Good evening everyone I hope you’ve had a good day. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this fabulous looking book post today.

I love books set in creepy houses and as it is described as a mix between Then There Was None, Shutter Island and Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hard castle (three of my favourite books) I’m very intrigued.

Huge thanks to @simonschusteruk for sending this to me I’m very excited to read it.

Out April 2025.

Book Synopsis:

And Then There Were None meets Shutter Island.

Ten strangers.
An old dark house.
A killer picking them off one by one.
And a missing girl who’s running out of time . . .

Ten strangers wake up inside an old, locked house. They have no recollection of how they got there.
In order to escape, they have to solve the disappearance of a young woman.
But a killer also stalks the halls of the house, and soon the body count starts to rise.
Who are these strangers? Why were they chosen? Why would someone want to kill them?
And who – or what – is the Beast in the Cellar?
Forget what you think you know.

Because while you can trust yourself, can you really trust THE OTHER PEOPLE?
 

About The Author:

C.B. Everett is the pen name for author Martyn Waites. He trained at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama and worked as an actor for many years before becoming a writer. His novels include the critically acclaimed Joe Donovan series, The Old Religion, and The White Room. In 2013, he was chosen to write Angel of Death, the official sequel to Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black, and in 2014 won the Grand Prix Roman Etranger for Born Under Punches. He has been nominated for every major British and French crime fiction award and has also enjoyed international commercial success with eight novels written under the name Tania Carver.

Good morning everyone and happy Tuesday.  Today on Two For Tuesday I thought I’d share the two books I’m currently reading!

💙 Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
🩷 Some Like It Cold by Elle McNicoll

As you can see they’re very different reads. I’m actually listening to Some Like It Cold on audiobook and I’m enjoying it so far.  I really need to start walking again so I can listen to audiobooks more.  I’m also reading Beautiful Ugly which I’m thoroughly enjoying.  It’s so good and I stayed up way too long last night as I just couldn’t put it down.  Rossiter Books has just announced a new event with Alice Feeney in January too which I’m hugely excited for.

I’m working this morning which is always fun and then I’m hoping to squeeze in some reading before having to go on school pick ups.  We’re celebrating my youngest son getting 3 right on his spelling test with a McDonalds tea tonight which should be fun.  He’s really struggling with them so we focussed on 4 spellings which he got three right.

You can find out more about the books below.

What are you currently reading?

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife as she’s driving home to share some exciting news. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by a cliff edge, the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there . . . but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible: a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Wives think their husbands will change, but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change, but they do.

Some Like It Cold by Elle McNicoll

A big-hearted small-town romance from bestselling, award-winning author Elle McNicoll. Some Like it Cold is perfect for fans of Alice Oseman, Beth Reekles and Gilmore Girls.

After a long absence, 18-year-old Jasper is finally heading home for the holidays – and she’s keeping secrets.

Arthur, a budding filmmaker, is turning the town of Lake Pristine into a small town story worthy of the big screen. His plans are disrupted by the arrival of the town’s golden girl – the antagonist of his school days; a girl he’s never forgotten.

Jasper Montgomery is back in Lake Pristine for one reason: to say goodbye. But before long small-town tensions start to rise, and a certain brooding film buff starts to look like a very big reason to stay . . .

The perfect story to get lost in, Some Like it Cold centres Jasper as an autistic heroine in a big-hearted small-town romance that will melt your heart, from the bestselling author of A Kind of Spark.

Book Synopsis:

It’s time to rediscover her magic . . .

With found family, a dash of romance and an uplifting message about self-love, Rewitched is a cosy autumnal fantasy that will leave readers spellbound.

Belladonna Blackthorn hasn’t lost her magical spark, but she hasn’t seen it in a while either. Balancing work at her beloved London bookshop, Lunar Books, with handling her toxic boss and concealing her witchcraft from those around her – Belle is burnt out. Perfecting the potential of her magic is the last thing on her mind.

But, when her thirtieth birthday brings a summons from her coven and a trial that tests her worthiness as a witch, Belle risks losing her magic for ever. With the month of October to fix things and signs that dark forces may be working against her, Belle will need all the help she can get – from the women in her life, from an unlikely mentor figure and even from an (infuriating) coven watchman who’s sworn to protect her . . .

