Coming this week: #BlogTour :Arcam by Jason Minick #LoveBooksGroupTours @JMinick_Author #Arcam

Tuesday this week brings the blog tour for debut conspiracy thriller Arcam by Jason Minick to the page.  Set on the small island of Steep Holm in the Bristol Channel, this is the first in a new series featuring DCI Jack Robson: a kidnapping which takes a sinister turn.

I Invited Her In by Adele Parks #Book #Review #NetGalley #WorstFriend

I Invited Her In by Adele Parks

384 pages

Published by HarperCollins, HQ Digital

Publication Date: 20th September 2018

Genre: Women's Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers

Book Description:

When Mel hears from a long-lost friend in need of help, she doesn’t hesitate to invite her to stay. Mel and Abi were best friends back in the day, sharing the highs and lows of student life, until Mel’s unplanned pregnancy made her drop out of her studies.

Now, seventeen years later, Mel and Abi’s lives couldn’t be more different. Mel is happily married, having raised her son on her own before meeting her husband, Ben. Now they share gorgeous girls and have a chaotic but happy family home, with three children.

Abi, meanwhile, followed her lover to LA for a glamorous life of parties, celebrity and indulgence. Everything was perfect, until she discovered her partner had been cheating on her. Seventeen years wasted, and nothing to show for it. So what Abi needs now is a true friend to lean on, to share her grief over a glass of wine, and to have some time to heal. And what better place than Mel’s house, with her lovely kids, and supportive husband…

This dark, unsettling tale of the reunion of long-lost friends is thoroughly gripping exploration of wanting what you can’t have, jealousy and revenge from Sunday Times bestseller Adele Parks.

My Review:

Adele Parks has been one of my favourite authors of the last few years, so I was excited to be approved for an advance review copy of this, her latest book via Netgalley.

Melanie Harrison has a pretty ordinary life with husband Ben, a part time job and 3 children to keep her busy in their suburban life in Wolvney. A life that she loves. Until the shock arrival of her best friend from university days, Abigail Curtiz, makes her wonder if she is missing out on something more exciting.  Life changed in an instant back at the start of Melanie's second year at uni when she found herself pregnant after a one night stand.  Her hopes and dreams shattered in a moment of impulsiveness.  Abigail was the first person she confided in after finding out, who didn't judge her actions or question her decision to abandon her studies and keep her baby. So why, after losing touch for many years, is Abi back in her life in glorious technicolour?

I love the contrast in the two women's lifestyles and characters featured in this book.  Adele Parks is an excellent writer of people, the strengths and flaws that we all have.  Her skilled observation of how diverse we all are - yet she never comes across as judgmental.  Melanie is just like the majority of women in today's society; she has a job which she is happy doing which fits in nicely with her family's needs, a day to day routine of domestic chores and multi tasking skills to be proud of as she juggles the demands of three school age children and a working husband.  Abi however is another breed: the successful career woman with seemingly no responsibilities and a glamorous appearance.  Therein lies the problem as Melanie invites Abi to stay in her home, hoping to recreate the nostalgia of their earlier friendship. Abi is going through a messy divorce from her high profile TV producer husband Rob Larson, and Mel feels she owes Abi a place to stay while she sorts herself out.  I did question why Mel felt such a strong debt to her friend when her only action back in the day was to offer a shoulder to cry on in Mel's hour of need - all was to become clear in time but not until Abi and her ulterior motives wreaked havoc in the Harrisons' lives.


The scenarios created by the author are sadly all too believable in our society where well-meaning, good-hearted people are cruelly used by others who have a sense of entitlement in their lives together with a nasty streak of revenge running through them.  There were moments I wanted to give Mel a good shake to get her to open her eyes to what was going on in front of her eyes, and other moments where I wanted to kick Abi out and put her straight back on to the next plane to the States.  Husband Ben was the one who was under no illusions and I think a stronger man would have put his foot down and reclaimed his home from Abi's clutches quite early into her stay but he was too nice, which kind of compounded the issues.

