BLOG TOUR: Meantime in Greenwich - Hannah Keens

Can an orphaned astrologer and a widowed astronomer put aside their differences to find love?

After Stella’s parents died, she spent her childhood in an orphanage so she fears loving anyone in case she loses them. Her only solace in life is astrology.

Benedict’s wife died in childbirth, so he raised his son alone. When he meets Stella, he is overwhelmed by guilt. And as a respected professor of astronomy, can he really allow himself to fall in love with an astrologer?

Find out whether love is written in the stars for Stella and Benedict in this English romantic comedy.

What did I think?

I absolutely adored Meantime in Greenwich from its clever play on words title to its charming and heartwarming storyline.  It's no secret that Hannah Keens is a pseudonym of Helen Steadman and as Helen is one of my favourite authors it's no surprise that this gorgeous book is going straight on to my favourites shelf.

I used to go to Greenwich a lot when I visited family in London so it was lovely to virtually revisit this part of London in the book as it was brought to life through the wonderfully vivid and descriptive writing.  If I thought the location was vivid, it pales in comparison to the characters who virtually pop from the page.  I loved Stella but it was her love interest Benedict's son Daniel who stole my heart.

So I mentioned the clever play on words in the title earlier and obviously the location is Greenwich (with Durham playing a small cameo) but the Meantime comes from the spat between astrology and astronomy.  Stella is an astrologer and, as her mother taught her, it keeps her mother's memory alive.  Stella meets astronomer Benedict when she attends his lecture about Saturn and they have an instant connection.  Benedict's snooty astronomy colleagues couldn't bear it if he dated an astrologer!

There is just so much to love about this book and it's perfect escapism to put a smile on your face at the end of the day.  It's fabulous feel-good fiction without being sugar-coated as the characters have their own past heartaches and challenges to overcome.  I warmed to the characters so much that I had a lump in my throat at the end and I'm missing them already.

Romantic, charming and uplifting, Meantime in Greenwich is a fabulous romantic comedy that warmed my heart and cheered my soul.  I will definitely be reading it again to brighten my day; it's like my own personal prescription from Dr Steadman.  Very highly recommended.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

About the author:

Hannah Keens is a contemporary English novelist. She writes sweet romantic comedies that will leave you with a smile in your heart. Welcome to a world of love, laughter and happily ever after.

Website: https://hannahkeens.com/ 

Author note from book: https://hannahkeens.com/visit-mysteries-in-covent-garden

Twitter: https://x.com/HannahKeens 

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

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BLOG TOUR: A Bonsai Tree Called Geoff - John Donoghue

Is he the best cop on the streets?... No.

 

But does he go to work with a positive attitude and put 100% into every incident he attends?... Also No.

 

What he does is write about the funny, unusual, and bizarre jobs he goes to.

 

From arresting a bride at her own wedding, an Aztec style sacrifice, subversion in the ranks, a naked dog thief, an accidental kidnapping, disappointing a nun… these are true tales from the front line of policing, where fact is often stranger than fiction!

 

These are the tales he probably shouldn’t share.

 

What did I think?

You know that kind of wheezing laugh you get when something is just TOO funny?  Well that's what happened to me when I was reading A Bonsai Tree Called Geoff.  This is easily the funniest book I've ever read and what's even more funny is that each chapter is based on a true story.  

We've all had funny things happen to us in work that made us think "you couldn't write it" well John Donoghue has done just that.  Thank goodness he's saved up all of these hilarious stories from his time in the police force and decided to share them with us.  The tales are so funny and bizarre that you really couldn't make them up and I think it makes them even funnier knowing that these things actually happened.

There's a lot of toilet humour in the book and it's all the better for it!  I laughed, chortled, sniggered, belly-laughed and guffawed my way through it and I wouldn't have been surprised to find that I'd laughed so much my sides had split.  Honestly, this book is SO funny that my other half thought I was hyperventilating but I was just laughing ultrasonically.

I would usually say don't read A Bonsai Tree Called Geoff in a public place as you will definitely laugh out loud, however, the more people that know about this book the better - we could all do with a good laugh.  My only disappointment was when I finished the book but I was delighted to find that John Donoghue has a number of books in his back catalogue to keep me entertained while he's writing his next one.

Hilarious don't quite cover it when describing A Bonsai Tree Called Geoff; it's ultra-hilarious and completely unmissable.  Anyone with half a sense of humour will absolutely love this cracking book; I've never laughed so much.  Very highly recommended - buy one for yourself and all of your friends and give your laughing muscles a good workout.

I received a digital ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

About the author:

Having served Queen, King & Country over 40 years in the military and Police, John Donoghue has also been awarded the Chief Constable’s Commendation for Bravery after saving a family of seven (and their dog and cat) from a house fire one Christmas Eve… and routinely been castigated for telling it like it is.

His previous police memoirs include:

Police, Crime & 999

Police, Lies & Alibis

Police, Arrests & Suspects

He has also previously written a humorous book about his military service and travels with his dog around the funny places in Great Britain – described as “Bill Bryson on Magic Mushrooms” when it first came out, it has now been updated and republished as ‘Tails of the Unexpected.’

 

He says: “I am also a public speaker, conducting tongue in cheek presentations about the ‘Ten Life Lessons I’ve learnt in the Police’, and conduct medieval tours in my spare time.”

 

He also enjoys an X (Twitter) following of over 65k - @johndonoghue64

Website: www.policecrime999.com 

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BLOG TOUR: Intervention - Harrison Murphy

Disillusioned archaeologist, Greg, has often wondered what death felt like. Little does he know, he will prematurely find out.

After a fatal car accident, he enters The Cloud – a viewing platform with the ultimate box set of everything that has ever happened, and has yet to happen, on Earth.

As Greg excavates the artefacts of his own history, journeying across time and realities, he discovers he has a power he could never have imagined: Intervention. The ability to change one thing on Earth but sacrificing his eternal existence in exchange.

Will he take the deal? What will he change? And what ripples will spread from his Intervention?

 

What did I think?

Intervention has a very thought-provoking premise and it's a book that I have continued to think about, long after turning the final page.  Whether you believe in eternal life after death or not, this book really gets the old grey matter working and it would be a fabulous book to discuss at book group.

It's like several books in one as the story is told from the point of view of whoever has died and is in The Cloud.  The Cloud is a place where you can select a viewing of events from any point in time.  The person in The Cloud has a difficult choice to make: do they stay in The Cloud forever watching reruns of their old life or do they choose to intervene in an event and end their own existence.  

If I had to describe Intervention in one sentence I would say: it's like a horror version of a mashup of The Truman Show, Sliding Doors and Groundhog Day but with real consequences of manipulating people's lives.  There's a wonderful thread running throughout the book and I loved how it linked Christopher Columbus to characters in the story.

Wonderfully inventive and incredibly thought-provoking, Intervention is an intriguing and compelling piece of speculative fiction that really impressed me.

I received a digital ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

About the author:

Harrison Murphy is a writer from Motherwell, Scotland. He specialises in downbeat speculative fiction with elements of sci-fi and fantasy occasionally thrown into the mix. Intervention is his fourth novel. He also wrote the Chrysalis trilogy which focuses on the societal impacts of an implant which allows the people who can afford it to design their own minds and tinker with the minds of others. He is working on his fifth and sixth novels: one about a computer program that harvests people’s secrets and pits them against each other in a gameshow; the other a dystopian, cli-fi reimagining of Rapunzel.

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BLOG TOUR: The Way By - Holly Walters

Fairies are real. Or they ought to be, at least, according to Madame Bel Carmen's best hypotheses. Her problem, however, is that after searching the world over for the lore to prove it, she hasn't uncovered anything that someone didn't already know. Out of options, she knows her only chance to prove the existence of the Fae is to find someone who's met them, and she's just heard tell of a reclusive scholar who has reportedly done just that. This folklorist is more than just withdrawn; she's nowhere, an academic ghost known only by a few obscure writings.

 

What did I think?

I've only just started reading fantasy books and I was drawn to the beautiful cover of The Way By and that first sentence in the blurb: Fairies are real.  The chapters are quite long so it's a book I read in several small chunks and it took me around 9 hours in total to read.

Holly Walters' writing is beautiful; it's very poetic and vivid.  There's a scene with some birds that really sticks in my mind and I snapped the book shut at the end of that chapter in case the birds flew out of the page.

I loved the idea of The Way By, a place that few people can access and it's a place that is in danger.  What follows is a battle of good versus evil as the Waysmith leads her fellow women into battle against Clarisant, an evil unicorn.  I really enjoyed reading some of the backstories of the characters, although they are quite dark and disturbing, but it shows the strength of these brave women.

Whilst I enjoyed The Way By, I think it is more for advanced fantasy readers than beginners like me.  There is a lot of action in the book (and I wasn't sure what was going on half the time) and I also kept getting some of the characters mixed up.  I will make a list of characters when I go back to the book for a reread.

Filled with magic and danger, The Way By is an imaginative and enchanting novel that is set in a land where the impossible becomes possible.  Well worth a read for fantasy enthusiasts.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

Amazon Canada

Amazon USA

Amazon UK

About the author:

Holly Walters originally hails from a small, rural, town in Minnesota. A life-long storyteller, Holly is also a cultural anthropologist with a PhD from Brandeis University working in the high Himalayas of Nepal. While her ethnographic work focuses on fossil folklores and sacred ammonites in South Asia, her creative work pays homage to the dragons, unicorns, and fairy tales of her youth.

When not writing, she can be found perfecting her Medieval archery skills, theorizing about movie plots, and forgetting where she left her tea cup. Today, she makes her home in Boston, Massachusetts, with a very unruly garden, a few equally cantankerous pets, a clever spouse, and a resident house ghost. And since her creepy sculpture hobby hasn’t panned out thus far, she is looking forward to the publication of her first novel and the writing of many more.

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JACK JORDAN BLOGATHON: Redemption

The third book of the Jack Jordan Blogathon is Redemption and it's another belter of a moral dilemma in this unmissable, unputdownable and unforgettable book.  

I am delighted to reshare my review for the Compulsive Readers blog tour.

Aaron Alexander has just been released from jail after serving eleven years for causing the death of Joshua Moore in a hit-and-run. Now a free man, all he wants to do is stay on the straight and narrow and leave his troubled past behind him.

But for Joshua’s mother Evelyn, eleven years in jail isn’t nearly enough. Consumed by grief and rage, she has been waiting for Aaron’s release, counting down the days until she can exact the revenge he deserves. And now that time has come.

But as Evelyn and her husband Tobias embark on a road trip to track Aaron down, they find themselves caught on two different sides of a gripping game of cat-and-mouse. Because Tobias knows what Evelyn is planning, and he will do anything to save her from herself.

Even if it means protecting the man who killed their son.

Locked in a collision course set in motion eleven years ago, Aaron, Evelyn and Tobias are about to find out whether the road they have chosen leads to redemption . . . or to retribution.

 

What did I think?

You'll always find me at the front of the queue when a new Jack Jordan book is released and I had very high expectations when I picked up Redemption.  Not only was I not disappointed, Jack Jordan saw my expectations and raised them to a whole new level.  WOW!  

Jack Jordan isn't called the Master of the Moral Dilemma for no reason and whilst there is an absolute belter of a moral dilemma in Redemption, there's also a thought-provoking twist that reminds us that there are two sides to every story.  But which side will each reader be on?  Team Evelyn or Team Aaron?

No parent would ever want to be in Evelyn and Tobias Moore's position; their beautiful 9-year-old son Joshua went off to camp and never returned after being killed in a hit-and-run.  Justice was served and the man who killed Joshua went to prison...but only for eleven years.  I could totally understand Evelyn's fury - Joshua's life was cruelly stolen and eleven years of prison is simply not enough for his killer to pay.  As soon as the sentence was delivered, Evelyn decided to make Aaron Alexander pay the ultimate price: a life for a life.

I couldn't help but feel sympathy for the Moores; their marriage has been under a considerable strain since Joshua's death as Evelyn single-mindedly planned her revenge.  Tobias has his own plan though: he wants to stop Evelyn from becoming a murderer and if that means protecting Aaron, then that's what he'll do.

Now this is where the story takes an unexpected turn as I was fully prepared to hate Aaron but peeling back the layers of his story broke my heart.  One tragic event changed the course of his life - he didn't plan to kill Joshua unlike Evelyn plans to kill Aaron.  The character of Aaron is so beautifully portrayed and I found his story incredibly poignant and emotional.  I will never forget him and the lessons his story taught me.

There appears to be no limit to Jack Jordan's talent and imagination so prepare for a long night of reading when you pick up Redemption as you won't be able to put it down.  Set out in sections representing the stages of grief, Redemption is an absolute masterpiece.  Once again, Jack Jordan scoops all the stars for his unmissable new book.

Unmissable, unputdownable and unforgettable - do not miss Redemption: one of the most eagerly anticipated books of the year and one that will not disappoint.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

Uk.Bookshop.org

Amazon

About the author:

Jack Jordan is the global bestselling author of Anything for Her, My Girl, A Woman Scorned, Before Her Eyes, and Night by Night and an Amazon No.1 bestseller in the UK, Canada, and Australia. After selling at auction in the UK and numerous foreign territories, Do No Harm is set to be the thriller of the summer in 2022. The idea for Do No Harm came to Jack after undergoing a minor medical procedure where he had to be sedated and trust strangers with his welfare. After the anaesthesia wore off, Jack began scribbling his notes, wondering to himself just how iron-clad a surgeon’s oath is, and what it would take to break it…

Follow Jack on social media:

Twitter: @JackJordanBooks

Instagram: @jackjordan_author

Facebook: @JackJordanOfficial

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BLOG TOUR: The Half King - Melissa Landers

A king by day. Shadow by night…

Long ago, the kingdom’s noble houses rebelled against the goddess... and for their treachery, the firstborn of each noble family was cursed.

One with perilous beauty.

One with destructive knowledge.

One with insatiable bloodlust.

But the royal house Mortara received the worst affliction of all. For while the king exists during the day, he fades into nothingness at night...until his twenty-first birthday, when he will be lost to the shadows forever.

Now an acolyte has arrived at court. Like all the second-born children, she’s destined to serve the goddess and become a Seer...only Cerise Solon has no gift of foretelling. In fact, she has no magical gift at all.

Instead, she’s surrounded by courtiers and priests – smiling sycophants whose hearts are filled with secrets and lies. And at the centre sits His Majesty Kian Hannibal Mortara, with his haunting eyes, sharp tongue, and an unerring ability to send her pulse skittering.

As the spectre of his twenty-first birthday – and the full force of his curse – approaches, the kingdom holds its breath.

There’s only one way to save a dying king... and it lies with the one person who’s hiding the biggest secret of all. Cerise.

 

What did I think?

Now that's what I call pure escapism!  I am so pleased that I have started to read books in the fantasy genre as The Half King is a a real jewel in fantasy's crown and I absolutely loved it.

It's like a fairy tale for adults with a curse, a handsome king and a big helping of baddies who want to steal the throne for themselves.  Cerise isn't a firstborn so she has not been cursed and she is training to be a Seer, however, her gift of sight does not appear so she becomes an emissary to the king.  The king is cursed and disappears into shadow form each night, which is why he is referred to as the half king...but perhaps Cerise is his other half?

This is an incredibly entertaining tale that is action-packed and filled with danger and romance.  I loved Cerise and her caring nature that is a gift in its own right.  Cerise puts herself in danger to save her king and it costs her dearly.  I gasped out loud so many times as Melissa Lander's descriptive writing painted vivid scenes in my head.

Entertaining, vividly written and compelling, The Half King is a wonderful story that delighted me from start to finish.  I am hoping that this isn't the last we have heard of Cerise and Kian and I would love to read more if this does become a series.  Very highly recommended and if you don't usually read books in the fantasy genre then I think The Half King would definitely be a good place to start.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon

About the author:

Melissa Landers is a former teacher who left the classroom to pursue other worlds. A proud sci-fi geek, she isn't afraid to wear her Princess Leia costume in public — just ask her embarrassed kids.

She lives in Cincinnati Ohio, where she writes romantic fantasy and science fiction adventures for the young at heart.

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BLOG TOUR: Fatal Image (DC Mel Cotton Crime Series Book 5) - Brian Price

RUTHLESS AMBITION

Hugh Ventham MP, tipped for high office, can’t shake off the mental image of a sordid party he attended many years ago. Any one of the people there could derail his career if they talk about it. So he must eliminate them all.

A COMPROMISING PHOTO

But someone took a photo. And one of the attendees will stop at nothing to ensure it is never discovered. If they fail, they will face ruin.

A BAFFLED POLICE FORCE

As the murders mount up, Mexton CID struggle to see the connection between them. Are they random killings or is there a link? If so, who would want to kill such a disparate group of people? And who is the mysterious figure in the background with their own lethal agenda?

With police resources stretched to breaking point, DC Mel Cotton and her team face deadly challenges as they hunt for the killer. And when the mysterious figure strikes, will she get out alive?

 

What did I think?

As with all books in the DC Mel Cotton crime series, you can read Fatal Image as a standalone as the particular case that is being investigated is absolutely brilliant.  I have read the series in order and they're all fantastic but I think this is the best one yet.

It's quite unusual for a book to let the reader know who the killer is from the start but Fatal Image still had me completely gripped and I couldn't put it down.  Set in the fictional town of Mexton, DC Mel Cotton and the team are as busy as ever with a spate of seemingly unrelated murders.  Mel needs to look outside of Mexton to find the link so she joins forces with a creepy copper in the Met.  Eeeew, I think I need a shower just thinking about DC Plover.

I loved catching up with some of my favourite characters in crime fiction and it's wonderful to see how the characters have developed over the series.  That's why I almost dropped the book in shock at the end with THAT cliffhanger - OMG!!!  I simply can't wait for the next book now!

Incredibly fast paced and a real page-turner, Fatal Image is so meticulously researched that I often forgot I was reading fiction, especially with the character epilogue at the end.  It's an outstanding book in an outstanding series and an easy five star rating from me.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

Hobeck Books

Amazon

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Dohva - The Land Within - Sophie Haeder

Embark on a journey to the enigmatic realm of Dohva, where elemental magic reigns supreme and ancient secrets lie buried beneath the mountains.

In the isolated land of Dohva, where souls are trapped in an endless cycle of rebirth by an ancient elemental sphere, a malevolent force wields the forbidden dark magic of the demon prince Agthod. Avala, a rebellious air sorceress haunted by the loss of her closest friend, is driven to unravel the mysteries that have long plagued her world. She finds unlikely allies with three anti-heroes, a colourful and diverse cast who each struggle with their own demons and desires for redemption.

But as the shadows deepen and the threat grows, Avala and her newfound companions must set aside their differences and forge an uneasy bond. But can they confront this powerful enemy force that threatens to consume their world and change their destiny forever?

"Dohva - The Land Within" is the first book of an epic fantasy meets romantasy trilogy that will captivate readers from beginning to end and leave them eagerly anticipating the next installment in this spellbinding saga.

 

What did I think?

I'm just starting to read more fantasy books and I really enjoyed Dohva; I think it's a really good book to entice new readers into the fantasy genre.  I was completely immersed in the wonderful land of Dohva and read it much quicker than I expected.

The story is told from several different points of view with Avala being the main character.  Avala is an elf and a member of the Stormguard, along with her friend Garon who would like to be more than friends with Avala.  There's a wonderful theme of past lives running through the book and that's the reason why Garon and Avala will never be more than friends.  It's so very heartwarming to consider the idea of loved ones finding each other again in their new lives.

Of course you can't have a fantasy book without a dragon and wow, the dragon in this book is depicted so vividly it virtually leaps from the page and I had to check my fingers for scorch marks.  I loved all of the characters in the book; both the good and evil ones.

Filled with magic, romance and action, Dohva - The Land Within is a fantastic debut novel and a very enticing start to a new romantasy trilogy.  Sophie Haeder can consider me hooked and I can't wait to visit the wonderful land of Dohva again.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

BLOG TOUR: Taken - Danielle Ramsay

I am accused of the worst of crimes – murdering my baby – and I have hours before this passenger ferry docks in Spain to find him, alive.

Someone knows about my difficult past and darkest secrets, and now I think they’ve taken my baby. But who would do this to me and why? I know the answer. Or least I think I do…

The police want to know why I have fled my home and husband. How do I tell them that I had a breakdown after my first baby died? That today is the anniversary of his death? That my husband is planning on having me sectioned?

Despite what my husband says, I’m not ill. Am I? For I have discovered he has an agenda…

So how could I have been so wrong about him?

And how do I convince the police I’m innocent, when everyone believes I’m guilty, and get my baby back before he disappears forever?

 

What did I think?

Make sure you're sitting comfortably when you pick up Danielle Ramsay's new novel, Taken, as you won't be able to put it down.  I absolutely devoured it, reading way past my bedtime until I discovered all of the secrets buried in the book.

Alice is one of the most unreliable narrators I have come across and she is tortured by grief, guilt and what ifs following the cot death of her son.  Alice blames herself and falls into a spiral of depression.  Meanwhile, Alice's husband Tom seems to be getting on with life by planning a move back to America but then Alice falls pregnant again.

Oh Alice!  I really wanted to reach into the book to give her a hug.  She feels like everyone is conspiring against her and it's no wonder she is struggling to cope with the birth of her second son after losing her first baby so tragically.  I wasn't sure whether Tom was just good at hiding his emotions or simply uncaring but it really seemed like Alice was a lone passenger on a rollercoaster of emotions.

With secrets in both Alice's and Tom's pasts, the pacing is blistering as I raced through the pages to uncover everything and I was kept guessing right to the end.  Death of a child is a difficult and disturbing subject but it was handled very sensitively and I could almost feel the torment that Alice was going through.  I really enjoyed Taken and would highly recommend it. 

I received a digital ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Purchase link: https://mybook.to/TakenSocial

About the author:

Danielle Ramsay is the author of the DI Jack Brady crime novels and other dark thrillers. She is a Scot living in the North-East of England and was previously published by Hodder & Stoughton and Avon.

Social Media Links –  

Facebook: DanielleRamsayAuthor

Twitter: @DanielleRamsay2

Instagram: @danielle.ramsay.author

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/DanielleRamsayNews

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BLOG TOUR: Alien Clay - Adrian Tchaikovsky

They travelled into the unknown and left themselves behind . . .

Professor Arton Daghdev has always wanted to study alien life in person. But when his political activism sees him exiled to the planet Kiln, condemned to work under an unfamiliar sky until he dies, his idealistic wish becomes a terrible reality.

Kiln boasts a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem. Its monstrous alien life means Arton will risk death on a daily basis – if the camp’s oppressive regime doesn’t kill him first. But, if he survives, Kiln’s lost civilization holds a wondrous, terrible secret. It will redefine life and intelligence as he knows it – and might just set him free.

 

What did I think?

Science fiction is not one of my preferred genres but I do like to push myself out of my comfort zone now and again so I was very intrigued by Alien Clay.  That stunning cover is enough to draw you into the world that has been created within the pages of the book.

Arton Daghdev has been exiled to Kiln, an extrasolar planet that is 30 years away from Earth.  I mean just the fact that it takes 30 years to get to the planet made me stop and consider how very insignificant we are in the universe.  Kiln could very well be Earth many years in the future when we have damaged the planet to the point of extinction of our species.

I was surprised how easy I found it to read and I quickly built up a mental image of the camp and planet in my mind.  The story is very imaginative but there are also little snippets of facts about weird and wonderful creatures that I had never heard of but found fascinating when I later researched them.

The vibrant and dangerous ecosystem of Kiln adds an almost horror element to the story that made my skin crawl at times as it is so vividly described.  I loved that there is a constant scent of revolution in the air, leading to questions about who can be trusted.

Mind-blowing, eye-opening and provocative, Alien Clay is an incredibly thought-provoking and entertaining novel that may be a frightening glimpse into the future for our own planet.  I'm not quite a sci-fi convert yet but this book has certainly made me more open to reading other books by Adrian Tchaikovsky and other authors in the sci-fi genre.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

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BLOG TOUR: What Lies Beneath - Maureen Myant

A family Christmas to remember

An idyllic, snow-covered landscape. A cottage in rural Northumberland. Full of love, laughter, food, wine and mince pies. The recipe for a joyous Noel, or is it?

They seem like the perfect family

With her seemingly perfect family, Lisa Truett is envied by all her friends. Husband David is solid and dependable, salt of the earth, adores his family. Enigmatic adult twins Emilia and Rosamund are on the path to successful careers in journalism and music. Her youngest, Oliver, is blessed with brains and beauty. He can expect a brilliant future. No wonder they’re known as the ‘too good to be Truetts.’

But they never thought it would end like this

Someone is stalking them but who? Whose footprints mingle with theirs in the snow around their cottage? It turns out the family is far from perfect, after all. Will Ros ever stop seeking male approval? Is Em’s eating disorder back again? What is Oliver hiding, or, rather, who is he hiding from? David has been distant and aloof recently. Is he having an affair? But it is Lisa who hides the biggest secret of all and it could tear the family apart.

Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Ruth Ware, What Lies Beneath is this year's winter must-read - some things, just cannot, remain hidden...

 

What did I think?

I chose to read What Lies Beneath without reading the synopsis, simply because I have loved all of Maureen Myant's books that I have read, so I was surprised and delighted with the snowy Northumberland setting.  

The Truett family have decided to spend Christmas in their holiday cottage in Northumberland but each one of them has something to hide and not even the snow is deep enough to keep these secrets buried.  Ooooh I absolutely love a book filled with secrets as they all have to come bursting out at some point and there are some corkers in this book.   

A Northumberland winter is almost a season of its own and whilst it's very picturesque when you're wrapped up warm in the house, it's very disruptive and dangerous when you need to go out in it.  The snow is almost a character in itself as it sneakily covers rogue footprints and dramatically blocks escape routes.  Maureen Myant's vivid writing paints a wonderful picture of the chilly wintery scene, but it's not just the snow that gives the reader chills. 

The cottage is very isolated but it feels like the Truetts are not alone.  With stalkers, blackmailers, thugs and scary local myths in the frame there are numerous suspects that could have followed the Truett trail to Northumberland.  It's masterfully plotted as any one, or all, of the family could be the target and I simply couldn't put it down.

Gripping, compelling and hugely atmospheric, What Lies Beneath is a fantastic thriller that had me on the edge of my seat with the book clutched tightly in my hands; I wasn't putting it down until every single juicy secret had been revealed.  Put this one on your Christmas list - it's a very highly recommended read.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

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