Christina Courtenay

SYNOPSIS
A love forged in fire lives on through the ages

She stared at the man again. Was he real? Her mind returned to the ghostly figure by the shore and to her strange dream. No, he was not a figment of her imagination.

Skye Logan has been struggling to run her remote farm on Scotland’s west coast alone ever since her marriage fell apart. When a handsome stranger turns up looking for work, it seems that her wish for help has been granted. 

Rafe Carlisle is searching for peace and somewhere he can forget about the last few years. But echoes of the distant past won’t leave Skye and Rafe alone, and they begin to experience vivid dreams which appear to be linked to the Viking jewellery they each wear. 

It seems that the ghosts of the past have secrets . . . and they have something that they want Skye and Rafe to know. 

MY REVIEW

I love losing myself in Christina’s Viking romances! Every time I read one of the Runes series I just can’t wait for the next one. Well, here is the latest and although it is part of a Viking themed series it can easily be read as a standalone.

This one is slightly different from the others where the characters in the present have found an object enabling them to travel back to Viking times and return to the present at will.

In this latest book there are two separate timelines but there are ghosts of the past in the present linking the two timelines.

The present storyline is set on a remote small holding just off the Scottish coast. Skye is running the small holding single-handedly since her husband walked out on her leaving their proposed holiday let, and form of much needed income, half finished. Out of the blue, Rafe appears in his old camper van. He says he is travelling, but he is hiding something. He asks if he can work for her and soon gets his teeth into the heavy work and renovation of the let. Skye gets used to having him around and they develop feelings for each other, but Skye has not told Rafe she is getting divorced. How does she tell him she has been lying as she was wary of him when he arrived?

In the past, Óttarr’s village was plundered by warriors from another village and everyone apart from him murdered. He was only 14 and was captured by the smith and became an apprentice. Seven years later the smith dies and Óttarr becomes a freeman and is given the business. All he has ever wanted to do is carry out revenge for the murder of his people. Then he falls for the daughter of the recently deceased village leader. And the feeling is mutual but they must keep their feelings secret.

In the present, Skye and Rafe have both got hold of a piece of Viking jewellery which they wear and which appear to be enabling them to see the ghosts of the past, but what are they trying to say?

Christina’s attention to detail brings the stories vividly to life, and I enjoyed both storylines as much as each other. The clothes, weapons, rituals, food of the past and the day to day running of the small holding in the present, living off the land, even shearing sheep for wool to make goods to sell. Everything about this book is just as wonderful as I hoped.

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

Purchase Links

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hidden-Mists-sweepingly-romantic-dual-time-ebook/dp/B09KZMP8B2

US – https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Mists-sweepingly-romantic-dual-time-ebook/dp/B09KZMP8B2

Author Bio – 

Christina Courtenay writes historical romance, time slip and time travel stories, and lives in Herefordshire (near the Welsh border) in the UK. Although born in England, she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden – hence her abiding interest in the Vikings. Christina is a former chairman of the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association and has won several awards, including the RoNA for Best Historical Romantic Novel twice with Highland Storms (2012) and The Gilded Fan (2014) and the RNA Fantasy Romantic Novel of the year 2021 with Echoes of the Runes.  Hidden in the Mists (timeslip/dual time romance published by Headline Review 18th August 2022) is her latest novel. Christina is a keen amateur genealogist and loves history and archaeology (the armchair variety).

Social Media Links – 

http://www.christinacourtenay.com

https://www.facebook.com/christinacourtenayauthor?fref=ts

Tweets by PiaCCourtenay

https://www.instagram.com/ChristinaCourtenayAuthor/

Giveawy to Win a signed copy of Hidden in the Mists Viking tea-towel and Viking carved butter knife (Open INT)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter link below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494516/?

By Lauren Owen

PUBLICATION DATE: 2/8/22

PUBLISHER: Tinder Press

SYNOPSIS

When Chloe turns the key to Small Angels, the church nestled at the edge of Mockbeggar Woods where she is to be married, she is braced for cobwebs and dust.What she doesn’t expect are the villagers’ concerned faces, her fiancé’s remoteness, or the nagging voice in her head that whispers to her of fears she didn’t even know she had.

Something in the woods is beginning to stir, to creep closer to the sleeping houses. Something that should have been banished long ago.

