#BlogTour: Murder Undeniable by Anita Waller @anitamayw @Bloodhoundbook @damppebbles #MurderUndeniable

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Book Synopsis:

Katerina Rowe, a Deacon at the church in the sleepy village of Eyam, has a fulfilled life. She is happily married to Leon and her work is rewarding.

But everything changes when she discovers the body of a man and a badly beaten woman, Beth, in the alleyway behind her husband’s pharmacy.

Drawn to the young woman she saved, Kat finds herself embroiled in a baffling mystery.

When Beth’s house is set on fire, Kat offers the young woman sanctuary in her home and soon the pair begin investigating the murder, with some help from Beth’s feisty grandmother, Doris. But neither the police, nor Leon, nor the criminals want Kat and Beth looking into their affairs and the sleuths quickly find themselves out of their depth…

Can Kat and Beth solve the mystery and walk away unscathed?

Murder Undeniable is available in ebook and paperback now.  The ebook is currently only 99p, but you can purchase a copy of both here.

My Review:

I’m a huge fan of this author so you can imagine my delight when I was invited onto the blog tour for her latest book.  This felt like a bit of a change to previous books I had read as they weren’t quite as fast paced but they were still very gripping.

The author has created some wonderful characters that you can’t help but like, including some of the gang members! I liked Katarina and her determination to discover what had happened.  She is a very innocent character who I felt quite protective of and I found myself groaning out loud whilst reading about some of the situations she puts herself in.  The relationship she develops between Beth and her grandmother was lovely to read about and I enjoyed how it developed.  I was very pleased that they had each others support.

The story starts almost immediately with the reader thrown straight into the action.  I soon found myself gripped by the story and very interested in how it was going to work out.  The author cleverly drops little clues into the story which kept me guessing who was behind the murder and unsavoury events.

This is the first book in an exciting new series and I’m very excited to read more! If you like gripping crime fiction with some fantastic characters then you’ll love this book.

Huge thanks to Emma at Bloodhound books for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

About The Author:

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Biography

Anita Waller was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire in 1946. She married Dave in 1967 and they have three adult children.
She began writing when she was around 8 years of age, writing ‘compositions’ at junior school that became books with chapters. She wrote several novels in the romance genre and then realised she wanted to add murders to the romances, so she morphed into a psychological thriller author. Beautiful was her first completed novel in this genre.
The manuscript was submitted to Bloodhound Books who, within three days of reading it, offered her a contract. 31 August 2015 it was released as an ebook, to be followed a couple of days later by the paperback version.
Following the outstanding success of Beautiful, she began a sequel on 27 December 2015, finishing it on 19 March 2016. The new novel, Angel, was launched on 7 May 2016.
Her third novel, 34 Days, followed Angel and was launched on 3 October 2016 to outstanding success; at its highest level, it was #26 in Amazon charts. It is selling equally as well in the US and Australia and has sold over 15,000 copies in the first eight weeks following publication.
She then took time out to temporarily change genre; Winterscroft, a supernatural novel, was launched on 7 February 2017. While she was writing Winterscroft it became clear that fans of 34 Days wanted a sequel, and on 10 August 2017, Strategy was launched.
She is now working on her sixth novel, A Legal Issue, once again set in Sheffield, and once again a psychological thriller.
In addition to writing, she also teaches patchwork and quilting – a little reference to this is likely to surface in every book!
She is a lifelong Sheffield Wednesday supporter with blue blood in her veins! More than a little reference to this is likely to surface – see 34 Days!

Her genre is murder – necessary murder.

 

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#BlogTour: Attend by West Camel @west_camel @annecater @OrendaBooks #Attend #MagicalRead #MustRead #5Stars

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Book Synopsis:

When Sam falls in love with Deptford thug Derek, and Anne’s best friend Kathleen takes her own life, they discover they are linked not just by a world of drugs and revenge; they also share the friendship of the uncanny and enigmatic Deborah.

Seamstress, sailor, story-teller and self-proclaimed centenarian immortal, Deborah slowly reveals to Anne and Sam her improbable, fantastical life, a history of hidden Deptford and ultimately the solution to their crises.

