Good evening everyone this week on JoJo Recommends I’m featuring the lovely Luna Keller and her debut album Prophecies and Silver Linings.

Luna is a singer songwriter currently living in Germany. She comes from a very music family and was encouraged to play instruments from a young age, eventually settling on guitar as she thought it was the most fun. I discovered her on twitch where she streams multiple times a week. Her streams are always great to be on and she is so appreciative of all the support she gets.

If you would like to follow Luna on twitch or social media you can do so via the links below.

How To Listen:

Luna writes folk, pop music with beautiful lyrics that really gives you a insight into how she’s feeling and her experiences. She’s very open about her mental health and has a lovely message throughout the album that it’s ok not to be ok. Her voice is amazing and I always really enjoy listening to her music (and streams). Luna’s music is available to listen to on most streaming platforms or you can buy it on Bandcamp. I have included the videos to my two favourites below.

JoJo Recommends on Island Vibing Presents:

JoJo Recommends is now on Island Vibing Presents and despite a few technical difficulties sometimes (fyi don’t lean your phone against a laptop when trying to record) I think it’s going really well.

If you would like to watch Island Vibing Presents live or via the vods you can do so via the link below.

JoJo Recommends Playlist:

You can now listen to Luna and all previously featured artists on a special playlist I’ve created on Spotify.

Thanks for reading and happy listening.

Book Synopsis:

Can they get away with murder?

On a beautiful island off the English coast, four TV actresses gather.
Their fifth member is missing – and only they know why she was killed.
As the secret between them threatens to come out, tensions on set run high.
The women are determined that the show must go on – no matter what it costs.
But one of them is on the edge of telling the truth – and no show in the world could survive this scandal…

All of the women have something to hide – but the question is, are they all guilty?

The cast of RUTHLESS WOMEN is back – but this time they’re in trouble…

My Review:

Guilty women is another fun, saucy read that is full of intrigue and surprises.  

Firstly it was great fun being back with the characters having a peek behind the scenes of the famous Falcon Bay series.  After the last book I was very intrigued to see what happened next and if the characters would be discovered.  The characters are very well written so that, even though I didn’t particularly like them or approve of their dubious decisions, I still somehow wanted them to succeed and stay undiscovered. It was interesting to see how things had developed since last time and to learn a little more about the characters.

I thought this book was very fast paced and there always seemed to be something happening to keep me thoroughly entertained.  There is lots of revenge, murder and of course sex, and more sex, but it all combines to make a very thrilling, exciting read which was very hard to put down at times.  Interwoven with all the fun , was some lovely moments of female friendship and empowerment which I especially liked to see.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I think it would make a great book to read on the beach this summer.  I’m very excited to see what happens next in this series.

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

About The Author:

Melanie Blake is the bestselling author of Ruthless Women, which became a Number 4 Sunday Times hardback bestseller and an ebook bestseller in 2021, selling over 100,000 copies. Guilty Women is her second novel about the cast of Falcon Bay, and her first with HarperFiction. Melanie has her own Rags to Riches story, just like that of her characters – at 15, she was told by her school career advisors that her decision to work at a record shop was an ‘a clear example that she wouldn’t go far in her career’. They were wrong. By 21 she was working at the BBC’s iconic Top of the Pops show and by 27 she had built a reputation as one of the UK’s leading music and entertainment managers. She also built up an acting agency which became the most successful independent boutique agency in the UK. Melanie still represents a high profile stable of actresses, but is also now enjoying success in her own right as a producer, author and playwright. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @MelanieBlakeUK.

Book Synopsis:

For fans of Dinah Jefferies, Victoria Hislop, Lucinda Riley and Rosanna Ley, this is a stunning and sweeping WW2 novel that shows a side to the war not often seen before.

That was then…

Seventy-five years ago, British SOE spy Guy Barclay was forced to leave behind the woman he loved in war-ravaged Yugoslavia.

…This is now

As ninety-three-year-old Guy’s days draw to a close, he asks his granddaughter, Leo Holmes, to go looking for answers. Given that her marriage has imploded and her City job is on the verge of killing her, Leo agrees and rents a house on the island of Vis, where her grandfather was stationed in the Second World War.

But as Leo’s search takes her down unexpected roads – and into the path of a gorgeous local, Andrej Pintaric – she begins to wonder if this journey down memory lane might yield unexpected results for more than just her beloved grandfather…

An Island Of Secrets is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.

