Book Synopsis:

For fans of Harriet Evans, Lucinda Riley and Rowan Coleman. The Truth About My Mother is a sweeping family drama about secrets, sacrifice and love, spanning from the 1950s to present day.

All families have secrets, don’t they?

89-year-old Jeannette never meant to keep the truth from her family. But when a near fatal fall sends her to live with her granddaughter Amy, she finds herself revisiting a past that’s been hidden for too many years.

Amy, however, has always been good at keeping secrets. When ex-partner Nick shows up, she’s forced to admit that some things just can’t stay hidden forever.

Judith is starting from scratch – again. The master of reinvention, Amy’s mother has been seeking happiness in all the wrong places. This time though, she might just find it a lot closer to home than she ever believed she would…

As Jeannette’s 90th birthday party approaches, all three women discover they have more in common than they first thought, and the secrets from the past may be the key to unlocking the future.

Three women. Three generations. One legacy they all share…

The Truth About My Mother is published in ebook and paperback on the 20th February 2020. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

I always enjoy discovering new authors, especially if they have a bit of a back catalogue, so I was very pleased to be offered a spot on the blog tour for The Truth About My Mother. I thought this was an entertaining and absorbing read which reads a little like a saga.

This book features some fantastic female characters who I enjoyed getting to know throughout the book. They all have different issues to deal with and I found it interesting to follow them to see how they would deal with them. Jeanette’s story was my favourite as though it is a common storyline I felt it was dealt with differently to other books and I liked being able to see it from a different angle. Amy annoyed me a little as, though I did feel sorry for her, I wondered if a mum would really react the way she did. I wished I knew her personally as I’d have liked to be able to give her a stern talking to.

The pace of this book is a bit slower than I’m used to but I actually found I didn’t mind as I was so wrapped up in the characters lives. The author cleverly includes some of the more everyday aspects of the characters lives which made the story seem more realistic. The ending was very explosive with lots happening in quite quickly which I didn’t expect. Everything wasn’t neatly tied up either, with a few lose ends remaining which I’m hopeful means there’s a sequel in the works!

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

About The Author:

Jemma Wallace is a writer from Edinburgh, where she also works part-time as a project manager for the University of Edinburgh. She has one son, Archie, and the novel was inspired partly by her own experience of single parenthood and her grandmothers experience of being a single mother in the 1950s. The Truth About My Mother is Jemma’s debut novel, for which she won the Trapeze and Gingerbread ‘One in Four’ writing competition.

Book Synopsis:

Your roots can always lead you home…

Amjad cradles his baby daughter in the middle of the night. He has no time to mourn his wife’s death. Saahil and Zahra, his two small children, are relying on him. Amjad vows to love and protect them always.
 
Years later, Saahil and his best friend, Ehsan, have finished university and are celebrating with friends. But when the night turns dangerous, its devastating effects will ripple through the years to come.
 
Zahra’s world is alight with politics and activism. But she is now her father’s only source of comfort, and worries she’ll never have time for her own aspirations. Life has taken her small family in different directions – will they ever find their way back to each other?
 
The Family Tree is the moving story of a British Muslim family full of love, laughter and resilience as well as all the faults, mistakes and stubborn loyalties which make us human.

The Family is published in ebook and hardback on the 20th February 2020. You can pre-order your copy using the link below.

My Review:

The Family Tree is a beautifully written and emotional book which in a lot of ways reads as a coming of age story. It’s a story that drew me in from the first page and was heart warming but also shocking.

I absolutely loved Saahil’s wonderful family, with some of the scenes being so beautifully written that I felt I was actually there sharing the moment with them. Through them we learn more about their culture and what it is like to grow up in England when you’re from a minority religion. It was very sad to read about some of the experiences Saahil had whilst growing up. I really wished I could reach into the book and give him a huge hug at times.

I think this is a very important book which everyone should read as it would challenge people’s attitudes and the prejudices they have. It would make a great book club read as I think there would be lots to discuss. I don’t want to go into the story too much as I don’t want to spoil it for future readers but this is definitely a fabulous book which I will be recommending to everyone!

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

About The Author:

Sairish Hussain was born and brought up in Bradford, West Yorkshire. She studied English Language and Literature at the University of Huddersfield and progressed onto an MA in Creative Writing. Sairish completed her PhD in 2019 after being awarded the university’s Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship. The Family Tree is her debut novel and she is now writing her second book.