With echoes of Armistead Maupin, Attend is a beautifully written, darkly funny, mesmerisingly emotive and deliciously told debut novel, rich in finely wrought characters that you will never forget.

Attend is available now in ebook and paperback.  The ebook is currently only £1.99 but you can purchase a copy of both here.

My Review:

Attend is a truly magical book that I know I won’t forget for a while! I don’t think I must have read the blurb properly as I thought it was a crime novel, but it’s in fact much more than that.

The story is told from the point of view of Anne, Sam and the enigmatic Deborah.  Anne and Sam are both characters that are in need of a friend having g just moved into the area.  Enter the magical and mysterious Deborah who  befriends them and teaches them about the magic just beneath their feet.

This story just intrigued me on so many different levels.  I instantly warmed to both Anne and Sam, feeling sorry for them and the situation they find themselves in.  I felt that they had both had quite a hard past and deserved to have a fresh start.  The mystery surrounding Deborah was very interesting and I loved learning more about her.  The flash backs to the life she had lived were fascinating to read about and I enjoyed trying to figure out what their relevance was to the story.  The intrigue surrounding Deborah herself and what she was was, was very interesting and kept me reading as I wanted to find out more.

I lost many hours reading this book as I was so absorbed by the story.  The blurb is correct when it says the story is mesmorising as it’s a book that holds you firmly in its grasp and makes it impossible to put down.  I found myself trying to read a few more pages at every opportunity as I desperately wanted to find out more.

This is, unbelievably, the author’s debut novel and I’m very excited to read more from this talented author.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Karen from Orenda books for my copy of this book.  If you like enthralling crime novels with a magical twist then you’ll love this book!

About The Author:

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Born and bred in south London – and not the Somerset village with which he shares a name – West Camel worked as an editor in higher education and business before turning his attention to the arts and publishing. He has worked as a book and arts journalist, and was editor at Dalkey Archive Press, where he edited the Best European Fiction 2015 anthology, before moving to new press Orenda Books just after its launch. He currently combines his work as editor at Orenda Books with writing and editing a wide range of material for various arts organisations, including ghost-writing a New-Adult novel and editing The Riveter magazine for the European Literature Network. He has also written several short scripts, which have been produced in London’s fringe theatres, and was longlisted for the Old Vic’s 12 playwrights project. Attend is his first novel.
You can follow West on Twitter @west_camel

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#BlogTour: Deck The Halles by Stephanie Dagg @llamamum @rararesources #DeckTheHalles #FestiveRead

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Book Synopsis:

It’s nearly Christmas at the little French llama farm.

Nick and Noelle are looking forward to a quiet, romantic Christmas together, but at the last moment Noelle is asked to book her local agricultural halles for the imminent national llama show. The original venue went up in smoke. Noelle does as asked, thinking that’s all she’ll have to do. She couldn’t be more wrong! On top of all the extra work this good deed makes for her, various friends and relatives start turning up on the doorstep as the result of assorted crises. The farmhouse is about to burst at the seams!
Add in a few other events, such as playing the part of a pixie at a Christmas fête, Nick’s book launch, training a non-cooperative llama for the agility class in the show and catering for more and more mouths, and Noelle is pushed ever closer to the end of her tether.
Can she hold it together and stay as calm as a llama? Or will she be the next member of her family to make a bolt for it?
This festive, feel-good and fun novel is the sequel to ‘Fa-La-Llama-La: Christmas at the Little French Llama Farm’ but can be read as a standalone.

Deck The Halles is available in ebook now for the bargain price of £2.99.  You can purchase your copy here.

My Review:

Deck The Halles is a fantastic, quirky and hilarious book that was an absolute pleasure to read.  If you’re looking for an unusual Christmas read then you’ll love this book!

Noelle is a fantastic main character who you can’t help but warm to straight away.  I loved her energy and her determination to succeed despite things seeming impossible.  Some of the ideas she has regarding the llama’s were utterly hilarious and had me crying with laughter, particularly her attempts to train them for a competition.  Llama’s aside I really liked how normal she was and how she never let mistakes get her down.  I really enjoyed reading about her life.

