Happy New Year everyone! We had a really exciting Christmas as our little boy Ethan decided he wasn’t going to wait until the planned c section on the 28th and came at two am on the 23rd.  We are so happy that he has arrived safe and well but as can be expected blogging has taken a back seat lately! I am aware I have a few giveaways to draw and I promise to do them very soon, I am sorry for the delay.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all their support during my first year of blogging.  I have been bowled over with the generosity and support I have received.  Thank you to all the bloggers for accepting me into your community and for all the support and advice you’ve given me.  Thank you to all the publishers and authors for sending me copies of your books and accepting my Netgalley requests.  I have read some truly fantastic books this year.

Here’s to more bookish fun, friendship and great books in 2018.  Happy New Year!

I’m excited to finally be able to bring you this Q&A with K.S Hunter.  Due to moving and then being totally let down by our internet provider I haven’t had any internet for nearly a month which has meant I haven’t been able to post some of my scheduled blog posts.  Thank you so much to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for being so patient and understanding with me during this frustrating time.

Just One Time is now available in paperback and ebook here.

The ebook is currently only £1 but only for a limited time! Before I get to the Q&A here is a little bit about the book.

Book Blurb:

The first novel by K.S. Hunter, the alter ego of an international bestselling author, whose identity will remain a secret. Desire can have dire consequences Two years ago, David Madden made a mistake that almost cost him his marriage. His wife, Alison, gave him another chance, but she has not forgotten, nor has she forgiven. She is irresistible Then David meets the alluring Nina at a theatre in London. When he loses his phone in the dark, she helps him find it, and by giving her his number he unwittingly invites her into his life. What David initially views as an innocent flirt turns into a dangerous game of deception. His increasingly suspicious wife thinks something is up, and each lie he tells pushes them further apart. She is insatiable Nina pursues David relentlessly, following him to New York where she gives him an ultimatum: sleep with her, just one time, and then she’ll get out of his life forever; or she’ll ruin everything he holds dear. She is unstoppable Of course, once won’t be enough for Nina, and what David hoped would be the end is merely the beginning. A modern-day Fatal Attraction, Just One Time is a steamy psychological thriller that will have you hooked from the first page and holding your breath until its shocking conclusion. Warning: content that will shock.

Exclusive Q&A with K.S Hunter:

1. What exactly is a steamy psychological thriller?

I’m known for writing crime fiction and I’ve tended to lean towards the psychological thriller side of the genre. Like everyone else, I can see how popular erotic fiction is at the moment, so I wondered what I could produce if I tried to blend the two. I haven’t read much erotic fiction myself, but in my research I was surprised to learn just how explicit the sex scenes were – and how frequent. I didn’t want to write something where sex was at the forefront of the story, so what I’ve produced is a psychological thriller about relationships that includes some graphic – and, at the end, shocking – sex, but I wouldn’t call it erotica. So I’ve labelled it a steamy psychological thriller, which I think best sums it up.

2. What were your favourite aspects of the book to write about?

Writing the sex scenes was actually quite fun because I found myself surprising – and, again, at the end, shocking – myself. I really wasn’t sure how far to push things and at times I went too far, which I hope I sorted out during editing. It was an interesting journey and I think I’ve got the balance right. And when I figured out what the final act would be, I realised I was on to something unusual – I don’t think anyone will have read anything quite like the conclusion of David Madden’s journey.

3. What do you love about writing?

The final product. It’s incredibly rewarding to see a book you’ve written reach the stage when it goes into the hands of readers. I’m actually not a great fan of the process of writing – that must sound bizarre, but I find the discipline of writing really difficult and, at times, unappealing. However, when you reach the end point, it’s such a gratifying moment that the whole journey is worth it.

4. Where do your ideas come from?

My writing is usually inspired by writers I admire and their books. However, Just One Time stemmed from an incident that happened to me in a theatre in London. I dropped my phone and couldn’t find it because of the dark. I gave my phone number to a stranger who offered to help me find it by calling it, and at that very moment I thought if only turned out to be an obsessive stalker I would have a story. So I made the rest up and that’s what she became.

5. What authors have inspired you?

If K.S. Hunter were to answer this question, you would surely be told writers like Gillian Flynn, John Lutz, Sylvia Day and E.L. James. But if K.S. Hunter doesn’t answer you and I do, if I can step out of character for a moment, I’d say Sophie Hannah, John Williams, Tennessee Williams, Ian McEwan, Wilkie Collins and Harlan Coben.

6. Tell us a bit amount the road to publication for Just One Time?

Just One Time is very different from my previous novels. I parted company with my literary agent after the publication of my third novel and when discussing my next novel with a number of agents I quickly realised there would be benefits to publishing Just One Time under a pseudonym. Making myself anonymous also meant that self-publishing became an option. Although erotic fiction is a popular genre, mainstream publishers are wary of it, so while the novel got a lot of praise from editors they were ultimately cautious of taking it on. That might sound surprising, but that’s the state of the industry in spite of the success of Fifty Shades of Grey. But those discussions with agents

and editors made me realise there would be a number of advantages to self-publishing, so that’s the route I ultimately chose. My crime author name won’t be tarnished if it ultimately doesn’t work out and, if it does, I can continue to write crime thrillers and steamy psychological thrillers as two different writers, which is ultimately what I hope will happen.

7. Are you a plotter or a panster?

I’m absolutely not a plotter. I don’t have the patience. I come up with an idea – it could be as little as an opening chapter – and I go from there. I work out the plot as I go along and I have never known the ending when I’ve started writing a book.

8. Did you enjoy reading or writing as a child?

Both. And they both happened at the same time, when I was thirteen. I asked my dad for a book to read – he was an avid reader – and he gave me a copy of Sidney Sheldon’s The Doomsday Conspiracy. At the same time, we were set a short story project at school, so I wrote a story inspired by Sheldon’s book. I’d also heard about the Bermuda Triangle at around this time, so I wrote a twelve-page story called The Bermuda Triangle Conspiracy – and I knew that one day Tom Cruise would be in the film. I kept reading from then on and when I was sixteen I tried to write seriously. I produced a 200-page novel at that time – and that was the story that I revisited several years later that eventually went on to be my debut novel. Of course, I can’t tell you the name of it as K.S. Hunter didn’t write it!

