw not only finds herself embroiled in a one-woman campaign to save the elm tree from which the village gets its name, but having to contend with an outbreak of unrest within her beloved W.I. group. Rivalry to win favour with the judge of this year’s fête has fuelled dissent within
the ranks and, when two members are found dead in mysterious circumstances, suspicions run rife.

Confident the devil is not only in the cake but in the detail, Beattie determines to uncover the clues
that will ultimately lead to the killer’s conviction. But can she solve the mystery before another member of the W.I. is picked off?
Banana Devil Cake is a comedy crime caper in the spirit of Agatha Raisin and one that is guaranteed to lift your spirits.

Prepare yourself for a tale of tea, cake and riotous goings-on from the author
of Marrow Jam.

Amazon UK
Amazon US


Susan A. King lives with her husband in a quiet suburb in Hampshire. Between them they have four
grown-up sons.
The inspiration for her Beattie Bramshaw novels comes from her long experience and observation of
competitors at the local Romsey Show, where she regularly aspires to win Best in Show with her floral arrangements.
Twitter Insta

My thoughts:

This was a fun, and slightly silly, cake based cosy crime romp. Who knew the perfect sponge could cause so much trouble?

As members of the WI had murdered in the run up to the annual village fete, Beattie puts her thinking cap on and tries to solve it. But her first suspect, the slightly oily Leo, an incomer, seems a bit obvious. Or is he?

This was an enjoyable and entertaining read, complete with absent minded vicar, a historic tree in peril, a court case and some award winning vegetables.

*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: Geiger – Gustaf Skordeman*

The incredible story of a codeword, an extraordinary murder, and the woman who must solve both to stop a deadly plot fifty years in the making. Perfect for fans of I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.
__________________

The landline rings as Agneta is waving off her grandchildren. Just one word comes out of the receiver: ‘Geiger’.

For decades, Agneta has always known that this moment would come, but she is shaken. She knows what it means.

Retrieving her weapon from its hiding place, she attaches the silencer and creeps up behind her husband before pressing the barrel to his temple.

Then she squeezes the trigger and disappears – leaving behind her wallet and keys.

The extraordinary murder is not Sara Nowak’s case. But she was once close to those affected and, defying regulations, she joins the investigation. What Sara doesn’t know is that the mysterious codeword is just the first piece in the puzzle of an intricate and devastating plot fifty years in the making . . .

My thoughts:

This started really well, but then I felt it slowed down a bit, much like Sara’s investigation, before speeding up again as the past and its dark secrets started to come to light.

Stasi agents from East Germany, spies from Russia, Sweden’s own past politicians and important figures, all combine in a heady mix of Cold War secrets, conspiracies and contingencies. There’s some very clever and shocking twists in the tale as Sara digs deeper into the past and gets herself further into trouble with her bosses.

She’s an interesting character, at odds with herself in many ways, not entirely enamoured with her job, reacting with violence and anger to things, struggling in her home life – her children are growing up and she doesn’t feel close to them or her husband.

She uses this case as a distraction but also to answer some questions about her own past, her parentage and her mother’s silence.

An interesting thriller, exploring some of Europe’s darker parts and hidden history.


*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 Wild Girls – Phoebe Morgan*

FOUR FRIENDS.
A LUXURY RETREAT.
IT’S GOING TO BE MURDER.

In a luxury lodge on Botswana’s sun-soaked plains, four friends reunite for a birthday celebration…

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL
Has it all, but chose love over her friends…

THE TEACHER
Feels the walls of her flat and classroom closing in…

THE MOTHER
Loves her baby, but desperately needs a break…

THE INTROVERT
Yearns for adventure after suffering for too long…

Arriving at the safari lodge, a feeling of unease settles over them. There’s no sign of the party that was promised. There’s no phone signal. They’re alone, in the wild.

THE HUNT IS ON.

My thoughts:

This was an interesting thriller from one of my favourite writers of the genre, Hannah, Grace and Alice all feel guilty about that night two years ago that blew up their long time friendship with Felicity and ended with her moving to New York.

Now she’s invited them to a swanky 30th in Botswana, but her messages are vague on plans and none of them have actually spoken to her about anything. Cue terror on the plains, an empty lodge, invisible staff, it’s all very creepy. I would have got out of there as fast as possible.

The way the back story unfolds and a suspect looms into view is nicely unsettling, the terrifying happenings at the glamorous lodge are suitably unnerving and that twist. No spoilers but it’s a good ‘un.

*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: Buried For Good – Alex Coombes*

Find links to all my previous reviews of this series here

On a remote island, everyone is a suspect…

When Private Investigator Hanlon is hired to protect famous yoga instructor Camille Anderson on her Scottish island retreat, she thinks this may be her simplest job yet.

But when an attack on Camille’s life goes wrong, it soon becomes clear that there is a murderer on the island – and Hanlon will stop at nothing to track them down.

With only a small group of guests the suspects are clear, but as the body count rises Hanlon must step up to find out who the killer is before it’s too late…

A tense, atmospheric page-turner from Alex Coombs. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons and Lisa Regan.

Purchase

Alex Coombs studied Arabic at Oxford and Edinburgh Universities and went on to work in adult education and then retrained to be a chef. He is the author of the highly acclaimed DCI Hanlon series.

