Tag: blog tour

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Fablenoir – Vic Sinclair

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Welcome to the tour for Vic Sinclair’s Grimdark fairytale, Fablenoir. The next book Rose Read Undead comes out early this year!

Fablenoir

Release Date: September 2024

Genre: Dark Fairytale/ Urban Fantasy/ Grimdark

  • Morally gray characters
  • Antiheroes
  • Dark fairy tale retellings
  • Grimdark undertones
  • First-person detective novel
  • Urban fantasy with epic scope
  • Hidden worlds

Fifteen years after climbing the beanstalk, giants are the least of Jack’s concerns…

Twisted fairy tale figures roam our world in this deliciously dark, exhilarating new Urban Fantasy series, featuring familiar characters from mythology and fables clashing and conniving in a metropolitan cesspit that runs on chaos.

Amid rumors of necromantic cults, children vanishing from the city’s streets and men crying werewolf, down-and-out Detective Jackson Slade of the NYPD is at his lowest. Blacklisted by the corrupt department he works for, he finds himself winding up in the same grimy bars every night, nearly drinking himself to death and relying on mysterious magick beans to pick himself back up.

Until, one night, he stumbles upon a gruesome crime scene that will change the course of his life dramatically. When he finds the shattered corpse of egg-shaped billionaire media mogul Dick Dumpty, Jack finds himself reluctantly teaming up with the notoriously cold-blooded outlaw Goldilocks, and together they spiral into the horrifying magickal underbelly of New York City, caught in the middle of a war between the corrupt and the even more corrupt.

Coming up against forces such as the grizzly gang leader Papa Bear and the crooked giant-descendant head of the NYPD Chief Cole, Jack and Goldilocks set in motion an explosive chain of events that will change the world, for better or for so much worse…

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

Triggers: Drug addiction, kidnapping, allusion to sexual assault, themes of human trafficking, body horror, injury detail, alcoholism

My thoughts: What do you get if fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters are real, live in New York and a lot of them are serious criminals? Fablenoir.

Jack Slade (once slew a giant, there was a beanstalk, he doesn’t like to talk about it) is a detective falling apart, he’s an alcoholic, addicted to mind altering magic beans, his boss Captain Cole is corrupt, he’s about to be fired, oh and a giant egg almost landed on him.

Dumpty’s dead, Goldilocks needs Jack’s help to take down Papa Bear and his drug empire. A lot of women and children have been going missing, Cole doesn’t want to know and Jack’s in serious trouble.

It’s a fast paced, high octane, race against time, corruption and Jack’s high in order to try to unravel the chaos in New York. There’s a secret cabal of officers trying to bring down Cole, a Charming governor who seems powerless to stop the rot and a Mad Hatter performing really disturbing experiments in his basement.

If you like your fairy tales dark and creepy, you’re in the right place.

IG: @vicsinclairv @rrbooktours

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#rrbooktours #rrbtFablenoire #urbanfantasy #fairytaleretelling #grimdark #booktours

*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: Written in Blood – Chris Carter

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A serial killer who will stop at nothing…
 
The Killer
His most valuable possession has been stolen.
Now he must retrieve it, at any cost.
 
The Girl
Angela Wood wanted to teach the man a lesson. It was a bag, just like any other.
But when she opens it, the worst nightmare of her life begins.
 
The Detective
A journal ends up on Robert Hunter’s desk. It soon becomes clear that there is a serial killer on the loose.
And if Hunter can’t stop him in time, more people will die.
Starting with Angela.
 
If you have read it
You must die

My thoughts: Hunter and Garcia are back. And this time they’re drawn into a case that puzzles them. Someone left a serial killer’s diary in the mailbox of the head of the forensics unit. It was hand delivered and is very disturbing. It seems to chronicle the killings of a deeply disturbed individual who hears voices compelling him to carry out increasingly violent and vile murders.

Hunting firstly for whoever dropped it off, they meet Angela, a streetwise pickpocket who is now in way too deep as the killer knows she took his book. The LAPD need to keep her safe, as a witness, and now a vulnerable target for a monster.

But they also need to find the killer and stop him before he takes another life. The diary reveals more and more details of his life, of why he does what he does. And the pair of detectives are disturbed. Especially after he contacts Hunter directly. He wants his diary back. Or more will die. Including Angela.

This is another tense and unnerving case for the Ultra Violent Crime Unit. A killer without remorse, who sees his kills as just another day at the office, and a victim Hunter feels responsible for.

*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: A Woman Scorned – Jack Jordan

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Are you afraid?
You should be.

The husband: in over his head with no way of knowing the truth.
The mistress: blinded by love, betrayed by her family…
The neighbour: will stop at nothing to protect the life he has fought to create.
The wife: a woman bent on revenge, but how far is she willing to go…?

My thoughts: This short story from thriller writer Jack Jordan might be brief but it packs a punch all the same.

Told from multiple view points, the unravelling story lays out how a woman who will stop at nothing goes about dismantling her husband’s life to hold onto tight control. She sees off the mistress, the blackmailer, every possible threat to her perfect life. Her husband has recently learned that she’s probably capable of murder, and now he’s seen how she manipulates things to her advantage. He won’t be going anywhere, unless she says so.

Clever, dark and with a few twists, this is a tense thriller about betrayal, secrets and how we don’t always know the person we sleep beside.

*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 Hanging Tree – Jessica Huntley

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For a hundred years, the residents of a rural Welsh village have been hiding the truth.

Now, a newcomer has started digging around, uncovering more than just buried secrets.

Retired detective, Graham Williams, has moved to Bethgelert for a fresh start, determined to put the horrors of last year behind him. He has seen his fair share of disturbing scenes, but nothing prepares him for what he sees hanging in the gnarly old tree outside his front window.

Only one man can help him uncover the truth …

Stephen Mallow has come a long way since he helped solve the mystery of Cherry Hollow.
When his old nemesis calls and asks for help, he jumps in the car, ignoring the pain in his head and the hole in his heart. He’s ready to take on another weird and creepy small town mystery.

These two unlikely allies, whose main form of communication is bickering, start to work together to dig up the disturbing secrets of ‘The Hanging Tree’, but they soon realise there’s more to the story than they first thought.

A teenage girl is missing. The town butcher isn’t telling them everything. The tree seems to be speaking to Stephen …

And someone is watching their every move …

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Jessica Huntley is an author of dark and twisty psychological thrillers, which often focus on mental health topics and delve deep into the minds of her characters.
She has a varied career background, having joined the Army as an Intelligence Analyst, then left to become a Personal Trainer.
She is now living her life-long dream of writing from the comfort of her home, while looking after her young son and her disabled black Labrador. She enjoys keeping fit and drinking wine (not at the same time).

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My thoughts: There’s a slight air of Hot Fuzz here (one of my favourite films), with a small town full of secrets that date back years, though no insane gun fights, just an intensely disturbing air of menace and some possibly evil banana bread.

Having retired from the police and bought a cottage on the outskirts of the village, Graham might think he’s put his time solving crimes behind him. Until he sees a scarecrow hanging from a noose in the big tree behind his house. Standing tall at the top of a hill, the oak is probably hundreds of years old. And there’s a growing call for it to be pulled down.

At the village council meeting, Graham learns about the tree’s history and why it’s regarded so negatively. But there’s some things he isn’t told and as events take a dark turn and he becomes convinced there’s more to the stories he’s heard, he calls in an ally. Stephen Mallow, investigative journalist, and dedicated researcher.

Only Stephen has been dealing with issues of his own, issues that leave him somewhat compromised. As the two men search for answers, Stephen’s problems become more pronounced. Will he manage to stay the course or will Graham find himself alone?

Tense, gripping and sinister, this is a cleverly written and smart thriller.

*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: Strange Eden – Gina Giordano

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Everything familiar to Eliza has been ripped away. Even worse, the cruel deed was done by her own hands.

Nassau, Bahamas, 1791…

Eliza Sharpe, recently wed to a mysterious and brooding soldier, departs for the West Indies with him to begin their new life.

Once there, she realizes their marital arrangement is ill-fated and that she has made a disastrous choice. Charles, the man she finds herself bound to, is nothing short of a monster.

On their very first night in New Providence, her innocence is irrevocably shattered. The walls of her new home hide a dark family secret, and Eliza realizes that the freedom she sought within marriage is a worse cage than the constraints she faced before.

Eliza struggles with her new existence, her exposure to Charles’ explosive temper, the
brutality of slavery, and her isolation as she tries to grow accustomed to life on distant shores.
The only source of comfort she finds is swimming in the startlingly clear ocean, an activity Charles expressly forbids.