9. And finally how are you planning on spending publication day?

I will probably be obsessive and keep checking the sales rank on Amazon. Then I will either smile or cry. That’s about it.

About The Author:

K.S. Hunter is the pseudonym of an international bestselling author. The identity of the author, who lives in the United Kingdom, will remain a mystery.

You can connect with K.S Hunter via her Website , Facebook, &Twitter.

I’m excited to be back on the Urbane Publication’s 12 Days Of Christmas blog tour today bringing you an exclusive Q&A with Mark Pepper author of the intriguing Veteran Avenue.  I will also be hosting a giveaway to win a copy of the book.

Veteran Avenue is available to buy now in paperback and ebook here.   The ebook is only £1.99 at the moment.

Before the fabulous Q&A and Giveaway here is a little bit about the book!

Book Blurb:

1978. On vacation from England, eight-year-old John Frears is befriended by a stranger in the Oregon wilderness and stolen away from his parents. After a bizarre hour spent in a log cabin, he is sent back with a picture of a young girl.

2013. Since leaving the military, John Frears has been drifting, unable to settle. Then he gets word that a funeral is taking place in LA. Donnie Chester, fellow veteran of the first Gulf War, has been shot dead. He decides to head to the States to pay his respects then go sightseeing. It is a simple plan, in keeping with his life to date.

But his life is about to become more complicated than he could ever imagine. The mysterious event from his past crashes into the present, and could mean the difference between life and death.

Q&A with Mark Pepper:

Q) For the readers, can you talk us through your background and the synopsis of your new novel?

I had no clue I wanted to be a writer until I had completed my first manuscript, Returntime, back in 1991. Initially, I was writing for myself because I was bored and had time on my hands while I waited for Hollywood to call after leaving RADA (it never did), and I had read some published works I thought weren’t that great, so imagined I could do better. But it was only after the book was finished that it occurred to me I could try and get it published.

There was no particular reason for me to think I could be a writer. I’d certainly had a good education, which always provides a firm foundation, spending my formative years at King’s in Macclesfield, before studying history at Royal Holloway College, University of London, but you don’t need to go to Uni to know about spelling and grammar and punctuation. Those things can be taught, or you can teach yourself. A writer is born when a story needs to be told, and Returntime was that tale.

If you’re wondering why I am talking about Returntime when my third novel Veteran Avenue has just been published, it’s because Veteran Avenue would not exist without Returntime. Although my first story got me a literary agent, I was halfway through writing The Short Cut by that time, and that was the novel picked up by Hodder & Stoughton in a two-book deal, completed by the subsequent Man on a Murder Cycle.

Although Returntime must have shown promise to get me a literary agent, it did read like a novice’s first draft and I’m glad it didn’t see the light of day back then. It was, however, the tale I always wanted to tell, and over the years its core concept remained close to my heart, and was eventually transplanted into Veteran Avenue.

Providing a synopsis of Veteran Avenue – of the sort a writer might send to a publisher – would be daft. You can talk through the synopses of some novels and not spoil the reader’s enjoyment, but Veteran Avenue is not just a thriller; it is a mystery, an adventure, and I couldn’t sign-post too far into the book without spoiling what’s to come. I don’t even want to identify the core concept because that would certainly ruin some of its key twists and its denouement.

Suffice to say, the preliminary spark for Veteran Avenue came from an encounter I had with a girl when I was in Los Angeles in the summer of 1987. It was entirely platonic and very brief, but I had never known anything like it before, and never since. It was both bizarre and wonderful, and the kind of incident you never forget and will keep you wondering for the rest of your life.

What I can offer as a synopsis is what’s on the back cover of the book:

1978. On vacation from England, eight-year-old John Frears is befriended by a stranger in the Oregon wilderness and stolen away from his parents. After a bizarre hour spent in a log cabin, he is sent back unharmed with a picture of a young girl.

2013. Since leaving the military, John Frears has been drifting, unable to settle. Then he gets word that a funeral is taking place in LA. Donnie Chester, fellow veteran of the first Gulf War, has been shot dead. They barely knew each other, but it’s a good excuse to visit the States. He can pay his respects then go sightseeing. It is a simple plan, in keeping with his life to date.

But his life is about to become more complicated than he could ever imagine. The mysterious event from his childhood crashes into the present and could mean the difference between life and death.

Q) Can you talk us through the journey from idea to writing to publication?

I have somewhat covered this in the prior question, but there is more to say. The encounter in LA got me thinking. It sat perfectly well with my enquiring view of the universe back then, and some distinctly odd experiences you may describe as premonitions or bullshit, depending on your outlook, but, within the world of weird occurrences, it was certainly a high-point, and it stuck with me.

I returned to the UK in September 1987 and started my three years at RADA, and my eyes were so intently fixed on a successful acting career that it simply never occurred to me that I would want, or need, to write as a source of artistic expression.

Once it became clear I was wrong about my thespian prospects, and horrendously so, I began to think about writing, and it seemed my LA encounter had coalesced with certain other interests – the military, cops, and LA itself – into a viable story, almost without my thinking about it.

So I started writing Returntime, and, even now, I remember how effortless the storytelling seemed. So much so that at one point, working on an Amstrad word processor and floppy discs, I managed to erase 40 pages of my work, without the benefit of backups, but was able to reproduce it almost word-for-word within a couple of days.

Jumping ahead of couple of decades, Veteran Avenue worked out the same way. I did not refer to Returntime in writing Veteran Avenue – it is a 100% root-and-branch rewrite – but it came together in much the same way. Despite being very tightly and intricately plotted, with facts, dates, people and events that all had to gel between the 1978 Oregon incident and 2013 Los Angeles, the storytelling was a breeze. I think it happens that way with a novel you just have to write. Things fall into place, like it was meant to be.

