Blog Tour: Those Other Women by Nicola Moriarty

It's my absolute pleasure to take part in the blog tour for Nicola Moriarty's (The Fifth Letter) new book, Those Other Women. Thank you to Sam Deacon at Michael Joseph for the advanced reading copy. You can buy your copy here.

The Blurb

Poppy never thought she wanted to be a mother - until her husband got her best friend pregnant.

Now everywhere she goes, mothers are reminding her of his betrayal . . .

So Poppy creates an innocent Facebook group to vent just a little about 'smug mummies'.

Except those 'other women' are already heartily sick of being judged by non-mums and stay-at-home mums alike. Two can play at Poppy's game.

Which is when the anger spills into the real world.

Cafés become battlegrounds, playgrounds become warzones and offices have never been so divided between the have children and have lives . . .

A rivalry that was once harmless fun is suddenly spiralling out of Poppy's control.

She started this - but can she end it?

From the author of the eBook sensation The Fifth Letter comes another darkly comic, controversial and compulsive read that you're going to want to talk about with everyone you know.

My Review

Being a mother of four, you'd think I would never be able to understand why some women just do not want children. But if I say I do understand, that does not mean I wish I had never had any. I just know that for some, the maternal instinct just isn't there. And that's fine. each to their own. As far as I am concerned, every woman is entitled to her own opinion, on her own decision to have, or not to have children. 

Of course there are sadly many, many women who desperately want to be mothers, but for various reasons cannot - it took me 22 months of heartbreak and desperation to fall for my first, so I can empathise.

So when I was asked if I'd like to take part in the blog tour for this novel, and I read the blurb, I thought 'Wow - this is a very emotive subject' and dove straight in.

And emotive it is. I had wondered if it would be a case of the author siding with one side over another - them and us, the haves and have-nots (of offspring), but of course it is much more complex than that. This book proves nothing is ever black and white.

In this world, where the battle for women's equality grows stronger each day, it is sad to see so much in-fighting among the ranks. What makes one woman better than another? There are strong arguments for having children, but those who choose not to have children have strong arguments too.

Not that they should have to argue at all - somewhere, in the lives of the women in this book, they forget a person's right as an individual. Poppy, wounded by her husband having a child with her best friend, forms a new Facebook group for women who don't want children when she is barred from joining an online 'Mummies' group. We meet characters from both groups, each of them written sympathetically and could easily be you or someone you know. These women, divided into two main camps, start a vicious campaign against each other when the Facebook group is infiltrated by someone from the enemy camp, and all war breaks out over a posted comment. After all, it's too easy to vent on social media and it may well not be the most sensible thing to do (hands up, I confess I have done it myself). It leads to misunderstanding, and a pack mentality.

I did not mean for this review to turn into a discussion on motherhood, but that is what this book does - it makes you question! It's brilliant! Nicola Moriarty has written an evocative, exciting story filled with a dark humour, where you may go in on one side, then find yourself switching sides then back again. She also reminds of the important point that a woman is allowed to change her mind!

I thoroughly recommend Those Other Women. A five star read!

Book Review: It Started with a Tweet by Anna Bell

The Blurb

Could YOU survive a digital detox? 

Perfect for fans of Lucy Diamond and Sophie Kinsella, It Started With A Tweet is the hilarious new romantic comedy from the author of The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart.

'Had me smiling from start to finish. It was a joy to read; smart, witty and completely fresh' Cathy Bramley.

Daisy Hobson lives her whole life online. But when her social media obsession causes her to make a catastrophic mistake at work, Daisy finds her life going into free-fall . . .  

Her sister Rosie thinks she has the answer to all of Daisy's problems - a digital detox in a remote cottage in Cumbria. Soon, too, Daisy meets a welcome distraction there in Jack, the rugged man-next-door.

But can Daisy, a London girl, ever really settle into life in a tiny, isolated village? 

And, more importantly, can she survive without her phone? 

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Bonnier Zaffre for the advanced reading copy.

You can buy It Started with a Tweet here.

