tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26321834353633396642024-03-28T07:26:52.042+00:00CherylM-M's Book BlogBook reviewerCheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.comBlogger2327125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-62227408044226709572024-03-26T14:00:00.115+00:002024-03-27T03:14:49.709+00:00#Blogtour Seven Summers by Paige Toon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTRvrFFtNYWXXod0Ytwb8ji9Rxd5pVOvXJ7L9RH-uI87cquIfb7kQdkFeX5t_Lp56_yIjtNmswA6IZewETS2zEfXtuqiFosa8nWTJaRjZMFCXyDqC1NRVQSfTjAXyRdbgbbzSyiwERnh-3AsL6k1pMIMF4eLNH8zwh3k-KbolSDuS7vMflSvvuN_e4Ady/s1920/SevenSummers%20BT5%20Poster.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1920" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTRvrFFtNYWXXod0Ytwb8ji9Rxd5pVOvXJ7L9RH-uI87cquIfb7kQdkFeX5t_Lp56_yIjtNmswA6IZewETS2zEfXtuqiFosa8nWTJaRjZMFCXyDqC1NRVQSfTjAXyRdbgbbzSyiwERnh-3AsL6k1pMIMF4eLNH8zwh3k-KbolSDuS7vMflSvvuN_e4Ady/w409-h219/SevenSummers%20BT5%20Poster.jpeg" width="409" /></a></div><p>It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Seven Summers by Paige Toon. - Two epic love stories. One impossible choice. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBusPf4JNarnk1G-Dj8nGtHt0z3nda2WAdN2su58KxB4cd6nyn43yI62QAft0PseBxI1uj8OTKGDCGviZNhbO-Qq5rlUELF23h-nNSRmpDHrCK84nmwij2BjXX1Ja2NjOMmOReUXmogcc2qZfl6tyM5BJQ5Nh2yA3j76daFqeyMvQRPnLwYAwQJJ-XxGB/s600/Paige%20Toon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="432" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBusPf4JNarnk1G-Dj8nGtHt0z3nda2WAdN2su58KxB4cd6nyn43yI62QAft0PseBxI1uj8OTKGDCGviZNhbO-Qq5rlUELF23h-nNSRmpDHrCK84nmwij2BjXX1Ja2NjOMmOReUXmogcc2qZfl6tyM5BJQ5Nh2yA3j76daFqeyMvQRPnLwYAwQJJ-XxGB/w136-h189/Paige%20Toon.jpg" width="136" /></a></div><p><u>About the Author</u></p><p>Paige Toon is the Sunday Times bestselling author of eighteen books that have sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide.</p><p>Paige writes sweeping, emotional love stories - filled with characters you'll never forget and incredible settings - that take you on a unique journey. She tells nuanced stories with big, thought-provoking themes at their heart which leave you uplifted and believing in the power of love. She writes her novel from a converted camper van in the garden of her Cambridgeshire home.</p><p>You will laugh, cry and feel like you've become part of a new family. Get ready to feel it all with Paige Toon! Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/PaigeToonAuthor">@PaigeToonAuthor</a> on X,</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWUWDeTDzrSIUm9ezklynnYHWz-q6f-2IVChgG9wHDdVLBgGu_q39WhRf-Mqoljfpqk_HH4kgs77Us_TLruIyOjLlHCrq4yjQgmk284cqJdOSxwiuqa9_J3GQyFhjgsZsAl7JIp5Z3df0uhiYbyVUb32oQRc44X4J0pOQRURuWM5V-e3KnqyHEHB-9Myl9/s970/SevenSummers%20Graphic1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="970" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWUWDeTDzrSIUm9ezklynnYHWz-q6f-2IVChgG9wHDdVLBgGu_q39WhRf-Mqoljfpqk_HH4kgs77Us_TLruIyOjLlHCrq4yjQgmk284cqJdOSxwiuqa9_J3GQyFhjgsZsAl7JIp5Z3df0uhiYbyVUb32oQRc44X4J0pOQRURuWM5V-e3KnqyHEHB-9Myl9/s320/SevenSummers%20Graphic1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>Six summers ago - Liv and Finn meet working in a bar on the rugged Cornish coastline, their futures full of promise. When a night of passion ends in devastating tragedy they are bound together inextricably. But Finn's life is in LA with his band, and Liv's is in Cornwall with her family - so they make a promise. Finn will return every year, and if they are single they will spend the summer together.</p><p>This summer - Liv crosses paths with Tom - a mysterious new arrival in her hometown. As the wildflowers and heather come into bloom, they find themselves falling for one another. For the first time Liv can imagine a world where her heart isn't broken every year.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpCNwRUlj5GfSWhx7l6V7l8KhSckpR2x2izAgQrhdfTxxPEKu9quUwK29aS14JbTBb5gpRjp02fJ6vd9AuTYpL0uDObs93gjWYjsa_bxzXMPvaQspLoNaiB4GP8mSZfqFZkr0FlnAVI97E3vS7cdDSb_GhE-u_FzO0oHm9vMl9Xl1O5FZdawA1CDHbZaS/s2339/Seven%20Summers%20Cover%20.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2339" data-original-width="1546" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpCNwRUlj5GfSWhx7l6V7l8KhSckpR2x2izAgQrhdfTxxPEKu9quUwK29aS14JbTBb5gpRjp02fJ6vd9AuTYpL0uDObs93gjWYjsa_bxzXMPvaQspLoNaiB4GP8mSZfqFZkr0FlnAVI97E3vS7cdDSb_GhE-u_FzO0oHm9vMl9Xl1O5FZdawA1CDHbZaS/w204-h307/Seven%20Summers%20Cover%20.jpeg" width="204" /></a></div><br /><div><b><u>Review</u></b></div><p>Such perfect pulling of the heartstrings, a tug here or a sharp pull - it's a constant whirlwind of place, time and people. At the very core lies the conundrum of one heart wants and loves two, the question is whether it can. Can Liv make a choice, is there even a right choice?</p><p>Snuggled deftly underneath is subtle smorgasbord of what family means and how the constellation can differ from the status quo. Equally how each relationship we water and feed can sustain us when the going gets tough. Liv's story is one connected with beauty, with the scenery and deeply embedded in the lives of the local community.</p><p>A part of her wishes Finn would accept that he is part of that, perhaps she underestimates the trauma he carries around with him. In a way their connection has a superficial element to it, despite the way they connect on a physical level. With Tom she explores the more spiritual level, especially the way her art is part of her soul and expression. It's what the two of them share. How can she choose between the man who has held her heart in a grip for over half a decade or the man who understands what she is made of.</p><p>It's a beautiful story, one which has the flow of a slow river, but the temperament of an ocean. The tide is the coming and going of the love Finn and Liv carry for each other, and yet when the waters calm the space between them makes the vulnerabilities more obvious. I would definitely recommend this, especially to readers who love to have their hearts teased.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seven-Summers-Paige-Toon/dp/1529157927/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Q41R2BKJI5XZ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NJSxe7ix2KzJkGVreKuG1f8sgb-XemaFtuSMFRZGT3GqdgVUG_JQWF6GxpZ-HM746iHT71ipKonm-55olDqoyKabHqZMu_WD8GXZE4u81SOKDaI4KpmnNlj41XiwPs0sYq97CmihSoHQuCAnPR4El4FfZST_g5dcZw2tc-79_1hdxnwSF8MDpbIbew0Ur63Ig1akR_HzX1F1vLrlGCBKEu59EElYxDwmcOLnYhDSmqg.FoXgPvUNIkkEKa259FgIm0-RSoP1yYb5c4faFUT30I8&dib_tag=se&keywords=seven+summers&qid=1711505931&sprefix=seven+summers%2Caps%2C136&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy Seven Summers at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/124745333-seven-summers?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=gkmS4PVA2W&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher: Century PRH UK, pub date 28th March | Paperback Original | £8.99. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Summers-Paige-Toon/dp/0593544358/ref=sr_1_1?crid=39ELLCMCW77IG&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vQehI3FrIDepG-q4iLgDFnZfZPC4Tqok_TYZkyXUuAAOWZcGG4rA9uTVYDVhRMcPbnK4L8acUAhamxGg5RFq0xv8J-0ThKvVKU5EFjd2nheMLcvqipQhfZHIu0MxVSS2GghObrXRFJOMhNnt0ES9Lah0Rc2ooegALhhs3pNOyLIY6wIwM4D8Fok_hFkt731r5xaAtIpZpw3yG19_JlJWukdtQgdas1CXWVLFVERr2Cc.ibNyPZgzNUR4IVDjpfarALYzyFH0xDG2WT7gzcbT-OE&dib_tag=se&keywords=seven+summers&qid=1711506007&sprefix=seven+summers%2Caps%2C335&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com</a>.</p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-14567901794680356092024-03-26T13:00:00.001+00:002024-03-27T01:04:32.666+00:00#Blogtour The Doctor of Hiroshima by Dr. Michihiko Hachiya<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaxaqe5yKkwiNiau-Sibmu2wYYL4Z3vNlGqdwOfV97qDVt0arOcZbnmdtNZBCOEwpTJfND7ZbQNI8uRlDosW0yTgYTQr2oNalftYUxxChHR4bNCjn59d_KSleM41jMajDrtPRIQw4Mhk2YCWtOnhRA5vzh_H-gaLTYCPgeHe55v-zPc8jSngKO3ifU2Ue/s1260/Doctor%20Hiroshima%20BT%20Poster%20.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="1260" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaxaqe5yKkwiNiau-Sibmu2wYYL4Z3vNlGqdwOfV97qDVt0arOcZbnmdtNZBCOEwpTJfND7ZbQNI8uRlDosW0yTgYTQr2oNalftYUxxChHR4bNCjn59d_KSleM41jMajDrtPRIQw4Mhk2YCWtOnhRA5vzh_H-gaLTYCPgeHe55v-zPc8jSngKO3ifU2Ue/s320/Doctor%20Hiroshima%20BT%20Poster%20.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Doctor of Hiroshima by Dr. Michihiko Hachiya.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13iD5oGwtZWYQzwCCCssSo_do7N5MTtkw7j5V9h7l-p2CLGAOMfqlFOHxKX3PKKm4cjjGio3QIPXXDx7SH8385ygq1RCe05abUU7uOAzh9e5OavtrYIcLPlvrlnKZtOuT9ZWaMMTeq0pCkRKIkpoNkUGJoATd3KMpUy9vn1P7ZLd9IeiUJum99J3KCqKs/s380/Dr%20Author%20Photo%20.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="293" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13iD5oGwtZWYQzwCCCssSo_do7N5MTtkw7j5V9h7l-p2CLGAOMfqlFOHxKX3PKKm4cjjGio3QIPXXDx7SH8385ygq1RCe05abUU7uOAzh9e5OavtrYIcLPlvrlnKZtOuT9ZWaMMTeq0pCkRKIkpoNkUGJoATd3KMpUy9vn1P7ZLd9IeiUJum99J3KCqKs/w121-h157/Dr%20Author%20Photo%20.webp" width="121" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><u>About the Author</u></b></span></div><p>Dr. Michihiko Hachiya was Director of the Hiroshima Communications Hospital when the world's first atomic bomb was dropped on the city. After the bomb, he continued as Director there for several years before taking on a teaching role at Okayama University Medical School. He retired in Okayama and passed away in the 1980s.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMA2xvx2BuqcOd0ddVl1FIBA7eCjGmKtTY0NCw7u2A7esm2h-eCgy3HnakvHku0IqG78K_m8BmIOzZJ1IgFto_LnpHkSyTTfMRlCHi-jV9VFjxGYKo8KWXEgz0W7HcMBRCxDo4faIBN1UQFcW4CmwnEluchODCt6gSoIRu15iZOXiN_LMR4Q3YKrqpuOS/s970/DoctorGraphic2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="970" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMA2xvx2BuqcOd0ddVl1FIBA7eCjGmKtTY0NCw7u2A7esm2h-eCgy3HnakvHku0IqG78K_m8BmIOzZJ1IgFto_LnpHkSyTTfMRlCHi-jV9VFjxGYKo8KWXEgz0W7HcMBRCxDo4faIBN1UQFcW4CmwnEluchODCt6gSoIRu15iZOXiN_LMR4Q3YKrqpuOS/w292-h181/DoctorGraphic2.jpg" width="292" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>With what this poor woman had been through the sight of her crying tore at my heartstrings. What if something should happen to her; who would care for her little baby? To conceal the fear and terror in my heart I left her, trying to put up a cheerful front. But no one could conceal from her the ominous import of the dark spots that had appeared on her chest.</p><p>The Doctor of Hiroshima is the extraordinary true story of Dr Michihiko Hachiya, whose hospital was less than a mile from the centre of the atomic bomb that hit on that warm August day. Somehow, in immense shock and pain and extremely weak, the doctor and his wife manage to drag themselves to the hospital, where their horrific wounds are treated, and they slowly begin to recover. Tentatively, the doctor starts to reckon with the utter devastation of the bomb, and to investigate the strange symptoms afflicting his patients.</p><p>Told simply and poignantly through Dr Hachiya's daily diary entries, The Doctor of Hiroshima is the inspiring story of how a doctor and his patients fought to survive and rebuild their lives in the face of unimaginable loss.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9V-1RWPJMXzByNLhVhgBF6BVKrM4BIG-mw5fDXMFx-gj6C2PK1jz8pnXSi3iCVT7SQ8yh3Qx2ZBZRGeZ0r7MhL4UveI8Srn7qIkxGjmg6y33NMzxb7ZlrKNHqpJKqssy0QGBRSjIhhdYXlsl_oxQuhw-2mK2Flsh6XmGL46dLICau-dSLgpPKXIMD513/s786/Doctor%20Cover%20Image.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="786" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9V-1RWPJMXzByNLhVhgBF6BVKrM4BIG-mw5fDXMFx-gj6C2PK1jz8pnXSi3iCVT7SQ8yh3Qx2ZBZRGeZ0r7MhL4UveI8Srn7qIkxGjmg6y33NMzxb7ZlrKNHqpJKqssy0QGBRSjIhhdYXlsl_oxQuhw-2mK2Flsh6XmGL46dLICau-dSLgpPKXIMD513/s320/Doctor%20Cover%20Image.jpeg" width="204" /></a></div><p><b><u>Review</u></b></p><p>This translated diary of Dr Hachiya is a testament to why historical events must be underpinned by eyewitness accounts, they serve as testimony to events and tragedies that are otherwise skewed by the narration or third parties or people who write history - the victors. Ethically there are no winners in this scenario. </p><p>The victors argue that the Japanese were so persistent, driven and strategic that this intervention was a necessity. Was it, or was it merely a power play that also gave a realistic measurement of true impact, devastation and potential? Guinea pigs, real data, the possibility of knowing how and when to use, and perhaps most importantly to ensure the world is aware of their cutthroat attitude and willingness to destroy humanity without any hesitation at all.</p><p>I'm not sure how anyone could read this and not have an ounce of compassion towards the victims. Were the Japanese guilty of heinous crimes, yes. Does that warrant the deaths of innocents, the impact of such a weapon leaving its mark on people for many decades - I think not.</p><p>Having such a remarkable in the moment transcript of the death toll, the injuries and being able to experience first-hand the importance of putting science above emotions in order to study the physical effects of radiation and exposure.</p><p>It's a book that delivers the truth on the ground, the shock and lack of comprehension at being at the core of such an atrocity, whilst simultaneously learning bit by bit what the true extent of the damage to persons, place and spirit would be and was.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Hiroshima-heart-breaking-inspiring-story/dp/1800961510/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.BBz3NbomaC5BDGNlBZQeJ-dS_KFrKKqeXTDXUt0w05WVCkc0GI-HI_2iQrrU-2RdHQpNB16sbhZ5eA7BZtrlk6irFv3dUNjTPYo5M3hmLZGzX4A6L4Ur6G-sk-Zbcmk2YF8napTvxNyzbXe0AQmY7A0Fs3OQ-t29NW4cRBmbxGI-amdwb7s4XsiHHYinGdGxMWRbFCNLEozcPw57e5FArMFpObYtPFDDXwB7htSNbs8.e3or9n5BqHGoV5Ytnim4Wst7ap6hYwM3q3a8YRC6Kg4&qid=1711495661&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy The Doctor of Hiroshima at Amazon Uk </a>or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/141340540-the-doctor-of-hiroshima?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_23" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any retailer. Publisher : Monoray, pub date 29 Feb. 2024. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Hiroshima-heart-breaking-inspiring-story-ebook/dp/B0C3LL1RF3/ref=sr_1_4?crid=A0JG5STLN637&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.eHG_XO7vHIvccKMFXaaz1FhvA0tt_WJNH1n50l9YlE0sBhrC18ue5snSxQdd6Oqrsc3d_bmO20eiGXy5qZhIu012noTwBgKoHylIwKxs_wimQr4LrjDEdETNmC-casZcH6StQmCFvRJC8kLEL22VTp02mFqvqRh4FpceU_IJ3oxu9n-7ajsjGpfji-uybQaDe7Y4gkF3jerh3YFxJz5bN00Vrs7oacv-4N4zGLT9PkQ.BQ20A_wu9RRjr-U_1Z68wz_C7hzKDtLpKvYPitkUqEE&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+doctor+of+hiroshima&qid=1711496100&sprefix=the+doctor+of+hiroshima%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-4" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com</a>.</p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-52909039095524456602024-03-18T13:00:00.001+00:002024-03-19T01:13:15.005+00:00#Blogtour In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDDrekjnowCTFExLZpHVeCSd4hxIoq9FQNYnWsWhOQwdI7ukb-dmMUq-qVIyKJz_hsjH_0z2M5MYzreVs_ZH3GN8ho-17e6iCTUygrQwLsgSLdmh_VxSTmDyaUH6Jak7q4jQJ4nvD3zcnLinTM0aPdL05Sxp2BB9lmITVk5w6_E09pqIfGEZ3OASpNzz3s/s1920/In%20The%20Lives%201%20BT%20Poster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1532" data-original-width="1920" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDDrekjnowCTFExLZpHVeCSd4hxIoq9FQNYnWsWhOQwdI7ukb-dmMUq-qVIyKJz_hsjH_0z2M5MYzreVs_ZH3GN8ho-17e6iCTUygrQwLsgSLdmh_VxSTmDyaUH6Jak7q4jQJ4nvD3zcnLinTM0aPdL05Sxp2BB9lmITVk5w6_E09pqIfGEZ3OASpNzz3s/s320/In%20The%20Lives%201%20BT%20Poster.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune.</p><p>'Inspired by Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful standalone fantasy adventure from the author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.'</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTNIBOUWarFhW1YO3V2hwvMf7q6mT4PVoI1xa1IrPrUmfQoxcyfDQtpYb4vuUy3PS8IgfQIuw-AwuJXX2TcDydqhmDgLx_ONfoor6LzlzNNn_E7moXJ7BNEa80uyw2LDPIGTik4fE8tIC-hIoECrRXbLfFBRw6fOfbPnt5O0HX6pjLiVnry6Ju8mljEJ1/s450/TJKLUNE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTNIBOUWarFhW1YO3V2hwvMf7q6mT4PVoI1xa1IrPrUmfQoxcyfDQtpYb4vuUy3PS8IgfQIuw-AwuJXX2TcDydqhmDgLx_ONfoor6LzlzNNn_E7moXJ7BNEa80uyw2LDPIGTik4fE8tIC-hIoECrRXbLfFBRw6fOfbPnt5O0HX6pjLiVnry6Ju8mljEJ1/w136-h136/TJKLUNE.jpg" width="136" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>TJ Klune is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award winning author of Under the Whispering Door, The House in the Cerulean Sea, The Extraordinaries, Wolfsong and more. Being queer himself, TJ believes it’s important now more than ever – to have accurate, positive, queer representation in stories. Follow <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tjklunebooks/">@tjklunebooks</a> on Instagram</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBm-_LKZK09b9MOazJ1T0lgXVQK8oPwuSDtNfbNm_PuHzH5mOizAQe7ITs7JlBoXAqKxg_TN-v-rwl__VFcMu5GVK5ickRwzjNhyl-vUIR8ZDj2_Xadu3DvqwN-ZFHcyoQsheVrmTIsDxKPuiQznnBDARN52PZfNya6L2nk2RJQRgO0yyfckqoF2sUEGk0/s970/LIVES%20GRAPHIC1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="970" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBm-_LKZK09b9MOazJ1T0lgXVQK8oPwuSDtNfbNm_PuHzH5mOizAQe7ITs7JlBoXAqKxg_TN-v-rwl__VFcMu5GVK5ickRwzjNhyl-vUIR8ZDj2_Xadu3DvqwN-ZFHcyoQsheVrmTIsDxKPuiQznnBDARN52PZfNya6L2nk2RJQRgO0yyfckqoF2sUEGk0/w279-h173/LIVES%20GRAPHIC1.jpg" width="279" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>In a small home, built into the branches of a tree, live a human named Victor and three robots. These are a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, a small vacuum desperate for love and attention, and a fatherly inventor-android named Giovanni Lawson. Together they’re a family, hidden and safe.</p><p>Then Vic salvages an unfamiliar android labelled ‘HAP’. He learns that Hap and Gio share a dark past, where they hunted humans. And Hap unwittingly gives away Gio’s location. Before they know it, robots from Gio’s former life arrive – to capture and return the android to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams.</p><p>The rest of the unconventional family must travel across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommissioning. Or worse, reprogramming. Along the way, Vic must decide if he can handle his feelings for Hap – even if they come with strings attached.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_3ODP93WuGV0_peTlWPDPPaC16gZWTvXTvisbZxqaC6CN_hQc3tUlWJe4ksO9Tpf16HIuI-EFiPK9U4ejv9X3Dha222BgwFifcoWaoUbG36Bi-L-zHT_pWkpqwkfoH8Kof5vNjqFGDbkVBUGDFd3CQmRBk-iKd7Zr0t5w_qopyd0P17IQd_lJKaHlpW9R/s2835/Lives%20of%20Puppets%20Cover.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2835" data-original-width="1843" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_3ODP93WuGV0_peTlWPDPPaC16gZWTvXTvisbZxqaC6CN_hQc3tUlWJe4ksO9Tpf16HIuI-EFiPK9U4ejv9X3Dha222BgwFifcoWaoUbG36Bi-L-zHT_pWkpqwkfoH8Kof5vNjqFGDbkVBUGDFd3CQmRBk-iKd7Zr0t5w_qopyd0P17IQd_lJKaHlpW9R/s320/Lives%20of%20Puppets%20Cover.jpeg" width="208" /></a></div><p><b><u>Review</u></b></p><p>Without downplaying the aspects of the great classic Pinocchio or rather the retelling under the umbrella of a dystopian lens, I do think the concept is much more and pulls from a variety of ethical, futuristic and emotionally charged ideas. If I'm being entirely honest I think the umbrella of the aforementioned classic doesn't do this tentacled exploration of humanity, love, friendship, parenthood and the cold hard truth of the cost of technological advancement, true justice.</p><p>Nurse Ratched, an interesting one to say the least. Developed with what can only be described as the traits of a bloodthirsty serial killer with the odd tendency to care and nurse. Favourite occupation: trying to harm, dismember and/or torture Rambo. Rambo is the complete opposite, a people-pleasing vacuum droid who reacts with fear and compassion. The two of them are complete opposite sides of the spectrum. In fact when you take all five, they appear to reflect the variety of human characteristics, whilst some do so in combination with their actual lack of true human response.</p><p>Circling round the beginning and the end one could ask the question of chicken and egg, the development, invention and programming just makes them variation of the same core, right? In the midst of it all the tender strands of a blossoming love become entangled in the truth about where HAP came from and who they are, the question is whether there is a way forward beyond the Frankensteinesque past of Gio.</p><p>It's a riveting nuanced piece of work, which plays with the idea of coming-of-age within the boundaries of a non-human world. The discovery of self, which includes a tempered version of intimacy. The overriding theme is one of destruction, and the solitude of the remains of society.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lives-Puppets-bestseller-ultimate-fantasy/dp/1529088046/ref=sr_1_1?crid=WZAHJ3NBXRB4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.iQf7AXPNlK2BTdhJXNFl4HAgDnsjAR3lkl4-NHlxNu4kx30Tfb9U6yiwVqhy6EmAc_1c0mfjdqAwgSumYtNCdPcmK-FXlfYtG5VQUgSuL-8jutcRXpIlJyOKzahY6XPTx9nBIHkASr7nu_Cbn0bccIyFwufnARiewJz8gaYA--4jwA5KUkbP5IxbRhF6_VRA9oJHhZweL_Ewg8rVdh2TxZYmg3lXKRk7hf9oPU7ci0I.MKsyIvILFMOG3DJJLYaKKtOlKLbuIpdXILH_9UEwEzo&dib_tag=se&keywords=in+the+lives+of+puppets&qid=1710805878&sprefix=in+the+lives+of+puppets%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy In The Lives of Puppets at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60784549-in-the-lives-of-puppets?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=lpfUFSwvVX&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher : Tor; pub date 14 Mar. 2024. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lives-Puppets-TJ-Klune/dp/1250217431/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ZSW0OHA9EKM6&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Db7CsUeWFzRiJZNB3dHM45psKRo9XIGRW9r4ONQIN-oMfUXgO4j_hf_JyH525B9MAcGaDhGjgQl0kjMG_6yGsLskL5lPP1L5xHyg0MWgSx_F9tmxRzot3sWdq6g7oKj5mI1izRfFIB12DJ9mIlUDbyI3KKZsE_Tk8pgklpQ-ENkN4kfTeTkxA1h6PoULmMd67WT4vVoHvNOSCZX-mt3j2nzW-Xxq8LXmfAuKwfrnv2E.cllpJFS1U5vvH1FXvzRrb-csMelKKT630cbqq6W083A&dib_tag=se&keywords=in+the+lives+of+puppets+tj+klune&qid=1710806111&sprefix=in+the+lives+of+puppets%2Caps%2C223&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com</a>.