Tag: reviews

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Other Mother – Heidi Field

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Suzannah is pregnant with her third child. The first is in prison.
The second is dead. How far will she go to keep her unborn baby safe?

When Suzannah learns she is pregnant, she feels like safety and happiness are finally within reach. Her handsome, successful fiancé, Alec, is over the moon about the baby. He proposes and pampers her. He thinks this is Suzannah’s first marriage and first child, but she’s keeping a few secrets.
Actually, a lot of secrets.

And they are dangerous…putting Suzannah in a position where she must
choose who and what she’s willing to sacrifice to keep her baby and her
freedom.

Drowning in her lies, Suzannah is desperate to bury her past, but her ex-
husband, who abandoned her years ago, returns, stalking her and demanding to know what really happened to their daughter.

When the imprisoned serial killer who lured and groomed her son, threatens to sell his story to the press, Suzannah feels like the life she’d built and the precious one she’s growing, teeter on a precipice. Now the two children she’s hidden from Alec may be the least of her worries.

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Heidi Field was raised in the beautiful countryside of the South of England with her parents and her two sisters. In her twenties she was a freelance Sports Massage Therapist. She achieved a Degree in Zoology at the age of thirty and then went on to raise two boys and became the stepmother of three more young children. She still lives near her family home with her partner, their Great Dane and the children that have yet to fly the nest.

In her early forties Heidi completed a Masters in Creative Writing at Winchester University. She entered the course hoping she would become a children’s fantasy writer and left with a burning desire to write contemporary mysteries and thrillers.

Heidi wanted to put relatable people in extraordinary situations, challenge
them, push them to their limits and watch them fight for their sanity. The Other Boy is her first novel.

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My thoughts: Suzannah’s whole relationship with her fiancé is about to fall apart because of the many, many secrets she’s been keeping. She hasn’t told him about her previous marriage, her children,  their fathers, or where she goes every few weeks.

She’s hoping she won’t have to, until an unwelcome blast from the past forces her to. Now things are falling apart completely, because she just can’t seem to tell the whole truth, and Alec’s patience is getting short, he’s worried about her mental state and whether their baby’s safe.

Suzannah’s an unreliable narrator, even to herself she keeps up the pretence and doesn’t share the full truth.

There are plenty of shocking things that come out and more that happen as Suzannah scrambles to stop some of the secrets from spilling out and destroying her life.

*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 Cottage at the Edge of the Woods – Jane Lovering

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Some houses won’t let go of the past. Some people won’t, either…

When single mum Libby is offered a life-changing sum of money to clear out an old cottage in the woods, she expects dust and decay. She doesn’t expect a house full of secrets, a room full of birds,
and a woman who refuses to leave.

The handsome but stressed architect who hired Libby is also a puzzle. Why can’t Ross empty Elm Cottage himself? What can he possibly see in Libby, who has been burned by love and is wary of attachment? How can they persuade the mysterious but kindly Isobel to move on?

As Libby is pulled into the cottage’s story, she must face up to her own deepest fears. Can she help Isobel, fight the past that haunts her, and learn to open her own heart to love once more?

Jane Lovering’s new novel is a delicious, romantic mystery where secrets, love and healing weave through every page.

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Jane Lovering is the bestselling and award-winning romantic comedy writer who won the RNA Contemporary Romantic Novel Award in 2023 with A Cottage Full of Secrets. She lives in Yorkshire and has a cat and a bonkers terrier, as well as five children who have now left home.

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My thoughts: Everyone in this book is struggling with their lives in some way, from Libby who has to find a job and somewhere to live, to architect Ross who has a pretty big deadline to deal with, and Isobel who lives in a falling down cottage with her birds, avoiding contact with people. But somehow, the three of them are going to help each other and find a way to solve some of their problems.

Libby is hired by Ross to encourage Isobel to vacate the cottage he’s bought in order to demolish it and build a fancy eco home on TV. Isobel has lived there a long time, and is very reluctant to leave, it’s her home and her beloved birds know to find her there.

But Libby is dealing with her own demons too, and she doesn’t even realise some of them yet. Her budding friendship with Ross and the bond she’s trying to build with Isobel are helping her get there though.

It’s a bittersweet, not always sunny sort of book, there are damaged people here and Libby in particular needs real help to deal with things. Moving and thought provoking, this was an interesting read that made me think.

*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 Thorn in the Rose – Samantha Lee Howe

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Secrets bloom where the roses die – and Mel Greenway is digging up the truth. In post-war Britain, Avonby estate is a crumbling relic hiding deadly secrets.

