ramblingmads

Wartime secrets, smugglers’ caves, skeletal remains. And the holiday’s only just begun…
July 1923 – Iris Woodmore travels to Devon with her friends Percy Baverstock and Millicent Nightingale for her father’s wedding to Katherine Keats.
But when Millicent uncovers skeletal remains hidden on the private beach of Katherine’s former home, Iris begins to suspect her future stepmother is not what she seems.
The police reveal the dead man is a smuggler who went missing in 1918, and when a new murder occurs, they realise a killer is in their midst. The link between both murders is Katherine. Could Iris’s
own father be in danger?
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Michelle Salter writes historical cosy crime set in Hampshire, where she lives, and inspired by real-life events in 1920s Britain. The first book in her Iris Woodmore series, Death at Crookham Hall, draws on her interest in the aftermath of the Great War and the suffragette movement.

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My thoughts: I think Iris and I would be great friends but I’d be reluctant to go on holiday with her because of her habit of finding dead bodies! Like the author I have family connections to Devon and Cornwall and know a bit about the area – including the long history of smuggling and wrecking.

A body in a cave in a cove used by smugglers wouldn’t really be a surprise, but it hasn’t been used as such for a long time and the skeleton isn’t that old, at least the train ticket in its pocket suggests a much more recent demise. And despite what the local bobby thinks, Iris is pretty sure it’s not a local n’er-do-well but someone connected to the house above it on the cliff, where her father’s fiancée once lived.

While everyone keeps telling her that Katherine is actually lovely, and she certainly does seem to be, Iris wants more information. Did the dead man visit Katherine and her now deceased ex-husband? Is Katherine the killer, or is it someone else close to home?

I also spent a lot of time mentally telling Iris that Percy is madly in love with her and would she ever put him out of his misery and kiss him! The poor man is traumatised by his war memories and is too polite to just say it, but I do wish someone would. At the beach party in particular, even with the hunky Belgian chef flexing his muscles, there’s Percy friendzoned again. For someone with an eye for detection, Iris can’t seem to see what’s right in front of her face.

The case is a bit of tricky one, the sensibilities of Iris’ refugee friends and the terrible memories of the things they suffered mean it’s hard to ask too many questions, the discovery of the skeleton’s real identity completely changes the view and that’s before another body drops. It’s a bit of a sticky mess and Iris only has a few days before the wedding to sort it all out.

Tremendous fun as always, drawing on real history and adding in the joys of the roaring 20s, Percy’s landlady and her actor guests are especially entertaining, plus it ends with a wedding, like all the great stories.

*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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Blog Tour: After Anne – Logan Steiner

Jul 10, 2023Jul 10, 2023 ramblingmads

A stunning and unexpected portrait of Lucy Maud Montgomery, creator of one of literature’s most prized heroines, whose personal demons were at odds with her most enduring legacy—the irrepressible Anne of Green Gables.

“Dear old world,” she murmured, “you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.” —L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, 1908

As a young woman, Maud had dreams bigger than the whole of Prince Edward Island. Her exuberant spirit had always drawn frowns from her grandmother and their neighbors, but she knew she was meant to create, to capture and share the way she saw the world. And the young girl in Maud’s mind became more and more persistent: Here is my story, she said. Here is how my name should be spelled—Anne with an “e.”

But the day Maud writes the first lines of Anne of Green Gables, she gets a visit from the handsome new minister in town, and soon faces a decision: forge her own path as a spinster authoress, or live as a rural minister’s wife, an existence she once called “a synonym for respectable slavery.” The choice she makes alters the course of her life. With a husband whose religious mania threatens their health and happiness at every turn, the secret darkness that Maud herself holds inside threatens to break through the persona she shows to the world, driving an ever-widening wedge between her public face and private self, and putting her on a path towards a heartbreaking end.

Beautiful and moving, After Anne reveals Maud’s hidden personal challenges while celebrating what was timeless about her life and art—the importance of tenacity and the peaceful refuge found in imagination.

LOGAN STEINER is a litigator and briefwriting specialist at a boutique law firm. She graduated summa cum laude from Pomona College and cum laude from Harvard Law School. She lives in Denver with her husband and daughter. After Anne is her first novel.