</p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-73655054144210389062024-03-11T13:00:00.150+00:002024-03-12T01:45:08.411+00:00#Blogtour The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0UulYwrIbOYJ_kbDKZjYMheUhs6m9dRRby9Zz4wiV_fIA-K9T1ShA4uEkVkL8pLvFf81a_qiQ9ZDNr9EpSTw6nJ0yFELTDsztp0rVbv50ubpg5D8NGSCKGueGrrI-6AXQGa__MUWWe-9wTX2hm6_GDI-LP3lqAM8D1pXF9R0rTr5N1k_L3ESJqk8A5WHE/s1977/Antique%20Hunters%20BT%20Poster%20.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1977" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0UulYwrIbOYJ_kbDKZjYMheUhs6m9dRRby9Zz4wiV_fIA-K9T1ShA4uEkVkL8pLvFf81a_qiQ9ZDNr9EpSTw6nJ0yFELTDsztp0rVbv50ubpg5D8NGSCKGueGrrI-6AXQGa__MUWWe-9wTX2hm6_GDI-LP3lqAM8D1pXF9R0rTr5N1k_L3ESJqk8A5WHE/w352-h233/Antique%20Hunters%20BT%20Poster%20.png" width="352" /></a></div><p>It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrVIjCWGSZrs6h2r9XGctdYzfY2UNu2NNKvEzqbdj3duGiN2ViTzJzMuvGu7kTzvIVXd6oehoaHbvMZ7uOrd1GbGSayZNyrhnoLavin99aFyJA5M6emmG3coLqphyrue2ECOBPXdC7AczDgt9NeFkJHUYWBGfm2W_3qhvhKjO8PfMxS7hGpd4GdVSp8Lhyphenhyphen/s1280/thumbnail_Cara%20Pan%20Mac%20image%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="916" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrVIjCWGSZrs6h2r9XGctdYzfY2UNu2NNKvEzqbdj3duGiN2ViTzJzMuvGu7kTzvIVXd6oehoaHbvMZ7uOrd1GbGSayZNyrhnoLavin99aFyJA5M6emmG3coLqphyrue2ECOBPXdC7AczDgt9NeFkJHUYWBGfm2W_3qhvhKjO8PfMxS7hGpd4GdVSp8Lhyphenhyphen/w125-h175/thumbnail_Cara%20Pan%20Mac%20image%201.jpg" width="125" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>Cara Miller started working Life in publishing as an editorial assistant for her mother, Judith Miller, on the Miller’s Antique Price Guide to Europe before she went into hospitality and events. After she had children, she decided to follow her long-held dream of becoming an author and began writing full-time. She was an Undiscovered Voices winner in 2022 and was showcased in the UV 2022 anthology. She lives in a medieval cottage in Suffolk with her family. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/CLMillerAuthor">@CLMillerAuthor</a> on X</p><p><i>'This book was written in consultation with international antiques expert Judith Miller (1951–2023), a regular specialist on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. Judith was also the co-founder of the bestselling annual Miller’s Antiques Price Guide, which started in 1979. She went on to write more than 120 books on antiques and interiors.'</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsW3m9dZBA2G1ajSKl_kGT5e8QcJW2jGfgmn0dXkBdgyd9drPRhW42Wv_B8WYuDr7eaG5g5cmVxSOvOBlaAe108VLIQ1OSWsb3NLJqlriwQxIdMh85NEnHOrVVKCc9Hl0-xqYgjnwRrjD_db0NGUpZW4QQH8jSvv2hvev3tjEWkOowWPT99aa3WAUWYmz/s970/Antique%20Graphic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="970" height="99" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsW3m9dZBA2G1ajSKl_kGT5e8QcJW2jGfgmn0dXkBdgyd9drPRhW42Wv_B8WYuDr7eaG5g5cmVxSOvOBlaAe108VLIQ1OSWsb3NLJqlriwQxIdMh85NEnHOrVVKCc9Hl0-xqYgjnwRrjD_db0NGUpZW4QQH8jSvv2hvev3tjEWkOowWPT99aa3WAUWYmz/s320/Antique%20Graphic1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>What Antique would you kill for? </p><p>Freya, it’s down to you to finish what I started . . . - Freya Lockwood has avoided the quaint English village in which she grew up for the last twenty years. That is until news arrives that Arthur Crockleford, antiques dealer and Freya’s estranged mentor, has died . . . and the circumstances seem suspicious.</p><p>You will uncover a reservation, I implore you to attend . . . - But when a letter from Arthur is delivered, sent just days before his death, and an ordinary pine chest concealing Arthur’s journals, including reservations in her name, are revealed, Freya finds herself sucked back into a life she’d sworn to leave behind.</p><p>But beware, trust no one. Your life depends on it . . . - Joining forces with her eccentric Aunt Carole, Arthur’s staunch best friend, Freya follows both clues and her instincts to an old manor house for an ‘antiques enthusiasts’ weekend’. But not is all as it seems; the antiques are bad reproductions, and the other guests are menacing and secretive.</p><p>Can Freya and Carole solve the mystery surrounding the weekend before a killer strikes again?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTFguey_e3VDucWIqa3I5E_BR6kCrb9Xd2AfUZNiwnCie9Uxn3lQR3bnPVrhDZT2WPw8AOJZwtmGiaS3VOKh0aPaJhPOQkUUsbksNWVjKyoEYVGUtIkRiBGJuE_LU0un7Ykvls-EBP3JxnvjxTQ1hnZspRxUDsvSYFEUGjED008v0pEnjKY7U36AvnlRe/s1280/thumbnail_9781035021802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="832" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTFguey_e3VDucWIqa3I5E_BR6kCrb9Xd2AfUZNiwnCie9Uxn3lQR3bnPVrhDZT2WPw8AOJZwtmGiaS3VOKh0aPaJhPOQkUUsbksNWVjKyoEYVGUtIkRiBGJuE_LU0un7Ykvls-EBP3JxnvjxTQ1hnZspRxUDsvSYFEUGjED008v0pEnjKY7U36AvnlRe/s320/thumbnail_9781035021802.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br /><div><b><u>Review</u></b></div><p>What antique would you kill for? Seems like such a simple question and premise, but when I started to think about it - about what kind of antique could create the kind of obsession and need to posses that could result in killing someone for it. The first step was determining what kind of item would have such a pull on me. I agree that provenance would be a major factor, but I am equally invested in great things of beauty, creation with an elusive quality. </p><p>The past few decades have been quiet in comparison to the life Freya Lockwood once led, but she finds it difficult to put the past and antiques dealer Arthur Crockleford's offences behind her. His death doesn't bother her, but being thrust back into the past is a trigger. What is even more annoying is the way Arthur has left a mystery to solve - for her to solve, which is a direct path back into a life she once lived.</p><p>It's the kind of concept I would love to see on the small screen with the sleuthing duo of Frey and Aunt Carole on the hunt for a different antique every season. Whilst we wait for that there is more to come from this enigmatic and determined pair in Death on the Red Sea.</p><p>I would start a treasure hunt for certain items, okay perhaps quite a few items - would I kill for one of them though? It's probably one of those questions best left unanswered, just in case I preemptively incriminate myself. Just saying.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Antique-Hunters-Guide-Murder-anticipated/dp/1035021803/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.J07ZECbbl_yGb7wjpRPGfCvhBWYNBFADiu26qth0InRvPE8l61S5E7JAtKPTl6n49wvXIHeO6V_YqOdI6M_lorVBZSYKFZEpRQUQbxmIHnRJT9imPbfe-byBFxSrdDfrZObkzM7vipxWnBAHxm1fBUtTIDJEo3oja7-i8ebjrFP-FyoNbOihlZGAifqc3GDVz0EFcXQN-ORMYUPStM7m_FeyVOUXs9o1JviYSYEC05Y.wzkwkaKINmbkpieR1PA0zPOWww6svmjwC2VM0jmtVzw&qid=1710203211&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/176450518-the-antique-hunter-s-guide-to-murder?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=zH1NWufA9V&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Published by Pan MacMillan, pub date 29th February £16.99 Hardback. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Antique-Hunters-Guide-Murder-Novel/dp/1668032007/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ZVP6WNZQ13DM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.gFVrsp2YwVHNncXudjdv2XwTzCmOxVOf5zZScOyDxj-kwFg5_te-y50cUJV2B1sivHwLmph6k6r4KCzIeWcojcIM_rcJtT89WI9K6w2JR5-oy5-q_mBHSqsVLMucQBrx4OllnuYsZjNxQ0Adh1UhtEVRRmYzvfHXRsjMkfwkow62evezJdS2PlFXKZQTIkHIDduSuiE0IKGUtU-9HKakl55GqD-IMGc-eFG9oQi6M3g.jB5c2DfYDAWFJYp6JzRw85k5dJ3427BvWeeRLg9oSec&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+antique+hunter%27s+guide+to+murder&qid=1710203410&sprefix=the+antique+hunter%27s+guide+to+murder%2Caps%2C180&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com.</a></p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-74642827794597858712024-03-10T13:00:00.142+00:002024-03-10T16:28:30.223+00:00#Blogtour Green Ray by O.C. Heaton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMPz2NPha75MXRTpFQESA04zpBrsiyRfeK0wKDI_TCXceiJx7v6klQ0kjvgCoPS-QjKuedOiCA8vMOcW_5E1FzNxf81NWOU7HMtJWAsYmfgdjFNgIPOTSnWBdvXsgSlKuGYLlr6YbBLnoQWaN6V845RM65bHF_zlxban4NrJ6HBTbZ8RzuMNhcVWtazfm_/s1080/I'm%20On%20The%20Tour%20-%20Green%20Ray.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMPz2NPha75MXRTpFQESA04zpBrsiyRfeK0wKDI_TCXceiJx7v6klQ0kjvgCoPS-QjKuedOiCA8vMOcW_5E1FzNxf81NWOU7HMtJWAsYmfgdjFNgIPOTSnWBdvXsgSlKuGYLlr6YbBLnoQWaN6V845RM65bHF_zlxban4NrJ6HBTbZ8RzuMNhcVWtazfm_/w300-h298/I'm%20On%20The%20Tour%20-%20Green%20Ray.png" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div>It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Green Ray by O.C. Heaton - this is the second book in The Race is On series (the first is Leap). And the tour for Atom Inc, the third book in the trilogy is in just over a week.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2ARSaTLElUXnkjrX-d6ln_FFdteaSdSby4KRNH5I1aqF1Ahh3QBtljq3khB_IM2fYIyH3pTT_QJkANLk4hPfj1yKDSRHWxWVslvTULA1RWG7DdEzKam6AuGivStG54sAecX3bql-kliivoqjWMRf3gtMrmb_S-sR3lIaLkJVfWTOBcm0TKBvkpyOtafW/s1600/OC%20Heaton%20Author%20Photo%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2ARSaTLElUXnkjrX-d6ln_FFdteaSdSby4KRNH5I1aqF1Ahh3QBtljq3khB_IM2fYIyH3pTT_QJkANLk4hPfj1yKDSRHWxWVslvTULA1RWG7DdEzKam6AuGivStG54sAecX3bql-kliivoqjWMRf3gtMrmb_S-sR3lIaLkJVfWTOBcm0TKBvkpyOtafW/w121-h162/OC%20Heaton%20Author%20Photo%20(1).jpg" width="121" /></a></div><br /><div><b><u>About the Author</u></b></div><div><div>'I write what I love to read - big issue thrillers that are super well researched inside a complex plot full of twists and turns.</div><div><br /></div><div>The result of the above is The Race Is On Series, an idea I had on a trip to Iceland. The first in the series is called LEAP, which tells the tale of a device which has the power to halt global warming. The ensuing race to control the power of this machine will continue throughout the sequel to LEAP which I’m well on my way to completing. It's called Green Ray and will be published in May 2023.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just like LEAP, the 2nd book weaves fact with fiction and encompasses events such as the 2009 global financial meltdown, Al Qaeda, a new US President and a cornered CIA; another delightful concoction around which I have constructed another tall, but hopefully credible, tale. Watch this space!'</div><div><br /></div><div>I live in Leeds, UK with the love of my life and our two daughters. It rains a lot in Leeds but that works out well for me - loads of time for research and of course writing! Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/OCHeaton">@OCHeaton</a> on X, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ocheaton/">@ocheaton</a> on Instagram, Visit Website : <a href="https://ocheaton.com/">ocheaton.com</a></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKaJvVrZtCYcF73HJnhtKlOOVYrWBt0sjRYrvchVxeGQKL0nBykwWENvo0NgfZULNT4qMAPqWxfOW1wfDu7tGEnCj3PtAPF8s5D_Su0bV_KuM-npS3GqG3dwb1-c0hs7imOvj0lINGInK3TPenWiiA7qQqy14k0cFjWpYFL1oHAOegQ542RCO1o_M7RPb/s1640/Green%20Ray%20Tour%20Poster.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1640" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKaJvVrZtCYcF73HJnhtKlOOVYrWBt0sjRYrvchVxeGQKL0nBykwWENvo0NgfZULNT4qMAPqWxfOW1wfDu7tGEnCj3PtAPF8s5D_Su0bV_KuM-npS3GqG3dwb1-c0hs7imOvj0lINGInK3TPenWiiA7qQqy14k0cFjWpYFL1oHAOegQ542RCO1o_M7RPb/s320/Green%20Ray%20Tour%20Poster.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><b><u>About the book</u></b></div><div><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div><div>No good deed goes unpunished... - Six years after the near-catastrophic hijacking of LEAP, Uma Jakobsdóttir is determined to find a safer path to environmental salvation. So, with her father’s invention back under wraps, Uma turns her attention to the $85 billion-dollar Green Ray fund with the intention of renewing the planet — minus any teleportation.</div><div><br /></div><div>But when the capabilities of LEAP are discovered by the U.S. government, it sets its sights on using the device to protect the country against economic collapse. When the White House proposes a new set of rules for LEAP — ones which would only allow the teleportation of goods, not people — Uma's objections are steamrolled by powerful forces.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then the President’s life is endangered, and the rules of the game suddenly shift again — leaving Uma in ethical turmoil as she races to stop the full power of LEAP from being unleashed on an unsuspecting world…</div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8F9h183rhHIL9ZeVsn74rm3HhMNkq3D1DKKenLhBdii-ZnihQd_lJgQgrSBv64i2OWfugrtIpM8gzdoPatcmgkGnyh-daqhyphenhyphen7_5zbbpVkTcZLRScgwh7FsK2KlcX4tgWXwUWU6rOBQJc_LxYxjIREzBf84fC_Qakrda253lpqNkwjH0gF7lF7yoaBdVyH/s2400/Green%20Ray%20Book%20Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1575" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8F9h183rhHIL9ZeVsn74rm3HhMNkq3D1DKKenLhBdii-ZnihQd_lJgQgrSBv64i2OWfugrtIpM8gzdoPatcmgkGnyh-daqhyphenhyphen7_5zbbpVkTcZLRScgwh7FsK2KlcX4tgWXwUWU6rOBQJc_LxYxjIREzBf84fC_Qakrda253lpqNkwjH0gF7lF7yoaBdVyH/w170-h259/Green%20Ray%20Book%20Cover.jpg" width="170" /></a></div><br /><div><b><u>Review</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>With the events of the prior disaster involving LEAP far behind her, Uma is surprised, but not concerned when the US government demands her presence. Their idea of how to use her technology however is something she isn't on board with. They don't leave her with much choice - the word blackmail comes to mind. And all bets are off when the President's life comes under threat, that complicates matters a little.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the first book of the Race is On trilogy I think the reader gets introduced to the power of ideas in combination with futuristic advancements, perhaps equally to the greed and power struggles it evokes in people. Also, perhaps the realisation that with great ideas often come consequences, that positive and negative often walk hand-in-hand. The question is what are we, or in this case Uma, willing to risk as collateral - if indeed any at all.</div><div><br /></div><div>In this second book the author wanders quite succinctly between the corridors of political power, the sway such people have, and that at the end of the day greed, corruption, and even making cutthroat decisions in the name of humanity or keeping a country or the world safe - is often no different than when criminals are making the same choices. The double-edged sword of Uma's technology is there is no guarantee whomever wields it will do so with the best intention.</div><div><br /></div><div>I really enjoy the way the author melds in current issues into this concept that has such a vast reach, but simultaneously creates realistic scenarios within the futuristic scope. There is a clear understanding of day-to-day issues for the common person and how the decisions of the upper echelon have an impact on those lives, whilst clearly not comprehending or wanting to understand the impact.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm looking forward to the third part in the trilogy - will LEAP end up being part of a bigger better solution or is the risk of misuse just too great?</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Ray-Race-OC-Heaton/dp/0956172032/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.UDnOxcbT9rS535E9c3s8a6zPwpzKNHwxPbUuGeTRcCPGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.fFOUN1cJNvXyveBbLxaitBb5nkMqCIqzS-bbuZw61bs&qid=1710085555&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy Green Ray at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175753120-green-ray?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=yEIxYCPmuU&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher : Rookwood Publishing pub date 25 July 2023. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Green-Ray-Race-OC-Heaton/dp/0956172032/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1TR1JA7WI3XPU&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.N7P5QpGKdhaVeJ9tJk-uB5NFY276iD3hxnT8fDwh2m3hQN5EwFSyRjw-5Fpu7Vrgp6-yQYJE2tQ6ke3BQIocaO3LflV5L1tMvLcNDV1Fp4x2r7XqmOBC0Hg6HRYU_gRIkKJVbkuYpZqe7CmJLJPXm0SG23gG6XP89vmH1svGXwaAsx-11UkpGXs6PJOZ6Nav9kJM0N3BjKCkuz6agJTOWG4iCc6MhrjVhYBYttyVPpI.bD4jHwfIdgLgw0W8zygxN8w4yDDE6ZiW4y11HWHf1uU&dib_tag=se&keywords=green+ray+heaton&qid=1710085628&sprefix=green+ray+heaton%2Caps%2C151&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com</a>.</div></div>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-5727784964144806152024-03-01T13:00:00.080+00:002024-03-02T04:15:45.024+00:00#Blogtour A Bookshop of One's Own by Jane Cholmeley<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6bdI-JpzMkFj1ONLZYC04Zj2x28LCi7QfOQzlna_6Sh_dWcRRkGOlncahd84GU5minMMdF49Alee4umNAEThHTWRhZD2KW_zSkcb99qpcnVAAu-BcGow2eUI4hh7g6GajHgs7QdVOSvLsQ84DUNMldb8Y6LW-WwxigbbqgmYz0_sIJjTSYGw1I4Xd6PL/s1920/Bookshop%20BT%20Poster%20.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1336" data-original-width="1920" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6bdI-JpzMkFj1ONLZYC04Zj2x28LCi7QfOQzlna_6Sh_dWcRRkGOlncahd84GU5minMMdF49Alee4umNAEThHTWRhZD2KW_zSkcb99qpcnVAAu-BcGow2eUI4hh7g6GajHgs7QdVOSvLsQ84DUNMldb8Y6LW-WwxigbbqgmYz0_sIJjTSYGw1I4Xd6PL/s320/Bookshop%20BT%20Poster%20.png" width="320" /></a></div> It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour A Bookshop of One's Own by Jane Cholmeley - How a group of women set out to change the world.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjkrU_IVsvbnUtbgO8nvFEhx2fILKGLwiOXRMB57QmMYZbxj0J7TA1nBUnZ0HWSZu7iY9R7gn9uol2Hjj_lDnaM02sG8OB-I4bKMUQQJ9Fi_Uh1n9UGJzC0y7RUQPa6jgZAmcOQpUq7oXC3PlKzA4pDxdMUIsTIF-TWdbE_tcUkHE9nogJrAlzj7E6CXQ/s1920/JANE%20Author%20pic.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjkrU_IVsvbnUtbgO8nvFEhx2fILKGLwiOXRMB57QmMYZbxj0J7TA1nBUnZ0HWSZu7iY9R7gn9uol2Hjj_lDnaM02sG8OB-I4bKMUQQJ9Fi_Uh1n9UGJzC0y7RUQPa6jgZAmcOQpUq7oXC3PlKzA4pDxdMUIsTIF-TWdbE_tcUkHE9nogJrAlzj7E6CXQ/w193-h109/JANE%20Author%20pic.jpeg" width="193" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>Jane Cholmeley is a key figure in the history of British feminism. Sandi Toksvig nominated Jane as a Gay Icon in the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition of that name in 2009 and Jacqueline Wilson named Jane her feminist icon in Stylist, 2018.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTQq9mTcmcspj2ASiVUC1HVbJucrFmu9qEqO-rMT6c2cspGSBwLqoQrgW7lti30gdIpRKEQdwtCNvcHWgpHSWXtsnTPPHOz-Dho7zzlJY2tzuuK4TGSUJB1zlUko8_d-k461UADOhZZrCz55MY1M4p5CPOQEiD7n77Ekw0CVKyqdZG8TJGGNf4zEED3yv/s970/Bookshop%20Graphic2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="970" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTQq9mTcmcspj2ASiVUC1HVbJucrFmu9qEqO-rMT6c2cspGSBwLqoQrgW7lti30gdIpRKEQdwtCNvcHWgpHSWXtsnTPPHOz-Dho7zzlJY2tzuuK4TGSUJB1zlUko8_d-k461UADOhZZrCz55MY1M4p5CPOQEiD7n77Ekw0CVKyqdZG8TJGGNf4zEED3yv/s320/Bookshop%20Graphic2.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><u><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p></u></b><p></p><p>Silver Moon was the dream of three women – a bookshop with the mission to promote the work of female writers and create a much-needed safe space for any woman. Founded in 1980s London against a backdrop of homophobia and misogyny, it was a testament to the power of community, growing into Europe’s biggest women’s bookshop and hosting a constellation of literary stars from Margaret Atwood and Maya Angelou to Angela Carter. </p><p>While contending with day-to-day struggles common to other booksellers, plus the additional burdens of misogyny and the occasional hate crime, Jane Cholmeley and her booksellers created a thriving business. But they also played a crucial and relatively unsung part in one the biggest social movements of our time.</p><p> A Bookshop of One’s Own is a fascinating slice of social history from a true feminist and lesbian icon. Written with heart and humour, it reveals the struggle and joy that comes with starting an underdog business, while being a celebration of the power women have to change the narrative when they are the ones holding the pen.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSG6M-_D7sPMt9VZk5GAA_iHcnTQlTzHV6zGh6WwMBUPzyvlYJ-E_P4k8jfu5dI3Gio0-MO6ThorirXdXoDqbPIlnAS2JeVM8rxJZYoAdiphrT-97dO9ruZ67neLC6iWXyVnqwQEKdleEmlIPr0zl1bfap7FW33K7zoxHHE-XQZtTHu35EhICZYoC0WWx_/s1500/Bookshop%20Front%20Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="931" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSG6M-_D7sPMt9VZk5GAA_iHcnTQlTzHV6zGh6WwMBUPzyvlYJ-E_P4k8jfu5dI3Gio0-MO6ThorirXdXoDqbPIlnAS2JeVM8rxJZYoAdiphrT-97dO9ruZ67neLC6iWXyVnqwQEKdleEmlIPr0zl1bfap7FW33K7zoxHHE-XQZtTHu35EhICZYoC0WWx_/s320/Bookshop%20Front%20Cover.jpg" width="199" /></a></div><p><b><u>Review</u></b></p><p>For me the true testament of the impact Silver Moon has had, and of course the women within it, are the Legacy statements. The beautiful, emotional, heart-wrenchingly honest paragraphs from people who have connected with the bookshop, the place of safety, the mirror of self, and of course the championing of women.</p><p>It's a bit like its own microcosm of resistance, trying to ensure voices are heard and opening up a space where you can feel seen, heard and accepted. I love the fact it's is also called a sanctuary. A place of exploration, openness, and learning. It certainly is a legacy.</p><p>It's a lovely book. Inspirational and poignant, especially from an historical point of view. The magic of a bookshop is an element that is a driver, however the feminist movement built within those walls makes it a powerhouse, and the open-armed culture for the LGBT community makes it a haven.</p><p>It's a remarkable story, hopefully this book (which has a beautiful hardcover) will allow a larger audience to partake from the strength, solidarity and sisterhood within the walls of this very special place.