🏔🧖‍♀️🩸The Retreat by Sarah Pearse… A Book Blog Tour Review!!! 🏔 🧖‍♀️ 🩸

Thrilling cover!!!

Publication Date: Out now!!!!

Formats: Hardback & Ebook

Price: Hb £14.99/ Ebook £5.99

Publisher: Bantam Press

I would like to say a huge thank you to Random Things Tours for organising another fantastic book tour. I would also like to say a huge thank you to Bantam Press for allowing me to read and review a physical copy of this marvellous book. And finally a huge thank you to the creative talent, Sarah Pearse, for creating such a thrilling, creepy and atmospheric novel, where all the suspects are in place and it’s a race against time to try and stop further murderous chaos. Intrigued? Let’s head over to the blurb and find out a bit more.

Most are here to recharge and refresh.

But someone’s here for revenge…..

This is a warning for all our guests at the wellness retreat.

A woman’s body has been found at the bottom of the cliff beneath the yoga pavilion.

We believe her death was a tragic accident, though DS Elin Warner has arrived on the island to investigate.

A storm has been forcast, but do not panic. Stick together and please ignore any rumours you might have heard about the island and it’s history.

As soon as the weather clears, we will arrange boats to take you back to the mainland.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy your stay.

What can I say about this book. In one word…. FANTASTIC!!!! Ok maybe another THRILLING!!! I absolutely loved this book. It had everything you wanted and needed from a crime/mystery thriller. Set on an Agatha Christie-esque island where people can feel both pampered and isolated but when danger comes calling it becomes much more sinister and threatening, especially when the island’s past rises to the surface.

I loved also how we see Elin back at work and rather than off in another country is back in England and trying to get back to some sort of normality (whatever that is). But as with most people it’s never that simple or easy to over come past traumas or even recent history. We watch and follow a few characters perspective of events and how each person has some connection to the victim, and then another incident happens and soon it’s a race against time for Elin to track a killer before they kill again.

This is such a brilliantly twisted and creepy setting where you are not sure who the killer is but you know they must be on the island itself, this has the mysterious elements of ‘And Then There Were None’ by Agatha Christie with an added menace of Stephen King shrouding it. I loved getting to know each character and trying to work out the who, the what and the why. It’s just fantastic.

I cannot wait for more from this author, and I would highly recommend this amazing book to anyone looking for a creepy, atmospheric and chilling thriller.

Ratings: 5 🌟s with a large ☕️ and a large 🍰

Author’s Blurb:

Sarah Pearse

Sarah Pearse lives by the sea in South Devon with her husband and two daughters. She studied English and Creative Writing at the university of Warwick, and worked in Brand PR for a variety of household brands. After moving to Switzerland in her twenties, she spent every spare moment exploring the mountains in the Swiss alpine town of Crans Montana, the dramatic setting that inspired her first novel The Sanitarium. Sarah has always been drawn to the dark and creepy – remote spaces and abandoned places – so when she read an article in a local Swiss magazine about the history of sanatoriums in the area, she knew she’d found the spark of an idea for her debut novel. Her short fiction has been published in a wide variety of magazines and has been shortlisted for several prizes.

I hope you have enjoyed this dark, creepy and atmospheric journey into a Retreat that’s idyllic and at the same time deadly. If you are wanting to read a copy, you can find this in Waterstones and any independent store and of course on Amazon. I will leave you now to say Happy Reading and see you all soon!!!

Check out these lovely bloggers too!!!

💃 🐶 All About Evie…. A SquadPod Book Review!!! 💃 🐶

Wonderful cover!!!

Publication Date: Out Today!!!

Formats: Hardback & Ebook

Price: Hb £14.99/ Ebook £8.99

Publisher: Scribner Uk

I would like to say a huge thank you to Matson Taylor for being an absolute sweetheart and congratulations for another brilliant book that will brighten up anyone’s day. I would also like to say a huge thank you to Scribner U.K. for allowing me to read and review a physical proof copy of this fun and charming book, and lastly but by no means least, thank you to SquadPod for just being you and for being able to organise such a special blog shout out. This is the second book featuring the lovely and charming Evie Hepworth (if you haven’t read the first book…. Go out and get it The Misecucation of Evie Epworth). Intrigued? Let’s head to the blurb and find out what’s happened to Evie since last we saw her.

Ten years on from the events of The Miseducation of Evie Epworth, Evie is settled in London and working as a production assistant for the BBC. She has everything she ever dreamed of (a career, a leatherette briefcase, an Ossie Clark poncho) but, following an unfortunate incident involving a Hornsea Pottery mug and Princess Anne, she finds herself having to rethink her future. What can she do? Is she too old to do it? And will it involve cork-soled sandals?

As if this isn’t complicated enough, her disastrous love life leaves her worrying that she may be destined for eternal spinsterdom, concerned as she is, that ‘even Paul had married Linda by the time he was 26’. Through it all, Evie is left wondering whether a 60s miseducation really is the best preparation to glide into womanhood and face the new challenges (strikes, power cuts, Edward Heath’s teeth) thrown up by the growing pains of the 70s?

This is such a delightful, charming and heartwarming book. It’s about changes and working out what to do next when the road you are on doesn’t pan out the way you expect. As well as that age old question…. Will I ever find someone who gets me? But that’s misleading as it’s not really about the romance, yes of course there is some, but it focuses on how we deal with change, whether it’s getting fired from a job and then having to work out what you really want to do and how to get there.

We also meet up again with Evie and her friends and family, and it feels like taking a warm bath or being hugged by people you haven’t seen in awhile but feel that warm special glow. This book made me laugh, cry and smile with delight. I loved meeting up with Evie again and wondering what chaos she will provide us with. I wasn’t disappointed at all. I can highly recommend this fantastic book.

Ratings: 5 🌟s with a large ☕️ and a large 🍰

Author’s Blurb:

Matron Taylor grew up in Yorkshire but now lives in London. He is a design historian and works at the V&A museum, where he teaches on the History of Design programme and spends a lot of time trying to convince people that the luxury goods industry helped win the Second World War. He wrote a chapter on Edward Molyneux, inventor of the flapper dress, for the V&A’s London Couture book and has helped develop a number of projects for TV and radio. He also works at Imperial College, helping scientists communicate very complicated things in a reasonably simple way.

As well as working at various universities and museums around the world, Matson has worked on Camden Market, appeared in an Italian TV commercial, and been a pronunciation coach for Catalan opera singers. Mayson completed the Faber writing course, during which he wroteThe Miseducation of Evie Epworth. All About Evie is his second novel.

I hope you have enjoyed this warm, funny and charming novel about confidence in yourself, adapting to big changes and having fun along the way. If you are wanting a copy of this wonderful book you can find this in Waterstones, any independent store and of course on Amazon. I will leave you now to say Happy Reading and see you all soon!!!

🥶 🥶 🦴 💀 Cold, Cold Bones by Kathy Reichs…. A Book Blog Tour Review!!! 🥶 🥶 🦴 💀

Chilling cover!!!

Publication Date: Out Today!!!

Formats: Hardback & Ebook

Price: Hb £20.00/ Ebook £9.99

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

I would like to say a huge thank you to Random Things Tours (Anne Cater) with a little help from the lovely Tracy Fenton too for organising this wonderful and thrilling book’s tour. I would also like to say a special thank you to Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read and review a physical copy of this book. I would also like to say a huge thank you to the Queen of Thrills and chills, Kathy Reichs for another outstanding and brilliant Tempe Brennan book and one that is more personal to the character than any other. Intrigued? Let’s head over to the blurb to find out a bit more.

In a profession like this, you’re bound to make enemies…..

An eye…..

It all starts when Dr Temperance Brennan finds a box on her porch. Inside is a fresh human eyeball with GPS coordinates etched into it. They lead her to a macabre discovery in a Benedictine Monastery, and soon after she discovers a mummified corpse in a state park.

For an eye…..

There seems to be no pattern to these killings, except that each mimics a killing connected to something a younger Tempe experienced, or barely escaped. Someone is targeting her, and she needs to figure out why before they strike again.

And then her daughter Katy disappears….

