Audiobook Review: Butterfly Summer By Toni De Palma
It’s wonderful to be welcoming Toni De Palma to Novel Kicks and the review for Butterfly Summer.
Hollywood producer for the Bride-to-Be franchise, Anna is on top of her game. She’s helped generations of women navigate the ups and downs of romance. Ironic, since her own love life is a mess. When the Bride-to-Be finale is relocated to Ischia in Italy, Anna plans to use the opportunity to settle some family affairs. And perhaps solve an old mystery of her own. Delia. Decades before, at the age of seventeen, Anna had spent a summer with her aunt on the lush island.
Far from an idyllic vacation, she made few friends and learned her aunt had been hiding secrets from the family. Now she’s going back to sell her aunt’s house and finish up the show’s season finale. As the crew get ready to roll the cameras, all havoc breaks loose. The newest bride-to-be is missing. The groom’s partying has been all over social media. And the sale of the house is shrouded in mystery, with an anonymous buyer.
Both Anna’s personal and professional lives crash in on her. With only hours left until the finale, Anna must find a solution for the show. And face the events that still haunt her from that long ago summer.
*****
Anna has spent her life building up her career. Whilst she helps others with the concept of love, it’s an emotion she has shut herself away from. When her job takes her back to the place where she spent one important summer, she takes the opportunity to settle family affairs. However, when she arrives on the Italian island of Ischia, it’s matters of the heart that come to the surface.
The premise of this book sounded right up my street and so I jumped at the chance to review Butterfly Summer, the latest novel by Toni De Palma. This was my first opportunity to read work by this author and so I couldn’t wait to get started.
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Book Review: Murder at Raven’s Gate By Louise Marley
I’m very happy to be welcoming Louise Marley back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, Murder at Raven’s Gate.
Beyond the village of Raven’s Edge stands the Gateway to the Dead – a crumbling stone arch marking the site where a long-ago battle raged and the dead were buried where they fell. But it’s the forgotten mansion hidden in the trees behind it that holds the real mystery…
Lady Peony has lived at Blackheath Hall for decades, invisible to the world – until a ghostly soldier begins knocking at her door. But Lady Peony is no fool. In her experience, where there are spirits, there are schemers. And someone wants her out of that house.
As DI Ben Taylor and DS Harriet March begin their investigation, bitter winds howl through Raven’s Edge and strange mists curl around the battle site. Harriet must untangle what’s real from what’s imagined. Is there truly a ghost haunting the old house, or is someone very much alive using supernatural tales as cover for their own deadly agenda?
Atmospheric, chilling and deliciously gothic, this cosy mystery wraps ancient legends and murder into one unputdownable story. Perfect for fans of Fiona Leitch, Agatha Christie and readers who like their crime with a shiver down the spine!
*****
The Gateway of the Dead, a stone arch just outside the village of Raven’s Edge, holds legends of battles and ghostly tales of fallen soldiers. When a body is found there in the present day, ghost stories resurface. Meanwhile, Lady Peony and her sister, Rose, live in a house nearby. They are facing their own problems – issues that soon split Harriet’s attention. DI Ben Taylor and DS Harriet March are soon enthralled in more than they bargained for. Can they decipher fact from fiction before someone else gets hurt?
I’ve previously read one of the prior novels in this series, Murder at Raven’s Hollow. I was therefore excited and intrigued to be invited onto the blog tour for the latest instalment in the English Village Mystery series.
by Book Review: The Eagle Will Rise By MJ Porter
It’s a pleasure to be welcoming back MJ Porter to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for their latest book, The Eagle Will Rise, book one in the Sundered Kingdom series.
The king is dead; for Mercia to survive, another must take his place.
Coelwulf, Mercia’s last king, is dead. His legacy and right to rule Western Mercia have been claimed by Alfred of Wessex, but all know Alfred was never to have Mercia. Neither were the Viking raiders, who now command the eastern-most parts of Mercia and the former kingdom of the East Angles.
Icel, the bastion of Mercia’s wars against Wessex and the Viking raiders, lies dying, but he refuses to abandon his beloved kingdom to her long-standing enemies.
Rudolf, the once-young ally of King Coelwulf the second, is summoned by Icel to attend upon him. Grudgingly, he arrives at Budworth, the task laid before him, audacious to say the least; rescue Coelwulf’s acknowledged heir, Æthelred, from Wessex, where he’s held prisoner by King Alfred. To do so, Rudolf must prevail upon the dispersed oath-sworn warrior band of King Coelwulf, and all of them, aside from him, have ignored Icel’s increasingly furious demands to attend upon him. If they won’t obey Icel, then why should they listen to Rudolf?
The fate of Mercia’s survival rests in the hands of a man who should long have been in his grave, and Rudolf, a boy who’s become a man in the most trying of circumstances. They must forge Æthelred into the emblem of Mercian survival. Or die trying. But first they must rescue Æthelred from someone who has always pretended to be Mercia’s ally, and who is anything but.
*****
Although technically the start of a new series, The Eagle Will Rise continues the history or Mercia but with the narrative passing from Icel to Rudolf. You don’t need to have read the previous series, but if you have then you will encounter a few interesting old friends in this new tome.
M J Porter has an uncanny ability to get the balance of pace, detail and language just right. The story pulls you though, there is enough detail to paint wonderful vivid images and imbue characters with depth and life whilst not weighing you down with unnecessary embellishments leading to a relaxing and engaging read – a rare treat.
by Book Review: Wishing on a Star in the City By Krysten Lindsay Hager
I’m pleased to be welcoming Krysten Lindsay Hager back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Wishing on a Star in the City.
Everyone thinks Ivy Macomb’s life is perfect as she’s a teen actress on a TV show, part of a well-known family, and has just started college with her football star boyfriend, Ryan. However, as Ryan’s on campus fame grows, the two break up leaving Ivy heartbroken. She makes up a cover story to save face about how they’re taking time apart, but she’s devastated and unsure how to handle things. She ends up having a crying meltdown in front of her great-uncle who is better known in the media as the most ruthless man in business. However, she learns there’s another side to Uncle Alfred as he not only offers advice, but helps her with her podcast.
Her cousin tries to get her to go out and show people she’s doing fine after the breakup. Enter freshman hockey player, Konrad Gorski. Ivy and Konrad become fast friends as he’s a shoulder to cry on for her as she deals with her feelings. He’s also been through a bad breakup and has trust issues. Konrad is selected to go overseas for a hockey opportunity and the two stay in touch daily. They begin to have feelings for each other, but she’s worried about getting hurt. Can Ivy open her heart to love again?
*****
On the surface, it looks as though Ivy Macomb has it all. A career in TV, a boyfriend and a wealthy family. Things are not always as they seem and soon Ivy finds herself struggling and opening up to people she didn’t expect.
I am such a fan of the Stars in the City series and couldn’t wait to get started on book four. I do recommend the first three novels, but this can be read as a standalone if it’s your introduction to Krysten Lindsay Hager’s books.
by Book Review: The Sunshine Teashop By Jaimie Admans
I am so incredibly pleased to be welcoming Jaimie Admans to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her new books, The Sunshine Teashop.
Dolly Lymford is having one of those days… 🧁🫖
The kind that starts with dreams of opening a café… and ends with discovering your boyfriend kissing your best friend!
Heartbroken and with nowhere else to go, Dolly accidentally-on-purpose borrows her now-ex-boyfriend’s campervan and drives until the road runs out. This leads her to Thimblenouth, a picture-perfect Yorkshire Dales village where life moves more slowly and the kettle is always on.
After literally bumping into gorgeous local builder Reece Sterling, Dolly begins to feel something she hasn’t in a long time: safe. She also rediscovers her love of baking, filling the campervan with the scent of warm scones and freshly brewed tea. And Reece is always around to share a lemon pie or two…
When Dolly has an idea to open her own pop-up café, Reece is all too happy to help. And as the summer sun begins to warm everything it touches, Dolly wonders if she’s finally found a place to call home… maybe even with Reece.
But can she really build a future on borrowed wheels?
Novel A warm, uplifting story of fresh starts, village kindness, and finding love where you least expect it — best enjoyed with tea and cake.🍰
*****
Dolly is about to embark on a new business venture. Although she’s scared, she’s also excited. However, when a betrayal forces her to flee with the help of a neon green campervan, she doesn’t know what to do next. When she arrives in North Yorkshire, she begins to feel like she’s come home. The path to happiness doesn’t run smooth though and soon Dolly will have to make a choice – face her fears and move on or continue hiding.
by Book Extract: The Code One Club Series By Alison Naomi Holt
Please join me in welcoming Alison Naomi Holt to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her The Code One Club series.
Some connections don’t come from wanting them. They come from collision, from timing, from something that refuses to stay buried. The Code One Club series by Alison Naomi Holt leans into sapphic stories where that kind of connection takes hold.
Set within the world of the Code One Club, where identities are reclaimed and connections run deeper than appearances suggest, these stories unfold through contrast at every level. Power and wealth exist alongside survival and instability, while control and chaos collide in relationships where trust is difficult and the stakes are never low.
In The Inheritance, Phyla McGuire is powerful, controlled, and emotionally untouchable, while Ash Redux is a former Army K9 handler barely holding on, navigating life on the streets while battling PTSD. When their lives collide, what begins as circumstance becomes something deeper and far more dangerous. Set against a backdrop of power, wealth, and survival, their connection forces both women to confront who they are beneath the roles they’ve built.
Whiskey-Colored Eyes follows Jude Lorcan, a grieving widow trying to rebuild her life one careful step at a time, and Dr. Noémi Boudon, who is confident, refined, and quietly searching for something real. Their connection is undeniable, but it is far from simple. This slow-burn sapphic story unfolds through grief, desire, and hesitation, asking what it means to open yourself to love again and what it costs to stay closed.
In Melt for Me, Alléandra Alfieri is powerful, feared, and emotionally locked down, while Maren Tempest is bold, unpredictable, and impossible to ignore. When their worlds collide, the connection ignites fast and burns hot. As control is challenged and completely undone, this story brings intensity, tension, and a shift that neither woman can walk away from unchanged.
Alison Naomi Holt has kindly shared an extract from Melt For Me with us today. We hope you enjoy it.
*****beginning of extract*****
Melt for Me
Chapter 1
Mar thanked the driver as he pulled her suitcase from the back of his SUV. The portly, florid-faced man had been friendly and talkative on her ride from the airport, something she appreciated since she needed the distraction from the weeklong gathering that she’d agreed to attend with an old friend, Kelsey, whom she hadn’t seen in several years.
It was precisely because of his affable manner that she tipped him more than she usually would. She hadn’t expected to hire a car, but her plane had landed four hours past the time she was due to arrive, and Kelsey had texted that because of the delay, she had to get dressed for the evening’s dinner party and wouldn’t be able to pick her up at the airport.
by Book Review: Unemployed Killers Support Group By Rio
Please join me in welcoming Rio to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for their graphic novel, Unemployed Killers Support Group.
Unemployed Killers Support Group is a razor-sharp, darkly hilarious noir-esque manga from Taiwanese creator Rio, this is not your average self-help group. Selected by Taiwan Pavillion as a featured work to be showcased at the 2023 Angoulême International Comics Festival.
Locker Loyed, once a deadly sniper, lost his vision—and his job—on a mission gone wrong. Now, he’s joined an unlikely circle of former contract killers, each grappling with their own personal collapse. Among them: Gloria Maze, a meticulous assassin whose career imploded after catching her husband cheating and killing the mistress in a jealous rage; Jerry Cole, a justice-obsessed lawyer turned bloodthirsty executioner; and Jordi Joe, a delusional con man who’s never actually killed anyone.
As they try to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives, Locker begins to realize his past isn’t done with him. A dangerous figure—the one responsible for his blindness and a friend’s death—is still at large. And revenge is still on the table.
For fans of dark comedy, crime thrillers, and twisted found family, Unemployed Killers Support Group is a bold, bloody, and brilliantly offbeat ride through the lives of society’s most dangerous burnouts. Welcome to the group—check your conscience at the door.
*****
This is the first graphic novel I have reviewed although not the first I had read. The plot centres around a group of 4 people all of whom are members of a support group of unemployed killers. I love the concept of hitmen and assassins having their own support groups, it conjures scenes of “hello my name is Chris and I’m an assassin. It’s been 10 days since I last killed someone, and every day is a struggle….”.
by Book Extract: The Hearing Voices Series By Charles Porter
It’s such a pleasure to be welcoming Charles Porter to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for The Hearing Voices Series.
At a certain point, the way you experience things starts to affect everyday decisions, how you respond to people, what you trust, and how you move through situations that used to feel simple. For Aubrey Shallcross, that shift has been building for years, shaped by the voices he hears as he works, forms relationships, and tries to stay in control of his life. The Hearing Voices Series by Charles Porter follows how that begins to change what everyday life looks like.
