Book Synopsis:

1908, Manchester. Mary Maitland is an attractive and intelligent young woman determined to strike out on her own and earn a living. Finding work at a women’s employment agency, her creative talent is soon noticed and Mary begins writing articles for newspapers and magazines.

But being of independent and progressive mind are troublesome traits when those you hold dear must constantly live up to the expectations of the well-to-do family to which they are linked. With increasing pressures from the powers that be, can Mary find the fine line between honouring her family and honouring herself?

The Poor Relation is available in all formats now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

The Poor Relation is another wonderful, engaging read from this talented author which will keep you reading long after bedtime.

Once again the author has obviously done her research and I felt truly transported to the early 1900s and enjoyed living all the historical events that happened at that time. Suzanna knows how to write fantastic female characters who are brave and willing to fight for what they believe in. Mary Maitland was another fabulous lead character and I really enjoyed following her throughout the book. All of the characters seem very realistic, with the author giving them a great backstory which allows the reader to get to know them better.

Overall I thought this was an absorbing, fast paced book which I flew through in a couple of days. There was always lots going on to keep my interest and I found that I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next as the characters had started to feel like old friends. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

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

About The Author:

Susanna Bavin has variously been a librarian, an infant school teacher, a carer and a cook. She lives in Llandudno in North Wales with her husband and two rescue cats, but her writing is inspired by her Mancunian roots.

Book Synopsis:

For fans of Jane Harper’s The Dry comes a powerful novel about the lengths we will go to keep our family safe. This is a story about good and evil and how life is lived somewhere in between.

Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer.

Now, he’s been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed.

Duchess Radley, Star’s thirteen-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin – and to her deeply troubled mother. But in trying to protect Star, Duchess inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will have tragic consequences not only for her family, but also the whole town.

Murder, revenge, retribution.

‘You can’t save someone that doesn’t want to be saved . . .’

We begin At The End is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

I’d heard lots of great things about this book from some of my favourite bloggers, so I was excited to read it and started the book with lots of expectations. I’m pleased to say that I thought the hype was justified and this has to be the best book I’ve read for a while.

I always love crime books that give you a little bit extra and aren’t just about solving the crime. This book is very much about the characters and their lives too which made for a beautiful, emotional story. I really enjoyed getting to know Duchess and finding out more about her difficult life. Sheriff Walk was another fabulous character and I loved how caring he was to everyone.

The author does a great job of setting the scene in this book with the descriptions of the small American town helping the reader understand what it’s like somewhere everyone knows your business. The residents are very set in their opinion and it’s difficult to change them once they’ve decided. Most people thought Vincent King was guilty and it was very hard for them consider another theory. A lot of the tension in this book comes from their attitudes and behaviour towards King which becomes almost unbearable at times.

This isn’t a particularly fast paced book but it is a very compelling one which I found hard to out down. I found I grew very fond of the characters and felt personally involved in their lives, which made some of the emotional scenes even more hard hitting. I found it hard to leave them all behind at the end of the book and have been thinking about them constantly since. I’m definitely going to go back and read some of this author’s previous books.

Huge thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Zaffre for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

About The Author:

Chris Whitaker is the award-winning author of Tall Oaks and All The Wicked Girls. Both books were published to widespread critical acclaim, with Tall Oaks going on to win the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award. Chris lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and two young sons.

Follow Chris on Twitter @WhittyAuthor

Book Synopsis:

His life was destroyed by a lie.

Her life will be ruined by the truth.
 
Joely tells other people’s secrets for a living. As a ghost writer, she’s used to scandal – but this just might be her strangest assignment yet.
 
Freda has never told her story to anyone before. But now she’s ready to set the record straight and to right a wrong that’s haunted her for forty years.
 
Freda’s memoir begins with a 15-year-old girl falling madly in love with her teacher. It ends in a way Joely could never possibly have imagined.
 
As the story unravels, Joely is spun deeper into a world of secrets and lies. Delving further into Freda’s past, Joely’s sure she can uncover the truth… But does she want to?

