BLOG TOUR BEST OF CRIMES BY K.C. MAHER

Walter, a child prodigy who now works on Wall Street, considers himself a father figure to Amanda, his daughter s best friend and only child of a neglectful single mother. But when he loses his job after the 2008 financial crisis and his materialistic wife leaves him, taking their daughter, his relationship with Amanda enters a precarious new stage.
Walter struggles to give her the affection and guidance she needs, without succumbing to her budding sexuality. In the year before she enters high school, these two lonely souls will transform each other as Walter breaks out of his emotional shell, and Amanda blossoms into adolescence.
In a world that has always failed to protect its most vulnerable, The Best of Crimes is a new narrative and an unconventional love story that will challenge your perception of right and wrong.

I am delighted to share a extract from this book for you today .

Published 9th May and do check out the other blogs taking part!

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1999

Walking to Lehman Brothers that first day, I felt as if I finally belonged to the whole of spiraling existence. Along the Hudson River, I strolled the esplanade beneath an early summer morning sky so blue that the clouds appeared to swirl upward. And everywhere I looked, life beat in time with my heart. Plants reached for the sun. Giant allium flowers, heads like pink globes, waved on tall stalks.

Two girls jumped inside double-Dutch ropes turned by two other girls. The quick and nimble pair inside the ropes called out back-and-forth rhymes, spinning one direction and then the other. They clapped hands, in time. At the South Cove Park, a tall young Asian man rollerbladed in precise opposing arcs around miniature orange cones set in a line. Thin and graceful, he moved fluidly, his ponytail swinging past his waist.

I was eighteen years old, a privileged math prodigy with two graduate degrees. Having leapfrogged my adolescence, I imagined life ahead as an undulating Fibonacci sequence, in ever expanding perfect proportion. My stride, in new black oxfords, matched the subliminal, subterranean rhythm.

BOOK REVIEW MY MOTHERS DAUGHTER BY ANN O’LOUGHLIN

County Wicklow, Ireland. Margo has just lost her husband Conor and is grieving his passing, unsure how she and her daughter Elsa will survive without him. Then she receives a letter that turns everything she thought she knew on its head. Not only has she lost her husband, but now Margo fears she could lose her daughter as well.

Ohio, United States. Cassie has just split from her husband acrimoniously. Upset and alone she does not know how to move forward. Then her ex-husband demands a paternity test for their daughter Tilly and sorrow turns to anger as Cassie faces the frightening possibility of losing her daughter.

A powerful, moving stories of family, resilience and compassion, and how women support each other through the most difficult times, My Mother’s Daughter takes the issues closest to our hearts and makes us ask ourselves the most difficult questions – what would we do in Margo and Cassie’s place?

Firstly a big thank you to Alex at Orion books for my copy to review. This is a new author to me which is one of the big perks of being a book blogger.

A real thought provoking story that will capture your heart instantly . A difficult situation and scenario but dealt with sensitively and respectfully.

A touching insight into the mothers bond and friendships .

Mixing different families and different cultures ..will it end well?

Beautifully written and emotive .

Published 16th May

BLOG TOUR STOLEN BY PAUL FINCH

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How do you find the missing when there’s no trail to follow?

DC Lucy Clayburn is having a tough time of it. Not only is her estranged father one of the North West’s toughest gangsters, but she is in the midst of one of the biggest police operations of her life.

Members of the public have started to disappear, taken from the streets as they’re going about their every day lives. But no bodies are appearing – it’s almost as if the victims never existed.

Lucy must chase a trail of dead ends and false starts as the disappearances mount up. But when her father gets caught in the crossfire, the investigation suddenly becomes a whole lot more bloody…

Firstly a big thank you to Sabah for my copy and having me on the tour.

Ive been lucky enough to review several of Paul’s books.

Fast paced and action packed

Dark and gritty as we race to find the truth.

A captivating read that will have you hooked from the first chapter.

Chilling and thrilling this is another great book from Paul.

Published 16th May and do check out the other blogs taking part.