Aubrey Shallcross has learned how to keep his life steady, even with voices that never leave. He works, maintains relationships, and moves through the world with a sense of control that, from the outside, appears solid.
But the voices don’t stay in the background.
They surface in moments that matter, when decisions have to be made quickly, when situations escalate, when the wrong move can set something in motion. Sometimes they guide. Sometimes they push.
And sometimes, they lead him straight into situations he can’t easily step out of.
As tensions build around him, in the people he’s connected to and the environments he’s drawn into, Aubrey finds himself acting before he fully understands why. What follows isn’t contained. The consequences spread outward, turning individual decisions into events that carry far beyond him.
By the time he realizes the scale of what he’s part of, he’s already committed.
Charles has kindly shared an extract from Shallcross: Flame Vine, the second novel in The Hearing Voices Series with us today. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Chapter 2: Aubrey
JULY 1952
by A Moment With… Gina Cheyne
I am very excited to be welcoming Gina Cheyne to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Twenty-Six Years Living a Lie.
Twenty-Six Years Living a Lie
In 1997, high in the alpine resort of Tignes, Cecily celebrates her third wedding anniversary with a night of passion. But in the morning her happiness turns to misery and shock when she find her husband Nick dead in the bed beside her, the victim of a sudden heart attack.
Six weeks later, Cecily learns she is pregnant.
Twenty-six years later, her son Charlie takes a DNA test alongside his uncle Adam, Nick’s identical twin. The results shatter everything he thought he knew: Charlie is not related to Adam. If Nick wasn’t his father, then who was?
Cecily insists she was faithful, and the timing points only to that single night in Tignes. Desperate for answers, she turns to the SeeMs Detective Agency. Could someone have entered her room that night without her knowing? And if so—who? And why?
As the detectives dig deeper, they uncover a web of conflicting memories, buried secrets, and dangerous lies. Slowly they discover other people are in danger and if they don’t find out very soon what really happened in that wonderful night in Tignes two, or maybe more, lives will be lost.
To talk about the themes of Twenty-Six Years Living a Lie, it’s over to you, Gina.
This book is first of all a whodunnit, although it is who fathered Charlie, rather than who killed his father, (father died of a heart attack) but it has other themes in its writing.
Sometimes when you are writing a novel these themes jump out at you when you aren’t expecting them. I was planning to write a straight whodunnit inspired by a dark night in the ski resort of Tignes in the French Alps. So dark was the night that I thought someone could climb over the balcony, and enter my bed. We could share a night of passion, and I would never know it was not my husband! However, other things wanted to be heard in the story.
Firstly, the theme of knowing yourself. We think we know other people and ourselves very well, but do we? Cecily has idolised her dead first husband and thinks of her second husband as merely security and the father of her other children. But, as the story progresses it is obvious that he is much more than that. He has a depth of kindness and insight she did not understand until everything goes wrong.
by Book Extract: Bamboo Island: The Planter’s Wife By Ann Bennett
It’s so wonderful to be welcoming Ann Bennett and the Book Birthday Blitz for her book, Bamboo Island: The Planter’s Wife.
From award-winning author Ann Bennett comes a haunting and powerful novel of love and loss during World War 2 Malaya.
‘A vivid account of a brutal period, and a searing exploration of trauma, memory and loss..’ The Lady Magazine.
1938: Juliet and her sister Rose arrive in Penang to stay with an aunt, after the death of their father. Juliet quickly falls under the spell of Gavin Crosby, a plantation owner, who despite his wealth, charm and good looks is shunned by the local community. Rushed into marriage, Juliet is unprepared for the devastating secrets she uncovers on Gavin’s plantation, and the bad blood between Gavin and his brother…
But in 1941 the Japanese occupy Malaya and Singapore sweeping away that world and changing Juliet’s life forever.
For decades after the war which robbed her of everyone she loved, Juliet lives as a recluse back on the plantation. But in 1962 the sudden appearance of Mary, a young woman from an orphanage in Indonesia, forces Juliet to embark on a journey into the past, and to face up to the heart-breaking truths she’s buried for so long.
This book has previously been published both as The Planter’s Wife and as Bamboo Island
Praise for Bamboo Island: The Planter’s Wife..
‘This was a story of love, passion and cruelty I could not put down … I needed to discover Juliet’s secrets.’ Lizeanne Lloyd – Lost in a Good Book
‘I raced through this book in just over twenty-four hours … I literally could not put it down. I connected and sympathised with Juliet as a character so much… and I was constantly on edge whilst reading it, desperate to find out more about her past.’ Bibliobeth – Goodreads.
‘I really loved this haunting, powerful and beautiful novel.’ Amazon Reviewer.
To celebrate its birthday, Ann has shared an extract from Bamboo Island: The Planter’s Wife. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Bamboo Island: The Planter’s Wife
Chapter 1
Windy Ridge Estate, Malaya, 1962
The big white house dominated the crest of the hill and looked out over the lines of rubber trees to the jungle beyond. It was quite alone, miles from any neighbours, and hardly any traffic ever ventured along the rutted dirt road that ran the five miles between the estate and the nearest settlement, Kuala Lipis. It had been a proud, grand building in the years before the war, its paintwork startling white against the blue of the tropical sky, but now the walls were scabbed and peeling and there were a few gaping holes in the roof where the tiles had blown off during the high monsoon winds.
The deep veranda running the length of the ground floor was shaded with bamboo chicks, which were rolled up near the front door so that Juliet Crosby, relaxing in her deep rattan chair, had a view of the faint breeze playing in the rubber trees. She watched it ruffling the leaves, turning them from green to grey and back again.
She always sat here at this time of day, before the sun had begun its descent behind the jungle-covered horizon, and the cicadas were still chattering in the casuarina trees in the garden. This was the best hour of her unwavering routine. She liked to sit with her afternoon tea tray on the little cane table, her two Dalmatians lazing on the boards of the veranda beside her, and take deep breaths to empty her mind of everything but the mundane business of running the estate, banishing any other thoughts that might trouble her. She loved the sharp light of the early evening. It was as if the sun was burning with renewed intensity before it dipped away.
by Book Review: Perotine By Dreena Collins
It’s a pleasure to be welcoming Dreena Collins and the blog tour for her book. Perotine.
Abandoned, faithful – and on trial for heresy.
On a bleak autumn morning in 1555, Protestant Perotine wakes to find her husband packed to leave. Catholicism has returned to Guernsey, and, fearing for his life, he abandons Perotine, her sister and mother to face increasing hostility alone.
The three women endure a challenging winter of rain, isolation, and poverty – until a dramatic series of events draws unwanted attention. When a local woman asks Perotine to hide stolen goods, what begins as a trial for theft spirals into accusations of heresy.
Secluded, steadfast, and terrified, the women face their plight with fortitude and prayers. Together.
But Perotine Massey holds a terrible secret. One that could bring a reprieve, or a fate worse than death.
And she’ll do anything to keep that secret safe.
*****
Perotine has recently married and is settling into life with her new husband on the island of Guernsey. However, with the rise of Catholicism under the reign of Queen Mary, it isn’t long before Perotine is left alone with her sister and mother. Alone and vulnerable, rumours soon put them in danger. Can they weather the storm?
I had not previously read anything by Dreena Collins when I was invited onto the blog tour for her latest book, Perotine. The premise for this novel is one I found intriguing.
by Book Extract: Body Man By Al Pessin
It’s a pleasure to be welcoming Al Pessin to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, Body Man.
Moments that seem contained can quickly expand into something far larger, especially when they strike at the center of power. What begins as a single act can ripple outward, reshaping roles and responsibilities in ways no one anticipated. In Body Man by Al Pessin, that ripple becomes a turning point.
A new presidency built on sweeping reform quickly becomes the focal point of national tension. When an assassination attempt fails, the aftermath sparks widespread unrest that spreads rapidly across the country.
Spencer, the president’s closest aide, gains unexpected influence as leadership becomes increasingly unstable. His proximity to power places him at the center of critical decisions.
Carl, a disgraced Marine sniper, is drawn into a militant movement convinced that drastic action is necessary. His mission begins with purpose but grows uncertain as events escalate.
As cities erupt and institutions begin to fracture, both men are pulled deeper into a conflict neither can control. Each believes he is acting in the country’s best interest, even as the line between defender and adversary becomes increasingly blurred.
Al has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
(Warning: Language).
*****beginning of extract*****
Chapter 1
Spencer
I’m the best person to tell you this story.
by Book Review: Tribune and the Sword By Adam Lofthouse
I’m so happy to be welcoming Adam Lofthouse to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his latest book, Tribune and the Sword.
August. 383 AD. Flavius Maximus has declared himself emperor and crossed into Gaul. The civil war with Gratian has been short, and the rightful ruler of the West lies in an early grave.
Now two men face off across an empire. Theodosius in the east, his armies large but reliant on mercenaries. Maximus in the west, his forces small, but battle hardened and loyal to a fault.
In the middle of the chaos, at the heart of a dying world, two old friends march at the heads of opposing forces. Tribune Sixtus Victorinus fights for the West. Not out of loyalty to Maximus, but to his two sons who are bound by oath to fight for the pretender.
And General Gaius Felicius for the East. Outcasted by Maximus, he will stop at nothing to see the usurper toppled. But if his old friend stands in his path, is the road to vengeance still one he will choose to tread?
War is coming, and both men must look inside themselves and decide what is greater: the cause they fight for, or the bonds of fellowship. 🔥⚔️
*****
It was great to be invited onto the blog tour for Adam Lofthouse’s latest novel, Tribune and the Sword.
Adam Lofthouse has a real passion for the Romans and the Roman Empire and that shines through in his writing. The characters burst from the page into my mind, vidiv and powerful.
by A Moment With… Olivia Lockhart
It’s exciting to be welcoming Olivia Lockhart to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, No More Tomorrows.
Two eras. One aching heart.
1917 – At Cambridge University, American scholar Harry Turchin never expects to lose himself to desire. But Annie Mackenzie—soft-spoken, grieving, and luminous—claims his heart from their very first kiss. Their love is swift, fierce, and intoxicating. Married just days before Harry is sent to war, their passion is ripped apart when the trenches claim everything he knows, and Harry is thrown into a future that should not exist.
1967 – The free-spirited sixties are alive with rhythm, rebellion, and possibility. Harry awakens to a world he doesn’t recognise—and to Annalise Taylor, as bold and captivating as the era itself. Brilliant, independent, and achingly alive, she rouses a desire he thought belonged solely to the past.
Caught between the love he was ripped away from and the passion he cannot resist, Harry is torn between two women, two lives, and two versions of forever. Because time will not bend twice … Or will it?
Sweeping from the blood-soaked battlefields of World War One to the fevered nights of the swinging sixties, No More Tomorrows is a sensual time-slip romance about desire, devotion, and the devastating power of love that refuses to be bound by time.
To talk about the concept of No More Tomorrows, it’s over to you, Olivia.
Some of the best ideas for a book start with a little bit of scepticism.
That was certainly true for No More Tomorrows. Before we started writing it, I had never read a time-slip romance and hadn’t given the genre much thought at all. The idea actually came from my co-author, and when he first suggested it, I wasn’t entirely convinced.
But once we began writing, I quickly realised how much fun the concept could be.
by Book Review: Summer Ever After By Mandy Baggot
I am excited to be welcoming Mandy Baggot to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Summer Ever After.
Forty-year-old Faye Lawson is falling back in love with life at last. Finally divorced from her cheating husband, she has turned her back on the UK and has been living the Greek dream in Corfu managing a beautiful traditional boutique hotel.
For Kostas Petsas, twenty-something ex-professional basketball player, life as he has always known it is over. Having to take early-retirement because of injury, he’s at a loss as to what to do next. But when a piece of land in Corfu comes on the market, it seems this might be the perfect fit. There’s just a couple of things in the way… an area of natural beauty and… a little hotel on the beach.
Kostas has never met any woman like Faye before – she doesn’t behave around him how women usually do, and, when conflict starts to surface, it seems they can’t see eye-to-eye on anything. Or perhaps, when things get body-to-body, both of them begin to wonder if it can turn into heart-to-heart.
Escape to the beautiful island of Corfu with Mandy Baggot – queen of Greek summer romance!
*****
Finally divorced from her husband, Faye feels that her life is becoming beautiful. She loves her daughter, and her home and job managing the Hotel Margaritári in Corfu. When basketball player, and local hero, Kostas arrives on the island, Faye’s world will be turned upside down. Can Faye keep hold of her happiness or will her visitor destroy it?
