We’re celebrating the release of Nothing but the Beast by Andrew Schrader!
Readers of gothic fiction and psychologically unsettling stories in the tradition of Shirley Jackson will love this!
Nothing but the Beast
Release Date: April 15, 2026
Genre: Psychological Suspense/ Thriller
“DON’T GET UP.
DON’T OPEN THE DOOR.
DON’T DO ANYTHING.”
Macy Miller had always done what was expected.
Until the night she didn’t.
By morning, her husband lies in a coma, the neighbors are whispering, and the past she buried won’t stay down. As the routines of daily life resume, Macy struggles to maintain the careful order she’s built on silence and conformity.
Nothing But the Beast is a literary psychological novel about complicity, self-deception, and the quiet horror of self-recognition, as a woman comes to realize that the most dangerous thing she feared was never outside her door.
Ten standalone mysteries. One haunting conspiracy.
Welcome to Ravenfield, a quiet Yorkshire town surrounded by endless moorland. To outsiders, it is peaceful. To those who live there, it is haunted by secrets.
Rachel Cooper, a young police officer, arrives determined to solve her father’s unsolved murder — even if it costs her career. Her only lead points to Ravenfield, but what she finds is far stranger than she imagined.
Paranormal investigator Chris Silversmith has spent his life studying the town’s unexplained phenomena, and he believes those mysteries are tied to Rachel’s father’s death.
Together with Rachel’s sceptical partner, Chris’s loyal friend, and a woman who can speak to the dead, they form an unlikely alliance to uncover Ravenfield’s truth. But the deeper they dig, the more dangerous their search becomes.
Watching from the shadows is The Management — a clandestine group determined to keep Ravenfield’s secrets buried forever.
Told across ten chilling episodes, each a standalone mystery yet bound together by a dark overarching conspiracy, Book One of The Ravenfield Chronicles launches a gripping saga of murder, mystery, and supernatural horror — where uncovering the truth may cost more than your life.
N.D. Thompson is a horror and dark fiction writer from West Yorkshire, publishing under his independent imprint, Darker Realms Press. His work has drawn comparisons to Stephen King, Richard Laymon, and James Herbert—delivered with a distinctly Yorkshire voice that infuses his supernatural stories with grit, atmosphere, and authenticity.
My thoughts: This was an enjoyable blend of paranormal mystery and police procedural crime novel. When officer Rachel Cooper arrives in town, hoping to unravel the mysteries surrounding her father’s death, she ends up clashing with DI Armstrong, a man with a lot of secrets.
As she carries out her job, she encounters Chris Silversmith, University lecturer and paranormal investigator with his sidekick Alexis. They join forces after discovering that a series of deaths have a definite touch of the supernatural, despite the DI dismissing them as accidents or suicides.
Each of the cases builds up the conspiracy, the hidden secrets of Ravenfield slowly coming to light through the diligent and sometimes dangerous investigating of Rachel, Chris and their friends. What is really going on in this small Yorkshire town and why can’t anyone remember what they’ve seen?
Clever, entertaining and mysterious. You’ll want to know the secrets of Ravenfield too.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
We’re celebrating the release of Must Love Lavender & Little Lies by Maisy Magill!
Must Love Lavender and Little Lies (Moonshine Hollow Book 3)
Release Date: April 14, 2026
Genre: Cozy Fantasy Romance
Fake Fiancée
Friends to Lovers
Orc MMC
Magical Spring Festival
Enchanting Small Town
Shrieking Goats
Farmcore & Cottagecore Aesthetics
Orcish Shenanigans
Forced Proximity
Guaranteed HEA
Medium Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️
She’s his bestie. He’s her rock. And now? They’re accidentally engaged.
Juniper runs the village apothecary, and Granik grows lavender on his farm. These two plant lovers have always had each other’s backs. When orcish custom demands Granik get married, Juniper does the only logical thing to save her best friend: she proposes a fake engagement. Brilliant plan, right? The only trouble is that in orcish customs, engagements are binding and there’s no such thing as fake. Now they have to find their way out of a major mess. That proves harder than anticipated when Granik’s family comes to celebrate the spring Greening festival. Juniper and Granik must convince everyone they’re madly in love. But the longer they pretend to be a couple, the harder it becomes to remember why they were faking it in the first place.
