The Stargazers - Harriet Evans

'Don't you think there should be a name for people like us?' he said. 'Who look up and who dream of more, who dream of escaping? Who never lose faith, no matter how hard it becomes?'

'Stargazers,' I said. 'That's what we are'

It's the 1970s, and Sarah has spent a lifetime trying to bury memories of her childhood: the constant fear, the horror of her school days, and Fane, the vast, crumbling house that was the sole obsession of her mother, Iris, a woman as beautiful as she was cruel. Sarah's solace has been her cello and the music that allowed her to dream, transporting her from the bleakness of those early years to her new life with her husband Daniel in their safe, if slightly chaotic, Hampstead home and with a concert career that has brought her fame and restored a sense of self.

The past, though, has a habit of creeping into the present, and as long as Sarah tries to escape, it seems the pull of her mother, Fane Hall and the secrets hidden there cannot be suppressed, threatening to unravel the fragile happiness she enjoys now. Sarah will need to travel back to Fane to confront her childhood, and search for the true meaning of home.

Deliciously absorbing and rich with character and atmosphere, The Stargazers is the story of a house, a family, and finding the strength inside yourself to carry on.

 

What did I think?

You can't help but be drawn to The Stargazers by its beautiful cover and it's as beautiful inside as out.  This is the story of the Fane family and the stately home that has been in their family for decades but is crumbling to dust around them.

Set in a dual timeline where we meet Iris in 1922 and her daughters Sarah and Victoria in 1969 to 2020.  Iris has been driven mad by Fane Hall falling into the hands of her father's brother, Uncle Clive.  It's her house!  As she keeps telling everyone, and it would have been her house if only she had been born a boy.  Iris's obsession with Fane Hall has driven a wedge between her and her daughters and it has also fractured the relationship between the sisters.

It is absolutely heartbreaking to see how Iris treats her daughters.  All that matters to her is Fane Hall and she is determined to get her Uncle Clive out of her house.  It's a deep-rooted simmering feud but it has taken over the whole of Iris's life and she has missed out on so much.

Sarah is living her best life in her new home with her husband, Daniel and their two daughters.  Sarah doesn't know how to be a mother and my heart really went out to her as she struggled to adjust to motherhood while Daniel entertains his entourage of local ladies who hang on his every word.

There is so much going on in this book from school bullying that horrified me to an incident with a tree that I am still laughing about now.  It's one of those books that make you experience the full spectrum of emotions and there are some stunning surprises in store for the reader that I didn't see coming at all. 

The Stargazers is beautifully written with an intriguing plot and a powerful message about home, which really is where the heart is.

I received a hardback copy to take part in the Tandem Collective readalong and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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Ronaldo: Donny's Superpower (Ronaldo's Flying Adventures) - Maxine Sylvester

Donny’s mother insists he has a future in flying so when Ronaldo volunteers to tutor him, the pressure is on!

Ronaldo is at his wit’s end. Donny is a dreadful flyer and coaching him is tougher than he imagined. But the top cadet at school doesn’t give up on friends and when he pays a visit to his student’s house, he uncovers he has an incredible hidden talent.

Realising his pal is unhappy and will never be the flying hero his mother wants him to be, Ronaldo comes up with an idea to showcase Donny’s talent to the entire village.

But will the plan convince Donny’s mother and give Donny the future he dreams of?

 

What did I think?

Although this book is aimed at children who are 40 years younger than me, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It's great fun to read and there are some fantastic illustrations throughout that bring the story to life.  I haven't read all of the Ronaldo books so you can pick up any one of them and enjoy them on their own.

Ronaldo is unable to fly after injuring himself so he puts his recovery time to good use by agreeing to tutor another reindeer, Donny.  The only problem is, Donny is a terrible flyer but he is determined to follow in his father's hoofsteps and make his mother proud...even if it means that he is dreadfully unhappy.

Oh poor Donny!  My heart really went out to him as he put his own feelings (and dreams) to one side in order to make his mother happy.  Ronaldo is lucky to be doing something that he loves and he's good at so he just wants the same for his friend; he just needs to find Donny's superpower.