Everything about this book screams summer, sun and bright, warm evenings. Even the cover immediately makes me smile and feel lighter. I couldn’t wait to get cracking on the latest novel by Mandy Baggot and was grateful to be invited onto the blog tour for Summer Ever After.
by Book Review: Operation Berlin By Michael Ridpath
It’s a pleasure to be welcoming Michael Ridpath and the blog tour for his book, Operation Berlin.
In a city rebuilding from war, truth can be the most dangerous weapon of all.
Berlin, 1930.
Historian Archie Laverick, scarred mentally and physically by the Great War, travels to Berlin to research a famed Prussian general. His quiet study is shattered when he crosses paths with Esme Carmichael, a spirited young American intent on making her name as a foreign correspondent. When a shooting at a Saxon castle leaves a young Jewish woman accused of murder, Archie and Esme are drawn into a perilous hunt for the truth.
Their investigation cuts through the glittering façades and lingering scars of a nation still reeling from war – where resentment simmers, political alliances shift, and the first shadows of a new conflict fall across Europe. Amid whispers of blackmail and betrayal, the pair must navigate intrigue and danger to unmask a killer hiding in plain sight.
A tense, atmospheric mystery set in a world between wars – perfect for fans of Philip Kerr’s Berlin Trilogy, Robert Harris’s Fatherland, and Alan Furst’s spy novels.
*****
It’s 1930. Archie Laverick is heading to Berlin to do research for a book. The city is full of life, but the political landscape is forever changing. It is here that he meets his new assistant, Esme Carmichael, an American wanting to become a foreign correspondent. When a murder creates a load of questions, Archie and Esme begin to investigate and the more questions they ask, the more danger they find themselves in. Can they figure things out before someone else gets hurt?
by Book Review: Love Blooms at the Cornish Cottage By Kim Nash
A big massive hello to Kim Nash and the blog tour for her book, Love Blooms at the Cornish Cottage.
💔 How do you mend a broken heart? 💔
Michelle finally thought she’d found love with her hot Greek doctor. But when Demetri reveals he’s returning home to care for his sick mother, Michelle’s dream future crumbles. Choosing not to follow him feels like losing more than just love – it feels like losing who she’d started to become.
Determined not to fall apart, Michelle decides to throw herself into rebuilding her life in Sandpiper Shore, but then unexpectedly, Demetri’s brother, Makkis, arrives on her doorstep. Offering him a room seems like the kind thing to do… but the constant reminder of her lost love is difficult for her heartbroken soul.
And the more time she spends with Makkis, the clearer it becomes: there are parts of Demetri she never knew… Just as Michelle starts to heal with a little help from her friends, she’s faced with a decision: fight for the love she knows she deserves, or finally learn how to let go…
*****
Michelle feels like life is finally going well. Her business is good, she has great friends, she adores Sandpiper Shore and best of all, she’s found a man who makes her happy. When he tells her that he needs to go back to Greece, her world shatters. Will Michelle find her happily ever after or do they only belong in romance novels?
I do like myself a Kim Nash novel. I was very happy and grateful to be invited onto the blog tour for her latest book, Love Blooms at the Cornish Cottage. This is book 3 in the Sandpiper series. I had read book 1 but sadly hadn’t got around to reading book 2. I didn’t feel like I couldn’t keep up with events though. It can be read as a standalone. I so enjoyed being a part of The Lonely-Hearts Club, even if only for the course of this book.
by Book Review: Hopes and Dreams at the Chocolate Pot Café By Jessica Redland
I am so excited to be welcoming Jessica Redland back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, Hopes and Dreams at the Chocolate Pot Café.
Sometimes all your hopes and dreams really do come true… ✨🌈
Life at the Chocolate Pot Café has never been sweeter for Tara Porter. Nestled on Castle Street in Whitsborough Bay, her café is thriving, her friendships are close, her foster parents are back where they belong—and she’s finally let herself fall in love with artist Jed Ferguson.
For Jed, returning from Australia feels like coming home in every sense. His teenage daughters have settled, his gallery opening is a success, and with Tara by his side, the future looks full of promise.
But the past can’t stay at bay forever.
When Tara’s estranged foster sister reappears, old wounds resurface. And when Jed is reunited with twelve year old Aaron – a boy he once believed was his son – secrets unravel and loyalties are tested.
Now Tara and Jed must decide whether facing the past will shatter everything they’ve built—or hope it gives them the strength and courage to dream again.
Warm, heartfelt and hopeful, Hopes and Dreams at the Chocolate Pot Café is a story of love, forgiveness and second chances.
*****
As Christmas ends and a new year begins, Tara is feeling optimistic about life. She loves her life in Whitsborough Bay. Her business, The Chocolate Pot Café is going well. In letting herself open up to people, she now has friends and her new relationship with Jed grows stronger every day. However, life rarely runs smoothly and soon, they are both facing more life changing events. Can they weather this storm together or will Tara retreat into the lonely life she had before?
As a huge fan of Jessica Redland’s novels, I will always jump at the chance to be a part of any of her blog tours. I couldn’t wait to get started on Hopes and Dreams at the Chocolate Pot Café.
by Book Review: Storm of Mercia By MJ Porter
I am pleased to be welcoming MJ Porter back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for their book, Storm of Mercia.
Wessex has never been Mercia’s ally, neither has it been her only enemy.
Wessex, AD836
The Viking raiders’ devastation has been halted once more by the shields of Mercia as opposed to Wessex. But their whereabouts are unknown.
King Wiglaf of Mercia is keen to ensure the Viking raiders are swept from his shared border with Wessex but these Viking ships are quick and difficult to track and Icel is once more deployed with Ealdorman Ælfstan warriors to do his King’s bidding. However, Icel’s quest is beset with many more obstacles and it’s not all about the seax and shield.
Worrying news from home overshadows Icel’s every deadly encounter. Will the storms of war keep him away or has he time to make one more desperate journey back to Tamworth?
With raging seas driving him ever further from Mercia’s shores, and the threat of a new conspiracy against the Mercian kingship will Icel overpower the sands of time, or will he be defeated by his deadliest nemesis yet?
*****
Storm of Mercia is the ninth instalment of the Mercia Chronicles.
Once again, Mercia’s shields have stopped the Viking raiders at the border with Wessex—but the invaders have vanished without a trace. Icel is dispatched among Ealdorman Ælfstan’s troops with the task of tracking the raiders and ensuring that they have truly left.
by Book Review: The Lighthouse by the Sea By Margaret Amatt
I’m very happy to be welcoming Margaret Amatt back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, The Lighthouse by the Sea.
His love might be the light she’s looking for
After a string of disasters, music teacher Lottie Ashford is out of options. So when her well-meaning mother suggests she restore an old family property – a crumbling lighthouse on the remote island of Barra – Lottie reluctantly agrees.
Local fitness fanatic Ruaridh Griffin has been unlucky in love. When Lottie turns up at his sister’s B&B asking for help to find a mystery lighthouse, he can’t help wanting to assist – and he’s instantly drawn to her. But getting involved with a visitor is one thing he’s sworn never to do again.
As Barra weaves its quiet magic, Lottie begins to feel at home for the first time in years. Worse still, she’s falling for someone she’s not sure feels the same. And despite Ruaridh’s best intentions, Lottie is getting under his skin, making his promise to himself harder than ever to keep.
If this is love, Ruaridh must face his fear of being burned again – and Lottie must decide whether her future lies on the island or somewhere else entirely.
♥ This is the second book in the Love on the Edge – Barra series, but it can be read as a standalone.
♥ Set on the Hebridean island of Barra in Scotland with fun, romance, drama, and a guaranteed happy ending, The Lighthouse by the Sea has a bit of steam and lots of heart.
*****
Running from a humiliation on social media, Lottie heads to the Scottish island of Barra. She’s in search of a building at the heart of an old family story. She wasn’t counting on meeting Ruaridh. He’s also battling heartbreak and uncertainty. Can they get over their past to find their future?
Having previously read some of Margaret Amatt’s novels, it took little to persuade me to join the blog tour for her latest book, The Lighthouse by the Sea which is book 2 in the Love on the Edge series. The first book, The Castle in the Bay, is one I’ve not read yet. That didn’t hinder my enjoyment of this one though. They can be read out of order. I am planning on reading Iona and Monty’s story at some point.
by Book Review: High Spirits at the Village Inn By Sharon Booth
I am so pleased to be welcoming Sharon Booth back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, High Spirits at the Village Inn.
Spring has arrived in the Cotswold village of Rowan Vale and everyone is in an optimistic mood.
Everyone except Danny. He’s had a rotten eighteen years stuck in a village where all his hopes and dreams were shattered. His annoying ex-work colleague, who seems determined to look on the bright side of the afterlife, won’t leave him alone. And – as if that wasn’t bad enough – he’s facing eternity dressed as Adam Ant.
Meanwhile, in London, Rory plans to whisk his wife Kirsty away to the Cotswolds for their wedding anniversary. But when they arrive in Rowan Vale, Kirsty is horrified. How could her husband be so insensitive?
Rory insists that they stay at The Quicken Tree Inn and face up to the issues in their marriage. Kirsty has no choice but to go along with him, hoping she can finally put what happened all those years ago behind her. But when she spots her long-dead cousin in the village, things take a decidedly difficult turn…
Will confronting the ghosts from her past be a recipe for happiness or disaster?
*****
Kirsty and Rory are about to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. Instead of being excited, Kirsty is dreading it. Can a few days away together fix what is in danger of breaking?
Brooke and Danny are two of the ghosts in the very special village of Rowan Vale. When something unexpected happens, it threatens to expose secrets from the past.
I was so incredibly pleased to be heading back to Rowan Vale. Having loved the previous novels in this series, I jumped at the chance to be part of the blog tour for the latest book by Sharon Booth – High Spirits At The Village Inn.
by NK Chats To… M W Arnold
Hello Mick. It’s so wonderful to be welcoming you back to Novel Kicks. Thank you so much for inviting me onto the blog tour for The Lumberjills Take A Stand. Where do we find the cast of characters at the beginning of this new book?
Hi Laura! I’s wonderful to be with the Novel Kicks blog once again. After the first Lumberjills book had been written, I wasn’t sure if I would be writing anymore, having begun the book as a standalone. However, it turned out that people seemed to like the story. The girls are still in the same village, still at Wipers Farm, only they’ve just received notice to move, not an unusual thing for the real girls. The girls themselves are alright with this, though not everyone on the farm is, with young Harry (Harriet) particularly upset. For one of the girls, there is the excitement of finding love and a possible future, once the war is over.
How has your writing routine changed since your first novel? Do you have any writing rituals?
Not too much has changed. I’m still more of a punster than a planster, though once I stumbled across the central story regarding the segregation between white and black soldiers enacted by the USA during WW2, that’s where I found myself being even more careful than usual with getting things right. Yes, I am still mostly writing with my laptop on my lap, usually with Gus (one of my Romanian Werecats) hogging the majority. I end up holding him on with one hand, so I reckon about 70% of this book was written one-handed.
How do you approach the research and editing processes and what advice do you have for each? How do you know when you’ve done enough?
by Book Review: Collateral Damage By Sam Cogley
I am very excited to be welcoming Sam Cogley to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, Collateral Damage.
Winter came for the pancakes. Hollowvale fed him the dead.
Dane Winter is unemployed and on a lonely road to nowhere. Riding his motorcycle west from New York, he spots a sign on the Interstate: Hollowvale, Pennsylvania. A place he hasn’t visited since his Redwind Security days. Back then, the town was known for its coal mines and the best pancakes he ever tasted.
A chance encounter with a distraught local woman pulls him into investigating her friend’s disappearance. When Jacob Rhodes’ body is found at the bottom of an abandoned mine shaft, the local authorities are quick to label it an accident. Winter isn’t convinced…
Between the death of Jacob and the unexplained illnesses spreading through the local population, it’s clear that nothing is as it seems in the town of Hollowvale. Worse still, Winter thinks it might have something to do with his time there two years earlier.
What starts as a quest for answers becomes a fight to expose a conspiracy that reaches far beyond the small town.
But Winter is never one to give up, and he’s willing to burn it all down in order to uncover the horrific truth.
*****
Dane Winter had planned on only passing through the small town of Hollowvale. However, when a local teacher goes missing, he finds himself in the middle of a mystery that has the potential to change the small town and the lives of its residents forever.
This type of thriller is not always one I will necessarily choose. When invited onto this tour and then having read the blurb for this book, something about it piqued my interest. Having not read any of Sam Cogley’s previous novels, I didn’t quite know what to expect but I was eager to get stuck into the second novel in the Dane Winter series.
by Book Extract: Stockbroken By Billy Hemby & Jan Hemby
I am thrilled to be welcoming Billy Hemby & Jan Hemby to Novel Kicks. They are here with the blog tour for their book, Stockbroken.
