Amanda Prowse

Publication Date : 6th September 2022

Publisher : Little A

Number of Pages : 396

SYNOPSIS

Amanda Prowse has built a bestselling career on the lives of fictional women. Now she turns the pen on her own life.

I guess the first question to ask is, what kind of woman am I? Well, you know those women who saunter into a room, immaculately coiffed and primped from head to toe?

If you look behind her, you’ll see me.

From her childhood, where there was no blueprint for success, to building a career as a bestselling novelist against all odds, Amanda Prowse explores what it means to be a woman in a world where popularity, slimness, beauty and youth are currency―and how she overcame all of that to forge her own path to happiness.

Sometimes heartbreaking, often hilarious and always entirely relatable, Prowse details her early struggles with self-esteem and how she coped with the frustrating expectations others had of how she should live. Most poignantly, she delves into her toxic relationship with food, the hardest addiction she has ever known, and how she journeyed out the other side.

One of the most candid memoirs you’re ever likely to read, Women Like Us provides welcome insight into how it is possible―against the odds―to overcome insecurity, body consciousness and the ubiquitous imposter syndrome to find happiness and success, from a woman who’s done it all, and then some.

MY REVIEW

This audio book is beautifully and emotively read by Amanda herself, as are all of her audio books. I giggled with her, I cried big fat tears for her.

I am the same age as Amanda and so much of what she talked about I could completely relate to. I have lived through many similar experiences. She brought back so many memories; twin tub washing machines (my mum never got rid of hers and wheeled it through to the kitchen every week!), tinned fruit with evaporated milk, libraries with actual library cards, and visiting the library as a child and bringing all those ‘free’ books home! Calling all the adult neighbours Auntie. Yes we experienced a very similar childhood, right down to the teacher who told the young Amanda she would never be an author, but she used that comment in later years to prove that teacher wrong. I just hope she is still alive to have eaten her words! I was never told that, but I had an equally horrible junior school teacher who was nasty to me and I still remember her.

Amanda opens up completely about all the ups and downs in her life, helping her readers who are facing similar struggles. From her agony and numerous operations as a child with a crumbling pelvis, surviving cancer, through her first failed marriage, many miscarriages, issues with her weight and food addiction, dealing with a child with mental health issues, to the menopause and facing an ageing face and body with positivity.

Amanda also shares the joys in her life. Actually having a baby against all the odds. Finding her soul mate despite being convinced she wouldn’t bother with another partner. The difficult journey to getting her first book published in her forties.

I felt as if I was sitting across the table having a coffee with this remarkable woman. I love that her views are so similar to mine on so many things.

This is a book I would recommend every woman reads. I would also say if you can read it on audio book do so.

I have just downloaded Amanda’s first book, Poppy Day, on audio and I can’t wait to listen to it.

Very very highly recommend.

Thank you Zara and Rhiannon at FMcM for my place on the blog tour and access to an advance copy of the audio book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amanda Prowse is an internationally bestselling author of twenty-eight novels published in dozens of languages. Her chart-topping titles What Have I Done?, Perfect Daughter, My Husband’s Wife, The Coordinates of Loss, The Girl in the Corner and The Things I Know have sold millions of copies around the world.

Other novels by Amanda Prowse include A Mother’s Story, which won the coveted Sainsbury’s eBook of the Year Award. Perfect Daughter was selected as a World Book Night title in 2016 and The Boy Between a World Book Night title in 2022. She has been described by the Daily Mail as ‘the queen of family drama’.

Amanda is the most prolific writer of bestselling contemporary fiction in the UK today. Her titles consistently score the highest online review approval ratings across several genres.

A popular TV and radio personality, Amanda is well known for her insightful observations and infectious humour.

