Book Synopsis:

Two desperate criminals. Something she never saw coming. A searing suspense thriller from bestselling author Nick Louth

In Manchester, two hardened gang members on the run take Catherine Blake and her one-year-old son hostage at gunpoint. She is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Held in a Transit van, Catherine needs a plan fast. But it means diving into her captors’ risk-drenched world, and playing them at their own game.

Catherine has been through cancer, miscarriages and five draining years of IVF in order to have her son Ethan. He is the most precious thing in the world. She may be terrified out of her wits, but she’d do anything to protect him. Anything, no matter the cost…

Brace yourself.

A nerve-shredding suspense thriller you won’t believe until you have experienced it yourself, Trapped is perfect for fans of Cara Hunter, JP Delaney and Rachel Abbott.

Trapped is available in ebook and paperback now. The ebook is currently only £1.99 and you can purchase a copy of both using the link below.

Extract:

Chapter One

This is my wife, Catherine, yesterday evening. Tuesday. You can see her, with a screwdriver, in the boot of our Nissan, trying to tighten the screws on the anchor points for the new child seat. I tell her that they are secure, the man at the shop who installed it told us so, and he is fully qualified. I’d already double-checked the seat too. Watched the video, read the instructions. Used all my strength to test the straps, wobbled it, tried to pull it loose. It was fine. But for her that wasn’t enough. When it comes to Ethan, nothing is ever enough. She fears that in a collision our one-year-old son could be catapulted from the back seat through the windscreen. Since Ethan arrived, Catherine has developed a tendency to worry about all sorts of things. Sometimes it is reasonable, sometimes not.
She is understandably anxious about the odd-shaped mole on her right shoulder. She frets about her figure, and the smile lines she has acquired at 41, and seems to be convinced that one day I will no longer find her attractive. She’s wrong. I will adore her to my dying day, I can guarantee that now. I love her corkscrew copper hair and her pale freckled skin, even though she hates it and wishes she were a dark-haired olive-skinned Italian.
Wishing you were something else, someone else, somewhere else. It’s so clear to me now that you have what you have, and you make of it what you can. That’s what matters. When the time comes, when you are tested. You never know when that will be. I didn’t know, and neither here does she, still working on that seat for our son. Look at her. She has no idea of what is going to happen in less than 24 hours. That would make her worry, no mistake.

---

That mole. Catherine survived skin cancer, you see. She knew about the risks. She never sunbathed, was rarely drawn to the beach, always wore a broad-brimmed hat and gallons of sunscreen when on our brief foreign holidays. She had been aware since childhood that with her milky skin and about as many freckles as a galaxy has stars that there would always be a chance of some malevolent sun-seared alien cell, splitting and growing in a forgotten corner of her epidermis. And she had always looked out for the arrival of that malignity. Believe me, she looked. I saw her after every shower, in front of the mirror. But it was a dab of pigment she noticed for the first time under the nail of her left little toe, just a smear of brown visible through the cuticle, when she was about to apply nail varnish. It didn’t even look like the moles you see on the chart. But better safe than sorry. The nail was removed, the offending clump of melanocytes excised and tested.
The test results were not good.
Acral lentiginous melanoma. Not benign. Malignant. Dangerous. Potentially lethal, that tiny little blot. It’s not related to sun exposure, so there was no blame on her (or us). Still, tests showed that it had spread to a lymph node on the foot. A sentinel node, that’s what they call them. Watching out for trouble. If that’s infected, then the next stage is worse. Stage III, they call it, like some tricky examination. Maths, Further Maths, Much Further Maths. Catherine had her entire lymph node basin removed from her foot and ankle. Basin – it’s a good description for what is an entire river system, carrying white blood cells to where they are needed, and taking toxins away. But hiding away amongst the toxins are cancerous cells, still alive. She was 38, and she was very brave about it. When under local anaesthetic she watched them peel back her creamy skin, remove the nodes, then stitch it almost invisibly back. The next nodes, the next basin, seemed to be uninfected. It was then a question of waiting. Cancer’s Russian roulette. That was when the question of having a child became more urgent. As she always said to me: ‘That’s what I was made for. To bring a new life into the world.’
And to protect it, Catherine. Against all the badness this world can throw at you. That’s why you survived cancer, Catherine. You have a job to do. I can’t help you now. No one can help you. It’s your task alone. I know the date and the time, and the place. But I can’t come back and warn you. God, how I wish that I could.

