Tag: contemporary fiction

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Tis the Damn Season – Fiona Gibson

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This year, their families can deck the bloody halls themselves…

Old friends Shelley, Lena and Pearl have reached their limit with the festive preparation that has always fallen to them, and five days before Christmas, they’ve booked a mini break… without their
families. Up until Christmas Eve, they’ll be sipping prosecco in the Highlands while their kids wrap bacon around 100 chipolatas and their partners brave the supermarkets.

It’s exactly what they need… until they’re snowed in. Facing the prospect of Christmas 500 miles from home, each woman is forced to confront her real reasons for needing to escape: the fiance with the obnoxious family; the son’s new girlfriend who is taking over their home; the family who take their mother for granted all year round…

Will the friends make it home before Christmas day? And if they do, can they really go back to their old lives?

This Christmas, forget Elf on the Shelf, get ready for Mums on the Run in the hilarious and heartwarming new novel from Fiona Gibson.

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Fiona Gibson writes bestselling and brilliantly funny novels about the craziness and messiness of family life.

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My thoughts: I subscribe to Fiona’s Substack, which is funny and wry, much like her books, including this seasonal offering, complete with Taylor Swift title.

Christmas is a fraught time of year for many, Shelley and her friends Lena and Pearl too. Shelley’s sick of being taken for granted by her family, her husband seems completely oblivious to how much she does – he just expects everything to happen without doing anything himself, same with the kids.

Lena and Pearl have their own share of useless family members, Lena’s fiance just expects her to put up with his parents, who don’t treat her very well and constantly compare her to his ex-wife. Pearl’s son and his girlfriend are driving her crazy – the girlfriend has “borrowed” her favourite lipstick and taken over her flat.

So a quick jaunt to Scotland for a few days seems like a genius idea, a chance to get away from all the festive stress, the planning, the shopping, the wrapping. Let their families sort themselves out for a bit.

Then the weather takes a turn for the snowed in…

Funny, a bit silly, full of whatever the opposite of the joys of the season, the friendship between the three women is what sees them through everything that this suddenly unpredictable Christmas throws at them, from them not being able to find the freezer to being stranded by the snow, they persevere with laughter and lots of wine. Great fun and a good way to remind yourself to be grateful for the people in your life that you love and love you.

*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 Secret Orchard – Sharon Gosling

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Bette and Nina Crowdie have never been close – the ten-year age difference doesn’t help, and Bette’s rarely been home since she left for university at eighteen. When their father passes away and unexpectedly splits the family farm between them, Nina is furious and afraid. She’s been working at the farm for the past five years. It’s the only home her young son, Barnaby, has ever had, and she’s convinced that Bette will sell at the first chance she gets.
When they discover the huge debt their father has been hiding, Bette reluctantly agrees to help her sister. But that means they have to find a way to work together, and Bette must face up to the real reason she left all those years ago.

Could a long-forgotten diary and the discovery of a secret orchard on their land help save the farm – and the sisters’ relationship?

My thoughts: Farming is an incredibly hard job, poorly paid, with long hours and little respite, it’s also critical to feed the country. Nina and Bette’s father has kept hidden from them how badly in debt the family farm is, trying desperately to make it all work and stop the bank repossessing the land their family has worked for generations. His death means all the secrets start to come out and for the sisters, who have a tense relationship, this brings new trouble.

Bette is a high flying lawyer in London, she only plans to be in Scotland for a few days, then back to her life, but things change, the farm, and Nina, need her. Nina is completely thrown by the revelations about how dire the finances are and by her dad’s decision to split the farm between her and her sister. But she has nowhere else to go, and this is her home, and the home of her son, Best Barnaby Barnacle and his dog, Limpet.

I actually knew a sheepdog, who much like Limpet, found sheep terrifying and would run in the opposite direction. But Limpet does save his beloved master and is a real hero, so don’t judge him by his sheep phobia.

The sisters think their luck might have changed when they discover a forgotten orchard on a cliff at the edge of the farm, an orchard full of cider apple trees. I have West Country ancestry, and I love my cider, but I didn’t know there was much of an industry in Scotland, so this was interesting.

