Category: book review

3*, blog tours, book review, giveaway, non-fiction

#BlogTour #BookReview A Pawlife Guide Dog Care At Home by Gina Harding. @rararesources @pawlifeau #dog #giveaway

if only I could read faster

PawLife Guide Dog Care at Home Full Tour Banner

As a confirmed dog lover I was keen to read Dog Care At Home by Gina Harding and be part of the blog tour.

My Review:

I was keen to read The PawLife Guide: Dog Care at Home by Gina Harding. It’s a short guide to all things dog written by an Australian dog blogger who has now decided to put her tips into a book.

The book covers everything from choosing a puppy through to saying goodbye to your older pet, first aid to feeding and training to toileting.

Overall I thought that it is a decent guide for a new dog owner. I’ve had dogs for most of my adult life so the book is clearly not aimed at me, but the book is quite simplistic and has some rather huge omissions.

I was surprised that there was no mention of puppy farms when talking about getting a puppy, no advice about how to avoid them and also nothing about making sure that the parents had been health tested for whatever is applicable for that breed. I would say that including that is very important. I found it interesting too that there was no mention of crate training your puppy, given that crate training is very popular around the world I was surprised that it wasn’t discussed. But I suspect that it wasn’t included because Gina herself hadn’t used one with her dog, the book did seem to be a guide to what Gina does with little discussion about other options which was a shame.

But I still think that this is a great book for a new dog owner, or perhaps for someone considering getting a dog. It is easy to read and will give lots of things to think about, getting a dog is a huge commitment and is not something to be taken on lightly and it is a good thing to do as much research as you can before. Although set in Australia there aren’t that many Australia only references which is good. Gina clearly has a lot of knowledge when it comes to dogs and she’s written a great guide that I’m sure all of us will learn something from, I learnt more about dog CPR than I knew before which is great!

Thank you to Gina Harding for a copy of The PawLife Guide: Dog Care at Home, I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.

Blurb:

Pawlife - gharding-pawlife-guide-cover-d1The PawLife Guide: Dog Care at Home

DOG CARE AT HOME gives you the information you need to have a happy and healthy dog no matter what your dog’s current stage in life, in just 10 minutes a day. Over 200 hours of research including interviews with veterinarians and fellow dog owners around the world,

Dog Care at Home is the all-in-one book to have at home, with six veterinarians that have contributed to this ultimate guide, rest assured you are in reliable hands.

Inside you will discover:

– Choosing the right breed
– The basic steps of raising a puppy
– What vaccinations are for and why your dog needs them
– Travelling with your dog
– How to perform CPR on your dog
– Health and hygiene including dental care
– Choosing the right veterinarian
– When it’s time to say goodbye
– And much more!

PawLife’s Dog Care at Home is the answer for all your dog parenting needs in one comprehensive guide that ensures your dog lives a long, healthy and happy life.

Purchase from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dog-Care-Home-Ultimate-Healthy-ebook/dp/B07HGR9ZNF

Author Bio

pawlife-gina-harley-author-photoGina is an enthusiastic dog lover, so much so that she founded her own dog blog business called PawLife, which has been awarded top 10 Australian Dog Blog. This wouldn’t be possible without her best friend Harley, who is a toy poodle mix. They are continually going on new adventures, testing out new squeaky toys.

Gina recently discovered her writing passion and wanted to create the ultimate guidebook that would support, educate and inspire pet parents and yet to be pet parents around the world. Gina and Harley are originally from Australia, where the weather is always beautiful. This is Gina’s first book and looks forward to writing many more to help fellow pet-parents; with her fur-baby Harley by her side.

Social Media Links – 

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pawlifeau/

Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com.au/PawLifeAU/

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/pawlifeau/

Website- http://pawlife.com.au/

Giveaway – Win a 12 Piece Dog Toy Starter Box from Zenify (Open Internationally)

pawlife-giveaway-V1

If you want to be in with a chance of winning this brilliant prize then click here to enter. Good luck!!!

