Book Synopsis:

Six strangers with one universal thing in common: their lives aren’t always what they make them out to be.

What would happen if they told the truth instead?

Julian Jessop is tired of hiding the deep loneliness he feels. So he begins The Authenticity Project – a small green notebook containing the truth about his life.

Leaving the notebook on a table in his friendly neighbourhood café, Julian never expects Monica, the owner, to track him down after finding it. Or that she’ll be inspired to write down her own story.

Little do they realize that such small acts of honesty hold the power to impact all those who discover the notebook and change their lives completely.

The Authenticity Project is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

This was an absolutely wonderful book, with a unique and original storyline which manages to be very thought provoking.

Firstly I loved the idea behind the book so much that I quite fancy trying it out for myself. We are all so keen to have this picture perfect life that we end up stressing ourselves out when things don’t go perfectly. I’ve often wondered how much better life would be if we were just honest about things as it would save a lot of trouble. I therefore found it very interesting to explore this idea through the characters and see how things could be changed.

The story is written from the point of view of six characters, which may sound confusing but they are each so different to each other that it’s easy to keep track of them all. I grew very fond of them throughout the book and so enjoyed going on the journey with them. Each of the characters are dealing with a difficult problem which they were struggling with and trying to work through. I thought this done in a very clever way as the author manages to bring up the subjects in a relatable way which made the characters seem more realistic.

Overall I really enjoyed this book which manages to be both heartwarming and funny but serious at times as there are some quite poignant moments too. The characters felt like old friends by the end and I found myself feeling quite sad when the book finished and I had to leave them behind. I’d love a sequel to this book as it would be great to visit all the characters again.

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

About The Author:

Clare Pooley graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge and spent twenty years in the heady world of advertising, where the line between authenticity and fiction is constantly blurred, before becoming a full-time mum. She is the author of the hugely popular blog, Mummy was a Secret Drinker, under the pseudonym Sober Mummy and her memoir, The Sober Diaries was published in 2017 to critical acclaim. Her blog has had over two million hits and her TEDx talk, Making Sober Less Shameful, has had over 110,000 views.

Clare’s debut novel The Authenticity Project is inspired by her decision to expose the rather grubby truth about her seemingly perfect life in her memoir.

Clare writes from her kitchen table in Fulham, London where she lives with her long-suffering husband, three children, dog and an African pygmy hedgehog.

Book Synopsis:

A beautiful and heart-breaking story set in South Africa where two mothers – a century apart – must fight for their sons, unaware their fates are inextricably linked.

Orange Free State, 1901. At the height of the Boer War, Sarah van der Watt and her six-year-old son Fred can only watch as the British burn their farm. The polite invaders cart them off to Bloemfontein Concentration Camp promising you will be safe here.

Johannesburg, 2010. Sixteen-year-old Willem is an outsider who just wants to be left alone with his Harry Potter books and Britney, his beloved pug. Worried he’s turning out soft, his Ma and her new boyfriend send him to New Dawn Safari Camp, where they ‘make men out of boys.’ Guaranteed.

The red earth of the veldt keeps countless secrets whether beaten by the blistering sun or stretching out beneath starlit stillness. But no secret can stay buried forever.

You Will Be Safe is available in all formats now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

This was a beautifully written, haunting book which will stay with me for a long time.

I didn’t know much about South African history so I found it fascinating to learn more about it now. The realisation that the British created the idea of a concentration camp was a sobering one, especially as you realise the events written about in this book could have actually happened to people. It made me feel quite sick whilst I read about the appalling conditions there and feel the desperation of Sarah as she tries to protect her son.

In the more recent timeline we follow Willem who is struggling with a mother who is trying to change who he is as she thinks he’s too soft. I felt desperately sorry for Willem who seemed such a lovely boy and just wanted to reach into the book and give him a huge cuddle, while also giving his mother a hard talking to. His friendship with Geldenhuys was lovely to read about and helped add some light relief to the story.

The author does a great job of setting the scene in this book with the vivid descriptions making me feel that I was right there experiencing everything alongside the characters. I even felt at times that I could smell things the way they would, particularly in the concentration camp which I think is proof of how well this book is written. The author manages to include the African dialogue and some of their culture into the story which further helps the reader envision the country the story is set in.

Overall I thought this was a fantastically written, compelling story that explores Africa’s rich and dramatic history. It is quite a sad story but it’s also an important one as a lot of the issues and prejudices discussed are sadly still happening in the world. It’s definitely a story that will deeply effect the reader and stay with you for a long time.

