+ childrens fiction, Dogs, fiction, love, review
Mitchie the Service Dog Gets A Job by Diane Petrozzo
Mitchie is a young, black Labrador Retriever training to become a service dog.
Everyone says he will become very successful, but Mitchie doesn’t believe them. Will he actually be good enough to assist someone?
Genre: Children’s Book
Ages: 3-9
Eventually, Mitchie is matched with an elderly gentleman named Mel who is visually impaired. How is Mitchie going to help Mel live a fulfilling life.
This is a story about service, friendship, and love regardless of age and circumstances.
My Review
Mitchie, the black labrador, is training to be a service dog. In the UK he would be training with Guide Dogs for the Blind (I am currently sponsoring two puppies like Mitchie and have even visited the training centre and head office). Not all dogs ‘qualify’ to be guide dogs, they have to be really special. Mitchie doesn’t believe he has what it takes, but it’s all a matter of training and confidence.
In another state, Mel is an elderly gentleman who is losing his eyesight. He doesn’t have any family to help him, and he doesn’t know how he will get out, meet friends or go to the gym. When he is told about Mitchie and how a service dog can help him, he is sceptical at first. He has to go to New York to meet Mitchie and spend time training with him. By the end they are both sure it’s going to work. I love that he takes Mitchie in the cabin on the plane. We are not allowed to do that in the UK.
They soon settle in together and Mitchie saves Mel from an accident and also alerts him to a fire. He certainly is an incredible dog!
A lovely book which shows the bond between human and animal, and the importance of friendship, companionship and love.
Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of #Mitchie blog tour.
About the Author
Diane Petrozzo is a retired Human Resources professional and teacher who has dedicated her life to rescuing dogs, in particular seniors. Her love for dogs began at the age of six, when a stray followed Diane’s brothers home and was immediately adopted by her family. Diane was a board member and co-foster coordinator at the Retriever Rescue of Colorado, where she continues to volunteer today. Her mission is to highlight the value of senior dogs and to promote their adoption. Diane is an outdoor enthusiast and can always be seen walking her rescue dog, Remy, to the local coffee shop for a pup cup. For more, visit www.FourWornPaws.com.
About the Illustrator
Lauren Zurcher is an award-winning children’s book illustrator from Colorado. She began her journey as an artist when drawing about family vacations across the world. The geography, peoples, fauna, and culture are the source of her inspiration. Lauren lives in New York and loves bringing stories to life with colorful and playful visuals. For more, visit www.ByLaurenZurcher.com.
Buy Links
www.amazon.co.uk
www.amazon.com
Goodreads
www.goodreads.com
Handles/Tags
X (Twitter)
@KellyALacey
@lovebookstours
#Ad #LBTCrew #BookTwitter #FreeReview #FreeBookReview #LBTKids
Instagram
@fourwornpaws
@springcedarspublisher
@lovebookstours
#Ad #LBTCrew #Bookstagram #FreeReview #FreeBookReview #LBTKids
Threads
@lovebookstours
Facebook
@lovebookstours
TikTok
@lovebookstours
+ fiction, Ghost story, haunting, horror, lies, motherhood, podcast, review, secrets
The House on Devil’s Lane by Sandra Ireland
THE HOUSE ON DEVIL’S LANE is a chilling tale of psychological terror and things that go bump in the night…
What if the home of your dreams turns into your worst nightmare?
Young mum Kat Riley has reasons for wanting to escape her family. When taxi driver Steve Burns comes into her life in the most unusual of circumstances, she sees a way out. With her baby Matthew, she leaves behind a chaotic existence and all that is familiar to make a new life in the Durham countryside.
When Kat first sets eyes on 11 Derville’s Lane, she falls in love with its quaint charm. The interior, however, tells a different story. Recently vacated by Steve’s father, Tommy, there remains a lingering presence and the sense of secrets waiting to be revealed. Soon Kat is struggling to cope with the house’s troubled past and her own dark secrets, while her fledgling career as a blogger soon plunges her into a world of paranormal podcasts, wild conspiracy theories and internet trolls who threaten her safety and her sanity.
Is the house on Devil’s Lane really haunted, or are the ghouls closer to home?
My Review
This was great fun! Ok, I hear you say, hardly fun. But it was in a strange kind of way. Horror? Not in a Freddie Kruger or Drag Me To Hell way. Supernatural, creepy, scary at times, I really enjoyed it.
Kat Riley lives at home with her mum and sister. She is pregnant, but no-one knows who the father is (except Kat of course). When she is in labour, Steve Burns is the taxi driver who takes her to hospital and they become friends. Now I have to admit that I did not like Steve all that much. By the end I still wasn’t keen, but we’ll leave it at that.
