Available Now
Book length - 256 pages Publisher - RedDoor Publishing Worldwide - www.bookdepository.com Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk Amazon US - www.amazon.com I want to thank Emma from www.emmafinniganpr.co.uk for providing me with a copy of this book for review. ABOUT THIS BOOK It is possible that since this book's publication you will have heard that I have died in 'suspicious circumstances'. Obviously I hope that will not be the case, but I believe it is worth taking the risk in order to get this story out there. Why would one of Silicon Valley's most powerful billionaires offer a British ghostwriter a million dollars to write the autobiography of Hollywood's biggest star? Only once he is living and working among the world's richest and most beautiful people does the ghost realise that there is way more than a publishing deal at stake. The ghostwriter must face the dark underbelly of the tech industry. He must face corruption and manipulation, come to blows with people who will do anything to remain at the top of their game and uncover the dark truth behind what it really means to be an influencer . . . MY REVIEW Unique, current, and compelling, WHAT LIES AROUND US by Andrew Crofts is a story of two edges and held my interest to the end. When British ghostwriter, Andrew, is given the opportunity of a lifetime to fly to America and write an autobiography of one of its biggest and richest stars, he knows he would be a fool not to take it. But what starts out like a light and exciting opening in to this new world soon takes on a darker edge where the cult of 'celebrity' and power of social media will all come into question. As Andrew delves deeper into his assignment, secrets, betrayals, and lies all begin to unfold and he soon realises that everything has a price in this industry, and someone always has to pay. Dark and powerful, WHAT LIES AROUND US by Andrew Crofts is thought-provoking and will have you looking at elements of the world we live in, from a different angle. A fascinating read that I recommend to fiction fans of all genres. AUTHOR BIO Andrew Crofts is an author and ghostwriter. He has published more than 80 books, around a dozen of which have been number one bestsellers. His name first became known amongst publishers for the stories he brought them by the otherwise disenfranchised. Travelling all over the world he worked with victims of enforced marriages in North Africa and the Middle East, sex workers in the Far East, orphans in war-torn areas like Croatia and dictatorships like Romania, and abused children everywhere. The enormous success of these books brought many very different people to his door; first came the celebrities from the worlds of film, music, television and sport, and then the real elite in the form of world leaders and the mysterious, powerful people who finance them, arm them and, in some cases, control them. Invited to pubic and private palaces all over Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East and tax havens from Monaco to private islands in Bermuda, Andrew listened as they revealed their secrets, gradually piecing together the truth of who really runs the world and how they do it. For more information: Website - andrewcrofts.com Twitter - twitter.com/AndrewCrofts
1 Comment
#Review: The Light Keeper by Cole Moreton @ColeMorton @SPCKPublishing @tarynbrickner #TheLightKeeper16/8/2019 Release date - 15th August 2019
Book length - 224 pages Publisher - SPCK Publishing Worldwide - www.bookdepository.com Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk Amazon US - www.amazon.com I want to thank Taryn and spckpublishing.co.uk for providing me with a copy of this book for review. ABOUT THIS BOOK A young woman stands on the brink of a high cliff overlooking the sea, arms wide open as if to let the wind carry her over. She has run away from home to this wild, beautiful place to make a decision that is, for her, truly a matter of life and death. Sarah is pursued by Jack, her distraught husband, who is desperate to find her on these hills before it is too late. Will he make it in time? Volunteers on the cliff edge patrol for people to save, but the number of men and women going over has ominously increased of late . . . Does the secret lie with the Keeper who lives alone in the old lighthouse, a few steps from the four hundred foot drop in this gorgeous, terrifying place? The radiance has gone from his llife, but we do not know how or why. MY REVIEW A touching and emotional story of loss, death, and grief, THE LIGHT KEEPER by Cole Moreton was completely unexpected and is the type of story that stays fresh in your mind. Sarah is missing and Jack is desperate to find her before it is too late. Both will come into contact with The Keeper, a man who lives in a dilapidated old lighthouse where he shuts himself away and mourns in his own way. Can those who need it find a way to look towards the light on the horizon or has the darkness taken hold for too long? This book deals with a lot of deeply emotional and sensitive issues such as infertility, grief, loss, abuse, and depression so this may not suit every reader. Told in an almost lyrical fashion, this well-crafted piece of literary fiction slowly lured me on as I read each page and the setting is very special and really comes alive. THE LIGHT KEEPER by Cole Moreton is not a quick, easy read, but a complex story displaying an array of life's hardest emotions and is sure to please fans of this genre. AUTHOR BIO Cole Moreton is a writer and broadcaster exploring who we are and what we believe in. His BBC Radio 4 series The Boy Who Gave His Heart Away won multiple awards including Best Documentary in the BBC Radio Awards, Best Writing at the World’s Best Radio Awards in New York and gold for Audio Moment of the Year at the Arias. Cole writes for the Mail on Sunday and was named Interviewer of the Year at the Press Awards 2016, then shortlisted again in 2018. His work has appeared in the Financial Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Sunday Times, and many other. The first of Cole’s non-fiction books was Hungry For Home: A Journey To America From The Edge Of Ireland and published by Viking in 2000. This combination of journalism, travelogue and dramatised true events told the story of the evacuation of the Great Blasket Island in County Kerry and followed the journey taken by the islanders to new lives in the United States. It was shortlisted for the prestigious John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for a first book in any genre. His second book was called My Father Was A Hero (Viking) and told the story of the men and women who returned home to London after WW2 but could not handle peace time. His third book Is God Still An Englishman? How Britain Lost Its Faith (But Found New Soul) was published by Little, Brown. It explores the dramatic changes in British culture and spirituality over the last 30 years and celebrates the possibilities for the future. His fourth book was a retelling of the story of The Boy Who Gave His Heart Away for HarperCollins. His debut novel The Light Keeper will be published in August 2019. For more information: Website - colemoreton.com Twitter - twitter.com/ColeMoreton Facebook - www.facebook.com/ColeMoretonwriter/ Instagram - www.instagram.com/colemoreton/ Release date - 8th August 2019
Book length - 384 pages Publisher - Michael Joseph (Penguin) Worldwide - www.bookdepository.com Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk Amazon US - www.amazon.com I want to thank Sriya from Michael Joseph 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 How much can a family forgive? A profoundly moving novel about two neighboring families in a suburban town, the bond between their children, a tragedy that reverberates over four decades, the daily intimacies of marriage, and the power of forgiveness. Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, two rookie cops in the NYPD, live next door to each other outside the city. What happens behind closed doors in both houses—the loneliness of Francis’s wife, Lena, and the instability of Brian’s wife, Anne—sets the stage for the explosive events to come. MY REVIEW A character-driven novel brimming with family drama, tension, and heartache, ASK AGAIN, YES by Mary Beth Keane is simply exquisite and is sure to please the most critical of readers. Two cops and their families, living and growing up in a suburban town outside New York City, bound together by the job and their children, find their lives twisted together over the decades, in ways that will change everything for each one of them. But can they find hope in the darkness? And is forgiveness possible? Relationships in all of their complexities, mental health issues, addiction, and cancer are all expertly dealt with and described in this story but in such a way that it never felt too dark or too intense, yet still made me feel each emotion alongside each of the characters as they experienced it. There are many family drama novels out there but this one is truly special but I find it hard to pinpoint exactly why. Obviously, the writing is superb, the characters are well-drawn and developed, and the issues described are relatable to many, but ASK AGAIN, YES has that something extra, that little spark of magic that really made me connect with the story. ASK AGAIN, YES by Mary Beth Keane is a page-turner as promised and a must-read for 2019! AUTHOR BIO Mary Beth Keane's first novel, The Walking People (2009) was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award, and her second novel, Fever (2013) was named a best book of 2013 by NPR Books, Library Journal, and The San Francisco Chronicle. In 2011 she was named to the National Book Foundation's "5 under 35." She was a 2015 Guggenheim Fellow in Fiction and her new novel, Ask Again, Yes, is forthcoming in June of 2019. For more information: Website - www.marybethkeane.com Twitter - twitter.com/Mary_Beth_Keane Facebook - www.facebook.com/mbkwriter Instagram - www.instagram.com/marybethkeane/ DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT ALL OF THE OTHER STOPS ALONG THE WAY!! Release date - 8th August 2019
Book length - 336 pages Publisher - Boldwood Books Worldwide - www.bookdepository.com Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk Amazon US - www.amazon.com I want to thank Megan from www.boldwoodbooks.com for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour and for providing me with an e-copy of this book via Netgalley. ABOUT THIS BOOK It's never too late to live the dream... Carla Sullivan’s 50th birthday is fast approaching when her whole world is turned upside down. Discovering her feckless husband is having yet another affair and following her mother’s death, she is in need of an escape. Finding an envelope addressed to her mother’s estranged sister Josette in the South of France gives Carla the perfect plan. Seizing the moment, she packs her bags and heads to Antibes to seek out the enigma known as Tante Josette. But as the two women begin to forge a tentative relationship, family secrets start to unravel, forcing Carla to question her life as she has always known it. MY REVIEW A beautiful story about fresh starts and discovering who you really are with the stunning setting of the South of France as a backdrop, VILLA OF SUN AND SECRETS by Jennifer Bohnet is simply wonderful. Carla has just buried her elderly mother and while clearing out her things, uncovers a letter from her Aunt Josette in France whom they are all estranged from. Wondering about that side of her family, it may just have come at the perfect time because when Carla discovers that her husband has cheated on her, yet again, she is no longer willing to look the other way. Packing up her belongings, Carla sets off to find her Aunt in France and a journey of a lifetime awaits as secrets, heartache, and hope will all come to bloom in a villa that will take your breath away. This lovely book has got it all - drama, loss, secrets, and love, and I was hooked as soon as I read the first page. The characters are well-developed and I felt for Carla as she yearned to forge a relationship with Josette, who has her guard up and tries to keep Carla at a safe distance, but as we get a glimpse into Josette's past we begin to understand this woman a little better. This writer has a fabulous way of bringing a setting alive and after reading VILLA OF SUN AND SECRETS, I wanted to book a family trip to France asap! VILLA OF SUN AND SECRETS by Jennifer Bohnet is an engaging and entertaining story with characters that will warm your heart and I highly recommend it to all fiction fans. AUTHOR BIO Jennifer Bohnet is the bestselling author of over 10 women’s fiction titles, including Rosie’s Little Cafe on the Riviera and The Little Kiosk By The Sea. She is originally from the West Country but now lives in the wilds of rural Brittany, France. For more information: Website - http://www.jenniferbohnet.com/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenniewriter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Jennifer-Bohnet-170217789709356/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jenniebohnet/ DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT ALL OF THE OTHER STOPS ALONG THE WAY!!! Release date - 27th June 2019
Book length - 384 pages Publisher - Hachette Books Ireland Worldwide - www.bookdepository.com Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk Amazon US - www.amazon.com I want to thank Elaine from Hachette Ireland for providing me with a copy of this book. ABOUT THIS BOOK Another summer is in full swing on the island of Roone, and preparations are underway for a big birthday party at the local hotel. But beneath the air of celebration, many of the islanders have their own struggles to contend with. Imelda, isolated by her recent heartbreak, has no memory of accepting a month-long Bed & Breakfast booking, but when a stranger turns up on her doorstep looking forward to his stay, she has little choice but to take him in. Meanwhile, Nell is growing increasingly anxious about her father Denis's erratic behaviour. He brushes off her concern, telling her she's imagining things, but time will tell which of them is right. On the other side of the world, Tilly packs her bag for a visit to Roone to spend time with her sister Laura and her long-distance boyfriend Andy, wholly unaware of the trauma that awaits her there. Meanwhile, Laura is struggling to digest a startling confession when she finds her stepmother on her doorstep, young son in tow, having left her husband. During six weeks of summer, love and friendships are tested - and, as the day of the party approaches, the various truths will out in unexpected ways. MY REVIEW Roisin Meaney has done it again with a wonderful, captivating story about relationships and families in THE BIRTHDAY PARTY. Roone island is picture perfect and it is the type of small community that comes together when needed but also the kind of place where everyone knows everything about everybody, or at least they think they do. Imelda and her foster daughter Eve are struggling with grief and as Eve battles with the demons from her past, she pushes Imelda away just when she may need her the most. Tilly cannot wait to leave Australia and return to Roone to see the love of her life Andy and spend time with her sister Laura. But things seem to a little strained between her and Andy and she wonders if she should continue with her plans to make Roone her permanent home. Laura is happy with her husband, her kids, and her business but when her distant father drops a huge secret on her and then disappears again, she is struggling with it. Add a stepmother who arrives on the island determined to leave her father, and keeping secrets that may harm her little sister in the long run, and Laura is feeling the pressure. But as summer begins to fade and the residents are all preparing for a birthday party for one of the steadfast members of their community, will the truth set them all free or will it destroy friendships and break hearts more than anyone could imagine? With plenty of drama, secrets, and heartache, THE BIRTHDAY PARTY by Roisin Meaney is an emotional read that hooks you from the beginning and makes it very easy to connect with all of these characters. My heart broke for Eve after all that she had been through and I desperately wanted her to find some light in the darkness. As Laura tries to be all things to all people, she struggles to deal with her feelings and emotions in certain situations and wanted her to find some peace even if I didn't always agree with the way she handled everything. There is never a dull moment in THE BIRTHDAY PARTY by Roisin Meaney and as always, when I finished this book I found myself looking forward to the next one by this great author. AUTHOR BIO A published author of fourteen books for adults and two for children, Roisin has also written numerous articles for journals and newspapers. She worked as an advertising copywriter for a number of years, and brings a vast amount of experience to the editing team. Her first novel, The Daisy Picker, won a Write a Bestseller competition. Her third novel, The Last Week of May reached number one on the Irish bestseller list and her fourth, The People Next Door reached number two. Her books have been translated into several languages, and two, Semi-Sweet and Life Drawing for Beginners, have been published in the US. She is currently working on her next book, which is destined for publication in early summer 2018. She is also plotting another children's book - shhhhh. For more information: Website - roisinmeaney.com Twitter - twitter.com/roisinmeaney Available Now
Book length - 440 pages Publisher - Ebury Press Worldwide - www.bookdepository.com Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk Amazon US - www.amazon.com I want to thank Anne from randomthingsthroughmyletterbox.blogspot.com for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour and for providing me with a copy of this book for review - this is now one of my favourite books ever so thank you!!!! ABOUT THIS BOOK A house full of history is bound to have secrets... Ponden Hall is a centuries-old house on the Yorkshire moors, a magical place full of stories. It's also where Trudy Heaton grew up. And where she ran away from... Now, after the devastating loss of her husband, she is returning home with her young son, Will, who refuses to believe his father is dead. While Trudy tries to do her best for her son, she must also attempt to build bridges with her eccentric mother. And then there is the Hall itself: fallen into disrepair but generations of lives and loves still echo in its shadows, sometimes even reaching out to the present... MY REVIEW It is rare that anything makes me speechless, truly lost for words, but THE GIRL AT THE WINDOW by Rowan Coleman has done it. I know that's no good when I'm expected to write a review so I will try my best, but this novel is so spectacularly beautiful and emotive that whatever I write will never do it justice so I'm telling you now to buy it and fall in love with it for yourself. Ponden Hall is a beacon on the Yorkshire Moors, a place of history, tragedy, love, and loss and when Trudy loses her husband in a plane crash, she returns to Ponden Hall's welcome embrace with her little boy, Will. Even the presence of her mother whom she has always had a strained relationship with cannot dim the love and warmth she feels among these walls where the Heatons and Brontë sisters lived and breathed. Trudy feels it all at a time when she has been so lost in grief for herself and her son. But when Trudy uncovers a lost letter from the past she becomes determined to find out what happened to the young girl who wrote it but as she gets lost in the mysteries of the past, the past begins to reach out into the present. THE GIRL AT THE WINDOW by Rowan Coleman needs to be pictured beside the word enthralling and captivating in the dictionary because it is that and so much more. Bringing together past and present in such an effortless and fluid way that it took my breath away, I couldn't put this story down as I learned more about Agnes back in the 1600s and then Trudy's life from her childhood to the present day. Ponden Hall is a character completely in its own right, and my favourite I might add, as I got lost in the author's bewitching descriptions of a place that is steeped with history and memories - and you can actually visit this place in real life!! If I ever see a book translated onto my screen, I hope beyond measure that it will be THE GIRL AT THE WINDOW. This is a story that will move you, that will affect you, that will stay with you long after you finish the final page, and it is a story that will inspire you to never give up when you feel like all is lost. THE GIRL AT THE WINDOW by Rowan Coleman is my favourite book from this author so far and it needs to be read by every fiction fan in every country around the world. Simply stunning! AUTHOR BIO Rowan Coleman lives with her husband, and five children in a very full house in Hertfordshire. She juggles writing novels with raising her family which includes a very lively set of toddler twins whose main hobby is going in the opposite directions. When she gets the chance, Rowan enjoys sleeping, sitting and loves watching films; she is also attempting to learn how to bake. Rowan would like to live every day as if she were starring in a musical, although her daughter no longer allows her to sing in public. Despite being dyslexic, Rowan loves writing, and The Memory Book is her eleventh novel. Others include The Accidental Mother, Lessons in Laughing Out Loud and the award-winning Dearest Rose, a novel which lead Rowan to become an active supporter of domestic abuse charity Refuge, donating 100% of royalties from the ebook publication of her novella, Woman Walks Into a Bar, to the charity. Rowan does not have time for ironing. For more information: Website - rowancoleman.co.uk Twitter - twitter.com/rowancoleman Facebook - www.facebook.com/rowancolemanauthor/ Instagram - www.instagram.com/rowanmcoleman/ DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT ALL OF THE OTHER STOPS ALONG THE WAY!! Release date - 8th August 2019
Book length - 384 pages Publisher - Ebury Press Worldwide - www.bookdepository.com Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk Amazon US - www.amazon.com I want to thank Alice from Ebury Press 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 The struggle is real… Ever managed to kill a succulent after just a few days? Got seven reminder letters on the kitchen table because you forgot to pay your council tax? Become a hot mess who’s falling apart because they’ve been broken up with? Nobody told Mackie, Edele, Alex and Nat (aka the MEAN Girls) that life was going to be this way. They’re busy navigating the joys of adulthood – getting their shit together, breaking up and making up, moving out and moving on. This grown up stuff is hard but at least they’ve got each other. Welcome to the world of adulting. MY REVIEW A wonderfully enjoyable story about friendship and finding your feet in this thing called life, ALMOST ADULTS by Ali Pantony is a great summer read for all fiction fans. Four best friends are building their lives and together they have a strong relationship but individually their lives are hitting some hurdles that may change things for good. Nat is happily in love with her long-term boyfriend whom she lives with so when he comes home from a night out and breaks up with her, she is devastated and completely lost. Alex is a teacher who has a comfortable, loving relationship but she cannot help but question things in her life and wonders if she needs to make some changes. Edele has lost her job and is back living at home with her mum and brother wondering how her life has taken this turn. And then there is Mackie who is fierce, independent and knows exactly what she wants from her career and her future, but something is missing that she can't quite put her finger on. As each of these women begins to unpack their lives and their problems, their friendship will be more important than ever before because most of the time being an adult is plain hard work. With plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, there is also a sensitive and emotional element to this novel which helped me to connect with these characters who are each special in their own way. There is plenty of angst, drama, and life-changing decisions to be made, but the strength and support of their friendship was a sight to behold and there was never a dull moment with this gang of women. ALMOST ADULTS by Ali Pantony is an entertaining story about morphing from one stage of life into another, and the relationships that will get you through the tougher times, and is sure to please fiction fans everywhere. AUTHOR BIO Ali Pantony is a freelance writer and editor. Her writing has appeared in GLAMOUR, Grazia, BBC Three, Refinery29, Vice, Red and Evening Standard. Almost Adults is her debut novel. Ali was born in Maidstone, Kent, and lives in North London. For more information: Website - www.alipantony.com Twitter - twitter.com/alipantony Instagram - www.instagram.com/alipantony/ DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT ALL OF THE OTHER STOPS ALONG THE WAY!!! Available Now
Book length - 280 pages Publisher - Off The Press Books Worldwide - www.bookdepository.com Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk Amazon US - www.amazon.com I want to thank Claire for providing me with a copy of this book for review. ABOUT THIS BOOK Can you leave the past in another country? Francesca Maier knows little of her father's home country or her parents' life together before she was born. A summer in Berlin brings the past - and its secrets - alive. Adrift in a foreign city, she finds an unexpected friend in east Berliner Antonio - but what will he sacrifice to save her? MY REVIEW A compelling story with engaging characters, SAVING FRANCESCA MAIER by Claire Wingfield is a story about familial relationships in all of their complexities. Francesca doesn't know much about her father's home city of Berlin but she has the entire summer to explore it and get a feel for it as she travels with her mother. After a fraught journey to get there, their arrival doesn't exactly go to plan. But it isn't long before Francesca, in all of her youth and sometimes naivety, begins her own adventure, discovering places and people who will change her outlook and open her eyes to so much. Including secrets that may change everything. From the beginning, we can sense that there is a fraught tension between Francesca's parents and as the story begins to evolve this becomes even clearer, and we, like Francesca, want to figure out just what exactly is going on. With a lot of freedom for a girl of her age, Francesca begins to search and explore Berlin all for herself, and the setting comes alive in this book, almost like a character all by itself, and the past and present converge in many ways which worked really well for me. SAVING FRANCESCA MAIER by Claire Wingfield is the kind of story that slowly reveals its secrets to the reader and I found myself lost in the city with Francesca, looking at everything with fresh eyes - a very enjoyable story. AUTHOR BIO Claire Wingfield graduated from her English degree at Cambridge University in 2002, and has worked in books and publishing ever since. She lives in Scotland, where she runs a busy writing and editorial consultancy. She is the author of 'Saving Francesca Maier', first in the This City series and '52 Dates for Writers - Ride a Tandem, Assume an Alias and 50 Other Ways to Improve Your Novel Draft'. For more information: Website - www.clairewingfield.co.uk Twitter - twitter.com/ClaireWingfield Facebook - www.facebook.com/clairewingfieldauthor/ Instagram - www.instagram.com/clairewingfieldauthor/ |
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
|