Hidden connections often lie beneath major financial events. Stockbroken by Billy and Jan Hemby explores how a veteran market advisor begins uncovering those connections when troubling patterns emerge in the data he has spent decades studying.
Bo Parrott has built his professional life on understanding how markets behave over time. As a respected investment advisor nearing retirement, he intends to leave Wall Street behind and begin a quieter life in North Carolina with his wife, Selby. Before that transition can happen, however, certain market indicators begin to stand out in ways that concern him.
Despite widespread confidence in the economy, Bo detects familiar signals that resemble the early stages of previous financial downturns. His investigation soon intersects with a mysterious death and leads him toward a network of powerful international figures who appear prepared to profit from widespread economic panic.
What begins as analysis slowly becomes a race against time. If Bo reveals what he has discovered, he could prevent massive financial damage, but doing so may place him directly in the path of individuals determined to protect their plans.
Billy and Jan have shared an extract from Stockbroken with us today. So, grab that drink, a comfortable chair and enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Chapter One
by Audiobook Review: Cut Short By BD Spargo
I’m excited to be welcoming BD Spargo to Novel Kicks and the audiobook blog tour for his book, Cut Short.
Detectives can’t bury their mistakes, murderers can.
DCI Liam Doyle is haunted by the demons from his past and the challenges of the present: a broken marriage, a tarnished reputation, and a troubled young son who needs him. He’s newly moved out of south London – and out of his comfort zone.
When a murdered woman is found at a Lancashire beauty spot in his new patch. Doyle is tasked with finding her killer, along with his new detective sergeant, Anna Morgan.
As the investigation progresses, it becomes clear that things are not as they seem. A clever killer has created a complex web of deceit and is always one step ahead of Doyle … and the bodies are mounting up. Is the past the key to unlocking the present? When the stakes get higher, Doyle’s need to find the killer becomes personal and the detective is plunged into a desperate race against time. Will Doyle succeed before he has another dead body on his conscience?
Played out across the rugged Lancashire landscape, Cut Short is a gripping crime thriller layered with plot twists and sprinkled with humour. This fast-paced novel, the first in a series featuring DCI Liam Doyle, will have readers on the edge of their seats.
If you have enjoyed books by authors such as Ian Rankin, Stuart MacBride, JD Kirk and Alex Smith, you won’t want to miss Cut Short.
*****
DCI Liam Doyle has just transferred from the Met to Lancashire to be closer to his son. On his first day, a young woman is found murdered. As the clues gradually piece together, can Liam, DS Anna Morgan and their team find the killer before someone else gets hurt?
I do like a good crime thriller and so I was delighted to be welcomed onto the audiobook blog tour for BD Spargo’s, Cut Short. This is first novel in a brand-new series featuring DCI Liam Doyle.
by A Moment With… Laura Briggs
I’m so pleased to be welcoming Laura Briggs back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest novel, Sugar and Spice at the Pumpkin Corner Café.
The perfect new cozy-up-with-a-pumpkin-spice-latte read that’s meant for fans of Laurie Gilmore and Rebecca Raisin!
Professional pastry chef Blaire Reese is blindsided when her beloved Aunt Rachel dies, leaving her the Sugar and Spice Pastry Cafe in Willow Grove. Returning to her hometown, Blaire discovers her beloved family business is in trouble, and—to make things worse—its most-cherished recipe is missing.
Her first love and former summer crush, Evan Hadley, is also back in town, having traded a corporate career to help manage his family’s Heath Acre Farm, famous for its autumn Hay Daze corn maze. Grown up – and with rugged good looks – he’s only charming when he wants to be. Like when he’s not tangling with someone over business matters, the way he is with Blaire after she cancels a large order for organic pumpkins.
Her sunshine is disappearing under his grumpy storm clouds, until he accidentally learns the truth about her situation. Now, he offers to help save her aunt’s legacy and her family’s pastry cafe. As they work together in secret, the ingredients for a very different recipe develop— one simmering with romance—but an unexpected turn of events melts their growing attraction into a mess.
Will Blaire save the beloved cafe and find the lost recipe that means so much to the pastry café’s customers? And can she save this last chance at love with the first boy she ever kissed?
Sugar and Spice at the Pumpkin Corner Café invites readers to dive into its cozy autumn escape this fall—for fans of grumpy x sunshine, small town romance, Gilmore Girls, pumpkin lattes, sugar and spice and everything else that’s nice about this magical season!
To talk to us about her book and her love for Autumn, it’s over to Laura.
I’m thrilled for this opportunity to share about my cozy new autumn romance Sugar and Spice at the Pumpkin Corner Café with everyone at Novel Kicks today!
by Book Extracts: Some Love Lasts & Getting to Yes By Tim Hunniecutt
I am so pleased to be welcoming Tim Hunniecutt as we shine a light on two of his novels, Some Love Lasts and Getting to Yes.
A rescue in the midst of chaos and a first glance that changes everything anchor Some Love Lasts and Getting to Yes. Through both stories, Tim Hunniecutt explores how youth, courage, and vulnerability intersect in defining moments.
Some Love Lasts –
Fourteen-year-old Madi arrives at her grandparents’ beach condo expecting calm days and quiet evenings. Instead, she becomes drawn to Matthew, the older boy next door whose lifeguard bravery and steady demeanor command attention. When he focuses on her, she experiences a new awareness of herself.
Their connection deepens as summer unfolds, shifting from fascination into a powerful bond. When a hurricane tears through the coastline, Matthew risks everything in a rescue that imprints itself on Madi’s heart. The memory shapes her understanding of love long after the season ends. Years later, their reunion in college raises questions about whether their shared past still holds meaning.
First up, we have an extract from Chapter One of Some Love Lasts.
The First Save
Though it was still early morning, warm humidity saturated the air. Billowing white clouds with dark spots drifted across the sky. The foaming waves gently crashed on the sand. Tiny sandpipers darted in and out. Seagulls squawked while circling.
Her eight-year-old sister edged into the water until it covered her feet. “It’s really warm.”
Madi joined her, and Roe grasped her hand firmly as they ventured farther until it reached their chests. Madi crouched and helped her sister float. “Yeah, it’s so warm, like being in a bathtub.”
She allowed her sister to do what she wanted as they were the only ones on the beach. Grandpa sat on one of the chairs, watching them from the shore. Her sister practiced swimming while Madi held her hat.
Roe tried to ride the waves as they broke, but they barely rippled, and she moved little if at all. She stood upright. “I’m bored.”
by NK Chats To… M.D. Dixon
Hello. Thank you so much for bringing the blog tour for IKONA to Novel Kicks. What’s a detail, theme, or clue in your book that most readers might miss on the first read—but you secretly hope someone notices?
I hope someone notices that whilst the present-day chapters and future chapters are chronologically ordered forward in time, the chapters set in the past (early 20th century Siberia) move backwards in time, so that the earliest chapter timeline-wise for the past chapters reaches a climax at the latest period time-wise for the other chapters. Truthfully, there are many other details that might be missed but which astute readers will catch: recurring motifs, the recursive nature of the story, how Gutov’s chapter 26 is also IKONA’s chapter 26, for example.
When did this story or idea “click” into place for you—was there a single moment you knew you had to write it?
This story first came to me in 2012. I planned the structure and journeys for years before I sat down to write it. I knew from the moment I got the first few pages and the title that it would be my most mature work. It is my fourth novel, but my first published novel. It was a persistent inner voice which never left me no matter how many twists and turns my life took in the interim. I wrote it in 2022.
Which character or real-life person surprised you the most while writing this book, and why?
Finley Minor’s journey evolved in a way I didn’t expect. No spoilers so I will just say that his arc deeply moved me, and I was unprepared for my own emotional reaction.
If your book had a soundtrack, what three songs would be on it and what scenes or moments would they pair with?
by Book Extract: A Dowager is Done In By Helen Golden
I’m delighted to be welcoming Helen Golden back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book in The Duchess of Stortford series, A Dowager is Done In.
A mysterious summons. A fatal hot chocolate. And a duchess who never expected mourning to be this dreadfully dull.
Hampshire, 1891. Six months into widowhood, Alice, Duchess of Stortford, is restless. Black gowns and seclusion in the country have their limits, so when Clarissa, Dowager Countess of Romley, sends a personal summons asking for her discreet assistance with a troubling matter at Lawrence House, Alice seizes the excuse for a change of scene.
But what begins as a family gathering to welcome home the Dowager’s once-disgraced son ends in shock. Clarissa is discovered dead, her passing swiftly dismissed as a heart attack. Alice knows better. The Dowager had been afraid — and had trusted her to uncover the truth. Someone silenced her, but why? Was it to do with the announcement she made over dinner, or something even more dangerous?
Now everyone in the house is a suspect: the resentful heir, the returning prodigal, the mysterious guest with a too-familiar face. With her sharp-witted maid Maud, steadfast footman George, and her reluctant ally Lord Rushton at her side, Alice must act quickly. If the Dowager was murdered to keep her secrets buried, the killer will not hesitate to strike again.
The Dowager is dead. The clock is ticking. And the duchess is about to discover that country house parties can be murder.
Full of clever twists and a heroine who won’t give up until she finds out the truth, A Dowager is Done-in is the perfect escape for fans of historical mysteries wrapped in wit and warmth.
Helen has shared an extract from A Dowager is Done In with us today so you know what you have to do… grab that coffee, a biscuit, the comfortable chair and enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Manning Hall, November 1891. It’s six-months since Alice, Duchess of Stortford’s husband, Vance, died. She’s learning to manage things at Manning Hall, and she’s even started the school project she discussed with Vance before his death. The only thing is—she’s finding mourning is boring! But when a letter arrives from Clarissa, Dowager Countess of Romley, hinting at a troubling matter at her home in Hampshire, Lawrence House, and asking for Alice’s help, she should just say no shouldn’t she? And, of course, Aunt Cora has a strong view about Alice’s responsibilities…
*****
Fee clapped her hands. “How thrilling! She wants you especially.”
“Highly irregular,” Baxter muttered.
“Well, you cannot possibly go,” Aunt Cora declared, crossing her arms. “You’re only six months into your mourning period. A house party would be entirely inappropriate.”
“It’s hardly a house party, Aunt Cora,” Fee protested. “More of a family gathering. Alice is family through my marriage to Duncan.”
by NK Chats To… C.D Steele
Thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell me about your book, Hidden Truth and where we find Joe Wilde when the story begins?
Joe is in his office with potential new client Sylvia Graham, who wants Joe to investigate the disappearance of her daughter Julie. She had vanished six years prior, seemingly without a trace.
What are the challenges of writing a book series? What do you find most enjoyable about it?
I suppose the main challenge of writing a book in a series is being able to come up with an original plot. It needs to be different to the plots in the previous books, but at the same time not so different that it doesn’t feel part of the series.
What’s your typical writing day like? Do you have any writing rituals?
I have no particular writing rituals. I mostly write in the evenings during the autumn and winter months.
If you were putting together a playlist for this novel, which songs would you include?
by Book Review: The Three Witches By Elena Collins
I’m very excited to be welcoming Elena Collins to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, The Three Witches.
Now: When Ruthie gets the part of one of Macbeth’s famous three witches she can’t wait to get started. Inspired by the beauty of the film’s Scottish locations and the camaraderie of the cast and crew, she can leave behind the expectations of her family and her lacklustre love life, at least for now. But as echoes from the past begin whispering in Ruthie’s ear and a restless spirit draws her further into its centuries-old secrets, it soon becomes clear that only she can uncover the truth of a terrible injustice.
1050 Scotland: Isobel and her two sisters have learnt about healing from their loving mother Sidheag, and she in turn has kept them safe. But without the protection of their late father, Sidheag knows that her daughters must find husbands or their futures are at risk.
Isobel believes in love over duty and when she catches sight of King Macbeth’s stepson Lulach she can picture a happiness she had hardly dare imagine. But as heir to a Scottish throne that is drenched in blood, Lulach’s destiny is to be a warrior. When Isobel’s actions leave her and her sisters vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft there may be nothing that can keep the three women safe, not even the great Macbeth himself.
As the calls from the past grow ever louder, Ruthie has no choice. Macbeth’s witches have a story that needs to be told and the truth can no longer stay hidden…
*****
1050. Scotland. Isobel and her two sisters, Merraid and Ysenda are healers and midwives. As each of them grow and find love, the risks for their safety increase.
Present day – Ruthie gets an opportunity to be part of a documentary, playing one of Macbeth’s three witches. She sees the trip to Scotland as a chance to get away from the pressures of her life. However, she begins to see things that can’t possibly be real. Is she losing her mind or is someone trying to reach her?
