Tag: reviews

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Yorkshire Dipper – Maria Frankland*

ramblingmads

Read my reviews of The Last Cuckoo, The Man Behind Closed Doors and Left Hanging all by the same author.

Seven drownings. Three months. Who is to blame?

Lauren is fed up with covering local small-town news in Northern England. The bride-to-be and mother-of-one dreams of recognition and accolades as a national journalist.
Yet, the reporting opportunity that lands on her doorstep is one she would never have invited. When it is thrust on her,, she is duty bound, both professionally and personally to investigate.
Lauren is the voice for the women, whose lives have been cut short in the river Alder, and she will not stop until she finds the link that binds their deaths together and gets justice for them.
But she is a lone voice, overpowered by the police and other officials. Lauren has to make herself heard, even when this compromises her own safety. Her police sergeant fiancé begs her to step away and leave it to the police.
Seven drownings, she continues to argue, in three months, warrants blame. How can the deaths of these innocent women be deemed accidental?

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Maria Frankland’s life began at 40 when she escaped an unhappy marriage and began making a living from her own writing and becoming a teacher of creative writing.

The rich tapestry of life with all its turbulent times has enabled her to pour experience, angst and lessons learned into the writing of her novels and poetry.
She recognises that the darkest places can exist within family relationships and this is reflected in the domestic thrillers she writes.
She is a ‘born ‘n’ bred’ Yorkshirewoman, a mother of two and has recently found her own ‘happy ever after’ after marrying again.
Still in her forties, she is now going to dedicate the rest of her working life to writing books and inspiring other writers to also achieve their dreams too!

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My thoughts:

This was a really good crime thriller, with only determined journalist Lauren convinced that this many deaths in the same spot can’t possibly be accidents. The police don’t seem to be making any effort to investigate so she decides to draw attention to the fact and try to solve this herself.

But her fiancé, Mark, a police officer, wishes she wouldn’t make things worse with his grumpy boss DCI Ingham, it’s not helping his career and he’s getting sidelined in the case.

This was a cracking read, and the twists (no spoilers) were the kind that make you audibly gasp. You won’t see them coming.

I liked the juxtaposition of Mark and Lauren’s home life with the crimes they’re both investigating, from different angles. It just reminds you how banal crime actually is, unless it affects you directly, we’re so immune to it in a way. Another excellent book from the pen of Maria Frankland, who goes from strength to strength.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: What Now? – Shari Low*

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Read my review of What If?

The follow-up sequel to the bestselling ‘What If?’ from Shari Low
Twenty years ago, Carly Cooper went on an epic quest to track down all the men she’d ever loved and lost in the hope that one of them was her Mr Right.

Now, two decades and two teenage sons later, she thinks she might have got it all wrong.
As the years have passed, lots of things have changed, leaving Carly asking ‘What Now?’

With a divorce and an empty nest on the horizon, Carly sets off once more to Los Angeles with her band of trusty girlfriends, to find the carefree, wild and adventurous Carly Cooper that she used to be.

On this latest quest, Carly discovers a few home truths and has to decide If her marriage is worth saving or is there a new happy-ever-after out there, just waiting for her…

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Shari Low is the #1 bestselling author of over 25 novels, including One Day In Summer and My One Month Marriage and a collection of parenthood memories called Because Mummy Said So.

She lives near Glasgow.

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My thoughts:

This was brilliant fun. Picking up twenty years after the end of What If? we join Carly Cooper as she has yet another crisis and starts to rethink her past once more.

I laughed so hard (mostly at the marvellous Aunt Val) that my husband asked if I was alright several times, and there were a few tears at one point too. Shari Low has magical powers and really pulls you into her characters lives.

It helps that the cast of characters are so brilliant, Carly has really got lucky with her amazing gang of besties. And reading it in lockdown when I haven’t seen any of my pals in about a year really got to me. I miss their faces.

If you need a great read that restores your faith in people a bit more, then you could do a lot worst than reading this and giving yourself a much needed boost.


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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Not Quite Out – Louise Williamson*

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William Anson is done with relationships, thanks. He’s starting the second year of his medicine degree single, focused, and ready to mingle with purely platonic intentions.