My Review:

I absolutely loved The Olive Grove so I was so excited to learn that Eva had written a new book. I was definitely not disappointed as I thought An Island Of Secrets was a beautiful, written, fascinating, absorbing read which will stay with me.

Firstly the author has clearly done her research and I really enjoyed learning more about Yugoslavia’s history. I love books set in the second world war so it’s always great to learn more from a new angle. It was very poignant to see some of the things the population suffered on a daily basis.

The story is told in two timelines one set in WW2 and one in the present day. The two timelines complimented each other perfectly and I actually enjoyed both timelines equally which is unusual for me. The relationship between Guy and Luka was wonderful to read about, especially as it seemed so real. I really admired the two of them for the bravery they showed on a daily basis, in situations I don’t think I’d have been so brave in. It was lovely to watch it develop and I had to keep reading to see what happened.

As always the thing that most stood out about this book is the author’s fabulous descriptions of Croatia which were so vivid I felt I was actually there watching everything unfold alongside the characters. I think it takes great skill to make someone fall in love with a country without ever having stepped foot in it but this author managed it and I can’t wait to visit Croatia in the future.

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

About The Author:

Eva Glyn writes escapist relationship-driven fiction with a kernel of truth at its heart. She loves to travel and finds inspiration in beautiful places and the stories they hide.

Eva lives in Cornwall, although she considers herself Welsh, and has been lucky enough to have been married to the love of her life for more than twenty-five years. She also writes as Jane Cable.

Book Synopsis:

In the final days of war, only love will pull her through . . .Queenie Brogan wasn’t always an East End matriarch. Many years ago, before she married Fergus, she was Philomena Dooley, a daughter of Irish Travellers, planning to wed her childhood sweetheart, Patrick Mahone. But when tragedy struck and Patrick’s narrow-minded sister, Nora, intervened, the lovers were torn apart.Fate can be cruel, and when Queenie arrives in London she finds that Patrick Mahon is her parish priest, and that the love she had tried to suppress flares again in her heart.But now in the final months of WW2, Queenie discovers Father Mahon is dying and must face losing him forever. Can she finally tell him the secret she has kept for over fifty years or will Nora once again come between them?And if Queenie does decide to finally tell Patrick, could the truth destroy the Brogan family?

My Review:

A Ration Book Victory is a heartwarming and absorbing read which is a great way to end one of my favourite series.

It was lovely to be back with the Brogan family though slightly bitter sweet as I knew this was my last visit to them. Over the years it has been great fun following the Brogan family and experiencing all the highs and lows of their lives with them. I really enjoyed catching up with them and discovering what had been going on in their lives, especially the older children who don’t live at the family home anymore. With the war coming to an end it was great to learn more about what they’d be doing in the future too.

The story is told in two timelines, one in 1945 and the other flashing back to Queenie’s childhood in Ireland and her first love Patrick. Throughout the series the reader hasn’t learned much about Queenie’s past so it was great to learn more about her. Her reconnection with Patrick was beautiful to read about and I found I had to keep reading so I could discover how things went for them.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a great way to end the series. The book had a great pace to it and I was soon absorbed back into the lives of the Brogan family. There is a few sad moments in the book but it also manages to be really heartwarming in places. I now can’t wait to go back and read the series from the beginning again.

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

About The Author:

I was born within the sound of Bow Bells in Whitechapel and my family have lived in East London since the 1820s.Until Nov 2015 I was a qualified district nurse with a BSc in Community Nursing and a MSC in Teaching and Leadership. I am also a member of the Queen’s Nurses’ Institute and spent my entire nursing career in East London.In 2006, when I won the Harry Bowling prize I signed my first contract with Orion for my East London post-war nurses series. I moved to Atlantic in 2016, who re-published my East London Nolan Family Victorian sagas and my best-selling WW2 Ration Book series, featuring the boisterous East London Brogan family. I have a total of nineteen published novels and a non-fiction autobiography of growing up in the East End during the 50s, 60s and early 70s.I now live in Bedford with my very own Hero@Home who is a rector in the Church of England. I have three daughters and eight grandchildren plus an elderly, very affectionate cat. When I’m not tapping at my key board I enjoy travelling, walks in the country and socialising with friends and family.

Good evening everyone and welcome to another JoJo Recommends. Today I’m featuring Lonely by Ragen Anne.

Ragen is an 18 year old singer songwriter from the Philippines. Her twitch streams are one of my favourites as they are always such a vibe and I always look forward to them as I know they will lift my spirits. She can go from a really powerful ballad which shows off her amazing voice to dancing around to Single Ladies by Beyonce which is always great fun to listen to.

