#BlogTour The Little Bookshop of Love Stories by Jaimie Admans

Today it's an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Little Bookshop of Love Stories by Jaime Admans. It really is lovely.

About the Author
Jaimie is a 32-year-old English-sounding Welsh girl with an awkward-to-spell name. She lives in South Wales and enjoys writing, gardening, watching horror movies, and drinking tea, although she's seriously considering marrying her coffee machine. She loves autumn and winter, and singing songs from musicals despite the fact she's got the voice of a dying hyena. She hates spiders, hot weather, and cheese & onion crisps. She spends far too much time on Twitter and owns too many pairs of boots. She will never have time to read all the books she wants to read.

She has been writing for years but has only just plucked up the courage to tell people.

She is the author of chick-lit romantic comedies Kismetology and The Chateau of Happily Ever Afters, and young adult romantic comedies Afterlife Academy, Not Pretty Enough, and North Pole Reform School.

Follow @be_the_spark on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit jaimieadmans.com, Buy The The Little Bookshop of Love Stories

About the book
Today is the Mondayest Monday ever. Hallie Winstone has been fired – and it wasn’t even her fault!

Having lost her job and humiliated herself in front of a whole restaurant full of diners, this is absolutely, one hundred percent, the worst day of her life. That is until she receives an email announcing that she is the lucky winner of the Once Upon a Page Bookshop!

Owning a bookshop has always been Hallie’s dream, and when she starts to find secret love letters on the first pages of every book, she knows she's stumbled across something special.

Things get even better when she meets gorgeous, bookish Dimitri and between them, they post a few of the hidden messages online, reuniting people who thought they were lost forever.

Review
Hallie rightly thinks her ship has come in when she wins or rather is given a bookshop. One with a flat above it. A job, a home and a dream come true. For someone who wears her knickers longer than she can hold down a job - this is brilliant news.

She seems to also have inherited a book illustrator, a rather clumsy gentleman who spends his days sketching in a corner of her newly acquired book heaven or is that haven...nope definitely heaven. The two of them discover secret love messages in the books, and so begins the tale of Hallie and Dimitri.

Someone needs to bequest me a book shop just like this, then I can live a long and satisfactory book filled life and eventually die a very contented bookworm indeed. What about your life and family you say? To that I can reply but one thing - Books, and err .. more Books!

I have to admit this story thawed the icicles around my black heart. This is such an adorable and heartwarming read. It spoke very loudly to my inner bookworm. The whole premise of being surrounded by books, the wonderfully amusing and romantic atmosphere, and a cast of delightful characters. Of course there has to be a special mention of the amorous Heathcliff. What a cad, a well-travelled and often picky one, but a cad nevertheless.

You can feel the love and genuine joy the author pours into the story even in those moments when things go wrong. It's a passionate tale of love of the written word, which binds the characters together to create a funny and heartwarming story.

Buy The Little Bookshop of Love Stories on Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: HQ Digital; pub date 8 May 2020. Buy at Amazon com.

Audibook #BlogBlitz Daisy May's Daydream Parade: Treasure Island Adventure by Arran Francis

Something different today a Children's Audiobook. It's my turn on the BlogBlitz for the Audiobook Daisy May's Daydream Parade: Treasure Island Parade by Arran Francis. Narrated by Annette Chown

About the Author
Arran Francis is the creator of multiple series for BBC's CBeebies radio and has worked as an audiobook producer on behalf of MacMillan Audio, Audible and Harper Collins. He launched Wombat and Jones Audio in 2019 with the aim of writing children’s novels to be released exclusively in audiobook format.

The audiobooks for the Daisy May’s Daydream Parade and Wombat & Jones series were released last summer with further books in the series and standalone titles being scheduled for publication in 2020.

Follow on Goodreads, Buy Daisy May's Daydream Parade: Treasure Island Adventure

About the book
Eight-year-old Daisy May is the writer and star of her very own TV show, Daisy May’s Daydream Parade, which broadcasts live and exclusively in her imagination.

