blog tour, books

Blog Tour: These Darker Streets – Abigail Linhardt

TheseDarkerStreets copy

We’re celebrating the upcoming release of These Darker Streets, the first book in a brand new series by Abigail Linhardt! Read on for more info and a chance to win a really cool giveaway. Don’t forget to pre-order a copy of the book.

Godess Among Us Book 1 cover (1)

These Darker Streets (Goddess Among Us #1)

Expected Publication Date: February 12th, 2022

Genre: Fantasy Romance/ Romantasy

Tragic loss. Eternal love. Ancient magic.

Brigit used to believe in magic and had hopes for a great future. Not any more. She has hunkered down to just get through life. Then a mysterious man appears, beckoning her out into a vulnerable relationship. He brings with him a life that doesn’t even exist in her reality. Plagued by visions of past lives, Brigit’s trust in a magicless existence is about to be shattered.

Every few lifetimes, Ildanach meets a woman who is the reincarnation of his love and together they can protect the earth. Now he has met Brigit, a woman hell-bent on denying anything that she cannot touch in this reality. When he sees the spark of his love in her, he knows she’s the one with whom he can stop the dark spirit for good. However, she is lost in the darkness that mortal life has given her.

The world is in danger from the fairy of the underworld who wants to stop the guardian and the goddess once and for all. In a battle of life or death, Idlanach must save the mortal world before time runs out and Brigit must decide once and for all if she can believe in something as mysterious and magical as love.

These Darker Streets is an addictive read that seamlessly weaves Celtic legend into a dark and dangerous urban fantasy filled with compelling characters, engaging action, and a love story powerful enough to survive centuries. Abigail Linhardt is a bold, new voice to watch.

– D.D. Croix, award-winner author of Dragonfly Maid

Excerpt - Quote

Pre-Order Here!

About the Author

Author Pic

Abi has been a writer all her life, but is a mentor at heart. When she is not writing, you can find her slaying enemies online or hunting for the next bohemian adventure. She has published works of fiction, poetry, academia, and even won awards for her short stories in science fiction and horror.

Abi is also a proud mom of two…ferrets! She live streams on Twitch where you can enjoy her terrible gaming skills and join the live discussion. She works part-time as a freelance ghostwriter, editor, and audiobook narrator, hoping to one day make these passions her full-time job. She currently resides in Kansas.

She is one of nine children–all who share the creative spark.

Abigail Linhardt | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok 

Giveaway

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Book Tour Schedule

February 7th

R&R Book Tours (Kick-Off) http://rrbooktours.com

I Smell Sheep (Review) http://www.ismellsheep.com/

Jessica Belmont (Review) https://jessicabelmont.com/

Rambling Mads (Spotlight) http://ramblingmads.com

February 8th

@loveleighreading (Review) https://www.instagram.com/loveleighreading/

B is for Book Review (Spotlight) https://bforbookreview.wordpress.com

Nesie’s Place (Spotlight) https://nesiesplace.wordpress.com

Dark Whimsical Art (Spotlight) https://www.darkwhimsicalart.com/blogs/news

February 9th

  @wraithreads (Review) https://www.instagram.com/wraithreads/

@honeydukesbooks (Review) https://www.instagram.com/honeydukesbooks/

  @inkspit.blog (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/inkspit.blog/

I Love Books & Stuff (Spotlight) https://ilovebooksandstuffblog.wordpress.com

February 10th

@betweenthesheets.books (Review) https://www.instagram.com/betweenthesheets.books/

 @ofmoviesandbooks (Review) https://www.instagram.com/ofmoviesandbooks/

Haddie’s Haven (Review) https://haddieshaven.blogspot.com

Sadie’s Spotlight (Spotlight) http://sadiesspotlight.com/

February 11th

 @bookishly_kenia (Review) https://www.instagram.com/bookishly_kenia/

 @happily_undignified (Review) https://www.instagram.com/happily_undignified/

  @atrailofpages (Review) https://www.instagram.com/atrailofpages/

Sophril Reads (Spotlight) http://sophrilreads.wordpress.com

Book Tour Organized By:

R&R Button

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Dálvi, Six Years in the Arctic Tundra – Laura Galloway

One woman’s story as an outsider in a reindeer-herding village in the Arctic Tundra, forging a life on her own in one of the most unknowable cultures on earth

An ancestry test suggesting she shared some DNA with the Sámi people, the indigenous inhabitants of the Arctic tundra, tapped into Laura Galloway’s wanderlust; an affair with a Sámi reindeer herder ultimately led her to leave New York for the tiny town of Kautokeino, Norway. When her new boyfriend left her unexpectedly after six months, it would have been easy, and perhaps prudent, to return home. But she stayed for six years.

Dálvi is the story of Laura’s time in a reindeer-herding village in the Arctic, forging a solitary existence as she struggled to learn the language and make her way in a remote community for which there were no guidebooks or manuals for how to fit in. Her time in the North opened her to a new world. And it brought something else as well: reconciliation and peace with the traumatic events that had previously defined her – the sudden death of her mother when she was three, a difficult childhood and her lifelong search for connection and a sense of home.

Both a heart-rending memoir and a love letter to the singular landscape of the region, Dálvi explores with great warmth and humility what it means to truly belong.

Laura Galloway is a writer and communications strategist. She began her career at the Los Angeles Times and holds a Master of Arts in Indigenous Journalism from the Sámi University of Applied Sciences in Kautokeino, Norway, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Southern California. An ardent animal lover, she and her partner live with her two reindeer-herding dogs and two cats.

My thoughts: after her mother dies when she’s very young, Laura’s father marries an emotionally abusive woman who rejects her husband’s children, causing Laura to spend much of her life looking for a sense of belonging, beginning with moving to LA as a teenager. And then eventually to the Arctic tundra in Norway, to live with a Sami reindeer herder in a small town near the border with Finland.

Life in the far north is tough, it’s dark for several months of the year and freezing cold. Laura doesn’t speak Norwegian or Sami and finds it hard to settle into a community so different from anything she’s ever known.

Even after her partner leaves her, she stays and starts to find her way in this strange place. There are lots of other incomers and it is with them she bonds, rather than with the Sami community, who prefer their own kind. Her cat goes missing, she gets several jobs doing things like teaching English, bonds with her neighbours and builds a life. The cat thankfully comes back.

After six years in the Arctic, she begins to wonder what else life could hold for her and looks to start afresh. But life among the Sami has taught her many lessons and helped her heal from the pain of her sad and emotionally sterile childhood.

I found this book moving and at times brutally sad, Laura has been let down badly by those who should have loved her, from her father to her ex-husband, she somehow kept going after terrible heartbreak and loss. A fascinating and rather incredible 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.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Start of Something – Miranda Dickinson

Two lonely people.
One note in the window.
And what happens when they reach out…

Lachlan Wallace is stuck at home after a car accident stalled his army career. With months of physiotherapy still to endure and only his rescue dog and cat for company, he’s taken to gazing out of the window, watching the world spin on without him. And then he notices a vase of flowers on the windowsill of the apartment opposite his. Drawn to their hope and colour, he decides to reach out and sticks a message in his window…

Bethan Gwynne is a stranger in a new town. Bringing up her son Noah by herself, she is slowly rebuilding her life, but loneliness is one obstacle she has yet to overcome. She’s intrigued by a glimpse of her neighbour in the apartment across from hers – and then, one evening, she sees a message in his window just for her:

WHAT ARE THOSE FLOWERS CALLED?

And so begins a love story of two people reaching out, daring to trust a stranger…

My thoughts: this was a really sweet, gentle love story. Lachlan is recovering from a terrible accident that might just end his military career and Bethan has moved in opposite. She lives with her son Noah and works in a garden centre.

As their relationship develops from notes in the window to chatting through the hedge and they start to fall in love both have to deal with the things in their lives they’ve been trying to avoid.