If you would like to follow her on twitch or social media you can do via the links below.

How To Listen:

Lonely is only available on Spotify at the moment but there are a lot of great covers to listen to on her YouTube channel linked below. Her debut single ‘Lonely’ is a fantastic soaring ballads that really suits her beautiful and powerful voice. I’m always amazed by her voice which is always great to listen to. I have linked some of her most recent covers below for you to enjoy.

JoJo Recommends on Island Vibing Presents:

Jojo Recommends is now featured on the fantastic Island Vibing Presents twitch podcast every Thursday at 10pm EST and the first Saturday of the month at 8pm BST. If you would like to see the feature I do on that channel you can so via the link below.

Jojo Recommends Playlist:

You can now listen to Ragen Anne and all previously featured artists on a special playlist I’ve created on Spotify.

Thanks for reading and happy listening!

Book Synopsis:

A teenage girl wanders out of the woods.

She’s striking, with flame-red hair and a pale complexion. She’s also covered in blood.

Detective Jonah Sheens quickly discovers that Keely and her sister, Nina, disappeared from a children’s home a week ago. Now, Keely is here – but Nina’s still missing.

Keely knows where her sister is – but before she tells, she wants Jonah’s full attention . . .

Is she killer, witness, or victim?

And will Jonah find out what Keely’s hiding, in time to save Nina?

Little Sister is out in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

Little Sister is another gripping, absorbing and clever read from one of my favourite authors. I’ve read all of her books from the start and in my opinion she keeps getting better and better.

The story gripped me from the start when we are first introduced to the fascinating Keeley. She sent a shiver through my spine from the beginning and I soon found I had to keep reading to find out what was going on. She really intrigued me as I couldn’t work out what her motive was or whether she was murderer or victim in the story.

I thought the storyline was very clever and well plotted so as to keep my attention throughout the book. The author drops little hints for the reader to discover as the story unravels and it was great fun to try and piece together the story alongside Jonah and his team. It’s a very sad story in places with themes some readers might find difficult to read but I felt the author handled it sensitively.

Overall I really enjoyed this book which is my favourite so far in this fabulous series. The tension in the book slowly increases as we learn more about the case and what really happened. I couldn’t put this book down and read it over a weekend which is no easy feat as a mum of three kids. This is the fourth book in the series bit could easily be read as a standalone as everything you need to know is explained.

Huge thanks to Kallie from Michael St Joseph for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. Highly recommended by me!

About The Author:

Gytha Lodge is a Sunday Times bestselling writer and multi-award-winning playwright who lives in Cambridge. After studying creative writing at UEA, she was shortlisted for the Yeovil Literary Prize and the Arts’ Council England fiction awards, and developed a large online following for her young adult and children’s writing, with over seven million reads accrued on platform Wattpad.She Lies in Wait, her debut novel, was a Richard & Judy Book Club Pick. With nail-biting cases that hook you in, and heart that keeps you coming back for more, Lodge’s highly-acclaimed Jonah Sheens series – which also includes Watching from the Dark and Lie Beside Me – has kept readers gripped from beginning to end, and Lodge has been acclaimed as ‘a gifted writer’ by Daily Mail.

Book Synopsis:

Accept it, he is dead.
No, it’s not true.
It is. Everyone thinks so except you.

Forced to leave their family home in London after it is bombed, Maddie and her two young daughters take refuge at Knyghton, the beautiful country house in Norfolk where Maddie’s husband Philip spent the summers of his childhood.

But Philip is gone, believed to have been killed in action in northern France. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Maddie refuses to give up hope that she and Philip will some day be reunited.
 
Arriving at Knyghton, Maddie feels closer to her missing husband, but she soon realises that there’s a reason Philip has never spoken to her about his past. Something happened at Knyghton one summer years before. Something that involved Philip, his cousin Lyle and a mysterious young woman named Flora.
 
Maddie’s curiosity turns to desperation as she tries to discover the truth, but no one will speak about what happened all those years ago, and no one will reassure her that Philip will ever return to Knyghton.

The extraordinarily powerful new novel from bestselling author Rachel Hore. 

My Review:

I’m a huge fan of this author so you can imagine my excitement at learning she had a new book out and that it was set in ww2 my favourite era!

Firstly the author has clearly done her research and I loved all the little historical details that helped bring this book to life. The vivid descriptions of the house and village in particular were brilliant and I often felt like I was actually there watching everything unfold alongside the characters which I always love.

The dual narrative between Philip and Maddie, husband and wife, was very cleverly done with the two stories helping to add a lot of intrigue and atmosphere into the story. The supporting characters were very well drawn and I enjoyed learning more about them and their often very different opinions. Maddie however was my favourite character as I loved her drive for independence and her ability to keep her career whilst also helping her family which I thought was very impressive.

Overall as you can probably tell I loved this book and will definitely be recommending it to others. The slow reveal of secrets was deliciously done and my desire to discover what was going on ensured that I found the book hard to put down at times. I did guess the twist fairly early on but I was so involved in the characters and their lives that I had to keep reading anyway to check I was right! It’s a very absorbing read, which I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since I finished reading it.

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

About The Author:

Rachel Hore worked in London publishing for many years before moving with her family to Norwich, where she taught publishing and creative writing at the University of East Anglia before becoming a full-time writer. She is married to the writer D. J. Taylor and they have three sons.

Book Synopsis:

In Nazi-occupied Guernsey, the wrong decision can destroy a life…Left profoundly deaf after an accident, Émile is no stranger to isolation – or heartbreak. Now, as Nazi planes loom over Guernsey, he senses life is about to change forever.Trapped in a tense, fearful marriage, Isabelle doesn’t know what has become of Émile and the future she hoped for. But when she glimpses him from the window of the French House, their lives collide once more. Leutnant Schreiber is more comfortable wielding a paintbrush than a pistol. But he has little choice in the role he is forced to play in the occupying forces – or in his own forbidden desires. As their paths entwine, loyalties are blurred and dangerous secrets forged. But on an island under occupation, courage can have deadly consequences…Lyrical, moving and compelling, this is a novel about wanting to hear and learning to listen – to the truths of our own hearts.Perfect for lovers of The Nightingale, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and All the Light We Cannot See.

The French House is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.

My Review:

The French House is a beautifully written, absorbing and emotional story which is hard to believe is a debut novel.

I’m a huge fan of historical fiction set in world war 2 so this book instantly appealed. The author paints a vivid picture of what life was like under the German Occupation and I found it very interesting, if poignant, to learn more about that time. It must have been incredibly hard dealing not only with all the normal hardships we associate with the war (rationing, bombs) but also the constant fear of having the enemy so close and worse still having to house them in your own home and feed them.

The characters were all brilliant creations who seems very believable and real as they all had character flaws which made some of them very unlikeable. My two favourite where definitely Emile and Isabelle. It was great to get to know them better over the course of the book and learn more about their relationship with each other. I thought it was very sad that they hadn’t worked out and that they seemed unhappy in their relationships with the people they had ended up with. Emile was an especially intriguing character and I found it very interesting to learn more about his deafness and how other people treated him because of it. It was very poignant to learn that most people left him alone or avoided him because of it and it was hard to see how it affected him and the loneliness he felt because of this.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and felt quickly drawn into the story and the characters lives. There always seemed to be something happening that kept my interest and in the slower parts of the book I found I had to keep reading as I wanted to find out what happened to the characters. There are some very sad moments in the book but I felt these were well balanced out with some beautifully written moments of family, love and hope. I’d really recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and can’t wait to read more from this talented author.

Huge thanks to Steven Cooper and Hodder and Stoughton for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Jacquie Bloese, an alumna of the Curtis Brown Creative course, has a strong personal connection with the subject matter of THE FRENCH HOUSE. She grew up on Guernsey, and is in love with both the island setting and its history. The character of Émile is loosely inspired by her great-grandfather, who suffered permanent hearing loss as a young man. Jacquie has worked as a publisher of English Language Teaching materials for a variety of publishers including Penguin Random House, Scholastic and Oxford University Press. The French House, which was commended in the 2020 Caledonian Novel Award as ‘a brilliantly moving historical novel’ and was a finalist in the 2019 Mslexia First Novel Award, is her debut novel.

Book Synopsis:

Sold by her mother. Enslaved in Pompeii’s brothel. Determined to survive. Her name is Amara. Welcome to the Wolf Den…

Amara was once a beloved daughter, until her father’s death plunged her family into penury. Now, she is owned by a man she despises and lives as a slave in Pompeii’s infamous brothel, her only value the desire she can stir in others.

But Amara’s spirit is far from broken. Sharp, resourceful and surrounded by women whose humour and dreams she shares, Amara comes to realise that everything in this city has its price. But how much will her freedom cost?

The Wolf Den is the first in a trilogy of novels reimagining the long overlooked lives of women in Pompeii’s lupanar. Perfect for fans of Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls and Madeline Miller’s Circe.

