Today is my stop in the fantastic Blog Tour for The Winter Garden, the sparkling new Christmas novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author Heidi Swain. And I am sharing my thoughts on this festive read here!

Title: The Winter Garden (Nightingale Square #3)

Author: Heidi Swain

Published: October 4th 2020 by Simon & Schuster

Review: After reading and loving Sunshine and Sweetpeas at Nightingale Square and Poppy’s Recipe for Life, I was really looking forward to going back to Nightingale Square, especially with a festive story, as I was sure that this lovely place would be perfect for a cosy and very special Christmas. And I was not wrong at all! 

This time we discover Freya’s story, who after losing her close friend and employer is not sure what to do next in her life. A bit by chance and a bit by magic, she ends up being employed as the gardener in Prosperous Place. The job comes with a place to live at the Square too so she soon finds herself involved in all the activitats organised by the lovely community. 

Once again, I really enjoyed reading about the sense of community in the square and how they all come together to make their shared space a better place, where everyone is welcomed. Freya couldn't have landed at a better place and it was a great pleasure to get to catch up with this bunch of lovely people. I wish Prosperous Place was real and I could attend some of the sessions they organise for their Winterfest, they sounded so original and fun!

Also a big thumps up from me for the love story! Great chemistry between the characters and perfect amount of will-they or will-they-not. I finished this book with a huge smile in my face!

Three strangers. Three secrets. And one big lie.

Title: Strangers

Author: CL Taylor

Published: April 2nd 2020 by Avon

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Ursula, Gareth and Alice have never met before.

Today I am over the moon to welcome amazing author Alice Peterson to my blog. Her latest book, If You Were Here, is out now and to celebrate she stopped by to answer all my bookish questions. 

Hi Alice and welcome! First of all, could you tell us a bit about yourself?

Thank you for having me Alba. The first thing I’d say is I never expected to be a writer. I was always ‘Alice, the tennis player’. Aged 18, and ranked amongst the top 10 juniors in the country, I was about to go to America on a tennis scholarship – when I felt pain in my right hand. This pain then spread to my whole body and I was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition called rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Overnight I never played tennis again – a sadness that will always be with me. But I fought hard to rebuild my life – by telling my personal story and then becoming a novelist. 

Your new novel, If You Were Here, is an emotional and inspiring story. Can you tell us a bit about it? What inspired this idea?

Because of losing my tennis and my battle to live with RA, I am drawn to writing stories of adversity and celebrating the power of the human spirit. If You Were Here was inspired by one of my mother’s friends who told me she had Huntington’s Disease, a genetic and hereditary condition that damages the nerves tissues in the brain and spinal cord. This was terrible in itself, but what really drew me to wanting to write about this was the fact she hadn’t yet told her son that he too had a 50% chance of inheriting HD. It made me wonder how I’d react if I were to find out in my 20s I was at risk. Would I want to take a test to see if I had the gene or not? Basically, how much do we want to know about our future - that’s what really grabbed me… If You Were Here asks all these questions, and really focuses on family and friendships and how they endure tough times too. And finally, there is a ‘will they, won’t they’ love story, which I loved writing… eeking it out to the very end! 

Characters in your stories are always complex and feel very real. How do you research your characters? Do you talk to experts, go to places where they go too, base them on real people?

The heart of my novel comes from truth, so while I haven’t written my mother’s friend’s story, it feels real as I write about things that happen to people in everyday life. I was really fortunate that two HD charities put me in touch with people who were willing to tell me about their experiences. I also was hugely helped by a Consultant Clinical Geneticist called Dr Nayana Lahiri, who told me all about the genetic counselling process and the fears and hopes of all those she meets who are at risk of carrying the gene. I found the research compelling. It was moving to hear so many different stories. 

Which character do you hold closest to your heart? And which is the one most similar to you?

I adore Peggy, who is Flo’s grandmother. While she might be flawed – she admits she has made so many decisions that she has come to regret, I love how she finds the strength to accept her past and fight for her future, and Flo’s. Her character came alive on paper – I could hear her voice, see her face– I really do feel as if she is real. The one most similar to me is Flo. I really put myself into her shoes and kept on thinking ‘what would I do?’

How does your writing process go? Do you plan everything first or you just start writing and let your characters talk to you? I have to say your stories always make me cry, do you also cry while writing them?