---

Tuesday. Almost eight in the morning, and she has to leave for work in half an hour. I’ve just finished getting Ethan up. Catherine is doing pilates, lying in the centre of the lounge listening to the CD, whose soft rainforest music is full of bird calls and pattering raindrops. Because of the time, she hasn’t bothered to put her leggings and leotard on. She’s just wearing shorts and an old T-shirt with a faint orange stain on one side that, I am now experienced enough to be sure, is baby vomit. The voice on the CD, all mid-Atlantic vowels and breathy enthusiasm, is enjoining her to be aware of her own body, its balance and alignment. ‘Make sure you are square-aware, and breathe, breathe in until you have expanded your ribcage to its maximum. Now hold it gently, and make a few slow pelvic tilts.’
Mindfulness seems out of reach though. She eyes me staring at her, and starts giggling. ‘Don’t. You know I can’t concentrate if you watch.’ More giggling. But I stay leaning in the doorway, my arms folded, a slight grin on my face as I listen to Ethan’s happy burbling from the bedroom. Her hips tilt, her tummy flattens, the puke patch creases. I see the tell-tale vibration in her diaphragm. Silent laughter.
‘Right, that’s it!’ She jumps up and chases me around the lounge. I let her catch me by the kitchen door, and she tickles me quite hard in the ribs. As I mock up a wounded expression, she stands on tiptoes to give me a slow languorous kiss. ‘Tonight. I promise. He’ll sleep better, even if I have to have a G&T before I feed him,’ she whispers.
‘You are going to drug our precious child?’ I say in faux horror.
She smiles and licks my neck. It’s a delicious feeling. ‘Maybe.’
I did get that promised act of lovemaking on Tuesday night.
It was wonderful.
It was my last.

About The Author:

Nick Louth is a bestselling thriller writer, award-winning financial journalist and an investment commentator. A 1979 graduate of the London School of Economics, he went on to become a Reuters foreign correspondent in 1987. It was an experience at a medical conference in Amsterdam in 1992, while working for Reuters, that gave him the inspiration for Bite, which was self-published in 2007 and went on to become the UK no. 1 Kindle bestseller for several weeks in 2014 before being snapped up by Sphere. It has sold a third of a million copies, and been translated into six languages. The terrorism thriller Heartbreaker was published in June 2014 and received critical acclaim from Amazon readers, with a 4.6 out of 5 stars on over 100 reviews. Mirror Mirror, subtitled ‘When evil and beauty collide’, was published in June 2016. The Body in the Marsh, a crime thriller, was published by Canelo in September 2017, with The Body on the Shore following in 2018. Freelance since 1998, he has been a regular contributor to the Financial Times, Investors Chronicle and Money Observer, and has published nine other books. Nick Louth is married and lives in Lincolnshire.

Book Synopsis:

Audrey’s family has fallen apart. Her two grown-up daughters, Jess and Lily, are estranged, and her two teenage granddaughters have never been allowed to meet. A secret that echoes back thirty years has splintered the family in two, but is also the one thing keeping them connected.

As tensions reach breaking point, the irrevocable choice that one of them made all those years ago is about to surface. After years of secrets and silence, how can one broken family find their way back to each other?

If Only I Could Tell You is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase a copy of both using the link below.

My Review:

If Only I Could Tell You is a beautiful, emotional book that will stay with me for a long time.

The reader is immediately absorbed into the story with some of the situations feeling very realistic that it’s impossible not to feel involved in the story. As someone whose has had their fair share of sister dramas over the years the dialogue really resonated with me and I found some of the scenarios achingly familiar, as I had been through similar.

Audrey is a wonderful main character who it’s impossible not to like and feel some sympathy with. Her obvious distress over her daughter’s falling out is almost palpable at times and I found myself getting very emotional on her behalf. In contrast I found I didn’t warm much to the daughters and found myself feeling quite angry at them for all that they’d put their mother through. Some of the decisions they’ve made with their own daughters were highly dubious and I felt quite appalled whilst reading about them.

This isn’t particularly a fast paced book but it is so compelling and absorbing that it makes it impossible to put down as you have to know what is going to happen. I found myself thinking about it constantly whilst I wasn’t reading it and continuing to feel very emotional about what was happening. It made me wonder if I would have acted any differently and hoping that I would have.

This is the author’s debut novel and I’m so excited to read more from her in the future. I think this would make a great book club book as I think there would be lots to discuss.

Huge thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me onto the blog tour and Orion for my copy of this book via Netgalley which I received in exchange for an honest review. If you like emotional, absorbing and thought provoking books then you’ll love this book!

About The Author:

Hannah Beckerman is an author, journalist and broadcaster. She is a regular contributor to The Observer, The FT Weekend Magazine, and The Sunday Express, and was the book critic on Sara Cox’s Radio 2 Show. She chairs literary events around the UK and has been a judge on numerous book prizes including the Costa Book Awards. 

Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Hannah was a TV Executive who spent fifteen years producing and commissioning documentaries about the Arts, History and Science for the BBC, Channel 4 and Discovery USA before turning her hand to writing. 

Hannah lives in London with her husband and their daughter.

Book Synopsis:

Expose the truth or let the dead lie still?

Grace Macallan’s life is on an even keel – at last. But a 9-to-5 career away from the frontline isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

So when she’s sent to investigate a suicide at Glasgow’s notorious Barlinnie prison, Grace gladly escapes her desk. The dead inmate is Tommy McMartin, heir to a ferocious criminal family. His murder conviction saw Tommy’s fall from power; cast out not for violence but because the victim was his gay lover.

The investigation drags Grace into contact with her McMartin adversaries of old. But the gangland dynasty is under threat and, as it topples, secrets once dead and buried are unearthed.

As she unravels Tommy McMartin’s fate, Grace senses someone watching her from the shadows, someone who aches for revenge. An awful dilemma faces her: to expose the truth or let the dead lie still.

Where No Shadows Fall is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy of both using the link below.

My Review:

I’m a huge fan of this series so I was so excited to be invited to be on the blog tour for Where No Shadows Fall, the latest book in a series that keeps getting better and better.

The story line is dark, gritty and thoroughly gripping with the reader immediately drawn into Grace’s world. It’s hard to believe that such characters exist but my understanding is the books are based on the author’s time in the police service so they must do! I think it’s this knowledge that helps add to the tension in the book as it makes the reader more invested in the story, the characters and what will happen.

The story is well plotted and the multiple points of views brings a lot of depth to the story and helps the reader to gain a more rounded view of what happens. As usual the story is intensely gripping and there is always something happening that may the book hard to put down. Some of the scenes in the book are a little I comfortable to read but they are easy to skip over and are in keeping with the general tone of the book.

This is the fourth book in the series but I think it could easily be read as a standalone as everything you need to know is explained. I can’t wait to read more from this talented author!

Huge thanks to Black and White Publishers for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. If you like dark, gritty and realistic crime novels then I can definitely recommend this series.

About The Author:

Peter followed his forefathers and started his working life at 15 as a deep sea fisherman. 

He eventually joined the police service moving through the ranks of CID/Murder Squad/Regional Crime Squad in Scotland. He then went on to manage the Organised Crime Unit in the National Criminal Intelligence Service in London where he ran a multi agency team drawn from various branches of the law enforcement and the security services. This was a unique concept at the time and Peter travelled to many parts of the world in this role. He was subsequently appointed as the UK Liaison Officer to Europol in The Hague where he spent five years.

He returned to Lothian and Borders heading the Major Crime Team before taking on an advisory role for a project in Croatia. Following his retiral he worked on a number of private investigations before spending the next few years as part of the public inquiry team looking into the murder of the LVF leader Billy Wright in the Maze Prison.

Good morning everyone I’m pleased to finally be able to share my fantastic guest post from Simon Beckett today. Huge apologies to Hayley and Simon for forgetting to include it in my original post! If you’d like to read my review please click on the link below.

https://jojosovertherainbowblog.wordpress.com/2019/03/01/blogtour-the-scent-of-death-by-simon-beckett-beckettsimon-transworldbooks-hj_barnes-thescentofdeath-5stars/

Book Synopsis:

It’s been a good summer for forensics expert Dr David Hunter. His relationship is going well and he’s in demand again as a police consultant. Life is good.

Then a call comes from an old associate: a body has been found, and she’d like Hunter to take a look.

The empty shell of St Jude’s Hospital now stands awaiting demolition, its only visitors society’s outcasts, addicts and dealers. A partially mummified corpse has been discovered in the hospital’s cavernous loft, but not even Hunter can say how long it’s been there. All he knows for sure is that it’s the body of a young woman. And that she was pregnant.

But the collapse of the loft floor reveals another of the hospital’s secrets. A sealed-off chamber, still with beds inside. Some of them occupied…

For Hunter, what began as a straightforward case is about to become a twisted nightmare that threatens everyone around him. And as the investigation springs more surprises, one thing is certain.

St Jude’s hasn’t claimed its last victim . . .

With its viscerally authentic forensics, menacing atmosphere and nerve-shredding tension, Simon Beckett’s new crime thriller will leave you gasping.

The Scent Of Death is available now in ebook and in hardback on the 18th of April 2019. You can purchase or pre-order a copy using the link below.

Guest Post:

Books That Sank Their Hook

Picking your favourite books is hard. We all change over time, and so do our tastes. I used to be a huge fan of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five, but outgrew those along with shorts and sandals. So, instead I’ve settled for compiling a list of books and authors – not all of them crime – that made a lasting and possibly formative impression. Most were read in my teens and early twenties, and while some remain favourites, others are more like former friends I’ve lost touch with over the years.
All have one thing in common, though: they’re great stories.

The Long Goodbye, Raymond Chandler.
The first crime novel I read was Chandler’s The Big Sleep. I went on to devour the rest of the Philip Marlowe series, but it was The Long Goodbye that really imprinted itself. The brash, wise-cracking private detective of the earlier books had become older and careworn, and while there aren’t any obvious similarities between Marlowe and my own narrator, David Hunter, the idea of a loner sticking doggedly to his own moral code struck a lasting chord.

The Silence of the Lambs, Thomas Harris
This pips Harris’ Red Dragon to the list by virtue of the central character. Hannibal Lecter generally receives top billing, but it’s the dogged and insecure FBI rookie Clarice Starling who gives the novel its heart (which Lecter would probably eat, given half a chance). When I wrote The Chemistry of Death, the first in the David Hunter series, it was in the hope of writing something halfway as compelling and scary as this. Sets the bar for crime thrillers, in my opinion.

The Travis McGee novels, John D. Macdonald.
I know, this is cheating. But although I loved the series about the laid-back beach-bum who makes an intermittent living as a ‘salvage’ operator of last resort, I’d be hard pressed to single-out one title. Set in 1960s and ’70s Florida, the McGee stories feature another complex first-person narrator who’s a natural loner. Something of a theme emerging here…

The Lord of the Rings, J R Tolkien
I tried re-reading this recently but found the Peter Jackson films got in the way. Still, this had a huge impact when I read it as a teenager. Some people may cavil about the clunky language, the male-centric characters and the sheer weight of the 1000-plus pages, but as a story it’s completely immersive. It demonstrated to me how effective the unexpected death of a main character can be, and has one of the best rug-pull moments you could ask for.

The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson
It’s a toss-up which I like the most, the novel or the 1962 Robert Wise film adaptation. A group of strangers gather in a house you really, really don’t want to find yourself in after dark (when there’s no one to hear) to prove the existence of ghosts. The novel is… well, haunting is the only way to describe it. Psychologically complex and beautifully written, it’s a masterclass in tension and atmosphere. It also has what remains one of the best openings I’ve ever read. Truly scary.

The Kraken Wakes, John Wyndham
I love a good end-of-the-world tale, and while Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids come a close second, Kraken just edges it for me. An account of war with unseen aliens who’ve occupied the deepest parts of the world’s oceans, its description of the devastating effects of global warming is eerily prescient. The haunting image of a deserted and flooded London is unforgettable.

The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemmingway
I find some of Hemingway’s work unreadable, but when he’s not being too pretentious the results can be dazzling. A clique of Americans aimlessly fish, drift and drink their way through post-WW1 France and Spain… and that’s pretty much it. Some of the attitudes can best be described as ‘of their time’, but Hemingway’s controlled style and subtle conveyance of emotion made a big impression when I read it in my youth.

A Taste for Death, Peter O’Donnell
My Dad introduced me to the Modesty Blaise novels when I was in my teens, and they’ve been perennial favourites ever since. Often billed as a female James Bond, the comparison doesn’t do the books justice. They’re all good (despite the lurid covers), but A Taste for Death, with its jovially deadly villain, is a stand-out. Genuinely thrilling, warm and funny, these were the first books I’d read where I felt the author might actually kill-off the main characters.

The Magus, John Fowles
Looking back at my selection, it strikes me how many books on this list feature alienated loners. Well, this is another. A selfish young Englishman takes a teaching post on a remote Greek island, where his enigmatic employer subjects him to a series of mind-games. Although the main character isn’t exactly sympathetic, as a callow student I was swept up by the otherworldly atmosphere and sense of place. And the notion of a stranger in a strange land is a theme I’ve returned to in my own books.

The Devil Rides Out, Denis Wheatley
Wheatley’s style and attitudes may jar today, but when I read this as an impressionable nine-year-old I was utterly enthralled. A group of upper-class adventurers try to rescue their friend from the clutches of a satanic cult. Cue black masses, pentagrams and goings on I was far too young to read about. Obviously, I loved it. The horror elements that some people have commented on in my own (non-horror) novels can probably be traced back to this.

Simon Beckett, February 2019

About The Author:

Simon Beckett has worked as a freelance journalist for national newspapers and colour supplements. He is the author of five international bestselling crime thrillers featuring his forensic anthropologist hero, Dr David Hunter: The Chemistry of Death, Written in Bone, Whispers of the Dead, The Calling of the Grave and The Restless Dead. His stand-alone novels include Stone Bruises andWhere There’s Smoke. He lives in Sheffield.

Blog Tour:

The Scent Of Death Blog Tour is now finished but do go back and check out these fantastic bloggers reviews!

Book Synopsis:

She followed her heart to change her life, but she didn’t realise how much she left behind…

Eliza Bloom has a list of rules: long, blue skirt on Thursdays, dinner with mother on Fridays, and never give your heart away to the wrong person. Nothing is out of place in her ordered life…

Then she met someone who she was never supposed to speak to. And he introduced her to a whole world of new lists:
New foods to try – oysters and sushi
Great movies to watch – Bambi and Some Like It Hot 
Things I love about Eliza Bloom

Eliza left everything she knew behind for him, but sometimes love just isn’t enough. Especially when he opens a hidden shoebox and starts asking a lot of questions about her past life. As the walls Eliza carefully constructed threaten to come crashing down, will she find a way to keep hold of everyone she loves, and maybe, just maybe, bring the two sides of her heart together at last?

An uplifting and heartbreaking novel about finding yourself, perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, The Hideaway and P.S. I Love You. 

The Two Hearts Of Eliza Bloom is available now in ebook and paperback. The ebook is currently only 99p. You can purchase a copy of both using the link below.

My Review:

The Two Hearts Of Eliza Bloom is a beautifully told story which manages to put a fresh twist on the traditional love story.

The story is told is two timelines, one detailing how Eliza and Alex met, the other showing how life is now for Eliza. This is very effective as it creates a sense of anticipation as the reader quickly knows the end outcome in the early timeline so wonders what happens to get there and simultaneously hopes for a happier ending for Eliza in the later one.