Must Love Lavender and Little Lies is a spicy cozy fantasy romance full of farmcore vibes, gentle magic, mischievous shrieking goats, and a love story that will warm your heart.
Must Love Lavender and Little Lies is book 3 in the enchanting Moonshine Hollow series. Each novel in the series can be read as a standalone. Different couples and storylines
Perfect for lovers of wholesome spice and cozy romantasy! Fans of Kimberly Lemming, Heather Fawcett, J Penner, and Tee Harlowe will devour this perfectly cozy and deliciously passionate tale of magic, friendship, and learning what you really want in life.
My thoughts: This is another cute fantasy romance in the Moonshine Hollow series, this time with a fake relationship trope.
Orc Granik must pick a wife in this, his thirtieth year, or his family will arrange one for him. His best friend Juniper offers to help him out by playing the role of his fiancée, and they’ll call the whole thing off after a while. Until they learn that orc custom means ending an engagement would bring shame on the whole family.
And then Granik’s entire family come to visit and now they’re planning a wedding, for this Saturday. What are they going to do?
Everyone thinks they’d be perfect for each other but in true rom com When Harry Met Sally style, they can’t see what’s right in front of them. With a meddling grandmother and friends who are determined to give them a magical wedding, perhaps it might be time to admit their true feelings?
Cute, funny and romantic, this is charming and has delightful characters and a sweet little puppy, magic cows and screaming goats too.
Kilmara, Scotland. 1725. For fifty years, Iris has accepted the curse that blighted her life. By night, she is a heartbroken woman, destined to walk the misty shores of Kilmara without growing older. By day, she is Moireach, a terrifying monster imprisoned in the murky depths of Loch Moine. When bodies begin appearing on the shore, the villagers are convinced Moireach is responsible.
So a hunter – the rugged, ruthless Henry Carver – is summoned to slay the monster of the loch. Iris must break her curse before she is killed for crimes she cannot believe she has committed. But as Kilmara’s hunt for the monster becomes ever more fevered, she and Henry are drawn together in a dangerous game of impossible attraction. And when a figure from Iris’s past suddenly reappears, she must choose what – or who – she is willing to sacrifice to win her freedom…when you are the monster.
Rebecca Templeton has had a love of books from a very early age and had lofty childhood aspirations of being a writer, though she ended up joining the legal profession instead. When her husband encouraged her to start writing again, she rediscovered her creative outlet and hasn’t looked back since.
When not writing or working, Rebecca can usually be found crocheting giant blankets, baking or watching Gilmore Girls. She is also owned by a couple of very energetic children.
My thoughts: This blends a retelling of the Little Mermaid with elements of Scottish folklore, Beauty & the Beast, Snow White, and other fairy tales.
Iris is cursed to spend her days as Moireach, a terrifying creature that dwells in the loch, and her night’s hiding from the villagers, who don’t know about her secret. They most likely think she’s long dead. She wants to break the curse, but doesn’t know how. Her only friend is Duncan, her childhood friend now grown old.
When bodies start being found around the loch, a monster hunter is summoned to rid the village of its murderous creature. Only Iris doesn’t think she is the killer. And soon, neither does the hunter, Henry Carver.
After Iris saves his life, and they meet, there’s an instant connection. Can they defy the odds, break the curse and solve the murders?
It’s a really interesting blend of fantasy, fairy tale and folklore, there’s hints of lots of different stories, and Iris is an interesting protagonist, she’s smart about certain things, but naive in other ways. Duncan is her only contact and friend, she isn’t aware of much that has happened since she was cursed, he controls her access to information and news, and manipulates her.
Her relationship with Henry gives her hope after a long time and refuels her desire to break her curse, causing her to return to the village for the first time in fifty years and search for answers, breaking free of the secrets she has been carrying for so long.
It’s interesting to have the woman as the monster – although I don’t think Moireach is really a monster, she’s just trying to survive in a world not designed for her, fighting against nasty kelpies in the loch and the ignorance of villagers who would destroy her.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.
We’re celebrating the release of the next book in the The Starheart Saga, Nightwither by Lana B. Night!
Nightwither (The Starheart Saga #2)
Release Date: April 14, 2026
Genre: Romantasy
– High Fantasy
– Epic World Building
– Dragons
– Found Family
– Enemies to Lovers- Unlikely Allies
– Who did this to you?