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box 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 I reserve 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 I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

4*, blog tours, book review, debut author

#BlogTour #BookReview The Tattoo Thief by Alison Belsham. #TheTattooThief #Review @AlisonBelsham @TrapezeBooks @Tr4cyF3nt0n

if only I could read faster

Tattoo-Thief-Blog-tour.jpg

I’m delighted to be on the blog tour for The Tattoo Thief by Alison Belsham and to be sharing my review with you!

My Review:

It is hard to believe that The Tattoo Thief is Alison Belsham’s first crime book, it is a very impressive debut from an author who has previously written screenplays. I found that I was immediately drawn into the book and the characters and the gruesome murders.

And do be warned that this book is gruesome and doesn’t hold back in describing the murders and crime scenes. This doesn’t bother me but I’m sure that there are some more sensitive readers who might struggle with it.

I really loved the policeman who was trying to solve his first case of being in charge, Francis was a great character and I loved a lot about him. He is the first to admit that he knows nothing about tattoos and so has to learn quickly, lucky for him Marni, a local tattoo artist, is there to help guide him. I was slightly concerned that the book might go for the stereotypical route when portraying the tattoo community in Brighton, but that was definitely not the case here.

I really did love reading this book, I love a book that sucks me in and makes me guess who might have done it. The book is fast paced and well written, the authors research is evident, giving the book a sense of realism. If you love your crime thrillers then you’re sure to love The Tattoo Thief.

Thank you to Trapeze Books for a copy of The Tattoo Thief by Alison Belsham. I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.

Blurb:

tattoothiefA policeman on his first murder case
A tattoo artist with a deadly secret
And a twisted serial killer sharpening his blades to kill again…

When Brighton tattoo artist Marni Mullins discovers a flayed body, newly-promoted DI Francis Sullivan needs her help. There’s a serial killer at large, slicing tattoos from his victims’ bodies while they’re still alive. Marni knows the tattooing world like the back of her hand, but has her own reasons to distrust the police. So when she identifies the killer’s next target, will she tell Sullivan or go after the Tattoo Thief alone?

About The Author:

alisonbelshamauthorAlison Belsham initially started writing with the ambition of becoming a screenwriter-and in 2000 was commended for her visual storytelling in the Orange Prize for Screenwriting. In 2001 she was shortlisted in a BBC Drama Writer competition. Life and children intervened but, switching to fiction, in 2009 her novel Domino was selected for the prestigious Adventures in Fiction mentoring scheme. In 2016 she pitched her first crime novel, The Tattoo Thief, at the Pitch Perfect event at the Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival and was judged the winner. After signing with agent Jenny Brown, The Tattoo Thief was bought by Trapeze books and published in May, 2018.

 

The Tattoo Thief by Alison Belsham is out now in ebook and paperback and is available from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

4.5*, book review

#BookReview Down To The Woods by M.J. Arlidge. #DownToTheWoods @mjarlidge @MichaelJBooks #HelenGrace #NewForest #crimefiction

if only I could read faster
downtothewoods
Down To The Woods by M.J. Arlidge.

I don’t know about you but when I heard that there was a new Helen Grace book coming I got very excited and it was immediately bumped up to the top of my tbr pile!

My Review:

Finally!! A new Helen Grace book is out. It feels a long time since May 2017 when the seventh book in the series was released so I was really excited to read Down To The Woods. Instead of concentrating on his Grace series, author MJ Arlidge has been busy doing other things, writing a book that doesn’t feature Grace that’s set in America for one. But thankfully he hadn’t forgotten Helen Grace and book eight has finally arrived.

I have to admit that at first I wasn’t sure about Down To The Woods, Grace is a character that I love and thoroughly enjoy catching up with when a new book is released, but I guess with the longer break it took me a little bit longer than normal to get back into the book and the character, and especially the smaller characters who aren’t quite as memorable.

But it didn’t take long before I was sucked into the story which was shockingly gruesome. Although I remain unconvinced that Arlidge can top the shock factor of the deaths in Eeeny Meeny (the first book in the Helen Grace series), he gives it a damn good try in Down To The Woods.

Grace herself seemed a little bit different in this book and I came to the conclusion that after the recent traumatic events that she’d been through Helen had grown up. She finally seemed to stop running and it even seemed that she may finally start to let people into her world and her life. Hurrah! I’m very pleased for her.