Amanda’s ambition is to create stories that keep people from turning off the bedside lamp at night, that ensure you walk every step with her great characters, and tales that fill your head so you can’t possibly read another book until the memory fades…

You can follow her @mrsamandaprowse on all social media or sign up for her newsletter at http://www.amandaprowse.com. Or follow her on 

Julie Anderson

SYNOPSIS

After retiring from a successful career in the civil service, Julie Anderson turned her attention to writing. Along with the Cassie Fortune mysteries Plague, Oracle and Opera, Julie has authored two children’s novels and a collection of short stories. She is the Chair of Trustees for Clapham Writers, and is one of the creators and organisers of Clapham Book Festival. Plague and Oracle have been widely praised and Julie has created a downloadable walking tour guide of the London sites in Plague. 

MY REVIEW

If you are interested in political crime thrillers, this is a series you do not want to miss. 

Opera is the last in the Cassandra Fortune trilogy and although can be read as a stand alone I would highly recommend reading Plague and Oracle, and the background leading to some of the events in Opera.

Although this is a work of fiction it scarily resembles some current goings on in Westminster. 

Cassie is a very strong female lead character. Pushed out of her job at GCHQ soon after her boss retired, she now works as a personal aide to the Prime Minister. 

Having already solved murder cases in the previous books, she now wants to investigate the reason she was ousted from her role at GCHQ. She contacts her ex-boss, retired head of GCHQ and whip smart Angela, for help only to make a gruesome discovery when she arrives at her home. Angela has been murdered.

Now Cassie has more on her plate. As well as her personal investigation into losing her job, she is also investigating Angela’s murder and finds clues from her ex boss about a case Angela was investigating in her retirement. Is this the reason she was murdered?

Who can she trust? Is there a traitor inside the government? Is she a target now?

Oh and in her day job she had to make plans for Greek ministers to visit, including organising for them to visit the opera and ensuring security is airtight. 

A brilliantly plotted tale with many high ranking players, any of whom could be a murderer. 

Thank you so much to the author for my early eARC

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After retiring from a successful career in the civil service, Julie Anderson turned her attention to writing. Along with the Cassie Fortune mysteries Plague, Oracle and Opera, Julie has authored two children’s novels and a collection of short stories. She is the Chair of Trustees for Clapham Writers, and is one of the creators and organisers of Clapham Book Festival. Plague and Oracle have been widely praised and Julie has created a downloadable walking tour guide of the London sites in Plague. 

By S E Shepherd

Published 30/8/22

Publisher Hobeck Books

SYNOPSIS

‘RUN FOR IT!’

Were they also Ash’s last words?

A chance meeting with a school friend of Lottie’s brings Hannah a new case. She’s confident Sandlin Private Investigations can find out who’s responsible for the recent threats at Eliza’s house. But, as she and Lottie begin to unravel the facts of the present case, they also find themselves involved in a longstanding mystery.

Three cousins, once as close as siblings.

Ash, the black sheep
Grieving Ash loved her dad deeply, but swore no one else understood her. She’s been missing for twelve years, and is now presumed dead.

Eliza, the peacemaker
Eliza, rebuilding her life after heartbreak, inherits everything.

Scott the ‘baby’
Scott, broken and bitter, inherits nothing.

What made Auntie Miriam so angry that she left nothing in her will to Scott? And why did Scott and Eliza make a pact all those years ago never to admit the truth about the disappearance of their cousin Ash?

Ash may be presumed dead, but somehow, she’s still causing trouble. Ultimately, the case can’t be solved without answering the question – what really happened the last time the three cousins were all together in Lullaby Woods?

MY REVIEW

No-one has heard of Cousin Ash since she disappeared one night in Lullaby Woods after she went there with her two cousins, Scott and Eliza. They used to go into the woods with Ash’s late father, and would search for witches before running like crazy back out to their waiting car and Miriam, Ash’s mum.

Ash is now presumed dead. But did she die in the woods or was it just an elaborate plan she concocted to run away from home and the mother she hates, which she had planned on doing for years.

