#Blogtour Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life by Helen Fisher

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life by Helen Fisher.

About the Author

Helen Fisher is the author of Space Hopper, her debut novel of 2021. Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life is her second novel. Helen has degrees in psychology and ergonomics and was the senior evaluator at RNIB for a few years. This background informs much of her writing as she is fascinated by the psychology of everyday life, especially in terms of relationships. 

Inspiration for Helen’s protagonists and other characters are often drawn directly from herself, her friends and family. She explains that her creation of the character of Joe Nuthin is partly to examine ‘the importance of what some might think of as a small and ordinary life’.

Helen was born on a US military base and spent the first five years of her life in the US, before returning to the UK with her family settling in Suffolk. She returned to Suffolk as an adult and now lives in a village with her two children and a cat called Bear, who thinks he’s a dog. When she isn’t working on her third novel, she walks a lot, talks a lot, likes a jigsaw and the occasional Mojito. Follow @HFisherAuthor on X

About the book

A poignant and life-affirming tale of love, loss and finding friendships where you least expect them…

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

Joe’s mother knows there are a million things in life he isn’t prepared for. While she helps guide him every day, she’s also writing a book full of advice for Joe - things she hasn’t explained to him yet, things he might forget, questions he hasn’t asked, or might not get the chance to ask…

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

Review

I absolutely embrace the positive aspect of this story. The empathy and compassion that we hope is hidden beneath the layers of shallow societal expectations and norms. The ability to see and acknowledge the difference in lived experience and how to navigate the world and people in a different way.

Joe-Nathan lives life by a set of rules and tries not to deviate from them, which can be stressful at times, especially when others find it difficult to accept his need for a certain routine or structure. It makes him a target for the bullies, the ignorant and the less understanding.

I found the story hit close to home and it made me incredibly sad, perhaps because I understand how his mother worries for Joe in a world where he will one day have to solely rely on himself with no nurturing mother to explain and support. My heart is heavy, because I know what it's like to experience the judgement of others, the cruelty that is dished out by the so called 'normal' members of society to children, young people and in general towards people who don't fit into stereotypical boxes and expectations. Both anger and fear are a constant companion when I think of how my loved one will navigate a world that is often unwilling to bend to accommodate otherness.

I must add that there are also moments of connection, kindness and although very few in a large society, there are indeed people who see the beauty, the mystery in the method and how easy it is and should be to accept instead of dismissing people like Joe.

Joe's story is a spark of hope and also a journey, a building of friendship and understanding. An excursion into experiences and independence with a fierce warrior willing to stand by his side. It's a lovely story, albeit it one that may make readers angry or sad at times. It is certainly a story that should be told and remembered.

Buy Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Simon and Schuster, pub date 9th November 2023 | Hardback | £16.99. Also available in ebook and audio. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Murder On The Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Murder on the Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict.

About the Author

Alexandra (AK) Benedict is a best-selling, award-winning writer of short stories, novels and scripts. Educated at Cambridge, Sussex, and Clown School, Alexandra has been a indie-rock singer, an actor, RLF Fellow, and a composer for film and TV as well as teaching and running the prestigious MA in Crime Thrillers at City University. She is now a full-time writer and creative coach.

Her most recent novel, under the name Alexandra Benedict, was the bestselling The Christmas Murder Game. She is currently writing another Christmas mystery, a high-concept thriller and TV scripts. Alexandra lives on the south coast of England with writer, Guy Adams, their daughter, Verity, and dog, Dame Margaret Rutherford. 

Alexandra Benedict’s brand-new Christmas thriller The Christmas Jigsaw Murders is publishing 9th November. Follow @ak_benedict on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter)

About the book

Can You Solve the Case? - Eighteen passengers. Seven stops. One killer.

In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the sleeper train to the Highlands is derailed, along with the festive plans of its travellers. With the train stuck in snow in the middle of nowhere, a killer stalks its carriages, picking off passengers one by one. Those who sleep on the sleeper train may never wake again.

Can former Met detective Roz Parker find the killer before they kill again?

