The Unforgetting by Rose Black - Book Review and Blog Tour

The Unforgetting by Rose Black - Book Review and Blog Tour

I'm inviting you to join me and my fellow book bloggers on the Blog Tour for the new historical novel #TheUnforgetting by #RoseBlack published by @orionbooks.

I'm rounding up this tour today with my review of this fabulous new book set in Victorian England. Literary, clever and riddled with secrets its an engaging and enjoyable read with a gorgeous cover. Thank you Random Things Tours for inviting me along.

In the mid 19th century, there is little opportunity for a woman to carve out a career in acting, but that is what Lily Bell dreams of, the bright lights and magic of entertaining folk from a stage.

She thinks her dreams have come true when Erasmus Salt offers her the chance to be part of his spectacular stage show. She sets off to join him and his sister Faye, only to discover that she is not to appear live on stage but is to take the part of a ghost, in a daring illusion Erasmus is desperate to perfect. Aided by his manservant the mute and eerie Balthazar, she become part of a show of smoke and mirrors as Erasmus tries to take her identity away from her.

She is part of a bargain and her step father has sold her, body and soul as payment of a debt and has forfeited any free will Lily may have had.

As her parents believe she is dead she throws herself into the work, falls in love with a travelling juggler but Erasmus has another agenda in mind and ulterior motives which his sister Faye cannot fathom and which leave Lily trapped and alone.

As the Unforgetting begins however, secrets gradually reveal themselves from the past wich looms up to play a part in the future and Lily needs to make one terrible decision, will she live to regret it?

Filled with the magic of the Victorian era theatre, Lilys story is captivating and complicated. She meets some wonderful characters, fairground folk (which confused me somewhat - they refer to themselves as Gyptians - a term I believed was coined by Philip Pullmann for his Dark Materials series?) 

Putting this aside, there are some lovely almost Dickensian characters (and some rather dastardly ones). Fabulous locations from Ramsgate to London through various towns in the UK to the Town Moor in Newcastle. I was thrilled to find my own home town of Darlington even plays a small part, though it doesn't come over in a very good light!!

There is a deep vein of mystery and sadness at the core of this book and I am sure it will appeal to readers who enjoyed The Miniaturist, the Essex Serpent and the Silent Companions. Any book which gets a few more people reading and enjoying well researched and imaginative historical fiction such as this serves a grand purpose and this is a super example of the genre.

Find the book on Amazon or on the publishers website

The Blurb

Power, theatre and ghosts in a Victorian gothic historical, perfect for fans of The Silent Companions, The Night Circus and The Familiars.

When Lily Bell is sold by her father to a 'Professor of Ghosts' to settle a bad debt, she thinks she about to hit the London stage as an actress. But little does she know that the professor intends her to be his very own ghost, part of an elaborate illusion for a fascinated audience.

Obsessed with perfection, the professor covers all bases to ensure his illusion is realistic - and when Lily comes across her own obituary in the paper, and then her own headstone in the cemetery, she soon realises that she is trapped, her parents think she is dead - and soon her fate is to become even darker...

About the author

Rose Black has written stories all her life. Her long-standing fascination with the Victorians and 19th century England underlies this novel. An award-winning freelance writer, she's covered health, overseas development and education. Married, with two children, she lives partly in London and at other times by the sea. In her spare time, she enjoys wild swimming and growing food and flowers on her allotment.

Read More

Dreamland - Nancy Bilyeau - REVIEW and Blog Tour

Dreamland - Nancy Bilyeau - REVIEW and Blog Tour

I've been itching to post my review for the wonderful historical extravaganza which is Dreamland by Nancy Bilyeau, as I'm longing to shout about how wonderful it is.

My Thanks go to the Publisher Endeavour Press for inviting me along to Dreamland.

My Review

Stunning to look at with the beautiful midnight blue and lavish gold cover and enchanting to read, Dreamland is a feast for the senses in every aspect.

I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Dreamland, one of Coney Islands massive fairground and fun palaces. Through this book I stepped back in time to 1911 wearing the expensive and stylish shoes of Peggy Batternburg, daughter of one of America’s wealthiest families.

The early part of the 20th century isn’t perhaps the best time to be a young woman who longs to carve a life for herself, and at the beginning of the story she has a job in a bookshop, a touch of independence which she had to battle for and lean on family influence to obtain.

But family ties are all in this famously wealthy clan and Peggy is summoned home to join the family for the summer in the lavish and luxurious hotel The Oriental, only the hint of excitement promised by the nearby entertainments and attractions of Coney Island provide a hint of temptation to compensate for the loss of her independence to the young woman.

Her snobby, wealthy relatives are all about keeping up appearances. The menfolk are in the main a profligate bunch, playboys who view wives as necessary adornments and women as disposable playthings. The women are subservient, biddable, elegant and shallow. Peggy feels she doesn’t fit in, despite her love for her sister and exasperated affection for her younger brother.

Escaping to Dreamland the noisy, colourful funfair casts a spell over Peggy and when she meets a handsome, charming but penniless artist, she falls head over heels in love with the most unsuitable man she could possibly choose.

When a womans body is washed up on the beach, it is shocking but something that has nothing to do with the Batternburgs, but then another turns up and Peggy begins to feel watched, threatened, helpless. 

