Two Heads Are Better Than One

Cassandra Clare

Publication date: 10/10/23

Publisher: Tor

SYNOPSIS

Two outcasts find themselves at the centre of world-altering change in Sword Catcher, the start of a riveting epic fantasy series from the internationally bestselling author of The Shadowhunter Chronicles.

‘Everything I look for in fantasy’ – George R. R. Martin, New York Times bestselling author of Game of Thrones

One was raised to rule. One was trained to die. Welcome to the Chronicles of Castellane.

In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, a young orphan named Kel is stolen from his old life to enter a new one of luxury and peril. He’s to become Prince Conor Aurelian’s body-double, shielding the Prince from all dangers. As his ‘Sword Catcher,’ he and Conor become close as brothers – yet Kel lives for one purpose: to die for Conor.

Lin Caster is an Ashkar physician, part of a community ostracised for its rare magical abilities. But events pull her and Kel together and into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King who rules Castellane’s criminal underworld.

Together, they’ll discover an extraordinary conspiracy. But can forbidden love bring down a kingdom? And will their discoveries plunge their nation into war and the world into chaos?

Lose yourself in a vibrant world of power, intrigue and magic in this spellbinding epic from an internationally bestselling sensation.

MY REVIEW

We are big Cassandra Clare fans in our house. A new release from Cassie always means great excitement, and a guaranteed pre-order. I have to say, this cover is spectacular! One of my favourite ever covers. So excited to get my hardback version when I go to see her at an event in a few weeks!

This is the first book in a new series. I was completely lost in this phenomenal new world Cassie has created. Even when I wasn’t reading it I was thinking about it! I can’t wait for the next book in the series as there are so many threads to be continued. It is a long book of around 600 pages, but what a joy to read. I made it last 5 days. It is a ‘fantasy’ book, but I would say even if fantasy is not usually your genre give it a try as it is easy to follow and you may just find a new favourite author and series.

Everything is so beautifully described. The palace, the clothing, wall hangings and furniture, the food. The metaphors and similes are so unique. I even picked out a few lines of songs, but that was probably coincidental!

The story is told mainly from the POV of two characters. Kel and Lin. Both orphans and neither quite fit in.

Kel has been living in the palace since he was taken from an orphanage when he was 10 to serve as Prince Conor’s body double, sworn to protect him with his life. He is fully committed to his role.

Lin is Ashkari and she is a physician, despite it being almost unheard of for a woman to carry out this role. She is a strong and brave character. Her close friend has an illness which Lin makes it her purpose in life to heal, although she has tried just about everything. She has been given a stone by a trader she knows well which appears to have magic properties, if only she could find out how to use it.

Magic, and all magic animals, have been taken from the world, leaving only the Ashkari people with their basic ancestral magic of simple talismans.

There are many characters to get to know, including the elusive Ragpicker King, who travels in a black carriage with blood red wheels and is feared in the town. His path crosses with both Kel and Lyn.

I enjoyed how, in between each chapter of the story, there was an excerpt from ‘The Tales of the Sorcerer Kings’ which explained the lore of what had happened many years ago when the Goddess ruled over her people, and how magic had been taken from the world, save the small talismans and spells of the Ashkari people.

This book ticks so many boxes! A Goddess who legend says will come back to her people as an ordinary woman, Royalty, politics, magic, healing, friendship, a bit of romance and so much more!

Could be my book of the year.

Huge thanks to Black Crow PR for my stunning proof and my spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cassandra Clare is the author of the #1 New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Mortal Instruments series and the Infernal Devices trilogy, and coauthor of the Bane Chronicles with Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson. She also wrote The Shadowhunter’s Codex with her husband, Joshua Lewis. Her books have more than 36 million copies in print worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Cassandra lives in western Massachusetts. Visit her at CassandraClare.com. Learn more about the world of the Shadowhunters at Shadowhunters.com.

Matt Cain

Publication date: 18/1/24

Publisher: Headline Review

SYNOPSIS

2002

Danny arrives at Manchester University determined not to hide from the world any longer. This is the year his life will begin.

He locks eyes with a handsome stranger across the hall at the Fresher’s Fair. It starts with a wink and soon Danny and Guy are best friends.