Someone is playing a dangerous game with Tempe. And they won’t stop until they have taken everything from her…..

I was instantly hooked and mesmerised by the latest instalment from the Queen of thrillers and her determined forensic anthropologist alter ego, Temperance Brennan (Dr). As I have mentioned before I am a huge fan of this series and have never been disappointed by any of the stories which come out from the mind of this devious author. And this one is no exception, in fact this one feels more thrilling and more fresh, as we see a vulnerable side to Tempe (it has been shown before and mentioned in one of her earlier novels where a killer tries to get inside her head by threatening her daughter) but this time will the threat actually become a reality and will Tempe find the clues to work out why or will it end in a personal tragedy?…. Don’t worry there will be no spoilers.

(Sorry if you are hoping for one, I don’t do that on here). I absolutely loved getting back with Tempe and her friends, colleagues and of course (lover boy Andy Ryan) and how it’s not always the strangers you have to worry about. What I also loved about this book, was how it looked at how veterans of the army are treated when they come back from war and how their mental health is treated or not. How as a society we treat them when we have no idea what they have seen or dealt with. This really looks at the issues of depression, PTSD and many other diagnoses that lead these men and women to fall through the cracks in society and which can make them become invisible to us. It’s not just looking at the usual serial killer versus the hounds of justice but how as a society we are also to blame for not caring for our destitute and homeless.

This is an excellent and twisted book, I would highly recommend this and the rest of the series if you haven’t already read the series.

Ratings: 5 🌟s with a large ☕️ and a large 🍰 (this book will have you hooked, I warn you, you won’t be able to put it down).

Author’s Blurb:

Kathy Reichs

Kathy Reichs’s first novel Deja Dead, published in 1997, won the Ellis Award for Beat First Novel and was an international bestseller. Cold, Cold Bones is Kathy’s twenty-first entry in her series featuring forensic anthropologist, Temperance Brennan. Kathy was also a producer of Fox Television’s longest running scripted drama, Bones, which was based on her work and her novels. One of the very few forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, Kathy divides her time between Charlotte, North Carolina, and Montreal, Quebec.

I hope you have enjoyed this fantastic, gripping and thrilling journey into the dark heart of revenge, obsession and mental health. If you are wanting to grab a copy for yourself, you can find this in Waterstones, any independent store and of course on Amazon. I will leave you now to say Happy Reading and see you all soon!!!

Check out these lovely bloggers too!!!

🔑❤️The Key To My Heart by Lia Louis… A Book Blog Tour Review!!! 🔑 ❤️

Lovely cover!!!

Publication Date: Out now!!!

Formats: Paperback & Ebook

Price: Pb £8.99/ Ebook £2.99

Publisher: Orion

I would like to say a huge thank you to Tracy Fenton for organising this wonderful book’s tour. I would also like to say a huge thank you to Orion for not only this tour but also allowing me to read and review a physical copy of this heartwarming book. I would also like to say a huge thank you to the creative talent, Lia Louis for creating such a heartbreaking and also uplifting and heartwarming book, about grief, healing and second chances, it’s a romance with heart and raw emotion. Intrigued? Let’s head over to the blurb and find out a bit more.

Can you ever really find the one after ‘the one’?

Some people spend their whole lives trying to find the one. But Natalie found him – and married him. And then Russ died.

Two years ago, her whole world was shattered. Still now, she feels like she’s trying to piece her broken heart back together, one day at a time.

But then she finds a sheet of music – one that only Russ would know – in the piano stool in St. Pancras Station where she’s secretly been playing for the last few months.

For the first time, Natalie realises that maybe life does still hold a little magic. And with every note she plays, she feels as if she’s unlocking another fragment of her heart….

But will she ever truly find love again after she’d already found forever?

As I started to read the first page, I was hooked, mesmerised and just spell bound by the story, of a woman called Natalie who has found that rare breed, “The One”!!!. You know, that person who knows you inside and out, accepts you for who you are, sees your strengths but also sees your weaknesses and can also make you laugh and smile. But then he dies, leaving her in a turmoil of grief, that leaves her struggling to find her balance in everyday life.