Meeting Daniel, a barely recovered drug addict ready to start living life on his own terms, might just change that.

There are two problems.

One: William isn’t out.

What’s the point in telling your friends you’re bisexual when you aren’t going to date anyone?

Two: Daniel’s abusive ex-boyfriend still roams the university campus, searching for cracks in Daniel’s recovery.

No matter how quickly William falls for Daniel, their friendship is too important to risk ruining over a crush.

William is fine with being just friends for the rest of forever.

Well, not quite.

Content warning – This book includes references to abortion, PTSD, drug addiction, abusive relationships, and self-harm.

My thoughts:

I really felt for Will, being 19 and at uni is tough enough without trying to come to terms with your sexuality and come out. I know, I’ve been there.

But I’m now in my 30s so a lot more time has passed, those late teens/early twenties are tough.

Plus Will’s new friend, Dan, has a lot going on too, an abusive hovering ex, a drug habit he’s trying to kick and no family to support him. So Will is trying to provide that support while wrestling with his feelings and worries.

The book is very thoughtful, like its protagonist, and his other friends, Peter, Cas and Lilley are also dealing with the things life likes to throw at you, and uni, so there’s a lot going on around Will.

A sweet, sensitive, heartfelt portrayal of working out who you are, what you want, and where you fit in to the world. Friendship, love, pain, heartbreak and joy are all in the mix.

Really worth reading and then pressing a copy into the hands of a young person you know who looks like they could use some solidarity.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Dream That Held Us – Rhiannon Jenkins Tsang*

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“The Dream That Held Us took me on an exquisite exploration if a love that crosses boundaries of time and culture.” Angela Barton author of Arlette’s Story, Magnolia House and You’ve Got My Number

“Deeply imbued with a certain wistfulness and haunting sense of loss brought out by the end of a glorious summer… Rhiannon Jenkins Tsang’s latest novel is a sensitive andskilful exploration of love, longing, and whether life sometimes relents to give us second chances.” Osama Siddique – author of Snuffing Out the Moon

“This book carries a universal message about love and finding your way in the world. I loved it.”
Angela Barton author of Arlette’s Story, Magnolia House and You’ve Got My Number

Another stunning Anglo-Indian love story from the author of The Last Vicereine, Penguin Random House 2017.

October 1985, Ash Misra leaves a blood-stained Delhi for Oxford University. Haunted by a terrible
secret, he just wants to forget. Music and fresh violence bring him to fellow student and amateur violinist, Isabella Angus, but duty and the burden of history keep them apart.

A quarter of a century later against the background of the global financial crisis, Sir Peter Roberts, former Master of Woodstock College, receives a letter from Ash for Isabella. They are no longer young but they had made a tryst with destiny; old terrors and suppressed desires return.

Amazon UK
Amazon US

Rhiannon Jenkins Tsang is a British author whose work focuses on cultural and historical fault lines
and has strong international themes.

Rhiannon was born and grew up in Yorkshire and has studied, lived and worked in Europe and Asia. She read Oriental Studies (Chinese) at Oxford University and speaks Mandarin and Cantonese.

Rhiannon lives in a former farmhouse in rural England with her
family.

Novels
The Woman Who Lost China, Open Books 2013
The Last Vicereine, Penguin Random House 2017

Short Story Anthology

Hong Kong Noir, Akashic Books 2019

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My thoughts:

This was a beautiful, moving book about a love that spans decades, taking in marriages, divorce, children and heartbreak.

First love can be brutal and so it is for Isabella and Ash – he must return to India and an arranged marriage, devastating Isabella.

Twenty five years later Ash sends a letter via the former master of their college, asking Isabella to see him. Will their love be rekindled, despite her husband and children, despite their very different lives?

Beautifully written and tender, this was a truly touching and sweet read.


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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Art of Death – David Fennell*

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London’s latest art installation is a real killer . . .

An underground artist leaves three glass cabinets in Trafalgar Square that contain a gruesome installation: the corpses of three homeless men.
With the artist promising more to follow, newly-promoted Detective Inspector Grace Archer and her caustic DS, Harry Quinn, must race against time to follow what few clues have been left by a savvy killer.
As more bodies are exhibited at London landmarks and live streamed on social media, Archer and Quinn’s pursuit of the elusive killer becomes a desperate search.
But when Archer discovers that the killer might be closer than she originally thought – she realises that he has his sights set firmly on her . . .
He is creating a masterpiece. And she will be the star of his show.