As she attempts to flee her deteriorating situation, an unexpected encounter with a beguiling stranger named Jean offers a promise of escape. Despite the dark rumors that swirl around her recent acquaintance and his mysterious past, he captures Eliza’s interest, and ultimately, her heart―with deadly consequences.

On an island where nothing is as it appears, Eliza is confronted with the harsh realities of living on the fringe of empire, of womanhood, and the overt corruption that festers in the governor’s mansion on the hill. Will she ever be able to secure her freedom―and possibly even find redemption in love?

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Gina Giordano always had an insatiable curiosity and a penchant for history. Born in New York City, she is a writer, artist, and a conjurer of the past. She holds a BA in history and a master’s degree in historical fiction from New York University, and has traveled to over sixty-five countries across the globe. When she is not climbing ancient ruins or exploring forgotten
palaces, she enjoys swimming with sharks in remote pristine waters. Her debut novel, Strange Eden, was longlisted for the 2023 Bath Novel Award.

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My thoughts: Eliza wants out of her existence in England, where at 24 she is considered an old maid. But her sheltered, privileged existence doesn’t prepare her for marriage. Marrying the next man to ask for her hand is a terrible mistake, one she cannot undo. Charles is a violent, controlling monster.

Practically kept prisoner in her new home, thousands of miles from anywhere familiar, where she can’t even rely on the slaves that look after her – after all they belong to her husband, and the cook raised him and seems to be unable to see who he really is.

She had no idea life could be like this, for herself and certainly not the slaves, she tries to defend them, to stop her husband and his overseer from abusing them, and makes matters worse.

No wonder then, that she falls for Jean, a handsome stranger who, while he is Charles’ friend, is so different from the cruel and brutish men around her.

But love cannot last in this false paradise as Eliza learns to her cost. She still cannot escape, society has no place for a woman like her, in the Bahamas or back in England.

Dark, moving and at times incredibly chilling. This is a reminder of the true underbelly of humanity  – of its violence and abuse of others, Charles might be monstrous, but he is far from alone in that.

I felt sorry for Eliza, her gender, her class, all conspire against her. Twenty-four seems so young to me now, but to the society at the time, she was getting on. She probably felt she had no real choices, and Charles turned on the charm while she was still under her father’s protection.

The Bahamas now is very different to then, and it can be hard to imagine how truly horrendous life was for the abducted and enslaved Africans who lived there and worked the plantations. They had no choices at all about their lives, and Eliza might feel a prisoner, but they really are. Harrowing.  

*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: Binding the Baron – Charlie Lane

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We’re celebrating the release of Binding the Baron, a gaslamp romantasy by Charlie Lane! Get your copy today!

Binding the Baron (Alchemy of Desire Book 1)

Release Date: December 19, 2025

Genre: Gaslamp Romantasy

  • Marriage of convenience
  • Class difference
  • He falls first
  • “Mating” bond
  • Love potion
  • Found family

A magical society divided. A web of lies. On the eve of Queen Victoria’s reign, a forbidden love could tear it all down.

In a dark, West London bed chamber, Diana Chester sees the truth—she’s inherited her dying grandfather’s transcendent magic. And she’ll be killed for it. It should be heating up her cousin’s blood. He’s the heir. She’s an aberration. And he wants the magic that’s rightfully his, no matter what he must do to get it.

Diana runs.

And is caught by a disgraced alchemist prince.

Exiled from alchemist society, Temple Grant, Baron Knightly blames himself for his family’s downfall. With no connections and dwindling opportunities, he joins the glamoured, transcendent world of West London to make it right. But the King demands absolute loyalty: Temple must take a wife from their ranks or lose the king’s favor.

Diana Chester possesses the right pedigree to please the king. She’s intriguing, too, and with her own reasons for a hasty marriage.

A convenient binding.
Complicated by desire.
Made almost impossible by a city divided.

The might of metal. The glitter of glamours. Diana and Temple belong to different sides of London. Love can bind them, but is it enough to bridge their dueling worlds?

Forbidden love, class difference, and a marriage of convenience makes for binge-able reading in this historical fantasy romance brimming with magic and a touch of steampunk.

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Blog Tour: Forget Me Not – Leah Cupps

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Riley earns a living by digging up the past. But some secrets are better left buried.

Archaeologist Riley Donovan has had it rough. Her beloved fiancé has passed away, her career is crumbling, and lately she feels like she’s losing the will to live.

