blog tour, books, LGBTQ+, reviews

Blog Tour: Fin & Rye & Fireflies – Harry Cook*

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Fin Whittle is sixteen and he likes guys. A fact which seems to be complicating his life.

One minute Fin’s kissing the godlike Jesse; the next he s been cruelly outed. His family’s response? To up sticks in search of a ‘fresh start’.

A fresh start won’t change the truth of who Fin is. Obviously. But it does introduce him to the best squad in town: kick-ass Poppy, her on-off girlfriend June and the super cute, super irresistible Rye.

Fin soon has a serious crush. And Rye might just feel the same way. But Fin’s parents aren’t happy. If their son won’t change his ‘lifestyle’, they ll force him onto the straight and narrow . . . by way of ‘conversion therapy’. An outrageous plan is needed to face down the haters and to give Fin and Rye (and their fireflies) a chance at the happy-ever-after their story deserves . . .

From moonlit meet-ups to vintage diners, pride parades to a passion for old vinyl, Fin & Rye & Fireflies is a gloriously upbeat tale of being true to yourself no matter what.

Amazon

Born in the UK, Harry Cook is an Australian actor and international LGBTQI+ activist. He has starred in major film, TV and theatre productions, including the lead opposite Geena Davis in Accidents Happen. In 2013, at age 22, Harry came out to his fans on YouTube. The video went viral and Harry became front-page news in Australia, the UK and the US. Harry lives in Sydney with his rescued English Bulldog Poppy.

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My thoughts:

This is a sweet, lovely story of first loves, fireflies, being true to yourself, and the importance of friendship.

It’s also got a dark side, and I would be remiss to say it’s not something every reader will feel comfortable with. Conversion therapy is horrible and cruel and harmful.

There is light in the darkness too, from fireflies and knowing that people can change, that parents make mistakes too.

As Mrs Potts sings in Beauty & the Beast “bittersweet and strange, finding you can change, learning you were wrong” – I think Fin’s family would agree.

Find your tribe, the people who will always have your back, like Fin does, and you’ll be OK.

This is powerful, moving story telling and I hope it finds its audience, because we need stories like this to counteract the sadder ones.

*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 Perfect Couple – Lisa Hall*

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When Emily applies for a job as a housekeeper for widower Rupert, it’s a chance to start over – a steady job and regular money means she can work towards her own place, not sharing a grimy flat with old mate, Mags.

As Emily gets to know more about Rupert’s world – how he likes his supper when he comes in from work, who his friends are – she can make sure everything runs like clockwork for him.

Soon there’s a spark between them; Rupert likes Emily and invites her to stay. For good.

To the outside world, they really seem to be a perfect match. There’s just the small issue of what really happened to Rupert’s first wife…

My thoughts:

I’m not entirely sure which character I like the least as pretty much everyone in this book is a toxic nightmare. Which is half the fun.

Wealth and privilege give a veneer of respectability to some pretty nasty things that people living in nice houses get upto.

Emily drops her only real friend for Rupert’s spoiled and narcissistic friends as soon as she can, spending her husband’s money all over town, shopping as a lifestyle.

Rupert isn’t as nice as he appears, constantly gaslighting her and comparing his previous wife to her.

His friends are all pretty awful. Grasping and vacuous and cruel.

But of course it’s the drip, drip of poison that Emily starts to feel, the sensation of being watched, the strange things that keep happening, her growing fear about what happened to her new husband’s first wife…it all builds to a serious of twists and the life they’ve built comes tumbling down.

Chilling and a bit creepy, these awful people deserve one another.

*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: Nowhere To Be Found – Louisa De Lange*

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LUCY IS MISSING
Her husband Scott claims to have no idea where she is. But his behaviour suggests otherwise, and rumours begin to swirl about the seemingly perfect couple…

A BODY IS FOUND
DS Kate Munro is already investigating another murder, when she learns that it was Lucy who first reported the body of the victim floating in a lake.

AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT
But with Lucy still missing and both investigations leading Kate into dangerous waters, she must quickly piece together the link between the two crimes. Before it’s too late…

My thoughts:

This was a clever thriller, tying into conspiracy theories, preppers, intense paranoia and the good old the-husband-probably-did-it of crime writing.

But just when you think you know what happened, another body pops up, and off DS Munro and team go to try and find another link, another killer.

Suitably twisting and with several nicely placed red herrings, this was an enjoyable 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.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Growing Season – Seni Glaister*

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After a life-saving operation leaves Sam unable to have children, could a rural cottage be the fresh start she needs? Or is she running away from her problems?

For her husband Danny, this was never part of the plan. He likes predictability. The countryside is just a bit, well – wild. But he wants Sam to be happy, even if he isn’t.

If only Danny could tell Sam what is going on in his head. If only he knew what was really going on in hers. If only they knew that they’re equally afraid of what happens next.

Can the couple find a way to face the future together, or have they already grown too far apart?

Growing Season is a poignant and uplifting novel about how love and nature sometimes need a helping hand.

My thoughts:

A mediation on growth, fear, letting go of the past and nature, this novel features two women, Sam and Diana, both wrestling with letting go of who they were and embracing who they are now.

As well as their growth, there is literal growth as Sam turns her neat lawn into a wild flower meadow and Diana, who lives in the woods, records in her notebooks the growth of the woodland plants and her own planting.

Sam has had a difficult time dealing with cancer and the loss of her ability to have children, moving house to leave some things behind her, her husband Danny, who struggles with a number of phobias and fictional allergies, also needs to change and grow.

All three characters find that their proximity to nature alters them and helps them move forward. *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: Anyone for Edmund? – Simon Edge*

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They dug up his bones. They didn’t know he had a mind of his own.

Under tennis courts in the ruins of a great abbey, archaeologists find the remains of St Edmund, once venerated as England’s patron saint, but lost for half a millennium.

Culture Secretary Marina Spencer, adored by those who have never met her, scents an opportunity. She promotes Edmund as a new patron saint for the United Kingdom, playing up his Scottish, Welsh and Irish credentials. Unfortunately these are pure fiction, invented by Mark Price, her downtrodden aide, in a moment of panic.

The only person who can see through the deception is Mark’s cousin Hannah, a member of the dig team. Will she blow the whistle or help him out? And what of St Edmund himself, watching through the prism of a very different age?

Splicing ancient and modern as he did in The Hopkins Conundrum and A Right Royal Face-Off, Simon Edge pokes fun at Westminster culture and celebrates the cult of a medieval saint in another beguiling and utterly original comedy.

Eye & Lightning Books (Free UK P&P):

Amazon UK

Simon Edge was born in Chester and read philosophy at Cambridge University.

He was editor of the pioneering London paper Capital Gay before becoming a gossip columnist on the Evening Standard and then a feature writer on the Daily Express, where he was also a theatre critic for many years. He has an MA in Creative Writing from City University, London, where he also taught literary criticism.

He is the author of three previous novels: The Hopkins Conundrum, which was longlisted for the Waverton Good Read Award, The Hurtle of Hell and A Right Royal Face-Off.

He lives in Suffolk.

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My thoughts:

This is very funny, a bit silly and a lot entertaining. Former patron saint, Saxon King, and the reason Bury St Edmunds is called that, St Edmund’s remains are found in near-future Britain, under the remains of the Abbey that bears his name.

Restored to his rightful place in the church, he suddenly finds himself the centre of attention, despite having been dead for about a thousand years.

Culture Secretary Marina Spencer, a ghastly woman ( the bit about her eyebrows made me laugh) posits him as the patron saint of the UK, her minions do some very sloppy research, chaos and ancient Saint powers ensue.

I am interested in medieval history, and that bit historians don’t like calling the Dark Ages (historical Twitter gets very upset) as well. We don’t know a huge amount about it, record keeping being done mainly by a few monks, and people like Edmund sort of don’t have very complete biographies.

Which is where the mischief lies – a few fabrications and the fact most people are too lazy to check the sources, mean you can say pretty much anything, as Mark does, but normally there are no real consequences.

This was a very entertaining read, and a snapshot of post-Brexit Britain that doesn’t sound too horrifying, just a bit nuts. I also really liked the monk, Brother Bernard, he was good.

*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: Penance – Edward Daniel Hunt*

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PENANCE is the first book in a series of crime novels featuring retired Boston homicide detective John Gilfillan. This story is about the race to find Lori Doyle. Ten years ago, Lori, as a teenager, witnessed a killing. Today, she has established a new life for herself and her daughter in Maine under an alias. Unbeknownst to her, all that’s about to change, as some are seeking her out to do her harm and some to do her good. A page-turner to keep you in suspense until the end.

Edward Daniel Hunt’s short stories have appeared in the Scarlett Leaf Review, Down in the Dirt Magazine and Adelaide Literary Magazine. “Hit Men Have Feelings Too” was named a finalist in Adelaide Magazine’s 2018 Literary Award Contest for Best Short Story. He lives in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, within walking distance of the ocean.

My thoughts:

This was an interesting book that began as a thriller but became more about people and their relationships, their lives.

Tommy is out of prison and looking for his ex-wife, the only witness to a murder he was involved in, she, Lori, has moved away and rebuilt her life, finding new family and friends in the process.

Retired cop turned PI Gilfillan is hired to find her too, to see if she can help solve the long cold case of a murdered doctor. He is also rebuilding his life post-retirement, in his beach front home in Maine.