Review

Roz is trying very hard not to disappoint her daughter again, she needs to keep her promises of being there to support during one of the most important times in her life. The last thing Roz needs is to get swept up in anything that might make her forget her priorities, but her professional instinct takes over and sleuthing takes the lead again.

We have a versatile cast of characters - a few of them potentially make both the perfect victim and suspect, which is probably why the whole story becomes such a Rubik's cube of a puzzle. Who did what to whom, and why?

This definitely has a Christie vibe - a train full of potential suspects and victims, a possible killer who is so at ease with their plans that they take the time to pick up snacks in case they get hungry before or after the event. Seems either very calculated, a wee bit insane or perhaps it's just a very organised potential killer.

Thinking of Christie I also thought Roz Parker was a bit Rutherford, McKenzie, and yet also embodies the image of a woman struggling to meet expectations in her relationships and battling past trauma. A sleuth to watch. (hint, hint)

It will be interesting to see whether the author can maintain this combo of modern meets old school mystery and crime - it has the potential to be a series and the author is one to watch. Saying that, I think her Christmas mysteries are a great idea and leave so much room for individual exploration and development.

Buy Murder on the Christmas Express at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Simon and Schuster, pub date 28 September 2023 - Paperback £9.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Together, Again by Milly Johnson

It's an absolute pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Together, Again by Milly Johnson. This is the 20th novel from the Sunday Times bestseller!

About the Author

Milly Johnson was born, raised and still lives in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. A Sunday Times bestseller, she is one of the Top 10 Female Fiction authors in the UK with millions of copies of her books sold across the world. In 2020, she was honoured with the Romantic Novelist' Association's Outstanding Achievement Award and was a featured author in the Reading Agency's Quick Reads and World Book Night campaigns.

A writer who champions women and highlights the importance of friendship and community, Milly's characters are celebrations of the strength of the human spirit. Together, Again is her 20th novel. Follow @millyjohnson on Twitter, More about Milly via linktr.ee/TheMillyJohnson

About the book

Born seven years apart, sisters Jolene, Marsha and Annis have never been close. Following the sudden death of their mother, Eleanor Vamplew, the women return to their childhood home, Fox House, to settle the will and arrange the funeral.

Jolene, the eldest, is a successful romantic novelist who writes templates of beautiful relationships - a far cry from the reality of her marriage. Marsha, the neglected middle child, has focused on her career after the heartbreak of her youth that she has never really gotten over. Annis, the youngest and most rebellious, left home aged sixteen and never returned - not even for the death of their beloved father Julian - until now.

It is therefore a huge surprise to all of them to discover that Eleanor recently changed her will to leave everything to Annis - the daughter she considered a wretched accident.

Review

Jolene, Marsha and Annis are nothing more than coincidentally related by blood. Sisters on paper - not even the death of their mother has brought them closer. In fact her decision to favour one daughter above the others comes as a complete surprise to all of them, and it makes the friction between them worse.

Leaving aside potential trauma, the experiences of siblings in family structures are often very different. Society tends to allocate certain attributes to the eldest, middle and youngest for instance, and connects said attributes or traits to their placement in the structure. A few years ago I read something that gave me a variation in perspective on the differences. 

Each child gets a different set of parents, no matter in which combination you may experience them or not. The eldest gets the inexperienced often young parent/s, the middle child the more experienced older adult, and the youngest the experienced juggler of parenthood. Each of those timeframes means the parent is going through a a different stage of their own growth and life. All of this is why each child remembers the parents with often great variations in memories.

It's probably also true that siblings find it difficult to reconcile their own experiences with their siblings with the images, expectations and experiences their parents had with each one of them. Jealousy, rivalry, and a parent who pits one against the other can be mistaken for siblings who are the source of the problem. Are they though? Are Jolene, Marsha or Annis really at fault here? Is it all just a question of greed?