My Review:

Rewitched is a wonderful, absorbing cosy fantasy that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Firstly the author has done such a great job in creating the setting in this book that I felt completely transported into Bella’s world. I loved all the wonderful descriptions of all the different places that were so vivid that I felt I could see them all clearly in my mind and found myself wishing they were real as I’d love to visit them myself. The magical headquarter that changed locations every time was a particular favourite of mine and I loved the descriptions of the different rooms inside particularly the entrance hall with its magical ceiling. Lunar books was another favourite location, though as a book seller myself the dialogue about the window displays did make me laugh.

I thought the plot was brilliant and I loved learning more about Bella’s coven as well as the different types of magical jobs that exist. It was great fun to follow Bella through her challenges as she discovers more about her magical capabilities. There are some lovely secondary characters that I quickly grew fond of and it was lovely to see the little group of friends grow closer together as they try to improve Bella’s magic.

Overall, as you can probably tell, I adored this book and have already been recommending it to other people. The book had a lovely pace to it and there always seemed to be something happening to keep me interested. Even in the slightly slower moments I was still enjoying spending time with Bella and her fabulous friends. There were a few twists that kept me guessing and the ending was brilliant- highly unexpected which I always love.

If you are a fan of witchy books, Harry Potter or 90’s TV shows like Charmed then you’ll love this book.

Huge thanks to the lovely Chloe for sending me a copy of this book.

About The Author:

Lucy Jane Wood is an online content creator, avid reader and cosiness-seeker from the Wirral. These days, you’ll find her living in London, giant coffee in hand, and being headbutted at any given time by her cat.

Good morning everyone and happy Sunday. I was lucky enough to attend day 1 of the BBC History Weekend at Homes Lacy yesterday.

The building itself was stunning as you can see and we had a well placed stall next to the dining room. Our first event was Janina Ramirez which I wasn’t involved in but which a lot of our customers said was brilliant to watch with one man saying ‘that’s how you should teach history ‘!

Our second event was with Mary-Ann Ochota which I was very excited about as I know her from her time in Time team which I was a huge fan of. She talked about her new book “Secret Britain ‘ and some of the fascinating archeological finds that have been found in Britain. Her talk was really interesting and she kept my attention with the finds she mentioned as well as the humour she sprinkled into her talk. She was also incredibly friendly, answered my time team questions and gave me a list of places which would be great to take my kids too. Thanks so much for the memorable day Mary-Ann!

Do you like visiting historical places? What’s your favourite?

🙏🏻Thankful Tuesday:
Completion of 100km walking challenge

Distance walked: 100 km
Longest walk: 6km
Average walk: 3 km
Amount raised: £611.28 (£539 + £72.82 gift aid)
Audiobooks : 4

Good morning everyone and happy Tuesday. I completed the 100 km walking challenge I’ve been doing throughout September yesterday.

I decided to do the challenge in memory of my son Christopher who I lost at 24 weeks and 4 days after he came too early and was too poorly to survive sadly. It was also a good opportunity to kick start a fitness campaign to try and lose a bit of weight.

I can honestly say I’ve discovered a new found love of walking as I’ve really enjoyed all the beautiful walks I’ve completed during September. I’m hoping to continue trying to walk daily and I’m going to be doing my favourite walk this morning as I sadly couldn’t do it for my last walk yesterday because of the rain.

Huge thanks to everyone who sponsored me, I’ve been blown away by everyone’s generosity. I didn’t think I’d manage to raise their suggested amount of £150 so to finish at 4 times that is very special.

There’s still time to donate if you’d like to via the link below ⬇️

Book Synopsis:

Venice, 1486. Across the lagoon lies Murano. Time flows differently here – like the glass the island’s maestros spend their lives learning to handle.

Women are not meant to work with glass, but Orsola Rosso flouts convention to save her family from ruin. She works in secret, knowing her creations must be perfect to be accepted by men. But perfection may take a lifetime.

Skipping like a stone through the centuries, we follow Orsola as she hones her craft through war and plague, tragedy and triumph, love and loss.

The beads she creates will adorn the necks of empresses and courtesans from Paris to Vienna – but will she ever earn the respect of those closest to her?

Tracy Chevalier is a master of her own craft, and The Glassmaker is vivid, inventive, spellbinding: a virtuoso portrait of a woman, a family and a city that are as everlasting as their glass.

My Review:

The Glassmaker is an epic, sweeping and absorbing piece of historical fiction which I thoroughly enjoyed.  

I’ve always been a huge fan of reading about strong women so I found it fascinating to follow Orsola Rosso throughout the centuries.  I really admired her for trying to make her mark in a time where glass making was very much a male dominated industry and I loved that she found such a creative way to help her family, which was different from what other people were producing at the time.  It was especially nice to see the women of the novel work together to help each other, rather than being in competition with each other.  They all seemed to want to boost female involvement in the glass industry which was heart warming to see.

This book has a slightly different style to it as time moves on in the book without the characters getting much older which confused me when it first happened. It was so nice to spend so much time with the Rosso family and learn more about the history of Venice.  The history of glassmaking was particularly fascinating to learn more about, especially how the glass products differed throughout the years.  I don’t think I’ve ever fully appreciated the work that goes into glassmaking but, after reading this book I don’t think I’ll look at a glass product the same way again.  

I thought this book had a great pace to it and there always seemed to be something happening to keep my interest, though even in the quieter moments I was just happy hanging out with the wonderful Rosso family.  There were some moments that made me cry, some that made me laugh and some that had me cheering for the characters.  I listened to this on audiobook and it was great to hear the narrator speak the Italian which I wouldn’t have been able to do if I’d just read it.  It was quite a long audiobook but it just seemed to fly by and it helped make my walking challenge much easier to complete as I planned longer walks so I could listen to more of it.  

Huge thanks to Borough Press and Indie Thinking for my copy of this book. Highly recommended by me.

About The Author:

Tracy is the author of 11 novels, including the international bestseller GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING, which has sold over 5 million copies and been made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth. American by birth, British by geography, she lives in London and Dorset. Her latest novel, THE GLASSMAKER, is set in Venice and follows a family of glass masters over the course of 5 centuries.

Good morning everyone and happy Monday. I don’t normally do a monthly wrap up as I’m never sure I’ll remember what I’ve read but I thought I’d give it a go!

This month I’ve read:

📕A Thousand Feasts by Nigel Slater
📙 Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
📒The Secrets Of Flowers by Sally Page
📗The Cinnamon Bun Book Store by Laurie Gillmore
🎧 We’ll Prescribe You A Cat by Syou Ishida
🎧Under Your Spell by Laura Wood
📘 Before We Forget Kindness by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
📕 Daydream by Hannah Grace
🎧I Died At Fallow Hall by Bonnie Burke -Patel
📙Small Bomb At Dimperley by Lissa Evans
🎧The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier

I’ve actually read more than I thought I would which is nice to see. Out of these my favourite books were The Glassmaker and Under Your Spell. Though I also liked Small Bomb At Dimperley and The Cinnamon Bun Book Store too.

I’m off today and I have one more 4 km walk to complete my challenge which I’m hoping to do today. It’s meant to be raining all day so I think I’ll have to just go for it! I then need to do some housework as the house is a mess before hopefully sitting down and reading some more of my fantastic book. I’m currently reading Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood and I’m really enjoying it so far.

What was your favourite book you’ve read this month?

Book Synopsis:

She only wants three things. He isn’t one of them… 

Dumped by her cheating ex, fired from her dream job, about to lose her flat: Clementine Monroe is not having a good day. So when her sisters get her drunk and suggest reviving a childhood ritual called the breakup spell, she doesn’t see the harm in it.
 
But now Clemmie has accidentally ruined a funeral, had her first one-night stand, and she’s stuck with a new job she definitely doesn’t want – spending six weeks alone with the gorgeous and very-off-limits rock star, Theo Eliott. 
 
He’s the most famous man on the planet. Her life’s a disaster. When it comes to love, Clemmie is learning you should be careful what you wish for…

My Review:

Under Your Spell is a fun, romantic read with a touch of magic in it.  

Firstly there was some absolutely amazing characters in this book who I loved following throughout the book- so much so that unusually for me I can’t pick a favourite.  Clemmy and her sisters were wonderful creations and I quickly found myself wishing that I knew them in real life as they seemed such fun to be around.  I loved that they were all so different to each other but that they always had each other’s back regardless of the situation.  Theo was such a loveable character too who I expect was loosely based on Harry Styles though this hasn’t been officially confirmed.  He was definitely a charmer and it was really heartwarming to see him grow closer to Clemmy.  In some ways he was a bit too good to be true but in others he seemed the ideal man who I think most girls would love to date.  