This lovely book turned out to be a murder mystery Agatha Christie would most likely be pleased to be compared to, coupled with romance and a great atmospheric and unusual location. 

The Author's detailed research and the lovingly recreated historical detail adds to the drama. A smashing story throughout, combining superb characters, loads of drama and a lavish and intriguing setting blend seamlessly to provide an enthralling and captivating read.

Please consider visiting some of my fellow bloggers also on this tour.

The Blurb

The year is 1911 when twenty-year-old heiress Peggy Batternberg is invited to spend the summer in America’s Playground.

The invitation to the luxurious Oriental Hotel a mile from Coney Island is unwelcome. Despite hailing from one of America’s richest families, Peggy would much rather spend the summer working at the Moonrise Bookstore than keeping up appearances with New York City socialites and her snobbish, controlling family.

But soon it transpires that the hedonism of nearby Coney Island affords Peggy the freedom she has been yearning for, and it’s not long before she finds herself in love with a troubled pier-side artist of humble means, whom the Batternberg patriarchs would surely disapprove of.

Disapprove they may, but hidden behind their pomposity lurks a web of deceit, betrayal and deadly secrets. And as bodies begin to mount up amidst the sweltering clamour of Coney Island, it seems the powerful Batternbergs can get away with anything…even murder.

Extravagant, intoxicating and thumping with suspense, bestselling Nancy Bilyeau’s magnificent Dreamland is a story of corruption, class and dangerous obsession.

The Author Nancy Bilyeau

Nancy is a writer and magazine editor who has worked as an editor at "Rolling Stone," "InStyle," and "Good Housekeeping." Her latest historical novel is "Dreamland," set in 1911 New York City and due to be published Jan 16, 2020.

In December 2019 Nancy published a novella set in old New York: "The Ghost of Madison Avenue."

She is the author of "The Blue," a novel of suspense set in the art and porcelain worlds of 18th century Europe featuring a young female artist turned spy, and a trilogy of award-winning Tudor mysteries, published in 9 countries: "The Crown," "The Chalice," and "The Tapestry."

Nancy's mind is usually in past centuries, but she lives with her family in the Queens borough of New York City.

Visit Nancy's website at www.nancybilyeau.com and follow her on Twitter @tudorscribe.

You can buy this book here 

Read More

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

My Review - Death and the Harlot by Georgina Clarke

My Review - Death and the Harlot by Georgina Clarke

I was completely absorbed into this book which I received through Netgalley, with its extremely likeable heroine Lizzie Hardwicke, Harlot of the title.

A high-class London prostitute working out of a mid 18th century Soho pleasure house. When one of her "customers" is found murdered she faces inevitable suspicion, so, keen to clear her name she joins forces with an investigator and becomes amateur sleuth.

Set in the back streets of London, among the seediest pubs, the coffee houses and bathhouses where no respectable girl would be seen, as a lady of the night Lizzie can pass through, if not completely unnoticed, at least accepted. She uses her keen skills of observation and an understanding of peoples motives gained from her questionable trade, to great advantage.

What emerges is a complicated tale of blackmail, and revenge, where everyone has either a hidden past or leads a double life, nobody can be taken at face value and murder takes in the stinking filth at the bottom of every dark alley. As a Notorious Highwayman awaits sentencing nearby everyday life carries on in its bustling noisiness and everyday struggles to make ends meet any way possible.

Lizzie, despite a hardened nature through the life she has been pushed into by circumstances, still has a tender heart. Deep down she longs for love and friendship. She takes pity on a couple of younger women one of whom she hopes to prevent being forced to make the same choices which led her where she now resides, on the wrong side of respectability, and the other who has already fallen far below this, yet still manages to touch Lizzies toughened heart. It is this caring nature which made me warm to Lizzie, the original tart with a heart.

The story fairly gallops along, it is exciting and well written and filled with great characters, none of whom you quite know whether to trust or run like hell from.

Following Lizzies adventures allows us to vicariously tread paths we'd never dream of setting foot on and I could see and smell the whiff of roasting chestnuts, vying with the odour from a greasy mutton pie vendor overlying the ordure of the sewage-laden River Thames and its surrounding courts and alleyways.

I loved it and can't wait for further adventures with Lizzie Hardwicke.

The Blurb

A gripping historical crime debut from an exciting new voice. ‘It’s strange, the way fortune deals her hand.’

The year is 1759 and London is shrouded in a cloak of fear. With the constables at the mercy of highwaymen, it’s a perilous time to work the already dangerous streets of Soho. Lizzie Hardwicke makes her living as a prostitute, somewhat protected from the fray as one of Mrs Farley’s girls. But then one of her wealthy customers is found brutally murdered… and Lizzie was the last person to see him alive.

Constable William Davenport has no hard evidence against Lizzie but his presence and questions make life increasingly difficult. Desperate to be rid of him and prove her innocence Lizzie turns amateur detective, determined to find the true killer, whatever the cost.

Yet as the body count rises Lizzie realises that, just like her, everyone has a secret they will do almost anything to keep buried…

Read More

Blog Tour and my Review - The Story Keeper - Anna Mazzola

Review and blog tour The Story keeper Anna Mazzola

I’m delighted to be helping kick-start the Blog Tour for The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola, author of the superb novel The Unseeing which I read and reviewed last year for my blog.

Both are historical novels based around factual events and the author demonstrates her penchant for detailed research and well-honed writing skills in both of these seductively intriguing books.

The Story Keeper begins in 1857 with the protagonist, Audrey Hart on a ferry to the Isle of Skye where she is headed to take up a job offering her the only chance of a little freedom, she is to be an assistant to a wealthy woman who is researching folk tales, myths and legends around the island.

Following the recent Highland clearances local folk are wary of strangers and reluctant to trust anyone, but they are also keen to pass on superstitions and Anna has family links to the island as her late mother was a Skye lassie so maybe she is not as much a stranger to the lives of these country folk as her boss is. As stories emerge of several missing girls, Audrey determines to unravel the mystery, which bears parallels to the disappearance of her own mother many years ago.

What she begins to reveal will test her to the limits as she tries to work out whether the old legends bear any truth or if there is something even more sinister at work.

I loved the setting on the Isle of Skye, the historical details following the Highland clearances, an appalling true event, the wealth of richly painted characters and the themes of folklore, fairy stories and myth. 

The main character of Audrey, a determined young woman whom I could admire and empathise with, this likeable heroine soon had me rooting for her. 

The location of Skye and descriptions are highly evocative, the story has enough hints of the supernatural to lend a shiver whilst reading it and the mystery is compelling and quite awful enough to be scary as well as gripping.

A wonderful read, especially for anyone who loves a well-researched and superbly written historical mystery in a great setting.

My thanks go to Anne at RandomThings Tours for inviting me along on this virtual book tour.

Find it on Amazon and other good bookshops.

The Blurb

From the author of THE UNSEEING comes a sizzling, period novel of folk tales, disappearances and injustice set on the Isle of Skye, sure to appeal to readers of Hannah Kent's BURIAL RITES or Beth Underdown's THE WITCH FINDER'S SISTER ( I also reviewed this you can read my review here).

'A wonderful combination of a thrilling mystery and a perfectly depicted period piece' Sunday Mirror


Audrey Hart is on the Isle of Skye to collect the word-of-mouth folk tales of the people and communities around her. It is 1857, the Highland Clearances have left devastation and poverty, and the crofters are suspicious and hostile, claiming they no longer know their stories. Then Audrey discovers the body of a young girl washed up on the beach and the crofters tell her that it is only a matter of weeks since another girl has disappeared. They believe the girls are the victims of the spirits of the unforgiven dead. Initially, Audrey is sure the girls are being abducted, but then she is reminded of her own mother, a Skye woman who disappeared in mysterious circumstances. It seems there is a link to be explored, and Audrey may uncover just what her family have been hiding from her all these years.

Read More

#BlogTour and Review of Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the world by Caitlin Davies

Blog Tour and Review Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World by Caitlin Davies

Today I am very honoured to kick-start the Blog Tour for the wonderful new novel Daisy Belle.

My Review

Isn’t the cover artwork just beautiful? I love that misty sepia vintage image of Daisy in her Victorian swimwear.

I loved the book too!  Daisy is such an endearing and engaging character, from her first forays into the water aged just four – right through to her adult life and the trials and tribulations of being a women born to succeed in a world dominated by men, and some of them pretty nasty men at that.

This book is Historical Fiction based firmly on real-life female swimming pioneers who broke the mould of swimming not being a ladylike pursuit and it is a real tribute to strong and determined women throughout the ages especially those who battle against the odds to achieve their goals.

This is one of a number of books I’ve read recently with swimming as a theme and it makes me want to don my swimming costume and dive right into the water alongside Daisy.

We meet Daisy when she is just 4 years old, accompanying her father who teaches swimming and works at Lambeth swimming pool, he knows she will never be able to swim competitively she is a mere girl after all. But she is a natural and takes to swimming like a fish to water and he is forced to acknowledge that she could be a valuable addition to his Family of frogs swimming troupe and perhaps a lucrative asset to his ambitions and plans.

As Daisy grows older, despite her Mothers reluctance to allow her to join in any swimming events, nevertheless knitting Daisy a swimsuit (a knitted swimsuit OMG) She takes part in some amazing feats of endurance and skill, but learns that placing your trust in anyone but your own self can lead to disappointment and very near tragedy.

I was rooting for her all the way, especially when she ends up as part of a mermaid exhibition that had me gasping for breath.

Daisy entranced me and the story is gently gripping and rather heartbreaking in some parts but Daisy is a real trooper and I couldn't help but admire her. She is a real pioneer for women's equality.

There is a lovely love story at the heart of the book, but really it’s about never giving up on the things you hold most dear and going for it whatever the cost.

For lovers of historical fiction, romance and of course swimming, Daisy Belle is a heroine who deserves to be heard and her story is charming and delightful despite the men who treat her badly and the true love of her life.

The Author - Cailyn Davies can be found at her website, on Twitter @CaitlinDavies2 and there's a Daisy Belle Facebook Page:

You can order it here 

Heres the Blurb

Summer 1867: four-year-old Daisy Belle is about to make her debut at the Lambeth Baths in London. Her father, swimming professor Jeffrey Belle, is introducing his Family of Frogs - and Daisy is the star attraction. By the end of that day, she has only one ambition in life: she will be the greatest female swimmer in the world.   

She will race down the Thames, float in a whale tank, and challenge a man to a 70-foot high dive. And then she will set sail for America to swim across New York Harbour. But Victorian women weren't supposed to swim, and Daisy Belle will have to fight every stroke of the way if she wants her dreams to come true.   

Inspired by the careers of Victorian champions Agnes Beckwith and Annie Luker, Daisy Belle is a story of courage and survival and a tribute to the swimmers of yesteryear.

Read More

Open your eyes - by Paula Daly - gripping

Review - Open Your Eyes by Paula Daly

A well-written fabulous new page-turner from an author whose books never fail to grip you by the larynx and apply increasing pressure throughout, exactly what Grip-lit should be.

This is a stand-alone domestic Noir thriller about Jane, a would-be author, married to Leon, the couple have 2 young children and everything is going fine apart from the books Jane writes being constantly rejected for publication. She knows how hard it is to break into publishing, she is a creative writing tutor and her husband has several successful published books under his belt already.

One fateful day everything she knows is about to come crashing down around her ears, when suddenly Leon is attacked, right outside their own home and whilst he is in a deep coma in hospital she has to try and keep things at home on an even keel. But how can she ever feel safe where such a dreadful thing happened?

The story is gripping on two levels, there is the deep mystery of who did this to Leon and why, and there is the very realistic and moving story of a woman trying to cope with a massive change in her personal circumstances. Add some very authentic and quirky characters, lots of different threats and fears and you have the perfect recipe for a real page turner.

I obtained my review copy from Netgalley

Buy it here 

The Blurb

Haven’t we all wanted to pretend everything is fine?

Jane doesn’t like confrontation. Given the choice, she'd prefer to focus on what’s going well, the good things in life.

But when her husband, Leon, is brutally attacked in the driveway of their home, in front of their two young children, Jane has to face reality. As he lies in a coma, Jane must open her eyes to the problems in her life, and the secrets that have been kept from her, if she’s to find out who hurt her husband – and why.

Maybe it’s time to face up to it all. Who knows what you might find . . .

Read More

Review - A Little Bird Told Me - Marianne Holmes great debut novel

Review - A Little Bird Told Me by Marianne Holmes

What a terrific debut novel, I take my hat off to the author who has recreated the long hot summer of 1976 and turned it into a simmering heat haze of suspicion, misunderstandings and mystery.

A Little Bird Told Me is the story of siblings Robyn (nicknamed Little Bird) and her older brother Chistopher also known as Kit.

The book sweeps effortlessly back and forth in time from 1976 when the pair were children and 1988 when as young adults, they return to the small town of their childhood so that Robyn can try and make amends for an injustice she blames herself for.

In 1976 as the youngsters swelter in the heat, make dams by the river, play with friends and put up with bullying as well as a fractured family life. As they watch their Mum, keeping things hidden and constantly trying to evade someone or something it's clear that there is more going on than meets the eye.

Events which occurred in the past have left their mark on both these young people and its testament to Robyns lack of understanding as to what exactly was going on at the time has carried over to the present day and I read the whole book knowing that something dreadful happened but unsure what. Robyn blames herself for much if it and someone is missing and she is going to leave no stone unturned trying to solve the mystery despite Kit's reluctance to let her. But as her thoughts and actions are impaired by missing facts, so is the story a fractured version of events which will keep you wondering and guessing what dark secret is at the heart of Little Birds story. Robyn is a slightly unreliable narrator mainly because of her fractured memories of the past and her volatile personality.

This is a quality piece of literary fiction with psychological twists and something very nasty at the bottom of the woodpile writhing around showing glimpses of itself as some pretty nasty characters do some contemptible deeds.

I really felt for Robyn, her childhood has left her damaged goods, not only in the painful scar she carries around her waist but she tries so hard and frequently gets things wrong, she has a temper, she can be a very poor judge of character and yet she is very likeable.

This is a deceptively dark and twisty read, which starts out as a summer saunter down memory lane but becomes a morass of lies and puzzles you dread uncovering.

For anyone who likes their Domestic Noir to have a kick in the tail and really make you think.

My Thanks go to the publisher @AgoraBooksLDN for my review copy and my congratulations to the author for writing a compelling debut which indicates great promise.

This book is due out in September and can be pre-ordered now

The Blurb

In the scorching summer of 1976, Robyn spends her days swimming at the Lido and tagging after her brother. It’s the perfect holiday – except for the crying women her mum keeps bringing home.

As the heatwave boils on, tensions in the town begin to simmer. Everyone is gossiping about her mum, a strange man is following her around, and worst of all, no one will tell Robyn the truth. But this town isn’t good at keeping secrets…

Twelve years later, Robyn returns home, to a house that has stood empty for years and a town that hasn’t moved on, forced to confront the mystery that haunted her that summer.

And atone for the part she played in it.

Read More

Blog Tour and Review of The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden:
Blog tour and review.

Today I am part of the blog tour for the beautiful haunting tale which is the Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden.

The Girl in the tower is the second book in the Winternight Trilogy of which the first book is The Bear and the Nightingale. 

I am in the privileged position of having recently read both books which has left my heart pounding, my head reeling and my imagination well and truly fired. I will provide a brief synopsis of the first book in the series which I highly recommend you read first, as a) it helps make better sense of the second and b) It’s blooming amazing and you just don’t want to miss it.

This series admirably fills the gap left by the Abhorsen trilogy (Garth Nix) and His Dark Materials (Philip Pullmann) yet they are completely different based on traditional Russian folklore they seem as old as time, new as freshly baked bread and very, very original.

These are fairy tales with no fluttering glittering fairies. Coming of age novels for 12 to 90 year olds, Grimmer than Grimms fairy tales and filled with demons, some of whom will scare you, most of whom you’ll love. To this mix add wonderful horses you can communicate with and a handsome and enigmatic frost demon to freeze your fingers and melt your heart and you get a tiny flavour of what these books are about. 

Did you love the Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey? The Girl with glass feet by Ali Shaw? Ohhhh you’re going to adore this series then.

Now I must admit I found the first book took me a little while to get into, mainly because of its very uniqueness and my total unfamiliarity with anything Russian – Oh and my completely missing the superb glossary until after I’d read it! My tip is; use the glossary of terms and tips before you read these books (Duh, sounds obvious now doesn’t it?) as I found it rather confusing with all the different unfamiliar names, each of which has not one but often 2 or more diminutives, leading me to believe there were, in fact more characters in my book than there really were. Then there are the names of the demons – all new, unfamiliar and unpronounceable!

But once you get your head around the fact that Vasya, really Vasilisa who is called Vasoschka at times (and calls herself Vasilii when she disguises herself as a boy) are one and the same person and that everyone in the book has as many names as this and some are MUCH harder to pronounce – you’ll be able to relax and enjoy the superb narrative and magical storytelling.

Oh my! I’ve been blethering for ages and I haven’t even begun telling you what the stories are actually about!!

The Bear and the Nightingale: Book 1

In this, we meet Vasya (remember her - she’s Vasilisa ……)

Vasya is the girl who doesn’t fit in, different in appearance and in nature to her siblings she would rather be rampaging around the forest than sewing by the fire, in the house where she lives, in a small hamlet in the Russian wilderness. She has a natural affinity with horses and she can see demons – everywhere! 

That’s because they ARE everywhere, but not too many folk can actually see them. Vasya can talk to them, she understands them and one day this will be the making of her. But for now, it sets her apart from her family as does her frog-like appearance. Her new stepmother mistrusts her and her father can’t work out quite what to do with his wayward daughter - it's all too easy to get called a witch in these superstitious times.

Vasya doesn’t know quite where she fits in either, but she knows one thing she doesn’t want to be married off to a stranger and neither does she want to end up in a convent.

She has been brought up on folk tales told at her nursemaid Dunya’s knee huddled around the fire in the bitter Russian winter, and the most chilling and fascinating of all the legends is that of the Frost-demon Morosko the winter god who is also the bringer of death in the bitter winter cold. 

Little does she know that she is destined to face the Frost King and her story will become entwined with the creature of her childhood nightmares, the one-eyed man who is also a terrifying bear.

This is a wonderful, magical, mesmerising and haunting story of a feisty young woman who defies gender stereotyping in an age where women were expected to be submissive and obedient.

There is much MUCH more to this beautiful story but this review is supposed to be mainly about the second book which follows neatly on from the first. I don’t think I’ll be too guilty of spoilers when I say that as Vasya is also the star of the next book, therefore it follows that in a book of death and bloodshed she is a survivor!

The Girl in the Tower - Book 2

The girl in the tower begins with Vasya, now disguised as a boy, leaving her small village where she is accused of witchcraft and setting off for adventure and hoping to realise her ambition of being a traveller. Carried by her amazing bay stallion Solovey, she journeys towards the big city of Moscow. 

On her travels through the vast forest, she discovers that Tatar bandits have been burning villages and murdering the occupants then kidnapping the young girls, This incenses Vasya and being who she is, she steps in to try and help.

Eventually, her bravery earns her the respect of the Grand Prince of Moscow (who of course believes she is a young man) women being kept very much under the control of their husbands and barely allowed to show their faces in public. Their choices are few, marry bear children and obey the husband who has been chosen for you or become a Nun …. ermm and that’s it, not much of a choice there then.

Vasya revels in the freedom being a boy gives her and swears her gender will remain a secret. She eventually reaches her beloved brother and sister, who both left home when she was a small child and of course they also have to keep her identity secret, much as her deception appals them.

Her inborn skill with horses (aided by the fact that she can understand them, soothe and talk to them) also earns her a reputation as a brave young man, a title she longs to keep but as time goes on it gets harder to conceal her femininity.

I will say no more about the storyline, it is wonderful and heart-breaking and utterly joyous storytelling and I don’t want to spoil one tiny moment of your time, with Vasya in ancient Russia. 

For, read it you surely must, as I am at a loss as to what else to say to convey how stunning this series is. 

This second book is more adult in its themes and even darker than the first and Oh so sad, yet it glows with colour and vibrancy throughout.

Having read the first 2 books back to back I am left bereft and heartbroken waiting in deepest anticipation for the third in the series to come out. Already I am devastated that this is going to be a trilogy and when I do get my hot little hands on the final instalment it will be the last.

If you enjoy this series even 1/4 as much as I did you are in for a rare and delectable treat.

You can buy the Girl in the Tower now.

Connect with the author on her website katherinearden.com

The books are published by Penguin Random House and my thanks go to Random Things Tours for inviting me to join this blog tour and opening my eyes to this world of magic.

The Blurb:

For a young woman in medieval Russia, the choices are stark: marriage or a life in a convent. Vasya will choose a third way: magic...

The court of the Grand Prince of Moscow is plagued by power struggles and rumours of unrest. Meanwhile, bandits roam the countryside, burning the villages and kidnapping its daughters. Setting out to defeat the raiders, the Prince and his trusted companion come across a young man riding a magnificent horse.

Only Sasha, a priest with a warrior's training, recognises this 'boy' as his younger sister, thought to be dead or a witch by her village. But when Vasya proves herself in battle, riding with remarkable skill and inexplicable power, Sasha realises he must keep her secret as she may be the only way to save the city from threats both human and fantastical...

Read More

Blog Tour and Book Review of Fatal Inheritance - Rachel Rhys - dazzling delight

Blog Tour

Today I bring you my thoughts on a wonderful new book, welcome to the blog tour for the new book Fatal Inheritance by Rachel Rhys which was published on 26th July 2018 and you can find it here.

As my contribution to the tour and to whet your appetite here is my review of this wonderfully enjoyable book

Review

I’m deliriously happy to be included in the blog tour for this absolutely wonderful, feel-good romantic mystery by Rachel Rhys, aka Tammy Cohen, a brilliant novelist who turns her hand to two different genres with each persona she dons and does it with ease and panache. She demonstrated this succinctly in her first historical drama “A Dangerous Crossing”, which I also loved. you can read my review of that book here.

Author Rachel Rhys

If you’re looking for the absolutely perfect book to enjoy on holiday or curl up and relax with over the weekend then look no further you’ve found it in Fatal Inheritance.

The period setting is post war England in 1948, where our heroine Eve is sadly very typical of many housewives of this era. 

The sheer monotony of her mundane life, married to a dull, pompous husband, who never appreciates her attempts to be the perfect wife and sees her as a mere accessory to his chokingly dull existence, is suddenly shattered by a letter announcing a completely unexpected inheritance for Eve.

Despite her husbands’ insistence that it will be a mistake and can all be dealt with by him, without her worrying her little head over it, she sees it as a ray of hope on an otherwise very bleak horizon, especially when she finds out she has been left a part share of an old villa in the South of France and, taking the bull by the horns, sets off, alone, to discover more about her mysterious inheritance.

Eve heads off to the sun-soaked Riviera to claim her inheritance and soon begins to rub shoulders with celebrities and the Nouveau riche. 

Whilst making some new friends she also discovers a simmering resentment towards her and a veiled sense of threat surrounding her presence in the charming pink villa overlooking the glittering Mediterranean.

In the hedonistic and cosmopolitan surroundings of the French Riviera she finds the situation even more puzzling than expected. She is an unwelcome intruder to the family to whom she is as great a mystery as this bequest is to her.

The story gallops along, with sublime characters, exquisite descriptions of the glitzy location and the occasional glamorous party and illustrates how a mousy everyday 1940s housewife throws caution to the winds and gradually creates a niche in this new life for herself. I adored watching her grow in confidence and self-worth and mutating from a subject of pity to a source of admiration.

If this had been a book purely about the upper class and privileged classes I may have found it a tad tiresome, but in creating a sympathetic relatable character in Eve, the author made this book very accessible, wholly enjoyable and a delight from start to finish. 

I loved following Eve's character developing and the strange mystery and stunning location, blended together to create an unsurpassed novel of sheer, dazzling, delight. A book which never lets up its pace and manages to fit an awful lot in to the pages without ever becoming overcomplicated nor twee.

I’m aware that the description may possibly sound as though similar stories have been told before. Not with such panache and deliciousness, this book is completely original and exciting all the way from start to the highly satisfying conclusion! 

Rachel Rhys has her own very unique writing style and I can hardly wait for this author to reach for her pen and begin to write in this historical genre again.

The Blurb

1948: an English housewife trapped in a dull marriage escapes to the South of France to claim a mystery inheritance. But rivals to her unexplained fortune begin to emerge, and now they want her out of the way ...

She didn’t have an enemy in the world… 

until she inherited a fortune 

London 1948: Eve Forrester is trapped in a loveless marriage, in a gloomy house, in a grey suburb. 

Out of the blue, she received a solicitor’s letter. A wealthy stranger has left her a mystery inheritance but in order to find out more, she must travel to the glittering French Riviera. 

Eve discovers her legacy is an enchanting villa overlooking the Mediterranean sea and suddenly, life could not be more glamorous. 

But while she rubs shoulders with film-stars and famous writers, under the heat of the golden sun, rivals to her unexplained fortune begin to emerge. Rivals who want her out of the way. 

Alone in paradise, Eve must unlock the story behind her surprise bequest – before events turn deadly…

Reminiscent of a Golden Age mystery, Fatal Inheritance is an intoxicating story of dysfunctional families and long-hidden secrets, set against the razzle-dazzle and decadence of the French Riviera. 

Read More

Blog Tour and my review of An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

Blog Tour and my review of An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena. Published by Bantam Press at Transworld publishers it is out on 26th July in Hardback.

My Review:

Welcome to the blog tour for An Unwanted guest, the new book by Shari Lapena author of twisty thrillers including the gripping book The Couple Next Door.

Come in out of the snow, pull up a chair in front of a roaring fire and settle down for this twisty and puzzling thriller. (I know it’s still summer and this is a great holiday read, but its also one perfect winter read to look forward to as the nights draw in)

This book is like a game of Consequences (I hope you used to play that party game when you were young or this isn’t a great start to my review)

Cluedo meets Agatha Christie at the Hotel from the Shining, people die in mysterious circumstances, nobody knows who they can trust and the consequence is … everybody suspects each other of murder.

Well, that sums it up quite nicely I think. It’s an out and out Whodunnit, which don't always float my boat but the author does it so very well you just get sucked right in and go along for the scary ride.

The tension builds nicely as the guests arrive at the remote hotel amidst a whiteout blizzard and find the hostelry staffed only by the owner and his son. They are all rapidly stranded and as the electricity fails and the disparate bunch of guests get to know one another, we begin to feel shivers, not just from the bitter cold weather, or the beautiful but chilling ice house in the grounds, but as realization dawns that there is a killer amongst this small group.

We get just the right amount of background on each guest to feel we are getting to know them, yet enough is left out to make sure we harbour doubts and suspect everyone in turn as things so from bad to worse, to absolutely terrible.

Plenty of curved balls are thrown at the reader to divert and distract us and the whole book is delightfully entertaining and creepy.

Great for thriller aficionados and readers who like to examine characters motives and flaws, whilst trying to guess who did what to whom and why!



The Blurb

We can’t choose the strangers we meet.

As the guests arrive at beautiful, remote Mitchell’s Inn, they’re all looking forward to a relaxing weekend deep in the forest, miles from anywhere. They watch their fellow guests with interest, from a polite distance. 

Usually we can avoid the people who make us nervous, make us afraid.

With a violent storm raging, the group finds itself completely cut off from the outside world. Nobody can get in – or out. And then the first body is found . . . and the horrifying truth comes to light. There’s a killer among them – and nowhere to run. 


Until we find ourselves in a situation we can’t escape. Trapped.

My thanks to #RandomThingsTours for my copy.

Buy yours now on Amazon and all good booksellers.

Read More

Review - The Corset - Laura Purcell -

The Corset by Laura Purcell

My Review
WOW - brilliant, loved every word of this ravishing historical thriller.

I do wish I hadn't read this book!! Only because I'm pretty darned certain it's going to such a hard act to follow that I'm going to find each and every new book I pick up for months, lacking in comparison and I'm saddened and green with envy that everyone who is yet to read this, still has it's delights to look forward to.

The description had me chomping at the bit, the cover had me swooning and I KNEW without doubt that it was my kind of book to a T. Yet still I didn't know what absolute reading PERFECTION this completely spectacular book was going to be.

Reminding me very much of two of my all time favourite reads Affinity and The Observations I am almost lost for words, to describe my feelings adequately after reading this.

It is a historical twisty mystery which is deviously dark and devilishly delectable. Featuring two very different young women. Dorothea Truelove is a well off young lady who wishes to do good works, has an interest in reading the shape of the head, phrenology and in particular observing the characteristics displayed by criminals. She resists her fathers attempts to marry her off, wishing to choose her own suitor, though this is not an option of the well to do Victorian female.

Her choice of good works is to be a prison visitor in Oakgate womens prison, where she soon becomes intrigued and involved with the young murderess Ruth Butterham who is charged with murdering her employer. A talented seamstress, with self taught skills she hones creating herself a corset from scraps of left over fabric, Ruth falls on very hard times as a series of dreadful personal disasters leads her to believe she can cause death by sewing hatred and ill will into the garments she works on.

With her talent with a needle being the only way she can earn a living she ends up apprenticed to the vile and Dickensian sweat shop of the Metyard familys dressmaking business.

What follows is a life of drudgery which is revealed stitch by intricate stitch, as she slaves for the Metyards, crosses paths with the vile Captain, makes a friend in Mim and encounters the handsome Billy. The lives of these two women entwine as each struggles against the whims of others and the restrictions placed on women in this era.

Their are dastardly deeds aplenty, the writing is sheer poetry it has an eerie and compelling literary quality and the characters are sublime. It is worthy of comparison with the wonderful Sarah Waters writing and is a sensational follow up to the authors successful debut novel The Silent Companions and in my opinion is far superior to it.

Put this on your must read list. It will be published in September and you can pre-order it now so you have something to look forward to when the nights begin to draw in.

I received my advance copy of #TheCorset from #NetGalley
My thanks to Raven Books, home of deliciously dark books

The Description:

The new Victorian chiller from the author of Radio 2 Book Club pick, The Silent Companions.

Is prisoner Ruth Butterham mad or a murderer? Victim or villain?

Dorothea and Ruth.

