Expectation Anna Hope - Blog Tour and review

I jumped at the chance to join the blog tour for the latest book by Anna Hope as I absolutely adore her previous books, both historical novels, Hope and the stunning Ballroom. This lady is without doubt an exceptionally talented and accomplished author with the ability to create a world into which you are gently immersed then suddenly drowning in emotion.

Expectation couldn’t be more different in style and setting to both this authors previous books and I must admit I was a little wary of the genre change, historical fiction being a theme I am reluctant to relinquish.

This is edgy women’s contemporary fiction, with a modern day setting and themes of female ambitions and friendship. The author will gather a whole new following with this book. Featuring twenty and thirty-something girls written with depth and feeling. Youthful and contemporary the book centres around feelings of dissatisfaction when life never goes quite to plan and opportunities are missed. It explores what people will do to try and put things right, dealing with envy, loss and a sense of self failure.

Expectation is woven around the lives of three women, Hanna, Kate and Lissa and moves back and forth between their lives when they were students, sharing a flat in London with a world of opportunity spread before them and moves forward 10 years to the present day when they are all dissatisfied thirty somethings

All 3 women are dissatisfied with where life and their choices have taken them. It is true to life, in that so many of us follow routes expected of us, make poor decisions and end up feeling “this isn’t the life I should be living” It’s easy to let this feeling overwhelm you especially when you see other people seem to have what you wanted. In these circumstances it’s easy to feel resentment and envy towards others who we perceive have done better than we have and often these are those closest to us, friends.

The 3 young women back in their twenties, studying at University, have pretty clear ideas of where they want to be in ten years and they all make every effort to be successful in their life choices, sometimes quite ruthlessly but things never go quite as planned and there is a lot of truth in the old adage be careful what you wish for, as even when you get it, things may not be what you hoped for.

When they are young I didn’t think I would be able to relate to any particular girl, but as they mature I felt a deeper empathy with one in particular which meant I connected with her story most. I think there is at least one of them who you will think I have felt exactly like that.

Present day again and each young woman sees at least one of her friends has something which she herself has missed out on. The women drift apart and back together, always friends but not always happy with each other. Resentments and jealousy create tension and ambition gets in the way clouding their judgement. Yes ladies this is life!! and we are allowed to vicariously live the lives of failing actress Lissa, bewildered and dissatisfied Wife and Mother Cate and Hanna desperate for a baby of her own.

There are a lot of dark and sad events in the book, interspersed with some lighter and wryly humorous moments. It is above all a testament to the ups and downs of relationships, female friendship, the roles women are expected to play in society and the pressure put on them to conform to society’s ideals of womanhood. It’s topical and current with loads of tension and emotion which I think would make a great tv drama.

The Blurb

Hannah, Cate and Lissa are young, vibrant and inseparable. Living on the edge of a common in East London, their shared world is ablaze with art and activism, romance and revelry – and the promise of everything to come. They are electric. They are the best of friends.

Ten years on, they are not where they hoped to be. Amidst flailing careers and faltering marriages, each hungers for what the others have. And each wrestles with the same question: what does it take to lead a meaningful life?


EXPECTATION is a novel of the highs and lows of friendship – how it can dip, dive and rise again. It is also about finding your way: as a mother, a daughter, a wife, a rebel. Most of all, it explores that liminal space between expectation and reality, the place – full of dreams, desires and pain – in which we all live our lives.

The Author

ANNA HOPE studied at Oxford University and RADA. 

Her contemporary fiction debut, Expectation, explores themes of love, lust, motherhood, and feminism, while asking the greater question of what defines a generation.

She lives in Sussex with her husband and young daughter

Read More

Ideal Angels - blog tour and Extract

Ideal Angels - blog tour and Extract:

Today I am part of the blog tour for the new book by Robert Welbourn - Ideal Angels.

BLURB  

Is it possible to keep secrets in the age of social media? 

