Tag: contemporary fiction

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Where the Light is Hottest – Catherine Yardley

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Natasha Jones has everything – a successful acting career, an Oscar, a wonderful husband and beautiful kids. But what does she have to go through to get there?

From humble beginnings in a small town, Natasha’s path to stardom is paved with setbacks, heartaches and moments of doubt.
In the glittering world of fame and fortune, where dreams are spun from starlight and ambition fuels the relentless pursuit of success, one woman’s journey stands as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Beneath the facade of glamour lies a story of unwavering determination and unyielding courage.

Where the Light is the Hottest is a gripping tale of ambition, perseverance and the enduring power of hope. Through Natasha’s journey, we are reminded that the road to success is rarely smooth, but
for those who dare to chase their dreams, the rewards are beyond measure.

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Catherine Yardley is the author of Ember and Where The Light is Hottest. She’s also
the editor-in-chief of Frost Magazine and a freelance writer who’s featured in The Bookseller, Mslexia, Metro, Huffpost, Writing Magazine and Writers’ and Artists’ amongst others. She lives in London with her husband and children.

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My thoughts: I can’t say I particularly liked Natasha, the protagonist of this book about an actor’s rise to fame via RADA and small parts in plays and on TV, to Oscar winner and successful founder of a woman led production company.

She’s a bit too charmed and at times her life looks a little too easy to be completely won over by her. She marries a handsome lawyer, they have two children, her career isn’t too badly affected. There are some deeply unpleasant moments, on set with co-stars, off set with sleazy producers, but compared to some of the stories that have come out of #MeToo and similar campaigns, Natasha is one of the lucky ones.

I just didn’t find her very likeable as a character, she just didn’t click for me. However I did enjoy the book, I liked her friend who is very aware of the privileged life she enjoys, and always picks up the bill, trying to balance her family wealth with kindness. I liked Natasha’s husband, he seemed like a genuinely nice man.

Maybe it’s because I have some friends who followed the same path as Natasha but weren’t so lucky. Not because they’re not talented, but just because there are hundreds of talented bright young things pouring out of drama schools every year, and auditioning for the same roles. I don’t know.

Maybe she just wasn’t the character whose story I found most interesting, her friend Scarlet definitely struggled more and yet, wasn’t always the loyal and die hard that Natasha wanted her to be – as changeable as humans often are.

Anyway, I don’t want anyone to think this wasn’t a good read, I found it interesting and the relationships were my favourite bit, how even as you become very successful, it’s the people that matter, the ones who’ve been with you all along.

*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: Babs & Aggie; The Good, the Bad and the Vegan – Hazel Hitchins

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Aggie has reached that “certain age” – in her case, a thousand years or so, give or take a decade.
After centuries of bringing kings to their knees, running a small-town cafe isn’t how she imagined her life would pan out. Now, thanks to the machinations of the false vegan from across the road, she
risks losing even that.

And just when she thinks things can’t get any worse, along comes her old friend, Babs, in her House-on-chicken-legs, ready to ruffle some feathers with her unique blend of borscht, tough love and alcohol.
But everybody has a secret – the grocer who hides his loneliness behind a cheery smile, the neighbour crippled by debt and grief, and the young woman who jumps at her shadow – and before Aggie can help anyone else, she has demons of her own to lay to rest.

Can she confront her past to save her future? What is the ‘Vegan’ really hiding? Will Babs ever let her have the last word?

Raucous, rowdy, and heart-wrenching and heart-warming in equal measures, Babs and Aggie is a magical tale of love, loss and the comfort of a friendship forged through food, laughter and a LOT of slivovica.

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Hazel Hitchins is a writer who spends her days having conversations with her imaginary friends, some of which she writes down. She lives in Wales with her normal family, normal(ish) cat, and entirely abnormal laundry pile.

Find her on socials: @hazelhitchinsauthor
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My thoughts: Growing up the one thing I was genuinely terrified of was the Baba Yaga and her house with chicken legs. My mum had read me a story about her and I was terrified that this Eastern European/Russian witch was going to turn up outside my window in the North London suburbs. I don’t know why, but there you go.