My Review:

Wow I absolutely loved this book. It was a very absorbing, gripping and fascinating story that I read quickly over a weekend.

Firstly I absolutely loved being transported to Pompeii and learning more about the life of slaves during the Roman times. It was very heart breaking to see how awfully slaves were treated during this time, with many being kidnapped or simply taken from their homes and then forced into slavery. The contempt that their masters and society treated them was difficult to read about at times and often brought a lump to my throat as I read. How anyone can treat another human like that is beyond me. It was especially poignant to read about how children of slaves were treated and I often had to go give my kids huge cuddles whilst reading. It was however fascinating to learn more about the Roman festival days and how they were celebrated. There seemed to be a festival day for everything and everyone and the vivid descriptions of the celebrations made me feel like I was actually there experiencing everything along side the characters. I loved reading about the Roman spirit on these days, how they seemed to make everyone equal and how they were always celebrated with great gusto!

The characters were all fabulous creations that I enjoyed following throughout the book. They all seemed very real and I soon warmed to them. My favourite character was Amara, even though she scared and annoyed me at times. I loved the strength and determination she showed in trying to get her freedom and thought she showed a lot of bravery in this regard. She did seem a bit cut throat at times though and unaware of how some of her actions would impact others which infuriated me. Her relationship with the other ‘she wolves’ was lovely to read about and I found I enjoyed spending time in their company. Felix was a suitably vile villain who I loved to hate. His callous disregard toward any of the ‘she wolves’ or other employers helped form some of the most emotional parts of the story so I really enjoyed watching him being tricked by Amara.

Overall, as you can probably tell I loved this book and can’t wait for the sequel to come out next month. I found it a very difficult book to put down and I was constantly thinking about the story when I wasn’t able to read it. There was a great pace to the story and there always seemed to be something happening to ensure I couldn’t stop reading. There was a great mix of tragedy and triumph in the book which made it both heartwarming and heartbreaking at times. Highly recommended by me!

About The Author:

Elodie Harper is a journalist and prize-winning writer. Her story ‘Wild Swimming’ won the 2016 Bazaar of Bad Dreams short story competition, which was judged by Stephen King. She is currently a reporter and presenter at ITV News, and before that worked as a producer for Channel 4 News. Her job as a journalist has seen her join one of the most secretive wings of the Church of Scientology and cover the far right hip hop scene in Berlin, as well as crime reporting in Norfolk where her first two novels were set – The Binding Song and The Death Knock. Elodie studied Latin poetry both in the original and in translation as part of her English Literature degree at Oxford, instilling a lifelong interest in the ancient world. The Wolf Den is the first in a trilogy of novels about the lives of women in ancient Pompeii. Elodie can be found online at elodieharper.com

Book Synopsis:

January sees the dawn of the Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation year as the mothers of Reckoners Row unite in preparation for the celebration of the new Queen.

Meanwhile Evie Kilgaren is dreaming of her summer wedding to Danny Harris, but trouble looms for Skinner & Sons with a new rival trying to put them out of business, but no-one knows why….

Ada Harris is summoned to the bedside of her estranged husband, who, in his dying moment confesses to a deadly secret – he knows who really murdered Evie’s mam Rene all those years ago and the consequences are far reaching.

Has an innocent man been jailed and is there still a murderer walking carefree?

Will Evie get the happy-ever-after she so longs for with Danny? And will The Mersey Mothers unite and still be friends?

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

My Review:

The Mersey Mothers is a gripping, intriguing read from a new author for me. It’s actually the third, and last, book in the series but works well as a standalone.

I was immediately drawn into the story and into the lives of the characters. It was very interesting and enjoyable learning more about what life in the1950s. The author has included a few historical events which I loved, especially the descriptions of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation as it’s her platinum jubilee this year. There are also references to the Korean war and the end of rationing which I found very interesting.

The characters were all fantastic creations who I enjoyed following throughout the book. They seemed so real that it was impossible not to get caught up in their lives and feel their heartbreak personally. I often found myself wishing I could help them in some way.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I’m definitely going back to read the previous two books in the series. There always seemed to be something happening in the book which made it hard to put down and I was soon so invested in the characters lives that I had to keep reading to find out what happens. The ending was brilliant and I thought a great way to end a series.

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

About The Author:

Sheila Riley wrote four #1 bestselling novels under the pseudonym Annie Groves and is now writing the Reckoner’s Row series under her own name. She has set it around the River Mersey and its docklands near to where she spent her early years. She still lives in Liverpool.