The information regarding the keeping and caring for the llama’s was very interesting.  I’ve never given much thought into what that would involve but it’s evidently a lot more complicated than I expected.  It was fascinating to learn more about their temperant and what special things were needed to care for them.

This book grabbed my attention from the start with the authors easy, chatty style and the usual subject matter of the llama’s.  I soon found myself completely immersed in the story and the hilarious situations Noelle finds herself in.  I wanted to keep reading to find out what on earth would happen next!

This is the second book in the series but the first I’ve read and I think it would work fine as a standalone as anything you need to know is explained.  I would definitely like to go back and read the first book.  I hope  there will be more books to come in the series as I would love to revisit the characters.

Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random resources for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

About The Author:

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I’m an English expat living in France, having moved here with my family in 2006 after fourteen years as an expat in Ireland. I now consider myself a European rather than ‘belonging’ to any particular country. The last ten years have been interesting, to put it mildly. Taking on seventy-five acres with three lakes, two hovels and one cathedral-sized barn, not to mention an ever increasing menagerie, makes for exciting times. The current array of animals includes alpacas, llamas, huarizos (alpaca-llama crossbreds, unintended in our case and all of them thanks to one very determined alpaca male), sheep, goats, pigs, ducks, geese, chickens and turkeys, not forgetting our pets of dogs, cats, zebra finches, budgies , canaries, lovebirds and Chinese quail. Before we came to France all we had was a dog and two chickens, so it’s been a steep learning curve. I recount these experiences in my book Heads Above Water: Staying Afloat in France and the sequel to that, Total Immersion: Ten Years in France. I also blog regularly at http://www.bloginfrance.com.

I’m married to Chris and we have three bilingual TCKs (third culture kids) who are resilient and resourceful and generally wonderful.     

I’m a traditionally-published author of many children’s books, and am now self-publishing too. I have worked part-time as a freelance editor for thirty years after starting out as a desk editor for Hodder & Stoughton. Find me at http://www.editing.zone. The rest of the time I’m running carp fishing lakes with Chris and inevitably cleaning up some or other animal’s poop.   

Social Media Links

Twitter– @llamamum

www.facebook.com/StephanieDaggBooks/

www.bloginfrance.com

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#BlogTour: As The Women Lay Dreaming by Donald S Murray @DonaldMurray56 @RKbookpublicist @WriterForster @SarabandBooks #iolaire

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Book Synopsis:

A novel of the Iolaire disaster.

In the small hours of January 1st, 1919, the cruellest twist of fate changed at a stroke the lives of an entire community.

Tormod Morrison was there that terrible night. He was on board HMY Iolaire when it smashed into rocks and sank, killing some 200 servicemen on the very last leg of their long journey home from war. For Tormod – a man unlike others, with artistry in his fingertips – the disaster would mark him indelibly.

Two decades later, Alasdair and Rachel are sent to the windswept Isle of Lewis to live with Tormod in his traditional blackhouse home, a world away from the Glasgow of their earliest years. Their grandfather is kind, compassionate, but still deeply affected by the remarkable true story of the Iolaire shipwreck – by the selfless heroism and desperate tragedy he witnessed.

As The Women Lay Dreaming is available now in ebook and paperback.  You can purchase your copy here.

My Review:

As The Women Lay Dreaming is a beautiful, emotional piece of historical fiction that you will definitely need tissues handy to read.

I had never heard of the Iolaire disaster so I found if fascinating to learn more about it and the impact it had on the community for many years to come.  A lot of the stories were very emotional ones and I found myself crying throughout the book at all that happened.

The characters are all very well drawn and I thought they seemed very real.  I really liked the relationship the children developed with their grandfather which was very heart warming to read about.  He came across as a gentle giant who was very caring to his grandchildren.

The author vividly describes the way of life on the Island and it was very interesting to learn more about the traditional way if life there with a cow shed in their house and their reliance on horses to get around. The author also describes in detail their grandfather’s work as a black Smith and I found it fascinating to learn more about the skills involved.