2022

Now, both single for the first time in years, Danny and Guy return to the confetti-covered streets of the Gay Village for Manchester Pride.

After years of shared adventures and lost dreams, Danny finally plans to share the secret he has been keeping for two decades. He has always been in love with Guy.

Could this weekend be the end of a twenty-year friendship . . . or the start of something new and even more beautiful?

MY REVIEW

Another absolute corker from the super talented Matt Cain.

I adored Albert and Ted. Now I have met Danny and I love him too. Matt’s stories are incredibly gorgeously special and life affirming. I am always left with a fuzzy happy feeling when I have read one. You just can’t help but fall in love with Matt’s characters. Full of life, but often hiding a sadness behind the smiles.

The overwhelming message I have always got from reading Matt’s books is to be yourself and love yourself for who you are. Such an important message for everyone.

This is a story of unrequited love. Of a special friendship between Danny and Guy, teetering on the edge of something more. Maybe. At least Danny hopes so. And he has hoped so for 20 years.

Danny is an incredibly likeable character. He went through school being bullied for being gay, but has always had the support of his loving mother. He is unhappy with his looks, his out of shape body and his bald patch. How could anyone decent love him? So he plays the fool. Getting drunk and making people laugh. Meeting men for one night stands. Hiding his feelings.

We hear some of the story from Guy’s point of view. I felt so sorry for him at the beginning as having finally come out as gay to his peers when he starts university, he was terrified of coming out to his parents. He felt he was never good enough in their eyes, and being gay is another way they will think he has failed them.

Written across two timelines beginning in 2002 and also in the present, we follow Danny and Guy through the ups and downs of 20 years of their lives from the time they meet at university to the time they rekindle their friendship at Manchester Pride following Guy’s divorce. I loved Matt’s description of the Pride celebrations. What a party!

The two timelines highlight how difficult it was when Danny was young compared to now. I’m sure there is still a way to go but we are moving in the right direction.

I enjoyed every page and I’m already looking forward to Matt’s next book.

Huge thanks to the publisher, Headline Review, and to Matt for my proof copy which will be treasured along with Albert and Ted.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt Cain is a writer, broadcaster, and a leading commentator on LGBT+ issues. 

He was Channel 4’s first Culture Editor, Editor-In-Chief of Attitude magazine, has written for all the major national newspapers, and is a regular presenter on Virgin Radio Pride. He’s also an ambassador for Manchester Pride and the Albert Kennedy Trust, plus a patron of LGBT+ History Month. 

Matt’s first two novels, Shot Through the Heart and Nothing But Trouble, were published by Pan Macmillan. His third, The Madonna Of Bolton, became Unbound’s fastest crowdfunded novel ever. In 2021, The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle was published by Headline Review and Becoming Ted followed in 2023. 

Born in Bury and brought up in Bolton, Matt now lives in London with his husband, Harry, and their cat, Nelly. 

For more information, please visit http://www.mattcainwriter.com.

By S. T. Gibson

COVER REVEAL

I love the excitement surrounding a cover reveal, and this one is particularly stunning!
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of A Dowry of Blood

Publication Date: 28 May 2024

Publisher: Angry Robot

Pre-order: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/evocation/

SYNOPSIS

Secret societies, lust and lies.
Welcome to The Summoner’s Circle, your brand-new fantasy addiction.

Meet David, Rhys, Moira, and Leda for the first time as they navigate magic-riddled Boston through hierarchical secret societies, familial bonds from beyond the grave, and much more in this gorgeous, richly imagined novel.

When a family curse threatens the life of David, a medium, he will turn to the only person he’s ever trusted, his sorcerer ex-boyfriend, Rhys—which means he will have to open his heart to Moira, Rhys’s astrologer wife.
The day David Aristarkhov’s occultist father died, he bought himself an Audi, drank every drop of liquor in the house, and abandoned his life as a teen psychic prodigy. Now pushing thirty, David is a Boston attorney, moonlighting as a medium for a secret society.