– Shadow Daddy
– Banter
– Morally Grey FMC
– A Court of Mist and Fury Vibes
Stella arrives in her mother’s homeland, Myera, a realm of unfamiliar creatures, magical lands, and values that challenge her core beliefs. Nothing could have prepared her for the responsibility of her mother’s legacy. With a long history of tension rising and a civil war on the horizon, Stella is forced into her role as the Starheart to heal old wounds.
Navigating a treacherous web of politics and power as the realm begins to fracture, Stella must be a pillar of strength and stability even as she quietly unravels beneath the weight of her own unmet expectations. But the greatest challenge doesn’t lie within her.
At the centre of the unrest stands Noxryn.
Caught between clashing wills and pride, Stella faces something far more dangerous than failing—the possibility of understanding the man who betrayed her and the one responsible for the chaos threatening to consume the realm. Taking off Noxryn’s mask might offer answers to bring peace, or which lures both her and Myera into a darkness there’s no coming back from.
The Starheart Saga is perfect for fans of unique magic systems, mythical creatures, angst and tension, and hilarious banter. Nightwither will appeal to fans of plot-heavy, character-driven fantasy and enemies-to-lovers romance.
Fifteen years ago, Sunny Hart vanished. Now her sister wants the truth – no matter the cost.
Investigative journalist Rose Hart swore she’d never return to her hometown, the place that stole her sister and shattered her family. But it’s finally time to lay the ghosts of her past to rest.
Her fragile peace is shattered when a horrific parcel arrives in the post, followed by a chillingwarning beside a dead body. Suddenly, Rose is dragged back into a nightmare she can’t escape.
As she begins to investigate, Rose realises she’s not the only one hunting for answers. Leo Thorn, a forensic pathologist with secrets of his own, and Vinny Strong, a convicted murderer with unfinished business, become unlikely allies.
Together, they step into a labyrinth of long-buried secrets and a history far darker than Rose ever imagined. Someone knows what happened to Sunny, and they’ve waited a very long time to finish what they started.
Perfect for fans of Gillian McAllister and Alex North, A Body of Lies is a haunting crime thriller of secrets, survival and the darkness a family can hide.
Marrisse Whittaker has been creating characters for all of her working life, travelling far and wide, first as a TV and Film Make-Up Artist.
Next as a TV Scriptwriter, creating stories for popular series. But plenty of drama takes place in real-life too and when Marrisse joined forces with her husband, to establish Orion TV, they produced a fascinating range of factual programmes for major broadcasters.
Now, creating a scene is taking on a new meaning for Marrisse as she launches a new career as a novelist writing about the world of crime, having been shortlisted for The Lindisfarne Prize for Outstanding Debut Crime Fiction in 2020.
My thoughts: When crime journalist Rose moves back to her hometown, determined to finally solve the mystery of her younger sister’s disappearance that led to her father’s suicide and her mother asking the courts to send her to boarding school and never letting her visit.
Somehow, despite all of this trauma, Rose has been successful at uni and worked on a top national paper, but swapping it for a small regional paper whose editor seems to be living in another age, demanding she find shocking crime stories for the front page, in their small town.
But as she tries to find out what happened to Sunny, she does indeed stumble on the crime spree of the century. From the apparent suicide in the park of a man whose beloved sister was due to released from prison, to the accidental death of an elderly lady, that definitely doesn’t look like an accident.
And what does her playground nemesis, now apparently the paper’s photographer, have to do with it? He’s the new police chief’s son to boot, meaning he’s getting insider information and possibly using that relationship to hide his misdeeds.
But what Rose and her new friends, SOCO Leo and freshly released ex-con Vinny, uncover is both shocking and impossible to imagine going hidden in a small town for such a long time,but yet, somehow it has. Until now.
The twists in this story are jaw dropping, the horrifying truth about Rose’s family is completely shocking and Rose, who so many people doubt, proves to be a fantastic investigator and gets justice for the innocent lives lost along the way. Totally gripping.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
We’re proud to present this stunning cover for an upcoming release called Blurred Images by Brandy Nacole!