Whatever it is, it’s getting stronger, and pretending it’s not there won’t keep the wedding, or the village – or Chloe ­- safe.

BLOG TOUR HOSTS

MY REVIEW

A wonderfully dark, atmospheric, gothic ghost story, set around Saint Michael and All Angels church, known to the locals as Small Angels, which is perched on the outskirts of the very creepy Mockbeggar woods. The woods which are said to listen to your stories.

When Chloe and Sam decide to get married in the small village where he grew up, they find their church is double booked and Chloe is offered the chance to get married in Small Angels church instead. Small Angels has not been used for many years, since the last funeral of one of the Gonnes family who used to use Small Angels for themselves, controlling the key, and throwing it open to the rest of the village only when they held their family funerals there. Many of the funerals were ‘empty box’ funerals for family members who had gone into Mockbeggar woods and were never seen again.

Chloe does not know the history of the church, but one of the locals is eager to tell her a story on her first night in the local pub. The rest of the locals don’t talk about Mockbeggar, preferring to turn a blind eye and not venture near it. No one will tell her more so she decides to take a look for herself.

Chloe goes out for a run and finds herself in the middle of the woods, at a ruin of a small house which has been overrun with thorns and brambles, despite being told to stay away from the woods. She had to see for herself what the fuss was about as no one would tell her the history of Mockbeggar. She finds a tree which has been mostly cut down and almost dead, with copper coins pushed into its trunk. She wants to save the tree and pulls the coins out getting a splinter from the wood in her hand.

A young boy, Harry, was murdered 200 years ago and buried in the woods, but Mockbeggar loved him and refused to let him go. 

As Chloe and Sam’s wedding approaches and the church is now thoroughly cleaned and aired, something bad is awakening in the woods; something which is gaining strength. 

Will Lucia Gonnes, the only family member to be left on Blanch Far, the family farm, and the only person left in the village to know the full secret of Mockbeggar, step in and help save Chloe? 

I found the pace slowed down a little in the middle of the book and I wondered where it was all going but now I have finished I understand the need to slowly reveal the stories of Harry’s murder, the lives of the Gonnes family who were the only ones to walk in Mockbeggar and protect the village from the bad things within it. and the possibly doomed wedding preparations.

I love a dual timeline and different POV’s, all adding their pieces to the jigsaw of the story. The book was completely absorbing and the descriptive writing was amazing. I lived within the pages of this book for just under a week. This is not a book to be rushed but to be savoured. It is going to stay with me for a long time. And I’ll not be venturing into any woods any time soon!

Big thank you to Claire Maxwell for sending me one of the prettiest proofs ever and for my place on the blog tour. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lauren Owen is the author of THE QUICK and SMALL ANGELS. She studied at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford, holds an MA in Victorian Literature from Leeds University, and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, where she was awarded the Curtis Brown Prize. In 2017 she completed a PhD in English Literature with a thesis on vampires and the gothic in fiction.

by Mary McMyne

Published : 28 July 2022

Publisher : Orbit Books

My rating : 🌟 🌟🌟🌟🌟

SYNOPSIS

Everyone knows the story of Rapunzel in the tower, but do you know the tale of the witch who put her there?

Enter a world of dark magic, mysterious woods and evil princes. This is the truth they never wanted you to know, as only a witch might tell it. 

With her strange black eyes and even stranger fainting spells, Haelewise is shunned by her village, and her only solace lies in the stories her mother tells of child-stealing witches, of princes in wolf-skins, of an ancient tower cloaked in mist where women will find shelter if they are brave enough to seek it.

But when her mother dies, Haelewise is left unmoored. With nothing left for her in her village, she sets out to find the tower of legend-a place called Gothel, where Haelewise meets a wise woman willing to take her under her wing.

But Haelewise is not the only woman to seek refuge at Gothel. It’s also a haven for a girl named Rika, who carries with her a secret the Church strives to keep hidden. A secret that reveals a dark world of ancient spells and murderous nobles behind the world Haelewise has always known.

The Book of Gothel is a lush, enchanting retelling of the tale of Rapunzel from the witch’s perspective, perfect for fans of Circe and The Bear and the Nightingale.

