Category: reviews

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Murder in Portofino – T.A. Williams

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A much-needed holiday…

Dan Armstrong hasn’t done much retiring since moving to Tuscany, and with his new career as a successful private investigator taking off, it seems murder seems to follow him. He’s hoping a much-needed trip to beautiful Portofino will give him the break he needs and quality time with girlfriend
Anna.

A gathering of celebrities…

Portofino is a celebrity paradise, and holidaying on a nearby superyacht is a group of British media stars, all famous for being infamous. Dan isn’t impressed by their status or wealth, but when he overhears an argument between two of the group, he suspects something fishy could be going on…

A cold-blooded killer?

And then a body is washed up on shore and Dan’s hopes for a holiday go overboard. Could this simply be a tragic accident or is there a killer amidst the assembled celebrity cast? Dan and Oscar
have their work cut out before the tide turns…

It’s another gripping case for Dan and Oscar – it’s murder in paradise!

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T. A. Williams is the author of over twenty bestselling romances. Trevor studied languages at University and lived and worked in Italy for eight years, returning to England with his wife in 1972.
Trevor and his wife now live in Devon.

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My thoughts: if you’ve read my reviews for a while then you know that I love this series (and most of Trevor’s excellent books). I love Italy and the sheer number of delicious things Dan gets to eat is enough to make me so hungry.

This time Dan, Anna and our hero Oscar the Labrador (I love Labs too) are off to Portofino, known as a destination for the rich and famous. There’s a yacht full of British celebs in the harbour, and their boss is found floating in water.

Despite promising Anna that he was not going to get involved and be on holiday…well of course he gets involved. He can’t help himself. So he and Oscar go out to the yacht to help the police investigate the murder.

It’s another fiendish and fun case for Dan and Oscar. Even Anna manages to be OK with it. Thankfully, as I like her and their relationship.

If you’re looking for some crime in beautiful places, then look no further than this series – it’s well written, intelligent and super enjoyable.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Wicked Lady – Elena Collins

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‘Incredibly atmospheric, haunting and poignant.’ Nicola Cornick


1648 – Hertfordshire

Thirteen-year-old Katherine Ferrers is in despair at being betrothed to arch-Royalist Thomas Fanshawe whose family are hellbent on plundering her family’s fortune to champion the exiled Charles. As her unhappy marriage stretches before her, her only comfort is her beloved childhood home The Cell. But as the years pass and Kate grows restless, a new passion, a new love and a dangerous calling threaten to upend everything she’s ever known.

Present Day – Hertfordshire

Charlie Wolfe jumps at the chance to help his uncle renovate a tumbledown cottage overlooking Nomansland Common. Number One Constable’s Cottages was once the home of the man charged with ridding the common of the highwaymen who terrorised travellers. But it’s the story of The Wicked Lady, the notorious female highway robber, that captures Charlie’s imagination, and some long winters’ nights he’s sure he can the hoofbeats of her horse echoing across time.
What drove this mystery woman to risk everything for a life of crime, and why is she still restless, wandering the common in grief? It seems only Charlie can finally uncover the secret Katherine Ferrers has kept for hundreds of years; a secret of a terrible betrayal and a tragic love that was never meant to end this way…

USA Today bestselling author Judy Leigh writing as Elena Collins, brings you this spellbinding and heartbreaking timeslip novel, uncovering the intriguing story of another brave woman that history forgot. Perfect for fans of Barbara Erskine, Nicola Cornick, Diana Gabaldon and Louise Douglas.

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Elena Collins is the pseudonym for Judy Leigh. Judy Leigh is the bestselling author of Five French Hens , A Grand Old Time and The Age of Misadventure and the doyenne of the ‘it’s never too late’ genre of women’s fiction. She has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.

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My thoughts: my dad is from the same part of Hertfordshire as Katherine Ferrers and when I asked him about Markyate, he said he knew it well. St Albans is somewhere I know, quite well, so this story really resonated with me because it hasn’t changed a whole lot in all the hundreds of years since The Wicked Lady rode her horse.

Katherine was a real person but we only know the bare bones of her story, and here Judy Leigh (writing as Elena Collins) has put flesh on those bones and created a vividly realised and fascinating story about a woman all but forgotten by history.