But when the Devil comes to collect on a deal David’s ancestor made, he reluctantly reaches out to his ex-boyfriend Rhys for help. However, to get to Rhys, David will have to befriend Moira, Rhys’s wife. The trio gets a little too close for comfort as they combine their powers to unravel the century-old curse, and if they don’t break it by David’s thirtieth birthday, he won’t live long enough for everyone to figure out their feelings for each other.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S.T. Gibson is the Sunday Times bestselling author of A Dowry of Blood, as well as a literary agent. A graduate of the creative writing program at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and the theological studies program at Princeton Seminary, she currently lives in Boston with her partner,

Saint is @stgibstonauthor on Instagram, @saint.machina on TikTok,

@s_t_gibson on X, and

@stgibson on Bluesky

Cover artist: Eleonor Piteira:https://www.instagram.com/eleonorpiteira/: https://twitter.com/_eleonorp

Cover designer: Alice Coleman: https://www.instagram.com/onecuriouschip/

Felix Francis

Publication date: 28/9/23

Publisher: Zaffre

SYNOPSIS

Theo Jennings is a young auctioneer at the Thoroughbred sales ring in Newmarket. The October yearling sales are where the big money exchanges hands in frenzied auctions: millions of Guineas paid for horses that are as yet unnamed, untested, and have never taken a step on the track. It’s the greatest gamble in all of horseracing, and one that can end in ruin.

Theo has just made the biggest sale of his life, when he overhears a secret conversation between the two bidders – can they really have colluded to fix the price of his big sale? When that same horse is found dead the next morning, he has no choice but to investigate, even against the wishes of his boss. But the more he uncovers, the less he can trust the people around him.

The higher the stakes, the greater the risk. And in the bloodstock game, the ultimate price can be murder . . .

MY REVIEW

A thrilling ride through an expertly written storyline, exposing dodgy dealings behind the sale of racehorses.

Well now I know why my dad raved about Dick Francis’ books. It is quite a niche subject but how interesting this book was. I have learned a lot. From auctioning horses to Buddhism. There are plenty of explanations and learning opportunities throughout the book from simple things like the meaning behind place names to how VAT works!

I was completely drawn in to Theo’s story. How he decided to turn down his post uni engineering job in favour of travelling the world, to accidentally end up as a horse auctioneer in Australia, then moving back to England and working at Newmarket. He was such a likeable character, then we also have his nemesis who is a rude bully so we have someone to dislike! Theo is quite a laid back character with a dry sense of humour which had me laughing out loud a number of times.

The storyline trotted along (sorry I couldn’t resist!) from Theo overhearing a conversation, his boss choosing not to take any action, taking Theo right outside of his comfort zone and risking his job and even his life.

A love interest from a woman working in the accounts office and living in Soham, and coping with the after effects of the Ian Huntley murders, made me want a happy ending for them both.

Absolutely a 5 star read for me and I would recommend it to anyone, not only horse racing enthusiasts!

Many thanks to Poppy and Sophie at Ransom PR for my proof copy and my spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FELIX FRANCIS is Dick Francis’s younger son. Born in 1953, Felix studied Physics and Electronics at London University and then embarked upon a 17-year career teaching Advanced Level physics at three schools, the last seven as head of the science department at Bloxham School in Oxfordshire. After leaving teaching, Felix then became a businessman, spending 13 years as deputy chairman of World Challenge Expeditions Ltd, before starting his third career as an author.

As a child, Felix remembers that conversations around the Francis breakfast table were somewhat unconventional. “The production of a Dick Francis novel has always been a mixture of inspiration, perspiration and teamwork. The first one was published when I was nine, and I grew up in a house where talk would be about the damage a bullet might do to a man’s guts rather than the more mundane topics of everyday life”.

Over the next 40 years, Felix assisted Dick with both the research and the writing of many of his novels. They shared a love of racing and often worked together on plot and character details at Dick’s home in the Cayman Islands. This partnership allowed Dick to draw upon Felix’s knowledge and experience as a physics teacher and marksman in Twice Shy, and as an outdoorsman in Longshot.

With the publication of Under Orders in 2006, Felix took over the writing of the ‘Dick Francis’ novels from his father. This was followed by Dead Heat in 2007, Silks in 2008, and Even Money in 2009. Crossfire was the book Felix was working on when Dick died in February 2010, marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of another in the Dick Francis brand. Since then there have been another twelve ‘Dick Francis’ novels, with Felix’s latest, No Reserve, published in September 2023.