MY REVIEW

Firstly, I would like to say a huge thank you to Nazia at Orbit books for allowing me to read an advance copy of this wonderfully engrossing magical book! I know this one is going to stay with me for a very long time. Usually I can whizz through a book in a day or two but I wanted to take my time with this one and inhabit Haelewise’s world as long as possible. I eventually just had to know how it ended and finished it well after midnight.

When Gert Eisenberg receives an email asking if she is interested in seeing an illuminated ancient codex, written in Middle High German by a woman, which had already been carbon dated authenticating it’s age to medieval times, she jumps at the chance and flies out to the Black Forest to meet Ingrid Vogel, the 80 something year old lady who found the manuscript in a locked box under a stone in her cellar floor. This is her special area of interest and she excitedly opens the well preserved manuscript and begins to read, and I was immediately transported into the story!

This is the story of Haelewise, later known as Mother Gothel, and her dangerous but enlightening journey which begins not long after her mother dies when Haelewise is still a young teen. She had trained to become a midwife just like her mother and was very skilled. She could sense the exact time the baby’s soul was ready to enter its body for its first cry.
Left alone after her father quickly moves in with another woman, she must find out what the strange fainting spells she endures mean, and how she can control them. A fainting spell in the town brought her too much unwanted attention when she inadvertently spoke a curse. She also needs to find out about her mother’s life before she met her father and had to give up her beliefs. What were her old beliefs? She begins to have visions of the future, and hears voices guiding her which seem to be linked to a small figurine which once belonged to her grandmother.

Her journey takes her away from home, escaping in fear for her life. Her mother’s dying wish was for her to find the wise woman who lives in a tower and to become her apprentice.

She finds the woman who accepts her and continues to build on her knowledge of plants, and how to make medicines and she begins to learn how to cast spells.

When she witnesses the murder of her friend, whilst inhabiting the body of a bird, she knows she must do everything in her power to get justice. Even if it means risking her own life.

I can’t give away any more of the plot or it will spoil your enjoyment. Suffice to say if you enjoy magical folklore stories, with a bit of romance Ty thrown in, a lot of peril, rich in detail and emotion, this is an absolute must read.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary McMyne’s debut novel, The Book of Gothel (Orbit/Redhook, 2022), is the secret history of Rapunzel and other tales according to the witch. Her fairytale poetry chapbook, Wolf Skin (Dancing Girl Press, 2014), won the Elgin Chapbook Award. A graduate of the New York University MFA program, she has received the Faulkner-Wisdom Prize for a Novel-in-Progress, a grant from the Sustainable Arts Foundation to research The Book of Gothel in Germany, and other honors. She lives with her family in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains just north of Atlanta. Her bookshelves are filled with histories, retellings, fairy tales, historical fiction, speculative literature of all sorts—sci-fi, fantasy, horror, you name it—and board games. She is hopelessly obsessed with illuminated manuscripts and grimoires.

AB Morgan

PUBLICATION DATE : 26 July 2022

PUBLISHER : HOBECK BOOKS

SYNOPSIS

The Quirks are back, and there is another crime to solve for P.Q. Investigations.

When Verity Hudson goes missing, Peddyr Quirk – with assistance from his effervescent wife Connie – investigates a strange new case which unfolds in an unsavoury part of town. It soon becomes apparent that they are not the only ones looking for Verity.

A freelance researcher is searching for her birth mother.

An influential man of power and money is desperate to find his estranged sister.

A local politician is determined to expose a hidden tragedy.

A TV journalist will stop at nothing to expose the true story … if it can be uncovered.

Where is Verity, who is Verity, and who will find her first?

Verity Vanishes in the third novel in the brilliant Quirk files crimes series, full of cleverly drawn characters, quirky humour and dark plot twists.

MY REVIEW

What a cast of colourful characters to discover in this third Quirk Files book by AB Morgan. For fans of The Marlow Murder Club. A cozy crime novel with a lot of red herrings and twists along the way, just how I like them! I particularly liked the budgies which took me back to my youth and my pet budgies. 

Cara finds she is adopted after her mother and then her father both die. Not only adopted, but given the name of their baby who died at just a few weeks old. 

Shocked, Cara makes the decision to find her birth parents, her real name, and hopefully a surviving family. She is a freelance researcher so is well suited to the task. After buying and sending off a DNA testing kit, she is surprised to find a match. There is a cousin on the database and they begin emailing but not giving away their identity. From the personal details he gives her, Cara works out he is part of a rich family with a very secretive high profile father. 

Can her cousin lead her to her mother? The digging she is doing has opened a very large can of worms, and someone else is looking for Verity, her mother. Connie and Peddyr Quirk of PQ investigations, a husband and wife PI team. What a fun double act they are! Can Connie and Peddyr find Verity? Why did she disappear leaving her cat behind? Is it foul play? 

Then a body is found in the local village hall.

I haven’t read the first two books in the series but this one can easily be read as a standalone. I don’t feel I missed any back story at all.

Thanks as always to the lovely Rebecca at Hobeck Books for my advance copy of the book and my invitation to join the blog tour. 

Jonathan Peace

Publication Date: 12 July 2022

Publisher: the fabulous independent publishers Hobeck Books

SYNOPSIS

December, 1988

Christmas beckons
What should be a time of excitement and joy is forever tainted when a teenager’s body is found in the graveyard of Ossett’s Holy Trinity Church.

A suspected suicide
As they respond to the devastating event, WDCs Louise Miller and Elizabeth Hines, together with psychologist Karla Hayes, each use their own experiences of suicide to help the wider community as it struggles to understand the terrible choice that was made.

Another missing teenager
Louise starts to believe there is something even more sinister behind the events…

BLOG TOUR HOSTS

MY REVIEW

When a boy is found dead on top of a grave by his girlfriend, Wendy, the small community of Ossett in West Yorkshire is shocked and saddened. All, that is, apart from the malicious hate spreading Catherine Hallum. She is leader of the Church of Divine Light, which appears to be more like a cult and she drums up hatred within her followers who then go on to protest about teenagers being obsessed with the devil and other hateful rubbish. Suffice to say she is not popular with the police.

Detective Constable Louise Miller heads up the investigation into the boy’s suspected suicide. But there is a small doubt in her mind that perhaps it wasn’t suicide. 

14 year old Wendy does not come from a particularly loving household and does not feel she has any support to get through this unbelievably difficult time. She misses her boyfriend every second of every day and is haunted by the sight of finding him. When she goes missing the police arrange a huge search party as they are concerned about her state of mind.

This is the second book in the DC Miller series and having read the first I was really very eager to read book two.

It is a difficult subject matter, but putting my mothering feelings aside I did thoroughly enjoy this fast paced, brilliantly plotted and thrilling police procedural, digging through the secrets and lies of those involved.

I enjoyed getting to know more about DC Miller and her own private life. She had a traumatic childhood following the death of both parents, and still wakes screaming from her nightmares, much to the disgust of her cat. She is in a relationship but it is complicated as this is the days of marathon bars and opal fruits, when same sex relationship were still frowned upon. 

Now I’m looking forward to book three in the series!

Thank you so much Rebecca at Hobeck Books for my advance copy of the book and an invitation to join the tour. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jonathan Peace is a husband, cat-dad and author of the WDC Louise Miller novels.

A Yorkshire lad at heart, Jonathan sets his novels in a fictionalised version of his hometown of Ossett, West Yorkshire, during the 1980’s. He now lives and works out of his home in Derbyshire, where he shares his writing office with his author wife, Lucy, and their three cats.

You can find him across the socials at the following:

Website: https://www.jpwritescrime.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jpwritescrime

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JPwritescrime

Subscribe to his newsletter for monthly updates at: https://bit.ly/3kJhPD9

by Murray Bailey

SYNPOSIS

Chinese New Year 1952
Ash Carter had to leave the Middle East in a hurry. But when he arrives in Singapore he finds himself in the middle of a much bigger problem. 
No one knows where, or when, or who but someone is planning an attack. Carter is told to make sure it doesn’t happen. With pressure from politicians and the army and with Chinese Secret Societies watching his every move, he has other plans. He is more interested in finding out who killed his friend.

BLOG TOUR HOSTS 4/7/22 – 15/7/22

MY REVIEW

I love the Ash Carter series by Murray Bailey and I feel very privileged to be part of the blog tour for the re-release of Singapore 52 which is the first in this action packed series.

To find out what happened to Ash before he arrived in Singapore, the author is currently working on a series of prequels which is fabulous news as having read this series I was not ready to let Ash go!
After his arrest, he is persuaded to act as a liaison between the army, police and customs regarding ‘security matters’. There is rumoured to be an imminent security incident and he is employed to investigate and stop it. Following a brain storming meeting he begins his investigation. He will investigate this alongside his primary objective which is to find the truth behind his friend’s death.

Along the way he rubs shoulders with some of the most powerful men in Singapore and as well as seeing the best Singapore has to offer he also sees the darker side. There is a bit of a love interest too, but can she be trusted?

There is a lot going on in this story and many characters to follow and suspect. The fast pace of the investigation never lets up, which keeps it so interesting. Who can he trust? Who is Madame Butterfly, the beautiful woman preying on drunk sailors? Who is the man who calls himself Jin? Well that was a twist I absolutely didn’t see coming.

The story is written from the point of view of Ash, and we get plenty of summing up along the way by Ash’s thought process so there is no losing track.

The author does a fabulous job of describing Singapore at that time in history.

And Hegarty, Ash’s trusted driver. He is a wonderful character who’s hobby is investigating the origin of expressions! do you know what it means to win ’hands down’? You will after reading this book!

An excellent start to this action packed series.

Give Murray a follow on Twitter as he is doing a daily giveaway during the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Murray Bailey Is the author of Amazon bestseller Map of the Dead, the first of the series based on his interest in Egyptology. His main series however is the Ash Carter thrillers, inspired by his father’s experience in the Royal Military Police in Singapore in the early 1950s.

Murray is well traveled, having worked in the US, South America and a number of European countries throughout his career as a management consultant. However he also managed to find the time to edit books, contribute to articles and act as a part-time magazine editor.

Murray lives on the south coast of England with his family and a dog called Teddy.

Twitter @murraybaileybks

by Victoria Selman

Publication date : 7/7/22

Publisher : Quercus Books

SYNOPSIS

Twelve-year-old Sophie and her mother, Amelia-Rose, move to London from Massachusetts where they meet the charismatic Matty Melgren, who quickly becomes an intrinsic part of their lives. But as the relationship between the two adults fractures, a serial killer begins targeting young women with a striking resemblance to Amelia-Rose.

When Matty is eventually sent down for multiple murder, questions remain as to his guilt — questions which ultimately destroy both women. Nearly twenty years later, Sophie receives a letter from Battlemouth Prison informing her Matty is dying and wants to meet. It looks like Sophie might finally get the answers she craves. But will the truth set her free — or bury her deeper?

MY REVIEW

When Sophie is 8, a few years after she moves to London from Massachusetts with her mother, her mother finds a charming, good looking and fun new boyfriend who becomes a big part of their lives. Sophie has never known her own father, who left when she was 2, so she sees Matty as a father figure. A confidante. 

But one night when her mother is out, his strange and embarrassing behaviour triggers a little niggle which won’t go away.

In the present day, Sophie receives a letter from the prison where Matty has been incarcerated for 20 years. He is dying and wants to see her. She hasn’t seen him since he was convicted. Is he going to finally reveal the truth? Does she want to hear it? How will it effect her?

Sophie has struggled with conflicting thoughts over the years, wondering whether he is guilty or, as he always insists, he was wrongly accused and is in fact innocent of killing at least 9 women including a child.

The book is written almost as a journal of Sophie’s thoughts and feelings, written in the present but returning to when she was young and wondering if the signs and clues were there but did she miss them? Or did she just not want to believe them as she loved Matty so much. Should her mother have realised? But her mother was besotted with Matty, putting up with him disappearing and missing important events yet when he comes back, always having a credible explanation for why he has not been in contact.

This book gives us an insight into the lives of the people who are living with, and who love, killers. The people who wonder if they should have picked up on clues could they have saved lives? Are they partly to blame? Or wonder if their loved one is wrongly convicted. And how it ruins their lives too, to find out they have been living with a criminal. How does a person move in from that realisation? Sophie has found herself living alone and unable to have a proper relationship understandably due to trust issues. She is getting help but the scars run deep.

A dark and deep page turner of a book which has an incredibly appropriate title and with a shocking ending you will never expect.

Thank you Quercus books for my copy of the book and my place on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Victoria Selman is the author of the critically acclaimed Ziba MacKenzie series. Her debut novel, Blood for Blood, was shortlisted for the prestigious CWA Debut Dagger Award and an Amazon Charts #1 bestseller for five weeks, selling over half a million copies. 