When someone lives their entire life in the spotlight, what could they possibly hide from you? 

Ideal Angels explores just that. It s the story of one man, one woman, one week. 

They meet, fall in love, and never look back. 

Eloise's phone is never far away, furiously cataloguing their ups and downs. But there are always shadows, lurking just out of reach. 

The moments after the camera flashes, unseen, uncaptured. 

The threat of an inescapable doom. 

How much can one person change you? 

How much can one person be your downfall?

Robert Welbourn

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Robert Welbourn is Yorkshire born and bred - he's lived there almost all his life, and now written a book set there. He’s had a passion for books as long as he can remember, and has been writing his whole life. 

His favourite authors are Bret Easton Ellis and Stephen King, and he cites Ellis as his number one influence.

He studied English Literature at Salford University, and this confirmed that he wanted to spend his life working with books. He currently works in marketing, but is hoping to spend his life telling stories.

Twitter @r_welbourn

Now here's an extract to whet your appetite:

That familiar burn, the sting in your nostrils, the supreme energy and

confidence, you haven’t felt this in a long time. It isn’t long before the

coke talk begins, and though it’s usually bullshit, this time it’s actually

interesting, you’re actually listening. And listening is all you’re

doing, because she’s practically ranting. Yeah so you’re probably wondering

about the hotel well my parents own it well not own it it’s sort of like franchised nothing official but basically they put a lot of money into it

and take a lot of the profits and they’ve done this all over the world and the

penthouse is owned by them but I don’t think they’ve ever been here except

maybe once just after they first got it. She breathes. And yeah so I come

here a lot it’s technically where I live well it’s one of my homes I guess my

official home is in the States with my parents but I don’t really like it there

it’s too hot and the people are all annoying so I have most of my stuff here

but really I spend all my time in my other place near the art school I’m going

to near where we met. She stops talking briefly, another massive line,

then more words, she’s like a waterfall. So yeah that’s the hotel and that

explains the car too and why I don’t go to art school very often I mean I

know I should but it’s hard to see a point in it you know to me the point is

looking good, feeling good, people knowing you look and feel good and that’s

why I’m always photographing you and me and stuff and that’s why the

drugs too I love my parents don’t get me wrong at least I think I do, well I

know I should anyway but they’re never around and it makes me feel pretty

shitty but with this stuff, she indicates the bag, with this stuff it kind of

doesn’t really matter so yeah do you know what I mean?

You’re sort of blown away, you’ve been pacing to try to dissipate

some of the energy but it’s not really done anything, you’re

ridiculously high considering how early it is in the afternoon, and

you stop pacing but only for a second to look at her, and you

know she wants an answer but none comes to mind, and so you

grab her arm and pull her to her feet, to you, and kiss her hard,

probably too hard but you’re both so coked up it seems the right

thing to do. You can feel your erection but this isn’t the time,

not now, so you let her back down to the floor and take the note

from her and do a massive line yourself.

The late afternoon and early evening sort of pass in a haze and

before you know it you’re out, in the town, wearing the same

clothes you’ve had on all day and you’re unshowered since this

morning but you don’t care, you’ve got pure confidence in your

veins and so the two of you are walking, practically strutting

down the street, you have a cigarette but you’re not paying it

much attention, except to make sure none of the ash goes on your clothes. You come to a bar, The Oyster Bar, not the most fashionable

but reasonably discreet, and soon you each have a largely

ignored drink in front of you, and while she sits and texts and

makes the occasional call you just sit, look around, wanting to

go outside, breathe the air, expend some energy, but not wanting

to not be by her side. She says some of her friends are coming,

she hopes you don’t mind, and you say it’s chill, it’ll be nice to

meet some of the people in her life, and because of the drugs she

laughs but you actually mean it, you don’t want to let this one

go, you want to get your hooks into her. You know that’s an

awful way of phrasing it to yourself but you also know it’s true,

and so when her friends arrive you pretend not to be high, which

you’re not really much anymore anyway, you’ve purposefully not

been bumping in order to not make a bad impression. Her friends

are just like her: slim, beautiful, phones out, drinks out, but from

the looks of them they’re not currently reading Ulysses; in fact

you wonder if they can read at all.