The book is surprising gripping, especially considering that most people know what the outcome will be . I think this is down to the way the author cleverly weaves the story’s together and how personal the account feels so that the reader can’t help but feel involved in the characters lives.  I found myself hoping things would turn out differently.

This is the first book by this author I have read but I’d definitely be interested in reading more from him in the future

Huge thanks to Julia Forster for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book .

 

About The Author:

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A son of the Hebrides, Donald S. Murray is a writer and poet whose work has been shortlisted for both the Saltire Literary Awards and the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award. His critically acclaimed books bring to life the culture and nature of the Scottish islands, and he appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland.

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#BlogTour: My Sister, Myself by Jill Treseder @Jill_Treseder @SilverWoodBooks @annecater #RandomThingsTours #HisFic #5Stars

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Book Synopsis:

Hungary, 1956. Russian tanks brutally crush the revolution against the Communist regime. Sisters Katalin and Marika escape Budapest with their family and settle in London.

However, the past is not so easily left behind. Their father is a wanted man, and the sisters’ relationship hangs in the balance. Their futures are shaped by loss. For Katalin, this means the failure of her ambition and a devastating discovery; for Marika, an equally heart-breaking experience.

Caught between their Hungarian heritage and their new lives in Britain, the sisters struggle to reconnect. Family secrets are exposed, jeopardising Katalin’s and Marika’s identities.

Can their relationship survive war, division and grief?

My Sister, Myself is available in ebook and paperback now.  You can purchase your copy here.

My Review:

My Sister, Myself is a stunning piece of historical fiction that was a fantastically absorbing read.

I hadn’t read anything about this period of history before so I found this a fascinating read.  The author does a great job at setting the scene for the book so the reader can vividly imagine the scene in their mind.  The atmosphere of excitement and fear was almost palpable at times so that I felt fully immersed in the story.

The story is told from Katalin’s point of view and she is a wonderful narrator whose innocence really adds poignancy to the story.  I warmed to her immediately and felt for her when the revolution puts an end to her dreams.  Her relationship with her sister is a typical sibling relationship, full of little arguments.  It was interesting to see how the relationship changed throughout the book as the secrets are revealed.

This book is very gripping with lots of action or revelations happening but it is the characters and their relationship with each other that made me keep reading.  I found I really enjoyed spending time with the family and felt caught up in their lives.  I felt quite emotional when the secrets started to be revealed and the affect it had in the family.  A sure sign that I was too involved!

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’d definitely like to read more from her in the future.  If you like wonderfully written, absorbing historical fiction then you’ll love this book.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

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Jill Treseder was born in Hampshire and lived all her childhood in sight of the sea on the Solent and in Devon, Cornwall and West Wales. She now lives with her husband in Devon overlooking the River Dart. After graduating from Bristol with a degree in German, Jill followed careers in social work, management development and social research, obtaining a PhD from the School of Management at the University of Bath along the way. Since 2006 she has focused on writing fiction.

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#BlogTour: The Other Miss Bates by Allie Cresswell @Alliescribbler @rararesources #TheOtherMissBates

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Book Synopsis:

Jane Bates has left Highbury to become the companion of the invalid widow Mrs Sealy in Brighton. Life in the new, fashionable seaside resort is exciting indeed. A wide circle of interesting acquaintance and a rich tapestry of new experiences make her new life all Jane had hoped for.
While Jane’s sister Hetty can be a tiresome conversationalist she proves to be a surprisingly good correspondent and Jane is kept minutely up-to-date with developments in Highbury, particularly the tragic news from Donwell Abbey.
When the handsome Lieutenant Weston returns to Brighton Jane expects their attachment to pick up where it left off in Highbury the previous Christmas, but the determined Miss Louisa Churchill, newly arrived with her brother and sister-in-law from Enscombe in Yorkshire, seems to have a different plan in mind.

The Other Miss Bates is available now in ebook and paperback, purchase your copy here.

My Review:

I’m a big fan of Jane Austen’s books and love a re- imagining of the story from a different point of view.  The Other Miss Bates is no exception as it follows a minor character from her book ‘Emma’ and her life before and during the period covered by the book.