Ronaldo: Donny's Superpower is a fun and entertaining read for adults and children alike, and there's a powerful message in this wonderful book: we all have our own superpower so be true to yourself and do what makes YOU happy.

I received a digital ARC from the author and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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BLOG TOUR: The Beginning of Everything - Jackie Fraser

 

This is the story of Jess and Gethin, whose paths cross in the most unexpected way. 

Jess is running away, leaving all she knows and everyone she loves behind her, with just a few treasured belongings in her rucksack. She’s escaping from the pain and trauma of a bad relationship with a bad man, gone very badly wrong. 

Gethin’s kindness and care take her breath away. They become friends. But with so much hurt in her past, can Jess learn to love and live again?

What did I think?

I loved Jackie Fraser's debut, The Bookshop of Second Chances, but her new book, The Beginning of Everything is very special indeed.  It's a lovely lovely story (so lovely I had to say 'lovely' twice) and I experienced so many different emotions whilst reading it but I turned the final page with a smile on my face and a tear in my eye as I said goodbye to two wonderful characters.

Jess and Gethin meet in the strangest circumstances when Gethin opens the door to his new home and finds Jess living there.  Jess is 46 years old and homeless so when she finds an empty property it's just too much of a temptation not to spend the night there.  At least with an address she can get a job and start saving for a place of her own.  Until Gethin, the owner of the house, appears...

Gethin's family has been touched with homelessness and tragedy so he wants to help Jess, but she is naturally suspicious.  Surely, he can't be THAT nice?  Just the simple things that Gethin does for Jess were enough to bring a lump to my throat.  It was so lovely to see someone doing something kind without expecting recognition or reward.

Jess has built a solid brick wall around her heart to protect herself from further pain and the wall starts to crumble a little when a firm friendship forms between the pair.  When their feelings start to grow into something more, I don't think Jess can believe something good can be happening to her so she builds that wall back up.  It's very much a will they/won't they and I don't think I have ever rooted for a fictional pair as much as I did for Jess and Gethin.  

Beautifully written and incredibly uplifting, The Beginning of Everything is a book that oozes with kindness; it made me think about my own actions or inactions and how just a little thing can make all the difference.  A highly recommended read.

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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BLOG TOUR: The Opposite of Lonely (The Skelfs Book 5) - Doug Johnstone

EVEN DEATH NEEDS COMPANY...

The Skelf women are recovering from the cataclysmic events that nearly claimed their lives. Their funeral-director and private-investigation businesses are back on track, and their cases are as perplexing as ever.

Matriarch Dorothy looks into a suspicious fire at a travellers’ site, and takes a grieving, homeless man under her wing. Daughter Jenny is searching for her missing sister-in-law, who disappeared in tragic circumstances, while grand-daughter Hannah is asked to investigate increasingly dangerous conspiracy theorists, who are targeting a retired female astronaut ... putting her own life at risk.

With a body lost at sea, funerals for those with no one to mourn them, reports of strange happenings in outer space, a funeral crasher with a painful secret, and a violent attack on one of the family, The Skelfs face their most personal – and perilous – cases yet. Doing things their way may cost them everything...

 

What did I think?

I always get excited when a new Skelfs book comes out and The Opposite of Lonely is the fifth outstanding instalment in this fantastic series.  The three Skelf women are funeral directors and private investigators so there's a lot going on in the book to keep the reader entertained.

Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah have three separate but intermingling storylines in this novel and I was completely enthralled by each of them.  Something unusual always seems to happy at one of Dorothy's funerals and I have to admit to having a little giggle at the funeral at the start of the book.  Jenny is trying to track down her sister-in-law and a female astronaut hires Hannah to investigate increasingly dangerous threats.

As well as the riveting storylines for the three main characters, there are some really interesting things in the book that led to further discussion in my house, particularly the alternative funerals that I had never heard of before.  I have to say that a lot of the astrophysics went right over my head but it really puts into perspective our place in the universe.  