Lady Melinda ‘Mel’ Greenway, a former army mechanic and the family’s poor relation, seeks solace in its overgrown gardens – until she unearths a body beneath the roses. The discovery drags Mel into a tangled web of lies, resentments, and buried truths, forcing her to clash with Inspector Derrin Bradley, her wartime lover turned investigator.

As Derrin digs into the dark web of secrets entangling Avonby’s privileged residents and its resentful staff, Mel is determined to solve the mystery herself. As sparks fly and old wounds resurface, Mel’s relentless pursuit of the truth puts her at odds with both her family and Derrin, while making her a target for a killer desperate to keep the past buried.

A tale of resilience, forbidden romance, and suspense, A Thorn in the Rose is a richly atmospheric mystery that will keep you guessing until the very last page.

Samantha Lee Howe began her professional writing career in 2007 and has been working as a freelance writer for small, medium and large publishers ever since. She is a multi-award winning screenwriter and a USA Today Bestselling author.

Samantha’s breakaway debut psychological thriller, The Stranger In Our Bed, was released in February 2020 with Harper Collins imprint, One More Chapter. The book rapidly became a USA Today bestseller, and has now been turned into a feature film for USA, Canada, China, the UK, and various countries in Europe. It won Best Thriller at the National Film Awards.

Samantha lives in South Yorkshire with her husband, Historian, Writer and publisher, David J Howe and their cat Skye. She is the proud mother of a lovely daughter called Linzi.

My thoughts: I really liked Mel, the loss of her parents and brother is awful, but she manages to survive the tragedy and become a mechanic in the women’s volunteer corps (as did Elizabeth II). There’s also some things she can’t talk about due to the Official Secrets Act, and the reappearance of Derrin, now a police inspector, brings a lot of things up that she thought she’d buried.

A body in the rose beds brings the police to her home, where she’s stuck somewhere between staff and family. Her cousin is quite nice but his wife is pretty ghastly. If her father or brother had survived, they would have inherited, which makes things complicated.

Mel and Derrin’s history is complicated and as they work together to solve the case, they’re forced to deal with the messy end of their relationship and whether there’s anything still between them.

It’s a really enjoyable read and the characters are well rounded and interesting. I hope there’s more to come from Mel and Derrin.

*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 Case of the Christie Curse – Kelly Oliver

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Mesopotamia, 1930: When Agatha Christie invites fellow members of the Detection Club to witness the famous excavations at the ruins of Ur, Dorothy L. Sayers, her quick-witted assistant Eliza Baker, and Theo Sharp expect ancient wonders – not fresh corpses.

But when an archaeologist is found dead in the sand, whispers of a deadly curse sweep through the camp. Eliza suspects something far more dangerous than superstition. Amid glittering artifacts and
fragile alliances, every guest harbors secrets: the Woolleys, whose marriage is shadowed by tragedy; a journalist hungry for scandal; even academic Max Mallowan, whose loyalties are not what they seem.

As theft, forgery, and coded messages surface, the line between archaeology and espionage blurs.

And when Eliza and Theo find themselves in danger, they must face not only the truth about the murder – but also the truths they’ve long denied about each other. Can they uncover the killer before the desert claims another victim? Or will this dig unearth secrets too dangerous to survive?

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Kelly Oliver is the award-winning, bestselling author of three mysteries series: The Jessica James Mysteries, The Pet Detective Mysteries, and the historical cozies The Fiona Figg Mysteries, set in WW1. She is also the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

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My thoughts: Agatha Christie is on a dig in the Iraqi desert, with a certain Max Mallowen (who would become her second husband), and has contacted the Detection Club for help. There have been several accidents, thefts and other incidents that have the local employees claiming it’s due to a curse.

Dorothy Sayers, along with her assistant, Eliza and writer Theo, along with Eliza’s beloved beagle Queenie, head out to help Agatha. The dig is being run by Leonard Woolley and his wife, on behalf of the British Museum, which has caused some argument with local archaeologists, who don’t want all their antiquities lost to another country.

But whoever, or whatever has caused all the problems is still at it. And now one of the junior archaeologists has been murdered. Thankfully Eliza and Theo are on the case.

Will they survive their trip to the desert? And will the case bring them closer?

This series is a lot of fun, and Kelly Oliver has used Agatha’s own autobiography about her archaeological adventures, Come Tell Me How You Live, as a resource. I know that the author loved her time on digs and her marriage to Mallowen was happy, much happier than her first one. 

