Good morning everyone. I received my copy of this beautiful looking book in the post yesterday. I’ve been hearing lots of great things about the Twin Crowns series so when I saw this on the Waterstones website, complete with beautiful spredges, I knew I had to get it. I’m looking forward to starting this series soon.
What’s your favourite Fantasy series?
Book Synopsis:
Bestselling authors and real-life sisters-in-law Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber join forces on a compelling YA fantasy bursting with high-stakes adventure, romance and humour. Two queens, one throne. What can possibly go wrong . . .?
Twin queens Wren and Rose have claimed their crowns . . . but not everyone is happy about witches sitting on Eana’s throne.
Cool-headed Rose sets off on a Royal Tour to win over the doubters, but soon finds herself drawn to the Sunkissed Kingdom. Here secrets are revealed about those closest to her, and Rose finds her loyalties divided.
Meanwhile rebellious Wren steals away to the icy north to rescue their beloved grandmother, Banba. But when she accepts King Alarik’s deadly magical bargain in exchange for Banba’s freedom, the spell has unexpected – and far-reaching – consequences . . .
As an ancient curse begins to arise from the darkness, the sisters must come together and unite the crown. Their lives – and the future of Eana – depend on it.
Break the ice to free the curse, Kill one twin to save another . . .
About The Authors:
Catherine Doyle grew up in the West of Ireland. She holds a BA in Psychology and an MA in Publishing.
Her award-winning and bestselling middle grade début, The Storm Keeper’s Island is set on the magical island of Arranmore, where her grandparents grew up. The sequel, The Lost Tide Warriors, was published in July 2019, with the third to follow in March 2021. Catherine’s modern re-imagining of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, titled The Miracle on Ebenezer Street, was published by Puffin books in October 2020. She is also the author of the Young Adult Blood for Blood trilogy (Vendetta, Inferno and Mafiosa), which is often described as Romeo and Juliet meets the Godfather.
Katherine Webber is originally from California but currently lives in London. She has also lived and worked in Hong Kong, Maui, and Atlanta.
She loves an adventure, whether it is found in a book or in real life. Travel, books, and eating out are her favourite indulgences.
Her debut YA novel WING JONES/THE HEARTBEATS OF WING JONES is published by Walker Books in the UK and Penguin Random House/Delacorte in the US. Her next YA novel will be out in August 2018. Katherine also writes the young fiction series SAM WU IS NOT AFRAID as Katie Tsang with her husband Kevin Tsang.
A mercy mission in the heart of Wessex is beset with deadly, bloody dangers.
Tamworth AD831
Icel’s profile continues to rise. Lord of Budworth and warrior of Mercia, he’s acknowledged by King Wiglaf and his comrades to keep Mercia safe from the ravages of Wessex, the king-slayer of the East Angles, and the Viking raiders. But, danger looms. Alongside Spring’s arrival comes the almost certain threat of the Viking raiders return.
When Lord Coenwulf of Kingsholm is apprehended by a Viking and held captive on the Isle of Sheppey in Wessex held Kent, Icel is implored by Lady Cynehild to rescue her husband.
To rescue Lord Coenwulf, Icel and his fellow warriors must risk themselves twice over, for not only must they overpower the Viking raiders, they must also counter the threat of Mercia’s ancient enemy, the kingdom of Wessex as they travel through their lands.
Far from home and threatened on all sides, have Icel and his fellow warriors sworn to carry out an impossible duty?
My Review:
I’m a huge fan of this author, and this series, so I was incredibly excited to learn there was a new book in the series. Once again the author has written an exciting and thrilling read that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Firstly the author does a fantastic job of bringing the Saxon period to life so that the reader feels like they are actually there experiencing everything alongside the characters. I felt like I was one of the warriors joining in their banter one moment and then fighting alongside them the next.
It’s been lovely following the characters throughout the series and being able to watch them grow. There were some characters that I really loved and others I loved to hate. Icel is a particular favourite of mine and it’s been great to watch him grow into his warrior role and start to feel comfortable in it. It’s been especially nice to see him keep up his healing skills as well as his warrior skills and become more comfortable in using them.
