#BlogTour Asking for a Friend by Andi Osho

 

Today it's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Asking for a Friend by Andi Osho.

About the Author

Andi Osho is an accomplished writer, actress, film maker and stand-up comedian who has appeared on a number of popular TV comedy shows, such as Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Last Call With Carson Daly and The Late, Late Show. During that time, Andi also wrote, performed and toured two sell-out solo shows, appeared at the O2 Arena in London and Just for Laughs in Montreal.

Andi has written for broadcasters such as Fox, BBC and Sky including comedy horror, Twin Thing (Sky Arts) and her own E4 sketch pilot The Andi O Show. As a film maker, her award-winning shorts have screened at film festivals around the world. Asking For A Friend is her debut novel.

Follow @Andiosho on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit andiosho.com, Buy Asking for a Friend

About the book

No woman gets left behind. Three best friends are going to solve their relationship woes once and for all. Forty-something Jemima’s life is on track – well, sort of. All she has to do is muster the courage to bat her niggly ex away for good.

Twenty-something Meagan is in the midst of her five-phase plan and is nearly ready for phase three – a relationship. While thirty-something Simi has had more it’s not yous than any I dos.

Deciding it’s time to play the dating game by their own rules, they’re going to ditch the dating apps and ask people out in real life. The catch? They’re playing matchmaker and can only ask out potential dates for each other because the most important rule is that no woman gets left behind.

Review

Jemima, Simi and Meagan aren't exactly good examples of happy and stable dating habits. Simi only needs to glance in the direction of someone she finds attractive and she falls in love. Meagan is a no strings attached kind of girl, hence the friends with benefits. Jemima has a creepy ex with a stalking problem - stalking Jemima that is.

They come up with the idea of someone else, one of them, picking their next date, as opposed to one of them following the same old patterns again.

I kind of liked the idea of the dating game, although it can only work and be fun if the participants are friends and genuinely want their fellow singletons to make solid connections. It wont work if someone  has their self-interest in mind rather than the best interest of others.

The author gives readers a witty entertaining read, a contemporary story of friendship and sisterhood. How women should champion and support each other instead of grinding each other down. It's perhaps a little more subdued than expected, but a decent romcom nevertheless.

Buy Asking for a Friend at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : HQ; pub date 21 Jan. 2021. Buy at Hive. Bookshop org. Waterstones.

#BlogTour The Art of Deception by Louise Mangos

Today it's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Art of Deception by Louise Mangos. It's contemporary and women's fiction with elements of crime fiction.

About the Author
Louise Mangos grew up in the UK but has spent more than half her life in Switzerland. Her debut psychological thriller "Strangers on a Bridge" was a finalist in the Exeter Novel Prize and long listed for the Bath Novel Award. Her second novel "The Art of Deception" will be published in June 2019.

She lives on an Alp with her Kiwi husband and two sons, and when she's not writing you can find her on the cross-country ski loop or swimming in the lake, depending on the season. She also writes short stories and flash fiction which have won prizes and been published in various anthologies. She is currently studying for her MA in crime writing at UEA.

Follow @LouiseMangos on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon,
Buy The Art of Deception

About the book
The new must-read thriller from the author of Strangers on a Bridge, Louise Mangos
Art college dropout Lucie arrives in a Swiss ski resort looking for work – but instead finds Mathieu.

Handsome, charismatic and from a good family, Matt seems like the perfect man. But as Lucie soon discovers, he has a dark side – one that will drive their relationship to a dramatic conclusion, and tear the life she has built for herself and their son apart.

Left fighting for her freedom in a foreign prison, and starting to lose her grip on reality, Lucie must summon all of her strength to uncover the truth and be reunited with her son before it’s too late.

The clock is ticking . . . but who can she trust?

Review
'When someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time'. I can't say this loud enough, because an abuser, even a manipulative charming one with lots of experience, will show you what he or she is in some way or other. You just have to take off the pink-tinted glasses long enough to register it.