No, I do months of research first. I never plan or plot my books chapter by chapter – I probably should as often I need to do major revision – but I know, inside-out, my characters and I have a beginning, a middle – and an end. This doesn’t mean it doesn’t change – I talked to my agent and editor so much about how to end If You Were Here – all of us having different opinions. But essentially, I know what motivates my characters, I understand their hopes and fears and what they’d do in certain situations, so with all the research behind me, and a loose structure, I just write. I cried a lot writing this story. There is one scene, towards the end, which made me cry every single time I read it, or revised it. I’m wondering if you cried in that scene too. I hope so… 

Could you recommend us a novel that you have read recently and has stayed with you?

After The End by Claire Mackintosh. This book deals with everyday life too – it’s about an impossible choice a mother and father have to make about their son, and how this choice threatens to tear their family apart. It really does make you wonder what you’d do if you were in the same position as them. It is heart-breaking, uplifting and beautifully written. 

And finally, are you working on a new story already?

In the last year I have been doing a foundation counselling course, and am looking to begin a degree this September, as counselling as always been something I’ve longed to do – and I feel it could really help my writing. I do have an idea for a new book and have done some research, and all I can say is, like If You Were Here, it’s inspired by real people and real life…

Blurb: If You Were Here is a moving and emotional story about facing a life-altering dilemma head-on and summoning the courage to cope with it' JILL MANSELL

'A beautiful story about living life to the fullest and having the courage to overcome adversity' PAIGE TOON

When her daughter Beth dies suddenly, Peggy Andrews is left to pick up the pieces and take care of her granddaughter Flo. But sorting through Beth’s things reveals a secret never told: Beth was sick, with the same genetic condition that claimed her father’s life, and now Peggy must decide whether to keep the secret or risk destroying her granddaughter’s world.

Five years later, Flo is engaged and moving to New York with her fiancé. Peggy never told her what she discovered, but with Flo looking towards her future, Peggy realises it’s time to come clean and reveal that her granddaughter’s life might also be at risk.

As Flo struggles to decide her own path, she is faced with the same life-altering questions her mother asked herself years before: if a test could decide your future, would you take it?

An emotional, inspiring and uplifting novel, IF YOU WERE HERE will break your heart and put it back together again. The brand new novel from the acclaimed author of A Song for Tomorrow, perfect for fans of Hannah Beckerman, Dani Atkins and Jill Mansell.

Seven strangers. Seven secrets. One deadly lie.

Someone’s going to sleep and never wake up…

Today is my stop in the blog tour for CL Taylor's latest psychological thriller and I am sharing my review for this clever and addictive psychological thriller. Do you dare to sleep?

Title: Sleep

Author: CL Taylor

Published: April 4th 2019 by Avon

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: All Anna wants is to be able to sleep. But crushing insomnia, terrifying night terrors and memories of that terrible night are making it impossible. If only she didn’t feel so guilty…

To escape her past, Anna takes a job at a hotel on the remote Scottish island of Rum, but when seven guests join her, what started as a retreat from the world turns into a deadly nightmare.

Each of the guests have a secret but one of them is lying – about who they are and why they’re on the island. There’s a murderer staying in the Bay View hotel. And they’ve set their sights on Anna.

Review: Sleep has all the ingredients I love in a psychological thriller: it is creepy, twisty, atmospheric, and above all, addictive. I loved how it started with a letter from the main character saying that if someone was reading it, it meant she was dead. My curiosity was certainly picked from page one and it only grew as the story unfolded.

In this book, CL Taylor takes us to a remote island in Scotland, where our main character, Anna, has escaped to to forget about a traumatic accident. But soon after her arrival, 7 guests come to stay at the hotel she is working in and things start going wrong, very wrong, in all possible ways.

I loved getting to know all the characters and trying to figure out who is lying and who is keeping secrets. I found this cast of characters fascinating and they made this story even more interesting.

As the story got darker and darker, I had my heart in my mouth. The suspense was superbly written and the ending took me completely by surprise. This well-crafted and absorbing book is probably my new favorite by the author. I cannot recommend it enough.

