Blog Tour: Wizard Ring by Clare Blanchard

January 23, 2020

I received this book for free from Emma @ Damppebbles Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Blog Tour: Wizard Ring by Clare Blanchard

Wizard Ring by Clare Blanchard
Published by Self Published on August 25th 2019
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 284
Format: eBook
Source: Author
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
three-stars

I knew nothing about the alchemist John Dee until one winter's night in Prague when I met the ghost of a barber.
My name is Sylvia. I was just a burnt-out teacher with a subversive sense of humour. Then my mother gave me a magic ring made in the Prague workshop of John Dee.
I've never been the same since.

Wizard Ring is a tale of a magical ring. It is steeped in mystery and intrigue. It was made in Prague and it has the ability to influence events and people around it. Unfortunately, these events aren’t always positive. What would you do if you were given the opportunity to harness a rings power to change events or people’s actions? Would you grab it with both hands or would you turn it down, knowing that it’s power would likely lead to some pretty dire consequences. Navigating the waters of this decision shouldn’t be taken lightly. This is the plight that Sylvia, our main character is faced with. What will the sacrifice be?

Sylvia has had a lifetime of knockbacks. A religious studies teacher, with a struggle to have any credence in her field of teaching. A bit of a battle-axe for a mother that appears to have been more than a little cold towards her daughter. She believes she has finally landed on her feet with her position in prestigious boarding school. Unfortunately, it all appears to have fallen flat. The headmistress isn’t interested in addressing concerns that she believes are below her station. Her position seems untenable. She has major concerns but with an unapproachable situation. Will the Wizard Ring solve her problems?

Life is about to take a turn when she finds out she is the inheritor of a seriously powerful ring. It was created by a legendary British alchemist. The story takes us on a journey of historical proportions, a woman trying to find her way in the world. Will this ring provide a necessary sense of stability that she has been craving in her career for many years. This seems like a great instrument to basically getting what you want, but, at what cost? Could it have implications in other areas of Sylvia’s world?

The story is a heart-warming tale of family and the dominion of bullies. It was a quick and entertaining read with the added elements of good vs evil. The familial relationships with Sylvia’s son and her mother added a necessary human element to the story and developed connections with the readers. It was highly entertaining. The author’s writing style was engaging and had moments of knife edge drama.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Originally from the North Yorkshire coast in England, Clare Blanchard spent half her lifetime in Czechia in Central Europe, where her books are mainly set. Inspired by noir fiction, her settings are often like another character in the plot. She writes crime mysteries and dark urban fantasy with a historical twist.

Clare loves beautiful landscapes and architecture, cross-country skiing, the wine of South Moravia, and of course Czech beer. When she’s not being literary she knits funky socks.

www.clareblanchard.com

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CBcrime

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClareBlanchardBooks/

Website: www.clareblanchard.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clareblanchardbooks/

Blog Tour: Cupidity by Lucinda Lamont – EXTRACT

January 22, 2020

Cupidity by Lucinda Lamont
Published by Independently Published on May 18, 2019
ISBN: 9781099201004
Genres: Romance
Pages: 256
Format: eBook
Source: Author
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

Britain, World War Two. After newly widowed Martha is invited to live with her wealthy confidante, Mae, she finds herself attracted to her husband.
Meanwhile, an escaped convict is targeting women close to Martha's new home. After several women are murdered, they realize the danger is closer than they could have ever thought.
As Martha's passion threatens to unravel her friendships, paths cross with devastating consequences.

Welcome to my stop for the blog tour, Cupidity by Lucinda Lamont. Thanks to Emma @ Damppebbles for spot on the tour.

Those memories, for Martha, were to be just that. On April 22nd, 1943 life changed. It was one of those life events whereby people say you will never forget it, but it hadn’t been that way for her, she was already beginning to forget. It was one big blur, and that blur lasted for months.

On April 22nd, she had been playing with Willy. She had not long bathed him. He was on his baby towel on the living room floor, and she was drying him off. Although he did bear a slight resemblance to Martha, he was his father’s son, and she loved that. For every day that she missed John, she could look at Willy and know that he was with her. His eyes, although only baby eyes, would bore through her and reach right into her heart and soul. Mostly that soothed her, but sometimes the darkness of his pupils staring into her used to make her nervous and unsettled and wishing that John could be there immediately. She wondered if the baby was an indicator of John’s safety, and that’s why she would have those feelings sometimes. Maybe she could pick up a sixth sense from Willy when John was in danger; after all, he was made by both, he shared both of their genes. She would never know.

When she did see John, he would tell her nothing. He would say that everything was fine and that she shouldn’t worry so much. He was a man, a typical man, but also a gentleman and very loving. She hoped Willy would be just like him. How could he not? A beautiful baby boy. She leaned down and tickled him, and he began to laugh and coo. She then blew a big raspberry on his belly, and he laughed and giggled in sheer delight. His skin so soft and delicate – scrumptious. They played this game for a good few minutes. His laugh was so infectious, how could she stop?

There was a knock at the door. She called out that she would be just a minute. She wrapped little Willy up in his soft baby towel and stroked his face with her index finger.

‘Now you wait there like a good boy, Willy. Mummy will be just a second.’

She got up and wandered just out of sight to the door. The door was a solid wooden one with no window. She patted down her skirt, checked her hair, and, with what would become slow motion in memory, turned the golden latch on the door. The gloomy, poorly lit hallway came to life with beams of the outside world flooding it with colour. On the opposite side of the door to Martha was a boy of about fourteen. He had a plain envelope with a cross on it. Of that moment, that was all Martha could remember.

The boy had delivered a telegram. Martha had known what it was as soon as she saw the envelope. She had heard it before from people she knew quite well and others she barely knew. The news was always delivered by a teenage boy and the envelope would be plain with a cross on it. It was the fastest way of delivering the message. When she opened the door, she didn’t even see his face. She saw the envelope instantly and passed out.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lucinda is 31 years old in lives in Hampshire. Born in Aberdeenshire, she spent the early years of her life in a small fishing town before relocating with her mother to the South Coast.

She is the middle child and only girl with four brothers.

Lucinda began her higher education in studying Performing Arts and then began a degree in Law (but dropped out). She is a qualified hairdresser but the arts always drew her back in and she took up an interest in writing which she now plans to continue to make a career out of.

Mother of one, a baby boy, she works part time for a Business publication and spends her spare time soaking up the Hampshire countryside and plotting her next stories.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lucindalamont7

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LucindaLamontAuthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucinda_lamont_author/

Book Review: Single by K.L. Slater

January 19, 2020

Single by K.L. Slater
Published by Bookouture on October 25th 2019
ISBN: 9781786819277
Genres: Fiction, Crime, Thrillers, Suspense, Psychological, General
Pages: 362
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher, NetGalley
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

‘I keep feeling like I’m being watched – dropping the boys off at school, choosing wine at the supermarket – but when I turn around there’s nobody there…’

When single mother Darcy’s son falls from a rope bridge at a local playground, life stands still. She clutches his small, limp body, frozen, until a pair of strong hands push her aside, and she watches as George, a local doctor, saves her son’s life.

George is a single parent too, and with his twinkling hazel eyes, easy charm, and lack of wedding band is almost too good to be true, but coffee becomes lunch, lunch becomes dinner, and soon they can’t go an evening without seeing each other. When he invites her to move into his beautiful home with its sprawling garden for her boys, Darcy doesn’t hesitate.

But as Darcy is settling in, she receives a bunch of flowers with a chilling message. George says they’re from an obsessed ex-girlfriend, Opal, and days later Opal turns up at Darcy’s son’s football match. She claims to have shocking information that could threaten George’s custody of his daughter.

Darcy doesn’t know who to trust, but she’s starting to suspect that, whatever the truth, she might have put her beloved boys into terrible danger …

From the million-copy-bestselling author K.L. Slater this utterly gripping psychological thriller will make you gasp out loud as you race towards the unforgettable twist. If you loved The Girl on the Train and The Wife Between Us this book is for you.

What everyone is saying about Single:

‘I would liken reading 'Single' to being strapped into a car with a broken axle on the Tilt-A-Whirl carnival ride. You're gonna get tossed around until you don't know which way is up. Yet, in the end, you can't deny that it was one helluva ride. All superlatives aside, this book stands out in its cleverness and execution. K.L. Slater knocked it out of the park. 5+ stars.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Another stunning novel from KL Slater. .Loved every twist and turn. The only negative is what to read next as it won’t live up to KL Slater, fingers crossed her next novel won’t take long!’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Wow, I LOVED this book!!! 5 stars easy!! This is my first novel by K.L. Slater and most certainly will not be my last. …This is the kind of book you cannot put down or stop thinking about. I often had chills and felt like I experiencing this story as the main character. There is no way you will be able to guess the ending.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘WOW WOW WOW!!! What a fantastic book!! I couldn't put this one down. Just when i thought i knew what was going on , I changed my mind, and yet again. Twists twists and more twists. i love this author but this book blew me away best yet from her!’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Well a great big enormous WOW this was such a brilliant read, totally compulsive and everything you want in a psychological thriller !! ‘ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘This book kept me awake until the early hours, promising myself time and again that I would only read one more chapter until I was too far into the story to stop. All in all it's a really great read.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘K L Slater is a master of the psychological thriller genre and Single is yet another example of this. I read this book in just a few hours, not ready to put it down and determined to work out how it would end. Every scenario I came up with was wrong, and to me that is a sign of a great story. This one was so twisty and believable - fantastic. If you have not read anything by Slater before what are you waiting for? Seriously, you will not regret it.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What would you do if everything you knew was essentially a lie? We all have different ways of dealing and coping but it isn’t out of the realms of possibility to believe that some people would sink into depression. That’s what Darcy’s situation in Single has been like for the past four years. Her husband is dead, a fight with an illness took him quickly. But, whilst navigating the heavy, murky waters of grief, she discovers that her husband had been unfaithful. He hadn’t just had an affair, but he essentially was living a double life. He spent half the week with another woman. Her psyche broke and all that while trying to support her two sons who obviously no longer had their dad.