A story of survival and love is fighting to be told.
by Book Review: Dragon Kin’s Blood By Jo Gatenby
I’m so pleased to be welcoming Jo Gatenby to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Dragon Kin’s Blood.
Who do you trust when you can’t go home?
After centuries of hiding themselves and their shifting abilities from outsiders, the Dragon Kin decide to send a delegation of “dragon riders” to a nearby Lowlander territory. Eager to see the world, young Lauran quickly volunteers. But not all Lowlanders can be trusted. As the visit comes to an end, Lauran finds herself trapped in her draconic form—and hunted by an evil warlock. Desperate to protect herself and her people, she flees along the Dragon Spine Mountains, away from friends and foes alike.
Meanwhile, the last place Jenny wants to be during her summer break from university is on a family vacation with her mother’s new husband and his young son, Davy. Hoping for some peace and quiet, she explores a nearby cave—only to stumble into a portal to the Kingdom of Galahar, a land of magic and mythological creatures.
As Jenny searches for Davy, who follows her through the portal, and Lauran struggles for freedom, they come together with the help of Nath, an apprentice shaman of the Anishinabe people. Between Jenny’s technology and Nath’s magic, can they help Lauran escape the warlock’s relentless pursuit before he gets his hands on the Dragon Kin’s blood?
*****
I have been a long time fan of fantasy. I have read many books which involve dragons in one guise or another; from rare and mysterious beasts to semi-organic war machines and I can honestly say that this is the first time I have encountered dragons in the way they are portrayed in this book. I won’t give it away, but let’s just say that the classic rider / dragon pairing is brought into question.
by Book Review: Blind Pursuit By Rob Sinclair
I am absolutely thrilled to be welcoming Rob Sinclair to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his new book, Blind Pursuit.
Callum Murphy thought he was happily married to a corporate consultant…
But when police show up at Callum’s work site, informing him of his wife Lea’s death – his world starts to crumble. And it turns out, her death was just the beginning…
Within a few hours, Callum is told that Lea was, in fact, an MI6 agent who was killed because of intelligence only she had, strangers with guns break into his home and he’s forced to run for his life. Thrust into a terrifying chase across Europe, Callum has to dodge British police and shadowy MI6 operatives who believe he knows more than he’s letting on. All the while trying to piece together the truth about his wife’s final mission.
But the deeper he digs, the more dangerous his situation becomes, forcing him to ask the ultimate question: Who did he marry, and can he trust anything she ever said to him?
*****
Callum loves his wife, Lea. However, when he is told she’s been killed overseas on what he believed to be a business trip, his world starts to unravel quickly. He soon learns that the woman he loved was someone he didn’t really know at all.
I was delighted to be welcomed onto the blog tour for Blind Pursuit, the latest novel by Rob Sinclair. Having not had a chance to read any of his previous books, I didn’t fully know what to expect. All I knew was that the premise sounded very engaging. And boy was it.
by A Moment With… Colin Garrow
It’s a pleasure to be welcoming Colin Garrow to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his latest novel, Overkill.
Edinburgh, Christmas Eve, 1936. A gruesome double murder. A white-faced killer. A mysterious stranger…
Still haunted by his recent past, Professor Finlay MacBeth is called in to assist the police following an horrific double murder. Traces of greasepaint and white cotton lead MacBeth and Inspector Callaghan to the Christmas Circus, but while they search for clues, someone else is watching them.
Meanwhile, bent cop Kilmartin still has MacBeth in his sights…
In this thriller series set in Edinburgh, Overkill is book #2 in the Finlay MacBeth series.
To talk to us about creating a series, it’s over to you, Colin.
Creating a new series is a bit of a challenge for any author – not only must you come up with a bunch of brand-new characters, but you also need to know where they live, what work they do and any interesting pasts they’ve had before appearing fully-formed in a new adventure. I’m not a plotter so never have any kind of outline to work from before I start writing. However, I do need to have a clear idea of the main character. With Metropolis, book one in the Finlay MacBeth series, I spent a lot of time working out who MacBeth might be, where he came from, what skills he might have and what (if any) issues might continue to throw up problems for him (such as being continually haunted by a dead man).
by Book Review: The Case of the Christie Curse By Kelly Oliver
It’s so wonderful to be welcoming Kelly Oliver to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, The Case of the Christie Curse.
Mesopotamia, 1930: When Agatha Christie invites fellow members of the Detection Club to witness the famous excavations at the ruins of Ur, Dorothy L. Sayers, her quick-witted assistant Eliza Baker, and Theo Sharp expect ancient wonders – not fresh corpses.
But when an archaeologist is found dead in the sand, whispers of a deadly curse sweep through the camp. Eliza suspects something far more dangerous than superstition. Amid glittering artifacts and fragile alliances, every guest harbors secrets: the Woolleys, whose marriage is shadowed by tragedy; a journalist hungry for scandal; even academic Max Mallowan, whose loyalties are not what they seem.
As theft, forgery, and coded messages surface, the line between archaeology and espionage blurs. And when Eliza and Theo find themselves in danger, they must face not only the truth about the murder – but also the truths they’ve long denied about each other. Can they uncover the killer before the desert claims another victim? Or will this dig unearth secrets too dangerous to survive?
*****
1930.
The Detection Club are called to assist their most famous member, Agatha Christie, in the deserts of Mesopotamia. The Queen of Crime has a strange feeling. When the team arrive, it isn’t long before superstition turns into murder. Can they figure out what is going on before anyone else gets hurt?
I was extremely excited to be invited onto the blog tour for The Case of the Christie Curse, the latest novel in the Detection Club series. Having devoured the previous novel, The Case of the Body on the Orient Express, I couldn’t wait to get started on book 3 of the series. I do thoroughly recommend this series as a whole, but this can be read as a standalone.
by Book Review & Giveaway: Escape To Seahaven Bay By Nicola May
We are pleased to be welcoming Nicola May to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Escape To Seahaven Bay.
The heartwarming new novel from the author of the million-copy bestselling Cockleberry Bay series.
Seahaven Bay has always been a place where the sparkling tides bring laughter, love and a lot of fun. But when Rita Jory’s beloved husband Archie dies in a tragic accident, she’s left alone on their failing Cornish farm with nothing but her grieving heart, a mountain of debt and some very badly behaved goats. Faced with selling the home she loves or finding a way to make it pay, Rita has a moment of desperate inspiration. She decides to transform her beloved Seahaven Farm into a place where broken souls can heal by the sea.
With help from her sharp-tongued mother-in-law, loyal best friend, daughter and new friends, the rundown farm soon blossoms into a haven of healing, creativity and community. Rita dares to believe her future might still shimmer with possibility – and even admits her growing attraction to Jago, the gorgeous neighbouring farmer with whom the Jorys had a decades-long feud.
But just as Rita begins to find peace, long-buried secrets about Archie’s past begin to surface, forcing her to question everything she believed about the life they built together.
Rita must discover the truth and decide if she’s ready to open her heart again – to love, to hope, and to the possibility that even after loss, life can still be full of surprises.
A tender, uplifting and hilarious tale of resilience, friendship and finding light in the darkest moments, perfect for fans of Jill Mansell, Jojo Moyes and Amanda Prowse.
*****
I’m delighted to be a part of the blog tour for Nicola May’s forthcoming book, ‘Escape to Seahaven Bay’.
Now, where to start? Seahaven farm is failing, as Rita finds life hard after the unexpected death of her husband. With her son rarely in contact and her daughter working away from home, Rita is getting to her wits end, with the possibility of losing the farm a real possibility. Through a change of direction for the farm, things begin to change, before a secret long buried makes things even worse.
by Book Extract: The Silent Resistance by Anna Normann
I’m excited to be welcoming Anna Normann to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for The Silent Resistance.
Occupied Norway, 1944. Anni endures the war alone, aiding the resistance while longing for news of her sailor husband. Her daughter, Ingrid, is her joy, and Anni is determined to keep her safe. But when a German official is billeted at their home, danger escalates, and Anni faces an agonising dilemma.
London, 1952. Ingrid has been trying to understand her mother’s mysterious disappearance at the war’s end. Clinging to Anni’s promise that she would always come back for her, Ingrid sets out to discover what happened all those years ago.
Grab that beverage of your choice and find that comfortable chair. Anna Normann has kindly shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
While people didn’t starve in Norway during the war, they went hungry and children were malnourished. No food could be imported, and the approximately 400.000 German soldiers stationed in Norway had first pick.
I grew up listening to stories about the food during the war. The rancid cod liver oil used for cooking, the turnip they fried in the oil, the salty herring. No butter, no sugar, no chocolate. I couldn’t even imagine how horrible that was.
Ingrid looked up from her dolly and teddy, who by now had arrived in China. ‘I’m hungry, mamma.’
‘Me too. I have potatoes and more potatoes. Would you like that?’ Anni said.
‘Can we fry the potatoes, mamma?’ Ingrid loved crispy potatoes, even those fried in cod liver oil.
by Book Review: Healing Hearts at the Forever Cottage by Jill Steeples
Please join me in welcoming Jill Steeples back to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her latest book, Healing Hearts at the Forever Cottage.
The winds of change are sweeping through the idyllic Cotswold village of Lower Leaping.
After a tumultuous few months, Tess Alexander is ready to welcome her first guests to The Garden Retreat, a beautiful lodge in the grounds of Hollyhocks Cottage.
With her daughter Hannah home from her travels in Australia and her mother, Marjorie, acting out of character, Tess has to juggle many demands on her attention. Even her flourishing relationship with dashing Rob Templeton is put to the test when he faces an emotional dilemma from his past and Barney, her beloved beagle, has her at her wits end.
Tess can weather most storms with the unbridling support of her close friends Dilly, Gina and Suzy but when a passing remark in the local pub causes her to question one of those friendships, she wonders who can she really trust?
Can Tess overcome the obstacles in her path to find the happy ending she truly deserves?
*****
Tess has begun to really settle into her life post separation from her husband. Her new relationship with Rob is going well, her daughter seems to be getting better after going through an ordeal and her beloved garden annexe is ready for its first guest. Is everything starting to go right or is there more upheaval around the corner?
It’s so marvellous to be back in Lower Leaping and Hollyhocks Cottage. This book is book two of the series. Having read book one, I couldn’t wait to escape into this gentle world that Jill Steeples has created. If this novel will be your introduction to this series, don’t fear. I felt that reading book one enriched book two, but both can stand alone.
by A Moment With… Rachel Debrave
It’s so wonderful to be welcoming Rachel Debrave to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Too Much to Hope For.
Scarlett Hope has found a surprising rhythm at Haddon House. Just months into life with Laird Edward Cameron-Reid, their chemistry is electric, and the future feels full of promise – but something inside her is stirring. She’s traded city charm for estate calm yet still feels caught between worlds.
Then Harry shows up. A famous music producer – and a blast from Scarlett’s past – he’s in town to film with a renowned band. His arrival is magnetic, disruptive, and the last thing she ever expected. Scarlett loves Edward, but Harry’s presence reawakens the version of herself she thought she’d left behind.
When Edward’s daughter announces she’s pregnant and moves in full-time, the pressure only grows. And when Scarlett meets Sophie, a young woman struggling to make a home for her unborn child, one small act of kindness turns into something far bigger – a project that might just change everything. But as tragedy strikes, Scarlett faces a deeper choice – not between two men, but between who she was and who she’s becoming.
Too Much to Hope For is a high spice, emotionally layered story of love, legacy, and identity – about staying rooted in love while growing into something more. Perfect for readers who loved the emotional fire of A New Hope in the Highlands, the small-town heart of Things We Never Got Over, and the soul-deep reckoning of After I Do.
Without further ado, it’s over to Rachel.
When Chemistry Isn’t Enough – Writing Spice Without Losing The Story.
Readers and writers talk a lot about “spice” at the moment. How much is too much. Whether it’s necessary. Whether it adds anything at all. As both a reader and a writer of romance, I find the conversation fascinating – and occasionally a little heated.
Because for me, the question isn’t really about how explicit something is. It’s about whether it matters.
I love chemistry. There’s nothing quite like that first charged exchange between two characters who just click. The dialogue sharpens. The air shifts. You can feel the pull before either of them admits it.
But chemistry on its own is easy.
What’s harder – and far more interesting – is asking what that chemistry is doing.
There’s a lot of conversation about ‘spice’ versus ‘smut’. I find it fascinating – and sometimes a little puritanical and/or judgemental – on either side of the fence. Some readers want closed-door romance. Others want very explicit, on-the-page intimacy. Neither is wrong, and let’s not yuk someone’s yum (as the cool kids are calling it!). But for me, the real question isn’t how graphic something is – it’s whether it means something.
by NK Chats To: A.M. Shine
Thank you so much for joining me today and for inviting Novel Kicks onto your blog tour. Grace is steeped in Irish mythology and Gothic horror—what inspired you to blend these elements in this story?