'Funny, charming, odd-in-the-best-way and gorgeously uplifting! A delight from start to finish' Marian Keyes

Today is my stop in the Blog Tour for Nina Stibbe's latest book, Reasons to be Cheerful and I am sharing my review for this fun and enjoyable story:

Title: Reasons to be Cheerful

Author: Nina Stibbe

Published: March 28th 2019 by Viking

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: 'When people in the village heard I was about to start working in the city they tried to unsettle me with tales of woe. The sun, blotted out by the tall buildings, couldn't shine and the rain was poisoned by the toxic fumes that poured from the sock factories. My skin would be covered in pimples from the hell of it all'

So begins a young woman's journey to adulthood. Lizzie Vogel leaves her alcoholic, novel-writing mother and heads for Leicester to work for a racist, barely competent dentist obsessed with joining the freemasons.

Soon Lizzie is heading reluctantly, if at top speed, into the murky depths of adult life: where her driving instructor becomes her best friend; her first boyfriend prefers birdwatching to sex and where independence for a teenage girl might just be another word for loneliness.

In Reasons to Be Cheerful Nina Stibbe shows her extraordinary gift for illuminating the vital details which make us human. She is that rare writer who makes us laugh whilst reminding us of the joy, and the pain, of being alive.

Review: Reasons to be Cheerful is a fun and touching novel about growing up in the 80s in England. The story focuses on Lizzie, who has found her first job as a dentist assistant and has left her family home to move to a big city. She is not quite convinced that this has been the best decision though and although she tries to embrace her new adult life, she feels lonely.

It was very interesting to read about Lizzie and how she tried to make new friends and start a new relationship, although she did not have the best rate of success in those fronts, some of the situations she found herself in were sometimes so ridiculous that they were actually pretty funny. Actually, the cast of characters in this novel was definitely highly entertaining, which provided plenty of fun moments but also some touching and even sad ones. These gave a good balance to the story.

I actually didn't know this is the third book on a series when I started reading it but it turned out that it can be read perfectly well as a standalone as the author gives enough background for you to understand what's going. But now I am curious to know more about these characters and how they got here, especially about Lizzie's mum, as her story sounds like quite an eventful one.

Rating: 4 stars

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

‘Of the four of them, only three remained. And there was no going backwards from there.’ 

Today is Publication Day for Laura Pearson's new book, Nobody's Wife, and I am sharing my review as part of the blog tour.

Title: Nobody's Wife

Author: Laura Pearson

Published: March 28th 2019 by Agora Books

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Emily and Josephine have always shared everything. They’re sisters, flatmates, and best friends. It’s the two of them against the world.

When Emily has the perfect wedding, and Josephine finds the perfect man, they know things will change forever. But nothing can prepare them for what, or who, one of them is willing to give up for love.

Four people. Three couples. Two sisters. One unforgivable betrayal.

From the best-selling author of Missing Pieces comes a heart-wrenching story about family, loyalty, and obsession that will have you racing to the finish.

Review: This is a story about secrets, obsession and betrayal. It is a dark story that stretches the relationship between two sisters to its limits. I found the dynamic between them fascinating. Especially how it changed as the story evolved and we knew more things about them. 

After reading both of her books, Missing Pieces and this one, I have to say that Laura Pearson is really good at writing about emotions and how they affect her characters. It's easy to picture them in my mind and even feel how they are feeling. 

Nobody's Wife is a short but very intense novel. The pace is slow but the emotions run high and as the tension builds, you really have no idea in which direction the story is going to go. Although the story made me feel uncomfortable in some moments and shocked me more than once, it held my attention until the very end. It's definitely a story that will make you think about it, even days after finishing it. 

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

About the Author:

Laura Pearson has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Chichester. She spent a decade living in London and working as a copywriter and editor for QVC, Expedia, Net a Porter, EE, and The Ministry of Justice. Now, she lives in Leicestershire, where she writes novels, blogs about her experience of breast cancer (www.breastcancerandbaby.com), runs The Motherload Book Club, and tries to work out how to raise her two children.

Title: The Magnificient Mrs Mayhew 

Author: Milly Johnson

Published: March 7th 2019 by Simon & Schuster

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Behind every successful man is a woman.

Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

Sophie Mayhew looks like she has the perfect life. Wife of rising political star John F Mayhew, a man who is one step away from the top job in the government, her glamour matches his looks, power, breeding and money. But John has made some stupid mistakes along the way, some of which are threatening to emerge. Still, all this can still be swept under the carpet as long as Sophie 'the trophy' plays her part in front of the cameras.

But the words that come out of Sophie’s mouth one morning on the doorstep of their country house are not the words the spin doctors put in there. Bursting out of the restrictive mould she has been in since birth, Sophie flees to a place that was special to her as a child, a small village on the coast where she intends to be alone.

But once there, she finds she becomes part of a community that warms her soul and makes her feel as if she is breathing properly for the first time. Sophie knows she won't be left in peace for long. Now she must decide: where does her real future lie?

Review: The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew is a delightful story. I had such a great time reading it that I completely forgot about anything else! And once I finished it, I actually had to remind myself a couple of times that Sophie and all the other characters were not real and that I would not find their latest adventures in the newspaper.

Sophie Mayhew is a fantastic, multi-layered and intriguing character. I loved getting to know her both in the present time and through the flashbacks to her school days in the cold and rigid boarding school, St Bathsheba. Her upbringing and her family had taught her to be a good and dutiful wife to a powerful man, but deep down, she knew that something was not right with her life. It was very inspiring to read about her journey of self-discovery.

This is a story of contrasts, we go from the cold and target-oriented world of politics, in which everyone has a hidden agenda, to the warm and supportive community of the village of Little Loste. I think these opposite settings complement each other really well and make for a very interesting story, with plenty of twists and fascinating insights to both worlds.

I loved this story, it reminded me that no dream is too small or too big, you just need to go for it. Plus, Milly Johnson's writing is a joy a to read, engaging and with the perfect dash of drama and magic. Definitely a story that will leave you with a warm heart and a very positive vibe.  

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

About the Author:

Milly Johnson was born, raised and still lives in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. As well as being an author of 16 published novels, 2 short story books and 2 novellas, she is also a copywriter for the greetings card industry, a poem and joke-writer, a columnist and a seasoned after dinner speaker.

She won the RoNA for Best Romantic Comedy Novel of 2014 and 2016 and the Yorkshire Society award for Arts and Culture 2015.

She writes about love, life, friendships and the importance of community spirit. Her books champion women, their strength and resilience and celebrate her beloved Yorkshire.

Her latest book - 'The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew' deals with a woman who has been conditioned since a child to be little more than a support for an important man. But there is much more to Mrs Mayhew than anyone who knows her - even her own family - could ever believe.

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Two Silver Crosses by Beryl Kingston. This story was originally published in 1992 but Agora Books is publishing it again with a brand new image. 

Title: Two Silver Crosses

Author: Beryl Kingston 

Published: March 21st 2019 by Agora Books

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: ‘Nobody is to know where we are. You must forget England. That part of your lives is over.’ 

Twins Ginny and Emily Holborn have everything they could ever need in their Wolverhampton home: a loving family, a garden to play in and a staff waiting to attend to their every need. Until, one summer day in 1926, they disappear without a trace. 

Ten years later, bright-eyed solicitor Charlie Commoner is given his first job: track down the still-missing Holborn twins. Despatched to France, he’s left to unravel a web of infidelity, mystery, and terrifying family secrets. 

Let bestselling author Beryl Kingston sweep you away on a journey from London to Paris, through tragedy and triumph in the search for two sisters wearing two silver crosses. 

Review: Two Silver Crosses is a historical read set between the end of WWI and the beginning of WWII. Twins Ginny and Emily are born in a world of privilege, with a French mother and an English father. They grow up in a big mansion in the English countryside but when their father dies, they need to flight to France with their mother and start from zero. 

This story really starts ten years after that though. When their grandfather dies and includes them in his will, they need to be located. Something that seems almost impossible and as the search follows, there are multiple obstacles, many misunderstandings and plenty of near misses. 

What I enjoyed the most in this story were all the historical references. We learned about many relevant events in that time and how they affected these characters. I found especially interesting to read how the youth in France organized themselves to fight against fascism. 

However, the pace of the story was a bit slow. Although there was a lot of going on sometimes, especially in the middle part during the search, I felt that the progress in the actual plot was slow. But  I have to say that it still hold my curiosity until the end and I wondered many times how everything was going to end. All in all, Two Silver Crosses is an interesting historical read with lots of secrets and twists.