Blurred Images
Expected Release Date: TBD
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Cover Artist: Marissa Shor
Unreliable Narrator
Karmic Retribution
Missing Person
Murder Mystery
Not every image tells the truth
She has the life she was supposed to want—a husband, children, a home filled with routine. From the outside, it looks complete.
Until her husband goes missing.
As memories begin to press in and the weight of unspoken grief grows heavier, she finds herself questioning everything she’s built. The past doesn’t stay buried, and the woman she used to be refuses to remain forgotten.
What begins as a quiet unease turns into something far more dangerous. A slow, psychological fracture that threatens to consume her from the inside out.
1917 – At Cambridge University, American scholar Harry Turchin never expects to lose himself to desire. But Annie Mackenzie—soft-spoken, grieving, and luminous—claims his heart from their very first kiss. Their love is swift, fierce, and intoxicating. Married just days before Harry is sent to war, their passion is ripped apart when the trenches claim everything he knows, and Harry is thrown into a future that should not exist.
1967 – The free-spirited sixties are alive with rhythm, rebellion, and possibility. Harry awakens to a world he doesn’t recognise—and to Annalise Taylor, as bold and captivating as the era itself. Brilliant, independent, and achingly alive, she rouses a desire he thought belonged solely to the past.
Caught between the love he was ripped away from and the passion he cannot resist, Harry is torn between two women, two lives, and two versions of forever. Because time will not bend twice … Or will it?
Sweeping from the blood-soaked battlefields of World War One to the fevered nights of the swinging sixties, No More Tomorrows is a sensual time-slip romance about desire, devotion, and the devastating power of love that refuses to be bound by time.
Olivia Lockhart (Livvie to her friends) is an English author who can’t quite decide if she wants to write contemporary romance, historical romance, or paranormal romance. So she writes them all, because it HAS to be romance!
She loves to write about the underdog, the one who got away, the bits of love stories we can all relate to.
When not writing she can be found drinking wine, cuddling with her beloved pooch, or with her head in a book.
Giveaway to Win a signed copy of No More Tomorrows (Open to UK only)
My thoughts: When Harry wakes up in a field in France in 1967, despite having been on the battlefield in 1918, he’s utterly bewildered. He’s horrified by the fact his sweet wife, Annie, won’t have known what happened to him and that fifty years have passed.
Nursed back to health by a kindly French couple, he then makes his way back to England, hoping to find a trace of his family. Instead he meets physics student Annalise, who takes him in and helps him get sorted out. She believes his story and wants to help him, even as she falls for him.
It’s a bittersweet love affair, Harry determines that he must live in the present, not worry about what might have been. But Annalise fears he is forever comparing her with his lost love and really longs for the life he never got to live.
I really liked Harry and Annalise, and their lovely dog, who went from bomb detection to spoilt pet in one time travelling trip.
The story was really lovely and sad, Harry has been ripped from his life and thrust into a world he doesn’t recognise – the huge changes from 1918 to 1967 are a shock, and he initially struggles to adjust. But he does and it’s Annalise who then struggles to accept his love.
I also liked Annalise – she was very different and modern, perhaps even more so than most in the 60s, not believing in marriage and wanting to work for NASA. She’s clever and wants more from life than the traditional, and is determined to achieve even as her fellow (male) students denigrate her and mock the idea of female Cambridge students.
Their relationship might not be conventional, but it means a lot to both of them, even as something incredible happens that might tip their lives upside down forever. Have a tissue handy if you’re a crier, this one has its weepy moments.
*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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In a city rebuilding from war, truth can be the most dangerous weapon of all.
Berlin, 1930. Historian Archie Laverick, scarred mentally and physically by the Great War, travels to Berlin to research a famed Prussian general. His quiet study is shattered when he crosses paths with Esme Carmichael, a spirited young American intent on making her name as a foreign correspondent. When a shooting at a Saxon castle leaves a young Jewish woman accused of murder, Archie and Esme are drawn into a perilous hunt for the truth.
Their investigation cuts through the glittering façades and lingering scars of a nation still reeling from war – where resentment simmers, political alliances shift, and the first shadows of a new conflict fall across Europe. Amid whispers of blackmail and betrayal, the pair must navigate intrigue and danger to unmask a killer hiding in plain sight.
A tense, atmospheric mystery set in a world between wars – perfect for fans of Philip Kerr’s Berlin Trilogy, Robert Harris’s Fatherland, and Alan Furst’s spy novels.