However, the Baba Yaga in this story, known as Babs, is a lot less terrifying, although she still has House with its chicken legs, and she is still a powerful witch. She’s come to help her sister in witchery Aggie, aka Black Agnes or Black Annis (from Leicestershire according to English folklore).

Aggie runs a café, dispensing tasty treats in a little shopping arcade, but she’s been struggling with a nasty bully known as The Vegan. His girlfriend owns a health food shop across the way and he likes to menace the other shopkeepers and seems to be focused on Aggie, maybe thinking an older woman would be the weakest.

Unfortunately for him, ancient sorceresses do not like being bullied. And Babs is here to help Aggie remind him of that. And when they discover the extent of his bullying ways, well, he’s done for. These ladies do not take kindly to his sort at all, calling on some old friends to give them some help to get him gone.

It’s a funny, empowering read, a reminder of the power of women, especially older women, of community, and of how we can stand up to bullies (including the one in the White House, my American chums) and get rid of them. I think I would be ok if this Baba Yaga dropped round with some pierogis and slivovica.

*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: If You Could See Me Now – Samantha Tonge

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A brilliant, beautiful story from the bestselling author of A Single Act of Kindness

How far would you go for a perfect life?

Back in her troubled school days, kind-hearted Violet always dreamed of a life where she was happy.
Now it feels like she’s just about getting there. She has her dream job working with books, and she’s living with her handsome boyfriend, Lenny.

But when her relationship with Lenny falls to pieces and he moves out, Violet, hurt and alone, decides it’s time to really take her happiness in hand. With help from her new flatmate, Bella, she changes her image and takes control at work, ready to show the world that she doesn’t need Lenny
in her life. And when she meets magnetic author Casey, she begins to wonder if all she needed all along was a makeover.

But – with Bella – all is not as it seems. And Violet too has a secret, one that dates right back to her childhood, which could change everything…

IF YOU COULD SEE ME NOW is a powerful story about friendship, trust, and taking control of your life while not being afraid to stand out. Perfect for fans of Shari Low, Milly Johnson and Colleen Hoover.

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Samantha Tonge lives in Manchester UK with her husband and children. She studied German and French at university and has worked abroad, including a stint at Disneyland Paris. She has travelled
widely.
Samantha has sold many dozens of short stories to women’s magazines. She is represented by Darley Anderson Agency & Associates. In 2015 her summer novel, Game of Scones, hit #5 in the UK Kindle
chart and won the Love Stories Awards Best Romantic Ebook category. In 2020 one of her novels won the RNA’s Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller Award. Currently, Samantha writes uplifting, emotional
women’s fiction for Boldwood Books.

Facebook: SamanthaTongeAuthor
Twitter: @SamTongeWriter

Instagram: @samanthatongeauthor
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My thoughts: This is not the easiest book to read, it is really good but it does deal with some things that might be hard for certain readers like mental illness, eating disorders and anxiety/panic attacks. So just be prepared if any of those are issues you can’t read about comfortably.

I really empathised with Violet, having a relationship end quite suddenly is very hard and when things go wrong at work on top of that it is easy to fall into less than healthy habits and behaviours to cope. Violet is on anti-anxiety meds and has panic attacks (both things I have dealt with) and that doesn’t help either.

She has a really great group of friends and colleagues but pushes them away because she thinks they’re trying to sabotage her, which is a symptom of how unwell she’s becoming but she can’t see it. Besides, new flatmate Bella says she’s doing great, dropping dress sizes and changing up her look is a good thing. Until it isn’t.

Like I said at the beginning, this is a challenging book to read at points but it also is full of hope. Violet’s real friends rally around her, support her, love her even when she’s being quite unpleasant and want to help her get better and move forward. It’s all very hopeful and once they open her eyes to the damage she’s done to herself, she needs them more than ever, to be there for her when she struggles. It’s a wonderful gift, friendship and the book is decidedly hopeful.

*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 Swell – Kat Gordon

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IN PLACES OF DARKNESS, WOMEN WILL RISE . . .

