In the sleepy seaside sleepy town of Waverly, Rosie and Seb Kent are happily married. Now that Seb has achieved his dream of becoming headmaster of the local school, their lives couldn’t be any better.
Then Abi arrives. Abi, a young, single mother, has come to Waverly for a fresh start. She plans to reinvent herself and give her children a new life. Then she sees Seb.
As their complicated hidden past threatens to destroy them both, they try their hardest to keep it contained. But in a small town, secrets don’t stay hidden for long and soon, what should be their private business becomes a very public scandal.
How far will everyone – them, their families and the whole community – go to protect everything they hold dearest?
After studying at Edinburgh University, Emily Edwards worked for a think tank in New York before returning to London where she worked as a support worker for vulnerable women at a large charity. She now lives in Lewes, East Sussex with her endlessly patient husband and her two endlessly energetic young sons. Her previous novel, The Herd, was a number one bestseller.
My thoughts: I went to school before the internet, if there was gossip about teachers it was confined to our theories on the playground, and to parents at the school gates, you didn’t really believe they had private lives and you certainly didn’t know anything about them.
Now of course that isn’t the case, quite a few of my friends are teachers and they work hard to separate their professional and private selves. Occasionally bumping into your students in the supermarket is one thing, but the kind of drama in this book is something else entirely.
Seb might have done something that will harm his marriage, but is it really anyone else’s business? The scandal that follows comes from his best friend’s wife, Anna. She’s the one that decides it should be everyone’s business and in doing so ruins relationships and lives, including her own.
The repercussions from her decision to tell everyone what Seb did are shocking and violent, her inability to keep things to herself lead to some very nasty reactions. But what emerges from the rubble are in some cases, stronger relationships, healthier ones with no secrets. Maybe small town living isn’t for everyone, in a larger place, where people don’t know you quite so well, you can keep your past private.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
November, 1967, Iceland. Fourteen-year-old Marsí has a secret penpal – a boy who lives on the other side of the country – but she has been writing to him in her older sister’s name. Now she is excited to meet him for the first time. But when the date arrives, Marsí is prevented from going, and during the night her sister Stína goes missing – her bloodstained anorak later found at the place where Marsí and her penpal had agreed to meet.
November, 1977. Stína’s disappearance remains unsolved. Then an unexpected letter arrives for Marsí It’s from her penpal, and he’s still out there… Desperate for news of her missing sister, but terrified that he might coming after her next, Marsí returns to her hometown and embarks on an investigation of her own. But Marsí has always had trouble distinguishing her vivid dreams from reality, and as insomnia threatens her sanity, it seems she can’t even trust her own memories. And her sister’s killer is still on the loose…
Born in Akranes, Eva Björg Ægisdóttir studied for an MSc in Globalisation in Norway before returning to Iceland and deciding to write a novel. Her debut, The Creak on the Stairs, was published in 2018, becoming a bestseller in Iceland and going on to win the Blackbird Award and the Storytel Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year. It was published in English by Orenda Books in 2020, and became a number-one bestseller in ebook, shortlisting for Capital Crime’s Amazon Publishing Awards in two categories, and winning the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger.
Girls Who Lie, Night Shadows, You Can’t See Me and Boys Who Hurt soon followed suit, shortlisting for the CWA Crime in Translation Dagger, the Capital Crime Awards, and the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel. You Can’t See Me won the Storytel Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year in Iceland in 2023. In 2024, Eva won Iceland’s prestigious Crime Fiction Award, the Blood Drop, for Home before Dark and was shortlisted for the coveted Glass Key. The Forbidden Iceland series has established Eva as one of Iceland’s bestselling and most distinguished crime writers, and her books are published in eighteen languages with more than a million copies sold.
My thoughts: This was really good, sinister and full of twists and red herrings. Marsí has returned to her parents’ house on the tenth anniversary of her older sister’s disappearance when they were teenagers. She’s determined to find out what happened to Stina, and who killed her.
