Two Heads Are Better Than One

Publication Date: 3/7/23

Publisher: Cloverdilli House Press

SYNOPSIS

An enchanting, standalone, modern rom-com inspired by Jane Austen’s EMMA, about a
matchmaking young woman whose heart may be in the right place… some of the time.
Emmeline – Em to her friends – has very little to vex her, except that she hasn’t left her beloved home, Midwynter Hall, in over two years.
But her isolation doesn’t stop her interfering in the lives of others, particularly when it comes to love.
As a romance writer, Emmeline obviously knows what she’s doing, increasingly plotting real-life matches rather than fictional ones.
When best friend Polly gets mixed up with the wrong sort of man, Emmeline has no choice but to swoop to the rescue. And when old family friend Jordi seeks solace after women and work troubles, Emmeline has the perfect solution. You see, everything she’s written lately – pairing up lovelorn locals – has somehow (maybe magically) come true. So, if she pens a tale about Polly and Jordi
despite their many protests, they’ll thank her eventually, once they’re blissfully happy together. But no one is more surprised than Emmeline when she finds she wants to write herself into the story, especially if someone she cares about may get hurt in the process.
Because as it turns out, believing you’ve never been in love, doesn’t mean you’ve never
(unknowingly) given your heart away…

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/MidsummerMagic

MY REVIEW

I absolutely loved A Christmas Wish on a Carousel which was the first in this series so I was looking forward to reading book 3, which although set in the same area is read as a standalone.

Although she is quite a prickly and controlling character, presumable being neurodiverse, I enjoyed getting to know Em. She has been a successfull romance author but now struggles with agoraphobia so shunned the spotlight and hasn’t left her huge estate where she lives with her father for a few years.

Polly arrives to work for Em’s father, and over a cup of Yorkshire Tea they become firm friends.

As she feels she is quite the matchmaker, she decides to match Polly up with her lifelong friend Jordi. Jordi has just come out of a long term relationship and is in quite a state, and Polly has just started casually seeing the young gardener so it’s all a bit of a tangle. However Em is confident she can write their story and make it happen because she has done that before!

With Lottie’s brilliant witty writing and such a gorgeous setting for Midwynter hall, complete with its own maze and secret garden, this was an absolute joy to read .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lottie Cardew writes uplifting, contemporary romcoms set around the picturesque village of
Pebblestow, and is an advocate for diversity in fiction.
Regarded as the bossy one at Novelistas Ink, Lottie often subdues the other members if they
misbehave (they don’t really) including the popular authors Trisha Ashley and Sophie Claire. She is a
longstanding member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, scooping their New Writer’s Award in
her twenties under a different pen-name. More recently, Lottie also joined the Society of Authors
where as an active participant in the ADCI group (Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses) she
interviewed bestselling author Holly Smale in 2021 for the first ever Disability Issue of The Bookseller.
Lottie is diagnosed autistic with suspected ADHD. Her home in North Wales is overrun by husband,
not-very-small children, and a ball of fluff masquerading as a Pomeranian, so Lottie frequently takes
refuge at her desk.
Social Media Links – Twitter: https://twitter.com/MsLottieCardew
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bossynovelista
Newsletter sign up form: Subscribe to my Newsletter
Website: http://www.lottiecardew.co.uk/
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/LottieCardew.Books

Gabriela Romero Lacruz

Publisher: Daphne Press

Publication Day: 15/8/23

SYNOPSIS

Enter a lush world inspired by the history and mythology of South America, where twisted family politics deceive, dark magics thrive, and fantastical creatures roam.

Reina is desperate.

Stuck on the edges of society, Reina’s only hope lies in an invitation from a grandmother she’s never met. But the journey to her is dangerous, and prayer can’t always avert disaster.

Attacked by creatures that stalk the mountains, Reina is on the verge of death until her grandmother, a dark sorceress, intervenes. Now dependent on the Doña’s magic for her life, Reina will do anything to earn―and keep―her favor. Even the bidding of an ancient god who whispers to her at night.

Eva Kesaré is unwanted.

Illegitimate and of mixed heritage, Eva is her family’s shame. She tries to be the perfect daughter, but Eva is hiding a secret: magic calls to her.

Eva knows she should fight the temptation. Magic is the sign of the dark god, and using it is punishable by death. Yet it’s hard to ignore power when it has always been denied you. Eva is walking a dangerous path, one that gets stranger every day. And in the end, she’ll become something she never imagined.

MY REVIEW

This is a huge chunk of a book to get stuck into!

I enjoyed getting to know the world the author has created, although it was difficult initially to get my head around. The author has included a list of the characters at the beginning of the book to refer back to which I did many times until I got into the swing of the story. As with many fantasy books with their own created worlds, there is a lot to take in – a unique world with lots of characters many of which are not human. Plenty of magic. Plenty of lore. Politics. Religion. The search for belonging and acceptance features strongly from the main two female characters. And let’s add to the mix a dangerous God, whose followers want to bring back to life.

Reina. Half human, half nozariel and looked down upon by humans. She is living a difficult life when she receives a letter from the grandmother she has never met beckoning her to meet. Raina is not aware that her grandmother is a powerful sorceress. Raina sets out alone on a freezing cold and perilous journey and is almost killed when she is attacked by a pack of vicious creatures. Saved by the magic of the badge her grandmother sent her, she is found and taken to her grandmother’s home. She wakes to find the agony of her grandmother inserting a piece of ore into her chest where her heart should be. This ore is expensive, highly sought after and is used in magic. Raina feels she needs to prove her worth to be accepted fully into her new life and family.

Eva. Three quarters human and one quarter valco. Father unknown. She has been promised to a man 20 years her senior and twice her age, whom she does not want to spend her life with so plans her escape. She is being called towards magic but it is forbidden in her land so she sneaks attempts at magic when no one is around. She finds she has even carried out dangerous magic by accident with pretty scary consequences for one sleeping mother.

I enjoyed reading both of the stories, and wondered how and when the paths of Reina and Eva would cross.

A fantastic, immersive read for lovers of fantasy, which I enjoyed more and more the further it progressed.

Thank you to Black Crow PR for my beautiful proof and my spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born and raised in Venezuela, GABRIELA ROMERO LACRUZ now lives two thousand miles from home, in the land of bayous and astronauts. She graduated with a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Houston and, after a stint in Oil and Gas, decided to dedicate herself to the arts. She writes young adult and adult fantasy stories set in places that remind her of home, so in her mind, she’s never too far from the beaches and mountains of Venezuela. She also scratches that ChemE itch with a science fiction story or two. She illustrates as The Moonborn.

Publication date: 11/8/23

Publisher: Sapere Books

SYNOPSIS

Cornwall, 2020
At the beginning of lockdown, teacher Carla Burgess needs to make some changes to her life. She no longer loves her job, and it’s certainly time to kick her on-off boyfriend into touch. But then, while walking on the cliffs she meets, Mani Dolcoath, a gorgeous American with a dark aura. Mani is researching his family history, and slowly their lives and their heritage begin to entwine. The discovery of a locked Georgian tea caddy in the barn on her parents’ farm intrigues Carla, but then
she starts to see orbs, something that hasn’t happened since her grandmother died. They terrify her and she’ll do anything to outrun them, but will she lose Mani’s friendship in the process?
Cornwall, 1810
Harriet Lemon’s position as companion to Lady Frances Basset (Franny) perfectly conceals the fact they are lovers. But when Franny is raped and falls pregnant their lives are destined to change forever.
The one person who may be able to help them is Franny’s childhood friend, William Burgess, a notorious smuggler. But he has secrets of his own he needs to protect. Will his loyalties be divided, or will he come through?