Iceland, 1910. In the middle of a severe storm two sisters – Freyja and Gudrun – rescue a mysterious, charismatic man from a shipwreck near their remote farm.

Sixty-five years later, a young woman – Sigga – is spending time with her grandmother when they learn a body has been discovered on a mountainside near Reykjavik, perfectly preserved in ice.

Moving between the turn of the 20th century and the 1970s as a dark mystery is unravelled, The Swell is a spellbinding, beautifully atmospheric read, rich in Icelandic myth.

My thoughts: A powerful and fascinating story of sisters and family. In 1910 sisters Freya and Gudrun live on their father’s smallholding in Northern Iceland, when they rescue a young man from a sinking ship, his presence changes their lives.

Years later, Sigga, a teenager in a changing Iceland, spends time with her grandmother and learns a bit more about her life. She’s a survivor and raised her son, Sigga’s father, alone, after the deaths of her family, never naming his own father. Could the body recently found on a remote mountain near to where she lived, be someone she knew?

As Sigga struggles with her own brother and makes decisions about her own future, we see how the events of 1910 affect Freya and Gudrun, how their guest’s presence changes things in the village forever.

Moving back and forth, the two narratives, weave an inventive and captivating story of siblings and the complicated bonds between them. There is a third narrative of sorts too – a founding tale of Iceland, that weaves through the other stories. Sigga has won a prize for her version of the story, and the sisters refer to the same tale in their time too, adding to the interconnected nature of the book.

*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 House of Light and Shadows – Lauren Westwood

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An atmospheric and captivating old-house mystery, layered with romance and secrets.

Secrets lurk in the shadows at Rookswood House…

When Kate goes to look after her estranged sister’s children in their creepy old house, she takes a photo of what seems to be a ghost. Frightened yet intrigued, Kate undertakes to uncover the secrets
of the house and the two mysterious sisters who lived there over a hundred years before.

But like the illusions of light and shadow in the sisters’ strange and disturbing Victorian post-mortem photography, Kate discovers that all is not what it seems. Someone – or something – has their own
plans for Rookswood House – and for Kate.

With a potential developer circling around, her teenage niece in danger from an unseen force, and new love on the horizon, Kate must unravel the secrets and lies of her own and Rookswood’s past
before she loses everything she holds dear.

If you like historical mysteries by Eve Chase, Rachel Burton and Harriet Evans, you’ll love Lauren Westwood.

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Lauren Westwood is an author of emotional women’s fiction and intelligent romance novels.

Facebook: @Lwestwoodbooks
Twitter: @lwestwoodwriter
Instagram: @lwestwoodwriter
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My thoughts: I liked Kate, I felt awful bit sorry for her, estranged from her only family, but I know that sisters can be very hard work (personal experience has taught me that!) and that things are not always as they appear. When she steps in to take care of her niblings, while her sister gets better, she’s not entirely sure how to deal with teenagers.

Their dishy headteacher on the other hand, she’s intrigued by. And the crumbling old house her sister bought is also fascinating. Rookswood House was home to an earlier pair of sisters – one of whom was a photographer and worked with early special effects to create some unusual images. Victorians did some pretty weird things – like taking photos with their recently deceased loved ones as though they were still alive, but this early science and imagination also created some incredible things.

Ada might be dead, but part of her remains trapped in her home, unable to move on without her sister, lost to her years ago. Kate picks up on this energy and wants to help Ada move on, so Rookswood can too. Luckily headteacher, photographer and amateur historian Matthew does too. As the pair search for answers, they grow closer. Then Kate’s sister comes home and a few secrets and home truths need to be shared.

Pairing Kate’s story with Ada’s is interesting, the different relationships they have with their younger sisters, the struggles they both share as women who haven’t followed the expected paths in life (both unmarried, both working women) despite their different centuries. I really liked that aspect of the story – things don’t change as much as we sometimes would like.

*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 – Late Venetian – GN Lawson

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A disgraced former MP, Teddy Chesterton, is dying. He wants to put things right with
his ex-wife, Laura, the only woman he has ever loved, but who left him after
believing he deceived her. Teddy finds out that Laura has recently been widowed
and invites her to come with him to Venice. To his surprise, she accepts.