The whole story was interesting, every time things started to work out, there was a curve ball, a terrible act of sabotage, a complete idiot who was way too spoilt as a child, a change of circumstances. At times it felt more like a thriller than the gentle story of two sisters finding their way back to each other and saving the family farm in the process.

I wanted more Best Barnaby Barnacle, I wanted to know more about the tunnels and the monks, I wanted more of Nina and Cam, do Bette and Ryan ever work their stuff out, can Allie turn the lost monastery into a historical research project or attraction? I think there’s lots of scope here for a sequel. A what the Crowdies did next type story.

*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 Best is Yet to Come – Jessica Redland

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Emma is having a fresh start.

After a successful teaching career, an exciting new chapter awaits Emma – helping her fiancé Grayson run one of Beatrix Potter’s farms. While imagining days spent supporting Grayson with his dream, working the land and helping with the animals, Emma harvests a dream of her own – to set up an alpaca-walking business around the farm.
But working together isn’t as easy as Emma expected. Soon her dreams are in tatters and, broken-hearted, she must start over yet again.

When Oliver, Rosie and the team at Willowdale Hall welcome Emma with open arms, she can’t believe her luck. But starting a new business in a new place is a daunting prospect, especially when it
comes with unexpected obstacles. With a reserved, prickly groundskeeper as a partner, rapidly changing family dynamics to contend with, and time running out to get her new career off the ground, Emma may have bitten off more than she can chew.

But even though things are not going to plan just yet, the best is yet to come for Emma, if she can just take a leap of faith and follow her heart…

Escape to the Lake District with million-copy bestseller Jessica Redland for an uplifting story of family, friendship, and love.

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Jessica Redland is the million-copy bestselling author of novels, including the Hedgehog Hollow and Escape to the Lakes series. Inspired by her hometown of Scarborough and the Lake District, she
writes uplifting women’s fiction of love, friendship and community.

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My thoughts: I want to cuddle an alpaca!

When Emma’s boyfriend dumps her after she leaves her job and sells her home to move with him to one of Beatrix Potter’s farms and fulfil his dreams, she’s completely lost. But after moving in with dad, and getting a chance to rebuild their relationship, she meets the half-brother she didn’t know she had and gets offered the opportunity to bring her alpaca walking business to life.

Oliver offers her space in the grounds of Willowdale Hall to house the seven rescue animals and build the facilities she needs. Which is how she meets Killian, builder, youth club manager, adoptive father to his adorable nieces and great listener. Finally confronting the pain in her past, Emma might be ready for a new romance as well as a new job.

Fun, quirky and sweet, this is a lovely read and perfect for this time of your as the evenings draw in and you want to curl up with a cosy 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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Cover Reveal: A Modern Midlife Christmas Carol – Alana Oxford

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Christmas cheer was dead, to begin with.

The world rests on Eliza’s shoulders. The kids, her husband, work, her elderly mother and don’t forget her newest friend, perimenopause. It’s too much to carry, but she’s been doing it for years. It’s just what a good wife and mother does, isn’t it? 

When another Christmas rolls around, Eliza is drained by all the expectations and logistics of the holiday season. She’s fast approaching her breaking point, only no one around her notices she’s on the edge.

After an incident at her in-law’s on Christmas Eve brings things to a boiling point, she finds herself with three unexpected visitors. The spirits of the past, present, and future take her on a journey through her life to shake her out of the rut she’s gotten into. Their messages leave her with new possibilities: reconnect with her past, reclaim her present, or forge a new future, and you, the reader, decide which option is best! 

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Publication Date: 15th October 2024


Alana Oxford is a Michigan author of romcoms, sweet romance, and humorous women’s fiction. She wants her stories to bring sunshine and smiles to her readers. She enjoys improv comedy, moody music, everything book related, and has an ongoing love affair with the United Kingdom.

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blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: One Midnight With You – Shari Low

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What would you do if you had just twenty-four hours to change your life?

