Book Synopsis:

The former chosen one and their band of unlikely allies must find a new path in the sequel to The Art of Prophecy, an epic fantasy ode to martial arts and magic.

A hero once believed to be the chosen one must find a new path with the help of a band of unlikely allies in the sequel to The Art of Prophecy, an epic fantasy ode to martial arts and magic from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Wesley Chu.

Once there was a prophecy that a chosen one would rise to defeat the Eternal Khan, an immortal god-king. But the prophecy was wrong.

Now Jian, the former chosen hero, is just an ordinary young man trying to find his own way. But he may yet have an extraordinary destiny, because he joins forces with Taishi, his grumpy grandmaster, who instructs him in the ways of her family’s powerful war art. Jian still has a long way to go before he can become her heir, so she recruits a band of elderly grandmasters who come out of retirement to whip him into shape and help with this one last job.

And there are others who are also seeking their own destiny, like Qisami, an assassin on a secret mission to protect a powerful noblewoman from her enemies. But as Qisami goes undercover to complete her mission, she takes on a new identity that gives her something she never had before: friendship, found family, and new purpose.

Sali also thought her fate was laid before her. She was supposed to be looking for the next Eternal Khan and now finds her clan exiled from everything she’s ever known. As she leads the survivors in search of a new home, Sali discovers that she’s something she never thought she could be: a leader and a revolutionary.

Because sometimes destiny is grander than any prophecy can foresee. And the greatest destiny of all is the one you choose for yourself.

My Review:

The Art Of Destiny is a gripping, action packed book that I really enjoyed.

Firstly it was great being back in the world the author has created. It was really nice to be able to explore it more alongside the characters and to learn more about what it was like to live there. The author has created some fantastic characters characters that I enjoyed following throughout the book. They all seemed such real characters and I found it easy to warm to them. The interactions and banter between them was utterly hilarious, often making me laugh out loud as I read. I soon found I had to keep reading as I really liked them and wanted to find out what happens to them.

The story is told from multiple points of view and has three stories running alongside each other. It was really interesting following each thread and seeing how they all slowly joined together. There were some twists that kept me guessing and lots of action packed scenes that made the story very interesting.

This is the second book in the War Arts saga and I look forward to reading the next installment when it comes out.

Huge thanks to Stephen from Blackcrow for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Wesley Chu is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twelve published novels, including Time Salvager, The Rise of Io, and The Walking Dead: Typhoon. He won the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. His debut, The Lives of Tao, won the Young Adult Library Services Association Alex Award. Chu is an accomplished martial artist and a former member of the Screen Actors Guild. He has acted in film and television, worked as a model and stuntman, and summited Kilimanjaro. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Paula, and two boys, Hunter and River.

Website: http://www.wesleychu.com

Twitter: @wes_chu

Good evening everyone I was lucky enough to get a copy of Four Liars by Sarah Wishart sent to me this week. It sounds so good and I’m excited to read it soon!

Huge thanks to @indie_thinking and @harpercollinsuk for sending me a copy of this book.

Out now!

Book Synopsis:

The unputdownable, explosive new YA thriller from the bestselling, award-winning author of The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder, perfect for fans of Karen McManus, Cynthia Murphy and Holly Jackson.

Layla. Kai. Liam. Fliss.

Terrified big sister. Troubled surfer. Insecure genius. Pampered princess.

They have nothing in common, except they were all on the school bus that morning. The morning of the crash. The morning they discovered the dead driver’s holdall, containing one million pounds – and a gun.

All of them have secrets, and all of them need that money. But someone dangerous is hunting it down, and drawing closer every minute. If Layla, Kai, Liam and Fliss want to survive, they’ll need to stick together. But can four good liars really trust one another? Or are some truths just too powerful to stay buried…?

About The Author:

Sarah Harris is an author and freelance education journalist. She is also the author of the award-winning, The Colour of Bee Larkham\’s Murder, which was a Richard and Judy pick, and One Ordinary Day At A Time. Four Good Liars is her debut YA thriller. She grew up in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, and studied English at Nottingham University before gaining a post-graduate diploma in journalism at Cardiff University. She trained as a journalist at the Western Daily Press in Bristol and now lives in London with her husband and two teenage sons.