I loved the main character Eliza! The fact that she’s a bit of a rebel made me instantly warm to her and I found her humour very funny. I was immediately on her side and felt for her with everything that happened after her elopement with Alex. It was very touching to go on such an emotional journey with her to discover the importance of family and I found I had tears in my eyes whilst reading.

The book describes a little bit about Orthodox Jewish beliefs and practices which was fascinating to learn more about. It sounds daft but I had no idea that they were quite so strict! It was especially interesting to see how the religion had changed over the years as the world became more modern.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’m now eagerly awaiting her next book later this year. If you like emotional but uplifting books that make you laugh and cry then you’ll love this book!

Huge thanks to Kim Nash from Bookouture for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book via Netgalley which I received in exchange for an honest review.

About The Author:

I’m a member of The Prime Writers. Click on the logo 
for our website.

I have been told that I write like a tall blonde, so that’s how I’d like you to picture me.

I’ve published five books: three novels, and two non-fiction books, about The Archers and Shakespeare (that’s two separate books, not one weird mash-up). One more novel is on the way; out in August 2019.

Before writing books, I did a lot of different jobs. I worked in schools, shops, offices, hospitals, students’ unions, basements, from home, in my car, and up a tree. OK, not up a tree. I’ve been a sexual health trainer, a journalist, a psychology lecturer, a PhD student, a lousy alcohol counsellor, and an inept audio-typist. I sold pens, bread, and condoms. Not in the same shop. I taught parents how to tell if their teenagers are taking drugs (clue: they act like teenagers), and taught teenagers how to put on condoms (clue: there won’t really be a cucumber). I taught rabbis how to tell if their teenagers are druggedly putting condoms on cucumbers.

Throughout this, I always wrote, and always drank a lot of tea. I’m now pretty much unbeatable at drinking tea.

(Bio taken from author’s website http://www.bethmiller.co.uk)

Book Synopsis:

It’s been a good summer for forensics expert Dr David Hunter. His relationship is going well and he’s in demand again as a police consultant. Life is good.

Then a call comes from an old associate: a body has been found, and she’d like Hunter to take a look.

The empty shell of St Jude’s Hospital now stands awaiting demolition, its only visitors society’s outcasts, addicts and dealers. A partially mummified corpse has been discovered in the hospital’s cavernous loft, but not even Hunter can say how long it’s been there. All he knows for sure is that it’s the body of a young woman. And that she was pregnant.

But the collapse of the loft floor reveals another of the hospital’s secrets. A sealed-off chamber, still with beds inside. Some of them occupied…

For Hunter, what began as a straightforward case is about to become a twisted nightmare that threatens everyone around him. And as the investigation springs more surprises, one thing is certain.

St Jude’s hasn’t claimed its last victim . . .

With its viscerally authentic forensics, menacing atmosphere and nerve-shredding tension, Simon Beckett’s new crime thriller will leave you gasping.

The Scent Of Death is available in ebook now and will be published in hardback on the 18th April 2019. You can purchase or pre-order your copy here.

My Review:

The Scent Of Death is a fantastically gripping, fast paced and addictive read. I found myself unable to put the book down, turning the pages faster and faster as I desperately wanted to find out more. It was one of those books that when I wasn’t reading I was constantly thinking about it and wondering when I could fit a few more pages in!

The deserted hospital creates a wonderfully creepy and unpredictable setting that gives the reader the impression that anything could happen at any minute. I found myself holding my breath everytime Hunter enters the hospital wondering what was going to happen next and from where. The lack of light in the hospital increases this impression further as there are lots of dark corners where anything could be discovered.

The characters are all fabulous creations and well developed through the book, with the wide range of characters helping to make the story believable. I liked the main character Hunter who seemed to be a very capable pathologist who’s had a bit of a hard life up until now. The author includes bits of his life outside of the police investigation so that the reader can get to know his character almost personally. I felt this really added to the story as sometimes I was able to predict how he was going to react before he did.