By the end of the book I didn’t want it to end, Arlidge has once again given us a twisted tale that terrifies and puts Grace and her team through their paces. For those of you who are new to Helen Grace then I strongly suggest that you start at the beginning. I’m sure that you could read Down To The Woods as a standalone, but it would be a lot better if you have read the previous books, and if you didn’t read them then you’d be missing out on some brilliant stories.

Many series lose their way around about now, but there’s no sign of that with Down To The Woods. I just hope that Arlidge doesn’t find too much else to occupy himself with so that there isn’t too long a way for book nine!

Thank you to the publishers, Michael Joseph at Penguin UK for a copy of Down To The Woods by M.J. Arlidge. I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.

Blurb:

THE EIGHTH DI HELEN GRACE THRILLER BY BESTSELLING AUTHOR M. J. ARLIDGE

There is a sickness in the forest. First, it was the wild horses. Now it’s innocent men and women, hunted down and murdered by a faceless figure. Lost in the darkness, they try to flee, they try to hide. In desperation, they call out for help. But there is no-one to hear their cries here…

DI Helen Grace must face down a new nightmare. The arrow-ridden victims hang from the New Forest’s ancient oaks, like pieces of strange fruit. Why are helpless holidaymakers being targeted in peak camping season? And what do their murders signify? Is a psychopath stalking the forest? Is there an occult element to the killings? Could the murders even be an offering to the Forest itself? Helen must walk into the darkness to discover the truth behind her most challenging, most macabre case yet.

About The Author:

MJarlidge

M. J. Arlidge has worked in television for the last fifteen years, specializing in high-end drama production, including the prime-time crime serials Torn, The Little House and Silent Witness. Arlidge also pilots original crime series for both UK and US networks. In 2015 his audio exclusive Six Degrees of Assassination was a Number One bestseller. His first thriller, Eeny Meeny, was the UK’s bestselling crime debut of 2014. It was followed by the bestselling Pop Goes the Weasel, The Doll’s House, Liar Liar, Little Boy Blue, Hide and Seek, and Love Me Not.

Down To The Woods by M.J. Arlidge is out now and available from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

You can read a Q&A that I did with M. J. Arlidge here where you will also find links to my reviews of some of the previous Helen Grace books.

4*, blog tours, book review, debut author

#BlogTour #BookReview Only In Whispers by Jaqueline Grima. @GrimaJgrima @BooksManatee

if only I could read faster

whispersblogtour

My second blog tour today is Only In Whispers by Jacqueline Grima.

My Review:

Ok, so first off I have to admit that I struggled with this book at first. I found it slow to get into and the main character was quite annoying. I decided to check out some reviews on Goodreads (I normally don’t read reviews until after I’ve finished a book) and they were all four and five stars. Clearly I was missing something. So I tried to keep going and in the end decided to stop reading.

So why am I writing a review for the book? Well a funny thing happened. I made the decision to stop reading the book but almost immediately something in me wanted to keep going, I clearly wasn’t ready to give up yet. And once I’d made that decision I found that I got right into the story and quickly devoured the rest of the book.

The whole storyline intrigued me, you know that you were taken into care as a child and stayed with your aunt for over a year because your mum was unwell. That’s not a secret, you think that you know what happened and why. Until things start coming to you that don’t fit with the story that you have been told.

One of the things that frustrated me about this book was that the main character, Annie, seemed to suddenly start remembering things and these new memories came thick and fast. It seemed that she’d never thought about any of it before but suddenly bam, everything that she was doing seemed to trigger some sort of memory. It just didn’t feel natural.

Some of it was also quite predictable but that didn’t seem to matter. The story evolved and I enjoyed the read and was surprised that after I finished reading it I kept thinking about the characters and story. That’s a sure sign of a good read to me. The storyline was clever and different and it’s an impressive debut novel.

Thank you to Manatee Books for a copy of Only In Whispers by Jaqueline Grima. I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.