Why now, after Miriam has died and left her fairly hefty estate to Eliza, does it appear Ash is back? Is she back to claim her inheritance? Scott was not left anything, and Eliza is forbidden by the will to give him anything, as Miriam blamed Scott for her daughter’s disappearance.

Scott swears he saw Ash at the Co-op, and there has been a nasty message daubed on Eliza’s fence. Not to mention the CD left on Eliza’s doorstep including the track played at her uncle’s funeral.

Eliza enlists the help of PI Hannah Sandlin  to try to make sense of what is going on. Hannah and her friend Lottie offer to stay with Eliza after a particularly nasty shock.

Could it all be a trick to get money out of Hannah? Or is Ash really back?

I enjoyed this book, with all of its red herrings leading us down the wrong paths!

Eliza has had a difficult time with her husband leaving her, after multiple miscarriages, but with no one to turn to she confides in him. He has money problems, having recently lost his job and having a new family to support. Her cousin Scott is also having money problems and is scared of what will happen to him if he doesn’t pay up.

Well written and believable characters, all with their own personal problems. The book is written along two timelines, with the events at Lullaby Woods on that fateful night being revealed bit by bit.

And no-one will guess that ending!

Thank you Rebecca and Adrian at Hobeck books for my place on the blog tour.

📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sue Shepherd was born in Harrow, she then spend several years living in Hertfordshire before taking a leap of faith across The Solent to the picturesque Isle of Wight. Sue lives with her husband, two sons, and their two dogs, a Standard Poodle named Forrest, and a Cavachon called Sky.

Sue’s passions in life are: her family, writing, the sea-side and all the beautiful purple things her sons have bought her over the years.

Now writing under the name S E Shepherd, Sue’s first suspense novel, Swindled, Book 1 in The Sandlin PI Series was published in September 2021 by Hobeck Books. The second in the Sandlin PI Series, Cousin Ash, was published in August 2022.

Sue has also written three RomComs, ‘Doesn’t Everyone Have a Secret?’ which reached the top ten UK Kindle chart in 2015, ‘Love Them and Leave Them.’ and ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head.’ 

Ask Sue to plan too far in advance and you’ll give her the heebie-jeebies and she’d prefer you not to mention Christmas until at least November!

You can catch up with Sue Shepherd in the following ways –

Twitter: @thatsueshepherd

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SueShepherdWrites

Martin Edwards

Publication date: 1/9/22

Publisher: Aries / Head of Zeus

SYNOPSIS

Rachel Savernake investigates a bizarre locked-room puzzle in this delicious Gothic mystery from the winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger.

1930. Nell Fagan is a journalist on the trail of a intriguing and bizarre mystery: in 1606, a man vanished from a locked gatehouse in a remote Yorkshire village, and 300 years later, it happened again. Nell confides in the best sleuth she knows, judge’s daughter Rachel Savernake. Thank goodness she did, because barely a week later Nell disappears, and Rachel is left to put together the pieces of the puzzle.

Looking for answers, Rachel travels to lonely Blackstone Fell in Yorkshire, with its eerie moor and sinister tower. With help from her friend Jacob Flint – who’s determined to expose a fraudulent clairvoyant – Rachel will risk her life to bring an end to the disappearances and bring the truth to light.

A dazzling mystery peopled by clerics and medics; journalists and judges, Blackstone Fell explores the shadowy borderlands between spiritual and scientific; between sanity and madness; and between virtue and deadly sin.

MY REVIEW

I am not in the least surprised Martin Edwards has won so many awards for his crime writing, as this is a mystery Poirot himself would revel in solving! Or more a string of mysteries which overlap and entwine.

The story is set mainly in the Yorkshire village of Blackstone Fell. Home of not one but several mysteries, unexplained disappearances and possible murders.

Nell Fagan, a London reporter, is approached by a man who believes his mother was murdered at the sanatorium in Blackstone Fell. Under a pseudonym she rents Blackstone lodge, pretending to be a photographer, so she can poke around. She is also interested in the disappearances of two men, spanning 300 years, from the very lodge she is renting. If she can get to the bottom of all of these mysteries she would have some fantastic scoops, and she would regain her standing in Fleet Street.