The author has cleverly written the book in the style used by Jane Austen which makes the book seem very authentic.  It also serves to help fully immerse the reader into the time period along with all of the authors fantastic descriptions of life and the many social occasions people had to navigate.

I really liked both Mrs and Miss Bates as they seemed quite strong, outspoken women who were perfectly happy with their station in life.  I liked that Miss Bates in particular had chosen to work away from home as she wanted more for herself than her home could provide and had therefore come up with a plan to get the experiences she wanted.

The book was surprising addictive and I soon got caught up in the characters world.  I’ve always loved the descriptions of life in this period so found myself soon absorbed in the story and able to imagine the action vividly in my mind.  The author manages to perfectly blend parts of the Emma story with her own and the end result is a very enjoyable reading experience!

This is the second book in the series but the first that I have read.  I feel it could easily be read as a standalone as anything you need to know is explained in this book.  I will however be going back to read the previous book as I really enjoyed this one.

Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. If you’re a fan of Jane Austen’s I think you’ll enjoy this one!

About The Author:

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Allie Cresswell was born in Stockport, UK and began writing fiction as soon as she could hold a pencil.
Allie recalls: ‘I was about 8 years old. Our teacher asked us to write about a family occasion and I launched into a detailed, harrowing and entirely fictional account of my grandfather’s funeral. I think he died very soon after I was born; certainly I have no memory of him and definitely did not attend his funeral, but I got right into the details, making them up as I went along (I decided he had been a Vicar, which I spelled ‘Vice’). My teacher obviously considered this outpouring very good bereavement therapy so she allowed me to continue with the story on several subsequent days, and I got out of maths and PE on a few occasions before I was rumbled.’
She went on to do a BA in English Literature at Birmingham University and an MA at Queen Mary College, London.
She has been a print-buyer, a pub landlady, a book-keeper, run a B & B and a group of boutique holiday cottages. Nowadays Allie writes full time having retired from teaching literature to lifelong learners.
She has two grown-up children, one granddaughter and two grandsons, is married to Tim and divides her time between Cheshire and Cumbria.

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#BlogTour: The Importance Of Being Aisling by Emer McLysaght & Sarah Breen @SarahJayBee @EmerTheScreamer @MichaelJBooks @JennyPlatt90

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Book Synopsis:
Job. Flat. Boyfriend. Tick. Tick. Tick.

Aisling (seems) to be winning at life. But life has other ideas.

Fired. Homeless. Dumped. Tick. Tick. Tick.

When everything comes crashing down around her, moving back in with her mam seems like a disaster.

But might returning to her roots provide the answers Aisling’s looking for?

The Importance Of Being Aisling is available in ebook now, purchase your copy here

My Review:

I was a big fan of the first book in this series so I was very excited to be invited onto the blog tour for the next book in the series.  I was not disappointed as The Importance Of Being Aisling is, in my opinion, even better the first book!

I absolutely adored Aisling! She is such a real character that you can’t help but like.  I really emphasised with her when she made mistakes and things went wrong as I’ve been in situations like that before too.  She is also incredibly funny and I loved the way she phrased things and acted in certain situations.

The story is well paced with some drama always seeming to be about to unfold.  The book is written in quite an intimate style so the reader feels like they are actually there experiencing everything alongside the characters.  I therefore felt quite involved in the story and wanted to keep reading to find out how things panned out for Aisling.

This is the second book by these authors that I have read and I’m very excited to read more about Aisling.  I’m particularly interested in seeing how the cafe works out.  I’ve seen that other reviewers have compared these books to the Bridget Jones books and I completely agree! It would be very interesting to see a film version of these books as I think they’d be fantastic.

Huge thanks to Jenny Platter from Michael St Joseph publishers for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.  If you like fun, hilarious books with a loveable main character then you’ll love this book.

About The Author:

Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen conceived the character of Aisling in their sitting room in 2008, when they began to observe the many traits, characteristics and quirks of a very particular type of Irish girl; one they identified around them and one they identified with.

Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling was an instant sensation in their native Ireland and the Number One bestselling adult fiction title of 2017.