She’s received a letter from the penpal she failed to meet on the very evening Stina vanished. Something she has always thought connected. Could the boy she was writing to be the person who harmed her sister? She was using Stina’s name and parts of her identity, like her age, in her letters. But she doesn’t think her sister knew anything about them.
With dual timelines, showing Stina and Marsí in both 1967 and ’77, the truth is slowly revealed to us, and it is shocking. Marsí also finally confronts her parents about their reluctance to search for their missing daughter and the limited police investigation. What they believe happened completely changes everything for her.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Sometimes, our deepest fear is not the darkness but the light that blinds.
If you loved Conan Doyle’s, The Hound of the Baskervilles, prepare to be enthralled by KD Sherrinford’s captivating follow-up, The Whistle of Revenge.
The deadly antagonist, Jack Stapleton, makes a spectacular return to the city of Milan in pursuit of his old nemesis, the celebrated Detective Sherlock Holmes.
Adopting the enigmatic persona of Janus, a vengeful Stapleton, along with the Italian mafia, wreak havoc on the Italian horse racing fraternity and fledgling car manufacturing industry, and kidnapping Holmes’s beloved son as part of their evil and well-executed master plan— Operation Whistle.
Will Holmes, Irene Adler, and their trusted ally, Inspector Romano, crack the code, rescue the boy, and unmask the deadly Janus?
Set against the backdrop of modern Milan, mind games and misdeeds of the highest order play out as the story reaches its thrilling and memorable conclusion.
KD Sherrinford was born and raised in Preston, Lancashire, and now resides on The Fylde Coast with her husband John, and their four children. An avid reader from an early age, KD was fascinated by the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, she read the entire Doyle Canon by the time she was 13. A talented pianist, KD played piano from age six, the music of some of her favourite composers, Beethoven, Schubert, Stephen Foster, and Richard Wagner, all strongly feature in her novel. KD had a varied early career, working with horses and racing greyhounds, she and her husband won the Blackpool Greyhound Derby in 1987 with Scottie. Then to mix things up KD joined Countrywide, where she was employed for over 20 years and became a Fellow of The National Association of Estate Agents. Retirement finally gave KD the opportunity to follow her dreams and start work on her first novel. She gained inspiration to write” Song for Someone” from her daughter Katie, after a visit to the Sherlock Holmes museum on Baker Street in 2019. It had always been a passion to write about Irene Adler, she is such an iconic character, and KD wanted to give her a voice.
My thoughts: This is an interesting series, imagining that Irene Adler, the infamous woman who beat Sherlock Holmes, later became the detective’s wife, although he uses an other identity in an attempt to keep his family safe from his enemies.
Unfortunately that has failed – a vengeful Jack Stapleton, presumed dead at the end of The Hound of the Baskervilles, has returned to destroy the detective. Working with the Italian mafia, in a rather intricate plot to steal a painting, fix a horse race and kidnap Holmes’ son Nicco for an extortionate ransom.
As Holmes and the police race to find Nicco and foil the rest of the plot, the gang Stapleton has assembled carry out the rest of the plot, but Holmes is one step ahead of them. Inspector Romano (think an Italian Lestrade, but smarter) has liaised with colleagues across Italy to stop the bigger conspiracy from going ahead.
Clever, engaging writing, with lots of twists, a devastated Irene and Sherlock must put aside their fears, rely on the police and Holmes’ genius as well as Nicco’s inherited brilliance to bring the boy safely home to them.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
I almost didn’t come. Even with the free champagne, the five-star resort, the promise of closure. Even though it’s fifteen years since we all finished high school. But now I’m here. Snowed in. And someone’s already dead.
It should’ve been a reunion. Laughter. Memories. Old friends — even if they never really saw me. But our old prom dates are waiting tables. Our teachers are lurking in corridors. And one by one, the people I once called friends are acting like we’re back in school. There are eight of us.
There were eight of us then. But one vanished after prom. And someone knows what really happened that night. They invited us here for a reason. And they’re not going to let us leave.
Sonya Bateman is an award-winning copywriter and novelist, a mid-eighties to late-nineties fantasy movie enthusiast, coffee hoarder, and collector of cool rocks who spent a not-insignificant portion of her childhood climbing trees in order to read books in peace. She grew up in Central New York, where the seasons are Winter and Road Construction and “not the city” is officially part of everyone’s address. Sonya has been writing professionally for more than 15 years. She currently lives in a big house in a little city, still in Central New York (not the city), with her husband, son, and feline overlords. She writes fast- paced urban fantasy and twisty, shocking psychological fiction that may leave you suspicious of your friends and neighbors—and sleeping with the lights on.
My thoughts: We don’t really do high school reunions in the UK, thankfully. There aren’t a huge number of people I’d want to see again, those I do I am by and large still in contact with.
But they do seem a popular thing in films, books and TV shows (I don’t know how realistic that is) in the States. And having read this, I’m not sure why. You change a huge amount after leaving school, hopefully. And going back in time, no thank you.
Desiree isn’t entirely sure why she’s decided to attend this reunion, she’s avoided all the previous ones, but here she is, in a luxury resort at the top of a mountain in the snow with some of her old “friends”.
And someone has arranged for her a selection of other old faces from school to be there too, and the events of that rather dramatic prom night – where one student died and another disappeared – are brought shockingly back to them.
Terrifying moments are in store for the assembled group, someone wants revenge and is willing to kill for it.
Gripping, with its mysteries and twists, it will make you glad your high school days weren’t quite so dramatic (I hope).
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Welcome to the ARC tour for Dot Slash Magic, a truly genre-blurring with magic, AI and punk culture, and spice, all in an academy setting! Follow #rrbtDotSlashMagicTour for early reviews and more!
Dot Slash Magic
Expected Release Date: August 19, 2025
Genre: Spicy Urban Romantasy/ “Romantas-topian”
Perfect for fans of I am Number Four and Zodiac Academy
Tropes:
Romantas-topian
Academy setting
Found family
Forced proximity
Strangers to lovers
Slow burn
New adult
Micro Tropes:
☆Unique Magic System
☆Bonkers Spice
☆College Setting
☆Punk Vibes
☆🍆Jokes
☆Monsters & Mayhem
☆Enby & Ace Folks
☆Cat
Blurb:
When twenty-something coder Seven Jones goes back to school at a community college in San Diego, the last thing she wants is to join some stupid club. And the last thing she expects is for that club to be an underground magic club. Like, actual wizards and sh*t.
Surrounded by a motley crew of magic weirdos, Seven discovers her own power and struggles to control it…until she figures out how to channel her magic through an artificially intelligent computer program.
But when terrifying creatures from all sorts of mythologies show up and start hunting students, Seven fears her magic AI is somehow summoning them. When another student is killed, blame falls on Seven and her “artificial magic.”
With only one person – cute ex-Navy seal Logan – on her side, Seven fights for her life against the monsters, and struggles to convince everyone that her AI has nothing to do with them.
But how can she convince her peers when she isn’t totally convinced herself?
Dot Slash Magic is a “Romantas-topian” about love and friendship and how we can work together to bring down the real bad guys.
My thoughts: Seven agrees to go to college in exchange for her late uncle’s boat, Dragonfly, to use as her home. She signs up for some courses, not entirely sure what she wants to do. A coder, one of the courses is in computing, she has to design a program, which she does. Only Dot is a little more sentient than most AI.
At the same time Seven has also stumbled into a secret club operating at the college. A club of magic users – not wizards, and not all very friendly. Seven it seems has magic powers and with the help of Dot, she can do all sorts of things, like levitate. But something has gone terribly wrong.
This was a really fun read, I liked Seven, I felt for her as she struggles to fit in and make friends, being a bit older than some of the other students and a bit socially awkward. She is a good person, nothing she’s done is malicious. Not intentionally.