She is under no illusion that she is not capable of solving the mysteries singlehandedly, so approaches her friend Jacob, who is also a reporter, to ask him to help her persuade Rachel Savernake who has a reputation for solving extraordinary puzzles by playing amateur detective, to assist her in solving the disappearances. 

Jacob is tasked by his boss to investigate and uncover the murky world of mediums and spiritualism, and Jacob begins to investigate the top spiritualist of the time, Ottilie Curle. 

Yes by the end of the novel these two storylines will overlap.

It did take me a while to get into the book as there are so many characters but once the action and murders began I was consumed and blown away by the detailed plotting. 

Brilliantly done and I will be reading more by this author, this being the first I have read.

Thank you so much to Sophie Ransom at Ransom PR for allowing me to join the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Martin Edwards has received the CWA Diamond Dagger, the highest honour in British crime writing, given for the sustained excellence of his contribution to the genre. His recent novels include Mortmain Hall and Gallows Court, which was nominated for two awards including the CWA Historical Dagger. British librarians awarded him the CWA Dagger in the Library in 2018 in recognition of his body of work. His eight and latest Lake District Mystery is The Crooked Shore and earlier books in the series include The Coffin Trail, short-listed for the Theakston’s prize for best British crime novel. Seven books in his first series, featuring Liverpool lawyer Harry Devlin, starting with the CWA John Creasey Dagger-nominated All the Lonely People, have been reissued by Acorn in new editions with introductions by leading writers including Ann Cleeves and Val McDermid. 

Martin is a well-known crime fiction critic, and series consultant to the British Library’s Crime Classics. His ground-breaking study of the genre between the wars, The Golden Age of Murder won the Edgar, Agatha, H.R.F. Keating and Macavity awards. The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books won the Macavity and was nominated for four other awards, while Howdunit, a masterclass in crime writing by members of the Detection Club, won the H.R.F. Keating prize and was nominated for five other awards. His long-awaited history of the genre, The Life of Crime, will be published in May 2022. 

In addition Martin has written a stand-alone novel of psychological suspense, Take My Breath Away, and a much acclaimed novel featuring Dr Crippen, Dancing for the Hangman. He also completed Bill Knox’s last book, The Lazarus Widow. He has published many short stories, including the ebooks The New Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes and Acknowledgments and other stories. ‘The Bookbinder’s Apprentice’ won the CWA Short Story Dagger, for which he has been nominated for three other stories. 

He has edited over 40 anthologies and published diverse non-fiction books, including a study of homicide investigation, Urge to Kill. An expert on crime fiction history, he is archivist of both the Crime Writers’ Association and the Detection Club. He was elected eighth President of the Detection Club in 2015, spent two years as Chair of the CWA, and posts regularly to his blog, ‘Do You Write Under Your Own Name?’

Clare Marchant

Publication Date : 1/9/22

Publisher : Avon Books

SYNOPSIS

Present day: When thirty-six-year-old Robyn Willoughby discovers an exquisite yet blood-stained Tudor map in her father’s antique map shop, desperate for a distraction from her problems, she decides to investigate. But as Robyn delves into the mystery, she finds herself caught up in a centuries-old secret – one that will change her life forever.

1569: Forced to flee Holland to escape persecution, twenty-year-old Freida Ortelius uses her mapmaking skills to start anew in London. Soon her rare talent catches the eye of Queen Elizabeth, who demands Freida’s help in fighting the Spanish threat. Freida must now embark on a deadly mission, the consequences of which will echo down the ages…

A sweeping and heartbreaking read, perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley and Kathryn Hughes.

MY REVIEW

I have loved Clare’s writing since I read an ARC of The Secrets of Saffron Hall, then The Queen’s Spy and now this, Clare’s third book.

What a talented storyteller this lady is. Her writing always has me completely absorbed.