Although Veteran Avenue was largely completed some years ago, I had long since, and quite unamicably, parted ways with Hodder & Stoughton so it was left languishing on my computer. My experience with Hodder was such that I had no real desire to re-enter the publishing world, thus I resigned myself to it remaining unpublished, a box in my life that would remain unticked.

Until Urbane author and old RADA classmate Mark Mayes tracked me down online. We chatted about writing and he suggested I send Veteran Avenue to Urbane’s Matthew Smith, which I did. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Q) What are your favourite authors and recommended reads?

I don’t read very much these days. My regular job is fairly demanding and involves long hours in front of a computer, so I tend to give my eyes a break in between. I did enjoy Stephen King’s early works, and Lee Child’s Jack Reacher is always good value for money, but I tend to prefer nonfiction nowadays: military histories, autobiographies, investigative works etc. One of my all-time favourites is Bonar Menninger’s 1992 nonfiction classic Mortal Error: The Shot That Killed JFK, which examines the case from the purely factual angle of firearms, ballistics, trajectory, and indisputable photographic evidence, leading to an utterly compelling, shocking, but perfectly credible conclusion.

Q) What were your childhood/teenage favourite reads?

I was brought up in the Enid Blyton era, so I do remember reading lots of Secret Seven and Famous Five stories. I also recall Alan Garner’s The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, which had local interest as it was set in Alderley Edge. Possibly as a nod to that, I set a particularly dark chapter in Man on a Murder Cycle in the same location. Apart from those, nothing much stands out from that time; it’s a while ago!

Q) What has been your favourite moment of being a published author?

The dedication in Veteran Avenue reads: “For my daughter, Jade. Since you, I know why I’m here.” There are many moments that make an author smile – the acceptance letter, signing the contract, seeing your work on the shelf of a bookstore, receiving praise – but nothing could ever top a dedication to my wonderful daughter in the one book I wanted to write, conceived of ten years before she was even born. And once you read the story, you’ll understand a deeper significance.

Q) Who has been your source of support/encouragement, throughout the writing process?

I have been with my wife Jeannifer for over 26 years, and she has always told me to follow my dreams. In the early years I did that in preference to earning a living but she never complained. Similarly, my parents were always there for me, especially after leaving RADA, allowing me the financial freedom to pursue an alternative artistic career – having already paid through the nose for my drama training – rather than forcing me to get a “proper” job. Although I have had a “proper” job for many years now, it was my choice to get one because I wanted to properly support my family. But if I wanted to chuck it all in and get back on the dole and write full time again, Jen would still support me. I think … J

Thank you very much for being on my blog today and I wish you every success with your writing career.

Giveaway!

I am so excited to be able to offer another fantastic giveaway on Over The Rainbow Book Blog.  I have one copy of Veteran Avenue to giveaway.  In order to win just comment on this blog post! Good luck everyone!

About The Author:

By now, Mark Pepper really should be on his fourth wife and in rehab at some idyllic retreat in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Graduating from RADA in 1990, he believed he would be a Hollywood star by the time the U.S. hosted the World Cup four years later. It didn’t work out that way. His acting career was spasmodic, to say the least. There were high points: peeing on the Aidensfield Arms hearth-fire in the first-ever episode of Heartbeat; taking Lulu hostage in the Christmas special ten years later; acting with icons like Tom Bell and Helen Mirren; and popping up in Coronation Street several times. But there were vast deserts of unemployment between these little oases and Mark quickly turned to writing as an alternative source of expression. His first novel, The Short Cut, was published in hardcover by Hodder & Stoughton in 1996 and in paperback by Hodder’s New English Library in 1997, and his second novel, Man on a Murder Cycle, was released by the same publisher hardcover in 1997 and paperback in 1998. Veteran Avenue was completed a few years later but, as the pressures of earning a decent living and supporting his family took precedence, was placed on the back-burner – although not literally as that would have been stupid. Like any self-respecting struggling actor, he has had a host of jobs, including gym instructor, bed salesman, taxi driver, binman, and even a stint as a Special Constable with Greater Manchester Police. He left when he realised they were never going to give him a gun. Then ten years ago he completed a PGCE in Secondary School Drama, thinking it would be a good idea to be a teacher but not taking into account the problem of OPK – Other People’s Kids. His next move was to get his HGV licences. While happily driving artics around the country he rather stumbled into his current job of Client Intelligence Analyst, which he likes mostly because he can genuinely tell people he’s CIA. After spending seven years living in Murcia with his wife and daughter, Mark recently returned to the UK as he missed the dull skies, frequent downpours, and especially road-rage. He is delighted to have been adopted by the Urbane family, and is looking forward to his resurrected writing career.

I’m so pleased to be on the blog tour for this fantastic and surprising book.  This is a real gem of a book that I perhaps wouldn’t have picked up if it wasn’t for the lovely Anne Cater inviting me on the blog tour and I’m so pleased that I have had a chance to read it.

The Giddy Career of Mr Gadd (Deceased) is available now in ebook and paperback here.

Book Blurb:

The Giddy Career of Mr Gadd (deceased) explores the painful themes of having to grieve for someone who is not yet dead, and trying to find one’s identity through an absent father.

Winifred Rigby follows a Zen-like path of serenity and detachment, whilst leaving havoc in her wake. When Fred, a stranger haunted by poltergeist activity, contacts Winnie, he insists that stories she wrote as a teenager hold the key to his supernatural problems, and she is forced to renew acquaintance with her younger self.

Where will it all lead?

My Review:

When I first started reading this book I was expecting it to be quite a serious book exploring grief.  I was pleasantly surprised as I actually found it to be quite funny and a little magical.

