BLOG TOUR: Someone Who Isn't Me - Danuta Kot

 

When the body of a twenty-four-year-old man is found on Sunk Island, a quiet stretch of land in Yorkshire, two facts immediately stand out. First: the killer wanted the body to be found. Second, the dead man was a police officer, and he had been working undercover.

Meanwhile, aimless 20-something Becca has multiple jobs to keep her head above water. At night, in the local pub, she serves punters and tries to work out what she wants to do with her life. One thing that keeps her going is Andy, a regular she always has a laugh with – and maybe something more.

And then Andy vanishes. Becca is convinced that the shady manager of her pub has something to do with his disappearance. But in order to discover the truth, she'll have to put herself in danger. All for someone she doesn't truly know...

The gripping new novel from Dagger-Award-winning author Danuta Kot, perfect for fans of Ann Cleeves, Tana French and Denise Mina - a story about the people we are... and the people we aren't.

What did I think?

I loved Danuta Kot's Life Ruins set in the Northern dilapidated seaside town of Bridlington so I was very eager to visit Bridlington again in Someone Who Isn't Me.  As it has some of the same characters in it, Someone Who Isn't Me can be described as a sequel but it's so good in its own right that it can definitely be read and enjoyed as a standalone.

Danuta Kot's writing is stunning; she not only brings characters to life but the landscape itself almost seems to take on a life of its own.  It's not just Bridlington but Sunk Island, a little village almost 40 miles down the coast, that sets the scene for this wonderful novel filled with tension and danger.  Sunk Island sounds so dark and desolate that it gave me chills just reading about it.  It is actually a real place in Yorkshire so no offence to the residents, but it really does give me the creeps.  

Becca and her foster mum Kay are the two characters that follow through from Life Ruins.  It was great to catch up with them again and see that Becca is as independent as ever.  Working two jobs to make ends meet, the highlight of Becca's week is meeting up with her boyfriend Andy again.  As she watches the clock and Andy still doesn't appear, it soon becomes clear that Andy isn't who she thinks he is and Becca herself might be in danger.

I absolutely raced through this outstanding novel; the plot is fast-paced, gripping and incredibly believable and the writing is sublime with a raw and gritty edge.  I almost couldn't keep hold of the book in my sweaty palms during a particular scene on Sunk Island when I was on the edge of my seat - such brilliant writing.  I also picked up a really useful self-defense tip using just a newspaper - I'll never forget that one.

Tense and suspenseful, Someone Who Isn't Me is a fast-paced, dark and gritty novel filled to the brim with danger.  I loved Life Ruins but I think Danuta Kot has really raised the bar with Someone Who Isn't Me.  A stunning novel and one I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

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

My rating:

Buy it from:

UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon

About the author:

Danuta Kot grew up with stories. Her Irish mother and her Polish father kept their own cultures alive with traditional tales they shared with their children. For many years, she worked with young people in Yorkshire who were growing up in the aftermath of sudden industrial decline. She uses this background in her books to explore some of the issues that confront modern, urban society: poverty, alienation and social breakdown, using the contexts of the modern crime novel. She now works as a senior education consultant, work that involves travel to establish education and training in other parts of the world. She is a regular academic speaker at conferences and literary festivals, and has appeared on radio and television.

Follow the tour:

BLOG TOUR: Mr Right Across the Street - Kathryn Freeman

 

Mia Abbott’s move to Manchester was supposed to give her time and space from all the disastrous romantic choices she’s made in her past. But then the hot guy who lives opposite – the one who works out every day at exactly 10 a.m., not that Mia has noticed thank-you-very-much – starts leaving notes in his window…for her.

Bar owner Luke Doyle has his own issues to deal with but as he shows Mia the sites of her new city he also shows her what real romance looks like for the first time. And when he cooks up a signature cocktail in her honour, she realises that the man behind the bar is even more enticing than any of his creations. And once she’s had a taste she knows it will never be enough!

What did I think?

I was in the mood for a bit of feel-good fiction and as Kathryn Freeman is always guaranteed to put a smile on my face I picked up her new book, Mr Right Across the Street.  What an absolute delight to read!  I devoured this gorgeous novel over a weekend, laughing, growling (at Freya) and even crying along the way.

Mia must be the most honest and true to herself character I have ever come across; she is a self-confessed geek and what you see is what you get.  I absolutely loved her!  She may be running away from a failed relationship but she is so brave to move 200 miles away from her home in Somerset to Manchester, where she doesn't know a single person.

Rather like the Diet Coke break advert, Mia is treated to a free hunky man show every day at 10am when the guy across the street works out in his spare room.  Mia gets a much closer look than she expected when she goes out one evening and finds the same guy behind the bar of her local.  Luke is quite the charmer with his patrons but Mia is very guarded and takes his flirting with a pinch of salt until he starts sticking sheets of paper up in his window with messages for her.  How cute!

With a handful of insecurities and a bucket-load of misunderstandings, I watched Mia and Luke's relationship transform from friendship to love.  As I was reading I felt like I was sitting in The Bar Beneath sipping cocktails and making friends with the regulars.  They are such a lovely, friendly crowd even though a good proportion of them have some kind of history with Luke.  It made me think how a lot of women these days tend to look the same with their tight black dresses, blonde curls and pink pouts so no wonder Mia stood out from the crowd with her geeky t-shirt, Converse and green stripes in her hair.  As least Luke can get a good idea of what she looks like on a morning and she won't leave orange streaks of foundation on his pillow.

Mr Right Across the Street is fabulous feel-good fiction from the Queen of Smiles, Kathryn Freeman.  I can't help but read her books with a smile on my face and joy in my heart.  Humourous, heart-warming and just plain cute, Mr Right Across the Street is perfect escapism and just what we all need right now.  A virtual hug in a book; thank you Kathryn!

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

My rating:

Buy it from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the author:

A former pharmacist, I'm now a medical writer who also writes romance. Some days a racing heart is a medical condition, others it's the reaction to a sexy hero. 

With a husband who asks every Valentine's Day whether he has to buy a card (yes, he does), any romance is all in my head. Then again, his unstinting support of my career change proves love isn't always about hearts and flowers - and heroes come in many disguises.

Social Media Links – 

Website:  http://kathrynfreeman.co.uk

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/kathrynfreeman

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/KathrynFreeman1

Follow the tour:

The Cocktail Bar - Isabella May

Rock star, River Jackson, is back in his hometown of Glastonbury to open a cocktail bar… and the locals aren’t impressed.

Seductive Georgina is proving too hot to handle; band mate, Angelic Alice, is messing with his heart and his head; his mum is a hippie-dippy liability; his school friends have resorted to violence – oh, and his band manager, Lennie, AND the media are on his trail.

But River is armed with a magical Mexican elixir which will change the lives of the Three Chosen Ones. Once the Mexican wave of joy takes a hold of the town, he’s glad he didn’t lose his proverbial bottle.

Pity he hasn’t taken better care of the real one…

What did I think?

I don't often refer to the cover of a book but just take another look at this one - now that's what I call delicious!  The cocktails inside are as mouthwatering as the cover but they have an added sprinkling of magical fairy dust thanks to a secret cocktail ingredient: the Mexican elixir.

River Jackson is one messed up guy.  He's left his band and returned home to Glastonbury to open a bar where he wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms.  Some of his old schoolfriends let him know that he is not welcome back by smashing up his new trendy cocktail bar.  As if his life couldn't get any more complicated, he is then seduced by Georgina who is the sister of Blake, the bar-smashing ringleader.  I was so exasperated with him, saying 'River, River, River think with your head for a change...' but Georgina puts on a good show until she turns into psycho-b*tch and River only has himself to blame.

When Alice also leaves the band and returns to Glastonbury, the real sparks fly as you can tell that she is meant to be with River.  Georgina isn't rolling over without a fight though and she starts to sharpen her claws as Alice threatens to ruin her masterplan.  There was so much going on with the complicated relationships that I often forgot about magical elixir storyline.

Alcohol is often referred to as magic potion, but in The Cocktail Bar River really does have a magical ingredient.  On a trip to Tequila he meets the mysterious Mercedes who gives him a bottle of her magical elixir to be given to three chosen people who will identify themselves to River.  I loved seeing who was going to choose the magical cocktail and what would happen to them when they did.  It just shows that if you believe in magic, anything can happen.

The Cocktail Bar is a mouthwateringly delicious book filled with drama and a sprinkling of magic.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

Wanderlust - Simon Foster

After 9/11, Aussie expat Luke Bales is determined to make a success of his New York bar, The Billabong.

But when a hot fashion student goes missing from the bar, Luke’s liquor license is threatened and his sidekick placed under suspicion.

To keep his dream alive, Luke follows a bloody trail through the city’s boroughs, soon realizing that evil can strike thousands of miles from home.

Or just around the corner. 

What did I think?

Well this was a little hidden gem of a book and I absolutely raced through it one rainy Saturday afternoon.  I knew I was going to love it from the very first page; not just because it was set in a bar (as many people know I'm a beer lover) but because of the easy going Aussie lingo that reminded me of happy days watching Home and Away and Neighbours.  Lingo that greeted me like an old friend, drawing me in and pulling out a seat with my name on it at this friendly bar in NYC named The Billabong.

The book is named after a beer cocktail served at The Billabong - beer cocktail, you say?  Yes, you heard me right.  I have got to try The Wanderlust, although I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to put a dash of Tabasco in my beer.  Anyway I digress enough about the beer, on to the book...

The story starts as Luke and his assistant, Anchor, are setting up his bar one Monday afternoon for what will surely be another busy evening, when in walk two NYPD detectives.  They are investigating a case of a missing Australian girl who was last seen at The Billabong on Friday night.  Luke recognises her from her photograph but can't say who she was with or when she left the bar as it was so busy, so the detectives want to speak to Anchor, who conveniently made a sharp exit as they entered the bar.  When body parts start turning up, it's not long before Anchor's shady past is revealed and he is collared for the crime.  Luke is convinced of his innocence but the detectives are happy they have got their man.  Case closed.  The case is far from closed for Luke who follows a trail around New York, getting into scrapes along the way and using his Aussie charm to talk himself out of trouble.  

Luke is a great character with some cracking lines; there are too many to mention here and by doing so would spoil the book anyway. Needless to say I was crying with laughter at times despite the sometimes serious storyline.  Any character that says, 'Don't be a galah' to an impending fight scene is a winner for me! 

Wanderlust will appeal to all crime fiction fans and the added humour and laid back Aussie style make it something that little bit different; I'm sure Wanderlust is destined for great things and I know without a doubt that it will be one of my top reads of 2016.  It is so addictive that you can't put it down and as usual I didn't get the whodunnit right.  Either I'm really bad at picking up clues or the author is really clever...I'm going to go with the latter!  If you're looking for something a bit different, you won't go wrong with Wanderlust.

An absolutely cracking (or should I say bonzer?) debut from author Simon Foster and I do hope that Simon lets us catch up with Luke and The Billabong again.

I received this e-book from the author, via Books Go Social, in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon