Wednesday 27 July 2016

Saving Sophie by Sam Carrington ~ COVER REVEAL


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

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

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

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

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

Publishes in eBook: 12th August
Publishes in paperback: 15th December 

Friday 22 July 2016

BLOG TOUR ~ All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker



Today, it's my turn on the final day of the All Is Not Forgotten Blog Tour and I'm delighted that I was asked to participate with some great Book Bloggers.  You can check out who else has taken part in this Blog Tour at the end. I'd like to say thank you so much to Cara Frances for asking me to take part and also thanks to Cara, Harlequin/Mira Books for an ARC copy of All Is Not Forgotten in exchange for an honest review so without further ado here it is.........


Jenny Kramer is a fourteen year old kid in tenth grade.  She lives in the small town of Fairview, Connecticut with her family and everything seems picture perfect.  One night she is violently and viciously attacked and left for dead at a local party.  In the hours after her ordeal she is given a controversial drug consented by her parents, well her mother really to medically erase her memory of the violent assault.  As she heals from her physical wounds in the weeks and months that follow but with no factual recall of the attack, Jenny struggles with her raging emotional memory.

Her father, Tom, becomes tormented with his inability to find her attacker and seek justice for his daughter as he feels the police don't seem to be doing their job while her mother, Charlotte, prefers to pretend this horrific event did not touch her perfect and unrealistic world.

As her parents seek help for their daughter, the fault lies within their marriage and their close-knit community starts to emerge from the shadows where they've been hidden for years, and the continuous quest to find the monster who invaded their town - or perhaps they live among them..................


WOW!!!  What can I say, I didn't like it I absolutely LOVED this book.  I was hooked from the first page but I'd like to warn you that it is a bit on the brutal side at the start as it gives a very detailed description of the attack and the aftermath but PLEASE don't let this put you off as it was a fantastic read.  Jenny and her parents are all now undergoing counselling treatment from psychiatrist, Dr. Alan Forrester and the story is told from his point of view.  I really disliked Charlotte so much, mainly because of her attitude towards her daughter in the aftermath of the attack on her daughter.  My suspicions were high and didn't know who to trust throughout which is what I LOVE in a book and what an ending that was too, I definitely wasn't expecting it.  This is the first time that I've read a book by Wendy Walker and it definitely didn't disappoint.  All is not Forgotten is her debut psychological thriller but has published two women's fiction novels. I feel that this book  was very well researched and I would definitely recommend this book.  I read this back in March and it still plays on my mind almost four months later and it will stick in my memory longer than most because of the subject matter.

I can guarantee that All is not Forgotten is going to be absolutely HUGE this Summer so make sure you grab a copy to bring along with you on holidays as I can just imagine that this book will be on a lot of sun loungers and could be the perfect beach read.

All Is Not Forgotten is available on Kindle from the 12th July 2016 and in all good bookstores and is currently £1.99 on Kindle at the time of publication of this review.



Friday 15 July 2016

Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent


My huge thanks to the staff at Penguin Ireland, Cliona Lewis & Liz Nugent, I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review............

"My Husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it."

Andrew and Lydia Fitzsimmons are a very well to do couple who live in a lovely big house which has been in Lydia's family for years with their son Laurence who has never wanted for anything.  Andrew is a judge within the Irish courts whom is very well respected and Lydia is a bit of a recluse who doesn't ever see the need to leave her home with everything she has and needs within the four walls and beautiful gardens, why would she need too? But all this changes when Andrew looses quite a lot financially but tries to avoid total bankruptcy by going along with a scheme that Lydia has thought up which leads them to meeting with a drug-addicted prostitute but they find themselves in an unfortunate situation where they certainly didn't plan to kill her and bury her in their exquisite garden.

Lydia does everything she can possibly can to protect her husband, her son, their home and their respected status but her husband starts to fall apart.  Their son Laurence is not as naïve as Lydia thinks. When his obsession with the dead girl's family starts to surface this may come back to haunt him in the end..............

WOW, WOW, WOW!!!  I thought Unravelling Oliver was brilliant but Lying in Wait was even better, I devoured it in 2 days, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.   I LOVED it, the way Liz writes is so different to other books I've read before, it's not a 'whodunit' story, more of a 'whydunit' with layers upon layers of deception and lies that unfold before our eyes the deeper you get into it.  Lying in Wait is told from multiple characters throughout the book, each with their own story.  I have to say that I absolutely loved Lydia's character, she was everything you'd expect with a sociopath - cold, calculating, manipulating and has no regard for anyone's feelings or who they hurt on their path of destruction. And what an opening line to open a book and that ending Liz, it was perfect, I really wasn't expecting it at all but I can't really say too much without spoiling it other than just go out and buy Lying in Wait you won't regret it.  It is just brilliant and I'd HIGHLY recommend it and will go as far to say that it will definitely be in my Top Reads of 2016, so make sure you grab a copy to bring along with you on holidays as it'll be the perfect beach read.

Lying in Wait is available in Kindle and in all good bookstores from July 14th and is currently £7.99 on Kindle and £9.09 in paperback at the time of publication if this review so what are you waiting for, go and get it.

Monday 11 July 2016

BLOG TOUR ~ Clare Carson, Author of Orkney Twilight and The Salt Marsh


Hi Everyone,

Today is the first stop which is also my stop on the Blog Tour for The Salt Marsh which is her second novel. I am thrilled be taking part in this wonderful Blog Tour and delighted to welcome author Clare to my blog with a guest post from her and a BIG thanks to Blake Brooks from Head of Zeus for allowing me this opportunity to take part with some other fab book bloggers too. 
You can find out who else is taking part in this fabulous Blog Tour above.

So without further ado, here it is............


Sam’s changing character and voice

When I wrote Orkney Twilight, my first novel, I hadn’t expected to write a sequel. But one of the great things about writing a follow-up is that you can develop characters, give them more depth, allow them to grow, and fill spaces in their make-up.

Both Orkney Twilight and The Salt Marsh are told from the point of view of Sam.  In Orkney Twilight, Sam is a teenager. It is, in part, a coming-of-age story. Sam is the daughter of an undercover cop. His long absences and his difficult behaviour when he returns home mean that although she loves him, they have a difficult relationship. She has had to cauterise her feelings. Growing up as the daughter of a spy has meant that Sam herself has taken on some of the characteristics of a spy. She sometimes imagines she is playing the part of somebody else. She is more at home with birds and the landscape than other people. In Orkney Twilight, Sam rarely expresses or explores her own emotions. She acts and analyses. She banters rather than having conversations. The story is told in close third person. This slightly distant voice seemed fitting for a girl who is disassociated from herself and her own feelings. In Orkney Twilight I didn’t use the phrase ‘Sam felt’ because Sam didn’t know what she felt. It is only at the very end of the book that she realises she misses her father, and sheds a tear for his loss.

The Salt Marsh is set two years later. Sam is in grief, but it is a difficult kind of grief because she is mourning the loss of somebody who had secrets, and she is scared of his legacy. Has she inherited her father’s enemies? Will she be made to pay for his sins? In this book, Sam is older and forced to deal with emotions that are so pressing they can no longer be contained. She is less able to maintain a feisty cover. In The Salt Marsh her vulnerabilities and inner turmoil are more visible to herself and therefore to the reader. Sometimes her emotions run amok and she cannot control them. The story is still told in the close third person, but sometimes it nearly slips into a first person voice as Sam grapples with her demons and her boundaries dissolve. In The Salt Marsh, I do use the phrase ‘Sam felt.’ Although I tried to use it sparingly.


I am currently writing the final part of the trilogy and enjoying developing Sam’s character still further. Will she turn full circle, and gain control of her feelings once more, albeit in a more conscious way? Has she got what it takes to become a spy like her father? As the author you might expect I know the answers. But until Sam’s newest voice emerges in book three, even I’m not sure where everything will end.



A haunting thriller set in the windswept marshes of Kent and Norfolk, from the author of Orkney Twilight

It is a year since Sam's father died, but she cannot lay his ghost to rest. Jim was an undercover agent living a double life, and Sam has quit university to find out the truth about his work. Her journey will take her from the nightclubs of 80s Soho to the salt marshes and shingle spits of Norfolk and Kent. Here, in a bleak windswept landscape dotted with smugglers' huts and

buried bones, Jim's secret past calls to her like never before. Now Sam must decide. Will she walk away and pick up her own life? Or become an undercover operative herself and continue her father's work in the shadows…

About the Author

Clare Carson is an anthropologist and works in international development, specialising in human rights. Her father was an undercover policeman in the 1970s.   She drew on her own experiences to create the character of Sam, a rebellious eighteen year old who is nevertheless determined to make her father proud.

Sunday 10 July 2016

BLOG TOUR ~ The Good Kind of Bad by Rita Brassington


Rita contacted me a few weeks ago asking if I'd like a spot on her Blog Tour which is happening this week with some other fab book bloggers and you can check out at the end who else is taking part. I read and reviewed The Good Kind of Bad back in February for Rita Brassington who contacted me through Twitter asking if I could read and review her book for her.  As I had a huge TBR pile already, Rita was happy and patient enough to wait and I was very grateful too about this so I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.......


Secrets don't stay secret for long... 

Meet Mrs Petrozzi, she's just married Joe whom she'd only met 3 weeks previously in a bar where she'd ditched her fiancé at the altar and escaped to Chicago away from her family where she was the perfect daughter, the perfect girlfriend and set to become the perfect wife but this time around there was no chance of her getting cold feet.

Married life starts out perfect, there’s the new job, a gorgeous, mysterious husband and money's definitely no issue. So what if she’s kept a few secrets from Joe – like where all her money came from but Joe’s been keeping secrets from her, too but they may just get her killed.......

I didn't like this book, I LOVED it.  It was a little slow to start off with but then bang it was so fast paced that I couldn't stop my finger swiping the pages on the Kindle and couldn't put it down.  It had everything, it was full of action, thrills, I didn't know who I could trust and who not to trust.  The character's were well written and developed throughout the story too. I have to admit that there were a couple of parts that were a bit graphic which I squirmed at when I was reading but it definitely didn't disappoint. It was a pulse pounding and heart thumping rollercoaster ride.

This is Rita Brassington's debut novel and I'm really looking forward to reading more of her work, no pressure intended.

The Good Kind of Bad is available on Kindle and is currently £1.99 at the time of publication of this review so grab it while you can, you won't be disappointed so don't say I never told you so!!!



Friday 8 July 2016

They All Fall Down by Cat Hogan



Thanks to Poolbeg Press and Cat Hogan, I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review......

Jen Harper and her 8 year old son Danny have recently moved into a house on the outskirts of a sleep fishing village in Wexford and she is looking forward to spending her life by the sea as she's always wanted.

She meets Andy, who is a fisherman based in the village too.  Both Jen and Andy both have baggage after suffering separate and awful tragedies.  Jen is then introduced to Scott who is Andy's best friend but he's so protective of Andy, almost to the stage where he won't let Andy out of his sight or be away from his side for too long but why is Scott so protective??  Jen attempts to find the answers and as she does she will push all her relationships to the limit she must confront her demons and face her past, but what is this dark secret that threatens to hurt all of them??

I didn't like this, I LOVED it. I would definitely recommend this book. I had it read in just a few days as I couldn't put it down and there were parts of the story I was shouting at the characters in my head to not do this and don't do that.  The villain character was brilliant, very well written and cleverly constructed.  They were everything you'd expect with a sociopath - cold, calculating, manipulating and has no regard for anyone's feelings or who they hurt on their path of destruction. Parts of the story where a bit creepy too which was perfect for the story.  This story had it all from a little bit of humor, family, love, betrayal, a web of lies, protectiveness and deception to a little more hard-hitting issues and the lengths that some people will go to to cover up a secret.  They All Fall Down has been compared to Gone Girl which to be honest I don't like publishers comparing their books to other books as I amongst others didn't like Gone Girl so this may turn people against titles that are compared to it and it has also been compared to last year's hit The Girl On The Train but seeing as I haven't read that one (just yet) I can't really compare but this was a highly addictive and a MUST read for all fans of Psychological Thrillers.

This is Cat Hogan's debut novel and I loved it so make sure you grab a copy to bring along with you on holidays as it'll be the perfect beach read.  I'm really looking forward to Cat's new novel which will hopefully be sometime later this year (no pressure Cat).

They All Fall Down is available on Kindle and in all good bookstores and is currently £5.99 on Kindle at the time of publication of this review.

Monday 4 July 2016

Last Light by CJ Lyons


Thanks to Canelo, ED PR and Heloise Wood, I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review........

A brutally murdered family…...a wronged man in prison

Meet  Detective Lucy Guardino, she always seen herself as a normal mum who happened to have a job chasing the worst of the worst but she has had to sacrifice her career and her post at the FBI on medical grounds after a violent predator targets her family and she's injured.

Lucy joins the Beacon Group, a firm that specialises in cold cases that tried to bring justice to forgotten victims. But as Lucy starts her new job she fears that she may have traded the elite for shepherding a team of amateurs.

Back in 1987, Lily Martin is horrifically murdered along with her young child in Texas.  Guardino  and her team are  sent to investigate a case that's already been closed with the killers behind bars for twenty-nine years.  But who really killed Lily Martin and her infant daughter?  Why was an entire family targeted for annihilation?  And what price will Lucy pay to expose a truth, when people will kill to keep it buried??

This is the first novel I've read by CJ Lyons and I didn't like it, I LOVED it.  I raced through this story and couldn't swipe the pages quick enough on my Kindle to get to the end and find out who the killer was, I'd had my suspicions from early on but I was completely wrong by the end of it.  It's packed full of action, thrills and suspense.  This story is told in dual time, back to 1987 to the present day but I really enjoyed that and the prologue was fantastic, I was hooked right from then.  If you love the likes of Angela Marsons, Lisa Gardner and Helen H. Durrant then Last Light is definitely for you.  I am really looking forward to reading more from CJ Lyons and hope that it won't be too long until I do.

Last Light is available on Kindle and is currently £1.19 at the time of publication of this review.

Sunday 3 July 2016

Watch Me by Angela Clarke ~ COVER REVEAL


You have six seconds to view this suicide note, and twenty-four hours to save the girl’s life.

The brand new novel from rising star Angela Clark, and the second in her chilling and provocative Social Media Murders series. Feisty young journalist Freddie Venton and ambitious police officer Nasreen Cudmore are up against a depraved killer who takes pleasure in taunting them online.

When a girl shares a photo of herself begging for help only moments before she goes missing, it goes viral. But was the picture really sent by her, or was it a threat?

As the same process happens over and over, it's time for Freddie and Nas to team up once more. But neither of them are quite the same after the Apollyon case. Can they hold their nerve to face another faceless threat?


Like me if you liked Follow Me, then I' sure you just won't be able to wait for this one. I know that I can't, so hurry up November.

Watch Me will be publishing in eBook and paperback on the 3rd of November.