I loved the character of Mr Gadd.  He seemed in some ways such a lost and slightly muddled character but I loved how enthusiastic and determined he was.  He wanted an answer to his problems and by god was he going to get one.  I really enjoyed reading about Winifred’s and their journey through this book both physically, as they try to find answers as to where Mr Gadd’s father is, and emotionally as they begin to let go and find themselves.  In a lot of ways the characters of Winifred and Mr Gadd are a match made in heaven as they each come into each others lives when they are maybe bit lost and needing to make a changes in order to be happy.  I enjoyed reading about their blossoming relationship and seeing them gradually relaxing in each others company whilst finding themselves.

I did find this book quite funny which I wasn’t initially sure I was meant to.  The author’s way of describing some of the situations that the character’s find themselves in was very amusing, particularly in their dealings with other people.  I particularly found their attempts to get out of a slight car bump at the beginning very funny and found myself chuckling out loud over Winifred’s attempts to get out of the situation and the resulting confusion it caused poor Mr Gadd.  Some of Winifred’s observations about people where also very funny and helped to give more of an insight into her character and they way she thinks.

This novel does have some serious themes running through it about grief and identity but I didn’t feel this was overdone or made the novel too serious.  I found it fascinating to read about the family dynamics in Winifred’s family and her families struggle to accept the changes Winifred had made in her life.  It was quite poignant to read about this and I did feel for Winifred though I did wonder if there was more to this then described which intrigued me and made me want to continue reading,

The book also gives the reader a bit of information about Buddhism and what the religion involves which I didn’t know much about before I started to read this book. I especially enjoyed reading about the meditation sessions as it’s something I have always wondered about.

This is Marie Gameson’s second book but the first one that I have and I very much look forward to reading more from her.  Huge Thanks to Anne Cater and Salt Publishing for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

About the Author:

Marie Gameson was born in Trinidad but spent her childhood in Barbados. As her knowledge of England was based entirely on the content of Enid Blyton books, when the family moved to the UK in 1974, Marie soon realised that you could never trust a writer to tell the truth. Marie and her mother co-wrote a book about the legacy of the Monmouth Rebels exiled to Barbados (The Turtle Run) which was published in 2016.

Follow The Blog Tour:

If you liked the sound of this book from my review then do follow the blog tour and see what these other bloggers are saying.

I’m thrilled to be able to finally post my review for White Out by Ragnar Jonasson.  This review was meant to be part of the blog tour last month but due to moving and being totally let down by our broadband provider I wasn’t able to post when scheduled.

Thank you to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for their help and patience at what was a frustrating and stressful time.

White Out is now available to buy in paperback and ebook here.

Book Blurb:

Two days before Christmas, a young woman is found dead beneath the cliffs of the deserted village of Kalfshamarvik. Did she jump, or did something more sinister take place beneath the lighthouse and the abandoned old house on the remote rocky outcrop? With winter closing in and the snow falling relentlessly, Ari Thor Arason discovers that the victim’s mother and young sister also lost their lives in this same spot, twenty-five years earlier…

My Review:

Whiteout has to be one of the most unusual crime books I have read.  It’s not faced paced and there isn’t a lot of action in it.  Instead it’s the atmospheric setting and the characters that draws you in and keeps you reading.

The setting of the novel is an isolated, half abandoned village near the coast in Iceland.  The Isolated house, along with the suspicious circumstances of the case help to create an eerie, unsettling atmosphere that is very intriguing. From the start the reader realises that there is something strange about the house’s set up and the character there,  This definitely makes you want to keep reading while you try and figure out what this is.

The character development in the book is also very clever. Not much is revealed about the characters at the beginning and more is very revealed throughout the investigation mainly through reveals by the other characters.

I liked the main investigator, Ari Thor.  I thought he was very thorough and I liked that he tried to ensure things were being done correctly.  He seemed determined to try and find out the truth and was uneasy wen he didn’t think they had done things right or had arrested the right person.  I felt very sorry for Thora and Ostar who seemed to have had a few disappointments throughout their lives and their current demeanor seemed to reflect that.  I did wish they were more vocal and said what they actually meant rather than skirting around their opinions.

The facts and information about Asta’s murder are very gradually revealed.  This gradual unraveling is cleverly done and I was definitely kept guessing until the end. I was surprised by some of the revelations as I hadn’t expected the story to go that way.

This is the 5th book in the Dark Iceland series but it is the first book that I have read.  I will be going back and reading the rest of the books in the series as soon as possible.

Huge thanks to Karen and Orenda books and Anne Cater for my copy of this book and for inviting me on the blog tour.

About The Author:

Ragnar Jonasson (www.ragnarjonasson.com) is the Icelandic writer of the Dark Iceland crime series set in Northern Iceland. Snowblind (2015) is the first book in the Dark Iceland series. Ragnar was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, and works as a lawyer in Reykjavik. He is also a teacher at Reykjavik University Law School and has previously worked on radio and television, including as a TV news reporter for the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. Before embarking on a writing career, Ragnar translated fourteen of Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic. Ragnar is the co-founder of the Reykjavik international crime writing festival Iceland Noir, and has appeared on panels at Crimefest in Bristol, Left Coast Crime in the USA, Bloody Scotland in Stirling and Iceland Noir in Iceland. Ragnar’s short story Death of a Sunflower was published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine January 2014 issue, the first story in the magazine by an Icelandic author. His second Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine story, A Letter to Santa, was published in the January 2015 issue. Ragnar’s short story Party of Two was published in the Crime Writers’ Association 2014 anthology Guilty Parties, edited by Martin Edwards. Ragnar lives in Reykjavik with his wife and daughters.

I’m very please to be able to re-share by review of Electric Souk by Rose McGinty as part of The 12 Days of Christmas Urbane Book Tour.  This tour is highlighting some of the fabulous tiles Urbane Publications have published this year.

Electric Souk is available to buy in paperback and ebook here. .  The ebook is currently only 99p!

Book Blurb:

Ireland’s gone bust, and with it Aisling Finn’s life. She flees austerity for adventure in the desert. But the Arabia she finds is not that of her dreams. Everyone is chasing a fast buck, a fast woman and another G&T. Expats and locals alike prickle with paranoia. Debonair fixer, Brian Rothmann, charms Aisling with champagne brunches and nights at Bedouin camps. But is Brian a hero or a desperate expat prepared to go to any lengths to get what he wants? Is this Aisling? Or is he using her as bait? Her only hope is Hisham, a local activist. But where do his loyalties lie? Aisling faces severe peril when the sleazy expat and blood-lusting desert worlds collide, as the Arab Spring erupts. She has to ask, whom can she trust? Can she trust her instincts? Humanity blisters in this haunting, lyrical thriller about trust and treachery.

My Review:

When Aisling arrives in the Middle East she is looking forward to a grand adventure in a new country. She soon immerses herself in the new culture, enjoying meeting new people and experiencing the night life. However Aisling soon discovers that everything is not as it seems. Strange and sinister things start happening at work and her expat colleagues are arrested or disappear. Not knowing who to trust Aisling must try and find out the answers but will she be able to or will she disappear like her colleagues.

Electric Souk is vivid, colorful and unique. What makes it so unique is the way it is written. For most of the book it seems to just be a description of Aisling’s everyday life but then something will happen that makes you think otherwise. Slowly sinister things start coming to the surface as people reveal their true natures and things start happening at work. This gradual unveiling helps add a lot of tension to the book which kept me reading as I wanted to know what was happening. It is hard to put this book into one genre as it has bits of all of them in it but this never seems forced or is confusing and adds to the books uniqueness.

The author managed to take you to another time and place with her brilliant description. I especially loved the description of the Souk where I could perfectly imagine the hustle and bustle and almost smell the spices. It was very interesting to learn more about daily life in a middle Eastern country and how different it is to ours. The characters are very varied and quite colourful. I enjoyed reading about them and found I cared about what might happen to them. Some of the evil characters I loved to hate. Brian in particular who was quite scary at times! The ending was brilliant and very fitting to the story. It was nice that the author didn’t go for the easy ending and instead chose one quite hard hitting.

This is Rose McGintry’s debut novel and I look forward to reading more from her. Huge thanks to Matthew from Urbane Publishers for my copy of this book.

Exclusive Q&A with Rose McGintry:

Q) For the readers, can you talk us through your background and the synopsis of your new novel?

I live in Kent, and work for the NHS in London. I have also worked overseas in Ireland, Canada, Sweden and the Middle East. My passions are reading, writing and travel – all take you to different worlds. I’ve always been a day dreamer, it’s where my characters and ideas for stories come to me and take shape. Moving on to writing down my day dreams was the natural next step. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing stories, in fact one of my first memories is of learning to write the alphabet. I enjoy writing short stories, flash fiction and poetry, in between novel writing. I love that about writing some stories can be told and can gut the reader in just three hundred words others are an emotional odyssey of eighty thousand words.

Electric Souk was inspired by my time living in the Middle East, and the parts of the story that are true, I probably wish were not; while the parts that are not, I probably wish were true.

The story opens as Ireland’s gone bust, and with it Aisling Finn’s life. She flees austerity for adventure in the desert. But the Arabia she finds is not that of her dreams. Everyone is chasing a fast buck, a fast woman and another G&T. Expats and locals alike prickle with paranoia.

Debonair fixer, Brian Rothmann, charms Aisling with champagne brunches and nights at Bedouin camps. But is Brian a hero or another desperate expat prepared to go to any lengths to get what he wants? Is this Aisling? Or is he using her as bait? Her only hope is Hisham, a local activist. But where do his loyalties lie?

Aisling faces severe peril when the expat and desert worlds collide, as the Arab Spring erupts.

Q) Can you talk us through the journey from idea to writing to publication?

Electric Souk started out as a letter home – from the desert. I had taken a job in the health service in the Middle East. The day started early and finished by 1pm so everyone could go home to sleep in the heat. Only, I couldn’t sleep, so while the desert afternoon was still I wrote a diary and long letters home. My time in the Middle East magical time but also brutal, so I kept the journals and letters as a way of trying to make sense of what was happening to me. When I came home, people said that I should really try and get the letters and journals published, but it seemed too personal and raw. So I started to write a story that was burning inside of me, and drew on my experiences of the perfumes, sights and sounds of the Middle East.

During the course of writing I started going to literary festivals and workshops to keep me inspired, motivated and to learn my craft. At the West Cork literary festival I met Richard Skinner, Director of the Faber Academy and he encouraged me to apply for a Faber Academy course. I completed my novel with the support of Richard and the wonderful group of fellow writers on my course in the summer of 2015. That summer I went to the Margate Bookie and sat next to a man, who turned out to be Matthew Smith of Urbane Publications. He asked me about my novel and also talked about his collaborative approach to publishing. I liked what I heard as I wanted to be part of the creative process and learn as much as I could about all elements of the publishing business. I submitted my novel, and in the best Christmas Eve email ever, was signed.

Q) What are your favourite authors and recommended reads?

So many writers, so I will mention one special one to me and Electric Souk.

Isabelle Allende starts The House of the Spirits with a letter to the grandfather. This is one of the best ways to start writing as a new writer. It can really help you overcome the terror of the first blank page, and it’s how Electric Souk begins, with Aisling scribbling a last, desperate note as she flees the desert. It was also how my novel came about, from a letter. I am drawn to the way that for Allende and the magical realists the personal is political and vice versa. The love and passing of wisdom, protection and magic between the generations of women also stands out for me in contrast to the violence and persecution handed down from the colonists to the dictatorship in more recent Chilean history. I love stories that span epic moments in history with the most intimate family and personal relationships.

Q) What were your childhood/teenage favourite reads?

