Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors - Tom Bower

The British Royal Family believed that the dizzy success of the Sussex wedding, watched and celebrated around the world, was the beginning of a new era for the Windsors. Yet, within one tumultuous year, the dream became a nightmare. In the aftermath of the infamous Megxit split and the Oprah Winfrey interview, the Royal Family's fate seems persistently threatened.

As Meghan and Harry's much-trailed Netflix documentary finally airs, the public remains puzzled. Meghan's success has alternatively won praise, bewildered and outraged. Confused by the Sussexes' slick publicity, few understand the real Meghan Markle. What lies ahead for Meghan? And what has happened to the family she married into? Can the Windsors restore their reputation?

With extensive research, expert sourcing and interviews from insiders who have never spoken before, Tom Bower, Britain's leading investigative biographer, unpicks the tangled web of courtroom drama, courtier politics and thwarted childhood dreams to uncover an astonishing story of love, betrayal, secrets and revenge.

 

What did I think?

I'm not particularly a fan of the monarchy but I would have had to have been living under a rock to have missed the war of the Windsors.  Whilst I didn't follow the Megxit split, I did feel sorry for the Queen losing her grandson. Unfortunately, family feuds do happen in real life and the Royal Family are clearly no exception.

I loved Suits so I knew who Meghan Markle was when she first appeared by Harry's side, but I would have classed her as the kind of 'celebrity' who would appear in I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here - someone who not many people would recognise.  That's all changed now and everyone knows who Meghan Markle is.  Finally, she can be the star of the show...erm, not exactly, she's still just a supporting cast member.

Revenge is very interesting reading and it seems to have been meticulously researched.  Reading the inconsistencies, contradictions and story changes is astonishing and I really can't argue with some of the facts that are laid out before me.  What I do argue with is the mindless hatred that seems to be directed at Meghan - nobody should have to experience that, whether they're in the public eye or not.

Whether you love them or hate them, there's no denying that the Royal Family didn't know what hit them when Meghan married Harry.  British history is well documented and this is one history that Meghan Markle cannot erase or rewrite.

I really enjoyed Revenge and would definitely recommend giving it a read.

My rating:

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The Paris Apartment - Lucy Foley

In a beautiful old apartment block, deep in the backstreets of Paris, secrets are stirring behind every resident’s door.

The lonely wife

The party animal

The curtain-twitcher

The secret lover

The watchful caretaker

The unwanted guest

One resident is missing. Only the killer holds the key to the mystery… 

What did I think?

Yowzers! Reviewing this book without giving anything away is going to be tricky so this may be a short review, but it’s no reflection on how completely brilliant the book is.

I love Lucy Foley books and The Paris Apartment is no exception.  I absolutely raced through it and couldn’t put it down, greedily devouring every single word until I had discovered all of the skeletons in its closet.  The residents of these luxury apartments have more skeletons in their closets than Halloween, that's for sure.

Jess is visiting her brother in Paris but when she gets there he has disappeared.  Jess seems to be the only one worried about Ben, despite his friend being one of his neighbours.  Told from various points of view, Jess begins her search for Ben whilst the reader peeks through the keyhole of each apartment.

The characters are drawn brilliantly; I was suspicious of all of them and I thought I had worked out what had happened to Ben (and where he was) but of course it's a Lucy Foley book so I was completely wrong.  I love being wrong like this though and there are so many jawdropping moments in the book that I'm surprised I didn't have jaw ache.

Brilliantly written, The Paris Apartment is a twisty, addictive and entertaining mystery.  It's reminiscent of Agatha Christie and I'd love to see this on the big screen.  C'est magnifique!

I received a gifted paperback for the Tandem Collective readalong and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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Waterstones

The Tuppenny Child - Glenda Young

'She's not worth more than tuppence, that child!'

Those are the words that haunt Sadie Linthorpe. She is the talk of Ryhope when she arrives there, aged seventeen, alone, seeking work and a home in the pit village. But Sadie is keeping a secret - she is searching for her baby girl who was taken from her at birth a year ago and cruelly sold by the child's grandmother.

All that Sadie knows about the family who took her daughter is that they live in Ryhope. And the only thing she knows about her daughter is that when the baby was born, she had a birthmark on one shoulder that resembled a tiny ladybird. But as Sadie's quest begins, a visitor from her past appears - one who could jeopardise the life she's beginning to build and ruin her chances of finding her beloved child for ever...

 

What did I think?

I've made no secret of the fact that I absolutely love Glenda Young's sagas and I first discovered them at book three, Pearl of Pit Lane, so I made sure to add the first two books to my collection.  The beauty of Glenda Young's books is that they're not a series and you can read them in any order, although you do often get cameo appearances by characters from previous books and it's like waving to old friends when they get mentioned.

The Tuppenny Child is set in Ryhope, a small mining village in Sunderland, but it's further down the coast in Hartlepool where we meet our heroine, Sadie.  Sadie is a hard worker and all her earnings are handed over to her landlady for her bed and board and my heart went out to her at being stuck in such a vicious circle.  When Sadie finds herself pregnant by the landlady's son, her landlady sees her chance for a few extra pennies and sells the baby behind Sadie's back.  This is when we see the true strength of Sadie as she vows to get her daughter back and follows her to Ryhope.  