In this dual timeline book, two women centuries apart are connected by a map, and also by their husbands’ love of sailing.

In the present, Robyn’s husband was lost at sea during a yacht race and it is coming up to seven years. She needs to find the courage to officially declare him dead but she is struggling with letting go. She is working with her father in his shop when he finds an old map in the bottom of a box he didn’t know he had. Robyn takes it upon herself and draws upon her journalist knowledge to try to find the origin of the map.

In 1580 Freida is living in London after being rescued from Amsterdam where she witnessed her parents being murdered by the Spanish, simply for being Huguenots. She is following in the footsteps of her famous family of cartographers and is quickly gaining a name for herself as a competent cartographer in her own right. It is virtually unknown for a woman to achieve such status. 

Freida lives with her husband and baby son in constant fear that the Spanish will come and murder her and her family. When she is reluctantly presented to the Queen, and requested to produce a special map for Francis Drake to help defend England against a possible Spanish invasion, she finds herself in danger from the Spanish Ambassador. 

She must save herself and her family this time.

With her husband away from home for long periods of time due to sailing back and forth to Amsterdam with goods and letters for the residents of Lime Street, she needs more protection in order to carry out the Queen’s request. She is a strong and determined woman who will not back down but will this cost her everything she loves?

An engrossing read and I thoroughly enjoyed both timelines.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for the ARC.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Growing up in Surrey, Clare always dreamed of being a writer. Instead, after gaining a degree in history and an MA in women’s studies she accidentally fell into a career in IT. After spending many years as a project manager in London, she moved to Norfolk for a quieter life and trained as a professional jeweller.

Now, finally writing full-time, she lives with her husband and the youngest two of her six children.

Nicola May

Publication Day: 7 February 2023

SYNOPSIS

ONE TURKEY FARM, FIVE WILD COLLEAGUES AND A BARN FULL OF MYSTERY
When jilted crime writer August Saunders returns from London to her roots in rural Wiltshire, she feels lost and lacking in inspiration.

Determined to reignite her writing mojo, she responds to an advert for a shared workspace in a converted barn.

At the Hub, with its ill-equipped gym, inedible catering and motley array of fellow users, including a matchmaker more interested in her own conquests and a TikToker with a dodgy nocturnal sideline,
August is confronted with a real-life mystery to solve.

Why is Max Ronson, the handsome but volatile owner of the Hub, so evasive about his past?

And who or what is he hiding on the premises? She is determined to find out – but will her curiosity snuff out the spark of romance?

Nicola May mixes mischief with mystery in a fast-paced rural romp which will make Futtingbrook Farm as beloved a location as Ferry Lane Market or Cockleberry Bay.
Perfect for fans of Beth O’Leary, Sarah Morgan, Jill Mansell and Cathy Bramley

MY REVIEW

When August is dumped just a few weeks before her wedding by the man she has spent the last seven years of her life with she decides to move out of London to Futtingbrook with Prince Harry, her cat, and next door to her sister. August is a successful author so is able to work from home and doesn’t really have a social life. 

August is quite set in her new ways, just beginning to get over her fiancé, when her sister convinces her to try working from a new office complex – The Hub – which is based in a barn conversion of a turkey farm. She decides maybe it would be a good idea to get out and meet people and this could be a good start.

Jason Statham lookalike Max Ronson runs the hub with just a handful of one man businesses already moved in. He is a strange one and clearly has a lot of secrets. What is going on with the lorry delivering loads of boxes to the barn? Who is the woman with the Porsche he was arguing with? 

Of course this being romantic fiction, August falls for Max and it appears the feeling is mutual but he keeps pushing her away with his snarky comments and rudeness. I can’t believe she kept going back for more as he wasn’t a particularly likeable character, but she saw something behind the mask.

As well as trying to write her next book, August decides to volunteer for a crisis telephone line. One of the phone calls she receives changes her life.

I enjoyed the office banter and especially the character of the cook, ‘hot, not or cold’ Beryl who unfortunately tends to make inedible meals but is such a strong character. 

I was intrigued to find out what Max was hiding, as was August with her crime writers enquiring mind! 

I fell in love with Nicola’s writing when I read the Ferry Lane Market series and look forward to reading more from Nicola.

Purchase Links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Escape-Futtingbrook-Farm-Sometimes-unexpected-
ebook/dp/B0BS9YKH67
US – https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Futtingbrook-Farm-Sometimes-unexpected-
ebook/dp/B0BS9YKH67

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Author Bio –
Nicola May is a rom-com superstar. She is the author of sixteen romantic comedies, all of which have appeared in the Kindle bestseller charts. Her books are translated into fourteen languages. Two of them won awards at the Festival of Romance, and another was named ebook of the week in The Sun. The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay became the best-selling Kindle book in the UK, across all genres, in January 2019, and was Amazon’s third-bestselling novel in that year. Described by Winifred Robinson of BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours as ‘the invisible bestselling author’, Nicola campaigned successfully for the introduction of ebook charts in the publishing trade press.

Social Media Links –
T: https://twitter.com/nicolamay1
I: https://www.instagram.com/author_nicola/
F: https://www.facebook.com/NicolaMayAuthor
W: http://www.nicolamay.com

by Vasundra Tailor

Publication Date : 1/9/22

SYNOPSIS

Navsari, India. Penniless and trapped in a loveless marriage, Nirmala spends her days anxiously caring for her sick young son, Varun. Looming over Nirmala’s impoverished home is an imposing mansion built by her grandfather, and from its balcony her cruel aunt scorns them, refusing to help in any way.

But when a mysterious letter addressed to her long-dead father arrives from Zimbabwe, it opens a door to a past Nirmala never knew existed and a future she never imagined possible. If the contents of the letter can be believed, not only does she have family in Africa, but they might also hold the answers to a family mystery that spans three generations.

While travelling to Zimbabwe might lead to a brighter future for Nirmala and her son, it could also reignite the bitter family feud that condemned her family to poverty. Nirmala is ready to risk it all to uncover the truth, but how will she cope when this journey changes her life forever?

MY REVIEW

This is a beautifully written novel spanning generations of a family torn apart by a shocking secret. 

Nirmala is struggling to

feed her husband and young son on the small amount of money her husband gives her. He resents having to pay for medication for his son’s epilepsy as he thinks of him as weak and lazy.

Nirmala’s cold hearted aunt who lives in the mansion opposite, built by Nirmala’s grandfather and which her aunt inherited, has everything she could want and lives the life of luxury. She offers no support and looks down on her niece.

However, things are about to change. By chance, Nirmala is given a letter addressed to her father who died many years ago. It reveals she has an extended family living in Zimbabwe. Could they help to uncover the reason her father was unloved and resented by his mother? Why he moved out of the family mansion to choose a poorer but happier life with a woman he married for love, and not by arrangement? A woman his mother did not want him to marry as she was below them. Did his mother hate him because he was the reason his older sister died in such tragic circumstances?

Nirmala was a strong woman and certainly did not deserve, nor should she have to put up with, the way her husband treated her. She became more confident during her time in Zimbabwe, and put him in his place on her return.

The author’s storytelling had me engrossed and I lapped up the descriptions of life in India; the food, the smells, the customs, and some similarities with life in Zimbabwe. I enjoyed reading about some of the tourist spots in Zimbabwe. I feel as if I have been on a mini holiday and visited safari parks, caves and Victoria Falls. 

The author has drawn a family tree at the beginning of the book, as the story spans a few generations of family. There is also an explanation of some of the terms used when addressing people in India which was very helpful and made the story so authentic.

I loved this stunning debut from Vasundra Tailor and I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Thank you Zara and Rhiannon at FMcM Associates for sending me an advance copy of the book and inviting me along on the blog tour.