Emer McLysaght is the former editor of The Daily Edgeand has worked extensively in journalism and radio.
Sarah Breen is a journalist whose work has appeared in StellarImageU, the Irish Independent and The Gloss.

#BlogTour: The Christmas Play Rehearsal by Sue Wickstead @JayJayBus @rararesources #TheChristmasPlayRehearsal

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Book Synopsis:

Children’s picture book for christmas.It is Christmas time, and the school has been getting ready to perform their Nativity play. With lines learnt and songs to be sung, it is time for the dress rehearsal. The teacher knows there might be a few problems to sort out, but at least they will know what to improve on or change along the way.

The Christmas Play Rehearsal is available in ebook and paperback now, purchase your copy here.

My Review:

The Christmas Play Rehearsal is a wonderful, funny book that is the perfect Christmas book for little kids.

Both my mum and me have enjoyed reading this book with my six year old who has found this book utterly hilarious.  He couldn’t stop laughing at the many things that keep going wrong. Being in the middle of Nativity play rehearsals himself I think he found the book very interesting and it lead to him telling us lots of stories about his own experiences. He was also very proud that he could read most of the book himself and took it into show and tell to share with his class!

The story is accompanied by some fantastic, bright drawings showing the children in their nativity outfits.  Both my children really liked them and I think they added a lot to the story.

My only slight problem with this book was that it was quite long which was fine for my six year old but meant that my three year old lost interest halfway through.   I’ve been unable to find out what age group this is aimed at but as the author is a primary school teacher I’m guessing it’s meant for older children than my daughter anyway.

This is the first book by this author that I have read and I’ll definitely be getting more of her books in the future.  It’s been hard to get my son interested in reading but he keeps asking for this book which just shows how much he enjoyed it.

Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and for our copy of this book.  If you’re looking for a great Christmas story to share with the kids then I highly recommend this book.

About The Author:

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Sue Wickstead is a trained teacher and has written five children’s story books to date. The books have all received 5-star awards from ‘Readers Favourite’. She was initially involved in a playbus charity and left full time teaching to write the photographic history book about the playbus itself. This led to many questions from the children that she met asking what the playbus did and how was it different to any other ordinary bus. This led to telling stories and eventually the fictional tale was written. JJK261 was the real bus and gave the bus the name Jay-Jay. Sue has written three adventures for Jay-Jay the playbus, as well as Daisy Daydream the Nursery Rhyme bus. In addition she has written ‘A Spooky Tale’ for younger readers and is also based on real events from her teaching career. the new book ‘The Christmas Play Rehearsal’ is also based on the problems she encountered when producing the Christmas Play. Sue has visited many schools, both as a cover teacher and as an author. Including schools in Spain. The children love knowing where the inspiration for the stories come from and are fascinated to hear that the bus was in fact real. With both a factual and fictional background to her writing she is able to share her enthusiasm and has many more stories to follow. Each of her books have a factual link as well as a bus in them somewhere. this was particularly difficult to fit in with the Christmas Nativity story, but yes she did manage it.

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#BlogTour: Too Close by Natalie Daniels @natdaniels2018 @TransworldBooks @annecater #TooClose #RandomThingsTours

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Good evening everyone I’m excited to share my review for Too Close by Natalie Daniels.  Huge apologies to Transworld publishers and Anne Cater for missing my spot in the tour due to writing the wrong date down.

Too Close is available now in ebook and you can purchase your copy here.

Before I share my review with you, here is a little bit about the book.

Book Synopsis:

How close is too close?

Connie and Ness met in the park while their children played. As they talked, they realised they were neighbours. Perhaps it was only natural that they and their families would become entirely inseparable.

But when Ness’s marriage ends in a bitter divorce, she is suddenly at Connie’s house all the time. Connie doesn’t have a moment to herself, no time alone with her husband, not a second to chat to her kids.

It’s all too much. Something has to give.

Connie has woken up in a psychiatric hospital. They say she committed a terrible crime but she says she can’t remember a thing.

