Book Review: Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks by Sally Fetouh
I am so pleased to be welcoming Sally Fetouh to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks.
Cheerful text and whimsical illustrations bring alive this heart-warming story of kindness and inclusion featuring a character with Down syndrome.
When young Jana receives heaps of beautiful socks from her parents after learning how to put on socks all by herself, she can’t wait to show her friends at school. They are always kind and patient with Jana when they play together. Jana decides to share a pair of her new socks with each and every friend. This calls for a school sock parade! All of the children had so much fun showing off their colourful socks together that they gave a very special and huge gift for their kind and generous friend, Jana, a box of more socks!
Author Sally Fetouh was inspired to write this touching story by her own daughter who has Down syndrome, feeling it was important for her and other children like her to be able to see themselves in literature. Two years ago, after reading a different story about a girl with Down syndrome to her daughter’s preschool class, Sally says, “The children were so engaged in the story and asked questions. They were very accepting and loving of their friend—my daughter. I left with a heart overflowing with emotion and that inspired me to write my story.”
*****
Jana loves her colourful socks and has just learnt to put them on by herself.
She wants to share this love with her school friends.
This book is so wonderful. I am honoured to be part of the Book Birthday Blitz.
Jana is such a sweet, loveable character and you can’t help but warm to her. Also, I want her sock collection.
by 
Book Review: A Mother’s War by Helen Parusel
I am so pleased to be welcoming Helen Parusel to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novel, A Mother’s War.
A forbidden romance in occupied Norway…
Narvik, 1940. After Laila awakens to the sight of warships in the fjord, it isn’t long before she turns resistor to the brutal Nazi regime. She is horrified when local girls begin affairs with enemy soldiers, yet against her own principles, she finds herself falling in love with German soldier, Josef.
Josef is not like the others. He becomes involved in helping her and the locals with resistance activities, risking his life on more than one occasion.
But then Laila finds out she is pregnant. With Josef sent to the Russian front, and Laila cast out by her family, she turns to a home for women which promises to care for her and her unborn child. But instead, she finds herself caught in a system of evil far beyond what she thought possible…
*****
Laila has watched her hometown of Narvik in Norway fall under German occupation. As the locals adjust to the new rules, Laila meets Josef, a German solider. He seems different to the others, but she’s determined not to get close to him. Instead, she wants to do what she can for the resistance.
However, she is pulled to Josef and soon they are in love but with what consequences?
This novel. Wow.
by Book Review: The Body at Carnival Bridge by Michelle Salter
I am pleased to be welcoming Michelle Salter to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novel, The Body at Carnival Bridge – book three in the Iris Woodmore Mysteries series.
How deadly is the fight for equality?
It’s 1922, and after spending a year travelling through Europe, Iris Woodmore returns home to find a changed Walden. Wealthy businesswoman Constance Timpson has introduced equal pay in her factories and allows women to retain their jobs after they marry.
But these radical new working practices have made her deadly enemies.
A mysterious sniper fires a single shot at Constance – is it a warning, or did they shoot to kill? When one of her female employees is murdered, it’s clear the threat is all too real – and it’s not just Constance in danger.
As amateur sleuth Iris investigates, she realises the sniper isn’t the only hidden enemy preying on women.
*****
Iris has just returned from Europe and in 1920’s Britain, she knows her trip will have raised some eyebrows. She is soon kept busy when someone attempts to shoot local business owner, Constance Timpson.
When one of Constance’s employees is found murdered, Iris finds herself unravelling another mystery. Can she find the answers before someone else gets hurt?
This was the first book I have read in the Iris Woodmore Mysteries series. I could keep up with what was going on but reading the first two books would enrich the knowledge around these very established characters if you wanted to read those prior to reading The Body at Carnival Bridge.
by Book Extract: The Mystery of the Homeless Man by Gina Cheyne
Please join me in welcoming Gina Cheyne to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novel, The Mystery of the Homeless Man, book three in the SeeMS Detective Agency series.
Why would an airline pilot exchange a world of comfort for life on the streets?
In 2006, Miranda meets an itinerant in the wood, she takes him home. He refuses to stay, desperate to return to the streets. Miranda gives him some money and forgets the incident.
Fifteen years later, the SeeMs Detective Agency is investigating an abandoned house and discovers a homeless man was found there: murdered.
No one knows who the dead man is or how he died, and, with one hundred and fifty unidentified street deaths per year, no one has time to find out.
But, the SeeMs Detectives have both time and a client.
Their investigation takes them into a surprising world of aviation, night-clubs and the homeless.
What they discover threatens one of their team. Can they save their colleague before the homeless man’s killer strikes again?
*****
Gina has shared an extract from The Mystery of the Homeless Man with us today. Enjoy!
*****beginning of extract*****
Stevie is interviewing Amy as a possible suspect for the Neil (homeless man) ’s death. This extract is Amy, who is an airline pilot, describing her engagement to Neil and why she broke it off.
‘Poor Neil.’ Amy blew out heavily. ‘OK. He had a lot of charm,’ she added, almost as though she was talking to herself. ‘He did have something, but, you know, once a drunk always a drunk. He was dangerous. He would drive drunk. I’d never do that.’
Her hand automatically moved to the little scar on her hairline. Stevie wondered if she got that from Neil, but Amy was still talking.
by Book Review: Love in the Wings by Ellie White
I am pleased to be welcoming Ellie White to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novel, Love in the Wings.