My thoughts: I was given, and read, all the Anne books as a child by my aunt, but I knew nothing about their author. Like her creation, she grew up on Prince Edward Island, but beyond that, she and Anne with an “E” were very different.

Lucy Maud Montgomery, known by her middle name, comes off as a bit more of a Pollyanna than her red haired orphan girl. She lives with her grandmother, taking care of her, having a long engagement to the handsome minister of the local church, putting him off because her grandmother can’t be left on her own.

Eventually she does marry him, they move away and have two sons. She keeps writing her Anne books, which she saves the money from for her sons education.

Moving between the later years of her life and an imagined birthday weekend at her grandmother’s house, Maud is revising her journals and reminiscing over her life. She actually did revise and edit her diaries, which were later published. It seems strange to be happy to have others read your thoughts but to carefully remove anything that might change how people see you, a controlling and almost manipulative act perhaps.

Her marriage isn’t a happy one, her husband is mentally ill, possibly with depression or bipolar disorder, her sons aren’t all she wanted them to be either – the eldest Chester disappoints her. She seems very lonely following the death of her cousin and closest friend Frede in 1919 of the Spanish Flu. Her journals may well have been the closest she has to a confidante for the rest of her life.

This book, while being fiction, is clearly very well researched and the author has stuck to the facts, while fleshing out the inner life of this unusual and quite sad writer. Anne had such joy and was such a character, completely herself, that it seems a tragedy her creator was not able to be the same and instead slid into the template society created for her, her only outlet her writing.

*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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Blog Tour: Summer Fishing in Lapland – Juhani Karila, translated by Lola Rogers

Jul 9, 2023Jul 7, 2023 ramblingmads

When Elina makes her annual summer pilgrimage to her remote family farm in Lapland, she has three days to catch the pike in a local pond, or she and the love of her life will both die. This year her task is made even more difficult by the intervention of a host of deadly supernatural creatures and a murder detective on her tail.

Can Elina catch the pike and put to rest the curse that has been hanging over her head ever since a youthful love affair turned sour? Can Sergeant Janatuinen make it back to civilisation in one piece? And just why is Lapland in summer so weird?

Summer Fishing in Lapland is an audacious, genre-defying blend of fantasy, folk tale and nature writing.

Juhani Karila (b. 1985) is an award-winning journalist and an author who was born and raised in Finnish Lapland. Summer Fishing in Lapland is his debut novel. It was published in 2019, winning widespread acclaim and numerous prizes in Finland, and is being translated into 13 languages around the world.

Lola Rogers is a full-time literary translator living in Seattle. Her published translations include works by Sofi Oksanen, Riikka Pulkkinen and Antti Tuomainen. Her translation of Oksanen’s novel Purge was chosen as a best book of 2010 by The Sunday Times and several other publications. She has also contributed translations of fiction, non-fiction and poetry to numerous journals and anthologies.

My thoughts: this is not an easy book to define, featuring as it does a whole host of otherworldly creatures, curses, a detective, witches, a pike that somehow seems to regenerate, and other weirdness near the Arctic Circle. Lapland is part of Finland and the home of the Sami people, although none of the characters in this book are Sami, who might be further away with the reindeer they herd, which considering the goings on, is probably for the best.

This small town is very strange and the locals are just part of it. They live quite happily alongside things like the raskals, bear or dog like monsters, although the one we meet is very friendly and called Musti. He adopts the cop, or she adopts him, I’m not sure.

Theres the knacky, that won’t let Elina have the pike from the pond, and Slabber Olli, a sort of ghost/monster made out of trees and earth. I don’t know a huge amount about Finnish folklore to know whether these are regular creatures in the Arctic or not. There’s also a guest appearance by a bad dream that Sandman fans might recognise, it certainly made me say “oh, wait!”

I really enjoyed this book, weirdness and all. I love a good mash up of “reality” and the older, somewhat forgotten stuff. Our ancestors believed in all sorts of creatures, good or otherwise, that lived alongside us, maybe they still do in some places.

It’s also a break up/love story as Elina is still trying to get over her ex, and getting the pike out of the pond is what she thinks she needs to do to break a curse on them both. But things aren’t quite as she presents them and if her witchy neighbour Asko could remember where he is for five minutes and help her, she might be ok.

