Monday 27 June 2016

Book Tour! Wild Life by Liam Brown



I'm excited to be the last spot on the Blog Tour for this exceptional tale of survival. Thank you to the author and the publisher, Legend Press, for a proof copy in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb:
When a troubled advertising salesman loses his job, the fragile wall between his public and private personas comes tumbling down. Fleeing his debtors, Adam abandons his family and takes to sleeping rough in a local park, where a fraternity of homeless men befriend him.

As the months pass, Adam gradually learns to appreciate the tough new regime, until winter arrives early, threatening to turn his paradise into a nightmare.

Starving, exhausted and sick of the constant infighting, Adam decides to return to his family. The men, however, have other plans for him. With time running out, and the stakes raised unbearably high, Adam is forced to question whether any of us can truly escape the wildness within.
Thank you to the author and the publisher, Legend Press, for a proof copy in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever wanted to escape the rat-race? Ever had that feeling that life would be so much simpler if we could just walk away from everyone and everything? That's just what Adam does. At the end of his tether, feeling worthless and bereft of any self-control, self-worth or hope, he walks away from his family and multitude of problems.

He is saved by Rusty, who introduces him to a hidden paradise, a band of brothers who survive (barely) off the land and their own hard work. Their simple lifestyle is brutal, as they fight against nature to survive.

I loved Rusty, who is determined that no one should disrupt their way of life; I was scared stiff of their yoga-loving leader Marshall (I envisaged him as Negan from The Walking Dead), and felt both sympathy and irritation for Adam, who had destroyed his own life.

I found Wildlife to be compelling reading. I devoured it in a couple of sittings. From the premise it should be a bleak, depressing tale, but it is nothing like that. It's fast-paced, with a sense of menace and unease that had me turning the pages with trepidation. My heart was in my throat as the story progressed, as the men's basic instincts threaten to over rule their humanity, culminating in  terrifying scenes which left me shaken long after I finished reading the book.

You can buy Wildlife here (other retailers are obviously available!). And you should!


Tuesday 14 June 2016

Blog Tour: That Girl by Rachel Strong





That Girl
By author: Rachel Strong
Blurb:
After serving half of a three-year prison sentence, James is out and ready to try and get his life back on track, which means forgetting about the girl who sent him to prison in the first place - despite the fact he’s still in love with her! 
Katie knows that she can’t see James, but that doesn’t make it any easier. If she does it could send him straight back to prison, but, she still loves him and is desperate to make things right and tell him how sorry she is for ruining his life. 
After accidently bumping into each other, James and Katie can’t stay away from one another and so begin to see each other in secret. After a slight wobble on James’s part, when he decides he can’t take the risk of going back to prison, Katie decides enough is enough and it really is time to move on and put James behind her. 
Heartbroken, James decides to try and get his life in order. But due to his conviction it’s not as straightforward as he would like, leaving him miserable and despairing at what his life has become. 
When a job opportunity comes up hundreds of miles away he doesn’t hesitate to head south and put his troubles behind him. 
Can James and Katie forget each other and move on with their lives without one another?
Buy the Book:
About the Author:

Rachel Strong
Bio:
Rachel Strong is a romance author and lives in Lancashire, England, with her husband, three children and little dog Daisy. Rachel works part time as a Health Care Assistant at her local hospital, but her real passion is writing.
Ever since she can remember, Rachel has been writing stories but didn’t really take it seriously until summer 2012 when her husband discovered one of her stories, read it and convinced her that it was good. She loves writing and creating characters, sometimes a whole day can pass her by, just sitting at her laptop, typing away.
When she’s not writing, Rachel loves to read slushy romance novels, chick-lit and a good thriller. When she finds a spare moment she will be found curled up on the sofa with her nose in a book.
Rachel’s debut novel ‘Complicated Love’ is out now with her second novel ‘That Girl’ is due to be released this coming June.
Find her here:
Visit All the Stops on the Tour:
June 13th
The Bookworm Lodge - www.thebookwormlodge.com - Book Excerpt/Promo Post
Little Shop of Readers - http://littleshopofreaders.com/ - Book Promo Post
T&L Book Reviews - http://tasz1976.wordpress.com - Book Excerpt/Promo Post
One Book At A Time  - Booksandwinearelovely.blogspot.com - Book Promo Post
The Writing Garnet - HTTPS://Thewritinggarnet.wordpress.com - Book Review
June 14th
Grass monster - Amazon/GoodReads - Book Review
Vikbat - http://vikbat.blogspot.co.uk/ - Promo Post
The Bookdragon - http://sheisadude.blogspot.com/ - Book Review
Boundless Minds - www.boundlessminds.org - Author Guest Post
ItsShelbyMariee - http://itsshelbymariee.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1 - Book Review
June 15th
JustaBooklovinJunkie - http://jabooklovinjunkie.blogspot/ - Book Review/Excerpt/Promo Post
Liz Ellyn - https://lizellyn.com - Book Review
Fervently Curious - ferventlycurious.wordpress.com - Book Review/Excerpt
Love Sex and Other Dirty Words - http://lovesexandotherdirtywords.com - Book Promo Post
Little Novelist - Www.littlenovelist.com - Book Excerpt
Hello...Chick Lit - http://hellochicklit.com - Book Promo Post
June 16th
Rachel Brimble Romance - http://www.rachelbrimble.blogspot.co.uk/ - Author Guest Post
Have books, Will read - www.havebookswillread.wordpress.com - Book Excerpt/Promo Post
Bookmyopia - www.bookmyopia.wordpress.com - Book Excerpt
Book Lover in Florida - https://bookloverfl12.wordpress.com/ - Book Excerpt/Promo Post
Ali - The Dragon Slayer - http://cancersuckscouk.ipage.com/ - Book Review
The Book Basics - https://thebookbasics.wordpress.com/ - Book Review/Promo Post
June 17th
Steamy Book Momma - http://steamybookmomma0.blogspot.com - Book Review
Book Groupies - http://bookgroupies2.blogspot.com/ - Book Promo Post
Brittany's Book Blog - http://www.brittanysbookblog.com - Book Review
Sparkles at Midnight - www.sparklesatmidnight.com - Book Review
MsWanderlust - www.mswanderlust1963.wordpress.com - Book Review/Excerpt

Book Tour Arranged by:
now booking tours for July/August/September



Monday 6 June 2016

Book Review: Summer at Skylark Farm by Heidi Swain.



For everyone dreaming of escaping to the country, fall in love this summer at Skylark Farm...
Amber is a city girl at heart. So when her boyfriend Jake Somerville suggests they move to the countryside to help out at his family farm, she doesn't quite know how to react. But work has been hectic and she needs a break so she decides to grasp the opportunity and make the best of it.
Dreaming of organic orchards, paddling in streams and frolicking in fields, Amber packs up her things and moves to Skylark Farm. But life is not quite how she imagined - it's cold and dirty and the farm buildings are dilapidated and crumbling.
But Amber is determined to make the best of it and throws herself into farm life. But can she really fit in here? And can she and Jake stay together when they are so different?
A story of love in the countryside from the author of the bestselling The Cherry Tree Café. Perfect for Escape to the Country dreamers, Cath Kidston fans and Country Living addicts!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After the success of last year's debut The Cherry Tree Cafe, Summer at Skylark Farm introduces us to Amber and Jake, who forgo their stressful careers in London for country life. Unfortunately Amber learns that that life on a farm is not without it's own problems, from flapping geese and stroppy hens, to conniving ex girlfriends just waiting to see her fail.

Amber takes it all in her flowery wellie-clad stride, and settles down to her new life, eager to make friends and to prove to Jake and everyone that she is more than a city girl. She's hard-working, and determined to make it work.

Jake is her boyfriend, whose heart has always been on his aunt's farm, and he is overjoyed when Amber follows him back to the countryside, even if her initial attempts at cake baking would make Mary Berry weep.

Harriet and Jessica quickly make Amber feel welcome, and Jessica is delighted when Amber offers to help organise her wedding. 

But there's a storm brewing when a face from the past turns up...

I loved it! It's a sweet, gentle, feel-good read, with both comedy and turmoil thrown in. And it was lovely to meet some of the characters from The Cherry Tree Cafe! I love books like this, when there are links to previous books - it's like meeting up with old friends. Hopefully we'll be able to catch up with the characters from this book in the future!

You can buy the ebook here (other retailers are available!), but if you want a sneaky preview, click here for my turn on the Blog Tour, where you can read a chapter excerpt.




BLOG TOUR!!! Summer at Skylark Farm by Heidi Swain


I am very honoured to be hosting the first day of the Blog Tour for Heidi Swain's gorgeous new book, Summer at Skylark Farm!

For everyone dreaming of escaping to the country, fall in love this summer at Skylark Farm...

Amber is a city girl at heart. So when her boyfriend Jake Somerville suggests they move to the countryside to help out at his family farm, she doesn't quite know how to react. But work has been hectic and she needs a break so she decides to grasp the opportunity and make the best of it.

Dreaming of organic orchards, paddling in streams and frolicking in fields, Amber packs up her things and moves to Skylark Farm. But life is not quite how she imagined - it's cold and dirty and the farm buildings are dilapidated and crumbling.
But Amber is determined to make the best of it and throws herself into farm life. But can she really fit in here? And can she and Jake stay together when they are so different?

A story of love in the countryside from the author of the bestselling The Cherry Tree Café. Perfect forEscape to the Country dreamers, Cath Kidston fans and Country Living addicts!
For a sneaky peak at the book, here is a chapter excerpt from the book, and you can read my review right here!

Prologue

At precisely 11:57 p.m., on Friday the 13th of March, I fumbled to answer my mobile phone yet again and in that moment, that much anticipated moment, when I was leaning in for my first longed-for kiss of the day and it was denied me, I knew I had reached a point in my life when something simply had to change. There was no work/life balance any more; no spontaneity, no fun, and I'd had enough.

Of course I didn't remember the blinding flash of enlightenment, the Bridget Jones 'that was the moment' freeze frame revelation as soon as I scrambled out of bed some time before six the following morning, but it did come back to haunt me. I can now say without a shadow of a doubt, that that was indeed the moment everything began to change.

Chapter 1

Friday 13 March, 11:57 p.m.

'No, no no, don't go,' I whispered, quickly stretching across the bed as Jake sat up and began pulling his T-shirt back over his head. 'I'll only be a minute.'

'It's fine,' he whispered back, the faintest glimmer of a smile playing around his lips, but not quite making it as far as his eyes. 'I'm used to it.'

He leant over, kissed my forehead and headed for the door with his pillows and the throw from the chair tucked under his arm.

'Sorry,' I mouthed as he took one last look at me before slipping out quietly to take up his increasingly familiar Friday night spot on the sofa.

'I'm used to it,' he'd said. How tragic was that? How awful that he was resigned to the fact that our Friday Night Special would, at some point, be interrupted and that he'd be relegated to sleep on the sofa on the assumption that I would be working into the wee small hours. And to make matters worse, I was about to discover that this time the interruption was actually all my own fault.

It hadn't been my fault when my boss, Simon Hamilton, had called on the commute home, then during supper and then again in the middle of the very first episode of Gardeners' World (which, accordingly to Jake, was the only way to start the weekend from March onwards), but this time it most definitely was.

So exhausted from yet another full-on work week, I'd signed for the eagerly anticipated concert tickets a client had been clamouring for, grabbed my coat and bag and headed for the door. No one in their right mind wanted to be chained to the office and seven o'clock on a Friday night and I was completely unaware that I'd stuffed the tickets in my bag, along with my diary and half-eaten lunch when I scrambled to get out of the door and run for the bus.

'Amber? Are you there?'

'Yes,' I said, stifling a yawn, 'yes, I'm here.'

'So, have you got them?' Simon asked. He was beginning to sound unusually impatient. I think you must have because I've searched high and low this end.

'Sorry,' I apologised again, as I heard him slamming drawers and dropping papers, 'just give me a second and I'll have another look through my bag.'

'And if you have got them,' I heard him say before I put the phone on the bed and began yet another search, 'shall I send a courier or can you deliver them yourself in the morning?'

I rifled fruitlessly through the array of interior pockets for a few seconds then gave up and tipped everything out on the bed. My heart sank as I spotted the envelope amongst the detritus, now unattractively flecked with low-fat salad dressing courtesy of my lunch container, which had parted company with its lid.

'Oh God, Simon, I'm so sorry,' I winced, biting my kip as I picked the phone back up. 'Yes, yes, they are here. I'll deliver them first thing in the morning.'

'OK, no worries,' he breathed, sounding far happier. 'That's fine then. Don't worry about it, Amber. I know it's been a hell of a week. It could've happened to anyone. I'll expect you at the office around nine.'

He hung up before I had a chance to apologise for causing himself such a late night and, having scribbled myself a note to remember to deliver the tickets first thing in the morning, I repacked my bag, snuggled back down in the bed and drank in the still warm scent of my now absent other half. I ached to join him on the sofa and tempt him back to bed but my head was still too full of work stuff to relax properly and it was hardly fair to disturb him now.

I thumped my pillows into a more sleep-inducing shape, reminded myself that I loved my job and tried to ignore the little voice in my head that seemed determined to remind me that I used to love my job. For almost as long as I could remember my career had been my life, the whole of my life. Since graduating I had worked tirelessly to claw my way up the ladder and was currently considered the go-to girl in the company if you were struggling to secure tickets for, or gain access to, any sought-after or sold-out event.