I thought this book had a great pace to it and there always seemed to be something exciting happening to keep me reading. Even in the slower moments I just found myself enjoying hanging out with everyone which is always a sign of a great book on my opinion.
This is the fourth book in the series and while it could be read as a standalone I feel you are best to read the books in order as you build up more of a relationship with the characters.
Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Boldwood for my copy of this book via Netgalley.
About The Author:
MJ Porter is the author of many historical novels set predominantly in Seventh to Eleventh-Century England, and in Viking Age Denmark. They were raised in the shadow of a building that they believed housed the bones of long-dead Kings of Mercia –so their writing destiny was set. The first novel in their new Anglo-Saxon series for Boldwood Son of Mercia was published in February 2022.
Good morning everyone. Today on Two For Tuesday I thought I’d share the first books I’ve bought from Rossiter abusing my staff discount.
I actually ordered these in for myself as I’ve been wanting to read them for ages. Gytha Lodge is a favourite author of mine so I’m always excited to read her books. Our Hidden Progeny is a book I’ve seen lots of great reviews for which made me very intrigued and I knew I had to get a copy.
Yesterday we had a great opening day for Rossiter books in Malvern. It was so amazing to see so many people coming in the door, especially all the enthusiastic younger readers which I loved to see. It was especially nice to see so many familiar faces so thanks to everyone who came and said hi.
Have you read either of these?
A Killer In The Family by Gytha Lodge
Someone in your family isn’t who they say they are . . . THE PAGE-TURNING NEW THRILLER FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SHE LIES IN WAIT
Aisling’s two sons, Ethan and Finn, mean everything to her.
Ever since becoming estranged from her own parents, though, she’s always felt like a piece of her is missing.
Desperate to find answers – about her family, and herself – Aisling uploads her DNA to an ancestry website, and is thrilled when it finds a match.
But instead of finding answers, she comes face to face with a detective. Aisling’s DNA is a match for a recent crime scene – the latest in a string of murders by a dangerous serial killer, known as ‘the bonfire killer’. And the police have three lead suspects: her father, or one of her two sons.
Aisling would do anything for her family – but can she protect a killer?
Our Hidden Progeny by C. E. McGill
Mary is the great-niece of Victor Frankenstein. She knows her great uncle disappeared in mysterious circumstances in the Arctic but she doesn’t know why or how…
The 1850s is a time of discovery and London is ablaze with the latest scientific theories and debates, especially when a spectacular new exhibition of dinosaur sculptures opens at the Crystal Palace. Mary, with a sharp mind and a sharper tongue, is keen to make her name in this world of science, alongside her geologist husband Henry, but without wealth and connections, their options are limited.
But when Mary discovers some old family papers that allude to the shocking truth behind her great-uncle’s past, she thinks she may have found the key to securing their future… Their quest takes them to the wilds of Scotland, to Henry’s intriguing but reclusive sister Maisie, and to a deadly chase with a rival who is out to steal their secret…
Good morning everyone and happy Bank Holiday Monday! I know I’ve already done this challenge but when I was looking for titles last time I kept finding dark titles that I thought might work, so I thought I’d do a dark edition this bank holiday 😂
Where? – Dead Man’s Creek
When?- (When there’s) A Sliver Of Darkness
What’s In The Sandwiches? – Bright Shiny People
What’s the weather like? – The Whispering Dark (dark & windy)
What can you hear? The black eyed children from Hydra
Who’s joining you? Her Majesty’s Secret Coven
In other news Rossiter books is opening today at 10am so if you’re local do come say hi! We have a visit from the Gruffalo at 11, 1 and 3 so do bring the kids too.
Good morning everyone I was tagged by the lovely @always_need_more_books to take part in the #bookscavengerhunt challenge. The idea is to find a face, a flower, a car, an animal, a book and a house on a book cover.
Here’s the covers I found: 😁The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner 🌷The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell 🚗The Do Over by Lynn Painter 🦥 Chicken Wars by Adam Leigh 📚The Book Lovers Retreat by Heidi Swain 🏠Night Will Find You by Julia Heaberlin
I had great fun going through my books trying to find things. Some books could have done for two things, like The Marriage Portrait could have been flowers and animals, but I thought that was cheating. Surprisingly the thing I found most hard to find was a book on a cover. I also found it interesting that when I tried to take a picture of the covers I found my camera actually picked up the face on The Weather Woman’s cover.
I’ve tagged a few people who might want to join in on Instagram but no pressure. Have a great Sunday!
Good morning everyone and happy Coronation Day! It seemed fitting to share a red, blue and white stack today.
💙Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice For Murderers by Jess Sutanto
💙The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes
❤️End Of Story by Louise Swanson
❤️ The Minuscule Mansion Of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges
🤍The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake
🤍The Snow Hare by Paula Lichtarowicz
These are all books i still need to read. Miniscule Mansion and Expectant Detectives are for blog tours next month but the rest are all books I’ve heard lots about and really want to read soon.
I’m working until 2 today so will miss the coronation but I’m looking forward to watching the historic event on iPlayer later with the kids (who I have bribed with popcorn to watch with me).
Noelle is an efficient and friendly hotel cleaner, a model employee. Or so she’d have you think. The trouble is that she can’t help taking little ‘souvenirs’ as she cleans. Nothing of value, just tokens of happy, normal lives: a lipstick, a hair clip, some tweezers. And by the time the guest has noticed, she’s long gone.
As she starts at her 21st hotel, she’s determined to beat her record of one month in a five star hotel before suspicion falls on her. But when she meets her new colleagues, her plans are complicated. These women aren’t just hands pushing carts down lonely hotel corridors: they are women with lives full of happiness and worry, pain and joy. The kind of lives Noelle has never known how to live. They make her wonder what it might be like to have real friends, people to stick around for.
Will the women at Hotel 21 give her the courage to claim the life she deserves, or will her old habits come back to haunt her?
My Review:
Hotel 21 is a heart warming story that manages to be both funny and heart breaking at the same time.
The story is told from the point of view of Noelle, a hotel cleaner who has just started working at her 21st hotel as she has to keep moving hotels due to he’d habit of collecting ‘souvenirs’ from hotel guests. Throughout the book we learn more about Noelle and her past including the sad impact it’s had on her life. Some of the events in her past are very sad and really made me feel sorry for Noelle. I wished I could give her a hug I felt she really needed.
The other cleaners at the hotel are a lovely bunch that I enjoyed getting to know over the course of the book. I really liked how the author manages to make them all so individual with their own back stories which helped the reader get to know them better. It was really lovely to see how they all were so close and how they helped each other.
This book does start off a bit slow as the author sets in scene but soon gets going to become very addictive. I enjoyed watching Noelle work through her problems with her friends help and how she comes to terms with her painful past. This is the author’s debut novel and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Senta Rich began her career as an advertising copywriter. During this time, she also wrote radio plays and magazine articles, before moving into the world of screenwriting. She now writes regularly for film and TV. Rich lives in Dublin with her husband and son.
Good morning everyone and happy Friday! It’s nearly another bank holiday weekend. I thought I’d do a reading update today to show what I’m reading this weekend.
⭐Last – The Last Passenger by Will Dean
⭐Now- The Royal Correspondent by Alexandra Joel
⭐Next – Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
I loved The Last Passenger and shared my review of it on my blog yesterday. I’m currently reading The Royal mail for the blog tour next and thought it was a great book to read over the Coronation weekend. I’m then hoping to read Romantic Comedy which is a book I’ve been hearing lots about.
This weekend I’m actually working Saturday which will be weird as I haven’t worked a weekend in years. It’s also the opening of Rossiter books in Malvern on Monday which I’m excited about as it will be good to see everyone’s reaction to all the amazing things we have on sale there.