Harriet Adams was a West End rising star until a lapse in judgement cost her: her dream job, her boyfriend and so-called friends.
She packs up her life and moves back to Sunderland where she gets a rare second chance at a career she thrives in. As she’s about open a shiny new musical in front of a home audience, she vows that this time, nothing is going to get in her way. With everything riding on this, she’ll play it safe, work hard and most importantly, stay away from theatre guys.
Cue Liam Wright, Assistant Stage Manager.
Liam is everything Harriet didn’t know she needed in her life, but he also has a secret. One that could advance his own career if he cashes it in. The only catch? It will ruin any chance of happiness with Harriet if she finds out.
Harriet and Liam share a love like no other, but will that be enough to save their budding relationship when the time comes?
*****
Harriet has returned to her home town of Sunderland, after leaving her job in the West End. She now has a chance to return to the stage at a theatre she has loved since she was a child. All she wants to do is work hard and do the best she can as she tries to put her past mistakes behind her.
Enter from the wings – Assistant Stage Manager, Liam. Sparks immediately fly. Can they find their way to the happy ending or will forces conspire against them?
I love stories like these – ones that just pull you in from the beginning and just give you happy vibes as you hope the main characters get their happily ever after. I wanted that a lot for Harriet and Liam.
Harriet has a lot on her shoulders and I wanted to give her a big hug. I wanted things to work out for her.
by Book Review: The Ex Wife by Sally Rigby and Amanda Ashby
It is my pleasure to welcome Sally Rigby and Amanda Ashby to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for their novel, The Ex Wife.
My life was perfect until she came along. Norah.
Younger, prettier and about to marry my own ex-husband, they are a walking cliché.
I hate her. I hate them both.
She’s taken everything from me – my husband, my life, my home – but I refuse to allow her to take Cassie, my beautiful daughter. That’s a step too far.
Now I’ve discovered that Norah plans to have a baby of her own and that causes me no end of problems. She could destroy everything and reveal my deepest, darkest secrets.
That can never be allowed to happen.
No matter what it costs…
*****
Norah is about to marry Alice’s ex husband, Mark. Now Norah is dead. Did Alice kill her?
It’s going to be so hard to talk about this book without giving things away but I am going to give it a go.
I love stories like these – the kind that draw you in from page one and keep you hooked right up until the last.
These are all believable characters. All have secrets and flaws and at one point, I suspected everyone! The discord is threaded through this story so well and the tension and suspense builds nicely.
by Book Review: The Visitors by Owen Knight
The Great Reset has begun.
Fourteen years ago, Peter saved the world. Now, his sister Emily and two strangers receive coded invitations to return to the hidden village of Templewood, where Peter faces a new, terrifying threat.
Templewood is home to the Sect, a secretive organisation intent on global power. They have infiltrated many Governments and are collaborating with the Visitors: alien invaders who have brought gifts of advanced scientific and genetic discoveries. These gifts will potentially provide enormous benefits for humanity and facilitate the Sect’s bid for power.
But at what cost and what is the Visitors’ motive? Why are they taking, then retuning, increasing numbers of the local population? Peter, Emily, and their friends must uncover the truth before their worst fears are confirmed.
*****
The Sect secretly run the world.
This organisation has covert bases located around the globe – the town of Templewood being one of them.
When the ‘Visitors’ arrive, they take an interest in two bases in particular, including Templewood.
The only communication from them have been in the form of gifts.
Then people start going missing.
This book is aimed at a YA audience so I am definitely not the target demographic.
by Book Review: One Last Summer at Seabreeze Farm by Jo Bartlett
I am really pleased to welcome Jo Bartlett to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novel, One Last Summer at Seabreeze Farm, formally published as One Last Summer at Channel View Farm.
A summer to remember…
Georgia Banks knows she’s living on borrowed time. So, when doctors tell her she’s got one last summer to make all her dreams come true, she’s determined to make every day count.
The one thing that’s never in doubt, is that she wants her best friend, Gabe, to be with her every step of the way. And so, Georgia draws up her not-a-bucket list with all the things she’s determined to tick off before she goes – number one of which is to spend one last summer by the sea.
Seabreeze Farm perched high on the cliffs above the English Channel is the perfect spot, and surrounded by the antics of its menagerie of rescued animals and the warmth of the friendship she’s offered there, Georgia starts to believe she can live out all her dreams before it’s too late.
And just when she thinks there’s nothing left to wish for, Georgia gets another chance at life. But taking it might mean losing the one person she cares about the most.
As she faces her biggest challenge yet, Georgia wonders if her last summer at Seabreeze Farm will mean the end of her biggest dream of all.
This book was previously published as One Last Summer at Channel View Farm
*****
Georgia knows she doesn’t really have that much time left. She’s been told that this could be her last summer. She wants to make every moment count and make sure the people she loves will be ok.
She’s made a not-a-bucket list and she wants her best friend Gabe by her side as she makes her way through it, starting with living by the sea.
Enter Seabreeze Farm.
Can Georgia get out of her own way and admit what’s really in her heart?
I was excited to be invited onto the blog tour for One Last Summer at Seabreeze Farm as it sounded great.
Although this is book three in the series, it can be read as a standalone. I didn’t think I was missing any key information. However, book one and two are being added to my TBR list as I have fallen in love with these characters.
