Release date - 4th April 2019
Book length - 336 pages Publisher - Avon Books UK Worldwide - www.bookdepository.com Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk Amazon US - www.amazon.com I want to thank Sabah from www.avonbooks.co.uk for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour and for providing me with a copy of this book for review. ABOUT THIS BOOK 1943: The world is at war, and the villagers of Tyneham are being asked to make one more sacrifice: to give their homes over to the British army. But on the eve of their departure, a terrible act will cause three of them to disappear forever. 2018: Melissa had hoped a break on the coast of Dorset would rekindle her stagnant relationship, but despite the idyllic scenery, it’s pushing her and Liam to the brink. When Melissa discovers a strange photograph of a woman who once lived in the forgotten local village of Tyneham, she becomes determined to find out more about her story. But Tyneham hides a terrible secret, and Melissa’s search for the truth will change her life in ways she never imagined possible. MY REVIEW THE FORGOTTEN VILLAGE by Lorna Cook is an outstanding blend of past and present with characters that really get under your skin until you find yourself on the edge of your seat willing them on. When Melissa finds herself alone and ignored yet again by her useless boyfriend on their holiday in Dorset, she decides to do some sight-seeing and finds herself at the local village of Tyneham which has a sad and unusual history. Taken over during the war, the villagers and even those in the big house had to leave everything behind with the promise that their land would be returned as soon as the war was over. But it is 2018 and what is left of the village has only been reopened to the public. As Melissa wanders around, she sees a picture of the Lady Veronica of Tyneham and there is something about this photograph that haunts her. Together with historian, Guy, Melissa wants to find out what happened to Lady Veronica after she left, and the truth may be closer to home than they think. She needs to know that Veronica was alright and as Melissa delves deeper and deeper into the past, she may just find out more about herself and what she wants from her future. Jumping between past and present we get the perfect blend of seeing Lady Veronica's harsh life play out in front of our eyes, while also experiencing Melissa and Guy's journey as they research to find out the truth. There is plenty of drama in both timelines to sink your teeth into with lies, betrayals, secrets, friendship, and true love bursting from the pages. I really connected with the characters and loved the relationship between Veronica and Anna the most. While Veronica tries to find a way to have the future she deserves, we also see Melissa in the present day try to deal with her family baggage so that she can figure out what she deserves too. The setting comes alive in both timelines and it is definitely somewhere you can picture as you read. THE FORGOTTEN VILLAGE by Lorna Cook is an epic first novel and I cannot wait for more from this talented author. A perfect story! AUTHOR BIO I write dual-timeline books that weave secrets of the past with the present. My first book The Forgotten Village, will be published in Spring 2019 with international editions in Germany and The Netherlands. The Canadian edition will also be out in April and is called The Forgotten Wife. Sign up to my newsletter via my website to be the first to hear about my book news, blog posts and to gain access to some fantastic giveaways that I'm planning.. For more information: Website - www.lornacookauthor.com Twitter - twitter.com/LornaCookAuthor Facebook - www.facebook.com/LornaCookWriter/ Instagram - www.instagram.com/lornacookauthor/ DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT ALL OF THE OTHER STOPS ALONG THE WAY!!!