Good morning everyone and happy Sunday! Here are some of the fantastic looking books I’ve added to my tbr this week:

❤️The Memory Of Us by Dani Atkins
💛The House Of Shades by Lianne
Dillsworth
💚Sunny by Sunny O’Sullivan
💙The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen
💜 Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is
Dead by Jenny Hollander

As you can see not so many books this week as I’m trying to be good and not buy any books until Christmas. These all sound great and I’m looking forward to reading them soon.

I’m working today which I always enjoy. It’s getting slowly busier and it’s fun seeing what everyone is buying for Christmas. I’m also excited to see the Narnia themed window as it looks amazing. My little girl has a birthday party and they are going ice skating which she’s a bit nervous about.

Huge thanks to the tagged publishers for my copy of this book.

What are your Sunday plans?

Good morning everyone and happy Saturday.

I thought I’d share some of my favourite spredges in a rainbow stack today as suggested by my daughter! I didn’t have any yellow spredges so have included one that had a little bit of yellow in it.

❤️ The Square Of Sevens by Laura Shepherd -Robinson

🧡And Break The Pretty Kings by Lena Jeong

💛The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence

💚The Cloisters by Katy Hays

💙The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse

💜The Valkyrie by Kate Heartfield

We’ve got a busy day today my youngest two have clubs this morning and my eldest has a friend coming over to play Minecraft which he’s very excited about. My daughter is then volunteering at the library with her Brownie group and then we’re going to my mum’s so she can make the Christmas cake for her baking badge. We might go to the Christmas lights switch on later but we’ll see how tired everyone is.

What are your weekend plans?

Good morning everyone and happy Friday.

I love a good thriller, especially when I’m in a reading slump so I wanted to share some of the thrillers I’m looking forward to reading in 2024.

Find out more below!

Huge thanks to all the lovely publishers for sending me copies of these books.

Are any of these on your radar?

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Holland

Nine years ago, Charlie Colbert’s life changed for ever.

On Christmas Eve, as the snow fell, her elite graduate school was the site of a chilling attack. Several of her classmates died. Charlie survived.

Years later, Charlie has the life she always wanted at her fingertips: she’s editor-in-chief of a major magazine and engaged to the golden child of the publishing industry.

But when a film adaptation of that fateful night goes into production, Charlie’s dark past threatens to crash into her shiny present.

Charlie was named a ‘witness’ in the police reports. Yet she knows she was much more than that.

The truth about that night will shatter everything she’s worked for. Just how far will she go to protect it?

The Stranger At The Wedding by A.E Gauntlet

The beautiful bride

Annie never believed in true love. Not until she caught sight of Mark on a crowded commuter train. It wasn’t until months later that they finally had their picture-perfect first date and after a whirlwind romance, they are now about to tie the knot.

The handsome groom

Both Annie and Mark have suffered tragedy – their shared experience of sorrow has brought them together, but at times the pressure of those losses has also threatened their happiness. Today they will leave all of that in the past, and forge a new life. But not everyone gathered here has come to toast the new couple.

The stranger

And Annie quickly realises that her new life isn’t going to be the happily ever after she had planned.

A completely unputdownable, brilliantly sharp, dark and twisty story of love, lies and obsession that is set to be one of 2024’s most talked about debuts.

Whose side are you on?

One Of The Good Guys by Araminta Hall

If most men say they’re one of the good guys, then why are so many women afraid to walk alone at night?

Cole is the perfect husband: a romantic, supportive of his wife, Mel’s career, keen to be a hands-on dad, not a big drinker. A good guy.

So when Mel leaves him, he’s floored. She was lucky to be with a man like him.

Craving solitude, he accepts a job on the coast and quickly settles into his new life where he meets reclusive artist Lennie.

Lennie has made the same move for similar reasons. She is living in a crumbling cottage on the edge of a nearby cliff. It’s an undeniably scary location, but sometimes you have to face your fears to get past them.

As their relationship develops, two young women go missing while on a walk protesting gendered violence, right by where Cole and Lennie live. Finding themselves at the heart of a police investigation and media frenzy, it soon becomes clear that they don’t know each other very well at all.

This is what happens when women have had enough . . .

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story.

There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?

Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, “The Konkatsu Killer”, Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.

The Final Hours Of Muriel Hinchcliffe by Claire Parkin

Muriel, a former bestselling romantic novelist, and Ruth, a journalist, are best friends. Inseparable since they were little, they’ve shared everything; unable to be without each other, even after the most vicious of fights.