Eventually, Kat, Steve and baby Matthew move to Steve’s house at 11 Derville’s Lane in the Durham countryside. Steve’s father Tommy is in a nursing home, so the house is empty. And though from the outside it looks quaint and charming, picket fence, roses round the door etc (not literally), inside it’s a tip. Kat refuses to stay there with Matthew, so she spends the first night in a B&B run by an older woman called Rowena.
It’s at this point that things turn really weird. Rowena claims to know nothing about the house, but it soon becomes clear that she has history, as does Tommy, and the whole town knows about it. Is the house haunted, or is that just a conspiracy theory or a wicked rumour? Tommy became quite the local celebrity on the back of it, but was he just cashing in on the house’s reputation for things that went bump in the night.
Poor Kat. She has her own issues to deal with, but she is going to make the best of it. She sets up a social media profile with pictures of herself and Matthew in the house they are renovating. Steve does not approve – well he wouldn’t would he. Then she gets trolled and threatened, but she should have guessed that would happen. And it all starts to get very dark.
The podcast about the house is all very Battersea Poltergeist and I can just see the house being featured on Uncanny. But is any of it real? Well we’ll have to read the book to find out. Best read under the covers, in the dark, with just a torch for company.
Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of #TheHouseOnDevilsLane blog tour.
About the Author
“For many years, I thought I’d been born ON Doncaster Racecourse. This was not the case, but the result of classic parental misdirection. “You were born there, Sandra!” Ma and Pa would cry, waving at the TV screen whenever the St Leger was on. I was nine before I realised they meant the town, not the racecourse. I do love horses though.
“Growing up, we moved to North Yorkshire (a garden with fruit trees and room for the pony I never got), to Sheffield (a newbuild beside a Gothic Rectory) and Northumberland (old castles, stepping stones in the river).
“After dropping out of uni at 18, I ran off to Éire to live The Good Life (goats, pigs, chickens) before returning to Scotland with two children and a pile of skulls skills I’ll probably never use again. A stint as an heraldic artist and a café owner followed, before the writing bug bit deep.
“It was always my mother’s wish that I go back to education, and I eventually did, at a time when most folks are calculating their pensions. I’m a great believer in following your heart. Age shouldn’t get in the way of being creative or achieving your dreams. I began writing fiction after my Mum died as a way of coping with grief, and that led to me enrolling at the University of Dundee as a mature student. Studying wasn’t easy, and I did an early morning cleaning job before lectures in order to make ends meet. I graduated in 2013 with a First Class Honours degree in English and Creative Writing, and went on the study for the Mlitt in Writing Practice and Study with the help of Carnegie- Cameron Scholarship.
“Just a few months after graduating in 2014, I took part in a Book Week Scotland Pitch Session and caught the attention of top literary agent Jenny Brown. A publishing deal with Polygon followed, and Beneath the Skin hit the shelves in September 2016. My second novel Bone Deep will hit the shelves in July, and the rights have already been sold in Germany, India and the U.S.
“So, keep reading, folks! I don’t want to have to go back to my old cleaning job, but if all else fails, I can fall back on those skills I thought I’d never use again. If you want a cow milked, a rabbit skinned or your coat-of-arms painted, call me.
Handles/Tags
X (Twitter)
@KellyALacey
@lovebookstours
#Ad #LBTCrew #BookTwitter #FreeReview #FreeBookReview #LBTHorror
Instagram
@slireland22
@lovebookstours
#Ad #LBTCrew #Bookstagram #FreeReview #FreeBookReview #LBTHorror
Threads
@lovebookstours
Facebook
@lovebookstours
TikTok
@lovebookstours
+ fiction, gothic, gothic horror, Gothic mystery, obsession, review, Scotland, Scottish Highlands, superstition, thriller, twins, witchcraft, witches
The Torments by Michael J Malone (Annie Jackson Mysteries #2)
Hiding from the world in her little white cottage on the shores of a loch, Annie Jackson is fighting to come to terms with the world of the murmurs, a curse that has haunted female members of her family for centuries.
While she is within the ancient, heavy stone of the old dwelling, the voices merely buzz, but the moment she steps outside the door they clamour to torment her all over again, bringing with them shocking visions of imminent deaths.
#TheTorments Twitter/X @michaelJmalone1 @OrendaBooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours
Instagram @malonemichaelj @randomthingstours #bookstagram #blogtour #Gothic #Scotland #supernatural #AnnieJacksonMysteries
Into this oasis comes her adoptive mother, Mandy McEvoy, begging for Annie’s help. Mandy’s nephew Damien has gone missing, after dropping off his four-year old son at his mother’s home.