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bookshop-Ones-Own-group-change/dp/0008651043/ref=sr_1_1?crid=EKGR02D3RE00&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.qw0mamIN5aF6ZYqPFot0C-xORk8qcbZH5umbOdUM6V20gNDHHtqkPaFfg2vPJ6dPHjVO8aAbWBBy9c5nnA2V3zCMTKjT7knzJkvMRxMwrCM-eUDwvFjuul5__E1qqYmKwxBlvJm2PadrCOlIR5qEe2LPR71wW-63Vc0sP7Gphi7LnecTRQH4IbFZKBM9bmaJjq7_TsINpsgFF7y_5YiI1TC6whBmgBxAudX1AaqzZQw.9tmyYiQUtu0o9Qc-yhBKYOJPz0gmDcC-cUOs-mmoPJQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=a+bookshop+of+one%27s+own&qid=1709348247&sprefix=%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy A Bookshop of One's Own at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/174791569-a-bookshop-of-one-s-own?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=8x5hUMsIRG&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher: Mudlark, pub date 29th February 2024 - Hardback - £16.99. </p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-38902052885589194442024-02-29T14:00:00.094+00:002024-03-01T03:32:08.030+00:00#Blogtour Leap by O.C. Heaton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5hqwFSbzCe9EYq6PDTy58yBa-DGuQu8CDLm-7dOnBIY8_6qsd9JYz9t0WOzCJaBJed5-HeptELnHJWieeyxJfWebGNUk4ZrgTozaCZ5ZdV5IrerOObO-UuuHkXAv2FY-mqsdEl-gtbS_4ki8_mTGv8TtvDE0PkBqTceq0gCmgnybscUxpcZsmU7Ginrx2/s1080/I'm%20On%20The%20Tour%20-%20%20Leap.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5hqwFSbzCe9EYq6PDTy58yBa-DGuQu8CDLm-7dOnBIY8_6qsd9JYz9t0WOzCJaBJed5-HeptELnHJWieeyxJfWebGNUk4ZrgTozaCZ5ZdV5IrerOObO-UuuHkXAv2FY-mqsdEl-gtbS_4ki8_mTGv8TtvDE0PkBqTceq0gCmgnybscUxpcZsmU7Ginrx2/w235-h235/I'm%20On%20The%20Tour%20-%20%20Leap.png" width="235" /></a></div><p>It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Leap by O.C. Heaton, the first book in The Race is On series.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Np_7D4Jgfd6YrADcS2SoIcGmPaevcJUiSLPUuYandDyNgdCAhnOKtvadTs9YRGH32TuFFJv2auPuUZxIvERaJ4NXN56GAKYxFJzaTUatIt3PV1v_DIN2ydltbfhyphenhypheng6LkNhG5uhLgJMY5cQAKqHzBVAxJ1VDGmZAETguRLtjtL_9A7QLRNfX8AksymGV2/s1600/OC%20Heaton%20Author%20Photo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Np_7D4Jgfd6YrADcS2SoIcGmPaevcJUiSLPUuYandDyNgdCAhnOKtvadTs9YRGH32TuFFJv2auPuUZxIvERaJ4NXN56GAKYxFJzaTUatIt3PV1v_DIN2ydltbfhyphenhypheng6LkNhG5uhLgJMY5cQAKqHzBVAxJ1VDGmZAETguRLtjtL_9A7QLRNfX8AksymGV2/w141-h188/OC%20Heaton%20Author%20Photo.jpg" width="141" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>I write what I love to read - big issue thrillers that are super well researched inside a complex plot full of twists and turns.</p><p>The result of the above is The Race Is On Series, an idea I had on a trip to Iceland. The first in the series is called LEAP, which tells the tale of a device which has the power to halt global warming. The ensuing race to control the power of this machine will continue throughout the sequel to LEAP which I’m well on my way to completing. It's called Green Ray and will be published in May 2023.</p><p>Just like LEAP, the 2nd book weaves fact with fiction and encompasses events such as the 2009 global financial meltdown, Al Qaeda, a new US President and a cornered CIA; another delightful concoction around which I have constructed another tall, but hopefully credible, tale. Watch this space!</p><p>I live in Leeds, UK with the love of my life and our two daughters. It rains a lot in Leeds but that works out well for me - loads of time for research and of course writing! Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/OCHeaton">@OCHeaton</a> on X, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ocheaton/">@ocheaton</a> on Instagram, Visit Website : <a href="https://ocheaton.com/">ocheaton.com</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliGsOfMBiVW3SOFLmvJe-BNPWg5vF79lcHVZmBhhB39qtGmOJM-V_yASq8zhvGBZsY8Q9-4WnMZunOX9x4oxuCLR8fvFhz2-f_T-6EjTheC6-tRYslEZTlHLEhf70o8M4Y2pVhXDJBD7eDffbzphhwy0dkVr7cgFNbQuLEjeXnSsSlg7-yfvwXDAshvs5/s1640/LEAP%20Tour%20Poster.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1640" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliGsOfMBiVW3SOFLmvJe-BNPWg5vF79lcHVZmBhhB39qtGmOJM-V_yASq8zhvGBZsY8Q9-4WnMZunOX9x4oxuCLR8fvFhz2-f_T-6EjTheC6-tRYslEZTlHLEhf70o8M4Y2pVhXDJBD7eDffbzphhwy0dkVr7cgFNbQuLEjeXnSsSlg7-yfvwXDAshvs5/s320/LEAP%20Tour%20Poster.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><b><u>About the book</u></b></div><p>Ethan Rae is known for his billions, but his latest business venture is about to really put him on the map: a quantum teleportation system that would solve global warming for good. Known as LEAP, the system is capable of providing Earth’s ultimate second chance...until it falls into the wrong hands.</p><p>When playboy CEO Samuel Reynolds III snatches LEAP out from under Ethan’s nose, he adds insult to injury by attempting to destroy Ethan’s business partner, Uma Jakobsdóttir. But this is no malicious whim. As the daughter of its creator, Uma enforces the LEAP Laws.</p><p>Because of its potentially devastating capabilities, LEAP users must not clone people, revive the dead, or merge minds and species. But in the race to recover their precious piece of tech, Ethan and Uma are faced with sacrifices that push their resolve to breaking point.</p><p>From the frozen wastelands of Iceland, to the leafy suburbs of London and the mean streets of New York City, LEAP is a technothriller that will keep you questioning what it means to be human.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTt2msNOy4VGNmsQA-Xho-Ag_dez6BEZIW5Fu-7M3KSMKmiGLhkTCOamz0zcu-_FDZ4CxQ20p7VuQ4auhNF83cxF0S8rRTvW2RdOLhev-7jCvMTQzWZvYRoKhuxYpVWUl-TkZGLGADUvw4ODwqoqzli-UlkoQEQ1XyDcHsxTeRzvy-2M43_yCkWiT6SGKZ/s2400/Leap%20Book%20Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1575" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTt2msNOy4VGNmsQA-Xho-Ag_dez6BEZIW5Fu-7M3KSMKmiGLhkTCOamz0zcu-_FDZ4CxQ20p7VuQ4auhNF83cxF0S8rRTvW2RdOLhev-7jCvMTQzWZvYRoKhuxYpVWUl-TkZGLGADUvw4ODwqoqzli-UlkoQEQ1XyDcHsxTeRzvy-2M43_yCkWiT6SGKZ/s320/Leap%20Book%20Cover.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><br /><div><b><u>Review</u></b></div><p>Uma believes Ethan is the right money-man to approach to bring Leap to the people, and to ensure it is put to use for the good of the survival of mankind. The only problem with that train of thought is that Uma doesn't realise what some people will do for the most innovative and powerful invention of this century. Just imagine what damage it could do in the wrong hands, the ability to move... err I'll let you find that out for yourselves.</p><p>It's a fast-paced speculative environmental thriller which balances the greed of capitalism, thirst for power and ruthless people with little thought for the future, with the attempt to make the world abide by some moral standards or code of ethics. Good luck with that when it comes to profit margins and the search for complete control.</p><p>The author lets aspects of science, spirituality, and the pure excitement of discovery come together and meld itself into a constantly moving and changing concept. Time and place become interchangeable and are no longer a constant known measurable quantity and wander into the realms of unknown variable.</p><p>Kudos to the author for presenting the science in a way that everyone can comprehend without ever losing the complexity of the concept. Not an easy feat. Usually one or the other has to give little. I am looking forward to the next in the series.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEAP-Race-OC-Heaton/dp/0956172024/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.bB6zNmOGlfmIcKFcFeHQsQ.Z8TMvEhkO1JTgnt3ERGerg_MRNyGiv8u8aTAKrTyGrw&qid=1709260821&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy Leap at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175050946-leap?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=3hbihPoWbf&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads </a>for any other retailer. Publisher : Rookwood Publishing, pub date 4 Aug. 2022. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/LEAP-thriller-transport-another-place-ebook/dp/B0B8CNJS6N/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1JVAP3JFXXHXI&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.AF2Jn2AKLz6fGnF52HZ5xVha5nXIiuePyyxHGeJb0jAatXzwo-8pSsy5nHcGrtqi0HgTZxn8xl4g6GbffZWzC5iVn6s0R0tHP5klRWKVt7c.zI62XU_D_06zyMX-QpQ1IaGEtPwxeJqFhiPjq5DNlk0&dib_tag=se&keywords=leap+heaton&qid=1709261544&s=digital-text&sprefix=leap+heaton%2Cdigital-text%2C212&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com.</a> </p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-50178879037261025692024-02-29T13:00:00.092+00:002024-03-01T01:57:58.107+00:00#PublicationDay The Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSj3dWB9S4fXkwAG_yklgPxYyYnJN9J-g9Yvb0LBR6BVSCdHctnWOWU1BW2hltMqvhIxHXfsI4gtrM2A5sVDb6dw-PiXcXb7nW3Ecm85wRUOUdBIrS3eE97GJBv9e32uVbRE0hhoD4KuaBfTYve9I578Srt5T7wsz6m4eW8lNeW1r6RzifFqKZtfZ2MeY0/s3750/The%20Long%20and%20Winding%20Road_landscape_1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2109" data-original-width="3750" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSj3dWB9S4fXkwAG_yklgPxYyYnJN9J-g9Yvb0LBR6BVSCdHctnWOWU1BW2hltMqvhIxHXfsI4gtrM2A5sVDb6dw-PiXcXb7nW3Ecm85wRUOUdBIrS3eE97GJBv9e32uVbRE0hhoD4KuaBfTYve9I578Srt5T7wsz6m4eW8lNeW1r6RzifFqKZtfZ2MeY0/s320/The%20Long%20and%20Winding%20Road_landscape_1.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>Happy Publication Day! - From the No.1 bestselling author Lesley Pearce comes her own unforgettable story - The Long and Winding Road.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwcAisbGz12XhrFaqHulRKx47962H9L8jDFlmjZQFTwoeipfJXcW8Zr69S0J6Hysfjyv_hkFbJFMmYqMSE7HhY3B2DdnXfjU0poMauyWJhr4SD1630yZ046Fj2bAU7w9-DaBbo0SX3jquK2xVxh1NdkWem4MUN54FwqSHON1KtDuqjhqyo-sHOFfhp4Gsu/s1000/Lesley%20Pearse%20Copyright%20Charlotte%20Murphy%202014%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="667" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwcAisbGz12XhrFaqHulRKx47962H9L8jDFlmjZQFTwoeipfJXcW8Zr69S0J6Hysfjyv_hkFbJFMmYqMSE7HhY3B2DdnXfjU0poMauyWJhr4SD1630yZ046Fj2bAU7w9-DaBbo0SX3jquK2xVxh1NdkWem4MUN54FwqSHON1KtDuqjhqyo-sHOFfhp4Gsu/w140-h211/Lesley%20Pearse%20Copyright%20Charlotte%20Murphy%202014%20(1).jpg" width="140" /></a></div>Pic credit/copyright: Charlotte Murphy<br /><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>Lesley Pearse is one of the world’s leading storytellers with numerous No.1 bestsellers to her name and fans who span the globe. A Lesley Pearse book is sold every 4 minutes in the UK and with sales of over 10 million copies, she has dominated the bestseller charts for the last 30 years. Yet Lesley’s success is all the more remarkable because her first book wasn’t published until she was 48, and until that moment, her life was more incredible than any fiction. </p><p>Lesley now lives in Torquay, Devon where she loves to spend time walking on the beach with her grandchildren. A fantastic speaker and committed and passionate fundraiser for the NSPCC, Lesley is a much sought-after guest at literary lunches, library events and festivals up and down the country.</p><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>Born in Kent during the Second World War, Lesley’s life changed irrevocably when a neighbour found her, aged 3, coatless in the snow. The mother she’d been unable to wake had been dead for days. Separated from her brother, and sent to an orphanage, Lesley soon learned adults couldn’t always be trusted, and certainly weren’t always kind. With her father in the Royal Marines, Lesley spent three years alone before her father remarried and Lesley and her older brother were brought home again. They were joined by two other children who were later adopted by her father and stepmother, and a continuing stream of foster children. </p><p>Life at home was difficult and, aged just 15, Lesley headed to London determined to forge a better life for herself. Naïve and innocent, yet always resourceful (a trait that has served her well all her life), she worked her way through many jobs before finding herself pregnant. Sent to a mother and baby home, she was determined to keep her son, before realising she couldn’t give him the life he deserved. Aged just six months, Lesley gave her beautiful son, Warren, up for adoption. She would look for him for the next 50 years. </p><p>The pain of such profound loss haunted Lesley, and she threw herself headlong into the hedonistic world of the ‘swinging sixties’ sharing flats, working hard (promotional work, retail, Bunny Girl), and partying harder, often with East End gangsters and musicians. A short-lived first marriage, was followed by a second to John, a talented trumpeter who played with Dusty Springfield, Lulu and David Bowie (Lesley even inspired lines in Bowie’s A Couple of Kooks). As the 60s turned into the 70s, Lesley found a longed-for sense of home and the start of the decade saw the birth of their daughter, Lucy and a record deal for John. The future looked bright but then the house they lived in was sold – ironically to become a homeless shelter – and the family found themselves homeless. John lost his record deal and his mental health began to suffer. Times were desperate and John became increasingly unwell, until Lesley had no choice but to have him sectioned. They eventually parted. </p><div><div>Alone once again, and with a small child to support, it was while hitch-hiking to a job interview that Lesley was to meet her third husband, Nigel. She moved to Bristol, had daughters Sammy and Jo and set up a gift shop. It was only then that she began to write and </div><div>the rest, as they say, is history. </div><div><br /></div><div>Told with Lesley’s trademark warmth, wit and poignancy, The Long and Winding Road is the extraordinary story of a remarkable woman fighting against the odds to achieve her dreams, and finally winning. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/LesleyPearse">@LesleyPearse</a> on X, Visit <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/21763/lesley-pearse">penguin.co.uk/lesley-pearse</a></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWoAfD_8LP7A1FTsp6cLA6mi-7t6zADZh4kWOQFZQCuoCGGFnxSIvla0FgVaOc66lJnDtlmMP3jviCMLM1S2chazqVX1Qahc4eczPQlODoI79EKhm33uBO978bQCssOpDd8fZJxD_9Y9_S-39NSeY2HsOHDQ-kb3vcWRfKCiZMeNqTzx-7v-bVXS4-swkN/s2834/Long&WindingRoad%20Jacket%20image.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2834" data-original-width="1841" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWoAfD_8LP7A1FTsp6cLA6mi-7t6zADZh4kWOQFZQCuoCGGFnxSIvla0FgVaOc66lJnDtlmMP3jviCMLM1S2chazqVX1Qahc4eczPQlODoI79EKhm33uBO978bQCssOpDd8fZJxD_9Y9_S-39NSeY2HsOHDQ-kb3vcWRfKCiZMeNqTzx-7v-bVXS4-swkN/s320/Long&WindingRoad%20Jacket%20image.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><p><b><u>Review</u></b></p><p>If you have ever wondered where Lesley gets her inspiration for her writing and stories, then reading this should explain a few things. Experiences and memories grow into written tales that engage many readers. The good, the painful, the bad, the ugly and the moments of pure joy somewhere in the middle of all the chaos.</p><p>And it does seem quite chaotic at times, probably because there is a lot to tell the reader and not enough pages or time to fit it in. Equally it also seems as if the author has disassociated at a certain level, which makes it easier to deliver facts or her experiences at a factual level without letting them, herself and us be overwhelmed by the emotional impact of many difficult and traumatic events.</p><p>Aside from choosing what she hoped would be a safer more secure path for her child, Lesley is changed by the traumatic experience of having a child and giving them up. Simultaneously she also glosses over the tragedy of the loss of her mother, the abandonment by the father and other family members, and the neglect and abuse her new mother is responsible for. It's a miracle she didn't let it all break her.</p><p>I think her childhood forged coping mechanisms, lack of trust, and the lack of empathy and love is pivotal when it comes to creating meaningful and lasting relationships. Inadvertently creating patterns of chaos, self soothing behaviours and living alone surrounded by many others.</p><p>It's an incredibly open experience and certainly one her readers will enjoy.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Winding-Road-EXTRAORDINARY-CAPTIVATING-ebook/dp/B0CN8VL5BW/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.q84r-K1rAE3dvuk7YoyryK_zOT_7VDpyL9GBTKeKCjtIiyqKZRyHJygICjbZP298_tlilBDSwByJ1Kc8E2bPENn6llsBzdiuXEKCvMbUW5M.KUbhS47Ql7jqWdGSOtdNl9uHlYc0S6SBunUEU_HAew8&qid=1709253188&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy The Long and Winding Road at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/202153879-the-long-and-winding-road" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Published by Penguin Michael Joseph| pub date 29th February 2024 price £22.00 in hardback. </p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-26996916403029408552024-02-22T13:00:00.148+00:002024-02-23T03:45:11.903+00:00#Blogtour The Sleeping Beauties by Lucy Ashe<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EOFcJI0RZ4v1v7Pi0_B2Sk4VuZYBbkiXdUnZJwzkuom0dGimGiHlGi9vamyyWi03WdvtyySVTkrPGwHjFjGf7fUH6OI47X6EMnwvRNUO4gVuJzCmM86qHIyLlOhfpOK3mnZlukVZawmp7LIDxiaSk9D740RZYn9Pqc-Cv4GCdeduZAMe8KEPbWABLkoQ/s1080/Sleeping%20Beauties%202%20BT%20Poster%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="1080" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EOFcJI0RZ4v1v7Pi0_B2Sk4VuZYBbkiXdUnZJwzkuom0dGimGiHlGi9vamyyWi03WdvtyySVTkrPGwHjFjGf7fUH6OI47X6EMnwvRNUO4gVuJzCmM86qHIyLlOhfpOK3mnZlukVZawmp7LIDxiaSk9D740RZYn9Pqc-Cv4GCdeduZAMe8KEPbWABLkoQ/w357-h246/Sleeping%20Beauties%202%20BT%20Poster%20.png" width="357" /></a></div> It's my turn on the Blogtour The Sleeping Beauties by Lucy Ashe.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpxbdZHjTx0OCqa0L33I7IvQnbl6ccATdlJbnygNQ_NWd6038i5BquZCGb_OPZOzSiTbkeMLgkJGzgzf6LuclkVUGPqgE0yRUHCc0p4elJGNDBPLoUWJ5qdCh2Q_zc6T7Qs6zzHpDfL4HGfciLyKzeXU5Y2e4Rc5EhaWDH8PacI-0Uj2gHunAfJG4GcZm9/s600/Lucy%20Ashe%20.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpxbdZHjTx0OCqa0L33I7IvQnbl6ccATdlJbnygNQ_NWd6038i5BquZCGb_OPZOzSiTbkeMLgkJGzgzf6LuclkVUGPqgE0yRUHCc0p4elJGNDBPLoUWJ5qdCh2Q_zc6T7Qs6zzHpDfL4HGfciLyKzeXU5Y2e4Rc5EhaWDH8PacI-0Uj2gHunAfJG4GcZm9/w135-h135/Lucy%20Ashe%20.jpg" width="135" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>After training at the Royal Ballet School for eight years, Lucy Ashe decided to change career plans and go to university, where she read English Literature before doing a PGCE teaching qualification, and she is now a teacher. Her poetry and short stories have been published in a number of literary journals and she was shortlisted for the 2020 Impress Prize for New Writers. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/LSAshe1">@LSAshe1</a> on X</p><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>May, 1945. - At long last, Rosamund Caradon is feeling optimistic. As she returns the last few evacuees to London from her Devonshire manor, she vows to protect dance obsessed daughter Jasmine from further peril. But a chance meeting with a Sadler’s Wells ballerina changes everything. </p><p>When the beautiful, elusive Briar Woods bursts into Rosamund’s train carriage, it’s clear her sights are set on the immediately captivated Jasmine. And Rosamund cannot shake the feeling this accidental encounter is not what it seems. </p><p>While Briar may be far away from the pointe shoes and greasepaint of the Sleeping Beauty ballet that is so much a part of her, this performance might well be her most successful yet. For what she is watching, Rosamund feels, is a strangely unique show, one that’s just for a mother and a daughter… </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPg57-4BjJMifUaiwR9HHDB7c2YCOBgkw2eHQBvVRvMt6Sm_V1_04MpXzlasAu0C60GrtDwcnJKVZoHcuXJJ-qOBwan0lwd3cLm3IiJYB9_oyarDh37Np4H4F-cKAPpucJO-FNOOlwSwkn-9DWt5ddmYZAQW-b_O-2TJvDY0cn6M1DFZcwz8lbHFSIGLF/s2619/SleepingBeauties,%20The_HB_9780861544134.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2619" data-original-width="1628" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPg57-4BjJMifUaiwR9HHDB7c2YCOBgkw2eHQBvVRvMt6Sm_V1_04MpXzlasAu0C60GrtDwcnJKVZoHcuXJJ-qOBwan0lwd3cLm3IiJYB9_oyarDh37Np4H4F-cKAPpucJO-FNOOlwSwkn-9DWt5ddmYZAQW-b_O-2TJvDY0cn6M1DFZcwz8lbHFSIGLF/s320/SleepingBeauties,%20The_HB_9780861544134.jpg" width="199" /></a></div><br /><div><b><u>Review</u></b></div><p>Not going to lie, this started out as a bit of a chaotic read for me. It opened up (digital) on the prologue, which I thought was a great beginning to a serial killer murder - in my defence I had forgotten the blurb and the title sounded like a catchy crime story. Then the first chapter - Act 1, it's war refugees being returned to their homes. Confused, I go back to before the prologue to read Stage Notes, then return to Act 1 for the mysterious and intense ballerina, who has now joined us. To be fair the glaringly obvious references should have been a clue.</p><p>Rosamund and her daughter Jasmine meet the persistent and intriguing Briar, whilst returning to London. Something about Briar triggers a gut reaction of concern in Rosamund, something just isn't right about this young woman, who like Jasmine is a lover of ballet. Briar burrows her way into the relationship between mother and daughter, but why?</p><p>Throughout the story there is a constant redefining of what motherhood is and whether being a mother is always the bog standard version of what society expects. Is knowing the truth about who you are always the right answer?</p><p>It's a good read, which gives great insight into the passion, work ethic and the almost obsessive dedication to ballet. How the world within it becomes its own microcosm of beauty, grace, art and expression. Perhaps also on a bigger scale how moments of pure beauty can bring a little joy in the most difficult of situations.</p><p>On a side note, there are no serial killers in the story at all, although I stand by the fact the prologue and title sound like a great idea for a crime novel.