I loved Bethan and her determination to make a better life for herself and Noah, trying to revive the flagging fortunes of the independent garden centre she works at and slowly allowing herself to open up. Lachlan was also a really sweet, sad character, with his lovely pets, Bert and Ernie, and his struggle to recover and move on from a horrific injury.

The ending was lovely, sweet and perfect, with so much hope for the future.

*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 Perfect Escape – Leah Konen

A girls’ weekend to die for.

New friends Sam, Margaret and Diana are thrilled to be getting out of the city for a girls’ weekend—they’ve bonded over their messy divorces, and every mile on the odometer feels like another step towards putting their exes in the past. But when car trouble halfway into their trip strands them in the most unlikely of mountain towns, they come face-to-face with the hurts and betrayals they were so desperate to leave behind.

When Diana doesn’t return home after a night out, Sam and Margaret’s search for her reveals just how little they know about their friend. As eerie coincidences and secrets begin to pile up, and an ex-boyfriend arrives in the tiny town, the women realize that their detour may not have been a mistake…and that someone wants to guarantee that they never make it out.

My thoughts: this book is very good at throwing in an unexpected twist. You think it’s going one way, when Diana disappears for example, then it goes a completely different direction. Very cleverly done. There was no way to see what was coming next or how all the different people and incidents come together. The ending was surprisingly satisfying. You never really know who your friends are…

*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: Take Your Breath Away – Linwood Barclay

One weekend, while Andrew Mason was on a fishing trip, his wife, Brie, vanished without a trace. Most everyone assumed Andy had got away with murder—it’s always the husband, isn’t it?—but the police could never build a strong case against him. For a while, Andy hit rock bottom—he drank too much to numb the pain, was abandoned by all his friends save one, nearly lost his business, and became a pariah in the place he once called home.

Now, six years later, Andy has finally put his life back together. He sold the house he once shared with Brie and moved away. Truth to tell, he wasn’t sad to hear that the old place was razed and a new house built on the site. He’s settled down with a new partner, Jayne, and life is good.

But Andy’s peaceful world is about to shatter. One day, a woman shows up at his old address, screaming, “Where’s my house? What’s happened to my house?” And then, just as suddenly as she appeared, the woman—who bears a striking resemblance to Brie—is gone. The police are notified and old questions—and dark suspicions—resurface. 

Could Brie really be alive after all these years? If so, where has she been? It soon becomes clear that Andy’s future, and the lives of those closest to him, depends on discovering what the hell is going on. The trick will be whether he can stay alive long enough to unearth the answers. 

My thoughts: I could not figure out where this one was going. It just seemed so weird. Brie disappears and then six years later a woman who looks just like her appears outside her old house. Then she vanishes again. But can it really be Brie?

Both her husband Andy, and the detective who has been investigating the case want answers and the truth is stranger than they could imagine. Who could have done all of this and why? Andy’s new life could be torn apart by this and he just wants to close the chapter and move on with girlfriend Jayne. The answers are shocking and also quite sad as the people involved were ones he thought he could trust.

*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 City of Tears – Kate Mosse

The City of Tears – Book 2 – Paris, August 1572 Minou Joubert and her family are in Paris for a Royal Wedding, an alliance between the Catholic Crown and the Huguenot King of Navarre intended to bring peace to France after a decade of religious wars. So too is their oldest enemy, Vidal, still in pursuit of a relic that will change the course of history. But within days of the marriage, thousands will lie dead in the streets and Minou’s beloved family will be scattered to the four winds and one of her beloved children will have disappeared without trace . . .

A breath-taking novel of revenge, persecution and loss, sweeping from Paris and Chartres to the City of Tears itself – the great refugee city of Amsterdam – this is a story of one family’s fight to stay together, to survive and to find each other, against the devastating tides of history . . .

“The Burning Chambers is a sequence of novels set against the backdrop of three hundred years of history, from sixteenth century France to nineteenth-century Southern Africa. The characters and their families, unless otherwise specified, are imagined, though inspired by the sort of people who might have lived. Ordinary women and men, struggling to live, love and survive against a backdrop of religious war and displacement.”