Blurb:

whispersbookA forgotten past
An uncertain future
A family hiding from the truth
When their mother is hospitalised with depression, Annie and her brother Matthew are fostered by their beloved Aunt Helen. Their family eventually reunited, the siblings begin a new life in Derbyshire with their mother and new stepfather.
Now in her thirties and separated from her husband, Annie is struggling to escape the past and move forward with her son. Haunted by memories of her childhood, she begins to realise that there may have been more to her time in foster care than her mother claims. Why did social services take her and Matthew away? Who can she trust to tell her what really happened?
As Annie finds out more, things take a sinister turn…has the life she’s lived so far been a lie?

About The Author:

DSCF1655Jacqueline Grima has recently completed an MA in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her creative work has appeared in a variety of publications and, in 2014, she was shortlisted for the Luke Bitmead Bursary Award. Only in Whispers is her first novel. Follow Jacqueline on Twitter @GrimaJgrima and read her blog at www.jacquelinegrima.wordpress.com

Only In Whispers by Jaqueline Grima is out now and is available from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

5*, blog tours, book review

#BlogTour #BookReview The Lion Tamer Who Lost by Louise Beech. @LouiseWriter @OrendaBooks #TheLionTamerWhoLost

if only I could read faster

The Lion Tamer Blog Tour Poster Final

I’m really excited to be part of the blog tour for The Lion Tamer Who Lost by Louise Beech. I love Louise’s writing and you can read my reviews for two of her other books, Maria In The Moon and The Mountain in my Shoe both of which are beautifully written.

My Review:

I love Louise Beech, she is a fantastic writer who has a real way with words, managing to throw the reader right into the story and making the characters feel like real people that we know.

I’d heard a lot about The Lion Tamer Who Lost before I read it, and I was very excited to read it. I didn’t know what it was about, that doesn’t matter when you know that the author is Louise Beech, because I firmly believe that whatever she writes will be worth reading.

Readers of my book blog will know that I love to read thrillers and so a book like this is a big change of pace for me, which is something that I can struggle with, thrillers tend to throw the reader right into the middle of the story, the pace is fast, the chapters short. But a book like The Lion Tamer Who Lost shows me how important patience is.

Because once I was into the story I could not stop thinking about it. I really loved the character Ben, and this grew as the story went on. His relationship with Andrew was wonderful, I loved how they related to each other and how happy they made each other. It was beautiful and even thinking about it now as I write this makes me smile.

But we know that something went wrong, because Ben is out in Africa on a lion reserve and is not in contact with Andrew. So what could have gone so wrong on such a strong relationship? When the reader finds out it comes as a shock and I’m sure that my heart broke a little bit for Ben and Andrew, just as it must have done for them.

I really don’t want to give anything more away but if you love books that are beautifully written, that feel so real and that work their way into your heart in such a way that you know that it will never quite be the same again then stop reading this and buy The Lion Tamer Who Lost by Louise Beech. You really won’t regret it.

I received a copy of The Lion Tamer Who Lost by Louise Beech from Orenda Books. I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.

Blurb:

thumbnail_Lion Tamer front cover finalBe careful what you wish for…

Long ago, Andrew made a childhood wish, and kept it in a silver box. When it finally comes true, he wishes it hadn’t…

Long ago, Ben made a promise and he had a dream: to travel to Africa to volunteer at a lion reserve. When he finally makes it, it isn’t for the reasons he imagined…

Ben and Andrew keep meeting in unexpected places, and the intense relationship that develops seems to be guided by fate. Or is it? What if the very thing that draws them together is tainted by past secrets that threaten everything?

About The Author:

thumbnail_Louise BeechLouise Beech is an exceptional literary talent, whose debut novel How To Be Brave was a Guardian Readers’ Choice for 2015. The sequel, The Mountain in My Shoe was shortlisted for Not the Booker Prize. Her third book, Maria in the Moon, was widely reviewed and critically acclaimed. Her short fiction has won the Glass Woman Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award for Prose, and the Aesthetica Creative Works competition, as well as shortlisting for the Bridport Prize twice. Louise lives with her husband and children on the outskirts of Hull, and loves her job as a Front of House Usher at Hull Truck Theatre, where her first play was performed in 2012.

The Lion Tamer Who Lost by Louise Beech is out now and is available from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

4*, blog tours, book review, psychological thriller

#BlogTour #BookReview The Other Couple by Sarah J. Naughton. @TrapezeBooks @sarahjnaughton #honeymoon #TheOtherCouple #book #backablogger

if only I could read faster

Blog-tour-poster

It’s my stop on the blog tour for The Other Couple by Sarah J. Naughton. Thank you to Tracy Fenton for asking me to be part of the blog tour. I’m delighted to share my review with you!

My Review:

Early on in this book I got a bit worried, I was concerned that it was all going to be a little bit obvious. There have been other books recently set on small, exclusive islands where the dream holiday doesn’t quite go to plan (if you like that sort of thing try The Honeymoon by Tina Seskis or 37 Hours by J.F. Kirwan), and I hoped that this wasn’t going to be similar.

Thankfully it isn’t. The main character, Asha, is very different to what you would expect. She’s a woman who came from an estate with little money who married Ollie, an incredibly rich business man with more than a few enemies. They head to Vietnam for their dream holiday, or at least it is what Ollie thinks is Asha’s dream holiday, but we know from the start that all doesn’t end well as the book starts with Asha in the hospital, unable to remember what happened and how she got there.

What I liked about The Other Couple was that it really highlighted how ostentatious luxury resorts are, but also how fake it all is. The staff who are trained to treat the guests as royalty but who get paid very little, who lose their bonuses because a guest decided that they didn’t like something that the staff did. Or the guests who pretend to be something that they aren’t, with many motives for doing so. All the guests played a part in the story and they were all hiding something. It was cleverly done. The only thing that grated on me was Asha’s obsession with sex!

While The Other Couple isn’t an especially well written book it is one that I really enjoyed reading. I got into the story and wanted to know what was going to happen. It was an easy read and didn’t take me long to finish and work out what actually happened on what was meant to be a dream honeymoon.

I received a copy of The Other Couple by Sarah J Naughton from Trapeze via Netgalley. I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.

Blurb:

51btwEzBYTLIt was meant to be the perfect honeymoon.

A five-star resort in paradise.

White sands, a private villa and world-class cuisine.

A chance for newlyweds Asha and Ollie Graveney to recover from a recent tragedy, and enjoy the holiday of their dreams.

Except someone has other plans…

And paradise has turned into a nightmare.

 

About The Author:

sarahnaughton
Sarah J Naughton. Taken from her website.

Sarah worked as an advertising copywriter for ten years before her first book was published in 2013.  A supernatural thriller for teens, The Hanged Man Rises (Simon and Schuster) was shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards.  A second thriller for teens, The Blood List (Simon and Schuster) came out in 2014.  Her first adult thriller, Tattletale (Trapeze) is due out in March 2017.

Sarah lives in London with her husband and two sons.

Social Media:
Twitter: @sarahjnaughton
Facebook: sarahjnaughtonauthor
Instagram: @sarah.naughton

The Other Couple by Sarah J Naughton is out now and is available from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

4*, blog tours, book review, Children's books

#BlogTour #BookReview The Beedog by Addie Broussard @rararesources @TwoUmbrellasPls #KidsBook #insects #wasp #TheBeedog

if only I could read faster

beedog-banner-tour-stops-02

My Review:

I have to admit that I wasn’t sure what The Beedog was going to be like, I knew that it is a book aimed at 4-8 year olds and that it encourages science and nature learning, yet it appeared to be about a funny bee that lived on a beach.

I found the book slightly confusing at first, I thought that it must have been translated into English but as the author is from the United States I don’t know whether that is the case. But it did read a bit like that.

It’s set in Portugal and we follow Manny and Cora as they go to the beach to build a sandcastle, but while they are there they notice a curious insect. I know quite a lot about nature but I had never heard of the sand wasp, it was a totally new one for me and so I learnt something as well as my children which is great. I love that there’s information about the insect and links to a website with more information about them. Very clever to tell a story about an insect that I expect most people have never heard of.

It’s a bit unfortunate that the reading of this book came only a few days after my daughter was stung by a wasp and had an allergic reaction, so she was put off the story because of that! But if it hadn’t been for that I think that it would have gone down really well with my 7 year olds, although it is quite picture book like which might put off some of the older readers. Talking of pictures, I really loved the illustrations, they’re bright and clear and, most importantly, fun.