Newsletter sign up Website

Twitter Facebook

My thoughts:

I really like the Hanlon books, both as a police officer and the newer PI ones, they’re smart, engaging and enjoyable so I knew I was going to like this.

Playing with conventions of crime fiction, from the And Then There Were None style remote island setting, to the hidden killer and the old switcheroo, this is a clever piece of writing that throws up red herrings and sends Hanlon all over Scotland looking for clues.

I enjoyed the development of Hanlon too, her burgeoning relationship with Murdo adds some depth to her character, although obviously Wemyss the dog remains her first love.

*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 Heretic’s Mark – S.W. Perry*

Read my reviews of The Serpent’s Mark and The Saracen’s Mark

The Elizabethan world is in flux. Radical new ideas are challenging the old. But the quest for knowledge can lead down dangerous paths…

London, 1594. The Queen’s physician has been executed for treason, and conspiracy theories flood the streets. When Nicholas Shelby, unorthodox physician and unwilling associate of spymaster Robert Cecil, is accused of being part of the plot, he and his new wife Bianca must flee for their lives.
With agents of the Crown on their tail, they make for Padua, following the ancient pilgrimage route, the Via Francigena. But the pursuing English aren’t the only threat Nicholas and Bianca face. Hella, a strange and fervently religious young woman, has joined them on their journey. When the trio finally reach relative safety, they become embroiled in a radical and dangerous scheme to shatter the old world’s limits of knowledge. But Hella’s dire predictions of an impending apocalypse, and the brutal murder of a friend of Bianca’s forces them to wonder: who is this troublingly pious woman? And what does she want?

My thoughts:

I think this might be my favourite in this series so far. Forced to hide out on the continent, Nicholas and Bianca head for Padua, and Bianca’s cheerful cousin Bruno.

They’re joined by a woman who claims to see Judgement Day and who becomes a wee bit too obsessed with Nicholas to be completely healthy.

He sees agents of doom everywhere and even Bianca is under a cloud.

Meanwhile back in Southwark Ned is getting into trouble and the delightful Rose is trying to get him out of it.

I loved having more Rose and Ned in the book, it was great them having their own storyline independent of the misadventures of everyone’s favourite Elizabethan doctor.

I also really liked seeing Nicholas out of his element, forced to learn Italian, having to rely on Bianca a bit more. I loved cousin Bruno, he’s just like a sort of puppy. And the inclusion of Galileo Galili as a drunken University professor, yelling at his students and planning to annoy the Florentines was an excellent touch.

All of the historical details, and the famous names and places add to the sense of time and place, grounding it in the Enlightenment’s early years – Galileo isn’t yet a heretic, Shakespeare’s still a jobbing playwright, the Earth is the centre of the universe.

These are such fun books and the conspiracy this time is not remotely what you expect – doom monger Hella isn’t an agent of one of England’s enemies, she’s a prophet of the apocalypse – or is she?

The curious state of Christianity in the 16th Century, with its mystics and pilgrims, hundreds of saints and apostates is given centre stage and it really is a strange place. I didn’t really think of the Netherlands as a hot bed of this sort of thing, but with a certain Heironymous of Bosch painting his nightmares, there’s a bit of an atmosphere.

*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: And Then She Ran – Karen Clarke*

How far would you go to keep your baby safe?

The fist flew past Grace’s face and smashed into the wall behind her. A switch flicked in her head. Grace bundled her eight-week-old daughter into her carry cot, opened the door and ran.

Her life in New York faded into the background. She needed to keep her baby safe. She needed to get as far away from Patrick as possible.

Now, staying in a remote cottage in Wales, Grace is trying to start again. But she can’t shake the uneasy feeling that she’s been followed.

And then she finds a note. Left on her bed. A tiny scrap of paper with scrawl in bright red pen.

Keep her close. Anything could happen.

She’s been found. Patrick wants his baby back.

But Grace will do everything to stop him.

My thoughts:

Talk about a stunning twist, this book was a cracker and a half. Everything, from the blurb, to the unfolding story suggests one thing, but then that gets flipped on its head and there’s so much more to it, a rather sinister set of events is revealed.

I enjoyed this a lot, the mix of thriller and family relationship style saga was interesting and the plots running concurrently – Grace’s flight to Wales, and her aunt’s past, blended together nicely.

*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: Dial A For Aunties – Jesse Sutanto*

What happens when you mix 1 (accidental) murder with 2 thousand wedding guests, and then toss in a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family?

You get 4 meddling Asian aunties coming to the rescue!

When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body.

Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working at an island resort on the California coastline. It’s the biggest job yet for the family wedding business—”Don’t leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!”—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie’s perfect buttercream flowers.

But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy’s great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?

My thoughts:

This was hilarious. I know all about aunties from my friends’ families, the meddling, the gossip, the one up man ship that goes on, and the fact that even though they seem to criticise everything you do, they love you completely.

Meddy’s aunts would literally kill for her, or at least hide the body. The family’s wedding business provides cover as they work at a very fancy celebration on a small island. Chaos ensues, as Meddy tries to stop anyone else finding out about the dead body her mum and aunts are lugging about in a cooler.

I loved this, I want more crazy auntie shenanigans!!


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