They first meet at a gallery where Teddy’s university friend, Paul Merrick works, and
Laura is offered the chance to work in London to help stage an exhibition of
paintings by Tiepolo. Paul asks Laura to do him a favour and authenticate a sketch
by the younger Tiepolo. She is told subsequently that what she believed to be a genuine Tiepolo was a fake, and her reputation in the art world is ruined.
She blames Teddy for his part in getting her involved with Paul. They divorce, and
Teddy goes to prison for money laundering.

Upon his release, he visits Paul, who explains that he had nothing to do with the sketch being a fake and that it was copied by a forger to whom he had unwittingly sold the original.

In Venice, Teddy gives Laura a pile of papers that prove Paul did not set out to
deceive her about the sketch he asked her to authenticate. Teddy knows that he
has done what he set out to do, even if everything is just too late.

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Apart from three years studying History of Art and Philosophy at University College
London, I have lived my entire life in the North West – born in Warrington, lived and worked in Manchester, and fourteen years ago moved to north Cumbria.

After several years of freelance arts journalism, I ran a NW-based public relations agency called Lawson Leah in the 1990s, then worked for various organisations in the construction industry, as CEO of Construction for Merseyside Ltd and then Director of the Civil Engineering Contractors’ Association. I have been a guest lecturer on urban regeneration and chaired a housing association for three years, and now work part-time as a consultant.

I have had articles on a range of topics, including the arts, construction,
engineering, housing and economic development published in numerous
magazines, as well as poetry and a guidebook to waterway walks in the NW.

My approach to writing tends to involve identifying a problematic situation and then finding a means of resolving it. I derive particular pleasure from finding the right words to achieve that. I was first inspired to write, as a teenager, after reading The Catcher in the Rye, and latterly find inspiration in the daunting novels of Bellow, Nabokov and Pynchon.

My thoughts: Teddy invites his ex-wife Laura to join him on a short trip to Venice, she is the only woman he’s ever loved and he doesn’t blame her for divorcing him when she did.

The story of their relationship is told in turns by them, the story of how a Jewish New Yorker art historian met a Home Counties Tory MP (as he became). It’s bittersweet as you know from the beginning that they aren’t together any more and that Laura moved on. It’s also the story of an art fraud that they were implicated in, one that could have ended very badly.

Teddy is dying, something he keeps from Laura even as they relive their previous trips to Venice and their life together. He leaves her with the proof that the art fraud that destroyed their marriage was not done with malice towards them, that it was in fact the buyer of the piece that perpetrated it and they were merely caught up in. While we’re not given Laura’s reaction, after everything else we as readers know, it would be a shock.

Once you get into the narrative flow, and the way it passes back and forth between Teddy and Laura, between the past and the present, it’s a well written and quite engaging story, Teddy is a bit of a rogue and Laura slightly naive and unworldly, but somehow it worked and they have two adult children together, keeping them always just in each other’s lives long after their marriage ended. A fascinating and thoughtful read. 

*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: In Judgement of Others – Eleanor Anstruther

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The Midhurst Amateur Dramatic Society are putting on a production of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit, and Tessa has agreed to play a part. But when she suffers a psychotic episode, Ros, a C-list celebrity and new to the community, takes her place.

In this darkly comic tale of psychosis in the Home Counties, the stage is set for a blistering examination of mental illness, how we treat it and why we don’t. While Tessa is sectioned in a secure psychiatric hospital, the relationships in the community unravel, and by the time she’s released, all that we thought we knew, and all of our judgements, are thrown into question.

Dim the lights, turn off your phones, settle in as the curtain rises…

My thoughts: This was really interesting, mental illness is still so misunderstood, and Ros failed to understand that you can love someone even though their illness makes it very hard to live with them at times, and get frustrated by this but not give up on them. Tessa is ill, she’s not doing this on purpose. Many mental health conditions cause people to stop taking their meds, because the illness lies to you. Tessa felt better, so she stopped taking her pills, then she got worse. So she needs the time as an inpatient to get back to herself.