You let them talk, it’s mostly about you, Eloise’s friends interrogating

her about you, but she’s ducking questions, trying to

avoid the fact she doesn’t actually know much about you, and by

now the coke has worn off and so you drink your drink, then

drink another, and soon you’re pretty buzzed off the alcohol. A

couple of her friends look familiar, you feel like you’ve seen them

before, but you chalk this up to the alcohol. That sense of familiarity

a slight buzz often brings. Is it the alcohol? Do you care?

You sense Eloise is buzzed too from the way she’s looking at

you, lust tinged with desperation, but regardless her phone is out

and her friends’ phones are out and it’s all selfies, group photos,

you’re dragged into photos by people whose names you don’t

even know, faces you won’t remember, and you’re thinking it’s

all so cheap, this is all so vague and unnecessary, but you let it

happen anyway. You know Eloise is like this, you’re just glad it’s

not as much as her friends are.

Soon Eloise is taking your hand and you’re outside, leaving the

bar, moving on to the next. You light a cigarette for the walk

and give one to Eloise but soon all her friends are asking, begging cigarettes from you, and it just seems easier to give them all

one and so you do, and they’re coughing and looking unsure but

they’re all so proud of themselves, this small act of drunken rebellion

making them feel like better people, even though you know

if anything it’s the opposite. The next bar is Footage, you’ve not

been here for a while, but nothing much has changed. This bar

is more crowded, and despite being drunk you practically beg

Eloise and she takes you into the disabled toilet and you do a

bump each, two, and once you’re back in the room everything

seems much easier to handle, it’s given a perspective that means

something to you, or at least feels like it might. Her friends have

attracted a lot of attention but you and Eloise stay on the periphery,

not wanting to be antisocial, but not wanting to be involved.

Drinks are ordered and drunk, bumps are discreetly done, and

soon it’s the early hours and you’re tired, your nose hurts, your

head is spinning, you’re dreading tomorrow, dreading your exposure

to the world under the influence of such solicitous inebriants.

But in reality you’re back in the penthouse and it’s just you

and Eloise, you’ve managed to kick out her friends, and their new

friends, and it’s just the two of you and you go to the toilet, to

actually use the toilet for a change, and when you come back

Eloise has left the living room. You head for the bedroom and

find her standing in a pile of clothes, wearing only her pants, and

this time she does actually pounce on you.

Available on Amazon, click here for more details

Read More

Spotlighting - The Winter that made us by Kate Field - Blog Tour

The Winter that made us by Kate Field:

I am pleased to help introduce you to this new novel, in the genre of contemporary women's fiction.
As part of the Blog Tour for this new book by Kate Field I am delighted to share with you the beautiful cover:

Here's the blurb so you can discover what it's about:

When Tess finds herself unexpectedly alone and back in Ribblemill, the childhood village she thought she’d escaped, she’s sure she can survive a temporary stay. She’s spent a lifetime making the best of things, hasn’t she?

Determined to throw herself into village life, Tess starts a choir and gathers a team of volunteers to restore the walled garden at Ramblings, the local stately home. Everything could be perfect, if she weren’t sharing a cottage and a cat with a man whose manner is more prickly than the nettles she’s removing…

As winter approaches, Tess finds herself putting down her own roots as fast as she’s pulling them up in the garden. But the ghosts of the past hover close by, and Tess must face them if she’s to discover whether home is where her heart has been all along.

Order a copy now from Amazon.

My thanks go to Rachels Random Resources @Rararesources who arranged the blog tour.

Read More

Blog Tour and Review - Among the Branded - Linda Smolkin

Among the Branded – Linda Smolkin

Today I am taking part in the Blog Tour for the new debut novel by Linda Smolkin, arranged by RandomthingsTours.