Kate Mosse is a number one international bestselling novelist, playwright and non-fiction writer. The author of eight novels and short story collections – including the multimillionselling Languedoc Trilogy (Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel) and Gothic fiction The Winter Ghosts and The Taxidermist’s Daughter, which she is adapting for the stage – her books have been translated into thirty-eight languages and published in more than forty countries. She is the Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and a regular interviewer for theatre & fiction events. Kate divides her time between Chichester in West Sussex and Carcassonne in south-west France. http://www.katemosse.co.uk | Twitter: @katemosse | Instagram: @katemossewriter | Facebook: KateMosseAuthor

My thoughts: it took me a moment to remember the events of the previous books as I read them what feels like ages ago. But once I’d caught myself up we were away and soon I was deep in religiously fractured France and the events surrounding the royal wedding and a violent reprisal against the Huguenots gathered for it.

Minou and Piet will suffer loss and heartbreak, have to flee France for Amsterdam and still evade the evil cardinal Vidal, who has his own plots and schemes in process.

I’d forgotten how good this series is, how thrilling the period is and how well Mosse brings it to life. You almost feel like you’re there with Minou as she tries to keep the family together through yet more difficult times.

*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 Undiscovered Deaths of Grace McGill – C.S. Robertson

DEATH IS NOT THE END. FOR GRACE McGILL IT IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

When people die alone and undiscovered, it’s her job to clean up what’s left behind – whether it’s clutter, bodily remains or dark secrets.

When an old man lies undetected in his flat for months, it seems an unremarkable life and an unnoticed death. But Grace knows that everyone has a story and that all deaths mean something more.

A STAND-OUT NOVEL WITH A UNIQUE NARRATIVE VOICE AND AN UNGUESSABLE MYSTERY, YOU ARE GUARANTEED TO REMEMBER GRACE McGILL.

My thoughts: Grace is a strange woman, she lives a very solitary life, just her and her cat George and the occasional demanding call from her alcoholic monster of a father. She cleans crime scenes and places, usually homes, of those who’ve died forgotten.

She also builds dioramas of these scenes, a little like the famous Nutshell dioramas, but without the educational angle. She’s the one that alerts the police to a series of deaths where a single daisy has been left.

Grace is also trying to uncover a long almost forgotten disappearance and possible murder of a young woman in the 1960s. All the witnesses and suspects are elderly and she’s running out of time.

As the book unfolds and more about Grace is slowly revealed, she becomes something darker and things take a sinister turn. A clever, gripping thriller.

*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: Unhinged – Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger, translated by Megan Turney

His colleague is dead. His daughter may be next. It’s time to do things his way… Two of Nordic Noir’s most accomplished writers return with the explosive, staggeringly complex and unbearably emotive third instalment in the international bestselling Blix & Ramm series.

When police investigator Sofia Kovic uncovers a startling connection between several Oslo cases, she attempts to contact her closest superior, Alexander Blix, before involving anyone else in the department. But before Blix has time to return her call, Kovic is shot and killed in her own home – execution style. And in the apartment below, Blix’s daughter Iselin narrowly escapes becoming the killer’s next victim. Four days later, Blix and online crime journalist Emma Ramm are locked inside an interrogation room, facing the National Criminal Investigation Service. Blix has shot and killed a man, and Ramm saw it all happen. As Iselin’s life hangs in the balance, under-fire Blix no longer knows who he can trust, and he’s not even certain that he’s killed the right man…

Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger are the internationally bestselling Norwegian authors of the William Wisting and Henning Juul series respectively. A former investigator in the Norwegian police, Horst imbues all his works with an unparalleled realism and suspense. Thomas Enger is a journalist-turned-author whose trademark has become a darkly gritty voice paired with key social messages and tight plotting. Besides writing fiction for both adults and young adults, Enger also works as a music composer. Death Deserved was Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger’s first co-written thriller, closely followed by Smoke Screen, and the series has sold more than two million copies worldwide, outselling Jo Nesbo in their native Norway, Sweden and Germany. @LierHorst @EngerThomas.