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sleeping-Beauties-Lucy-Ashe-ebook/dp/B0CC36RQYS/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9q35JH2LoPPHqv6xQWO9lqtm9fUJeNLl7yz2xmbtv54AQ1Vz348GqbyiyM5-uXpSX_svV-irag_WUavIO47beWYHeiCPafHlJtrWtyiM2drWGT09zFAARNnRnlp-a--5ZCrg5cqAshudlaRX9YbLQKNtod21C6pp80OZux5ePB2lIHXtxOh61LJhaHi6hu0CfzDAsEpAI1u206lIIucW5FFQKxOiNTW73gQFFpSsotg.imtieChoW80aKDvucS-D3lJF6r71k3KcxySP_GPg8Yo&qid=1708650132&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy The Sleeping Beauties at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198990898-the-sleeping-beauties?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=P5PtGLYdOv&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Published by Magpie, pub date 15th February 2024 - Hardback £16.99. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Beauties-Lucy-Ashe/dp/0861548248/ref=sr_1_1?crid=113O8R5GV2ZR9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9YCVqqYXfZbKLd_XPQdlycL64uuKSfQss21JoUXrvQI.L9LtM-Rhf2pPopLhjjvvgGuzf7Bca_CMgWBoJw2aMwg&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+sleeping+beauties+lucy+ashe&qid=1708650184&sprefix=the+sleeping+beauties%2Caps%2C508&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com</a>.</p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-41220336555994122132024-02-20T14:00:00.002+00:002024-02-21T02:30:42.279+00:00#Blogtour The Hidden Years by Rachel Hore<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1hbaT1upo0M3n_d6GCcU2u-5tBbpHFhJocgVabt-ek6Pm2lNcS3lHd70Y37Ehzt1Zdwpc2g3iTp5xLllWr6-6oz9p2cVuzy6JUbWi4fkS8iW2m6bAAdFNH9D1sPCrcICWNg5e9UKpRnbr-9DbHQmDN1GUsoFSAVbuoC2NnDdT1eRLmpQbcBsfjIi_9lCY/s1080/Hidden%20Years%202%20BT%20Poster%20.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="1080" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1hbaT1upo0M3n_d6GCcU2u-5tBbpHFhJocgVabt-ek6Pm2lNcS3lHd70Y37Ehzt1Zdwpc2g3iTp5xLllWr6-6oz9p2cVuzy6JUbWi4fkS8iW2m6bAAdFNH9D1sPCrcICWNg5e9UKpRnbr-9DbHQmDN1GUsoFSAVbuoC2NnDdT1eRLmpQbcBsfjIi_9lCY/w345-h215/Hidden%20Years%202%20BT%20Poster%20.png" width="345" /></a></div><p><i>Sunday Times bestseller Rachel Hore’s captivating new novel of secrets, loss and betrayal - set on the beautiful Cornish coast during World War Two and the heady days of the 1960s.</i> </p><p>It's my turn on the Blogtour The Hidden Years by Rachel Hore.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnNs3tLyqLU66BDfrZWP134npQgDpcgRjndkSsiCQcWPUcAwJr3adm7b18LmJUo_9EikMi6oq6Z65ZZZzIMAX1mOuvovoMXER5A7SDcNWJWJMKW8JZ77EOSEDZkAucMX4tiCRy-RfLp9t_W5QfwbJI2p7ptVNepMSkt69v2RGmto2juOfkSLbCrPQiEJ0W/s450/Rachel%20Hore.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnNs3tLyqLU66BDfrZWP134npQgDpcgRjndkSsiCQcWPUcAwJr3adm7b18LmJUo_9EikMi6oq6Z65ZZZzIMAX1mOuvovoMXER5A7SDcNWJWJMKW8JZ77EOSEDZkAucMX4tiCRy-RfLp9t_W5QfwbJI2p7ptVNepMSkt69v2RGmto2juOfkSLbCrPQiEJ0W/w155-h155/Rachel%20Hore.jpg" width="155" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>Rachel Hore worked in London publishing for many years before moving with her family to Norwich, where she taught publishing and creative writing at the University of East Anglia before becoming a full-time writer. She is married to the writer D. J. Taylor and they have three sons. Rachel Hore is the author of twelve previous novels, many of them Sunday Times bestsellers. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/Rachelhore">@Rachelhore</a> on X</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7eoaAcYxVXjRO2afv7o48AlRiSI1mulv4SbnB17w6muayYOMEUj3_G-GtiAL401wpfMayzwLIvwmBvx7-uzTbhSi2vrM5gC9YEb_JaddUI2ko9HzIplk7WrzZdEwexTvk5x-j_l3UVpzrxer7x3LtOvOUC8QFWckimjrPX_x4nzB7_8hrFCLG8-CMkkVp/s970/Hidden%20Graphic2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="970" height="99" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7eoaAcYxVXjRO2afv7o48AlRiSI1mulv4SbnB17w6muayYOMEUj3_G-GtiAL401wpfMayzwLIvwmBvx7-uzTbhSi2vrM5gC9YEb_JaddUI2ko9HzIplk7WrzZdEwexTvk5x-j_l3UVpzrxer7x3LtOvOUC8QFWckimjrPX_x4nzB7_8hrFCLG8-CMkkVp/s320/Hidden%20Graphic2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>When talented musician Gray Robinson persuades Belle to abandon her university studies and follow him to Silverwood, home to an artistic community on the Cornish coast, Belle happily agrees even though they’ve only just met. She knows she is falling in love, and the thought of spending a carefree summer with Gray is all she can think about. </p><p>But being with Gray isn’t the only reason Belle agrees to accompany him to Silverwood. Why does the name Silverwood sound so familiar? What is its connection to a photo of her as a baby, taken on a nearby beach? And who is Imogen Lockhart, a wartime nurse who lived at Silverwood many years ago? As the summer months unfold, Belle begins to learn the truth – about secrets from the past that have been kept hidden, but also about the person she wants to be. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEino9zwVXOVUESjf4niyVkkgUHcszrO8BL8h9ZIxPl0oJ9waDD5aG2MFPRPaTYLjLsFrJmB-j6LHpGBTORJlqRvECEJXDNPRWP2E4nwHsq4rykUfHZ-akC51LAEw8_llAVBOIUj4Y4YqB3x3jhSxaiZhOkamCpg-usaFCL0N7czyyrsYKGFDUCup0aqQRLn/s2133/The%20Hidden%20Years%20Paperback%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2133" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEino9zwVXOVUESjf4niyVkkgUHcszrO8BL8h9ZIxPl0oJ9waDD5aG2MFPRPaTYLjLsFrJmB-j6LHpGBTORJlqRvECEJXDNPRWP2E4nwHsq4rykUfHZ-akC51LAEw8_llAVBOIUj4Y4YqB3x3jhSxaiZhOkamCpg-usaFCL0N7czyyrsYKGFDUCup0aqQRLn/s320/The%20Hidden%20Years%20Paperback%20cover.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><p><b><u>Review</u></b></p><p>It's the 60s and Belle is about to embark on a new path, a deviation from her plans from her sensible life. Why? The charm of a persuasive man is so convincing that she is willing to become a butterfly floating on the winds of change. Sounds so convincing, right?</p><p>She follows Gray to a place called Silverwood, and eventually it's as if she was meant to follow him to that place, because it appears to hold the answers to some secrets she was never aware of.</p><p>The second timeline begins on the cusp of the start of World War II and Imogen, who helps to accompany two evacuees to a house that becomes an important fixture in the story. Somehow the two must be connected right, but perhaps the stories connect in a different way completely.</p><p>One of things the author does really well in this book is bring to life the forgotten world of the first line of defence, ergo the coastal communities during the war. The preparation for a possible invasion, the actual invasion of friendly forces - the way the allies changed the fabric of certain areas, and just how many stories remain locked in and forgotten.</p><p>Set across two timelines this historical fiction story has the heart of a fighter, the compassion of an open heart and keeps the reader engaged from the get-go.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hidden-Years-captivating-million-copy-bestseller/dp/1398517992/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36BP02TE1V575&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CMZj_hd_H18G2JTa8Jwc7-4wp58nlcsi0r1UmcCa9VlBh_tr_cpvn-t4k708vf3DXNzNipsLK3zY1mL_IxZNZZnpn-zHF3eSzcCSnI7nmBdyEw_UMBDFpq38Ub4nQ73oFaMOYrle5b4J5CyyElDf1DMsMSyUOCV_IKdRaltGjPeiQdbnH-yPUpBUUH65HGS_91t0cWW7PY9XQIfiCaWZ-EZuL2pn9bO-ZQQSD5QmFYQ.LaRmu59ZMGqzvAyEjp1jNkD5mQ8cG9ZSG_kOPJEoKdU&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+hidden+years+rachel+hore&qid=1708478308&sprefix=the+hidden+years%2Caps%2C76&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy The Hidden Years at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67658809-the-hidden-years?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=hhroiPqG9P&rank=5" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher: Simon and Schuster, pub date 15th February 2024 | Paperback | £9.99. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Years-captivating-million-copy-bestseller-ebook/dp/B0BQ4BZTML/ref=sr_1_1?crid=309AKV3WABN8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.P6icpbESTK0913q0j2Hw6bBBO6AwVjO0QQ5EJA_8lnKB4Q09zYCNE5BqaVHWlSI4U1P_ovBiIaA8G-TVQLXT9f27gM7MUwZGUMb3uy7WYTGdH0RXtSxMeAjoiOpo0zP9rOTdeXiULbRdWPQfOmhDowt6JWwh92F9ztMjm3ANAUs.FRjRVsQ_YFV3cjx-hfGPdBiPiAtFIbJuWMrMGX72jp4&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+hidden+years+rachel+hore&qid=1708478346&sprefix=the+hidden+years%2Caps%2C557&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com</a>.</p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-65565569885337542302024-02-20T13:00:00.071+00:002024-02-21T00:57:05.383+00:00#Blogtour Point Zero by Seicho Matsumoto<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhxbyX1yrLU-WwvvqawRZT1Adv6UnpT74uakWvjBndtyFXWFRmW-Io4zGUdVZsrfWdOHj84RaFyiWFuueSrPDShEIqZ9pHsoaRAqTJh9DDkqFm_WZkjm8kd2a5gl7Bxid83CgHWKXLKVXMU3kTI4gZPWrX4pfu8_QOjaM39ewZQqxFSIKcE__Zqqsa_ZB/s1920/Point%20Zero%20BT%20Poster%20.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1920" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhxbyX1yrLU-WwvvqawRZT1Adv6UnpT74uakWvjBndtyFXWFRmW-Io4zGUdVZsrfWdOHj84RaFyiWFuueSrPDShEIqZ9pHsoaRAqTJh9DDkqFm_WZkjm8kd2a5gl7Bxid83CgHWKXLKVXMU3kTI4gZPWrX4pfu8_QOjaM39ewZQqxFSIKcE__Zqqsa_ZB/w283-h283/Point%20Zero%20BT%20Poster%20.jpeg" width="283" /></a></div><p>It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Point Zero by Seicho Matsumoto. <i>'First published in Japanese in 1959, the novel abandoned the template of closed-room mysteries so popular in pre-war Japan to embrace social criticism.' </i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xlJkCUGWRPKC9GlVmcRT5d8b7-yLdfjfLWn8wiKLQyZmaLtye0Id1bb9oRIG3VQy34VI-ODN6K0tABPhn64TjiH0mBd8tIg9yObjninLsuBYZ8EkqkCQsiRjtrZMNCuW3uib6-iTRrnZnMY-bNfGrhC8_VAb9uKa7W4KZAuKkuwPyq9-mGgeeXQ-BfFo/s1280/Seicho%20.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xlJkCUGWRPKC9GlVmcRT5d8b7-yLdfjfLWn8wiKLQyZmaLtye0Id1bb9oRIG3VQy34VI-ODN6K0tABPhn64TjiH0mBd8tIg9yObjninLsuBYZ8EkqkCQsiRjtrZMNCuW3uib6-iTRrnZnMY-bNfGrhC8_VAb9uKa7W4KZAuKkuwPyq9-mGgeeXQ-BfFo/w204-h115/Seicho%20.jpeg" width="204" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>Author: Seicho Matsumoto (1909-1982) was Japan's most successful mystery writer. His first detective novel, Points and Lines, sold over a million copies in Japan. Vessel of Sand, published in English as Inspector Imanishi Investigates in 1989, sold over four million copies and became a movie box-office hit. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuRMVyk7gf87gGk9hgVXNChShtzzSjTee0oIYCu8cU7OT0IXeg9PipQ59ujkx6t16CpDM5qtb8zfvbM5NHvVNmNVzRZ1zStH8QqtH5r_4AcPuizaQVNP08MwbP7_wMumOyxsPkKsonBYfflk9DIvJbNlL4M20ERi32cWWHCHXWaIVXzXEcapx3XTO_awdl/s726/Louise%20Heal%20Kawai%20Translator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="726" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuRMVyk7gf87gGk9hgVXNChShtzzSjTee0oIYCu8cU7OT0IXeg9PipQ59ujkx6t16CpDM5qtb8zfvbM5NHvVNmNVzRZ1zStH8QqtH5r_4AcPuizaQVNP08MwbP7_wMumOyxsPkKsonBYfflk9DIvJbNlL4M20ERi32cWWHCHXWaIVXzXEcapx3XTO_awdl/w168-h168/Louise%20Heal%20Kawai%20Translator.jpg" width="168" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Translator </u></b></p><p>Louise Heal Kawai is a translator of Japanese literature based in Yokohama. She previously translated Seicho Matsumoto’s A Quiet Place for Bitter Lemon Press. She is the translator of other works in the mystery genre, including Seishi Yokomizo’s The Honjin Murders and Death on Gokumon Island, and Seventeen and The North Light by Hideo Yokoyama. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/quietmoonwave17">@quietmoonwave17</a> on X</p><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>Tokyo, 1958. Teiko marries Kenichi Uhara, ten years her senior, an advertising man recommended by a go-between. After a four-day honeymoon, Kenichi vanishes. Teiko travels to the coastal and snow-bound city of Kanazawa, where Kenichi was last seen, to investigate his disappearance. When Kenichi’s brother comes to help her, he is murdered, poisoned in his hotel room. </p><p>Soon, Teiko discovers that her husband’s disappearance is tied up with the so-called “pan-pan girls”, women who worked as prostitutes catering to American GIs after the war. Now, ten years later, as the country is recovering, there are those who are willing to take extreme measures to hide that past.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixmPL7NIGC9MhFaD3o_aAsgNyStndEMQ6kmsZGKW_JPLzGRyN2fc3lkkkeqcC2mnC1juAxAsw-0PgCm7J1s4qtdOPcZtEa4xxHK926go2C8F6iug7uqHkURsH-ZtIk2fzEl_V_O-SuWH7eK_Qvm8bHibZJk-t1ToD_TJR6aD5JU1NxkFTNOwCBs0Z10y5K/s2456/Point%20Zero%20cover%20Final.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2456" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixmPL7NIGC9MhFaD3o_aAsgNyStndEMQ6kmsZGKW_JPLzGRyN2fc3lkkkeqcC2mnC1juAxAsw-0PgCm7J1s4qtdOPcZtEa4xxHK926go2C8F6iug7uqHkURsH-ZtIk2fzEl_V_O-SuWH7eK_Qvm8bHibZJk-t1ToD_TJR6aD5JU1NxkFTNOwCBs0Z10y5K/s320/Point%20Zero%20cover%20Final.jpeg" width="208" /></a></div><p><b><u>Review</u></b></p><p>When you realise that the whole point of Teiko's movements - in fact the entirety of the plot structure - is the antithesis version of the much loved closed room mystery. Then it all makes sense, because at some point you might find yourself in a state of confusion or with a bit of whiplash from the constant movement from start to finish. It never lets up. It begins with Teiko and eventually other characters follow suit.</p><p>Teiko begins her journey as a woman who is expected to fulfil her societal role and tick the appropriate boxes, which includes an arranged marriage to businessman ten years her senior. The niggles and the reddish flags that raise their heads are suddenly forgotten when her brand new husband disappears on a business trip. Her initial response - concerned wife - turns into something akin to Miss Marple with a bone.</p><p>What slowly unravels is mystery wrapped tightly in the claws of those who will do anything to hide the truth and others who wander on the periphery of said truth.</p><p>It's the kind of story one could imagine being set on screen, where the vivid imagery would unfold and gift the eye of the beholder with the true beauty of this story. Each tense emotionally restricted moment becoming the minutiae as the background tries to seduce the watcher or reader. Kudos to the translator for capturing the voice, spirit and soul of this book.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Point-Zero-Seicho-Matsumoto-ebook/dp/B0CHMZGK36/ref=sr_1_1?crid=28PZ9ZVIS71WC&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.B06jngl1TrV5H-773c_CSXX-utvjCTjstdM5ke348zkgElFDvMC0Z8GGORV_y4hwJCsZhjgzS8v98qyRJ2OvFnGB3rKJ2Y6sxzgob7GUWgIFHaVKromzpNcvZzL94llceRAYvmT-awoaaYtHvb6UcQ.gh1jz7OF6UbKVlFcLnCZK67pOfbkFSvHYmfulR6p63Q&dib_tag=se&keywords=point+zero+matsumoto&qid=1708473417&sprefix=point+zero%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy Point Zero at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123038701-point-zero" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher : Bitter Lemon Press; pub date 10 Feb. 2024. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Point-Zero-Matsumoto-Seicho-ebook/dp/B0BX4MMP9Q/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1HG6PFM931HME&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2cFl-oYMdL44oxRxtKTT0uCY79X82rMtflvbCGsItinktKvT6snwfYepvW7i0SSpiUryWeQWdxcuAQmHdPWg_Q.plyBnnF-ekCKOA-j5xuIrDI9HoCRHp4pYM0NyDHQECE&dib_tag=se&keywords=point+zero+seicho+matsumoto&qid=1708473554&sprefix=point+zero+se%2Caps%2C1742&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com</a>.</p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-11008646837345437402024-02-19T13:00:00.006+00:002024-02-20T01:27:37.409+00:00#Blogtour The Sisterhood by Katherine Bradley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjBHHKTontMt5eQMpzn1vpbEIPMIKEX6VYHpWbzJMszTH9E8-DI6AIr8dn0BAoN6I5CMkmnwtIumkzYIIGG8f2fw5g77yU1Is6lhIgSW8Vv0EK-BwoiXUBLeFrT8ASEMRhi1d6WRhKDL9Vkvqr4qXuDLxnAGvj1nefR1wvQEpk62kO1YNs7UBvgB-lstT/s1080/The%20Sisterhood%20BT%20Poster%20.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="1080" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjBHHKTontMt5eQMpzn1vpbEIPMIKEX6VYHpWbzJMszTH9E8-DI6AIr8dn0BAoN6I5CMkmnwtIumkzYIIGG8f2fw5g77yU1Is6lhIgSW8Vv0EK-BwoiXUBLeFrT8ASEMRhi1d6WRhKDL9Vkvqr4qXuDLxnAGvj1nefR1wvQEpk62kO1YNs7UBvgB-lstT/s320/The%20Sisterhood%20BT%20Poster%20.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Sisterhood by Katherine Bradley.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpXXYygCRbXLvCleRlvJhOCvznkJSTK9_Ws00M3IRi8qiaIKRQWKPu2MH-5M4NrBSTfoYHaqtMxF8e80h23TeveWf5-EPqckp4FBguVzVeXCOFnmfai_u5RA9bVC9VThW3iaFoysPKp7xICVB2So-skhJ8xXyh8vq9s6FOy2rAOaz0usf_O9mLm14tzkyf/s450/Katherine%20Bradley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpXXYygCRbXLvCleRlvJhOCvznkJSTK9_Ws00M3IRi8qiaIKRQWKPu2MH-5M4NrBSTfoYHaqtMxF8e80h23TeveWf5-EPqckp4FBguVzVeXCOFnmfai_u5RA9bVC9VThW3iaFoysPKp7xICVB2So-skhJ8xXyh8vq9s6FOy2rAOaz0usf_O9mLm14tzkyf/w130-h130/Katherine%20Bradley.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>Katherine Bradley worked for many years managing services for people who are marginalised by society; her work has taken her into prisons, mental health hospitals and alongside the homeless. She currently works in education. She holds a first-class degree in English Literature, in addition to qualifications in creative writing and teaching. </p><p>As Kate Bradley, she published two suspense thrillers - To Keep You Safe (2020) and What I Did (2021). Her work has been described as 'addictive, original and brilliantly twisty' by T. M. Logan and 'heart-stopping' by David Nicholls. Katherine lives in a small coastal town just outside of Brighton with her husband and sons. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/kate__bradley">@kate__bradley</a> on X</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHKEMAcq7crCBn_InpMUDO34hbnQE_4Yce0qrPLcOr4MBXQo2eNqdB_PqEfFoq44jlcrIiOt-vC7jUt-g2omDfUQubWNa0xF3ZndlYp-xBHjQA-8llTAJHhKoSImYqUG1wvt2RO2EmpwshZqEP5YvqN_9jQqVMkswq0D2CeBYYawHCAMYUEO41jmvDJNC/s970/Sisterhood%20Graphic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="970" height="99" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHKEMAcq7crCBn_InpMUDO34hbnQE_4Yce0qrPLcOr4MBXQo2eNqdB_PqEfFoq44jlcrIiOt-vC7jUt-g2omDfUQubWNa0xF3ZndlYp-xBHjQA-8llTAJHhKoSImYqUG1wvt2RO2EmpwshZqEP5YvqN_9jQqVMkswq0D2CeBYYawHCAMYUEO41jmvDJNC/s320/Sisterhood%20Graphic1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>In Oceania, whoever you are, Big Brother is always watching you. Trust is a luxury that no one has. Julia is the seemingly perfect example of what women in Oceania should be: dutiful, useful, subservient, meek. But Julia hides a secret. A secret that would lead to her death if discovered. For Julia is part of the underground movement called The Sisterhood, whose main goal is to find members of The Brotherhood, the anti-Party vigilante group, and help them to overthrow Big Brother. Only then can everyone be truly free. </p><p>When Julia thinks she’s found a potential member of The Brotherhood, it seems like their goal might finally be in their grasp. But as she gets closer to Winston Smith, Julia’s past starts to catch up with her and we soon realise that she has many more secrets than we’d first imagined – and that overthrowing Big Brother might cost her everything – but if you have nothing left to lose then you don’t mind playing the game . . . </p><p>This is a story about love, about family, about being a woman, a mother, a sister, a friend and ultimately about what you would sacrifice for the greater good. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJjw__lngmjGaKUfQH37cp6SBoisxNZRkfe_ysHq5tPJmeCpZ74LqF1jpS6pl2SjFluimNe5amPkaPxT4DoSFDDe06rCu7ktHNxwVfc5VUWQnqfVw5uJfk0RMih3BZb2XhtitV6nfKuKRhWgl7Zdf9GZN0xB5bt8Xx79EFCrx5AN2sGpn_MTOeoXS-9xS/s2339/Sisterhood%20Cover%20.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2339" data-original-width="1536" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJjw__lngmjGaKUfQH37cp6SBoisxNZRkfe_ysHq5tPJmeCpZ74LqF1jpS6pl2SjFluimNe5amPkaPxT4DoSFDDe06rCu7ktHNxwVfc5VUWQnqfVw5uJfk0RMih3BZb2XhtitV6nfKuKRhWgl7Zdf9GZN0xB5bt8Xx79EFCrx5AN2sGpn_MTOeoXS-9xS/w193-h294/Sisterhood%20Cover%20.jpeg" width="193" /></a></div><br /><div><b><u>Review</u></b></div><p>I think to get a better and perhaps a more objective view of the book you have to try and forget what has gone before. Experience the story without the frame of reference of the reimagining of the classic, then afterwards compare and examine if you want. </p><p>Fresh eyes experience the oppression of a dystopian society with a bleak shimmer of hope coursing through the veins of the few who haven't given up quite yet. Sisterhood speaks volumes and suggests vast connections with the feminist reimagined character development of 1984.</p><p>It deserves the objective eye and to stand on its own merit even if the base idea is inspired by the well of another. This idea well has allowed growth beyond expectation, despite the societal construct of complete oppression, monitoring and control being an old concept. Although it is both worrying and an eye-opener how the degeneration happens in the first place - is it not upon us already as we speak? </p><p>I found it riveting. The author knows how to captivate the reader with the fraught tension, the risk and constant danger, and does so in the midst of a bleak concept. Bare minimum makes you focus on the small interactions, the barely evident body language and expressions, the repressed emotions and fear in the back of your neck.</p><p>Excellent read - hopefully there is more to come.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sisterhood-Brother-watching-they-coming/dp/1398514284/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1VOL3G98YJCQJ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.IE1DunO2wyhVChzPx5-nFyAswWzz9xE_FZI3eEHimsjGsjER2JVsYWSnM7EVcjgFsLj4UmfHB9yBJfDyn_lOXJfr44MNh8dpMejBOFoiF2oe4ry8eyDJS3v1PS8tQFYuS_DcVnXQgGZXI2YaI7enDqirlmn4svl8Ue8SPmaWTbWbke70BZ3zmZsdHIT1PdwU.KT_ShZVgsMDjfSF9-oZWXfCjuUdSAJPcBzMz8YNeUog&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+sisterhood+by+katherine&qid=1708386056&sprefix=%2Caps%2C205&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy The Sisterhood at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62602771-the-sisterhood" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher: Simon and Schuster, pub date 18th January 2024 - Paperback | £9.99. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sisterhood-Bradley-Katherine/dp/1398514284/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1SRLY7D353X0U&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.qPPQksyAAojQ4-l1oI_C1A.O9ywyXyN3n1kqZHKwdyzdcxDPVES3ys1W9tyYPs0flo&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+sisterhood+katherine+bradley&qid=1708386106&sprefix=the+sisterhood+katherine%2Caps%2C399&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com</a>.</p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-3301003482714880692024-02-09T13:00:00.102+00:002024-02-10T01:54:55.415+00:00#Blogtour Mongrel by Hanako Footman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtjk7p8w2zlRMI8xEzaU2v2eTPt0kBUIzYDW13AFBTfoURIHtqprareZ2LiJSaTqZ7rB5YtfJyU8YaD1c-nNLhwnPQE-2h05ejZxu8WsAwIeDgfzPi3wcg7Sf8LH3Nmas09cz0qXQjPfvSlhbCCOcsf9cFUPmrPJIUdwJG3LCnFqvjiPC6Ripqt55UdAcw/s1920/Mongrel%20BT%20Poster%20.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1920" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtjk7p8w2zlRMI8xEzaU2v2eTPt0kBUIzYDW13AFBTfoURIHtqprareZ2LiJSaTqZ7rB5YtfJyU8YaD1c-nNLhwnPQE-2h05ejZxu8WsAwIeDgfzPi3wcg7Sf8LH3Nmas09cz0qXQjPfvSlhbCCOcsf9cFUPmrPJIUdwJG3LCnFqvjiPC6Ripqt55UdAcw/s320/Mongrel%20BT%20Poster%20.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Mongrel by Hanako Footman, which is a 2024 debut novel you don't want to miss.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkg72DbzuYp_yNYY4mxoyIgdLRAp6VwKIzosOEais11Q2ImThH6p6Ixrd4jN9rHsWo2XGORxTX1ttELlY3n6_nZcSnaKpoDdFQAABLhyWTj__tsgvzWsSBw3jxpDOKoeZHm5F_M-QVSrO_vVpUR2w4BNrf2Bxm7yyRzyimV817-nU7CEnmbfQGFb_vKP0T/s1920/Hanako_Footman__Chris_Dwyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkg72DbzuYp_yNYY4mxoyIgdLRAp6VwKIzosOEais11Q2ImThH6p6Ixrd4jN9rHsWo2XGORxTX1ttELlY3n6_nZcSnaKpoDdFQAABLhyWTj__tsgvzWsSBw3jxpDOKoeZHm5F_M-QVSrO_vVpUR2w4BNrf2Bxm7yyRzyimV817-nU7CEnmbfQGFb_vKP0T/w180-h101/Hanako_Footman__Chris_Dwyer.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>Hanako Footman is a British-Japanese actor and author living in London. Mongrel is her debut novel. Follow <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hanakofootman/">@hanakofootman</a> on Instagram</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLfZw3hhVIRGPIi7Ywf5oZxen6Le8GiVADVkOqPbHcWaSMWCeQJjs-qjglbJiCkXc6A_yBFsqzuPXtBezUliAI4Egji4ZQ9-p18sSBehN7U_9LygCnCJCmGp3Se3sjg1Wo7Ej2aBqGztWgDtRmGkAQrnpvDy9pwc5zEZGBjrCg2EkfBIL4N_xIY9rZ-OL/s300/Mongrel%20Graphic2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLfZw3hhVIRGPIi7Ywf5oZxen6Le8GiVADVkOqPbHcWaSMWCeQJjs-qjglbJiCkXc6A_yBFsqzuPXtBezUliAI4Egji4ZQ9-p18sSBehN7U_9LygCnCJCmGp3Se3sjg1Wo7Ej2aBqGztWgDtRmGkAQrnpvDy9pwc5zEZGBjrCg2EkfBIL4N_xIY9rZ-OL/w207-h207/Mongrel%20Graphic2.jpeg" width="207" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>Mei loses her Japanese mother at age six. Growing up in suburban Surrey, she yearns to fit in, suppressing both her heritage and her growing love for her best friend Fran.</p><p>Yuki leaves the Japanese countryside to pursue her dream of becoming a concert violinist in London. Lonely and far from home, she finds herself caught up in the charms of her older teacher.</p><p>Haruka attempts to navigate Tokyo’s nightlife and all of its many vices, working as a hostess in seedy bars. She grieves a mother who hid so many secrets from her, until finally one of those secrets comes to light . . .</p><p>Shifting between three intertwining narratives, Mongrel reveals a tangled web of isolation, desire, love, and ultimately, hope.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSQVeQSuEJ0W8w-nsb9dX_8P06I9k1ZAxOxutSigfos0gRVkXJATrK5_xmp47677-YuiAOMR08XmPEG7s6aMJ_utF2hIZ-EMMKWWLoRQAcmTo6JX5DVql6kfVzTGNxDksS_245prQaVtmfnNbkXB8PQ01jg3Bq2ipCSRupRCSU6e2Aamj6kU3R2hlALTU/s2764/Mongrel%20Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2764" data-original-width="1795" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSQVeQSuEJ0W8w-nsb9dX_8P06I9k1ZAxOxutSigfos0gRVkXJATrK5_xmp47677-YuiAOMR08XmPEG7s6aMJ_utF2hIZ-EMMKWWLoRQAcmTo6JX5DVql6kfVzTGNxDksS_245prQaVtmfnNbkXB8PQ01jg3Bq2ipCSRupRCSU6e2Aamj6kU3R2hlALTU/s320/Mongrel%20Cover.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><p><b><u>Review</u></b></p><p>With Mei we experience the coming-of-age, the awakening of her sexuality, the tasting of the hidden rather than forbidden fruit. The confusion, betrayal and the search for answers. With Yuki the reader can see the writing on the wall, despite not knowing the importance of her role at the beginning. Then there is Haruka who becomes the physical representation of rejection, the inability to swallow pride to save her sanity and she is also the road upon which healing can be built.</p><p>As the threads between Mei, Yuki and Haruka become more visual to the eye of the beholder, the better the reader understands each woman. Their experiences, regardless of their age at the time, and how their past, similarities and connections have an impact on their lives and relationships.</p><p>I also found it fascinating how the author manages to give each subjective view of the characters who intersect the lives of the women at different times. The person I meet and experience is not the person you meet and experience, much like each child has a different version of their parent, which means their interactions and views can differ vastly from each other.</p><p>Sometimes you find stories that have the capacity to go beyond the hook of a great read and story, they connect with the reader on a visceral level. I find it's often the case when the beauty of the prose elevates the story to a level above a mere reaction of compassion, empathy, pain, despair or just the recognition of some element of self. Footman has that je ne sais quoi, and the ability to deliver in word what the eye perceives and heart feels.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mongrel-most-captivating-debut-TADDEO-ebook/dp/B0CLDP81GH/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1707525103&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy Mongrel at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122762546-mongrel?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_14" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher : Footnote Press, pub date 8 Feb. 2024. <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/mongrel-hanako-footman/7589719?ean=9781804440438" target="_blank">Buy via Bookshop org</a>.</p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-4362175938715066992024-02-08T13:00:00.080+00:002024-02-09T02:43:27.259+00:00#Blogtour A Deadly Portrayal by L.M. Milford<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHNxM6HMmoMH5mSf1G-6k_wgaaRvqtreYd-Jgo7pvUGaacsmgTTOrkwG79NQEfhScPMNB1UdGN5DKMVgsZlskfg0cWTVicRsd9HmnsrCFPtyM5GNPrHeW8N5GE5hRYMVOkgOTgBC01XbA2wMeWoUIiuhkJncuWRzuPqO_aC8QwzdGJRnWbNSEayDs3RBX_/s700/A%20Deadly%20Portrayal.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="700" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHNxM6HMmoMH5mSf1G-6k_wgaaRvqtreYd-Jgo7pvUGaacsmgTTOrkwG79NQEfhScPMNB1UdGN5DKMVgsZlskfg0cWTVicRsd9HmnsrCFPtyM5GNPrHeW8N5GE5hRYMVOkgOTgBC01XbA2wMeWoUIiuhkJncuWRzuPqO_aC8QwzdGJRnWbNSEayDs3RBX_/w344-h144/A%20Deadly%20Portrayal.png" width="344" /></a></div><p>It's my turn on the Blogtour A Deadly Portrayal by L.M. Milford.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuZBJedUSY54PXWfPg0m9zBaJEGUlll4YAvorh99IB1TCTN1uC0caxvRNETsJK4nSJ5GUWC4N7VjG0LXpoQ1-HAF1Ihlp2Z8pg6dSvUn628Vg5zOdgSXMnWiFyYgG5EOj8B3BjMG9fa2ftYnK5TCMXe55bXYjeTUn4tbG45juVZKMmKqDpC9OCk1-xA8Hc/s1080/A%20Deadly%20LM%20Milford.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuZBJedUSY54PXWfPg0m9zBaJEGUlll4YAvorh99IB1TCTN1uC0caxvRNETsJK4nSJ5GUWC4N7VjG0LXpoQ1-HAF1Ihlp2Z8pg6dSvUn628Vg5zOdgSXMnWiFyYgG5EOj8B3BjMG9fa2ftYnK5TCMXe55bXYjeTUn4tbG45juVZKMmKqDpC9OCk1-xA8Hc/w124-h124/A%20Deadly%20LM%20Milford.jpg" width="124" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>LM Milford is a crime fiction author who writes the Allensbury mysteries, covering the exploits of local newspaper reporter Dan Sullivan.</p><p>A former newspaper journalist, Lynne’s experience has influenced her work, although her stories were never as exciting as Dan’s.</p><p>Lynne was born and brought up in the north-east of England, but now lives in Kent with her husband and far too many books. She loves cooking, baking and holidays in Spain. She’s partial to a good red wine and plates of cheese. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/LMMilford">@LMMilford</a> on X, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/LMmilford/">LMmilford</a> on Instagram, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lmmilford">lmmilford</a> on Facebook or visit <a href="https://lmmilford.com/">lmmilford.com</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwbfSBHKxA3QPonmozoeBpQQk-u3yDWXRGeLWOlvSKW18B0Xax9tgbM6-_FdgRJOXotl2dLnaK6nJsn66Dfsqso4w4utE5fVR3eX0yZrWWYutyoPxVNjOvaxFI6xB_lUPyxP6t4OuFhNH_v075snCwJeXxgnpcl11veJiZD40tvz6fACPzFIhSkj598Ch/s2019/A%20Deadly%20Portrayal%20Full%20Tour%20Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="2019" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwbfSBHKxA3QPonmozoeBpQQk-u3yDWXRGeLWOlvSKW18B0Xax9tgbM6-_FdgRJOXotl2dLnaK6nJsn66Dfsqso4w4utE5fVR3eX0yZrWWYutyoPxVNjOvaxFI6xB_lUPyxP6t4OuFhNH_v075snCwJeXxgnpcl11veJiZD40tvz6fACPzFIhSkj598Ch/w258-h160/A%20Deadly%20Portrayal%20Full%20Tour%20Banner.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>About the book</u></b></div><p>When local crime reporter Emma Fletcher is asked to help identify her friend's blackmailer, she discovers a link to the recent death of a teacher at Allensbury Dance and Drama School.</p><p>Meanwhile, a police investigation is uncovering some dark secrets, and it is clear that someone is seeking revenge for past wrongs. As Emma's list of suspects continues to grow, the discovery of a second body puts her in the killer's sights.</p><p>Warned off the investigation by the police for her own safety, Emma decides the best way to save herself is to find the culprit first.</p><p>With the help of fellow news reporter Dan Sullivan, Emma must work out who is targeting Allensbury Dance and Drama School before the killer strikes again</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2FHgVhoGBL4YRLjS74VhDDqmhvhdnUYkVRPU1u7eYYodpy6RrvN4ntCEJNKTSoTJHtksocXFwE2algs0Ds7ZgsmIaXFpILF1jytwLLo0gKtDAUwfI_Xx-g4yCyFkQObX7_NDssigpsJD9S_tF2k405QBnwzwDSoq-gcWs6rls8httj8t11NluNLO1hCI/s2551/ADeadlyPortrayal_eBcov.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2551" data-original-width="1649" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2FHgVhoGBL4YRLjS74VhDDqmhvhdnUYkVRPU1u7eYYodpy6RrvN4ntCEJNKTSoTJHtksocXFwE2algs0Ds7ZgsmIaXFpILF1jytwLLo0gKtDAUwfI_Xx-g4yCyFkQObX7_NDssigpsJD9S_tF2k405QBnwzwDSoq-gcWs6rls8httj8t11NluNLO1hCI/w189-h292/ADeadlyPortrayal_eBcov.jpg" width="189" /></a></div><div><b><u>Review</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Not sure murder and mayhem in the midst of a school for dance and drama is that much of a surprise. In a school full of big egos with a natural inclination towards emotional outbursts and a lot of me, me, me behaviour. Of course there are going to be people with resentment and jealousy, whether they are willing to kill because of it is quite another.</div><div><br /></div><div>When the death of a teacher starts as a simple possible accident that evolves into something more sinister, it's also the beginning of the end of something more sinister hidden beneath the surface.</div><div><br /></div><div>She has a natural way in, because she knows the school. I think at times she struggles to mediate between being a supportive friend and doing anything she can to get the big scoop. Emma finds herself entangled in a deeper scandal and mess than anyone was prepared for, it's more than just murder. It's a story of revenge, protection and trying to keep someone safe in a bizarre way.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's a crime story that reads with the comfort of a cosy and the yet it also brings some harsh realities to the table. The truth behind false admiration and the way powerful people manipulate the vulnerable and those on the lower end of the power scale. It never loses the low-key appeal of a murder mystery comfort read.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deadly-Portrayal-murder-Allensbury-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0CKN4L76P/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1707440911&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy A Deadly Portrayal at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199421374-a-deadly-portrayal?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=rTUVXQn3cg&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher : Readthrough Press; pub date 28 Oct. 2023. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Portrayal-murder-Allensbury-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0CKN4L76P/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2U3JN007GX8Y4&keywords=a+deadly+portrayal+milford&qid=1707441088&sprefix=a+deadly+portrayal+milford%2Caps%2C363&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com</a>. <a href="https://books2read.com/u/mYqvGV" target="_blank">Via books2read</a></div>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-89881297345843976962024-02-07T13:00:00.003+00:002024-02-08T13:48:51.534+00:00#Blogtour Don't Let Her Go by Willow Rose<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP1yw-xpr8RncnGOgsgA5gSuPLBE-fq4shA6musKnys743PJoLxZSEDzGn9-KvJ6pDh81o3NpeI2niMliGU5EraKhJ_2RCIcqvUAh6L0I8Ms3IqjzffX_ASp7rqB4oAL1qP7nufXQhvb88ImE69m1526Ov1dXWZNbEDHjjCmOYO7fnlsulDPJLtIzkMOyP/s1600/Don't%20Let%20Her%20Go%20Blog%20Tour%20%20%20(1).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP1yw-xpr8RncnGOgsgA5gSuPLBE-fq4shA6musKnys743PJoLxZSEDzGn9-KvJ6pDh81o3NpeI2niMliGU5EraKhJ_2RCIcqvUAh6L0I8Ms3IqjzffX_ASp7rqB4oAL1qP7nufXQhvb88ImE69m1526Ov1dXWZNbEDHjjCmOYO7fnlsulDPJLtIzkMOyP/w212-h337/Don't%20Let%20Her%20Go%20Blog%20Tour%20%20%20(1).png" width="212" /></a></div><p>It's my turn on the Blogtour Don't Let Her Go by Willow Rose - book 1 in the Detective Billie Ann Wilde series.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9BE1E8-u9ZXiWA-2k8pq2iIyd7r4QYNN5Dpc9P5KWCxL8xF3eK-bHlK5PdYZLVLOlSWPxZM2Wdm6_I1TxqPI2-L11vnUtXoR7NNHxj9KdJV-NJninDLldfZdCtBm1GJpmwyINAxNoGC7lnXwVTUlU2VyEtz0pTfchthErV3GU1EseJsGqo9zFu4vnsSRi/s640/Willow%20Rose.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="427" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9BE1E8-u9ZXiWA-2k8pq2iIyd7r4QYNN5Dpc9P5KWCxL8xF3eK-bHlK5PdYZLVLOlSWPxZM2Wdm6_I1TxqPI2-L11vnUtXoR7NNHxj9KdJV-NJninDLldfZdCtBm1GJpmwyINAxNoGC7lnXwVTUlU2VyEtz0pTfchthErV3GU1EseJsGqo9zFu4vnsSRi/w119-h178/Willow%20Rose.jpeg" width="119" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>Willow Rose is a multi-million-copy bestselling author of more than 90 novels. Several of her books have reached the top 10 of all books in the Amazon store in the US, UK, and Canada. She has sold more than seven million books, which have been translated into many languages. Willow's books are fast-paced, nail-biting page-turners with twists you won't see coming; that's why her fans call her "The Queen of Plot Twists". Willow lives on Florida’s Space Coast. When she is not writing or reading, you will find her surfing and watching the dolphins play in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/madamwillowrose?lang=da">@madamwillowrose</a> on X</p><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>A missing five-year-old girl is the key to unlocking a detective’s terrifying past…</p><p>When Detective Billie Ann Wilde receives a desperate call that five-year-old Emma Wilson is missing, she rushes to the family home. But inside the picture-perfect house surrounded by Florida marshlands, she finds no children’s clothes or toys, no photos of the innocent child Emma’s mother Marissa describes. Billie suspects Marissa Wilson is hiding from someone.</p><p>It’s a race against the clock to find Emma. But Marissa refuses to tell Billie anything about her past, and before long, she also disappears…</p><p>And then Billie realizes who Marissa is. She’s the ten-year-old girl Billie failed to find in her first ever case fourteen years ago. The leads went cold because Billie made a fatal mistake.</p><p>As more bodies turn up in the same marshlands, Billie must revisit her past and face up to her demons to find Marissa and her child. But she is unknowingly putting herself in the path of a terrifying serial killer…</p><p>An explosive new crime series from multi-million-copy bestseller Willow Rose. Fans of Lisa Regan, Robert Dugoni and Kendra Elliot will be on the edge of their seats, unable to put this book down!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVyKGD3_mnMtdjyNE2vcd6_hnpYQJR71WSBIEue1wwXRAJzlx0h5eyWr_Wycq049bj14fKhR1VUw0R3s-c2nR4boDVQolAYRLTI2SFve4S9IGZwRTDOxLlUWgwWoHV_EpXXSPd4_gMyEAqxYm5iNMLJ79pV1U4UiAKKeUDVl8cEEuM7yHHmqARnilM9bc/s700/Book%20-%20Don't%20Let%20Her%20Go.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVyKGD3_mnMtdjyNE2vcd6_hnpYQJR71WSBIEue1wwXRAJzlx0h5eyWr_Wycq049bj14fKhR1VUw0R3s-c2nR4boDVQolAYRLTI2SFve4S9IGZwRTDOxLlUWgwWoHV_EpXXSPd4_gMyEAqxYm5iNMLJ79pV1U4UiAKKeUDVl8cEEuM7yHHmqARnilM9bc/w156-h156/Book%20-%20Don't%20Let%20Her%20Go.png" width="156" /></a></div><p><b><u>Review</u></b></p><p>Detective Billie Ann Wilde is on the cusp of change and is boldly taking a step forward to acknowledge her true self, simultaneously she is thrown into the chaos of a missing child who possibly didn't exist in the first place and the murder of a young girl. With a battle at home and people questioning her professional accuracy and suspicions about the current cases - it's both frustrating and a wild crime ride.</p><p>It could be a little smoother, but that might just be a choice of storytelling or author style. Overall it is the kind of story that has important nuances when it comes to safeguarding, abuse, exploitation, trusting your gut and never forgetting about the victims swallowed up into the darkness of the system and crime.</p><p>I have a side-note about the way the reactions and perceptions of one of the victims though, just because it rankled me a wee bit while I was reading. It's the way the reactions are written in a way that could be interpreted as mutual arousal. Grooming, especially long-term targeted grooming, often creates a sense of guilt because attraction and consent are falsely loaded onto the victim, ergo no blame lies with the groomer. A vulnerable neglected child is vulnerable to any person who gifts them any type of affection.</p><p>I enjoyed the personal aspect of the Billie Ann's character, it sheds a light on the devastating and often hypocritical reactions to her discovery of self. Suddenly her sexual orientation is equated with being a bad mother, an awful human being and oh gosh get ready to burn in the pits of hell. Strange how a hurt ego can manifest into something so destructive - I'm sure that saga will continue in the next book. Looking forward to it.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Let-Her-unputdownable-heart-pounding-ebook/dp/B0CNTVS39W/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3T9RXQTYHRSL&keywords=don%27t+let+her+go+willow+rose&qid=1707390334&sprefix=don%27t+let+her+go%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy Don't Let Her Go at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/202537605-don-t-let-her-go?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=CYVYcYBrNV&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher : Bookouture pub date 2 Feb. 2024. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Let-Her-unputdownable-heart-pounding-ebook/dp/B0CNTVS39W/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2WZPDMLIWTII7&keywords=don%27t+let+her+go&qid=1707391159&sprefix=don%27t+let+her+g%2Caps%2C446&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com</a>.</p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-51117765262867469362024-02-05T13:00:00.007+00:002024-02-06T03:06:23.404+00:00#Blogtour An Honest Living by Dwyer Murphy<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEeQS8TUvCxLxDW2Mw8jlWBDxEBOtzmhP0hB_BNnP_2bazK11YrI6wEgJXTHsvk5_aNh7QuW8WVdk7eUn5yaIQkspMSBNj8f6jze0qgkSvYvmtD94Cnb3-LDXNU7F2saXCwRNKhJoK7q1BYNwH-BeB2Ug34cngB8zVcoOs5F-LRzfYDkPDb4-PCH6Dpctw/s1080/An%20Honest%20Living%20(Insta)%20BT%20Poster%20.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="688" data-original-width="1080" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEeQS8TUvCxLxDW2Mw8jlWBDxEBOtzmhP0hB_BNnP_2bazK11YrI6wEgJXTHsvk5_aNh7QuW8WVdk7eUn5yaIQkspMSBNj8f6jze0qgkSvYvmtD94Cnb3-LDXNU7F2saXCwRNKhJoK7q1BYNwH-BeB2Ug34cngB8zVcoOs5F-LRzfYDkPDb4-PCH6Dpctw/w369-h223/An%20Honest%20Living%20(Insta)%20BT%20Poster%20.png" width="369" /></a></div> It's my turn on the Blogtour An Honest Living by Dwyer Murphy.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuto2kKU1fnu-1lbUbL0o7dGDdXM_fU_KALGF5bkeLdOOv1pqiW6GU1NBrPrFOwUsvJCkbets1kXH1DAtye0gFxQbIvLMrKLhnt6Oxw0r_dTeGDxpCYvvz0ikj9wqabn14zhlZ89vVrNpaQHv9eIi1eAxt8R5sPVdEkrK6lKfvegf2hSNheDqolJRlBAaO/s801/Dwyer%20Murphy%20Author%20Pic.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="600" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuto2kKU1fnu-1lbUbL0o7dGDdXM_fU_KALGF5bkeLdOOv1pqiW6GU1NBrPrFOwUsvJCkbets1kXH1DAtye0gFxQbIvLMrKLhnt6Oxw0r_dTeGDxpCYvvz0ikj9wqabn14zhlZ89vVrNpaQHv9eIi1eAxt8R5sPVdEkrK6lKfvegf2hSNheDqolJRlBAaO/w124-h165/Dwyer%20Murphy%20Author%20Pic.webp" width="124" /></a></div><p><u>About the Author</u></p><p>Dwyer Murphy is the editor-in-chief of Crime Reads, Literary Hub’s crime fiction vertical and the world’s most popular destination for thriller readers. He practised law at Debevoise and Plimpton in New York City, where he was alitigator, and served as editor of the Colombia Law Review. He was previously an Emerging Writer Fellow at the Centre for Fiction. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/DwyerMurphy">@DwyerMurphy</a> on X.