I enjoyed Charlie’s story too – he’s rebuilding not just a cottage but also his life after the end of a relationship. He meets new people and starts to look into Katherine’s story, bringing her back to life through his music.

This was an interesting, intelligent and very enjoyable read, I love learning more about forgotten women and the story was compelling.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blogathon: Russ Thomas – Firewatching

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A taut and ambitious police procedural debut introducing Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler, a cold case reviewer who lands a high-profile murder investigation, only to find the main suspect is his recent one-night stand . . .

When financier Gerald Cartwright disappeared from his home six years ago, it was assumed he’d gone on the run from his creditors. But then a skeleton is found bricked up in the cellar of Cartwright’s burned-out mansion, and it becomes clear Gerald never left alive.

As the sole representative of South Yorkshire’s Cold Case Review Unit, Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler is not expected to get results, but he knows this is the case that might finally kick start his floundering career. Luckily, he already has a suspect. Unluckily, that suspect is Cartwright’s son, the man Tyler slept with the night before.

Keeping his possible conflict-of-interest under wraps, Tyler digs into the case alongside Amina Rabbani, an ambitious young Muslim constable and a fellow outsider seeking to prove herself on the force. Soon their investigation will come up against close-lipped townsfolk, an elderly woman with dementia who’s receiving mysterious threats referencing a past she can’t remember, and an escalating series of conflagrations set by a troubled soul intent on watching the world burn . . .

About the Author

Russ Thomas grew up in the 80s reading anything he could get his hands on, writing stories, watching television and playing videogames: in short, anything that avoided the Great Outdoors. He spent five years trying to master the Electronic Organ and another five learning Spanish. It didn’t take him too long to realize he’d be better off sticking to the writing.

After a few ‘proper’ jobs (among them: pot-washer. optician’s receptionist, supermarket warehouse operative, call-center telephonist and storage salesman) he discovered the joys of bookselling, where he could talk to people about books all day. Now a full-time writer, he also teaches creative writing classes and mentors new authors. Firewatching is his first novel.

My thoughts: Adam Tyler is not an easy person to get to know, he keeps a lot to himself and he isn’t easy to work with either – as the only member of the Cold Case Review Unit (CCRU) he works alone, except that he has to work with other officers, like this case.

After a man’s remains are found in the wall of a house a firebug has set alight, the cold case of the man’s death and the current case of an arsonist at work collide, forcing Tyler to have to work with his colleagues instead of going off alone. Or does it? His boss can’t get him to work well with others.

The case is more complicated, more twisted and requires a lot more digging than it might first appear. The case kept me hooked from the very start and didn’t let up. Tyler is a complex man with a difficult past that keeps getting in the way of his present.

I really liked PC Mina Rabbani, who becomes his sidekick, her instincts are great and she works out how to handle Tyler pretty quickly. Tyler’s past impacts a lot on how he is and his contentious relationship with his bosses, his dad’s career and death cast a long shadow.

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

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Blog Tour: Careful What You Witch For – Emma Jackson

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Two complete strangers. One life-changing spell.

Becca Ashworth’s family is in trouble and with their magical legacy under threat, it puts their small village of Biddicote at risk too. So going against the witching tenets to summon an ancestor for help seems like a small price to pay to fix the problem…at first.

Connor Lynch is the Witches Council’s secret weapon and he’s just been deployed to find out exactly what the Ashworths are up to. But how he ends up posing as Becca’s fake husband at a magical inn in
Cornwall as they hunt down a magical artefact, is just as perplexing as the cheerful witch herself.

When their attraction for each other grows, Becca and Connor question everything they have been taught – and soon the missing artefact isn’t the only thing they are searching for. As love collides with duty, it’s clear that sometimes you need to be careful what you witch for…

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Author of the Best Selling A MISTLETOE MIRACLE and contender for the Joan Hessayon Award 2020, Emma has been a devoted bookworm and secret-story-scribbler since she was 6 years old. When she’s not running around after her two daughters and trying to complete her current work-in-progress, Emma loves to read, bake, catch up on binge-watching TV programmes with her
partner and plan lots of craft projects that will inevitably end up unfinished. Emma is also a host on the SFFRomCast, a podcast dedicated to celebrating fantasy and sci-fi romance. Her last book, WITCH YOU WEREN’T HERE, a witchy romcom full of misbehaving magic, brother’s best friend angst, and only one bed shenanigans.