My Review:

Among the Branded is a very modern and contemporary novel with historical connections to the fairly recent past.

In it, we meet Stephanie, a 40 something Mum who is a dedicated career woman juggling family life. This busy art director is planning a family day out, and ends up spending a day out at a world war 2 re-enactment day. Whilst there, she chances on a bundle of old letters she can’t resist buying. Little does she know they are going to draw her in completely and possibly even put her hard earned career in jeopardy. Even though time is one thing she doesn’t really have to spare she can’t resist a mystery to get her teeth into. These faded letters contain a real puzzle to solve at the same time as fostering an unlikely friendship.

One of the letters really connects with her, it’s from a desperate young mother who is imprisoned in a German concentration camp, who is writing to try and save her young son’s life. Her little boy is called Isadore, shortened to Izzy and Steph eventually decides to seek him out. 

Her research leads her to a sprightly 75 year old man she is instantly drawn to and with whom she develops a strong bond of friendship when she takes on the task of trying to re-unite him with the person who eventually did save him from the concentration camps. She plans to hopefully discover what happened to his parents who were last heard of headed towards the dreaded Auschwitz, after all this time.

What sounds as though it could make for grim and dark reading is, in the most part, actually quite light and refreshing, There’s a strong vein of humour running through the book, and it will undoubtedly appeal to fans of chick lit and contemporary womens fiction as well as lovers of WW2 history. 

The writing style does remind me very much of the books I’ve read by Liane Moriarty where a very dark subject is handled with such charm that it makes for a light and amusing book which nevertheless engaged my emotions and gave me much to think about. 

With it's themes of friendship, moral dilemmas and career choices it resonates with every day life for a career woman of the noughties as well as painting memories of the awful historical events which led to the incarceration of thousands of innocent people in the terrible war to end all wars WW2.

With a mystery at heart, and friendship at the centre of the story it should have wide appeal. 

Order your copy now.

The Author.

AUTHOR BIO:  

Linda Smolkin always wanted to be a writer—ever since she saw her first TV commercial and wondered how to pen those clever ads. 

She got her degree in journalism and became a copywriter. Linda landed a job at an ad agency, where she worked for several years before joining the nonprofit world. She's currently working on her second novel, which will be released in Spring 2018. When not in front of the computer, she's behind the drums (slightly) annoying her husband, son, and their 70-pound dog. 

For more information, visit her website at lindasmolkin.com and follow her on Twitter @lindasmolkin and Facebook @AuthorLindaSmolkin.

The Blurb:

What if a 70-year-old letter from World War II changed the course of your life?

While attending Valor of the ’40s, art director Stephanie Britain stumbles upon a flea market selling letters from the war. She buys a handful, hoping they’ll inspire the redesign for a client’s website at her branding and design firm. She’s at first drawn by the lost art of penmanship, but soon discovers a hidden treasure nestled inside declarations of love from homesick soldiers. 

Stephanie enlists a coworker to translate one and realizes it’s not a love letter after all. When a shocking discovery about a client causes Stephanie to question her principles and dedication to her firm’s business, she’s forced to make a difficult decision—one that could give her peace of mind, yet ruin her career in the process.

Contemporary fiction with a historical touch, AMONG THE BRANDED explores family life, an unexpected friendship, and moral conflicts that make us wonder what’s more important: our livelihood or our beliefs. 

This moving debut novel by Linda Smolkin is a great addition for readers who enjoy books by Jodi Picoult, Kristin Hannah, and Liane Moriarty. 

Read More

The Man in the #Needlecordjacket by Linda MacDonald #Blogtour and #Review

Blog Tour and Review – The Man in the Needlecord jacket – Linda MacDonald

My thanks go to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in the blog tour for this new novel.

Here are my thoughts after reading it…

All the lead characters in this book are the same side of 50 as me, making it hold great appeal. They are all also putting behind them failed relationships and trying to build new ones and galloping towards old age with dread and disbelief (well I know how that feels!).

The eponymous Man in the Needlecord jacket is Coll, an artist, self-centred and in my eyes a dislikeable arrogant absolute prat. We view him through the eyes of 2 of the women in his life. Sarah, who was widowed young and has been developing a long term relationship with Coll over quite a few years. It’s rapidly apparent that her self-esteem is low and no wonder, she is involved with this revolting man who sneakily manipulates and undermines her, so she is barely aware he is doing it. She loves this deeply unlovable guy, but is this reciprocated?

Coll is a flirty, womanising divorcee, he gathers admiring women to stroke his fractured ego. When he meets Felicity a slightly flighty restauranteur also recently separated and in the midst of great upheaval in her life, the last thing she needs is another complication but it arrives, nevertheless, in the form of Coll who develops an obsession with her and seeks to woo her in his own peculiar way.

The story flows well and drags you into the lives of these disparate characters who are all quite deeply flawed, which gives them great depth whilst making them real and believable, but this also created a difficulty to build empathy with any of them. I was constantly thinking “I’m glad I’m not her” about all of the women, even the sub characters, Marianne Fanclub to name just one, and “I’m glad I don’t know him” about the men!!

But people aren’t perfect and lives even less so, and it would seem that even the people we could most envy, harbour the deepest fears and insecurities. The book focusses on the mental and emotional aspects of why people do things and the long term results of events out of our control and within it but along badly chosen paths.

This is an emotional and engaging read, well angled towards the more mature reader and tackles emotional abuse and coping with loss and broken relationships.

It is part of a series of books by Linda MacDonald, but can be read as a stand alone, though if you intend to read them all getting them in the right order would be the best approach as the characters in this book are featured in her others.

You can find out more about the series by visiting Linda’s Amazon page  where you can also order this book and her other titles.

Read More

Friend Request - Laura Marshall - creepy

#FriendRequest - Laura Marshall @laurajm8 #Bookreview

My Review:

Friend Request is a term most of us will take for granted, you use Social Media you connect with people you know and sometmes you get a friend request from someone you haven't seen in a while. It's happened to me ....

Usually it's a pleasant surprise ....

But not for single Mum Louise Williams it isn't!

The friend request she receives is a bit of a shock - it's from her old classmate Maria Weston. She hasn't heard a thing from Maria since leaving school, unsurprisingly, because Maria died, 25 years ago, didn't she?

Louise can't resist having a little peek at her profile though, because Maria has never strayed very far from Louise's thoughts. Not when she was married to Sam who subsequently left her for another woman, even throughout her struggle to conceive her only child Henry, now 4 years old and the centre of Louise's universe, Maria was there in her deepest thoughts and fears.

Because Maria disappeared the night of the leavers ball at High School and Louise was one of the last people to speak to her.

Louise's school days weren't the happiest, they were filled with trying to fit in, making an effort to be accepted and make friends and impress the people she wanted to be seen with and amidst the bullying and, lies, the duplicity and drugtaking she managed to create her own little niche.

Now she is older, she has made a successful business and she's a good Mum. But following the friend request, nothing's ever going to be quite the same again. Sinister messages and veiled threats begin to haunt her and secrets she has kept buried for years emerge to haunt and taunt her and she gets reluctantly drawn back into a circle of acquaintances she'd hoped were firmly behind her, which isn't great for Louise but makes for tense and gripping reading.

The tension cranks up, its a very fast paced book with lots of dark deeds just waiting to burst forth. The big mystery is - Could Maria still possibly be alive? and if not just who is posting messages and why?

This exciting and mystery filled who-dunnit thriller is deserving of the description "grip-lit" I ripped through it in no time because I just kept wanting to know if the secret Louise has been concealing is in fact as bad as she feels it to have been or has she allowed it to build up out of all proportion and dominate her inner peace? You'll have to read it to find out, there are some very clever twists and red herrings along with some rather dark and unpleasant characters. Even the main protagonist with her dark secrets and distinct flaws, makes it hard to sympathise fully with her.