My Lies, Your Lies is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

I’m a huge fan of this author so you can imagine how excited I was to learn she had a new book out. This was another fantastic, captivating read which pulled me in from the first page and found it very difficult to put down as I wanted the mystery to be resolved.

One of the things this author does really well is create complex situations which are incredibly realistic and very easy to feel involved in. This book was no exception and I soon found myself drawn into all the drama and feeling a lot of sympathy with Joely. As a mum myself I can imagine how hard it must hit you to have your daughter want to move out.

The mystery part of the story was very intriguing and I enjoyed watching it all unfold. It read a bit like an autobiography at times but I liked getting to know the character and their background more. There was lots of suspense and twists to keep me thoroughly intrigued. I found myself completely unsure about what was going to happen next and the author managed to keep me in suspense until the end which I thought was very clever. I can’t wait to read more from her in the future.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Harper Collins for my copy of this book via Netgalley. If you are looking for a gripping read to distract you from everything then I thoroughly recommend this one!

About The Author:

Susan Lewis is the internationally bestselling author of more than forty books across the genres of family drama, thriller, suspense, and crime. She is also the author of Just One More Day and One Day at a Time, the moving memoirs of her childhood in Bristol during the 1960s. Following periods of living in Los Angeles and the South of France, she currently lives in Gloucestershire with her husband, James; stepsons, Michael and Luke; and mischievous dogs, Coco and Lulu.

Book Synopsis:

BERLIN 2019.

A young writer is brutally attacked in her home and left for dead. For her sister Nina Bergmann, it’s the beginning of a nightmare that will threaten to destroy her marriage, her job and – ultimately – her life. As she sets out to unravel the truth about what really happened to her sister, Nina comes face-to-face with inner demons she believed long since banished and discovers that her sister’s past and that of the once-divided city are intertwined in unimaginable ways. The Wall may be gone, but its legacy still haunts Berlin . . .

Sisters Of Berlin is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

I have to admit that this book wasn’t at all what I was expecting when I started- in a good way obviously. This book was much more heart wrenching, powerful and hard hitting then I thought it would it be.

Firstly this book deals with the difficult subject of grief which I thought was very cleverly described by the author. I’m guessing that she has experienced it in real life as the scenes were so accurately described that they were incredibly powerful and emotional to read about. I felt like I was living everything through Nina which made for quite difficult reading at times. I really felt for Nina and everything that she was going through.

The plot unfolds slowly and there was always something happening to keep my interest. The murder mystery side of the story was very absorbing, especially as I felt so involved in the events. The characters and story were beautifully written and they have stayed with me long after I’ve finished reading.

Huge thanks to Kelly from Love Book Tours for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

About the Author:

Juliet Conlin was born in London and grew up in England and Germany. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Durham. She works as a writer and translator and lives with her family in Berlin. Her novels include The Fractured Man (Cargo, 2013), The Uncommon Life of Alfred Warner in Six Days (Black & White, 2017), The Lives Before Us (Black & White, 2019).

Book Synopsis:

YOU THOUGHT IT WAS THE PERFECT FLAT…

When Jessie moves into a flatshare at Maver Place, she’s finally found a decent place to live.

And when she’s befriended by fellow tenants Lauren and Sofie, she’s got great flatmates to share it with.

You think she’s safe. You think she can trust these people.

You’re wrong.

When you flatshare, how well do you really know the people that you’re living with?

A dark, twisty domestic thriller about the perfect flatshare gone wrong for fans of Shari Lapena’s The Couple Next Door and Louise Candlish’s Our House.

The Wrong Move is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

The Wrong Move is a terrifying, addictive read which is hard to believe is a debut novel.

Firstly the things that most stands out about this book is how realistic this book is. We’ve all had bad housemate experiences which make it easy to relate to some of Jessie’s experiences. The tension in the book slowly increases as we learn more about the situation Jessie finds herself in, some of which made my hair stand on end. It’s definitely a lesson in how little you actually know the people you live with.

