Today I'm reviewing C.L. Taylor's latest psychological thriller, The Escape. After loving her previous novels, I was really looking forward to discovering a new story by her. Here are my thoughts on it: 

Title: The Escape

Author: C. L. Taylor

Published: March 23rd 2017 by Avon

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: The new psychological thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Accident, The Lie and The Missing.

"Look after your daughter's things. And your daughter…"

When a stranger asks Jo Blackmore for a lift she says yes, then swiftly wishes she hadn't.

The stranger knows Jo's name, she knows her husband Max and she's got a glove belonging to Jo's two year old daughter Elise.

What begins with a subtle threat swiftly turns into a nightmare as the police, social services and even Jo's own husband turn against her.

No one believes that Elise is in danger. But Jo knows there's only one way to keep her child safe – RUN.

Review: C. L. Taylor is back with a new clever and absorbing psychological thriller. For me, she is one of the best authors in this genre and she did not disappoint at all with The Escape. 

When we start reading this story, we have no clue of what is going on, but neither does Jo Blackmore, the main character. We all know though that something or someone dangerous is looming in the darkness, Jo and her daughter are not safe. This first part of the story is really tense and I couldn't stop reading to try to find out more about what was going on, collecting clues, trying to decide who was trying to help and who was trying to harm them. 

Little but little, we start figuring out what is going on and soon realise that Jo's worse fears are no longer fears but her new reality. A new reality where she is no longer sure about anything or anyone. Not only her present is hunting her but also her past. This fact adds a new storyline to the novel that intertwines with the main one perfectly, surprising us readers with quite a few unexpected twists and revelations. 

As I said, I raced through the first part of this story. I couldn't wait to know more. But as I started realising what was happening I started reading way more slowly, fearing what would happen next. But also taking in all the details the author adds to the story, like the eerie atmosphere of the Irish village where the story takes us or all the complexities and different versions of each characters. 

If you want to be surprised, if you want to feel fear, if you want to read a cleverly written story... then don't look any farther. The Escape is the book you are looking for. Another hit by C.L. Taylor. 

Rating: 5 stars

First of all I would like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of this book via NetGalley. This is my honest opinion.

Title: Out of Heart

Author: Irfan Master

Publised: April 20th 2017 by Hot Key Books

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Donating your heart is the most precious gift of all.

Adam is a teenage boy who lives with his mum and younger sister. His dad has left them although lives close by. His sister no longer speaks. His mum works two jobs. Adam feels the weight of the world upon his shoulders.

Then his grandfather dies and in doing so he donates a very precious gift - his heart. 

William is the recipient of Adam's grandfather's heart. He has no family and feels rootless and alone. In fact, he feels no particular reason to live. And then he meets Adam's family. 

William has received much, but it appears that he has much to offer Adam and his family too.

A powerful tale of love and strength in adversity.

Review: As soon as I got this book, I knew it was going to be something special, and I was not wrong at all. What a beautifully written story. This is not a very long book, it can definitely be read in a couple of evenings, and the plot is quite simple but somehow, it really got to me. It revolves around Adam and his family. They have just lost their grandparent and learned that he donated his heart, so imagine their surprise when the person who is now living with that same heart, William, turns up at their door.

As a friendship blossoms between William and this family, we learn more about their grief, how they are handling it and what other problems they are facing. These are not few. The story handles a lot more issues like poverty, domestic violence or racism, but it also talks about friendship, love and art. It combines positive and negative story lines perfectly to end up creating an inspiring and touching story.

One of my favourite aspects about this book is the insight we get in Adam's notebook. He likes writing about what is going on around him in a very special way, playing with words and feelings. I found his creations fascinating and I would have loved to be able to see his drawings too. He was definitely the most important and developed character in the story and it was difficult not to care for him. In contrast, we didn't really got to know the other characters. I have to say though, that even if I would have loved knowing more about some of them, like his sister, I didn't feel like we were missing anything important about them, we learned enough about them to make the story work. And not knowing more probably made them more interesting.

All in all, I loved this coming of age story. The writing was beautiful. In fact, I'd say it was beautifully simple, almost poetic. I'd recommend this story to anyone looking for a quick but compelling read with a few surprises in store. 

Rating: 5 stars

I´d like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. This is my honest opinion. 

Title: My Not So Perfect Life

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Published: February 9th 2017 by Batham Press

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Caz Brenner is living the dream – she has a flat in London, a job in creative branding, and her Instagram feed is full of all the amazing things London has to offer: delicious food and beautiful sights and lots of fun. Ok, so the crappy truth is that she rents a tiny room in Catford with no space for a wardrobe, spends most of her days engaged in tedious admin on the other side of the city, and posts photos of food she could never ever afford to eat. But it’s all just about worth it.

Until her bright and shiny life comes crashing down: her demanding boss Demeter gives her sack, and with no means to live in London any more, Caz has to move home to Somerset. Now she’s plain old Katie Brenner again, helping out her dad and her stepmum as they attempt to launch a glamping business on their farm. (They think she’s on sabbatical from her job, and she can’t quite bear to tell them the truth…)

With Katie’s creative branding experience, the glamping is soon a big success. So much so that Demeter and her family book in on holiday - and Katie sees her chance to get revenge on the woman who ruined her dream. So long as Demeter doesn’t see beyond her disguise and give the game away to her parents, of course.

It’s time to see who’s the boss…

Review: I love Sophie Kinsella. She is probably the reason why I read so much these days. I discovered her books about ten years ago and since then, I have read everything she has ever written. Plus, the first book I ever reviewed was one of hers, so as you can imagine, every time she releases a new book, my expectations are always high. Especially when she releases a brand new story with new characters. Is it gonna be as good as the others? The answer is yes. 

My Not So Perfect Life is such a fun, warm and entertaining read with everything I love in a story, relatable and lovable characters, a bit of love and lots of laughs. Our main character, Caz, pretends to have the perfect life in London, a life she has always dreamed about and she makes sure to let everyone know how much fun she is having. The truth couldn't be more different though, her life is falling apart so when she gets fired, she ends up living back home with her dad and stepmum.

It's then when we get to know the real Caz and really fall in love with her. I loved following her new adventure, a glamping site at her dad's place, and discovering what she really was capable of and what a brave and smart girl she really was. But Caz is not the only surprise in the story, her boss is not that different from her. Demeter's own life is on the brick of falling apart too. I found the relationship between these two women really interesting, and when Caz was determined to get her revenge on her, it was just hilarious. 

Let's not forget about the love story, it doesn't take centre stage in the book but it complements it perfectly, adding the perfect sweet touches and letting us see yet another side of Caz. 

My Not So Perfect Life has the same fresh and fun touch that Sophie Kinsella has us accustomed to but it also a heart-lifting and inspiring story about believing in yourself and fighting for what you deserve. A joy to read, nothing I didn't love about it!

Rating: 5 stars

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for the historical murder mystery, The Body in the Ice. This Story is out on Thursday and to celebrate it, author A. J. MacKenzie stops by to talk about amateur sleuths:

Amateur sleuths who do a better job than the professionals

by A. J. MacKenzie

Crime-fighting in eighteenth-century Britain was a pretty amateur affair, especially in the countryside. London had the Bow Street Runners, and by the end of the century a strong force of constables. The cities and larger towns had their own magistrates and police forces. Out in the country, though, law enforcement was down to local volunteers.

The backbone of the system were the local magistrates, the justices of the peace. They served as investigating officers, looking into alleged criminal offences; they were the detectives of the day. They also acted as judges at the lowest level, holding courts of petty session and quarter session.

In the cities and towns, magistrates were paid. Many were also trained solicitors. In the countryside, the job fell to whichever local worthy failed to dodge the bullet. At the start of The Body in the Ice, we learn that Reverend Hardcastle has been reluctantly co-opted into the role of J.P. because there is no one else available. It was not uncommon for clergymen to serve as J.Ps; they were well-educated, literate and a few might even have some rudimentary legal training. There were of course some unscrupulous J.P.s who used their position to line their pockets with payoffs and bribes, but there were also many honest officials.

The JPs right-hand man was the parish constable. Each parish was required by law to have a constable, and again, this was a job many people tried to evade. First, unless the J.P. was willing to dip into his own pocket, the job was unpaid. Second, other locals tended to regard constables as snitches. The job was not popular. Although there were some constables who took the opportunity to run a local protection racket, again there were many who tried to do the job in an honest and even-handed manner.

In The Body in the Ice, Hardcastle has hit upon the idea of asking Joshua Stemp, a leader of the local smuggling gang, to be his parish constable. In a community where virtually everyone is involved in some way with smuggling, Stemp is already well respected and can work with the rest of the parish. So long as his duties don’t conflict with his smuggling activities, Stemp is happy (and to see what happens when they do, you’ll have to wait for the next book in the series).

About the only true professionals were the county coroners and their assistants, who were qualified doctors. Coroners could inquire into the cause of death, but could not determine responsibility, or investigate matters of guilt or innocence. But at least the hard-pressed magistrate could be reasonably certain that the medical advice he received was accurate.

Why have such a ramshackle, amateurish system? The answer lies in the English allergy to authority. The upheavals of the seventeenth century had resulted in a deep hatred of pretty much every form of authority – and of the taxation that would be required to pay for it. A standing police force was considered anathema, for it could easily be transformed into an instrument of repression. People would rather put up with higher levels of crime, than pay for or follow the orders of an established police force.

How well did these amateurs do? As Frank McGlynn points out in Crime and Punishment in Eighteenth-Century England, there was a lot of crime around. But the criminals were pretty amateurish too. Somehow, the hard-pressed, unpaid, overworked magistrates and constables managed to stop the country from collapsing into anarchy. Just.

About the book:

Title: The Body in the Ice

Author: A. J. MacKenzie

Published: April 20th 2017 by Zaffre

Amazon | Amazon UK

Follow the Blog Tour for more interesting content about The Body in the Ice:

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Meet Me at Wisteria Cottage by HarperImpulse author Teresa F. Morgan. This story is out this Thursday and to celebrate it, Teresa has stopped by to talk about Location:

Location, Location, Location

by Teresa F. Morgan

I’ve been asked if my books are a series and I’ve answered that they are stand alone novels. However, while writing Meet Me At Wisteria Cottage I found a way to link them. I’ve featured the same areas, hence putting them into the same ‘universe’. This idea was inspired by Sue Moorcroft, one of my favourite authors, who writes most of her novels in her made up area of Middledip. 

So how did I do it? 

Plus One is a Lucky Number was set in Cornwall, in a town I made up, called Tinners Bay. It’s based on the seaside town I holidayed frequently at; Polzeath. I used Surrey as the other location, as it’s where I was born and grew up – and this made Cornwall quite a trek, as most Londoners are aware. Thomas Robotics was based on the first company I worked for in Chertsey. I worked in Production Control, and would have to take the parts to the engineers on the shop floor to build the robotics. The ‘oilies’. 

Virginia Water in Surrey is incredibly posh, housing a lot of ‘rich and famous’– it was the perfect location to set Adam’s house.

One Fine Day needed to be a busier location than Cornwall. I wanted a city environment, so I chose Bristol. Also I believed Steve would be able to hide in a city like Bristol, unlike London, where celebrities are spotted frequently. Bristol was ideal as it’s close to me, enabling me to use my own memory or allowed me to research parts I didn’t know so well easily. A friend and I took a nice lunch around Clifton one afternoon. I took this inspiration from the first Jill Mansell book I ever read (Good At Games) which was based in Bristol. I thought, if Jill could use where she lived, so could I!

So, when it came to Meet Me At Wisteria Cottage, I wanted to link it with the other two books. I decided to revisit Tinners Bay, providing it in even more detail which linked it to my first novel. Then, by Maddy’s parents living in Clifton, Bristol, there was a small link to One Fine Day. Even some characters from Plus One is a Lucky Number feature in my third novel. I’ll let you work out who they are.

About the book: 

Title: Meet Me at Wisteria Cottage

Author: Teresa F. Morgan

Published: April 20th 2017 by HarperImpulse

Amazon | Amazon UK

About the Author

Teresa F Morgan lives in sunny Weston-super-Mare, trying to hold onto her Surrey accent where she originates from.

For years she persevered with boring jobs, until her two boys (and a budgie called Rio) joined her nest. In an attempt to find something to work around them, and to ensure she never endured full time boredom again, Teresa found writing.

Family holidays in Cornwall have lead to the scenic Cornish coastline and the city of Bristol being the back drop for Teresa’s novels.

She’s at her happiest baking cakes, putting proper home cooked dinners on the table (whether the kids eat them or not), reading a good romance, or sitting at her PC emptying her thoughts onto the screen. 

Teresa loves writing contemporary romance, stories with a touch of escapism and creating heroes readers will fall in love with.

Twitter: @Teresa_Morgan10

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teresafmorgan12/

Webpage: http://www.teresamorgan.co.uk/

Follow the Blog Tour for more interesting content about Wisteria Cottage:

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Holly Martin's latest story, Spring at Blueberry Bay, published by Bookouture last week. Keep reading for my review: 

Title: Spring at Blueberry Bay

Author: Holly Martin

Published: April 7th 2017 by Bookouture

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Welcome to beautiful Hope Island where the sea sparkles, the daffodils are blooming and a blossoming romance is just around the corner… 

Bella has always had a sunny outlook and caring nature, despite recently falling on hard times. When she finds a handsome homeless man on her doorstep, her kind heart tells her she must help him. So, she invites Isaac into her cottage and into her life in ways she could never have imagined… 

But Isaac is not what he seems. He’s keeping a huge secret from Bella, yet he never expected to fall for this open, generous and charming woman. 

Bella can’t ignore the chemistry between her and Isaac, but she’s had her trust badly broken in her past. Will she run when she learns the truth about Isaac, or will he be the one man who can help Bella believe in love again? 

A gorgeously romantic and heartwarming story to completely lose yourself in. Perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan, Jane Costello and Miranda Dickinson. 

Review: Holly Martin is back with another romantic story set in a beautiful island with lovely characters! Holly's stories are always full of love and magic and Spring at Blueberry Bay is no different, in fact, her stories have become a bit like comfort food for me. A happy place where I can go to disconnect from the real world. 

In this one, we meet a new set of characters with Bella and Isaac as main ones. As usual, the connection between these two is immediate and it's quite clear for us readers that they'll end up together, not so clear for them though as the obstacles they need to overcome seem too much.

I have to say this one is not on my top Holly Martin's stories (she has so many that I enjoyed a bit more), maybe because it didn't surprise me as much as previous ones but I'm really curious to find out more about the community in this little island and how the stories develop for some of the secondary characters.

One thing for sure though, she always makes me laugh several times during the story and leaves me with a huge smile on my face when I'm done reading. What else can you ask for? 

A recommended read for romance lovers that are looking for something a bit different and fun!

Rating: 4 stars

Did you miss any of the stops on the blog tour? Catch up now:

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Annie Lyons' latest book, The Choir on Hope Street. I am a big fan of Annie's stories, so I was really excited to get my hands on this one, here are my thoughts on it:

Title: The Choir on Hope Street

Author: Annie Lyons

Published: April 6th by 2017 by HQ Stories

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: The best things in life happen when you least expect them.

Nat’s husband has just said the five words no one wants to hear – ‘I don’t love you anymore’.

Picture-perfect Caroline has to welcome her estranged mother into her house after she was forced out of an exclusive nursing home.

Living on the same street these two women couldn’t be more different. Until the local community centre is threatened, galvanising Caroline and the people of Hope Street into action. But when the only way to save the centre is to form a community choir – no one, least of all Nat, expects the results…

This spring, hope is coming!

Review: The Choir on Hope Street is a really warm and hopeful story about a community trying to save the hall where they have their social activities, like bingo, baby groups... The main strength in their campaign is their choir, a last minute idea but a very effective one, as it turns out some of the residents have great voices. So as the story progresses we get to know several of its members, with Caroline and Natalie being the main characters.

These two are two very different women: Carolina has the perfect life, while Natalie's life is falling apart. To begin with, it's clear that they have nothing in common and Caroline is just using Natalie's status as the local celebrity (she is a children books writer), but little by little, you start to realize that these characters might need each other more than they think. I had a great time following their interactions, as Natalie's sarcastic comments were always on point, but also because you could clearly see their friendship blossoming.

Caroline was a very difficult character to like, she was bossy and self-assured but could also be mean and selfish. So when things started going bad for her too, I didn't feel as bad. But after learning about her past and getting to know the real Caroline, I started warming to her. It doesn't mean I liked her but I also didn't not like her, if you know what I mean? Her story complemented the main saving the hall one and definitely made things interesting and quite intriguing. As per Natalie, I liked her since the beginning, with her inability to keep her mouth shut and how she would find herself in the most awkward situations.

As I said, the whole story was really enjoyable and warm and the clear message is that you need to keep fighting for what you want. But both Caroline and Natalie and the rest of the choir bunch added a really personal touch that made the story deeper and a bit serious at times. And of course, reading about the songs and the music, I could totally picture the choir singing and really connecting with each other. All in all, a fun story with a bit more!

Rating: 4 stars

I would like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

Did you miss any of the stops on the Blog Tour? Have a look:

Lately I've seen this novel everywhere and everyone has been raving about it, so I was really curious to discover for myself what all the hype was about. Here are my thought about it:

Title: The Hate U Give

Author: Angie Thomas

Published: March 13th 2017 by Walker Books

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, Angie Thomas’s searing debut about an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances addresses issues of racism and police violence with intelligence, heart, and unflinching honesty. Soon to be a major motion picture from Fox 2000/Temple Hill Productions.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

Review: I'm quite sure that if you are an avid reader you have heart by now about The Hate U Give. I've certainly seen it everywhere, so to say that I had hight expectation about this one would be an understatement. Well, guess what? It totally and completely surpassed my expectations. What a book, what a story, what a main character! Unbelievably good and definitely a firm contender to book of the year, if not the decade.

I've read a review that says this is a classic in the making and I couldn't agree more. But I feel privileged to be reading it as it comes out too because it handles very current topics. It is inspired mainly by the Black Lives Matter movement and it is such an important read. I think that it should be on every school curriculum for teenagers to read because it's a book that makes you aware of a lot of things that you never really thought about before. For example, something that really got me thinking was the image we have of a police officer. As a kid, my parents would always tell me to look for a police officer if I ever got lost or needed some kind of help, but in a community like Starr's the talk kids get from their parent about the police is a very different one because there's the risk that the police might arrest you or even kill you with no apparent reason. And that's exactly what happened to Starr's best friend.

From that moment, Starr finds herself in the middle of a huge injustice but is afraid to speak up because she knows that with the current system she has already lost the battle: a young poor black guy who sold drugs probably deserved it, he was a danger for everyone. It's shocking that the reality couldn't be more different and that no one really cared. But reading about Starr, her family and her community was really inspiring. Sometimes your voice really is the greatest weapon you have.

Apart from the importance of this topic and how well this book brings awareness about it. I have to say that this is a fantastic book with a well-thought plot and with complex and engaging characters. Starr is probably the most special characters I have read about in a long time. Not only is she easy-relatable, smart and fair but she is kickass heroine that brings the best in people. And every single character in this story is as complex and interesting as her. They all have their own story that complements the main plot perfectly. It feels like every single one of them has its role, nobody is there for the sake of adding a few pages to the story or to fit a cliche. 

Starr's family is really a joy to read. They couldn't be more supporting and loving and they always tried really hard to show how much they cared. They obviously had their problems but they also added a really fun spark to the story. Because yes, this is a very serious topic but the story if full of funny moments (if you love Harry Potter, you'll find yourself actually crying with some of these moments).

All in all, The Hate U Give is a story you need to read. It has a really important message, you learn a lot from it and you have a great time reading it, what else can I say? Just go and get a copy, you won't regret it.

Last month I had the pleasure of hosting author Clare Harvey on the blog and she talked about the realities of researching and writing Historical Fiction, a post I really enjoyed (you can read it here). And today I'm reviewing her latest story:

Title: The English Agent

Author: Clare Harvey

Published: February 23rd 2017 by Simon & Schuster 

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: How far will two women go to survive a war? 

Having suffered a traumatic experience in the Blitz, Edie feels utterly disillusioned with life in wartime London. The chance to work with the Secret Operations Executive (SOE) helping the resistance in Paris offers a fresh start. Codenamed ‘Yvette’, she’s parachuted into France and met by the two other members of her SOE cell. Who can she trust?

Back in London, Vera desperately needs to be made a UK citizen to erase the secrets of her past. Working at the foreign office in charge of agents presents an opportunity for blackmail. But when she loses contact with one agent in the field, codenamed Yvette, her loyalties are torn.

Review: What an interesting story The English Agent turned out to be! I have read several historical fiction novels set in WW2 in the last few months so I wasn't expecting a big surprise from this one, but I soon realized that Clare Harvey had chosen a very unusual topic that people (or at least me in particular) don't know much about: the role of women as spies during the war. 

The story follows Eddie as she lands in Nazi-occupied Paris to be the link and coder between the French resistance group and London. At the same time, we also learn about Vera, who recruits and trains spies as Eddie. I was fascinated by how brave these women were and how they always had to work extra hard to prove themselves just because they were women.

Both characters though were really cagey. We really didn't know about their pasts but there were clearly dark secrets behind them. So at the beginning I was really not sure what to think about them. Also, they were far from perfect and some of their decisions were questionable. I have to say though that they grew on me and I was hoping for the best for them, even if their futures seemed quite doomed.

Not only I liked the characters but also the pace of the story. The tension built up slowly at the beginning as we got to know everyone and what their role was but as the action started, I couldn't keep myself off the pages of this book. Plus, the story is based in real people, so I after finishing it, it really made me think how they must have felt and lived back then. I always enjoy books that teach me something new I didn't know about and The English Agent is one of those.

All in all, a well researched and entertaining story that with strong and interesting characters. It really gave me an idea of how the occupied Paris must have been and how people lived in fear all the time, especially the brave one fighting from inside. A highly recommended read for historic novels fans. 

Rating: 5 stars

I would like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

Today I'm kicking off the Blog Tour for Eve Devon's latest book, The Little Clock House on the Green, which has just been published. To celebrate so, Eve is sharing with us how she chooses the names on her stories: 

The Little Clock House on the Green - What’s in a Name?

Hi Everyone and thank you so much for joining me today.

I have to admit one of my favourite things about plotting a new book, is coming up with the names of characters and places.

From the age of nine, my bestie and I would sit in my room with piles of my mum’s Mills & Boon books and read out all the hero and heroine names and choose our favourites. They were always gorgeously exotic names like Cadence and Carluccio or Farrah and Farouq and somehow I’d form an impression of what the person would be like based on their name. Bit weird or totally know where I’m coming from? Have you ever been introduced to someone and privately thought, ‘Huh! You don’t look like a (insert given name, here)’? 

There’s probably a special science-y name for this to do with ascribing personality traits or looks to sounds, so if any of you out there know what it is, I’d love to know.

When it came to naming characters in The Little Clock House on the Green, I got really lucky. As soon as they started ‘talking’ and as soon as I learned a little more about them, their names made sense.

These are the initial notes I made that helped me find their names:

Kate Somersby – Resourceful, impulsive, determined – and with much to prove to herself and the village. She has long brown hair, emotive eyes, flirtatious smile, and striking bone structure – think Anne Hathaway!

Daniel Westlake – Jaded, proud and looking to bounce back from a failed business venture and start afresh. He is tall, athletic (runner), nut brown hair. Two words: Henry Cavill!

Juliet Brown – (Jules). Shy and unassuming, still waters run deep. She’s arty, creative, sweet-natured, caring. She has luscious red hair, sweetheart shaped face, gentle/sunny/arty look. Think: Emma Stone!

Oscar Matthews – locked down. Quiet. Intense. Huge soulful/puppy-dog eyes. Two Words: Jeremy Renner!

Whispers Wood – a British Stars Hollow. 

I wanted something that would roll off the tongue and make people think of a village where secrets lived. My wonderful editor came up with the name and right away I knew it was perfect. Believe me I researched a lot of names before we arrived at Whispers Wood. The UK has some priceless village names and I’ve listed The Little Clock House on the Green’s favourite’s here:

Thanks so much to Eve for stopping by and sharing such an interesting post with us! I'm always fascinated by names myself so I loved reading what there's behind the choosing of names for characters.

About the book:

Title: The Little Clock House on the Green

Author: Eve Devon

Published: March 27th 2017 by HarperImpulse

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: An absolute must-read for fans of Gilmore Girls!

Welcome to Whispers Wood, a cosy little village in the heart of the English countryside, where everybody knows everybody and rumours are spread thicker than jam on a scone…

When a rival village is awarded Best in Bloom, the residents of Whispers Wood are determined to regain their former glory – and with Old Man Isaac finally selling the clock house on the village green, with two potential buyers, operation ‘Summer Fete’ is on!

For Kate Somersby, the very bricks that make up the clock house hold precious memories of her childhood. Now she’s finally returned home after years of running away, she’s here to make Isaac an offer and ensure her and her beloved sister’s dreams come true. Only entrepreneur Daniel Westlake is standing in her way.

To prove they have the village’s interests at heart and in turn become the proud new owner of the clock house, Kate and Daniel must compete to raise funds for the Whispers Wood Summer Fete.

Over one glorious English summer, friendships are forged, secrets are revealed and romance delightfully bursts into bloom.

About the author:

My name’s Eve Devon and I write sexy heroes, sassy heroines and happy ever afters…

I kind of secretly believe it’s not too late for me to train as a professional dancer, MMA expert, or win an Oscar. I know! This is why writing fiction is for me!

Growing up in locations like Botswana and Venezuela gave me a taste for adventure and my love for romances began when my mother shoved one into my hands in a desperate attempt to keep me quiet during TV coverage of the Wimbledon tennis finals. 

When I wasn’t consuming books by the bucket-load, I could be found pretending to be a damsel in distress or running around solving mysteries and writing down my adventures. As a teenager, I wrote countless episodes of TV detective dramas so the hero and heroine would end up together every week. As an adult, I worked in a library to conveniently continue consuming books by the bucket-load, until realising I was destined to write contemporary romance and romantic suspense myself. I live in leafy Surrey in the UK, a book-devouring, slightly melodramatic, romance-writing sassy heroine with my very own sexy hero husband! 

Where you can find me:

Webpage: http://www.evedevon.com/

Twitter: @EveDevon

Facebook: Eve Devon Author

New month means new books, right? As usual, I'm sharing my top new releases for this month. It's looking like it's going to be a very interesting month with releases by some of my favourite authors!

Catch Me If You Cannes by Lisa Dickenson - April 3rd

WARNING: reading Catch Me If You Cannes may result in embarrassing outbursts of belly-aching laughter on public transport. Romantic, funny and full of Cannes Film Festival magic, it's perfect for fans of Giovanna Fletcher, Paige Toon and Mhairi McFarlane.

Jess has decided it's time to get out of her comfort zone and live a little. So when her best friend Bryony, a journalist on a gossip magazine, is sent to cover the Cannes Film Festival, Jess decides to seize the day and go along for the ride. Two weeks of sun, glamour and exclusive entry into celeb-filled parties is just the kind of adventure Jess needs.

Reality soon bites though when Jess and Bryony find they're staying in a dingy hotel far away from all the action and Bryony's expenses budget barely covers a glass of local wine. Undeterred, the two women are determined to live like the elite and enjoy one fancy night out to begin their holiday. So what if they have to tell a few white lies along the way? It's just this once. No harm done... right?

Full of hilarious one-liners, sparkling blue seas and plenty of romantic moments, Catch Me If You Cannes is the story of two friends, a few white lies and one very sticky situation...

Why so excited: I had the pleasure of reading this story when it was first released as a serialised enovel and I loved every single page! It's now out as a whole novel, in ebook format today and paperback next month. Don't miss it!

Pre-order now!

The Choir on Hope Street by Annie Lyons - April 6th

The A-Z of Everything by Debbie Johnson - April 20th

Today I'm kicking off the Blog Tour for Simon Beckett's latest Story, The Restless Dead. This is the fifth novel of the forensic anthropologist Dr David Hunter Series. And I'm sharing my review and also an extract for you to read:

Title: The Restless Dead

Author: Simon Beckett

Published: April 6th 2016 by Transworld

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: It was on a Friday evening that forensics consultant Dr David Hunter took the call: a Detective Inspector Lundy from the Essex force. Just up the coast from Mersea Island, near a place called Backwaters, a badly decomposed body has been found and the local police would welcome Hunter's help with the recovery and identification...

Because they would like it to be that of Leo Villiers, the 31 year-old son of a prominent local family who went missing weeks ago, and they are under pressure to close the case. Villiers was supposed to have been having an affair with a married woman, Emma Derby. She too is missing, and the belief is that the young man disposed of his lover, and then killed himself. If only it was so straightforward.

But Hunter has his doubts about the identity of the remains. The hands and feet are missing, the face no longer recognisable. Then further remains are found - and suddenly these remote wetlands are giving up yet more grisly secrets. As Hunter is slowly but surely drawn into a toxic mire of family secrets and resentments, local lies and deception, he finds himself unable, or perhaps unwilling, to escape even though he knows that the real threat comes from the living, not the dead.

With its eerie and claustrophobic sense of place, explosive heart-in-mouth moments, and viscerally authentic forensics and police procedural detail, coupled with David Hunter’s own uncanny ability to understand the living as much as the dead, The Restless Dead stands as a masterclass in crime fiction and marks the stunning return of one of the genre’s best.

Review: When I first picked this book, I did not know that this was the fifth book around the character of Dr David Hunter, a forensic anthropologist and police consultant, but I soon realised that this character had quite a background story that was mentioned during this story. This being said, I had all the information I needed to follow the story with no problem at all and after a few chapters I was completely immersed in this story and its characters. So it's fair to say that this story works perfectly well as a standalone and it definitely leaves you wanting to more about this character.

In this book, Dr David Hunter is not facing the brightest future, with his university job hanging by a thread and with his name as a consultant on a black list with the police. So when he gets a call from DI Lundy to join them for a body recovery from the murky Blackwaters of the Saltmere Estuary, he is hoping to clear his reputation. Soon though what seemed quite a straight forward case of suicide turns out to be a case full of secrets, deceits and with several members of this close-knit community involved.

While reading this book, I instantly took a liking of Dr David Hunter, he is definitely more comfortable with the dead than the living and he usually finds himself in awkward situations without even trying. But his deduction skills were as good as any detective and he was a key part in the resolution of this case, maybe because he got a bit too close to the family of the missing woman linked to the body they found. The members of this family were a bit more difficult to figure out and with every new information I was more and more surprised and curious about them.

The star of the story though was probably the setting. The estuary created an extremely tense and eerie atmosphere and you never knew what was waiting around the corner. It's a fact that the story was full of unexpected twists and surprises that kept me glued to its pages for hours. I could have never guessed who was behind everything and I think the author resolved it in a really clever way. I'm already looking forward to the next Dr David Hunter story, he has definitely gained a new fan. 

Rating: 4 stars

EXTRACT

1 

Composed of over sixty per cent water, a human body isn’t naturally buoyant. It will float only for as long as there is air in its lungs, before gradually sinking to the bottom. If the water is very cold or deep, it will remain there, undergoing a slow, dark dissolution that can take years. 

But if the water is warm enough for bacteria to feed and multiply, then it will continue to decompose. Gases will build up in the intestines, increasing the body’s buoyancy until it floats again. 

And the dead will literally rise. 

Suspended face down, limbs trailing below, the body will drift on or just under the water’s surface. Over time, in a morbid reversal of its formation in the womb’s amniotic darkness, it will eventually come apart. The extremities first: fingers, hands and feet. Then arms and legs, and finally the head, all falling away until only the torso is left. When the last of the decompositional gases have seeped out, the torso too will slowly sink a second, and final, time. 

But water can also cause another transformation to take place. As the soft tissues decompose, the layer of subcutaneous fat begins to break down, encasing a once living human body in a thick, greasy layer. Known as adipocere, or ‘grave-wax’ to give it its more colourful title, this pallid substance also goes by a less macabre name. 

Soap. 

Cocooned in its dirty white shroud, the internal organs are preserved as the body floats on its last, solitary journey. 

Unless chance brings it once more into the light of day. 

The skull was a young female’s, the gender hinted at by its more gracile structure. The frontal bone was high and smooth, lacking any bulge of eyebrow ridges, while the small bump of the mastoid process beneath the opening of the ear looked too delicate for a male. Not that such things were definitive, but taken together they left me in little doubt. The adult teeth had all broken through by the time of death, which indicated she was older than twelve, though not by much. Although two molars and an upper incisor were missing, probably dislodged post-mortem, the remaining teeth were hardly worn. It confirmed the story told by the rest of her skeleton, that she’d died before reaching her late teens. 

The cause of death was all too obvious. At the back of the skull, a jagged hole about an inch long and half that wide sat almost dead centre of the occipital bone. There was no sign of healing and the edges of the wound were splintered, suggesting the bone was living when the injury occurred. That wouldn’t have been the case if the damage had been inflicted after death, when the bone dries out and becomes brittle. The first time I’d picked up the skull I’d been surprised to hear an almost musical rattle from inside. At first I’d thought it must be bone fragments, forced into the brain cavity by whatever object had killed the young victim. But it sounded too large and solid for that. The X-ray confirmed what I’d guessed: loose inside the girl’s skull was a slender, symmetrical shape. 

An arrowhead.

Follow the Blog Tour for more interesting content and reviews of The Restless Dead:

Today I am kicking off the Blog Tour for the novella by author Elsa Wincker, The Whisperer. Eve is sharing with us the inspiration behind this story:

Inspiration for The Whisperer
by Elsa Winckler

I have always been fascinated with the idea that people are able to ‘talk’ to animals. I have to admit, I prefer animals to most humans and I had a dog, a cat and a budgie when growing up.☺ I couldn’t wait to get animals when we got married, but hubby is not a lover of cats, so the compromise was to get a dog. We’ve always lived in town so unfortunately horses were never part of my life. But I love watching them, reading about them, in fact, I think there is a horse whisperer trapped inside me! :)

Somewhere during 2010 I came across an article about an animal communicator in a local magazine. I read every word as she explains how she talks to dogs, horses and even whales. I was hooked. Of course a story started brewing but I knew nothing about communicating with animals or horses and had to get help. So I Googled. 

I found wonderful articles on the internet about ways of training horses and was especially impressed with the Parelli Program. It was on their website I read about ‘horsenality’ – a way you can identify your horse’s innate characteristics and introduce specific strategies to bring out the best in the horse. It makes a huge difference if you know whether your horse is confident or fearful, extroverted or introverted, or motivated by food rather than play. Knowing what makes the horse tick can help you understand him – in other words, it’s very much like understanding humans :)

Trying to find an animal communicator who was willing to communicate with a human, was a bit of a challenge. I tried to get in touch with the person I read about in the article, but I never heard from her. After many attempts, Google and I finally found Kathleen Berard though, an animal communicator from Texas. 

She was so gracious and helped me tremendously. The heroine in The Whisperer, Cilla Stevens has been able to talk to animals since she can remember. She is a teacher and when one of the kids at school sees how she calms down a stray dog he tells his father about the incident. His dad is a manager on Cameron Rall’s farm and they have just bought a stallion, Bravo. But Bravo is unmanageable, at least according to his owner and of course this is when Cilla is called in to help. 

I had to decide why Bravo was behaving badly and this was where Kathleen Berard was such a great help. She sent me email after email with information, answered all my stupid questions and patiently described the whole process to me. 

Another version of this story was published in Afrikaans in 2011 and at the time I sent Kathleen a copy of the book. I promised her that if I ever get a publisher for the story in English, she would be the first one to get a copy. So now I can’t wait for release day so that I can finally send her one.

Connect with Elsa on Twitter.

About the book:

Title: The Whisperer

Author: Elsa Winckler

Published: March 10th 2017 by HarperImpulse

Amazon | Amazon UK

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