Now fate has left them living together in a North London home, with Ruth caring for Muriel in her deteriorating health, playing Scrabble, arguing and making up, passing the days in monotony, ignoring the scars of their relationship. Then one afternoon, Muriel makes a shocking and sinister announcement, sending Ruth’s world into chaos. Only one thing is certain. Life, as she knows it, will never be the same again. . .

The Final Hours of Muriel Hinchcliffe M.B.E is the deliciously dark debut novel from Claire Parkin. An intensely gripping story of toxic friendship, jealousy and revenge, it is perfect for fans of A Tidy Ending and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.

Good morning everyone and happy Thursday. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this fantastic sounding book this week. I absolutely adore historical fiction and as a huge fan of this author’s previous books I’m very excited to read this soon.

Huge thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy.

What’s your favourite genre (s) to read?

Out May 2024.

Book Synopsis:

London, 1833

Doctress Hester Reeves has been offered a life-changing commission.

But it comes at a price. She must leave behind her husband and their canal-side home in Kings Cross and move to Tall Trees – a dark and foreboding house in Fitzrovia.

If Hester can cure the ailing health of its owner, Gervaise Cherville, she will receive payment that will bring her everything she could dream of.

But on arriving at Tall Trees, Hester quickly discovers that an even bigger task awaits her. Now she must unearth secrets that have lain hidden for decades – including one that will leave Hester’s own life forever changed…

About The Author:

Lianne Dillsworth lives and works in London. She has always loved anything and everything to do with books and her earliest memories involve reading and being read to. At school Lianne’s favourite subjects were English and History, so when she started writing, historical fiction was a natural choice. In Theatre of Marvels, her debut novel, Lianne indulges her love for the Victorian period evoking London in all its mid-nineteenth century glory. She is currently working on her second book under the watchful eye of her tiny terrier.

Book Synopsis:

YOU WANT TO BE JUST LIKE HER. BUT DO YOU REALLY KNOW HER?

Rani has always felt like an outsider. First growing up among her white, wealthy peers. And now next to her successful, child-free friends. From the tiny rented flat she lives in with her family, she imagines being the kind of woman who owns the beautiful house across the street.

Then Natalie moves in. With her expensive clothes, adoring husband and high-powered job, she has everything Rani wants, and Rani can’t help but be drawn to her new neighbour.

But as the two women strike up a friendship and begin open up, Rani wonders – is Natalie’s perfect-seeming life too good to be true?

My Review:

Her is a gripping , intriguing read from a new author for me. It’s going to be a hard book to review as I don’t want to give anything away.

The story is told from the point of view of two women Rani and Natalie. Rani is married with two children, stuck in a cramped flat she doesn’t like and trying to get a job but facing constant rejection. Natalie is the seemingly perfect woman who moves into Rani’s dream house opposite her flat. It was very interesting getting to know the two women and discovering more about their backgrounds. It quickly becomes apparent that everything is not quite how it seems and that the two women are hiding a few secrets.

I thought this book had a great pace to it and there always seemed to be something happening to keep me interested. It is a bit of a slow burn but do keep going as it soon becomes very interesting indeed. I enjoyed the slow drip of information as we discover more about Natalie and her past which I found very intriguing. I had quite a few guesses about what was going on but was ultimately wrong about all of them.

The ending was brilliant especially as I didn’t see the twist coming which is unusual for me.

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

About The Author:

Mira V Shah is a writer, former City lawyer turned legal editor and the proud owner of three good dogs. She is the daughter of Indian African parents and lives in North London with her husband and the pack – merely a few miles from where she grew up, although she often dreams about retiring in Italy should her intermittent lottery entries prove successful.

She wrote her first ever novel in 2020 during the first UK lockdown after studying on the Curtis Brown Creative novel writing course. HER is forthcoming from Hodder & Stoughton in March ‘23 (e-book and audio) and November ‘23 (paperback).

Book Synopsis:

Joe loves predictability. But his life is about to become a surprising adventure.

Joe-Nathan likes the two parts of his name separate, just like his dinner and dessert. Mean Charlie at work sometimes calls him Joe-Nuthin. But Joe is far from nothing. Joe is a good friend, he’s good at his job, good at making things and good at following the rules, and he’s learning how to do lots of things by himself.