Overall, The Beedog is a fun book for younger children. We enjoyed looking at it but I think that it would be best for children up to the age of six. It is an educational book that will make the child excited about a strange insect and hopefully they will want to learn more about it. A clever idea.

I received a copy of The Beedog by Addie Broussard to review, I was under no obligation to review and all thoughts are my own.

Blurb:

abroussard-beedog-cover-print-v2The Beedog: An Insect Discovery in Portugal

An award-winning picture book that will get little ones excited about science.

While building a unique sandcastle, Cora and Manny spot a rather curious insect.
Soon, the little scientists keep a watchful eye on the insect’s movements, while learning about the natural environment along the way.

A great book for STEM education and home-school projects or just curious little ones who love science. Book extras include fun, printable activities related to science learning and research.

About the Author:

twoumbrellas-addie-profile-02 Addie is an avid traveler, and once went on a solo journey to fifteen countries in one year. When she encounters something unique, she writes about it. Her first published picture book, The Beedog, is about a curious insect that she found in southern Portugal.

Addie began her writing journey when she was just nine years old, with a book called Doggienauts. That book has been updated and is set for publication in 2018. Addie is originally from the United States and is currently a full-time traveler. Home is where her suitcase is.

Illustrator Bio, Joyeeta Neogi

Joyeeta is a children’s book illustrator who has worked with international authors and publishers. Her engagement with worldwide clients and multicultural themes has allowed her to create captivating original animal and child characters. Her art captures the expressions, movements and vibrancy of life within simple compositions to bring the author’s story to life. In her free time, Joyeeta is busy with painting and music. She loves to paint in oil and acrylic, and has also developed a passion for watercolor.

Social Media Links –

https://www.pinterest.com.mx/twoumbrellas0254/pins/

https://www.instagram.com/twoumbrellasplease/

https://twitter.com/TwoUmbrellasPls   

https://www.facebook.com/TwoUmbrellasPlease

Book resources at https://twoumbrellasplease.com

You can buy The Beedog from Amazon US and Amazon UK

4.5*, blog tours, book review

#BlogTour #BookReview Overkill by Vanda Symon. #overkill @OrendaBooks @vandasymon #NewZealandNoir

if only I could read faster

Overkill Blog Tour Poster

Ok, so when I was asked to be on the blog tour for Overkill I pretty much bit Anne Cater’s arm off because when I heard that Orenda Books had signed Vanda Symon I was desperate to read it. Why you wonder? Well, I used to live in New Zealand and I miss the place a lot, a big part of me would love to move back, but for now I make do with being slightly obsessed with all things New Zealandy so the chance to read one of NZ’s top crime authors was something that I wasn’t going to miss! But with such high hopes did the book disappoint?

My Review:

I was so excited to read Overkill by Vanda Symon’s one of New Zealand’s top crime authors, although slightly concerned that my insanely high hopes would mean that I would hate it.

Thankfully I didn’t need to worry about that as from the first to the last page I enjoyed reading Overkill. I loved the small town setting, where everyone knows everyone and how claustrophobic it can feel.

I was surprised to learn how long ago Overkill was written, but it has been updated and so it feels very current, you really wouldn’t know that it was written more than a year or so ago.

The main character, Sam, is a really normal person which made her easy to relate to. The crime that Sam is trying to solve is clever, I love how we know more than she does about it, apart from who had actually done it, but it made reading how she worked it all out enjoyable and somehow satisfying. I was definitely routing for Sam.

There is much to like about Overkill, the pacy read that keeps the reader hooked from the start, the varied characters, Sam’s great relationship with her flatmate and the desire to see justice for the poor woman killed in the most awful way at the start of the book.

I liked the ending too, we know that there is more to come from Sam but we also know that things will be changing. I, for one, am very excited to see what’s next.

Thank you to Orenda Books for a copy of Overkill by Vanda Symon, I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.