Book Synopsis:

A body is found in the hills – but the truth still lies buried…

In a small town in the Deep South, Flora Dane is part of a task force committed to hunting down every last trace of notorious serial kidnapper Jacob Ness. As his last victim, imprisoned by Ness in a small box for over a year, she knew him better than most. Even after his death, his evil still lingers.

But this is the kind of town that doesn’t take kindly to strangers asking questions.

The kind of town where dark secrets lurk just beneath the surface.

The kind of town she might not leave alive.

When You See Me is available in ebook now and in hardback on the 20th February 2020. You can purchase or pre-order your copy using the link below.

My Review:

I’m a huge fan of this author so I was very excited to receive an early copy of her latest book. This series just keeps going from strength to strength and I’m always very impressed with what her imagination comes up with.

There are some fantastic female characters in this book who I found I really admired. They seemed very relatable as they were strong and brave but also quite vulnerable at times. My favourite character was definitely the little girl who I absolutely fell in love with. She has such an amazing attitude and shows such strength that you can’t help but warm to her.

The story behind the case is actually quite a sad, haunting one that was incredibly poignant at times. This didn’t stop me getting really absorbed into the story and to lose myself in the book for hours. There is lots of action and suspense with the tension never really letting up which made the book hard to put down. The ending was absolutely amazing and had me at the edge of my seat whilst I turned the last few pages.

Huge thanks to Rachel Kennedy from Penguin Random House for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

About The Author:

Lisa Gardner started her writing career aged seventeen. Having caught her hair on fire while working in food service, crafting a novel seemed a safer bet. A mere ten years later she became an overnight success with the publication of her first thriller, The Perfect Husband.

Now an internationally bestselling author and winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for best suspense novel, Lisa lives in the mountains of New Hampshire with her family.

When not glued to her computer, she can be found hiking the mountains with her dogs and/or researching new and interesting ways to get away with murder.

Book Synopsis:

One fatal crash

Ben is driving on the motorway, on his usual commute to the school where he works. A day like any other, except for the crash.

Two colliding worlds

Adam has left his home for the last time. In his final despairing act, he jumps in front of Ben’s car, turning the teacher’s world upside down.

Three wrecked lives

Wracked with guilt, Ben seeks out Alice, Adam’s widow, and her 7-year-old son Max. But as he tries to escape the trauma of the wreckage, could Ben go too far in trying to ease his conscience?

Gripping and sinister, The Wreckage is guaranteed to keep you up all night…

Perfect for fans of Fiona Barton, Cara Hunter and C.L. Taylor.

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

My Review:

The Wreckage is a very gripping, cleverly plotted book which I can’t believe is a debut novel.

I liked the two main characters as they seemed very realistic and relatable which made me like them very much. Alice’s sarcastic remarks and Ben’s sensitivity made them a great pairing who I enjoyed following through the book. Ben’s development was really well done and I found it really interesting how he changed as he grew closer to Alice. We start seeing a different side of him which changes the atmosphere in the book.

This was a difficult book to put down as there was always something going on to keep me absorbed in the story. I kept changing my mind about the characters and how trustworthy they were which kept me guessing as to what was going to happen. The twist and the ending were brilliant and took me completely my surprise. I thought I had figured it all out but I was actually no where near. It’s the type of book that I’d love to reread again soon and see if I missed any vital clues along the way.

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

About The Author:

After graduating from Cambridge with a First Class degree in Modern and Medieval Languages, Robin Morgan-Bentley worked for five years at Google.

Since 2014, he has been the Senior Editorial Manager at Audible, responsible for deciding which audiobooks they promote to their customers and how.

He also runs their podcast, Audible Sessions, and has interviewed multiple authors including Fiona Barton, Clare Mackintosh, Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Anthony Horowitz and Jeffery Deaver to name a few. 

His conversations with them are what inspired him to start writing.

The Wreckage is his debut novel.

Book Synopsis:

1815, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia
Mount Tambora explodes in a cataclysmic eruption, killing thousands. Sent to investigate, ship surgeon Henry Hogg can barely believe his eyes. Once a paradise, the island is now solid ash, the surrounding sea turned to stone. But worse is yet to come: as the ash cloud rises and covers the sun, the seasons will fail.