Funny, strange and somewhat profound in places, this is an enjoyable and entertaining read.

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

books

Summer of Sci Fi: Space Operas, Queerness and Found Family

Jul 8, 2023Jul 7, 2023 ramblingmads

I didn’t think I liked sci fi, raised by a dad who loves Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate (if it was set in space, had a military angle and star in the title, he watched it), put me off. I didn’t see myself in those shows or in the classic sci fi books in the library.

But in the last few years there’s been a boom in sci fi that’s smart and inclusive. Queer writers, writers of colour, women writers are all there now, some of the most interesting work in fiction is taking place in the genre. Because in sci fi, you can be anyone, do anything, hold a mirror up to our reality and tilt it.

A lot of the sci fi I’ve been reading recently has been tackling the effects and legacy of colonialism, something that much fiction is leery about covering. But set it in the far future on another planet, with aliens or even future humans and you can explore the dark history of humanity and discuss its terrible lasting damage without upsetting anyone (well, except the usual reactionists, and we’re the snowflakes!)

There’s something for everyone in the new sci fi, plenty of writers are still writing space marines and war stories but more and more there are queer characters, non binary and trans characters, found families working as a crew. And they’re funny. A lot of those classic books I found in the library took themselves very seriously. You’re in space! With aliens! Laugh.

So I’m embracing this brave new world, and will be sharing various favourites across the summer here and on Instagram, so keep an eye out.

To whet your appetite, here’s a few of my favourites.

The Word For World is Forest – Ursula K. LeGuin

LeGuin is one of the greats, her Earthsea series remains a stone cold classic. But one of my favourites is this slim volume from 1972. Partly inspired by the author’s condemnation of the Vietnam War, this novella looks at a logging colony set up by humans on a forest planet and the enslavement of the native people – the Athsheans. While some criticised the book as too polemical, I think that LeGuin was making a clear comment about colonialism, slavery and ecology. The military that runs the logging camps cares nothing for the Athsheans or their planet. When they finally start to fight back, they are met by brute force and violence.

Saga – Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples

This is actually a long running graphic novel series but is one of my absolute favourites. It’s about a family trying to stay together despite the odds. Alana and Marko fall in love even though they are fighting on opposite sides of a seemingly endless war. When Alana gets pregnant, they go on the run with their friends. It’s narrated by their daughter, Hazel. They live in a space ship made from a tree at one point. Endlessly creative and inclusive, the nanny is trans and the babysitter’s a ghost.

Telling the story of these outsiders alongside those of some of the other players searching for this special family. I love the various bounty hunters and especially Lying Cat, who can tell when you lie. There are currently 11 books, in various bindings and I only have 10! Ahh!

The Red Scholar’s Wake – Aliette de Bodard

This came out very recently and as well as being very beautiful to look at, is a captivating romance between a ship, Rice Fish, and her captive/wife. They’re pirates fighting to ensure their survival after The Red Scholar, Rice Fish’s wife, dies. There are enemies everywhere and an empire looming at the edges, hoping to crush the pirates completely.

I came to this via de Bodard’s fantasy series set in a future destroyed Paris. As a French-Vietnamese writer, she is tackling colonialism from within, giving a different perspective on the history and struggles of colonised people.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars – Christopher Paolini

The crew of the Wallfish are smugglers who answer a distress call and get dragged into an epic space war involving ancient alien artifacts and species. It’s a sprawling story that travels across the galaxy, attempting to create peace but finding only chaos as both humans and aliens refuse to even attempt to understand one another.

I haven’t read the Eragon books, despite my love of dragons the series never appealed, but this intelligent space opera really captured me. Paolini spent years writing it and while it is a big book, it doesn’t feel laboured.

La Sirena Negra trilogy – Valerie Valdes

Prime Deceptions introduces us to the crew of La Sirena Negra, a freighter, captained by Eva Innocente, a former mercenary. There’s a whole tribe of psychic cats on board, which I adore, and it is also quite queer. Followed by Chilling Effect and Fault Tolerance as the crew get dragged into various misadventures including rescuing Eva’s kidnapped sister, and stopping a terrifying alien race from destroying the galaxy.

This whole series is very funny and there’s lots of action as Eva can’t say no to a fight, even when her opponent is much bigger than her. Aided by her faithful crew, even when they should know better, it’s space hijinks galore.