Until she finds a piece of music which speaks to her and only her, and as these pieces of music keep coming (or found) she realises quite how special they are, as they all have meaning to her and her lost beloved. This story really hits you hard and doesn’t let up at all, as she reels from her grief that yes can tale however long (two years, in the grand scheme of things that’s way too short) I found her trying to appear normal (as she can be) both heartbreaking and inspiring. As she doesn’t realise that her doing something so spontaneous and reactionary leads her to finally heal (slowly) but also allow other people to come in.

I don’t want to spoil any more of this beautiful and poignant book, but it really moved me to tears and hit me quite hard emotionally (all in a good way) I found the characters believable and relatable. There is so much love and compassion within this story it’s just magnificent.

I would urge you to grab a copy for yourself right now or ASAP. I cannot highly recommend this book enough.

Ratings: 5 🌟s with a large ☕️ and a large 🍰.

Author’s Blurb:

Lia Louis is a writer from Hertfordshire where she lives with her partner and three young children. In 2015, she won ELLE’ magazine’s annual talent competition with her contemporary love letter, #RelationshipGoals. Lia’s fascination with letters doesn’t stop with her writing: she also has a varied collection of old letters which are a source of inspiration to her. Somewhere Close To Happy is her first novel.

I hope you have enjoyed this lovely and heartwarming story and I also hope you find yourself buying this book, as it will touch you and won’t leave your mind. You can find this book in Waterstones, any independent store and of course on Amazon. I will leave you now to say Happy Reading and see you all soon!!!

Check out these lovely bloggers too!!!

🏠🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️🏠The Daves Next Door by Will Carver…. A Book Blog Tour Review!!! 🏠🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️🏠

Intriguing cover!!!

Publication Date: 21st July (pre-order now!!!)

Formats: Paperback & Ebook

Price: Pb £8.99/ Ebook £4.27

Publisher: Orenda Books

I would like to say a huge thank you to Random Things Tours for organising this strange, mind-blowing book’s tour. I would also like to say a huge thank you to Orenda books for allowing me to read a digital copy of this fascinating book. I would like to say thank you to the creative genius, Will Carver, for once again, creating such a gripping, tense and one that made you think about us and how we see the world around us and how the world views us. Intrigued? Let’s head over to the blurb and find out a bit more.

A disillusioned nurse suddenly learns how to care.

An injured young sportsman wakes up to find he can only see in black and white.

A desperate old widower takes too many pills and believes that two angels have arrived to usher him through purgatory.

Two agoraphobic men called Dave share the symptoms of a brain tumour, and frequently wake their neighbour with their ongoing rows.

Separate lives, running in parallel, destined to collide and then explode.

Like the suicide bomber, riding the Circle Line, say after day, waiting for the right time to detonate, waiting for the answers to his questions: Am I God? Am I Dead? Will I Blow Up This Train?

Just to warn you all, I am not quite sure I can put it into words or even formulate any coherent message… apart from GODDAMIT WILL…. You have done it again!!! Why? How? What?…. (Seriously my thought processes whilst reading this went along those lines). If you have not read any of this virtuoso’s work, seriously do though there should be a warning, he grabs you by the throat, shakes your head around until you are dazed and somewhat bruised and battered and yet… yet you come back for more.

This book is another classic, devious, twisted and yet also human, there is a lot of characters which are flawed and broken and yet you also recognise bits of them in you or know someone who has a similar trait. The other really annoying yet utterly heart wrenching part of this book is how he makes your heart bleed and hurt for a grieving old man who’s being abused by some devils, but because of pills he took and which didn’t actually take him where he wanted to be he thinks they are angels waiting to transform him from his purgatory life, but in actual fact are liars and psychopaths. For me this character is the one that squeezed my heart and didn’t let go, whereas all the other characters to me felt insubstantial, not that their badly written, good god no, it’s just the lonely old man character really got me and just blinded me to any of the others.

Honestly if you are looking for a book that will bash you around the head, wrong your heart and make you think… very hard. This is one for you and even if you are not looking for it please please grab it up when it’s out or make a pre order, because I tell you now you will be left spellbound and gobsmacked.