Snow in the Maze by Barbara C Freeman. I first found this mysterious story about a young girl, called Rosa, haunted by a portrait, when I was living at my grandmother’s and took it out of the local library. The story switches centuries, has ghosts, a strange blue eyed man, missing painted fans and a snowy maze, where the climax of its quietly thrilling adventure unfolds. Nothing is as it seems and the beautiful, oblique writing is as much a maze. After we left my grandmother’s, this story haunted me and I took it out every time we visited until one day it was no longer in the library. That then provoked a twenty year long search, before the days of the internet and being able to easily trace books that had gone out of print. I scoured every second hand bookshop in every town I visited over the years, my own maze. I finally found it in Kent, where I now live, in Baggins Book Bazarre in Rochester – where curiously Urbane is based and my first meeting with Matthew took place.

Q) What has been your favourite moment of being a published author?

Strangely enough it is the thing I was dreading the most – reader reactions. In the months up to publication I nearly made myself sick with worry about this as sharing your writing is such a deeply intimate and exposing experience. The first time I saw my novel in a bookshop, after I had burst into tears at seeing my dream coming true, I just wanted to bundle up all the copies and run off with them so no one could read it. However, when a reader contacts you or leaves a review saying how much they enjoyed your story and when they tune into the heart of the story and understand what you have been trying to reveal and share with them, nothing feels as good as that.

Q) Who has been your source of support/encouragement, throughout the writing process?

My writing group is my greatest source of support. We met at the Faber Academy and two years later we are still meeting on a monthly basis to critique each other’s work, share our love of reading, pass on tips about the publishing world, and support each other through good times and bad. And – drink wine, possibly the greatest source of support for us all.

Giveaway!:

I’m very excited to be able to give away 3 copies (yes 3) of the fabulous Electric Souk by Rose McGintry.  All you have to do is comment on this blog post or RT the pinned post on my blog before the 21st December.  I will then pick a winner at random with the help of my lovely kids.  Good luck everyone!

About The Author:

Rose McGinty was born with itchy feet, which she has yet to decide is a blessing or a curse. Certainly, surviving Hurricane Sandy, an earthquake, a spider bite, jumping 192 metres off the Sky Tower in Auckland, and nearly being arrested for inadvertently smuggling a rocket in Vietnam, make her wonder about locking up her passport. But then, it was her adventures in the Middle East that gave her the itchy fingers to write. Rose lives in Kent, where as well as enjoying writing short stories, flash fiction and poetry, she also paints. She works in community health services and has worked overseas in Ireland, Canada, Sweden and the Middle East. She completed the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course, under the guidance of Richard Skinner, in 2015. Electric Souk is her debut novel and Rose says of her story, ‘The parts of the story that are true, I probably wish were not; while the parts that are not, I probably wish were true.’

I’m so pleased to be able to bring you my blog tour review for Solitaire by Jane Thynne.  I have heard a lot of great things about her books and was thrilled to be invited onto the blog tour for her most recent book.  Thank you to the lovely Abby Fairbrother for recommending me!

Solitaire is available now in paperback and ebook here.

Book Blurb:

TO SAVE HER OWN LIFE, WILL SHE SACRIFICE ANOTHER?

June 1940: the first summer of the war. Berlin is being bombed and nightly blackouts suffocate the city. Then France falls and a shadow descends.

A shadow has fallen over Clara Vine’s own life, too. She is an Anglo-German woman in a country that hates England. Then she is summoned to meet the Propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, who has decided that Clara should adopt a new role – as his spy.

Much as she dislikes the idea, Clara realises this might be the chance to find an escape route to England. But Goebbels has other ideas and soon Clara is drawn into a web that threatens to destroy her. As everything she holds dear is taken as ransom, she must fight to protect her family – and to survive…

Solitaire delivers brilliantly engrossing wartime fiction for fans of  Sadie Jones, Rosie Thomas and Irene Nemirovsky.

My Review:

As a huge fan of historical fiction I can’t believe I haven’t read anything by Jane Thynne before.  I have heard some great things about her books but for some reason have never actually got around to reading anything by her.  I’m on a bit of a role with books at the moment as this was another 5 star read for me.

I have read a lot of world war two fiction but not much about what life was like inside of Germany for ordinary people during the war and not much from the German point of view.  I therefore found this book really fascinating.  It was very interesting to realise how much Hitler influenced people’s everyday life in areas, that perhaps naively, I hadn’t realised that they influence before which was a bit of an eye opener.  This is especially true about their treatment of influential people who happened to be married to Jews and the steps that were taken to try and break up this relationship.  It was also very interesting to learn more about some of the high ranking Nazi members, their personal lives and their jobs during the war.  I had obviously heard a bit about them before reading this book but not in a lot of depth so i enjoyed learning more about what was happening behind the scenes for them and more about the policies they were in charge of during the war.

The author has clearly done her research into this time with all the people and events in the book being real things that actually happened.  I love being able to look up people and events from a book and being able to learn more about them.  I was able to do this a lot with this book and lost many an evening to learning more about the characters and events mentioned.  I had heard about the appalling treatment of the Polish people by the Nazi’s during the war but from what I have read previously I thought this was only in the concentration camps so it was interesting to learn that the mistreatment of them was present in everyday life.  It’s little details like this which sets apart this authors work and kept me thoroughly intrigued and increased my enjoyment.

As I might have mentioned before I love strong female characters and I was therefore a huge fan of Clara Vine, a strong confident women who wasn’t afraid of putting herself in difficult situations.  This was especially impressive in a time when women were very much thought of as inferior to men and when the Nazi’s seemed to prefer women who stayed at home, kept house and had loads of children.  I liked that she had a lot of empathy and didn’t just think of herself and how a situation would benefit her, but tried to get the best results for all involved.  I didn’t always understand her actions and did find myself getting a little frustrated with her when she made decisions that I didn’t agree with but the author was always able to explain Clara’s actions and made me understand why she had made them.  I also liked Katerina who I felt both sorry for and had huge admiration for.  It was very poignant to learn how such children came to be living in orphanages when they had living relatives and shocking to learn how some children were taken from their parent’s purely because of how they looked.  Her need to find family and to try and find her sister was really lovely to read about and I was very impressed with how far she was willing to go to find this.

This is the 5th book in the Clara Vine series but the first book that I have read.  It definitely won’t be my last and I will look forward to reading more from Jane Thynne in the future.  Despite being part of a series I found that this book read easily as a stand alone book, as anything that had happened in previous books that I needed to know was explained.  This would be a fantastic book group book as I think there would be a lot for people to discuss and that it would appeal to a lot of people.

Huge thanks to Sian Devine, Simon & Schuster publisher and Jane Thynne for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto this blog tour.  If you like gripping and fascinating historical fiction that is brilliantly researched you will love this book.

About The Author:

Jane Thynne was born in Venezuela and educated in London. She graduated from Oxford University with a degree in English and joined the BBC as a journalist. She has also worked at The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent, as well as for numerous British magazines. She appears as a broadcaster on Radio 4. Jane is married to the writer Philip Kerr. They have three children and live in London.

Find out more at http://www.janethynne.com connect with her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @janethynne

Follow The Blog Tour:

If you liked the sound of Solitaire from this review do follow the blog tour and find out what these other fabulous bloggers thought.

Today I’m delighted to bring you my review for Know Me Now by CJ Carver.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have given it 5*’s, though I would give it more if I could as i thought it was fabulous!

Know Me Now will be available in ebook on the 14th December and in paperback on the 11th January 2018, but is available to pre-order here.

Book Blurb:

A SUICIDE. A MURDER. A CONSPIRACY. 
DIGGING UP THE PAST CAN BE DEADLY . . .

A thirteen-year-old boy commits suicide.

A sixty-five-year old man dies of a heart attack.

Dan Forrester, ex-MI5 officer, is connected to them both.

And when he discovers that his godson and his father have been murdered, he teams up with his old friend, DC Lucy Davies, to find answers.

But as the pair investigate, they unravel a dark and violent mystery stretching decades into the past and uncover a terrible secret.

A secret someone will do anything to keep buried . . . 

My Review:

It’s so lovely to start a book and realise within a few pages that you are going to love it!  It makes you relax into the book and means that you are able to enjoy it more.  This is what happened when I started reading Know Me Now.  I knew almost instantly that I was going to like it and felt certain that I had found a new favourite author.

The story unfolds slowly but with enough action/revelations to keep the reader interested and intrigued enough to keep on reading.  I soon found the book very hard to put down, reading long into the night when I should have been sleeping.  You know you are reading a good book when you are thinking about it constantly and trying to work out when you will next get a chance to read a bit.  I found myself trying to hide upstairs from the kids or even attempting to read whilst cooking, not a good idea i don’t recommend it, just so I could read a few more pages.

I loved the three main characters, but particularly loved the two women Grace and Lucy.  I’m a big fan of strong female characters, especially those that are in normally male dominated jobs like Grace and Lucy are.  I admired the way they held their own against quite strong opposition at times and how they were able to get results from tricky situations.  The author does a brilliant job at not resorting to typical stereotypical methods normally used by female characters in such books.  Instead the women get results by using their intelligence and by showing that they know what they are talking about which made for a very refreshing change.

CJ Carver perfectly describes what life in a small community is like, with everyone knowing everyone else and thinking they know their business.  I could definitely imagine how this might hamper a murder investigation with local residents thinking they knew what what was going on when in fact they didn’t.  I could almost feel Lucy and Grace’s frustrations coming off the page and felt frustrated on their behalf when their investigation was hampered because of this.  The small community environment did however help inject some humour or light relief into the book when you realised just how much everyone knew each other and in what way.  Some of these revelations actually had me laughing out loud as they were so funnily described and unexpected.

This is the first book by CJ Carver that I have read and it definitely won’t be my last as I have already bought the first two books in this series to read.  It is probably best to read the series in order as there were a few events mentioned in the book that I was unaware of but this wasn’t enough of an issue to stop me enjoying it.

Huge thanks to Emily Palmier-Bignold and Bonnier Zaffre for my copy of this book and for letting me be part of this blog tour.

About The Author:

CJ Carver is a half-English, half-kiwi, author living just outside Bath. She lived in Australia for ten years before taking up long-distance rally driving – she has driven London to Saigon, London to Cape Town, and completed 14,500 miles on the Inca Trail.

Since then she has written nine critically acclaimed novels that have been published in the UK, USA and translated into several languages.  CJ’s first novel Blood Junction won the CWA Debut Dagger and was short listed for the USA Barry Award for Best Crime Fiction Novel of the Year.  Spare Me the Truth, the first in the Forrester and Davies series, was shortlisted for the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Best Crime Novel Award.

CJ is a co-founder and one of the first judges for the Women’s World Car of The Year Award.

Find CJ Carver on her website, on her Facebook page and on Twitter – @C_J_Carver

Follow The Blog Tour:

If you like the sound of Know Me Now from my review, do follow the blog tour and see what these other fabulous bloggers are saying.

I’m excited to be on the blog tour for Brighter Days Ahead by Mary Wood and to be able to share my review.  I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it to anyone who likes a good historical saga.

Brighter Days Ahead is available in paperback and ebook here.

Book Blurb:

War pulled them apart, but can it bring them back together?

Molly lives with her repugnant father, who has betrayed her many times. From a young age, living on the
streets of London’s East End, she has seen the harsh realities of life . . . When she’s kidnapped by a gang and forced into their underworld, her future seems bleak.

Flo spent her early years in an orphanage, and is about to turn her hand to teacher training. When a kindly teacher at her school approaches her about a job at Bletchley Park, it could be everything she never knew she wanted.

Will the girls’ friendship be enough to weather the hard times ahead?

My Review:

Wow Mary Wood’s definitely knows how to write a thrilling, action packed and emotional saga.

The book follows the lives of both Molly and Flo separately at first until they meet about half way through.  I was immediately drawn into Molly and Flo’s story and felt like I was there watching all the action unfold. When a story is split like this I usually find myself favouring one of the narratives over the other but this wasn’t the case for this book as I found I enjoyed both of their stories equally.  I did have a bit of a soft spot for Flo though, as I loved her attitude towards life.  Her ability to always try and see the good side of things was really heart warming to read about, especially as she suffered a few disappointments throughout the book.