While I suspected where the final destination of the story would be, there were certainly strong plot detours along the way which I hadn't foreseen.   This is a great book for a cold dark evening/weekend when you can settle in and wonder at how life can change so quickly and drastically when just one person decides to make waves. I would have loved to have been able to sit and read this in one sitting, snuggled up with the dog in my nice suburban, boring life with its regular routines.  Maybe sometimes life's better that way, eh?

About The Author:

Adele Parks was born in Teesside, NE England. She studied English Language and Literature, at Leicester University. She published her first novel, Playing Away, in 2000; that year the Evening Standard identified Adele as one of London’s ‘Twenty Faces to Watch.’ Indeed Playing Away was the debut bestseller of 2000.

Prolific, Adele has published nine novels in nine years, including Game Over, Tell Me Something and Love Lies, all nine of her novels have been bestsellers. She’s sold over a million copies of her work in the UK but also sells throughout the world. Two of her novels (Husbands and Still Thinking of You) are currently being developed as movie scripts. Young Wives’ Tales was short listed for the Romantic Novelist Association Award 2008. She has written numerous articles and short stories for many magazines and newspapers and often appears on radio and TV talking about her work.
Since 2006 Adele has been an official spokeswoman for World Book Day and wrote a Quick Read, Happy Families as part of the celebrations of World Book Day, 2008.
Adele has spent her adult life in Italy, Botswana and London, up until two years ago when she moved to Guildford, where she now lives with her husband and son.

Social Media Links:

Website

http://www.adeleparks.com

Twitter

adeleparks

The Winter That Made Us by Kate Field #Book #Review #BlogTour @rararesources @katehaswords

The Winter That Made Us by Kate Field

Published by Accent Press

Publication Date: 20th September 2018

284 pages

Welcome to today's stop on the blog tour for Kate Field's novel The Winter That Made Us. My thanks to Rachel Gilbey for the opportunity to read and review this lovely book which has so much more to it than I expected. 

Book Description:

When Tess finds herself unexpectedly alone and back in Ribblemill, the childhood village she thought she’d escaped, she’s sure she can survive a temporary stay. She’s spent a lifetime making the best of things, hasn’t she?

Determined to throw herself into village life, Tess starts a choir and gathers a team of volunteers to restore the walled garden at Ramblings, the local stately home. Everything could be perfect, if she weren’t sharing a cottage and a cat with a man whose manner is more prickly than the nettles she’s removing…

As winter approaches, Tess finds herself putting down her own roots as fast as she’s pulling them up in the garden. But the ghosts of the past hover close by, and Tess must face them if she’s to discover whether home is where her heart has been all along.

My Review:

There aren't many books which have me reaching for a tissue to wipe my eyes, but this one had me in a very public display of tears at my local library where I had called in to spend a couple of hours relaxing and catching up with my reading.  Tess and Noah's personal journeys will hit you right in your emotional feels, smiling and crying in rapid succession.

Both Tess Bailey and Noah Thornton are born Ribblemillers, however Tess moved away to pursue a high flying career as a solicitor with husband Tim after their fairytale wedding in the local church.  Her circumstances change and she finds herself returning to her childhood home for the time being as she takes a sabbatical from her job. Facts about the silent, brooding Noah are slower to be disclosed but we know something bad happened to him to make him the way he is.  The two of them find themselves thrown together purely by coincidence as they both seek accommodation in the village and are offered the same property. They reluctantly agree to house share and this is where they each start to take a look at themselves and ask whether they are being honest with themselves.

Tess throws herself into as many local activity groups as she can in order to keep busy and when she stumbles across Noah's plan to restore the walled garden at the nearby manor house she gets the whole community involved in helping with the project. Bit by bit the unlikely pair start to peel away the layers of each other's veneer which they have developed in order to deal with the events life has thrown their way, and find that despite being such apparent opposites they actually have more in common than they would ever have imagined. Through heartbreaking events and the introduction of Morag, a delightful little ball of feline fluff, they help each other confront their demons and face up to some harsh home-truths.