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My thoughts: this was a cute, fun rom com with witches, a quest and two people falling madly in love, even though they probably shouldn’t  – or at least one of them shouldn’t, considering he’s investigating the other!

Becca’s family protect the village of Biddicote through an ancient spell that ties their family to the place but now sonething’s gone wrong and they need to understand what. It leads to Becca, and Connor, going on an adventure to Cornwall (a magical place) to hunt down a missing artifact.

And sharing a bed, as Becca introduces them as newlyweds – whoops! Thinking that’s a good cover story and horrifying Connor. But somehow over the few days they spend together, things get a bit friendlier and there’s definitely some heat being generated. It’s just very lovely and charming stuff.

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

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Blog Tour: James Ryker series – The Renegade – Rob Sinclair

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Book 6 – The Renegade


Preorder the intense action thriller from million copy bestseller Rob Sinclair
This mission will test him to his limit…

When a simple surveillance mission goes awry and the key target is kidnapped in broad daylight in a busy London square, James Ryker, a veteran intelligence agent now working for the secretive Joint Intelligence Agency, knows he has his work cut out.

Ryker is tasked with figuring out what went wrong. But when his good friend Sam Moreno disappears without a trace, the mission becomes more personal than he could have imagined.

Torn between toeing the government line, and finding the answers he needs, Ryker realises there’s only one way to find those responsible and to punish them… His way.

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Rob Sinclair is the million copy bestseller of over twenty thrillers, including the James Ryker series.
Rob previously studied Biochemistry at Nottingham University. He also worked for a global accounting firm for 13 years, specialising in global fraud investigations.

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My thoughts: James Ryker has been on assignment with a team from MI5, which goes badly wrong. So Ryker starts to investigate why, despite treading on toes. But then Sam Moreno vanishes from her hospital bed. He, of course, decides to look for her, and his boss Winter officially isn’t able to help him but does give him a few clues as he heads over to Germany on the scraps of information that suggest a link to a ruthless and quite possibly evil millionaire. Where is Sam and what does the German energy tycoon have to do with her disappearance?

Ryker’s body count goes up quite significantly as he works on both investigations, and he puts his career on the line – even Winter can’t cover for him anymore. There’s lots of action as he races to save his only friend, and he may finally pay the price for going off and doing things his way.

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

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Blog Tour: After the Fire – Charlotte Rixon

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This is the story of girl meets boy.

And then everything goes wrong . . .

Ever since they first met at university, Beth and Nick have circled in and out of one another’s lives: supporting each other through grief, marriage, divorce, career crises and family dramas.

Fourteen years ago, when they were on the cusp of adulthood, they both survived a devastating fire that sent their lives in different directions. And they’ve been running ever since: from the pain, from the memories, and most devastatingly of all, from the guilt.

But no matter how hard they try, there’s something else they can’t run from. The inescapable, terrifying truth: they’re in love with each other.

But how can they move forward, when neither of them can stop looking back?

Charlotte Rixon is the pen name of Charlotte Duckworth, USA Today-bestselling author of suspense fiction published by Quercus. Charlotte studied Classics at Leeds University and went on to gain a PGDip in Screenwriting. She worked for many years as a magazine journalist, and is a graduate of the Faber Academy ‘Writing A Novel’ course.

My thoughts: University wasn’t everything Beth and Nick had wanted it to be, after a terrible tragedy that Beth feels she could have prevented, they both go on to their adult lives, never acting on their feelings.

As they drift in and out of each others’ lives, never talking about what happened all those years ago, never dealing with their feelings about what happened or each other, it gets more complicated to ignore. Love is never straightforward but only by confronting the past, can these two lovers move on and be happy.

Moving and intelligent, this is a fascinating read about unrequited love, learning to let go of the past and find happiness.