My Review

I don't know about you, but when my phone bricked and I had to wait three whole days for a new one, I thought my life was over (albeit temporarily). I felt isolated, lost, had a serious case of FOMO - yet I still had internet access on my computer so I wasn't actually in any real danger of losing touch with the world.

Poor Daisy agrees to go cold turkey after a teeny tiny error in posting something to her work Twitter  instead of her private account. She goes into virtual - and real - hiding, led by her rather bossy sister.

Daisy's struggle with her addiction is very real, and I think many of us would feel the same panic in the same situation; leaving yourself wide open for abuse is a very real risk.

The book is hilarious - with several LOL moments, and I was swept up into Daisy's life, feeling her indignation and frustration as she battles against her sister's strict rules. Who hasn't sneaked out of somewhere to make that call. 

It does make you think, as Daisy learns that actually, being without the internet and not being immediately contactable is not the Most Terrible Thing in the World. It can be quite liberating, like walking out of a cave for the first time, blinking in the sunlight and hearing the birds singing. Like, you know, real living life! 

Of course this is a rom com, not a lecture about the perils of Social Media; so of course we have the obligatory hot men who cannot possibly be considered as a potential partner as they are grumpy argumentative pricks... until we get to know them and ultimately love them. 

I loved this book - it's a great laugh and a perfect escape from technology. OK, so I read it on a Kindle... shh!

Time to add another author to My Authors to be Added to my TBR pile...

About the Author

Anna lives in the South of France with her young family and energetic labrador. When not chained to her laptop, Anna can be found basking in the sun in the summer, heading to the ski slopes in the winter (to drink hot chocolate and watch - she can't ski) or having a sneaky treat from the patisserie - all year round! 

You can find our more about Anna on her website - www.annabellwrites.com or follow her on Twitter @annabell_writes.

Book Review: Trust Me by Angela Clarke

The Blurb

YOU SAW IT HAPPEN. DIDN’T YOU?

What do you do if you witness a crime…but no-one believes you?

When Kate sees a horrific attack streamed live on her laptop, she calls the police in a state of shock. But when they arrive, the video has disappeared – and she can’t prove anything. Desperate to be believed, Kate tries to find out who the girl in the video could be – and who attacked her.

Freddie and Nas are working on a missing persons case, but the trail has gone cold. When Kate contacts them, they are the only ones to listen and they start to wonder – are the two cases connected?

Dark, gripping, and flawlessly paced, Trust Me is the brilliant third novel in the hugely popular social media murderer series.

My Review

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Avon and author Angela Clarke for the ARC. Trust Me was published on 15th June, so I apologise for only posting my review now. Life gets in the way.

Trust Me is the third novel in Angela's Social Media Murders series, the first two being Follow Me and Watch Me.

Angela is proving to be a great crime writer. This book, along with her others, keeps you guessing all the way through, and it is wonderful to see how her writing has developed along with the recurring characters. She definitely knows how to scare me to death!

Crime-fighting friends Freddie and Nas are back, and still struggling to be accepted by their male colleagues. There's a hint of romance in the story too for both women, adding an extra layer of drama to an already adrenalin-filled read.

This time live-streamed video is used to scare us to death. Those who see it aren't quite sure if it's real, but Kate, a teacher with a sad past, believes she has seen a girl brutally murdered and refuses to be ignored.

We're dragged along at full-speed in another race against time with Freddie and Nas, fraught with peril and danger that had me holding my breath and gripping onto my Kindle for dear life.

Gritty and hard-hitting, sometimes it's a little bit too real for comfort, but then no one expects a crime novel to be warm and fluffy.

I cannot wait for the day I watch this series on TV from behind my cushion!

Be warned, after reading this you might find yourself thinking back wistfully to the days before social media ruled our lives...

Buy Trust Me here!

About the Author

Angela is an author, playwright, columnist and professional speaker. 

Her debut crime thriller Follow Me (Avon, HarperCollins) was named Amazon’s Rising Star Debut of the Month January 2016, long listed for the Crime Writer’s Association Dagger in the Library 2016, and short listed for the Good Reader Page Turner Award 2016. Follow Me has now been optioned by a TV production company. 

The second instalment in the Social Media Murder Series Watch Me (Avon, HarperCollins) was published January 2017. And the third Trust Me (Avon, HarperCollins) is out June 2017. 

Angela’s humorous memoir Confessions of a Fashionista (Ebury, Penguin Random House) is an Amazon Fashion Chart bestseller. 

Her play, The Legacy, enjoyed its first run at The Hope Theatre in June 2015. 

An experienced and entertaining speaker, Angela has given talks, hosted events, and masterclasses for many, including Noirwich Crime Writing Festival, Camp Bestival, Panic! (in partnership with Create, the Barbican, Goldsmiths University and The Guardian), Meet a Mentor (in partnership with the Royal Society of Arts), Northwich Lit Fest, St Albans Lit Fest, BeaconLit, and the London College of Fashion. She also hosted the current affairs radio show Outspoken on Radio Verulam in 2015, and has appeared regularly as a panel guest on BBC 3 Counties, BBC Radio 4, and the BBC World Service, among others.

In 2015 Angela was awarded the Young Stationers' Prize for achievement and promise in writing and publishing. She also works for The Literary Consultancy critiquing manuscripts and mentoring. Angela, a sufferer of the debilitating chronic condition Ehlers Danlos III, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, volunteers with Womentoring, Meet a Mentor and at HM Prisons. She is passionate about bringing marginalised voices into the industry. You can find out more about her at www.AngelaClarke.co.uk.

Twitter: Angela Clarke

Book Review: The Cows by Dawn O'Porter

COW [n.]
/kaʊ/
A piece of meat; born to breed; past its sell-by-date; one of the herd.

Women don’t have to fall into a stereotype.

Tara, Cam and Stella are strangers living their own lives as best they can – though when society’s screaming you should live life one way, it can be hard to like what you see in the mirror.

When an extraordinary event ties invisible bonds of friendship between them, one woman’s catastrophe becomes another’s inspiration, and a life lesson to all.
Sometimes it’s ok not to follow the herd.

The Cows is a powerful novel about three women – judging each other, but also themselves. In all the noise of modern life, they need to find their own voice.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, HarperCollins, for the ARC. All opinions are my own - I don't follow the herd.

The three women in this novel are very different to each other; Tara is a single mother, determined to balance caring for her child with carving an outstanding role within a male-dominated industry; Cam is a successful blogger, who finds herself vigorously defending a woman's right not to have a child; and Stella, who has always lived in the shadow of her twin and cannot escape it even after her death.

It's a sassy, sharply, written novel with predicaments every woman can probably identify with in some way or another. OK so most women wouldn't dream of doing what poor Tara is caught doing, but the repercussions should fill everyone with fear and dread that social media has such power in our lives.

Stella is grieving for her sister and mother, who died within months of each other from ovarian cancer and breast cancer. Stella needs a hysterectomy and mastectomy after discovering she has the same deviant genes. Her eggs, and therefore her chances of becoming a mother, are on borrowed time.

Cam is the opposite - she rejects the very idea of motherhood and relationships, but her views aren't popular with everyone.

These three women are brought together under the strangest of circumstances in a story which will have you laughing, crying, and raising your fist and yelling 'Hell Yes!' Or maybe that's just me...

The Cows was published on 6th April and can be bought from Amazon or other retailers.

Dawn O'Porter is a broadcaster, novelist and print journalist who lives in London with her husband Chris, cat Lilu and dog Potato. She has made thirteen documentaries about all sorts of things including polygamy, childbirth, geishas, body image, breast cancer and even the movie DIRTY DANCING.

Dawn has written for various UK newspapers and magazines including GRAZIA and STYLIST. Her first novel PAPER AEROPLANES was published by Hot Key Books in 2013. Although Dawn lives in London she spends a lot of time in LA and travels a lot. You may have seen her dragging two huge pink suitcases with broken wheels and a Siamese cat (Lilu) in a box through international airports. At some point she plans to get new suitcases - the cat, however, has a few years left in her yet. Follow Dawn at www.dawnoporter.co.uk or on Twitter: @hotpatooties

Book Review: Watch Me by Angela Clarke

The Blurb

YOU HAVE SIX SECONDS TO READ THIS MESSAGE…

The body of a 15-year-old is found hours after she sends a desperate message to her friends. It looks like suicide, until a second girl disappears.