I was drawn into the book from the start and soon found myself completely absorbed into the story, unable to stop listening to it as I was desperate to find out what would happen.  There were some absolutely hilarious moments that had me laughing out loud and some scenes were so perfectly described that I felt like I was actually there watching everything unfold.  The ending was brilliant so I was very sad to finish the book and leave these wonderful characters behind.  I’m really hoping there will be a sequel as I’d love a chance to hang out with them all again.  This is one of those books that I’d love to see made into a film! Preferable starring Harry Styles as Theo and Bill Nighy as Clemmy’s dad.  

If you’re looking for a romantic read to cosy up with this autumn than I highly recommend this one.  

About The Author:

Dr Laura Wood is a best-selling, award winning academic and writer. She is the winner of the Montegrappa Scholastic Prize for New Children’s Writing and the author of the ‘Poppy Pym’ series, the Blue Peter Book Prize shortlisted ‘Vote for Effie’ and several young adult novels including A Sky Painted Gold and A Single Thread of Moonlight.

Laura loves Georgette Heyer novels, Fred Astaire films, travelling to far flung places, recipe books, Jilly Cooper, poetry, cosy woollen jumpers, Edith Nesbit, crisp autumn leaves, Jack Gilbert, new stationery, sensation fiction, salted caramel,Rufus Sewell’s cheek-bones, dogs, and drinking lashings of ginger beer.

Good morning everyone and happy Saturday. I had such fun at the Three Counties Autumn Show yesterday – despite the horrible weather!

We had a lovely little spot next to the Malvern Bake Off Tent and a cake competition display for some stunning cakes. I was involved in events with the lovely Ellen Mary, Adam Frost and the Giuseppe Dell’Anno the British Bake Off winner from a few years ago. I can honestly say I absolutely loved each event and getting to meet all the lovely speakers. Thanks so much to all of you for being so lovely.

If you’re going to the Three Counties Autumn Show do look out for the Rossiter Book’s stand and go hear these lovely authors talk as it’s really worth it.

I’m very tired but very happy right now and looking forward to a quiet day reading my new book before going to my mum’s for supper!

Do you like going to author talks? Are you going to the Three Counties Show this weekend?

Book Synopsis:

In the fifth book in the sensational Before the Coffee Gets Cold series translated from Japanese, the mysterious Tokyo café where customers arrive hoping to travel back in time welcomes four new guests:

– The father who could not allow his daughter to get married
– A woman who couldn’t give Valentine’s Day chocolates to her loved one
– A boy who wants to show his smile to his divorced parents
– A wife holding a child with no name . . .

They must follow the café’s strict rules, however, and come back to the present before their coffee goes cold.

Another moving and heartwarming tale from Toshikazu Kawaguchi, in Before We Forget Kindness our new visitors wish to go back into their past to find closure and comfort so they can embark on a beautiful future.

My Review:

Before We Forget Kindness is another compelling book which manages to be very emotional at times but also quite heart warming in others.

It was great to be back visiting the café and hearing all the fascinating stories of their customers.  I really like how the author manages to keep this series so fresh by thinking of stories or situations for his characters that are different to anything featured in the previous books.  I felt that these books had a much more philosophical feel to them as most of them were about not taking for things for granted as you never knew what would happen tomorrow.  They were definitely quite emotional to read about as I often found myself tearing up as I read.

The book is divided into four sections, each following a different person who is trying to go back in time (or to the future) to help right a wrong even though they know that their actions will have no effect on events that have transpired.  I felt this book was slightly different to the previous ones as the focus seemed to be on events leading up to the characters wanting to visit the café rather than the time they spend in the past or the future.  I found this really interesting as it was great to know a little more about their past and what brought them to the café.  I did still prefer the bits when they actually time travelled but that might be because of a childhood fantasy to travel back in time.

Overall as you can probably tell I really enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to everyone.  I thought the book had a great pace to it and I soon felt drawn into the characters lives.  There were a parts that I felt could have been trimmed down a bit but I’m not sure if that was just because I was eager to get to my favourite bit of the series as mentioned above.  The ending of the stories where always beautiful and I closed the book with a smile on my face.  I really hope there will be more books in this fabulous series!  

Huge thanks to Bookbeat and Pan Macmillan for providing me with a copy of this book.  

About The Author:

Toshikazu Kawaguchi was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1971. He formerly produced, directed and wrote for the theatrical group Sonic Snail. As a playwright, his works include COUPLE, Sunset Song, and Family Time. The novel Before the coffee gets cold is adapted from a 1110 Productions play by Kawaguchi, which won the 10th Suginami Drama Festival grand prize.