Today I am delighted to welcome author Clare Harvey to the blog. Her new book The Escape was published last week and to celebrate it, she' visiting several blogs on a wonderful Blog Tour. Today is my stop and Clare is talking about her forever books:

My Forever Books by Clare Harvey

Long before Marie Kondo started telling us all to only keep items that ‘spark joy’, I was happy to donate piles of old books to schools, friends or charity shops; I’m a book lover, but not a book hoarder. I suppose it’s a legacy of 17 years married to a soldier; the army posted us to a new home every two years or so, and I always de-cluttered each move. However, each time we did get a posting order and I began to think about having a clear out, there were always some books I found I just could not part with. These are my ‘forever books’, the ones that hold too many memories to part with – the ones that I’d tell Marie say “ching” when I see them:

The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr:

Before I could read myself, this is the book that had me enthralled. I’m the youngest child, so I was still at home with my mum when my elder sisters went to school. We lived in Devon at the time. I would sit on Mum’s knee, at the kitchen table after lunch, and this is one of the books I can remember her reading to me. I can also remember that we had a somewhat wayward collie dog called Scamper who used to get jealous. By the end of the story Scamper was usually sitting on Mum’s knee and I was on the floor (Mum carried on with the story, regardless)! I read this to my own children when they were small, too.

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder:

When I’d just turned seven we moved from Devon to Mauritius, due to my dad’s job. I’d not long learned to read properly, but because we had no TV out there I read, lots, and soon became a total bookworm (as the photo shows). I read all the Little House on the Prairie series of books, many times over, and fell in love Laura Ingalls Wilder as an author and as the heroine of the stories. Looking back, what’s interesting is that these books aren’t fiction, they are memoir: a blend of personal history and story telling. And the kind of writing I love to do most is where real-life events are melded with fiction. So perhaps my writing career really began with reading the Little House on the Prairie all those years ago.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin:

When I was 12 I was sent to a state boarding school (a comprehensive school that had a boarding ‘hostel’ attached) in Devon. My mum bought me this copy of Pride and Prejudice before I went, and I remember her saying she thought I was ‘old enough’ for Austen. I tried – but failed – to read it. I think the language was just a little too impenetrable for a 12-year-old and I didn’t get around to reading, and loving, this book until I was a few years older. Nevertheless, this copy of Pride & Prejudice stayed on my bedside locker in the dormitory throughout my first traumatic year at school, a constant reminder of my mum, and of home. And when I look inside the cover I can see the bookplate that I stuck there as a homesick pre-teen, with its picture of a unicorn and my curly over-practised signature in pencil. It’s a poignant reminder of my bookish pre-teen self. 

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath:

Looking at the date inside the cover of this I can see that I bought it as an 18th birthday present to myself. And if you’ve ever read any Sylvia Plath this tells you all you need to know about the angst-ridden teen I was at the time. It’s tempting to look back on my teens and twenties and yearn for those sun-kissed, cellulite-free days, but this book reminds me that what was slender and sunny on the outside, hid a dark and conflicting muddle underneath. In 1988, as well as devouring Sylvia Plath and writing some very bad poetry, I failed miserably to get a place at Oxford University, and enrolled on a foundation course at Exeter College of Art and Design. There was quite a lot of navel gazing and scribbling in notebooks going on – I’m not sure I was any fun to be around, but I do still have a few friends from that era, so perhaps I wasn’t as much of a killjoy as I recall…

Summer with Monika by Roger McGough:

Boyfriends, eh? In my early twenties I fell totally and obsessively in love with someone, in the way that you do at that age. Falling for him was like coming down with the flu. We bought this book in Waterstone's in Exeter, and read it together. I thought our relationship was destined to be chapter four (‘our love will be an epic film, with dancing songs and laughter, the kind in which the lovers meet, and live happy ever after…’), but I should really have focussed more on the latter sections of McGough’s wonderful poem-story, such as chapter 39 (‘I wanted my pie in the sky, but you gave it me in the face’). Still, to paraphrase the wise and talented Joanna Trollope, you can’t be a writer until you’ve been knocked about a bit by life – otherwise you have nothing to write about – so even doomed relationships with manipulative men are never wasted, if you’re an author. Summer with Monika helped me form the back-story for the character of Miranda in my new book, The Escape, and eagle-eyed readers might notice a phrase or two from the poem appearing in her timeline.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde:

After graduating from university I lived with the pie-in-the-face boyfriend (see number 5) for a while. An old friend of his was on leave from the army one Christmas time, and had come to visit. On Christmas morning pie-in-the-face and I were going off to visit our respective families for Christmas Day, but the army mate said he wasn’t going anywhere and intended to spend the day eating takeaway pizza and drinking beer in front of the telly. When I asked why he wasn’t going home to see his own family, he told me that his mother had died a couple of years previously and he couldn’t face spending Christmas Day with his father and new stepmother. Feeling sorry for him, I gave him a present of a wrapped copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray (originally meant for pie-in-the-face, even though I knew he wouldn’t appreciate it). Instead of watching telly all day, the army bloke read Oscar Wilde, and enthused about the book when I saw him again after Christmas. And you know what? Reader, I married him (six years later). We have just celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary.

