The Perfect Housemate by Lorna Dounaeva

Blurb ….

You let her in. You shouldn’t have…

I was so nervous about someone new joining our house share; after everything that happened with my parents, my friends are like my family. Our imperfect but well-loved house is the only place where I can be myself. But when Poppy knocks on our door, blonde hair, wide eyes and a friendly smile, we all agree she’s a perfect fit. I just wish I could shake the feeling that I’ve seen her before…

At first, everything runs smoothly. But one day, Poppy arrives home with my housemates in tow. She says she ‘forgot’ to invite me to the movie. My stomach drops. As she sidles up to my friends, I’m gripped by a familiar panic. If Poppy is from my past, will she turn my friends against me? Will she tell them the secret I’ve so carefully buried?

I feel like Poppy’s watching my every move. My home used to be the place where I felt most comfortable. But as she places a delicious home-cooked meal in front of me, I don’t even feel safe eating here.

I have to find out who she really is, and what she wants.

And when I do, will she realise too late which one of us is truly dangerous?

My thoughts….

Four friends sharing a flat are finding it hard to keep up with the ever increasing bills – solution – find another roommate. June, the main character sets about with her friends to clear out the old basement and they soon find the perfect housemate to move in – Poppy. June soon discovers that Poppy may not have been all that she seemed when some strange things started happening to her and concludes it has to be Poppy but do her friends believe her?
Intriguing from the start, perhaps a bit slow in parts but you never stop thinking – what next.
My favourite character would have to be June, she comes across as very particular – maybe even slightly OCD, confident in a lot of aspects but unsure of herself at the same time – I found her to be very well written.

About the author….

Lorna Dounaeva is a politics graduate who worked for the British Home Office before turning to crime fiction. She writes dark domestic thrillers and is especially fond of female villains. She lives in the Orkney islands with her Ukrainian husband and his parents, three children, a crafty cat and a happy dog.

https://lornadounaeva.com

https://www.facebook.com/LornaDounaevaAuthor/?locale=en_GB

Tweets by LornaDounaeva

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0CVBD5VTCsocial

The Purple Haze

Author – Andrew Einspruch

My thoughts…..

The Purple Haze follows Princess Eloise heir to the Western Lands and all that really matters and her retinue of friends in a mission to retrieve her twin sister Princess Johanna from their Uncle Doncaster the King of the Half Kingdom. The story involves a lot of intrigue, an enormous, huge, large amount of fun and a lot of wonderful characters of all shapes and sizes. 

The author has created what I can only imagine is a vegetarian world where even fleas can speak and have a part in the story. 

I loved the characters of Jerome – Elosie’s best friend and Champion who just happens to be a chipmunk and Hector the magnificent horse and her loyal stead. 

The book involves a lot of unpronounceable names of characters and places – some which have been named several times but this just adds to the fun. 

I found the ending to be annoyingly, craze-inducingly, irritatingly well written into a cliff hanger which has made me need to know what happens next.

Thankfully there are more tales to the story which I now need to read! Thank you to Booktasters and of course Andrew Einspruch for allowing me to read and review the book. 

My rating…..

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Split by Susie Lynes

Blurb…..

The end of our marriage was only the beginning…

Last night, we celebrated our anniversary. Over candlelight, we talked about the children, our work, and I was so happy, and felt so loved.

But the next morning, when I check my phone, there is a message. From a friend. And a string of photos appear of my husband, Will, with another woman: walking along the street holding hands. Going into fancy hotels. Standing at a window, his arms around her, her head on his shoulder…

I beg Will to tell me what’s going on. But all he can say is that it’s not what I think. As if the betrayal wasn’t bad enough, he won’t even be honest with me.

And now there’s someone watching our house. Will is acting like a stranger and I think he’s following me. I can’t trust him anymore, and I desperately need to know who sent me those photos and why.

But maybe Will is telling the truth.
Maybe it’s not what I think.

Because the more our pain stops us talking, and the more the two of us tear each other apart, the more I wonder if I ever knew him at all – and what I’ll have to risk to protect my children.

And when at last the secrets are revealed, will the truth save our family, or destroy us all?

My thoughts …..

A well thought out twisty thriller with believable characters that makes it hard to stop reading!
Jess and Will split after some compromising photographs are sent to Jess of Will and another woman. Both broken hearted feeling that the other is to blame for the split.
Broken trust, betrayal, manipulation and misunderstandings all feature.
The story really makes you think how easy it can be to be taken in by lies, how easy it can be to misinterpret things.
The plot flowed well, told by the perspectives of both Jess and Will.
I loved that behind their split you could see their love for each other despite both being reluctant to give in and simply talk to each other – a marriage where they had taken each other for granted.
A must read for thriller lovers!

My rating …..

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

About the author…..

S.E. Lynes is the author of Amazon #1 best seller, THE HOUSEWARMING, plus best selling psychological suspense novels such as VALENTINA, MOTHER, THE WOMEN, HER SISTER’s SECRET, THE BABY SHOWER ,THE EX, THE SUMMER HOLIDAY and many more!

A former BBC Producer, she has lived in France, Spain, Scotland and Italy and is now settled with her family in Greater London. After completing her MA, S E Lynes taught creative writing at Richmond Adult Community College for ten years. She now combines writing, mentoring and lecturing in Richmond Borough. 

Lynes has also published thrillers in Italy, Germany, Poland and Croatia, and has also published three children’s books in Italy: IL LEOPARDO LAMPO, LA COCCODRILLA INGAMBA, and the bilingual LA SCIMMIA SPIRITOSA/THE FUNNY MONKEY.

A huge thank you to @bookouture @secondsky @netgalley and Susie Lynes for an advanced copy for free in exchange for an honest review.

The Three Locks by Bonnie MacBird

Blurb….

The year is 1887 and an Indian Summer broils London and Cambridge. A mysterious impregnable box arrives for Watson, locked and with a secret from his past. Then a famous escape artist/conjurer fails to unlock his “cauldron” and burns to a crisp during a performance at Wilton’s Music Hall.  And in Cambridge, three suitors including a priest, an aristocrat and a young physicist vie for the love of a spiteful beauty, who vanishes after her lookalike doll is found dismembered in the Jesus Lock on the River Cam. The cases convolve as Holmes and Watson tangle with clergy, police, academics and scheming siblings, risking life and limb to solve the murders and to keep the innocent from the gallows.

My thoughts….

As a massive Holmes and Watson fan I couldn’t resist the chance to read this! I’ll admit that I was a wee bit sceptical that this would feel like a true Sherlock story however I am pleased to say that my scepticism was unwarranted! From the first page I was sucked in, by the end of the first chapter I was hooked! The Three Locks has everything – murder, mystery, magic, love and deductions!
Holmes and Watson take on a few cases and as the title suggests all involve locks of sorts, a magician/escapist locked in his own “trick”, a girl found drowned in the Jesus Lock and a box bequeathed to Watson that doesn’t seem to be openable.
Fast paced, full of intrigue and a pleasure to read the adventure with true Sherlock essence – highly recommended and I cannot wait to read the first three in the series.

Thank you to Bonnie MacBride, Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for the free copy in exchange for an honest review. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bonnie MacBird was born and raised in San Francisco and fell in love with Sherlock Holmes by reading the canon at age ten. She now lives in London and Lost Angeles. Her long Hollywood career includes feature film development at Universal, the original screenplay for the movie TRON, three Emmy Awards for documentary writing and producing, numerous produced plays and musicals, and theatre credits as an actor and director. In addition to her work in entertainment, Bonnie teaches writing at UCLA Extension, as well as being an accomplished watercolourist.

She is active in the Sherlockian community in both the UK and the US, and lectures regularly on Sherlock Holmes, writing, and creativity.

Bonnie’s previous three Sherlock Holmes adventures are: Art in the Blood; Unquiet Spirits and The Devil’s Due. Her books are now available in 17 languages worldwide.

For further information about Bonnie MacBird visit: http://www.macbird.com  

Twitter:@macbird / Instagram: bmacbird

Facebook: SherlockHolmesAdventureSeries

Secret Places by Heather Peck

My turn on the blog tour ☺️ 😁

Blurb…

Goat farmer, cheese maker and weaver Tristan Smith is working on her North Yorkshire smallholding when a chance visit by archaeologists exposes a skeleton in an abandoned WW2 bunker. But it’s not a wartime casualty.

Tristan becomes involved in the search for the truth about her predecessors, as DI Greg Geldard follows a trail from North Yorkshire to the Norfolk Broads. He is seeking justice for a long dead victim; but another casualty is hunting for a new life and a safe place to start again.

My Thoughts…

A skeleton found in an old WW2 bunker – a bunker that’s been used as a dumping ground for dead sheep and cattle over the years.  How and when did the body get there?  Who hid it?  A very promising start to a murder story.

I enjoyed the characters of Tristan, Rachel and in particular Bristo.  I was a bit disappointed that Tristan didn’t feature more in the story as I felt that she would have been a strong lead character in solving the crime.  Rachel selling up and starting her life over on a barge, looking for a slower paced fresh start, an escape from her previously abused life – will she fall into the same patterns as before?

A quick enjoyable read with an unexpected, disturbing yet satisfying conclusion.  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My thank yous to @annecater from @randomttours, @silverwoodbooks and of course @heatherlydia1 for allowing me to review #secretplaces

I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Please check out the following blog posts too….

What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson

Blurb

When everything you love is in danger, how long can you keep running to survive?

Life can be brutal
Winter in Idaho. The sky is dark. It is cold enough to crack bones.

Jack knew it
Jack Dahl has nothing left. Except his younger brother, Matty, who he’d die for. Their mother is gone, and their funds are quickly dwindling, Jack needs to make a choice: lose his brother to foster care, or find the drug money that sent his father to prison.

So did I
Ava lives in isolation, a life of silence. For seventeen years her father, a merciless man, has controlled her fate. He has taught her to love no one.

Did I feel the flutter of wings when Jack and I met? Did I sense the coming tornado?
But now Ava wants to break the rules – to let Jack in and open her heart. Then she discovers that Jack and her father are stalking the same money, and suddenly Ava is faced with a terrible choice: remain silent or speak out and help the brothers survive.

Looking back, I think I did . . .

Perfect for fans of Patrick Ness, Meg Rosoff and Daniel Woodrell, What Beauty There Is an unforgettable debut novel that is as compulsive as it is beautiful, and unflinchingly explores the power of determination, survival and love.

My Thoughts…

Their mother made a choice, their father in prison – Jack and Matty are on their own. Home gone, little money, food and possessions Jack will do anything to keep his brother safe including from social services. With little choices left Jack visits his dad in prison to ask for help – will he tell him where he hid the money?
The relationship between the two brothers is truly heartwarming to read, you can feel the love that they have for each other. When Ava arrives into their lives they both feel like maybe they have someone who actually wants to help them, more importantly someone who cares!

Reading this book was hard due to the nature of the story, it truly is tragic, heartwarming, heartbreaking and many more emotions all rolled into one! I feel like I will be thinking of these two brothers for time to come. As a debut novel by Cory Anderson I have no doubt that anything further she writes – I will be itching to read!

My thank yous go to – #thewritereads, #coryanderson, #penguinbooks for the opportunity to read and review. I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Author

Cory Anderson is a winner of the League of Utah Writers Young Adult Novel Award and Grand Prize in the Storymakers Conference First Chapter Contest. She lives in Utah with her family. What Beauty There Is is her debut novel.

Twitter: @coryanderwrites

Website: https://coryanderson.us/

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

Amazon UK Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Beauty-There-Cory-Anderson/dp/0241441714/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=what+beauty+there+is&qid=1616251655&sr=8-1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44779579-what-beauty-there-is?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=cy9S5ruE50&rank=1

The Takers and Keepers – Ivan Pope

It’s my turn for the blog tour for Ivan Pope’s dark and troubling book The Takers and Keepers. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A strong 4 stars from me.

BLURB

Where do the disappeared go? 

The girls and women who vanish, seldom to resurface.

Allen Kimbo, a freelance reporter, believes there is a network of men who guard their “taken” and keep the silence that surrounds such deeds. 

An email lures him to Eastern Europe, to a meeting of the Takers and Keepers. 

His girlfriend, Emily, pleads with him not to go. 

In Belgrade more is revealed than he had thought possible. 

Back at home, Emily is missing.

My Thoughts

At 187 pages this is one of the shortest books I’ve read in a while however it really managed to pack in a lot of story. A very dark and disturbing topic of human trafficking and “kept” people.
Allen – journalist and ex-convict – met a few shady characters during his time spent in prison. His journalism style revolves around mainly kidnappings and missing people. When he is anonymously sent a video showing a woman and two children being kept in a basement he is quickly obsessed with finding out who sent it and why.

Disturbingly the book reads like it could be of real life, the “takers” discussing their trade as if their “kept” are simply possessions and of no consequence. The taken – so void of hope of emerging back into the real world.

Not an easy read due to the subject matter however, very thought provoking and it delves into a world most of us try to ignore exists. Definitely one for crime fans, not one for those easily upset by tragedy.

Please check out the other stops on the tour below.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ivan Pope is a writer, artist and long-distance cyclist who lives in Brighton. 

He graduated from Goldsmiths College Fine Art BA with the YBA generation and was involved with a number of early internet developments in the UK and across the world. 

He invented the cybercafe at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts and founded the world’s first web magazine, The World Wide Web Newsletter. 

He has taught at art colleges in London, Newport and Brighton. 

He is now a writer of fiction and creative non-fiction. 

He is currently undertaking a PhD in creative non-fiction at Plymouth University.

Twitter @Ivan007

You can buy your copy at – Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Takers-Keepers-Where-Do-Disappeared/dp/1838057919

The Ex – Diane Saxon

Blurb…

As a heat wave grips the country, DS Jenna Morgan is called to a domestic incident at the home of a young family in Ironbridge.

Pregnant Imelda Cheetham-Epstein has been found unconscious by her husband, Zak with serious head injuries. 

When Jenna arrives on the scene, she discovers something even more disturbing – the couple’s eleven-month-old son, Joshua, is missing and the race against time begins to find him.

Is this an accident or something more sinister?

Are the two incidents linked?

Or has something in the Cheetham-Epstein’s past caught up with them?

My Thoughts….

I was not aware that this was a part of a series involving DS Morgan however I found this to be just as good as a stand-alone.  There were parts where previous cases were mentioned that piqued my interest and as this is my favourite genre – my tbr list just grew! 

Zak’s wife was attacked, left for dead and their 11 month old son was kidnapped – DS Morgan comes on the scene to try to find out what happened – was it domestic abuse or something more sinister?  Although we find out from the beginning who the culprit is and the reasoning behind her actions it’s interesting to see how the police come to their conclusions.

I did figure out the twist quite early into the book – just a couple chapters in however I still found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable and thrilling read. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Diane Saxon for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ugly Girl, Sweet Nectar

Blurb…

After spending a lifetime of living a secluded life, Alessa journals her experiences as she embarks on a quest to live a more colorful life of “Shoulds” instead of “Should Nots”. She courageously emerges from her hermit cave and re-enters the dating scene when a rude awakening unexpectedly detours her journey down a path of self-reflection to examine her character flaws, self-image issues, and what caused them.

Compelled to find answers, Alessa digs deep to unearth her past, and discovers a scathing childhood of abuse and trauma. At the same time, she is faced with the seemingly impossible duty of taking care of the abusers – her parents. Both suffer from rare and merciless diseases. With the help of her best friend, some random acquaintances, and a few auspicious fortune cookies, Alessa learns to heal herself, and finds the fortitude needed to forgive her parents so she can see them through their illnesses to the bitter end.

Entwining pain, strength, and humor, Ugly Girl, Sweet Nectar is an inspirational and intimate story about the power of survival, forgiveness, and resilience. It candidly explores the devastating effects of childhood trauma on the human spirit; how it shapes one’s emotional life as an adult, and subconsciously affects every aspect of it – relationships, parenting, body image, and more. It speaks unflinching truth to the turbulent process of healing, and how the process can repair even the most unimaginable wounds.

My thoughts….

Written in the form of an almost memoir, based on true life but also a work of fiction.  However you would describe the genre/type of book – I thought it was a highly emotional read!  Our heroine Alessa journals her early lifetime experiences which gives us an insight into the hows and whys of her now introverted and almost secluded lifestyle.  Alessa decides to get herself out there but finds it difficult to at first.  

I love the way this has been written – present time with the journal entries being written to give us a view of her past.  At different times of the book I found it to be happy, sad, funny, infuriating and at other times disturbing.  

A first for me from D.D. Kaye, I found this to be very well written and a truly beautiful story overall.  Highlighted to me the importance of love, acceptance, forgiveness and beliefs.  

Would highly recommend.  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you D.D. Kaye and @booktasters for allowing me to review.

The Foreign Girls

Thank you Random tours, Bitter Lemon Press and of course Sergio Olguin for allowing me to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ From me.

Blurb….

Veronica Rosenthal has retreated to a cousin’s remote cottage in the province of Tucuman, to recuperate from the traumatic events in The Fragility of Bodies. She befriends two female tourists -an Italian and a Norwegian — invites them to stay and starts a sexual relationship with one of them. After a party they attend together, Veronica travels on alone but days later discovers that the women have been murdered. Suspicion falls on a local Umbanda priest, but Veronica starts to uncover a web of corruption, abuse and femicide in which government, wealthy landowners and a high-ranking official from the Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’ are all implicated. Veronica’s investigation, with its unforeseen political dimensions, has alarmed new enemies who will try to stop her at all cost.

When journalist Veronica Rosenthal’s friends are found murdered she makes it her personal mission to discover what happened and who was involved.  Veronica soon found that similar ritualistic murders had happened in the past going back a few decades, will she make those involve pay?

My thoughts ….

My first book by Sergio despite this being the second book in the series.  I did enjoy most of the book, I particularly enjoyed learning more about the culture and terms I’d previously never heard of.  I wanted to like Veronica – she did come across as quite a fierce and powerful woman however there was just something about her I wasn’t too keen on – hard to pin down what.  

For me there were a few too many unnecessary sex scenes which I did not feel added to the overall book – it felt like they were just added in.  Having said that I am sure there are many that this would appeal to.  

I do think that the book was well written and the overall story had a good plot, the book ended well with a satisfying conclusion.