DICK FRANCIS

DICK FRANCIS was a World War II Spitfire, Wellington and Lancaster bomber pilot before becoming a successful post-war National Hunt jockey. The winner of over 350 races, he was champion jump jockey in the 1953/1954 season and rode regularly for HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. He famously rode the ill-fated Devon Loch for Her Majesty in the 1956 Grand National. On retirement from race-riding, Dick published his autobiography, The Sport of Queens, before going on to write thirty-eight bestselling novels, a volume of short stories (Field of 13), and the official biography of Lester Piggott. He was rightly acclaimed as one of the greatest thriller writers in the world.

Dick Francis was the winner of the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association’s Gold and Diamond Daggers and remains the only three-time recipient of the Mystery Writer of America’s Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Novel, winning for Forfeit in 1970, Whip Hand in 1981, and Come to Grief in 1996, the same year he was made a Grand Master for a lifetime’s achievement. He was awarded an OBE in the 1984 New Year’s Honours List, and was promoted to CBE in 2000.

Since his death, Felix has taken over the literary reigns from his father and Dick’s legacy will live on through the Dick Francis novels.

John Scalzi

Publication Date: 21/9/23

Publisher: Tor UK

SYNOPSIS

Warning: supervillain in training. Risk of world domination.

Inheriting his late uncle’s business proves complicated. It’s also way more dangerous than Charlie could ever have imagined. Because his uncle had kept his supervillain status a secret – until now.

Divorced and emotionally dependent on his cat, Charlie wasn’t loving life. Although they weren’t close, news of his Uncle Jack’s death didn’t help. And that was before Jake’s rivals (seriously vengeful ones) ambushed his funeral. Now Charlie must decide if he should stay stuck in his rut, or step up to take on the business, the enemies, the minions, the hidden volcano lair . . .

Even harder to get used to are the sentient, language-using, computer-savvy cats – and the fact that in the organization’s hierarchy, they’re management. If Charlie does say yes, this lifeline could become a death wish. Because there’s much more to being an Evil Mastermind than he suspected. Yet could this also, finally, be his chance to shine?

MY REVIEW

Brilliantly bonkers! I haven’t read anything like this before so what a refreshing change!

Charlie is currently a substitute teacher, having lost his job as a journalist. He lives with his cat. He is down to his last few dollars when he finds out his estranged uncle has died, leaving Charlie his car park business. But it turns out that is just one of his many businesses. He is actually a super villain, involved with a group of villains who call themselves the Lombardy Convocation. Think Spectre.

He is whisked away to a volcano powered island by Morrison, his uncle’s right hand woman. She is a super character. Very cool, calm and takes everything in her stride.

Oh it gets more crazy. Charlie finds out his cat has been spying on him and can talk by using a keyboard. And the cats are management, having being made ‘smart’. Then there are the sweary dolphins who are threatening to strike.

The group of villains think they can intimidate Charlie, but he is far tougher and more astute than they bargained for. He takes the situation in his stride. He doesn’t even bat an eyelid at the vast sums of money being discussed.

Can Charlie survive attempts on his life, as well as learn to be a super villain like his uncle?

An absolutely brilliant read I enjoyed from the first page to the last, with some memorable characters and many laugh out loud moments. Mrs Tum Tum finished me off!

I’ll definitely be reading more from this author.

Many thanks to Black Crow PR and Tor for my proof copy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Scalzi writes books, which, considering where you’re reading this, makes perfect sense. He’s best known for writing science fiction, including the New York Times bestseller “Redshirts,” which won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. He also writes non-fiction, on subjects ranging from personal finance to astronomy to film, was the Creative Consultant for the Stargate: Universe television series. He enjoys pie, as should all right thinking people. You can get to his blog by typing the word “Whatever” into Google. No, seriously, try it.

Lesley Thomson

SYNOPSIS

Eighty years of secrets. A body that reveals them all.

1940. At Yew Tree House, recently widowed Adelaide Stride is raising her two daughters alone – but it’s not just the threat of German invasion that keeps her up at night. She is surrounded by enemies posing as allies and, while war rages, she grows sure that something terrible is about to happen.

2023. Soon after Stella Darnell begins her holiday at Yew Tree House, a skeleton is found in a pillbox at the bottom of the garden. The bullet hole in the skull tells her that the person was murdered.