1816
In Switzerland, Mary Shelley finds dark inspiration. Confined inside by the unseasonable weather, thousands of famine refugees stream past her door. In Vermont, preacher Charles Whitlock begs his followers to keep faith as drought dries their wells and their livestock starve.

In Suffolk, the ambitious and lovesick painter John Constable struggles to reconcile the idyllic England he paints with the misery that surrounds him. In the Fens, farm labourer Sarah Hobbs has had enough of going hungry while the farmers flaunt their wealth. And Hope Peter, returned from the Napoleonic wars, finds his family home demolished and a fence gone up in its place. He flees to London, where he falls in with a group of revolutionaries who speak of a better life, whatever the cost. As desperation sets in, Britain becomes beset by riots – rebellion is in the air.

The Year Without Summer is the story of the books written, the art made; of the journeys taken, of the love longed for and the lives lost during that fateful year. Six separate lives, connected only by an event many thousands of miles away. Few had heard of Tambora – but none could escape its effects.

The Year Without Summer is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

The Year Without Summer is a fascinating insight into a real historical event that was very thought provoking and moving.

Firstly I hadn’t heard of this historical event before so I found it very interesting to learn more about it. It was quite shocking how much the volcanic eruption affected people both near and far, in ways that I wouldn’t have realised. The author is very skilled at bringing the 17th century to life by including little details like the dialects of people and the way of life back then. It was interesting to learn that people tended to stay local to where the lived rather than travel around which meant the eruption had perhaps a bigger impact then it might do now.

The book follows many different characters, some real historical people and some fictional. Their stories are told in alternative chapters with each character being given a different voice so it is easy to differentiate between them. I enjoyed learning more about them and found that I warmed to them as the story continued. The historical characters were great fun to research on line and learn more about them.

The ending was good but I felt it came to soon as I didn’t want to leave the characters behind. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’ll definitely be reading more from her in the future.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of this book. If you like compelling, historical fiction you’ll love this book.

About The Author:

Author Guinevere Glasfurd was born in Lancaster and lives near Cambridge with her husband and daughter.

Her debut novel, THE WORDS IN MY HAND, was shortlisted for the 2016 Costa First Novel Award and Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award and was longlisted in France for the Prix du Roman FNAC.

Her second novel, THE YEAR WITHOUT SUMMER, written with support from the MacDowell Colony Foundation, publishes early 2020 and tells the story of the 1815 Mount Tambora eruption and the catastrophic events that followed. Awarded grants from the Arts Council England and the British Council for her novels, her writing has also appeared in the Scotsman, Mslexia and The National Galleries of Scotland.

She is currently working on her third novel, a story of the Enlightenment, set in eighteenth century England and France.

Find out more here:

http://www.guinevereglasfurd.com/
http://www.facebook.com/GuinevereGlasfurdBooks/
http://www.pinterest.com/tworoadsbooks/the-words-in-my-hand/
http://www.tworoadsbooks.com/fiction/the-words-in-my-hand-guinevere-glasfurd/

Book Synopsis:

Elusive online journalist Scott King examines the chilling case of a young vlogger found frozen to death in the legendary local ‘vampire tower’, in another explosive episode of Six Stories… In the wake of the ‘Beast from the East’ cold snap that ravaged the UK in 2018, a grisly discovery was made in a ruin on the Northumbrian coast. Twenty-four-year-old Vlogger, Elizabeth Barton, had been barricaded inside what locals refer to as ‘The Vampire Tower’, where she was later found frozen to death. Three young men, part of an alleged ‘cult’, were convicted of this terrible crime, which they described as a ‘prank gone wrong.’ However, in the small town of Ergarth, questions have been raised about the nature of Elizabeth Barton’s death and whether the three convicted youths were even responsible. Elusive online journalist Scott King speaks to six witnesses people who knew both the victim and the three killers to peer beneath the surface of the case. He uncovers whispers of a shocking online craze that held the young of Ergarth in its thrall and drove them to escalate a series of pranks in the name of internet fame. He hears of an abattoir on the edge of town, which held more than simple slaughter behind its walls, the tragic and chilling legend of the ‘Ergarth Vampire’… Both a compulsive, taut and terrifying thriller, and a bleak and distressing look at modern society’s desperation for attention, Beast will unveil a darkness from which you may never return…

Beast 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 series and this author so I was incredibly excited to read another installment of the brilliant Six Stories.