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

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Blog Tour: A Class Act – Julie Houston

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Robyn Allen is finally getting closer to her dream of West End stardom. And along with her role dancing in the latest hot musical, she’s being wined and dined by an equally hot man – the wildly successful and well-connected Fabian Carrington. But one slip up and her dreams are shattered, and Robyn has to hobble back to the Yorkshire village of Beddingfield, and the life she hoped she’d escaped.

Moving back into her mum’s house with her recalcitrant teenage sister Sorrel, next door to her older sister Jess who’s fed up with picking up the slack, is not how Robyn pictured her year. But there’s
more to come. Sorrel needs a new school, and the school needs a new drama teacher. Despite having vowed never to teach again, Robyn knows she has to support her sister.

So together Sorrel and Robyn vow to take on St Mede’s – home to jokers, tearaways and trouble-makers, but with a hidden heartbeat ready to be inspired. And who knows, the kids might have something to teach Robyn about life too…

Welcome to the village of Beddingfield and the first book in bestseller Julie Houston’s new series set in Yorkshire. Funny, fabulous, heart-warming and hilarious, you’ll never forget the Allen sisters and
their one-of-a-kind community. Perfect for fans of Jo Bartlett, Cathy Bramley and Philippa Ashley.

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Julie Houston is the author of 12 novels. She lives in West Yorkshire and writes warm and funny books about characters who are still learning about life.

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My thoughts: If you’ve been here for a while, you’ll know I’m a fan of Julie Houston’s funny, entertaining and warm novels, and this first in a new series is no different.

Robyn is a trained performer, desperately seeking her big West End break, but when things go wrong (a bad break up, a nasty injury) she heads back to the Yorkshire village she grew up in and her family, who are falling apart at the seams.

Her mum has a medical condition that’s landed her back in hospital, her dad is off with his band, her younger sister has been expelled from school and her older sister’s husband has left her holding it all together, while working all hours and parenting their daughter.

Robyn is needed more than ever, and after failing to get Sorrel (15 and obnoxious as all teenagers are) back into her school, she’s reduced to begging the head teacher of the next nearest secondary to take her. And he will, if Robyn (who has a teaching qualification) becomes his drama, dance and English teacher, as the previous one has just left.

Cue chaos, not all of the students are thrilled with a new teacher – or having to be at school. Then Robyn is asked to put together a school production of Grease.

Having been involved in school productions and worked with teenagers, I completely empathised with Robyn’s horror at dealing with the teenage terrors of St Mede’s, and also with her family’s various dramas. She’s been down in London (t’Smoke as my great-aunt from Yorkshire put it) and missed a lot of what Jess (her older sister) has been trying to deal with.

I really enjoyed this book, it was lots of fun and Robyn and her family were so lovely, loving and warm. I’m looking forward to seeing how this series develops.

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

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Blog Tour: An Old Tin Can – Bryan J. Mason 

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YOU ONLY KNOW WHO YOU ARE AT THE SHARP END

Belfast 1989. The Troubles.

Harry Burnard joins a police force confronted with threats on every side.
His team, ‘The Squad’, a bunch of abandoned oddballs, are only allowed to work criminal cases.


But there is no crime. Only terrorism. So, do they really have nothing to do?

When Harry uncovers clues about an apparently random series of sectarian stabbings, he gets caught up in an increasingly complex political landscape.
And sets out to find a killer unlike any other.

In this explosive witty novel, where not everyone is who they seem to be, it can be dangerous to know who you are.

Are you a Billy, a Dan, or an old Tin Can?


In a land where identity is everything, it gets bloody complicated.

An Old Tin Can is the first in a new black comedy crime series featuring Harry Burnard and The Squad.

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Bryan J Mason has managed to hold down a variety of jobs including brush salesman, rent collector and tax inspector and he has also made sound effects for BBC radio and done the occasional acting job. 

He writes regular theatre reviews for Bristol 24/7 and StageTalk. His first novel, Shaking Hands With The Devil, took over 30 years to be published and finally came out in 2021. 

He lives in Bristol, with his wife and has two children in their twenties.

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My thoughts: Set in Belfast during the Troubles, Jewish police officer Harry Burnard has transferred from Brighton to the Northern Irish city, not really understanding the situation he’s landed himself in.