An unhealthy obsession with horror and history is probably to blame for this one. I’ve always enjoyed the notion that the old lore was inspired by very real fears, and that there are horrors still existing in Ireland that we’d be wise not to disturb. For centuries we were an island of storytellers, gift-wrapping these terrifying warnings as tales and rooting them to the land, not merely to spook the children, but to keep them safe.
Growing up in a small village in the west of Ireland, I knew which trees were fairy forts and best avoided. There was even a rock that’d apparently been a witch once upon a time, and on the darkest nights she could be seen travelling as a passenger in the backseat of your car. I believed the stories then, and I still respect them now. Grace was inspired by my love of the gothic and Ireland’s wonderful inheritance of horror, and I’m exceptionally proud to carry on that tradition in the twenty-first century.
The island in Grace is described as “isolated and wilfully forgotten.” How did you go about crafting such a haunting and atmospheric setting? Was it inspired by a real place?
I’ve wanted to set a novel on an island for years now, as I can’t imagine a setting more cruel and isolating than a lonely rock out in the ocean. To make it suitably inhospitable, I drew on my own experiences of Ireland’s unique and ofttimes bleak west coast. I also visited the Aran Islands and Inishbofin to get a real feel for the isolation first-hand and to test out the local pubs (for research purposes, of course). There’s a feeling to these communities that I really wanted to infuse into my writing, not only to craft the horror, but to also capture their stark beauty. And Croaghnakeela, where Grace takes place, is actually a real island. Nobody lives on it, thankfully, so I didn’t feel too bad when I invented its own horrible history. But who knows, maybe this novel will inspire a few adventurous horror fans to visit it someday. I’d be happy to tag along with them.
What draws you to horror as a genre, and what do you think makes a truly terrifying story?
by Book Review: The Resistance Knitting Club By Jenny O’Brien
Please join me in welcomin Jenny O’Brien to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, The Resistance Knitting Club.
Inspired by the true story of a woman who used knitting patterns to encode intelligence during World War Two.
Guernsey, 2010. After a stroke, an elderly woman shocks her family by speaking perfect French – a language they never knew she possessed. As her granddaughter unravels seventy years of silence, a hidden wartime story emerges…
Paris, 1941. After her brother is declared missing in action at Dunkirk, eighteen-year-old Lenny Gallienne vanishes into Churchill’s secret army. In a bookshop on Rue de la Pompe, she poses as a simple shop girl while encoding intelligence from Nazi headquarters into knitting patterns. Each sweater smuggled to prisoners contains flight paths. Each scarf holds radio frequencies. Each mistake means execution.
Fellow agent, Harry Dennison is the only person who knows her real name. But when the SS close in, Lenny faces an impossible choice in the Metro tunnels beneath Paris – one that will haunt her family for generations. Because in the resistance, the most dangerous secrets are the ones you keep from those you love most.
*****
It’s 2010. An elderly lady sits in a hospital bed and, out of nowhere, begins to speak French. This is a complete surprise to her family. It’s 1941, Lenny is grieving the loss of someone close to her. She decides to join the war effort by working at the war office. When this takes an unexpected turn, this will change the course of Lenny’s life forever.
I couldn’t be happier to be invited onto the blog tour for The Resistance Knitting Club. When I read the blurb for this book, there was something about this story that drew me to it.
by Book Review & Giveaway: Under a Southern Sky By Clare Flynn
It’s a joy to be welcoming Clare Flynn to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Under a Southern Sky.
After a German fighter sinks her husband’s ship in the icy Atlantic, grief-stricken Hannah Kidd flees the rubble and ration queues of wartime Liverpool for a new life on the other side of the world. In sun-soaked Sydney, she discovers more than just refuge from nightly bombing raids—she finds unexpected family connections, meaningful work, and the handsome Eddie Greenbank.
As Hannah explores the golden beaches of Sydney’s eastern shores, the misty valleys of the Blue Mountains, and the rolling scenery of the Hunter Valley, she begins to believe that happiness isn’t lost forever. But even in Australia, the war’s long shadow threatens everything she’s begun to rebuild. Hannah must decide: will she let grief define her, or will she fight for the future she never thought she’d have?
A sweeping story of resilience and renewal set against the dramatic backdrop of wartime Australia, Under a Southern Sky explores how far we must sometimes travel—both in miles and in spirit—to find our way home.
*****
Hannah has just moved to Australia at the beginning of World War II. Living in Sydney, she is doing what she can to take her mind off the recent death of her husband. She finds a job and a place to live but there is still something she needs to do – find her long lost Aunt. When she meets Eddie, her life will take a turn she couldn’t have predicted.
I do love myself a great historical novel and Under A Southern Sky was a book I looked forward to starting. This was the first book from Clare Flynn I’ve had the opportunity to read.
I am going to try and review without giving too much away.
by A Moment With… Lucy Kaufman
Lucy Kaufman is bringing the blog tour for The Heart-Shaped Box to Novel Kicks today. Welcome.
The page-turning psychological thriller novella about infatuation, revenge and the lengths we will go to for love.
“She pressed her nose gingerly to the glass, peering unblinking through the viscous liquid at her gift.”
Victorian, rural Sussex. When headstrong daughter of a rector, Constance Timothy, receives a flurry of gifts in pretty little boxes from the charming, smouldering student doctor Smith Williams, her whole family anticipates a future betrothal.
Yet beneath the exquisite pastel lids and satin bows lie macabre secrets that entice Constance into a private world of obsession and darkness, where morality becomes blurred, loyalties are tested and unthinkable acts are possible.
One secret will shake the genteel world she knows to the core…
The first book of The Carousel of Curiosities series, this haunting novella is perfect for readers of Sarah Waters, Laura Purcell, and Angela Carter.
To talk about how much she loves Novellas and why you might too, it’s over to you, Lucy.
Like many schoolkids in the UK, the first novella I read was Of Mice and Men. Short enough to read over a term in a classroom and engaging enough a story for even the most book-phobic child to be drawn into its emotional world, it’s obvious why Steinbeck’s 30,000-word masterpiece has become an all-time classic as well as a Literature syllabus perennial.
There are clues in that thin-spined book as to what makes a great novella: one strong storyline pushing forward to an inevitable climax and conclusion, unforgettable characters, vivid description that puts us right there with Lenny and George in Soledad, and an emotional tangle at its heart that has a deep sense of how things should go in an ideal world but – in this book at least – don’t.
I read recently how a novella is akin to other short forms such as flash, the short story and even poetry in that a novella cannot afford to waste a single word. For this reason, they may be short, but they are rich and refined, the good ones often polished to perfection like precious stones until they gleam.
by NK Chats To… Kathleen Jeffrey
Hi Kathleen. Thank you so much for joining us today and for bringing the blog tour for Katie’s Really Bad Day: A Story About Test Anxiety to Novel Kicks. What’s a detail, theme, or clue in your book that most readers might miss on the first read—but you secretly hope someone notices?
Empathetic, concerned faces of Katie’s teacher, Mom & Dad, and her classmates when Katie is upset. No one is making fun of her.
When did this story or idea “click” into place for you—was there a single moment you knew you had to write it?
During critique group sessions with a long manuscript, I discovered I actually had two books to write. The first became Katie’s Really Bad Day: A Story About Test Anxiety, to identify Katie’s character with school & test anxiety, which is based on my personal story I had to tell for authenticity. The second book will feature Katie once again and will be illustrated sometime this year.
Which character or real-life person surprised you the most while writing this book, and why?
Katie’s sidekick Finn turned out to be quite the entertaining cut up as well a very concerned and empathetic friend.
If your book had a soundtrack, what three songs would be on it and what scenes or moments would they pair with?
“Inside Out” by Michael Giacchino, (From joyful school yard to Katie’s sudden test anxiety.)
“When I Breathe” by Stephanie Leavell (Learning belly breathing with Miss Julie and later with the class.)
“When I’m Nervous” (A song for kids about overcoming anxiety.) Overall story wrap up. Would play at the end of the book.
What’s one belief, question, or emotional truth you hope readers carry with them long after they finish your book?
by A Moment With… Elaine Spires
We are saying hello to Wednesday and welcoming Elaine Spires as she brings the blog tour for her book, A Body in the Banjo to Novel Kicks.
It’s November 1958 and Dagenham is excitedly awaiting Bonfire Night. Cissie Partridge isn’t too keen on fireworks but she generously donates to the local children doing Penny for the guy. Cissie is content with her lot. She loves her husband Harold.
She shops, she cooks, she reads at every opportunity and she volunteers at the Dockland Settlement. Observant and sharp, she gets on with all her neighbours.
Then, one morning, she finds a body…
To tell us about more about The Body in the Banjo’s main character, Cissie, it’s over to you, Elaine.
Mrs Cissie Partridge
As a writer I have often struggled to classify my novels. Romance? Well… there is romance in them but they certainly don’t fall into the typical enemies-to-lovers or friends-to-lovers formats of most romantic novels. Contemporary Fiction? Some are. Sagas? Sort of. Women’s Fiction? Getting warmer! All of my books feature strong women. But all the years I have been writing there was one genre that I’d always wanted to attempt: cozy mysteries.
When I went to live in Spain as a 19-year-old holiday rep — or courier as we were known in those days — clients would often offer me their paperbacks when they were leaving. I’ve always been a voracious reader and I was extremely grateful for their generosity. Thus I discovered so many authors, Jackie Collins, Harold Robbins, Sidney Sheldon, Mario Puzo, Alistair Maclean to mention just a few. However, there was one author’s name I was always delighted to see on my gifted books: Agatha Christie.
I devoured her books and fell into every trap, followed every red herring as the Queen of Whodunnits totally blindsided me. I never once guessed who the murderer was. I’ve also watched all the TV Miss Marples over the years, my favourite being Geraldine McEwan and I must have seen every episode of David Suchet as Poirot a dozen times. From time to time over the years I would ask myself “Can I write a murder mystery?”
by Book Extract: The Last Adam By Ron Echols
Please join me in welcoming Ron Echols to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, The Last Adam.
Ron Echols’s The Last Adam tells a story where spiritual warfare unfolds alongside everyday life. What begins quietly soon gathers momentum, as hidden forces start influencing events with lasting consequences.
Mary Levitt’s pregnancy becomes the focal point of violent attacks and unexplained visions, revealing a prophecy feared by forces that have waited centuries to act. Her child represents a threat to an ancient balance.
Joseph Riesman’s involvement in a major development project exposes political manipulation and older powers operating beneath visible authority. What seems modern and rational soon gives way to something far more dangerous.
The sacrifice of the archangel Raphael exposes a war involving angels, fallen angels, and human collaborators working across time. Watched and hunted at every turn, Mary and Joseph confront betrayal and spiritual warfare while fighting to protect a life destined to change the world.
Ron has kindly shared an extract from The Last Adam with us today. We really hope you enjoy it.
*****beginning of extract*****
Prologue
Location: The Lunar Surface, Tranquility Base, southwestern corner of the Sea of Tranquility.
The moon hung motionless, like a dead thing in the void of space. Its pockmarked exterior reflecting the sun’s merciless glare and millennia of asteroids pummeling its surface. In that airless waste where humans had once taken a small step, the lunar dust lay since undisturbed, marked only by boot prints and machinery left behind.
Piercing through the silence of the void, a voice called out.
“Raphael!”
A brilliant white light erupted into existence, hovering above the moon’s surface like a tear in the fabric of space itself. The light intensified until it seemed to bend space around it, taking form. A figure of a man emerged. Behind him, the first suggestion of wings. Translucent, but appearing stronger than steel, they folded against his armor etched with ancient angelic symbols that seemed to move when viewed directly. Dark hair, wild and untamed accentuated his sapphire eyes and caressed his polished, glass-like skin.
The being that called itself Gabriel stood motionless on the lunar surface, its feet leaving no prints in the ancient dust. The face that poets had tried and failed to capture for millennia turned slowly, searching.
by Book Extract: Winter’s Season By R.J. Koreto
I am so pleased and excited to be welcoming R.J. Koreto to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his novel, Winter’s Season.
Winter’s Season by R.J. Koreto follows a man tasked with enforcing justice before the tools to define it exist. Through Captain Winter’s perspective, the story examines how authority operates when law is informal and accountability is selective.
In a city still shaped by war, Captain Winter serves as Whitehall’s “special emissary,” confronting crimes meant to be handled quietly. When a young woman is murdered, his investigation exposes connections that reach beyond the crime itself, binding privilege and violence together.
Winter’s path is shaped by uneasy reliance on others. A nobleman tied to his past opens doors to influence, while a wise Jewish physician brings careful observation to a world driven by rumor. The case grows more volatile with the return of Barbara Lightwood, a former lover whose intelligence and social access place her near dangerous truths. Her guarded involvement unsettles Winter at a critical moment.
As pressure mounts, Winter is forced to confront not only the crime, but the moral limits of his role in pursuing justice.
R.J. Koreto has kindly shared an extract with us today. We really hope you enjoy it.
*****beginning of extract*****
The captain said goodbye to his colonel and a few other officers, and the butler saw him out. He walked to the nearest stand and engaged a hackney cab to Bow Street Court. A few heads turned as he entered the building, but no one accosted him. A clerk gave him the barest nod but said nothing as he entered a room.
A few minutes later, the captain came out. He was no longer in his regimentals, but in rather shabby outfit, almost rural, with a slouch hat. Down the hall, he entered another room, where a squad of Bow Street Runners awaited—constables, employed by the local court at Bow Street, to keep order and seize felons. Winter suppressed a grimace. They were poorly trained and poorly paid, but it was pretty much all London had for law enforcement. Many still thought the idea of a formal professional constabulary too much government interference—too un-English. So, the Runners would have to do. At least they were willing and obedient.
“We have already gone over where you should be standing,” said the captain. “You know how important it is you aren’t seen.” There was more than instruction in his voice—there was menace.
“Yes, sir,” said the most senior constable present.
“Then take your places. I’ll be along shortly.”
by Book Extract: Under Vixens Mere By Kit Fielding
I’m so excited to be welcoming Kit Fielding to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, Under Vixens Mere.
If poor Harry Jones hadn’t lowered himself into the water one freezing winter’s night, a long-buried secret would never have come to the surface.
If …
Big Ed and Milly had been able to have children,
Karen hadn’t longed for love and romance,
Lorrie hadn’t finally ditched Petra,
Dinah hadn’t found out the truth about Barry,
Jed hadn’t dealt drugs and got Anna pregnant,
Carl Thomson hadn’t come looking for him,
and Moses hadn’t heard the commotion …
then there would be no story of Vixens Mere to tell.
There’s a chance to win some books below but first, Kit has shared an extract from Under Vixens Mere with us today. Grab that beverage and the blanket. Find that comfortable chair and enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
The tenuous trail that brought them to Vixens Mere begins when Big Ed and Milly the Mystic wake up together in his roughly converted Transit van at the Reading Festival in the August of 1978. They’re on a lumpy and rather grubby mattress in the back of the vehicle and it must be about ten o’clock when Big Ed rolls himself over onto his back and encounters the soft prone body of Milly the Mystic. He yawns, looks at her curiously and says, ‘You been here all night?’
She says, ‘I think so.’
Big Ed studies her a bit more. ‘What do they call you then?’
‘Milly.’
She sits up, notices that her breasts are bare, lifts the covers, peeps down further at her naked nether regions. She looks at Ed, a question knitting her brow.
‘Did we …?’ she begins.
‘Must have, I suppose.’ Big Ed looks appreciatively at her breasts. ‘But we could make sure.’
by Book Extract: The Vision Board By Siobhan Murphy
Please join me in welcoming Siobhan Murphy to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, The Vision Board.
Two best friends. Two one-way tickets. And a future that might just surprise them.
Bex and Amy are best friends and total opposites. Bex is cynical, Amy is romantic. Bex is chaotic, Amy is organised. With the prospect of turning 34 just around the corner, neither is where they expected to be at this point in their lives.
Bex is exploring her sexuality and has a string of failed relationships, while Amy is newly single and desperate to fall in love. Armed with a photographic vision board of the future, Bex and Amy put their trust in ‘The Universe’ and fly from London to Bali, then on to Australia in search of adventure, cocktails on the beach and maybe even love.
Almost immediately, Amy finds someone who is the perfect fit for her dream life. While Bex is stuck playing double dates with his best friend, the most pompous man she has ever met, but also one of the hottest. Travelling via white sand beaches, lush rainforests and road trips through idyllic scenery, the images on their vision board begin to transform into reality.
However, people are not always what they seem, and first impressions are not always accurate. Add in a queer, charismatic love interest and a vindictive ex-girlfriend, and the path of true love begins to get a little more complex.
When ‘The Universe’ has its own agenda, is it possible to manifest a happy ever after?
An Enemies to Lovers destination romance with a sprinkling of Pride and Prejudice vibes.
Siobhan has kindly shared an extract with us today. Grab that beverage, find that comfortable chair. We hope you enjoy reading.
(Warning: Mild Language.)
*****beginning of extract*****
This section is the opening to the book. I hadn’t planned to write a romantic comedy but was woken up at 3 am with the character of Bex in my head, telling me about a bingo game. I had no choice but to drag myself out of bed, head to the sofa with a blanket, a cuppa and my laptop and find out exactly what she was banging on about. That is how ‘The Vision Board’ began.
*****
Amy and I are playing ‘Airport Bingo’, and we’ve just ticked ourselves off the list. ‘Get in.’ I shout, striking a flamboyant line through the words, loud, irritating girls who are already drunk, even though it’s first thing in the morning.
The bingo game is a ‘keep Amy calm’ tactic (along with the alcohol I insisted on buying at 6 am). Only one bar was open in the Departures area at that time of the morning. Dark, generic, and utterly soulless, the staff radiated either boredom or abject misery. Anything approaching even basic customer service had left the building. A pungent-smelling lad in a stained apron took our order begrudgingly. One glance at him made me doubt the high star rating on the bar’s hygiene certificate, so I went for liquid refreshments only. Amy was too nervous to eat, and I’d learned from bitter experience that long-haul flights and questionable food standards are a risky combination. The waiter dumped the G&Ts and the bottle of Prosecco unceremoniously on the table, then returned to his position behind the bar. Elbow propped on the counter, face slumped on his hand, his expression that of a semi-comatose hospital patient.
by NK Chats To… Caroline James
Hi Caroline. Thank you so much for inviting Novel Kicks onto your blog tour!
Thank you so much for inviting me to join you and your wonderful followers on your lovely blog. I do hope that you all enjoy my new novel, The Arctic Cruise.
Can you tell us about The Arctic Cruise and what inspired it?
I’ve always dreamed of seeing the Northern Lights, so when the chance arose to take a winter cruise to Norway, it felt like the perfect opportunity—and irresistible research for a new story. The fjords were breathtaking, with snow-capped mountains rising above icy waters, and the atmosphere was completely magical. As we sailed beyond the Arctic Circle, the idea for The Arctic Cruise began to take shape: a story about two people drawn together aboard the ship, while the lives of other passengers subtly and unexpectedly intertwine with theirs, shaping a journey none of them will ever forget.
What were the best and most challenging parts of writing this novel?
The most rewarding part was exploring the emotional connection between Henry and Joy as their chemistry grew and obstacles intensified. Portraying those vulnerable moments—where attraction, doubt, and hope collide—was satisfying. The biggest challenge was ensuring those emotions resonate with readers and keep them invested in the characters and story, which demands honesty and careful crafting.
What’s your typical writing day like? Do you have any writing rituals?
I start each day with coffee, then answer correspondence and check social media before working on my novel. My target is 2,000 words a day; reaching that gives me a strong sense of accomplishment.
How do you approach the planning, writing, and editing processes?
I tackle planning, writing, and editing with discipline. I honour my publishing deadlines and treat writing as both a profession and a passion by refining my work to its best and marketing it effectively.
What comes first for you, plot or characters?
Plot comes first. I visualise and research the setting, then add characters to fit the story.
What kind of scene do you find the hardest to write?
Emotional scenes at a character’s most vulnerable moments are the hardest, requiring complete honesty and authenticity on the page. Achieving this is a challenge I strive to meet every time.
What are you currently working on?
by Book Review & Giveaway: The Croatian Island Library By Eva Glyn
Please join me in welcoming Eva Glyn to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, The Croatian Island Library.
Where books are borrowed, and friendships are forged…
When her beloved grandfather dies, Ana Meštrović buys a catamaran in his memory, which she names Dida Krila – Grandad’s Wings.
For the summer months, it will be transformed into a travelling library, delivering books to children living across the Croatian islands.
Joined by crew members Natali, a young mechanic afraid of her own shadow, and Lloyd, an older widower who needs a fresh start, the newly-formed trio all have their own reasons for needing the floating library to be a success.
Embarking on an adventure that will change them for good, they each discover that a new chapter is only a boat ride away…
*****
Ana is a woman who is living with guilt when it comes to family expectations. Lloyd is trying to run from grief after the loss of his wife. Natali is a young woman who is fearful of many things and hides from the world.
These three different people are due to come together for one summer. Can they help each other find what they’re missing, are looking for and have lost? Can the power of books bring them together?
I am pleased to be welcoming Eva Glyn back to Novel Kicks. Despite featuring this author previously, The Croatian Island Library is the first of her books I’ve read.
by Book Extract: Assassins By Mike Bond
I’m excited to be welcoming Mike Bond to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, Assassins.
Night drops, covert deals, and consequences that stretch across decades form the backbone of Assassins by Mike Bond. The novel opens the door to a world where intelligence missions rarely end when the operation does, and where personal history becomes inseparable from global conflict.
Jack is a CIA operative sent into the shadows of America’s longest and most complicated conflicts. His work begins with covert missions supporting resistance fighters and expands into intelligence operations shaped by terrorism, retaliation, and shifting political priorities. Along the way, personal bonds formed under humanitarian cover refuse to stay separate from his professional life.
As alliances shift and former partners reemerge as future threats, Jack is repeatedly drawn back into conflicts he helped set in motion. Militants he once trained resurface years later, and decisions made in secrecy return with devastating consequences. Spanning more than three decades, Assassins follows a man caught inside the machinery of covert war, where victory is never clean and the past never truly stays buried.
Mike has kindly shared an extract from Assassins with us today. We hope you enjoy it.
*****beginning of extract*****
An Evening in Paris
November 2015
IT WAS WARM for mid-November. They sat on the terrace of a little restaurant. Anyplace in France, she said, how wonderful the food, the delicious wine, the gentle harmony of others there for love, food, friendship, ideas, freedom, the joys of life.
They had been through the wars together, fallen in love amid the hail of bullets and thud of explosions in cities drenched with blood. Knowing, as the cliché put it, any moment could be their last.
It gave an intensity to love, that this person dearer to you than life itself could be extinguished at any instant. Someone you cherished so completely, composed of neurons, cells, muscles, bone, tissue and memories, could be blown apart, riddled with bullets, any second.
“I love you so much,” she said. “But I think I love you even more in Paris.”
by Book Extract & Giveaway: The Colletta Cassettes By Bruno Noble
Please join me in welcoming Bruno Noble to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, The Colletta Cassettes.
Liguria, Italy. Summer 1978.
The Kentish family are on holiday in idyllic medieval village of Colletta. Sixteen-year-old Sebastian is smitten with Rosetta, the hotel cleaner and waitress, much to his snobbish mother’s dismay, while his younger brother and their fellow hotel guests are obsessed by the World Cup, hosted by the murderous military junta in Argentina.
The boys’ father, Peter Kentish, has very different motivations for the trip. An investigative journalist, he spends much of his time interviewing a mysterious American, a disillusioned ex-CIA agent.
As Kentish uncovers the shocking extent of Operation Gladio, he delves into some of Italy’s darkest secrets. Darker still is the involvement of the USA. Those complicit will do anything to ensure that the truth is buried. For good.
There’s a chance to win a stack of 5 Inkspot books below but first, Bruno has shared an extract from The Colletta Cassettes. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Sebastian, aged 16, is on holiday in Liguria, Italy with his parents and his brother in 1978. He is intensely attracted by Rosetta, who works at the hotel as a waitress and chambermaid, much to his mother’s disapproval.
*****
Sebastian heard the door open and there stood Rosetta, with a broom and her mop and her basket again. Against the light, she resembled an Amazon, clutching spears and a shield.
‘Hello,’ he said, resisting the impulse to stand, recalling his mother’s instruction that one stands for a lady but not for a servant.
‘I’ve come to clean,’ she said.
She wore cut-off denim shorts and a blue and white striped man’s shirt rolled up at the arms and tied around her waist.
‘You’re holding it upside down,’ said Rosetta, indicating his book with a nod.
Furiously embarrassed, Sebastian turned the book the other way only to find that he’d been holding it the right way up to begin with.
‘Very funny,’ he said righting the book immediately, now just furious.
Rosetta laughed. ‘So,’ she said and ran her tongue across her top lip, ‘your mother is an artist, your father is a writer and you’re a reader.’
‘What do you know about my father?’ asked Sebastian with interest.