In the latest episode, Daisy May finds herself on a desert island where she discovers a map that leads to buried treasure, but what appears to be a simple quest to find riches soon turns into a roller-coaster ride as evil pirates, grumpy gorillas and a fire breathing dragon stand in her way. However, when travelling across polluted ocean waters and trash covered beaches, Daisy May soon realises that the hunt for treasure can wait — there’s a much bigger issue in need of urgent attention.

Daisy May’s Daydream Parade audiobooks show how 8-year-old Daisy May confronts her real life problems in the stories she writes as she floats off into her daydream adventures.

Review
This is part of a series of adventures featuring a young creative entrepreneur with the most colourful and vivid imagination - Daisy May is a producer, writer and the absolute star of her own tv series Daisy May's Daydream Parade.

In this adventure Daisy May is off to find a hidden treasure in the middle of a desert island, whilst trying to find it she discovers that the oceans are polluted and the beaches covered in rubbish. Suddenly the treasure doesn't seem as important.

It's a wonderful audiobook adventure for children between the ages of 4 to 7, although I am sure Daisy May won't mind if both younger and older audiences share her adventures with her - just be mindful of the evil pirates and fire-breathing dragon.

I think the form of audiobook as an entertainment, teaching and relaxation tool is highly underrated, especially when it comes to children and young people. Reading is important, but being able to actually listen and enjoy a book read by a narrator is completely different. It's not the same thing as Mom, Dad or Nan reading a bedtime story either.

I really love the way the author has combined the vivid imagination of a child and important issues of the world they live in today. The moral of the story being that fun can wait, whilst we save the place we live in or make it a better place for living beings to live in. Given the intense curriculum and topics young children are confronted with in the 21st century, teaching them about pollution and littering for instance are absolutely stories that will interest them.

At the same time Francis adds fun and adventures to make an important listening experience an exciting one too.

Buy Daisy May's Daydream Parade: Treasure Island Adventure on Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Wombat and Jones Audio; pub date 9 January 2020. Buy at Amazon com. On Audible UK. Buy via Wombat and Jones.

Listening Length - 1 hour and 50 minutes, Author - Arran Francis, Narrator - Annette Chown,  Audible.co.uk Release Date - 09 January 2020, Publisher - Wombat and Jones Audio, Program Type - Audiobook, Version - Unabridged, Language - English, Categories: Children, Ages 5-7.

#BlogTour Boy in the Box Marc E. Fitch

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Boy in the Box by Marc E. Fitch.

About the Author
Marc E. Fitch is the author of the novels Old Boone Blood, Paradise Burns and Dirty Water,as well as the books Paranormal Nation: Why America Needs Ghosts, UFOs and Bigfoot and Shmexperts: How Power Politics and Ideology are Disguised as Science. His short fiction has appeared in numerous publications and anthologies, including Best Horror of the Year vol 10.

Marc received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Western Connecticut State University and has worked as a bartender, psychiatric technician for inpatient behavioral health hospitals, and most recently as an investigative reporter for a public-policy organization. He was the recipient of the 2014
Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship and the Leslie Leeds Poetry Prize. He is the father of four children and lives and works in Connecticut.

Follow @fitch_marc on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit marcfitch.com, Buy Boy in the Box

About the book
Ten years ago a mysterious and tragic hunting accident deep in the Adirondack Mountains left a boy buried in a storied piece of land known as Coombs’ Gulch and four friends with a terrible secret.

Now, Jonathan Hollis and brothers Michael and Conner Braddick must return to the place that changed their lives forever in order to keep their secret buried. What they don’t realize is that they are walking into a trap — one set decades earlier by a supernatural being who is not confined by time or place:a demon that demands a sacrifice.

Review
When Gene, Jonathan, Conner and his brother Michael travel up to an isolated cabin in the  Adirondack Mountains to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of one of them, the plan is to hunt and spend his last moments of single freedom with his mates and doing manly things without any distractions.

Things don't go exactly as planned and the four of them leave with the kind of secret that burdens the soul and psyche. Killing a child and burying him in the forest isn't really something you can just get over, right? Well, some of them seem to deal with it better than others.

It becomes necessary to return to the forest to remove the clues of their crime, which thrusts the men back into the nightmare that has been following them around for years.

It's a tense horror read that creeps and swirls like a malignant fog.

Fitch lets the more sinister side of this story seep in gradually, as if the demon were playing a game of distraction. Is this a story about a murder, about deviants trying to kidnap children or something more nefarious? The misdirection is actually what makes the story so compelling, because you don't actually put all of the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together until the end.

Talking of the end - it throws up this horrific moral dilemma, which gives the book and the reader this last hefty slap of evil. It's an interesting walk on a very fine line between the instability of minds burdened by guilt, the supernatural and a darkness that exists all around us.

Buy Boy in the Box at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Flame Tree Press; pub date 23 April 2020. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour The Forgotten Sister by Nicola Cornick

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour The Forgotten Sister by Nicola Cornick.

About the Author
Nicola Cornick is a historian and author who works as a volunteer researcher and guide for the National Trust in one of the most beautiful 17th century houses in England. She writes dual time novels that illustrate her love of history, mystery and the supernatural. Her books have appeared in over twenty five languages, sold over half a million copies worldwide and been described as "perfect for Outlander fans." Nicola also works as a consultant for TV and radio.

Her new novel, 'The Forgotten Sister' is a re-telling of the Tudor love triangle between Queen Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley and Amy Robsart. It is out in April 2020 and is available for pre- order in paperback and e-book.

Follow @NicolaCornick @HQStories on Twitter, on Amazon, on Goodreads, on Instagram, on Facebook, Visit nicolacornick.com, Buy The Forgotten Sister

About the book
One woman’s secret will shape another’s destiny…

1560: Amy Robsart is trapped in a loveless marriage to Robert Dudley, a member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Surrounded by enemies and with nowhere left to turn, Amy hatches a desperate scheme to escape – one with devastating consequences that will echo through the centuries…

Present Day: When Lizzie Kingdom is forced to withdraw from the public eye in a blaze of scandal, it seems her life is over. But she’s about to encounter a young man, Johnny Robsart, whose fate will interlace with hers in the most unexpected of ways. For Johnny is certain that Lizzie is linked to a terrible secret dating back to Tudor times. If Lizzie is brave enough to go in search of the truth, then what she discovers will change the course of their lives forever.

Review
I think you have to know your history to fully appreciate the way Cornick has melded fact and fiction to create this dual timeline story, although to be fair the majority of readers will have heard, read or seen something about Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley and Amy Robsart.

In 1560 we see Amy embark upon what will be a short-lived marriage with Robert Dudley, which culminates in her untimely death. A suspicious death that becomes a barrier between Elizabeth and Robert. With the suspicion of murder hanging over him he is no longer considered a possible match for her majesty, although I would argue that she would never have forfeited an inch of power by marrying any man.

Elizabeth I was driven by her need to be in control of her own destiny, perhaps because it was so often in uncertainty as a child. After the tyrannical behaviour of her father and his obsession with women and a male heir - it is ironic and poetic justice that the daughter of Anne Boleyn reigned with such determination.

In the present day the tragic past is mirrored in the lives of Lizzie, Dudley and Amelia. It's more than that though, somewhere along the line Lizzie is connecting to the past, perhaps to someone or something lingering and waiting for justice.

It's historical fiction - a dual timeline murder mystery with a ghostly vibe. Cornick certainly captures the right elements of both modern mystery and historical fiction to create a compelling read.

From Harry Kingdom, Annie Bowling to Lizzie and Bill aka the advisor formerly known as William Cecil, it's all incredibly clever and entertaining. Then again maybe I just found it particularly amusing because I enjoy reading about that period in history. This would also be a great way of teaching children history by creating a modern equivalent they can relate to.

It's a captivating read, a fascinating combination of multiple genres, which I think will draw in quite a lot of readers.

Buy The Forgotten Sister at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: HQ; pub date 30 April 2020. Buy at Amazon com.

Read my review of The Woman in the Lake by Nicola Cornick.

#BlogTour The Girl Who Found The Sun by Matthew Cox

Today it's also a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Girl Who Found the Sun by Matthew Cox.

About the Author
Originally from South Amboy NJ, Matthew has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Since 1996, he has developed the “Divergent Fates” world in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, The Awakened Series, The Harmony Paradox, the Prophet of the Badlands series, and the Daughter of Mars series take place.

His books span adult, young-adult, and middle-grade fiction in multiple genres, predominantly science fiction, cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic, and fantasy.

Follow @mscox_fiction on Twitter, on Facebook, on Amazon, on Pinterest, on Goodreads, on Instagram, Visit matthewcoxbooks.com, Buy The Girl Who Found The Sun

About the book
It started with the insects.

The mass die-offs had been a warning unheeded. Before society realized the danger, the Earth had inexorably begun a transformation into a place where life could not survive. A small group found shelter in the Arc, an underground refuge safe from the toxins ravaging the surface.

After centuries of darkness, humanity’s second chance is running out—and Raven Wilder knows it.

Her job fixing the machinery in the Arc makes her aware of how close everything is to breaking down. When the systems fail, the last survivors of the human race will suffocate in the tunnels meant to protect them from the deadly air outside—starting with the most vulnerable. Unfortunately, in an example of history repeating itself, those in charge dismiss her concerns.

When her six-year-old begins showing signs of oxygen deprivation, Raven refuses to go quietly into oblivion. She will break every rule to keep her daughter alive.

Review
Raven is part of a nearly two-hundred person strong community. Survivors. Descendants of survivors. The last remnants of the human race living deep under the earth in a multi-layered facility built exactly for that purpose.

Raven is also one of a very small number of women of child bearing age, so according to the community it is up to them, their wombs and their fertility to keep the human race alive and kicking. No romantic matches - just genetically more or less suitable copulation. Sounds really enticing.

When certain details of her daily job start to make her suspicious about the safety of the underground facility and simultaneously about how dangerous it actually is above ground. You know, where the air is poisonous and the aliens are waiting to disintegrate any human in sight. She starts to ask uncomfortable questions.

It's a dystopian futuristic story with a strong and determined main character.

Although the story is heavy on the technical and mechanical details, it was refreshing that the women are equal in skills and job assignments. I say that, despite the fact they are also treated like convenient descendant incubators. There is no question of capability when it comes to securing and repairing equipment that will keep them alive underground or doubt in her skills when she is chosen to fix something on the topside.

From a dystopian and sci-fi genre perspective the concept of an underground community, the survivors of a major earth destroying disaster reinventing the wheel somewhere deep under the earth, isn't a new one. It is however always fascinating to see how authors interpret a scenario like that differently.

Cox delivers a compelling read about survival, denial and the way entire civilisations are driven by myths and rules dictated by ancestors.

Buy The Girl Who Found The Sun at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.  Publisher: Division Zero Press; pub date 7 Dec. 2019. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Ash Mountain by Helen Fitzgerald

It's an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Ash Mountain by Helen Fitzgerald. It's an incredible read.

About the Author
Helen FitzGerald is the bestselling author of ten adult and young adult thrillers, including The Donor (2011) and The Cry (2013), which was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and is now a major drama for BBC1. Her 2019 dark comedy thriller Worst Case Scenario was a Book of the Year in both The Guardian and Daily Telegraph. Helen worked as a criminal justice social worker for over fifteen years. She grew up in Victoria, Australia, and now lives in Glasgow with her husband.

Follow @FitzHelen on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit helenfitzgerald.net, Buy Ash Mountain

About the book
Fran hates her hometown, and she thought she’d escaped. But her father is ill, and needs care. Her relationship is over, and she hates her dead-end job in the city, anyway. She returns home to nurse her dying father, her distant teenage daughter in tow for the weekends. There, in the sleepy town of Ash Mountain, childhood memories prick at her fragile self-esteem, she falls in love for the first time, and
her demanding dad tests her patience, all in the unbearable heat of an Australian summer.

As past friendships and rivalries are renewed, and new ones forged, Fran’s tumultuous home life is the least of her worries, when old crimes rear their heads and a devastating bushfire ravages the town and all of its inhabitants…

Review
Fitzgerald is not only a superb writer and storyteller - she is a versatile one. You can often recognise certain trademark styles when an author writes in multiple genres, but with Fitzgerald it's almost as if she immerses herself so completely into the process that she becomes the writer the story needs, as opposed to the writer completing the story. The effect is Kafkaesque in its metamorphosis. Quite spectacular really, as indeed this story is.

I'd like to say the story is centred around Fran, however she is merely the driver taking the reader from one moment in her life to another. The main character is Ash Mountain, a place which certainly takes on a life of its own in this story. Kodak moments of then and now, before and after.

Fran returns to Ash Mountain to care for her father, albeit reluctantly, despite the fact she loves him dearly. Her life has been a series of choices leading her towards what will hopefully one day be an acceptance of self. Am I being vague? Good - this story should be enjoyed with a tabula rasa as starting point.

It's hard to relegate this book to a specific genre, perhaps because it fits into multiple ones and doesn't need or want to be defined by one. I am certain Fran would agree with me, as she herself is also quite weary of being forced into boxes, categories and descriptions by others.

It's a thriller filtered through memories, both forgotten and vividly remembered, and compounded by a harsh and unforgiving environment. At the same time it is also a story of coming-of-age, accountability and the realisation that the world and mother nature stops for no man, woman or child.

It's an incredibly powerful story, which is driven by breathtakingly accurate and often devastatingly  painful descriptions of both life and death. Fitzgerald is a master of her trade and a pleasure to read.

Buy Ash Mountain at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Orenda Books; Publication date 14 May 2020 | Paperback Original | £8.99. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Orendabooks.co.uk

Read my review of Worst Case Scenario by Helen Fitzgerald.

#PublicationDayPush Little White Secrets by Carol Mason

It's Publication Day for Little White Secrets by Carol Mason.

About the Author
Carol Mason is the women's fiction author After You Left, a Kindle #1 and Amazon Charts Bestseller, The Secrets of Married Women, The Last Time We Met, Send Me A Lover and The Shadow Between Us. Her brand new novel, Little White Secrets, publishes May 1, 2020. She was born in the North East of England and moved to Canada when she was twenty-one and met her now husband. They live in British Columbia. Her novels are translated into more than 10 languages.

Follow @carolmasonbooks on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, on Facebook, Visit carolmasonbooks.com, Buy Little White Secrets

About the book
A daughter pushing the limits. A marriage ready to crack. A secret that can break them.

For Emily Rossi, life may not be perfect, but it’s pretty close. She has a great career, a house in the country, a solid marriage to Eric and two wonderful children—tennis superstar Daniel and quiet, sensitive Zara. But when her fourteen-year-old daughter brings home a toxic new best friend, Emily’s seemingly perfect family starts to spiral out of control.

Suddenly Zara is staying out late, taking drugs and keeping bad company. And just when Emily needs Eric to be an involved father, he seems too wrapped up with his job in London to care. What’s more, he’s started drinking again.

When a dark secret from the past emerges, Emily’s life is turned upside down. Struggling to protect the people she loves, can she save her damaged family? Doing so may mean keeping a secret of her own…

Review
Emily and Eric are happily married - white picket fence and two kids kind of thing, until the reader starts to encounter the scratches on the surface of perfection and harmony. Turns out the picture perfect family is just like any old dysfunctional unit with secrets, fights and troubled teenagers.

It's a toss up with teens and their formative years. You can't always control external influences or the way your kids will react or interact with them. If they do start to rebel it doesn't discharge the parent from the necessity to keep their child safe and out of harms way. The difficulty arises when you encounter complete and utter walls of silence, avoidance and aggression.

Zara is slowly being drawn in by the seduction of a new friendship. A peer who is willing to listen to her and giggle with her, but perhaps this new friend doesn't have the best intentions. Emily wants the new friend gone and her daughter to go back to being quiet, responsible and timid.

It's a dramatic domestic thriller - a seemingly functional family on the brink of a meltdown.

The decision that Emily makes towards the end of the story is actually one of the most interesting aspects of the book. Is there any accountability or should there be any? Given the same circumstances what would you do if it were your child? Do two wrongs make a right? I know what my answers to those questions would be. I wonder what yours will be.

In a way I am glad that Mason ends the story on that particular note and not just because it gives the entire read a more sinister cherry on top of the sundae of terrible turmoil and destruction.

Buy Little White Secrets at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Lake Union Publishing: pub date 1 May 2020. Buy at Amazon com.