0 Comments
Release date - 4th April 2019
Book length - 416 pages Publisher - Canongate Books Worldwide - www.bookdepository.com Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk Amazon US - www.amazon.com I want to thank Canongate Books for providing me with a copy of this book for release. ABOUT THIS BOOK London, 1863. Bridie Devine, the finest female detective of her age, is taking on her toughest case yet. Reeling from her last job and with her reputation in tatters, a remarkable puzzle has come her way. Christabel Berwick has been kidnapped. But Christabel is no ordinary child. She is not supposed to exist. As Bridie fights to recover the stolen child she enters a world of fanatical anatomists, crooked surgeons and mercenary showmen. Anomalies are in fashion, curiosities are the thing, and fortunes are won and lost in the name of entertainment. The public love a spectacle and Christabel may well prove the most remarkable spectacle London has ever seen. MY REVIEW My first time reading this author, THINGS IN JARS by Jess Kidd is a fantastic and quirky read with rich characters and a compelling, fresh storyline. It is 1863 in London and Bridie Devine is unusual among the female population in that she likes to works as a female detective when she can, and she has her very own special skill set. When a little girl disappears, Bridie is on the case but this isn't your typical case of kidnapping as Christabel is special with powers that make her wanted by those who like to collect and study the unusual. But as Bridie comes up against some of the strangest characters that she has ever encountered before will she be able to find Christabel before it is too late? Opening up with a bang, I was instantly pulled into this unexpected tale of strength and strangeness, and I can honestly say there was never a dull moment in this novel. The setting is depicted very well and easily paints a picture for a reader, but it is the characters that really steal the show in THINGS IN JARS. They are distinctive, fascinating, and unconventional which makes them unforgettable for all of the right reasons. Bridie is a star and her strength and determination is something to be truly admired at all times. THINGS IN JARS by Jess Kidd is a wonderful story and it certainly won't be the last book I read by this talented author. With a little bit of something for everyone, from mythology to murder mystery to history, this story has got it all and I highly recommend it. AUTHOR BIO Jess Kidd was brought up in London as part of a large family from County Mayo and has been praised for her original fictional voice. Her first novel, Himself, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards in 2016 and she was the winner of the Costa Short Story Award in the same year. In 2017, Himself was shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award and long listed for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger. Her second novel, The Hoarder, a tale of a lonely care worker and her cranky client set is West London, is currently being adapted for a 3-part-series by the BBC and Scott Free. Both books were BBC Radio 2 Book Club picks. For more information: Website - jesskidd.com Twitter - twitter.com/JessKiddHerself Release date - 4th April 2019
Book length - 351 pages Publisher - Bookouture Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk Amazon US - www.amazon.com I want to thank Noelle from www.bookouture.com for giving me the opportunity to take part in this blog tour and for providing me with an e-copy of this book for review via Netgalley. ABOUT THIS BOOK The sky is cornflower blue, the air is scented with the smell of fresh apple blossom and Lizzie Lovell can’t wait to start her new life in the mill on Magnolia Lane. But is she just about to fall in love with someone she shouldn’t? When Lizzie loses her larger-than-life Dad she doesn’t know how to move forward. Encouraged by a childhood dream she shared with her beloved father, she is determined to continue his legacy and moves to the old Mill on Magnolia lane, a place he had always longed to own. Restoring the old windmill is a much bigger job than Lizzie bargained for, especially when she is distracted by her new next door neighbour Jude, who has temptingly twinkly eyes and a body to die for. But when Jude’s ex- girlfriend Harriet arrives back on the scene, Lizzie begins to wonder if life wasn’t far simpler before she moved to the mill. Especially when it emerges that Harriet knows something about Jude’s past, something that could shatter her new start and her heart into smithereens … MY REVIEW Like the beautiful cover, THE MILL ON MAGNOLIA LANE by Tilly Tennant filled me with warmth from the beginning and left me cosy and comforted by the end. Lizzie is lost without her beloved Dad but when she buys the old dilapidated mill that her father always dreamed of owning, she feels like it was fate and that he would be proud of her for taking it on. And a huge task it is as the mill barely has walls let alone windows or anything else that makes it habitable. But it is a new start which is exactly what Lizzie needs. What she didn't expect were her handsome next door neighbour and his amazing little brother, and suddenly Lizzie finds herself in a new relationship. But life is rarely simple and as Lizzie tries to juggle this herculean renovation alongside her family squabbling, is she really ready for love with someone who has a very close relationship with his ex? Charming, funny, and very realistic, THE MILL ON MAGNOLIA LANE by Tilly Tennant may just put you off doing some home renovations but it will make you smile and fall in love with this wonderful group of quirky characters who are all dealing with their own stuff, and trying to be happy. The setting is perfect and I really hope this won't be the last we hear from this spirited community, but it is the emotional parts of this story which shone for me. The topics of grief, sibling rivalry, step-parenting, co-parenting and more are all deftly entwined amongst new romance, friendship, self-belief, and love, and I read this book in one night as I simply could not put it down. THE MILL ON MAGNOLIA LANE by Tilly Tennant was everything I had hoped it would be and then some, and I highly recommend it to fiction fans everywhere! AUTHOR BIO Tilly Tennant was born in Dorset, the oldest of four children, but now lives in Staffordshire with a family of her own. After years of dismal and disastrous jobs, including paper plate stacking, shop girl, newspaper promotions and waitressing (she never could carry a bowl of soup without spilling a bit), she decided to indulge her passion for the written word by embarking on a degree in English and creative writing, graduating in 2009 with first class honours. She wrote her first novel in 2007 during her first summer break at university and has not stopped writing since. She also works as a freelance fiction editor, and considers herself very lucky that this enables her to read many wonderful books before the rest of the world gets them. For more information: Website - tillytennant.com Twitter - twitter.com/TillyTenWriter Facebook - www.facebook.com/TillyTennant/ Instagram - www.instagram.com/tillytennant6000/ DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT ALL OF THE OTHER STOPS ALONG THE WAY!!! Release date - 4th April 2019 (Paperback)
Book length - 384 pages Publisher - Headline Review Worldwide - www.bookdepository.com Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk Amazon US - www.amazon.com I want to thank Phoebe from www.headline.co.uk for providing me with a copy of this book for review. ABOUT THIS BOOK A heartbreaking letter. A girl locked away. A mystery to be solved. 1956. When Ivy Jenkins falls pregnant she is sent in disgrace to St Margaret's, a dark, brooding house for unmarried mothers. Her baby is adopted against her will. Ivy will never leave. Present day. Samantha Harper is a journalist desperate for a break. When she stumbles on a letter from the past, the contents shock and move her. The letter is from a young mother, begging to be rescued from St Margaret's. Before it is too late. Sam is pulled into the tragic story and discovers a spate of unexplained deaths surrounding the woman and her child. With St Margaret's set for demolition, Sam has only hours to piece together a sixty-year-old mystery before the truth, which lies disturbingly close to home, is lost forever ... Read her letter. Remember her story ... MY REVIEW THE GIRL IN THE LETTER by Emily Gunnis is a dual-timeline, emotional story that is sure to break your heart. When Samantha Harper discovers a letter from the past, she sees it as her chance for a big story to help her career as a journalist. The letter is from Ivy who was abandoned at a mother and baby home back in the 1950s and her desperation at her situation is all too clear. But as Samantha begins to dig deeper and deeper into the past, the harsh realities and some mysteries surrounding St. Margaret's begins to take hold and this becomes so much more than a story for Samantha. She is determined to uncover the truth even if it is much closer to home than she could have ever imagined ... I'm Irish and the atrocities and cruelty that is our history surrounding mother and baby homes is something that I have read about before and been deeply disturbed by. But this book brings it into focus in such a sharp and clear way, through the letters of Ivy, that I found myself in absolute bits at times while reading this which shows the power of this author's words. There are mysteries that Samantha delves into which are gripping and compelling, but it is Ivy's words and the emotional elements of this story which really made me connect and feel everything as I turned the page. THE GIRL IN THE LETTER by Emily Gunnis is not a light-hearted historical tale but a harrowing story of strength and I cannot wait to read more from this author who made me feel everything from sadness to anger. A thought-provoking tale that will stay in your mind long after you finish reading it. AUTHOR BIO I’ve wanted to be an author since my mum, Penny Vincenzi, got her first book deal when I was 13. We’d spend hours walking and talking about the worlds her characters inhabited and unpicking any plot dead ends she’d found herself in. I absolutely loved it - this is what I wanted to do! Fast forward 30 years and I’ve discovered it’s a great deal harder than my mother made it look! But still, here I am. After graduating I wrote scripts and had two episodes of BBC Doctors commissioned but didn’t like all the input from Script Editors and Producers. So, while I worked in various PA jobs I decided to go for it and just kept learning as much as I could until I sold my debut novel, The Girl in the Letter, which is published on eBook on 1st August 2018 and paperback in April 2019. I really hope you enjoy it, and my follow-up novel which I’m busy researching now! I live in Sussex with my husband Steve and our two beautiful girls, Grace and Eleanor. For more information: Twitter - twitter.com/emilygunnis Facebook - www.facebook.com/EmilyGunnisAuthor/ Instagram - www.instagram.com/emilygunnis/ Available Now
Book length - 390 pages Publisher - Hot Key Books Worldwide - www.bookdepository.com Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk Amazon US - www.amazon.com I want to thank Tina from hotkeybooks.com for providing me with a copy of this wonderful book for review. ABOUT THIS BOOK It's a food diary. I have to tell the truth. That's the point. Bluebelle, aka BB, aka Big Bones - is a sixteen-year-old girl encouraged to tackle her weight even though she's perfectly happy, thank you, and getting on with her life and in love with food. Then a tragedy in the family forces BB to find a new relationship with her body and herself. . . Tuck in for best mates, belly laughs, boys and the best Bakewell tart. MY REVIEW Where has this book been all my life? No, seriously! Engaging, inspiring, and speaking truth left, right and centre, BIG BONES by Laura Dockrill is a story for absolutely every one of every age to read and is utterly fantastic. Bluebelle, or BB, as she is known to everyone is a sixteen-year-old that stands out from the usual crowd and not just because of her weight. Constantly told by doctors, nurses, schoolmates, and to a lesser extent her mum, that she needs to lose weight, BB is unique in that she truly loves her body and enjoys eating good food. Confident, loyal, witty, and an excellent cook, BB lives her life on her terms. But when she makes a deal so that she can leave school where she is miserable, she must fill out a food diary and join a gym to keep up her end of the bargain. But as life throws BB some curveballs the food diary becomes so much more and BB may just become stronger than ever! There is so much in this book that I identified with but sadly I never had BB's body confidence as a teenager and can still struggle with it now as an adult. Society's ridiculous expectations of women in this day and age is powerfully portrayed, alongside the absolute fear and disbelief that many people have when they encounter a fat person with confidence and self-belief. Our bodies are ours and ours alone - unique and strong in so many ways, and to demand they all look the same is simply ridiculous, and the way we look is only a small portion of who we are at the end of the day and I think this message is excellently put across in a funny and deft way in this novel. BIG BONES by Laura Dockrill is more than just a story about body confidence though. It is a story about friendship, relationships, figuring out the future, and a sisterly love and bond like no other, and there are so many laughs along the way that you will have tears streaming down your face a lot. Told in the form of a diary, you will fall in love with BB and her love of food, you will fall in love with her energy and strength, and you may even fall a little bit more in love with yourself by the time you turn the last page. A must-read for teenagers right through to OAP's, this book is truly special. AUTHOR BIO Laura Dockrill is a performance poet and novelist whose wonderfully inventive and vibrant approach to life is reflected in the rich and vividly imagined worlds she creates. Laura grew up in Brixton and attended the Brit school. Laura has always had a vivacious spark, finding creativity in words - from poetry to novels and scripts to song lyrics. She is the author of the Carnegie Medal-nominated YA novel Lorali, as well as the Darcy Burdock series (Random House) for younger readers, which was also nominated for the Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize in 2014. Other books include Echoes (Harper Collins), a collection of poems and short stories. Laura has appeared on Blue Peter and CBeebies and is a frequent poetry performer at festivals including Glastonbury, Hay, Edinburgh, London Literary Festival and Latitude. For more information: Website - www.lauradockrill.co.uk Twitter - twitter.com/LauraDockrill Instagram - www.instagram.com/lauraleedockrill/ BIG BONES IS SHORTLISTED FOR THE YA BOOK PRIZE 2019 SO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!!! #TEAMDOCKRILL #YA10 |
WelcomeHi fellow bookworms. My name is Linda and I'm a reviewer & blogger, wife & mother who loves all things books! Currently ReadingUPCOMING BLOG TOURS
Privacy PolicyNo-one may use Books Of All Kinds content without my permission. Books Of All Kinds does not share personal information with third parties nor do I store information about your visit to this blog for use other than to analyse content performance through the use of cookies, which you can turn off at anytime by modifying your internet browser's settings. Books Of All Kinds is not responsible for the republishing of the content found on this blog on other Web sites or media without our permission. This privacy policy is subject to change without notice.
Archives
November 2023
|