My Review:

Too Close is a dark, emotional and disturbing psychological thriller that I will definitely remember.  I think the thing that most most hits you about this book is how real it feels.  This is a scenario that could actually happen, the things that happen seem so innocent that the reader is lulled into a sense of false security which makes the twists seem even more shocking.  As a mum with young children I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve struck up conversations and created friendships in the playground so for me this was especially chilling.  I’ll definitely be finding out more about people before getting too close now.

The characters are all very well drawn but mostly hugely unlikeable ones that I just couldn’t warm to.  I did however find Connie to be quite a sympathetic character.  Yes she came across as quite rude and shocking at times but the reader can emphasise with her due to what she’s been through in the past.  I found myself  feeling quite protective of her as the book progresses and wanting her to have a happy ending.

This story intrigued me from the start with its realistic opening and I soon found myself fully immersed into the story.  The tension is slowly increased throughout the book which helps create a very tense, almost meanacing atmosphere.  The twists and reveals in the book are well paced and surprising which definetly made me want to keep reading.  The ending was brilliant, really shocking and totally unexpected which I thought very cleverly done by the author.

This unbelievably is the author’s debut novel and I’m really looking forward to reading more from her in the future.  If you like dark, gripping and emotional psychological thrillers then you’ll love this book.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Transworld publishers for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

About The Author:

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About the Author

Natalie Daniels is the pseudonym for screenwriter, author and actress Clara Salaman who you may recognise as DS Claire Stanton from The Bill. She lives in London and in Northern Spain.

Follow The Blog Tour:

The blog tour is now finished but do check back with these fantastic bloggers and see what they thought too.

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#BlogTour: Into The Night by Sarah Bailey @sarahbailey1982 @CorvusBooks @annecater #IntoTheNight #RandomThingsTours

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Book Synopsis:

Senior Detective Gemma Woodstock is a small-town policewoman working on the biggest homicide cases in Melbourne. When an up-and-coming movie star is stabbed to death while the cameras are rolling on his new blockbuster, Gemma, eager to prove herself, is assigned to the case.

With the whole thing caught from multiple angles, how hard can it be to catch the crazed culprit? And who would want to hurt Australia’s adored boy-next-door? As Gemma uncovers the deadly underside of fame, her investigation turns into a dangerous game against those with money, power and everything to lose…

Into The Night is available now in ebook and hardback.  You can purchase your copy of both here.

My Review:

Into The Night is another great crime novel from Sarah Bailey, featuring the intriguing protagonist Gemma Woodstock.  Once again the author has managed to create a dark, gritty and gripping crime thriller which was very hard to put down.

The main character, Gemma Woodstock, is a very interesting and well drawn character who I’m not sure if I liked or not.  She is undeniably very good at her job with her dedication for the case shining from the page and her desire to prove herself is quite impressive.  However her person life is quite murky with her coming across as quite cold and calculating at times.  This, along with her uncaring attitude towards her son, meant that I was unable to warm completely to her.

The book feels quite modern with the descriptions of the Hollywood lifestyles enjoyed by the actors.  There are also references to the sexism that can be present in the film industry,  which was interesting to read about.  The author does a great job in describing this world so the reader gets a great insight into the actor’s life.

This book is very fast past and I was gripped almost from the start with the intriguing murder cases.  There are lots of different characters to get to know and it was fun to watch them develop throughout the story.  The many twists kept me on my toes and there were lots of false leads as to who the murderer was which kept me guessing until the end.  I liked how the author never spoon feeds the reader clues or information that leads to the identity of the murder.  Instead she subtly drops them into the dialogue so it’s up to the reader to put two and two together which definetly makes you think!

This is the second book in the series and whilst I think it could be read as a standalone it is probably best to read the books in order as references to the previous book are made.  I really look forward to reading more from this talented author and I hope that this isn’t the last we’ll see of Gemma as I think there is much more to find out about her.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Corvus for my copy of this book.  If you like fast paced, gritty crime novels then you’ll love this book.

About The Author:

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Sarah Bailey was born in Melbourne, Australia, where she has lived all her life and currently resides with her two young sons. She has a degree in journalism and has a career in advertising. She is currently a partner at the creative agency Mr Smith.

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