This novel grabs you and keeps you held tightly in its grip throughout and its very relevant to todays reader, though the dual storylines of "then and now" create appeal for a wider audience than purely the Facebook generation.

A brilliant read I feel will appeal to fans of Ruth Ware and Julia Crouch.

The blurb

MARIA WESTON WANTS TO BE FRIENDS. BUT MARIA WESTON'S DEAD. ISN'T SHE?

1989. When Louise first notices the new girl who has mysteriously transferred late into their senior year, Maria seems to be everything the girls Louise hangs out with aren't. Authentic. Funny. Brash. Within just a few days, Maria and Louise are on their way to becoming fast friends.

2016. Louise receives a heart-stopping email: Maria Weston wants to be friends on Facebook. Long-buried memories quickly rise to the surface: those first days of their budding friendship; cruel decisions made and dark secrets kept; the night that would change all their lives forever.

Louise has always known that if the truth ever came out, she could stand to lose everything. Her job. Her son. Her freedom. Maria's sudden reappearance threatens it all, and forces Louise to reconnect with everyone she'd severed ties with to escape the past. But as she tries to piece together exactly what happened that night, Louise discovers there's more to the story than she ever knew. To keep her secret, Louise must first uncover the whole truth, before what's known to Maria--or whoever's pretending to be her--is known to all.

Read More

Review - He Said She Said - Erin Kelly - darkly convoluted

My review of He Said, She Said by Erin Kelly

Wow - wonderful twisty read, blew my socks off. 

It's not often that I finish a book and can't really find words to write a review straight away. But I loved this book so much I had to take a step back and examine what I thought or just babble away senselessly. 

Its delightfully different and darkly convoluted. It actually took me a little while to get into it at the beginning as it's deliberately written in several voices from different viewpoints and jumps back and forth several years and it does take a while to get into the rhythm, but when you do boy does it grab you and just won't let go!

We begin our tortuous journey by being introduced to a young couple, Laura who is pregnant and her partner Kit who is heading off across the seas to witness an eclipse. For that is what this young couple do as a hobby, they are eclipse chasers and travel all over the world joing festivals and celebrations and watching eclipses. They've always travelled together but heavily pregnant Laura is staying home this time whilst Kit goes off. It's immediately apparent that something untoward has happened in their past to make them distrustful of strangers, paranoid and both trying to keep a very low profile.

As we whip back and forth over about 15 years, we discover that at one such festival the pair witnessed a shocking and unpleasant event in addition to the eclipse. They stumble across a degrading and violent sex attack and Lauras determination to ensure justice is brought to bear makes her act somewhat rashly and utter words that are set to haunt her.

Back and forth in time we go whilst the noose tightens, events grow more complicated. I began to mistrust folk, then evidence is presented that made me change my mind, again and again until I didn't know who I could believe any more.

This is an extremely clever psychological twister and illustrate that when everything hinges on what he said and what she said, just a few tiny words can make a vast difference to how we perceive things.

There are so many smoke screens and distractions I didn't see a couple of things coming til they smacked me in the face and even then when I thought smugly I'd sussed everything out along comes another curved ball for me to deftly duck.

Clever, crafty and conniving, a terrific heart stopping novel tackling taboo subjects and with some delightfully unreliable narrators and a final kick up the bum that has my cheeks still smarting!

The Blurb

In the hushed aftermath of a total eclipse, Laura witnesses a brutal attack. She and her boyfriend Kit call the police, and in that moment, it is not only the victim's life that is changed forever. Fifteen years on, Laura and Kit live in fear, and while Laura knows she was right to speak out, the events that follow have taught her that you can never see the whole picture: something, and someone, is always in the dark. 

Read More