But when she meets Corbin Cross, a charismatic YouTube historian, Riley finally sees a glimmer of hope. He’s charming, brilliant, and seems to understand her pain. With the support of her loyal friend Grace, Riley begins to rebuild her shattered life.

But there’s a problem – nothing is as it seems.

And when Riley wakes in a hotel room with a dead body beside her and blood on her hands, the police immediately have her down as suspect number one.

As they close in, Riley desperately tries to piece together the truth of what happened that night. And the deeper she digs, the more she realizes that it’s Corbin’s dark secret life that has landed her in this terrifying situation.

Now Riley must navigate a deadly web of treachery and obsessive revenge to prove her innocence. But in a world built on lies, can she trust anyone—including herself?

Forget Me Not – the gripping psychological thriller perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell,
Liane Moriarty, and Sally Hepworth.

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Leah Cupps is a Multiple-Award Winning Author and Entrepreneur. She writes Thriller, Mystery, and Suspense as well as Middle-Grade Mystery Adventure Books.
Leah’s novels are fast-paced thrillers that will keep you up at night as you can’t wait to see what happens in the next chapter.
Leah lives in Indiana with her husband and three children. When she isn’t losing sleep writing her next novel or scaling her next business, she enjoys reading, riding horses, working out, and spending time with her family.

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My thoughts: Riley is struggling when she meets Corbin  – and as she knows he’s lost his fiancée too, a friend of hers as it happens, they bond over their trauma, but not everything Corbin says can be trusted.

Did he really just accidentally stumble over the archaeological find of the century or is he lying? Did his fiancée really just tumble over a cliff? It doesn’t entirely add up.

But Riley is determined to rebuild her life, to finish the book her publishers are waiting on, to move on. Even with the warning signs. And it isn’t just Corbin who’s lying to her.

When things take a dark turn, who can Riley trust? Piecing together the truth will be the only thing that can save her.

Full of twists, unreliable characters and with a protagonist who is only just about hanging in there, this is gasp out loud 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: A Poisoning at Castle Gloaming – Kay Blythe

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After a two-day train journey, peripatetic dressmaker Jemima Flowerday makes the final approach to her new job on foot, following the canal to Castle Gloaming, which stands in the rugged North Wales countryside overlooking the foaming River Dee.

Jemima has come to clothe Mrs Cornelia van Doorn, a wealthy South African widow who has leased the castle from its impoverished aristocratic owner, intending to launch herself and her young stepdaughter, Honor, into London society.

But on her arrival she’s told she’s actually been summoned to investigate the disappearance of the girl. Even in a place still haunted by mystery and magic, the seventeen-year-old can’t have melted into thin air…

Kay Blythe, who also writes as Natalie Meg Evans, is an award-winning historical author on both sides of the Atlantic, having reached the New York Times top 100 list with her debut novel, The Dress Thief. Writing crime as Kay Blythe fulfils a long-held ambition. Her dressmaker-sleuth, Jemima Flowerday, follows in the tradition of clever women set free by the social upheaval of the years after the First World War. Jemima combines her skills as a dressmaker and sleuth to solve crime in the crumbling stately homes of Britain.

My thoughts: Dragged out to the wilds of West Wales, Jemima thinks she’s there to design a wardrobe for a wealthy South African widow in a castle with a Scottish name (gloaming is an excellent word fyi).

On arrival, she’s told that she’s actually been hired to find the widows 17 year old stepdaughter, who appears to have vanished. Using her keen understanding of human nature, she soon figures out the truth, but that’s before things take a nasty turn. 

Stuck in the castle with a motley cast of residents and staff, Jemima must keep her wits about her, there’s a killer amongst them and plenty of secrets and lies too. 

I like Jemima, her unusual job allows her access to both upstairs and downstairs, by marriage she’s a Lady, but her parents ran a grocery shop so she’s actually just as at home in the kitchen with the help. 

She’s also very clever, a student of human behaviour and highly observant, even without a friendly sidekick (unless you count Mrs Beddoes the housekeeper/cook) she works through the clues and the strange occurrences in this rather depressing castle and then lays it all out for the police when they finally show up. They’ll take the credit, but she’s just happy to go home.    

*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: Murder at the Folly – Jane Adams

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A crumbling old manor house with its own sinister folly.

A cast full of suspects with secrets to hide.

And a killer waiting in the wings . . .

Retirement suits actress Rina Martin just fine. Until she’s tempted back for one last hurrah, reprising her role as sharp-witted TV sleuth Lydia Marchant.

But Rina’s return to the spotlight soon turns deadly!

Rina’s seen plenty of drama over the years. But nothing like the chaos she finds on location at Septon Hall. Her costar, the decidedly sour Grace Sweeting, gets a poison pen letter — in what looks like a tasteless prank. Until . . .

Phil Perry, the show’s charming leading man, is found dead! Plunged in his neck is a glinting brooch, last seen on Grace’s stylish coat.

Suddenly, everyone’s ready to point the finger at Grace. Only Rina has her doubts.
Just because Grace is playing a murderess on TV that doesn’t make her one in real life. But if Grace didn’t do it, then who?

It’s up to Rina to pin down the truth, before the devious killer strikes again!

If you love Agatha Christie, Jeanne M. Dams, Glenda Young, Stella Cameron, M.C.
Beaton and Frances Evesham, prepare to be hooked by this enchanting, character-
driven mystery!

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Jane Adams is the author of more than thirty published crime novels. The first, The Greenway, was nominated for both the Authors’ Club award and the CWA John Creasey for best debut novel.
Jane is constantly amazed at where life has taken her. Writing had never been on her ‘possible careers’ list, but she says once stories take root in your brain, they just have to be told – and she feels very fortunate that people want to read them.
In addition to writing, Jane teaches creative writing, read and mentor for The Literary Consultancy, and is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow and FRSA.

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My thoughts: I really enjoyed this, a good old fashioned whodunnit. A TV mystery being filmed in an old and slightly decrepit house, a murdered actor, plenty of suspects, no obvious motive. Lovely.

I liked Rina and Mac, Grace was a nightmare, but not necessarily the killer just because she’s a bit of a grande dame. As the police investigate, there’s another death, even more puzzling than the first. Just what is going on on this set?

Clever, highly enjoyable crime writing, with a nice reveal and some risk for our investigators. Good 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: Pretty Little Lies – Jessica Huntley

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She’s hoping she’s paranoid. She’s terrified she’s not.

When Amelia relocated to Cambridge for love, she never imagined her new life would become a nightmare.
After uprooting her beauty therapy business to be with her fiancé Noah, Amelia receives the first message—anonymous, threatening, impossible to ignore.

As more sinister messages follow, Amelia’s new life begins to fall apart. It seems someone is watching her every move and now her clients are abandoning her for no reason she can see.
It’s as if she’s done something wrong, but what?

And Noah is no help. He seems strangely distant, then conveniently vanishes to care for his sick father. Alone and terrified, Amelia suspects everyone.
Then, when a photo arrives which proves she’s being stalked, Amelia realizes she’s not being paranoid – the danger is very real.

Trapped in her flat, jumping at shadows, Amelia must uncover who’s tormenting her—and why. Because in this game of psychological warfare, the people closest to her might be the most dangerous of all.
Trust no one. Question everything. Survive.

Pretty Little Lies – the gripping psychological thriller perfect for fans of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware, and Freida McFadden.

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Jessica Huntley is an author of dark and twisty psychological thrillers, which often focus on mental health topics and delve deep into the minds of her characters.
She has a varied career background, having joined the Army as an Intelligence Analyst, then left to become a Personal Trainer.
She is now living her life-long dream of writing from the comfort of her home, while looking after her young son and her disabled black Labrador. She enjoys keeping fit and drinking wine (not at the same time).

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My thoughts: I felt really sorry for Amelia, she’s uprooted her whole life, her business, everything, to move to Cambridge with Noah and just as things seem to be going well for her, she starts receiving nasty messages, someone is posting anonymous bad reviews of her services, and Noah basically abandons her. 

She doesn’t know who to trust, she only has a few friends in the area and her fiance is MIA. The messages keep getting nastier and she’s completely bewildered as to why whoever this is, is targeting her.

When she finally gets some answers, it’s upsetting and a bit of a shock, but she’s incredibly understanding and just wishes she hadn’t been kept in the dark. Luckily so are her friends, and now she knows who she can trust.

The twists in this are pretty good, compelling and I spent ages trying to figure out what Charlotte (one of the characters keeping her secrets) was up to. Amelia was great, she was just trying to be good at her job and be present in her relationships.

I really liked this one, Jessica’s books are always good and she tackles some big issues here well.

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