Purchase Link – https://getbook.at/LostHeir

MY REVIEW

I’m delighted to be sharing my review as part of the blog tour.

A dual timeline story set in 1810, and the present set at the start of lockdown.

In the past, Frannie finds herself pregnant but can’t understand how as she does not have a husband. She was raped by a friend of her father, but she did not realise what had happened. Being neuro diverse, the world looks different to her. With the support, and secret love, of her companion Harriet, she is sent away to Devon to give birth. When they are in Devon away from prying eyes, Frannie and Harriet can be together in a way which is unacceptable at that time.

In the present, Carla is getting fed up with her job as a teacher and wants to set up a business from the barn on her parents farm. Then she meets the gorgeous Mani, who has moved back to Cornwall where his ancestors lived before emigrating. There are obvious feelings there, but Carla wants a forever man not someone who will be moving back to America. Especially since she has looked him up in social media and found he is engaged. Within the strict constraints of lockdown, we follow them as they become friends and begin to investigate their ancestry.

I enjoyed joining Carla and Mani as they dug deeper into their family tree, the findings they were reaching being played out in the 1810 timeline.

Thank you Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for my spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jane Cable writes romance with a twist and its roots firmly in the past, more often than not inspired by a tiny slice of history and a beautiful British setting.
After independently publishing her award-winning debut, The Cheesemaker’s House, Jane was signed by Sapere Books. Her first two novels for them are contemporary romances looking back to World War 2; Another You inspired by a tragic D-Day exercise at Studland Bay in Dorset and Endless Skies by the brave Polish bomber crews who flew from a Lincolnshire airbase.
Jane lives in Cornwall and her current series, Cornish Echoes, are dual timeline adventure romances set in the great houses of the Poldark era and today. She also writes as Eva Glyn.
Social Media Links –
Twitter: @JaneCable
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaneCableAuthor
Website & newsletter sign up: http://www.janecable.com

Publication Date: 3/8/23 HB & eBook

Publisher: Head of Zeus (Apollo)

SYNOPSIS

Bringing 1950s Morocco vividly to life, Jane Johnson’s masterful new novel, The Black Crescent, is a gripping story of murder, magic and divided loyalties…

Hamou Badi is born in a mountain village with the magical signs of the zouhry on his hands. In Morocco, the zouhry is a figure of legend, a child of both humans and djinns, capable of finding all manner of treasure: lost objects, hidden water.

But instead, Hamou finds a body.

This unsolved murder instils in Hamou a deep desire for order and justice: he trains as an officer of the law, working for the French in Casablanca. But the city is trapped in the turmoil of the nationalist uprising, and soon he will be forced to choose between all he knows and all he loves…

MY REVIEW

An incredibly well written and absorbing novel set around 1955 during the French occupation of Morocco.

We learn about the time through the eyes of Hamou, a young man from a poor mountain village. His mother is convinced he is a magic zouhry, a baby of the djinns, as he has the special marks on his hands.

Hamou has moved to Casablanca, ‘Casa’, to be a policeman, although working for the French Surete doesn’t fit comfortably with him.

The Black Crescent is a violent dissident splinter group, who blatantly assassinated figures in the French regime. They are fighting to restore the sultan and obtain their freedom from the French. The more time that passes, the stronger the Black Crescent become and more violent terrorist attacks are made, including attacks on the police.

Hamou is secretly besotted by Zina, who he accidentally finds is a member of The Black Crescent. Although he is a policeman, he does not report her.

As the attacks continue and the hostility around him grows, Hamou must decide where his loyalties lie.

Such an interesting read. I didn’t know anything about the French occupation of Morocco so I have learned a lot by reading Jane’s book. The descriptions of the sights, sounds and smells of the markets were so vivid. I was immersed, and was rooting for Hamou who couldn’t have been a more honest, wanting to do the right thing, family boy. I also enjoyed reading the letters from his mother, written by the village’s public letter writer showing the lack of proper education.

Overall an excellent read which is going to stay with me for a long time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jane Johnson is a British novelist and publisher. She is the UK editor for George R.R.Martin, Robin Hobb and Dean Koontz. She launched the Voyager imprint for HarperCollins and still works with George RR Martin and others. Formany years she was the publisher of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. She also worked on Peter Jackson’s adaptation ofLord of the Rings and wrote the tie-in books. Married to a Berber chef she met while researchingThe Tenth Gift, she lives in Mousehole, Cornwall, and Morocco.

Publication Date:

Publisher: Hobeck Books

SYNOPSIS

Her past was a lie. Dare she uncover the truth?

When Kate’s mother dies, a man turns up at the funeral claiming to be her uncle. Kate is mystified; her mother was an only child. She agrees to meet him but when she tells him more about herself, he disappears. It’s best to forget him and get on with the business of grieving but when she finds her own death certificate, she realises she can’t let it drop. Besides, there are the threatening phone calls and messages to her mother to consider…

Four hundred miles away in Glasgow, DI Alex Scrimgeour is haunted by memories of past crimes. Is he responsible for a miscarriage of justice? He’s already worried when Kate contacts him with her story. If she is who she thinks she is, it could ruin his entire career. Despite their mutual antipathy, only by working together will they understand the past and finally put old ghosts to rest.

MY REVIEW

On the night of Kate’s mother’s funeral, a man knocks on her door stating he is her mother’s brother. He must be mistaken as her mother was an only child. But some things he said got Kate thinking. Sorting through her mother’s paperwork she finds a death certificate of a 12 week old baby girl. In her name. But she is very much alive.

Back in Glasgow, DI Alex Scrimgeour is looking into suspicious deaths at his mother’s care home.

Kate and Alex will meet as Kate is trying to work out who she really is, and the trail leads to a rough family in Glasgow who are well known to Alex. In fact, he was lead investigator when their baby girl went missing. Her father was convicted of her murder although a body was never found.

I enjoyed this page turner which had plenty of red herrings along the way!

Thank you Rebecca at Hobeck books for my spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Maureen Myant has a PhD and MLitt in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow. Her first crime novel, The Confession, was published in 2022 and is the first in a series featuring DS Mark Nicholson and DI Alex Scrimgeour. The second in the series, The Deception, will be published on 1st August 2023. She is also the author of a historical novel, The Search, which is set in wartime Czechoslovakia, Poland and Germany. Maureen is an educational psychologist by profession but has left this to concentrate on writing. She lives in Glasgow.

Published: 20/7/23

Publisher: Wildfire Books

SYNOPSIS

We call it the Great Escape. The annual trip where my boss asks us expert travel guides to escort a group of privileged, uber-wealthy clientele on some far-flung expedition, a cut-throat contest for riches and glory.

The stakes have never been higher, nor the challenge harder: I must summit Mount Kilimanjaro before my rival guide to win the ultimate prize.

But this once-in-a-lifetime trip was never about winning to me. I’m here for answers, even if no one is ready to give them up. By the time we reach the top I will have the truth, if it kills me.

THE QUESTION IS, HOW FAR WILL THEY GO TO KEEP ME QUIET?

MY REVIEW

What a thriller! 

Florence and Jacob are each leading a small team of wealthy, and demanding, important clients on the annual extreme company trip – to climb Mount Kilimanjaro!

Hugo, the boss of Blackmore Vintage Travel is preparing to hand over the reins to his successful travel business. He has laid down a challenge. The first to the summit, with their team and having raised the most funds for charity, will be the winner. He wants to see them going over and above, to impress him with their ideas. But can Hugh be trusted?

The story is told from two POV’s; Florence and Jacob, both of whom are desperate to win. There are plenty of secrets which are revealed little by little as the teams climb the mountain. The tension builds as the climb progresses 

The description of the climb, the harsh environment and the difficulties the body is put through under such pressure, had me completely immersed. As an added bonus, I learned a bit about the mountain, the distance to climb it, as well as the different routes to one of the peaks. Very interesting. 