Michael Ridpath is the bestselling author of over 20 crime novels and thrillers. His first novel, after a career in finance, was Free to Trade, a No 2 bestseller about the murky world of bond trading which was translated into over thirty languages. He is currently writing the Foreign Correspondent series of murder mysteries set in the capitals of Europe in the 1930s. He splits his time between London and Massachusetts.
My thoughts: I once wrote a very boring essay about the Weimar Republic of Germany between the wars, I am very glad to say this book was much better than my essay.
Sir Archie Laverick is in Berlin researching a general from the Napoleonic wars, the assistant he thought he was taking has bailed on him, but his cousin, on the ground in Germany, has found him a new one in the form of wannabe journalist, American Esme Carmichael. She’s enthusiastic and energetic, but Archie worries she might be a bit too much. Luckily they do get along and after she looks after him when he has a spell of shell shock, they bond.
When Esme’s friend is killed while weekending at a German baron’s home, and a young Austrian woman is arrested, Esme thinks the police have it wrong. She asks Archie to help her find the real killer.
But as the duo look into the case, Esme is threatened and it becomes apparent there’s more to the situation than a jealous lover.
This is a really interesting book, with a strong sense of historical time and place, interesting characters and an intriguing case at its centre.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Marske, 1361. Sir Ralph de Mandeville with his assistants Peter and Merek have recently come from Reeth to hold a court session in Marske but are pulled away at the news of a most heinous crime having been discovered further down the River Swale.
A boat has been found, floating down the river. Inside is a truly horrifying scene – the body of a nun, her wrists cut and her hands fixed in the sign of benediction… As Ralph uses his astute skills of inspection, his mind asks a most difficult question – is this self-murder or murder most foul? Were her last moments spent in benediction prayer… or malediction warning?
With both Marrick Priory and Easby Abbey within a stone’s throw of Marske, it appears something is not quite right in the house of God…
When the body of a priest is found mutilated as if by a wild animal, the villagers fear the nun’s body has opened the gates and let loose a monster from Hell… but Ralph starts to wonder if something much more human is at the root of these evils.
As he follows the grim clues, he fears he knows where this miserable sacrilegious journey will end.
The question is, can he catch the murderer and prevent more grisly deaths – his own included?
I was born in St Andrews and studied medicine at the University of Dundee in Scotland. I lived and worked in Wakefield in Yorkshire for 40 years, within arrow-shot of the ruins of a medieval castle, the base for a series of historical novels.
I am a retired GP, medical journalist and novelist, writing in several genres. As Keith Moray I write historical crime fiction in the medieval era and in ancient Egypt, The Inspector Torquil McKinnon crime novels set on the Outer Hebridean island of West Uist, and as Clay More I write westerns. Curiously, my medical background finds its way into most of my fiction writing.
In my spare time I enjoy the movies, theatre and making bread. I play golf and I run at carthorse speed. As a frustrated actor I have found occasional solace as a supporting artist, but enough said about that!
I now live in Stratford-upon with my wife Rachel and whichever of our children and grandchildren who happen to pop in.
Social Media Links – Facebook: @KeithMorayAuthor Twitter: @KeithMorayTales Instagram: @souterkeith Newsletter Bookbub profile: @dr_keithsouter
My thoughts: This was very good, a medieval murder mystery with the detectives in the form of the justice of the peace, Sir Ralph de Mandeville and his assistants, scribe Peter, and former archer Merek.
Carrying out the king’s work in Yorkshire, they become involved when the body of a young nun is found drifting in a boat on the river Swale. Did she kill herself or was she murdered? When the body of the parish priest is also found brutalised, Ralph suspects something rather nasty is going on. And when he and his assistants are attacked, he knows there’s something seriously wrong in the area.
As the case unfolds, Ralph, Peter and Merek are in danger too, they’re close to an answer and the killer wants them to stop looking. But they’re tougher than anyone realises and Ralph won’t give in to threats.
This is an engaging, clever and enjoyable read, I liked Ralph and his colleagues, they’re intelligent and thorough investigators, even with the limited knowledge of their age, willing to carry out thorough investigations, acting not only as detectives but also carrying out the roles that in modern cases would be scene of crime, and medical examiner.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 