There are some moments of real peril for Eliza and Theo, and I really like them as characters (and obviously Queenie). This installment of the Detection Club adventures brings out more of their personalities and builds their relationship to a new level.

*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: Death by the Dozen – D.B. Borton

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A curious case of a disappearing pig. A murdered historian. A sassy senior sleuth.

If Cat Caliban’s not your favorite crime-solving grandma, you just haven’t met her yet!

Meet Cat Caliban — sixty-something widow, proud cat lady, and budding private eye.
She’s traded in her old life as a housewife for something far more exciting: solving
crimes.
But nothing in her sleuthing career has prepared her for this.

When a local historian begs Cat to find the villain who stole her beloved pig — Gertie,
a cupcake-loving micro-mini with a mischievous streak — Cat figures it’s a simple petnapping. Sorry, pignapping. Until the trail leads to a dead human body.

With the city gearing up for its bicentennial celebrations, Cat finds herself tangled up in a complex mystery involving missing historical papers, a children’s book about a detective with trotters . . . and a cunning killer who’s determined to keep the past buried.

Cat must crack the case, bring home the bacon, and catch a murderer, before she
becomes the next victim of Cincinnati’s deadliest – and oinkiest – celebration.

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D. B. Borton is the author of two mystery series—the Cat Caliban series and the Gilda Liberty series —as well as the standalone mystery novels Smoke and Bayou City Burning and the humorous science fiction novel Second Coming.

In graduate school, Borton converted a lifetime of passionate reading and late-night movie-watching into a doctorate in English. She is Professor Emeritus of English at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Borton currently lives with Zoe the cat in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she gardens,
practices aikido, a martial art, and, of course, reads.

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My thoughts: I really like this series, I love Cat and her rag tag band of associates, from Kevin the bartender to Winnie the dog, Moses the former cop and Leon the purveyor of terrible greetings cards.

This is probably the most shocking case Cat has taken on so far. From a pignapping, she follows the clues to a terrible piece of local history via a writer whose husband (and possibly her brother) had her committed to an asylum, possibly in order to keep her quiet.

The revelations Cat and Moses uncover have repercussions for modern day residents of Cincinnati, which may have lead to a murder as well as the pignapping.

The blend of humour, crime and history is intriguing and interesting, I was hooked from the off, it was such a compelling case.  This series just gets better and better. 

*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: Catherine – Essie Fox

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With a nature as wild as the moors she loves to roam, Catherine Earnshaw grows up alongside Heathcliff, a foundling her father rescued from the streets of Liverpool. Their fierce, untamed bond deepens as they grow – until Mr Earnshaw’s death leaves Hindley, Catherine’s brutal brother, in control and Heathcliff reduced to servitude.

Desperate to protect him, Catherine turns to Edgar Linton, the handsome heir to Thrushcross Grange. She believes his wealth might free Heathcliff from cruelty – but her choice is fatally misunderstood, and their lives spiral into a storm of passion, jealousy and revenge. Now, eighteen years later, Catherine rises from her grave to tell her story – and to seek redemption.

Essie Fox’s Catherine reimagines Wuthering Heights with beauty and intensity – a haunting, atmospheric retelling that brings new life to a timeless classic and lays bare the dark heart of an immortal love

Essie Fox is the Sunday Times bestselling author of seven historical novels, including The Somnambulist, shortlisted for the National Book Awards, and The Fascination, an instant Sunday Times bestseller. Her work has twice been selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month, most recently for her gothic mystery Dangerous. She appears regularly at literary festivals and cultural institutions and is the host of the podcast Talking the Gothic. She lives in Windsor.

My thoughts: Essie Fox’s reinagining of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights narrated by the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw-Linton after her death in childbirth, offers a different perspective than that of the narrators of the original novel – housekeeper Nelly Dean and Lockwood, who doesn’t feature in this version, set as it is before his arrival.

Catherine feels deep affection for Heathcliffe but doesn’t excuse his horrible behaviour, the cruel and vicious revenge he spends his adult life inflicting on the next generation. 

Fox’s version makes it clear that Heathcliffe and Cathy have the same father, who tries to prevent their relationship getting too complicated, shall we say. Although the next generation, who are all cousins, no one seems so worried about.

While I have complicated feelings about Emily Bronte’s novel (I had to study it, write essays and sit an exam about it, tends to make it far from beloved), and get really fed up with people who think an incestuous relationship between two truly awful, spoilt and narcissistic people is romantic, I actually really liked this reimagining.