I’m keen to see what happens next, as the end third of the story is very different and puts a different spin on the preceding story so it would be interesting to see how it proceeds.
They were the best of friends. And the worst of enemies.
When yoga teacher Amelia falls victim to an online scam, her colleague Paige really comes through for her. And with their daughters Marnie and Taryn becoming best friends, the two families grow even closer. But all is not as it seems. Paige has an agenda.
Once she has won Amelia’s trust, Paige starts to execute her carefully laid plan… stealing Amelia’s money, destroying her business, undermining her marriage. All the while pretending to be Amelia’s closest friend.
Will Amelia realize what’s going on before it’s too late? Or will Paige succeed in turning her life into a living hell before finally extinguishing it?
Two women trapped in a fight to the bitter end – the best of friends, the worst of enemies.
Miranda Rijks is a writer of fast-paced, twisty psychological thrillers many of which have been Amazon bestsellers. She has an eclectic background ranging from law to running a garden centre. After surviving bone cancer, Miranda turned to writing and is now living the dream, writing suspense novels full time. She lives in West Sussex, England with her Dutch husband and two black Labradors and spends as much time as she can in the Swiss Alps.
My thoughts: Amelia is a bit naive, falling for an online scam rather easily, then as things start to get worse in her life, she doesn’t really try to resolve anything, just expecting things to just sort themselves out. But when the crunch comes and her daughter’s the one at threat, she comes through.
Paige’s plan has been a long time coming, and is very cruel. It isn’t actually Amelia’s fault, but her pain and grief have twisted things in her mind and Amelia is the person she pours that rage into destroying.
An enjoyable, intelligent thriller with two mothers who will do whatever they can for their children.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
More than a decade ago, the body of eighteen-year-old Sarah Grove was found floating among the water lilies in the pond at Castle Vyne. The case was never solved. Now her sister Natalie is determined to finally uncover the truth.
But when Natalie appears publicly to discuss Sarah’s murder, she never expects it to unleash a deadly chain of events. Within hours, bodies start turning up in the nearby village of Calahurst… it seems someone will do anything to keep the past buried.
As Natalie delves deeper into her family’s history – with the help of mysterious castle gardener Bryn Llewellyn – she finds that nothing is truly what it seems. Behind the charming castle walls and chocolate-box cottages, the respectable villagers of Calahurst are hiding some very deadly secrets indeed.
When another young woman is found dead in the very same lily pond where Sarah died, Natalie realises the killer has returned to finish what they started. But in a village where everyone has something to hide, who can she trust? And will she become the next victim of Castle Vyne’s deadly legacy?
Set in the world of Raven’s Edge, this standalone gothic cosy mystery will have you up all night!
Perfect for fans of Clare Chase, Fiona Leitch and Agatha Christie.
This book was previously published as Nemesis and has since had significant rewrites.
Most of my stories are set in small villages filled with quirky characters. These are partly inspired by the places I’ve lived in over the years, although the characters are straight out of my imagination!
I currently live in Wales, close to a famous library and two ruined castles. My husband thinks we moved here by accident.
My first published novel was Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, which was a finalist in Poolbeg’s Write a Bestseller competition. As well as nine novels, I’ve written short stories for women’s magazines such as Take a Break and My Weekly. Before becoming a full-time writer, I worked as an administrative officer for the police.
When I’m not writing, I enjoy visiting big old houses, which I use as inspiration for the houses in my novels, and reading other people’s books when I ought to be writing my own…
My thoughts: Another excellent mystery thriller from Louise, I really enjoyed her previous books and this was just as good.
Natalie’s sister Sarah was murdered over ten years ago, and now a crime novelist herself, she’s determined to find the killer. During a TV interview about her latest book, she mentions a diary her sister wrote, hoping to lure the killer out. Instead she unleashes chaos. Her home is broken into and ransacked, her dad’s care home goes up in flames and she’s nearly killed herself.
With the help of Welsh landscaper Bryn, she carries on, someone in the small town knows something and the killer might just be closer than she thinks.
With lots of twists and turns, a genuinely unpleasant mother (if Cruella DeVil was a parent), some rather dodgy suspects (all of the men in her life up till now are a bit…odd) and a very determined protagonist, this was a really fun read, clever and compelling.
*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 Egyptologist Alex MacLure’s friend and mentor dies he’s stunned to discover she’s left a message—hidden, encoded, and meant only for him.
With a mysterious artifact and a trail of cryptic symbols, Alex is thrust into a deadly race against time. What begins as a quest to finish her research quickly spirals into a chilling conclusion: her death was no accident. She was murdered for what she discovered.
Now he’s the next target.
Hunted by a ruthless adversary, Alex finds himself swept from the academic halls of London to the heart of Egypt’s oldest sites.
As he races to decode a forgotten truth buried beneath centuries of deception, powerful enemies close in—willing to kill to protect a secret—a revelation so explosive, it could rewrite everything we know about ancient Egypt and religion.
My thoughts: A new series from the always excellent Murray Bailey is exciting. This time we’re in Egypt on the trail of ancient secrets in the desert. Alex MacLure is trying to solve the mystery left after his friend is brutally murdered. Her research must lead to something so explosive, it’s worth killing for.
Alex is an accountant turned Egyptologist, hardly a James Bond figure, but now he’s being followed, threatened, held up at gun point and generally having to live on his wits. Rescued by Rebecca, after a harrowing moment by the river, they join forces to unravel the secrets hidden in a stone tablet, translating the writing to find where it leads. But Alex is a bit too trusting sometimes, and not everyone he meets has his best interests at heart.
I was absolutely hooked, I’ve been fascinated by the world of Ancient Egypt since we first learnt about the pyramids at primary school, it’s incredible to think that such an advanced society existed thousands of years ago and all we’re left with are tombs and ruins, but what incredible tombs and ruins. My mum used to take me to the British Museum to see all the (stolen) artifacts housed there, and while now I think they should be returned and the mummies re-buried and allowed to rest in peace, as a child I was transfixed.
This book brings that lost world into the twenty-first century, the secrets of so long ago still matter to some people, and they will go to any lengths to stop them coming out. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and cannot wait for the next installment, Alex is a great protagonist, clever and a bit naive, but somehow managing to stay alive and unravel the clues left behind.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Friendships – fantastic. Family – getting better. Career – promotion on the cards. Romance – seriously delayed Sade Sodipo is ready to meet ‘the one’ and finally fulfil the Nigerian Dream. So far God hasn’t performed that little miracle quite yet, but it’ll happen this year for sure. Especially if her mother, two best friends, younger sister and all those in the unofficial Marriage Monitoring Aunties Association, have anything to say about it. She might love her job, have great friends, and even own her own home, but according to the meddling aunties, this is why she’s still single at 50. Not wanting to turn into a bitter aunty herself, Sade knows it’s time to get serious, but the options aren’t looking great – zero potential at church, work or in her social life. What if her prayers for the perfect man have got lost? Or maybe Sade’s happy-ever-after is right on time…
Author Bio – Ola Awonubi is an award-winning author, creative writing tutor, and speaker, known for her compelling storytelling that bridges cultures and histories. Born in London to Nigerian parents, she spent part of her childhood in Nigeria before returning to the UK, where she pursued her passion for writing.
Ola has authored eight books, including Love’s Persuasion, Love Me Unconditionally, and the anthology Naija Love Stories. Her historical fiction novel, A Nurse’s Tale, published by One More Chapter Books (HarperCollins) in July 2023, became a bestseller in Canada, earning a spot on The Globe and Mail’s historical fiction chart. It was also recognized by the Brown Girl Collective as a favourite historical fiction book of 2024. Her upcoming romantic comedy, The Marriage Monitoring Aunties’ Association, is set for release in Summer 2025, as part of a two-book deal. She is also working on a Jane Austen adaptation set in Lagos, currently under consideration by publishers and agents.
Beyond her writing, Ola is a creative writing tutor and speaker, sharing her expertise at prestigious events such as the Black British Book Festival, Meet-Cute Romance Festival, and London Festival ofWriting. She will also be speaking at The London Writers Festival, Jericho Writers Conference, inspiring aspiring authors with her insights on storytelling, publishing, and book marketing. Ola’s work has been featured in Afreada, Brittle Paper, Story Time, Woven Tale Press, and NaijaStories.com, with over 15 short stories published across various literary platforms.
Through her Substack newsletter, “The Resilient Writer,” she provides actionable writing guidance, digital resources, and industry insights, helping fellow creatives refine their craft and build their author brands.
Giveaway to Win a Paperback copy of The Marriage Monitoring Aunties Association (Open to UK only)
My thoughts: I really like Sade, she’s a successful woman, owns her own home, has a nice group of friends, is an active member of her church and a loving daughter, sister and auntie. She’s also single at almost fifty.
And while she’s not especially worried, it seems to be causing concern for her mum, and the infamous Marriage Monitoring Aunties Association, who always have plenty to say on the matter.
When she does meet the rather nice Jimi Taylor, there’s an instant attraction, but she wants to keep things professional and her mum isn’t too keen as he has an ex-wife and son. But Sade is a woman who knows her own mind and after a series of dates involving some very delicious sounding food (I wasn’t hungry before I read this book, I was after), things start hotting up, but can Sade keep things secret from the MMAA or will they be sticking their oars in?
Funny, wry and with a lot of heart, this is a great later in life love story.
Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Welcome to the tour for Solace of Dusk by K.V. Meadows. Read now on Kindle Unlimited!
Solace of Dusk (Dusk and Embers Book 1)
Release Date: March 2025
Genre: Romantic Fantasy
Those who play with prophecies will get burned…
23-year-old Undesirable, Durvla Garrick, has a dangerous secret. Being both deaf and having a chronic ailment, her very existence is treasonous. So, when the Queen’s mercenaries accuse her of stealing a dress, she comes quietly—better to be arrested for her knitting skills than her illness.
Under the watchful eye of the broody royal guard, Tiernan Kilkenny—the embodiment of the very people she’s spent her life hiding from—Durvla is appointed dressmaker to the princess. But castle life isn’t quite what she expected, and nor is its staff…
With the Queen dying, Princess Carys Meredyth fa Rhodri is reluctant to inherit the throne of a broken Kingdom when she feels so broken herself. Magic has been outlawed for a millennium—so why are her memories filled with whispers of enchantment?
When Carys finds a book that only she can read, more questions unravel. Are the fairytales that have provided her comfort since childhood really only stories? Or has the truth been right there all along?
-Violence (real world weapons, prolonged torture, magic wielding), blood without gore, and violent killing -Child abandonment, infant death (not detailed), and a brief mention of miscarriage -Unmanaged severe mental illness, anxiety and anxiety attacks, suicidal ideation -Sensual and sexual content (on page, non-explicit) -Grief and loss, mentions of parental death, terminal illness -Disability prejudice, ableism, classism -Profanity
My thoughts: I really enjoyed reading this book (now on KU) and am eagerly looking forward to book two.
With Welsh and Celtic mythology influences, this is a kingdom under attack from within. The princess, Carys, is worried about her invalid mother, and leaving much of the running of the country to the council. Which might not be the best idea.
Elsewhere Durvla, a botanist, is trying to keep her younger brother safe and hidden. She’s deaf and he’s autistic, both things seen as undesirable in the world they live in. Things that could see them taken away and thrown in the terrifying prison. When she does get seized, she ends up as Carys’ dressmaker, a path to freedom opens up.
But others have their own plans for the kingdom, evil plans. And things go wrong for Carys and for Durvla.
This is gripping, funny, intelligent fantasy with interesting and relatable protagonists and the magic system was also intriguing. I can’t wait for the next installment, it ends on such a cliffhanger.
ramblingmads 