Ros seemed to think that Tessa was gone for good, stepping into her role in Blithe Spirit, and attempting to step into Tessa’s life too. But as Tessa recovered, and even in her worries, her family and community were still with her.

An interesting study of how mental illness can affect people and how a little knowledge might be useful. Sometimes you hear the phrase “everyone has mental health” which is true but not everyone is genuinely mentally ill, although sometimes it feels as if you’re the only sane one, and everyone else could do with a stay in the psych ward. 

*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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Cover Reveal: Greek Retreat Trilogy – Stephanie Wood

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Jessica is escaping to the Greek Retreat to discover if running away from a broken engagement really can lead to a happy ever after. She doesn’t believe life works that way, but her future could depend on it.


The Greek island of Kynos is an idyllic hideaway, offering its visitors the space and time needed to truly appreciate the traditional hospitality. The locals are always friendly and ready to entertain their guests, while the daily activities offer many different ways to explore the island and its heritage.


Jessica is hoping The Retreat will provide everything she needs in order to plan for a successful future, but has she left it too late?

The Greek Retreat is a trilogy of standalone tales full of sunshine, surprises and love.

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DPL8X95M
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPL8X95M

Publication Date: 20th March 2025

Chrissie is escaping to the Greek Retreat to avoid some of the issues her parents have left her to deal with at home. She hopes that visiting a new location will give her a different perspective and help her to find a way forward.

The Greek Retreat is a trilogy of standalone tales full of sunshine, surprises and love.

Pre-order Links

Publication Date: 22nd May 2025

Katie is escaping to the Greek Retreat to give herself some space to recover from an unexpected predicament. She blames herself for the situation she finds herself in and knows that something has to change, although she has no idea what she is looking for.

The Greek Retreat is a trilogy of standalone tales full of sunshine, surprises and love.

Pre-order Links

Publication Date: 21st August 2025

Stephanie writes contemporary fiction in the form of novels, novellas and short stories and her books explore a wide range of life’s challenges, dreams and responsibilities. The stories are all character based, so she has fun expressing each unique personality and the reasons behind their actions in a setting which always has a strong sense of community.

She published the AEGEAN SUN series of books as a fly-on-the-wall vision of life in a Greek resort during the summer season, the CHRISTMAS ON THE CLOSE series is set in a British suburban cul-de-sac over the festive period and the GREEK RETREAT trilogy is planned for publication in 2025.

Stephanie lives in Lancashire where, apart from reading and writing, she loves gardening and cycling and is a huge fan of the soaps Emmerdale and Neighbours.

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Blog Tour: One Day and Forever – Shari Low

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As dawn breaks, four people are planning journeys that could change their lives forever…

Kara McIntyre is supposed to be jetting off to her destination wedding in Hawaii. However, a last-minute hitch appears to have left her without a job, home and, more importantly, a fiancé.

TV sensation Ollie Chiles and Kara always have each other’s backs. But when his wife goes viral in a compromising clinch with another man, Ollie must choose between supporting his best friend in her hour of need or going home to save his marriage.

Alice Brookes is flying away to a new life after surviving a horrendous marriage and a very public scandal… until a stranger brings a letter from the past that could change everything.

After saying goodbye to someone he loves, Zac Conlan should be heading back to Dublin. Now a shocking discovery is threatening to change his plans and his future.

When weather delays their flights, Kara, Ollie, Alice and Zac discover that storms are brewing… and the turbulence is about to shake their worlds.

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Shari Low is the #1 bestselling author of over 30 novels, including My One Month Marriage and One Summer Sunrise and a collection of parenthood memories called Because Mummy Said So. She lives near Glasgow.

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My thoughts: I love these interconnected stories of Shari’, set in Glasgow, with a cast of delightful characters, Val (who I adore) and Alice (from One Long Weekend) are back, it’s been a year since those events.

Alice is planning to move to Reading to be near her son Rory and his girlfriend Sophie, Val’s planning to drop her at the airport. But then Alice learns that an old friend has died, she has just enough time to attend the funeral before she needs to leave. There she meets Zac, her childhood friend Morag’s son, and he has some questions.