I know Ryhope well but even if I didn't, Glenda Young's wonderfully descriptive writing creates all the sights and sounds of the bustling pit village.  The characters are larger than life and I loved the pub landladies who each run one of the many pubs in the village.  The strength of women, despite their many challenges, is shown beautifully and there is a keen sense of community that warms the heart.

Heartwarming doesn't even come close to describing The Tuppenny Child as it's also heartbreaking yet completely uplifting and incredibly entertaining.  It's a book I will definitely read again and I absolutely loved it.  Very highly recommended.

My rating:

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Night Sky Almanac 2023 - Storm Dunlop and Wil Tirion

A beautiful gift for anyone interested in the night sky.

Follow the progress of constellations throughout the seasons with this beautiful companion to the night sky from Astronomy experts Collins.

With the aid of easy-to-understand monthly calendars and maps, you will chart the rhythm of the lunar phases, discover events that light up the sky for brief periods, and explore the rich tapestry of characters that adorn the starry canvas overhead.

• never miss a night sky event wherever you are in the world with this month-by-month guide
• go meteor spotting, track the phases of the moon and explore the constellations
• worldwide coverage – with details for both the Northern and Southern hemispheres
• discover fascinating celestial facts and notable astronomical anniversaries

Written and illustrated by astronomical experts, Storm Dunlop and Wil Tirion, and approved by the astronomers of the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

What did I think?

I’ve always been interested in the night sky but this is the first almanac I have ever had; I expect it to be put to good use throughout the whole of 2023.

The hardback has a beautifully illustrated cloth bound style cover and it’s a really handy pocket-sized book to slip in your bag if you’re going out stargazing.  The month by month guide to the night sky has some handy features to quickly and easily select the correct month: each month is highlighted on the page edges and there is a very useful ribbon marker too.

There is a lot of information at the start and end of the book for novices and accomplished stargazers alike, including: introduction, some interesting objects, major events in 2023, the moon, map of the moon, the circumpolar constellations, world map, dark sky sites, twilight diagrams, glossary and tables, and an index.

Each month contains a wealth of information to devour as well as charts and diagrams to peruse.  I found some of the small fonts on the diagrams to be a little hard to read, especially as they are white words printed on a black background so you might need a magnifying glass if you don’t have good eyes.

It’s very good value for money and incredibly giftable for anyone interested in looking at the night sky.  I can’t wait for January so I can improve my knowledge and further appreciate the night sky.

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: Behind Closed Doors - Carol Wyer

Two kidnappings, thirty years apart. Can Stacey face her own dark past in order to save her stepdaughter?

When Stacey’s ex-husband turns up on her doorstep begging her to help save his kidnapped thirteen-year-old daughter, Lyra, the terror is all too familiar. Stacey’s own violent kidnapping thirty years ago was never solved, and while a severe case of amnesia spares her from recalling the specific horrors, she remembers enough…

Stacey knows her father never paid the ransom—she has the missing pinkie finger to prove it. She knows she was only saved because of an anonymous tip-off to the police. And she knows her captor was never apprehended.

Lyra’s kidnappers have made it clear the police must not get involved. But Stacey can’t shake the eerie similarities between the two cases, and she’ll use whatever she can, from her journalistic powers to her shady contacts, to save Lyra from the same nightmare. Desperate to find any link between Lyra’s abduction and her own, Stacey forces herself to revisit her forgotten, traumatic past for clues.

But can she make sense of the terrible secrets she unearths in time to save Lyra? And if she does, is she ready to face her own tormentor?

 

What did I think?

I'm a huge fan of Carol Wyer's novels so I was very excited to read her new novel, Behind Closed Doors and I'm delighted to say that I was not disappointed.  

When Stacey's stepdaughter Lyra is kidnapped, Stacey is forced to revisit her own kidnapping 30 years earlier as the key to finding Lyra is buried deep in Stacey's past memories.  There's a real race against time feel that keeps the pages turning rapidly; if it's the same kidnapper, then we know they're serious as Stacey has the scars to prove it.

As Stacey tries to recover suppressed memories, it creates a dual timeline as the reader finds out what happened to Stacey in 1992 as well as experiencing Lyra's spookily similar kidnapping in 2022.  I was constantly wondering whether it was the same kidnapper or just someone who knew enough about Stacey's past to become a copycat.  You'll have to read it for yourself to find out which one it was!

Behind Closed Doors is gripping, intriguing and incredibly tense.   Once again, Carol Wyer had me on the edge of my seat as I raced through another one of her fantastic page-turners.  A recommended read.

I received a gifted copy to read and review for the Instagram tour; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

About the author:

USA Today bestselling author and winner of The People's Book Prize Award, Carol Wyer's crime novels have sold over one million copies and been translated into nine languages. 

A move from humour to the 'dark side' in 2017, saw the introduction of popular DI Robyn Carter in Little Girl Lost and proved that Carol had found her true niche.