This book’s focus is Georgia as she battles with kidney failure. I really felt a lot of warmth and empathy with Georgia. Yes, she is a stubborn character but with so little in her control in terms of her illness, I can understand why she craves normality. Jo Bartlett shines light on organ donation in a great way.
Gabe, oh lovely Gabe. I did want to bang his and Georgia’s heads together at times but I rooted for them both so much. I love it when a novel can really make you feel invested in the characters like it did with this one. This book also sees the return of Ellie, Ben and Freya.
by Book Review: Summer Nights at the Starfish Café by Jessica Redland
I am so pleased to be welcoming Jessica Redland back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her new novel, Summer Nights at the Starfish Café.
Welcome back to The Starfish Café for a glorious summer, but with a few dark clouds on the horizon…
A new beginning…
As her summer wedding to Jake approaches, Hollie is excited for their new beginning as a family. But when some unexpected news threatens the future she and Jake had hoped for, Hollie will need to find the strength to overcome heartache once more.
A fragile heart….
Single mum, Kerry, loves her job at The Starfish Café, but behind the brave smiles and laughter with customers there is a sadness deep within. So when someone from her past re-appears in her life, Kerry can either hide away or face her demons and try to finally move on from her heartbreak.
A summer to remember…
For Hollie and Kerry it promises to be an emotional rollercoaster of a summer, but the community at The Starfish Café will always be there to help them through – after all, with courage nothing is impossible…
*****
Hollie’s wedding to Jake is approaching and she can’t wait. However, the reappearance of an unwanted visitor and some devastating news threatens to derail their happily ever after.
Kerry is single and raising four children. She loves her job at the Starfish Café. There’s even the chance of love. Then her ex reappears.
Can Hollie and Kerry get through the summer or will things get in their way?
Oh it’s so good to be back with the residents of Whitsborough Bay and the Starfish Café. It’s like catching up with old friends.
This is book three of The Starfish Café series and although I throughly recommend reading the first two books in the series as they are amazing and give you a richer backstory, I feel that you can read this book as a standalone.
by Book Review: Odin’s Betrayal by Donovan Cook
Please join me in welcoming Donovan Cook to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his novel, Odin’s Betrayal.
Two kingdoms destined for war, one boy caught in the eye of the storm…
Francia AD853
After a failed Viking raid on the Frankish coast over 20-years-ago, Jarl Sven the Boar is forced to leave his only son, Torkel, as a hostage and warned never to raid Francia again or his son will die.
In Hügelburg, a small town in East Francia, Torkel and his 9-year-old son Charles are ambushed at home.
Before dying, Torkel thrusts a package into young Charles’s hands and tells him to flee Francia for Denmark in search of his grandfather Sven the Boar’s protection.
But the man Charles eventually finds is not who he expects, and Charles must put his fate in the hands of a man betrayed by Odin.
Together they must uncover the significance of the package and why the Kings of Francia want Charles dead.
*****
When Charles loses his father, the nine-year-old must find his way to Denmark and locate his grandfather whilst avoiding trackers and traitors.
Before I started reading, I had an expectation that this was going to be a little heavy on the history. However, once I passed the prologue, I discovered it’s led very much by the story and the characters.
You can’t help but feel for young Charles, a boy of danish decent raised in Francia as a Christian, having to turn to those he’s been taught are heathens for his own safety.
He is faced with trials that very much go against his world view and he is forced to learn some hard lessons.
by Book Extract: End Game by Liz Mistry
I am so pleased to be welcoming Liz Mistry to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novel, End Game.
Four dead bodies. One missing person. Let the game begin.
When an anonymous tip-off leads Detective Nikki Parekh and DS Sajid Malik to the sprawling Salinger estate, Nikki’s senses are on high alert. The brutal murder of all four members of the Salinger family has shocked the sleepy Bradford village to the core.
A mother, father, daughter, and son. . . all killed in exactly the same way – whilst sat around the coffee table, playing a game of monopoly.
But Nikki notices that there are five pieces on the board. One of the players is missing… Did they manage to escape the killer, or was the killer part of the game?
Liz has shared an extract today so grab that drink, find that comfy chair and enjoy!
(warning: language.)
*****beginning of extract*****
Prologue
Then: Marnie
It is the hottest day of the summer yet. That shimmering heat idling just above the grass. Even in my shorts and strappy T-shirt, just looking at it makes me feel sticky and tired. I want to laze under the massive spreading oak tree with my colouring books. Just sit quietly, with my own thoughts. Starting high school after the summer holidays preys on my mind. Such a big step. Such a massive change. I’ll be leaving my friends behind because, despite my arguments, they’ve decided the local comprehensive school isn’t good enough for me. I don’t get it. If it’s good enough for my friends then why isn’t it good enough for me? Do Mum and Dad think I deserve more than Alice or Fiona? That feels wrong to me.
Anyway, this was day five of my war against the parents. I’d tried arguing, I’d tried pleading and nothing had worked. Today I was trying silence. The only problem is my annoying little sister Jilly. Why can’t she just find something to do that doesn’t involve annoying me? God she is soooo lame. Sooooo annoying. There she is trundling out the back door, a plastic bag filled with picnic stuff hanging off her wrist and a smile as wide as one of those arches on the viaduct we’d visited the other week. I edge my way round the foot of the tree till I am out of view of the kitchen window and tuck my legs out of sight.
‘Marnie. Marnie. I know you’re there. I saw you crawl behind the tree. I’ve brought snacks.’
Aw shut up, Jilly. The heat is making me mardy and Jilly always brings out the worst in me. She’s always there. If she isn’t harping on at me about something, she’s following me and my pals around like a stupid collie dog desperate for a pat. I hate her sometimes. Sometimes I really, really hate her.
‘I know today’s your “not speaking to anyone day”, but you still got to eat, Marn. I’ve got ice lollies.’
by Book Review: Hopeful Hearts at the Cornish Cove by Kim Nash
I am so excited to be welcoming Kim Nash to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her new book, Hopeful Hearts at the Cornish Cove.
A perfect new start in Cornwall…
Meredith’s life is at a standstill. She’s stuck in a dead-end job, approaching fifty, and her dating life is a string of disasters. But one evening, while browsing the internet, she sees an ad for a lighthouse, and in a moment of impulsiveness, she makes a ridiculous bid for it.
With the help of local handyman Clem, she sets about renovating. And as they work together, a bond begins to form. But when Meredith finds out that Clem is keeping a secret from her, it changes everything. Will they find a way to build something more meaningful together?
*****
After a drunken evening post divorce, Meredith wakes up to find that she’s bought a lighthouse in the Cornish village of Driftwood Bay. Throwing caution to the wind, she decides to move down to Cornwall. The worst that happens is that she sells the lighthouse.
What she doesn’t count on is a dilapidated lighthouse and a chance encounter with a handsome local.
Can Driftwood Bay be the new start Meredith is looking for?
To say that I immediately fell into this book would be an understatement. It drew me in from page one and Meredith is very easy to root for. She’s so much stronger and braver than she realises. I loved seeing how she developed over the course of the novel.
Clem is also an endearing character with a mysterious air to him. I loved the scenes that he and Meredith shared. Like Vi, I wanted to bang their heads together. Speaking of Vi, she, as well as Gabby, Lucy, James and Gemma are wonderful supporting characters.
by Book Extract: The Starlight Stables Gang by Esme Higgs and Jo Cotterill
I am so happy be welcoming Esme Higgs and Jo Cotterill to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for The Starlight Stables Gang – book one in a brand new series.
Summer has always loved horses but she never thought she’d be able to learn how to ride them – not with money being so tight at home. Then she discovers the Starlight Stables where she meets a new gang of friends and learns how to ride in return for helping-out with the horses. It’s a dream come true!
Summer falls in love with life at the stables and especially with Luna, a beautiful dapple-grey pony. But one day, Summer arrives at the stables to find that Luna has been stolen in the night. It’s up to the Starlight Stables Gang to follow the clues and rescue Luna before it’s too late!
Full of fun, friendship and and mystery, this is the first book in the brand-new Starlight Stables Gang series. Beautifully illustrated by Hannah George.
*****
I’ve reviewed the novel below but first, Esme and Jo have shared an extract from The Starlight Stables Gang with us today. Enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
I start to wash my hands, scanning the row of basins. I can’t see two girls talking to each other about horses. Have they already gone? My heart is beating fast. I wonder if I should dash out into the corridor to search for them. And then I get a grip of myself. For goodness’ sake, Summer! What would you do, anyway? Throw yourself on them and sob, ‘I love horses too, can I come rind ride yours?’
And then, while I’m standing there, soap on my hands, paralysed with indecision and embarrassment — a couple of girls are looking at me weirdly — I hear the second voice again. ‘Jessie? You still in here?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Me too.’
They giggle. And then two cubicle doors open at the same time and the girls come out, and I know instantly which one is Jessie because I’ve seen her in assembly. She has long black hair and she sometimes wears lip gloss, which is totally illegal in school but I think she gets away with it.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but my heart sinks a little because Jessie looks exactly like the kind of girl who would have her own pony.
The other girl is short and stocky and has a cloud of orange hair. I don’t know her name. My school is so big. ‘Are you going there again after school today?’ she asks Jessie as they come over to the basins and plonk down their bags.
by Novel Kicks Book Club: Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Hello April.
It’s a time for chocolate eggs, Hot Cross buns, April showers and a bank holiday weekend. What better excuse do we need to curl up with a good book?
The novel this month is one I have been wanting to read for so long. They’ve recently adapted it into a TV show and I want to watch that. However, I am one of those people that likes to have read the book first (it’s why I’ve not watched the adaptation of Alias Grace yet.)
So, in case you’ve not already guessed, the novel we’re reading this month is Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
It looks so good and I can’t wait to read. As usual, our book club is open to all, whether you, like me, will be reading it for the first time over the next thirty days or have already read it and want to chat about your thoughts.
As usual, I have put a question in the comments to kick off the discussion. I look forward to talking about Daisy Jones and the Six with you.
*****
A bit about Daisy Jones and the Six –
by NK Chats To… Charlie Dean
Hi Charlie, thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell me about your novel, I Love You, Always Forever and what inspired it?
I Love You. Always. Forever was written during a difficult period in my life. My mum had been diagnosed with kidney cancer as has Charlie’s and it was my coping mechanism, like my first book was with my dad’s dementia. I wanted to show that even when life is tough, you can still smile and find happy times. I decided to make it a dual timeline to show that family and friendships can last a lifetime.
What songs would make up a playlist for your book?
I Love You, Always, Forever by Donna Lewis
Boom Shake the Room by Will Smith
Let’s Talk About Sex by Salt n Pepa
Face to Face by Siouxsie and The Banshees
From idea to finished book, what’s your writing process like, do you conduct much research, how long does it typically take you, do you have a typical writing day and any writing rituals?
I am a complete pantser and just sit down and write. I’ve written novels in 3 months and also in three years. I usually start with an idea, something random that came to me in the night and go from there. My characters tell me how the story goes. I work and have family to care for so writing is a luxury in my spare time, I’m such a procrastinator though which doesn’t help either.
Which authors do you admire?
I am the biggest fan of Philippa Gregory. Her writing makes you feel as if she lived in the time and knew the characters herself. She inspires me to write an historical romance but I just don’t have the time for the research at the moment.
What’s your favourite word and why?
by Book Review: Let Your Lips Twitch by R.A. Clarke
I am pleased to be welcoming R.A. Clarke to Novel Kicks today and the blog tour for her collection of short stories, Let Your Lips Twitch.
Comedy is everywhere if you allow yourself to see it—to feel it. It can be subtle or overt, dark or joyous, adorable or cheeky. Such ageless versatility is beyond compare. Curated with that in mind, author R.A. Clarke proudly presents sixteen humorous stories to the world.
Between these covers, you’ll find short fiction in several genres. Each tale is infused with unique characters and comical situations, some rooted in reality, others certainly not. Flip the page and join a jewel heist executed by bumbling thieves at a gastronomy party, meet a lowly soul gifted the fantastical chance to redo an all-consuming moment of regret, or sweat alongside a father as he realizes his daughter is growing up too fast. Turn another page and you’ll enjoy clowning around while meeting Mr. Right, then zoom in on a perfectly focused meet cute, or feel Mother Nature’s wrath as a rebellious fishing excursion goes all kinds of wrong. There is something in this collection for everyone to enjoy, including eight never-before-seen stories.
Allow yourself to be entertained and whisked away. Let humour in all its glorious forms tempt your lips to move. Don’t fight the urge. Embrace it. Go ahead and let your lips twitch.
*****
Let Your Lips Twitch is sixteen short stories and as I had not read anything by R.A. Clarke before, I didn’t know what to expect.
What happened is that I raced through these stories. Some I liked more than others but each one was different and interesting and for me, there were many moments where I laughed out loud.
There is something to suit a variety of readers and what I like is that you can read them in order, it’s not a long read at two hundred pages long, but you can also dip in and out if you just wanted to fill a couple of minutes.
by Book Review: The Kill by Evie Hunter
I am pleased to be welcoming Evie Hunter to Novel Kicks today and the blog tour for her novel, The Kill.
Secrets can’t stay hidden forever…
After six years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Sebastian Carter is out and determined to get answers about who set him up. He knows it’s someone close to him and Sebastian will make sure they pay.
Ava Harper is living a lie. Although she loves her job caring for young Lily Carter, her real reason for being in the Carter household is to get answers of her own – from none other than convicted murderer Sebastian.
Sebastian hates liars, but he’s intrigued by Ava. As he gets to know more about her, he wonders if the answers she’s looking for could solve his mystery too.
Or will getting too close to Ava risk them both getting killed…?
*****
Sebastian Carter has just been released from prison for a murder he did not commit.
He is looking for answers, as is Ava. Could they work together to find the truth or will it put them in more danger?
Oh I love a good book with intrigue and that is what you get with The Kill.
From the beginning, questions hang in the air, suspense and tension is built and I had a desperate need to find out what was going on and how this novel was going to end. It’s a rollercoaster.
by Book Review: No More Lies by Rachel Abbott
Recently life has been good for Mallory Hansen: a great job, a lovely home, and a wonderful man, Nathan, to share it with.
But now she must ask herself: is it all built on lies?
A shocking accusation has been made against Nathan, and Mallory doesn’t know who to believe. He denies everything, but all the signs point to his guilt. She has learned to trust Nathan, but she also remembers the boy he used to be.
As teenagers, Mallory and Nathan were part of a close-knit group of six friends until a vicious argument drove them apart. Now, fifteen years later, they are back in touch – only to find themselves drawn into a web of mutual distrust, one by one…
The attacks on their lives are skilfully targeted, designed to hit them where they hurt the most, and when a young woman disappears and a baby is abducted, DCI Tom Douglas must try to unravel the past and discover who is the architect of their misery.
*****
Mallory feels as though her life is pretty much together. She and Nathan have known each other since University and things are perfect. However, a conversation with a woman at a book club sends her life upside down. Nathan has accused of sexual harassment.
Things are made worse when Nathan’s accuser goes missing.
Oh Tom and Becky. I’ve missed you. I am always so excited when Rachel Abbott releases a new DCI Tom Douglas thriller as I know I’m going to be in for a brilliant rollercoaster of a time.
I was so pleased to catch up once again with Tom and Becky. The case is an intricate one and had me guessing from page one right up until the last page. The pace is fast and there are so many twists and turns.
Of course, with a series of this nature, I always have a worry that the new book isn’t going to be as gripping as previous novels but, in my opinion, there’s no issue with that here.
by Book Review: Never Too Late by T.A. Williams
Happy publication day to T.A. Williams. His novel, Never Too Late was released today.
A second chance to realise her dreams…
A classically trained pianist, Steph works as a recording engineer for a small studio when she’s offered the job of a lifetime – travel to the Italian Riviera to help world-famous band, Royalty, record their reunion album after a decades-long hiatus.
Steph could definitely do with the distraction. Her boyfriend – who also happens to be her boss – is increasingly unreliable and erratic, and she’s awaiting news from her doctor after a recent biopsy. So an all-expenses-paid trip to Italy is the perfect escape.
What she doesn’t expect is an instant connection with Rob, the son of Royalty’s lead singer. With her career – and her heart – at a crossroads, what path will Steph follow?
*****
Steph is a classically trained pianist but currently finds herself working for her boyfriend, Ethan as a recording engineer.
When she is given a chance to work on a comeback album for a successful rock band, she can’t believe her luck as she and Ethan jet off to Italy.
This job also puts her in the path of Rob. Where will her heart lead her?
There was so much to immediately fall in love with when reading this novel.
First, the setting! When do we leave?! Haha.
by Book Review: Gone by Ruby Speechley
Please join me in saying hello to Ruby Speechley who is here with the blog tour for her novel, Gone.
My son is missing, and everyone is lying to me.
Last night my son, Shay, sneaked out of the house and didn’t come home. He promised not to go to the illegal party in the woods. But someone’s been attacked and Shay has gone missing. The police want to know if he saw what happened. I’m worried he could be involved.
After all the trouble he’s been in lately, mixing with the wrong crowd, coming home beaten up and scared, I thought we’d put it all behind us. Trouble is, Shay resents me moving my new boyfriend into the family home. I found all sorts on his laptop, including a half-written email warning me not to trust David. What does he know that I don’t?
I’m beginning to fear for his safety. What is David hiding from me? Who have I let into our lives?
I don’t know who I can trust. Will I ever see my son alive again?
*****
Rachel’s son is missing and she’s increasingly questioning who she can trust.
As the days go by, she starts to question the man she loves and what he had to do with her son’s disappearance.
OK, so I seriously could not put this book down, even when I was meant to be sleeping. From page one, it had me hooked as I tried to figure out what was going on.
Hmm, what can I say about this novel without giving too much away?
by Book Review: The Ragged Orphan by Lindsey Hutchinson
I am pleased to be welcoming Lindsey Hutchinson to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novel, The Ragged Orphan
When 12 year-old Jared Johnson’s little sister dies, just hours after his mother breathes her last after wasting away so her children could eat, he knows he is on own.
Desperate to avoid the workhouse, he does everything he can to survive the inhospitable streets of Birmingham. Jared is blessed with the gift of the gab and soon attracts the attention of the King of the Tatters, Toby McGuire. Recognising a kindred spirit, Toby soon has Jared out on a cart hustling for rags.
Jared loves driving his horse Bess, shouting ‘any old rags’ as loud as he can, and it’s not long before he’s thriving. But being successful can bring you enemies as well as friends. Toby knows that Jared is destined for bigger things – provided his big mouth doesn’t get him hurt first…
*****
When Jared loses his mother and sister, he is alone and has nowhere to go. However, Jared soon finds his will to survive and it puts him in the path of some unexpected people.
From page one, I became as protective of a fictional character than it’s possible to be. I wanted to know he was going to be ok. So much happens to him but he shows strength and resourcefulness and a head for business that is beyond his age.
by NK Chats To… Nigel May
Hi Nigel. Thank you so much for joining me today with the blog tour for your novel. Can you tell me about Quilling Me Softly and what inspired it?
Quilling Me Softly is a cosy crime novel set around a crafting group in a little sleepy village called Rooney-at-Burrow. I work as a TV presenter within the crafting industry so I have always loved crafting and crafters themselves. It seemed a weirdly perfect idea to have the craziness of a murder being solved by a group of people who normally get excited about making cards and scrapbooking. Normally it’s all about decoupage and not deception.
What songs would make up a playlist for your book?
One of the characters, Sheena, sings in the Rooney-at-Burrow village pub so quite a few songs are actually mentioned. The book starts with Killing Me Softly by The Fugees and Sheena also sings Remember Me by Diana Ross And The Supremes, so definitely those two. I’d also have to have something by the Spice Girls as there is a spicy connection in the book (I’d probably pick Who Do You Think You Are) and something from Barbados as one of the characters comes from there. Rihanna was born there so I would choose Umbrella.
Which fictional character would you like to meet and why?
Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple as they are best sleuths ever created. Agatha Christie was a genius. Mind you, Miss Marple might have met her equal in Violet Brewer in Quilling Me Softly. She’s a very shrewd and tenacious lady.
From idea to finished book, what’s your writing process like and how long does it typically take you? Do you have any rituals before you begin writing?
I always plot out characters before starting to write. That way I have my cast list, as it were, of the people who are going to be creating the action. Some change, some get jettisoned and some get killed off mid-story. I never know exactly what is going to happen. I always have a loose idea and obviously with a mystery I know who is behind the villainous action. This has actually been the quickest book I have ever written. Normally books take about six months. The first draft on this was done in three. Then the rewriting started! My advice to any writer is write about what interests you.
What’s your favourite word and why?
I love the word plumptious. I don’t think it’s even a real word but I often refer to cushions being plumptious – a mixture of plump and scrumptious I suppose! It’s a lot of fun to say.
Any other advice for aspiring writers?
I am going to say the same as a million other authors I suspect….never give up.
What are you currently working on?
by Book Trailer: The Chase by Ava Glass
Today we are shining the spotlight on The Chase by Ava Glass.
A freshly-minted secret agent, Emma Makepeace has barely graduated from basic training when she gets the call for her first major assignment. Eager to serve her country and prove her worth, she dives in head first.
Emma must covertly travel across the world’s most watched city to bring the reluctant adult son of Russian dissidents into protective custody, so long as the assassins from the tracking him down don’t get to him first. With London’s famous Ring of Steel hacked by the Russian government, the two must cross the city without being seen by the hundreds of thousands of CCTV cameras that document every inch of the city’s streets, alleys, and gutters.
The underground, buses, trains and cars, are completely out of the question. Traveling on foot, with no phone or bank cards, Emma and her charge have twelve hours to make it to safety. This will take all of Emma’s skills of disguise and subterfuge. But when Emma’s handler goes dark, there’s no one left to trust. Just one wrong move could get them both killed and the clock is ticking…
We are happy to share the book trailer with you today.
by Book Review: The Lumberjills by M W Arnold
We are so pleased to be welcoming M W Arnold back to Novel Kicks. He’s here with the blog tour for his new novel, The Lumberjills.
Berry Chambers and her co-workers have joined the Women’s Timber Corps—known as the Lumberjills—to do their bit for Britain. On their first day felling trees, they rescue an RAF pilot and become entangled in the loveless marriage of their new landlords.
Danger is never far away, be it an ill-timed axe swing or the occasional activity of the Luftwaffe overhead. Add a psychotic farm cat, a couple of young runaway evacuees, a spate of malicious packages, and the jealousy of the Land Girls next door, and life for Berry and her friends is never boring.
Can the girls find the balance between their vital war work and the natural pull of love?
*****
I am such a big fan of Mick Arnold’s Broken Wings series and therefore was so excited to read what I hope is book one of a new series.
Beryl ‘Berry’ Chambers has joined the Women’s Timber Corps, known as The Lumberjills. Along with Vicki, Sophie and gaffer, Marcy, can they settle into life in a small village during World War II?
Mick Arnold has such a talent for creating relatable, likeable characters and bringing them to life.
I got very attached to all of these characters. I want to adopt the cats although I think the ones I already have might have something to say about it.
by Book Spotlight: Finding Refuge in Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen
I am pleased to be welcoming Maggie Christensen and her blog tour to Novel Kicks today and to shine a spotlight on her novel, Finding Refuge in Bellbird Bay
Thirty-five years ago, tragedy forced Bev Cooper to cut short her university studies and seek refuge in her hometown of Bellbird Bay. Today, as the owner of the thriving Pandanus Garden Centre and Café, Bev has moved beyond the past and is happy in her solitary existence.
Following the tragic death of his son’s wife, Iain Grant takes early retirement and moves with his devastated son and granddaughter to the peaceful coastal town of Bellbird Bay hoping it will provide the change of scene they all desperately need.
When Iain’s son accepts a position at Bev’s garden centre, the pair find themselves drawn into each other’s lives. But as they begin to enjoy an unexpected attraction, issues from the past threaten to derail their growing relationship.
Will the healing atmosphere of Bellbird Bay work its magic and provide a second chance in life, or will Bev find it too difficult to put the past behind her and enjoy her own happy ever after?
A heartwarming tale of family, friends, and how a second chance at love can happen when you least expect it.
Finding Refuge in Bellbird Bay was released on 7th February 2023. Click to buy on Amazon UK.
*****
About Maggie Christensen –
by Book Review: Nobody Puts Romcoms in the Corner by Kathryn Freeman
I’m pleased to be welcoming Kathryn Freeman to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for Nobody Puts Romcoms In The Corner.
Not an expert, not even close, not in any of this. But nobody will try harder than me to make you happy.
Sally is a classic romantic and Harry is a classic cynic, but when a drunken bet leads the new flatmates to (badly) recreate ‘the lift’ from Dirty Dancing, and the video goes viral (#EpicRomcomReenactmentFailure), they both realise there’s potential financial benefit in blundering their way through the romcom lexicon for their suddenly vast social media following.
Now, as Harry and Sally bring major romcom moments to new life – including recreating that classic diner scene – their faking it turns to making…out and suddenly they’re living a real life romcom of their own! But like all the greatest love stories, the road to happily ever after is paved with unexpected challenges for this hero and heroine…
*****
Sally doesn’t quite know what to make of her new lodger, Harry. He’s mysterious and yet, there is something about him. She reasons to herself that it’s only a crush and that it will pass….won’t it?
Harry is annoyed that he’s had to find somewhere to live despite the fact that he has a perfectly good house. If only his cheating girlfriend would move out of it.
When a re-enactment of Sally and Harry doing the Dirty Dancing lift goes viral, they decide to film more iconic movie moments but can real life really be like a good rom-com?
With the greatest chance of being cheesy, this novel had me at hello! See what I did there? Haha.
From page one, I was hooked. I immediately fell in love with Sally. She’s a wonderful character who tries her best for the people she loves. I seriously want to visit her cafe.
by Book Review: Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm by Laura Warrell
Love is messy. Love can make us feel alive. It can also bring us down. Sometimes we look for it in all the wrong places. This is a novel about longing, desire and dreams; about passion and risk and all the places in between.
Maggie is pregnant with Circus Palmer’s child. This may be her last chance, but she craves her freedom.
Pia is Circus’s ex-wife, still in love with the fantasy of the man who conjured jazz tunes for her into the night, but who left many years before.
Koko, Circus’s daughter, is lost in the maelstrom of teenage years, the confusion of awakening desire and yearning for the father she barely knows.