I didn't expect there to be so many facets to this story; the book deals with some deeper issues of trauma, loss and grief very tactfully.  Tess's lovely, gentle parents have issues of their own, the consequences of which have had a huge impact on Tess and how she has grown up always striving to be perfect.  Noah's down to earth bluntness and the strength of the support his family have always given him are in total contrast to Tess's cautious approach to life and the collision of the two families makes for an entertaining yet emotional read.

This is probably the book which has surprised me most out of all the books I have read this year. It's not the first to have had me blubbing, but it is the one I least expected to.  That said, it's not a slush-fest; just a nicely written journey of people finding out how to be honest with themselves and each other. We only get one life, and the message here is to go out there and grab it with both hands doing what makes you happy.

Thank you Kate for making me cry! I loved every page.

About the Author:

Kate Field lives in Lancashire with her husband, daughter and cat. Her debut novel, The Magic of Ramblings, won the Romantic Novelists' Association Joan Hessayon Award for new writers.

Kate can be contacted on Twitter @katehaswords or through her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/KateFieldAuthor/.

The Fake Date by Lynda Stacey #Book #Review#BlogTour @rararesources @Lyndastacey @ChocLituk @RubyFiction

The Fake Date by Lynda Stacey

Published by Choc Lit/Ruby Fiction

Publication Date 18th September 2018

412 pages

Genre: Crime, Mystery & Thrillers

My thanks to Rachel Gilbey of @rararesources and the publisher Ruby Fiction for the advance copy of this book, and the invitation to be part of the promotional tour.  All views are unbiased and my own.

Book Description:

Nine hours and eleven minutes …That’s how long it’s been since Ella Hope was beaten to within an inch of life and left for dead.
She lies, unable to move and praying for somebody to find her, as she counts down the minutes and wonders who could have hated her so much to have hurt her so badly.
Was it the man she went on a date with the previous evening, the man linked to the deaths of two other women? Or somebody else, somebody who wants her out of the picture so much they’re willing to kill?
Whoever it is, they will pay. All Ella has to do first is survive …

My Review:

Ella Hope lies beaten and broken in the mud, counting the seconds and minutes to try to make herself focus and stay awake, desperately trying to figure out who had done this to her and why.  Luckily for Ella an early morning dog walker stumbles across her and calls for help.  The chapter ends with the thoughts of her attacker, who admits it's not the first time they have left someone for dead.

The remainder of the book deals with how Ella convalesces and the people who support her through the healing process. Best friend and police officer Sarah is on hand with food and the occasional bottle of fizz on their girls nights in; fence-hopping neighbour Will who is determined to help Ella through the horrors she has suffered and who is beginning to hope they could possibly be more than friends if and when Ella is ready. On the flip side are the people who might not have Ella's best interests at heart.  Gym owner Rick Greaves, who Ella spent the evening with on a date the night she was attacked, who she is convinced is the guilty man yet fiercely denies any involvement. Rick's devious former brother in law Tim who used to have a financial interest in the gym before he needed bailing out and rescuing from financial ruin by Rick. And the socially inept Bobby, the farmer who works the fields opposite Ella's home who appears to take more than a healthy interest in Ella and spooks her on more than one occasion.  With a few other lesser characters drip fed into the mix the cast isn't too big to deal with yet sufficient to give you plenty of options for the perpetrator.

I really enjoyed the writing style in this book and went through the emotions of the healing process with Ella along the way.  The clues are there for the reader to pick up on but they are so subtly mentioned they will have you kicking yourself at the end.  I had 2 possible suspects in my head as the story ticked along - it seemed too easy to jump to the obvious conclusion as Ella had.  There are some great characters in this book, each with their own background story which gives them added depth and personality.  I also liked the fact that misunderstandings between certain members of the cast were dealt with but was a little disappointed at one aspect of the climax of the book as I thought the characters could have helped each other deal with their issues later on (I'm finding it difficult not to give too much away here!).

A great read which had me glued to the sofa for a whole afternoon to find out whodunnit and why.