However there’s a serial killer on the loose, killing both Catholics and Protestants by turn. The chief is happy to dismiss it as terrorism, but Harry spots the clues that suggest it’s much more than that. Who is the killer and what is his motive?

An interesting and clever police crime thriller set during a complicated and bloody period of our recent history.

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

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BBNYA Blog Tour: The Reanimator’s Heart – Kara Jorgensen

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BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner.

If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

A reluctant necromancer, a man killed before his time, and the crime that brings them together.

Felipe Galvan’s life as an investigator for the Paranormal Society has been spent running into danger. Returning home from his latest case, Felipe struggles with the sudden quiet of his life until a mysterious death puts him in the path of the enigmatic Oliver Barlow.

Oliver has two secrets. One, he has been in love with the charming Felipe Galvan for years. Two, he is a necromancer, but to keep the sensible life he’s built as a medical examiner, he must hide his powers. That is until Oliver finds Felipe murdered and accidentally brings him back from the dead.

But Felipe refuses to die again until he and Oliver catch his killer. Together, Felipe and Oliver embark on an investigation to uncover a plot centuries in the making. As they close in on his killer, one thing is certain: if they don’t stop them, Felipe won’t be the last to die.

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Kara Jorgensen (she/they) is a queer, nonbinary oddball with a penchant for all things antiquated, morbid, or just plain strange. While in college, they realized they no longer wanted to be Victor Frankenstein but instead wanted to write like Mary Shelley and thus abandoned their future career in science for writing. Kara melds her passions through her books and graduated with an MFA in Creative and Professional Writing in 2016. When not writing, they can be found hanging out with their dogs watching period dramas or trying to convince their students to cite their sources. 

My thoughts: I really liked this book, I loved Oliver and just wanted to give him a hug, thankfully he has Gwen and eventually Felipe for that.

Investigating a nun’s death is a little awkward, since the church frowns on their kind, but the sister isn’t just a nun, she has a gift and someone was willing to kill her to steal her secrets.

Oliver and Felipe are thrown together by circumstance and then when Oliver accidentally brings Felipe back from the dead, and might be the only reason he’s still alive, they can’t resist the pull between them, so they don’t.

But they’re still on the case, especially after Oliver’s lab is broken into and he and Gwen attacked. But why would anyone want some medical curios?

A fun and clever adventure with a sweet romance at its centre.

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

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Blog Tour: The Trap – Ava Glass

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She has just one week to stop a killer.

Emma Makepeace is headed to Edinburgh for the global G7 Summit when her team is tipped off about a high-profile assassination the Russians are planning—but they have no idea who the target is.

Surrounded by the world’s most powerful political leaders in a gridlocked city, Emma must set a trap and use herself as bait. 

With time running short, Emma faces the most perilous mission of her career. How far will she go to catch the killer?

Ava Glass is a pseudonym for a former crime reporter and civil servant. She is the author of Alias Emma and The Traitor. Her time working for the government introduced her to the world of spies, and she’s been fascinated by them ever since. She lives and writes in the south of England.

My thoughts: Emma Makepeace is back, this time undercover investigating a Russian plot to destabilise to G7 summit in Edinburgh. She’s not familiar with the Scottish capital so she’s assigned a partner, local homicide detective Mac, and the despite a slightly rocky start the two women form a solid working relationship.

Posing as an energy executive Emma pursues a Russian born power company owner – who might be involved in the plot the Agency, and it’s partners (MI5, MI6 etc) are trying to unravel. He’s a bit of a romantic and whisks the woman he knows as Anna Case off to Rome on a private jet, putting them both in serious danger. Luckily Emma has skills and a survival instinct that might just keep them alive.

It’s a heart racing, thrill ride around Europe as Emma and her colleagues attempt to stop the plot disrupt the G7 summit and assassinate any number of dignitaries and politicians. With Emma’s defences down, has this case got too far under her skin?

This series continues to be a cracker and I really enjoyed this latest installment of Emma’s adventures. I like how she’s become more interesting and also less willing to just blindly follow orders when she thinks something isn’t right. Seeing her develop new relationships and work better with others was enjoyable too. Can’t wait for the next book.

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