Following on from that, when all your friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances try to warn you or tell you what they know or see, then listen carefully. Don't ignore what you probably already know deep in your heart. The other side of that coin is the fact many women and men, that includes young people, aren't always aware what constitutes abuse, thereby are unable to extricate themselves from those type of relationships because they don't recognise abuse for what it is.

Lucie chooses not to listen and to ignore the warning signs. She is a young girl in the throes of young love. Captivated by the attention she receives. Matt doesn't fall in love or in lust really, he just sees another innocent and vulnerable young woman he can manipulate and control.

Lucie ends up behind bars for the death of her husband. Separated from her young son and a victim of a vigorous and perhaps biased legal system.

Mangos does something specific when it comes to the abuse, which seems quite intentional as the read progresses, it's written as if it is secondary to the situation. The acceleration isn't noted per se, but rather noted more in Lucie's hesitation and reading of his body language and facial expressions. Now why is this important, this seemingly lackadaisical approach to describing that aspect of the relationship and story.

Whether intentional or not it portrays how this type of abusive relationship slips into a daily normality, hence it's not always at the forefront of those flashbacks in the past. Abuse is more complex than it appears, which is why the outside often don't understand and are critical of those being abused.

It's contemporary and women's fiction with elements of crime fiction. For me the question at the forefront of this story is whether the end result death is justified when you believe your life or the life of your child is in danger. The problem is that domestic abuse still isn't seen as the real danger it is, which is why so many of the abused feel they have no other choice than the extreme.

Mangos gives the reader a multi-faceted story, and draws from multiple genres to create a thought-provoking read.

Buy The Art of Deception at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: HQ Digital; pub date Paperback release 13 June 2019. Buy at Amazon com.

The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo

At a glance this story might seem like a long expedition into the self-absorbed meanderings of the main character. It is however much more than that.

Everyone lives in their head. In fact to be more specific, there are at least three versions of every person.

The version we show to the world, the version of us we show to our family, partners and close friends, and then there is the version that lives inside us. The one that lives in our head, the one we have internal conversations with, the version of us who voices thoughts nobody ever hears.

The Light we Lost is Lucy's internal voice and inner version of herself. It is essentially the written dialogue of hopes, fears and desires we never share with anyone else.

I think this is a story a lot of readers will be able to identify with. If you think back upon your life you might be able to recognise certain moments you could call crossroads. Days or decisions that took you in one direction when you could have chosen another one in the same moment.

It's the same sentiment as some of us meeting what one would call the great love of our life, but ending up letting them go or choosing a path different to theirs. In Lucy's case this person is Gabe. Santopolo describes it quite accurately when she writes something akin to some loves are like a hearth fire, warm and cosy, and others are like raging uncontrollable bushfires. One of them is consistent and reliable, and the other leaves you breathless and disorientated.

Lucy and Gabe have a relationship filled with What-If's and it never being the right moment in time for the two of them. A pocket full of regrets and bag full of imaginary scenarios that could have been.

I really enjoyed this book, perhaps because it is simplistic, and yet poignant. It's like entering a secret door in someone's head, and having a front row seat to their inner thoughts and a lifetime of emotions.

Santopolo makes you feel as if you're sitting on your couch drinking a glass of wine listening to a friend talk about their secret love. It's an intimate moment, and yet at the same time it is a universal one, and so is this story.

Buy The Light We Lost at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Follow @JillSantopolo

Today! Blog-Tour: The Deviants by C.J. Skuse

Today it is my pleasure to be part of the blog-tour for The Deviants by C.J. Skuse. It is a story which will make you root for the merry band of misfits, and I think it will change the way you perceive the word deviant. As per usual Skuse doesn't disappoint.

About the author
C.J. Skuse was born in 1980 in Westonsuper-Mare, England. She has First Class degrees in Creative Writing and Writing for Children and, aside from writing novels, works as a freelance children’s fiction consultant and lectures in Writing for Children at Bath Spa University. C.J. loves Masterchef,
Gummy Bears and murder sites. Before she dies, she would like to go to Japan, try clay-pigeon shooting and have Ryan Gosling present her with the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Connect with @CeeJaytheAuthor or @HQYoungAdult and look out for #TheDeviants on Twitter
Follow CJ on Facebook

About the book
Growing up in the sleepy English seaside town of Brynston, the fearless five – Ella, Max, Corey, Fallon and Zane – were always inseparable. Living up to their nickname, they were the adventurous, rowdy kids who lived for ghost stories and exploring the nearby islands off the coast. But when Max’s beloved older sister Jessica is killed, the friendship seems to die with her.

Now years later, only Max and Ella are in touch; still best friends and a couple since they were thirteen. Their lives are so intertwined Max’s dad even sponsors Ella’s training for the Commonwealth Games. But Ella is hiding things. Like why she hates going to Max’s house for Sunday dinner, and flinches whenever his family are near. Or the real reason she’s afraid to take their relationship to the next level.

When underdog Corey is bullied, the fearless five are brought back together again, teaming up to wreak havoc and revenge on those who have wronged them. But when the secrets they are keeping can no longer be kept quiet, will their fearlessness be enough to save them from themselves?

Review
This book wasn't at all what I expected. It was a whole lot more. The topics are hard-hitting tough ones and Skuse doesn't take any prisoners or make it into a candy floss YA event. I have to admit that the story seemed to be steering towards a predictable ending, but the author pulled a rabbit out of a hat and delivered a spectacular twist. The kind of twist you just don't see coming.

Ella appears to have it all. She is a successful athlete with ambitious goals, and has a happy home and love life. It's only when you look a little closer and scratch a little off the top of the golden girl's shiny surface that the slow decay becomes apparent.

She has a growing inner anger, which has started to slip through her usual pleasant facade. She is finding it increasingly difficult to keep the hounds of rage at bay. Her odd behaviour seems to lead all the way back to the accidental death of her boyfriend's sister.

There is a particular emphasis on the small group of close friends Ella has. The dynamics, loyalties and often dysfunctional relationships between the five of them, and the now missing sixth member of their odd group, are pivotal to the plot. Frenemies, freaks and friendships bind them together.

It's quite common for certain behaviour patterns to be perceived as nothing more than troublesome teenage years, black sheep emerging in the family or simply a rebellious nature. How many of us would turn around and consider a more nefarious reason for behaviour, which is at first out of character and then suddenly the norm?

It is a good read, albeit a dark and quite serious one. It isn't filled with sugar canes and puppy dogs tails. Instead it is a tale of insidious betrayal and the fatal repercussions resulting from this perfidy. For me the word deviant will never conjure up the same images again.

Buy The Deviants at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Read Monster by C.J. Skuse or Sweetpea.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

It's the kind of book I think young people should read. Older teens and young adults in the middle of the scholastic academic rat race. The competition for highest grade and places at the best universities.

The build-up towards the decline of Aled is really well done. I think a lot of parents and students underestimate how lonely and vulnerable it can be at university or college.

Up until that point most young people are kept cocooned in the bubble of home and school. Gifted academics are fooled into thinking that because they are the smartest in their school that they are the smartest overall. Of course this particular bubble bursts when they find themselves in lecture rooms full of smarter and equally intelligent students. They go from being rock stars to one of many in the galaxy.

Not everyone is an academic though, and both schools and parents need to be mindful of students with other skills and talents.

In an effort to appear independent and strong Aled doesn't reach out for help when everything takes a downward spiral. His only cry for help is Radio Silence.

Another important theme in the book is discovering sexuality and preferences or lack of them. Oseman does this without trying to strong-arm the plot or the reader.

Aside from the friendship between Frances and Aled I think the relationship between Carol and her children is one of the most interesting. In a world of Tiger moms, pushy parents and an ever rising number of children being abused, she was a small character, but a pivotal one.

Carol is the type of parent that flies under the radar when it comes to her behaviour. Outside her four walls she is the epitome of the perfect parent. A helpful respected member of society, who has an entirely different persona for those who know her privately.

I really enjoyed the read, perhaps because a lot of the scenarios rang very true for me.

Buy Radio Silence at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.