TWG’s Top 24 Books of 2016! @Bookouture @headlinepg @HQStories @canelo_co @littlebrownuk &more

Seeing as the end of 2016 is nearly upon us, it seems to be the ‘in thing’ to share your top books from 2016, so of course I had to do it too! I have even come out of hiding to share just some of my top reads this year. I’m not going to lie, having read 153 books this year (will be 154 by the end of tonight!), narrowing it down proved to be such a difficult task! Let me know if one of your top reads of 2016 appear in this list! So many fantastic books were published this year, and already 2017 is looking dazzling in the book world!

In no particular order, here are SOME of my top reads for 2016:

A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love by Linn.B.Halton, published by Choc Lit.
Review: Blog Tour! ‘A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love’ by Linn B Halton (@LinnBHalton) @BrookCottagebks

Melody Bittersweet and the Girls Ghostbusting Agency by Kitty French, published by Bookouture.
Review: Book review of ‘Melody Bittersweet and The Girls Ghostbusting Agency’ by Kitty French.

Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan, published by HQ.
Review: #Review! Miracle On 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan (@SarahMorgan_) @HQStories

A Life Without You by Katie Marsh.
I realised that I hadn’t written a review for this one, BUT, I will change that asap.

All That Is Left Of Us by Catherine Miller, published by HQ.
Review: Blog Tour! Review – Catherine Miller’s (@katylittlelady) ‘All That Is Left Of Us’ @UKCarina

A Very Manhattan Christmas by Darcie Boleyn, published by Canelo.
Review: #Review! A Very Merry Manhattan Christmas by @DarcieBoleyn @canelo_co @fayerogersuk

The Christmas Project by Maxine Morrey, published by HQ.
Review: Release day frenzy for Maxine Morrey & The Christmas Project! (@Scribbler_Maxi) @HQStories

The Little Antique Shop under the Eiffel Tower by Rebecca Raisin, published by HQ.
Review: Book review of ‘The Little Antique Shop Under the Eiffel Tower’ by Rebecca Raisin.

The Paris Effect by K.S.R.Burns.
Review: #Bookreview – The Paris Effect by Karen Burns.

A Mother’s Confession by Kelly Rimmer, published by Bookouture.
Review: Publication day #review! A Mother’s Confession by Kelly Rimmer (@KelRimmerWrites) @Bookouture

The Day I Lost You by Fionnuala Kearney, published by HQ.
Review: Review: ‘The Day I Lost You’ by Fionnuala Kearney (@fionnualatweets) @HQstories

Mistletoe on 34th Street by Lisa Dickenson, published by Little Brown Books.
Review: It’s publication day for Lisa Dickenson(@LisaWritesStuff) & ‘Mistletoe on 34th Street’!#Review

A Year and a Day by Isabelle Broom, published by Penguin.
Review: #Review! A Year and a Day by Isabelle Broom (@Isabelle_Broom) @MichaelJBooks

We Were On A Break by Lindsey Kelk, published by HQ.
Review: Review! ‘We Were On A Break’ by Lindsey Kelk (@LindseyKelk) @HarperCollinsUK

The Gift by Louise Jensen, published by Bookouture.
Review: #Review of The Gift by Louise Jensen (@Fab_fiction) @Bookouture #psychologicalthriller

The Stepmother by Claire Seeber, published by Bookouture.
Review: #Blogtour – The Stepmother by Claire Seeber.

My Husbands Wife by Amanda Prowse, published by Head of Zeus.
Review: Book review – My Husband’s Wife by Amanda Prowse (@MrsAmandaProwse) @HoZ_Books

Christmas at the Little Knitting Box by Helen Rolfe.
Review: #Review of Christmas at The Little Knitting Box by @HJRolfe @RNATweets #tuesnews #RNA

The Lonely Life of Biddy Weir by Lesley Allen, published by Bonnier Zaffre.
Review: #Review! The Lonely Life of Biddy Weir – (@Lesley_Allen_) @BonnierZaffre #antibullyingmonth
Also linked to the book is my personal story: How @Lesley_Allen_ & Biddy Weir gave me courage to tell my own story – #BullyingAwarenessWeek

The Perfect Gift by Emma Hannigan, published by Headline Books
Review: #Review – The Perfect Gift by Emma Hannigan (@MsEmmaHannigan) @HachetteIRE @headlinepg

Take A Chance On Me by Carol Wyer, published by Bookouture.
Review: Review – ‘Take A Chance On Me’ by Carol Wyer (@carolewyer) @bookouture #publicationday

Waiting For You by Catherine Miller, published by HQ.
Review: Book review – ‘Waiting For You’ by Catherine Miller (@katylittlelady) @UKCarina

Saving Sophie by Sam Carrington, published by Avon Books.
Review: Guess who’s back, back again…TWG is! Review of ‘Saving Sophie’ by Sam Carrington.

Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty, published by Penguin.
Review: Book review! Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty. @PenguinUKBooks #LianeMoriarty

24 books out of a 153 read is nothing. My list, like others, could have carried on and I would have been here for ages. However, if you didn’t end up on this list, doesn’t mean I disliked your book! Special shout out to Sue Moorcroft, Sue Watson and Heidi Swain for their fantastic books and fantastic friendship. All three of you would have ended up with ALL your books in the list.

Also, big thanks to all of the publishers and authors for allowing me to read their fantastic books (some of them early!)  Roll on 2017!

From novel ‘The Gift’ to her own ‘Gift’ @Fab_fiction – (LJ) talks from the heart #guestpost

As I’m sure a lot of you are aware, Louise Jensen’s latest novel, ‘The Gift’, has made itself known in the Amazon charts (it may have peaked at numero uno…. 😉 ). Quite rightly so! If you still haven’t read this book, you can find my review: #Review of The Gift by Louise Jensen (@Fab_fiction) @Bookouture #psychologicalthriller.

Seeing as the book title is about a gift, I wanted to know what Louise’s own personal thoughts were in regards to her ‘gift’. As always, the talented author delivered; here is her very honest yet incredibly heart-warming guest post, especially for TWG.

Guest post by Louise Jensen.

My new novel, The Gift centres around Jenna, a 30-year-old woman who receives a transplanted heart. She is overcome with gratitude at this chance of a second life but, over time, she starts to experiences flashbacks of things that haven’t happened to her. Jenna learns about cellular memory, the phenomena that the cells of a heart can retain memories, and organ recipients can inherit these memories and she begins to believe that Callie, the donor, didn’t die in an accident as purported. Jenna is convinced Callie was murdered.  Jenna becomes obsessed with Callie’s family, desperate to uncover the truth, and as she alienates her own family and friends, and begins to lose her grip on reality, she questions whether, if she could go back, she would want this gifted heart. 

Writing this novel really gave me food for thought. It is human nature to compartmentalise things as they happen and often the things we think are the greatest things ever can leave us utterly bereft if they don’t work out, and things we class as terrible can sometimes turn out to be the greatest gift of all. 

Becoming disabled in my 30’s left me feeling utterly lost and utterly alone. With a lack of mobility and chronic pain my future felt bleak and in those dark, early days, I thought I would never be happy again. I was always very active and I was at a loss to know how to occupy my time and depression swamped me. A blackness I just couldn’t shift.  As time passed I knew I had to try to piece my life together again, for my children as much as me, and tentatively I began to write. As I wrote I became completely absorbed in the characters I was creating and I momentarily forgot my pain, I momentarily forgot I can’t just get up and go for a walk, and little by little life became brighter. 

My change of health wasn’t a gift as such, but an opportunity, and one I ended up grasping with both hands. 

In the mindfulness courses I teach I often tell the story of The Farmer and the Horse, a lesson that there often isn’t good or bad, some things just are; but if you look, sometimes ever so closely, there is often a silver lining after all.

A farmer had one old horse that he used for tilling his fields. One day the horse escaped into the hills and when all the farmer’s neighbours heard about it, they sympathised with the old man over his bad luck. “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?” said the farmer.

A week later, the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. “Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?” said the farmer.

Then, when the farmer’s son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone agreed that this was very bad luck. Not the farmer, who replied, “Bad Luck? Good luck? Who knows?”

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and forced every able-bodied young man to go fight in a bloody war. When they saw that the farmer’s son had a broken leg, they let him stay. Everyone was very happy at the farmer’s good luck.

Louise is an incredible author and such an inspiration, I am in awe of her strength through the good days and bad.
Thank you Louise for your wonderful piece.

Author & book links.

Twitter
Website
Amazon UK
Amazon US

#Darkminds – ‘By The Water’ #shortstory by @BetsyReavley @bloodhoundbook #charity #blogtour

Blurb.

A collection of short stories from some of your favourite authors

You think you know darkness? Think again.

Bloodhound Books presents Dark Minds – a collection of stories by authors who have come together to produce an anthology that will lure, tantalise and shock its readers.

What took place By the Water?

What goes on behind A Stranger’s Eyes?

And what is so special about Slow Roast Pork?

From master authors such as Lisa Hall, Steven Dunne, Louise Jensen and Anita Waller, readers can expect a one hell of a ride… 

All profits from the sale of this book will be donated to Hospice UK and Sophie’s Appeal.

Dark Minds is a collection of 40 crime and thriller short stories from authors including; Louise Jensen, L.J. Ross, Lisa Hall, Steven Dunne, Betsy Reavley, M.A. Comley, Alex Walters and Anita Waller plus many more. For the complete table of contents, Look Inside.

What does TWG think?

I am incredibly honoured to be part of such an influential blog tour. A collection of authors have come together with their rather unique, dark and exceptionally talented minds, to create the collection also known as ‘Dark Minds’. Published by BloodHoundBooks and featuring a treasure chest of talent, ‘Dark Minds’ is for charity. Every time a book is purchased, Sophie’s Appeal and Hospice UK will benefit. You can find out about the work that they do via the links above. Not only are the charities benefitting, you are too; in my opinion it is a win win situation. You have THE perfect excuse to have a ‘Dark Mind’.

Today I am one of two bloggers closing the tour; I have a review of just one of the short stories featured in this collection. It’s safe to say that I fangirled a little when I got told that the short story I will be given is by THE Betsy Reavley.
It’s called ‘By The Water’.

Seeing as it is a short story, this will be a short review otherwise I would just end up giving you spoilers.
Yes, ‘By The Water’ took me a matter of minutes to read, however, those few minutes packed a punch. A thrilling and gripping, headfunk of a short story! In those few minutes I had gasped, covered my mouth with my hand and go cold. If those aren’t signs of a phenomenal story then I don’t know what is.

Another outstanding piece written by the incredibly talented, Betsy Reavley. Lets just say…I WAS hungry before I read that story; I’m now not….

‘By The Water’ is just ONE of the stories featured in the Dark Minds collection. The complete charity collection is available to buy NOW from Amazon.

Big thanks to BloodHoundBooks and the team for having me involved in the tour. A fantastic cause.

#Review! The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year – Joanna Bolouri (@scribbles78) @QuercusBooks

Seeing as it’s two days until Christmas, I just HAD to reblog another of my favourite Christmas books

The Writing Garnet

I’m allowed to squeal right? SQUEALLLLLL!!!!
I am so excited to be today’s tour stop for Joanna Bolouri and her latest release; The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (Quercus Books). Thank you so much to the publicity team at Quercus for allowing me to be on the tour! Incredible author!

Blurb.

Thirty-eight year old Emily has a satisfying job, fab friends and, most importantly, a wonderful flat, exactly 411 miles away from the judgemental, crazy, interfering family she reluctantly sees twice a year. In fact, the only minor stress in her life is her twenty-something neighbour Evan and his penchant for flirting, loud music and even louder sex . . . but he’s nothing she can’t handle.

Emily also has a boyfriend called Robert and it’s going really well. So well, in fact, that this year Emily is hoping to take him home for Christmas to meet her family. Finally…

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#Tour! #Review & #Excerpt of Midnight & Mistletoe by @jaxandwillsmum @LoveReadRomance

Absolutely thrilled to bring you a review AND an excerpt of Rebecca Raisin’s latest novella, ‘Midnight and Mistletoe’! This novella is the third (and last) book of the series and although they COULD be read as a standalone, you might find yourself a little confused if you haven’t read the previous books.

Blurb.

Join Rebecca Raisin for the final festive part of the Cedarwood Lodge serial and see who might be kissing under the mistletoe…

Planning a New Years Eve Party might be the kind of event Clio Winters used to dream about organising, but when everything is feeling a bit up in the air, she has to hope that this New Years her wish really will come true.

Cedarwood Lodge is a delectable romance told in three parts – following Clio Winters journey back to her hometown of Evergreen. This is the final part in this feel-good romance serial.

What does TWG think?

Can’t believe that we are on the third and final part of the series, already! I have really enjoyed following Clio’s life and watching her grow before my very eyes with the previous books. I was rather hopeful that  ‘Midnight and Mistletoe’ would follow suit.

For Clio, there has always been ‘something’ up in the air when it came to her relationship with her mum. What that was though, Clio had absolutely no idea. Her mum wasn’t exactly volunteering the information either! Despite that, Clio put her head down and carried on doing what she does best; organising events. I have loved Clio’s feisty yet vulnerable nature from the get go, as she is just so loveable.

With this book, we get to find out the ‘elephant in the room’ as they say, and multiple things were uncovered. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting what was uncovered, however, because there had been such a long build up to the truth, I did find the end result a bit of an anti-climax. There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between Clio and her friends in regards to her mothers situation, but the truth part was short and rapid in ending. Personally, I would have preferred the last part to get more attention. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy it; I just wanted more! I wanted to find out more about the characters AFTER certain events. Makes me wonder if Clio & Kai might be returning in 2017?!

Rebecca Raisin has once again created such loveable, warm and realistic characters. I really am in awe how every character she creates, even in her other books, jump out of the page and come alive. For me, that unbelievable talent is what makes Rebecca stand out from the rest.

Cedarwood Lodge has been a fantastic setting to visit and watch come alive with hustle and bustle, gold décor and copious amounts of food. I have loved this series and I really do hope we get to see Clio and Kai in the future. I am sure that they will have A LOT more to tell us; my fingers are crossed.

An uplifting, cosy ending to a truly fantastic series; I am incredibly sad to see the series end.

Thank you LRR, Rebecca and Netgalley!

Book Links: Amazon | Amazon UK | B&N | Google Play | Goodreads

Author Info:

 Rebecca Raisin is a true bibliophile. This love of books morphed into the desire to write them. She’s been published in various short story anthologies and in in fiction magazines, and is now focusing on writing romance. Rebecca aims to write characters you can see yourself being friends with. People with big hearts who care about relationships, and most importantly believe in true love.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Read below for an excerpt from Midnight and Mistletoe!

Chapter One

The golden vocals of Frank Sinatra singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas drifted upstairs to greet me. Feeling decidedly festive, I wrenched the bedcovers back and raced to the bay window. Outside, the frosty ground was blanketed by snow and the mountains in the distance slumbered under dense white. If you squinted you could make out tracks in the snow from Santa’s reindeers. OK, maybe not, but a girl could dream…

From downstairs came the rattle of cups, the shrieking of the kettle – someone was up and about and, from the scents wafting my way, baking something Christmassy.

Not wanting to miss a thing, I pulled on my robe and went to investigate. Even at thirty-three the joy of Christmas had never left me. Taking the stairs two at a time, I practically bounced into the warmth of the kitchen. Cruz had brewed a pot of gingerbread coffee and handed me a cup. The spicy ginger scent was synonymous with Christmas and gave me the desire to eat my bodyweight in baked goods – from gingerbread families to reindeer cookies, and as many of Aunt Bessie’s donuts as I could carry in two hands. After all, New Year’s resolutions were made for a reason, right?

“Thanks, and Merry Christmas, Cruz!”

“Merry Christmas, Clio. Nice PJs.” He raised a sardonic brow.

Staring down at my ensemble I couldn’t help but smirk. Isla and Micah had gifted us all kitschy Christmas-themed gifts. My pajamas were festooned with grinning red-nosed reindeers and merry mistletoe; the material was so vividly red they were blink inducing. Let’s just say you wouldn’t have missed me even if you were in the next town over. My dressing gown covered most of the garishness but not quite enough apparently.

“Right?” I laughed.

A moment later in walked Amory, wearing her gift from Isla and Micah. Flashing candy cane earrings and a matching headband.

“Aww you look so… Christmassy.” I grinned. I hadn’t seen Amory embrace the holidays with quite so much flamboyance so early in the morning before.

“Coffee.”

We laughed at Amory’s usual one word dawn greeting, her Grinch-like tone a total opposite to her flashing festive accessories. Even on Christmas morning she was unable to communicate until caffeine was pumping through her veins. I poured her a gingerbread coffee and she gulped it down, then held the cup out for another, which she sipped a little more gingerly.

I gave her the prerequisite three minutes to let it work its magic before saying: “Did you hear the sleigh bells last night?”

She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Is that some kind of euphemism? Because if you want to know about my sex life all you need to do is ask.”

A shocked giggle escaped me. “Amory!” Cruz turned away and did his best to appear busy, though I could see his shoulders shake with silent laughter.

“What? Isn’t that what you meant?” she grinned, the evil minx she was.

“No it isn’t! I meant actual sleigh bells! I think someone in town must have been marching around as Santa last night. Maybe we missed a Christmas parade or something.”

“Oh, my bad.” Her face was the picture of innocence but it was hard to concentrate when she had all manner of kitschy Christmas jewelry flashing from her head. “Of course something like that would be happening in a town like Evergreen, darling! There seems to be a festival for everything here.”

I smiled as I took a sip of coffee. Amory was right, Evergreen prided itself on having an event for every season. I’d missed the autumn food festival, but the switching on of the town lights and the ginormous Christmas tree had been truly spectacular. And before long, the spring flower festival would be here.

“And I see you’re wearing your gift,” Amory said, motioning to Cruz.

On top of Cruz’s head was a novelty chef’s hat announcing, No soggy bottoms this Christmas!

He grimaced. “Well, I figure I have three hundred and sixty-four days that I don’t have to wear it. And I only whipped it on when I heard footsteps and thought it might be Isla checking up on me.” With a grin, he pulled it off and threw it on the bench.

“Oh no, here comes Isla comes now!” Amory hissed. I darted a glance over my shoulder, sure Isla and Micah were elsewhere. They’d left in the early hours of this morning, after our Christmas Eve celebrations finally came to a close, in order to make it to Micah’s family Christmas.

Cruz’s eyes widened and he fumbled and cursed as he stuffed it back on.

“Just joking! Isla and Micah aren’t coming for breakfast today.”

He narrowed his eyes and clutched at his heart. “You’re evil. Pure evil.”

Amory laughed. “But you make it so easy!”

Cruz was the epitome of politeness and it was almost impossible for us not to play practical jokes or tease him mercilessly. He took it in good humor, and it made the busy days a little more fun.

“And,” I said, “Isla has spies, she’ll know if you’re not wearing your hat.”

Shaking his head, he donned the offending item, and said with a smile, “It’s a lovely hat. The best.”

“You’re a lucky man.” Amory stood to kiss him, and I felt a moment of pure joy for my friends. A few weeks ago it didn’t look like their love would last, they’d both envisioned different futures; Cruz sought the American dream: a house in the ‘burbs, kids, a nine-to-five job… and Amory wanted the exact opposite, and had no desire to have children, ever. After lots of back and forth they’d managed to compromise because they loved each other above all else, even if that meant sacrificing their own dreams. It gave me hope for my own love life… or lack thereof.

“You should see what Isla got for Micah’s parents. Bright Kermit green Christmas onesies. With matching slippers. They’ll certainly be warm, if nothing else.” Amory giggled.

I blamed Henrietta from the gift shop in town for encouraging Isla; still, when we’d given out presents the night before our laughter had turned into a fully-fledged cackle-fest as the gifts got sillier by the moment. When she produced a talking elf you could teach to speak, the night disintegrated into chaos with everyone wanting to take a turn, teaching the innocent elf some not-so-innocent phrases.

It had been an endless evening of laughter until Micah had presented Isla with her very own real life constellation that he’d named after her; we’d let out a collective aww, and the night ended on a sweet note with everyone loved up, and me dreaming of being loved up…

#CoverReveal! ‘It Started With A List’ by @LindseyPaley1 #ebook #bookboost #romcom

Whoop!!! Absolutely thrilled to be able to share with you yet another cover reveal! Today’s cover reveal is for the lovely Lindsey Paley and ‘It Started With A List’. Here is a little bit more about the book:

When life delivers lemons, make a list!

Even better, make three!

Becky Mathews is obsessed with making lists – she has a daily ‘To Do’ list, a Wish List and a meticulously researched Bucket List to end all lists. She loves to be organised and her favourite kind of day is when she can strike an item from one of her lists. But all her avid list-making has got her so far is an ex-husband and a tiny flat in Hammersmith. And now she’s lost her job!
Can Becky learn to ditch her lists and fly solo – without a safety net?

It Started With A List is a romantic comedy that will warm your heart and maybe deliver a few golden coins of happiness…

If you’re a fan of making lists AND romantic comedies, then this book might just be up your street! You ready to see the cover? Of course you are….

Oh!! Isn’t it just a beauty?!

If you fancy getting your hands on a copy of this beautiful book, you can head to Amazon now! Enjoy!

#Review Christmas at the Little Wedding Shop @janelinfoot @RNAtweets #TuesNews @harperimpulse

Blurb.

The snow is falling around Brides by the Sea, Cornwall’s cutest little wedding shop, and wedding dress designer Seraphina East is in her cosy studio designing exquisite dresses to make even the most demanding bride’s dreams come true.

Unless the bride is her big sister Alice of course. Saying that the two sisters don’t always see eye to eye is an understatement. Alice hasn’t even asked Sera to design her wedding dress. But when an absent groom and ill-fitting dress threaten to ruin Alice’s happiness let alone her big day, Sera’s determined to give her sister the winter wedding of her dreams – even if that means keeping not one but two irresistibly gorgeous best men under control…

Is Sera going to end up being the maid of dishonour…Or will repairing her frozen relationship with Alice be the icing on the wedding cake?

What does TWG think?

If you have ever been under the impression that weddings flow nicely without any glitches, Jane Linfoot’s book will change that impression in seconds! Where weddings are concerned, there is usually something quite not right. Well, in the brides eyes anyway. Every bride dreams of their perfect day and how it will all be plain sailing. In reality, a bridezilla swaps places with the bride and those in the wedding party end up mirroring a nodding dog! Wait…have I been watching too much ‘Say Yes To The Dress’ and ‘Bridezillas’?

I haven’t, honestly!
Sera designs wedding dresses, exquisite ones in fact. The thing is, her family doesn’t quite know that that is what she does for a living. The thing is, Sera’s sister, Alice, is getting married and it looks like Alice will NOT be wearing one of her sisters designs. The two sisters are like chalk and cheese; one goes with the flow yet the other one organises the coordinates of how to do just that. As soon as I realised how different the sisters were, I expected fireworks as Alice certainly knew her own mind. Not only that, she wasn’t afraid to let people know what she wanted, as well as making those around her cater to her ever whim. Alice’s juvenility bugged me a little bit as all I could see in my mind was a temper tantrum!

Jane’s description of the wedding shop was absolutely stunning. I have never walked into a wedding shop myself, but after reading ‘Christmas at the Little Wedding Shop’, I feel as though I have stepped over the threshold.

Deep down, I thought that ‘Christmas at the Little Wedding Shop’ was going to be a candyfloss type of book; rather fluffy and sweet. Most of it wasn’t! I was pleasantly surprised when the storyline took a different turn, as it left me wondering whether there would actually be a wedding! The wedding party’s antics had me giggling; absolutely hilarious! It was quite clear with the on point one liners, that Jane has a fabulous sense of humour; for me, that made the book come alive. Jane has passed her humour onto her characters which in turn gave them an exceptional amount of depth.

All of the characters had their own individual quirks and some of their mannerisms had me frowning, but I can honestly say that I loved each and every character in this book. Such a mixture of personalities.

I only have one critique about this book; I felt at times that the storyline became too fluffy and a bit difficult to gel with. However, as that is my own personal opinion and I have a nickname of being an Ice Queen, I wouldn’t read too much into that! I preferred the storyline when it had more substances to it (which it did end up with!).

Christmas at the Little Wedding Shop is a truly heart-warming, cosy, and beautiful book that you are just guaranteed to fall in love with.

Thank you Jane!

Christmas at the Little Wedding Shop is available to buy now from Amazon UK

#Review of Christmas at The Little Knitting Box by @HJRolfe @RNATweets #tuesnews #RNA

Twgs countdown to Christmas continues with the reblogging of this beauty. 5 days to go!

The Writing Garnet

Blurb.

Christmas is coming and New York is in full swing for the snowy season. But at The Little Knitting Box in the West Village, things are about to change …

The Little Knitting Box has been in Cleo’s family for nearly four decades, and since she arrived fresh off the plane from the Cotswolds four years ago, Cleo has been doing a stellar job of running the store. But instead of an early Christmas card in the mail this year, she gets a letter that tips her world on its axis.
Dylan has had a tumultuous few years. His marriage broke down, his mother passed away and he’s been trying to pick up the pieces as a stay-at-home dad. All he wants this Christmas is to give his kids the home and stability they need. But when he meets Cleo at a party one night, he begins to see…

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‘And now, the end is near..’ #SavingSophie #Blogtour @sam_carrington1 @avonbooksUK

It is time, unfortunately, for the final curtain ladies and gents! I began to arrange this blog tour back in October, the first ever blog tour that I had organised, and it’s safe to say I was bricking it. I wanted it to be well received as both the author and book, are fabulous.

Kicking off the tour was a blogger a lot of you have come to know, and love; Jo Robertson from My Chestnut Reading Tree. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for all of the support during the tour and for kicking it off with a fantastic review.
In case you missed her review, you can read it HERE.

Day 2 of the tour saw two bloggers taking part:
Nerdish Mum who shared her review and a guest post which you can read HERE
AND
Lauren, who was popping her blog tour cherry with a review of the book. You can read it HERE.
HUGE thank you to both of the fabulous bloggers for supporting the tour and getting involved. Really means a lot.

Day 3 of the tour brought us to the PAPERBACK PUBLICATION DAY! Woot!! Two lovely bloggers took part on that day!
Linda from Linda’s Book Bag is sharing a guest post to make you think, as well as a review. You can read both HERE. Very special thanks to Linda for the constant retweeting throughout the day and all the shares. Phenomenal, thank you.
AND
The rather fabulous Emma, aka Damppebbles shared an extract and a review! You can read both HERE. I think she enjoyed the book, don’t you? ;). Thank you for being involved Emma, your enthusiasm for the tour was exceptional.

Onto day 4 and Susan Hampson (Books From Dusk till Dawn) shared her corker of a review which you can find HERE. Thank you so much for being involved in the tour Susan, and for your fabulous review!

On the fifth day of the blog tour, two bloggers gave to meeeee;

Swirl and Thread posted her review over on her blog, and it is incredible! You can read it HERE. The support that Mairead has given the blog tour and I, is amazing. Thank you so much for being involved!
AND
Emma Mitchell was talking about non-crime books with Sam Carrington, in the form of a guest post! Intrigued? You can read that HERE. Thank you for being involved in the tour and all of the sharing/tweets and general shouting, Emma!!

Day 6 saw another two bloggers supporting Sam Carrington and Saving Sophie! They were:

The rather lovely Victoria Goldman and her fabulous review (can be found HERE). Thank you for being involved in the tour Victoria!
AND
Rae Broughton was brave and brought up the ever so controversial topic of ‘book to film adaptations’ in the form of a guest post from the author herself! Take a nose HERE! Thank you Rae for being involved in the tour, and for being such a support! Means a lot.

Still with me? Good. That now brings us to today, the final day on the tour. Alongside my own stop on the tour, two other bloggers wanted to accompany me and give the tour a good send off. At the time of writing this, I didn’t have their post links on me, HOWEVER, you can hop on over to their twitter accounts for their posts.
BibliomaniacUK aka Katherine
Alison Drew
Thank you both for being extremely patient and being so eager to be on the tour, truly means a lot.

Thank you to all of the bloggers for taking part in the Saving Sophie Paperback Blog tour, your support and dedication to the tour and Sam has been incredible. Also, thank you to EVERYONE that has tweeted, shared blogger posts, liked the tour posts or supported the tour in any other way. Without those shares and constant retweeting, the blog tour wouldn’t have been as successful as it was.
Lastly, thank you to the author of Saving Sophie, Sam Carrington, for writing such an incredible book and for putting your trust in me to organise your blog tour!

Saving Sophie is out NOW in both e-book and paperback formats, both of which can be bought from Amazon UK. Or, if you’re ever in your local Asda, the paperback can be picked up there too. Perfect Christmas treat.

Thank you all again and please continue to shout about the book! Oh, go and buy it too obviously!!

#Tour! Guest post by author of #SavingSophie @Sam_carrington1 & #extract! @avonbooksuk

I cannot believe that we are at the end of this blog tour already! This tour was set up to help celebrate the publication of Saving Sophie in PAPERBACK! If you pop into your local Asda, you’ll be able to pick up your very own copy! How brilliant is that!
Seeing as I am actually a tour stop today, please do keep an eye out for another post later with all the thank yous, and so on. For now though, I have a fab guest post from the lady herself, Sam Carrington, AND an extract from Saving Sophie! Enjoy!

My advice for aspiring writers
By Sam Carrington 

As a writer, you often get asked for your top writing tips. I’ve compiled the ones I’ve given out so far in one list:

  *-*   Search for information online  

There’s so much advice readily available for writers! I spent a lot of time online searching for tips and ‘How To’ books, and I attended some workshops which were really useful. 

*-*  Get social media savvy 

I find social media a Godsend. It’s an amazing source of support that I would advise writers to tap in to because writing can feel a lonely process at times, particularly when you’re first starting out.

*-*  Join a writing group

This can be beneficial as gaining feedback is invaluable. I would say, however, that you might receive a lot of differing advice, so in the end it’s about learning what will work for you and what won’t – I think there’s an element of trial and error here! 

*-* DO NOT rush to submit your work to agents.  

It’s so exciting to have finished a novel, so much so that it can be hard to hold back! But agents receive so many submission packages you don’t want to give them an easy reason to reject yours. Make sure you read the individual agent’s requirements, have a strong covering letter, a succinct synopsis to the length they ask, and make sure your opening chapters are polished, polished, polished! I DID send my work too early and received a number of rejections quite quickly. Then I was lucky enough to have my work edited by a newly qualified editor and afterwards I began getting requests for my full manuscript. It can be costly, but personally I think it’s worth it.

*-* Enter competitions. 

