#BlogBlitz Endless Skies by Jane Cable

 

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Endless Skies by Jane Cable.

Endless Skies will be 99p until 23rd October. 

About the Author

I write romance with a twist, that extra something to keep readers guessing right to the end. While my books are character driven my inspiration is always a British setting; so far a village in Yorkshire (The Cheesemaker’s House), a Hampshire wood (The Faerie Tree), gorgeous Studland Bay in Dorset (Another You) and rural Lincolnshire (Endless Skies).

I was born and raised in Cardiff but spent most of my adult life living near Chichester before my husband and I upped sticks and moved to Cornwall three years ago. 

I published my first two novels independently and have now been signed by Sapere Books. I am an active member of the Romantic Novelists' Association and contributing editor to Frost online magazine.

Follow @JaneCable on Twitter, on Facebook, on Amazon, on Goodreads, Visit janecable.com, Buy Endless Skies 

About the book

As archaeologist Rachel excavates a World War Two airfield, could a love story from the past hold a lesson for her as well?

After yet another disastrous love affair Rachel has been forced to leave her long-term position for a temporary role as an Archaeology Lecturer at Lincoln University. Rachel has sworn off men and is determined to spend her time away clearing her head and sorting her life out. But when one of her students begins flirting with her, it seems she could be about to make the same mistakes again...

She distracts herself by taking on some freelance work for local property developer, Jonathan Daubney. He introduces her to an old Second World War RAF base. And from her very first visit something about it gives Rachel chills…

As Rachel makes new friends and delves into local history, she is also forced to confront her own troubled past. Could a wartime love story have any bearing on her own situation? Could this time be different?

Review

Rachel isn't exactly always on the right track when it comes to men. In fact crossing boundaries, breaking rules seem to be habits of a lifetime. Her last disastrous relationship resulted in a transfer and is making her rethink her career options. It also leads her into a life that includes new relationships, friendships and a connection with the past.

Her need to cross the line or rather the inability to say no when she should gets her into a lot of trouble. Meeting Jonathan is where life starts to change and perhaps his lack of interest in her is what draws her to him and a job that opens up her eyes into a world, which walks alongside us all everywhere we go.

Memories and energy of the past. Unresolved pain, emotions so strong they are shadowed in the present. Rachel is drawn into a long forgotten mystery. A story that helps to heal her own wounds, mistakes and perhaps even change the path she has put herself on.

Cable has created an interesting combination of historical fiction, romance, magical realism and ghost story. All elements of the story flow really well into each other and the result is a read filled with all the elements that may tug at the heartstrings and the yet it is also a mystery that will keep the readers engrossed until the end.

Buy Endless Skies at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Sapere Books; pub date 27 July 2020. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogBlitz The Unquiet Spirit by Penny Hampson

Today it's the Blog Blitz for The Unquiet Spirit by Penny Hampson.

About the Author
Some time ago Penny Hampson decided to follow her passion for history by studying with the Open University. She graduated with honours and went on to complete a post-graduate degree.

Penny then landed her dream role, working in an environment where she was surrounded by rare books and historical manuscripts. Flash forward nineteen years, and the opportunity came along to indulge her other main passion – writing. Penny joined the New Writers’ Scheme of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and  three years later published her debut novel, A Gentleman’s Promise, a  historical mystery/romance. Other books in the same genre soon followed.

But never happy in a rut, Penny also writes contemporary suspense with paranormal and romantic elements. Her first book in this genre is The Unquiet Spirit, published by Darkstroke.

Penny lives with her family in Oxfordshire, and when she is not writing, she enjoys reading, walking, swimming, and the odd gin and tonic (not all at the same time). For more on Penny’s writing, visit her blog: pennyhampson.co.uk/blog/

Follow @penny_hampson on Twitter, on Facebook, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Buy The Unquiet Spirit

About the book
A new beginning. A house with a past. A man with secrets. It was a dream come true…that turned into a nightmare.

Kate Wilson thinks moving back to Cornwall might be the answer to her prayers. But it isn’t long before she begins to have doubts. Is the house she inherited from her godmother haunted? Or is she going out of her mind? With a stalker, threats, and attempted break-ins, Kate’s troubles multiply.

Then there’s her enigmatic neighbour, the brooding Tom Carbis; a man with secrets he doesn’t wish to share. Can she trust him when he says he wants to help? In her quest to unravel the mysteries surrounding her, will Kate uncover more than she bargains for?

Review

Kate isn't expecting to inherit anything from her godmother Win, so when she inherits an entire house in Cornwall it's comes as a surprise, but not exactly a bad one. She is already spooked because she thinks someone is following her in her hometown, and multiple break-ins in her new home do nothing to alleviate her worries.

Her broody neighbour with the overly friendly dog doesn't make her feel more at ease. She is afraid of dogs and her last relationship was a bit of a disaster. They can both keep their distance as far as she is concerned, but somehow they both seem to insert themselves in her life every chance they get.

Hmm it's a question of tread lightly or give all the secrets away. This is a story of ghosts and the paranormal, but Hampson also has a strong sub-plot that plays alongside the ghost story. An important one, which tends to be silenced by the stigma surrounding it. Shame, guilt and embarrassment keeps the victims who suffer in the darkness. To admit is equal to being considered weak.

I liked the way the author approached this, by creating a character who is at first glance abrupt, rude and not very likeable. It's an interesting way of showing the barriers and walls that are constructed to protect and heal, and how they are viewed from the outside by someone with no prior information about said person.

It's an intriguing combination of mystery, ghost story and even a murder thrown in for free. It doesn't stop there though because Hampson also adds a note of romance to the mixture.

Buy The Unquiet Spirit at Amazon Uk go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Crooked Cat / darkstroke; pub date 21 Aug. 2020. Buy at Amazon com.

#HalloweenTakeover The Lost Ones by Anita Frank

Welcome to the #HalloweenTakeover for The Lost Ones by Anita Frank. You don't want to miss this fantastic ghost story!

About the Author
Anita Frank was born in Shropshire and studied English and American History at the University of East Anglia. She lives in Berkshire with her husband and three children and is now a full-time carer for her disabled son. This is her first novel.

Follow @Ajes74 on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Buy The Lost Ones

About the book
England 1917
Reeling from the death of her fiance, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeleine, at her imposing country mansion Greyswick - but she arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister gripped by gear and suspicion.

Before long strange incidents begin to trouble Stella - sobbing in the night, little footsteps on the stairs - and as events escalate, she finds herself drawn to the tragic history of the house.

Aided by a wounded war veteran, Stella sets about uncovering Greyswick's dark and terrible secrets - secrets the dead whisper from the other side...

Review
This is how you write a good ol' ghost story.
Set in 1917 in England, during one of the most devastating periods the world has gone through - the era of the Lost Generation. Husbands, sons, brothers and fathers struck down, whilst protecting their country. In an era where PTSD, shellshock were not recognised as genuine health conditions and trauma considered a weak personality trait, it's no surprise that grief is waved away as inconsiderate and inconsequential nonsense.

This is where the story starts with Stella. A brave young woman who has served her country and is drowning in grief since the loss of her childhood sweetheart. Grief that has driven her to attempt the last resort and in doing so has placed her firmly in the bracket of unstable.

To escape the prying eyes of her parents and the local head shrink she volunteers to keep her pregnant sister Madeleine company in Greyswick, the ancestral home of Madeleine's husband. She brings a maid called Annie with her - a young woman who has her own secrets.

The two of them find a distraught Madeleine, who is convinced she is being taunted or haunted by someone, which her mother-in-law and her companion find ridiculous. Is the hysteria catching or is there really something wrong at Greyswick?

That's as much information as I am willing to give, because readers should experience the read for themselves, both the creepy, the insidious and the moments that are guaranteed to make you angry at certain characters.

The story is set around the First World War, which plays a pivotal part in the characters lives and the storytelling, but for me it was also the only element of the book that was off-key in a way. Why, because it is written with the spellbinding magic of a slightly older era. The skirt-swishing Victorian era, the gothic atmosphere and sense of being taken back into time. I had to remind myself of the year it was actually set in.

It's an absolutely captivating ghost story, it's historical fiction, a plot written with a Christie crime vibe and executed with the same kind of precision. I very much hope this is the first of many stories by Frank - she is an excellent writer.

Buy The Lost Ones at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: HQ; pub date  31 Oct. 2019. Hardback £12.99 - eBook £9.99 - Audio Download £12.99. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Waterstones.

#BlogTour The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James

Welcome to the BlogTour for The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James. It has a real feel of the old classics. Echoes of Rebecca and Jane Eyre can be heard in the hallways. Enjoy this Gothic Horror come Ghost story featuring a vengeful woman, who influences the lives of her enemy for years after her demise.

About the Author
Rebecca James was born in 1983. She worked in publishing for several years before leaving to write full-time, and is now the author of eight previous novels written under a pseudonym. Her favourite things are autumn walks, Argentinean red wine and curling up in the winter with a good old-fashioned ghost story. She lives in Bristol with her husband and two daughters.
Follow @HQStories

About the book
'You’ll be the woman of this house, next, miss. And you’ll like it.’

1947 - Governess Alice Miller loves Winterbourne the moment she sees it. Towering over the Cornish cliffs, its dark corners and tall turrets promise that, if Alice can hide from her ghosts anywhere, it’s here. And who better to play hide and seek with than twins Constance and Edmund? Angelic and motherless, they are perfect little companions.

2018 - Adopted at birth, Rachel’s roots are a mystery. So, when a letter brings news of the death of an unknown relative, Constance de Grey, Rachel travels to Cornwall, vowing to uncover her past.

With each new arrival, something in Winterbourne stirs. It’s hiding in the paintings. It’s sitting on the stairs. - It’s waiting in a mirror, behind a locked door.

Review
The story has echoes of the classics, it has a distinct feel of Rebecca and Jane Eyre, which is especially evident in the writing and the first few chapters.

The story ventures into three periods in time beginning with the woman who goes on to influence the paths of quite a few women in Winterbourne, and not in a good way. Her presence is felt in the area and in the house. A nefarious essence lurking in every corner, every swirl of mist and each drop of water in the cold murky sea.

Rachel inherits the decrepit old mansion, and finds herself drawn into the mysteries of the past during her attempts to trace her real parentage. She also wants to know why her mother gave her up for adoption. The answers she finds are completely unexpected, and she is really surprised by how drawn she is to the house and the local people.

She finds evidence of a governess called Alice, who used to live there in the late 40s. She left under a cloud of mystery and scandal. It seems as though she was one in a series of women with a tragic connection to Winterbourne and the family de Grey.

It has a haunting gothic vibe and is infused with a creepy sense of foreboding. James pulls the readers, and some of the characters, along on kind of a red herring trail with the majority believing Laura is controlling the house. The truth is far more sinister.

The author creates an eery atmosphere which seeps through the characters, the house and the surrounding area, almost like a dark cloud of evil. Even when it seems as if the characters are finally getting the upper-hand or moving on, something or someone puts them back in their place. Once a Winterbourner always a Winterbourner.

James has created a ghostly read with a vengeful presence controlling the narrative, it is a dark and compelling read.

Buy The Woman in the Mirror at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.
Kindle pub date 14 June 2018  Paperback pub date 14 June 2018
Publisher: HQ - Harper Collins UK

The Ghost House by Helen Phifer

Annie is inextricably linked to the manor house. It is as if Alice is reaching out from beyond the grave to connect with Annie.

Trying to warn her from the death threatening to surround her.

Warning her of the evil spirit that still wants to feel the joy of death by his hands or in this case death via surrogate.

Annie has to deal with the recent assault she had to endure at the hands of her own husband. This makes her vulnerable, frightened and perhaps more susceptible to believing in paranormal activities.

She quickly gets swept up in the horrors of the past and now the recent disappearances of young girls, who have fallen prey to a monster.

I  have to admit I wasn't enthralled by the writing style or the story. The male characters suffer from sexist attitudes and the women are portrayed as helpless individuals.

There are holes in the plot and the main character makes completely nonsensical decisions, which don't ring true when you consider the fact she is supposed to be an experienced police officer.
I received a copy of this book courtesy of Harlequin UK and Harlequin CARINA.

The Moment Collector by Jodi Lynn Anderson

A haunting tale of a past life revisiting the path she once trod and how the life ended in the first place.

At first glance it appears to be a story of three young people, who are connected via place and time.

The actual spirit seems almost menacing and is centred around the house Maggie and her parents have moved into.

It is a family property passed down through the ages. The presence thinks it belongs somewhere deep below in the cellar. It is unaware of its identity, has no inkling of how or when it came to be there.

What it does know is that something bad is coming, something is going to happen to Maggie, Pauline or Liam. Is it there to help them, save them or is it there to harm them?

The ghost tries to connect with other apparitions, but comes to the conclusion that they are not from within the same time frame or era. They just float and wander by without responding to her cries. She watches the three of them, sometimes from afar and often up close.

She sees them grow close, splinter and break apart. Love is fickle, relationships come and go, but friendships are supposed to be able to withstand the test of time.

I really loved the overall feel of this story. Never too dramatic or teeny. Subtle with just enough action or emotional turmoil to keep a nice flow to the it. The most memorable element for me was the layer of sorrow and the haunting ache left behind by her memories.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.