What sci fi do you enjoy? Any recommendations? Keep an eye out for more Summer of Sci Fi posts coming soon that might include some books you’ll enjoy!

*images used were found via Google. If you are the owner and wish to be credited, please let me know*

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Book Blitz: Submit – Jillian D. Wray

Jul 8, 2023Jul 8, 2023 ramblingmads

Submit copy

We are thrilled to share this GORGEOUS upcoming release by Jillian D. Wray! Submit is available this month. Read on for more details!

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Submit (Nothing Lasts Forever #1)

Expected Publication Date: July 2023

Pre-order link

Genre: Romantic Suspense/ Romance

Tropes:

🖤Age Gap
🖤Broody Possessive Alpha
🖤Fated Mates/ Star Crossed Lovers
🖤Tasteful Spice

When I first met Willem, he swept me off my feet. I was pursued. Adored.

But over time, I began to give in to all of Will’s desires and demands and lost sight of who I was. Whenever I felt like I could finally break free… he would find a way to reel me back in.

That’s how I ended up here, in Aruba. With a fiancé who’s never around and a lonely, solitary existence filled with cooking meals and keeping house.

Meeting Casper was a pleasant surprise. With his brilliant green eyes, tanned skin, and brooding demeanor, I find myself irresistibly drawn into his orbit again and again. Without even trying, he makes me feel seen for the first time in years.

Maybe it’s the way he corrects my stance on the kite board. Maybe it’s the side glances he thinks I don’t catch. But the more time I spend with him, the more closed-off he becomes – and the more I want to break through his tough exterior.

When Will and I’s relationship takes a turn for the worse, Casper helps me escape my prison. But I never expected the secrets that would be exposed… or the danger that’s about to come for us both.

In over my head, I quickly realize that at least one more time, I will have to submit to someone else’s control.

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About the Author

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Jillian has worked in the healthcare industry for over 10 years. With no formal education in creative writing, she sat down one night during the pandemic to give her mind a break from facts and sterile objectivity. In doing so, she discovered a love for losing herself in a story all her own. Even though she continues to work her “regular” job, she’s always planning, plotting, and scheming for ways to make her next characters fall in love.

Her characters are inspired by people she has met over the years and their stories could happen to anyone. Realistic, flirty, quick reads are what you’ll get when you crack open one of her novels.

When she isn’t working or writing, you can find her in her garden, on a plane, or 50ft below the surface of the ocean breathing bubbles and chasing fish. She currently resides in North Carolina with her husband and three stepkids.

Jillian D. Wray

Alternate Cover

JW_Submit

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Blog Tour: The Secret of Villa Alba – Louise Douglas

Jul 7, 2023Jul 5, 2023 ramblingmads

1968, Sicily. Just months after a terrible earthquake has destroyed the mountain town of Gibellina, Enzo and his wife Irene Borgata are making their way back to the family home, Villa Alba del Ciliegio, on roads overlooked by the eerie backdrop of the flattened ghost town. When their car breaks down, Enzo leaves his young wife to go and get help, but when he returns there is no trace of Irene.
No body, no sign of a struggle, nothing.

Present Day. TV showman and true crime aficionado Milo Conti is Italy’s darling, uncovering and solving historic crimes for his legion of fans. When he turns his attention to the story of the missing Irene Borgata, accusing her husband of her murder, Enzo’s daughter Maddi asks her childhood friend, retired detective Jane Cobain, for help to prove her father’s innocence. But the tale Jane discovers is murky: mafia meetings, infidelity, mistaken identity, grief and unshakable love. As the world slowly closes in on the claustrophobic Villa Alba del Ciliegio, and the house begins to reveal its secrets, will the Borgata family wish they’d never asked Jane to investigate? And what did happen to Enzo’s missing wife Irene?

Bestselling author Louise Douglas returns with an irresistibly compelling, intriguing and captivating tale of betrayal, love, jealousy and the secrets buried in every family history..
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Louise Douglas is the bestselling and brilliantly reviewed author and an RNA award winner. The Secrets Between Us was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. She lives in the West Country.

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My thoughts: families always seem to have terrible secrets but the ones here only do damage to the other members. Enzo’s wife disappeared, despite needing a wheelchair, which was left behind. Did he kill her or did something else happen to her? He won’t talk about that day, and no one else, except the missing Irene, knows what happened. They all have theories, and secrets of their own.

Jane is mourning her husband and hopes that helping her old friend look into her family mystery will help her recover from her loss. But digging into the complicated family dynamics at the Villa Alba threatens to bring a lot more to light than what happened to Irene.

With the family keeping things from her, and each other, Jane is struggling to get answers before the deadline of the TV show, but with a little help from her friend back home and the charming local police detective, she just might solve it.

A moving and evocative story of love and loss set in the beautiful Sicilian countryside, complete with mafioso and delicious food.

*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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Blog Tour: The Chemical Code – Fiona Erskine

Jul 6, 2023Jul 5, 2023 ramblingmads

Racing towards the dark heart of Brazil, explosives expert Jaq Silver has one goal – vengeance. When her enemies take what she treasures most, she resolves to make them pay. Unsure who to trust, alert to hidden agendas, Jaq is hunting solo. As summer temperatures rise, the web of danger and corruption tightens around her. What is in the mysterious box, Jaq has inherited from her grandmother? Can Jaq be sure she is chasing down the right target? And who is pursuing her?

An exhilarating tour around Brazil from the gold mines of Goiás to the glorious beaches of Rio, THE CHEMICAL CODE combines non-stop explosive action and Bond-style villainy with the scientific know-how that makes the Chemical Detective series so unique.

FIONA ERSKINE is a professional engineer based in Teesside, although her work has taken her around the globe. As a female engineer, she has often been the lone representative of her gender in board meetings, cargo ships and night-time factories, and her fiction offers a fascinating insight into this traditionally male world. She is the author of The Chemical Detective, The Chemical Reaction and The Chemical Cocktail, all published by Point Blank. The Chemical Detective was shortlisted for the Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award and The Chemical Reaction was shortlisted for the Staunch Prize in 2020.

@erskine_fiona @PointBlankCrime #ChemicalDetective

My thoughts: Jaq Silver has inherited a gold mine somewhere deep in the Brazilian rainforest, only she’s not interested, but plenty of other people are. She just wants to find her son, given away and adopted at birth. He’s out here somewhere but the people chasing her will stop at nothing to get the mining rights and keep her away, they’ll destroy and kill in order to stop her.

On her trail is federal police officer Gracà Nunes, she’s new to the job but has good instincts, and something tells her Jaq is a woman to watch out for. As the women’s paths lead them to the same place, but from different angles, bodies pile up and they both face danger. But can Jaq outwit her enemies and find her son? Will Gracà catch up with her and get to keep her job by solving the big case?

There are subplots involving bank managers and environmental scientists, stolen moments with kitesurfers and daring ocean rescues. It’s all very high adrenaline stuff, Jaq’s a bit of an action hero as well as a clever engineer, but not necessarily a great detective. As she zigzags across Brazil searching for her son, doing the odd spot of actual work and plotting revenge, other things rumble on in the background and she seems to be connected to it all.

Intelligent and drawing on real events for inspiration, this will hook you and suck you into its fast paced tangled web of corruption, crime and crazed colonels.

*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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Blog Tour: The Bigamist – Rona Halsall

Jul 6, 2023Jul 5, 2023 ramblingmads

‘I’m sorry, Sam’s not available,’ says the woman who answers my husband’s phone. I can’t place her voice, so I politely ask who she is. Her answer sends my world spinning out of control: ‘I’m his wife.’

I know I want to marry Sam the moment I meet him. After I lost my beloved mother so suddenly, this charming, softly spoken architect with his deep-brown eyes is just the fresh start I’ve been searching for.

I’m delighted to be expecting our first child before we’ve even had a chance to plan a honeymoon. I want our family to work so I try to ignore his long work trips. I turn a blind eye to the private calls he takes and I listen to his excuses about why the money keeps disappearing from my bank account. After all, he has no idea what I’ve been doing in our house whilst he’s away or how I really made that money.

Then I find out Sam’s got more to hide than I ever imagined was possible. Because my husband is leading a double life. He’s already married to someone else.

But what Sam doesn’t know is that he’s not the only person keeping secrets.

And he has no idea how far I’ll go to protect myself…

A totally unputdownable, twisty, will-leave-you-gasping story of marriage, guilt and lies. If you love Lisa Jewell, Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins, you will not be able to sleep until you’ve finished every last page of The Bigamist.

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Rona is the bestselling author of psychological thrillers published by Bookouture. She loves to turn domestic storylines on their head to keep her readers guessing what the heck is going on.

She has been a bit of a nomad during her adult life, moving around the north of England, before settling in Snowdonia, North Wales where she brought up her family while working as a business mentor. She now lives on the Isle of Man with her little nutter of a Border Collie, Maid. You’ll find all the places she’s lived in her stories!

She is an outdoorsy person and loves stomping up a mountain, walking the coastal paths and exploring the wonderful glens and beaches on the Island while she’s plotting her next book. She has three children and two stepchildren who are all grown up and leading varied and interesting lives, which provides plenty of material for new stories.

To find out more about Rona and her novels, visit her website and sign up to her newsletter to get the latest info on new books and offers.

You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you’ll love

My thoughts: no one in this story is really who they seem, Sam, Faith and Emma are all carrying secrets, some much darker and more twisted than others. In a way they all deserve each other, they’re not nice people.

Marrying Sam is a pretty intentional thing to do, considering what Emma’s hiding but Sam isn’t to be trusted and neither is his sister Faith. They’ve got a past no one would be proud of.

As they try to keep everything hidden, events start to overtake them and things begin to surface, there’s some suspect paperwork in Sam’s office, paintings that belong to Emma show up in one of his client’s homes, Emma’s phone is full of things she can’t let anyone see and Faith is always popping round uninvited.

Things go from bad to worse very quickly and now they all need to work out their end game and how to evade the police, who’ve started asking questions. But who will survive the deadly game they’re all playing and what will the cost be? Gripping and full of sudden twists and turns, this is a clever thriller with deadly consequences.

*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: Good Girls Die Last – Natali Simmons

Jul 5, 2023Jul 5, 2023 ramblingmads

Today, nothing is going right for Em. And it’s about to get much worse. Heartbroken by a recent split, with her 30th birthday looming, she loses her job and her home in the same morning because of two swaggering, dishonest men – the boss who sexually harassed her and the flatmate sleeping with her behind his fiancée’s back. But all Em can think about is catching a flight to attend her sister’s wedding and see her dying mother. With a record-breaking heatwave, and a serial killer making the streets unsafe, London is completely gridlocked. Em’s life has always been full of men getting their own way, and today the scorched city teems with them standing between her and home. As Em’s troubled past returns to haunt her, she refuses to let them win. Her defiance leads to shocking consequences that soon spiral wildly out of control. In a world where men don’t listen, and girls have no voice, one woman can change everything. Today, no one will be staying silent.

As the daughter of a Spanish immigrant, Natali J Simmonds has lived all over the world. GOOD GIRLS DIE LAST is her first thriller after writing fantasy novels. When not writing, she is the Head of Community and Editorial Commissions at Jericho Writers and lectures at Raindance Film School and The University of The Hague. Follow Natali on Twitter: @NJSimmondsbooks #SaveEm /#GoodGirlsDieLast

My thoughts: this was an interesting read, inspired partly by the murder of Sarah Everard and the reactions that followed, both on social media and in the streets, the thought of a heatwave so profound that bus and tube drivers walk away from their jobs, leaving the city to grind to a halt, and the many, many aggressions that women deal with day in day out, it fizzles with barely repressed rage and frustration.

Em has had the worst day, fired, then made homeless by her obnoxious flatmate, she’s walking across town to get to City Airport to catch a flight home to Spain in time for her sister’s wedding. A serial killer is targeting women and the police seem unable to stop him.

She meets Rose, another woman walking across town and they have a rather eventful time dealing with creeps and idiots. They’re tired and fed up and it doesn’t seem to matter what they do, it’s relentless.

After her day takes several more terrible turns, Em finally snaps and does something. Something that could destroy the fragile life she’s barely holding onto. The events snowball beyond her control and suddenly she’s a figurehead, a movement. As the temperature slowly melts the tarmac, what could happen next?

Tense, angry and rightfully so, this is a clever and intriguing book, in a world where men have the power, all it takes is one woman.

*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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