BLOG TOUR: The Next Chapter - Rebecca Ryan

Lily Brown is ready to turn the page and see what adventure awaits . . .

Lily Brown prides herself on her organised, surprise-free life. Whether it's charity yoga for polar bears or crafting a ninety-six-piece balloon arch, Lily always goes the extra mile. But when her adoptive father asks her to reconnect with her birth mother, Lola Starr – a legendary pop punk singer who vanished from fame – Lily decides to venture off the well-trodden path.

With her best friend Seb, Lily tracks Lola to her humble hotel on the beautiful Isle of Skye in Scotland, far from the glamorous life she imagined. Hiding the truth, Lily gets to know Lola and finds a kind, free-spirited woman. If life wasn’t complicated enough – she meets Noah, a charming travel writer on a quest to discover hidden gems.  

As Lily takes a chance and embraces new possibilities, she begins to question whether the safe rules she’s built her life around are what she really needs.

 

What did I think?

Oh Rebecca Ryan, if I thought I loved your first two books I positively adored your third!  Good things really do come in threes and The Next Chapter is simply stunning.

Lily has always known she was adopted and, after losing her mum at the tender age of 18, she is devastated to lose her lovely dad.  Her dad's dying wish is that Lily reads a letter he has left her about her birth mother and when she eventually does read it, it throws into doubt everything she thought she knew.

My heart totally went out to Lily as she struggled to cope with both her grief and finding her birth mother, famous singer Lola Starr.  Being a bit of an overthinker myself, it really made me laugh at Lily's thought processes and how well her friends and family know her.  I loved Lily's relationship with her best friend Seb and how they have been friends through thick and thin.

When Lily and Seb head to the Isle of Skye to track down Lola, there's a new twist on the fake dating trope: fake siblings and it's absolutely hilarious.  The lies just spiral out of control and it causes Lily more angst when she falls in love with travel writer Noah.  I can't remember ever laughing so much when reading a romance novel; it is making me smile just thinking about it now.

Beautiful inside and out, The Next Chapter is a fabulous emotional rollercoaster of a book that made me laugh and cry.  With family and friendship at its heart, it's a book that is filled with love and laughter and I can't recommend it highly enough.  An easy five stars!

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

My rating:

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The Seven Sisters (Seven Sisters Book 1) - Lucinda Riley

The Seven Sisters is a sweeping epic tale of love and loss by the international number one bestseller Lucinda Riley.

Maia D’Aplièse and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home – a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva – having been told that their beloved adoptive father, the elusive billionaire they call Pa Salt, has died.

Each of them is handed a tantalising clue to their true heritage – a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil . . .

Eighty years earlier, in the Belle Époque of Rio, 1927, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into aristocracy. But Izabela longs for adventure, and convinces him to allow her to accompany the family of a renowned architect on a trip to Paris. In the heady, vibrant streets of Montparnasse, she meets ambitious young sculptor Laurent Brouilly, and knows at once that her life will never be the same again.

The Seven Sisters is the first book in the spellbinding Seven Sisters series, inspired by the mythology of the famous star constellation. It is followed by The Storm Sister.

 

What did I think?

I have wanted to read The Seven Sisters for a while but with so many books, so little time I didn't know how I would ever fit in a 622 page novel, but I am SO glad that I made time for it.  It is breathtaking!

The Seven Sisters is inspired by Greek mythology and Pa Salt (Atlas) names his six adopted daughters after the daughters of Atlas and Pleione: Maia, Alcyone, Asterope, Celaeno, Taygete and Electra.  On Pa Salt's death, he leaves his daughters a letter with clues to their birth, should they wish to discover where they are from.  This book is Maia's story.  

I fell in love with this book the moment I picked it up; the writing is so beautiful and the story so compelling that I couldn't put it down.  It has a dual timeline with the story alternating between Maia in 2007 and her great-grandmother Izabela eighty years earlier in 1927.  Location plays a big part in The Seven Sisters and Geneva, Rio and Paris are painted so beautifully that I felt as if I was there.

The way that Lucinda Riley weaves historical facts with a captivating fictional story is absolutely breathtaking and I absolutely devoured every single beautifully written word, gathering interesting historical facts along the way.  I love how The Seven Sisters has the contained storyline of one sister but it's part of a much bigger picture and I can't wait to read more of the series.  