Blurb:

Overkill Cover

Sam Shephard, a young sole-charge police constable in Mataura, is the main character in a new series of crime novels set in New Zealand. When a young mother in the town is brutally murdered (it seems to be a professional job), Sam is at the heart of the police hunt to find the killer. But then Sam’s past relationship with the dead woman’s husband is revealed. Sam is stood down from the case and is now a prime murder suspect. Frustrated, Sam loses her cool. She can’t stop herself making murder inquiries and gets into serious trouble with her police superiors. But then the young constable stumbles onto something. The murdered woman was working as a journalist and had uncovered a local scandal. She’d been killed to keep her quiet. When Sam enters this world she’s in real physical danger, until at last a conspiracy is uncovered and the killer revealed. Disillusioned, Sam prepares to leave town. What will she do next?

About the Author:

vandasymon
Vanda Symon, taken from her website.

Vanda’s first novel Overkill, was written while juggling the demands of a 6 month old baby and a two year old. She suspects the prologue to Overkill was written in a state of sleep deprivation induced paranoia brought about by middle of the night feeds and imagining every awful thing that could possibly happen to her family. None of them ever did. Reading that prologue still makes her cry.

A little time has elapsed and the six-month old and two-year old are now teenagers. As well as trying to raise two wonderful human beings, she has added three more Detective Sam Shephard novels to the series and written the stand alone psychological thriller The Faceless.

As well as being a crime writer, she hosts a monthly radio show on Dunedin’s Otago Access Radio called Write On, where she interviews local writers, and catches the odd international super-star if they’re in town.

And just to prove that she is a tiger for punishment, she has recently completed a PhD at the University of Otago looking at the communication of science through crime fiction – the perfect subject for a science loving crime writer. She has an undergraduate degree in Pharmacy and enjoyed a career as a community pharmacist and palliative care pharmacist before concentrating on her writing career.

Vanda has been involved with the New Zealand Society of Authors for many years, having been chair of the Otago Southland Branch. She is currently the Otago Southland regional delegate on the NZSA Board. Vanda was also the Chair of Copyright Licensing New Zealand.

When she isn’t writing, Vanda can be found digging around in her garden in Dunedin, or on the business end of a fencing foil. She has fenced since high school and still competes in national and international competitions. As well as competing she coaches, and because she likes to get involved, boots and all, is the president of Fencing South and on the board of Fencing New Zealand.

Vanda is a founding member of the Dunedin Crime Writers Association, whose raison d’etre is for its members to drink beer or wine and talk crime writing at their favourite pub.

Overkill by Vanda Symon is out now in ebook and available from Amazon UK and Amazon US. It will be released in paperback on 6th September 2018.

4*, book review

#BookReview The Summer Of Impossible Things by Rowan Coleman. @rowancoleman @EburyPublishing #TheSummerOfImpossibleThings

if only I could read faster
thesummerofimpossiblethings
The Summer Of Impossible Things by Rowan Coleman.

 

My Review:

I have to admit that I read this book quite a while ago but never quite got round to writing the review. I think perhaps it was because everyone seemed to be raving about the book, and while I enjoyed reading it, I wouldn’t rave about it.

I don’t normally read books that could be classed as a romance, or about time travel (although I did love the time travellers wife)  so this book was definitely going to be a bit different, and it certainly was.

There was so much that I loved about this book, the characters were great, the two sisters relationship was great and I really liked Luna, the main character. While I found the whole time travel thing a bit hard to get my head around, and the dark world that Luna found herself in when she travelled back in time was uncomfortable reading at times. But the story was clever, unexpected and emotional.

This is the first Rowan Coleman book that I’ve read but it won’t be the last, she clearly has a great mind for storytelling.

Thank you to the publisher Ebury Press for a copy of The Summer Of Impossible Things by Rowan Coleman via Netgalley. I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.

Blurb:

If you could change the past, would you?

Thirty years ago, something terrible happened to Luna’s mother. Something she’s only prepared to reveal after her death.

Now Luna and her sister have a chance to go back to their mother’s birthplace and settle her affairs. But in Brooklyn they find more questions than answers, until something impossible – magical – happens to Luna, and she meets her mother as a young woman back in the summer of 1977.

At first Luna’s thinks she’s going crazy, but if she can truly travel back in time, she can change things. But in doing anything – everything – to save her mother’s life, will she have to sacrifice her own?