Prison visitor and prisoner. Powerful and powerless.

Dorothea Truelove is young, wealthy and beautiful. Ruth Butterham is young, poor and awaiting trial for murder.

When Dorothea’s charitable work leads her to Oakgate Prison, she is delighted with the chance to explore her fascination with phrenology and test her hypothesis that the shape of a person’s skull can cast a light on their darkest crimes. But when she meets teenage seamstress Ruth, she is faced with another theory: that it is possible to kill with a needle and thread. For Ruth attributes her crimes to a supernatural power inherent in her stitches.

The story Ruth has to tell of her deadly creations – of bitterness and betrayal, of death and dresses – will shake Dorothea’s belief in rationality, and the power of redemption.

Can Ruth be trusted? Is she mad, or a murderer?

Read More

The Watcher Blog tour - Monika Jephcott Thomas an extract

Blog Tour - The Watcher

Today I'm pleased to take part in the blog tour for the new book by Monika Jephcott Thomas entitled - The Watcher

The Blurb:

It’s 1949 when Netta’s father Max is released from a Siberian POW camp and returns to his home in occupied Germany. But he is not the man the little girl is expecting – the brave, handsome doctor her mother Erika told her stories of. 

Erika too struggles to reconcile this withdrawn, volatile figure with the husband she knew and loved before, and, as she strives to break through the wall Max has built around himself. Netta is both frightened and jealous of this interloper in the previously cosy household she shared with her mother and doting grandparents. 

Now, if family life isn't tough enough, it is about to get even tougher, when a murder sparks a police investigation, which begins to unearth dark secrets they all hoped had been forgotten.

Amazon UK

About the author:

Monika Jephcott Thomas grew up in Dortmund Mengede, north-west Germany. She moved to the UK in 1966, enjoying a thirty year career in education before retraining as a therapist.
Along with her partner Jeff she established the Academy of Play & Child Psychotherapy in order to support the twenty per cent of children who have emotional, behavioural, social and mental health problems by using play and the creative Arts.
A founder member of Play Therapy UK, Jephcott Thomas was elected President of Play Therapy International in 2002. In 2016 her first book Fifteen Words was published.

Website - http://monika-jephcott-thomas.com/ 

I have a brief excerpt to whet your appetite:


In this extract we see the messy adult world through the simple eyes of a child, as Netta’s mother Erika bumps into Rodrick, the man she had an affair with while her husband was a POW. Erika is attempting to push her bicycle up a steep hill with Netta sitting in the basket at the front.

‘Let me help you with that,’ he said.
‘We’re just fine, thanks. We don’t need your help.’ Netta thought her mama sounded almost rude and she turned to see who deserved such a response.
It was Rodrick, the man who built her mama’s examination table in the surgery. He was an enormous man with arms like the branches of an oak tree. She remembered thinking that, the first time she saw him when he hauled the heavy table through the front door and into the doctor’s room, which her Opa had made by putting up a new wall in the middle of their living room. Opa had tried to help bring in the table, but Rodrick didn’t need any help. He could do it all by himself. He was very strong. Netta quite admired this mountain of a man then, but at the same time she never liked the way her mother smiled at him, or the way she put her hand on those branches of his. However, after that first time, he only came to the house on two more occasions and on the last time he looked really unhappy as Netta peeked through the window to see her Oma turning him away at the front door. 
‘What are you doing here anyway,’ her mama was saying. ‘Following me?’
‘Don’t be like that. I live just down the road.’ He flicked his fingers towards the village. ‘Or have you forgotten that so soon.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I was coming out of the pharmacy there and could see you needed assistance, so I came to help. That’s all.’
Netta looked from the carpenter to her mama. They both had the same look on their faces. The look Netta herself had worn on the autumn afternoon her Opa had caught her standing on tip-toe trying to sink her teeth into one of the pears dangling tantalisingly from the tree in the middle of the garden. There was no way she could deny her crime. Her little teeth marks were there in the pear for all to see, so she got a huge telling off and had to stand under the pear tree for hours and hours in tears.
Netta watched Rodrick grasp the frame of the bike in his huge knobbly fingers. She watched her mama reluctantly let go of it.
‘And how are you, little princess?’ Netta was surprised to find the adult was talking to her as he began to push the bike up the hill, a lot faster than her mother had been.
‘I’m… I’m a bird,’ Netta said and turned herself back to face the front and enjoy the flight to the top of the hill.
‘A bird indeed!’ the carpenter chuckled.
Netta flapped her wings and the adults were silent for a while. Until Rodrick said:
‘And what about you, Erika? How are you these days?’
‘Everything is fine. My husband is back.’
‘Oh, I know that, but what I—’
‘How do you know that?’
‘Well, here we are. I think you’ll be all right from here. Nice and flat now. And I’m going that way. So, I’ll see you around, no doubt.’
‘I think you know as well as I do it would be better if you didn’t.’
‘Goodbye, little bird!’
‘Bye.’ Netta turned to see a rather jubilant Rodrick wave and plod off towards the village, and her mama’s eyes darting around the street as if the only place they were not allowed to rest was on the receding back of the big tree man.

If that's made you want to read more you can order the book now on Amazon UK

Please visit the authors website too.

Read More