November 2017

Blog tours, promotions and reviews all coming our way via sandiesbookshelves this November!

Lots of exciting posts are scheduled in for the coming few weeks here on the blog, with a launch party invitation and my first tentative steps into the world of blog tours. Please bear with me in case of any technical glitches as I am a very nervous user of technology, being of "a certain age" - that's my excuse and I am sticking with it! I will endeavour to get the book news and promotions to you as smoothly as I can. Here's a couple of reminders of some of what is coming soon:-

1st November - pop by to join the launch party for Love, Secrets & Absolution

3rd November - Welcoming author Lloyd Otis to the blog with his guest post

More exciting posts, news and review to come later in the month, so keep calling in on the page to find out what's going on in the book world.

Last Seen Alive by Claire Douglas

This week I have taken a break from reading the many review copies which are stacking up on my kindle to read a novel by Claire Douglas which I have been wanting to get around to for a while now.  I was strolling around my local library last Sunday morning when I noticed it sitting on one of the quick selection shelves in the reception area and thought I would try a few pages while I sat and drank my coffee. Needless to say I ended up checking it out and bringing it home with me.

Book description:

Libby Hall never really wanted to be noticed. But after she saves the children in her care from a fire, she finds herself headline news. And horrified by the attention. It all reminds her of what happened nine years ago. The last time she saw her best friend alive.

The Swap

Which is why the house swap is such a godsend. Libby and her husband Jamie exchange their flat in Bath for a beautiful, secluded house in Cornwall. It's a chance to heal their marriage - to stop its secrets tearing them apart.

The Hideaway

But this stylish Cornish home isn't the getaway they'd hoped for. They make odd, even disturbing, discoveries in the house. It's so isolated-yet Libby doesn't feel entirely alone. As if she's being watched.

Is Libby being paranoid? What is her husband hiding? And. As the secrets and lies come tumbling out, is the past about to catch up with them?

My thoughts:

The book is split into different sections which I found worked really well in relating the story and feeding information to the reader.  In the first section we are introduced to Libby and her husband Jamie who are in their first year of marriage but are experiencing some challenges after primary school teacher Libby is forced to save the children in her care from a fire at the school. This unfortunately leads her to miscarry her and Jamie's first child and this is clearly putting a lot of strain on their relationship. By sheer chance a leaflet is delivered through their door offering the chance of a house swap in Cornwall which seems just the thing to take them away from everything. But things take several sinister turns during their stay and they end up coming home earlier than planned.

The second part of the book is set in Thailand years before. Libby has made friends with a group of fellow travellers and we are party to the few short but intense weeks they spend together. We soon learn about Libby's fellow travellers Karen and Harry and the jigsaw pieces begin to form in to part of the picture from the first section of the book.  Little do we realise at this stage just how big a part of Libby's life these people become. The twists and turns are by now coming thick and fast and I defy anyone not to be shocked by parts of this tale.

The final part works beautifully in bringing together all the information we have been fed in the earlier stages.  I really don't want to give anything of the story away as it is so brilliantly worked but suffice to say that you may work out some parts of the puzzle but the rest has such a wow factor it will have your jaw dropping in places. 

I cannot rate this book highly enough and I absolutely loved the ending as it kind of doesn't completely tie up every loose end while being a satisfying conclusion in itself. With dodgy in laws, a soppy dog and an ex husband more unlikeable than most I thoroughly enjoyed this twisty, turny thriller even more than I expected to. I only wish I had read it sooner - but there again, that would mean a longer wait for her next novel which I believe is due out in mid 2018.

A mega 5 star read in my opinion

COMING SOON : BLOG TOUR FOR LLOYD OTIS' DEAD LANDS 03 NOV.

 

Book Review: Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak

Publication Day: 19th October 2017

Book Description:

Seven Days of Us is the only family drama you need to read this Christmas. It will warm you up, make you cry, but ultimately leave you feeling fabulous. For fans of One Day, Love Actually and Four Weddings and a Funeral.
A week is a long time to spend with your family...
It's Christmas, and the Birch family are coming together at their second home in Norfolk. Emma and Andrew's daughter, Olivia, is back for the first time in years, and while Emma is elated, her younger, more frivolous daughter Phoebe is braced for inevitable clashes.
But aid worker Olivia is only home because she has nowhere else to go. Having recently returned from Africa, where she's been treating a life-threatening virus, she has been instructed to stay in quarantine for a week, and so, too should her family.
For the next seven days, no one can leave the house, and no one can enter.
It doesn't sound too hard. But a week with your nearest and dearest can feel like an eternity, especially when they're all harbouring secrets.
One of whom is about to come knocking on their door...

My thoughts:

An interesting insight into the relationships between family members once the innocence of childhood has been outgrown, I wasn't sure whether this would be a book I would enjoy. I am very pleased to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it right from the start.
The Birch family are outwardly very successful, with mum Emma inheriting a large family home in Norfolk from her parents, dad Andrew is a restaurant critic who writes for a high profile publication, elder daughter Olivia is a doctor fighting a humanitarian cause in Liberia and youngest child Phoebe newly engaged to well-to-do George.  With Olivia needing to be kept in quarantine on her return from Liberia to ensure any health risk is contained the family have decided to lock themselves away together in Norfolk over Christmas. A potential pressure cooker situation for any family, let alone one with skeletons ready to come knocking on closet doors (pardon the pun!) from all angles.  Health issues, a newly discovered ghost from the past and with there being no opportunity to get away from each other the tensions build steadily as the days wear on.  I loved the way George and his posh friends were described, and really felt for mum Emma as she tried to put her family's needs before her own when she really needed their support. I didn't warm to dad Andrew at first, finding him rather self-centred and condescending but found that once his past came back to haunt him and he was forced to confront the issues he had been trying to ignore he became far more approachable and likeable.  Youngest child Pheobe I found to be typical of the baby of most families, indulged by both parents to the point of being rather spoiled. The character I empathised most with was Olivia.  Always having felt like she had to work twice as hard to be noticed by her parents in order to feel worthy she is fiercely independent and has a streak of her father's apparent selfishness running through her.  It's not until the façade comes tumbling down that we realise just how alike she and her father actually are.
With a great cast of diverse characters I feel that the author has managed to portray how as adults we are all individuals within a family but at the end of the day blood is thicker than water and it is that same family we ultimately rely on in times of trouble. I really enjoyed this completely different Christmas novel.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher Little, Brown Book Group for the advance copy of this book.