Wednesday 31 January 2018

Blog Tour: Forget Her Name by Jane Holland



I'm delighted to be on the blog tour run by @rararesources for Jane Holland's new novel, Forget Her Name.

Buy the Book


The Blurb
Rachel’s dead and she’s never coming back. Or is she?
As she prepares for her wedding to Dominic, Catherine has never been happier or more excited about her future. But when she receives an anonymous package—a familiar snow globe with a very grisly addition—that happiness is abruptly threatened by secrets from her past. 
Her older sister, Rachel, died on a skiing holiday as a child. But Rachel was no angel: she was vicious and highly disturbed, and she made Catherine’s life a misery. Catherine has spent years trying to forget her dead sister’s cruel tricks. Now someone has sent her Rachel’s snow globe—the first in a series of ominous messages… 
While Catherine struggles to focus on her new life with Dominic, someone out there seems intent on tormenting her. But who? And why now? The only alternative is what she fears most.
Is Rachel still alive?

My Review

Forget Her Name? Not a chance... there’s no way I’m going to forget this book in a hurry! It’s dark, full of secrets, questions and I found it deeply unsettling, perhaps because I can relate to it in a way.

Catherine – Cat - can’t remember much about the death of her sister Rachel, after all, she was only 12 years old at the time. She does remember they were on a family holiday in Switzerland, and remember her father telling her that her sister was gone.

No one in Cat's family ever talks about Rachel, which made me curious. Cat had told her fiancĂ©, Dominic, that her sister died, but didn’t go into detail. Secretly Catherine feels guilty for feeling relieved that Rachel is no longer around – she made everyone’s life miserable.

Cat's relationship with her parents is strained; they are well-off and cannot understand why Cat would refuse their financial help and live in a grotty flat, volunteering at a good bank. But Cat is happy with her life; she has a gorgeous fiancé and cannot wait to marry him.

Then strange, truly disturbing things start happening and Cat needs answers. But with her family’s reluctance to even mention Rachel’s name, she sets out to find out the truth for herself.

Initially it’s hard to believe anyone could be as horrible and twisted as Cat remembers Rachel to be, but the writer soon draws the reader in. I did guess some of it early on, but I was still shocked in places.

The author plants suggestions in the reader's mind, and then leaves you reeling. Forget Her Name is a thoroughly engrossing and disconcerting psychological thriller.

About the Author

Jane Holland is a Gregory Award–winning poet and novelist who also writes commercial fiction under the pseudonyms Victoria Lamb, Elizabeth Moss, Beth Good and Hannah Coates. Her debut thriller, Girl Number One, hit #1 in the UK Kindle Store in December 2015. Jane lives with her husband and young family near the North Cornwall/Devon border. A homeschooler, her hobbies include photography and growing her own vegetables.


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Tuesday 23 January 2018

Book Review: Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan




I'm delighted to review Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan, which was published by Simon & Schuster on 11th January. I was lucky to receive an advance copy from Netgalley and the publisher.

The Blurb
A high-profile marriage thrust into the spotlight. A wife, determined to keep her family safe, must face a prosecutor who believes justice has been a long time coming. A scandal that will rock Westminster. And the women caught at the heart of it. 
Anatomy of a Scandal centres on a high-profile marriage that begins to unravel when the husband is accused of a terrible crime. Sophie is sure her husband, James, is innocent and desperately hopes to protect her precious family from the lies which might ruin them. Kate is the barrister who will prosecute the case – she is equally certain that James is guilty and determined he will pay for his crimes.
My Review

Wow - what a book! And what timing, too, with all the grimy truths being unearthed in Westminster.

This really is a gripping story about two women; one convinced of a man's guilt, the other desperate to believe in him.

Although it seems slow to start with, this builds the story as we meet the prosecutor, the accused and his wife. Later we are taken back in time, where we learn how the accused has always been cushioned by his place in society, along with his peers, protected by unspoken codes around unspeakable actions which allow these people to believe they are invincible.

I felt sympathy for both women. I was eager to see if justice would be done, but then I felt sympathy for Sophie too. Who could believe their beloved to be guilty of such a crime? Emphasis is on how the family is affected by such an accusation.

How do you prove if a crime has been committed? How do you convince a jury it was just a misunderstanding? How do you convince a jury that it wasn't? With so much in the press at the moment about miscarriages of justice, how do we know who to believe?

Anatomy of a Scandal is one book which stands up to the hype.

Click to buy now either as ebook or hardback, or pre-order the paperback.

About the Author


Anatomy of a Scandal combines Sarah Vaughan's experiences as a news reporter and political correspondent on the Guardian with her time as a student reading English at Brasenose College, Oxford, in the Nineties. Published in the UK, US, Australia, NZ, Canada and South Africa, it will be translated into 17 languages throughout 2018 and 2019. 
Anatomy of a Scandal is her third novel, her first courtroom drama/psychological thriller and her first book for Simon & Schuster. Married with two children, she lives just outside Cambridge and is currently finishing her fourth novel.

Follow Sarah on Twitter



Monday 22 January 2018

An Apology...



I have an apology to make. I probably owe a lot of apologies to a lot of people, but this one is to all the authors and publishers whose books I've read but not yet reviewed. I've been quiet on the Blogging front for the last couple of months, what with the Chaos of Christmas, and a tumultuous (there's a big word for a Monday in January!) family life taking priority, I've been guilty of taking advantage of relative peace and quiet and reading book after book after book... Also binge-watching two seasons of Stranger Things became a Family Thing, so obviously that had to take priority too... 

So I have some catching up to do!

I haven't done a blog on my favourite books of 2017, because there were too many! Isabelle Broom, Joanna Cannon, Mandy Baggot, Catherine Miller, Angela Clarke, Juliet Ashton to name but a few authors who delighted me with their wonderful words last year. 

But if pressed to find an ultimate favourite for last year, it would have to be Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, though Me, Myself and Them by Dan Mooney is a close second as it gave me an insight into Mental Health I never thought I would need. 

As for my own writing - I finished my first draft of my novel just by the skin of my teeth for the deadline for submitting to the Romantic Novelists' Association's excellent New Writer's Scheme. It had taken me two years to get to this point, as Life had thrown us a few disconcerting curve-balls. To my delight, the feedback I got from my reader was overwhelmingly positive, with lots of constructive suggestions for edits.

I've not joined the NWS scheme again for 2018 - it's the first time in three years I'm not a member, but I will still enjoy the Chapter meetings, and I am fully intending to attend the annual Conference this year (finance permitted - maybe I should set up a GoFundMe page - I'm joking.).This year I want to concentrate on the edits of my book, and then will begin the agonising search for an agent and publisher. I feel - and hope - I've learned a lot since I first self-published 5 years ago.

January is traditionally a very dark month for many people, and in the past for me, especially so. But this year, I feel full of hope and positivity, with a healthy dose of realistic expectations. No, it's not that I'm doing Dry January - thanks to Catherine Miller and the wonderful Olive, I've discovered a brave new world of Gin! Warner Edwards' Victoria Rhubarb Gin is a particular favourite; after all, it has my name on it! 

I'm beginning to realise, thanks to Ed Anthony and his Inside Out Understanding, that we can be in control of our stress levels and that it is possible to be only one thought away from calm. I've learned to be more patient (though that may not seem obvious to many), and that slow steps are key. I've also learned to accept that which I cannot change. And that I can change? Well, instead of moaning about it, I'm going to do my best. After all, that's all any of us can do.

So Happy New Year, people (yeah I know it's late), and may 2018 bring us more fantastic new books, good health and happiness. 

And a puppy wouldn't go amiss...