This triggers the unravelling of a mystery eighty years in the making. Soon, Stella will learn that Adelaide was right to worry – the fighting might have been happening abroad, but the true enemy was always much closer to home…

MY REVIEW

This is book 9 in the ‘Detective’s Daughter’ series, but having not read any other books in the series I read this one as a stand alone. I do feel I would have benefitted from reading earlier books to understand more of Stella’s background, but it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of this one.

Cleverly plotted and interwoven over two timelines; 1940 and the present time.

When two sisters who have lived in their family home all their lives decide to rent out part of their home for income, Yew Tree House is spotted by Jack and is the perfect place for Jack, his 7 year old twins and his partner Stella to holiday. This could be make or break for them. He wants to show his children where his mother is buried. As if that’s not gruesome enough for a holiday for 7 year olds, he then tells them she was murdered!

When the twins, Millie and Justin, find a skeleton in the disused wartime pillbox hidden at the bottom of the overgrown garden, Millie decides they will investigate the murder. She is quite the character and knows her own mind!

The police are called and the investigation begins. By the police. Millie having been overruled.

In 1940 a girl went missing on her way home from school, miles away from Yew Tree House, but it appears the cases could be connected.

An absolute corker of a whodunnit, murders galore, plenty of twists, with some dubious characters living in and around the local village. Definitely has an air of Agatha Christie. There is so much going on I had no alternative but to completely immerse myself in both storylines. There are a lot of characters to get to know from both timelines, some are alive in both and some are relatives of characters who have died.

I enjoyed learning more about the home guard, and the use of pillboxes, as well as the top-secret army known as the Auxiliary Units. I always like to finish reading a book having learned something.

I will be reading more from Lesley in the future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lesley Thomson grew up in west London. Her first novel, A Kind of Vanishing, won the People’s Book Prize in 2010. Her second novel, The Detective’s Daughter, was a #1 bestseller and the resulting series has sold over 750,000 copies. Lesley divides her time between Sussex and Gloucestershire. She lives with her partner and her dog.

Social Media Links –
Follow AUTHOR
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LesleyjmThomson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LesleyThomsonNovelist
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lesleythomson

Follow Aries
Twitter: @AriesFiction
Facebook: Aries Fiction
Instagram: @headofzeus
Website: http://www.headofzeus.com

Mark Wightman

Publication Date: 12 September 2023

Publisher: Hobeck Books

SYNOPSIS

Singapore, 1940

A local fisherman finds the body of a missing American archaeologist. Detective Inspector Betancourt of the Singapore Marine Police is first on the scene. Something doesn’t quite add up. He finds out that the archaeologist, Richard Fulbright, was close to deciphering the previously-untranslatable script on a pre-colonial relic known as the Singapore Stone. This was no accidental drowning.

Is there more to this case than archaeological rivalries?
Betancourt also discovers that Fulbright had been having an affair. He is sure he is onto something bigger than just academic infighting.

A government opium factory draws criminal interest
In his investigations into the death, Betancourt finds his own life in danger, and now he has also put himself on the wrong side of British Military Intelligence, and he is unsure which set of opponents he fears the most…

MY REVIEW

Singapore, 1940.

DI Betancourt is called to investigate the death of a man found underneath a fishing platform, tangled in a fishing net. Not a pretty sight. Despite the sea life already having a go at his face, Betancourt realises this is not a local man. A full investigation would be required, even though his superiors would rather brush the death under the carpet, wanting to write it off as an accident.

What follows is an immersive page turning historical crime thriller / police procedural. The author has described Singapore at this time extremely well. The people, the streets, the food. I felt as if I were in the middle of the action.

Betancourt has to navigate superiors who are not keen on his investigation, horse racing, the opium trade and warring archaeologists, all with a small side of love interest. He does most of the investigating without any assistance making him an easy target for those who want to stop him. His own life is in danger more than once.

I raced through this book! Thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Betancourt and following his progress through the investigation. I look forward to his next case.