Unable to refuse, but terrified to leave her sanctuary, Annie, with the help of her brother Lewis, is drawn in to a secretive, seductive world that will have her question everything she holds dear, while Lewis’ life may be changed forever…
My Review
I read and reviewed The Murmurs, the first of the Annie Jackson Mysteries, this time last year. The Torments continues in the same vein, with Annie as the hero who can look at someone and know they are going to die imminently, and how. It’s very upsetting for her. Even more so because if she tries to warn them, they treat her like a nutter, but if she doesn’t, their family blame her for not warning them. She can’t win.
We are now a year later and Annie is living in a tiny cottage, away from everyone and the voices – the murmurs – are quiet here. She even has a job in a cafe. But she has just been the subject of abuse because she didn’t warn someone of a car accident. Her cottage is targeted, so her twin brother Lewis comes up to stay with her.
In what appears to be a totally unrelated story, Ben and Sylvia are pupils at a private school, where they fall under the influence of one of the teachers. Phineas Dance, who is involved with the Occult, persuades them to ‘join’ him. They don’t need much persuading.
But there’s more to come, because Annie and Lewis’s adoptive mum’s sister (phew!) asks for Annie’s help. Her son Damien has gone missing and while he has had a chequered past, including a spell in prison, he adores his young son Bodie and she is convinced he wouldn’t just walk away. Annie, however, isn’t the kind of medium who can find people if given something belonging to them. That’s not how it works.
We do move around through various timelines – Annie now, Ben and Sylvia at school, and we also follow Sylvia as she matures and becomes more and more obsessive.
This is a brilliant book, just as good as book one, though maybe a tiny bit more involved, but that may just be me forgetting the details of the original.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Michael Malone is a prize-winning poet and author who was born and brought up in the heart of Burns’ country. He has published over 200 poems in literary magazines throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. Blood Tears, his bestselling debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize from the Scottish Association of Writers. His dark psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, was a number-one bestseller, and is currently in production for the screen, and five powerful standalone thrillers followed suit. The Murmurs, first in the Annie Jackson Mysteries series, was published to critical acclaim in 2023. A former Regional Sales Manager (Faber & Faber) he has also worked as a hypnotherapist.
Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.
In the glittering city of Las Vegas, where fortunes are won and lost on a single roll of the dice, there exists a world unseen by the pleasure-seekers above.
There, a community of outcasts can be found. They dwell in the shadows, beneath the thin veneer of glamour, far from the twinkling lights and towering casinos.
Plagued by schizophrenia and alienated from her loved ones, Suzie Franks abandons her college life in Oregon, ending up in this dark world beneath Sin City. Here, amidst the threats underground, her struggle for survival becomes its own high-stakes game, with escape the ultimate prize.
But the odds always seem to be stacked against her, or perhaps that’s just her troubled mind playing tricks. Faced with adversaries both real and imagined, can Suzie find a way out of the tunnels and overcome her demons? Or will she succumb to the crushing darkness of her new world among The Mole People?
My Review
I read this book in six staves with my online book club The Pigeonhole. It’s only short – there are usually ten staves or more. After the first stave I thought – this isn’t for me – a young woman battling schizophrenia and refusing to take her meds. Aggressive, paranoid, thinking everyone wants to lock her up and throw away the key. The meds are only there to control her. But she relents, the voices start to go away, but she is putting on weight, so she stops.
By now I was frustrated. Take the meds Suzie, just take them please. I wanted to be fully sympathetic, but it was a struggle, which made me feel awful. I didn’t even like her at this point.
But then it all changed for me. When Suzie arrives in Las Vegas after a very harrowing journey, I became totally invested. Not just in her, but in Jazz and Judy who live underground in the tunnels with the other sad souls who have nowhere else to go. Suzie meets a man who calls himself Wonderman and Lady, who appear to run the place. Incidentally, the Mole People are real, and not just in Las Vegas. There have been documentaries about them on TV.
In the end, I loved the book. I even cried (though that’s not unusual). But while there is always hope, parts were very dark, but do persevere – it was worth it.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author, and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Kevin Landt devotes one third of his life to lying horizontally in an unconscious state. The remaining time is spent obeying his publicist, who insists that every contemporary author must send out a newsletter. Kevin has a dog and a cat.
Life is precious. That’s why they take it.
As a boy, Andy Lorimar loved puzzles, but one he didn’t solve destroyed his childhood. It would have taken his future too, if he hadn’t found stability within the police service. Now a long-serving Edinburgh detective, he’s built a solitary existence following evidence to find the truth.