About The Author:

rowancoleman
Rowan Coleman. Taken from her  website

Rowan Coleman lives with her husband, and five children in a very full house in Hertfordshire. She juggles writing novels with raising her family which includes a very lively set of toddler twins whose main hobby is going in the opposite directions. When she gets the chance, Rowan enjoys sleeping, sitting and loves watching films; she is also attempting to learn how to bake.

Rowan would like to live every day as if she were starring in a musical, although her daughter no longer allows her to sing in public. Despite being dyslexic, Rowan loves writing, and The Memory Book is her eleventh novel, which was chosen as a Richard and Judy bookclub selection in 2014. Others include The Accidental Mother, Lessons in Laughing Out Loud and the award-winning Dearest Rose, a novel which lead Rowan to become an active supporter of domestic abuse charity Refuge, donating 100% of royalties from the ebook publication of her novella, Woman Walks Into a Bar, to the charity.

Rowan does not have time for ironing.

The Summer of Impossible Things by Rowan Coleman is out now and available from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

4*, blog tours, book review

#BlogTour #BookReview One Little Lie by Sam Carrington. @Sabah_K @AvonBooksUK @sam_carrington1 #OneLittleLie #book

if only I could read faster

One Little Lie Blog Tour

My Review:

One Little Lie is told to us by a number of characters, quite a few characters, with different chapters told by different characters. I like this method of storytelling but sometimes it makes the book a bit disjointed and confusing.

I’m not great with names and so sometimes I struggle when there are too many character names as I can’t remember who they all are and so it takes the first part of each chapter to remind me who is talking and what they’re doing.

One Little Lie has many narrators, I would say too many but each of them play an important part to the story and I couldn’t imagine any of them being left out. Some have more to say than others, but all are part of the puzzle.

I have to admit that I have never really given much thought to what the parents of a murderer must feel, I’ve fleetingly thought of it, especially when there have been mass school shootings in America, but it isn’t something that I tend to dwell on. But this book made me think about it.

I know when there are murders many people say that we should talk about the victim and not the murderer, and I definitely agree with that, but how would it feel to be the victims mother, your son murdered in a brutal and painful way, but all the focus is on the boy who did it and his parents? Your son seems to be forgotten but then that mother wants to make amends for what her son did and asks for forgiveness.

One Little Lie is a twisty read, what you think is happening might not be what is really happening, and are people who they seem? I think that the story is a clever one, there’s lots to like and the pace is fast with short chapters, but something was missing with it, somehow it all didn’t quite fit. I enjoyed reading, I wanted to finish it so that I could find out how it was all going to end and that is a sure sign of a decent read. But this book was so very nearly brilliant, and it’s a shame that it didn’t quite get there. But it so nearly did.

Thank you to Avon Books for a copy of One Little Lie by Sam Carrington. I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.

Blurb:

onelittlelie‘My name is Alice. And my son is a murderer.’

Deborah’s son was killed four years ago. Alice’s son is in prison for committing that crime.

Deborah would give anything to have her boy back, and Alice would do anything to right her son’s wrongs.

Driven by guilt and the need for redemption, Alice has started a support group for parents with troubled children. But as the network begins to grow, she soon finds out just how easy it is for one little lie to spiral out of control…

They call it mother’s intuition, but can you ever really know your own child?

A twisty and unnerving story about the price of motherhood and the unthinkable things we do to protect our children. Perfect for fans of Cara Hunter and Laura Marshall.

‘Sam Carrington has done it again. One Little Lie is a twisty, gripping read that deserves to fly. I loved it.’ Cass Green, bestselling author of In a Cottage In a Wood

About The Author:

samcarringtonSam Carrington lives in Devon with her husband and three children. She worked for the NHS for 15 years, during which time she qualified as a nurse. Following the completion of a Psychology degree she went to work for the prison service as an Offending Behaviour Programme Facilitator. Her experiences within this field inspired her writing. She left the service to spend time with her family and to follow her dream of being a novelist. SAVING SOPHIE was her debut psychological thriller novel and became a #1 ebook bestseller, her second, BAD SISTER is out now. ONE LITTLE LIE follows in July 2018 (ebook) September (paperback).

One Little Lie by Sam Carrington is out now and available from Amazon UK and Amazon US.