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: The Cliff House - Amanda Jennings

Some friendships are made to be broken

Cornwall, summer of 1986.

The Davenports, with their fast cars and glamorous clothes, living the dream in a breathtaking house overlooking the sea.

If only… thinks sixteen-year-old Tamsyn, her binoculars trained on the perfect family in their perfect home.

If only her life was as perfect as theirs.

If only Edie Davenport would be her friend.

If only she lived at The Cliff House…

Amanda Jennings weaves a haunting tale of obsession, loss and longing, set against the brooding North Cornish coastline, destined to stay with readers long after the final page is turned.

What did I think?

Amanda Jennings is a new author for me, although I did buy a copy of In Her Wake quite some time ago; it's sitting in my bookcase winking at me right now and I'm silently promising to read it soon.  I suppose I am in quite a good position to review The Cliff House as I cannot compare it to Amanda Jennings' previous works, but I'm struggling to start my review as I feel slightly breathless and completely bereft since turning the final page and the only word that comes to mind is 'WOW'.  So here's my 'words fail me' review.

Set in 1986 with teenage main characters, this is a haunting tale of obsession and hidden envy that slowly creeps under your skin, inch by inch like the tide coming in.  Tamsyn can only dream of living in The Cliff House until she meets Edie Davenport one day and is invited into their perfect world.  Only it's not as perfect as it appears through Tamsyn's binoculars and she now has a front row seat as the idyllic lifestyle of the Davenports starts to implode.

Tamsyn is such a brilliant character; grieving from the death of her father, she is haunted by a raven that promises more death and destruction to follow.  Tamsyn is written in such a way that she quickly swings from innocence to menace as the raven's prophesies play out in her mind.  I loved these quick snapshots of darkness; they appeared out of nowhere and for a moment I felt myself straying into this dark alternate reality but then being snapped back almost in the blink of an eye.

Reading The Cliff House is like diving into a warm and inviting pool: smooth, immersive and all-encompassing to the point where I had to keep reminding myself to come up for air.  It feels like an innocent story of a forgotten summer at first, but suddenly it has the feel of menace and danger but, by then, I was powerless to resist as I too had fallen in love with The Cliff House.

Amanda Jennings, what a disturbing and hauntingly beautiful tale you weave; The Cliff House is simply breathtaking with outstanding, evocative prose and vividly painted scenery that I can still close my eyes and bring to mind long after turning the final page.  Completely stunning and highly recommended.

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

My rating:

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Undercurrent - J.A. Baker

Phoebe and her disabled husband, Martyn, move into a new house in a village on the edge of County Durham. They plan to lead a quiet existence, a set up that suits them both.

Then Anna, who lives over the road and is bored of spending her days alone, seeks friendship with Phoebe and events take a dark turn.

Phoebe has secrets and is haunted by her past and Anna’s arrival in her life may prove to be the catalyst for her undoing.

What is Phoebe hiding and why are she and her husband so reclusive?

When Anna gets caught in a storm and is rescued by Phoebe the truth becomes apparent and Anna is thrown into danger.

Is there a difference between madness and evil?

Some friendships can be murder.

What did I think?

Crikey!  What a scorching debut from J.A. Baker.  I saw lots of excitement on social media about Undercurrent on its release, so I didn't think twice about buying a copy for myself, although it is the curse of the blogger that books you buy tend to sit on your TBR pile a lot longer than they should.  So I finally got round to picking up Undercurrent and couldn't put it down!  I positively whizzed through it and loved every minute of it.

The prologue is one of those where you are shown a glimpse of the ending so you race through the rest of the book to find out what events led here.  A woman is found stumbling beaten and bloody through the streets of York with no idea how she got there.  Who is she and what happened to her?  The story then starts with Phoebe and her disabled husband, Martyn, moving into their new home in a small village in County Durham.  Their new home sounds perfect, apart from the public right of way running alongside the river and right through their garden.  With Martyn's volatile moods (due to his medication) and strangers crossing their path, I had the terrible feeling that anything could happen.

With it being a small village, one of the neighbours, Anna, tries to befriend Phoebe but doesn't get the welcome she expected.  Phoebe seems very on edge and unfriendly but what Anna doesn't know is that she bears a striking resemblance to Phoebe's sister, Suzie, who drowned when she was a child.  Despite the shaky start, Anna and Phoebe strike up a tentative friendship but then Anna goes missing...and she's not the first local woman to go missing whilst walking along the banks of the river.  Has the river claimed yet another victim?

For quite a short book at 262 pages, Undercurrent sure packs a big punch with plenty of surprises in store.  It's packed with tension and intrigue from start to finish as the icy tendrils of the river reach out to claim its victims.  Looking back on it now, I really felt as if I could see inside the minds of some of the characters and it was a bit like going down the rabbit hole - we're all mad here!  When madness meets obsession, the result can be deadly.

Don't wait as long as I did to read Undercurrent; if you have it in your TBR, bump it up the queue and if you don't have it in your queue, make sure you buy a copy - you really won't regret it.  I can't wait for J.A. Baker's second novel, Her Dark Retreat, and I know for sure that it won't be hanging around in my TBR too long!

My rating:

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Lie In Wait - G.J. Minett

A man is dead. A woman is missing. And the police have already found their prime suspect... 

Owen Hall drives into a petrol station to let his passenger use the facilities. She never comes back - and what's more, it seems she never even made it inside.

When Owen raises a fuss, the police are called - and soon identify Owen himself as a possible culprit - not least because they already have him in the frame for another more sinister crime.

Owen's always been a little different, and before long others in the community are baying for his blood. But this is a case where nothing is as it seems - least of all Owen Hall...

A dark, addictive thriller, ingeniously plotted with a twist that will make you gasp, LIE IN WAIT is perfect for readers of Angela Marsons or Rachel Abbott.

What did I think?

This is the first book by G.J. Minett that I have read and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it  - I'll certainly be looking out for more from this author.  It's a very strong thriller that feels like a game of chess with all the pieces on the board, just waiting for someone to make the first move.  At times I didn't know what the devil was going on and why this or that person was in the story but it all comes together in a magnificent a-ha moment at the end.

Owen Hall hasn't had a great life; he doesn't really know how to relate to people.  He suffered a terrible event as a youngster and you wonder how much this affected his ability to deal with people.  At school he was bullied by Callum Green and only Abi ever showed him any kind of friendship.  Now Abi is married to Callum and Owen crosses paths with them once again.

The story starts with Owen stopping at a petrol station so his female passenger can go to the loo.  When she doesn't come back, Owen can't understand what has happened and the petrol station attendant calls the police.  Now that the police have Owen in their sights they realise that he fits the bill perfectly as a suspect in a recent murder.

In a game of cat and mouse, all of the traps are set to catch the murderer and it's an absolutely brilliant game that is played in Lie In Wait.  I was so sure that I knew what had happened but I had completely walked past all of the clues, such is the clever style of G.J. Minett's writing.  Looking back now, I should have been asking questions, but my attention was always drawn on to something else. Well played, sir!

I loved the unravelling and gradual reveal of Owen's history and perhaps only now, a few days after I have read it, do I realise how very good Lie in Wait actually is.

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

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: Because I Was Lonely - Hayley Mitchell

Meet Rachel. She is caught in a spiral of endless crying, dirty nappies, and sleepless nights. She fears for her sanity and the safety of her children.

She's lonely.

Meet Adam. Suffering from the pain and trauma of a terrible accident that he blames himself for, he stays at home, unable to bring himself to leave the house.

He's lonely.

So when Rachel and Adam rekindle their long lost friendship online, what starts as a little harmless flirtation, soon becomes an unhealthy obsession, and slowly the threads of their lives unravel before them.

Four lonely people . Two unhappy marriages . One dangerous, but inevitable climax.

What did I think?

Ooh this was a book that quietly drew you in and then 'BAM!' pulled the rug out from underneath you.  I was happily reading along, learning about the the lives of two couples: Rachel (on the edge of crazy) and her husband David and Adam (a desperately shattered and lonely man) and his wife, Julia.  I loved the way that the first part of the book was set out with a chapter for each of the four characters before merging in spectacular fashion in part 2.

Rachel scared me from the start.  She is clearly verging on unhinged and I worried about what she could be capable of in a potential moment of madness with two young children in the house.  Rachel's husband, David, doesn't sleep in the same room as her as Rachel is a restless sleeper.  Obviously this has a disastrous effect on their relationship and David's eye begins to wander.  It is clear that he does love Rachel but he's not quite sure how to reach her.

Rachel finds an old friend, Adam, on Facebook.  Adam is perhaps the one that got away so a bit of harmless flirtation can't go wrong, can it?  Adam's relationship is also suffering due to the guilt he carries from his parents' death.  Adam is tied by his routine, making him a prisoner in his own home and his wife, Julia, being the sole breadwinner has to work away to keep the family afloat.  Adam breaks up his day by chatting to women on Facebook but Rachel is different to the others and suddenly Julia feels threatened.  Rachel and Adam live miles away from each other so surely Julia has nothing to worry about...

That's when the story takes on a slightly darker tone and obsession takes the driving seat - I thought absolutely anything could happen in the last quarter of the book.  Think Fatal Attraction bunny boiler and you'll be near where my mind was going.  It was actually a sobering thought for anyone who has 'met' somebody on the internet.  You never quite know who you are talking to and how much of your life you are giving away.  We must leave so many clues to our whole existence on the internet and all it takes is somebody with a mindset to follow the clues and turn up at our door - YIKES!

I really enjoyed the way that this book was written in two very distinctive parts - it really gave us a chance to get to know the characters and build a full picture of their thoughts and feelings.  I felt so much emotion for Adam, being stuck at home and feeling so much guilt - as human beings, we do like to beat ourselves up but this is the point at which we are vulnerable and a chink in the armour can let a psychopath into our lives.  You never really know what's going on in someone's mind and it was actually really frightening to see how something could be harmless to one party but meaningful to another.

Because I Was Lonely is such a fascinating book that I have thought about it long after I turned the last page.  In this digital age, where we all leave unknown fingerprints, virtual can quite quickly become reality.  An addictive book and one well worth reading.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.  I am releasing my review as part of the blog tour.

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