BLOG TOUR HOSTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vasundra Tailor was born in India and raised in Zimbabwe when it was called Rhodesia. She is a qualified pharmacist who completed her Masters in Pharmaceutical Microbiology at the University of Strathclyde. Based in London, she began her debut novel after obsessing about families currently living in a property in India which once belonged to her father. Curious about human relationships, she loves to meet people from diverse backgrounds and see how they connect with those around them.

Her novel extract won the second runner-up prize for the Mo Siewcharran Fiction Competition in November 2019.

@vasundrajay

Rae Sargeant

Original Publication date: 23/8/22 re-issued 23/4/24

Publisher: Hobeck Books

Book Description 

The Suspect
Bullied by Steph Lewis at school, then betrayed by her lover, Amy Ashby still seethes with fury. Despite the decades-old resentment, she’s on the hunt for a new man and a fresh start. This time for keeps.

The Stalker
When both women are stalked by a figure from their shared past, danger threatens.

The Detective
Now Detective Inspector, Steph follows a tip-off to her old rival. After quarrels exploded beyond the playground and changed lives forever, she vowed never to see Amy again. But that was then.

The Deaths
Murder rocks the city. First one, then another. The body count reaches five, and all Steph’s leads point to Amy. But is Steph obsessed with a schoolgirl vendetta or closing in on a deadly killer?

BLOG TOUR

MY REVIEW

Despite a severe migraine, DI Stephanie  Lewis attends a murder scene. Christa Talbot’s body was found by a dog walker. It appeared she had been dressed up to meet someone. There was only one contact on her phone, Morag, but this person is proving impossible to track down.

There quickly follows more murders, but no let up for Steph’s debilitating migraine. She is struggling to cope but carries on going into work, turning up at crime scenes and interviewing potential suspects and witnesses. She misses vital clues and evidence, and forgets to follow up on phone leads. She doesn’t even realise she is being watched.

Are the murders related? The victims are all the same age but other than that they don’t appear to have anything else in common.

Steph has to deal with her school nemesis, Amy, during the course of her enquiries. They have some serious history, both from their school days and later with a two timing boyfriend. Amy always got her mother to go into school to fight her battles, mainly the bullying by Steph and her friend. Then years later, Steph got into a relationship with Sean, not knowing he was Amy’s fiancé, but ending the relationship as soon as she found out. He left her with a reminder of him. Amy was devastated when he also disappeared from her life, as she was planning the perfect wedding. She has been filled with hatred for Steph ever since.

I galloped through this psychological/ police procedural thriller wanting to find out if my suspicions were correct, but towards the end the author almost made me change my mind as more and more red herrings appeared.

There are a few loose ends so I am looking forward to the next in the series for the answers.

Thank you Rebecca and Adrian at Hobeck books for my advance copy of this pacy, twisty, thriller, and my spot on the tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rae Sargeant joined Hobeck with Her Deadly Friend, the first in a new series that blends crime with suspense. Set in the city of Gloucester, the book features Steph, a fun-loving detective inspector with secrets to keep and an unpredictable killer to catch. Rae’s previous titles, published under the name of Rachel Sargeant, have been translated into other European languages and include a suspense story, a police whodunnit and a Top-Ten Kindle bestselling psychological thriller. Her short stories have appeared in women’s magazines and charity anthologies, and she is a winner of Writing Magazine’s Crime Short Story competition. After many years in Germany, Rae now lives in Gloucestershire with her family. Her hobbies are reading (of course) and visiting stately homes, country parks and coffee shops. She is currently studying for a research degree at the University of Birmingham.

Visit her website at http://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk

Rachel can also be found

Twitter: @RachelSargeant3

Facebook: @rachelsargeantauthor

BookBub: @rachelsargeant3

by Ruth Enright

SYNOPSIS
A young girl finds herself living in two different worlds – the present and a dangerous Victorian past.

