Book Review: Honeybee Cottage by K.T. Dady
The last time Joey Walker watched Josh Reynolds leave Pepper Bay was three years ago.
She decided there and then that the next time he visited she would never in a million years, even if her life depended on it, sleep with him ever again. She was done with secretly being in love with him. She couldn’t keep falling into his arms every time he was around. Josh was never going to see her as anything more than a holiday fling, or a sure thing. She had made her decision and had happily stuck to it, but only because he wasn’t around. She soon realises just how hard keeping him at arm’s length actually is when he unexpectedly turns up just before Christmas.
Josh had always loved Joey, but he knew she never took him seriously. She had no reason to. Growing up, he only went to his grandmother’s family home in Pepper Bay for the summer. As an adult, he knew that the world viewed him as a playboy heir to his grandfather’s millions. This year, he was determined to prove just how reliable he could be. He was back, and on a secret mission to get Joey to fall in love with him, because she was all he had ever wanted.
*****
Joey hasn’t seen Josh since the last time he left Pepper Bay three years ago.
That’s when she decides that she’s no longer going to sleep with him ever again.
She’s also done being in love with him. She’s done with simply being his holiday fling whenever he decides to float into town.
Out of sight, out of mind makes this easier but her resolve is tested when Josh returns just before Christmas.
Josh loves Joey but she sees him as nothing more than a friend. She doesn’t take him seriously.
He’s determined to show how serious he is about her because she’s all he ever wanted.
Oh it’s December. I love Christmas settings in novels, especially at this time of year.
This is book two in the Pepper Bay series. When I pick up a series without reading the previous novels, in this case, Starlight Cottage, I always worry that I’m not going to know what’s going on. Not the case with this. It can be read as a standalone.
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Book Review: The Cold Killer by Ross Greenwood
It’s hard to live when you think you deserve to die…
When a tired old inmate is found dead in his cell, the prison is obligated to investigate and so DI Barton attends. The men he interviews have been convicted of some of the worst things a human being can do, but it appears likely that the death was due to natural causes.
When the house of the dead man is burgled and that crime is followed by a suspicious fire, Barton desperately needs to speak to his widow, but she’s nowhere to be found.
In the space of twenty-four hours, everyone he wants to talk to has vanished. Then he receives some post which makes him believe he could be the next to disappear.
Barton’s investigation goes full circle, through a series of brutal murders, back to the prison, and all signs are pointing to the fact that he’s made a terrible mistake.
There’s a violent killer on the loose, who wants everyone to learn that some people deserve to die.
*****
DI Barton has been called to the prison. An elderly inmate has been found dead in his cell. It looks like natural causes…or was it?
Soon, DI Barton and his team are in a race against the clock. DI Barton could be facing more danger than he realises especially as the person they are seeking believes that some people deserve to die.
This was my introduction to DI Barton and his team. The premise for this book intrigued me. It very much had a Line of Duty, gritty feel to it, so I was excited to be invited onto the blog tour for this novel.
The narrative is split between DI Barton and a man known throughout as ‘The Cold Killer.’ I liked how this was done, especially as I didn’t know the identity of the man but knew it must have been someone I had met. This added to the suspense and tension that built well as the story progressed. I had fun trying to piece it together.
It didn’t feel as though there were any slow parts in this book. The pace moves along really well.
by NK Chats To… Julie Stock
Hi Julie. It’s a pleasure to welcome you to Novel Kicks today. Thank you for inviting me on your blog tour. Can you tell me about your novel, A Leap of Faith at the Vineyard in Alsace and what inspired it?
A Leap of Faith at the Vineyard in Alsace is the third and final book in my Domaine des Montagnes trilogy set on a vineyard in France. Each book has told the story of two characters and their search for their happy ending. This final book tells the story of Ellie and Henri. She’s afraid of commitment to one person and Henri longs to settle down.
Originally, the series was inspired by my love of all things French, and the fact that I had spent some time working for a mail-order wine merchant earlier in my career. So this seemed like a perfect setting for a romance series. I also wanted to choose a part of France that isn’t so well-known, but whose wines I knew quite a lot about. I then decided to devote each book to one pair of characters and tell a new story each time, while still allowing myself to update readers with what the other characters had been doing.
What’s your typical writing day like?
As I’m a full-time author now, I try to be quite disciplined when I’m writing, making sure that I always do my words every day. I write about 10,000 words a week and try to keep my writing work to weekdays only. As an indie author, everything is down to me, of course, so I also make time for reading and some marketing work every day.
What are the challenges you found when writing your novel? Was it always going to be part of a series?
The biggest challenge with this latest novel was the timeline because it takes place in the lead up to and beyond Christmas. At first I hardly mentioned Christmas because I didn’t want it to be a Christmas book as such, just for Christmas to feature in it. But after some feedback, I added more in about Christmas and had to get to grips with a calendar to make sure that each month had the right number of days!
It was always going to be a trilogy at least, although I have wondered about extending it to become a series, but I think it might be better to leave my characters as they are and just imagine them on the vineyard from time to time.
From idea to finished book, what’s your writing process like and how long does it typically take?
by Book Review: Sisters Behaving Badly by Maddie Please
Sisters Kitty and Jenny haven’t spoken since a very disappointing Carvery lunch. Kitty, sixty-two, thinks Jenny is turning grey. Jenny, sixty-six, thinks Kitty needs to grow up!
So when both sisters inherit a farmhouse in rural France, it gives them the perfect chance to heal the rift between them. Except the farmhouse is a wreck, the garden is terrorized by a flock of chickens, not to mention a donkey with a serious flatulence problem!
Kitty is determined to enjoy herself, especially when she meets gorgeous French builder, Leo. Ooh la – la! And Jenny finds the fully stocked wine cellar helps enormously with missing horrible husband Paul – hic!
And as the two sisters begin to repair their fragile friendship, they discover that being bad is actually very good for the soul.
*****
Kitty has not spoken to nor seen her older sister, Jenny in a while.
So, when they both inherit a farmhouse in rural France, they are given time to hopefully heal their relationship.
They may well just discover that being bad… isn’t bad.
This is the first novel I’ve read by Maddie Please. Having read the premise for this book, I was excited to be invited onto the blog tour.
I loved the setting for this story. I could see the house and surrounding area from the way it’s described. It sounds stunning. I imagined it like Colin Firth’s Garden in Love Actually.
I liked that these ladies were in their sixties and were still having fun. I think it makes them very relatable. As sisters, even as adults, both of them know exactly what buttons to press.
Kitty is very easy to love. She’s a fun character who wears her heart on her sleeve and takes things as they come, even if it means jumping into situations without thinking.
Jenny was a little harder to get to know and therefore, it took me longer to warm to her. She’s a little shy and reserved and therefore, it’s easy to think that she’s not going to be a likeable person when you first meet her.
by NK Chats To… Helen Buckley
I am delighted to be welcoming you to Novel Kicks today, Helen. Thank you for inviting me onto your blog tour. Can you tell me about your book, Strictly Christmas Spirit and what inspired it?
Strictly Christmas Spirit is a heart-warming, festive romance about a bad boy Hollywood superstar sent to do community service at a homeless shelter. Blake immediately clashes with community centre manager Emily, who is a former dancer from TV show Strictly Dancing with Celebs. Blake doesn’t care about the centre, or Christmas for that matter, he just wants to get his community service over and done with. Will the people he meets at the centre, and Emily herself, change his heart? Strictly Christmas Spirit is book three in the Spotlight Series but can be read as a standalone story.
The book was actually inspired a lot by my real life work. I used to run a community centre in London, providing services for the homeless and marginalised in the community. I based a lot of the story on the experiences I had there (although I never had a Hollywood star come to do community service there!)
What’s your typical writing day like?
Almost impossible at the moment as I have two very young children! If I can, I write between 5-6am and 7-8pm. I literally squeeze in time while my kids are asleep and it’s very hard.
What are the challenges you found when writing your novel, especially when it’s part of a series? Did you know that it was always going to be a series?
Strictly Christmas Spirit is the third book in my Spotlight Series. When I wrote the first book, Strictly on Ice, I had no idea it was going to be part of a series. It was only when I met a literary agent that he gave me the tip to write a series, and that’s where it all came!
The main challenge I have when writing is having to research information. I just want to write and let my imagination run wild but sometimes a little research is necessary!
What songs would make up a playlist for your book?
by Book Club