Genre: Crime / Horror / Speculative
After the horrific murder of a city councillor and the disappearance of a council employee, the trail of evidence points towards political corruption. But Andy suspects there may be another path to uncover, a shadow-maze stretching back years into darkness. A path that strays uncomfortably close to a woman who hears the voices of the dead.
My Review
I’m still reeling from reading this book. It’s unlike anything else I’ve ever read. Yes it’s a crime thriller, but add in a deranged, mad scientist, and a medium who knows where the bodies are buried, and you have a match made in heaven. Or is it hell?
Our main protagonist is Edinburgh detective Andy Lorimar. Older and wiser than most of his colleagues, his past comes back to haunt him when he becomes part of an investigation into the horrific murder of a local councillor. And it seems that her past is also mysterious.
Cllr Joan Wood was run down in the street, dragged along and run back over. It can’t have been an accident. But what possible motive could someone have had for killing her? Then others are missing, including one of her colleagues – it must be connected.
In the meantime, Andy meets Doirin, a medium who hears the voices of the dead. But is she for real? Apart from a tipple of gin, she has nothing to help her, and her insight is too realistic to be imagined. Andy is sceptical, but also open to hearing what she has to say.
There’s also a horrific scene that takes place in an underground theatre, involving a man called ‘John’, who is enticed off the street to see a ‘show’. Throughout much of the book, this seems to have no bearing on anything else. But this story is far too clever to leave no stone unturned. It all comes together, but you do need to concentrate!
Apart from the intricately woven plot, I love the writing. It’s very unique in its style, with lots of puns and banter (though not in an un-PC way like many detective novels). The best occur between Andy and fellow police officer Petrakis, and also between Andy and the pathologist (they are always weird and wonderful). I would also say with Devlin, but it’s more one-sided as Devlin is a bit of an annoying idiot, but these characters give colour to the whole thing. And of course the wonderful Doirin, my favourite by a mile.
Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of #OneNightOnly blog tour.
About the Author
G.P. Ritchie enjoyed a misspent childhood hanging around shady libraries and falling into the company of the wrong sorts of books and comics. He gained a life-long ambition to write… but ended up working in software development instead. He blogs at nightsborder-dot-com, but rather unwisely, has never spent time as a cryptozoologist, ninja, or any of that other exciting stuff sensible authors do before writing one of these descriptions.
His tastes in fiction skew towards the creepy: crime, horror, dark fantasy, with all of these represented in his work. Prior to publishing fiction in book form, he crowbarred some material onto radio and stage.
He lives in Edinburgh with his wife and son.
Handles/Tags
X (Twitter)
@KellyALacey
@lovebookstours
#Ad #LBTCrew #BookTwitter
Instagram
@nightsborderpress
@lovebookstours
#Ad #LBTCrew #Bookstagram
Threads
@lovebookstours
Facebook
@lovebookstours
TikTok
@lovebookstours
This is the exciting tale about a lucky little duck and his brothers and sisters.
These six little ducks, live together with their mother beside a small baby pond near some large bushy trees.
One sunny morning, mother duck gathers her little ducklings around to take them out on their first big adventure.
What sort of wonderful sights might they see along the winding path, far beyond their small baby pond?
And, what might the lucky little duck learn about himself, as he sets off on an exciting, fun filled adventure…?
My Review
This is a lovely little book for children which teaches them some life lessons in a subtle way. One day, mother duck takes the little ducks to the big pond where they can learn to swim. The little duck with all the luck is the first in and finds swimming really easy. His ‘jealous sister’ finds it hard. Why is he always so lucky and finds things so easy?
“You too can be lucky, there is nothing that stops you. But you must believe it is in you already! You must believe luck is inside you, like me, like I do, because that is the key to being so lucky!” he tells his brothers and sisters. Only his jealous sister doesn’t believe him and continues to have bad luck. (I felt really sorry for her.)
The book is full of colourful illustrations like the one below. It also presses home the importance of sticking together with their mother, so they don’t get separated. Children and their parents will love it.
Many thanks to @LiterallyPR for inviting me me to be part of #TheLittleDuckWithAllTheLuck blog tour.
About the Author
L.K. Brodie is a children’s fiction writer who is married and a father of one. He lives in Cork, Ireland and this is his debut book. When he is not writing; he is working or playing with his son, and in his spare time, watching movies.
Buy Links
www.amazon.co.uk
Goodreads
Goodreads Link
Literally PR
Instagram – @literallypr
Twitter/X – @literallypr
LK Brodie
Instagram – @_lkbrodie_
Twitter/X – @LKBrodie
#LittleDuckBook
Swatt Books
@swattbooks
Amelie has always been different.
Most high school students find life challenging, but 17-year old Amelie has a lot more to contend with than typical teenage angst. Ever since she turned 11, others have been irresistibly drawn to her—with tragic consequences. Her only escape is at night when she flies to different times and places through her “dreams”. Her life begins to change when, on one of her flights, she meets Clovis, an alluring and mysterious young man who hides a secret.
As Amelie finds herself increasingly drawn to him, she learns his story, how it intertwines with her own and finally discovers how to live her life in the real world. Until her own secrets are revealed to the wrong people and that world turns upside down.
Bright Midnights is the second in the Limerent Series and continues in the thought-provoking and beautiful style of the first as it considers different dimensions, different ways of looking at the world, and the transcendental power of love.
My Review
I read and loved Fanning Fireflies so it made sense that I read Bright Midnights as well, even though YA/fantasy is not my usual genre. But the author’s writing is beautiful and the characters are well written. As an aside, I didn’t realise that Bright Midnights came before Fanning Fireflies, though they are not really connected apart from Dante and Kara, who feature a lot more later.
The main character, Amelie, is delightful, if naive and at times rather selfish, but that’s teenagers for you! As for Clovis, the jury is still out. I didn’t trust him and still don’t. Amelie has powers that she struggles to control. Her family are an ignorant bunch, so fail to understand her. And her school friends are all horrible, apart from Hudson.
As we progress through the book, we find out more about Amelie’s powers, including her ability to fly in her dreams (which is how she meets Clovis), and how it affects her when she gets back. At school, she is considered an outsider, a bit weird – if only they knew how weird – and one of her teachers has a very unhealthy obsession with her, which makes her life even more difficult.
I have to read it from an objective point of view as I can’t identify with the subject matter or the characters, but I can still appreciate what a great book it is for young adults. And of course the author writes with confidence and authority. I’m really looking forward to reading more of Amelie’s adventures in Ghosting Academy.
Many thanks to @LiterallyPR for inviting me me to be part of the #BrightMidnights blog tour.
About the Author
Lexy Delorme was born in San Diego, California. After graduating from the University of North Carolina School of law, various internships and years working in risk, tax, family, and international law, she now classifies herself as a recovering attorney. With a father who served in the US Military, Lexy had a wandering lifestyle from her earliest days and in her time has been a pop musician, a science geek and a writer for magazines like Bonjour Paris and Playtimes. Throughout all of her different careers, her love of fiction has been a mainstay.
Within this eclectic life, she was also one of the first employees at 23andMe, a genomics and biotechnology company based in Mountain View, California and that experience influenced the genetic aspects of her Limerent Series, of which Caio is the first book.
For as long as she can remember she’s had characters in her head. As a child, these were the friends she wished to have. As a young woman, the lovers she wanted to find or the people she wanted to become. Writing fiction novels allows her the chance to give these characters a background, a story and a voice.
Having lived in in three continents, none US states, and 21 cities around the world, including London and Hong Kong, Lexy now lives in Paris with her French husband and two very cool sons. She is currently working on the next books in the Limerent Series.
Buy Links
www.amazon.co.uk
Goodreads Link
www.goodreads.com
Literally PR
Instagram – @literallypr
Twitter/X – @literallypr
LS Delorme
Instagram – @lsdelormeauthor
Twitter/X – @lexyshawdelorme
#BrightMidnights
After her daughter bleeds out from a miscarriage in Texas, Patricia Scott kills the doctor who had failed to perform a medically necessary abortion.
Her next target is the attorney who’d advised against the abortion out of personal ambition.
Lizzie Vaughn, an investigator with her own dark past, is hired by the doctor’s widow after police label her husband’s death a suicide.
#DeadlyChoice X/Twitter #sleemanning #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour #bookX #booktwitter
Instagram @sleemanning @randomthingstours #blogtour #bookstagram
Lizzie’s hunt for the killer becomes more complicated and dangerous when she is also tapped to find a young woman with a heart condition who has been kidnapped to prevent her from ending a life-threatening pregnancy and whose fate intertwines with Patricia’s plans for revenge.
Can Lizzie and Patricia set aside their individual quests to prevent another tragedy?
My Review
A couple of years ago I read A Spark Of Light by Jodi Picoult, which deals with the subject of abortion. At a women’s reproductive health services clinic, a gunman is holding staff and patients hostage, including his own daughter. It looks at the pros and cons of abortion from both sides. I found it very upsetting.
Deadly Choice is totally different, though it deals with the same subject. It’s a crime novel, set in Texas, where it’s now illegal to carry out an abortion unless the woman is in imminent danger of dying. The Combatants for the Unborn (an anti-abortion group) are portrayed as lunatics, especially John Peterson who would kill to prevent an abortion, but is happy to spread his seed amongst the women he picks up in bars. It made me very angry.
Any doctor deemed to have crossed the line can be prosecuted, as can anyone who helps the woman go to another state where the rules are less rigid. Who are these people who decide who lives and who dies? Who lets a mother die over her unborn foetus? This is about women’s rights over their own bodies.
I loved private investigator Lizzie, and her sidekick Murphy, but I hated Patricia initially. I think it’s because she has guns and goes hunting, but claims she loves animals. You can’t be both in my book. After her daughter dies she takes the law into her own hands. She has a list of those she blames, and she’s going to use it to seek them out and kill them. Everyone has a gun (it’s the US) and this feels very alien to us here in the UK.
The same goes for the draconian abortion laws in Texas, and the fanatical behaviour of the Combatants for the Unborn seems ridiculously far-fetched. But apparently it isn’t. I even asked my husband (he’s good on US politics). How can this be real? How can this be happening in the 21st century? But it is, right now.
In Deadly Choice there is no grey area. The pro-lifers are all portrayed as religious nutcases. We have no sympathy with any of them. Peterson I just don’t get (he’s a total hypocrite), Brenda Phillips will do anything to become a Senator (or even President), Georgina Crane is another fanatic, though she has a nice cat (probably her only redeeming feature). Dr Tom Martin put his career before his patient’s life.
Deadly Choice is a thriller with a serious message. It moves at a cracking pace and jumps from the narrative as seen through the eyes of the various main characters – Lizzie, Patricia, John, Brenda and Isabella who is trying to get out of state with her daughter, to terminate the pregnancy that will kill her. A brilliant read that will leave you thinking.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
AN AWARD-WINNING WRITER, S. LEE Manning is the author of international thrillers, Trojan Horse, Nerve Attack, and Bloody Soil. In 2023, Bloody Soil won the award for Best Genre Fiction Novel from Independent Publishers of New England. She spent two years as managing editor of Law Enforcement Communications before embarking on a subsequent career as an attorney that spanned from a first-tier New York law firm, to working for the State of New Jersey, to solo practice until retiring from law to write full-time.
Manning and her husband J. B. Manning—the award-winning author of Richter the Mighty—do talks, presentations, and YouTube videos as A Killing Couple and live in Vermont with their very vocal cats, Xiao and Dmitri. S. Lee Manning is currently working on her next Kolya Petrov thriller. For the latest updates on her novels, follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and visit
sleemanning.com.
+ family, fiction, forgiveness, grief, India, jealousy, loss, love, motherhood, murder, review, secrets, sisters
Missy by Raghav Rao
Madras, India: The orphaned girls of St Ursula’s convent are destined to be nuns or servants but seventeen-year-old Savi dreams of escape.
Responsible and good with languages, she’s taken on as governess for the wealthy Nandiyar family at their country estate.
The horrific events of a single night force Savi and her love, Ananda, into a dangerous journey, re-emerging in America under new identities, their homeland forever in their rearview.
But the past is never far away.
Forty years later, Savi, known to all as Missy, is the embodiment of the American dream – successful business owner in Chicago, pillar of the South Asian community, and mother to two brilliant, stubborn young women, Mansi and Shilpa.
Until Varun, a charming doctor, enters their lives, setting off a chain of events that puts Missy’s carefully constructed world in jeopardy with the revelation that you can never truly outrun your secrets…
My Review
What a wonderful book. It’s not only a tale of courage and resilience, it’s also a love story, an insight into India’s culture, and a philosophical tome. The poverty in India is extreme – poor people age faster than in the West – and the servants are often treated worse than the animals. But Savi, later known in America as Missy, is different, and her journey is miraculous.
We first meet Savi when she and her mother have been abandoned by Savi’s father, and then walk miles in bare feet to find a better life. But Savi’s mother dies and the orphaned Savi is taken into St Ursula’s convent. It is obvious she is clever and good at languages, so the nuns secure for her a position with the wealthy Nandiyar family at their country estate. She will be governess to their young son Aditya.
Though she knows she wants more, she is happy in her work, but one member of staff is always stalking her and making her life a misery. Then she meets Ananda – a talented sculptor from the nearby metalworks – and their secret romance begins. And that is where the story takes a more sinister turn.
Fast forward 40 years and Missy runs a successful driving school in America. She and Andy – they both had to change their names, having entered the country illegally – are separated. I felt very sorry for Andy, though I don’t really know why. He never had Missy’s courage or sass. They have two daughters Shilpa and Mansi. two strong women who are carving their own paths.
And all is well until Varun, a well respected young doctor from a wealthy family, turns up for driving lessons, and Missy’s life is about to be turned upside down.
I adored this book. The characters have such depth, the vivid descriptions of India put us right there, and the differences between life in America and India are brought firmly to the fore.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, the author, and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.
About the Author
Raghav Rao was born in Mumbai, India. He grew up in London, Los Angeles, and Southern India. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Crime Writers of Color, and Sisters in Crime. He is active in the Chicago literary scene, hosting a twice-weekly cowrite, and attending monthly lit salons. A principal member of The Office of Modern Composition, Raghav hosts virtual and in-person meetups and workshops for their writing community with over 400 members
+ audio book, diary, fairies, fiction, folklore, Historical fiction, Ireland, love, magic, Magical realism, mythology, review, secrets, stories
The Story Collector by Evie Gaughan
In a quiet village in Ireland, a mysterious local myth is about to change everything…
One hundred years ago, Anna, a young farm girl, volunteers to help an intriguing American visitor translate fairy stories from Irish to English. But all is not as it seems and Anna soon finds herself at the heart of a mystery that threatens her very way of life.
In New York in the present day, Sarah Harper boards a plane bound for the West Coast of Ireland. But once there, she finds she has unearthed dark secrets – secrets that tread the line between the everyday and the otherworldly, the seen and the unseen.
With a taste for the magical in everyday life, Evie Gaughan’s latest novel is full of ordinary characters with extraordinary tales to tell.
My Review
The Lost Bookshop was one of my top five books of 2023 so it came as no surprise that I would love this one. And I did. It’s a dual timeline novel – Anna’s story set one hundred years ago, and Sara’s story set in modern times.
Anna is a young farm girl, her head turned by the son of the local landowner. But then she meets Harold, an American scholar studying at Oxford University, who is writing his thesis on the fairy stories that abound on the West Coast of Ireland. He needs someone who speaks the language to translate for him, and after much discussion, it is agreed that Anna is perfect for the task.
Sarah, also an American, has just left New York to return to her family in Boston. At the airport she suddenly decides to trace her roots to Ireland instead, where she arrives alone at Christmas, and rents a small cottage in the middle of nowhere, basically. And it’s here that she discovers Anna’s diary, makes new friends, finds herself, and the stories intertwine.
I loved this book. I listened to it everywhere – in the car, walking in the park, while getting dressed and doing my hair – every time I had a spare moment. I wanted to know what happened, but I didn’t want it to end. I miss them all, but especially Harold.
About the Author
Evie Woods is the pseudonym of Evie Gaughan, bestselling author of The Story Collector, The Heirloom and The Mysterious Bakery On Rue De Paris. Living on the West Coast of Ireland, Evie escapes the inclement weather by writing her stories in a converted attic, where she dreams of underfloor heating. Her books tread the intriguing line between the everyday and the otherworldly, revealing the magic that exists in our ordinary lives.
Glasgow, 1966: Stevie ‘Minto’ Milloy, former star footballer-turned-rookie reporter, finds himself trailing the story of a young Eastern European student whose body has been found on remote moorland outside the city.
How did she get there from her hostel at the Sovereign Grace Mission, and why does Stevie find obstacles at every turn?
Italy, 1943: As the Allies fight Mussolini’s troops, a group of young soldiers are separated from their platoon, and Glaswegian Jamesie Campbell, his newfound friend Michael McTavish at his side, finds himself free to make his own rules…
Glasgow, 1969: Courtroom sketch artist Donald ‘Doodle’ Malpas is shocked to discover that his new case involves the murder of a teenage Lithuanian girl he knows from the Sovereign Grace Mission. Why hasn’t the girl’s death been reported? And why is a young police constable suddenly so keen to join the mission?
No one seems willing to join the dots between the two cases, and how they link to Raskine House, the stately home in the Scottish countryside with a dark history and even darker present – the venue for the debauched parties held there by the rich and powerful of the city who call themselves ‘The Weekenders’.
Painting a picture of a 1960s Glasgow in the throes of a permissive society, pulled apart by religion, corruption, and a murderous Bible John stalking the streets, The Weekenders is a snapshot of an era of turmoil – and a terrifying insight into the mind of a ruthless criminal…
The Weekenders will be published on 13th February 2025.
AND HERE IS THE FAB COVER. SEE YOU INSIDE THE BOOK SOON!
Buy Links
Print – https://geni.us/AKo8Cz0
Ebook – https://geni.us/Ir9dR9s
David F Ross’ social media handles
Twitter: @Dfr10
Instagram: @DavidFRoss10
#TheWeekenders #NoirCrime #TheRaskineHouse #Glasgow
+ crime fiction, female friendship, friendship, lies, murder, police drama, police procedural, review, secrets
The Reunion by MJ Arlidge and Steph Broadribb
A skull looks up at Jennie from the trench, but it’s not the chalk-white bone and grimacing teeth that send her reeling.
It’s the heart-shaped gold pendant, its delicate chain snapped in two. The necklace Hannah never took off. It can’t be Hannah. But it is.
When Jennie Whitmore arrives at her school reunion, she immediately regrets her decision. Why would she choose to surround herself with people who were never nice to her? Who still aren’t, even now she’s a police officer? The only person who truly looked out for her all those years ago was charming, beautiful Hannah. Until the day she disappeared.
#TheReunion X/Twitter @mjarlidge @crimethrillgirl @Tr4cyF3nt0n
Instagram @m_j_arlidge @crimethrillergirl @thebookdealer #CompulsiveReaders #blogtour
Jennie is ready to finally put White Cross Academy behind her, the old school building demolished the morning after the party. But with the demolition comes a call: a teenage girl’s remains have been found on the grounds.
The instant drop in Jennie’s gut tells her that the remains might be Hannah’s, but when she’s called in to examine them, the truth becomes undeniable. Hannah didn’t run away and abandon Jenny thirty years ago; in fact, she never left White Cross at all.
Suddenly, Jennie has a murder to solve. The murder of her best friend. But can she do so before her colleagues discover just how closely connected she is to the victim? Before a mystery stalker makes good on his threats to silence her for good?
My Review
I have to admit that I got this so wrong. I had an idea, but I was way off the mark. I’d love to tell you what it was, but that would be a spoiler of sorts, as in ‘it wasn’t that or even close’.
Hannah was Jennie Whitmore’s best friend. They had planned to run away to London together, get away from her alcoholic mum and Hannah’s violent dad and start a new life. Hannah with her beautiful face and long legs was going to be a model. But Hannah never showed and Jennie was bereft. Where was Hannah and why had she let Jennie down?
Thirty years later and Jennie is a senior police officer in the town where they both lived. But the school they attended, White Cross Academy, is about to be demolished. Then a body is discovered in the school basement and Jennie fears it’s Hannah. But when her heart-shaped gold pendant is found near the remains, Jennie knows it’s her. She didn’t abandon her best friend. She was murdered.
And so we go back and forth as Jennie has to interview the other members of the sixth form darkroom group, Lottie, Elliott, Rob and Simon, the friends who met in the basement in their final year at the school. Jennie was a keen photographer, having inherited a camera from her late father. Elliott helped her learn how to use it and develop the pictures she took. It was her pictures that Hannah used in her modelling portfolio.
But in order to remain in charge of the case, Jennie has to hide the depth of her involvement and friendships within the group. And she has to treat her old friends as possible suspects in Hannah’s murder. There were two original suspects – Hannah’s violent father and the creepy art teacher. Jennie wants it to be one of them, but she can’t be biased.
It’s a shocking story of murder, betrayal and secrets. How can this group of old friends that were so important to her in her teens be responsible for the death of her best friend? But did she ever really know any of them, even Hannah? I flew through the book over a weekend, determined to get to the truth. It wasn’t at all what I expected.
Many thanks to @Tr4cyF3nt0n for inviting me to be part of the #CompulsiveReaders #blogtour and to NetGalley for an ARC.
About the Authors
MJ Arlidge has worked in television for the last twenty years, specialising in high-end drama production, including prime-time crime serials Silent Witness, Torn, The Little House and, most recently, the hit ITV show Innocent. In 2015 his audiobook exclusive Six Degrees of Assassination was a number-one bestseller. His debut thriller, Eeny Meeny, was the UK’s bestselling crime debut of 2014 and has been followed by ten more DI Helen Grace thrillers – all Sunday Times bestsellers.
Steph Broadribb was born in Birmingham and grew up in Buckinghamshire. Most of her working life has been spent between the UK and USA. As her alter ego – Crime Thriller Girl – she indulges her love of all things crime fiction by blogging at www.crimethrillergirl.com
Steph is an alumni of the MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) at City University London, and she trained as a bounty hunter in California. She lives in Buckinghamshire surrounded by horses, cows and chickens.
