#ThisTimeNextYear by Sophie Cousens @SophieCous @arrowpublishing #LoveShineALight #review

It gives me great pleasure to be kicking off Sophie Cousens’ blog tour for her debut novel, ‘This Time Next Year’! My thanks, as always, go to Rachel and the Arrow team for the tour invite and ARC.

The e-book will be published on the 1st of August, with the paperback to follow in October. Here is my review:

Quinn and Minnie are born on New Year’s Eve, in the same hospital, one minute apart.

Their lives may begin together, but their worlds couldn’t be more different.

Thirty years later they find themselves together again in the same place, at the same time.

What if fate is trying to bring them together?

Maybe it’s time to take a chance on love…

What does TWG think?

Imagine going to a party to find that one of the hosts was born on the same day as you, the same hospital as you literally 1 minute apart, and your mums helped each other in labour. I mean, how crazy would that be, right?

Not as crazy as finding out that your name was never intended to be Minnie Cooper but the same name as your birthday twin…..huh.

Yes, Minnie Cooper. Yes, I snlaughed and no, I do not regret it! As for the fashion choice Minnie’s best friend, Leila, thrust upon on her, well, that was comedy gold! I have no idea how many times I laughed out loud at this book, all I know is that I do not have enough fingers to work it out!

‘This Time Next Year’ doesn’t have a serious undertone in general, however the storyline focuses on mental health and agoraphobia in more of a branching off manner, despite it having an impression on one of the main characters, Quinn. I say ‘impression’ loosely as I don’t want to give any of the storyline away, so please don’t think I am trivialising the importance of mental health because I’m not at all. I, along with millions of others, suffer with anxiety and depression.

Anyway, back to it! I really enjoyed Sophie Cousens’ novel and the humour that was laced throughout the entire read. It was so refreshing to read a book that contained enough humour to make me laugh out loud more times than I have in a while. I thought that the storyline was pure fun, pure indulgence and pure escapism. What more can you ask for?

Minnie’s love story isn’t like the one with Mickey, in fact it is completely different as it involves pie. Thousands of pounds worth of pie to be exact. Oh, and a super fan of Jennifer Aniston! Although to be fair, who ISN’T a super fan of Jennifer Aniston? She’s gorgeous!

I have a very strong feeling that Sophie Cousens’ novel is going to soar and, if an author can create a unique and hilarious love story that just keeps on giving, I absolutely cannot wait to see how Cousens’ puts her own individual spin on other novels in the future.

Minnie Mouse….sorry, Cooper, has a love interest and its not Mickey Mouse! Fun, loving, hilarious, and unique – definitely a catch in my eyes!

Pre-order now! (Ebook published 1st August)

#TheLifeWeAlmostHad by Amelia Henley @MsAmeliaHenley @HQStories #LoveStory

Hugest of thanks to HQ for inviting me to take part in the blog tour for Amelia Henley’s debut, ‘The Life We Almost Had’, and for the ARC. Today I am closing the tour with my review:

This is not a typical love story, but it’s our love story.

Anna wasn’t looking for love when Adam swept her off her feet but there was no denying their connection, and she believed they would be together forever.

Years later, cracks have appeared in their relationship. Anna is questioning whether their love can really be eternal when a cruel twist of fate delivers a crushing blow, and Anna and Adam are completely lost to one another. Now, Anna needs Adam more than ever, but the way back to him has life-changing consequences.

Is a second chance at first love really worth the sacrifice? Anna needs to decide and time is running out…

What does TWG think?

My heart. I think its broken! This book made my eyes leak!!!!

Wow….I was NOT expecting this AT ALL! The tagine of the book ‘this is not a typical love story’, is absolutely bang on. I probably would even go as far as to say that I have never, ever read a love story quite like this. Don’t get me wrong, the psychological situation towards the end wasn’t a new thing to me, however everything together was and it caught me off guard big time.

Anna and Adam’s relationship was one of a kind. They loved hard, and they fought hard. Being together sometimes was difficult, yet being apart was even more difficult, something which was put to the test dramatically.

Its really difficult reviewing a book like this without giving away spoilers, because the storyline and every situation in it, are intricately woven together, making talking about one thing in particular a tricky thing to do incase something gets accidently spilled. Not going to lie though, I want to shout about what happened from the rooftop of my house! I want to talk about Anna’s love for Adam, and Adam’s love for Anna. I want to talk about when life threw them both a curveball. I want to talk about Oliver! Oliver! The random person who I thought was about to break both of their hearts!

I want to talk about the very last part of the book, and how a new character was brought to life! My mind couldn’t make sense of how that came to fruition, yet on the other hand, I didnt need to know the whys and wherefores because I didnt want to sheer beauty of it to falter. I call it magic. I call it perfection. I call it meant to be.

A bit like this book in all honesty. ‘The Life We Almost Had’ was meant to be written, it was meant to be read. Anna and Adam’s love story was meant to have been told, and i absolutely cannot fault one single thing about it.

Yes, my heart broke and I was in tears, but i would have been incredibly shocked if I hadn’t reacted at all to the storyline in one form or another.

It was an absolute honour to have been given the chance to fall in love with this beautiful story, just like Adam and Anna fell in love with each other.

Probably the best book I have read so far this year, and I have no doubt whatsoever that Amelia Henley will be touching hearts all over the world with such a detailed, emotional, and outstanding tale of true love, and learning when and how to trust your heart.

Buy the e-book now.

Summer At Rachel’s Pudding Pantry by Caroline Roberts #PuddingPantry @_caroroberts @fictionpubteam #FoodForTheSoul

It was such an honour to be personally invited onto this blog by Caroline herself. Something I was not missing for the world – thank you for having me! Also thank you to the publisher for the eARC. Here is my review of ‘Summer at Rachel’s Pudding Pantry’, the third book in the series.

The sun is shining as Rachel and her gorgeous beau, Tom, prepare to tie the knot at Primrose Farm.

It takes a village to pull off the perfect country wedding and Rachel couldn’t be more grateful for her friends and family as they roll out the haybales and string up the bunting – all she needs to do is focus on her Happy Ever After.

But no wedding is without drama. A face from the past is looking to stir up trouble in the village and there’s a secret following Rachel all the way up the aisle . . .

With old friends, new promises and a little borrowed time, will Rachel get the wedding of her dreams?

What does TWG think?

Oh my gosh, what great comfort food!

Ahem, sorry, did I say comfort food? I was meant to say comfort read! What a great comfort read! Although, while we are on the subject of food, did anyone else want to jump in the book and snaffle all of the treats? I’m so glad that the author decided to put recipes in there too!

‘Summer at Rachel’s Pudding Pantry’ is book three in the series, and whilst I’m sure there will be a lot of people reading the series in various different orders, I wholeheartedly recommend that you do read the books in order, just so that you can appreciate the natural growth of the bigger picture and the various characters personalities. Trust me – there are a fair few colourful personalities in this book, and they need to be understood in their own way!

I really do love this series! It is such a comforting, homely series, and the addition of the third book kept that heartwarming momentum brilliantly. Despite there being a break between each book, everything flowed seamlessly between each new book, as though there had never been a break.

My only irk about this book was the fisticuffs scene because I felt that the ‘oooh’ and ‘ahhhh’ were a bit pantomime and a teeny bit immature for the situation at the time. You know in a comic when someone gets lumped and there’s a ‘kapow’ in a bubble? It felt a bit like that to me. I’m not saying that the person didn’t deserve being hit, because they did haha.

It was an absolute pleasure to catch up with Rachel and the gang at the Pudding Pantry, and of course ‘seeing’ the animals that had been there since the beginning like Mossy. What a cutie!

Grab a warm drink, a blanket and your comfy clothes, and lose yourself in this tantalising, mouthwatering read that will no doubt leave you warm, comforted, and incredibly hungry. A really, really enjoyable read.

Buy now.

#TheDaySheCameBack @MrsAmandaProwse @BOTBSPublicity #BookReview #AmandaProwse

It feels like it has been ages since I last read an Amanda Prowse novel! Many thanks to Sarah for asking me to be involved in the blog tour for ‘The Day She Came Back’, and to the publisher for supplying me with a review copy.

From the bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner comes a story that asks: how do you forgive the family that lied to you, and love the mum you never had?

When her loving, free-spirited grandmother Primrose passes away, Victoria is bereft, yet resilient—she has survived tragedy before. But even her strength is tested when a mysterious woman attends Prim’s funeral and claims to be the mother Victoria thought was dead.

As the two women get to know each other and Victoria begins to learn more about her past, it becomes clear that her beloved grandmother had been keeping life-changing secrets from her. Desperate for answers, she still struggles to trust anyone to tell her the truth.

To live a full and happy life, Victoria knows she must not only uncover the truth, but find a way to forgive her family. But after so many years, is trusting them even possible?

What does TWG think?

Can you imagine being told one thing for the duration of your life so far, only to then be told that it was a complete lie? I don’t mean being told that your favourite Teddy has been binned, despite being told that it was in the loft, or some other not so important lie. I’m meaning a massive, your mother is dead, oh wait….she’s not, type of lie. I cannot even begin to think about how Victoria felt after being betrayed by the person she trusted the most.

Obviously there are two sides to every story, and the reasons behind the betrayal become a lot clearer as the storyline progresses. However, being the cynic that I am, i couldn’t quite see how the lie was justified at all. Yes, Victoria’s grandmother had her best interests at heart, I’m not disputing that at all, but to say that her mother was dead when she wasn’t, is a step too far in my eyes.

Just to clarify, my points so far are not spoilers because they’re in the blurb….just incase anyone was thinking that I had ruined the book!

I’ll give Victoria her due, I certainly couldn’t have done what she did by meeting up with the new found person in her life. Then again, I can definitely see how being intrigued about any information she could have been given, would have been enough to go through with it.

For a young adult, Victoria seemed to have a good head on her shoulders….well, until the one night where she didn’t. Don’t blame her though, grief does weird things to your mind! What I am curious about though, is if Primose stayed alive, would Victoria be able to forgive her? Was the death of her grandmother enough to build the bridge between betrayal and moving on?

Betrayal is such a personal thing, something which nobody can truly understand unless they are the people, or person, going through said thing at said time. Nobody has any right to tell you how to feel, or that your feelings are unjustified all because they are different to how they would act. The thing is, with a topic so deep routed such as this, surmising our own reactions to it would be nion impossible because, think about it; if Victoria struggled to work out what to do and she was slap bang in the centre of everything, how would we, people who are outsider’s looking in, manage to work it out?

What I loved most about this book was the way in which Amanda Prowse made her characters come to life, and the way in which she believed in their journeys. A lot of the topics discussed in this book are ones of the quite serious nature. Topics which need to be fed well in order to be believable and realistic, and I felt that Amanda Prowse went above and beyond to make that happen. Now, I’m not entirely sure whether the author has been through similar things in her life, however I felt like she had a connection to her characters that comes with understanding what they are going through or what they have been through. That sort of understanding comes with life lessons and not through Google – I may be wrong though! Either way, I truly felt what Amanda Prowse was trying to convey. I would even go as far to say that it was magic.

‘The Day She Came Back’ is a wholesome, enlightening, thought provoking, hopeful read that takes you down paths you probably never expected to go on. The beauty of this novel is the sense of being understood, something that is so simple to say, yet one of the most complicated things to do. Amanda Prowse nails it, brilliantly.

Buy now.

#HerShallowGrave @DKHood_Author @Bookouture #BooksOnTour #Review

Another Bookouture tour for you this evening! Thanks, as always, to Bookouture for inviting me to take part in DK.Hood’s blog tour for ‘Her Shallow Grave’, and for the ARC.

She runs her trembling fingers over the dark, damp walls surrounding her. Above her head, she hears heavy footsteps. She knows she has nowhere to hide and as the door to the cellar is flung open, she finally sees his face.

It’s winter in Black Rock Falls and, as tourists flock to the small town to take in the snowy mountain peaks, one visitor makes a sickening discovery. The frozen body of a young woman hangs from a tree on the outskirts of town. Detective Jenna Alton is called in to investigate.

Jenna’s stomach turns as she surveys the ice-cold remains, and she’s soon alerted to similar burial sites nearby. With no missing persons reported, Jenna and her deputy, David Kane, fear Black Rock Falls is being used as a dumping ground for bodies.

As the body count mounts up, Jenna is more determined than ever to find the person responsible. But as she tries to catch the killer out, he outsmarts her once again and Jenna begins to wonder if he knows her next move. Could he be closer to her than she thinks?

When the investigation takes Jenna to a homeless shelter right in the heart of the community, she fears for the life of a woman who hasn’t been seen for a few days. It’s clear the killer is beginning to escalate, so Jenna ramps up the investigation and puts herself in unthinkable danger. Can she catch the murderer off guard, or does he already know she’s on her way? Has Jenna finally met a killer she can’t catch?

What does TWG think?

Omg would Jenna and Dave just get it on already! If the chemistry between the tour of them sizzled anymore, they would be needing a fire engine not a sheriff!!!

Ahem. Anyway.

Snow is everywhere in the latest installment from D.K Hood, as are snowmen. Now unfortunately, they aren’t the Olaf from Frozen kind….before you get too excited! Perhaps the scenes in the book are like those from a Disney film gone majorly wrong….or not. Gosh, how sinister would that be! Sorry, I’m veering off again.

Right – book number 9 already and, having been with this series since book 1, I can only hope we have many more installments to coke! Kane and Alton are probably one of my most favourite fictional duo because of the way they feed off each other, and their chemistry. The banter between the pair is hilarious as well which definitely helps!

The team have their work cut out as once again, a dodgy individual has claimed Black Rock Falls as their residence for committing a murder….or two….or three. Unfortunately Jenna finds herself slap bang in the middle of something completely unrelated to their original case. Without giving too much away, my heart was in my mouth and I had a horrible feeling come over me! If you’ve read the book you may be able to work out which bit I’m on about, and if you have, did you feel the same? No spoilers obviously!

I loved how Dave’s armour was knocked away a smidge in this book. Its very rare for this character to show emotion and what not, so the fact he was able to let that out was amazing to see as it made me realise that he isn’t a human with no warmth, no feeling to him, he’s an actual warm blooded, thoughtful human who cares deeply about those he feels he can trust.

Once again D.K.Hood has not minced her words AT ALL, carving another absolutely BRILLIANT novel with chilling scenes that will get right under your skin and into your bones. Her character formation is second to none. What I loved most was the way in which she describes every miniscule detail as though it is the most important piece of information in the world. Because of that, the entire storyline came life meaning that I was able to envision each and every action. Unnerving, yes, but so worth it.

This is a series you do NOT want to miss out on! Loved it!

Buy now.

#SomebodysDaughter @Carolewyer #BooksOnTour @bookouture

I am delighted to be one of many bloggers closing Carol Wyer’s blog tour for her latest release, ‘Somebody’s Daughter’, huge thanks to Bookouture for having me and for supplying me with an ARC.

One by one the girls disappeared…

When the frail body of a teenage girl is discovered strangled in a parking lot, shards of ice form in Detective Natalie Ward’s veins. As Natalie looks at the freckles scattered on her cheeks and the pale pink lips tinged with blue, she remembers that this innocent girl is somebody’s daughter…

The girl is identified as missing teenager Amelia Saunders, who has run away from home and her controlling father. Natalie’s heart sinks further when it becomes clear that Amelia has been working on the streets, manipulated by her violent new boyfriend Tommy.

A day later, another vulnerable girl is found strangled on a park bench. Like Amelia, Katie Bray was a runaway with connections to Tommy, and Natalie is determined to find him and track down the monster attacking these scared and lonely girls.

But when a wealthy young woman is found murdered the next morning, the word ‘guilty’ scrawled on her forehead, Natalie realises that the case is more complex than she first thought. Determined to establish a connection between her three victims, Natalie wastes no time in chasing down the evidence, tracing everyone who crossed their paths. Then, a key suspect’s body turns up in the canal, a mole in Natalie’s department leaks vital information and everything seems to be against her. Can Natalie stop this clever and manipulative killer before they strike again?

What does TWG think?

It isn’t often that I’m speechless, lost for words, but funnily enough, it seems to only happen when Carol Wyer is involved. Hmmmmm, I wonder why THAT is! I wouldn’t put it past Wyer to rub her magic ball (no, not Mr Grumpy’s), and put a spell on her readers to render them unable to put a sentence together coherently!

Oh Natalie Ward, you’re a bit of a lost soul aren’t you? I am genuinely surprised that Ward keeps getting up time and time again, when she’s showing signs of being on the brink of giving up. Can you blame her? I can’t, not really. Luck is definitely not on her side once again, yet she goes and does her job the only way she knows how; like Frosty the Snowman on speed. Or something like that.

Carol Wyer has a mind that I would HATE to cross down a dark alley. That said, I simply cannot fault the way in which this author pulls 26 letters of the alphabet and rearranges them in various different forms to create a story with so much depth, I’m surprised it didn’t come with a ladder for us short people! The attention to detail and seamless flow from one scene to another, was a work of art and very, VERY cleverly done.

To say I loved ‘Somebody’s Daughter’ would be an understatement! I bloody -insert expletive of the f variety here’ ADORED it, and even still, that doesn’t quite sum up my thoughts to a T.

Genius.

Buy now.

#UnderAStarrySky @laurajanekemp @OrionBooks #Review #empowering

Many thanks to the Orion team for inviting me to take part in Laura Kemp’s blog tour for ‘Under A Starry Sky’, and for the review copy. I’m so excited to be reviewing it today!

Wanda Williams has always dreamed of leaving her wellies behind her and travelling the world! Yet every time she comes close to following her heart, life always seems to get in the way.

So, when her mother ends up in hospital and her sister finds out she’s pregnant with twins, Wanda knows that only she can save the crumbling campsite at the family farm.

Together with her friends in the village, she sets about sprucing up the site, mowing the fields, replanting the allotment and baking homemade goodies for the campers.

But when a long-lost face from her past turns up, Wanda’s world is turned upside-down. And under a starry sky, anything can happen…

What does TWG think?

Beautiful cover, beautiful title, and a story that matches. However it didn’t quite match in the way I was expecting, and I’ll tell you why;

As beautiful as the storyline may be, each chapter seemed to remove a layer like a piece of wrapping paper, ready to showcase what truly lay beneath all of the layers, meaning that there was so much more to the book that meets the eye. Wanda has been dreaming of travelling for many years, yet something seemed to always hinder her plans. That said, I think she can be forgiven for a little grief holding her back…oh and the fact that her sister had some rock and roll in her future.

This storyline made me chuckle and made me gasp in equal measures. I wasn’t expecting the novel to have such a deep, dark undertone to it and, to be perfectly honest, I felt a little uncomfortable at times reading Annie’s situation. Now, don’t take that as a negative, because its not. I mean it in the way that nobody should feel comfortable by the thought of abuse in any form, and I felt that Annie’s story was so realistically portrayed that it didn’t feel like fiction. It felt real. It felt like it was happening right there and then, in front of my very eyes.

Wanda was a little bit of complicated personality. She didn’t seem entirely convinced by her choices in life, and I felt like she wasn’t confident in doing what was best for herself, which was a shame yet on the other hand, a lot of readers will be able to relate to the type of person she is.

I loved the sense of empowerment that was laced through the book, as well as the feeling of hope when things go wrong. All of the characters had been through so much in their own individual lives, yet they all still believed in hope and the ability to search for the stars in the sky to help them on their way.

Empowering, inspirational, moving and incredibly relatable; I know that whenever I look up at the sky, like Wanda, Annie and Lew, the sparkling stars in the sky will be there to give me hope.

Laura Kemp, please hold me!

Buy now!