Ratings: 5 🌟s (what do you want me to say!!! Ok 10 🌟 s happy now 😂) with a large ☕️ and a large 🍰…. Ok fine the whole 🎂 just because you won’t be able to put it down.

Author’s Blurb:

Will Carver (the master of deviously plotted crime)

Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the January David series. He spent his early years in Germany, but returned to the U.K. at age 11, when his sporting career took off. He turned down a professional rugby contract to study theatre and television at King Alfred’s, Winchester, where he set up a successful theatre company. He currently runs his own fitness and nutrition company, and lives in Reading with his two children. Will’s latest title published by Orenda Books (please check them out and their website you can find his books along with many other goodies too) The Beresford came out in July 2021. His previous title Hinton Hollow Deatb Trip was longlisted for the Not The Booker Prize, while Nothing Important Happened Today was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of The Year. Good Samaritans was book of the year in the Guardian, Telegraph and Daily Express.

I hope you have enjoyed this journey into a devious, dark and sinister tunnel filled with Machiavellian characters and thoughtful commentary on our own lives and how we view others and how others view us. If you are wanting to grab a copy for yourself, you can find this in Waterstones, any independent stores and of course on Amazon. I will leave you now to say Happy Reading and see you all soon!!!

Check out these lovely bloggers too!!!

💫 🔭Stargazer by Laurie Petrou… A Book Blog Tour Review!!! 💫🔭

Intriguing cover!!!

Publication Date: Out now!!!

Formats: Paperback & Ebook

Price: Pb £9.99/ Ebook £4.99

Publisher: Verve Books

I would like to say a huge thank you to Verve Books for inviting me onto this tense, and intriguing book’s tour. I would also like to say thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review a digital copy of this fantastic book. I would also like to say thank you to the creative talent, Laurie Petrou, in creating such a brilliant and evocative cast of characters, especially the two girls, one wanting and obsessing over the others life and will do anything to achieve it even if it means destroying them and the family in the process and the other knowing that the grass isn’t always greener from the inside and yet finding this other, stronger more alluring girl fascinating. Intrigued? Let’s head over to the blurb and find out a bit more.

It’s a fine line between admiration and envy.

Diana Martin has lived her life in the shadow of her sadistic older brother. She quietly watches the family next door, enthralled by celebrity fashion designer Marianne Taylor and her feted daughter Aurelle.

She wishes she was a “Taylor girl”.

By the summer of 1995, the two girls are at university together, bonded by a mutual desire to escape their wealthy families and personal tragedies and forge new identities.

They are closer than lovers, intoxicated by their own bond, falling into the hedonistic seduction of the woods and the water at a remote university that is more summer camp than campus.

But when burgeoning artist Diana has a chance at fame, cracks start to appear in their friendship. To what lengths is Diana willing to go to secure her own stardom?

As soon as I turned the first page of this compelling and intoxicating book, I found myself hooked on a story of obsession, envy and a powerful need to be wanted and seen and also loved for who they are. These two girls, Diana and Aurelle, are both from wealthy and privileged families, but one of them has what the other desires, a family that is loving and looks supportive and also has a famous gloss that glows and beckons out. Whereas the other family has an ignored and mistreated daughter who constantly has to make sure her older brother is always in the spotlight or made happy so that they are not abused (mentally) by him.

I find their relationship with each other slightly disturbing as it’s not that equal, we have Diana who is more out going and more determined to get what she wants and we have Aurelle who’s more quieter and shy until she almost becomes invisible to everyone. I won’t go any further and spoil what is a fantastic and compelling story.

If you love an in depth look at how friendships can both be good for one another but at the same can also be used as a weapon to destroy. I find myself not liking Diana and just wish she could just leave Aurelle and her family alone. This is a marvellous book and one that I would highly recommend to anyone.

Ratings: 4 🌟s with a large ☕️ and a large 🍰

Author’s Blurb:

Laurie Petrou is an award winning author, and Associate Professor at the RTA School of Media at Toronto Metropolitan University. She lives in Niagara with her family. Stargazer is her fourth book.

I hope you have enjoyed this fascinating and intriguing novel about relationships and how easy it is to use someone for your own ends. If you are wanting your own copy, you can find this in Waterstones, any independent store and of course on Amazon. I will leave you now to say Happy Reading and see you all soon!!!

Check out these lovely bloggers too!!!

🌊🏄‍♀️🏄🏄‍♂️🌊The Bay by Allie Reynolds… A Book Blog Tour Review!!!🌊🏄‍♀️🏄🏄‍♂️🌊

Gorgeous cover!!!

Publication Date: Out now!!!

Formats: Hardback & Ebook

Price: Hb £16.99/ Ebook £4.99

Publisher: Headline

I would like to say a huge thank you to Random Things Tours and also the lovely Tracy Fenton for helping out with organising this thrilling and gripping book’s tour. I would also like to say a huge thank you to Headline for allowing me to read and review a copy of this brilliant book. I would also like to say thank you to the creative talent, Allie Reynolds for once again creating a fantastic and suspenseful thriller in another dangerous sport, Surfing and this time in Australia where the danger may not be in the water but on land and most especially who you end up with. Intrigued? let’s head over to the blurb and find out a bit more.

The waves are to die for. It’s a paradise they’d kill to keep.

There’s a darkness inside all of us and The Bay has a way of bringing it out. Everyone here has their secrets but we don’t go looking for them. Because sometimes it’s better not to know.

Kenna arrives in Sydney to surprise her best friend, shocked to hear she’s going to marry a guy she’s only just met. But Mikki and her fiancé Jack are about to head away on a trip, so Kenna finds herself tagging along for the ride.

Sorrow Bay is beautiful, wild and dangerous. A remote surfing spot with waves to die for, cut off from the rest of the world. Here Kenna meets the mysterious group of people who will do anything to keep their paradise a secret. Sky, Ryan, Clemente and Victor have come to ride the waves and disappear from life. How will they feel about Kenna turning up unannounced?

As Kenna gets drawn into their world, she sees the extremes they are prepared to go to for the next thrill. And everyone seems to be hiding something. What has her best friend got involved in and how can she get her away? but one thing is rapidly becoming clear about The Bay: nobody ever leaves.

As soon as I picked up this book and read the first chapter I was entranced and gripped by the story that unravelled page by page. This doesn’t start off with a bang, but quite slowly and each page the tension mounts as we realise how many secrets each of these disparate characters are keeping from each other and how determined Kenna is to try and get her friend away from these people that have somehow captivated her. We follow these two characters mainly from Kenna’s POV (Point Of View) and how she observes her friend’s relationship with her (new) fiancé and what hold he might have over her. It soon becomes clear it’s not just Jack she has to keep an eye on but a group of people with secrets, scars that are both visible and not. As the story progresses the tension rises between all the characters and Kenna fears not only for herself but also for her friend and wonders what the hell she has got herself into.

I really found myself mesmerised and gripped by this fiendish and twisted story, and loved how we the observers get to know everyone’s (as in the characters) feelings and views of the situations that develop during the book. We find ourselves a bit more ahead of the main character and we try to anticipate when she will discover something disturbing or new about these people she has been thrust in the middle of. Obviously at first it’s just a group of extreme surfers wanting to find a bit of peace and quiet from the main touristy hot spots that are usually clogged up with amateurs and families. Sorrow Bay is their haven and Eden, which they are willing to do anything to keep it that way. And in which Kenna starts to wonder what else is lurking within this group and whether she and her friend can get out alive… I won’t go any further and spoil this brilliant thriller for you, just expect so many twists and turns that you also feel like you are cresting the wave with them.

I cannot highly recommend this book enough along with her previous book, Shiver, this will leave you gasping and just wanting to know what will happen next.

Ratings: 5 🌟s with a large ☕️ and a large slice of cake…. Or just a strong 🍹 😉.

Author’s Blurb:

Allie Reynolds

Allie Reynolds is a former freestyle snowboarder who spent five winters in the mountains of France, Switzerland, Austria and Canada. Her short fiction has been published in women’s magazines in the UK, Australia, Sweden and South Africa. She lives by the beach in Queensland, Australia.

I hope you have enjoyed this dark, disturbing story of a sport that is both mesmeric to watch but also incredibly dangerous, especially if you take it to the extreme. It’s also how the people we think we know so much about may not be who we think they are at all and that if a place looks too good to be true, what is it actually hiding. If you love the sound of this thriller, you can find a copy in Waterstones, any independent store and of course on Amazon. I will leave you now to say Happy Reading and see you all soon!!!

Check out these lovely bloggers too!!!

🎊 🍾 Just For Today by Nell Hudson… A Book Blog Tour Review!!! 🍾 🎊

Intriguing cover!!!

Publication Date: Out now!!!

Formats: Hardback & Ebook

Price: Hb £18.99/ Ebook £7.99

Publisher: Tinder Press

I would like to say a huge thank you to Random Things Tours for organising this wonderful, gripping, heartbreaking book’s tour. I would also like to say thank you to Tinder Press for allowing me to read and review a physical copy of this book. I would also like to say thank you to the creative talent, Nell Hudson, for a sharp and unapologetic look at the lifestyle of young people trying to live, laugh and party hard within a fast-paced city and how sometimes silly mistakes can lead to tragic consequences. Intrigued? Let’s head over to the blurb and find out a bit more.

The party has to end sometime.

It all starts on New Year’s Eve. A night that has to be a success, whatever the cost. For Joni and her friends, it’ll be a party that promises all the high stakes and glamour of any other, but by sunrise they’ll be dealing with something darker than the usual post-party come down.

Not that they will let this stand in their way. For this is their year to revel in all that the playground of London has to offer: sneaking into places they shouldn’t, breaking every rule, falling in love with the wrong people. All the while avoiding one undeniable truth: it’s not if the party ends, it’s how.

From the moment I turned that first page, I was hooked by this story. It’s both intoxicating and a real heartbreaker of a read. By the end of the book I was a sobbing mess because of the way the characters are portrayed and their story which is brought to life. We follow the life of Joni and her friends who’s main goal in life is to enjoy everything as much as possible. Party hard and live wild and free. They all feel quite young, and though Joni is the only one of her friends that doesn’t have a job and seems to live vicariously through them, she feels there’s no pressure as yet to do so.

Instead, through all the parties they have she becomes obsessed with the idea of being her target’s girlfriend, to the point that she doesn’t see what it does to her and how her friends see her. All she knows is that her life is better with this guy in it, his wealth and how he at first looks after her. Throughout this we follow her friends too as their parties become much more hedonistic and wilder as though they know this lifestyle cannot go on for much longer. When there is a tragedy it does make Joni and some of her friends pause but not in a way that really calls a halt to how they have gone before.

But after this incident there is a definite spiral and things become more chaotic and Joni realises (maybe too late) who her real friends are. This novel really looks at our heavy partying, out of control youth and focuses on the relationships between them all and how some are true and how some get twisted and bent out of shape. It’s also not when the party ends but how does it end? You also feel for the characters and there are so many moments that make you cry. I loved this book and would highly recommend this to anyone.

Ratings: 5 🌟s with a large ☕️ and a large 🍰

Author’s Blurb:

Nell Hudson

Nell Hudson grew up in a farm in Worcestershire. She graduated from the Oxford School of Drama in 2012 and has been working as a professional actor ever since. Just For Today is her first novel.

I hope you have enjoyed this journey into a glittery, wild, carefree and hedonistic party lifestyle where relationships are forged and dreams can be true for one night… but what happens after the party has ended? If you want to get your hands on this brilliant book, you can find this in Waterstones, any independent store and of course on Amazon. I will leave you now to say Happy Reading and see you all soon!!!

Check out these lovely bloggers too!!!

The SetUp by Lizzy Dent…. A Book Blog Tour Review!!!

Glorious cover!!!

Publication Date: Out now!!!

Formats: Hardback & Ebook

Price: Hb £14.99/ Ebook £4.99

Publisher: Viking (Penguin)

I would like to say a huge thank you to Ellie Hudson and Viking team for inviting me onto this wonderful book’s tour. I would also like to say thank you to Viking for allowing me to read and review a copy of this fantastic book. I would also like to say a huge thank you to the creative genius, Lizzy Dent, for creating another heartwarming, funny and charming book about believing in yourself and that love doesn’t actually have to be that complicated or dramatic it can actually just be warm and comfortable. Intrigued? Let’s head over to the blurb and find out a bit more.

She has a plan….

Fate has other ideas….

There are two men in my life. But this is not a love triangle.

Mara Williams reads her horoscope every day – but she wasn’t expecting to be in a whole other country when destiny finally found her. Just as the fortune teller reveals that her true love is about to arrive, a gorgeous stranger literally walks into her life. And now Mara is determined to bring them together again…. Surely even fate needs a nudge in the right direction sometimes?

But while Mara is getting ready for “the One”, the universe intervenes. Her new flat mate Ash is funny and kind, and sexy as hell….There was no predicting this; it’s as if her destiny just arrived on her doorstep.

So will Mara put her destiny in fate’s hands? – or finally trust herself to reach for the stars.

Wow, this book really held my heart in its hands. We follow the main character Mara, as she tries to find meaning through her horoscopes and also through what a psychic in Budapest, Hungary told her (as the psychic was pregnant all I can see is that she was telling poor Mara anything to get her to leave) which then leads onto her obsession with a complete stranger, who seems to answer the psychics predictions (well let’s make this a bit more clearer, what Mara really paid more attention to and filled in what she didn’t understand). I loved Mara as a character but you also get frustrated with her as she follows these predictions as fact rather than what we know as being just a bland words put together that could potentially happen to people or not. For Mara she strives to get that sign or message and whatever it is that happens it was meant to be or was written that day.

Obviously this story is never going to be a simple you meet someone band that’s it happy ever after… as we realise that maybe what Mara has been seeking is actually the person that’s her flatmate, walk-in Ash, who’s by far drawn to be what should be the love interest, but as we continue on reading it becomes clear that Mara is her own worst enemy, she doesn’t see what everyone else sees that her blindness in following advice from horoscopes and psychics might be just a tad unhealthy and a bit obsessive. That what she doesn’t realise is that love is a give – give transaction and that to ignore your own instinct could hurt not only you but other people.

What makes me love Mara, is that she feels she has to control every aspect of her life and her love life through these little guidances and advice from the stars, as her life has been one of chaos and she feels underachieving and that to have someone or something tell her what to do is freeing and just makes sense. When in actual fact it’s burying your head in the sand and not listening to what you want or need to do. I have never really taken any of these snipets as facts and most of the time find them hilarious and a bit silly, but wanting to make sense out chaos that’s happening to you or in the world is an understandable thing and makes me want to give her a hug and say it’s ok to make mistakes in both love and life, you will learn, but maybe just really listen to yourself first before turning to the stars.

I really loved Ash, as a man to have that kindness and understanding, wow what a treasure. To also have that amount of patience when dealing with all of Mara’s silliness and naivety in what she does and tries to do for her plan to date this guy who she’s never really spoken to or known is one that leaves you groaning and slapping your head saying “Mara!!! They guy you need is right there in front of you!!!!”. This book is one that you need to just sit in the sun and just dream away with.

I would highly recommend this one to anyone who loves a bit of rom-com with a dash of horoscopes and magic.

Ratings: 5 🌟s with a large ☕️ and a large 🍰 ( or a large 🍹 with 🍨 if it’s a sunny day 😉)

Author’s Blurb:

Lizzy Dent (mis)spent her early twenties working in a hotel not unlike the one in her first novel The Summer Job. Soon to be a TV series! She somehow ended up in a glamorous job travelling the world creating content for various TV companies such as MTV, Channel 4, Cartoon Network, The BBC and ITV. She writes about women who don’t always know where they are going in life, but who always have fun doing it. The Setup is her second novel.

I hope you have enjoyed this charming, lovely and wonderful book and dare I say it what a second book!!! I mean I loved The Summer Job but this is just what is needed after that first hit, another one to give you a gentle hug, laugh and an ahhhh moment. Seriously this author is one I will be buying as soon as the next one is announced. If you are wanting a copy, you can find this in Waterstones, any independent store and of course on Amazon. I will leave you now to say Happy Reading and see you all soon!!!

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