Book Synopsis:

Sometimes we’re more like our mothers than we think!

Glamorous lone parent, Stella wants nothing more than to impress her teenage daughter. She has spent her life shielding Tara from her religious upbringing and has never told Tara about her father. But when they move back to Belfast, hiding the past becomes tricky.

When Stella lands her dream job as fashion editor at a teen magazine, Tara thinks she will die of shame. Soon after, Tara starts a blog to pour out her teenage angst and begins working at a home for rescued animals run by the enigmatic Nora.

When Tara’s blog takes off, a rival magazine offers to publish it as a column, putting her in a difficult situation.

Will Tara risk hurting her mother in order to achieve her dream of being a writer?

Can three generations of one family, who struggle to understand each other, ever develop real bonds?

My Virtual Life is available now in ebook for the bargain price of 99p! You can purchase your copy here.

My Review:

My Virtual Life is a touching, modern story describing a mother and daughter relationship that’s lost its way a little bit.

The story is told alternatively by Stella the mother who reminded me of a cross between Patsy from Absolutely fabulous and Samantha from Sex In The City and her long suffering daughter Tara.  Tara is a bit of a loner who is highly embarrassed by her mother and her new job which involves trying to be cool.  The reader is given a fly on the wall glimpse into their relationship and their lives, where we are privy to their private thoughts.  It’s fair to say the mother-daughter relationship isn’t working when we first meet the characters with neither properly understanding the other.  It was very interesting to get to know the characters more and watch the relationship between them change as their roles shift.

My favourite character was Tara and I found it fascinating to find out more about what she was thinking, particularly as some of these thoughts have been highlighted in the media recently.  I found I felt very sorry for her and hoped that Stella would mend her ways so she could be a better mother to her.

The authors descriptions are utterly hilarious at times and I found myself laughing out loud at times.  This was particularly so when describing the results of Stella trying to fit into her new job.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author but I’d definitely like to read more from her in the future.  If you like touching stories that manage to make you laugh and cry then you’ll love this book.

Huge thanks to Emma from Bombshell books for my copy of this book via Netgalley and for inviting me onto this tour.

About The Author:

Book Synopsis:

Love can’t be defined by war…

Watching the Red Army withdraw from Ukraine in the face of Hitler’s relentless advance, Natasha Smirnova realises her life is about to change forever.

As Kiev is cast under the dark cloud of occupation, Natasha falls in love with Mark, a Hungarian soldier, enlisted against all his principles on the side of the Nazis.

But as Natasha fights to protect the friends and family she holds dear she must face up to the dark horrors of war and the pain of betrayal. Will the love she and Mark share be strong enough to overcome the forces which threaten to tear them apart?

The Story of Us is a powerful tale of love, loss, and the power of hope set in Kiev during the Second World War, perfect for fans of Kate Furnivall, Pam Jenoff and V. S. Alexander.

The Story Of Us is available now in ebook and paperback.  You can purchase your copy here.

My Review:

The Story Of Us is one of those books that gets under your skin and will stay with you for a long time after you’ve finished reading.  It’s a story of love, loss and hope that is an absolutely wonderful read.

The author does a fantastic job of setting the scene so that the reader really feels like they are in the Ukraine at the time of the nazi occupation.  I felt all of the characters fear, laughter and loss as if I was one of them.  It’s a part of the war that I hadn’t heard of before so I found it fascinating to learn more about it.  Some of the events described in the book are real ones and I spent time looking up more about them afterwards.  These were quite horrific and the author doesn’t hold back from describing them which made for very emotional reading.

The love affair between Natasha and Mark was lovely to read about.  I really enjoyed seeing it develop especially as it bought some much needed relief from the horrors of war.  It was great to see the hope it brought the characters, though I was always nervous that something would happen to destroy the relationship.

I’m a huge fan of historical fiction set in world war two and love learning about new parts of it.  This book enthralled me from the start with the wonderful characters and the authors attention to detail helping to keep my interest.  It’s incredibly gripping and I felt on the edge of my seat throughout much of it as I hoped that the characters would be ok.  Like with any book involving the Nazis, there is an air of unpredictability and this also keeps you firmly on your toes as you wonder what will happen.

This unbelievably is the author’s debut novel and I’m very excited to read more from her in the future.  If you like enthralling historical fiction that makes you cry and laugh then you’ll love this book.

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

About The Author:

Lana Kortchik grew up in two opposite corners of the Soviet Union – the snow-white Siberian town of Tomsk and the golden-domed Ukrainian capital, Kiev. At the age of sixteen, she moved to Australia with her mother. Lana and her family live on the Central Coast of NSW, where it never snows and is always summer-warm, even in winter. She loves books, martial arts, the ocean and Napoleonic history. Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies. She was the winner of the Historical Novel Society Autumn 2012 Short Fiction competition and the runner-up of the 2013 Defenestrationism Short Story Contest. Her first novel, The Story of Us, will be published by HQ Digital/Harper Collins in December 2018. To find out more, please visit http://www.lanakortchik.com.

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lanakortchik
Twitter: @lanakortchik

Book Synopsis:

Katerina Rowe, a Deacon at the church in the sleepy village of Eyam, has a fulfilled life. She is happily married to Leon and her work is rewarding.

But everything changes when she discovers the body of a man and a badly beaten woman, Beth, in the alleyway behind her husband’s pharmacy.

Drawn to the young woman she saved, Kat finds herself embroiled in a baffling mystery.

When Beth’s house is set on fire, Kat offers the young woman sanctuary in her home and soon the pair begin investigating the murder, with some help from Beth’s feisty grandmother, Doris. But neither the police, nor Leon, nor the criminals want Kat and Beth looking into their affairs and the sleuths quickly find themselves out of their depth…

Can Kat and Beth solve the mystery and walk away unscathed?

Murder Undeniable is available in ebook and paperback now.  The ebook is currently only 99p, but you can purchase a copy of both here.

My Review:

I’m a huge fan of this author so you can imagine my delight when I was invited onto the blog tour for her latest book.  This felt like a bit of a change to previous books I had read as they weren’t quite as fast paced but they were still very gripping.

The author has created some wonderful characters that you can’t help but like, including some of the gang members! I liked Katarina and her determination to discover what had happened.  She is a very innocent character who I felt quite protective of and I found myself groaning out loud whilst reading about some of the situations she puts herself in.  The relationship she develops between Beth and her grandmother was lovely to read about and I enjoyed how it developed.  I was very pleased that they had each others support.

The story starts almost immediately with the reader thrown straight into the action.  I soon found myself gripped by the story and very interested in how it was going to work out.  The author cleverly drops little clues into the story which kept me guessing who was behind the murder and unsavoury events.

This is the first book in an exciting new series and I’m very excited to read more! If you like gripping crime fiction with some fantastic characters then you’ll love this book.

Huge thanks to Emma at Bloodhound books for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

About The Author:

Biography

Book Synopsis:

When Sam falls in love with Deptford thug Derek, and Anne’s best friend Kathleen takes her own life, they discover they are linked not just by a world of drugs and revenge; they also share the friendship of the uncanny and enigmatic Deborah.

Seamstress, sailor, story-teller and self-proclaimed centenarian immortal, Deborah slowly reveals to Anne and Sam her improbable, fantastical life, a history of hidden Deptford and ultimately the solution to their crises.

With echoes of Armistead Maupin, Attend is a beautifully written, darkly funny, mesmerisingly emotive and deliciously told debut novel, rich in finely wrought characters that you will never forget.

Attend is available now in ebook and paperback.  The ebook is currently only £1.99 but you can purchase a copy of both here.

My Review:

Attend is a truly magical book that I know I won’t forget for a while! I don’t think I must have read the blurb properly as I thought it was a crime novel, but it’s in fact much more than that.

The story is told from the point of view of Anne, Sam and the enigmatic Deborah.  Anne and Sam are both characters that are in need of a friend having g just moved into the area.  Enter the magical and mysterious Deborah who  befriends them and teaches them about the magic just beneath their feet.

This story just intrigued me on so many different levels.  I instantly warmed to both Anne and Sam, feeling sorry for them and the situation they find themselves in.  I felt that they had both had quite a hard past and deserved to have a fresh start.  The mystery surrounding Deborah was very interesting and I loved learning more about her.  The flash backs to the life she had lived were fascinating to read about and I enjoyed trying to figure out what their relevance was to the story.  The intrigue surrounding Deborah herself and what she was was, was very interesting and kept me reading as I wanted to find out more.

I lost many hours reading this book as I was so absorbed by the story.  The blurb is correct when it says the story is mesmorising as it’s a book that holds you firmly in its grasp and makes it impossible to put down.  I found myself trying to read a few more pages at every opportunity as I desperately wanted to find out more.

This is, unbelievably, the author’s debut novel and I’m very excited to read more from this talented author.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Karen from Orenda books for my copy of this book.  If you like enthralling crime novels with a magical twist then you’ll love this book!

About The Author:

Born and bred in south London – and not the Somerset village with which he shares a name – West Camel worked as an editor in higher education and business before turning his attention to the arts and publishing. He has worked as a book and arts journalist, and was editor at Dalkey Archive Press, where he edited the Best European Fiction 2015 anthology, before moving to new press Orenda Books just after its launch. He currently combines his work as editor at Orenda Books with writing and editing a wide range of material for various arts organisations, including ghost-writing a New-Adult novel and editing The Riveter magazine for the European Literature Network. He has also written several short scripts, which have been produced in London’s fringe theatres, and was longlisted for the Old Vic’s 12 playwrights project. Attend is his first novel.
You can follow West on Twitter @west_camel

Book Synopsis:

It’s nearly Christmas at the little French llama farm.

Nick and Noelle are looking forward to a quiet, romantic Christmas together, but at the last moment Noelle is asked to book her local agricultural halles for the imminent national llama show. The original venue went up in smoke. Noelle does as asked, thinking that’s all she’ll have to do. She couldn’t be more wrong! On top of all the extra work this good deed makes for her, various friends and relatives start turning up on the doorstep as the result of assorted crises. The farmhouse is about to burst at the seams!
Add in a few other events, such as playing the part of a pixie at a Christmas fête, Nick’s book launch, training a non-cooperative llama for the agility class in the show and catering for more and more mouths, and Noelle is pushed ever closer to the end of her tether.
Can she hold it together and stay as calm as a llama? Or will she be the next member of her family to make a bolt for it?
This festive, feel-good and fun novel is the sequel to ‘Fa-La-Llama-La: Christmas at the Little French Llama Farm’ but can be read as a standalone.

Deck The Halles is available in ebook now for the bargain price of £2.99.  You can purchase your copy here.

My Review:

Deck The Halles is a fantastic, quirky and hilarious book that was an absolute pleasure to read.  If you’re looking for an unusual Christmas read then you’ll love this book!

Noelle is a fantastic main character who you can’t help but warm to straight away.  I loved her energy and her determination to succeed despite things seeming impossible.  Some of the ideas she has regarding the llama’s were utterly hilarious and had me crying with laughter, particularly her attempts to train them for a competition.  Llama’s aside I really liked how normal she was and how she never let mistakes get her down.  I really enjoyed reading about her life.

The information regarding the keeping and caring for the llama’s was very interesting.  I’ve never given much thought into what that would involve but it’s evidently a lot more complicated than I expected.  It was fascinating to learn more about their temperant and what special things were needed to care for them.

This book grabbed my attention from the start with the authors easy, chatty style and the usual subject matter of the llama’s.  I soon found myself completely immersed in the story and the hilarious situations Noelle finds herself in.  I wanted to keep reading to find out what on earth would happen next!

This is the second book in the series but the first I’ve read and I think it would work fine as a standalone as anything you need to know is explained.  I would definitely like to go back and read the first book.  I hope  there will be more books to come in the series as I would love to revisit the characters.

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

About The Author:

I’m an English expat living in France, having moved here with my family in 2006 after fourteen years as an expat in Ireland. I now consider myself a European rather than ‘belonging’ to any particular country. The last ten years have been interesting, to put it mildly. Taking on seventy-five acres with three lakes, two hovels and one cathedral-sized barn, not to mention an ever increasing menagerie, makes for exciting times. The current array of animals includes alpacas, llamas, huarizos (alpaca-llama crossbreds, unintended in our case and all of them thanks to one very determined alpaca male), sheep, goats, pigs, ducks, geese, chickens and turkeys, not forgetting our pets of dogs, cats, zebra finches, budgies , canaries, lovebirds and Chinese quail. Before we came to France all we had was a dog and two chickens, so it’s been a steep learning curve. I recount these experiences in my book Heads Above Water: Staying Afloat in France and the sequel to that, Total Immersion: Ten Years in France. I also blog regularly at http://www.bloginfrance.com.

I’m married to Chris and we have three bilingual TCKs (third culture kids) who are resilient and resourceful and generally wonderful.     

I’m a traditionally-published author of many children’s books, and am now self-publishing too. I have worked part-time as a freelance editor for thirty years after starting out as a desk editor for Hodder & Stoughton. Find me at http://www.editing.zone. The rest of the time I’m running carp fishing lakes with Chris and inevitably cleaning up some or other animal’s poop.   

Social Media Links

Twitter– @llamamum

www.facebook.com/StephanieDaggBooks/

www.bloginfrance.com

Book Synopsis:

A novel of the Iolaire disaster.

In the small hours of January 1st, 1919, the cruellest twist of fate changed at a stroke the lives of an entire community.

Tormod Morrison was there that terrible night. He was on board HMY Iolaire when it smashed into rocks and sank, killing some 200 servicemen on the very last leg of their long journey home from war. For Tormod – a man unlike others, with artistry in his fingertips – the disaster would mark him indelibly.

Two decades later, Alasdair and Rachel are sent to the windswept Isle of Lewis to live with Tormod in his traditional blackhouse home, a world away from the Glasgow of their earliest years. Their grandfather is kind, compassionate, but still deeply affected by the remarkable true story of the Iolaire shipwreck – by the selfless heroism and desperate tragedy he witnessed.

As The Women Lay Dreaming is available now in ebook and paperback.  You can purchase your copy here.

My Review:

As The Women Lay Dreaming is a beautiful, emotional piece of historical fiction that you will definitely need tissues handy to read.

I had never heard of the Iolaire disaster so I found if fascinating to learn more about it and the impact it had on the community for many years to come.  A lot of the stories were very emotional ones and I found myself crying throughout the book at all that happened.

The characters are all very well drawn and I thought they seemed very real.  I really liked the relationship the children developed with their grandfather which was very heart warming to read about.  He came across as a gentle giant who was very caring to his grandchildren.

The author vividly describes the way of life on the Island and it was very interesting to learn more about the traditional way if life there with a cow shed in their house and their reliance on horses to get around. The author also describes in detail their grandfather’s work as a black Smith and I found it fascinating to learn more about the skills involved.

The book is surprising gripping, especially considering that most people know what the outcome will be . I think this is down to the way the author cleverly weaves the story’s together and how personal the account feels so that the reader can’t help but feel involved in the characters lives.  I found myself hoping things would turn out differently.

This is the first book by this author I have read but I’d definitely be interested in reading more from him in the future

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

About The Author:

A son of the Hebrides, Donald S. Murray is a writer and poet whose work has been shortlisted for both the Saltire Literary Awards and the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award. His critically acclaimed books bring to life the culture and nature of the Scottish islands, and he appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland.

Book Synopsis:

Hungary, 1956. Russian tanks brutally crush the revolution against the Communist regime. Sisters Katalin and Marika escape Budapest with their family and settle in London.

However, the past is not so easily left behind. Their father is a wanted man, and the sisters’ relationship hangs in the balance. Their futures are shaped by loss. For Katalin, this means the failure of her ambition and a devastating discovery; for Marika, an equally heart-breaking experience.

Caught between their Hungarian heritage and their new lives in Britain, the sisters struggle to reconnect. Family secrets are exposed, jeopardising Katalin’s and Marika’s identities.

Can their relationship survive war, division and grief?

My Sister, Myself is available in ebook and paperback now.  You can purchase your copy here.

My Review:

My Sister, Myself is a stunning piece of historical fiction that was a fantastically absorbing read.

I hadn’t read anything about this period of history before so I found this a fascinating read.  The author does a great job at setting the scene for the book so the reader can vividly imagine the scene in their mind.  The atmosphere of excitement and fear was almost palpable at times so that I felt fully immersed in the story.

The story is told from Katalin’s point of view and she is a wonderful narrator whose innocence really adds poignancy to the story.  I warmed to her immediately and felt for her when the revolution puts an end to her dreams.  Her relationship with her sister is a typical sibling relationship, full of little arguments.  It was interesting to see how the relationship changed throughout the book as the secrets are revealed.

This book is very gripping with lots of action or revelations happening but it is the characters and their relationship with each other that made me keep reading.  I found I really enjoyed spending time with the family and felt caught up in their lives.  I felt quite emotional when the secrets started to be revealed and the affect it had in the family.  A sure sign that I was too involved!

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’d definitely like to read more from her in the future.  If you like wonderfully written, absorbing historical fiction then you’ll love this book.

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

About The Author:

Jill Treseder was born in Hampshire and lived all her childhood in sight of the sea on the Solent and in Devon, Cornwall and West Wales. She now lives with her husband in Devon overlooking the River Dart. After graduating from Bristol with a degree in German, Jill followed careers in social work, management development and social research, obtaining a PhD from the School of Management at the University of Bath along the way. Since 2006 she has focused on writing fiction.

Book Synopsis:

Jane Bates has left Highbury to become the companion of the invalid widow Mrs Sealy in Brighton. Life in the new, fashionable seaside resort is exciting indeed. A wide circle of interesting acquaintance and a rich tapestry of new experiences make her new life all Jane had hoped for.
While Jane’s sister Hetty can be a tiresome conversationalist she proves to be a surprisingly good correspondent and Jane is kept minutely up-to-date with developments in Highbury, particularly the tragic news from Donwell Abbey.
When the handsome Lieutenant Weston returns to Brighton Jane expects their attachment to pick up where it left off in Highbury the previous Christmas, but the determined Miss Louisa Churchill, newly arrived with her brother and sister-in-law from Enscombe in Yorkshire, seems to have a different plan in mind.

The Other Miss Bates is available now in ebook and paperback, purchase your copy here.

My Review:

I’m a big fan of Jane Austen’s books and love a re- imagining of the story from a different point of view.  The Other Miss Bates is no exception as it follows a minor character from her book ‘Emma’ and her life before and during the period covered by the book.

The author has cleverly written the book in the style used by Jane Austen which makes the book seem very authentic.  It also serves to help fully immerse the reader into the time period along with all of the authors fantastic descriptions of life and the many social occasions people had to navigate.

I really liked both Mrs and Miss Bates as they seemed quite strong, outspoken women who were perfectly happy with their station in life.  I liked that Miss Bates in particular had chosen to work away from home as she wanted more for herself than her home could provide and had therefore come up with a plan to get the experiences she wanted.

The book was surprising addictive and I soon got caught up in the characters world.  I’ve always loved the descriptions of life in this period so found myself soon absorbed in the story and able to imagine the action vividly in my mind.  The author manages to perfectly blend parts of the Emma story with her own and the end result is a very enjoyable reading experience!

This is the second book in the series but the first that I have read.  I feel it could easily be read as a standalone as anything you need to know is explained in this book.  I will however be going back to read the previous book as I really enjoyed this one.

Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. If you’re a fan of Jane Austen’s I think you’ll enjoy this one!

About The Author:

Allie Cresswell was born in Stockport, UK and began writing fiction as soon as she could hold a pencil.
Allie recalls: ‘I was about 8 years old. Our teacher asked us to write about a family occasion and I launched into a detailed, harrowing and entirely fictional account of my grandfather’s funeral. I think he died very soon after I was born; certainly I have no memory of him and definitely did not attend his funeral, but I got right into the details, making them up as I went along (I decided he had been a Vicar, which I spelled ‘Vice’). My teacher obviously considered this outpouring very good bereavement therapy so she allowed me to continue with the story on several subsequent days, and I got out of maths and PE on a few occasions before I was rumbled.’
She went on to do a BA in English Literature at Birmingham University and an MA at Queen Mary College, London.
She has been a print-buyer, a pub landlady, a book-keeper, run a B & B and a group of boutique holiday cottages. Nowadays Allie writes full time having retired from teaching literature to lifelong learners.
She has two grown-up children, one granddaughter and two grandsons, is married to Tim and divides her time between Cheshire and Cumbria.

Book Synopsis:
Job. Flat. Boyfriend. Tick. Tick. Tick.

Aisling (seems) to be winning at life. But life has other ideas.

Fired. Homeless. Dumped. Tick. Tick. Tick.

When everything comes crashing down around her, moving back in with her mam seems like a disaster.

But might returning to her roots provide the answers Aisling’s looking for?

The Importance Of Being Aisling is available in ebook now, purchase your copy here

My Review:

I was a big fan of the first book in this series so I was very excited to be invited onto the blog tour for the next book in the series.  I was not disappointed as The Importance Of Being Aisling is, in my opinion, even better the first book!

I absolutely adored Aisling! She is such a real character that you can’t help but like.  I really emphasised with her when she made mistakes and things went wrong as I’ve been in situations like that before too.  She is also incredibly funny and I loved the way she phrased things and acted in certain situations.

The story is well paced with some drama always seeming to be about to unfold.  The book is written in quite an intimate style so the reader feels like they are actually there experiencing everything alongside the characters.  I therefore felt quite involved in the story and wanted to keep reading to find out how things panned out for Aisling.

This is the second book by these authors that I have read and I’m very excited to read more about Aisling.  I’m particularly interested in seeing how the cafe works out.  I’ve seen that other reviewers have compared these books to the Bridget Jones books and I completely agree! It would be very interesting to see a film version of these books as I think they’d be fantastic.

Huge thanks to Jenny Platter from Michael St Joseph publishers for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.  If you like fun, hilarious books with a loveable main character then you’ll love this book.

About The Author:

Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen conceived the character of Aisling in their sitting room in 2008, when they began to observe the many traits, characteristics and quirks of a very particular type of Irish girl; one they identified around them and one they identified with.

Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling was an instant sensation in their native Ireland and the Number One bestselling adult fiction title of 2017.

Emer McLysaght is the former editor of The Daily Edgeand has worked extensively in journalism and radio.
Sarah Breen is a journalist whose work has appeared in Stellar, Image, U, the Irish Independent and The Gloss.

Book Synopsis:

Children’s picture book for christmas.It is Christmas time, and the school has been getting ready to perform their Nativity play. With lines learnt and songs to be sung, it is time for the dress rehearsal. The teacher knows there might be a few problems to sort out, but at least they will know what to improve on or change along the way.

The Christmas Play Rehearsal is available in ebook and paperback now, purchase your copy here.

My Review:

The Christmas Play Rehearsal is a wonderful, funny book that is the perfect Christmas book for little kids.

Both my mum and me have enjoyed reading this book with my six year old who has found this book utterly hilarious.  He couldn’t stop laughing at the many things that keep going wrong. Being in the middle of Nativity play rehearsals himself I think he found the book very interesting and it lead to him telling us lots of stories about his own experiences. He was also very proud that he could read most of the book himself and took it into show and tell to share with his class!

The story is accompanied by some fantastic, bright drawings showing the children in their nativity outfits.  Both my children really liked them and I think they added a lot to the story.

My only slight problem with this book was that it was quite long which was fine for my six year old but meant that my three year old lost interest halfway through.   I’ve been unable to find out what age group this is aimed at but as the author is a primary school teacher I’m guessing it’s meant for older children than my daughter anyway.

This is the first book by this author that I have read and I’ll definitely be getting more of her books in the future.  It’s been hard to get my son interested in reading but he keeps asking for this book which just shows how much he enjoyed it.

Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and for our copy of this book.  If you’re looking for a great Christmas story to share with the kids then I highly recommend this book.

About The Author:

Sue Wickstead is a trained teacher and has written five children’s story books to date. The books have all received 5-star awards from ‘Readers Favourite’. She was initially involved in a playbus charity and left full time teaching to write the photographic history book about the playbus itself. This led to many questions from the children that she met asking what the playbus did and how was it different to any other ordinary bus. This led to telling stories and eventually the fictional tale was written. JJK261 was the real bus and gave the bus the name Jay-Jay. Sue has written three adventures for Jay-Jay the playbus, as well as Daisy Daydream the Nursery Rhyme bus. In addition she has written ‘A Spooky Tale’ for younger readers and is also based on real events from her teaching career. the new book ‘The Christmas Play Rehearsal’ is also based on the problems she encountered when producing the Christmas Play. Sue has visited many schools, both as a cover teacher and as an author. Including schools in Spain. The children love knowing where the inspiration for the stories come from and are fascinated to hear that the bus was in fact real. With both a factual and fictional background to her writing she is able to share her enthusiasm and has many more stories to follow. Each of her books have a factual link as well as a bus in them somewhere. this was particularly difficult to fit in with the Christmas Nativity story, but yes she did manage it.