My thoughts:

This was really good, dark and compelling. The weird “art” installations are a brutal and shocking concept, a killer keen to show off, preening at their own cleverness.

DI Grace Archer is an intriguing character, her back story is never fully revealed but it’s dark and tragic, and the marks of it linger in her panic attacks and claustrophobia. Her team is full of bitterness and secrets, which makes their working relationships awkward and tense, adding complications to their investigations.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Man I Didn’t Marry – Anna Bell*

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Read my review of the author’s We Just Clicked here.

What happens when the man she married can’t remember her?

Ellie has the perfect life: a happy marriage, a gorgeous daughter and a baby on the way. But when her husband Max develops amnesia, he forgets everything about the last five years . . . including their relationship.

Now the man she said ‘I do’ to has become a stranger, and she has no idea why. Yet Ellie is determined to reconnect and find herMax again – he has to be in there somewhere, right?

As they get to know one another afresh, Ellie finds herself seeing Max clearly for the first time. But then she discovers that before his memory loss, Max was keeping a huge secret from her. Will their new beginning prove to be a false start, just as it seemed they might fall in love all over again?

My thoughts:

Halfway through this book, I looked over my husband of two and a half years and said “please don’t ever lose your memory and forget me”, he of course, looked at me like I was crazy.

But the thought of him forgetting even one moment of our 11 years together was horrible.

I know this book is supposed to be a rom com but there is a slight chill to it – Max loses his memory of his wife, his children, everything from the last five years.

I don’t know how Ellie copes, she’s heavily pregnant with their second child, caring for a toddler, and needs her husband around. But suddenly they’re basically strangers again.

It is a lovely and sweet romance as she woos Max into falling in love again, trying to recreate their dates, hoping his memory will come back. But it didn’t half give me a jolt of fear!

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Title: Fake – Roz Kay*

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James Cowper-art dealer, gambler, thief-is going straight and on the brink of redeeming himself with his disillusioned wife, Imani. He’s still broke, but all he needs to take care of that is a rare art find. Then trouble arrives in the shape of a scheming landlord and an unwelcome dinner party with his boss. As events spin out of his control it appears that nobody, including Imani, is what they pretend.

And over everything looms one make-or-break question for James: can he get a grip on his exploding life?

Then trouble arrives in the shape of a scheming landlord and an unwelcome dinner party with his boss. As events spin out of his control it appears that nobody, including Imani, is what they pretend.

And over everything looms one make-or-break question for James: can he get a grip on his exploding life?

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Roz Kay is a writer and former journalist. Her debut children’s novel, The Keeper of the Stones, was published in March 2020 by Hayloft Publishing and she’s had literary short stories published under the name Roz DeKett. Roz, who now lives in Wiltshire, England, has lived in Ghana, Canada, Malaysia, Brunei, and the United States—including nearly six years in Philadelphia where

Roz, who now lives in Wiltshire, England, has lived in Ghana, Canada, Malaysia, Brunei, and the United States—including nearly six years in Philadelphia where Fake is set.
Fake is her debut novel for adults.

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My thoughts:

This was like an old fashioned farce, especially once the cast assembled for the dinner party from hell. It was darkly comic and thoroughly enjoyable, with some of the worst people I’ve ever encountered on the page – thank goodness I don’t actually know any of them!

James’ wife Imani is probably the best of the sorry bunch and I felt really sorry for her trying to feed the other nightmarish figures, even though she didn’t want them there in the first place.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Asking For a Friend – Andi Osho*

ramblingmads

No woman gets left behind.

Three best friends are going to solve their relationship woes once and for all

Forty-something Jemima’s life is on track – well, sort of, she just need to bat her niggly ex away for good.

Twenty-something Meagan is in the midst of her five-phase plan and is nearly ready for phase three: a relationship.

While thirty-something Simi has had more it’s not yous than any I dos.

These best friends decide it’s time to ditch the dating apps and play the love game by their own rules. They’re going to ask people out in real life…but only for each other. What could possibly go wrong?

My thoughts:

This was a fun, funny and smart book about the power of female friendships, working out what you really want from life and falling in love.

Jemima, Meagan and Simi seem to have their lives together but just like so many women, they’re doing their best duck impression, serenely gliding along but paddling madly underneath, trying to juggle careers, romance and their complicated bond.

I laughed and I recognised these women, I know these women. They’re my friends and probably spark a similar recognition in other readers.

A brilliant first book from a great comedian and highly enjoyable.


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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Wife Upstairs – Rachel Hawkins*

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A girl looking for love…

When Jane, a broke dog-walker newly arrived in town, meets Eddie Rochester, she can’t believe her luck. Eddie is handsome, rich and lives alone in a beautiful mansion since the tragic death of his beloved wife a year ago. A man who seems perfect…

Eddie can give Jane everything she’s always wanted: stability, acceptance, and a picture-perfect life. A wife who just won’t stay buried…

But what Jane doesn’t know is that Eddie is keeping a secret – a big secret. And when the truth comes out, the consequences are far more deadly than anyone could ever have imagined…Rachel Hawkins is the New York Times bestselling author of multiple books for young readers, and her work has been translated in over a dozen countries.

She studied gender and sexuality in Victorian literature at Auburn University and currently lives in Alabama with her husband and son.

The Wife Upstairs is her first adult novel.

My thoughts:

I have a lot of issues with Jane Eyre but knew that Rachel Hawkins was a cracking writer and if anyone could redeem that awful, frustrating book, then it would be her, and I was not disappointed.

Her Jane is a lot smarter, savvier and less of a drip that Brontë’s, who quite frankly I have always wanted to shake and tell her “he’s nuts, run woman!” but there we go. Wide Sargasso Sea on the other hand is an excellent book and should be more widely read, so read that, then this.

Modernising and moving the story to the US, 21st Century Jane is walking dogs for uptight, rich housewives, who quite honestly have time in their days to walk their own dogs, when she meets Eddie, supposedly mourning his wife’s death in a terrible boat related accident.

Following the basic plot of the original novel but with updates and twists, in the style of a thriller, this is a lot of fun and with a much more satisfying ending. I really enjoyed it and would love for the author to tackle some more problematic classics – Wuthering Heights next perhaps?

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Last Snow – Stina Jackson*

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Early spring has its icy grip on Ödesmark, a small village in northernmost Sweden, abandoned by many of its inhabitants. But Liv Björnlund never left. She lives in a derelict house together with her teenage son, Simon, and her ageing father, Vidar. They make for a peculiar family, and Liv knows that they are cause for gossip among their few remaining neighbours.

Just why has Liv stayed by her domineering father’s side all these years? And is it true that Vidar is sitting on a small fortune? His questionable business decisions have made him many enemies over the years, and in Ödesmark everyone knows everyone, and no one ever forgets.

Now someone wants back what is rightfully theirs. And they will stop at nothing to get it, no matter who stands in their way…

Stina Jackson was born in 1983 and raised in Skellefteå, northern Sweden. In 2006 she moved to Denver, Colorado, where she lives with her husband and small dog.

Her debut novel, The Silver Road, was an international bestseller and won The Best Swedish Crime Novel Award in 2018. The Last Snow is her second novel.

My thoughts:

This was so good, quietly compelling and mesmerising, drawing you into the lives of Vidar, his daughter Liv and grandson Simon. Living out in an old, slowly decaying house in Lapland, rumours swirl about Vidar’s hidden wealth, but he’s stingy and hoards it away.

When an incident happens in the dark forest around their home, everything changes and Liv must decide whether to finally leave.

What seems like a slow start quickly gathers pace as more of the rural community are introduced and various enemies and old friends of Vidar’s emerge, he’s managed to alienate pretty much everyone and his family keep secrets from him.

Interspersed with the chapters are flashbacks to Liv’s childhood and teen years, difficult years for a young girl living alone with her bitter and difficult father. These build a fuller picture of her life and the reasons she resents but also stays with her dad.

A slow burner of a wintery thriller, each character with a story of their own, hinted at in some cases, but never revealed, keeping the spotlight on the Björnlund family and their misfortunes.

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