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

About The Author:

Damian Barr is an award-winning writer and columnist. Maggie & Me, his memoir about comingof age and coming out in Thatcher’s Britain, was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week and Sunday Times Memoir of the Year, and wonthe Paddy Power Political Books ‘Satire’ Award and Stonewall Writer of the YearAward. Damian writes columns for the BigIssue and High Life and oftenappears on BBC Radio 4. He is creator and host of his own Literary Salon that premieres work from established and emerging writers. You Will Be Safe Here is his debut novel. Damian Barr lives in Brighton.

@Damian_Barr

Book Synopsis:

A tale of two very different sisters whose 1890s voyage from London into remote outback Australia becomes a journey of self-discovery, set against a landscape of wild beauty and savage dispossession. London in 1891: Harriet Cameron is a talented young artist whose mother died when she was barely five. She and her beloved sister Sarah were brought up by their father, radical thinker James Cameron. After adventurer Henry Vincent arrives on the scene, the sisters’ lives are changed forever. Sarah, the beauty of the family, marries Henry and embarks on a voyage to Australia. Harriet, intensely missing Sarah, must decide whether to help her father with his life’s work or to devote herself to painting. When James Cameron dies unexpectedly, Harriet is overwhelmed by grief. Seeking distraction, she follows Sarah to Australia, and afterwards into the outback, where she is alienated by the casual violence and great injustices of outback life. Her rejuvenation begins with her friendship with an Aboriginal stockman and her growing love for the landscape. But this fragile happiness is soon threatened by murders at a nearby cattle station and by a menacing station hand who is seeking revenge.

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

My Review:

This was a beautifully written, immersive piece of historical fiction set in Australia. I’ve always loved books set in Australia, I think maybe because the landscape is so different to what we know in the UK that makes the a story seem so much more wild and unexpected.

The story follows two sisters Sarah and Harriet as they leave England to start a new life in Australia. It was so good to follow them on their journey and to live precariously through them as they start their new life, especially as moving to a new country has always been a bit of a fantasy of mine. There was obviously a stark difference between their old and new life which was interesting to see, especially when their old activities like sewing were done in their new environment as it just seemed wrong somehow.

The author does a great job of setting the scene with the vivid descriptions of the harshly beautiful Australian landscape helping transport the reader into the book. The treatment of the Aboriginal workers made for very hard reading at times as I couldn’t believe that they were treated like that. The sister’s positive attitude towards them was lovely to read about and helped me warm toward them.

This isn’t particularly a fast paced book but the story is still so interesting and the descriptions so vivid that I soon found myself getting lost in the story. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’d definitely like to read more from her in the future.

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

About The Author:

Alison Booth was born in Melbourne, brought up in Sydney and has worked in the UK and in Australia as a professor as well as a novelist. Her most recent novel, A Perfect Marriage, is in the genre of contemporary fiction, while her first three novels (Stillwater Creek, The Indigo Sky, and A Distant Land) are historical fiction spanning the decades 1950s through to the early 1970s. Alison’s work has been translated into French and has also been published by Reader’s Digest Select Editions in both Asia and Europe. Alison, who holds a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics, is an active public speaker and has participated in many writers’ festivals and literary events. http:// http://www.alisonbooth.net and https:// http://www.facebook.com/AlisonBoothAuthor/

Book Synopsis:

Suspended from duty, Detective Frølich is working as a private investigator, when his girlfriend’s colleague asks for his help with a female asylum seeker, who the authorities are about to deport. She claims to have a sister in Norway, and fears that returning to her home country will mean instant death.

Frølich quickly discovers the whereabouts of the young woman’s sister, but things become increasingly complex when she denies having a sibling, and Frølich is threatened off the case by the police. As the body count rises, it becomes clear that the answers lie in an old investigation, and the mysterious sister, who is now on the run…

A dark, chilling and up-to-the-minute Nordic Noir thriller, Sister is also a tense and well-plotted murder mystery with a moving tragedy at its heart, cementing Kjell Ola Dahl as one of the greatest crime writers of our generation.

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

My Review:

I’m a huge fan of this author’s books so I was incredibly excited to be invited onto the blog tour for this his latest book. Once again the author has written a fabulous, compelling and fast paced book which was hugely enjoyable to read.

One of the things that I most enjoyed about this book was how the reader gets to unravel the mystery alongside Frank as he tries to make sense of the muddle of the case he gets handed. It was great fun to try to unpick everything and to try to work out what was going on. There were lots of twists and false leads which kept me guessing and ensured that the actual solution was a complete surprise to me.

The actual case was a very intriguing one following asylum seekers and ship wrecks which are quite current topics unfortunately. Frank really impressed me with his dogged determination to try and solve the case by going through everything with a fine tooth comb. It’s a complex story and there is always lots going on to keep the reader interested so it’s very difficult to put down. The ending was very clever and I thought it was an interesting, unusual way to end things.