Into Enemy Arms: the remarkable true story of a German girl’s struggle against Nazism and her daring escape with the Allied airman she loved.

I couldn’t do this list without including this fascinating book, which provided the stepping-off point for the character of Detta in The Escape. Anyone who’s read it will know how much I’m indebted to Michael Hingston’s moving memoir of his aunt’s experiences in wartime Germany. It’s the latest ‘forever book’ on my shelves, but I’m sure it won’t be the last…

The Escape is out now in paperback, e-book and Audible.

You can catch up with Clare here: 

Facebook: @clareharvey13

Twitter: @ClareHarveyauth

Instagram: @clareharvey13

Website: clareharvey.net

About the Book:

Title: The Escape

Author: Clare Harvey

Published: January 24th 2019 by Simon & Schuster

Amazon | Amazon UK

Today I have a very special post to celebrate Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow by Siobhan Curham. Siobhan’s new book is all about empathy and seeing things from another person’s perspective and Walker Books has organised a blogswap in which they have invited bloggers to step into somebody else's shoes. 

Last week, Kirsty from Books, Occupation... Magic, shared my post on Acts of Kindness in her blog (read it here) and today I welcome Kirsty into my blog, with a very interesting post about women and fertility and how we need to talk more and be more open about it. Thank you Kirsty for sharing your experience with us, and sending you luck and lots of positive energy on your journey:

Empathic Conversations to Women about Children 

This is a PSA to approach conversations about having children with others sensitively and with an open mind, and try not to make assumptions. 

Not all women are broody. 

Some women don’t want children.

Some women have partners who don’t want children.

Some women can’t have children. 

Some women can’t relax and let it happen naturally. 

Some women have lost children. 

Adoption is not an easy process. 

Did you know that 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage? I was totally shocked it was that high a percentage. And yes women do grieve these losses. 

Here’s a really useful video on how to support (and not support) people through grief - http://www.refugeingrief.com/2018/07/19/help-a-friend-video/. 

Despite what we are led to believe, age is a limiting factor in having children. Women are born with all the eggs they will ever have and over time the quantity and quality of eggs diminishes. Supposedly this dips rapidly after the age of 35 but may affect people younger. Being aware of the age your mother went through the menopause (yet another thing we don’t talk enough about) may be a useful indicator for you. 

I am turning 40 in August and am still single. I have recently had a number of fertility tests that indicated that my fertility is not as good as I’d have hoped. I have been blogging about my experience in order to raise awareness including my recent round of IVF which sadly failed. 

If you’d like to read more of my journey search IVF on Books, Occupation... Magic! at https://kirstyes.co.uk/

About the Book:

Title: Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow

Author: Siobham Curham

Published: August 2nd 2018 by Walker Books

Amazon | Amazon UK

Today is my stop on the blog tour for In Bloom, the darkly comic crime sequel to Sweetpea, following girl-next-door serial killer Rhiannon as she’s now caught between the urge to kill and her unborn baby stopping her.

Title: In Bloom (Sweetpea #2)

Author: CJ Skuse

Published: August 9th 2018 by HQ Stories

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: If only they knew the real truth. It should be my face on those front pages. My headlines. I did those things, not him. I just want to stand on that doorstep and scream it: IT WAS ME. ME. ME. ME. ME!

Rhiannon Lewis has successfully fooled the world and framed her cheating fiancé Craig for the depraved and bloody killing spree she committed. She should be ecstatic that she’s free.

Except for one small problem. She’s pregnant with her ex-lover’s child. The ex-lover she only recently chopped up and buried in her in-laws' garden. And as much as Rhiannon wants to continue making her way through her kill lists, a small voice inside is trying to make her stop.

But can a killer’s urges ever really be curbed?

Review: last year I was completely shocked with Sweetpea, the brutally honest diary of Rhiannon, a serial killer that gets a thrill every time she harms and kills bad guys. It was something completely unique and darker than anything I have ever read. Now we have its sequel, In Bloom, so I was a bit worried at the beginning as this time around there was no surprise or shocking factor, we know already what Rhiannon is capable of. But somehow, she managed to surprise me once again.