Both men follow tenuous leads from Lori’s family, to friends and acquaintances, trying to find her before anyone else does.

Lori has been lucky, becoming the lodger of an elderly widow, who treats her and her young daughter, more like family and building a new relationship with a colleague at the diner she waitresses in. She knows that her ex-husband will be looking for her however.

The narrative weaves between the protagonists, showing their lives and loves against the backdrop of the search for Lori.

The ending is left open, presumably for a sequel, but with the strong suggestion that some of Lori’s fears may be laid to rest.

*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: CWA Vintage Crime Anthology – edited by Martin Edwards*

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Vintage Crimes will be a CWA anthology with a difference, celebrating members’ work over the years.

The book will gather stories from the mid1950s until the twenty-first century by great names of the past, great names of the present together with a few hidden treasures by less familiar writers.

The first CWA anthology, Butcher’s Dozen, appeared in 1956, and was co-edited by Julian Symons, Michael Gilbert, and Josephine Bell. The anthology has been edited by Martin Edwards since 1996, and has yielded many awardwinning and nominated stories in the UK and overseas.

This new edition includes an array of incredible and award-winning authors: Robert Barnard, Simon Brett, Liza Cody, Mat Coward, John Dickson Robert Barnard, Simon Brett, Liza Cody, Mat Coward, John Dickson Carr, Marjorie Eccles, Martin Edwards, Kate Ellis, Anthea Fraser, Carr, Marjorie Eccles, Martin Edwards, Kate Ellis, Anthea Fraser, Celia Fremlin, Frances Fyfield, Michael Gilbert, Paula Gosling, Celia Fremlin, Frances Fyfield, Michael Gilbert, Paula Gosling, Lesley Grant-Adamson, HRF Keating, Bill Knox, Peter Lovesey, Mick Lesley Grant-Adamson, HRF Keating, Bill Knox, Peter Lovesey, Mick Herron, Michael Z. Lewin, Susan Moody, Julian Symons Herron, Michael Z. Lewin, Susan Moody, Julian Symons and Andrew Taylor Taylor.

Martin Edwards (Editor) is the author of eighteen novels, including the Lake District Mysteries, and the Harry Devlin series. His ground-breaking genre study The Golden Age of Murder has won the Edgar, Agatha, and H.R.F. Keating awards.

He has edited twenty eight crime anthologies, has won the CWA Short Story Dagger and the CWA Margery A lingham Prize, and is series consultant for the British Library’s Crime Classics. In 2015, he was elected eighth President of the Detection Club, an office previously held by G.K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers.

The CWA CWA (Crime Writers’ Association) was founded in 1953 by John Creasey, and organises the prestigious CWA Dagger Awards which celebrate the best in crime writing. The CWA is a pro-active, thriving and ever-expanding community of writers based in the UK but with a reach that extends worldwide.

My thoughts:

This was an excellent collection of crime stories spanning the 1950s until close to the present day.

Short stories are often where crime writers’ talents shine, so many of crime fiction’s greats wrote short stories, which pack the crime, the solving and the solution in neat, clever parcels. Perfect for dipping in and out of.

And the joy of all that genius is contained in the this volume. The stories are clever, cunning and shrewd, much like the detectives solving them.

I’ve read several of the authors included, and it’s interesting to see the differences and similarities between their short stories and longform work. The stories included are all very enjoyable and easily read as standalone works.

The CWA does a lot of work to not only promote living writers but ensure that older stories are not lost and can be enjoyed by readers long after they were first published.

*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 Last to Know – Jo Furniss*

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A family’s past pursues them like a shadow in this riveting and emotional novel of psychological suspense by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of All the Little Children.

American journalist Rose Kynaston has just relocated to the childhood home of her husband, Dylan, in the English village of his youth. There’s a lot for Rose to get used to in Hurtwood. Like the family’s crumbling mansion, inhabited by Dylan’s reclusive mother, and the treacherous hill it sits upon, a place of both sinister folklore and present dangers.

Then there are the unwelcoming villagers, who only whisper the name Kynaston—like some dreadful secret, a curse. Everyone knows what happened at Hurtwood House twenty years ago. Everyone except Rose. And now that Dylan is back, so are rumors about his past.

When an archaeological dig unearths human remains on the hill, local police sergeant Ellie Trevelyan vows to solve a cold case that has cast a chill over Hurtwood for decades.

As Ellie works to separate rumor from fact, Rose must fight to clear the name of the man she loves. But how can Rose keep her family safe if she is the last to know the truth?

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After spending a decade as a broadcast journalist for the BBC, Jo Furniss gave up the glamour of night shifts to become a freelance writer and serial expatriate. Originally from the United Kingdom, she spent seven years in Singapore and also lived in Switzerland and Cameroon.

As a journalist, Jo worked for numerous online outlets and magazines, including Monocle and the Economist. She has edited books for a Nobel laureate and the palace of the Sultan of Brunei. She has a Distinction in MA Professional Writing from Falmouth University.
Jo’s debut novel, All the Little Children, was an Amazon Charts bestseller.
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My thoughts:

This was a really interesting and enjoyable read, dealing with memory, guilt and rumour.

Rose uncovers a web of intrigue surrounding a suspicious death at her in-laws’ home and terrible rumours of child abuse. Determined to uncover the truth and free her family from these past tragedies she applies her journalistic skills to uncovering the truth.

This was really gripping, full of red herrings and muddled recollections – having two of the characters suffering from dementia and not being able to fully differentiate the past and the present means both Rose and sergeant Ellie Trevelyan miss vital clues and have to work harder to solve the series of deaths uncovered.

*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: Sight Unseen – Sandra Ireland*

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1648. Alie Gowdie marries Richard Webster during a turbulent time in Scotland’s history. Charles I is about to lose his head, and little does Alie know that she too will meet a grisly end within the year.

2019. Sarah Sutherland is struggling to cope with the demands of her day job, caring for her elderly father and keeping tabs on her backpacking daughter. She wanted to be an archaeologist, but now in her forties, she is divorced, alone, and there seems to be no respite, no glimmer of excitement on the horizon. However, she does have a special affinity with the Kilgour Witch, Alie Gowdie, who lived in Sarah’s cottage until her execution in 1648, and Sarah likes nothing better than to retreat into a world of sorcery, spells and religious fanaticism.

Her stories delight tourists as she leads them along the cobbled streets of her home town, but what really lies behind the tale of Alie Gowdie, the Kilgour Witch? Can Sarah uncover the truth in order to right a centuries-old wrong? And what else might modern-day Kilgour be hiding, just out of sight?

However, she does have a special affinity with the Kilgour Witch, Alie Gowdie, who lived in Sarah’s cottage until her execution in 1648, and Sarah likes nothing better than to retreat into a world of sorcery, spells and religious fanaticism.

Her stories delight tourists as she leads them along the cobbled streets of her home town, but what really lies behind the tale of Alie Gowdie, the Kilgour Witch? Can Sarah uncover the truth in order to right a centuries-old wrong? And what else might modern-day Kilgour be hiding, just out of sight?

Amazon

Author Bio

Sandra Ireland was awarded a Carnegie-Cameron scholarship to study for an MLitt in Writing Practice and Study at the University of Dundee, graduating with a distinction in 2014. Her work has appeared in various publications and women’s magazines. She is the author of Beneath the Skin (2016), Bone Deep (2018) and The Unmaking of Ellie Rook (2019). She lives in Carnoustie, Scotland.

My thoughts:

This was a clever, engaging read, reflecting modern day events back to the 17th Century witch trials. Sarah and Grant are so enthralled with unravelling a centuries old tale they almost miss something right in front of their faces.

Sarah’s dad is seeing things, or is he? Slowly they unravel two terrible crimes, four hundred years apart.

With whispers of magic and mystery, this is a captivating story of relationships and righting wrongs.

*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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Cover Reveal: Unconquerable Sun – Kate Elliott

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It has been eight centuries since the beacon system failed, sundering the heavens as it collapsed. Without beacons the void between stars is navigable only by the slow crawl of knnu driven argosies. Rising from the ashes of the collapse, cultures have fought, system-by-system, for control of the few remaining beacons.

The Republic of Chaonia is one such polity. Surrounded by the Yele League and the vast Phene Empire, they have had to fight for their existence. After decades of conflict, Queen-Marshal Eirene has brought the Yele to heel, binding them into subservience.

Now it is time to deal with the Empire.

Princess Sun, daughter and heir to the queen-marshal, has come of age. In her first command, she has driven a Phene garrison from the beacons of Na Iri.

Growing up in the shadow of her mother has been no easy task. The queen-marshal, having built Chaonia into a magnificent republic against impossible odds, is both revered and feared. While Sun may imagine that her victorious command will bring further opportunity to prove herself, it will in fact place her on the wrong side of court politics. There are those who would like to see Sun removed as heir, or better yet, dead.

To survive, while the battle between empires ignites all around her, the princess must rely on her wits and companions: her biggest rival, her secret lover, and a dangerous prisoner of war.

Hold on tight. This is the space opera you’ve been waiting for.

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About the Author:

Kate Elliott has been writing stories since she was nine years old, which has led her to believe that writing, like breathing, keeps her alive. Writing science fiction and fantasy, her particular focus is immersive world building and centering women in epic stories of adventure, amid transformative cultural change. Kate was born in Iowa, raised in Oregon and now lives in Hawaii, where she paddles outrigger canoes and spoils her schnauzer.

www.kateelliott.com