This is perhaps a slightly darker venture into family, love, sisterhood and relationships than usual. It's a poignant one, although to review it in detail would give away the darkness at the heart of it all. I have to say kudos for giving readers the realistic ending, as opposed to the ending that might make them feel better. Sometimes life is a series of unsatisfactory, painful events that will leave a lasting mark - the trick is letting the happier moments and the sunshine leave a bigger impression.

It's a really good read.

Buy Together, Again at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Simon & Schuster Uk, pub date 2nd March 2023 - £8.99 Paperback. Buy at Amazon com. Buy via SimonSchuster UK.

#BlogTour The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs

It's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs.

About the Author

Annabel Abbs is the rising star of biographical historical novels. She grew up in Bristol, Sussex and Wales before studying English Literature at the University of East Anglia. Her debut novel The Joyce Girl won the Impress Prize and was a Guardian Reader's Pick and her second novel Frieda: The Original Lady Chatterley was a Times 2018 Book of the Year. 

She regularly appears on national and regional media, with recent appearances on Radio 4 Woman's Hour and Sky News, and is popular on the literary festival circuit. She was longlisted for the Bath Novel Award, the Caledonia Novel Award and the Waverton GoodRead Award. Annabel lives in London with her husband and four children.

Abbs’s third novel, The Language of Food, the story of Eliza Acton, Britain’s first domestic goddess, publishes in the UK in February 2022 and is currently being translated into 14 languages.

Follow @annabelabbs on Twitter, Visit annabelabbs.com

“When I inherited a collection of antiquarian cookery books I suspected a story might be lurking in one of them. Researching and writing the story of Britain’s first domestic goddess has been a wonderful culinary adventure.” – Annabel Abbs

About the book

Eliza Acton is a poet who’s never boiled an egg. But she’s about to break the mould of traditional cookbooks. And change the course of cookery writing forever.

England 1835. Eliza Acton is a poet who dreams of seeing her words in print. But when she takes a new manuscript to a publisher, she’s told that ‘poetry is not the business of a lady.’ Instead, she’s asked to write a cookery book.

Eliza is horrified but her financial situation leaves her no choice. Although she’s never cooked before, she is determined to learn and to discover, if she can, the poetry in recipe writing. To assist her, she hires seventeen-year-old Ann Kirby, the daughter of local paupers. Over the next ten years, Eliza and Ann change the course of cookery writing forever.

Told in alternate voices by the award-winning author of The Joyce Girl, The Language of Food is the most thought-provoking and compelling historical novel you’ll read this year. Abbs explores the enduring struggle for female freedom, the complexities of friendship, the creativity and quiet joy of cooking and the poetry of food, while bringing Eliza Acton out of the archives and back into the public eye.

Review

As soon as I read the book of cookery every household should own I was thinking to myself - no matter what this says there is nothing better than Mrs Beeton. As the story unfolds and the author melds fact with fiction, well I ended up coming away with a completely different view.

I taught myself to bake, cook and take care of my household. I was given Mrs Beeton many decades ago, because her books contain the food of folk and are written with a common sense approach. Accuracy, simplicity and instant comprehension for a novice. My father taught me how to make the best Yorkshire puddings and pancakes, based on a less is more working kitchen and indeed working class kitchen. You can make something out of anything, and it should fill the stomach, satisfy the senses and doesn't need to break the bank or win a food fashion competition.

As a young mother at the start of my twenties, I began writing down recipes that I used the most, that pleased the recipients, and it includes the evidence of labour whilst creating the perfect choc chip cookie or shortbread for instance.

The aforementioned is probably why this book resonated with me. I understand how food is its own communicator and de-stressor. My own handwritten volume of three plus decades is evidence of that. The way the author draws from the power of food as it becomes an equalizer, a communicator and in this historical setting also an opportunity for independence in a society where women are always the second class citizen - it's a riveting and visceral journey of the senses.

I loved the way Abbs approached this, the way the main characters are both examples of their class status, whilst simultaneously being bonded by their commonalities. The story becomes it's own documentation of historical events, despite the fictional aspect.

Buy The Language of Food at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Simon & Schuster UK, pub date 3 Feb. 2022. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian

 It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian - *Soon to be a TV series produced by Mindy Kaling*

About the Author

A Paul and Daisy Soros fellow, Sanjena Sathian is a 2019 graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She has worked as a reporter in Mumbai and San Francisco, with nonfiction bylines for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Food & Wine, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, and more. And her award-winning short fiction has been published in Boulevard, Joyland, Salt Hill, and The Master's Review. Follow @sanjenasathian on Twitter, Visit sanjena.com

About the book

Neil Narayan's parents moved to America for a better life, and his perfect older sister is now headed to an elite university. Neil is funny and smart, but he is not living up to his parents' dream. While he tries to want their version of success, mostly, Neil just wants his neighbour across the street, Anita Dayal.

Once a lot like Neil, Anita is truly thriving academically, athletically and socially. Anita has a secret: she and her mother Anjali have been brewing an ancient alchemical potion from stolen gold that harnesses the ambition of the jewellery's original owner. Anita just needs a little boost to get into Harvard. When Neil - who needs a whole lot more - stumbles onto their secret and joins in the plot, events spiral into a tragedy that rips their community apart.

Ten years later, Neil is an oft-stoned history grad student studying the California gold rush. Anita has given up her high-flying tech career and is working as an event planner, just for now. Anjali, the woman who gave them both so much, is in trouble, and only gold can save her. What choice do Anita and Neil have but to pull off one last heist?

Review

I loved the whole alchemy and magical realism aspect of this story and the way history, colonialism, racism is the beginning and the ghosts of the past are the companion at the end. Achievement, success can hardly be differentiated between greed and wealth, which is often synonymous with the word success.

I guess it depends on frame of reference, because although I found this an incredibly intriguing read with vast depth - I didn't find it funny or amusing. Instead I couldn't help but feel the enormity of the pressure put on these children, young women and men, to achieve and adhere to rules and the expectations of their families and the society they are born into.

What a heavy burden to carry, perhaps one that could make certain people crumble and bend with the weight. What if the burden could be lifted by an advantage? That's the crux at the core of this story. Are Neil and Anita merely doing what they can to lessen the burden by achieving whatever they set their minds to by stealing the talents, the futures, the mojo of others - or is this just pure and simple greed.

It's a read steeped in culture, history, myth and magical realism. Sathian certainly has her finger on the pulse of the inner workings of the culture embedded in this read and is a great storyteller to boot. This is the kind of multi-layered story that delivers no matter which thread you follow or relate to the most.

Buy Gold Diggers at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Simon & Schuster Uk; pub date 19 August 2021 -Hardback - £14.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Your Life or Mine by Vicki Bradley

 It's my turn on the BlogTour Your Life or Mine by Vicki Bradley.

About the Author

Vicki Bradley is a detective constable in the Metropolitan Police Service. She has had a varied career, as a uniformed response driver in Brent and then as a detective Constable in Southwark CID. She has managed High Risk Sex Offenders and worked on the Serious Organised Crime Command. 

Before I Say I Do won the Write Here, Right Now competition, came 3rd in the First Novel Prize and has been shortlisted for the Virago New Crime Writer 2017 and Peters Fraser and Dunlop Prize 2016. Vicki lives in London with her husband and baby. Follow @vbradleywriter on Twitter

About the book

Alana Loxton was part of the all-female team to take down Barratt, a notorious serial killer. He is safely behind bars when one of the detectives goes missing.

Her disappearance, and the connection to the killer, could be a coincidence – but when her body is discovered days later, a link begins to form. Then another detective from the team goes missing and the situation becomes horrifically clear. Someone is picking them off one by one – and Alana’s name is next on the list . . .

Review

DC Alana Loxton, and an all-female police team, managed to take down a dangerous serial killer. Edward Barratt is locked up, well when he isn't trying to escape, and yet he still seems to be pulling the strings from behind bars. Who else could possibly be targeting the women brave enough to stand up to such a monster?

It starts with one. After a night out one of the detectives disappears, there is no trace of her and no clues as to when, why and to whom. The police focus on her boyfriend or ex-boyfriend, but Loxton is convinced that Barratt is behind the hunt on Loxton and her friends.

Cynics however would say that sometimes it isn't the most obvious solution, but perhaps the one you can see just out of the corner of your eye. The reader can see the discrepancies, but Loxton is far too blinded by all the trees in the forest.

It's a fast-paced crime read and I mean fast. You barely get over one victim when another pops up or gets dragged off. The main character seems to be a little blinkered when it comes to acknowledging the truth and ignoring what is right in front of her. If there is anyone left over after this lethal read then hopefully we will get to experience Loxton at her best, instead of charging ahead like a bull in a china shop. 

I liked the way Bradley gives readers the solution right there on a silver platter, then turns the tables in a way that makes you wonder whether the author really knows whodunnit. I'm still not entirely convinced by the way. Watch this space.

Buy Your Life or Mine at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Simon & Schuster UK pub date 27th May 2021 - Paperback £7.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour The Smallest Man by Frances Quinn

 

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Smallest Man by Frances Quinn, published by Simon & Schuster. 

'The smallest man. The biggest heart. The mightiest story. A compelling story, perfect for fans of The Doll Factory and The Familiars.'

About the Author

Frances Quinn read English at King’s College, Cambridge, and is a journalist and copywriter. She has written for magazines including Prima, Good Housekeeping, She, Woman’s Weekly and Ideal Home. She lives in Brighton with her husband and who Tonkinese cats. The Smallest Man is her first novel. 

Follow @franquinn on Twitter, on Amazon, on Goodreads, Buy The Smallest Man

About the book

Nat Davy longs to grow tall and strong and be like other boys, but at the age of ten, he’s confronted with the truth; he’s different, and the day when the stares and whispers stop is never going to come.

Narrowly escaping life in a freak show, he’s plucked from his family and presented as a gift to the new young queen of England – a human pet to add to her menagerie of dogs and monkeys. But when Nat realises she’s as lost and lonely as he is, the two misfits begin an unlikely friendship – one that takes him on an unforgettable journey, as England slides into the civil war that will tear it apart and ultimately lead the people to kill their king.

Inspired by a true story, and spanning two decades that changed England for ever, The Smallest Man is narrated by an irrepressible hero with his own unique perspective on life. His story is about being different, but not letting it hold you back. About being brave enough to take a chance, even if the odds aren’t good. And about how, when everything else is falling apart, true friendship holds people together

Review

Nat Davy knows he is small, but thinks nothing of it until the meeting with someone just like him teaches him a hard lesson and sets him on the path he is destined to walk upon in motion. As a child he experiences the ultimate rejection and betrayal when he is sold to the highest bidder.

He ends up by the side of the Queen of England, at first as her pet, then perhaps as something akin to two strangers against the rest of the court. As the country heads towards a civil war Nat grows into the man he might not have been had he not been sold, then again you never know.

If you know your British history you may recognise the true story behind The Smallest Man. The unfortunate Charles I married Henrietta Maria, and that young queen was presented with a dwarf. A man called Jeffrey Hudson, often referred to as Lord Minimus or the Queen's dwarf. A pet, something curious to behold and laugh at.  

It's historical fiction based on facts. Quinn takes inspiration from truth and uses it create a compelling story. It's almost as if the reader can imagine themselves in Nat's place, as he discovers he is different and not able to be the son his father expects. As he feels the humiliation of being nothing more than an object of ridicule. Nobody thinks of him as the child who grows into the man with the same desires and ambition as other men.

It wasn't until after I finished the book I read that this is Quinn's first novel. I was really surprised, I thought it was work written by an established author of fiction. It certainly felt that way from start till finish. Saying that, I really hope it isn't the last, because Quinn is an excellent storyteller and this was clearly just the tip of the iceberg.

Buy The Smallest Man at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Simon & Schuster Uk, pub date 7 January 2021 / Hardback /£14.99. Buy at Amazon com. At Hive. At Bookshop.org. At Waterstones.