Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: The Sound Only You Can Hear
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing flash fiction prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Don’t edit, just write. Once you’re done, you’re welcome to share in the comments but there’s no obligation.
Today’s prompt – The Sound Only You Can Hear.
For the past week, you’ve been hearing a faint humming sound that no one else can perceive—not your friends, family, or doctor. It’s constant but varies in pitch depending on where you are.
Today, you traced it to its source: it’s coming from inside your own body.
When you finally figure out what it is, you realize you have to make an impossible decision about whether to tell anyone or keep it secret.
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 Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: The Lighthouse Keeper’s Secret
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing flash fiction prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Don’t edit, just write. Once you’re done, you’re welcome to share in the comments but there’s no obligation.
Today’s prompt – The Lighthouse Keeper’s Secret
You inherit your grandmother’s remote lighthouse on a rocky peninsula, expecting a quiet retirement project. But on your first night, you discover a hidden room beneath the lamp chamber—one that doesn’t appear on any blueprints.
Inside, you find dozens of journals dating back decades, all written in your grandmother’s hand. The entries describe strange lights appearing in the fog offshore, always on the same night each month. The final entry, dated three weeks ago, reads simply: “They’re coming back. I won’t be here to guide them this time. Will you?”
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 Club