Essie Fox has a keen understanding of the Gothic and gives Cathy her voice back, she’s a passive character in WH, what with being dead, but here, she’s the all-seeing godlike narrator, who wishes she could intervene and change the situation for her family, messy and complicated as it all becomes.

*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 Murder of Crows – Bev Harris

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Reader beware; this story tackles serious themes and does not flinch from them.

Fed up with female characters playing the victim? Like a bit of a laugh with your pitch black drama? Then ‘A Murder of Crows’ could be right up your alley.

At nineteen-years-old Jade Crow is fed up being the victim, so gives her abusive boyfriend a hand down some steep stairs. She gets away with it.

With the help of a rather flamboyant mentor… and Felice is a woman with her own incredible backstory, Jade embarks upon a very successful career in stage-managing ‘accidental deaths’.
Until she kills the wrong man.

Then Jade finds herself in a kitchen, somewhere in France, fighting for her life and the chance to escape to paradise with the man she loves.

As dark as it is funny, this thriller is not for the faint hearted.

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B C Harris lives in Dumfries & Galloway with her husband and their two dogs. Surrounded by hills and forests, she has plenty of space for walking, and plotting new and interesting ways to murder her characters. Conspiracy of Cats, published in 2021 was her first book. In 2023 she
followed that up with Making Sacrifices. A Murder of Crows is her latest release.

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My thoughts: I really enjoyed this, I liked Jade and I loved the outrageous Felice. This is very funny and very entertaining, although if you don’t find jokes about murder and mayhem funny, it might not be for you.

Jade Crow has survived a horrible childhood in care, and is stuck in a wretched relationship with an abusive thug. She works as a home carer, her only highlight is visiting her client Felice, an elderly woman who has lived quite a life.

Felice is worried about Jade and after she dies unexpectedly, comes back as a ghost, to begin with only Jade can see her. And together they embark on a new life for Jade, with some help from Felice’s old life.

Years later, Jade has been very successful in her new career with Felice as her very own secret weapon. But unfortunately her last job has got her onto the radar of the security services and that brings with it consequences that Jade might not be able to escape this time.

I won’t spoil things for you, but I wasn’t happy with the ending, I think I even boo’d. Out loud. Like a lunatic. I had enjoyed it that much and liked the characters enough that I wanted more adventures for 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.

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Blog Tour: Grace – A.M. Shine

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A haunting, atmospheric modern Gothic horror tale based on traditional Irish mythology, from the author of smash hit The Watchers.

Ancient evil is awakened on a lonely isle off the coast of Ireland.

TO LEARN THE TRUTH WOULD YOU DESCEND INTO HELL?

Off the west coast of Ireland lies a lonely island, isolated and wilfully forgotten. Some say there hasn’t been a child born on the island for thirty years. Others speak of strange deaths there, decades ago.
But no one really knows what happened. Locals believe that the dark times are behind them.
They are mistaken.

Grace, adopted at four years old, has never known where she came from. A mysterious phone call leads her back to the island where she was born – and where a terrible evil has been disturbed.

As the evil starts to spread, Grace finds herself dragged back into a living nightmare that threatens to engulf anyone who steps into its path.

Grace is perfect for fans of horror classics, Paul Tremblay, and Kealan Patrick Burke.

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A.M. Shine writes in the Gothic horror tradition. Born in Galway, Ireland, he received his Master’s Degree in History there before sharpening his quill and pursuing all things literary and macabre. He is a member of the Irish Writers Centre. His debut novel, The Watchers, has been made into a major motion picture produced by M. Night Shyamalan. Follow him on @AMShineWriter and
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My thoughts: This is a weird twisted and creepy book set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. When Grace receives a call telling her that her biological mother has died and left Grace her estate, she closes up her bookshop and goes to the island, despite it being against her late mother’s wishes. She will wish she had taken the advice and let the solicitor sell the house.

The island is home to an ancient evil being that torments the remaining inhabitants. There are no children on the island, just a handful of older people who really should have left. They’re terrified and traumatised by events in the past and now the creature has reawakened and wants to finish what it started all those years before.

The youngish parish priest wants to help his remaining parishioners but he’s not really equipped to deal with monstrous demonic beings or ghosts, and by the time he learns the truth, it may well be too late.

Dark and full of the horrors of things hidden by the mist and darkness, this will put you off going to explore creepy islands with a tiny population. Which is probably a good thing!

*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: Esther is Now Following You – Tanya Sweeney

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Esther first sees Ted walking in a park in London. They lock eyes and for a fraction of a second, she feels something she’s never felt before.

She starts by reading up about his life in Canada and his work as an actor. Then she watches every interview with him online. It isn’t long before she’s joined Ted’s fan site online where she and the ‘Tedettes’ stalk his every move. When Ted gets a new celebrity girlfriend, Esther decides that things have gone far enough. She leaves her husband, takes all their savings, and buys a one-way ticket to Canada. After all, Ted might not know it yet, but they are meant to be together – he just needs a little bit of persuading.

At its heart, Esther is Now Following You is a fresh, funny and deeply affecting novel about what happens when life gets too much and what we do to cope. It combines the humour of Fleabag and Green Dot’s unattainable obsession, told with the propulsion of Baby Reindeer.

Tanya Sweeney is an Irish journalist, columnist and regular contributor to radio and TV. Her personal columns focus on a variety of subjects including parenting, pregnancy, friendship, culture, and body issues. She currently works on the Weekend magazine at the Irish Independent, and her experience working in the music, film & TV industries helped inspire her debut novel.

My thoughts: Esther becomes obsessed with an actor called Ted during a difficult and distressing time in her life, she channels all her grief and pain into the parasocial relationship in her head. Unfortunately she takes it way too far. Moving to Toronto on a whim and inserting herself into the life of Ted’s sister in a bid to get closer to him. 

She’s actually a rather sweet person, is Esther, but dealing with something very difficult and running away from her problems, which I know from bitter experience never works. She doesn’t have much of a support network and that means she creates this whole other life in her head, thinking that somehow it will all be better if she and Ted were a couple.

I did want to give a shake and a talking too at times, but I also really felt for her. Things happen to us that feel way too big and scary, so we run. I completely understand and for the most part a harmless imaginary life of celebrity adjacent happiness is an idle fantasy. Just don’t do an Esther and decide to make it a reality.

Darkly comic and heartfelt, this was a really interesting and oddly enjoyable book that I would suggest avoiding if you’re dealing with anything like Esther is (content warning: child loss, stillbirth) and it’s too raw but otherwise do read this to remind yourself, if nothing else, that boundaries are important and your favourite actor doesn’t even know your name, but depending on how obsessive you are, they do know your Twitter handle.

*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 Secretary – Deborah Lawrenson

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Moscow, 1958. At the height of the Cold War, secretary Lois Vale is on a deep-cover MI6 mission to identify a diplomatic traitor. She can trust only one man: Johann, a German journalist also working covertly for the British secret service. As the trail leads to Vienna and the Black Sea, Lois and Johann begin an affair but as love grows, so does the danger to Lois.

A tense Cold War spy story told from the perspective of a bright, young, working-class woman recruited to MI6 at a time when men were in charge of making history and women were expendable. Authentic details are provided by the 1958 diary kept in Moscow by the author’s own mother, who worked for British intelligence.

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Deborah Lawrenson spent her childhood moving around the world with diplomatic service parents, from Kuwait to China, Belgium, Luxembourg and Singapore. She read English at Cambridge University and worked as a journalist in London. She has written ten novels, including two Death in Provence mysteries as Serena Kent, and her writing is praised for its vivid sense of place.

My thoughts:This was utterly gripping and really, really good. I’ve had a bit of a love of Russian history since my A Levels and a very memorable trip to the country (the hotel we stayed in is mentioned in the book!) and it was interesting to read something set during an infamous period of time  – when the Cambridge spy ring was being unmasked.

It was also really interesting to have the story from a female perspective, inspired by the author’s mother’s own role as a secretary at the British Embassy and as an MI6 operative. Most spy thrillers are full of gungho action and men who are either very dashing or the extreme opposite (like Jackson Lamb from Mick Herron’s Slough House series), they are very rarely female.

Lois is indeed a secretary, but she’s also under orders from MI6, and her job is a cover. She’s been sent to see if she can work out if anyone on the embassy staff might be passing information to the Russians. She’s been told not to trust anyone but German journalist (and fellow spy) Johann.

At times she feels completely out of her depth, and her very strange flatmate and colleague doesn’t help matters. There are important things to do, possible defectors to locate, Russian tails to shake off, and the very real possibility of romance.

Things do go somewhat awry, and far from anyone she can ask for advice, Lois has to essentially wing it. But can she do the job?

I really liked Lois, I liked her determination, the way she wanted to stay the course, even when things were going wrong all over the place. She’s level headed and practical, willing to improvise to get the job done. A really enjoyable, intelligent thriller.

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