This time, the message is sent directly to the Metropolitan Police – and an officer’s younger sister is missing.

DS Nasreen Cudmore and journalist Freddie Venton will stop at nothing to find her. But whoever’s behind the notes is playing a deadly game of hide and seek – and the clock is ticking.

YOU HAVE 24 HOURS TO SAVE THE GIRL’S LIFE.

MAKE THEM COUNT.

My Review

Wow - I finished reading this last night and was left breathless. The book felt like an episode of  '24' - tense, dramatic, nail-biting, complete with each chapter counting down to the deadline for saving the sister of a colleague.

Gone is the brash, prickly Freddie Venton of Clarke's first book in the series, Follow Me. Freddie has been reduced to a nervous wreck by the villain, who is now locked up. He has left physical and mental scars on poor Freddie, who has been unable to cope and is living back with her parents. She suffers from panic attacks and anxiety, and the last thing she needs is old friend Nasreen turning up on her doorstep begging for help.

But of course Freddie agrees to help - after all, the case is similar to last time, and Freddie feels partly responsible. 

Nasreen has moved up in the world; she's on a new team, but still has to fight the prejudice of one of her colleagues. The usually by-the-book Nas finds herself discovering an inner strength and resourcefulness, going against the rules to get the job done. After all, she is guilty too. 

Social Media is again the star - or culprit - of this series; showing just how it can influence and damage our lives. The media used this time is Snap Chat; various Snaps are sent to Nas and her team, showing them videos of the poor abducted girl. (I'm guessing for the kidnapper to put a panting doggy filter over the poor victim would have been a bit too sick and twisted here).

The writing is taut, the dialogue natural and the humour as sharp as a blade, and again Angela Clarke has written a story that should strike fear into the hearts of the self-obsessed frenzied society of today.

You don't need to have read Follow Me to read this, but I highly recommend you do because it is a cracking series.

You can buy Watch Me, and it's predecessor Follow Me, from Amazon, Waterstones and other retailers.

About the Author

Angela is an author, playwright, columnist and professional speaker.

Her debut crime thriller Follow Me (Avon, HarperCollins) was named Amazon’s Rising Star Debut of the Month January 2016, long listed for the Crime Writer’s Association Dagger in the Library 2016, and short listed for the Good Reader Page Turner Award 2016. Follow Me has now been optioned by a TV production company. 

The second instalment in the Social Media Murder Series Watch Me (Avon, HarperCollins) is out January 2017. And the third Trust Me (Avon, HarperCollins) is out June 2017. 

Angela’s humorous memoir Confessions of a Fashionista (Ebury, Penguin Random House) is an Amazon Fashion Chart bestseller. 

Her play, The Legacy, enjoyed its first run at The Hope Theatre in June 2015. 

An experienced and entertaining speaker, Angela has given talks, hosted events, and masterclasses for many, including Noirwich Crime Writing Festival, Camp Bestival, Panic! (in partnership with Create, the Barbican, Goldsmiths University and The Guardian), Meet a Mentor (in partnership with the Royal Society of Arts), Northwich Lit Fest, St Albans Lit Fest, BeaconLit, and the London College of Fashion. She also hosted the current affairs radio show Outspoken on Radio Verulam in 2015, and has appeared regularly as a panel guest on BBC 3 Counties, BBC Radio 4, and the BBC World Service, among others.

In 2015 Angela was awarded the Young Stationers' Prize for achievement and promise in writing and publishing. She also works for The Literary Consultancy critiquing manuscripts and mentoring. Angela, a sufferer of the debilitating chronic condition Ehlers Danlos III, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, volunteers with Womentoring, Meet a Mentor and at HM Prisons. She is passionate about bringing marginalised voices into the industry. You can find out more about her at www.AngelaClarke.co.uk

Find out more at: http://angelaclarke.co.uk and Follow Her (see what I did there?) on Twitter @theangelaclarke