I found myself in the perhaps unusual position of not liking the main character very much. Jessie is incredibly annoying and quite whiny at times which made it difficult to warm to her. I really wished I could reach into the book and shake her at times. Honestly some of the things she moaned about where ridiculous, the most memorable being the cobwebs- um never heard of a duster?! I did wonder why she didn’t just move out as she was obviously so unhappy.

Overall I enjoyed this book and found it an entertaining read. There were lots of twists and turns to keep me very intrigued. The feeling of paranoia was strong throughout the book and I liked that I was never entirely sure if it was all in Jessie’s mind which made things very interesting. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

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

About The Author:

Jennifer Savin is an award-winning journalist and currently Features Writer at Cosmopolitan. Jennifer has a particular passion for investigative journalism – something which has found her in all manner of situations, from going undercover to share a tiny bedroom with a stranger for 10 days while tackling the housing crisis, to going undercover to expose the ‘landloards’ offering vulnerable women free rent in exchange for sex. The Wrong Move is her debut novel.

You can follow Jennifer on Twitter @JenniSavin and Instagram @savcity

Book Synopsis:

Ursula, Gareth and Alice have never met before.

Ursula thinks she killed the love of her life.
Gareth’s been receiving strange postcards.
And Alice is being stalked.

None of them are used to relying on others – but when the three strangers’ lives unexpectedly collide, there’s only one thing for it: they have to stick together. Otherwise, one of them will die.
 
Three strangers, two secrets, one terrifying evening.
 
The million-copy bestseller returns with a gripping new novel that will keep you guessing until the end.

Strangers is available in ebook and hardbackback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

This was a fantastic, addictive read which I think is her best book yet. It’s going to be hard to review this book as I really don’t want to give anything away.

Firstly I thought this book was brilliantly plotted with some fantastic characters who were great fun to get to know. It was very interesting to learn more about them and see how they all fit together, especially as it wasn’t obviously to start with. Their connection to each other is slowly revealed with the author dropping little hints about what it might be and I loved trying to piece everything together.

I found this a very fast paced and compelling read which was hard to put down as I soon felt very involved in the characters lives. The change in point of view helped keep me reading as there was always something happening to keep my interest. I felt this also made it feel like two different types of stories at times especially in regards to Alice and Gareth as Alice’s seemed more of romantic story while Gareth’s seemed much darker somehow.

Overall I really enjoyed this book which offered welcome distraction during this difficult time and helped get my reading mojo back. I can’t wait to read more from her in the future.

Huge thanks to Sanjana from Avon for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

About The Author:

C.L. Taylor is a Sunday Times bestselling author. Her psychological thrillers have sold over a million copies in the UK alone, been translated into over twenty languages, and optioned for television. Her 2019 novel, Sleep, was a Richard and Judy pick. C.L. Taylor lives in Bristol with her partner and son.

Book Synopsis:

Can she save herself from a witch’s fate?

Martha is a feisty and articulate young woman, the daughter of a wheelwright, living in a Herefordshire village in Elizabethan England. With no mother Martha’s life is spent running her father’s meagre household and helping out at the local school whilst longing to escape the confines and small-mindedness of a community driven by religious bigotry and poverty.

As she is able to read and is well-versed in herbal remedies she is suspected of being a witch. When a landslip occurs – opening up a huge chasm in the centre of the village – she is blamed for it and pursued remorselessly by the villagers.

But can her own wits and the love of local stablehand Jacob save her from a witch’s persecution and death…

A brilliant and accomplished novel that perfectly captures the febrile atmosphere of Elizabethan village life in an age when suspicion and superstition were rife. Perfect for fans of Tracy Chevalier.

The Wheelwright’s Daughter is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

I’m a huge fan of books about witchcraft so you can imagine how much this book appealed to me. I especially liked that this book was set in a village near to where I live as I felt I could picture the setting of this story.

The historical details in this book was superb and I felt fully transported back to the 16th Century with all the little details about village life. I particularly liked the descriptions of the seasonal celebrations as I hadn’t heard of them before.