Caz Ripley, a cafe owner from a small, ordinary town, boards the RMS Atlantica with her boyfriend Pete and a thousand fellow passengers destined for New York. The next morning, she wakes to discover that everyone else on board has disappeared. And that’s just the beginning. Caz must prepare for a crossing that will be anything but plain sailing …
My Review:
Will Dean is one of my favourite authors so you can imagine how excited I was to be invited onto the blog tour for The Last Passenger, his latest book.
Firstly this is going to be a hard book to review as I really don’t want to give anything away as I feel this is a book that’s best to read blind. The story is told from the point of view of Caz who, after an amazing first night on board the cruise ship, wakes up to find herself alone. Completely alone- with even her partner gone. I think I’d find this utterly terrifying and the author does a great job of describing Caz’s feelings in the situation with her fear almost palpable at times. It was very difficult to put the book down as I was so absorbed in the story and wanting to find out what was happening.
I thought this book has a great pace to it as there always seemed to be something happening to keep me glued to the page. The tension in the book increases until it becomes almost unbearable, with the locked door scenario of the cruise ship making things very interesting. At times the ship seemed almost like a prison and my mind raced with possibilities about what might be going on. I had lots of different theories which kept changing as the story developed, keeping me in suspense which I always love.
The ending was incredibly clever and dramatic but also a bit scary as it seemed quite realistic too.
Huge thanks to Alainna Georgiou for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. If you’re a thriller fan or loved locked door mysteries I highly recommend this book!
About The Author:
Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands, living in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. After studying law at the LSE, and working many varied jobs in London, he settled in rural Sweden with his wife. He built a wooden house in a boggy forest clearing and it’s from this base that he compulsively reads and writes.
Good morning everyone I hope you’re having a good week so far. Here are some of the books I’m hoping to read this month. I haven’t got many book tours so I’m hoping to catch up on some of the books I’ve been looking forward to.
These are subject to change as I’m a bit of a mood reader, plus I have two books on order from work that I’m also hoping to fit in.
What book are you most looking forward to this month? Do we have any books in common?
The Book Lovers Retreat by Heidi Swain
One long summer. One perfect setting. Can fiction inspire real life…?
Sometimes a book grabs you by the heart and grows to mean everything to you. That’s what Hope Falls is to friends Emily, Rachel and Tori. So, when they get the chance to spend a whole summer at the cottage in Lakeside where the film adaptation was located, they know it is going to be the holiday of a lifetime.
Spending six weeks away will give them a chance to re-evaluate their life choices. For Emily to decide which way her career will go – the safe route, or the more risky creative option? And for Rachel to decide whether to move in with her partner Jeremy. Then Tori has to drop out at the last moment, and her space is offered to another Hope Falls afficionado, Alex.
But when Alex turns out not to be who they expected, the holiday takes an unforeseen turn. And as the summer develops, so does their friendship. Could this be where they uncover their future selves, find love in all its forms and where their lives will change course forever…?
Conviction by Jack Jordan
TO STEAL A MAN’S FREEDOM ALL IT TAKES IS . . . CONVICTION
Wade Darling stands accused of killing his wife and teenage children as they slept before burning the family home to the ground.
When the case lands on barrister Neve Harper’s desk, she knows it could be the career making case she’s been waiting for. But only if she can prove Wade’s innocence.
A matter of days before the case, as Neve is travelling home for the night, she is approached by a man. He tells her she must lose this case or the secret about her own husband’s disappearance will be revealed.
Failing that, he will kill everyone she cares about until she follows orders.
Neve must make a choice – betray every principle she has ever had by putting a potentially innocent man in prison, or risk putting those she loves in mortal danger.
For fans of Steve Cavanagh, Linwood Barclay and Gillian McAllister, introducing the latest novel from the master of the moral dilemma, Jack Jordan.
The Forgotten Garden by Sharon Gosling
A novel of second chances and blossoming communities from the author of The Lighthouse Bookshop.