</p><p><u><b>About the book</b></u></p><p>Brooklyn, mid-2000s. After leaving behind the comforts of a prestigious law firm, a restless attorney attempts to make ends meet by picking up odd jobs from a colourful assortment of clients. When the mysterious Anna Reddick turns up at his apartment with ten thousand dollars in cash and asks him to track down her missing husband, he trusts it will be an easy case. </p><p>That is until the real Anna Reddick shows up - a magnetic but unpredictable literary prodigy- and he finds himself out of his depth and drawn into a series of deceptions involving Joseph Conrad novels, unscrupulous booksellers and seedy real estate developers. Set against the tail end of the analogue era, An Honest Living is a gripping story of artistic ambition, obsession, and the small crimes we commit against one another every every day.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicmng8CnFtTZOAC_0izG4DqBwIwcq5mfxxykDS9oPmbsLCgm7V2cIROK387eGTdjqpFpC9olQlpOo-HOOa5mBC3oEukF2W635TwDB3HWTzEhK7O0LhahLrSgtOMsZVSg2mwwV8GpvP1XazqbZlLAia2JtUyaO25WwYY3tei9h-UEbuHe6POtTanIMmreQ/s2339/original%20(28)%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2339" data-original-width="1524" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicmng8CnFtTZOAC_0izG4DqBwIwcq5mfxxykDS9oPmbsLCgm7V2cIROK387eGTdjqpFpC9olQlpOo-HOOa5mBC3oEukF2W635TwDB3HWTzEhK7O0LhahLrSgtOMsZVSg2mwwV8GpvP1XazqbZlLAia2JtUyaO25WwYY3tei9h-UEbuHe6POtTanIMmreQ/s320/original%20(28)%20(1).jpg" width="208" /></a></div><p><b><u>Review</u></b></p><p>It's gentle knock at the door, a reminder of a New York only some may recognise - it awakens a kind of familiarity, perhaps a certain element of nostalgia. Memories of faded experiences, less restricted coming together and an inclination to engage without thought.</p><p>The noirish vibe wanders hand in hand with a sharp tang of literary fiction, but is sometimes hampered by the instinctual need to outwit the viewer, dazzle the reader with facts, knowledge and shiny intellect. The result is that here and there some readers will leave the train early or find themselves stuck at a specific station stuck on a minor detail or the lack of one that is important to them.</p><p>In between jobs, the main character - a man of law - picks up what appears to be an easy task and a way to make a lot of money, but it actually turns out to be the foot in the door for trouble coming straight in his direction. He finds himself drawn into a world he can barely swim in, let alone survive successfully.</p><p>It's an interesting venture, possibly because it evokes a feeling of nostalgia for smoke filled rooms and crystal tumblers filled with booze that burns a hole in your throat. I enjoyed the oddly obsessive bookish element of the story - it's simultaneously obsessive, creepy and smacks equally of greed and possessiveness. It also captures the strange nature of the species called collector, although I have the greatest understanding when it comes to the elusive works of the literary world. </p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Honest-Living-Dwyer-Murphy-ebook/dp/B0CBSZX2QQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=GMCXR616AVIA&keywords=an+honest+living&qid=1707183463&sprefix=an+honest+living%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy An Honest Living at Amazon Uk </a>or go to<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/188964868-an-honest-living" target="_blank"> Goodreads </a>for any other retailer. Publisher: No Exit Press; pub date 01. January, 2024. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Honest-Living-Novel-Dwyer-Murphy-ebook/dp/B09KGJ49NB/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3E4EZ3DVSB599&keywords=an+honest+living&qid=1707183536&sprefix=an+honest+living%2Caps%2C344&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy via Amazon com</a>.</p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-60160409206966709302024-01-24T13:00:00.024+00:002024-01-25T02:23:22.422+00:00#Blogtour The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhct6f5AGBnTfv8XtNesFduShagMqAUBgSbdgePvTyTK67Sh5M6eiJV0bFUwAXqJU76_ny5OIUxlEwcF1qto0hADmMipSPsDlk1zUj0ZDKGzRXo9diZyvKDuJP70lxnkKBrDpF8wrv0r_zFQ0uWMmuuUCDeCBKFQUcn_H8XxxP517j_TwhpLoZn0ifp_upn/s1080/spy-coast-bt-1-poster-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhct6f5AGBnTfv8XtNesFduShagMqAUBgSbdgePvTyTK67Sh5M6eiJV0bFUwAXqJU76_ny5OIUxlEwcF1qto0hADmMipSPsDlk1zUj0ZDKGzRXo9diZyvKDuJP70lxnkKBrDpF8wrv0r_zFQ0uWMmuuUCDeCBKFQUcn_H8XxxP517j_TwhpLoZn0ifp_upn/s320/spy-coast-bt-1-poster-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen. The first in a new series called the Martini Club and it's one you don't want to miss.</p><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>International bestselling author Tess Gerritsen began to write fiction whilst on maternity leave as a physician. She published her first novel in 1987 and has since sold over forty million copies of her books in forty countries.</p><p>Her series featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the television series Rizzoli and Isles, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.</p><p>Now retired from medicine, she lives in Maine and writes full time. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/tessgerritsen">@tessgerritsen</a> on X</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAn_qParNHco7YFrGTXLPQpolLBiUHE8VsLgGgau_ZEMsIbtenqW3_zqc6GWlwLB87QmKOM6w5E5n7DKC1aY8yggM4UsD8P9Od9GKVFjsVUsjKxSA_O7HB1f10ubTR0h5c45LRar5pUssAfQdAHjWDDyjz0CMSQuTdQxnBp8b2249Wy8yFdFld_Jnp3lyE/s970/spy-graphic2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="970" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAn_qParNHco7YFrGTXLPQpolLBiUHE8VsLgGgau_ZEMsIbtenqW3_zqc6GWlwLB87QmKOM6w5E5n7DKC1aY8yggM4UsD8P9Od9GKVFjsVUsjKxSA_O7HB1f10ubTR0h5c45LRar5pUssAfQdAHjWDDyjz0CMSQuTdQxnBp8b2249Wy8yFdFld_Jnp3lyE/s320/spy-graphic2.png" width="320" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>Maggie Bird is many things. A chicken farmer. A good neighbour. A seemingly average retiree living in the seaside town of Purity. She's also a darned good rifle shot. And she never talks about her past.</p><p>But when an unidentified body is left on Maggie's driveway, she knows it's a calling card from old times. It's been fifteen years since the failed mission that ended her career as a spy, and cost her far more than her job.</p><p>Step forward the 'Martini Club' - Maggie's silver-haired book group (to anyone who asks), and a cohort of former spies behind closed doors. With the help of her old friends - and always one step ahead of the persistent local cop - Maggie might still be able to save the life she's built.</p><p>The Spy Coast is the first novel in the Martini Club series.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgWYCUP6vNnmKTEJcB6zxgh9N9ueKuBzD5juzhWfdGglq_vbpG3meIxfZlz0wY3ex7k7VUPzW1sqKzX7UEhCiaoMA4KOc4ZlHOOSCKElCmNG-JaLVHuKi5jdCCt2ZFkM6jKwd4180Mkhp7o_FHL0dvOjaZMIOUhfj_3YhzDZhXLsElfpajiT3kfHqTVou/s1500/spy-coast-cover-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="975" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgWYCUP6vNnmKTEJcB6zxgh9N9ueKuBzD5juzhWfdGglq_vbpG3meIxfZlz0wY3ex7k7VUPzW1sqKzX7UEhCiaoMA4KOc4ZlHOOSCKElCmNG-JaLVHuKi5jdCCt2ZFkM6jKwd4180Mkhp7o_FHL0dvOjaZMIOUhfj_3YhzDZhXLsElfpajiT3kfHqTVou/s320/spy-coast-cover-1.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><p><b><u>Review</u></b></p><p>Maggie Bird, a bit of recluse, who keeps herself to herself except for her nearest neighbours and the book club. The book club of ex-spies, well some of them are. When the past comes knocking Maggie has to make a choice, should she run or fight for the life she has spent a long time cultivating.</p><p>You may know Gerritsen from her very popular Rizzoli and Isles series - this is a new series, the first book of the Martini Club.</p><p>I have to say that although you can clearly detect the style of voice the author is known, which is always a great combination of humour, snark, mystery and crime, there is an element to this I found quite intriguing. It has a Herron kind of self deprecating view on the world of spydom with a laissez-faire attitude towards necessary violence in juggling the inadequacies of our world-view on justice.</p><p>It's dry, witty and hard as an egg boiled beyond life expectancy, and it is equally warm with intricately woven relationships between the most unexpected of characters. I enjoyed it - hope it gets picked up for small screen, because it would be such fun, in a spy kills spy with a complete lack of remorse kind of way. Looking forward to the next in the series.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spy-Coast-unmissable-brand-new-bestselling/dp/1804992895/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2JZPRGTTBMAYP&keywords=the+spycoast+tess+gerritsen&qid=1706146972&sprefix=the+spy+coast%2Caps%2C101&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy The Spy Coast at Amazon Uk </a>or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/131068071-the-spy-coast?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=qmZ1LPHbXd&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher: Bantam Press / Transworld Books, pub date 18 January 2024. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Spy-Coast-Thriller-Martini-Club-ebook/dp/B0C2F4V6BM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=HZRF66TW26W7&keywords=the+spy+coast+by+tess+gerritsen&qid=1706147020&sprefix=the+spy+coast%2Caps%2C172&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com.</a> <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-spy-coast-from-the-sunday-times-bestselling-author-of-the-rizzoli-isles-series-tess-gerritsen/7451066?ean=9780857505194" target="_blank">Via Bookshop org</a>.</p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-90979121917342528002024-01-18T13:00:00.016+00:002024-01-18T23:10:26.926+00:00#Blogtour Strong Female Character by Fern Brady<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCL3cnSP3tKkvbKJ3BkxIhQ9Zsy3SM_0IPDRYqcyhsLSgNisx_OChdgjQHE9PBTz5oE4kvtQeewZL05a8Yi_Sv_sfLKH4a7GAcuQPZ2z6hrLRQuRKmq8ptSB4yqT9Mo84vLGPjvEXyUjmsn-zKGClcIT3KTDbVtL2a0C0URLE2aiZNI8ss9rAQiHgRlaW9/s1920/Strong%20Female%20Character%20BT%201%20Poster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1071" data-original-width="1920" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCL3cnSP3tKkvbKJ3BkxIhQ9Zsy3SM_0IPDRYqcyhsLSgNisx_OChdgjQHE9PBTz5oE4kvtQeewZL05a8Yi_Sv_sfLKH4a7GAcuQPZ2z6hrLRQuRKmq8ptSB4yqT9Mo84vLGPjvEXyUjmsn-zKGClcIT3KTDbVtL2a0C0URLE2aiZNI8ss9rAQiHgRlaW9/w349-h193/Strong%20Female%20Character%20BT%201%20Poster.png" width="349" /></a></div><p>It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Strong Female Character by Fern Brady.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCjPmyHVvuzuYa9gII_PJ9pBFsorUEnjKV1hijr0mqjw3iBHPV0oK5_8DUhIRvvV_8FoYN7-7cR8PKsmrdT4oWVKSsrti_ZVL72uuyyOlv6_PyAyrellAyldQARRDPqgXYOvESPgwAddZLbiwwr_T_G4TPjYle4Tqv30aF1J5P6luzYSyJ8iy4WWXXPNY7/s1120/Fern%20Brady%20Author%20pic.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="1120" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCjPmyHVvuzuYa9gII_PJ9pBFsorUEnjKV1hijr0mqjw3iBHPV0oK5_8DUhIRvvV_8FoYN7-7cR8PKsmrdT4oWVKSsrti_ZVL72uuyyOlv6_PyAyrellAyldQARRDPqgXYOvESPgwAddZLbiwwr_T_G4TPjYle4Tqv30aF1J5P6luzYSyJ8iy4WWXXPNY7/w148-h148/Fern%20Brady%20Author%20pic.jpeg" width="148" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>Fern Brady is a woman. She is also autistic. She was born in Scotland (no, not Glasgow). She has no pre-sets for being a 'good woman' - she never hated her body or indulged in messy millennial shame. She now lives out of wedlock in London. She has zero children.</p><p>Fern's caustic wit, exceptional writing and electric stage craft has made her one of the UK's hottest comedy stars. As seen on Live from the BBC, Live from the Comedy Store, The Russell Howard Hour, and Live at the Apollo. She's had viral success with her BBC Life Lessons and supported Frankie Boyle and Katherine Ryan on tour. She can currently be seen on Taskmaster on Channel 4. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/FernBrady">@FernBrady</a> on X</p><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>Fern: A summary of my book:</p><p>1. I'm diagnosed with autism 20 years after telling a doctor I had it.</p><p>2. My terrible Catholic childhood: I hate my parents etc.</p><p>3. My friendship with an elderly man who runs the corner shop and is definitely not trying to groom me. I get groomed.</p><p>4. Homelessness.</p><p>5. Stripping.</p><p>6. More stripping but with more nervous breakdowns.</p><p>7. I hate everyone at uni and live with a psycho etc.</p><p>8. REDACTED as too spicy.</p><p>9. After everyone tells me I don't look autistic, I try to cure my autism and get addicted to Xanax.</p><p>10. REDACTED as too embarrassing.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq_bS9w8F2Ay7hCcrZLvvpaRyRArEBAYcjXLRg4RGNmQyDiQ86Tn2gFFrVBmYAOfl3s7gziC12K4Zb18n69fEbnsyK2ndRk92G2nhx0v6YzNAwJ5ByNPDZ3HKlCUnCP7EVoFWV6qTBAjZl2hmqJbeuqJBzVqoQz-9uA5SS7ssvNt5-LdouNhDvhXkge9Va/s1500/Strong%20Female%20PB%20Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="955" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq_bS9w8F2Ay7hCcrZLvvpaRyRArEBAYcjXLRg4RGNmQyDiQ86Tn2gFFrVBmYAOfl3s7gziC12K4Zb18n69fEbnsyK2ndRk92G2nhx0v6YzNAwJ5ByNPDZ3HKlCUnCP7EVoFWV6qTBAjZl2hmqJbeuqJBzVqoQz-9uA5SS7ssvNt5-LdouNhDvhXkge9Va/s320/Strong%20Female%20PB%20Cover.jpg" width="204" /></a></div><br /><div><b><u>Review</u></b></div><p>I'm going to stray from the well trodden path of observations and experiences of finding this memoir 'a riot or funny' - I did however find it a deeply introspective experience. A memoir that is an open living document of memories, visceral reactions and constant questioning.</p><p>As a parent of a diagnosed and undiagnosed neurodivergent persons, I found the interactions with her parents quite interesting. Thirty-three to forty years ago the Western world was still on the cusp of discovering and trying to understand neurodiversity. A time when blame was sought in food sources, environmental reasons, and of course the great vaccine and mercury poisoning theories. Also a time when many countries didn't recognise neurodiversity and bad parenting was a word often thrown about. </p><p>Also, I might add, a time when the possibility of a genetic trait or link had yet to be introduced or proven. Now many parents of neurodiverse children, both young and of adult age, are realising that one or both of said parents are also neurodivergent. </p><p>Schools refusing to engage with medical, therapeutic care or suggestions. The reality of trying to help your child succeed, progress, stay safe and healthy in a world created for neurotypical children and adults, and doing so whilst climbing insurmountable mountains for them. There is basic lack of understanding of this at first, but towards the end of the book there are some moments of clarity.</p><p>I concur with the sentiment of young neurodiverse individuals being brave enough to withstand the judgemental world of social media in our era, and doing so to give insight into their world, minds and neurodiversity. They have become a teaching tool, and I would include newly diagnosed adults in the same group.</p><p>It's a fast-paced memoir fuelled by frustration, anger and this element of not being able to reach something that is just ever so slightly out of reach. When Fern does receive confirmation it also comes with the realisation that nothing changes, despite an overriding label. The daily battle, the need for masking to suit societal expectations, the meltdowns, the shutting down - all that changes is knowing the why. Everything else is one step at a time, day by day.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strong-Female-Character-Fern-Brady-ebook/dp/B09SXTC3GK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3VTK0A0VE6BOD&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.L7GKP727pohipEv5p8FjYwMPFVH4btsLnMQc1R0_fU57MCvyJBN08FWkRgeXOZnwZim4o1lnDQVhGnIT-OWGafyBBOh9Z1s36VAOTGMoGBbiQ696xzuAogupej3rYvmfLYuLeiQ9xWRb-hjQ-kcDMLHyKMH5Zbmo0m3GfSH3QRseE08XHavzyWzeHDDb34xiJEJz_lSJ-GFsr6_v9CCRozCaB9NA1ou0NMfCRzJKTsk.uGj5cFk8b9sa814z5vTdmflmYTA6VSprvUT4foqDfw8&dib_tag=se&keywords=strong+female&qid=1705579205&sprefix=strong+female%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy Strong Female Character at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59903149-strong-female-character?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=eXmFZKiGx1&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher: Octopus, pub date 11 January 2024. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Strong-Female-Character-Fern-Brady-ebook/dp/B0BSWCL8H9/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3NJUCFQ1DHJC3&keywords=strong+female+character+fern+brady&qid=1705618706&sprefix=strong+female+character%2Caps%2C299&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com</a>. <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/strong-female-character-fern-brady/6460207?ean=9781914240447" target="_blank">At Bookshop.org</a>.</p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-48345351462640826392024-01-09T13:00:00.031+00:002024-01-10T02:07:32.667+00:00#Blogtour One of The Good Guys by Araminta Hall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnp8pkiKx1_aBJZAloPlZOy2lTxewnb9hiE_O-nEyWNZSF-li0aFs7-nGdJnAdYsiThwNt8JubBhNLU77wr29iBl59OIPHdl8ZPVMI8dm_LEZdmyLm1qgpXgWF02TyYLQf1xgMI1oDzOQD_BxNnRuT3w-aD97HFCzX-4vDzIou62R1-vJsdUASu97v-TY7/s1080/One%20of%20Good%20Guys%201%20BT%20Poster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="1080" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnp8pkiKx1_aBJZAloPlZOy2lTxewnb9hiE_O-nEyWNZSF-li0aFs7-nGdJnAdYsiThwNt8JubBhNLU77wr29iBl59OIPHdl8ZPVMI8dm_LEZdmyLm1qgpXgWF02TyYLQf1xgMI1oDzOQD_BxNnRuT3w-aD97HFCzX-4vDzIou62R1-vJsdUASu97v-TY7/w336-h210/One%20of%20Good%20Guys%201%20BT%20Poster.png" width="336" /></a></div><p>It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour for One Of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall - it's an incredible read.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJEtLyByL7qkPXr5HRoLC3_UOuEUskhN_IE7BMYNCEuqZi7mMvvIsbRCaLiC0wjy96sRZJCbH5dF4ZzW5JCIF3vuHDYR4Zfl35j2bLGU5FAP2gOguzkW9M_Ibrk5GKHljy-nC1mYmzs3JDsX4cto9ZKxA_hcnN3fzqQvw44l5a0Wohpa5U8yDD7fYMfNr/s500/Araminta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJEtLyByL7qkPXr5HRoLC3_UOuEUskhN_IE7BMYNCEuqZi7mMvvIsbRCaLiC0wjy96sRZJCbH5dF4ZzW5JCIF3vuHDYR4Zfl35j2bLGU5FAP2gOguzkW9M_Ibrk5GKHljy-nC1mYmzs3JDsX4cto9ZKxA_hcnN3fzqQvw44l5a0Wohpa5U8yDD7fYMfNr/w161-h161/Araminta.jpg" width="161" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>Araminta Hall is a journalist and teacher. She is the author of five previous novels, including her first novel, Everything & Nothing, which was published in 2011 and became a Richard & Judy read that year. She is the great niece of Dodie Smith and the great granddaughter of Lawrence Beesley, who survived the Titanic and wrote a bestselling account of the tragedy in the book, The Loss of the SS Titanic. </p><p>She teaches creative writing at New Writing South in Brighton, where she lives with her husband and three children. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/AramintaHall">@AramintaHall</a> on X</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhThrdBz6023Uyqsf6jbMo8iV5djzj9J9w7nDd-x-tiicuzB4djDLaKHDdNLtG-sOM8PcY9FxQBhBDDiwi0wTOFLVbl2_VqFF8gjztMeXAio56-rDkFdgRS6EVVIkmLTDVs7cAEwkjm3DKM0OcndwI9EnoEMihBE1YBEGgLM9beZdu5j07yugLThfUGT4yy/s970/One%20of%20Graphic2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="970" height="99" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhThrdBz6023Uyqsf6jbMo8iV5djzj9J9w7nDd-x-tiicuzB4djDLaKHDdNLtG-sOM8PcY9FxQBhBDDiwi0wTOFLVbl2_VqFF8gjztMeXAio56-rDkFdgRS6EVVIkmLTDVs7cAEwkjm3DKM0OcndwI9EnoEMihBE1YBEGgLM9beZdu5j07yugLThfUGT4yy/s320/One%20of%20Graphic2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><b><u>About the book</u></b></div><p>If most men claim to be one of the good guys, then why do so many women live in fear? This is what happens when two such women have had enough...</p><p>Cole is the perfect husband; a romantic, supportive of his wife’s career, keen to be a hands-on dad, not a big drinker. A good guy.</p><p>So when his wife 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. Then he meets reclusive artist Lennie. And though she is quite different from the woman he’d expected, he believes he has finally found a soulmate. But as their relationship develops, two young women go missing while on a walk protesting gendered violence, right by where Cole and Lennie live. </p><p>Finding themselves at the heart of a police investigation and media frenzy, Cole soon realises they don’t know each other very well at all . . .</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7FWZd-c6QfAzjEDlJIM-FX1bGpByjGx4DMwdsou4SHPiv2ONhkBh0yM79MIiOeCaWRkW969eSKN5lsf79AfN-2iLX6qP2mO2qU6CCXM1p1BqkiXlkHb85g6WKkgTVARU8EgXFpBidRqP6x8fRM0lNbIJSTTW9pQdDKJpZPCTpgSheXaYgWqaYu7qBdmbs/s2835/One%20of%20the%20Good%20Guys%20Cover%20.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2835" data-original-width="1830" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7FWZd-c6QfAzjEDlJIM-FX1bGpByjGx4DMwdsou4SHPiv2ONhkBh0yM79MIiOeCaWRkW969eSKN5lsf79AfN-2iLX6qP2mO2qU6CCXM1p1BqkiXlkHb85g6WKkgTVARU8EgXFpBidRqP6x8fRM0lNbIJSTTW9pQdDKJpZPCTpgSheXaYgWqaYu7qBdmbs/s320/One%20of%20the%20Good%20Guys%20Cover%20.jpeg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><div><b><u>Review</u></b></div><p>First - always trust your gut instinct. Women, and I would add children to that list, but especially women and girls are taught to ignore the basic survival instincts. That nagging feeling they might be in danger, the slither of doubt, which becomes a fleeting and forgotten thought. Society, history and for many centuries entire cultures, have focused on teaching obedience and compliance.</p><p>This is good for you, they say. It's all in your head, you're overreacting, what will other people think, you wanted it, you asked for it, what did you say and what were you wearing to make him/them do it? Sound familiar? Sad isn't it. The majority of women will recognise some element of the above. </p><p>The systemic oppression, violence and abuse of women, and I include girls in that category, hasn't become a thing of the past in the 21st century. No, it's actually on the rise. Much like fascism, populists and right wing mantras in the guise of sensible conservative views. We are seeing a steady incline in the voices braying for women's rights to be stripped, their voices to be silenced, and for them to return to their proper place in society. Correlation much between patriarchy, supremacy and the aforementioned.</p><p>Trust your gut instinct - it will guide you with a steady and reliable hand in this story. From the very beginning if you listen closely you can hear the alarm bells ringing away.</p><p>Cole is going through a difficult break-up. His wife Mel is a workaholic with little time for their marriage or future family. He enjoys the isolation, but doesn't like feeling lonely, which is how he forms a connection with Lennie - a woman who appears to be just as isolated and lonely. Appearances can be deceiving and as the story evolves it seems as if there is more to the story than meets the eye, especially when two young women go missing close to where he lives.</p><p>The author shows the hypocrisy of tables turned. How actions, words and responses are viewed through a different lens depending on whether you are a man or a woman. Also how eager society is to bury a bad or evil woman, but in the same breathe rehabilitate, save and reinvent a bad man. The irony of whole industries relying on women infatuated by the stereotypical bad man who can only be redeemed by the love of a 'good' woman, who of course justifies the violence, abuse and overall controlling nature of the male. - Same people who will happily burn a witch, also known as a woman who does not know her place, on Sunday in the back garden and then get annoyed that the freshly laundered clothes are covered in the stench of their subconscious guilt.</p><p>Side note - the chapters with the social media comments and the news or opinion pieces are a tough pill to swallow, because they are the reality of living in our tech advanced lives. The toughest kick to the heart of womanhood are the blows delivered by other women. Those who are so embedded in the misogyny of the patriarchy that they believe they must look down upon, sneer at, belittle, oppress, injure and destroy other women.</p><p>It's a powerful domestic thriller, dark and compelling. The truth of justice in the midst of daily injustice is often just a bitter aftertaste in the back of your throat. Highly recommend it.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Good-Guys-razor-laced-dangerously-ebook/dp/B0CBN68VLL/ref=sr_1_1?crid=35WY0I412K74X&keywords=one+of+the+good+guys&qid=1704850986&sprefix=one+of+the+good+guys%2Caps%2C95&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy One Of The Good Guys at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/181694466-one-of-the-good-guys?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=T4yu3jaijS&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher: Macmillan | Hardback £16.99| pub date 4th January 2024. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/One-Good-Guys-Araminta-Hall-ebook/dp/B0BVDQ2DK4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=W9527TE30J9B&keywords=one+of+the+good+guys&qid=1704851070&sprefix=one+of+the+good+guys%2Caps%2C179&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com.</a></p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-57606121999868222072024-01-02T13:00:00.001+00:002024-01-02T17:42:18.221+00:00#Blogtour The Glass Woman by Alice McIlroy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyNddsOsIhRemTgXG9We6F1dmp9U5HPl6LCgvCZbl-nH-TZDmqpH9YDcmk0FL-L5WMrZW3AL9T5LnuoVhF9bDJA8kRnf-lWGJyv8Zn2XNqaD3Fc8IAk6LRhNJN8YqjdeiFbVqtlWOAdHF5f2BzFDzEW65xeoQ2PAeDMCP4enelPNsKi3B_pTShE_vffjeW/s1080/The%20glass%20Woman%20blog%20tour%20poster%20FINAL%20USE%20THIS.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyNddsOsIhRemTgXG9We6F1dmp9U5HPl6LCgvCZbl-nH-TZDmqpH9YDcmk0FL-L5WMrZW3AL9T5LnuoVhF9bDJA8kRnf-lWGJyv8Zn2XNqaD3Fc8IAk6LRhNJN8YqjdeiFbVqtlWOAdHF5f2BzFDzEW65xeoQ2PAeDMCP4enelPNsKi3B_pTShE_vffjeW/s320/The%20glass%20Woman%20blog%20tour%20poster%20FINAL%20USE%20THIS.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>It's a pleasure to help kick off the Blogtour for The Glass Woman by Alice McIlroy - Long-listed for the Stylist Prize for Feminist Fiction.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMVpmNc41Xc74gSBs0CvbhgcTedPi69NQJJDqnFd0CV3EtW5fSVlpuhS4y6ehJ84BLG0zoNpKhJFojBC36bq2zdgg1EIq49dqKDft-Tv9459vOYrF26ZsSmKeoHlxCN91Gk5o6JFaoorgQq9jMN3IYvuJkxV_0QU-O9AZtn1lvpSnB9pPdTVQiI2G2hCl6/s266/alice%20mcilroy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="177" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMVpmNc41Xc74gSBs0CvbhgcTedPi69NQJJDqnFd0CV3EtW5fSVlpuhS4y6ehJ84BLG0zoNpKhJFojBC36bq2zdgg1EIq49dqKDft-Tv9459vOYrF26ZsSmKeoHlxCN91Gk5o6JFaoorgQq9jMN3IYvuJkxV_0QU-O9AZtn1lvpSnB9pPdTVQiI2G2hCl6/w125-h188/alice%20mcilroy.jpg" width="125" /></a></b></div><b><u><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p></u></b><p></p><p>Alice McIlroy was born in London. She graduated in English and has a post-graduate in Law. She completed Faber Academy’s novel-writing programme. She has taught English in state schools in London and Milan, and volunteers with a post-natal depression charity. Her writing has been longlisted for the Stylist Prize for Feminist Fiction and Grindstone International Novel Prize. The Glass Woman is her debut novel. Find <a href="https://twitter.com/alice_mcilroy" target="_blank">@alice_mcilroy</a> on X and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/alicemcilroy_author/" target="_blank">@alicemcilroy_author</a> on Instagram. Visit <a href="https://alicemcilroy.wordpress.com/">alicemcilroy.wordpress.com</a></p><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p><i>If you could delete all the hurt and pain from your life... would you? Even if you weren't sure what would be left?</i></p><p>Pioneering scientist Iris Henderson awakes in a hospital bed with no memories. She is told that she is the first test-subject for an experimental therapy, placing a piece of AI technology into her brain. She is also told that she volunteered for it. But without her memories, Iris doesn't know what the therapy is or why she would ever choose it.</p><p>Everyone warns her to leave it alone, but Iris doesn't know who to trust. As she scratches beneath the surface of her seemingly happy marriage and successful career, a catastrophic chain of events is set in motion, and secrets will be revealed that have the capacity to destroy her whole life.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFbHVouGSG9vdKXcZXIwYsPcA_-I8aJpvMCXCuMV4D_Bbat10Ujg7r21gVEl6KqE2hk6j2vR_nqEmokOm1JhgaWcgYEYB3STEpCA2zlKj1IasbEAJYSW9EvVHHPG9N2WUQmIMQ5SFupZp9wJiolP7TKKBsBlk2Tir9jqkI6W3Sh6ej0Z7b6wDr8xCnNUcI/s500/the%20glass%20woman%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFbHVouGSG9vdKXcZXIwYsPcA_-I8aJpvMCXCuMV4D_Bbat10Ujg7r21gVEl6KqE2hk6j2vR_nqEmokOm1JhgaWcgYEYB3STEpCA2zlKj1IasbEAJYSW9EvVHHPG9N2WUQmIMQ5SFupZp9wJiolP7TKKBsBlk2Tir9jqkI6W3Sh6ej0Z7b6wDr8xCnNUcI/s320/the%20glass%20woman%20cover.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p><b><u>Review</u></b></p><p>Imagine waking up and having the bare minimum idea of who you are and what your life is or was. Being terrified of something you allegedly agreed to, yet subconsciously being in a constant state of disbelief about it. Agreeing to scrub the bad, the painful and incriminating memories, so you can live a more peaceful version of your life and self. It's just a tad inconvenient that the human element of a person will always start to question and eventually try to uncover the moments that are hidden from them.</p><p>I really enjoyed this read perhaps because this concept had me going back and forth a little, it's threatening, riveting and deplorable in equal measures. More worrying is the fact it's also probably the future of medical and human AI interventions, which will be used and misused by anyone who believes they can profit from it, whether that be financially or in any other capacity.</p><p>Essentially it's an interpersonal system installed in the brain - just from the perspective of the main character in this instance, which screams Gileadesque control at first. It's a element of full control, and complete and utter invasion into self, thought, actions, mental and physical wellbeing. An inner voice that is supposed to help Iris navigate recouping all her memories, that she agreed to have wiped for her own good, within a specific amount of time. Is the system inside her a friend, an enemy? - The irony of the concept having a schizophrenic aspect to it was not lost on me.</p><p>On a side-note: How did you answer the question - love the moral dilemma, which also gives an insight into the way Iris thinks she should answer in that situation without the full picture. The full picture tells us her real answer. - I could talk about this book for yonks. It is such an incredible piece of speculative fiction, domestic thriller, and tech and med thriller.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Glass-Woman-Alice-McIlroy/dp/1915523044/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3HP3J90IGYFEH&keywords=the+glass+woman+alice+mcilroy&qid=1704150358&sprefix=the+glass+woman%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy The Glass Woman at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/127462283-the-glass-woman?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=V88KhMWOAu&rank=2" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher: Datura Books, pub date January 2nd, 2024 | Pbk original £9.99 / $17.99. Also Available in eBook & Audio. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Woman-Alice-McIlroy/dp/1915523044/ref=sr_1_1?crid=29DFL5A3ZIYB1&keywords=the+glass+woman+alice+mcilroy&qid=1704150428&sprefix=the+glass+woman%2Caps%2C239&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy via Amazon com</a>.</p><p><b><u>About Datura</u></b> - An imprint of award-winning SFF publisher, Angry Robot Books, Datura Books focuses on crime with a strong sense of voice and place that push the boundaries of the genre, while playing with readers’ favourite tropes. Datura has been created with the purpose of showcasing plots that engage, stories that matter and most of all, characters that are true to life. Visit <a href="https://daturabooks.com/">daturabooks.com</a></p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-40770357179249890462023-12-27T23:54:00.000+00:002023-12-27T23:54:12.082+00:00#Review Yellowface by R.F. Kuang<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfnNChW3Ck9BvTio0k5qpsAdxi77RTX4_bd_pCogxKZuXzMH5jHx0EDNNEWoi1r-2g_KyTS2IKkqo4cIEHRwj85xKJC8sSI0s6oy5M2xd_PbpBfYg6qc6txb9SmQI5FWst1lwSI1FAMXM4WBr0hbLdt6FOgvGBoUEsqIkaTDyhAxIHR1AYS0z_1toCD9z/s1400/yellowface_wide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="787" data-original-width="1400" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfnNChW3Ck9BvTio0k5qpsAdxi77RTX4_bd_pCogxKZuXzMH5jHx0EDNNEWoi1r-2g_KyTS2IKkqo4cIEHRwj85xKJC8sSI0s6oy5M2xd_PbpBfYg6qc6txb9SmQI5FWst1lwSI1FAMXM4WBr0hbLdt6FOgvGBoUEsqIkaTDyhAxIHR1AYS0z_1toCD9z/s320/yellowface_wide.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>I absolutely understand why this was such a bestseller!</p><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>Rebecca F. Kuang is the #1 New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy, Babel: An Arcane History, Yellowface, and Katabasis (forthcoming). Her work has won the Nebula, Locus, Crawford, and British Book Awards. She has been named to the 2023 Time100 Next list and the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2024.</p><p>A Marshall Scholar, she has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford. She is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale, where she studies Sinophone literature and Asian American literature. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/kuangrf">@kuangrf</a> on X</p><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>Athena Liu is a literary darling and June Hayward is literally nobody.</p><p>White lies - When Athena dies in a freak accident, June steals her unpublished manuscript and publishes it as her own under the ambiguous name Juniper Song.</p><p>Dark humour - But as evidence threatens June’s stolen success, she will discover exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.</p><p>Deadly consequences…What happens next is entirely everyone else’s fault.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRpx5BybloxZl0SMkK1fSqlE9yWV_JO9THSInI225k08JSks-F3Ix0Z7FgA6jEhll8uJabp6LzBMOY9jcpNJYb30gnWnyzpqZSI-D8sM69vRUW7sbMKG-r5w-saH7NNCVPZiFBkvsWcTOB4xqktxM6tzJMx1W_69iGpgARW15b1l3nVbJTfI_kozgsInDr/s964/yellowface-by-r-f-kuang-contemporary-2023-v0-bf-i_hCzx3C4CLJazGbvVGUBfeJY616WJZhWdTl4b_g.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRpx5BybloxZl0SMkK1fSqlE9yWV_JO9THSInI225k08JSks-F3Ix0Z7FgA6jEhll8uJabp6LzBMOY9jcpNJYb30gnWnyzpqZSI-D8sM69vRUW7sbMKG-r5w-saH7NNCVPZiFBkvsWcTOB4xqktxM6tzJMx1W_69iGpgARW15b1l3nVbJTfI_kozgsInDr/s320/yellowface-by-r-f-kuang-contemporary-2023-v0-bf-i_hCzx3C4CLJazGbvVGUBfeJY616WJZhWdTl4b_g.webp" width="212" /></a></div><p><b><u>Review</u></b></p><p>Part of me wonders whether the editors really knew what they were reading when this hit their desks. It is such an accurate reflection of white privilege in the publishing industry and more of a tongue lashing than a tongue-in-cheek drop in the pan.</p><p>The author takes scathing shots at a variety of elements of publishing, fame, being a writer, and perhaps most astute is her take on who is allowed to write what about whom, when and in what capacity. I am so glad one of the examples mentioned is American Dirt, which is a perfect example of the storm in Yellowface.</p><p>Then there are the questions that pop up in relation to June stealing Athena's work or idea then adapting it with her own style and voice. Is that not the core of fan fiction, which is in essence taking the ideas of others and creating an adaptation using the material of other authors. Then the controversy of white authors writing about minorities, about issues their privilege doesn't allow them to view objectively. This thought process is carried forward by the author by referencing the similar inter-culture restraints and prejudices Athena was guilty of.</p><p>It's an incredibly clever piece of writing and story. I enjoyed the fact the end is exactly as brassy and bold faced as one would expect, because it reflects the publishing industry so well. It's a fantastic read.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yellowface-book-year-landed-hands/dp/000853277X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1703717805&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Buy Yellowface at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62047984-yellowface?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=ZF2qaj60gy&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher : The Borough Press, pub date 25 May 2023.<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Yellowface-Novel-R-F-Kuang/dp/0063250837/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1703718513&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com</a>.</p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-11378408864101345562023-12-08T13:00:00.004+00:002023-12-09T01:06:13.245+00:00#Blogtour #Podcasttour From The Library With Love by Kate Thompson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqL0_NBCWsrCesGbc3gnTTWHSjr-0huuMZNFniqj7bEACxSLT2e5M3E6T6rdqt11M3I_e7evspQhlXX437Y6guFLHPqKgn5OAFIV2C4E-VRWi4zydLPYWWlKL3mp8EgRC_HprvAAwQnkr7SrFLW1XD-MVgTHaycef-tDbsde0HmQ_3wgQCZy3DUvk2eMIX/s1474/Podcast%201%20BT%20Poster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="793" data-original-width="1474" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqL0_NBCWsrCesGbc3gnTTWHSjr-0huuMZNFniqj7bEACxSLT2e5M3E6T6rdqt11M3I_e7evspQhlXX437Y6guFLHPqKgn5OAFIV2C4E-VRWi4zydLPYWWlKL3mp8EgRC_HprvAAwQnkr7SrFLW1XD-MVgTHaycef-tDbsde0HmQ_3wgQCZy3DUvk2eMIX/w334-h184/Podcast%201%20BT%20Poster.png" width="334" /></a></div><p>It's an absolute pleasure to take part in this Blogtour with a difference - featuring Kate Thompson and her brilliant podcast - From the Library with Love.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp1WymTD43tqFql5eXxJ3Hwwyb8tyzAefEgsdRpNoq_dN_WOJiKTCO59jjb156jmlFxDVqSU0VbaoRb1m17JcOwIR9e4_EzRYmtzrwi3UrVwo_agJIXXHAKCiDURsZO9ca0QyyAJBp16S3zQ6T3Dz-dvyhxwQd6Fr_Ney6lEhfFllnYNzg_xwJCIKdMnt6/s450/Kate%20Thompson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp1WymTD43tqFql5eXxJ3Hwwyb8tyzAefEgsdRpNoq_dN_WOJiKTCO59jjb156jmlFxDVqSU0VbaoRb1m17JcOwIR9e4_EzRYmtzrwi3UrVwo_agJIXXHAKCiDURsZO9ca0QyyAJBp16S3zQ6T3Dz-dvyhxwQd6Fr_Ney6lEhfFllnYNzg_xwJCIKdMnt6/w151-h151/Kate%20Thompson.jpg" width="151" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author/Podcaster</u></b></p><p>Kate Thompson an award-winning journalist, ghostwriter and novelist who has spent the past two decades in the UK mass market and book publishing industry. </p><p>Over the past eight years Kate has written eleven fiction and non-fiction titles, three of which have made the Sunday Times top ten bestseller list. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/katethompson380" target="_blank">@katethompson380</a> on X, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/KateThompsonAuthor">@KateThompsonAuthor</a> on Facebook or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/katethompsonauthor/" target="_blank">@katethompsonauthor</a> on Instagram</p><div><b><u>About the Podcast</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div><div>It's Kate Thompson here, author of The Little Wartime Library and upcoming Wartime Book Club.</div><div><br /></div><div>Wonderful, transformative things happen when you set foot in a library. In 2019 I uncovered the true story of a forgotten Underground library, built along the tracks of Bethnal Green Tube tunnel during the Blitz. As stories go, it was irresistible and the result was, The Little Wartime Library, my seventh novel.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bethnal Green Public Library, where the novel is set, was 100 years old in October 2022, and to celebrate the centenary of this grand old lady, funded by library philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, I set myself the challenge of interviewing 100 library workers. Speaking with one library worker for every year this library has been serving its community seemed a good way to mark this auspicious occasion. Because who better to explain the worth of a hundred-year-old library, than librarians themselves!</div><div><br /></div><div>I wanted to explore the enduring value of libraries and reading. I quickly realised that librarians have the best stories.</div><div><br /></div><div>My research led me to librarians with over fifty years of experience, to the impressive women who manage libraries in prisons and schools, to those in remote Scottish islands. From poetry libraries overlooking the wide sweep of the Thames, to the 16th century Shakespeare’s Library in Stratford, via the small but mighty Leadhills Miners’ Library.</div><div><br /></div><div>This podcast was born out of those eye-opening conversations, because as Denise from Tower Hamlets Library told me: 'If you want to see the world, don't join the Army, become a librarian!'</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll also be talking to international bestselling authors and some remarkable wartime women. This is my way of celebrating and documenting the remarkable stories I have found whilst researching my books.</div><div><br /></div><div>Interviews up already:</div></div><div><div>100-year-old Bletchley Park Codebreaker Betty Webb on keeping her wartime secrets.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bestselling author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo, Christy Lefteri on the importance of writing what you feel.</div><div> </div><div>New York Times bestselling author Madeline Martin on underground libraries and clandestine book clubs.</div></div><div><div><br /></div><div>TO COME...</div><div><br /></div><div>October 2nd - 8th is Libraries Week. I'll be releasing an episode every day with some incredible librarians, including the librarian who has kept everything she has ever found in a returned library book.</div><div><br /></div><div>November. 'I was born in a concentration camp' A powerful interview with 78-year-old Eva Clarke, who told me '‘You don’t know what you can withstand until you are put to the test.’</div><div><br /></div><div>December marks the 85th anniversary of the Kindertransport scheme, 97-year-old Gabriele Keeaghan bravely shares the harrowing moment she was forced to leave behind her family and flee Nazi occupied Vienna.</div><div><br /></div><div>National Letter Writing Day, I met the woman who collects forgotten letters from flea markets and told me, ‘Letters capture the essence of what it is to be living through history. In attics, and drawers and shoe boxes under beds there are hundreds of stories waiting to be told.’</div><div><br /></div><div>Plus SO so many more I just can't wait to release. This is a labour of love. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here is the link to my podcast site, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/from-the-library-with-love/id1705546837">https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/from-the-library-with-love/id1705546837</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1Irwn97f6Dnc_chjUHUaj0kKgo8R8JgTrsRY2SG21i3X7zF1vwInTGdeccul2uIrUMxJo2S-B3kxsMgibt5bAQfovtpCnIIYSmjVnyrMrDHibvaYsVU-jmNu09VdOEjaZyEAawrI5AREXp-ceqw746KpmUB6YwuK9qMCB1-kUnVzWN8Ugnu-z_IzW5W4/s320/thumbnail_Image%20small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="320" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1Irwn97f6Dnc_chjUHUaj0kKgo8R8JgTrsRY2SG21i3X7zF1vwInTGdeccul2uIrUMxJo2S-B3kxsMgibt5bAQfovtpCnIIYSmjVnyrMrDHibvaYsVU-jmNu09VdOEjaZyEAawrI5AREXp-ceqw746KpmUB6YwuK9qMCB1-kUnVzWN8Ugnu-z_IzW5W4/w187-h180/thumbnail_Image%20small.jpg" width="187" /></a></div><br /><div>The episode I decided to feature is the story of Gabriele - On the 85th anniversary of the Kindertransport scheme, which saved 10,000 children from the Nazis, 97-year-old Gabriele Keenaghan shares her astonishing story</div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>About the episode:</u></b></div><div>You’re 12 years old. Your mother is dead and your father has gone missing. You are wrenched from everyone you know and love and put on a train and sent from your home to a new country, where you don’t speak the language, with a group of total strangers. And you have no idea whether you will ever set eyes on your family again. This was the terrifying reality facing Gabriel Weiss when she boarded a Kindertransport train out of Nazi occupied Vienna in April 1939 and was sent to live in England in the months building up to World War Two. On the 85th anniversary of the Kindertransport scheme, the 97 year old shares her extraordinary story…</div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>Review</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>I sincerely hope if I ever reach the age of 97 that I will be able to engage with the world as Gabriele does in this podcast, as if not a year had gone by since she stepped onto a train and journey into uncertainty.</div><div><br /></div><div>Her story, her voice, her memories and her stamp on this world is a testament to her strength of character and her perseverance, above all it is proof of victory, despite the tragedy surrounding her childhood. The death of her mother sort of cements the beginning of change, and the subsequent disappearance of her Jewish father during Kristallnacht tears the fabric of her life apart.</div><div><br /></div><div>Luckily for her, for her future family and for us, Gabriele's grandmother had the foresight to recognise the danger her granddaughter was in and facilitated her journey as part of the Kindertransport. This paved the way for many thousands of Jewish children to escape persecution. Unfortunately it also meant severing ties with loved ones, in the majority of cases it was the last time the young children had any contact with their parents or loved ones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thompson engages Gabriele with polite, friendly conversation, almost as if two friends were meeting over a coffee. The gentle questions dig a little deeper here and there to dislodge memories and flashbacks that give the overall picture of a child who has to endure always being perceived as the enemy, and yet simply wanting to feel safe, secure and belong.</div><div><br /></div><div>I really enjoyed the podcast and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others. It's both admirable and a fantastic idea to capture certain topics and moments as an audio memory. It's also a great way of paying tribute to people who deserve to have their voices heard. By the way, the Teddy had me gulping.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i-sat-on-the-train-wondered-if-id-ever-see-my-family/id1705546837?i=1000637255547" target="_blank">Listen to From the Library with Love - Kindertransport</a> Length -1 hour 29 mins</div></div><div><br /></div>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-46901263657556901272023-12-05T13:00:00.001+00:002023-12-06T00:59:03.574+00:00#Blogtour How Not to Murder Your Ex by Katie Marsh<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRJQp90lmNlz0y8xiMXnWABlgh3nvNisv32NoaGXOtabMd32tIOtq0i7SWF2GNjRzg6C3aDyLh-JRuS6_OkQXhLxe-alxsvnF8k4iNoqsxaS70WQz4hEPLdwriQxCh2J01hO5euuEFxZTtpyYJJX8jltVjGNHCqhyjQL1VNws3L8pyQRnciMBr8eynxeU/s700/How%20Not%20To%20Murder%20Your%20Ex.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="700" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRJQp90lmNlz0y8xiMXnWABlgh3nvNisv32NoaGXOtabMd32tIOtq0i7SWF2GNjRzg6C3aDyLh-JRuS6_OkQXhLxe-alxsvnF8k4iNoqsxaS70WQz4hEPLdwriQxCh2J01hO5euuEFxZTtpyYJJX8jltVjGNHCqhyjQL1VNws3L8pyQRnciMBr8eynxeU/w354-h146/How%20Not%20To%20Murder%20Your%20Ex.png" width="354" /></a></div><p>It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour How Not to Murder Your Ex by Katie Marsh.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67iKfDXxlOTdlghJF05i0FcZEjPwTbQ0rTFb4E0GlIfn27qWjkqIaXjl3jOOQ1RJH2AKJPt2JZ2qM8EJWvS2eJq2oJNlHFVf3z811EmUwPSgl7y6KfItiZP0vOV6vJRBktrX-1x-6y6nQxCs__OTPSot4XoQgs9OKAQzGtAk2nDw8kv2hCBOQ2I7v4CrH/s768/C6B987F2-E26B-42AB-9281-679A49B1F863.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="512" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67iKfDXxlOTdlghJF05i0FcZEjPwTbQ0rTFb4E0GlIfn27qWjkqIaXjl3jOOQ1RJH2AKJPt2JZ2qM8EJWvS2eJq2oJNlHFVf3z811EmUwPSgl7y6KfItiZP0vOV6vJRBktrX-1x-6y6nQxCs__OTPSot4XoQgs9OKAQzGtAk2nDw8kv2hCBOQ2I7v4CrH/w109-h164/C6B987F2-E26B-42AB-9281-679A49B1F863.jpeg" width="109" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>Katie Marsh wrote five bestselling, uplifting women’s fiction novels before turning to cosy crime for Boldwood. Previously published by Hodder, the first in her new crime series How Not To Murder Your Ex, following the fortunes of the Bad Girls Detective Agency, will be published in December 2023.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1sTnMZzX1qj-bt7xjwXOA_AYZ_F2keoPQENuGTzNFbDOPpPKNXz1hxfQeE4XfUDApUVgbfoGNsTogvaFhfQfmuytB-XJSElfN6ZKRvpU_9OQoXKS6dMQGwMmhxc5Tc2cfJCxPEWdpMIjxb5J-pq8SZOHKNi1Lyt_GKP0FN_1hsQ8WNHUVfZmkhbwRcQ6/s2750/How%20Not%20To%20Murder%20Your%20Ex%20Full%20Tour%20Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="2750" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1sTnMZzX1qj-bt7xjwXOA_AYZ_F2keoPQENuGTzNFbDOPpPKNXz1hxfQeE4XfUDApUVgbfoGNsTogvaFhfQfmuytB-XJSElfN6ZKRvpU_9OQoXKS6dMQGwMmhxc5Tc2cfJCxPEWdpMIjxb5J-pq8SZOHKNi1Lyt_GKP0FN_1hsQ8WNHUVfZmkhbwRcQ6/s320/How%20Not%20To%20Murder%20Your%20Ex%20Full%20Tour%20Banner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>It is 5:30 am on Clio's forty-fifth birthday and her hated ex is lying dead on her doorstep. Even worse, this is no accident. Someone’s killed him...</p><p>When single mum Clio’s ex Gary turns up dead on the doorstep of her caravan – the one she’s been forced to live in ever since he stole every penny she had – there’s only one suspect. Her.</p><p>What’s more, she doesn’t remember much about the night he was killed – not just because of the forgetfulness that’s been plaguing her along with the hot flushes – but because she definitely had one too many cocktails with her two best friends Amber and Jeanie.</p><p>Clio does remember them talking about how much they all hated him though. And, in the frame for murder, she has to ask herself – if she didn’t kill Gary, who did? One of his many enemies? Or someone a little closer to home? And can she and her friends find the real killer before it’s too late?</p><p>Unputdownable mystery set on the English coast – perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club, Bad Sisters, and How to Kill Your Family. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/marshisms">@marshisms</a> on X, <a href="https://mailchi.mp/10188cd9639d/katiemarsh" target="_blank">Sign up to Katie's newsletter</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMNIkSoJmJVFMuOKuCNHQnwsJeuApYp_MbQmeYUffqMvKS-SzXvQIUFCbBloTeOWoHTbUIhffMiCd9c_FPhNNe7l2v-HjRBG25_7kWjIQWDwEuDj92uDlil8dLIVyG5IJcjpk-_XYIqM2QrxlRXnMxGXqWWUftV8FH6RJTxfNx12tE-uUcBnVHkJYk7NWU/s2728/HOW%20NOT%20TO%20MURDER_art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2728" data-original-width="1778" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMNIkSoJmJVFMuOKuCNHQnwsJeuApYp_MbQmeYUffqMvKS-SzXvQIUFCbBloTeOWoHTbUIhffMiCd9c_FPhNNe7l2v-HjRBG25_7kWjIQWDwEuDj92uDlil8dLIVyG5IJcjpk-_XYIqM2QrxlRXnMxGXqWWUftV8FH6RJTxfNx12tE-uUcBnVHkJYk7NWU/w179-h274/HOW%20NOT%20TO%20MURDER_art.jpg" width="179" /></a></div><br /><div><b><u>Review</u></b></div><p>Chaos reigns supreme in this first book in the Bad Girls Detective Agency. It's exactly how you might imagine the discovery of a dead body might go after a boozy night out with the girls. First thought is to get rid of the body, you know like some mob killer. Why would Clio think she needed to hide a crime she didn't commit, well is fairly certain she didn't commit - umm not entirely clear on what happened the night before and could have killed her ex. </p><p>Flanked and supported by her best friends, who are helpful and entirely unhelpful sometimes, depending on the circumstances. They are however convinced that Clio is innocent - there is that pesky detail about the blackout though - and are willing to go to great lengths to prove it. The ex was a scoundrel, scammer and a wannabe Brad Pitt who liked to swim in dangerous waters with bigger sharks than he was. He was always convinced the solution to every problem was just round the corner waiting to be found.</p><p>It's cosy crime with a comedy element to it, perhaps because the core and depth of the friendship between the women and the situations they find themselves will resonate with readers. It's serious enough to make you grumble at the injustice, and yet wanders so close to the edge of hilarity to make it an entertaining read.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Not-Murder-Your-laugh-out-loud-ebook/dp/B0CBCGWZZP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3RF2JO7YSAP6E&keywords=how+not+to+murder+your+ex+katie+marsh&qid=1701819315&sprefix=how+not+to+murder%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy How Not To Murder Your Ex at Amazon Uk </a>or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/185254884-how-not-to-murder-your-ex?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=dent7mMo8k&rank=2" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher : Boldwood Books; pub date 1 Dec. 2023. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Murder-Your-laugh-out-loud-ebook/dp/B0CBCGWZZP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20FLCU4KKMNSO&keywords=how+not+to+murder+your+ex&qid=1701819272&sprefix=how+not+to+murder%2Caps%2C251&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com.</a></p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-75743048701579728682023-11-27T13:00:00.008+00:002023-11-28T01:40:35.744+00:00#Blogtour The Weatherman by Royston Reeves<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBLNIT5qCAPyyPhzecwh_a23u9lliKkjhGFJGYRfLA8-j7r4qViB0L72CMOZY3FXhXHg9b9Id9MCQJB_rVifRQXbYHhFBCTMSGUcab1lS86mtZa5WD8kyp5FunZdHKO-cn_s4KFSalv62qzFIqwMZffs2oTK1EOvZP5Qs_7raTMDQT7lyOKFHmDyW3Bmyk/s1920/The%20Weatherman%20BT%20Poster%20.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1212" data-original-width="1920" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBLNIT5qCAPyyPhzecwh_a23u9lliKkjhGFJGYRfLA8-j7r4qViB0L72CMOZY3FXhXHg9b9Id9MCQJB_rVifRQXbYHhFBCTMSGUcab1lS86mtZa5WD8kyp5FunZdHKO-cn_s4KFSalv62qzFIqwMZffs2oTK1EOvZP5Qs_7raTMDQT7lyOKFHmDyW3Bmyk/s320/The%20Weatherman%20BT%20Poster%20.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Weatherman by Royston Reeves.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB4zgn4XDGF6RfXaWFDTP5Bx5D953c-LyUn7Yqt-s2KSlwF3tXk9uK9CvXNx3c_tPzvTeLNVZ40hDw3jgHf2fAN-mcYEY43JZGNuWhypIIW5d9veyKAp3wtTJ1ozRz93Wb9vHegNLb_492MqeyXb15mSYo4DeaLs-ktJMCJ1EsOPzu6Nyovndt7GS7GyOl/s600/Royston-Reeves-credit-Carly-Cussen-479x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="479" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB4zgn4XDGF6RfXaWFDTP5Bx5D953c-LyUn7Yqt-s2KSlwF3tXk9uK9CvXNx3c_tPzvTeLNVZ40hDw3jgHf2fAN-mcYEY43JZGNuWhypIIW5d9veyKAp3wtTJ1ozRz93Wb9vHegNLb_492MqeyXb15mSYo4DeaLs-ktJMCJ1EsOPzu6Nyovndt7GS7GyOl/w168-h194/Royston-Reeves-credit-Carly-Cussen-479x600.jpg" width="168" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>Royston Reeves is a psychological thriller writer from Essex, England. After spending years in advertising writing TV scripts, newspaper ads and billboards, Royston’s first novel, The Weatherman, will be published in November 2023.</p><p>Reeves is the Head of Strategy for JOE Media and he currently lives in the Kent countryside with his wife, Carly, and daughter, Hunter-Rose. (Author pic - credit to Carly Cussen). Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/royston_reeves">@royston_reeves</a> on X</p><p><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p>‘I’m going to tell you about the worst thing that ever happened to me.’</p><p>Will’s a nice guy. So when he takes a shortcut to the tube station after a few beers with his mates from work, he steps out of the way of the fellow who’s staggering towards him. But he – deliberately – moves back into his path. They knock each other as they pass.</p><p>Moments later one man is dead and another’s life is changed forever. Or is it? There are no CCTV cameras. There was no one else in the out-of-the-way alley. Maybe the world doesn’t have to end for Will after all. But there’s always someone watching . . . and Will’s life is about to implode.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvBy8aC4aiEhxZbAynt6M1Th0_cdFL4ORUbTljqk_JZaC4X3OyiujFaN2xSCZwlWwN56A13hRJcNfmI2p_5ZiJvw4Zy6kIwoJfXbhm6fAUYyKyUTfSi1XWD2BWBj1dl8FSLgHETEujd6Jgt1bgPtMseUpJDBm0AykQaFM0VEHj80SuxK2lpZEVg7Rvr8N/s2736/The%20Weather%20Man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="1893" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvBy8aC4aiEhxZbAynt6M1Th0_cdFL4ORUbTljqk_JZaC4X3OyiujFaN2xSCZwlWwN56A13hRJcNfmI2p_5ZiJvw4Zy6kIwoJfXbhm6fAUYyKyUTfSi1XWD2BWBj1dl8FSLgHETEujd6Jgt1bgPtMseUpJDBm0AykQaFM0VEHj80SuxK2lpZEVg7Rvr8N/s320/The%20Weather%20Man.jpg" width="221" /></a></div><p><b><u>Review</u></b></p><p>It's s great example of how quickly life can change - one minute all your ducks are in a row and the next you might or might not have committed a crime. The kind of crime that has the potential to destroy your life. Knowing that, would you put yourself at risk by doing the right thing?</p><p>Will likes to tell himself and us that he is a nice guy. Do nice guys commit crimes and then try to hide the fact - just walk away as if nothing ever happened at all. And what if someone else was aware of your secret and decided to profit from your fear and desperation? This element of feeling watched, judged and waiting to be exposed makes Will retreat into a former lived version of himself.</p><p>It's a riveting psychological thriller that plays with the grey areas between right and wrong, what is morally right when it comes to self preservation, and isn't it I wondered whether the introduction of Solly was more than just the nemesis. Was Solly the physical representation of Will's other more surprising character traits? The dark side that is obviously there inside just waiting to pop out.</p><p>Imagine Solly as the physical representation of a conscience and simultaneously also of the depths someone will go to to hide their true nature, especially when it gets them into trouble.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weather-Man-Royston-Reeves-ebook/dp/B0C865CC4W/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3LFWCH25Y819T&keywords=the+weatherman&qid=1701131220&sprefix=the+weatherman%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy The Weatherman at Amazon Uk </a>or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/178428096-the-weatherman?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_22" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. Publisher; No Exit Press,23 November 2023. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Weather-Man-Royston-Reeves-ebook/dp/B0C865CC4W/ref=sr_1_1?crid=37FTV7V0E1VB4&keywords=the+weatherman+royston&qid=1701131436&sprefix=the+weatherman+roysto%2Caps%2C199&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com.</a></p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2632183435363339664.post-18392043349043720762023-11-23T13:00:00.060+00:002023-11-24T00:50:33.165+00:00#WOW #Blogtour My Unfurling by Lisa May Bennett<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhliqqT-jK9Z2jTAXRbrRHmdIaA-hfZKRRWcXCIlzClX_w-fAUEKs80AmxINkDTpAfOt127ws8MjwuWi7jmsPVIenRqDtrSPRi09M7CP2oZroNx2OqPcwWikYNS4GcmSyj-lCc45XA7SevuRbOVXLYfANYGGDZCKn07KIddyB4qUbf6ETlDHQ7obdqiLaFB/s1000/My-Unfurling-blog-tour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhliqqT-jK9Z2jTAXRbrRHmdIaA-hfZKRRWcXCIlzClX_w-fAUEKs80AmxINkDTpAfOt127ws8MjwuWi7jmsPVIenRqDtrSPRi09M7CP2oZroNx2OqPcwWikYNS4GcmSyj-lCc45XA7SevuRbOVXLYfANYGGDZCKn07KIddyB4qUbf6ETlDHQ7obdqiLaFB/s320/My-Unfurling-blog-tour.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> It's a pleasure to take part in the WOW! Women On Writing Tour - My Unfurling: Emerging from the Grip of Anxiety, Self-Doubt, and Drinking by Lisa May Bennett.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR0L3T3QMFh6mbw9ShqiHVD1s0TBcSLFxyMIfQvfDspbwtb-dMfh5mrPV1CAKvlyuQ5EQFsHe4zEPsR3iGHq-Hm6nxtxPHDzsqGWqn70EgYLfzEOJzhKZHOi7fhXkhfd5Swup_LmJrezxQCGSk9U5mNROUXb6NM4O2hnwzluZbqkbGxTUIMzQ3HASYYSIf/s3088/Lisa%20May%20Bennett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR0L3T3QMFh6mbw9ShqiHVD1s0TBcSLFxyMIfQvfDspbwtb-dMfh5mrPV1CAKvlyuQ5EQFsHe4zEPsR3iGHq-Hm6nxtxPHDzsqGWqn70EgYLfzEOJzhKZHOi7fhXkhfd5Swup_LmJrezxQCGSk9U5mNROUXb6NM4O2hnwzluZbqkbGxTUIMzQ3HASYYSIf/w118-h157/Lisa%20May%20Bennett.jpg" width="118" /></a></div><p><b><u>About the Author</u></b></p><p>Lisa May Bennett is the author of the memoir My Unfurling: Emerging from the Grip of Anxiety, Self-Doubt, and Drinking. She had a flourishing career in marketing and communications for more than two decades before finally embracing sobriety and chasing her dream of becoming an author. Her upcoming book will demystify the self-publishing process, and she hopes to encourage more people to tell and publish their own stories. You can follow <a href="https://twitter.com/lisamaybennett">@lisamaybennett</a> on X, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lisamaybennett/">@lisamaybennett</a> on Instagram, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lisamaybennett">lisamaybennett</a> on Facebook or visit <a href="https://www.lisamaybennett.com/">lisamaybennett.com</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u>About the book</u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal">Wicked hangovers. Scary blackouts. Ugly fights with friends. The results of binge drinking weigh heavily on Lisa May Bennett. She tries repeatedly to savor “just a few” glasses of wine—only to find herself passed out on the couch again.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Lisa has a bucket list full of exciting adventures with zero check marks next to them. Her anxiety and self-doubt are crying out for real solutions, not more booze. And her dream of becoming a published writer is fading away. She worries that her love of a good buzz will keep her stuck in this rut. Can she take charge of her life, or is she headed for a disastrous rock bottom?</p><p class="MsoNormal">This touching and funny memoir explores the childhood experiences that paved the way for Lisa’s drinking habit. She examines her complicated relationship with her mother, her experiences as a late bloomer, and her ongoing search for validation. In an engaging and relatable voice, the author shares how she began to “unfurl” without alcohol holding her back. But will she stay sober and discover how to truly thrive?</p><p class="MsoNormal">Anyone wondering if they'll ever burst out and follow their dreams will find My Unfurling compelling and hopeful.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUs-2T0E6mWVM2CCepyWD5uK0geR7YWSsRUwmJj8BJZ9lPZyfF_tTTgsJV-1AYuLeg9euKreKvgKk_y_fb_n58lgCLIov2YQIoGRgaoOodaJv6matVgUV-_hrpUdKawWWeT-dSs3QpDzZRGWFopuIYDplz-V2UosHpaCn0CX6KjMK2_Y6kGvVjNmKvKm3/s2560/My%20Unfurling%20Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUs-2T0E6mWVM2CCepyWD5uK0geR7YWSsRUwmJj8BJZ9lPZyfF_tTTgsJV-1AYuLeg9euKreKvgKk_y_fb_n58lgCLIov2YQIoGRgaoOodaJv6matVgUV-_hrpUdKawWWeT-dSs3QpDzZRGWFopuIYDplz-V2UosHpaCn0CX6KjMK2_Y6kGvVjNmKvKm3/s320/My%20Unfurling%20Cover.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div><b><u>Review</u></b></div><p>I'd like to to start my review my supporting and congratulating the achievement of sobriety. It must seem like such an easy thing to write and then share with the world, however it takes strength to acknowledge, face and fight the inner call.</p><p>There are a lot of moments in the book that can be applied to anyone, who regardless of whether they are seeking a core understanding of self to help themselves deal with addiction, can use certain aspects to understand themselves better. Having a greater comprehension of the why won't change the why, but it might change the way a person views their frame of reference.</p><p>I think it's important to understand that an element of peace can be found when a person finally realises that we are unable to change the past, unable to change the impact or reasons others played a role in our development and the whether that impact had repercussions. What we can control and change is the energy and power we choose to invest in those moments and people.</p><p>There are various types of alcoholism, I won't delve into the variations, suffice to say one of them fits into the renamed so-called grey/gray area drinker mentioned in the first few chapters. I think the avoidance and inability to accept the term alcoholism and the need to reinvent is a type of denial, but if that in itself is a coping mechanism that keeps someone sane and sober, then so be it.</p><p>It's an intimate look behind the door of a journey to find the root of the problem, the examination of self and life to understand triggers and ultimately to find the right coping mechanism to maintain sobriety, and to celebrate self.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Unfurling-Emerging-Self-Doubt-Drinking-ebook/dp/B09V1PHHB6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=RZWWQ9EBKLUG&keywords=my+unfurling+lisa&qid=1700785153&sprefix=my+unfurling+lisa%2Caps%2C64&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Buy My Unfurling: Emerging from the Grip of Anxiety, Self-Doubt, and Drinking by Lisa May Bennett at Amazon Uk</a> or go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60637033-my-unfurling" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> for any other retailer. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/My-Unfurling-Emerging-Self-Doubt-Drinking/dp/B09WZJXBCZ/" target="_blank">Buy at Amazon com</a>. <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/my-unfurling-emerging-from-the-grip-of-anxiety-self-doubt-and-drinking-lisa-may-bennett/18374447?ean=9798985875003" target="_blank">Buy at Bookshop.org.</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-unfurling-lisa-may-bennett/1141235696" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a>.</p>Cheryl M-Mhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07178998030351867521noreply@blogger.com0