Rhiannon as a mother to be is quite the character. She stills makes her (hilarious) kill lists every day and her need to kill hasn't disappeared at all but there is a small problem, her baby doesn't want her to kill. During the whole story you can feel her frustration and you really wonder if she will just explode one day and be done with everything. 

Another thing I really enjoyed in this story was Rhiannon's new friendship with Marnie. It's really interesting to read about her trying to be a "good" friend and how their friendship evolved. I think we got to see a new side of Rhiannon that made me even like her (sometimes). I also think the ending of this story was very good.

If you enjoyed Sweetpea, definitely pick up the sequel as you won't be disappointed with Rhiannon's new adventures. And if you haven't met her yet and you enjoy dark humor and are looking for something completely shocking and outrageous, definitely pick these two books. I would definitely recommend reading Sweetpea before reading In Bloom though, as you need to know these characters and what they did to really understand and enjoy In Bloom. 

Rating: 4 stars

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

            

Today is my stop on the blog tour for Penny Parkes' new book, the delightful Best Practice. This is the third book in the Larkford Series, which I love, so I am over the moon to welcome Penny for a guest post on her writing day:

My Writing Day – Penny Parkes 

It isn’t really until you sit down to write a feature like this that you realise how much has changed over the course of the last four years in how I approach my writing – no more waiting to be in the ‘right mood’, or the perfect spot, or with just the right amount of bounce in my stride to make the words sing on the page yet keep my bum firmly on my seat…

My first summer as an author was spent largely sitting on the floor between the washing machine and the dishwasher, trying to find an undisturbed spot – my children have an innate aversion to anything dishwasher-related so I knew I would be safe there… And in term time, I would monopolise the dining table with my post-its, plot planning and chapters. It wasn’t until after my second book was published that I finally fulfilled every writer’s dream – a room of my very own.

And so these days I save my desk for the business of writing and the little two-seater sofa for the words – The Ginger Ninja beside me.

I have also made a concerted effort to be more flexible about where I write – trains, hotel rooms, coffee shops and my car are all fair game now. Maybe not for the larger, fleshier scenes – but for notes of inspiration, for my Notes From The Cotswolds column and for posts like this, where a little company is a bonus.

Just these small changes have dramatically changed how I write. But still, somehow, not when I write.

I am not an early bird.

Never have been.

And so, once the kids have left for school, it has become my habit to ‘start the day all over again.’ Fresh coffee, a grazing plate for breakfast, Twitter on my phone and whichever proof I’m reading at the time for company. I probably don’t go near my writing room much before 9.30 – long after other writing friends are finished for the day. In fact, quite often, The Ninja will be one step ahead of me, settling into her spot as a rather pointed nudge that I should follow suit.

And that’s really where all plans are made to be changed: if the words are flowing and the plotlines juicy and plump, I may forget to look up until the alarm on my phone reminds me it's school run time; if it’s like wading through treacle, I will still keep going – often that not-so-simple commitment to persevere can be enough to blow the cobwebs away… And then of course, you always get the best idea moments before you absolutely, positively have to stop…

But it is my firmly held belief that one cannot write, or create, in isolation. Nor constantly staring at a screen.

Mind-in-neutral at times is vital – whether driving, swimming, or walking The Ninja – it’s when those tricky plot points align themselves and your brain delivers them fully formed like a proud toddler.

Likewise, a community of writing and publishing mates is a Godsend. They understand when you drop off the radar for weeks at a time, completely absorbed in your current project, then pop up like a meerkat wanting an outing in between.

Indeed the “writing life” can often give just as much pleasure as the actual writing. Although I have to tell you, I do not miss sitting on the floor with my whites whizzing round at 60°!

Blurb: Love and laughter with the residents of Larkford is exactly what the doctor ordered!

Dr Alice Walker has become accomplished at presenting a façade to the world – to anyone watching, she is the epitome of style, composure and professionalism. But perhaps it was to be expected that the cracks might begin to show at some point. Thankfully Grace is on hand to offer both friendship and support when it’s needed most.

Meanwhile, Dr Holly Graham has her hands full both professionally and personally. Planning a wedding with Taffy Jones is challenging enough, even before some surprising news changes everything. At least beloved Larkford resident, Elsie, still has a few tricks left up her sleeve!