When Susan’s dad wants to marry again, she is thrown into a whole new family where she feels excluded. Playing with her much loved old button box for comfort, she discovers a passage to a different time – the busy turmoil of 1850s London. Here, she lives with Baxter, a canny orphan boy who has adopted her as his sister.

With Baxter, Susan is never lonely, but children like them must work and do almost anything to get by. Surviving as best they can on the criminal margins of a colourful city, they are soon drawn into dangerous activities.

Baxter and Susan plunge together into wild adventures in a tangled Victorian underworld. They meet extraordinary people from all walks of life – costermongers, thieves and fences, acrobats and street children, eccentric scientists, a rich explorer, nightmarish villains, and even Queen Victoria herself.

A lively and gripping story full of suspense and atmosphere, ‘Button Box’ will take you into another world!

BLOG TOUR HOSTS

MY REVIEW

This is an action packed adventure set mainly in Victorian London but also in the present.

Susan’s father tells her he is going to marry again following her mother’s death. She is an only child and is excited that she will have three sisters, but sadly that doesn’t work out too well for her as they won’t let her play with them and are mean to her.

Well Susan is a strong little girl and decides she will spend time in her bedroom playing with her very special button box which was once her grandmother’s then her mother’s before it became hers. Her prized possession.

She draws a picture of a boy and pops some of her favourite pearl buttons on his jacket before she goes to sleep.

When she wakes up she finds she is in Baxter’s time, the boy in the picture with a huge smile, in Victorian London. Baxter is just a year or so older than her and they pretend he is her older brother. It appears he knows her very well and she knows him. They are both orphans and have to live on their wits to get by. They make money for their very basic room and food by ‘ratting’ and when they catch an albino pair they sell them to a wealthy man. The same wealthy man they stole some valuable gems from! 

Susan goes back and forth between the two times, having many adventures with Baxter involving stealing precious gems being kidnapped and breaking into Buckingham Palace to return a valuable gem to Queen Victoria herself!

Is she dreaming it all or is she time travelling? 

Susan and Baxter encounter plenty of baddies, including a mad scientist, but also plenty of goodies too, including a very friendly and helpful scientist who is interested in training the rats but also interested in such areas as phrenology and physiognomy (now there are two interesting words for young readers to look up!)

A little bit of secret seven meets Oliver Twist.

I think this will be a great read for young teens.

Thank you Zoé at Zooloos book tours for my Ebook and my place on my first blog tour with you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ruth Enright is from Halifax, West Yorkshire.  She enjoys holidays in Whitby, Scarborough and the surrounding area; with  Robin Hood’s Bay and Whitby being the inspiration for her debut novel ‘Seahaven.’  Her second book, ‘Button Box’ is for children and young adults. A young girl finds herself living in two worlds – the modern day and a dangerous Victorian past in 1850s London.

Ruth studied English Language and Literature at Reading University and has always had the ambition to write herself. She lives in Manchester with her family and works for local government, where she has held a number of posts. She  is now an Information Governance Officer. Ruth came to Manchester as a graduate trainee in Librarianship with Manchester Polytechnic before changing career paths and training for a certificate in teaching lipreading to adults with acquired deafness in Adult Education. Ruth then had her daughter and later became a local government officer.

Ruth has always kept on writing and started a blog a few years ago for her poems, stories and other items.  Encouraged by readers, she has recently succeeded in having five short stories published by ‘Yours Fiction’ special short story quarterly magazine.

Ruth loves to read and enjoys writing in both historic and modern settings, experimenting with different genres. Ideas for her writing come from many sources, for instance the name of Robin’s uncle Jorfant in ‘Seahaven’ came from researching her partner’s family tree!

Ruth lives with her partner Jack, and a cat called Margot. Ruth is delighted to be a published author and is looking forward very much to writing more novels.

Follow her at:

Patreon :https://www.patreon.com/ruthenright_writings

Twitter: https://twitter.com/2382a72570c7409

Website : www.r-enright58.co.uk

Buy Link – https://geni.us/qnbDn

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)

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