Top shelf corporate hospitality was my speciality and I was riding high on my success, but God only knows I'd worked hard for it. The only problem was that now I'd fought my way to the top, I wasn't actually sure I wanted to stay there. Did I really want to be the go-to girl? Suddenly it didn't seem like the be all and end all any more.

I hadn't taken a holiday in the three years since I'd joined the company or a single sick day, and the increasingly continuous night time and weekend interruptions were getting beyond a joke. Somewhere along the line, my life had definitely gone awry. Just six months ago I wouldn't have made such a silly mistake with those tickets, or anything else for that matter, but now everything was beginning to feel different and I couldn't help thinking that perhaps I didn't care about it all quite as much as I should.

I used to roll my eyes at colleagues who bemoaned the fact that their work/life balance was suffering and that they'd missed yet another school play or family function. Work was my life, no balancing act required. So what if I missed another family christening or my mum's annual summer barbecue? I could send enough stork-shaped nappy bundles and elaborate floral bouquets to make up for my absence.

Or I could until Jake Somerville landed the other side of my desk eighteen months ago and unwittingly set about pricking my subconscious into questioning my priorities. It had been a long and slow process I admit, but suddenly it was beginning to feel like there was no way back, and to be completely honest I didn't want one. I was ready for a change, as long as it was a change for the better, of course.

'Amber, let me introduce you to my little brother.'

I recalled how I had swung round in my seat, a scowl firmly etched across my face. I didn't really have time that morning for Dan Somerville, the office Lothario and all round Golden Boy. I had a fast approaching deadline and still no car to meet one of our most influential European clients whose plane was just about to touch down at Heathrow.

'Jake, this is Amber,' Dan grinned, 'Amber, this is Jake.'

'Hi,' smiled Jake, offering me his hand.

'Hello,' I breathed as I stole a quick glance and struggled to ignore the unexpected eruption of butterflies in my stomach as a result.

After a near miss at my first Christmas office party I'd sworn off the whole attraction, dating and romance thing. I really didn't need that kind of distraction in my life, but in that moment I just knew my pupils had widened beyond all reason and the whole career driven ice queen act was traitorously legging it for the door.

So, does the lovely Jake manage to show Amber that there is more to life than being at everyone else's beck and call?  You'd better buy the book here if you want to find out!

Thursday 2 June 2016

Book Review: Break Up Club by Lorelei Mathias


Blurby Bits:

‘Sparky dialogue and a lovely depiction of friendship. I loved this!' Katie Fforde
This story is a celebration of the people that bring you back to life when your world closes in: your mates. Relationships come and go, but the Break-up Club membership never truly expires.
'Sparky dialogue and a lovely depiction of friendship. I loved this!' Katie Fforde
'You'd be DAFT to miss out on this fab book – it's blimmin' marvellous! I LOVED IT' Miranda Dickinson
THERE’S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO BE SINGLE . . .
Holly Braithwaite and loveable loser Lawrence have been together for five years. But the obvious cracks in their relationship can no longer be ignored and Holly soon finds herself saying ‘it’s not me, it’s you’.
In the shock aftermath of their break up, Holly finds unlikely companions in Olivia, Harry and Bella. Together, they form the Break-up Club, as they support each other through their mutual melancholy and find ways to love, laugh and function as human beings again.
Break-up Club meets every Sunday. Each week, as the comedy and drama unfolds, they discover a new BUC ‘rule’. And, one by one, the rules become vital markers on their journey to recovery . . .
‘BREAK-UP CLUB’
To our members, we’re the first emergency service!



My Review:

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Break Up Club is a great, fast-paced tale of four friends who form their own support group, to help each other through their various relationship break ups. We've all been there - crying into our tubs of ice-cream (maybe that's how salted caramel came about?), sniffing jumpers left behind (or is that just me?) and of course these days,with the wonders of modern technology comes the added complication of Facebook stalking. So we rely on our friends to pull us through the misery and anguish. 

The characters are great; Holly, whose career is looking like going the same way as her love-life with one disaster after another; Bella, a would-be singer who just cannot get the break she deserves; Olivia, who proves that being the most financially successful of them all doesn't count for a successful love life; and Harry, the loveable Scot who is just as confused and heartbroken as his female friends.

I loved this fun, bittersweet read. The story is full of both laughs and tears as we are taken on their journey, as they find themselves having to create new rules for the Break Up Club along the way. It's written with warmth and love, and makes you realise that we can get through anything if we have our friends by our side.

You can buy your copy of Break Up Club here (other retailers are available!).