Dr Dan Carter, on the other hand, has decided to throw himself into his career – the best antidote he’s found to unrequited love. When tragedy strikes in the heart of Larkford, Dan makes it his mission to help the community.

Today I am delighted to host the Blog Tour for the heart-breaking story Missing Pieces, by debut author Laura Pearson. She has stopped by to answer all my bookish questions, and if you continue reading, you'll also find my review:

Hi Laura and welcome. First, could you tell us about yourself?

Hello. Thanks for having me. Well, I live in Leicestershire with my husband and our two children, who are four and very nearly two. I’m thirty-eight. I’ve worked on and off as a copywriter and editor for years. I’ve spent many years in London and one in New York. And I’m a writer.

Your debut novel, Missing Pieces, is a heartbreaking story. Can you tell us a bit about it? What inspired this idea?

It’s about an ordinary family and the way its members are affected by a life-altering tragedy. The first part focuses on the immediate aftermath of the three-year-old daughter’s death and the second part takes place twenty-five years later, when the ripples are still being felt. 

I wrote it about six years ago but the idea’s been around for longer than that. I was writing a novel years ago about a woman who was writing a novel and whose main character came to life, and there was a strand in it about her having lost her sister in childhood. I think that was the start of it. The letters the eldest daughter writes to her lost sister came first and everything else eventually slotted around that. 

In the story there are three very different women, a mother and her two daughters. How would you describe each of them in a few words? 

Linda, the mother, is a bit of a dreamer whose plans haven’t worked out but who was content with her ordinary life until she lost her daughter.

Esme, the eldest daughter, is a woman who’s never been able to properly move beyond losing her sister. She lives a sort of trapped existence, until she decides to face up to what happened.

Bea, the youngest daughter, has always felt shut out of her own family because they lost Phoebe before she was born. She’s broken away from them and is strong, but she’s vulnerable too.

Which one did you feel closer to while writing this book? 

I love them all, but I think my heart is with Esme. She’s the character who came first, and I’ve lived with her for a really long time. 

I expect many readers will cry when reading Missing Pieces, but would you describe it as life-affirming too?

I hope it is. It’s definitely got a lot of sadness but I think it ends on a hopeful note. 

Missing Pieces is your debut novel, but is it the first book you have written?

It was the second novel I completed. My first needs some big edits but that is also going to be published by Agora in the future. 

What can we expect from you next?

My next novel will hopefully be coming out early next year. It’s called I Wanted You To Know and it’s about a mother and daughter who only get to spend a year together but still have a huge impact on one another’s lives.

About the Book:

Title: Missing Pieces

Author: Laura Pearson

Published: June 21st 2018 by Agora Books

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: What if the one thing that kept you together was breaking you apart?

All Linda wants to do is sleep. She won’t look at her husband. She can’t stand her daughter. And she doesn’t want to have this baby. Having this baby means moving on, and she just wants to go back to before. Before their family was torn apart, before the blame was placed.

Alienated by their own guilt and struggling to cope, the Sadler family unravels. They grow up, grow apart, never talking about their terrible secret.

That is until Linda’s daughter finds out she’s pregnant. Before she brings another Sadler into the world, Bea needs to know what happened twenty-five years ago. What did they keep from her? What happened that couldn’t be fixed?

A devastating mistake, a lifetime of consequences. How can you repair something broken if pieces are missing?

Missing Pieces is Laura Pearson’s debut novel. 

Review: Missing Pieces is a tragic story of loss. When the worse happens to Linda, she loses the will to live. There is no happiness or light anymore in her life, just guilt. For me, it was difficult to read about Linda's story as it is a very sombre and dark one. But even if I cannot even begin to imagine what it must feel like to go through what she went through, I think the author's portrait of loss, grief and depression felt very real and raw. 

The second part of the book focuses in Linda's daughter, Bea. It's been more than 20 years since the tragedy that made their family crumble but it still feels like a dark cloud above them. They've never talked about it openly. For Bea, it's time to finally uncover all their secrets and be a family again. I found this second part more engaging than the first as I became more invested in the story, I cared about these characters and I was rooting for them. 

It was heart-breaking to read what happened to this family and how it affected them. In my opinion, Missing Pieces is hard to read but worth it. Beautiful writing and very good character building. I'll definitely be looking out for Laura Pearson's next story.