I entered my opening chapters of Saving Sophie (then titled Portrayal) in to the CWA Debut Dagger award and was longlisted. It was an amazing feeling to have my work recognised. Being placed in a competition validates you as a writer and gives a huge boost to your confidence. Even though my agent was already interested in my writing, I believe that being able to tell her I’d been longlisted was a factor in her decision to sign me.

*-* Learn the art of patience

You’ll need a lot of it (although I’ve yet to master this myself!)

*-* Learn to take constructive criticism. 

But also know that a dozen people could read your MS and each one of them might suggest a different way to ‘improve’ it. You have to try and be subjective, sit back, think about the comments you’ve been given – if there are similarities, then it’s likely that part of your MS is an issue that needs reworking. But DO NOT change your MS after each and every bit of feedback. You’ll end up in a mess. If you can, get a professional editor, or use a manuscript assessment service. I was lucky to have an editor who had just qualified and was taking on work in order to gain experience. I realise this was great timing – and a lot of people won’t get such good luck. But money spent at this stage could prevent a lot of heartache later down the line when the rejections roll in! 

*-* Tell yourself every day that you are a writer.

Act like one, and you will be one! Grit, determination and self-belief are key. 

*-* Get organised and make time to write. 

Although I’m giving this tip – I am the world’s worst and need to heed my own advice. When people ask ‘So, you write full time then?’ and I answer ‘yes’, I’m sure they think that I do nothing other than sit at my keyboard and hammer out page after page of a novel. But there is so much more to being a writer than that. You might like to visit a blog piece I wrote on fitting everything in: (http://samcarrington.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/settling-into-life-as-published-author.html) The key, I think, is to have a schedule that fits around your everyday life – and do your best to stick to it!

*-* Don’t forget to eat properly, drink and exercise!

I have been known to get to 4pm and realise I have only consumed coffee and chocolate bars. Add the sedentary lifestyle of sitting for hours at your desk, and you have a very unhealthy writer! Take regular breaks.  

*-* Write what you love to read. 

Coming up with around 90,000 words will be far easier if you are enjoying it. Your readers will be able to tell if you are bored, and they will be too. Skip the boring parts.

Above all – ENJOY WRITING AND NEVER GIVE UP!

To wet your appetite for the headfunk that is ‘Saving Sophie’, here is an extract for you to read, as well as the all important book links!

Extract from SAVING SOPHIE 

DI Wade slid back the curtain, slowly, as if it could make a difference. Prevent the inevitable for a moment longer, give this couple a few more precious seconds before their lives plunged into the black hole of grief. She’d been here before. Only once during her time as DI, thankfully, but it’d burned a cavity in her consciousness, which had never been fully refilled. She could still see the small body – battered, discoloured, the skin beginning to deteriorate; the image branded on to her retinas. His killer hadn’t been found, the case now a cold one. Lindsay Wade wasn’t prepared to let it happen again.

Standing inches away from Liz Howard, Lindsay could feel her shaking. Not a tremble, but a full-body tremor. Her husband held on to her, to stop her collapsing. A few hours ago, her daughter was merely missing. A terrible thing: the fear of what might be, the not knowing, the constant eyes peeled in the hopes of catching a glimpse. Some people went through it for years, never finding their loved ones. Did it make these parents lucky that their daughter had at least been found? They might gain an element of closure. But then, the next stage: who did this to their beautiful girl? And what if the perpetrator was never brought to justice – what kind of closure was that?

Lindsay placed a hand on Liz’s shoulder. ‘Are you ready?’ The words seemed ridiculous even as she spoke them. How can anyone ever be ready to view a dead body – a body they are expecting to be their child? The woman and man took hold of each other’s hands, took deep breaths, and stepped closer to the window.

Lindsay closed her eyes, not able to watch their pain. She waited for the scream she knew was coming.

A brief, sharp wail emitted from Liz’s open mouth before the man lost his grip and she slumped to the floor.

Blurb.

A teenage girl is missing. Is your daughter involved, or is she next?

Your daughter is in danger. But can you trust her?

When Karen Finch’s seventeen-year-old daughter Sophie arrives home after a night out, drunk and accompanied by police officers, no one is smiling the morning after. But Sophie remembers nothing about how she got into such a state.

Twelve hours later, Sophie’s friend Amy has still not returned home. Then the body of a young woman is found.

Karen is sure that Sophie knows more than she is letting on. But Karen has her own demons to fight. She struggles to go beyond her own door without a panic attack.

As she becomes convinced that Sophie is not only involved but also in danger, Karen must confront her own anxieties to stop whoever killed one young girl moving on to another – Sophie.

Buy:
Amazon UK
WHSmith Online
Amazon US