Budding landscape architect Luisa MacGregor is stuck in a rut – she hates her boss, she lives with her sister, and she is still mourning the loss of her husband many years ago. So when she is given the opportunity to take on a parcel of land in a deprived area, she sees the chance to build a garden that can make the area bloom.
Arriving in the rundown seaside town of Collaton on the north-west coast of Cumbria, she realises that her work is going to be cut out for her. But, along with Cas, a local PE teacher, and Harper, a teen whose life has taken a wrong turn, she is determined to get the garden up and running.
So when the community comes together and the garden starts to grow, she feels her luck might have changed. Can she grow good things on this rocky ground? And might love blossom along the way…?
The Memory Of Animals by Clare Fuller
But she isn’t here, no one is here. And I have a terror of being alone, in this building, in London, in the world.
Neffy is a young woman running away from grief and guilt, and the one big mistake that has derailed her career. When a debilitating new virus sweeps across the globe, volunteering in a vaccine trial offers her a way to make up for her past. But then, the virus mutates, and the future she had dreamed for herself is gone.
As the London streets outside the medical unit fall silent, and food begins to run out, Neffy must decide where safety lies. Might she find solace by revisiting her own heady memories of the past? Can she trust the strangers trapped inside with her – despite her growing suspicions? Or is her best chance of a future to be found in the terrifyingly unknown world outside?
Haunting and compelling, The Memory of Animals is a novel about freedom and captivity, survival and sacrifice, and what we cling to when everything else has been taken away, from the Costa Award-winning, Women’s Prize-shortlisted author of Unsettled Ground.
In Memoriam by Alice Winn
In 1914, war feels far away to Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood. They’re too young to enlist, and anyway, Gaunt is fighting his own private battle – an all-consuming infatuation with the dreamy, poetic Ellwood – not having a clue that his best friend is in love with him, always has been.
When Gaunt’s mother asks him to enlist in the British army to protect the family from anti-German attacks, he signs up immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings. But Ellwood and their classmates soon follow him into the horrors of trenches. Though Ellwood and Gaunt find fleeting moments of solace in one another, their friends are dying in front of them, and at any moment they could be next.
An epic tale of the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip, InMemoriam is a breathtaking debut.
Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow
This is the story of Sam and Sadie. It’s not a romance, but it is about love.
When Sam catches sight of Sadie at a crowded train station one winter morning he is catapulted back to the brief time they spent playing together as children. Their unique spark is instantly reignited.
What comes next is a story of friendship and rivalry, fame and creativity, betrayal and tragedy, perfect worlds and imperfect ones. And, ultimately, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
Life is (not)* a Romantic Comedy…
With a series of heartbreaks under her belt, Sally Milz – successful script writer for a legendary late-night TV comedy show – has long abandoned the search for love.
But when her friend and fellow writer begins to date a glamorous actress, he joins the growing club of interesting but average-looking men who get romantically involved with accomplished, beautiful women. Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch, poking fun at this ‘social rule’. The reverse never happens for a woman.
Then Sally meets Noah, a pop idol with a reputation for dating models. But this isn’t a romantic comedy – it’s real life. Would someone like him ever date someone like her?
Skewering all our certainties about why we fall in love, ROMANTIC COMEDY is a witty and probing tale of how the heart will follow itself, no matter what anyone says. It is Curtis Sittenfeld at her most sharp, daring and compassionate best.
The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
For Geeta, life as a widow is more peaceful than life as a wife…
Until the other women in her village decide they want to be widows, too.
Geeta is believed to have killed her vanished husband – a rumour she hasn’t bothered trying to correct, because a reputation like that can keep a single woman safe in rural India. But when she’s approached for help in ridding another wife of her abusive drunk of a husband, her reluctant agreement sets in motion a chain of events that will change the lives of all the women in the village….
A darkly irreverent and fresh take on a feminist revenge thriller, perfect for readers of My Sister the Serial Killer, How To Kidnap The Rich and the Sharon Horgan series Bad Sisters.
Over The Rainbow Blog 