Purchase Link:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fake-Date-gripping-thriller-that-ebook/dp/B07FM915Q2/

About the Author:

Lynda grew up in the mining village of Bentley, Doncaster, in South Yorkshire and went to both Bentley New Village School, and Don Valley High School.

She is currently the Sales Director of a stationery, office supplies and office furniture company in Doncaster, where she has worked for the past 25 years. Prior to this she’d also been a nurse, a model, an emergency first response instructor and a PADI Scuba Diving Instructor … and yes, she was crazy enough to dive in the sea with sharks, without a cage.

Following a car accident in 2008, Lynda was left with limited mobility in her right arm. Unable to dive or teach anymore, she turned to her love of writing, a hobby she’d followed avidly since being a teenager.

Her own life story, along with varied career choices helps Lynda to create stories of romantic suspense, with challenging and unpredictable plots, along with (as in all romances) very happy endings.

Lynda joined the Romantic Novelist Association in 2014 under the umbrella of the New Writers Scheme and in 2015, her debut novel House of Secrets won the Choc Lit & Whole Story Audiobooks Search for a Star competition.

She lives in a small rural hamlet near Doncaster, with her ‘hero at home husband’, Haydn, whom she’s been happily married to for over 20 years.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lyndastaceyauthor

Twitter: @Lyndastacey 

Website  www.Lyndastacey.co.uk

Follow the tour to find out more:

Friend of The Family by Tasmina Perry #Book #Review @Bookish_Becky #FriendOfTheFamily

Friend of the Family by Tasmina Perry

Published by Headline Review

Publication date 9th August 2018 (kindle edition)

384 pages

Book Description:

She thinks your life is perfect. She thinks you don't deserve it.

Your job
Amy is more than happy to offer the daughter of an old friend work experience at her London magazine. Josie is young and ambitious. She just needs a foot in the door.

Your home
When Josie arrives, she swiftly makes herself indispensable at work and at home. And when childcare falls through before a long-awaited university reunion in Provence, it begins to look as if Josie may be staying longer than Amy had bargained for.

Your husband
In the heat of Provence, Josie's presence starts to unsettle Amy, especially around her husband. As cracks begin to appear in Amy's perfect life, she cannot shake the feeling that the family friend may not be a friend at all...

Don't miss this gripping, addictive read. It will make you think twice about who you invite into your home...

My Review: 

Keep your friends close but your enemies closer; this cliché could rarely be more apt than in this chilling new novel from Tasmina Perry.  

Amy moved away from Bristol when she earned a place at Oxford University, leaving her best friend Karen behind on the council estate where they grew up. Despite occasional letters and visits between the two girls, they eventually lose contact as their lives take different directions and Amy establishes a new group of friends and associates. Suddenly after many years of no contact, Amy gets an invitation from Karen to meet and catch up on the missing years.  Karen has a teenage daughter, Josie - clever, ambitious and looking to get off the council estate and move up in the world.  Before she knows what she is doing Amy has offered Josie the opportunity of work experience at the glossy fashion magazine where she is editor. And there begins the problem...

With a comfortably sized cast of fine-living characters we see just how far removed Amy's life has changed from her grass roots beginnings. With friends with second homes in Provence, her own nanny and regular social/business events at high class venues across the world Amy has an enviable lifestyle; one which Josie is keen to be a part of.  Then the opportunity comes up for Josie to go with the family and their university friends to Provence for a long overdue reunion - she can't believe her luck!  Amy has an unsettling distrust of Josie, something she can't quite pinpoint but feels strongly even before they set off for their holiday in the sun; this feeling only grows during their time away until things come to a head and Amy is forced to confront Josie with her suspicions. 

The author very cleverly uses time switch chapters throughout the book to back up the various theories as to what is going on and why, taking us back to events during the group's university days when Karen was an occasional visitor to their student digs which may or may not have a bearing on the current situation.  The clues are very subtly there yet it is so easy as a reader to jump to the most obvious conclusion. The quality of writing is excellent throughout the book with Amy's insecurities being targeted both in her professional and home lives to really unsettle her on all fronts and make for a gripping and very real feel. I felt myself taking more and more of a dislike to Josie as the story progressed and I was looking for further evidence of her finding ways to take Amy's place in every scene she was mentioned in, so I was quite blind sided by the final reveal of what the real story was all about.  That'll teach me to judge people by their circumstances!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely be looking up Tasmina Perry's back list to add to my shelves - I can't believe I haven't read her work before now.  I have certainly been missing out on some great reads.