February 2021 saw the release of the first in the much-anticipated new series, featuring DI Kate Young. An Eye For An Eye was chosen as a Kindle First Reads and became the #1 bestselling book on Amazon UK and Amazon Australia. 

Carol has had articles published in national magazines 'Woman's Weekly', featured in 'Take A Break', 'Choice', 'Yours' and 'Woman's Own' magazines and the Huffington Post. She's also been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing ''Irritable Male Syndrome' and 'Ageing Disgracefully' and on BBC Breakfast television.

She currently lives on a windy hill in rural Staffordshire with her husband Mr. Grumpy... who is very, very grumpy. When she is not plotting devious murders, she can be found performing her comedy routine, Smile While You Still Have Teeth.

To learn more, go to www.carolwyer.co.uk, subscribe to her YouTube channel, or follow her on Twitter: @carolewyer

Follow her at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carol-E-Wyer/221149241263847 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolwyer/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/carolewyer 

Website : https://www.carolwyer.co.uk

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BLOG TOUR: Local Girl Missing - J. A. Baker

Missing without trace...

When local woman Deborah goes missing, her colleagues Adrian, Yvonne and Merriel are all left in shock. Gossip around the office begins to swirl – what could have happened to Deborah? Is she dead or alive? And who could be responsible for her disappearance?

Everyone is terrified that they could be next…except the one person who has all the answers. The last person people expect.

Because Deborah is being held captive by a monster, a psychopath. But not a stranger… it’s someone she knows all too well…

What did I think?

I love J.A. Baker's books and Local Girl Missing is no exception.  It's so tense it's as taut as a bow string and I couldn't read it fast enough to discover who was behind Deborah's disappearance.

Deborah's colleagues are shocked and distressed when she disappears, but as worried as they are about Deborah, what shocks them just as much is that it could quite easily have been one of them instead.  J.A. Baker puts each of the characters under the microscope as the reader delves beneath their skin to see who they really are. 

Workplace rivalries and gossiping colleagues help to build up the tension as we get to know the characters and discover what each of them is hiding.  If you work full-time, you spend more of your awake time with your colleagues than your family but you never really get to know them.  We all have a work persona and it's only when you inadvertently let your guard down that your colleagues might catch a glimpse of the real you.

I can safely say that I did guess who the kidnapper was in Local Girl Missing but only because I suspected every single character at one time or another, so I would've been right at some point.  Without giving anything away, I really enjoyed discovering the motivation behind Deborah's abduction; even though it's pretty creepy to think that someone you know could be hiding a very dark secret behind their friendly face.

J.A. Baker's writing is exceptional as she builds up suspense and creates so much suspicion about every character.  The tension builds as the reader slowly peels away layer after layer of every character to see what's really underneath.

Tense, suspenseful and compelling, Local Girl Missing is another cracking J.A. Baker novel.  I really enjoyed the workplace setting and think J.A. Baker totally nailed it.  Recommended.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

About the author:

J. A. Baker is a successful psychological thriller writer of numerous books, previously published by Bloodhound. Born and brought up in Middlesbrough, she still lives in the North East, which inspires the settings for her books. Her first title for Boldwood will be published in December 2022.

Social Media Links –

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thewriterjude

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jabakerauthor/

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-a-baker

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BLOG TOUR: Homecoming - Isabel Ashdown

Welcome to The Starlings... sun, sea and neighbours to die for.

Security, a sparkling sea view and the best kind of neighbours - The Starlings gated community has it all. Here, doors are left open, children run free, and at the heart of it all is the entrepreneurial Gold Family, who first dreamed up this aspirational vision of 'Dorset's Safest Community'. To the outside world the popular family appears glitteringly blessed... until an idyllic party takes a dark turn and one of their number is found slumped at the foot of the clocktower. Who knows what really happened? And what answers are harboured within the old building, the former Highcap Mother and Baby Home?'

A mesmerising, character-rich thriller with a long-buried secret vibrating at its core: this is Isabel Ashdown at her heart-stopping best, for readers who enjoyed Big Little Lies, Dr Foster or Little Fires Everywhere.

 

What did I think?

Isabel Ashdown is an author whose books I always enjoy and her latest novel, Homecoming, is no exception.  The format of the book creates unbelievable suspense with a short, disturbing present day prologue before the story takes the reader back to one year ago.  

The Gold Family are very well named; they seem to have the Midas touch.  Katrin, her husband Bill and brother-in-law Hugo are property developers who have renovated an old workhouse that later became a mother and baby home.  The Starlings is named after the birds that nest in the clocktower, but its previous incarnation as Highcap House still has secrets held within its walls...and it looks like someone will kill to keep them buried.

I'm not going to mention any more about the story as it could spoil it for other readers.  Needless to say, with so many secrets I was suspicious of all the characters and thought I had guessed all of the secrets but I was completely wrong.  I love being wrong about a book as it means it has been written so skilfully that it misdirects me completely, which is exactly what Isabel Ashdown does so very cleverly in Homecoming.

Hauntingly atmospheric, Homecoming has a simultaneously idyllic and sinister setting as past and present events collide and secrets that span decades are about to be revealed.  I read Homecoming with a constant feeling of unease and I loved every minute of it. 

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

My rating:

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