The story is principally told in the perspectives of Darcy and that of handsome, personable Urology Consultant, George Mortimer. He is also a single dad to Romy. Her mum also having passed away. They have so much in common. Two lives that seem ready to move forward, together, after having being dealt a really rubbish set of cards in life. As they become closer you can see that George has more than one skeleton in his closet. The story develops, and it becomes more twisty.

The secondary characters in Single were extremely unlikeable. I know that was the author’s intention but at times I felt like they should have been genuine and caring and they would have got a lot further in their needs and wants. Take Darcy’s sister-in-law for example, she professed to being her best friend and having her best interests at heart, but her actions are in complete conflict with that. Who on earth tells their friend that considering dating again after four years is too soon? It’s just manipulative and controlling to the highest extremes.

Darcy had so much on her plate. When the five of them went to Yorkshire to stay in a lodge at Christmas it really started gaining traction. Odd occurrences, the feeling of being watched, letters, flowers being delivered, photos obviously being taken. George talks about a past girlfriend and Darcy wonders if it could be someone from her past? George’s explanation has the warning bells thumping a deathening beat. What is he hiding?

I did struggle to fully be taken in with the twists in Single and I really wanted to be. I wanted it to be more menacing, more shocking, a complete gasp moment when all was revealed. One incident happened, and I couldn’t help but think if it happened to me, I probably wouldn’t have given it two thoughts. I really wanted more tension, a feeling of balancing on a knifes edge that I just didn’t experience with this story. I enjoyed the story and wouldn’t hesitate on giving K.L. Slaters other books a try.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After years of trying to get published and never getting further than the slush pile, I went back to university at the age of 40 where I gained a first-class honours degree in English & Creative Writing and an MA in Creative Writing with distinction.

Although I also had a day job during the five years I studied at university, the courses gave me the time and space to try different writing and increased my confidence and belief in my writing. Before I graduated from my MA, I had secured representation at the Darley Anderson Literacy, TV and Film Agency who got me my first book deal. My literary agent is Camilla Bolton.

My first adult psychological thriller for Bookouture, ‘Safe with Me’, actually started life as my dissertation on my English & Creative Writing degree in 2010.

The creepy voice of Anna came to me strong and insistent . . . she wanted to be written, she wouldn’t go away. I’m so glad I listened!

Please take a look at my ‘Books’ page for the full list of my titles.

I first became published writing Young Adult fiction for Macmillan Children’s Books under the name Kim Slater. My award-winning YA debut, SMART, started life as a short story for my MA in Creative Writing in 2012.

I am now a full-time writer. I have a daughter and two stepsons and live with my husband in Nottingham and Yorkshire.

Website

Book Review: Pine by Francine Toon

January 18, 2020

I received this book for free from Emma @ Damppebbles Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Pine by Francine Toon
Published by Transworld on January 23 2020
ISBN: 9781473569232
Genres: Fiction, Ghost, Horror, General
Pages: 336
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

They are driving home from the search party when they see her. The trees are coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men. Lauren and her father Niall live alone in the Highlands, in a small village surrounded by pine forest. When a woman stumbles out onto the road one Halloween night, Niall drives her back to their house in his pickup. In the morning, she's gone. In a community where daughters rebel, men quietly rage, and drinking is a means of forgetting, mysteries like these are not out of the ordinary. The trapper found hanging with the dead animals for two weeks. Locked doors and stone circles. The disappearance of Lauren's mother a decade ago. Lauren looks for answers in her tarot cards, hoping she might one day be able to read her father's turbulent mind. Neighbours know more than they let on, but when local teenager Ann-Marie goes missing it's no longer clear who she can trust. In spare, haunting prose, Francine Toon creates an unshakeable atmosphere of desolation and dread. In a place that feels like the end of the world, she unites the gloom of the modern gothic with the pulse of a thriller. It is the perfect novel for our haunted times.

Just where do I start? Francine Toon has spun a beautifully unsettling story. Her imagination for novel writing is what Einstein was to science. The book cover is completely apt – it visualises everything the story promises to be. It’s desolate, it’s eerie and it’s intensely unnerving. If you have followed this blog tour and you haven’t added this to your TBR – well, there is something wrong with you! This book and it’s captivating writing has been building in hushed tones upto a deafening crescendo that refuses to quiet. This is a book that just won’t stop. Be prepared to get sucked into its pages and become one with the story.

Insanely captivating. Pine has the same effect as a rollercoaster. You are fully prepared for it to leave you spinning and delirious, but you can’t be expected to prepare for the break neck speed of the narrative. This was an unputdownable novel, it’s an overused description but the term was absolutely coined for this story. I felt haunted and deeply uncomfortable. Always the sign of an exquisite read. One chapter is all it took to pull me down into the murky depths of it’s narrative. It felt like icy tendrils determined to pull me under to my death. It is chillingly fantastic.

Our main character, Lauren (10) stay with her dad, Neil in a very small Scottish town. Immediately you can feel the eeriness creeping in like a thick fog. Suffocating. Blinding. Panicky. Who is the young woman that keeps appearing? Random occurrences, sometimes just brief but other times she stays that bit longer. Lauren however, has the ability to retain memory of her interactions with the spectre. What connection does this have? There is something truly unnerving about the interactions with Lauren, a child. The parallels between a child grieving for her absent mother and you can see the cogs turning in her mind about the possibility of her imagining these happenings. Lauren comes to you in an almost ethereal state herself. She’s dreamlike. The entire plot captures the thin line between childhood innocence and adulthood. That time in-between is hazy and grey and difficult to navigate.

I don’t want to spoil any of the plot because it is exquisite. It deserved to be enjoyed first hand and experienced in rapture. The author is a master and she abducts you, throws you in the boot of her car and drives you into the night. Its futile to fight. She dumps you into the unknown and leaves you to navigate the inky darkness alone. The author blew me away in a way that I didn’t think was possible. She’s created characters that are so endearing they spoke to soul. I closed the book feeling overwhelmed and edgy. She ticked all the boxes in the formulaic equation to a psychological thriller that I look for.

Pine is deliciously dark and creepy. It rejects originality and pushes forward and forges its own way. It’s claustrophobic and dreamlike and utterly captivating.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Francine Toon grew up in Sutherland and Fife, Scotland. Her poetry, written as Francine Elena, has appeared in The Sunday Times, The Best British Poetry 2013 and 2015 anthologies (Salt) and Poetry London, among other places. Pine was longlisted for the Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award. She lives in London and works in publishing. Follow her on Twitter @FrancineElena

Francine Toon

Book Review: Firefight by Brandon Sanderson (The Reckoners #2)

January 17, 2020

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson
Published by Random House Children's Books on January 12, 2016
ISBN: 9780385743594
Genres: Young Adult, Action & Adventure, General, Boys & Men, Dystopian
Pages: 464
Format: Paperback
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

The #1 New York Times bestseller and sequel to Steelheart--a novel that James Dashner called "fantastic." Brandon Sanderson, the author of Words of Radiance, coauthor of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series, and creator of the internationally bestselling Mistborn trilogy, presents the second book in the Reckoners series: Firefight. And don't miss Calamity, the exciting conclusion to the Reckoners series available now!
David Charleston has lived for one purpose: to kill Steelheart, the supremely powerful, seemingly invincible Epic who murdered his father. Now Steelheart is dead and David is beginning to question everything that he--and the world--understands about the superhumans they call Epics.
David's suspicions are the reason he follows Prof to the flooded city once known as New York. But what he finds there could be what ultimately ends him. The truth might just burn deepest of all. . . .
Praise for the Reckoners Series:
#1 New York Times Bestselling Series
"The suspense is relentless and the climax explosive." --James Dashner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Maze Runner series
"Another win for Sanderson . . . he's simply a brilliant writer. Period." --Patrick Rothfuss, author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller The Name of the Wind
"Action-packed." --EW.com
"Compelling. . . . Sanderson uses plot twists that he teases enough for readers to pick up on to distract from the more dramatic reveals he has in store." --The A.V. Club

Our favourite assassins are back in a break-neck, punch to the throat journey, Firefight. David has finally fulfilled his destiny and his father’s firm belief- that the heroes would come. Steel heart is dead. They are all intact, just. Life goes on and the trouble in this dystopian world is that a new epic will only take over and create a new empire of destruction and trauma. David never rested until Steelheart was nothing…what is his purpose now? Megan is gone, her betrayal still feeling hot in his chest. Move forward and aim for the next bad guy…

My name is David Charlton and I kill people with superpowers.

David is now a fully immersed member of killing group, The Reckoners. He’s proved himself worthy. His research and knowledge of The Epics weaknesses has proved invaluable and it could all be the vital key to taking them all down. There is just one sticking point behind that line of thinking. Are all Epics inherently bad? Do they have any capacity for holding back their destructive nature? If they can, what damage is it doing? Before killing Steelheart, he truly believed that all Epics must die. They killed his father, they also destroyed everything that they had known. Megan aka Firefight, changed his thinking. He was smitten with her. Her attitude. The love affair with her weaponry. Her banter. But, she wasn’t everything she portrayed.

“I hadn’t been a nerd, mind you. I’d just been the type of guy who spent a lot of time by himself, focused entirely on a single consuming interest.”

David is now a living breathing celebrity. He’s gained the nickname Steelslayer. He had defied everything that shouldn’t have been possible. He killed Steelheart. One of the most powerful High Epics there is. No-one knew his weakness. He was a paranoid Epic who did everything to remain in the shadows. This Epic was taken down by a mere mortal, a boy. A boy called David.

So now they need to move forward and deal with the next biggest threat to the world. Welcome to Babylon Restored, formally known as New York City. Epic Regalia rules over the dominion and she might not lay down without a fight. She has the added bonus of having other Epics being her muscle. One such Epic is the utterly frightening, Oblivion. This dude isn’t going to be easy to get rid of. He has obliterated several cities and has the added bonus of being able to teleport when he senses he’s in danger.

The Reckoners have another cell team based in Babylon Restored carrying out surveillance. David, Prof and Tia join them, and they work to overcome Regalia and her goons. Can they take care of the threat or will they rue the day they left Newcago?

“Reckoner Super Plan for Killing Regalia…

Step One: find Regalia, then totally explode her. Lots and Lots.

Step Two: put Val on decaf.

Step Three: Mizzy gets a cookie.”

Firefight is the perfect continuation in this dystopian series. It’s got everything a fantasy lover could dream of. Superpowers. A forbidden love. Bad decisions. Death. Layered betrayals.

Brandon Sanderson has a white-hot imagination. You wouldn’t be wrong if you could imagine this on the big screen, fighting for the top spot with Marvel. He’s a crazy scientist that has created the compulsive formula for creating a multi-layered world that leaves you transported into an unknown world searching for clues to how it might end. The writing as always is flawless.

Steelheart Review

Book Review: The Home by Sarah Stovell

January 17, 2020

I received this book for free from Emma @ Damppebbles Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.

The Home by Sarah Stovell
Published by Orenda Books on 22 January 2020
ISBN: 9781912374731
Genres: Fiction, Thrillers, Suspense, Domestic
Pages: 278
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
five-stars

A gritty, dark and devastating psychological thriller centring around three troubled girls in a children's home, by the bestselling author of Exquisite
'I was immediately ensnared into the devastating and dark world of The Home and devoured it in one day ... A triumph' Holly Seddon
'Gripping, sinister and utterly heartbreaking ... I absolutely loved it' Lisa Hall
_________________
One more little secret ... one more little lie...
When the body of a pregnant fifteen-year-old is discovered in a churchyard on Christmas morning, the community is shocked, but unsurprised. For Hope lived in The Home, the residence of three young girls, whose violent and disturbing pasts have seen them cloistered away...
As a police investigation gets underway, the lives of Hope, Lara and Annie are examined, and the staff who work at the home are interviewed, leading to shocking and distressing revelations ... and clear evidence that someone is seeking revenge.
A gritty, dark and devastating psychological thriller, The Home is also an emotive drama and a piercing look at the underbelly of society, where children learn what they live ... if they are allowed to live at all.
________________
'So beautiful and haunting and ghostly and addictive and intense and sad and shocking. Just wow' Louise Beech
'A vividly disturbing, eloquent and enthralling tale ... striking, thought-provoking, compulsive storytelling' LoveReading

A poignant and a slash to the chest kind of read. In order to love a book, you need to find something that speaks to you. It needs to draw out connections. It simply knows how you tick. The Home had this in spades. The talent coming to life in these pages are like liquid gold – valuable and rare. It has the addictive pull that ties you down and stops you doing your chores. The only thing The Home does is take you hostage and holds you to ransom until you have read the final word of the final page.

This book has everything you need to hold your attention in a futile struggle. The stable Children’s Home. A forbidden love. Terrible parenting. Terrible decisions. Toxic relationships. A death. The death of a potential future. Layered betrayals. Deceit. And all the heartbreak you can take.

Sarah Stovell is an author that obviously lives and breathes her writing. The book has taken on an entity all its own. It’s like she has the secret formula that can break a heart. Mine blew straight out of my chest. Her narrative then leaves you searching for the missing pieces for the entirety of the novel. The tears pricked my eyes, my heart physically hurt but left me with an overwhelmingly urge to hug my babies tightly. I needed to show them the love I felt.

This definitely a hard book to read. The content is overwhelming. It’s a story that is meant to unseat you and make you uncomfortable. It’s hard and harrowing and makes you take a long hard look at your comfy existence. You might have experienced hard ship yourself but just how bad have you had it? It pulls and extracts such an intense level of empathy from your body…I had an all-encompassing feeling of just wanting to mother these girls. If I had the space, I would have taken them in in an instant.

This is the first book I have read by Sarah Stovell but by all means and purposes she is hitting legendary status. I will rectify that as soon as I possibly can. The characters she creates are broken, with a story to tell, dark and deep histories, but they have such a capacity for love. It’s amazing that after everything they have been through they can show love towards one another. Hope and Annie have such dogged determination. Neither of them want to be in this situation. It was never a conscious choice. They were dealt the worst betrayal from parents that should have given their lives for their kids.

The Home is a children’s Home that is a safe Haven to Hope (15) and Annie (15) and Lara (12). There have the good fortune of being surrounded by the Lake District. Despite the circumstances it could, indeed, be a lot worse. The setting, the opening chapter, the creeping shadow of desolation and despair had me hook, line and sinker. I was done for – I ended up racing to the finish.

Why you ask?

Well, Sarah Stovell has created a perfect cadence of a highly addictive plot that seeps in its intensity but try as you might to slow the reading, to savour each delicious page…it is impossible. The characters, although they have been broken down by life, they display the most amazing strength and dare I even say it a hunger to still continue living. Hope toys with the idea of ending it all but I genuinely put that down to not having any direction. These girls are the epitome of the word survival.

The story kicks off on Christmas day. Two girls are missing – Hope and Annie and Lara is in The Home, silent and unyielding. Choices come full circle and that message is being shouted loud and clear. It’s audible, deafening and terrifyingly deep. A girl is found beside the water, dead and the other is hysterical with her grief. It is bone deep. After the story starts to unfold you wonder just how much one person can take?

Annie’s metamorphosis from victim to survivor is poignantly beautiful – she’s scarred and with flaws, but she stands tall. The author has wrote about a superhero in my eyes and her characterisation spoke to me so clearly. It was impossible not to love her.

The Home is a chillingly, deeply disturbing take on the unreliable narrator. It unseats you. The narrative is razor sharp and unlike anything you have ever read before.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR OF THE HOME

Sarah Stovell, author of The Home published by Orenda Books.

Sarah Stovell was born in 1977 and spent most of her life in the Home Counties before a season working in a remote North Yorkshire youth hostel made her realise she was a northerner at heart. She now lives in Northumberland with her partner and two children and is a lecturer in Creative Writing at Lincoln University. Her debut psychological thriller, Exquisite, was called ‘the book of the summer’ by Sunday Times.

Sarah Stovell

The abominable Book Box – January 2020

January 16, 2020

Dark Ink by Gary Kemble

Black Static Issue #72

Gorgeous Chocolate Bar from Wales

Death Bell – Book from the Accursed Library

Spookmark Series 2 #3 – “The Beckoning” by Owen Morgan

Various Selection of Tea’s and Hot Chocolates

Dark Ink by Gary Kemble

Investigating sordid political corruption, journalist Harry Hendrick grows uneasy when he hears rumours of a chilling figure behind it. Mistress Hel plies her dark arts from a luxurious suburban lair, motivated by a desire for revenge from a past marred by terrible wrongs.

Harry hears of demonic visions, of people under a supernatural thrall, and is slowly drawn into her web. Inside are diabolical ceremonies and visions that threaten both his sanity and his life; something black and infernal reaching out into the world…

Black Static Issue #72

Black Static magazine returns for the new decade with another issue chock full of incredible short fiction from the likes of Jack Westlake, Matt Thompson, and Sarah Read. Plus your usual reviews, interviews and editorials!

Welsh chocolate in the abominable book box

Death Bell by Guy N. Smith

The long deserted Caelogy Hall in the small village of Turbury has new residents. Martyn Hamilton keeps his gates locked, installs a fierce alsatian and shuns all contact with the village. He also installs a bell in his chapel, a bell which rings with a frequency that jars the senses, changes peoples’ character and brings on brain haemorrhage and death. Even the deaf are able to hear it. People start dying, going insane and nothing they can do seems to have any effect on their chances to stop the bell

Abominable book box January 2020 683x1024 - The abominable Book Box - January 2020

Another great offering from the guys at Abominable. They are now offering a great incentive to returning customers – You are awarded 10 ghouls for every purchase, this can get you money off future boxes. Are you tempted yet?

Review: Firewatching by Russ Thomas

January 13, 2020

Firewatching by Russ Thomas
on 20th February 2020
Genres: Thriller, Police Procedural, Cold Case
Pages: 418
Format: ARC, Paperback
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four-half-stars

ONE WRONG MOVE
A body is found bricked into the walls of a house. From the state of the hands, it’s clear they were buried alive and had tried to claw their way out before they died. Soon, the victim is linked to a missing person’s case and DS Adam Tyler is called.
WILL IGNITE
As the sole representative of South Yorkshire's Cold Case Review Unit, Tyler recognises his role for what it is – a means of keeping him out of the way following an ‘incident’. When this case falls in his lap, he grabs the opportunity to fix his stagnating career.
THE CITY
When he discovers he has a connection to the case that hopelessly compromises him, he makes the snap decision not to tell his superiors. With such a brutal and sadistic murder to unpick, Tyler must move carefully to find out the truth, without destroying the case or himself.

Meanwhile, someone in the city knows exactly what happened to the body. Someone who is watching Adam closely. Someone with an unhealthy affinity with fire . . .

Firewatching is Russ Thomas’ debut. That in itself is crazy. The authors work…his words, his research, his narrative, where born from flames. It is red hot. It flows so effortlessly from the pages and dives straight into your head. Of course, the moment you pick this book up, you will forget about the tasks you had planned for the rest of the day. Nothing is as important as finding out the secrets this book contains. Toilet breaks, food none of it even registered in my head. Be prepared to race to the finish. Lace up those Nikes and….run!

This was deliciously dark and complex, Firewatching gives us an introduction to DS Adam Tyler. A man with a broken past. Confident but quietly vulnerable. He’s got something to prove but at what cost? He has flaws just like the rest of us, but he does want to do good. He’s the sole representative of South Yorkshire’s Cold Case Unit and he is not scared to ruffle a few feathers with the murder squad. Also, he’s been known to make mistakes and allowed his temper to get the best of him, but he is dealing with idiotic instances of homophobia. consequently, he’s got the scars to remind him of his mistake, but DS Adam Tyler is human.

The book opened, and you knew the tone had been set. We meet the firewatcher and their communication comes in the form of blog posts. They are telling and give the insight into a very dangerous individual. The author likes to wind us up and keep us on the literal edge. We knew the antagonist was more than the eye could see. There was a history there. A deep-seated evil born from flames. What was the motive?

I can’t fully describe this authors writing style, but it blew me away. He was precise, constantly hitting the mark, like a marksman never missing his target. It became very personal with DS Tyler and before long he was tangled up in the mess of solving a murder that occurred six year ago. I enjoyed how Tyler navigated working with his superiors through instances of yet more homophobia, asserting the fact that it was a cold case but yet, trying not alienate himself from the entire team. Tyler was a curious character but one I felt an instant connection to. He’s had a hard life and could quite easily have gone off the rails spectacularly, but his career is what keeps him on the straight and narrow. You can tell that he wants to relate to people and socialise, but he finds it difficult. He really doesn’t want to let anyone in.

Finally crap hit the fan. You really don’t want to mess about when fire and murders are especially concerned.

The secondary characters just increased the strength of this novel tenfold. They all flowed together. They had everything that real life displays – differing personalities, temperaments and dreams. As a result, Tyler was surrounded in a grey cloud of parent’s actions, his boss being a bit of ass. Nevertheless, Tyler had to navigate the muddy waters of a cold case that needed drawing to a conclusion quickly.

Firewatching is quite literally too hot to handle. The pages sear into your brain leaving you aching for the next clue. My hands flew through the pages. I was aching for more. Firewatching cements Russ Thomas’ place in the most exciting crime writer to watch!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Russ Thomas, author of debut novel - Firewatcher.

Russ Thomas was born in Essex, raised in Berkshire and now lives in Sheffield. He grew up in the 80s reading anything he could get from the library, writing stories, watching large amounts of television, playing videogames, and largely avoiding the great outdoors. He spent five years trying to master playing the electronic organ and another five trying to learn Spanish. It didn’t take him too long to realise that he’d be better off sticking to the writing

After a few ‘proper’ jobs (among them: pot-washer, optician’s receptionist, supermarket warehouse operative, call-centre telephonist and storage salesman) he discovered the joys of bookselling, where he could talk to people about books all day.

His debut novel Firewatching is the first book in the DS Adam Tyler series.

Russ Thomas Website

Review: Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

January 11, 2020

by J. K. Rowling
Published by Pottermore Publishing Genres: Action & Adventure, Boarding School & Prep School, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fantasy & Magic, Fiction, General, School & Education, Wizards & Witches, Young Adult, Young Adult Fiction
Format: Paperback

The Dursleys were so mean and hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike

And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockhart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls' bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley's younger sister, Ginny.

But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone -- or something -- starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects . . . Harry Potter himself?

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets is the second instalment in the hugely successful Harry Potter franchise. The book opens up during the summer break, therefore, Harry is back with his mother’s sister, Petunia and his uncle Vernon and their disgusting son, Dudley. The abuse of Harry is still very much apparent, and he is longing for summer break to be over, so that he can be back with his friends. The friends that haven’t bothered to write to him all summer. No communication. Nothing. He needs to be back with his own people not with family that don’t treat him like family at all, but, how will he get there?

Harry’s first year brought shocks and anguish after discovering that the wizard that killed his parents and tried to kill him is still alive, although in more of a half-life. He has been using others to drain the energy from – finding a way to regain his power. The man who must not be named – Lord Voldemort. This book really opens the door into Voldemort. Harry discovers an enchanted diary that gives him an unadulterated view into the memories of Voldemort. What happened in his school years to turn him into the monster he is now? What kind of power does he have over people? Is he just as smooth as it is believed he was?

Ron’s younger sister, Ginny, becomes entranced by him. He reaches out to her through the diary. Ginny is his perfect target. She pours her heart out to the diary and he is an understanding, attentive ear. She tells him her deepest secrets and fears, including, for her wish to have Harry Potter notice her. This goes on months and all the while Voldemort uses her as a vessel to get stronger. He’s becoming stronger and as a result of this manages to get Ginny to unleash a monster that petrifies the victim. This runs alongside Harry hearing a voice that apparently only he can hear – it is discovered that this is because he is a parselmouth – the ability to talk to snakes. This is an extremely worrying development as the founder of Slytherin was also one.

Ominous messages appear in the school threatening that non-full-blood student will die. This seriously concerns Harry and Ron as their best friend, Hermione is one such student. It also signals the point when the Chamber of Secrets has been reopened. The last time was fifty years ago. The trio investigate and discover that Hagrid was expelled during that time for harbouring a dangerous, man-eating spider. Will they find out who opened the chamber before the monster kills someone?

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets was one of real intrigue. The writing was captivating, and I read it all within one sitting. Rowling incorporates themes of child naivety and the teenage horror, therefore, discovering that the adults can’t always protect you. I would have enjoyed reading more about Lord Voldemort and his past. I’m looking forward to getting immersed into the next book. The strength of the main character base is still hugely enjoyable with some new characters adding complexity and human emotions into the mix.

Check out my review to book one Here

Review: The Haunting of Strawberry Water by Tara Gould

January 8, 2020

I received this book for free from Emma @ Damppebbles Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: The Haunting of Strawberry Water by Tara Gould

The Haunting of Strawberry Water by Tara Gould
Published by Myriad Editions on January 29th 2020
Genres: Fiction, Short Stories (single author), Suspense, Thrillers, Women
Pages: 64
Format: ARC, Paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four-stars

‘This dazzling series shows that if the barriers can be vaulted there is true beauty to be had from the lesser-walked streets of literature. These works are both nourishing and inspiring, and a gift to any reader.’ —Kerry Hudson
A gripping tale of post-natal depression, this short story reads like a modern retelling of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and has much in common with Sarah Water' The Little Stranger in its realisation of psychological distress as a supernatural phenomenon.A new mother, traumatised by an arduous labour, tries to come to terms with being abandoned as a baby by Olivia, the mother she never knew. Set in the eponymous ‘Strawberry Water’, a mysterious 1920s country bungalow which overlooks a fast-flowing river, the story begins with a faded photograph of the woman our narrator assumes to be her mother.
Spotlight Books is a collaboration between Creative Future, New Writing South and Myriad Editions to discover, guide and support writers who are under-represented due to mental or physical health issues, disability, race, class, gender identity or social circumstance.

The Haunting of Strawberry Water catapults you into an ethereal memory of an important figure. A Mother. An extension of yourself, connected by genes and love. Someone that will stand by you until their last breath. They can protect you or they can destroy that link forever. Tara Gould depicts an elegant but deeply heart-breaking tome that displays the links between motherhood and mental health. It’s disturbing but so very perfect. Gould is an artist of trauma, she knows exactly how to inject a longing and flaw to her character. Is our outcome in life more of an inevitability due to our childhoods or can it be altered?

An extremely toxic relationship between a girl and her forgotten mother. It’s the kind of novel that will capture your attention and have you examining your own relationship with your mother. It’s deeply claustrophobic. The regimes that the abandoned daughter goes through to keep that one link to the forgotten one. The narrative voice is strong, with a sense of melancholy that seems to escalate as the character ages. It was interesting to see a child grow right before our eyes. Her mannerisms, her growth, her constant longing for answers to a broken link in a chain. Her own change into a mother herself.

It really is a story of growth and change. A coming of age story. However, I felt the story was directed more towards Olivia, the mother. Why she left, who she was, where did she go? She was the ever-present ghost in the life of a girl that shaped how she lived her own life. Becoming a mother is a massive event, it changes you in ways you never knew were even possible. You suddenly have this little bundle that you are completely responsible for and it can weigh heavily on you. Your previous life is never going to be the same again. You must change and adapt. It was a highly emotional study of relationships and hardship. Regret and longing.

The Haunting of Strawberry Water is a totally original, emotionally charged short story of incredible loss of potential. The potential of love. It’s dark and layered.

Tara Gould, the author of short story, The Haunting of Strawberry Water

Tara Gould studied visual arts at Brighton University and an MA at Sussex University. Her short stories have been published in anthologies including the Asham Anthology for Women Writers, and her plays have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. In 2016 she was Writer in Residence at Creative Futures. She lives in East Sussex.

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