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

About The Author:

One of the fathers of the Nordic Noir genre, Kjell Ola Dahl was born in 1958 in Gjøvik. He made his debut in 1993, and has since published eleven novels, the most prominent of which is a series of police procedurals cum psychological thrillers featuring investigators Gunnarstranda and Frølich. In 2000 he won the Riverton Prize for The Last Fix and he won both the prestigious Brage and Riverton Prizes for The Courier in 2015. His work has been published in fourteen countries, and he lives in Oslo.Follow Kjell Ola on Twitter @ko_dahl

Book Synopsis:

Discover the heartbreaking story of The Lost Child…

Rebecca Waterhouse is just thirteen when she witnesses her mother’s death at the hand of her father in Seaview Cottage.

But what else did Rebecca see?

Years later, Rebecca’s daughters Iris and Jessie know their mother will never speak of that terrible night. But when Jessie goes missing, with her gravely ill newborn, Iris realises the past may hold the key to her sister’s disappearance.

With Jessie in trouble, Iris must unravel a twisting story of love and betrayal in her mother’s family history.

Only then will Seaview Cottage give up its dark and tragic secret…

Emily Gunnis’s mesmerising new novel is the perfect read for fans of Kate Morton, Lucy Clarke, Louise Douglas and Kathryn Hughes.

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

My Review:

Wow what a beautiful, emotional and important read this was. I absolutely loved this author’s first book so I was a little apprehensive about starting this one as it couldn’t possibly be as good, could it? Oh yes, yes it could!

This book is a multi generational story which focuses on how women were treated in the 1940’s and 50’s. It was truly eye-opening and emotional to see what women went through, particularly in the treatment of post natal depression. The lack of understanding and contempt made for hard reading at times especially as I suffered with post natal depression after my first child. I’m very grateful that attitudes have moved on.

The characters were all fabulous creations and I enjoyed following their stories throughout the book. The author manages to give each character an individual voice which I thought was clever and I found myself growing closer and closer to them as the book progressed. I started to feel like they were old friends of mine and found myself getting quite worked up over everything that goes on. I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens to them.

I thought this was a very absorbing book that features some important topics. The story follows three ladies who I guessed must be connected in some way but I wasn’t sure initially how. It was therefore very enjoyable to see the stories come together and all the secrets be revealed.

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

About The Author:

Emily Gunnis previously worked in TV drama and lives in Brighton with her young family. She is one of the four daughters of Sunday Times bestselling author Penny Vincenzi.

Book Synopsis:

Who am I? Why am I here? Why did my mother give me away?’

On the surface, Luke and his girlfriend Hannah seem to have a perfect life. He’s an A&R man, she’s an arts correspondent and they are devoted to their new-born son Samuel.

But beneath the gloss Luke has always felt like an outsider. So when he finds his birth mother Alice, the instant connection with her is a little like falling in love.

When Hannah goes back to work, Luke asks Alice to look after their son. But Alice – fuelled with grief from when her baby was taken from her 27 years ago – starts to fall in love with Samuel. And Luke won’t settle for his mother pushing him aside once again…

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

My Review:

I was a huge fan of this author’s first book so I was very excited to read more from her. Mine is another intense, powerful read which I have continued to think about long after I have finished reading.

I’ve often wondered how traumatic and life changing giving up a child must be for everyone involved. It’s a decision that must haunt you for years and something you often think about. I therefore had a lot of sympathy for both Luke and Alice for the situation they find themselves in with all the raw emotion that they were both feeling.

As emotional as Luke and Alice’s meeting is, things soon becomes quite frightening as Alice forms a strong attachment to Luke little girl. Alarm bells started ringing and I found myself feeling quite uneasy as to how things were going. There’s a strong sense of foreboding hanging over the whole book as the reader gets the sense early on that something bad is going to happen but has no idea what and when. I found myself trying to read faster to find out what it was going to be.

The thing that most stood out for me in this book was how connected I felt to the characters. Despite everything that happens I felt very close to them and felt I understood why they were acting the way they were. It’s definitely a heartbreaking read at times due to the subject matter but I think it would make a great read for anyone who likes psychological thrillers as it is very gripping.

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

About The Author:

Clare is a journalist with a background in national newspapers – small business editor, finance correspondent and fashion at the Mail on Sunday and the Daily Express, freelance for The Sunday Telegraph, The Sunday Times, the Evening Standard and Tatler amongst others. She currently works as editor/founder of experiential lifestyle website http://www.countrycalling.co.uk.