Ailish Ryan has been in hiding since her husband’s affair ended their marriage. But when a friend forces her to face her new reality, will she choose to revisit the past or embrace a brand new future?

Ailish’s daughter, Emmy, thought her boyfriend was nothing like her cheating father, but now she’s not so sure. As the hours pass, she turns detective to find out if she picked the right man, or if history
is repeating itself.

Grandmother, Minnie Ryan is on a mission to deliver a very special gift to a lifelong friend. But will grit and a touch of divine intervention be enough to overcome the obstacles that fate is putting in her way?

Dario Moretti has spent his whole life working in the family business, but now it’s in trouble and he’s all out of options. Will he have the strength to let it go, even if it means hurting the people he loves?

The clock is ticking… but will twenty-four hours be long enough to heal four broken hearts?

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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: It’s New Year’s Eve and a group of people – family members, friends, old acquaintances (who will not be forgot!) are getting ready for a night out but there’s plenty of life and love to sort out first.

Ailish doesn’t feel like celebrating as her divorce has just been finalised, and two years ago to the day she found out her husband was a cheat, so NYE doesn’t hold much joy for her. But best friend Gwen is getting out of the hospital today, and so, with the final corner of their friendship triangle Rhonda, she’s off to get glammed up and party.

Emmy is at work at the hospital, she’s a nurse in geriatrics and her boyfriend is a firefighter – but something’s been a bit off with him recently. Could Cormac be lying to her? Is he a cheat like her dad?

Minnie is running a few last minute errands before putting on her glad rags and heading out on her longtime traditional night out at Gino’s restaurant. She and husband Henry have gone there every year, this one won’t be any different, or will it.

Then there’s Gino’s own family – his son Dario now runs the family business, but things aren’t looking good. Can he save the restaurant or is it time to admit that it’s over?

As all of these people gather together, before the clock strikes twelve, some life changing decisions must be made.

I freaking loved this book – I adore Shari’s stories, her characters always feel like real people, not fantasy figures – teachers, nurses, hairdressers, chefs – I know people just like them. And their problems are familiar too. But of course, things work out in the best possible ways for everyone – even if at first it doesn’t look like they will. This is a lovely festive read to put on your tbr or even your Christmas list so Santa can drop it off for you to 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: Selfish Desires – Michelle Hall

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We’re celebrating the release of Selfish Desires by Michelle Hall this week! The big day is August 23rd!

Selfish Desires

Publication Date: August 23, 2024

Genre: Contemporary Romance

❤️Second Chance
🧊Morally Gray MMC
❤️Spice in Ch2
🧊Light BDSM
❤️Destroy her to protect her
🧊Groveling
❤️40 Somethings
🧊“Good girl/sl*t/wh*re”
❤️Third act oopsie baby

The love of my life, the person I trusted most, abandoned me in the worst way possible. There was no warning, not a single clue—just pure, devastating abandonment. I was left to pick up the pieces of my shattered heart.

To survive, I fled. I left behind everything and everyone I knew and loved, all in the desperate hope of forgetting him.

But then Vincent came back, and all the healing I thought I had achieved crumbled in an instant. He begged for my forgiveness, claiming he had no choice in what he did. Yet, I knew he always had a choice—and he chose wrong.

He said everything he did was to keep me safe. But safe from what?
Emotions I thought I had buried resurfaced, and while my mind screamed no, my heart whispered otherwise.

How could I give a second chance to the man who ruined me? How could I even consider it?

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Blog Tour: Oceansong – C.W. Rose

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We’re celebrating the upcoming release of Ocean Song this week! Pre-order a copy early a get one on August 27th!

Oceansong

Release Date: August 27, 2024

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romantasy

🧜🏼‍♂️Merfolk Mythology
🌊Ocean-based magic
⚔️Enemies-to-lovers
💘Forbidden & Slow Burn Romance
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Asian family dynamics
😒🌞Grumpy (female) x sunshine (male)
💞HEAs
🥧Cinnamon roll male LI
🤨Prickly, snarky female MC who’s a softie inside
🏘️Small-town settings (Alaska)

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

OCEANSONG is an Adult Contemporary Romantasy that is an Asian Romeo & Juliet meets The Little Mermaid, set in the grittiness of the real world.

Fish are mysteriously disappearing, starving the people in Angie Song’s Alaskan hometown. Angie, an aspiring marine biologist and dock worker, enthusiastically joins the hunt to find out where the fish are gathering. When her family and the villagers discover that merfolk are responsible, they vow to destroy every last one. In the midst of the conflict, Angie faces off with a merman and fails to pull the trigger.

Inquisitive Mer-Prince Kaden is just as snarky as Angie, but he’s willing to talk and stop the brutal massacring of his people. The two form a cautious alliance to broker peace between the humans and mer before any more of them die.

As tensions clash between the two races fighting to control the sea’s resources, Angie and Kaden’s forbidden relationship ignites. And as she learns about the mer’s mysterious world and the reason why the fish are gone, Angie starts to question who the true monster is, and where her loyalties lie. Taking the wrong side means choosing between family and her job, or the man she’s fallen for and the merfolk she’s come to respect—or losing it all.

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#rrbooktours #rrbtoceansong #oceansong #romanticfantasy #romanticfantasybooks #mermaidromance #romantasy #fantasy #romancebooks #summerreading #cwrose

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Blog Tour: The House of the Witch – Clare Marchant

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Utterly gripping timeslip historical fiction, perfect for fans of The Witch’s Tree, The Essex Serpent and Weyward.

Now: When Adrianna arrives at the small, run-down cottage, near the sea in rural Norfolk, she can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Here she can forget her life in the city, and the problems she’s left behind there, at least for a while.
But – like Adrianna herself – the cottage holds secrets. And when Adrianna finds a mysterious bundle of notes hidden under a floorboard, she can’t shake the idea that they’ve been waiting for her. Especially when – in the rambling, overgrown garden – she then finds a strangely-carved stone,
drawing her into a centuries-old mystery…

1646: Between her work as the village midwife and the medicines she sells from her cottage, Ursula has no need for a man. But this ideal leaves her unprotected in a world where just one accusation of witchcraft can mean certain death. So when she catches the eye of a powerful
new local doctor, she must use every part of her cunning, or risk becoming his prisoner…

Can the two women – their paths bound by place and history – each find the keys to their own destiny?

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Clare Marchant is the author of dual timeline historical fiction. Her books have been translated into seven languages, and she is a USA Today bestseller. Clare spends her time writing and exploring local castles, or visiting the nearby coast.

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My thoughts: Having a break from her stressful career, Adrianna rents a quiet Norfolk cottage for six months, leaving her boyfriend (who I disliked immediately) in her Canary Wharf flat, with promises to see each other every weekend.

The cottage has been unoccupied for a while and the current owner lives abroad, so she has free run of the place and starts with a deep clean. In doing so she discovers some of its secrets, secrets relating to the first occupant some four hundred years ago.

Ursula Bain lives quietly in the shadow of the village church, she sells herbal remedies and helps tend the sick, delivers babies and nurses the dying. She’s lived in the village all her life and is known in her community as a kind and gentle person. But when a new doctor arrives and makes unpleasant demands of her (while dressed as a Puritan – creep and hypocrite) things turn sour.

As Adrianna deciphers the handwriting in the book she’s found, and makes a macabre discovery in the garden, we are drawn into the lives of these two women, centuries apart.

This isn’t a light hearted book, it explores themes of domestic abuse modern and ancient, coercive control, accusations of witchcraft during the dark period of the Witchfinder General, and handles these well, with a deftness of touch that mean it’s not too upsetting to the reader. I enjoyed this book, with the two very different women’s lives reflecting across time, things haven’t changed for us enough yet, that the treatment of a woman in the 1600s feels relevant in 2024. It’s a clever thing to do and the unravelling mystery across the centuries has more twists than you might expect.

*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: After the Fire – Charlotte Rixon

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This is the story of girl meets boy.

And then everything goes wrong . . .

Ever since they first met at university, Beth and Nick have circled in and out of one another’s lives: supporting each other through grief, marriage, divorce, career crises and family dramas.

