BLOG TOUR: The Better Brother - Simon Gravatt

 

Michael Merriweather's carefully planned life is blown off course when he receives a call to tell him that his father has cremated himself. Michael then learns from a small-town lawyer that he stands to inherit a small fortune he previously knew nothing about, but only if he sacrifices his accountancy career to take over the family funeral business with his brother, Jack, whom he despises.

Sucked back into the small provincial world and the family funeral firm he has rejected, Michael can no longer avoid his loathsome sibling. Jack Merriweather has no idea what he's done to deserve his brother's hostility, but he's about to suffer the consequences. Then, when his patience finally breaks, he will exact delicious revenge.

The Better Brother is a darkly comic tale of sibling rivalry laced with the power, passion, revenge and everyday friction of family business. It explores what happens when two warring brothers are forced to work together. Will Michael and Jack learn to love and respect each other? Or will their acrimony escalate? If so, who will come out on top? Who is the better brother?

What did I think?

That first line in the blurb about Michael's father cremating himself hooked me before I'd even picked up the book.  What an ingenious storyline!  It's sad but funny and sets off a chain of events that puts the Merriweather brothers in the same room when they haven't spoken to each other for years.  Expect sparks to fly!

The broken relationship between Michael and Jack is absolutely heartbreaking.  The hostility began when their mother died and their father was grieving so he didn't notice his sons growing further and further apart...which is something he plans to rectify from beyond the grave.  When the brothers inherit the Merriweather funeral business they either have to work together or lose their inheritance.  

Whilst Michael and Jack are brilliant main characters, my favourite character ended up being their father's long-standing employee, Royston.  Royston is hilarious, from his tattoos to his swearing he's such a colourful character that he virtually leapt out of the page.  I could read a whole book with him as the main character.

It is clear that Simon Gravatt has a background in business as the pressure of running a business is palpable throughout the book.  It was interesting to see how the brothers reacted to their inheritance; one changes for the better and one changes for the worse.  There are hard decisions to be made and back-stabbing aplenty as each brother vies to come out on top.

Very well-written, engaging and humorous, The Better Brother is a brilliant debut and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour; all opinions are my own.

My rating:

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About the author:

Simon Gravatt is a first-time novelist who lives in South London. He's drawn from personal experience as a brother and business owner to write his tale of sibling rivalry and the combustibility of small business. Simon is married with two adult children.

Follow the tour:

Away for Christmas - Jan Ruth

Jonathan Jones has written a novel. Losing his job a few days before Christmas means the pressure is on for his book to become a bestseller, but when his partner drops her own bombshell, the festive holiday looks set to be a disaster.

When he's bequeathed a failing bookshop in their seaside town, it seems that some of his prayers have been answered, but his publishing company turn out to be not what they seem, and when his ex-wife suddenly declares her romantic intent, another Christmas looks set to be complicated.

Is everything lost, or can the true meaning of words, a dog called Frodo, and the sheer magic of Christmas be enough to save Jonathan's book, and his skin?

What did I think?

Just the thing to get us in the Christmas spirit is the latest novella from Jan Ruth, although the main character is more of a grinch than a jolly Santa Claus.  That's why I liked him!  I wasn't sure what to make of Jonathan Jones at first: he's an accountant who wants to swap numbers for letters and become an author.  His idea of keeping warm when it's cold outside is to wear two sweaters - give this guy my number, it's like looking into a mirror!

When Jonathan loses his job at the same time as his partner quits her job, it looks like Christmas isn't going to be much fun.  Add to this Jonathan's struggles with his publisher, who seem to forget he even exists, and even the coldest heart would start to feel sorry for him.  Things start to look up when he becomes the surprise new owner of a charming but neglected bookshop where he finally sheds his accountant skin and takes a few risks that could see all his dreams come true.

A book with books in it is always going to get a big thumbs up from me - it's definitely a book for booklovers.  I could virtually smell the books in Beachside Books and I knew it would be a place where I could spend hours browsing the shelves.  I loved Jonathan's dreams of becoming an author and taking risks which would be completely against his nature.  To see him evolve from an unhappy accountant to a much happier person at the end was well worth it.

Although it has Christmas in the title, it's not too Christmassy so you could definitely read Away for Christmas at any time of the year.  Whenever you read it, I know you will enjoy it as much as I did.

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

My rating:

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