Joe’s mother knows there are a million things in life he isn’t prepared for. While she helps guide him every day, she’s also writing notebooks full of advice about the things she hasn’t told Joe yet, things he might forget and answers to questions he hasn’t yet asked.

Following her wisdom – applying it in his own unique way – this next part of Joe’s life is more of a surprise than he expects. Because he’s about to learn that remarkable things can happen when you leave your comfort zone, and that you can do even the hardest things with a little help from your friends.

My Review:

This was a beautiful written, uplifting and emotional read which will definitely be staying with me. It’s definitely up there as one of the best books I’ve ever read.

Firstly Joe was such a beautiful, innocent, lovable character that I loved following throughout the book. I warmed to him instantly and often wished I could reach into the book to give him a hug or just protect him from the world. He calls a spade a spade and I absolutely loved him for it. His relationship with his mum was beautiful to read about. I loved how she helps him and the steps she’s put in place for him to live independently.

The story has a great pace to it and I really enjoyed being absorbed into Joe’s life. He has a few hurdles to negotiate which was very emotional to read about at times. It was interesting to see how the people around him helped mould him, even the bad ones. The journey he goes on was very exciting but it was hard to see how other people judged him without knowing him. I think I went through ever emotional while reading and I felt very sad to finish the book and leave Joe behind.

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

About The Author:

Helen Fisher spent her early life in America but grew up mainly in Suffolk, England, where she now lives with her two children. She studied psychology at Westminster University and ergonomics at University College London and worked as a senior evaluator in research at the Royal National Institute of Blind People. She is the author of Faye, Faraway.

Good morning everyone today on Two For Tuesday I’m featuring two historical fiction books that I’ve received recently and am looking forward to reading.

💙 Clairmont by Lesley McDowell

🩵 Saltblood by Francesca De Tores

I love books that feature strong female characters, especially ones that I haven’t heard of so these books instantly appealed.  I’m looking forward to learning more about them and more about the period the two books are set in.

If you could go back in time, what period would you want to go back to?

Clairmont by Lesley McDowell

1816. A massive volcanic eruption has caused the worst storms that Europe has seen in decades, yet Percy and Mary Shelley have chosen to visit the infamous Lord Byron at his villa on Lake Geneva. It wasn’t their idea: Mary’s eighteen year old step-sister, Claire Clairmont, insisted.

But the reason for Claire’s visit is more pressing than a summer escape with the most famous writers in the world. She’s pregnant with Byron’s child – a child Byron doesn’t want, and scarcely believes is his own.

Claire has the world in her grasp. This trip should have given her everything she ever dreamed of. But within days, her life will be in ruins.

History has all but forgotten her story – but she will not be silenced.

Salt Blood by Francesca De Tores

In a rented room outside Plymouth in 1685, a daughter is born as her half-brother is dying. Her mother makes a decision: Mary will become Mark, and Ma will continue to collect his inheritance money.

Mary’s dual existence as Mark will lead to a role as a footman in a grand house, serving a French mistress; to the navy, learning who to trust and how to navigate by the stars; and to the army and the battlegrounds of Flanders, finding love among the bloodshed and the mud. But none of this will stop Mary yearning for the sea.

Drawn back to the water, Mary must reinvent herself yet again, for a woman aboard a ship is a dangerous thing. This time Mary will become something more dangerous than a woman.

She will become a pirate.

Breathing life into the Golden Age of Piracy, Saltblood is a wild adventure, a treasure trove, weaving an intoxicating tale of gender and survival, passion and loss, journeys and transformation, through the story of Mary Read, one of history’s most remarkable figures.

Good morning everyone today’s Match Your Mug Monday comes courtesy of my kids who pointed out that this new series I bought matched my rainbow mug! It does, though we are missing a yellow book ..

This series keeps getting recommended on here and when I found it at the works on their 3 for £6 offer I thought I’d take the chance and buy it. As mentioned in a previous post romance books are my go to when I’m in a slump or finding it hard to find time to read so I’m sure I’ll get to these soon.

I’ve got the day off today and I’m hoping to do a little bit of housework and then finish my book for a blog tour tomorrow. I’m currently reading Joe Nuthin’s Guide To Life which I’m really enjoying.

Do you read romance books? If so what’s your favourite series?