Thank you Rosie at Headline Books for kindly sending me a proof.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Hamilton spent her childhood in Angola, Zimbabwe, Belgium and Italy and worked as a flight attendant for many years. She has now put down roots in the UK to raise her three children with her husband and she also writes full time.

Publication date: 27/7/23

Publisher: Hutchinson Heinemann

SYNOPSIS

From the outside, she has an enviable life: a successful career, stunning looks, a beautiful house in the suburbs, two healthy children, and most importantly, an ideal husband. After fifteen years together, she is still besotted with him. But she’s never quite sure that her passion is reciprocated.

Determined to keep their relationship perfect, she meticulously prepares for every encounter they have, always taking care to make her actions seem effortless. She watches him attentively, charting every mistake and punishing him accordingly to help him improve. And she tests him – setting traps to make sure that he still loves her just as much as he did when they first met.

Until one day she realizes she may have gone too far . . .

With the surprise of Gone Girl, the bleakness of The Talented Mr Ripley and the sinister charm of the Netflix thriller You, My Husband is a bold and exhilarating story of passion and the dark secrets that lie beneath a seemingly healthy marriage.

‘The exceptional My Husband has everything I look for in a novel: chic, beguiling and deeply unhinged’Juno Dawson

MY REVIEW

A delicious delve into the dark and disturbed mind of a besotted wife.

The wife is obsessed by her husband. After 13 years of marriage she is still madly in love with him.

She has no interest in her two children. She didn’t want them. She doesn’t like anyone taking precious time away from the time she spends with her husband.

But she fears he is going to leave her. He told her they need to talk about something important. In her mind, this is it. This is the moment he tells her he is leaving her.

The book is told almost entirely from the POV of the wife. We find the lengths she goes to to remain perfect for ‘my husband’ so he will still love her.

We find the punishments she slyly doles out to him, without him appearing to notice. But it makes her feel better.

Written over a week in their lives, it is addictive reading. I couldn’t wait to find out what the important conversation was about!

This book is perfect for psychology students!

Thank you Marie-Louise at Hutchinson Heinemann for my proof copy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Maud Ventura is 30 years old and lives in Paris. She led the podcast division of one of France’s major radio stations and speaks fluent English. My husband, her first novel, won France’s first novel prize, and was a best seller.

Published 18^th July 2023 by Thomas & Mercer, available in Hardcover, Kindle eBook, Audiobook.

SYNOPSIS

A modern-day Lazarus is humanity’s last hope in a breathtaking novel about the absolute powers of good and evil by Dean Koontz, the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense.

Michael Mace, head of security at a top-secret research facility, opens his eyes in a makeshift morgue twenty-four hours following an event in which everyone perished―including him and his best friend, Shelby Shrewsberry.

Having awakened with an extraordinary ability unlike anything he―or anyone else―has ever imagined, Michael is capable of being as elusive as a ghost. He sets out to honor his late friend by helping Nina Dozier and her son, John, whom Shelby greatly admired. Although what Michael does for Nina is life changing, his actions also evoke the wrath of John’s father, a member of one of the most violent street gangs in Los Angeles.

But an even greater threat is descending: the Internal Security Agency’s most vicious assassin, Durand Calaphas. Calaphas will stop at nothing to get his man. If Michael dies twice, he will not live a third time.

From the tarnished glamour of Beverly Hills to the streets of South Central to a walled estate in Rancho Santa Fe, only Michael can protect Nina and John―and ensure that light survives in a rapidly darkening world.

MY REVIEW

Shelby brings his friend Michael in to the Beautification Research Project to be chief of its security team….

Unfortunately every member of staff in the building dies. Whilst lying in the makeshift morgue alongside the other 54 employees, Michael comes back to life.

Michael needs to work out what he is going to do with these strange powers he now has. But first, for Shelby, he needs to save Nina and her teenage son. She is scared her violent ex is going to take him.

Michael is being hunted by Calaphas, a super intelligent ‘manageable sociopath’ who works for the ISA – the Internal Security Agency. They believe in the ‘New Truth’. Calaphas has a very strange take on reality is. With absolutely no conscience, he enjoys killing. Michael, on the other hand, has never killed although he has had the training to do so.

Laugh out loud moments in the misunderstood conversations between two of the gang who are trying to kill Nina and her son. Plenty of suspense and action. Oh and a couple of scary robotic AI dogs!

This is the first book I have read by this author. I thoroughly enjoyed the pace, the setting, the characters and the writing style. I will be reading more.

Thank you FMcM for my spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dean Koontz is the author of many #1 bestsellers. His books have sold over five hundred million copies in thirty-eight languages, and The Times has called him a ‘literary juggler’. He lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, and their golden retriever, Elsa.

Publication Day : 20/7/23

Publisher : Bantam

SYNOPSIS

Escape to paradise.
Scuba diving instructor Cass leads her students out for their first dive off the beautiful coast of Koh Sang, Thailand’s world-famous party island. It’s supposed to be a life-changing experience, but things quickly spiral out of control…

Leave your secrets behind.
By the time she gets back to the shore, one of her students is dead, another badly injured, and she knows that her idyllic life is about to be smashed to pieces on the rocks.

But don’t get lost for ever…
Because someone is making sure that backpackers never leave paradise – one murder at a time. And Cass has a feeling she might be next…

MY REVIEW

What an absolutely brilliant psychological thriller!

Set on a small island, Koh Sang, the descriptions of the island, the local bar and the diving school had me feeling like I was sitting on that white sand beach watching as the action unfolded.

This is, however, not the backpacker paradise it initially appeares. Most of ‘The Permanents’ – travellers who have made this their home – have something to hide. This is the island of secrets. When a girl is found dead, a presumed suicide, the cover ups begin and the perfect lives of those hiding on the island are threatened.

The story unfolds cleverly towards a storm when the action picks up to a mind blowing finale. And then there is the epilogue which left me with my jaw on the table!

An absolute must read – but not if you are planning on backpacking 😏

Huge thanks to Becky Hunter for sending me a proof copy to review.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sara Ochs is an author, law professor, and avid traveler. Born and raised in Upstate New York, Sara and her husband now split their time between the United States and Sweden. 

When she’s not turning one of the many places she’s visited into the setting of her next thriller, she can usually be found trip planning.

Sara’s debut novel, a thriller set on a remote Thai island, will be published as THE DIVE in the UK and territories in July ‘23 and as THE RESORT in the USA in February ‘24.

You can follow along with her writing journey on Instagram @saraochsauthor and Twitter @Ochswrites.

Delighted to be sharing the news Salvation is now available to preorder!

Due out 28/9/23

AMAZON UK:
amzn.to/3q2IOzT

AMAZON USA:
amzn.to/3pTaxTA

AMAZON CANADA:
amzn.to/3K3Z2Q1

SYNOPSIS

John Garvey, known to his family and friends as a biker, mechanic, gun runner, drug dealer,
oh and a killer. Not many know of his secret he’s held onto for centuries. That he is, in truth, a fallen angel.
Banished to Earth and tied to the guitar that he always keeps by his side.
Federal Agent Marion Kern is on the trail of a murderer whose victim is far from ordinary.
With extra organs and strange scars across his back, the seemingly young man was killed
with a golden bullet.
Stranger still, the only thing stolen from the scene of the crime was the victim’s guitar.
Jude is on a mission from Hell. A hitman tasked with killing the fallen angels trapped on
Earth. With the end of his quest is in sight, he must seduce the daughter of his final target to
get close to his victim. He never thought he’d fall in love.
His mission is now complicated and could be compromised.
On the line is the one thing Judas has sought through all his years: salvation.