There is some fantastic forensic details in this book, which while a bit graphic at times, I found utterly fascinating. The author manages to include details about the clues and processes used to help determine cause of death without ever seeming to lecture the reader or doubt their intelligence which made for very interesting reading. I think I know more about flies and their role in decay then I ever have in my life!

This book is incredibly fast paced with lots of different story lines to keep the reader glued to the page. There always seemed to be something happening or a feeling that something was which made it difficult to put down as there was no obvious place to stop! I found myself trying to hide away from the kids to read a bit more or, to their delight, offering them their tablets so I could read a tiny bit more always a sign of a fantastic book!

This is actually the 4th book in the series but I feel it could easily be read as a standalone, as I have read it, as anything you need to know is explained. However I’m very excited to have found a new series to enjoy so I will definitely be going back to devour the rest soon!

Huge thanks to Hayley from Transworld publishers for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book which I received in exchange for an honest review. If you like fast paced, intelligent crime thrillers then you need to read this book!

About The Author:

Simon Beckett has worked as a freelance journalist for national newspapers and colour supplements. He is the author of five international bestselling crime thrillers featuring his forensic anthropologist hero, Dr David Hunter: The Chemistry of Death, Written in Bone, Whispers of the Dead, The Calling of the Grave and The Restless Dead. His stand-alone novels include Stone Bruises andWhere There’s Smoke. He lives in Sheffield.

Book Synopsis:

A hilarious rom com about falling in love, falling outof love, and finding out who you really are.

Cat’s life has hit a brick wall. Since her ex ditched her without ceremony five years ago she’s quit stand-up comedy, landed in a steady but dull job, and lives in a tiny flat with roommates she knows only as The One Who Eats All My Food and The One Who Has Really Loud Sex.

So when she bumps into old friend Harvey and sparks fly, Cat is surprised – and horrified, because Harvey is her ex’s brother, and so absolutely, 100% off-limits romantically. Even if his dimples do make her insides fizz…

When she’s offered a new job abroad, Cat is tempted to accept – and leave her depressing flat and mess of a love life behind her. But will running away from her problems really solve them?

Fans of Jenny Colgan, Marian Keyes and Mhairi McFarlane will love Keris Stainton!

The One Who’s Not The One is available now in ebook and paperback. The ebook is currently only £1.99. You can purchase your copy of both using the link below.

My Review:

The One Who’s Not The One is a hilarious, romantic book that’s best not to read in a public place as you’re guaranteed to get some funny looks from laughing out loud!

Firstly I loved all the characters in this book! They were all such wonderful creations and I enjoyed getting to know them throughout the course of the book. As such they were easy to get behind and I found myself hoping that everything would work out for them all. The main character, Cat, is an absolutely riot and someone I’d love to have as a friend.

The book does start off a bit slow but soon picks up and I found myself thoroughly absorbed in Cat’s life. The book has a realistic feel to it from the scenarios that Cat finds herself in through to the language and conversations between Cat and her friends which I could remember having similar conversations to. I loved having a fly on the wall view at all that happens and felt very involved in the story.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I will look forward to reading more from her in the future, especially if she does a sequel to this book as I felt very sad to leave all the characters behind.

Huge thanks to Noelle from Bookouture for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Bookouture for my copy of this book via Netgalley which I received in exchange for an honest review. If you like feel good, funny romantic comedies then you’ll love this book!

About The Author:

Keris Stainton was born in Canada, grew up on the Wirral, lived in London for a while and now lives in Lancashire with two boys, two guinea pigs, and an unhealthy (but enjoyable) obsession with One Direction. 

She’s written books for children, teenagers, and adults and can almost always be found on Twitter.

Book Synopsis:

The only parenting book that offers a unique, step-by-step guide to enable parents to solve baby care problems for themselves.

The Baby Detective is the only book of the parenting genre to develop a unique, step-by-step investigative process that will enable parents to solve their own baby care problems. It puts them firmly back in the driving seat, giving them the tools to do away with sometimes conflicting and confusing expert advice, and to face parenting challenges using their own intuition.