Captivating, breathtaking and epic, The Seven Sisters is a very highly recommended read - it's well worth making time to read this stunning novel.

I received a paperback to read and review for a Tandem Collective readalong and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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BLOG TOUR: Verity Vanishes (The Quirk Files Book 3) - A B Morgan

The Quirks are back, and there is another crime to solve for P.Q. Investigations.

When Verity Hudson goes missing, Peddyr Quirk – with assistance from his effervescent wife Connie – investigates a strange new case which unfolds in an unsavoury part of town. It soon becomes apparent that they are not the only ones looking for Verity.

A freelance researcher is searching for her birth mother.

An influential man of power and money is desperate to find his estranged sister.

A local politician is determined to expose a hidden tragedy.

A TV journalist will stop at nothing to expose the true story … if it can be uncovered.

Where is Verity, who is Verity, and who will find her first?

 

What did I think?

Verity Vanishes is the third book in the Quirk Files series but it is the first one I have read, so you can definitely read it as a standalone as I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Quirk by name and quirk by nature: you can't get more quirky than Peddyr and Connie quirk.  I really like the pairing of these unusual characters and it has definitely made me want to read more in the series.  With dogged determination, a handful of cunning and a sprinkling of humour, they investigate the disappearance of Verity Hudson and if anyone can find her, the Quirks can.

There is more than the Quirks looking for Verity which adds several layers onto an already intriguing storyline.  Reading Verity Vanishes is like peeling an onion, uncovering layer after layer of mystery as you turn each page.  As more of Verity's story is uncovered, it's quite heartbreaking to read as the story touches on mental health, but this is tackled sensitively and respectfully.

Verity Vanishes is a multi-layered mystery that is very cleverly plotted, delivering an abundance of shocks and surprises for the reader.  The addition of quirky humour perfectly balances the dark and mysterious storyline, resulting in an intriguing, addictive and entertaining read.

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

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: The Family Tree - Steph Mullin & Nicole Mabry

 

The DNA results are back. And there’s a serial killer in her family tree…

Liz Catalano is shocked when an ancestry kit reveals she’s adopted. But she could never have imagined connecting with her unknown family would plunge her into an FBI investigation of a notorious serial killer…

The Tri-State Killer has been abducting pairs of women for forty years, leaving no clues behind – only bodies.

Can Liz figure out who the killer in her new family is? And can she save his newest victims before it’s too late?

A gripping, original thriller for fans of My Lovely Wife, Netflix’s Making a Murderer, and anyone who’s ever wondered what their family tree might be hiding…

What did I think?

I don't think I have read a dual author crime fiction book before but the way that The Family Tree is written makes it quite easy to forget that it's the work of two authors; the writing is actually seamless considering there are two different writing styles in the book.  The format of the book took me a little while to get used to as I felt like I wanted to know more about the victims but the main focus of the story is the character of Liz Catalano whose DNA result proves very interesting to the FBI. 

The story of 27-year-old Liz's discovery that she is adopted is interspersed with stories of various women who have been abducted and killed by the Tri-State Killer, who mind-blowingly is someone in Liz's biological family.  I don't know how Liz kept her sanity after discovering she's not who she thought she was and then wanting to get to know her ancestors but at the same time possibly having dinner with a serial killer.  You wouldn't have seen me for dust!

Adoption is a tricky process and I can understand the adoptive parents struggling to find the best time to tell their child that they don't share their DNA.  Liz has been completely absorbed into the Catalano family and accepted as one of their own so as much as I thought Liz's parents were crazy to keep her in the dark about her birth, I could see that they loved her so fiercely that it was easy to forget that they didn't bring her into the world.  DNA kits sound like a great gift for that difficult to buy for person but for some people it's like being handed a live hand-grenade, shattering their world.

I really liked Liz, she is filled with such dogged determination but it sometimes results in her being very reckless with her own safety.  I read the whole book quite quickly but I could feel my reading pace pick up further towards the end as Liz took more and more risks without informing the FBI.  It certainly got my heart beating at a rate of knots!

Suspenseful and incredibly tense, The Family Tree is a fast-paced, heart-pounding thriller.  I really enjoyed it, it intrigued me from the start and held my interest throughout.   

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

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: Helen and the Grandbees - Alex Morrall

 

Forgetting your past is one thing, but living with your present is entirely different.

Twenty years ago, Helen is forced to give up her newborn baby, Lily. Now living alone in her small flat, there is a knock at the door and her bee, her Lily, is standing in front of her.

Reuniting means the world to them both, but Lily has questions. Lots of them. Questions that Helen is unwilling to answer. In turn Helen watches helplessly as her headstrong daughter launches from relationship to relationship, from kind Andrew, the father of her daughter, to violent Kingsley who fathers her son.

When it’s clear her grandbees are in danger, tangled up in her daughter’s damaging relationship, Helen must find the courage to step in, confronting the fears that haunt her the most.

Told in Helen’s quirky voice Helen and the Grandbees addresses matters of identity, race and mental illness.

What did I think?

Oh my goodness, Helen and the Grandbees is such an emotive book that touches on some hard-hitting subjects with sensitivity and grace.  Alex Morrall has created such a wonderful character in Helen and she has wedged herself so firmly in my heart that I will never forget her.

Helen's quirky voice is apparent from the very first page and it is clear from the prologue that we are in for a heart-wrenching story.  It seems at times that Helen is stuck in her little girl body; she is still innocent and almost childlike in a way, despite the awful things that have happened to her.  Helen learnt about the birds and bees the hard way but the worst thing for Helen was having to give up her little bee, Lily.  Twenty years pass before Lily comes back to Helen in search of her heritage.

Now named Ingrid, Lily wants answers that Helen can't give her.  Helen won't divulge any details of Lily's father or even Helen's own parents and Lily is understandably upset and frustrated with Helen.  It was heartbreaking to see how this affected Lily's fledgling relationship with Helen and Lily was so self-centred that she couldn't see what damage was being done to Helen by dredging up the past.

Alex Morrall’s writing is absolutely beautiful and Helen and the Grandbees is a stunning debut.  There are some difficult subjects touched upon which give the story a dark undercurrent but Helen's quirky voice, and indeed her strength, make it such an uplifting and hopeful read.  I loved it and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

Thank you to Legend Press for my gifted copy; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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The Waiting Rooms - Eve Smith

Swinging from South Africa to England: one woman’s hunt for her birth mother in an all-too-believable near future in which an antibiotic crisis has decimated the population. A prescient, thrilling debut.

Decades of spiralling drug resistance have unleashed a global antibiotic crisis. Ordinary infections are untreatable, and a scratch from a pet can kill. A sacrifice is required to keep the majority safe: no one over seventy is allowed new antibiotics. The elderly are sent to hospitals nicknamed ‘The Waiting Rooms’ … hospitals where no one ever gets well.

Twenty years after the crisis takes hold, Kate begins a search for her birth mother, armed only with her name and her age. As Kate unearths disturbing facts about her mother’s past, she puts her family in danger and risks losing everything. Because Kate is not the only secret that her mother is hiding. Someone else is looking for her, too.

Sweeping from an all-too-real modern Britain to a pre-crisis South Africa, The Waiting Rooms is epic in scope, richly populated with unforgettable characters, and a tense, haunting vision of a future that is only a few mutations away.

What did I think?

Maybe during a global pandemic wasn't the best time to read a book with a similar setting, as The Waiting Rooms scared the bejesus out of me!  Although I think even without the current crisis, The Waiting Rooms is so scarily realistic that you can easily imagine it happening.  

The Waiting Rooms is set in past and present and told from the viewpoints of Lily, Mary and Kate.  In the present day, Lily is living in a residential home and approaching her 70th birthday, however, 70 is not an age to be celebrated in this dystopian Britain as that is the age from which antibiotics are no longer given making even the smallest infection fatal.  Kate is a nurse and just beginning the search for her birth mother after the death of her adoptive mother.  The key to both Lily and Kate's lives is in the past as we read about Mary who is a research scientist looking at healing properties of plants in South Africa before becoming involved in a scandal that rocked the medical world.

Eve Smith has written such an exceptional novel that it left me completely gobsmacked.  I really shouldn't have been shocked but I was totally floored to discover how much of The Waiting Rooms is based on actual medical research.  It's so scarily believable that it's giving me goosebumps just thinking about it now.  This is a book that should have been way beyond its time but instead has been released at a time when it's as real as watching the news.

Hard-hitting, thought-provoking and scarily realistic, The Waiting Rooms should be on everyone's bookshelf.  This is absolutely outstanding writing from Eve Smith; it's almost as if her predictions have come true so I'm both fascinated and terrified to read what she writes next.  So highly recommended, The Waiting Rooms is a definite MUST read.

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

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: Mine - Clare Empson

'Who am I? Why am I here? Why did my mother give me away?'

On the surface, Luke and his girlfriend Hannah seem to have a perfect life. He's an A&R man, she's an arts correspondent and they are devoted to their new-born son Samuel.

But beneath the gloss Luke has always felt like an outsider. So when he finds his birth mother Alice, the instant connection with her is a little like falling in love.

When Hannah goes back to work, Luke asks Alice to look after their son. But Alice - fuelled with grief from when her baby was taken from her 27 years ago - starts to fall in love with Samuel. And Luke won't settle for his mother pushing him aside once again...

What did I think?

I was drawn to Mine by the amazing cover showing the peace and tranquillity of a baby's nursery behind a shattered pane of glass.  I have to say that I felt as broken as that pane of glass when I finished reading; Clare Empson really put my emotions through the wringer with her outstanding second novel.

It's always emotional reading where adoption is concerned and Mine is a double-whammy of emotion; it's a dual timeline novel telling the story of Luke introducing his birth mother Alice into his family and also the story of Alice's history up to the point where she handed over her newborn son for adoption.  It is like a simultaneous knife to the heart and an elastoplast over her shattered heart when Alice meets Luke's baby son Samuel who looks just like Luke did when he was born.  When Alice starts to look after Samuel, Luke feels pushed out and unwanted all over again but in Alice's mind she can right the wrongs of the past.  Emotions begin to run high and I feared this would all end in tears, but I didn't expect the tears to be mine!

With a strong emphasis on mental health, I read Mine with a sense of foreboding but still wasn't prepared for the shock and emotion I felt at the end which had me gulping back tears.  Alice's story is completely heartbreaking and I had tears in my eyes on several occasions at the events that changed a talented young woman's life forever.  My heart also went out to Luke who felt so confused and hurt when he should have been building a new relationship with his birth mother.  The character who stood out for me, rather surprisingly, was Christina, Luke's adoptive mother; she was kept in the dark about Luke meeting Alice but when the chips were down she showed what unconditional love is all about.

Mine is a powerful and highly emotive story about motherhood.  It felt dark and ominous at times so I wasn't prepared to feel so bereft at the end.  Beautiful, sensitive and utterly heartbreaking Mine is highly recommended and completely unforgettable.

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

My rating:

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All the Good Things - Clare Fisher

What if you did a very bad thing... but that wasn't the end of the story?

Twenty-one year old Beth is in prison. The thing she did is so bad she doesn't deserve ever to feel good again.

But her counsellor, Erika, won't give up on her. She asks Beth to make a list of all the good things in her life. So Beth starts to write down her story, from sharing silences with Foster Dad No. 1, to flirting in the Odeon on Orange Wednesdays, to the very first time she sniffed her baby's head.

But at the end of her story, Beth must confront the bad thing.

What is the truth hiding behind her crime? And does anyone - even a 100% bad person - deserve a chance to be good?

What did I think?

I've had All the Good Things on my TBR for far too long and I only picked it up by chance when I was looking for a book thin enough to fit in my bag for a long train journey.  I expected to read a handful of chapters then gaze out of the train window at the scenery whizzing by, but as soon as I picked up this book I was lost.  It's just as well the train terminated at my destination or I would have ended up somewhere completely unexpected as I turned the final page of this book.

The whole premise is breathtakingly simple as Beth, an inmate in a prison, lists all of the good things that have happened to her in her life.  Now, this might seem like an easy task to you or me, but to someone like Beth with her tragic life she has to dig a bit deeper to list her good things.  Always hovering in the background, as we read Beth's story, is the bad thing she has done.  It's not difficult to guess what it is, but as I got to know Beth, I hoped with all my heart that I was wrong.

Clare Fisher is a magnificent storyteller, creating a terribly flawed but completely believable character in Beth who I very easily began to care about.  I felt so emotionally involved in the ups and downs of Beth's story that I dreaded getting to the part that landed her in prison.  As if she could read my mind, Clare Fisher sprinkled a glimmer of hope and forgiveness into the story to help me cope with this awful but inevitable revelation.

I am completely flabbergasted that this is a debut novel; the writing is so polished and accomplished and Clare Fisher manages to make you feel everything that the main character of Beth is feeling.  It surprised me how emotional I found this book, although I didn't cry I felt as if I was experiencing all of Beth's emotions with her.  The characterisation is so multidimensional that Beth jumps from the page and she stayed with me long after I turned the final page.  All the Good Things is a completely stunning and entirely flawless debut.

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

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: All the Little Lies - Chris Curran

Your whole life has been a lie…

One email is all it takes to turn Eve’s world upside down. It contains a picture of her true birth mother, Stella, and proves that Eve’s entire life with her adoptive parents has been a lie.

Now she must unravel the mystery of Stella’s dark past. But what Eve finds will force her to take enormous risks, which put her – and her new-born baby – in immediate danger…

What did I think?

I always get a thrill when a novel is set in my native North East, so I was surprised and delighted when I was reading All the Little Lies as I had no idea that Chris Curran had part set her new novel in Gateshead and Newcastle.

Aside from the amazing location, All the Little Lies is such an intriguing story with Eve trying to find out more about her birth mother, Stella.  She knows her adoptive parents know more than they are letting on and I had a constant question mark over my head as I wondered just what they were trying to hide.  

As Eve digs into Stella's story, we are treated to flashbacks of Stella's life: from her meagre beginnings as a young child in Newcastle to fame as an artist before her life was tragically cut short.  I loved the tempestuous story of Stella and Maggie; best friends or frenemies as I liked to think of them because Maggie was so jealous of Stella's artistic talent and beauty.  I didn't trust Maggie one bit and when she invited Stella to stay with her in Italy, I knew it would all end in tears.

I love reading a fiction book and learning something I didn't know.  I was so surprised to read about an art installation in Gateshead's Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art that I was completely unaware of.  I have visited The Baltic on numerous occasions but I have always taken the supersonic glass lift to admire the views of the Newcastle Gateshead quayside on the way.  Thanks to Chris Curran, next time I visit I will be taking the stairs to experience Mark Wallinger's Heaven and Hell art installation of a staircase that appears to stretch to infinity.

All the Little Lies is not only gripping and intriguing but it has an added hint of danger as Eve's digging into Stella's past unearths secrets that somebody wants to keep well and truly buried.  Where lies are involved, you can always expect twists and turns aplenty and All the Little Lies certainly delivers in the surprising twists stakes, many of which I really didn't see coming.

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

My rating:

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About the author:

All the Little Lies is Chris Curran’s fourth psychological thriller for Harper Collins Killer Reads. She lives in East Sussex and writes, standing up, in a room with no view. When inspiration falters she finds tea (Earl Grey, hot) and a bout of ironing are very therapeutic. In breaks between books she dusts, cooks, walks by the sea and reads – but mostly reads.

Find her at:

https://chriscurranauthor.com/      

Twitter @Christi_Curran  

https://www.instagram.com/chriscurranwriter/

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BLOG BLITZ: Another Mother - Amanda James

Adopted at birth, for years Lu has secretly dreamt of finding her birth mother but childhood bullying has left her with a lack of confidence. When a tragic accident changes her life forever it sets her on a mission to get in contact with her birth mother and find out the reasons behind her adoption.

When she tracks down her mother in Cornwall there is an emotional reunion and the pair begin to form a relationship.

But is everything as wonderful as it appears or has Lu walked into a nightmare?

What did I think?

I've become quite a fan of Amanda James over the years, since discovering the amazing Summer in Tintagel that was published in 2016.  So I was eager to read her latest book, Another Mother - the title alone gave me shivers as I envisaged jealousy and manipulation of a woman caught between her two mothers, however, nothing could have prepared me for the book I was about to read...

Lucinda has an awful situation to deal with when her mother, Hannah, is killed in a road accident.  Her grief brings to the fore something she has been considering for a while: the search for her birth mother.  Although I can understand Lu wanting to fill that mother shaped hole in her life, I found it hard to empathise with her as I felt her timing was way off.  It's not long before Lu leaves her grieving father in Sheffield and heads off to Cornwall to meet her birth mother, Mellyn.

What a character Amanda James has created in Mellyn!  Mellyn seems desperate for Lu to call her 'Mum', despite knowing that the woman that Lu has called 'Mum' all her life has just died.  Ok, so selfish springs to mind, but I thought 'like mother like daughter' with Lu appearing so intent on replacing her adopted Mum so quickly.  It quickly comes to light that all is not as it seems when Lu often sees flashes of anger in Mellyn's stormy eyes and I was pleased that Lu seemed to be a bit wary and decided to keep Mellyn at arms length.  It did feel like Lu had fallen down the rabbit hole and landed in the Mad Hatter's tea party as Mellyn is entirely BONKERS!

With Mellyn being such a volatile and unpredictable character, I was completely intrigued to see how this story would play out.  I loved how Amanda James created a backstory for Lu so we could see how her character developed into the woman she is today.  It resulted in me reading with my fingers crossed for a happy ending for Lu but you'll just have to read the book to find out whether she gets her happy ending or not.  

Another Mother is an intense family drama that will get into your head and under your skin.  It left me feeling quite emotionally wrung out with so many ups and downs and it is the quality of Amanda James' writing that evokes such emotion in the reader.  A compelling read from start to finish.

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

My rating:

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About the author:

Amanda has written since she was a child, but never imagined that her words would be published, given that she left school with no real qualifications of note apart from an A* in how to be a nuisance in class. Nevertheless, she returned to education when her daughter was five and eventually became a history teacher. Then in 2010, after many twists and turns, the dream of becoming a writer came true when her first short story was published. Amanda has written many short stories and has six novels currently published.

Amanda grew up in Sheffield but now has realised her lifelong dream of living in Cornwall and her writing is inspired every day by the dramatic coastline near her home. She has sketched out many stories in her head while walking the cliff paths. Three of her mystery/suspense novels are set there, Somewhere Beyond the Sea, Summer in Tintagel and the Behind the Lie. Rip Current is also set in Cornwall and will be published by Bloodhound Books in April 2018.

Amanda, known to many as Mandy, spends far more time than is good for her on social media and has turned procrastination to a fine art. She can also usually be found playing on the beach with her family, or walking the cliff paths planning her next book.

Amanda's blog - http://mandykjameswrites.blogspot.com/

Twitter - @akjames61

Facebook mandy.james.33

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BLOG TOUR: The Winter's Child - Cassandra Parkin

The nights are drawing in and winter is around the corner, so I am delighted to be taking part in The Winter's Child blog tour.  Not only do I have my review, I have a fantastic giveaway courtesy of Legend Press where you can win your very own paperback copy.  So do make you sure you scroll to the end of my post to enter!

Five years ago, Susannah Harper's son Joel went missing without trace. Bereft of her son and then of her husband, Susannah tries to accept that she may never know for certain what has happened to her lost loved ones. She has rebuilt her life around a simple selfless mission: to help others who, like her, must learn to live without hope.

But then, on the last night of Hull Fair, a fortune-teller makes an eerie prediction. She tells her that this Christmas Eve, Joel will finally come back to her.

As her carefully-constructed life begins to unravel, Susannah is drawn into a world of psychics and charlatans, half-truths and hauntings, friendships and betrayals, forcing her to confront the buried truths of her family's past, where nothing and no one are quite as they seem.

A ghostly winter read with a modern gothic flavour. A tale of twisted love, family secrets and hauntings.

What did I think?

I've always been intrigued by fortune tellers and psychics, although I have never been to see one, so the opening pages of The Winter's Child sucked me right in.  From that moment on, I couldn't put the book down as I wanted to know what had happened to Susannah's son and whether Susannah had finally received an accurate prediction from the people she brands as charlatans on her blog.

As much as she thinks they are charlatans, Susannah can't help but be drawn to people with such gifts as she is desperate to find out what happened to her son, Joel, who has been missing for 5 years.  On a visit to Hull Fair with her sister and her kids, Susannah sneaks off to a fortune teller who tells her that she'll finally be reunited with Joel on Christmas Eve.  Susannah is torn: she thinks these people are tricksters but she so wants to believe and I think this prediction started the unravelling of Susannah.

Susannah starts to hear Joel calling for her, she sees strange things, can smell mud and feels as if she is being drowned.  I think I even held my breath when Susannah was underwater, even though I didn't know whether it was actually happening to her or if it was all in her head.  It felt real to Susannah and it sure felt real to me!  The creepy goings on had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end and my arms were plagued with the prickle of goosebumps.  

The pain that Susannah felt with the loss of her child was palpable and I really felt for her when I thought she was going mad with grief or even inability to grieve as she clutched at the last, almost transparent, threads of hope slipping through her fingers.  When we start to learn more about Joel himself, I don't mind telling you, my heart was broken into a million pieces.  I'm not giving away any spoilers but I just wanted to bundle Joel up and keep him safe, which is all Susannah ever wanted to do.  Susannah definitely has a special bond with Joel and it is clear that she will do anything for her precious boy, even at the risk of destroying her marriage.  I really couldn't read fast enough to get the answers that Susannah, and I, craved.

The Winter's Child is a dark, disturbing, creepy book; so beautifully written that it draws the reader into the tangled web that Cassandra Parkin has intricately woven.  It is deeply affecting and moving, haunting and haunted; quite simply a stunning piece of fiction.

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

My rating:

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GIVEAWAY!

The giveaway opens on 28th October and closes at midnight on Hallowe'en 31st October.

The competition is open to entrants in UK only and the winner will be contacted via email shortly after.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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BLOG TOUR: My Name is Leon - Kit de Waal

I am delighted to re-release my 5🌟 review on my stop of the My Name is Leon blog tour.  This is one of those books that stay with you long after you have turned the final page; several months after I read it, I still have a little home in my heart for Leon.  If you're looking to read something uplifting, poignant and funny, make sure you don't miss My Name is Leon.

A brother chosen. A brother left behind. And a family where you'd least expect to find one.

Leon is nine, and has a perfect baby brother called Jake. They have gone to live with Maureen, who has fuzzy red hair like a halo, and a belly like Father Christmas. But the adults are speaking in low voices, and wearing Pretend faces. They are threatening to give Jake to strangers. Since Jake is white and Leon is not.

As Leon struggles to cope with his anger, certain things can still make him smile - like Curly Wurlys, riding his bike fast downhill, burying his hands deep in the soil, hanging out with Tufty (who reminds him of his dad), and stealing enough coins so that one day he can rescue Jake and his mum.

Evoking a Britain of the early eighties, My Name is Leon is a heart-breaking story of love, identity and learning to overcome unbearable loss. Of the fierce bond between siblings. And how - just when we least expect it - we manage to find our way home.

What did I think?

This book should come with a packet of tissues; I felt so emotionally invested in this book and completely engrossed in Leon's story that I kept thinking about it long after I had turned the final page.

Leon is almost 9 years old and already he is acting as a carer for his baby brother, Jake, and his mother, Carol. As it becomes clear that his mother cannot look after Leon and Jake, or even herself, Leon and Jake are taken into care. So they pack their meagre belongings and go to live with Maureen, their foster carer.  Maureen has fostered lots of children and she welcomes each and every one of them into her home and loves them as if they were her own children.  With Maureen opening her heart to Leon and Jake so unconditionally, I immediately knew that they were in good and safe hands.

I thought my heart would break when Leon kept wondering when his mother would come back for them but as Carol shows no signs of getting back on her feet, it is not long before Jake is adopted and Leon is left feeling understandably bereft. When Maureen is suddenly taken ill it is her sister, Sylvia, who steps in to look after Leon. As Leon struggles to fit in to his ever-changing environment he rides his bike to the local allotments and makes some unlikely friends - a strange bunch of people who are all struggling to fit in and find that, in the end, they just might all fit together perfectly like the missing pieces of a jigsaw.

My Name is Leon is a wonderful advert for foster caring; it's a beautiful story that reminds us that 'family' can come in all guises, not just those we are related to by blood. We hear so many horror stories on the news that it is so refreshing to read a heartwarming, lovely story like this.  I cried at the beginning, middle and end as Leon's plight is an all too common occurrence.  Kit de Waal, in her astonishing debut, has done an amazing job of giving each of her characters a strong and completely unique voice; from Leon's hilarious innocence to Maureen's inexhaustible love.  Such varied and unique characters who inevitably managed to set up house and make a little home in my heart.

Written with such breathtaking tenderness, My Name is Leon is an emotional, poignant, heartwarming story filled with innocent humour and, above all, hope.

I received this book from the publisher, Penguin, in exchange for an honest review.

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