Incredibly entertaining and completely enthralling, The Opposite of Lonely is as thought-provoking as it is gripping and I absolutely loved it.  I love The Skelfs series and simply can't get enough of it so I hope Doug Johnstone has many more books planned.

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

My rating:

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About the author:

Doug Johnstone is the author of sixteen novels, many of which have been bestsellers. The Space Between Us was chosen for BBC Two’s Between the Covers, while Black Hearts and The Big Chill were longlisted for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year. Three of his books – A Dark Matter, Breakers and The Jump – have been shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize. Doug has taught creative writing or been writer in residence at universities, schools, writing retreats, festivals, prisons and a funeral home. He’s also been an arts journalist for 25 years. He is a songwriter and musician with six albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He’s also co-founder of the Scotland Writers Football Club and lives in Edinburgh with his family.

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The Merchant's Dilemma (The Meonbridge Chronicles) - Carolyn Hughes

1362. Winchester. Seven months ago, accused of bringing plague and death from Winchester, Bea Ward was hounded out of Meonbridge by her former friends and neighbours. Finding food and shelter where she could, she struggled to make her way back to Winchester again.

Yet, once she arrived, she wondered why she’d come.

For her former lover – the love of her life – Riccardo Marchaunt, had married a year ago. And she no longer had the strength to go back to her old life on the streets. Frail, destitute and homeless, she was reduced to begging. Then, in January, during a tumultuous and destructive storm, she found herself on Riccardo’s doorstep. She had no plan, beyond hoping he might help her, or at least provide a final resting place for her poor body.

When Bea awakes to find she’s lying in Riccardo’s bed once more, she’s thankful, thrilled, but mystified. But she soon learns that his wife died four months ago, along with their newborn son, and finds too that Riccardo loves her now as much as he ever did, and wants to make her his wife. But can he? And, even if he can, could she ever really be a proper merchant’s wife?

Riccardo could not have been more relieved to find Bea still alive, when he thought he had lost her forever. She had been close to death, but is now recovering her health. He adores her and wants her to be his wife. But how? His father would forbid such an “unfitting” match, on pain of denying him his inheritance. And what would his fellow merchants think of it? And their haughty wives?

Yet, Riccardo is determined that Bea will be his wife. He has to find a solution to his dilemma… With the help of his beloved mother, Emilia, and her close friend, Cecily, he hatches a plan to make it happen.

But even the best laid plans sometimes go awry. And the path of love never did run smooth…

 

What did I think?

I'm a huge fan of The Meonbridge Chronicles series so I was delighted to hear that Carolyn Hughes had written a companion novel to pick up Riccardo and Bea's story from Children's Fate.  I read Children's Fate in January 2021, over two and a half years ago, but I still fondly remembered Bea and Riccardo and easily picked up their story again.  This perhaps goes some way to tell you how good a writer Carolyn Hughes is - her stories are immersive and the characters stay with you.

I felt really sorry for Bea as the life she has dreamed of is so close, yet so far.  Riccardo is the love of Bea's life and the feeling is mutual but Bea's shady past prevents her from being accepted as Riccardo's wife.  Riccardo is doing everything he can to make Bea happy and he just asks for a little patience from her to wait until the time is right, but patience is not one of Bea's virtues.

Bea really grows up in this story, although she still shows some of her fire when riled.  I love the relationship she forges with Riccardo's mother and her friend Cecily.  It's an ambitious plan to pass off Bea as a lady and it's an often amusing and always entertaining storyline.  It's a lovely story from start to finish.

The Merchant's Dilemma is completely engrossing and incredibly entertaining.  I absolutely loved this wonderful companion novel; it's so beautifully written that it can be read as a standalone and I think it will definitely give any readers new to the series at this stage the incentive to pick up the previous novels.  Carolyn Hughes writes wonderfully vivid and immersive historical fiction and I highly recommend the whole series.

I received a digital ARC from the author and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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A Dark Inheritance - H. F. Askwith

Once I had four brothers. Three of them are dead. I am next.

Felix Ashe is sure of only one thing. In thirty days, on his eighteenth birthday, he will die. He might be the only one convinced of this, but the gruesome deaths of his three brothers before him seem to point to only one thing: a curse, one doomed to stop anyone inheriting his family's incredible fortune.

Felix doesn't care about money, or himself, particularly. It's hard to have a stake in the future when you know you haven't got one. But he does care about his little brother Nick, very much. And when an opportunity to break the curse appears to present itself, it's impossible not to heed its dark call.

Soon long-buried secrets will take Felix to the darkest underbelly of Jazz-Age New York, to the far-flung wilds of the Yorkshire moors and back again. And bound to everything is a deadly secret society who will either be Felix's downfall . . . or his one chance at redemption.

 

What did I think?

I enjoy reading YA books now and again and I couldn’t resist the striking Art Deco cover of A Dark Inheritance, the debut novel of H. F. Askwith.

This is the story of Felix Ashe who is cursed to die on his 18th birthday.  Felix knows what’s coming because his three older brothers died on their 18th birthdays, but he’s not going to sit around and wait for the curse to claim him…he’s going to try to break it.

I was drawn into the book immediately as the countdown to Felix’s death begins and it really is one heck of a race against time.  Death, grief and anxiety are subjects that are explored within the book but I didn’t find it overly dark as Felix’s attempt to break the curse turns into a good versus evil adventure.  

I could feel the intense love that Felix has for his family and his anxiety is completely understandable; he’s not just worried about his own death, he’s worried about the same fate happening to his little brother.  As a natural worrier, I know firsthand how crippling anxiety can be but there’s a wise and hopeful message in the book: life may be short but the future isn’t yet written.

Thought-provoking and powerful, A Dark Inheritance is a very accomplished debut from H. F. Askwith.  Don’t be put off by it being in the YA genre, as it’s a dark and entertaining read for adults too.

My rating:

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Chasing the Dragon (Betancourt Mystery Series Book 2) - Mark Wightman

Singapore, 1940

A local fisherman finds the body of a missing American archaeologist

Detective Inspector Betancourt of the Singapore Marine Police is first on the scene. Something doesn't quite add up. He finds out that the archaeologist, Richard Fulbright, was close to deciphering the previously-untranslatable script on a pre-colonial relic known as the Singapore Stone. This was no accidental drowning.

Is there more to this case than archaeological rivalries?

Betancourt also discovers that Fulbright had been having an affair. He is sure he is onto something bigger than just academic infighting.

A government opium factory draws criminal interest.

In his investigations into the death, Betancourt finds his own life in danger, and now he has also put himself on the wrong side of British Military Intelligence, and he is unsure which set of opponents he fears the most...

 

What did I think?

Wow!  I thought Mark Wightman's debut, Waking the Tiger, was fantastic but this next book in the Betancourt Mystery series, Chasing the Dragon, is absolutely stunning.  There's even a map at the start of the book and I do love a map in a book, although I didn't refer back to it as often as I expected because that would have slowed down my reading of this completely gripping novel.

Mark Wightman's writing draws you in and sets a very vivid scene of Singapore in 1940.  The era and the location is very film noir and so atmospheric that I felt as if I was reading through a fug of opium smoke...chasing the dragon that can never be caught.

Max Betancourt's latest case is investigating the death of an American archaeologist which the powers that be seem determined to rule as accidental death...but Max smells something fishy and it's not the whiff from the docks.

I love not only the main character of Max but the whole cast of returning characters, for those readers who have read the first book.  You can totally read Chasing the Dragon without reading Waking the Tiger, but it's wonderful to see how the characters develop as they each have their own personal challenges.

The plot is very intricate but Mark Wightman's vivid writing makes it easy to follow all the strands of the story and how it all comes together at the end is nothing short of breathtaking.  I couldn't read it fast enough and with a virtual bomb thrown under Max at the end, I'm already chomping at the bit for the next book in the series.

Atmospheric, gripping and immersive, Chasing the Dragon is an unforgettable and unmissable crime thriller.  I really can't recommend it highly enough and I'm having an Oliver Twist moment: please Mark Wightman, can I have some more?

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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Hobeck Books

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Amazon

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