The thing I most like about these books is the author’s ability to draw you into the story so that you feel like you are actually involved in what is going on. The story gets inside your head so you are constantly thinking about it and imagining things connected to the book, which meant I often jumped whilst reading it.

The inclusion of social media and the ‘dead in six days’ challenge is particularly chilling as it gives the story a modern feel to it making it seem very realistic. The folklore tales that are woven into the case were quite terrifying to read about and helped create quite a tense atmosphere as we follow Scott’s investigation. It’s definitely not a book to read on your own, or during a storm like I did.

Overall I thought this book was very fast paced and completely absorbing. I finished it in a couple of days which is no mean feat with three kids. I’m very intrigued by what this author will write about next!

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. If you like scary mysteries with a supernatural feel then you’ll love this book!

About The Author:

Matt Wesolowski is an author from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the UK. He is an English tutor for young people in care. Matt started his writing career in horror, and his short horror fiction has been published in numerous UK- an US-based anthologies such as Midnight Movie Creature, Selfies from the End of the World, Cold Iron and many more. His novella, The Black Land, a horror set on the Northumberland coast, was published in 2013. Matt was a winner of the Pitch Perfect competition at Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival in 2015. His debut thriller, Six Stories, was an Amazon bestseller in the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia, and a WHSmith Fresh Talent pick, and film rights were sold to a major Hollywood studio. Hydra, was published in 2018 and became an international bestseller. Follow Matt on Twitter @ConcreteKraken and on his website: mjwesolowskiauthor.wordpress.com

Book Synopsis:

Emily just wants to keep the world away.

After getting into trouble yet again, she’s agreed to attend anger management classes. But she refuses to share her deepest secrets with a room full of strangers.

Jake just wants to keep his family together.

He’ll do anything to save his marriage and bond with his six-year-old son, Alfie. But when he’s paired with spiky Emily, he wonders whether opening up will do more harm than good.

The two of them couldn’t be more different. Yet when Alfie, who never likes strangers, meets Emily, something extraordinary happens.

Could one small boy change everything?

Saturdays At Noon is available in ebook and paperback now. There is also an audiobook available which has the author’s son Jake narrating Alfie! You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

Wow I absolutely loved this book! Even more so because it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. It’s a wonderful, absorbing read which manages to be emotional but uplifting at the same time.

The story is told from three different points of view- Emily, Jake and Alfie. At the beginning none of the characters are particularly likeable but as we get to know them better and scratch beneath their prickly exteriors we get to know the real them, who I quickly warmed too. Alfie was my favourite character and I found myself falling in love with his little mannerisms and quirky behaviour. It’s very obvious that the author is a parent and some of the incidents with him made me smile as they have happened to me.

This isn’t a particularly fast paced book but I really didn’t care as I just wanted to spend as much time as possible in the characters company. I found myself towards the end trying to ration how much I read each day as I really didn’t want it to end. I can’t recommend this book highly enough, it’s such a good book and would make a great book club read as there would be lots to discuss.

Huge thanks to Sriya from Michael St Joseph for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book which is going on my keep forever shelf. I’m very excited to read more from this author!

About The Author:

Rachel Marks studied English at Exeter University before becoming a primary school teacher. Despite always loving to write, it wasn’t until she gained a place on the 2016 Curtis Brown Creative online novel writing course that she started to believe it could be anything more than a much-loved hobby. Her inspiration for her first book came from the challenges she faced with her eldest son, testing and fascinating in equal measure, and the research she did to try to understand him better.

Book Synopsis:

No one deserves to be taken before their time. Do they?

Joe McKee – pillar of the Derry community – is dead. As arrangements are made for the traditional Irish wake, friends and family are left reeling at how cancer could have taken this much-loved man so soon.

But grief is the last thing that Joe’s daughter Ciara and step-daughter Heidi feel. For they knew the real Joe – the man who was supposed to protect them and did anything but.