This isn’t necessarily a happy book at times with the author covering some quite difficult subjects that was fascinating though quite poignant to read about.   This definitely kept me reading as I was very keen to discover how the character fared and how the incidents were resolved.  It was interesting to discover what types of underhand activities may have been going on in war time London that went undiscovered due to resources being occupied elsewhere.

Mary Wood is brilliant at setting the scene for the book and making the reader feel like they are in London during world war two.  There were times, particularly during a very detailed account about an air raid toward the beginning of the book, when I felt I could have actually been there watching all the action unfold.  Some of the prejudices society had at that time, in particular towards homosexuality was shocking to read about and really brought into focus how far we have come since.  I really felt for poor Simon experiencing all the hatred towards himself and some of his colleagues actions were just appalling.  Its awful to think that people may have experienced similar things.  I loved how Flo stood up for him against everyone, despite overwhelming opposition and this was another reason that really drew me toward her.  Flo and Simon work at Bletchley Park and this intrigued me as it is a place that I have heard lots about.  I did enjoy learning a bit more about what it was like to work there and a little bit about what type of work was carried out there.

This is an easy book to read as the writing just flows brilliantly.  It is quite fast paced with a lot of action happening throughout which helps to build the tension and keeps the reader wanting to read more.  For this reason it would be a good holiday read as I think anyone would find it hard to put down.

This is the first book by Mary Wood that I have read and I will look forward to reading more from her in the future.

Thank you to Mary Wood and Kate Green from Pan Macmillan for inviting me onto the blog tour and for giving me a copy of this book.

About The Author:

Born in Maidstone, Kent, in 1945, the thirteenth child of fifteen children, Mary’s family settled in Leicestershire after the war ended.

Mary married young and now, after 54 years of happy marriage, four children, 12 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren, Mary and her husband live in Blackpool during the summer and Spain during the winter – a place that Mary calls, ‘her writing retreat’.

After many jobs from cleaning to catering, all chosen to fit in with bringing up her family, and boost the family money-pot, Mary ended her 9 – 5 working days as a Probation Service Officer, a job that showed her another side to life, and which influences her writing, bringing a realism and grittiness to her novels

Mary first put pen to paper, in 1989, but it wasn’t until 2010 that she finally found some success by self-publishing on kindle.

Being spotted by an editor at Pan Macmillan in 2013, finally saw Mary reach her publishing dream.

When not writing, Mary enjoys family time, reading, eating out, and gardening. One of her favourite pastimes is interacting with her readers on her Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/HistoricalNovels
And on her web page: http://www.authormarywood.com
She is also on Twitter: @Authormary

Mary welcomes all contact with her readers and feedback on her work.

I’m on the blog tour for The Runaway Children by Sandy Taylor today.  The Runaway children is now available to buy in paperback and ebook here.

Book Blurb:

A heart-wrenching, unforgettable journey of two evacuee sisters during World War Two as they try to find their way home…

London, 1942: Thirteen-year-old Nell and five-year-old Olive are being sent away to the countryside to escape the devastation of the East End during the Blitz. Leaving behind their beloved mother and brothers, they don’t know if they will ever see them again.

As the sisters adjust to their new life in a close-knit Welsh village, they gradually find hope in the friendships they make. And Nell kindles a special bond with fellow evacuee Jimmy, who makes her smile even at the hardest of times.

But when little Olive’s safety is threatened, Nell makes a decision that will change their lives forever. They must run from danger and find their way home.

Together, through tears and laughter, the two sisters hold each other’s hands as they make an incredibly brave journey across bombed-out Britain. Will they be reunited with the family they have missed for so many years? Or is there more heartache to come?

An unputdownable story of unconditional love, friendship and the fight for survival during a time of unimaginable change. This book is guaranteed to find a place in your heart. If you enjoyed Orphan Train and The Girl With No Name you’ll love this book.

My Review:

The thing that most stands out about this book is the child narrator that helps add an element of innocence to a difficult situation and gives the reader a different slant on the events of world war two.  The book is narrated by Nell, the oldest of four siblings with an attitude older than her years.  She is very much used to looking after her brothers and sister and often takes on the mother role when her mother is incapacitated.  She particularly looks after her younger sister Olive and their relationship and the closeness they enjoy is lovely to read about and leads to some very heartwarming scenes.  It also helps to add humor to the story which often had me laughing out loud, particularly at Olive’s very truthful observations and Nell’s replies.  The two sister’s, Nell and Olive where my favourite characters in the book and I really enjoyed reading about them and the huge journey they go on throughout the book.

It’s hard to believe how shambolic and dis-organised the evacuation system was.  The fact that children didn’t know where they were going and to whom chills my heart as a mother and must have been very difficult for the mothers who chose to evacuate their children.  The children were given to anyone who would take them without them being vetted or checked up on in any way which lead to some horrific situations with children being taken advantage of in many ways.  Some of the passages relating to the experiences of the evacuees where quite heart breaking and lead to some quite poignant scenes.

The author does a brilliant job at setting the scene and making me feel that i really was in world war two watching all the action unfold.  I loved the descriptions of the community in the (in)famous tennament blocks and the way that they all looked out for each other, solving their own problems without getting the authorities involved.  It was really nice to read about neighbours caring about one another in this way, something that has unfortunately been lost today.   Her descriptions of village life in world war two was also brilliantly described leading to some lovely heartwarming scenes, especially when the children realise how different life is in the village to what they are used to at home.

This is the first book by this author that I have read and I will definitely be reading more from her in the future as I loved her style of writing and the characters that she has managed to bring to life in The Runaway Children.  In parts this book reminded me of Goodnight Mr Tom, especially the description of the children’s experiences in the village.

Thank you to Kim Nash from Bookouture and Netgalley for my copy of this book and for inviting me on the blog tour.

About The Author: