blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: A Little Hotel in Cornwall – Laura Briggs

ramblingmads

All eight novellas in the UK bestselling series A LITTLE HOTEL IN CORNWALL are now available in one collection!

Follow aspiring young author Maisie Clark as she stumbles into a role as a maid in the
idyllic hotel by the sea, where there’s never a dull moment, from her quest to track down a reclusive English novelist, to her brush with jewel thieves and a whirlwind trip through Paris and London to name a few. All the while, she finds herself falling for the handsome and enigmatic groundskeeper Sidney Daniels. Could the key to unlocking her dreams be right in front of her?
This collection contains A Little Hotel in Cornwall, A Spirited Girl on Cornish Shores, Sea Holly and Mistletoe Kisses, The Cornish Secret of Summer’s Promise, A Train from Penzance to Paris, A Cornish
Daisy’s Kiss, A Stargazy Night Sky, and The Cornish Key to Happiness.
Purchase

Giveaway to Win a PB copy of A Little Hotel in Cornwall: Books 1-8 and a scarf with cover art from the series printed on it (Open to UK and US Only)

Laura Briggs is the author of several feel-good romance reads, including the Top 100 Amazon UK seller ‘A Wedding in Cornwall’. She has a fondness for vintage style dresses (especially ones with polka dots), and reads everything from Jane Austen to modern day mysteries. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, caring for her pets, gardening, and seeing the occasional movie or play.

Facebook Twitter

My thoughts: this is a delightful series of stories about aspiring author Maisie Clark and her adventures, mostly in Cornwall, as she tries to find reclusive author Alistair Davies in order to get him to agree to mentor her after missing out on a place on a prestigious writing course.

Due to a case of mistaken identity she ends up working at a Cornish hotel, where she encounters all sorts of people – roguish porters, charming gardeners, psychics, landed gentry, eccentrics of all types who holiday at Penharrow (the hotel) and indeed the staff too – everyone seems to have a secret or two, plenty of inspiration for a wannabe writer. I also really liked the idea for Maisie’s novel – it’s clever and I wish there was a copy of it!

She’s doing her best not to fall for Sidney Daniels, a kind hearted local resident who rescues stray dogs, helps out at various local events, tends the vicarage garden and has taken up being the painting hand of a paralysed friend. But even he has secrets, and they might make Maisie see him differently.

Funny, charming, sweet and entertaining, this is a lovely set of novellas, and worth getting the whole series for, I certainly found myself finishing one and starting the next very quickly.

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

*Terms and Conditions –UK & US entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will
not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random
Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

books, reviews

Book Review: The French House – Jacquie Bloese

ramblingmads

In Nazi-occupied Guernsey, the wrong decision can destroy a life…

Left profoundly deaf after an accident, Émile is no stranger to isolation – or heartbreak. Now, as Nazi planes loom over Guernsey, he senses life is about to change forever.

Trapped in a tense, fearful marriage, Isabelle doesn’t know what has become of Émile and the future she hoped for. But when she glimpses him from the window of the French House, their lives collide once more.

Leutnant Schreiber is more comfortable wielding a paintbrush than a pistol. But he has little choice in the role he is forced to play in the occupying forces – or in his own forbidden desires.

As their paths entwine, loyalties are blurred and dangerous secrets forged. But on an island under occupation, courage can have deadly consequences…

Lyrical, moving and compelling, this is a novel about wanting to hear and learning to listen – to the truths of our own hearts.Perfect for lovers of The Nightingale , The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and All the Light We Cannot See .

My thoughts: set in occupied Guernsey, this tale of love, bravery and family is both shocking and rather moving. Deafened in an accident Èmile has returned from Canada to the island of his birth, now married to Letty and with two teenage daughters, he grows vegetables and sells them to French and English markets. When war breaks out he has to find new work, in the garden of Victor Hugo’s former home, growing vegetables for the occupying Germans. This brings him back into contact with his former fianceè Isabelle.

As war rages on the continent and the Germans manipulate the island’s newspaper, Èmile and Isabelle reconnect, and both hold the secrets of a young German officer, discovered enflagrante in Èmile’s shed in the garden.

Risking their lives to avoid detection, they promise to help him, but they’re less careful than they realise, there are many eyes on them – not all of them kind.

I liked Èmile, even as he betrayed his wife by falling back in love with Isabelle, and then risked his neck for a virtual stranger. He suffers so much, from his accident in Canada, to the consequences of his actions in the war, but I don’t think he sets out to be cruel. He’s keenly aware of hurting Letty and his daughters, and tries to stay away from Isabelle, despite never having really stopped loving her.

Maud, his daughter, is also someone chafing against her life. She wants to pursue her musical talents but the war has put paid to that, and she’s determined to crack some of her parents’ secrets. Even if it hurts both them and her. Her younger sister might be the most level headed family member.

I found Isabelle a bit harder to like, she’s been around bullies her whole life and never learnt to stand up for herself. She draws Èmile into her awful marriage and doesn’t realise that she could get him killed, she forgets how genuinely terrible her rotten husband is.

They’re complex characters and it’s a complicated, tense time, the Channel Islands potentially formed a buffer zone for the British mainland and were left to be occupied, terrible things were done to the residents, not just very heavy rationing, but being arrested and deported to Germany for things that weren’t really crimes, including having not been born there.

I found the “good Nazi” plot a little uncomfortable as even if Peter isn’t directly killing anyone, he is still part of the machine of the war. I’m aware that he was probably conscripted and didn’t have much choice but it isn’t exactly a storyline without some concern. I wish this had been addressed in some way, rather than as a plot to bring the two main characters together.

Overall it’s a well written and compelling read, much darker than The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which is lighter hearted. The French House doesn’t shy away from the violence and cruelty of the occupying soldiers, and people’s lives have little levity to spare. It’s a good example of historical fiction about a time not many people know about, most novels about the period focus on either Britain or mainland Europe. I look forward to seeing what the author writes next.

*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 Daughters – Julia Crouch

ramblingmads

My father said my mother killed herself. My sister says he’s lying.

The day of our mother’s funeral, my little sister Lucy and I clung to our father’s side. He promised he’d get us through it, and we believed him. But then I discovered that the coffin we wept over was empty.

Dad says he was trying to protect us – that he thought it would be easier to grieve if we didn’t know our mother’s body was never found.

His new wife says she just wants to help us move on from the past.

Then Lucy has a flash of memory that leaves her shaking. Our father. A woman she doesn’t recognise. A knife…

She insists she knows something about the day our mother died, but it’s buried too deep to see clearly.

What happened to our mother? I need to find the truth. But I have no idea who I can trust. And what if the answer puts my life in danger?

A completely gripping psychological thriller that will make your heart pound as you try to decide who is telling the truth. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Paula Hawkins and Gillian Flynn.

Amazon

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

Julia started off as a theatre director and playwright. While her children were growing up, she swerved into graphic design. After writing and illustrating two children’s books for an MA, she discovered that her great love was writing prose. The picture books were deemed too dark for publication, so, to save the children, she turned instead to writing for adults. Her first book, Cuckoo, was published in 2011, and she has been writing what she calls her Domestic Noir novels ever since. She also writes for TV and teaches on the Crime Writing MA at the University of East Anglia. She has three grown up children and lives in Brighton with her husband and two cats, Keith and Sandra.

Website Facebook Instagram

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Julia Crouch here

My thoughts: this was a bit of a crazy book, I was fascinated by the use of hypnotherapy – I remember reading about the cases referenced, where false memories, often about abuse, occurred and innocent people were arrested and put on trial as a result. I found the way Lucy’s memories come as strange flashes, as she conflates different things together, risking destroying her whole family each time she points the finger.

Cerys was an interesting person too – especially when the tight control she exerts over her life, and her family, starts to slip and her secrets are exposed. The person I felt sorriest for was Binnie – only a child and surrounded by some incredibly self absorbed and highly strung adults. She keeps getting pushed aside as Sara and Cerys squabble over Lucy and the past.

Families are messy, even if no one died, or might be a murderer, throw these huge complications in and they’re completely at risk of falling apart completely. An enjoyable, twisting and clever read.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

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

ramblingmads

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

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

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

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

Some evil wants to live forever.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

books, reviews

Readalong Round-up: The Bloomsbury Girls – Natalie Jenner

ramblingmads

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Beach House Summer – Sarah Morgan

ramblingmads

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Keep You Close – Mary Burton

ramblingmads

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

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

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

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

Previously published as In Dark Waters

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

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

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

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Break Up – Charlotte Barnes

ramblingmads

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Keep Her Sweet – Helen Fitzgerald

ramblingmads

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

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

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

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

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

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: To The Grave – John Barlow

ramblingmads

Will the truth be buried with the dead?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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