My thanks to Becky Hunter at Headline for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. 

About the Author

Tasmina Perry is the Sunday Times bestselling novelist of twelve novels including Daddy's Girls, one of the biggest selling debuts of 2006. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages and have sold over two million copies around the world.
A former lawyer and award-winning magazine journalist, she has edited several national titles including In Style and More. She also writes psychological thrillers under the pseudonym JL Butler. JL Butler's debut thriller Mine has been optioned by Sony Pictures and is in development with Original Film.
She lives in London with her husband, son and too many shoes.

What Falls Between The Cracks by Robert Scragg #Book #Review @robert_scragg @AllisonandBusby

What Falls Between the Cracks by Robert Scragg

Published by Allison & Busby

Publication Date: 20th September 2018 (paperback)

Genre: Crime/Thriller 

320 pages

Book Description:

Did she slip through the cracks, or was she pushed?

When a severed hand is found in an abandoned flat, Detective Jake Porter and his partner Nick Styles are able to DNA match the limb to the owner, Natasha Barclay, who has not been seen in decades. But why has no one been looking for her? It seems that Natasha’s family are the people who can least be trusted.

Delving into the details behind her disappearance and discovering links to another investigation, a tragic family history begins to take on a darker twist. Hampered by a widespread fear of a local heavy, as well as internal politics and possible corruption within the force, Porter and Styles are digging for answers, but will what they find ever see the light of day?

My Review:

Robert Scragg is one of the new authors this year who have me really excited for the work they are yet to put into print.  This debut novel had me completely gripped from the start although I did, in the first few chapters, struggle to get my head around the number of characters and the role they played. 
The excellent pairing of DI Jake Porter and DS Nick Styles have a great line in banter whilst still keeping the utmost respect for each other. I thoroughly enjoyed reading how they worked together to get the results, which was a great contrast for other characters in the book.

The discovery of a severed hand in a freezer in a seemingly deserted apartment  in North East London leads the duo to question local high achieving business man Alexander Locke who just happens to be married to the step mother of the owner of the hand.  The answers they seek regarding missing Natasha Barclay are not forthcoming, as is any other information or any emotion regarding the fact that Natasha hasn't been seen for over 30 years. Something just doesn't add up, and the crime fighting duo are soon led into the murky underworld of local drug dealers with the cross over of facts in this case with investigations being made by their drug squad colleagues. I couldn't work out who knew what or whether those being investigated were actually involved or just under pressure from Locke and his associates. Furthermore, the discovery of a possible internal leak of information to the criminals has Porter & Styles wondering who they can trust on the inside - not helped by their discovery of a photo of one of the top brass at a charity event with Locke.  The possibility there is a corrupt officer on his team has Porter more determined than ever to make arrests.  What actually transpires shocks everyone on the team and my pulse was racing as the closing chapters raced to an action packed climax.

The plotting of this novel and the manner in which the facts are revealed are incredibly well written and it is hard to believe this author has not had other work published before.  I will certainly be recommending Robert Scragg as an exciting new voice in the crime genre. 

About the Author:

Robert Scragg had a random mix of jobs before taking the dive into crime writing; he's been a bookseller, pizza deliverer, Karate instructor and Football coach. He lives in Tyne & Wear, is a founding member of the North East Noir crime writers group and is currently writing the second Porter and Styles novel. For a full list of upcoming events and more info about Robert and his books, visit www.robertscragg.com

Summer at Hollyhock House by Cathy Bussey #Book #Review @SapereBooks

Summer at Hollyhock House by Cathy Bussy

Published by Sapere Books

Publication Date: 30 July 2018

332 pages

My thanks to Caoimhe O'Brien at Sapere Books for the invitation to read an advance copy of this fun rom com and be part of the promotional blog tour.
  