Thank you Hobeck books for my advance copy of the book and my spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Wightman was born in Edinburgh before growing up in the Far East, first in Hong Kong and then in Singapore. He is fascinated by exploring the elements of history that lie at the margins, where the recorded facts have either faded or been hidden. After a successful career in media technology, Mark completed master’s degrees in Creative Writing at the Universities of Edinburgh and East Anglia, where he received a distinction for his debut novel Waking the Tiger. Mark was the winner of the Pitch Perfect event at the Bloody Scotland Crime Festival, also for Waking the Tiger, and was selected to be one of the seventeen UNESCO City of Literature Story Shop emerging writers at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. He lives in Scotland.

Hazel Prior

Publication Date: 14/9/23

Publisher: Penguin

Blog tour organiser: Random Things

SYNOPSIS

Nineteen-year-old Phoebe and her widower father Al have recently moved to Devon, to a small cottage with a river at the end of the garden.

Struggling with her own closely guarded issues, Phoebe doesn’t go out much. Instead, she spends her time at home, watching detective dramas and playing detective herself – trying to deduce from Al’s deliveries as a courier what kind of lives her neighbours lead.

But when they find an abandoned baby otter on the riverbank, it’s just the push Phoebe needs to finally step into her new community. Taking the little one to the local otter sanctuary and witnessing the uncomplicated joy of its fellow creatures, she feels a burgeoning sense of happiness that she has not experienced in a very long time.

However, Phoebe soon starts to suspect that something is amiss at the sanctuary – and she will need to put all her sleuthing skills to good use if she wants to save the otters . . .

MY REVIEW

Phoebe and her father Al move to a small village following the death of her mother.

Phoebe is only 19 but suffers from chronic pain which has gone undiagnosed despite numerous visits to health professionals, and which she does her best to hide. She finds everything so painful – even writing is hard work.

When out on a walk by the river, Phoebe finds a young otter which appears to have been abandoned. Taking it to the local otter sanctuary and helping look after it gives her a reason to get out of bed and push herself, despite the pain. She calls this overwhelming positive feeling she gets when she is with the otters ‘the otter effect’. She is used to putting on a brave face, and even her family do not know the full extent of her suffering, both physically but also the psychological suffering. The missing out on life. Feeling bad her father has to look after her. But perhaps she can find a new lady for her father.

There are a host of colourful characters in the book, and Phoebe becomes good friends with one of them, the larger than life local yoga teacher who lives with her cat.

Phoebe enjoys watching Sherlock Holmes, and has quite a knack for working out problems. She puts her skill to good use when her friend’s cat goes missing and then again when the otter sanctuary faces sabotage.

I enjoyed getting to know Phoebe and her lovely dad Al. Al is incredibly protective of Phoebe and will do anything for her. A wonderful relationship. I feel Phoebe’s chronic pain was portrayed very well.

I also enjoyed getting to know straight talking Carol who runs the otter sanctuary, Dan the harp maker and the ex policeman who is hiding something. In fact, all of the characters have something going on in their lives, just as we all do.

An absolutely uplifting joy of a book with the otters at its heart. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I already was a fan of otters , and they were always my favourite part of a local sea life centre visit!

I haven’t read the authors other books but I believe some of the characters make an appearance in this book.

Thank you Anne at Random Things Tours for my spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

HAZEL PRIOR lives on Exmoor with her husband and a huge ginger cat. As well as writing, she works as a freelance harpist. 

Hazel is the author of Ellie and the Harp-Maker, the #1 ebook and audiobook bestseller Away with the Penguins and its follow-up, Call of the Penguins. Life and Otter Miracles is her fourth novel.

Gill Paul

Publication Date: 31/8/23

Publisher: Avon Books

SYNOPSIS

The world is at war, but on the gilded streets of Fifth Avenue, New York, a battle of a
different kind is brewing…

New York, 1915. Elizabeth Arden has been New York’s golden girl since her beauty salon opened its famous red door five years prior. Against all odds, she’s built an
empire. Enter Helena Rubinstein: ruthless, revolutionary – and the rival Elizabeth
didn’t bargain for. with both women determined to succeed – no matter the personal cost – a battle of beauty is born. And as the stakes increase, so do the methods:
poaching employees, planting spies, copying products, hiring ex-husbands.
But as each woman climbs higher, so too does what she stands to lose.
Because the greater the height, the harder the fall…

MY REVIEW

Gill Paul has produced yet another wonderfully engrossing novel, looking at the little known lives of some of the most famous women in history. A Beautiful Rival is a blend of Gill’s brilliantly researched facts plus believable fiction surrounding the lives and careers of Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, two giant names in the beauty industry. So how did they make their fortunes?