Meanwhile Kara has just quit her job and ditched her unsupportive fiancé, and still has to get to the airport to fly to Hawaii and see her sister Drea down the aisle, even while wallowing in her self-pity. Her best friend, Ollie, is also heading there, while his spoilt wife becomes an online sensation and he has to make some big decisions. 

As all these different people hope the heavy January weather doesn’t delay their flights, stories collide and the past, present and future hang in the balance. 

I enjoyed this so much, I loved seeing Alice’s story finally get its happy ending, and Val still roaring around in her yellow jeep. Kara, Ollie and Zac also get to make some huge decisions and change their lives, hopefully for the best. 

*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: People Collide – Isle McElroy

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From the acclaimed author of The Atmospherians, a gender-bending, body-switching novel that explores marriage, identity, and sex, and raises profound questions about the nature of true partnership.

“A big project knocking around in a small package, portending even bigger projects ahead.”—New York Times

“A little Kafkaesque, a little Hitchcockian, a little Freaky Friday, but McElroy makes this dizzying story their own.”—Electric Literature

When Eli leaves the cramped Bulgarian apartment he shares with Elizabeth, his more organized and successful wife, he discovers that he now inhabits her body. Not only have he and his wife traded bodies, but Elizabeth, living as Eli, has disappeared without a trace. What follows is Eli’s search across Europe and to America for his missing wife—and a roving, no-holds-barred exploration of gender and embodied experience.

As Eli comes closer to finding Elizabeth—while learning to exist in her body—he begins to wonder what effect this metamorphosis will have on their relationship and how long he can maintain the illusion of living as someone he isn’t. Will their new marriage wither completely? Or is this transformation the very thing Eli and Elizabeth need for their marriage to thrive?

A rich, rewarding exploration of ambition and sacrifice, desire and loss, People Collide is a portrait of shared lives that shines a refreshing light on everything we thought we knew about love, sexuality, and the truth of who we are.

Isle McElroy (they/them) is a non-binary author based in New York. Their writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, New York Times Magazine, The Cut, GQ, The Guardian, Vogue, Bon Appétit, and other publications. They have received fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Tin House Summer Workshop, the Sewanee Writers Conference, and they were named one of The Strand’s 30 Writers to Watch.

In May 2021, Isle founded Debuts & Redos, a reading series for authors who published books during the pandemic. Their first novel, The Atmospherians, was named an Editor’s Choice by the New York Times and a book of the year by Esquire, Electric Literature, Debutiful, and many other outlets.

My thoughts: Eli wakes up one morning in the apartment he shares in Bulgaria with his wife, Elizabeth. Only she’s not there. He discovers that he is now in Elizabeth’s body, and she has his. In Paris.

An exploration of how we see ourselves and others, how our bodies are part of our identities, or not. Elizabeth revels in her new masculine form, I did wish there was a little more exploration of the way society treats gender, as Eli has a pretty easy time in his wife’s skin, the story is quite gentle in that regard.

He goes to Paris to find Elizabeth at the behest of his mother, who thinks she’s talking to her daughter-in-law. He has to also present himself as Elizabeth to her parents. They may be in each other’s physical selves but with their own thoughts, experiences and knowledge, so he worries there’s things her parents might say that he can’t answer, because he hasn’t been Elizabeth for long.

The book explores their relationship, when they connect at last in Paris. Elizabeth (as Eli) doesn’t want to return to Bulgaria, or America, she wants to remain in Paris, living a different life in Eli’s body.

But their parents, very different people, pursue them, determined to help “Eli” recover from his apparent wobble, and reunite the couple. This causes its own issues, they married in haste and Eli comes to realise he doesn’t really know his wife at all on a profound level.

A fascinating, thought provoking read, I liked Eli, he’s sensitive and gentle, and in Elizabeth’s body, respectful and kind. She’s a lot brasher and more confident, which is interesting as in a man’s body, that slight arrogance reads differently. Very interesting book.

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