Victoria has written for the Independent, co-hosts Crime Time FM with critics, Barry Forshaw and Paul Burke, compiles the Afraid of the Light charity anthology series and was shortlisted for the 2021 CWA Short Story Dagger Award.

Her first standalone thriller, TRULY DARKLY DEEPLY, is being published by Quercus in July 2022.

Find her on Twitter @VictoriaSelman or sign up to her newsletter at http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.com/

by James Bailey

Published: 9/6/22

Publisher: Penguin Michael Joseph

My rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

SYNOPSIS

Three friends. Two summers. One chance to find the way back to you . . .

When Simon reconnects with his first love Sylvie – the French pen pal he never met – he is determined to not let her go again.

However, life isn’t so straight-forward at sixty as it was at sixteen. His daughter’s getting married, he’s got a B&B to run, and his larger-than-life school friend, Ian, has abruptly waltzed back into his life.

Deciding to seize this second chance, Simon sets off on a bike ride from Bristol to Bordeaux with Ian in tow, on the very same route they covered as teenagers in pursuit of love.

But although they now have better bikes, more acceptable haircuts, and Google Maps, some things never change, and it soon becomes clear that this trip will have even more bumps in the road than the first . . .

MY THOUGHTS

What an absolute joy to read! I have laughed out loud, cried, and felt very nostalgic reading this wonderfully uplifting story.

Simon runs a small B&B with his daughter, Anna, who is getting married soon. His wife died 10 years ago, and running the B&B cottage in a sleepy Dorset village, and raising a family there, had been her dream. 

Now Simon is in his 60’s and in a bit of a rut when he sees a Facebook notification from his old school. It is a notice advising one of his best friends from boarding school has died. Simon is shocked. He hadn’t seen Raj since they were 16 when they lost touch after they left school.

Attending Raj’s memorial starts a chain of events. Simon bumps into larger than life Ian there, the other of the three close friends. They talk about the year when they were 16 and the three of them cycled to France hoping to meet Simon’s pen pal, Sylvie, without telling anyone they were going. They arrived to find she had moved house the day before and no one knows her new address. So they cycle back home. And face the music.

Ian persuades Simon to repeat their journey, and sprinkle some of Raj’s ashes where he had been happiest, much to the surprise of Simon. And maybe actually meet Sylvie this time?

Well I was rooting for Simon to find his happy ending! 

The story is written in the present with flashbacks to the year they were doing their O levels and planning their trip.

This is a fabulous feel good romantic comedy which also tugs at the heart strings, and although it will appeal to a lot of people, it will especially appeal to the likes of me, who did O levels and made mix tapes for boyfriends to play on tape players. And I had pen friends too and remember the excitement of seeing those air mail envelopes arrive. Ah the memories came flooding back.

I’m still chuckling about the shaving foam and mango. You must read it to find out what that’s all about!

Brilliant I couldn’t put it down!

Thanks so much to Kallie at Penguin Michael Joseph for sending me a proof and for my spot on the blog tour. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Bailey was born in Bristol, and currently lives and works in his home city. A graduate of King’s College London, James has previously carried the Olympic Torch, made a speech at the House of Commons, and worked as a red-carpet reporter. The Way Back To You is his second novel. His debut, The Flip Side, has been published in eleven languages. Find out more about James on http://www.JamesBaileyWrites.com, or on Instagram @JamesBaileyWrites.

by Jen Benson

Description 

This book tells the uplifting true story of a family who left their old life behind to spend a year living wild in a tent around Britain.

With a baby and a toddler, mounting debt, work demands and stress trampling over their desire to spend time together as a family in nature, Jen and Sim Benson move out of their rented accommodation, sell up their possessions and decide to live in a tent for a year as nomads around rural Britain.

This is the story of that year – the highs and the lows – the doubts, epiphanies and the weather.

Detailing one family’s search for a life in the wild, away from the screens and stresses of modern life, this captivating memoir is a must read for nature lovers or anyone who has dreamed of a life outdoors.

It’s nature writ large with the joys and challenges of each season experienced under canvas, a story of ultimate freedom in the beautiful landscapes of Britain. This is a book that gently steals up on you and captures your heart.

MY THOUGHTS

I am delighted to be sharing my review for this amazing book as part of the blog tour.

What an incredible and brilliantly written book. The descriptive writing is simply stunning. I could picture everything so vividly. 

I enjoyed every minute I spent immersed in the wild year adventure with Jen, Sim and their two delightful children. 

Jen has written this account of their year camping straight from the heart, which is clearly full of the love of being outdoors and with nature.

Having reached a decision that they could not carry on living as they were, struggling to make ends meet and Sim hardly having any free time to spend with the children, they made the decision to leave their rented property, sell most of their possessions and spend a year camping with their children at various places around Britain, albeit on an extremely tight budget. Jen and Sim were both used to the outdoors and camping so had a fair amount of knowledge already, but taking two young children was going to be a new and challenging experience.

What they found was the children loved it, enjoying being outdoors and discovering nature in their own way. They also found how generous complete strangers could be, as well as how much support family and friends can be in times of need.

I don’t want to spoil your enjoyment of reading by giving too much of the adventure away, but I highly recommend this book.  What an amazing family adventure!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jen Benson has a passion for wild places and sustainable adventures. A lifelong runner, she is a writer, photographer and part-time PhD researcher exploring the philosophy of running. Jen and her husband Sim live in Wiltshire with their two young children. They have co-written several books including Wild Running, Short Walks in Beautiful Places, Amazing Family Adventures and 100 Great Walks with Kids. Jen writes regularly for the national press. Twitter/Instagram @jenandsim

by Dan Malakin

Publication day: 16/6/22 Hardback

SYNOPSIS

To save your child you must open The Box…

Ed Truman’s family is falling apart. His daughter Ally is being targeted by an alt-right incel organisation, Men Together. His house is being picketed, former clients are accusing him of sexual assault, his son won’t speak to him. And then Ally disappears.

Frantic, Ed suspects that Men Together have abducted her. But before he can go to the police, his DNA is found on the body of a young woman. Suddenly he’s the subject of a nationwide manhunt, led by the tenacious DCI Jackie Rose. Ed finds himself on the run with Ally’s friend, Phoenix, who claims to know where Ally is. But what is the truth? Is Ed a violent sexual predator? Or is he the victim of a ruthless conspiracy? The answers are in The Box. But not everyone who goes in, comes out alive…

From the bestselling author of The Regret, this heart-pounding thriller is perfect for readers of Harlan Coben, Mark Billingham and M.W. Craven.

MY REVIEW

Ed and Gabrielle start to worry when their teenage daughter, Ally, does not arrive home for dinner. They begin ringing her friends but then a text arrives from her saying she has gone away for the weekend.

But Ed thinks the text was not written by her. It is not the usual way she would phrase a text.

Nearby, a young girl is found murdered in the park, clutching hairs belonging to Ed.

Ed, the mild mannered solicitor finds himself on the run with Phoenix, a friend of Ally’s who lives in a squat, who may know where she is. Hunted not only by DCI Jackie Rose, a very able police officer from the newly formed Rapid and Serious Unit who has also taught police self defence classes, but also by some dangerous men, they need to hide until they can figure out what to do next.

Phoenix and Ally ‘milkshaked’ William Carmichael, the figurehead of a men’s rights movement and leader of a male members only ‘men’s learning centre’, which appears to run courses to help men gain back their alpha position in society and put down women at every opportunity. But there is something much more sinister going on there. And what is the box? I highly recommend you read this book to find out!

I was totally hooked by the prologue and was completely immersed in Ed’s world from then on. Poor Ed was very naive and awkward, but I loved how he kept questioning his ability to do what he set out to do. His dry sense of humour, even in such dire circumstances, was brilliant and I actually laughed out loud a number of times. Phoenix is streetwise and teaches him the skills of stealing food and dumpster diving for sandwiches.

All of the characters are so very well written and realistic they jumped off the page. The story is written from a few different POV’s, including Ed, Gabrielle, Jackie and Phoenix, so we get an insight into what the main characters are thinking.

Malakin’s writing is exceptional, and I especially loved the simile’s and metaphor’s he used which were refreshingly unique and sometimes hilarious.

The short sharp chapters make it very easy to read.

Very highly recommended.

Thank you Angana at Viper Books for my proof of the book and my spot on the blog tour. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dan Malakin has twice been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, and his debut novel, The Regret, was a Kindle bestseller. When not writing thrillers, Dan works as a data security consultant, teaching corporations how to protect
themselves from hackers. He lives in North London with his wife and daughter