Rosetta shrugged. ‘I saw him yesterday. Everyone is by the pool and he’s there with his typewriter. And you’re here with your book.’
That had been said rather contemptuously, Sebastian felt. ‘And what do you do? When you’re not – working?’ He’d intended to say ‘cleaning’ but he’d been afraid he’d sound like his mother.
She shrugged again.
‘Don’t you have any hobbies?’
‘I fight.’ That was said nonchalantly.
‘You fight?’ Sebastian couldn’t keep the note of astonishment from his voice.
by NK Chats To… Thomas Roehlk
Hello Thomas. Thank you so much for joining me today. What sets your book, Fire Feud, apart from others in your genre?
I consider my genre as thriller, with the sub-genre of legal thriller. I have much respect for women in the corporate law world, and I believe my work shines a light on this type of character in the crowded world of thrillers.
What’s your favorite compliment you’ve received as a writer?
My favorite was from a review I received on my first book, Red Deuce. It was “Red Deuce shows the author’s behind-the-scenes understanding of how corporations work, making it seem all too credible. The plot keeps you guessing until the very end. Just when you think you’ve figured it all out, he throws another curveball that leaves you eagerly flipping pages to uncover the truth.”
Why did you choose this setting/topic?
Choosing Chicago as a setting provides an amazing city with amazing history, and therefore amazing opportunities to build stories. My protagonist is a study in contrasts. She finds herself unable to poke the beast until it reveals its web of intrigue and illegality, and the story of intermingled crime and espionage allows the protagonist to push herself into solving the mystery.
Which author(s) most inspired you?
by Book Review: The Locked Room By Holly Hepburn
Please join me in welcoming Holly Hepburn to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her lateset book, The Locked Room.
Join Harriet White in 1930’s London for another glorious Sherlock Holmes-inspired mystery, for fans of Nita Prose and Janice Hallett.
After a very close call on the Norfolk Fens, Harriet White is about ready to hang up her deerstalker and settle back into her normal life, working in a bank on Baker Street. Until she discovers a letter in The Times newspaper challenging Sherlock Holmes to prove his status as the world’s greatest detective, by solving an impossible mystery. The letter, signed Professor James Moriarty, advises Holmes that the crime will be committed within the following seven days. There will be no further clues – Holmes himself must deduce which crime is the correct one to investigate.
Dismissing the letter as a prank, Harry goes about her business until news breaks of the theft of valuable jewel collection from a safe in an apparently locked room in a Mayfair townhouse.
Intrigued in spite of her misgivings, Harry dons a disguise and investigates. But as she begins to unpick the puzzle, a body is found. And now, a stranger, and far more deadly mystery begins to unfold around her…
*****
Harry White takes her job as Secretary to Sherlock Holmes seriously. However, when a seemingly real challenge set by Holmes’ nemesis, Moriarty is laid down, it’s not long before Harry is pulled into a potentially dangerous game.
Having read the premise for this book, I jumped at the chance to be part of the blog tour. I couldn’t wait to get started.
by Book Review: Celebrations at the Beach Hotel By Francesca Capaldi
Please join me in welcoming Francesca Capaldi back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, Celebrations at the Beach Hotel.
Sisters Alice and Annie have always been close but will a man come between them?
Annie and Alice love their life working at the Beach Hotel together and each is thrilled to have finally found a sweetheart. Yet the path of true love never did run smooth, and they soon find themselves facing conflict and strife. Could love come between them and the bond they share?
Meanwhile, as men start to come home from the war, the women have to work out how to keep their jobs, although they are delighted to be back with their beaus. Soon, wedding bells ring out in Littlehampton.
Will everything be made right in time for Christmas?
*****
It’s a pleasure to be taking part in the blog tour for the latest novel in Francesca Capaldi’s Beach Hotel series.
Even though we’ve featured this series before, it’s my first review. I am not sure how that’s happened. This is book six in the series. Although I felt that reading previous novels would enrich my experience of this book, I didn’t feel that I had missed any important information so it can be read as a standalone.
by Book Extract: The Viking She Shouldn’t Crave By Sarah Rodi
Please join me in welcoming Sarah Rodi to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, The Viking She Shouldn’t Crave.
A spicy, forbidden love Viking romance
Their forbidden tryst…
Is treason!
Helena’s spent her life preparing to be the Byzantine Prince’s bride. But when his cruel disinterest turns her position perilous, she finds salvation in fierce warrior Viggo. As the Prince’s personal guard, he knows her betrothed like no other. Could Viggo help her win his affections?
Only, Helena swiftly discovers the man she craves is not her husband-to-be…but thrillingly rugged Viggo! To act on their desires would be committing treason. Getting caught could be fatal. And yet, resisting their illicit connection feels like a fate worse than death…
Sarah has kindly shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
The Viking She Shouldn’t Crave is set in 10th century Constantinople, where skilled Viking warriors fought for emperors in return for great riches, and the royal princes picked their wives at bride shows.
The story begins when the bishop’s daughter, Helena, is chosen at the bride show. Prince Marianos must marry to sire an heir, and Helena must wed to save her family from financial ruin, but during their first moments alone, the prince’s charming façade drops, and Helena’s ideas of a romantic union are shattered.
She is surprised when his Varangian commander, Viggo, is kind to her, despite his belief that she is marrying the prince for wealth and status.
In this scene, Helena has snuck out of the palace and gone to Viggo’s home to ask for his help to win over the prince’s affections. But she soon discovers it is not the prince’s heart, but that of his right-hand man she cares about, but any attraction between them is forbidden, and Viggo must resist temptation – he needs the wedding to take place to receive his coin and help his pregnant sister…
*****
‘I wanted to talk to you about the Prince,’ she said, wringing her hands. ‘You’ve seen what it’s like. He has chosen to distance himself from me and there’s just days to go until the wedding.’ She paced away, towards a large ornate mirror. She was distracted by her reflection. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes bright and her hair had come loose from her braids after wearing that helmet, tendrils framing her face. ‘Zoe has told me I need to rectify the situation, yet Marianos won’t let me near him to see or speak to him.’
‘I’m sure he will come round,’ he said. But then he frowned. ‘Unless… Are you saying you want to break off the engagement?’
by Book Extract: A Brotherly Devotion By Jill Bray
Please join me in welcoming Jill Bray to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, A Brotherly Devotion.
YORK 1224: On a hot July night, Brother Clement is savagely murdered when returning from administering to Lady Maud de Mowbray.
Simon de Hale, Sheriff of Yorkshire, is in his office when Abbot Robert visits to inform him of the murder, and request that he take responsibility for investigating the killing.
Simon is unsure whether the murder is a crime against the Abbey, or if it is a more personal matter against the monk.
Commencing their investigation, Simon and his deputy, Adam, ride out to see Lady Maud de Mowbray at Overton – the last person to see Brother Clement alive. When they encounter her son, Roger de Mowbray, they both take an instant dislike to him.
Lady Mowbray reveals to Simon that she intends to leave her money to the Abbey, and Simon can see this being a motive for the monk’s murder, if her son was aware of this.
The investigation gathers pace and a murder weapon is found.
A banquet is held at the castle to honour the Royal Justice – during which, one of the guests is exposed as the murderer and apprehended. But that will not be the end of the story for Simon and his family.
Jill has shared an extract from A Brotherly Devotion with us today. We hope you enjoy it.
*****beginning of extract*****
This extract is taken from Chapter 5 when Alexander visits Simon to ask for Katherine’s hand in marriage, only to be told that Simon has already promised her to Lord Fitzwarren and has received the King’s approval for the match.
*****
“Alexander, it is good to finally meet you. My daughter Katherine has told me about you.”
Alexander looked up expectantly and a little surprised. “So, you know why I am here then?”
Simon nodded. “Katherine spoke with me last evening.” He was about to continue when Alexander interrupted.
“So, you will know that I love her very much.” He began eagerly, his blue eyes sparkling and clearly nervous. “I have spoken with my own father, and he is agreeable to the marriage. I can assure you that I will take care of her and provide for her. After we are married, we will live with my family to start with, but in time I am hoping to renovate one of the properties on my father’s estate.”
Simon admired Alexanders’ enthusiasm, but he held up his hand to stop him from continuing. He had to put an end to this now, before it went too far. The last thing he wanted was to lead Alexander into thinking there was any chance of him marrying Katherine.
by Book Extract & Giveaway: Poole of Light By RJ Verity
I’m delighted to be welcoming RJ Verity to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Poole of Light, book one in The Poole Legacy.
A coal-mining town. A flicker of light. A boy who dreams of more.
Spennymoor, 1913. When ten-year-old Jem Poole sees a moving picture for the first time, it ignites a spark. Raised in a northern coal-mining town marked by grief and hardship, he begins to dream of more than soot and survival. He dreams of light.
Through war, reinvention, and the golden age of British cinema, Jem rises to national success, building a legacy of silver screens and stories that define a generation. But when a figure from his past reappears, long-buried memories resurface, and he must confront the truth of the life he has built – and the memories that never let go.
Set against the backdrop of twentieth-century Britain, Poole of Light is a richly layered historical debut about ambition, identity, and the stories that shape us.
Perfect for readers who enjoy:
- Character-driven historical fiction with emotional depth
- Coming-of-age novels set in 20th-century England
- Themes of legacy, reinvention, and quiet redemption
- Authors like Jo Baker, Kristin Hannah, Amor Towles and Anthony Doerr
We have a chance for you to win a limited edition copy of Poole of Light but first, RJ Verity has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
INTRO
In this scene, Jem sets out with a simple, determined goal: to earn enough money to buy a ticket to see a moving picture. What he encounters instead is a painful lesson in class and belonging. Moving from shop to shop, Jem discovers that opportunity is not equally available to everyone, and the invisible boundaries of his town begin to reveal themselves. Yet even in the face of rejection, his resilience drives him forward – until he reaches the final shop on the street, where a very different kind of conversation unfolds. This moment marks the beginning of his fight for a future beyond the limits others place on him.
*****
Jem starts his quest at the far end of Whitworth Terrace. He is standing in front of a grand, two-storey building boasting full length glass displays on the ground floor, and tall arched windows above. Coats of arms and flags punctuate the front pillars in alternate fashion. The main entrance is a double brass swing-door, framed with shiny dark wood, above it the words Spennymoor Co-operative Society in gold lettering. He’s never been inside before, but Daisy says it’s as posh as St Paul’s Church. Trust her to know.
The glass door is heavy and he gives it a hard push. Inside, a whiff of sweet citrus fills the brightly lit hall. Smartly dressed shop assistants stand behind neatly arranged counters and – as it’s still early and with only a few customers present – all attention turns to him. He looks down at his scuffed boots and Archie’s jacket and trousers that are two sizes too big. It would be easier to turn and leave, but his desire to get a job and buy a ticket to see a moving picture is greater. He pats down his hair, holds his shoulders back and walks forward, facing straight ahead, glancing nervously from one assistant to the next. He spots a kind-looking middle-aged lady, smiling as she folds squares of fabric, and approaches her.
‘Hello, Ma’am.’
She glances up, her eyebrows rising as quickly as her smile vanishes.
‘I’m …’ He clears his throat. ‘I’d like a job, Ma’am.’
by Book Review: Tomorrow Starts Today by Jessica Redland
I’m so excited to be welcoming Jessica Redland back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, Tomorrow Starts Today.
It’s never too late to find yourself… 💫
When she unexpectedly loses her husband, Yvonne Kellerman’s world turns quiet and grey. Five years on, her days are filled with the gentle chatter of her loyal parrot, Trevor, and the comfort of her crafting table—but she can’t shake the feeling that life is slipping her by and Yvonne feels lost and lonelier than ever.
When she joins the local crafting club at Willowdale Village Hall, Yvonne expects nothing more than a few afternoons of sewing. Instead, amongst the other local crafters, she discovers friendship, laughter and a renewed appreciation for her gorgeous Lake District home. It’s a reminder that she isn’t alone and, with each new stitch, her confidence returns, and so does her belief that it’s never too late for fresh starts and new beginnings.
When a familiar face from her past reappears, Yvonne finds herself standing at a crossroads: will she protect her heart, or embrace the chance to love—and truly live—again?
*****
It’s been five years since Yvonne lost her husband, Cliff. Since then, she’s been going through the motions with only her patchwork quilting and her Parrot for company. When she spots a Cake & Crafts club advertised in the local newsletter, she takes a chance and decides to go. WIll this one decision change Yvonne’s life or will she lose her nerve?
I have made no secret of the fact that I love Jessica Redland’s novels and was not disappointed with her latest release, Tomorrow Starts Today.
My first impression of Yvonne is that she needs a big hug. Despite it being being five years since she lost her husband, she is still greiving and this subject is approached with care and the author shows that the process isn’t linear.
by Book Club