Drawing on case studies of Sarah’s previous clients, the book is based around her unique principle of AIM, in which parents are guided through the process of Assessing a problematic situation, Investigating the possible causes and Modifying behaviour in order to resolve it. It provides insight in to how and why environment, biology and personality interact to affect your baby, as well as suggesting numerous tips and strategies for remedying problems.

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

Excerpt:

Excerpt from the Foreword of The Baby Detective Book, By Sarah Norris (published with Orion Books)

Over the last 25 years I’ve helped hundreds of families doing a job that I love, but recently I’ve begun to experience frustration at the plight of many families who lack confidence in their baby care capabilities.
They seem to be struggling to cope with dubious advice, lack of positive support, contradictory approaches, universal solutions that claim to fit all babies and promise perfection and, most perplexing of all, the professional, media and social media criticism, judgement and intimidation that is all too rife.
One of my main aims with clients is to alleviate this pressure and stress, and that is what I am intending to do with my book, The Baby Detective.
During my time as a maternity nurse, I have seen every aspect of baby care carried out in every possible way by people with different personalities, lifestyles and ages, from different social classes, income brackets and cultures. I have come to the conclusion that, though there are a few ways of getting it wrong, there are many more ways of getting it right.
There are plenty of books and experts who will tell you that they have ‘the answer’, the holy grail of parenting, the one way that will work, the one routine you should follow or the parenting method that will solve all your problems.
But, like the gambler who thinks he has a fool-proof system to beat the casinos, they are deceiving both themselves and you.
You are unique; your family is unique and your baby is unique, which means your parenting will also be unique.
These external ‘expert’ voices often do not recognise or value this uniqueness.
There is no ‘best way’ – just the most appropriate approach for you and your baby, for that particular moment or situation, or sometimes simply a practical coping mechanism for that exhausted moment after no sleep, a baby with colic and visitors who have stayed too long.
There is also, most definitely, no ‘perfect parenting’.
This is an image often created by us, born of a totally understand able desire to be good parents. The redeeming truth is that this idea of unattainable perfection is also totally unnecessary: nothing and no one around you is perfect, so let it go, along with all the negative emotions that go with it such as guilt, stress, worry, confusion, despair, anger, self-recrimination and regret. The wonderful fact is that, for the first four weeks, babies want only four things from you. They want:
• a full tummy
• lots of cuddles
• lots of sleep
• freedom from discomfort and pain
. . . and that’s it. After three or four weeks, you can start adding more stimulation and interaction into the mix. This is the basic recipe for the first three months. What’s even more wonderful is that babies don’t really mind who is providing all these things, which takes the pressure off mums and means that dads, partners, relatives, friends, nurses, can all help provide what baby needs, and you can accept this help without any fear of damaging the bonding process in any way whatsoever.
My Baby Detective Book differs from many other baby care books in that it does not suggest you can be a perfect parent, dictate which parenting style is best or tell you the ‘right way’ to care for your baby.
Instead, the approach will be to guide you through an investigative process that will help you identify when something is going wrong, what the problem is, why it is happening, and will provide you with the information you need in order to devise and implement realistic solutions that suit you, your baby and your whole family.
You will learn how to AIM: that is, Assess, Investigate and Modify your baby’s and your own behaviour.
All you need in order to do this is to keep an open mind, have faith in yourself and trust the process that is developed in the following pages.
At the end, you will be a confident, competent parent capable of recognising and meeting your baby’s needs and adjusting every aspect of baby care to solve current and future problems and meet every new challenge.
This confidence will allow you to relax and enjoy your journey with your baby instead of wasting time being worried and stressed.
You will not need to rely on books or experts, because you will be the expert on your own baby – you will write your own book.

About The Author:

Sarah Norris is one of the most accomplished and experienced maternity nurses in the UK. She is an expert in her field, and has cared for over 250 babies during career, which has spanned over two decades. She has worked for celebrity couples including Sienna Miller and Tom Sturridge, Jessica and James Purefoy, and a number of the Guinness family. Getting her message out to as many families as possible is Sarah’s passion and life’s work.