Bright Midnights: A Dark Paranormal Love Story (The Limerent Series Book 2) - LS Delorme

Amelie has always been different.

Most high school students find life challenging, but 17-year old Amelie has a lot more to contend with than typical teenage angst. Ever since she turned 11, others have been irresistibly drawn to her—with tragic consequences. Her only escape is at night when she flies to different times and places through her “dreams”. Her life begins to change when, on one of her flights, she meets Clovis, an alluring and mysterious young man who hides a secret.

As Amelie finds herself increasingly drawn to him, she learns his story, how it intertwines with her own and finally discovers how to live her life in the real world. Until her own secrets are revealed to the wrong people and that world turns upside down.

Bright Midnights is the second in the Limerent Series and continues in the thought-provoking and beautiful style of the first as it considers different dimensions, different ways of looking at the world, and the transcendental power of love.

 

What did I think?

I discovered The Limerent Series at book 3, Fanning Fireflies, so I'm working backwards by returning to the series with book 2, Bright Midnights.  Each book can be read as a standalone as the main characters' stories are the focus of each book, with some cameo appearances from characters you might recognise if you've read any of the other books.

This is Amelie's story and she has a special gift that definitely feels like more of a curse as people become fixated and dangerously obsessed with her.  The story becomes quite dark as the reader is privy to certain thoughts and feelings that people have about Amelie and it often made my skin crawl.

Amelie can escape her real life through her dreams where she meets Clovis.  It's obvious from the start that Amelie and Clovis have a special connection but there are very good reasons why they can never be together.  The heart rules the head though, and there are some more necessary but slightly uncomfortable moments in store for the reader as inevitable events occur.

LS Delorme's writing is so dreamlike and ethereal, sweeping the reader away to alternative realities.  The plot is imaginative and original as it mixes real life with the paranormal and the characters are beautifully drawn and very memorable.  

Pure escapism with a dark undercurrent, Bright Midnights is a captivating romantasy that is entertaining and provocative.  I am looking forward to reading more books in this magical series.

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

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BLOG TOUR: Fanning Fireflies (The Limerent Series Book 3) - LS Delorme

There is something rotting in Harrisville.

It's 1944 and Veronica works so she can afford to eat. Maybe one day she will save enough to own the home her family is living in, but for now, she doesn't have time for fanciful thoughts, or much else. She doesn't have time for the fire whispering to her, the ghosts trying to talk to her and the son of her boss, who can't stop staring at her. She definitely doesn't have time to think about Lazlo, the handsome black soldier that she processed at the draft office, but she can't seem to stop herself. As her ability to ignore Lazlo evaporates, so does her self-imposed ignorance about her hometown. There is, and always has been, something rotten in Harrisville. It shouldn't have been a surprise. After all, Veronica works in the cigarette factory, where corpses hide in the tobacco with the roaches.

 

What did I think?

I was drawn to Fanning Fireflies by the stunning cover and it as mesmerising inside and out.  I didn't realise it was the third book in The Limerent series when I started to read it and it can definitely be read as a standalone but I now want to read the earlier books.

Set in 1944, it's shocking to see the prejudices that people experienced in our not so distant past.  Love doesn't see the colour of your skin so when Veronica meets Lazio she can't stop thinking about him and vice versa.  Lazio is sent to fight in World War II but he writes to Veronica and he meets her every night in his dreams.

Veronica works in a cigarette factory and she has a gift (or a curse) that enables her to see ghosts and there are a surprising number of them in the factory.  When women from the town start going missing, the coloured residents are blamed but Veronica's gift holds the key to what is really happening to the missing women.

Mixing fantasy with historical fiction and romance, Fanning Fireflies is a genre-busting novel that completely blew me away.  It's so beautifully written and completely mesmerising that I couldn't put it down and I couldn't stop thinking about it long after I turned the final page.  The love story is just stunning and it adds an abundance of light to the shocking darkness of the racial prejudice.  A highly recommended read and one I will definitely be reading again.

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

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The Shadow Friend - Alex North

The victim was his friend. So was the murderer.

Twenty-five years ago, troubled teenager Charlie Crabtree committed a shocking and unprovoked murder.

For Paul Adams, it's a day he'll never forget. He's never forgiven himself for his part in what happened to his friend and classmate. He's never gone back home.

But when his elderly mother has a fall, it's finally time to stop running.

It's not long before things start to go wrong. A copycat killer has struck, bringing back painful memories. Paul's mother insists there's something in the house.

And someone is following him.

Which reminds him of the most unsettling thing about that awful day twenty-five years ago.

It wasn't just the murder.

It was the fact that afterwards, Charlie Crabtree was never seen again . . .

 

What did I think?

I absolutely loved The Whisper Man so I was thrilled to be invited to take part in the Tandem Collective readalong for The Shadow Friend by Alex North.  The readalong suggests that you read set parts of the book over a certain number of days but that's IMPOSSIBLE with The Shadow Friend as it's like a runaway train...once you get on, you can't get off.

The Shadow Friend explores lucid dreaming so you're never quite sure what is true and what isn't while reading.  I found myself constantly questioning whether each character was awake or dreaming and I loved that element of the book as it felt like absolutely anything could happen.  It's so very cleverly written that you unwittingly make certain assumptions along the way and we all know what happens when you assume things; it definitely made an ass of me!

I don't want to give anything away about the perfect plot so the less said the better.  The dual storyline follows Paul as a schoolboy and then as an adult, returning to the scene of the crime so to speak.  Events in the past have an element of the supernatural and I gasped out loud and jumped in shock at one point, so much so that I almost dropped the book!  It's a double whammy of intrigue as the past and present is gradually revealed, making this book impossible to put down. 

The Shadow Friend is an incredibly addictive, gripping, creepy and dark thriller that puts Alex North firmly on the map.  It's pretty creepy but it didn't creep me out as much as The Whisper Man, however, it's more cunning in its deception and had me spinning round so much that I ended up completely in the wrong direction.  It's simply brilliant; an absolute must read and highly recommended.

I received a gifted paperback as part of The Tandem Collective readalong and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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Once Upon a Dream: A Twisted Tale - Liz Braswell

What if the sleeping beauty never woke up? 

It should be simple - a dragon defeated, a slumbering maiden, a prince poised to wake her. But when said prince falls asleep as soon as his lips meet the princess's, it is clear that this fairy tale is far from over. 

With a desperate fairy's last curse infiltrating her mind, Princess Aurora will have to navigate a dangerous magical landscape deep in the depths of her dreams. Soon she stumbles upon Phillip, a charming prince eager to join her quest. But with Maleficent's agents following her every move, Aurora struggles to discover who her true allies are, and more importantly, who she truly is. Time is running out. Will the sleeping beauty be able to wake herself up?

What did I think?

It won't come as a surprise to many that I love a good twist on a fairytale, so what better than a Twisted Tale?  It did melt my brain a little that I picked book 2 before book 1 but the allure of Sleeping Beauty over Aladdin was too much to resist.  I'm sure they are individual stories anyway, so they don't need to be read in order.

I did have rather high expectations for this book and although it delivered on many counts, I found it perhaps a tiny bit too long-winded.  We all know the story of Sleeping Beauty, so I don't need to give it an introduction here, but what we don't know is what happened inside her head when Sleeping Beauty went to sleep.  

Although not as much as I expected to, I enjoyed this alternative fairy story and because I expected a bit of a no-brainer, I was surprised to find that I began to look at things on a deeper level.  Being based in a dreamworld, the whole story has a hint of psychology about it and, once I realised that the story was so multi-dimensional, I enjoyed it more and found it very cleverly written.

I have more books in the Twisted Tales series to read so it will be interesting to see how they fare against this one.

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BLOG TOUR: No Fourth River - Christine Clayfield

I am delighted to be on the blog tour for No Fourth River by Christine Clayfield.  Christine's story is difficult to read at times but that's what makes it so exceptional, that she has the strength to share this with the world.  You can read my 5 star review below and, if you're in the UK, you also have the chance to win your very own copy of No Fourth River along with some chocolates by heading over to Twitter and retweeting my pinned tweet on 13th March.

Electroshock therapy, child abuse and modern-day slavery… just another day in Christine’s life.

Take a heart-wrenching yet inspiring ride through one woman’s incredible journey that is so compelling that you are simultaneously trying to look away and unable to stop yourself from reading on.

Christine’s father is a wealthy, tyrannical man renowned in the diamond business. At the age of just five, little Christine is cast aside into a boarding school where she is ridiculed for two embarrassing problems. She grows up in a never-ending circle of traumatic experiences both in her boarding school and at home. It culminates into a falling out between father and child that was never fully mended, leading her into a world of promiscuity and alcohol, eventually landing her in a violent marriage.

Driven to the limits of despair and heartache, she creates a plan to escape her world of misery. Will her plan work?

What did I think?

No Fourth River is an exceptional true story that manages to be both devastatingly heartbreaking and powerfully inspirational.  I loved the way that it was written with Christine reflecting on her life after returning to Belgium in 2016 to be at her mother's hospital bedside.  

As Christine talks through her life, my heart went out to her.  She has been brought up in a house with four brothers and I felt like her family didn't know how to cope with a girl.  Perhaps her mother was exhausted after having five children and trying to cope with such a strict and violent husband.  Christine's father was a successful businessman but a very unsuccessful family man.  I think Christine described her father perfectly when she said that 'he detonated' on one occasion when her brother wouldn't turn his music down.  I don't think anybody could have described someone's anger any better.

Christine as a child and teenager, although suffering more than her fair share of trauma, had a lot of love to give and nobody to give it to.  It didn't surprise me that she flirted with boys and turned to alcohol, calling it a 'magic potion' to numb her pain.  'Magic potion' made me laugh at first when you think of the crazy things some people (me) get up to when they are drunk, but then I had a sobering thought (no pun intended) as I remembered the magic wearing off.  As Rumpelstiltskin said:  all magic comes with a price, dearie.  A price that Christine almost paid with her life.

In all darkness there is light, and once Christine said enough was enough it was like seeing a beautiful butterfly emerge from a chrysalis.  She followed her dreams, visualised her future and didn't stop until her dreams were realised.  Although I would take my term 'stop' with a pinch of salt as I don't think for a moment that Christine will ever stop.  Christine's sky is not even her limit, her story isn't even close to ending yet.

Along with Christine's story, each chapter has inspirational quotations at the start and I plan to go back through the book and write them all down.  One that particularly sticks in my mind is from self-help advocate, Wayne Dyer:

"Loving people live in a loving world.  Hostile people live in a hostile world.  Same world." - Wayne Dyer

I've been on a few management courses and often get asked to name an inspirational person.  We've all been there...sitting round a table, not hearing anybody's answer as you're desperately trying to think of someone unique and awesome.  Well, I'm all sorted as next time I get asked to name an inspirational person, I won't have to think twice before naming Christine Clayfield.  Christine is such a brave lady, sharing her story and bearing her soul in the hope that her story helps or inspires even just one person.  Well, consider your book a success, Christine.  I have found my awesome inspirational person and I urge you to pick up a copy of No Fourth River and be inspired by Christine's story too.

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

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