Book Description:

An uplifting romantic comedy from a new voice in women’s fiction! Perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley, Debbie Johnson, Jenny Colgan and Holly Martin.

One long summer changed Faith forever…

Faith Coombes should have been over the moon when her long-term boyfriend proposed to her. But instead, she broke up with him. Rob was safe, reliable, nice and … boring. Nothing like the only person who had ever broken her heart…

Unable to afford the rent on another flat and desperate for a new start, Faith takes the plunge and moves back to the village she grew up in, returning to the house that holds so many memories for her.

Hollyhock House, the family home of her best-friend Minel, also belongs to the boy who meant so much to her all those years ago…

As Faith falls back in love with the sprawling surroundings at Hollyhock she also finds herself falling all over again for the only person who has truly hurt her.

Can Faith come to terms with her past? Did she make the wrong decision in breaking up with Rob?

Or does her heart really lie at Hollyhock House?

Summer at Hollyhock House is a charming romantic comedy full of lost loves, missed opportunities and second chances. This summer read, perfect for the holidays, will have you laughing-out-loud in parts, close to tears in others, and above all, championing Faith as she searches for what is most important to her. 

My Review:

Faith and Rob have been together for a few years now, and the natural progression for their relationship in Rob's mind is to propose...which really isn't what Faith had in mind.  Cue a huge change in circumstances for them both which results in Faith moving back home to her parents' house with an impending sense of gloom as she has to face up to people and places from her teenage years which she has managed to avoid for some 9 years.

We meet Faith's school friends Minel and Sara, their friendship as close as it was all those years ago - but it's not the girls who Faith has the problem with, it's Min's brother Rik who she is dreading facing. She and Rik have unfinished business and by the reaction she gets from Rik when she arrives back at Hollyhocks it seems she isn't the only one struggling with left over emotions from back in the day.  With a scorcher of a summer to spend in close proximity to him, and following a discussion with the girls which causes Faith to rethink all she thought she knew about the last time she saw Rik, Faith decides to bite the bullet and try to lay some ghosts to rest with a full and frank discussion with the young man who is causing her so many sleepless nights.

Misunderstandings and stubborn pride are both to blame in the couple's story, which the author has related with perfect pacing, with flash back chapters dotted in amongst the present day's events to keep everything neat and tidy in the reader's mind.  The introduction of Rik's beautiful new girlfriend adds to the confusion as to what his feelings are towards Faith, leaving her tying herself in knots as to whether they can even just be friends let alone anything else her heart had in mind.

Long bike rides in the sunshine, a summer-long project with a well established group of friends and time to contemplate what she wants out of life leads Faith to be brave in both her personal and professional life in the long term - and she gets her very own adorable puppy into the bargain!

I loved this easy to read tale of summer romance and felt a great sense of contentment by the end of the book.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting a good summer read.

About the Author:

Cathy is an author, journalist and hopeless romantic who wrote her first book at the tender age of six. Entitled Tarka the Otter, it was a shameless rip-off of the Henry Williamson classic of the same name, and the manuscript was lost after she sent it to her pen-pal and never heard a jot from her since.
Fortunately reception to her writing became more favourable and she spent ten years working for a range of newspapers and magazines covering everything from general elections and celebrity scandals to cats stuck up trees and village fetes. She has been freelance since 2011 and written for The Telegraph, Red Online, Total Women’s Cycling and other lifestyle and cycling publications and websites.
She is the author of three non-fiction books and her debut and thankfully non-plagiarised novel Summer at Hollyhock House will be published by Sapere books this year.
Cathy lives on the leafy London/Surrey border with her husband, two children and a dog with only two facial expressions, hungry and guilty. Her hobbies include mountain biking, photography, wandering around outside getting lost, fantasising about getting her garden under control, reading, and looking at pretty things on Instagram. You can find her there @cathybussey.

Social Media Links:

Website

http://www.cathybussey.com

Twitter

CathyBussey