As the mourners gather, the police do too, with doubt being cast over whether Joe’s death was due to natural causes. Because the lies that Joe told won’t be taken to the grave after all – and the truth gives his daughters the best possible motive for killing him…

A gripping suspense novel about deadly secrets and lies. The perfect read for fans of Clare Mackintosh.

The Liar’s Daughter is available in ebook and paperback now. The ebook is currently only 99p. You can purchase a copy of both using the link below.

My Review:

The Liar’s Daughter is a powerful, emotional thriller which has stayed with me long after reading.

I have to admit I wasn’t expecting this to be as much of an emotional read as it was. The author has written about a distressing subject with compassion without ever over dramatising things. Some of the scenes were really heartbreaking and very poignant which made them hard to read at times.

This was a bit if a slow build though there was enough mystery and intrigue to want me to keep reading. I was very glad I did as the pace soon picked up and the many twists kept me firmly gripped. I liked how the author kept me guessing until the end, where the huge twist had me gasping in shock which I always love!

Huge thanks to Sanjana from Avon for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. If you like gripping, haunting thrillers then you’ll love this book.

About The Author:

Claire Allan is a Northern Irish author who lives in Derry~Londonderry.
She worked as a staff reporter for the Derry Journal for 17 years, covering a wide array of stories from court sessions, to the Saville Inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday, health and education and human interest features.
She wrote her first novel in 2006, to mark her 30th birthday and it (Rainy Days and Tuesdays) was subsequently published and became an instant bestseller in 2007.
Claire wrote seven further women’s fiction novels between 2007 and 2015. In 2016 (when she turned 40) she decided to change genre and try her had at domestic noir. Her first domestic noir novel, Her Name Was Rose was published by Avon/ HarperCollins in 2018 and became a bestseller in the UK, Canada, Australia and was a USA Today bestseller.
It was subsequently nominated in the Dead Good Reader Awards in 2019.
Claire has followed up on the success of Her Name Was Rose with Apple of My Eye and Forget Me Not.
Her next novel, The Liar’s Daughter, will be published in 2020.

She is working on a fifth psychological thriller at present.

Claire still lives in Derry with her husband, two children, two cats and a very spoiled puppy.

Book Synopsis:

Lisa needs to disappear. And her friend’s rambling old home in the wilds of Yorkshire seems like the perfect place. It’s miles away from the closest town, and no one there knows her or her little boy, Joe.

But when a woman from the local village comes to visit them, Lisa realizes that she and Joe aren’t as safe as she thought.

What secrets have Rowan Isle House – and her friend – kept hidden all these years?

And what will Lisa have to do to survive, when her past finally catches up with her?

The House On The Lake is available in all formats now. The ebook is currently only 99p. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

The House On The Lake is a thrilling, creepy read which I thoroughly recommend. It’s hard to pin down exactly what type of book this is, as at times it seems to be both thriller and ghost story which made it a very interesting read.

The two main characters Lisa and Grace are well developed and I enjoyed following them throughout the book. The only thing they seemed to have in common was that they were both being controlled by someone. Lisa by her bullying husband Mark and Grace by her father who is suffered from PTSD. Grace was my favourite character out of the two as there seemed to be more hope and determination from her about possibly getting out of her situation, whereas Lisa seemed a lot more beaten down. I did feel sorry for both woman however and the hard, frightening situation they find themselves in. I hoped that both of them would have a happy ending and come out of it all unharmed.

The setting of the house was wonderful to read about, with the vivid descriptions allowing me to imagine it perfectly. It helped create a creepy, dark presence in the story which made me wonder if it was haunted and what secrets it was hiding. Some of the scenes set in the house sent a shiver down my spine as I wondered what might be revealed next.

The tension in this book slowly builds as the two storylines come closer together and we get to see how they are connected. Some of the storyline was quite thought provoking and has kept me thinking about the story long after I finished reading it. I had no idea what was going to happen next and had to keep reading to find out how everything would end for both characters. The ending was utterly brilliant and very surprising which is always a good sign of a well written and plotted book.

Huge thanks to Ellie from Viking books for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

About The Author:

Nuala Ellwood is the author of two bestselling novels: My Sister’s Bones for which she was selected as one of the Observer‘s ‘New Faces of Fiction 2017’ and Day of the Accident. Nuala teaches Creative Writing at York St John University, and lives in the city with her young son.