BOOK REVIEW THE GIRL AT THE WINDOW BY ROWAN COLEMAN

Ponden Hall is a centuries-old house on the Yorkshire moors, a magical place full of stories. It’s also where Trudy Heaton grew up. And where she ran away from…

Now, after the devastating loss of her husband, she is returning home with her young son, Will, who refuses to believe his father is dead.

While Trudy tries to do her best for her son, she must also attempt to build bridges with her eccentric mother. And then there is the Hall itself: fallen into disrepair but generations of lives and loves still echo in its shadows, sometimes even reaching out to the present…

Firstly a huge thank you to the publishers for my copy to read and review . Even the proof was stunning so i can only imagine the beauty of the finished copies on the bookshelves.

Rowan has a special place in my heart and in my love of books . One of her books was the first i reviewed in 2014… wheres that time gone. She also wrote to my daughter and her words meant a lot . Her writing and books remind us booklovers why we will always have books. I am yet to meet her and i may be quite excited/nervoud when i do…

Anyway back to the book…

Rowan has written another love story with a twist she isn’t scared to break down the walls of genres.

I whizzed through this and its breathtakingly beautiful.

Unique and original there will be no other book like it to read this summer.

Dark and chilling in some parts . Light and uplifting in others.

Packed with history and charactar this was my first encounter with the world of the bronte sisters.

Rowan has injected her passion and love of a subject into this story so magically.

A story of love ,loss ,secrets and family.

Absolutly loved it and thank you Rowan for the words and worlds you create for all us bookworms. I wish this every success.

Published 8th August

BOOK REVIEW ILL FIND YOU BY LIZ LAWLER

Emily Jacobs wakes up in the night after a minor operation, woozy with anaesthetic. She sees the doctor frantically trying to resuscitate the woman in the bed next to her.
In the morning, she is told that she must have had a nightmare.
That the bed has been empty all along . . .
When Emily returns to her work as a nurse, she discovers a bracelet that she believes belonged to the missing woman. She becomes convinced the people at the hospital are hiding a terrible secret.
What if she’s right?
What else could they be capable of?

Firstly thanks to zaffre books for my copy to review

This is a new author to me which is always exciting.

Set in a hospital and had a wealth of medical references which unless you know them was slighlty overwhelming.

Packed with secrets and mystery as we race to find the truth.

Loved how much emphasis on mental health there was as its so important to keep talking.

Twists and turns and you dont know who to trust.

Published 2nd may

BOOK REVIEW LIVING MY BEST LI(f)E BY CLAIRE FROST

Bell never thought she’d be facing her 40th birthday single. Recently dumped by her boyfriend of ten years, Bell is struggling to move on with her life – and surrender the fleecy pyjamas she’s been living in since January. Sick of being bombarded by #blessed on social media and feeling like her life doesn’t live up to everyone else’s, she decides it’s time for a change; time to find out who she really is, not who she thinks she should be.
Enter Millie, a successful online influencer posting under the handle @mi_bestlife. But as a single mum trying to make ends meet and stay ahead of the younger generation snapping at her heels, her Instagram feed is far more #BestLiethan #BestLife. With the internet trolls continuing to bring her down and an ex who cares more about playing football than seeing their son, Millie begins to wish her life was more like her filters.
It isn’t until Millie and Bell’s paths cross that the two women begin to realise what they’re missing. Will Bell finally learn to live life for herself? And will Millie see that she needs to start living for the momentand not for the likes?

Firstly a big thank you to simon and schuster for my copy to review .

There is big hype for this and rightly so, booklovers you will adore this debut.

Everything about this ticked a box, the title , the cover and of course the storyline. Once i started i was hooked.

I loved this book so much,and in a world obsessed with social media this is so accurate and refreshing.

Excellent characters that you will feel a instant connection with.

Fun ,warm,witty and life affirming.

Claire is a amazing writer and has clearly learnt from working with books to create her own piece of magic .

Highly recommend this and wish her every success with it.

Published in ebook in July then paperback in September .

BOOK REVIEW THE CARER BY DEBORAH MOGGACH

James is getting on a bit and needs full-time help. So Phoebe and Robert, his middle-aged offspring, employ Mandy, who seems willing to take him off their hands. But as James regales his family with tales of Mandy’s virtues, their shopping trips, and the shared pleasure of their journeys to garden centres, Phoebe and Robert sense something is amiss. Is this really their father, the distant figure who never once turned up for a sports day, now happily chortling over cuckoo clocks and television soaps?

Then something happens that throws everything into new relief, and Phoebe and Robert discover that life most definitely does not stop for the elderly. It just moves onto a very different plane – changing all the stories they thought they knew so well.

Firstly a big thank you to Georgina for my copy to review. Ive not read any of Deborahs books before.

Excellently written with genuine charactars that you connect with.

A story of family, relationships,age, secrets and love.

Unpredictable heartwarming and quirky.

A real gem of a story and will look forward to reading more from Deborah.

Published 11th July

BOOK REVIEW ARE WE NEARLY THERE YET? BY LUCY VINE

Alice is turning thirty and is stuck in a rut. Her friends are all coupling up and settling down, while she’s still working as a temp, trying (and failing) not to shag her terrible ex, getting thrown out of clubs, and accidentally sexting her boss…

She decides to throw caution to the wind and jets off on a round-the-world adventure to #FindTheFun and find herself. Of course, she’s no more likely to find the answer to true happiness on the beach in Thailand than she is at the electric beach in Tooting, but at least in Thailand there’s paddleboard yoga.

Can Alice find happiness on her travels? Or is she more likely to lose herself all over again…?

Firstly thank you to Poppy at Orion for my copy to review . I loved her previous books so was excited to read this.

Fresh, witty, funny and so relatable.

Life has a way of not going smoothly and makes you question who you are and where your going in life.

A story of identity and adventure.

I loved it and read in one go.

I could see myself in Alice in so many ways.

A great book and wish Lucy every success with it.

Published June 27th

BOOK REVIEW THE DANGEROUS KIND BY DEBORAH O’CONNOR

One in 100 of us is a ‘potentially dangerous person’ – someone likely to commit a violent crime. We all know them: these charmers, liars and manipulators. The ones who send prickles up the back of our neck. These people hide in plain sight, they can be teachers, doctors, holding positions of trust, of power.

Jessamine Gooch makes a living tracking the 1 in 100. Each week she broadcasts a radio show that examines brutal offences, asking if more could have been done to identify and prevent their perpetrators.

But when she agrees to investigate a missing person case involving a young mother, she is drawn into a web of danger that will ultimately lead to the upper echelons of power, and threaten the safety of her own family.

What if the people we trust are the ones we should fear?

Firstly a big thank you to zaffre books for my copy to review. This is a new author to me and was very excited to read .

This is a big book and i devoured in one go.

Completely drew me in! Addictive dark and chilling.

Different narratives and timelines keeping it fresh and fast paced. Packed with twists and turns as the truth is unravelled.

As a parent reading it,its sickening but this world is a dark place. Thought provoking and heavily disturbing.

This will be huge and wish her every success with it.

Published 16th may

BOOK REVIEW STONE COLD HEART BY CAZ FREAR

A fractured marriage. A silent family. A secret that connects them all.
When DC Cat Kinsella is approached by Joseph Madden for help with his wife, Rachel, there’s not much she can do. Joseph claims that Rachel has been threatening him, but can’t – or won’t – give Cat details as to why. Dismissing it as a marriage on the rocks, Cat forgets about it.
That is until Naomi Lockhart, a young PA, is found dead after a party attended by both Joseph and Rachel, and Joseph is arrested for the murder.
Joseph says his wife is setting him up.
His wife says he didn’t do it.
The trail of evidence leads to even more questions . . .
Adulterer. Murderer. Victim. Who would you believe?

Firstly a big thank you to zaffre books for my copy to review .

This was a chunky proof!

Absolutly loved it .

Full of drama and scandal.

Family secrets both the suspects and the police.

Thrilling and action packed.

An excellent series and wish her every success!!

Published 23rd May