Fourteen years ago, when they were on the cusp of adulthood, they both survived a devastating fire that sent their lives in different directions. And they’ve been running ever since: from the pain, from the memories, and most devastatingly of all, from the guilt.

But no matter how hard they try, there’s something else they can’t run from. The inescapable, terrifying truth: they’re in love with each other.

But how can they move forward, when neither of them can stop looking back?

Charlotte Rixon is the pen name of Charlotte Duckworth, USA Today-bestselling author of suspense fiction published by Quercus. Charlotte studied Classics at Leeds University and went on to gain a PGDip in Screenwriting. She worked for many years as a magazine journalist, and is a graduate of the Faber Academy ‘Writing A Novel’ course.

My thoughts: University wasn’t everything Beth and Nick had wanted it to be, after a terrible tragedy that Beth feels she could have prevented, they both go on to their adult lives, never acting on their feelings.

As they drift in and out of each others’ lives, never talking about what happened all those years ago, never dealing with their feelings about what happened or each other, it gets more complicated to ignore. Love is never straightforward but only by confronting the past, can these two lovers move on and be happy.

Moving and intelligent, this is a fascinating read about unrequited love, learning to let go of the past and find happiness.

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

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Blog Tour: A Class Act – Julie Houston

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Robyn Allen is finally getting closer to her dream of West End stardom. And along with her role dancing in the latest hot musical, she’s being wined and dined by an equally hot man – the wildly successful and well-connected Fabian Carrington. But one slip up and her dreams are shattered, and Robyn has to hobble back to the Yorkshire village of Beddingfield, and the life she hoped she’d escaped.

Moving back into her mum’s house with her recalcitrant teenage sister Sorrel, next door to her older sister Jess who’s fed up with picking up the slack, is not how Robyn pictured her year. But there’s
more to come. Sorrel needs a new school, and the school needs a new drama teacher. Despite having vowed never to teach again, Robyn knows she has to support her sister.

So together Sorrel and Robyn vow to take on St Mede’s – home to jokers, tearaways and trouble-makers, but with a hidden heartbeat ready to be inspired. And who knows, the kids might have something to teach Robyn about life too…

Welcome to the village of Beddingfield and the first book in bestseller Julie Houston’s new series set in Yorkshire. Funny, fabulous, heart-warming and hilarious, you’ll never forget the Allen sisters and
their one-of-a-kind community. Perfect for fans of Jo Bartlett, Cathy Bramley and Philippa Ashley.

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Julie Houston is the author of 12 novels. She lives in West Yorkshire and writes warm and funny books about characters who are still learning about life.

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My thoughts: If you’ve been here for a while, you’ll know I’m a fan of Julie Houston’s funny, entertaining and warm novels, and this first in a new series is no different.

Robyn is a trained performer, desperately seeking her big West End break, but when things go wrong (a bad break up, a nasty injury) she heads back to the Yorkshire village she grew up in and her family, who are falling apart at the seams.

Her mum has a medical condition that’s landed her back in hospital, her dad is off with his band, her younger sister has been expelled from school and her older sister’s husband has left her holding it all together, while working all hours and parenting their daughter.

Robyn is needed more than ever, and after failing to get Sorrel (15 and obnoxious as all teenagers are) back into her school, she’s reduced to begging the head teacher of the next nearest secondary to take her. And he will, if Robyn (who has a teaching qualification) becomes his drama, dance and English teacher, as the previous one has just left.

Cue chaos, not all of the students are thrilled with a new teacher – or having to be at school. Then Robyn is asked to put together a school production of Grease.

Having been involved in school productions and worked with teenagers, I completely empathised with Robyn’s horror at dealing with the teenage terrors of St Mede’s, and also with her family’s various dramas. She’s been down in London (t’Smoke as my great-aunt from Yorkshire put it) and missed a lot of what Jess (her older sister) has been trying to deal with.

I really enjoyed this book, it was lots of fun and Robyn and her family were so lovely, loving and warm. I’m looking forward to seeing how this series develops.

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