Spectacularly lavish settings, famous names, luxury travel is all within these pages. The book is written in alternating chapters by each of the two women.

Gill portrays the ongoing rivalry between the two women, sparked by Rubinstein’s move into America where Arden was well known and Queen Bee of the beauty industry. She was not at all happy at the appearance of this Jewish woman, trying to outdo her. Oh I just loved reading about the lengths each of them went to, to outdo the other. More salons, more products, more lavish decor, even planting spies in the salons and copying recipes!

Gill also covers their personal lives. Arden never wanted to marry, and Rubinstein married a philanderer and had two sons but wasn’t particularly maternal and didn’t get very involved in their lives as they were growing up. She was far too focussed on her business.

Two very similar ladies, full of personal insecurities and worries about their empires. If it were not for their rivalry, no doubt they could have been friends!

I absolutely devoured this!

Many thanks to Avon Books for sending me an early copy to review, and to Anne at Random Things for my spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gill Paul is an author of historical fiction, specialising in the twentieth century and often writing about the lives of real women. Her novels have topped bestseller lists in the Us and canach as well as the Ok and nave been translated into twenty languages. The Secret Wife has sold over half a million copies and is a book-club favourite worldwide. She is also the author of several non-fiction books on
historical subjects.

By John Connolly

Due out in Hardback 7/9/23 from Hodder & Stoughton

Also available in ebook and audio

SYNOPSIS

Twice upon a time – for that is how some stories should continue . . .

Phoebe, an eight-year-old girl, lies comatose following a car accident. She is a body without a spirit, a stolen child. Ceres, her mother, can only sit by her bedside and read aloud to Phoebe the fairy stories she loves in the hope they might summon her back to this world.
But it is hard to keep faith, so very hard.

Now an old house on the hospital grounds, a property connected to a book written by a vanished author, is calling to Ceres. Something wants her to enter, and to journey – to a land coloured by the memories of Ceres’s childhood, and the folklore beloved of her father, to a land of witches and dryads, giants and mandrakes; to a land where old enemies are watching, and waiting.

To the Land of Lost Things.

For anyone who loved THE BOOK OF LOST THINGSand for all readers who enjoy dark, beautifully written fables that explore the heart of the human condition: love, loyalty and sacrifice.

‘This dark fairy tale, sequel to The Book of Lost Things (2006), speaks volumes about a mother’s devotion […] A feat of imagination that will please Connolly’s fans’ Kirkus

MY REVIEW

Wow! I have just finished this book and I absolutely must read The Book of Lost Things asap!

When her daughter is transferred to long term care following an accident and months in a coma, Ceres does not know whether she will ever wake. She reads stories to Phoebe from a special book of fairy tales, ‘their book’, hoping her daughter can hear her and know she is not alone.

Ceres is at breaking point. She has a shower, puts her old clothes back on and in a dreamlike state is drawn towards the woods and a boarded up house. From there she enters the woods and another realm to live her own story. And what a story! What an imagination the author has!

This is such an engrossing, dark, magical read and is very Grimms Fairy Tales. As Ceres travels through the forest she meets the woodsman, a dryad, fae folk, dwarfs and harpies, to name just a few. Even Rapunzel pops up. There is plenty of danger facing Ceres, but she is not afraid of anything. There is mention of The Crooked Man who lived in this realm long ago.

There are stories within the story, and basically this book is just so good it needs to be read! I can not write a review to do it justice as there is so much depth to the story.

Very highly recommended and I am happy to have found an author new to me and I will definitely be reading more of his work.

Many thanks to Becky Hunter for my ARC.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1968 and has, at various points in his life, worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a dogsbody at Harrods department store in London. (A dogsbody, for our North American friends, is a ‘go-fer’.) He studied English in Trinity College, Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University, subsequently spending five years working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper. He divides his time between Dublin and Portland, Maine; makes regular donations to the wine industry; and keeps a number of dogs in a remarkable degree of comfort.