Martha was a fantastic main character who I warmed to instantly. She’s definitely ahead of her time being headstrong and independent in a time when women weren’t expected to be. It must have been very difficult to be a single women at the time, particularly if you happened to be good at herbal medicine. The amount of superstition over magic and witchcraft was amazing and made me wonder how on earth people could believe in that stuff. The church helped fuel these superstitions to gain power and help keep people fearful, which makes the priest in this book not a very likeable character. There’s something evil about him and I found myself hoping he would meet a sticky end somehow.

Overall I thought this was a very interesting read which was an impressive debut novel. The ending was interesting as the author leaves it open for the reader to draw their own conclusions. I’m hopeful that this means there is a sequel planned.

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

About The Author:

Ellie grew up in Herefordshire and now lives near the Malvern Hills. She’s taught in Hong Kong, London and Birmingham and published poetry and short fiction. Her forthcoming novel THE WHEELWRIGHT’S DAUGHTER grew out of walks on Marcle Ridge where a 1571 landslip is still visible and marked on the map as The Wonder. The book tells the story of a world torn by division, where new beliefs jostle with tradition, where to be different can cost you your life. It introduces Martha Dynely, who refuses to be crushed, even when the horizon crumbles and buries her.
Photo: Mike Woods

Book Synopsis:

The captivating new drama of family secrets and second chances, from Sunday Times bestselling author Erica James

It’s the autumn of 1962 in the idyllic Suffolk village of Melstead St Mary. Evelyn Devereux’s husband Kit is planning their 20th wedding anniversary party. But as they prepare to celebrate, Evelyn receives an anonymous letter that threatens to unravel the secrets she’s kept hidden for many years – secrets that reach back to the war and her days at Bletchley Park.

Evelyn’s sister-in-law, Hope, has brought joy to countless children with her bestselling books, but despite having a loving husband and caring family, happiness has never come easily to her. Then in an instant her fragile world is turned upside down when she too receives an anonymous letter.

Across the village, up at Melstead Hall, Julia Devereux has married into a life beyond anything she could have dreamt of, not realising until it’s too late that it comes with a heavy price.

Meanwhile, in the sun-baked desert of Palm Springs, Romily Devereux-Temple, crime-writer and former ATA pilot, is homesick for her beloved Island House, where she’s saved the day more times than she can count. On her return home, and shocked to learn what has been going on in her absence, she finds herself reluctantly confronting a secret she’s kept hidden for a very long time. Once again Romily is challenged to save the day and hold the family together. Can she do it, and maybe seize some happiness for herself at the same time?

From the gorgeous Suffolk countryside to the glamorous resort of Palm Springs, let Erica James sweep you away…

Letters From The Past is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

This was another wonderful, absorbing read from this talented author, which had a bit of an old fashioned feel to it as it involves letter writing- though not the type of letters you’d want to receive!

I absolutely loved the gorgeous sounding country setting for this book. The descriptions were so wonderfully vivid that I felt I could perfectly see them in my mind. I found myself wishing that I lived in such a beautiful place, especially as it had the lovely close knit community too.

The poisoned letters helped create a great starting point for the story and helped allow a lot of the other storylines to naturally develop which I thought was very clever. There are definitely a lot of secrets being hidden and I so enjoyed following the different characters and finding out about the skeletons hiding in their closet.

The mystery of who was behind the mystery was an intriguing one and I must admit one that kept me guessing throughout the book. It was great fun trying to figure out who it was and why they were doing it.

Overall I thought this was a very absorbing, hugely enjoyable read which I will be recommending to everyone. It’s actually the sequel to a previous book which I hadn’t realised but everything you need to know is explained in the story so it can be read as a standalone.

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

About The Author:

Erica James is the number one international bestselling author of twenty-two novels, including the Sunday Times top ten bestsellers Summer at the Lake, The Dandelion Years and Song of the Skylark. She has sold over five million books worldwide and her work has been translated into thirteen languages. Erica won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award for her novel Gardens of Delight, set in beautiful Lake Como, Italy, which has become a second home to her. Her authentic characters are thanks to her fondness for striking up conversation with complete strangers.

Chat to Erica online:

http://www.ericajames.co.uk

[twitter logo] @TheEricaJames

@EricaJamesAuthor

[Instagram logo] @the_ericajames