My thoughts: this was a shocking book, starting with the violent death of Blix’s friend and colleague Sofia Kovic and the brutal kidnapping and assault of his daughter Iselin. Blix is off the case but can’t stay away from trying to solve it. With the help of blogger Emma Ramm, he’s determined to work out why Sofia and Iselin were targeted and by whom.

I could not put this down, it was so tense and gripping. It was also really sad and awful at times, neither Sofia or Iselin should have had to suffer, but Sofia had spotted a link between a series of cases, and was determined to pursue it and the killer couldn’t let her stop him. Blix will have to finish her work. But in doing so Blix comes into the spotlight and risks his career.

*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 Love That Dares – Rachel Smith & Barbara Vesey

A good love letter can speak across centuries and reassure us that the agony and the ecstasy one might feel in the 21st century have been shared by lovers long gone. This is all the truer of LGBTQ+ love letters: love affairs and relationships that, until very recently, had to survive within sealed envelopes and behind closed doors.

In The Love That Dares, queer love speaks its name through the words of lovers from years gone by. Alongside the more famous names coexist beautifully written letters by lesser-known lovers, giving us an insight into queer love outside of the spotlight of fame or fortune. Compiled by Bishopsgate archivists Rachel Smith and Barbara Vesey, these letters give us a glimpse into the passion and courage it took to continue a gay relationship in times when it was at best improper, and at worst illegal.

Enlightening introductions to each set of letters give readers an idea of the historical context in which they were written.

My thoughts: this is a really lovely collection of letters from queer writers, artists, musicians and others from across history. From famously gay people to ones you might not have known about, from early philosopher Marcus Aurelius, via Oscar Wilde and Vita Sackville-West to modern voices. There’s also a selection from Dear Sappho, published originally in 1996.

Explanatory notes give context to the writers and their letters, a brief glimpse into the lives and loves of people often living under threat of censure and criminality.

I found this incredibly moving, the ways people expressed their love and desire, their hopes and fears in words to friends and lovers, sometimes simple banal everyday news to passionate expressions.

*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 Beast & the Bethany 2 – Revenge of the Beast – Jack Meggitt-Phillips, illustrated by Isabelle Follath

Lemony Snicket meets Roald Dahl in this riotously funny, deliciously macabre, and highly illustrated sequel to The Beast and the Bethany in which Bethany and Ebenezer try to turn over a new leaf, only to have someone—or something—thwart them at every turn.

Once upon a very badly behaved time, 511-year-old Ebenezer kept a beast in his attic. He would feed the beast all manner of objects and creatures and in return the beast would vomit him up expensive presents. But then the Bethany arrived.

Now notorious prankster Bethany, along with her new feathery friend Claudette, is determined that she and Ebenezer are going to de-beast their lives and Do Good. But Bethany finds that being a former prankster makes it hard to get taken on for voluntary work. And Ebenezer secretly misses the beast’s vomity gifts. And neither of them are all that sure what “good people” do anyway.

Then there’s Claudette, who’s not been feeling herself recently. Has she eaten something that has disagreed with her?

Amazon Goodreads

Jack Meggitt-Phillips is an author, scriptwriter, and playwright whose work has been performed at The Roundhouse and featured on Radio 4. He is scriptwriter and presenter of The History of Advertising podcast. In his mind, Jack is an enormously talented ballroom dancer, however his enthusiasm far surpasses his actual talent. Jack lives in north London where he spends most of his time drinking peculiar teas and reading P.G. Wodehouse novels.

My thoughts: book one was very funny so I had high hopes for this beastly second outing, and it paid off. After Claudette ate the Beast, Ebenezer and Bethany are trying to Do Good. It’s not exactly going well, and Claudette is decidedly off colour too.

With the Patrick Extravaganza at risk, and things going from bad to worse – it can only mean one thing – the Beast is back!

This book made me laugh, it’s very silly and there’s going to be more crazy Beast related nonsense in a third book. I know I’m not the intended audience but books don’t come with an age limit, so if you don’t have a younger person to get this for, get it for yourself.

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