Welcome to the tour for book two in The Teddy Bear Chronicles, Chloe’s Crusade by Donnalyn Vojta!
Chloe’s Crusade (Teddy Bear Chronicles #2)
Genre: Psychological Thriller
*NOT a children’s book*
In this second volume of the unique thriller/suspense series narrated by inanimate teddy bears, the ever-brave Chloe Stogdon inserts herself into the dark and chilling world of a global drug clan. Her fearless companion, Tiny Bear, provides a vivid account of the distressing, disturbing events that unfold around Chloe and her FBI team.
The story takes exciting turns and offers many layers of drama, including a love triangle, a star-struck stalker, and a tattered family relationship that may or may not recover. Chloe’s old friends, Richard and Sidney from Vol. I become entangled in Chloe’s perilous cartel crusade, and Love Bear, Fair Bear, and a debut bear, Rocco, reveal all the thrilling moments seen through their innocent eyes.
Formerly a litigation attorney, one constant in Donnalyn Vojta’s life is her love for writing, whether novels or screenplays. Vojta’s goal is always to entertain others as she’d like to be entertained. And for her, that means lots of suspense and thrilling twists!
It’s 1923 and in a decade that promises excitement and liberation, Pearl Glenham and her father are invited to a mysterious country house party on the Dorset coast by a total stranger.
Her father claims not to have any prior association with Highcliffe House, but upon arrival, it is apparent that he has a shared history with several of the guests, although he won’t admit it. Belatedly discovering that her father was blackmailed into attending, Pearl’s worries are compounded when their host fails to arrive…
Intimidated by everyone at the party, she escapes to the nearby cove and stumbles upon a mysterious mercury clock hidden in a cave. This strange encounter sets in motion a series of events that will culminate in an horrific house fire, claiming the lives of all the guests, including Pearl herself.
But then Pearl wakes up back in the cave, seemingly destined never to live past midnight. She can repeat the day. But can she change its outcome?
Jenni Keer is a history graduate who lives in the Suffolk countryside. Her lifelong passion for reading became a passion for writing and she had two contemporary romance novels published in 2019. She has now embraced her love of the past to write twisty, turny historicals, and The Legacy of Halesham Hall was shortlisted for the Romantic Historical Novel of the Year in 2023.
My thoughts: this was a really fun, clever and entertaining mystery novel. Forced to relive the same day over and over, Pearl and her new friend Ellery first have fun with this strange new reality and then decide that they need to investigate the disappearance of the house’s owners the Brockhursts and the other guests connection to the couple, though they all deny knowing them.
As Pearl unravels the terrible secrets being kept and attempts to stop having to die every night and reset the timeline, she learns some shocking things, things that change everything she thought she knew.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own
When the crow moon rises, the darkness is unleashed…
Martha Strangeways is struggling to find purpose in her life, after giving up her career as an investigative reporter when her young twins died in a house fire. Overwhelmed by guilt and grief, her life changes when she stumbles across the body of a missing teenager – a tragedy that turns even more sinister when a poem about crows is discovered inked onto his back…
When another teenager goes missing in the remote landscape, Martha is drawn into the investigation, teaming up with DI Derek Summers, as malevolent rumours begin to spread and paranoia grows. As darkness descends on the village of Strathbran, it soon becomes clear that no one is safe, including Martha…
Originally from the north-east of England, former journalist Suzy Aspley has lived in Scotland for almost thirty years. She writes crime and short stories, often inspired by the strange things she sees in the landscape around her.
She won Bloody Scotland’s Pitch Perfect in 2019 with the original idea for her debut novel and was shortlisted for the Capital Crime New Voices Award.
In 2020, she was mentored by Jo Dickinson as part of the Hachette future bookshelf initiative. Crow Moon was also longlisted for the Caledonia Novel Award. She’s currently working on the second book in the series, and when she’s not writing, she’s either got her nose buried in a book, or is outside with her dogs dreaming up more dark stories.
She lives in Stirlingshire with her family.
My thoughts: this was so good, creepy, weird, gripping, well written and from an exciting new writer in crime fiction.
When a teenage boy goes missing in the small community of Strathban and his body is found with a verse from an old poem about a witch inked on his body, Martha, a grieving journalist and mother of the dead boy’s best friend, who found the body, is drawn into the investigation.
The Scottish poem is sinister and creepy, embedded in the local landscape and the killer is definitely a local and obsessed with it. Martha suspects the parish priest, who is rather intense and knows all the young people who get dragged into the case, including her son.
There’s a terrible hidden tragedy that comes to light as the case races to it’s end, and there’s more as a fire takes hold of the kirk, and Martha has to confront her own personal losses.
I really liked Martha, she has incredible instincts and even wrapped in grief and pain, she has compassion for others and determination to help, even when DI Summers tells her to back of, but it’s such a personal case, she can’t. She thinks the police have the wrong suspect and that proves to be true.
This book had me absolutely hooked from the start and I cannot wait for the next book, I want to see more of Martha and how her next investigation goes.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
The joyous crowd applauds as the happy couple strides down the aisle. This Cotswolds country wedding has everything – friends and family, beautiful flowers and… murder?
When Julia Bird’s ex-husband Peter and his lovely partner Christopher decide to get married in Berrywick, Julia is delighted – after all, who doesn’t love a country wedding? Little does Julia know that normally calm and collected Christopher will turn into a full-on Groomzilla – and that by the end of the night, someone will end up dead.
The morning after the big day, the jolly nuptial mood turns grim when Julia discovers the lifeless body of the caterer, Desmond. Someone locked him in the cold truck and the poor man froze to death. Now looking for a murderer, all eyes are on Christopher who, mid-tantrum, had publicly threatened to kill him. Convinced that Christopher is innocent, Julia vows to find the real culprit.
Julia soon discovers Desmond had a long list of enemies as she races against the clock to clear Christopher’s name. Could his death be the work of the respected wedding planner who was heard exchanging choice words with the victim? Or perhaps it was his wife – ‘til death do them part – who didn’t shed a single tear at his funeral?
But just when Julia thinks she’s cracked the case, her prime suspect is found dead with a knife in their back. Can Julia find the murderer before they strike again?
An utterly gripping, charming cosy mystery set in the English countryside. Fans of M.C. Beaton, Faith Martin and Betty Rowlands will love the Julia Bird Mysteries.
Katie Gayle is the writing partnership of best-selling South African writers, Kate Sidley and Gail Schimmel. Kate and Gail have, between them, written over ten books of various genres, but with Katie Gayle, they both make their debut in the cozy mystery genre. Both Gail and Kate live in Johannesburg, with husbands, children, dogs and cats.
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My thoughts: Julia returns, this time accompanied by her daughter, who’s flown in from Hong Kong to attend her father’s wedding. When the caterer is found frozen to death in the back of his van the next day, Julia’s ex-husband’s new husband (yes, it does get confusing) Christopher is suspect number 1.
But Julia starts investigating, and she finds more and more evidence that points in other directions. Someone is trying to sabotage the catering firm, and there other tangled threads in the dead man’s life that need unravelling before Hayley and her colleague, the rather dim Walter Farmer, can swoop in and slap on the handcuffs.
Another really enjoyable, fun and clever case for Julia Bird and the ever excitable Jake.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner comes a harrowing new thriller: Frankie Elkin is an expert at finding the missing persons that the rest of the world has forgotten, but even she couldn’t have anticipated this latest request—to locate the long-lost sister of a female serial killer facing execution in three weeks’ time.
Frankie Elkin is an expert at finding the missing persons that the rest of the world has forgotten, but even she couldn’t have anticipated this latest request—to locate the long-lost sister of a female serial killer facing execution in three weeks’ time.
She has called herself “death,” but people called her the devil.
The case was sensational. Kaylee Pierson had confessed from the very beginning, waived all appeals. Despite the media’s chronicling of her tragic circumstances—the childhood spent with a violent father—no one could find sympathy for “the Beautiful Butcher” who had led eighteen men home from bars before viciously slitting their throats. Now, with only twenty-one days left to live, Pierson has finally received a lead on the whereabouts of the sister who was kidnapped over a decade ago, and she needs Frankie’s help to find her. The Beautiful Butcher’s offer:
When was the last time your search ended with finding the living?
Unable to resist the chance for a rescue, Frankie takes on Pierson’s request. Twelve years ago, five-year-old Leilani went missing in Hawaii. The main suspect? Pierson’s tech mogul ex-boyfriend, Sanders MacManus. Now, on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific—the site of MacManus’s latest vanity project—fresh evidence has appeared. In order to learn the truth and possibly save a young woman’s life, Frankie must go undercover at the isolated base camp. Her challenge: A dozen strangers. Countless dangerous secrets. Zero means of calling for help. And then the storm rolls in…
Lisa Gardner, a #1 New York Times bestselling thriller novelist, began her career in food service, but after catching her hair on fire numerous times, she took the hint and focused on writing instead. A self-described research junkie, she has transformed her interest in police procedure and criminal minds into a streak of internationally acclaimed novels, published across 30 countries. Her novel, The Neighbor, won Best Hardcover Novel from the International Thriller Writers. She has also been honored for her work with animal rescue and at-risk children. An avid hiker, gardener and cribbage player, Lisa lives with her family in New England.
My thoughts: there are some authors who are auto-buys for me (Karin Slaughter, Karen Rose, Louise Candlish) and Lisa Gardner is one of them. I especially love this series because I love Frankie.
Although I do worry about her, Frankie has narrowly avoided death in both previous books and this time she’s working for a serial killer. Oh, Frankie, why?
Pulled into the tragedy of Kaylee Pierson’s life, she’s on her way to a tropical paradise that might just be anything but.
Remote, isolated, no real way to contact the outside world, basically a terrible idea. Although the people staffing the not exactly built retreat are nice, but one of them might be a murderer or a paedophile or in league with the serial killer. But Frankie goes in undercover and soon discovers that Kaylee is not just a killer but a liar, and there is something else going on here.
I really like Frankie, she’s a wonderful character, despite how she sees herself, as a bit of a failure at life. She’s survived plenty of hard knocks and uses her street smarts, ability to read people and quick mouth to get in and out of trouble. This might just be her hardest case yet, the cavalry are too far away, she doesn’t know who to trust and psychopaths can’t be reasoned with.
A corking addition to this series, with all the twists and turns and terrifying moments Lisa Gardner’s known for, I could not put it down and devoured it in one (intense) sitting.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Julia Castleton is a former Times journalist turned activist blogger. She carries the weight of past trauma and struggles to balance the demands of single motherhood with the challenges of her work.
When a man who has approached Julia with a story is found dead, she is drawn into a political and military conspiracy that reaches high into the corridors of power. Facing the battle of her life, unsure who to trust, Julia must fight like never before to protect her son, save herself and expose the conspiracy ranged against her.
Julia Castleton is the creation of an internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed writing duo. Blurring the lines between fact and fiction, she takes us into a world that could have been torn from the headlines.
My thoughts: I know nothing about the world of international espionage, politics etc apart from what I’ve read and I’m quite happy with it that way. The protagonist – called Julia Castleton – finds herself embroiled in that world after a doctor and army reservist contacts her with an explosive story, but he’s killed before he can pass anything onto her. At his funeral, a supposed friend hands her a dossier, which she publishes without fact checking it first and then all hell breaks loose.
She’s chased and kidnapped, forced to flee for her life, the police raid her home in the middle of the night, her son is made the subject of a social services investigation. But while the dossier seems to have been dodgy, there’s definitely a story there, and despite knowing how badly it could all go, Julia and her PI friend Joe decide to follow the scant leads.
What they find is much, much bigger than they imagined and they have to go right to the top to get help breaking it, even then it could still be a risk.
Julia is also dealing with the demons of her past, a psychotic break some years before, time on the streets, lost memories and disturbing fragments that invade her dreams. But she wants answers about what happened to her.
I think this could be a really interesting series, though at times it skirts the line of incredulity, and Julia can be a bit frustrating as she prevaricates and abandons her five year old son to her sister’s care for days on end. I think she needs the concept of a work/life balance explained to her.
I really liked Joe, he’s a true friend and always comes through for Julia, as does family lawyer Stone, despite her reluctance to engage with her father. She’s lucky to have people around her, as well as her sister, who really have her back.
*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 the next book in the Branches of Past and Future series, Two Who Live On by MN Bennet!
Two Who Live On (Branches of Past and Future #2)
Publication Date: March 11, 2024
Genre: LGBTQ+ Fantasy Romance/ Dark Academia
Grumpy/Sunshine
Dark academia vibes
Unraveling mysteries
Cinnamon rolls
Angsty teens
So much banter
Second chance romance
Spicy 🌶🌶🌶
Going into the second semester, all Dorian wants to do is explore his relationship with Milo and prepare his students for the upcoming academy showcase. But Enchanter Evergreen’s fame makes Dorian question his place in Milo’s world. His fear of going public is complicated when he notices a shift in his telepathy that strengthens his bond to Milo in a way it never has before. Dorian finds himself forced to simultaneously navigate his work life and Milo’s enchanter cases.
This amplification in his magic puts a strain on Dorian’s mind, making it difficult to prioritize his students while they struggle to rank into the showcase. Dorian wants to ensure their magics are mastered in time for the event, help them deal with trauma from the warlock incursion last semester, and teach them to handle class bullies this semester. But finding a balance is out of the question when Dorian’s mind is reeled toward dangerous threats lurking in the city.
Demons. Haunting and deadly, they stalk citizens, picking off witches and warlocks alike, while Milo investigates their motives. It’s a terrifying reminder for Dorian about why he wasn’t cut out for life as an industry professional. He lost Finn to demons, and now, just as he’s finally gotten some semblance of his life back, Dorian worries he’ll lose Milo to the same fate.
MN Bennet loves reading and writing about magical worlds, sweet romances, and snarky characters. When not writing, buried in a stack of TBR books, or binge watching something captivating, he can be found working on lesson plans.
Six months since the earth-shattering events of The Space Between Us, the revelatory hope of the aliens’ visit has turned to dust and the creatures have disappeared into waters off Scotland’s west coast. Teenager Lennox and grieving mother Heather are being held in New Broom, a makeshift US military base, the subject of experiments, alongside the Enceladons who have been captured by the authorities. Ava, who has given birth, is awaiting the jury verdict at her trial for the murder of her husband. And MI7 agent Oscar Fellowes, who has been sidelined by the US military, is beginning to think he might be on the wrong side of history. When alien Sandy makes contact, Lennox and Heather make a plan to escape with Ava. All three of them are heading for a profound confrontation between the worst of humanity and a possible brighter future, as the stakes get higher for the alien Enceladons and the entire human race…
Doug Johnstone is the author of 16 previous novels, most recently The Opposite of Lonely (2023) and The Space Between Us (2023). The Big Chill (2020) was longlisted for Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, Black Hearts was shortlisted for the same award. Three of his books, A Dark Matter (2020), Breakers (2019) and The Jump (2015), have been shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year. He’s taught creative writing and been writer in residence at various institutions over the last decade, and has been an arts journalist for over twenty years. Doug is a songwriter and musician with six albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers. He’s also co-founder of the Scotland Writers Football Club, and has a PhD in nuclear physics.
My thoughts: Sandy and his friends, human and alien are back, but things are not good. The Americans have swept in, built a base and the UK government have just let them. They’re conducting experiments on Lennox, Heather and the Enceladons they’ve managed to capture in the Scottish waters.
After Ava’s trial, she and baby Chloe are brought to this base too, and the experiments intensify, Chloe at the heart of them in some of the most disturbing scenes in the book.
The Enceladons came here as refugees and this is like the government’s moronic “hostile environment” policy on steroids. They are torturing the alien creatures, referring to them as “illegals”, refusing to believe that they’re gentle, friendly creatures who don’t even understand violence.
Obviously the humans who have connected to Sandy, Xander and the other Enceladons are determined to escape and take their tentacled friends with them. They’ve also made some new human friends locally, who will do anything to help, even storm the compound and fight the armed soldiers inside.
There’s lots of quite shocking moments, and it’s a lot darker than The Space Between Us, though there is still hope there, a chance for humanity and the Enceladons to live in harmony, it’s just more complicated and harder.
I don’t know how Doug Johnstone does it, has me howling with laughter at the misadventures of the Skelfs in their books and then has me whispering “no!” at the terrible things that happened here.
Sandy and his kin have such big hearts and are full of love and then there’s us, not trusting and unwilling to believe that anyone, even beings from another world, could be that good and have no ulterior motive.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
The gripping new crime thriller from the bestselling author of Before We Met and Critical Incidents
Robin Lyons is back in her hometown of Birmingham and now a DCI with Force Homicide, working directly under Samir, the man who broke her heart almost twenty years ago.
When a woman is found stabbed to death in a derelict factory and no one comes forward to identify the body, Robin and her team must not only hunt for the murderer, but also solve the mystery of who their victim might be.
As Robin and Samir come under pressure from their superiors, from the media and from far-right nationalists with a dangerous agenda, tensions in Robin’s own family threaten to reach breaking point. And when a cold case from decades ago begins to smoulder and another woman is found dead in similar circumstances, rumours of a serial killer begin to spread.
In order to get to the truth Robin will need to discover where loyalty ends and duty begins. But before she can trust, she is going to have to forgive – and that means grappling with some painful home truths.
About the Author
Lucie Whitehouse was born in Gloucestershire in 1975, read Classics at Oxford University and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of The House at Midnight, the TV Book Club pick The Bed I Made and Before We Met, which was a Richard & Judy Summer Book Club pick and an ITV3 Crime Thriller selection.
@LWhitehouse5
My thoughts: Robin has rejoined the police, but not the Met, she’s working at West Midlands Police under Samir. She’s heading up a team in Force Homicide – and her latest case is not an easy one. A murdered girl found naked and unidentifiable in an old factory popular with the homeless.
Soon the far right have picked up on the fact that, while another team have quickly solved the murder of a Black teenager, this young woman remains both unknown and no one has been arrested. Then another young woman’s body is found, but Robin thinks it might not be the same killer, something is just a bit off.
As the team dig into the case and attempt to identify the first victim, the press are hot on their heels and so is a local far right rabble rouser. Tensions are rising, the bosses are on the war path and Robin is trying to hold everything together.
This second outing for Robin is shocking, gripping and a total thrill ride. Birmingham is in the midst of a knife crime epidemic, things are reaching boiling point and they need to solve this case fast, but it turns out to be much more complicated and far darker than first suspected.
By skipping forward a few months from the events of the first book, we miss out on the teething problems of Robin’s return to work, which allows us to ease into the story and get to know the team after they’ve got used to one another. Skipping over the complicated, messy stuff, getting into the knitty gritty of both the case and Robin’s life, which I really enjoyed. Roll on book three!
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
This cover is positively magical and we are thrilled to share it with you today! There are also some amazing pre-order incentives too so don’t miss out!
Of Darkness and Ruination (The Star Queen Chronicles Book 1)
Expected Publication Date: April 4, 2024
Genre: Romantic Fantasy
Cover Artist: @violet.book.design
🗡️Enemies-to-Lovers
❤️Fated Mates
☀️Light vs Dark
☠️Touch Her & Di3
🐉Shadow Daddy Dragon Shifter
🔍Courtly Intrigue
✨Fae Shifters
Starlight in her veins, and a soul that calls for darkness.
On the magical continent of Celesterra, all humans are enslaved to the ruling fae…
Asteria Zagreus, a mortal young woman enslaved on Celesterra, must face Placement Day, the one day where all humans, at the age of Twenty-One, are placed in new kingdoms and given new masters to serve. Come Placement Day, Asteria is forced into the Dusk Kingdom and given to its Prince, Cyrus Tynan. When she refuses him and his desires, Asteria realizes she has only one option: escaping her enslavement and finding something thought impossible—freedom. Asteria must begin to play her own game within the court…and with the Prince of Dusk Kingdom himself.
Enemies come from all sides, however, and the merciless ruler of the Night Kingdom, King Calix Atarah Erebus, starts making his move against the Dusk Kingdom. Yet, darkness calls to Asteria in mysterious ways, and an equally mysterious soldier makes her question who the real monsters are—especially when it comes to a brutal king and a callous prince. With a bloody war brewing on the horizon, Asteria must decide who the true villain of her story is. Her choice, and the consequences of it, will ripple out across the continent.
Chaos rises, resistance gathers, and a soulmate bond is tested, while Asteria begins down a path that will change the course of history…
Of Darkness and Ruination is the first book in a compelling new adult romantic fantasy series featuring contrasting light and dark love interests and the delicate line of balance and chaos for a magical land. Plus fae shifters, court intrigue, resistance to slavery, a shadow daddy love interest who can shift into a dragon, and a heroine finding her own power and fighting for what she believes in. Perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas, Jennifer L Armentrout, Clare Sager, Nisha J Tuli, Carissa Broadbent, Chloe C. Peñaranda, and Raven Kennedy!
Everyone who preorders can fill out the preorder incentive form on author’s linktree with proof of purchase to get a swag pack containing an art print, bookmark, and sticker
ramblingmads 