Peach is a barmaid who just wants someone to see the person she is inside.
Odessa is on the run from a mistake that can’t be undone.
And then there’s Circus, Circus Palmer, a jazz trumpeter whose moment of glory is fading. Selfish, damaged, scared, perhaps the only person Circus is fooling is himself.
Delivered in a lush orchestration of diverse female voices, Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm is a provocative and gripping novel about the desire to be loved, and the need to belong.
*****
Circus Palmer seems to be at the centre of the lives of many women.
His ex wife, Pia, is trying to navigate being a parent to a teenager without much help from Circus.
Peach is wanting someone to see her and she had hoped Circus would be it.
Koko, Circus’s daughter is trying to discover the world without her Dad.
Odessa is trying to forget about a mistake she made.
Maggie is pregnant and she is not sure what her next move will be or whether she will see Circus again.
The premise of this novel intrigued me and I was pleased to have the opportunity to read Laura Warrell’s debut novel.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Ride Transportation
Today is a straight forward writing prompt. Try and write from a third person narrative and include more than two characters.
Your character is visiting a theme park. One of the rides is styled like an old hotel which has had a mysterious thing happen to it.
The ride is functioning normally but, when you’re in the middle of the ride, there is a bolt of lightening. There is such a loud crash, you close your eyes.
When you open them, you find that the hotel environment looks new, you’re dressed differently as is everyone around you.
You’re in the lobby and it’s not long before you realise that you’re no longer experiencing the ride, you’re standing in a hotel in a famous city in the 50s.
Continue the story.
by Novel Kicks Book Club: The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom
Hello February.
I am super excited to get started on the book this month. It’s one that has been on my TBR pile for a long time. I am a huge fan of this author since reading Tuesdays with Morrie.
This month’s book is The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom.
As usual, this book club is open to anyone who wants to take part whether you’re new to the book or have read it before. It’s all from the comfort of your arm chair, sofa, bed. I would also say garden but maybe not at the moment.
I have posted a question in the comments to get the discussion going. I look forward to discussing this book with you.
*****
About The Stranger in the Lifeboat –
Adrift in a raft after a terrible shipwreck, ten strangers try to survive while they wait for rescue.
After three days, short on water, food and hope, they spot a man floating in the waves.
They pull him on board – and the survivor claims he can save them.
But should they put their trust in him?
Will any of them see home again?
by A Moment With…Isabella Muir
I am delighted to be welcoming Isabella Muir and the blog tour for her book, A Notable Omission to Novel Kicks today.
A 1970s debate on equality is overshadowed by a deadly secret…
Spring 1970. Sussex University is hosting a debate about equality for women. But when one of the debating group goes missing, attention turns away from social injustice to something more sinister.
It seems every one of the group has something to hide, and when a second tragedy occurs, two of the delegates – amateur sleuth Janie Juke, and reporter Libby Frobisher – are prepared to make themselves unpopular to flush out the truth. Who is lying and why?
Alongside the police investigation, Janie and Libby are determined to prise answers from the tight-lipped group, as they find themselves in a race against time to stop another victim being targeted.
In A Notable Omission we meet Janie at the start of a new decade. When we left Janie at the end of The Invisible Case she was enjoying her new found skills and success as an amateur sleuth. Here we meet her a few months later, stealing a few days away from being a wife and mother, attending a local conference on women’s liberation to do some soul-searching…
*****
A Notable Omission is the fourth novel in the Janie Juke series, crimes and mysteries set during 1969 and 1970. Here Isabella Muir provides some insight into what attracted her to this particular historical period…
Delving into the past
When I first conjured up Janie Juke I knew that her story had to be set in the 1960s. It’s an era I have always loved. My older brother and sister both grew up during the sixties, so I’m lucky to have first-hand memories of all kinds of wild events. My sister was at the Rolling Stones concert on Hastings Pier in 1964 when tickets probably cost a few shillings. My brother was a real mod, with a scooter, and the ‘mod’ uniform of a Parka jacket, with fur-lined hood. He didn’t take part in the crazy event in 1964, when 5,000 mods and rockers planned to storm Hastings sea front to create the ‘Second Battle of Hastings’ and the police had to fly in extra officers to control the crowds, but he may well have inevitably watched from the sidelines.
I remember sitting gazing at my sister when she put on her makeup before a night out. She aimed for that ‘bare-faced’ sixties look with just a touch of face powder. All the focus was on the eyes, with white or sometimes bright blue eyeshadow and thick black mascara and eye-liner, trying to emulate the sixties model, Twiggy. She would spend hours back-combing her hair into a bouffant style and then use oceans of hair spray to keep it just perfect.
by Book Extract: Mrs Bambi Knows by Chris Mason
I am pleased to be welcoming Chris Mason to Novel Kicks. He’s here with the blog tour for his novel, Mrs Bambi Knows.
In a small town in Oregon, everyone wants to kill the local advice columnist, Mrs Bambi. If only they knew who she was.
Mrs Bambi’s advice is so snarky that people have long since stopped asking for it. Instead she eavesdrops on conversations and writes the letters herself. The readers would lynch her, but no one knows who she is.
In fact, Mrs. Bambi is not a woman. The column is written by Richard, a quiet widower with a young daughter.
The uneventful part of Richard’s life is nearly over: he begins dating Pam, a well-known realtor and a sports addict. When people begin to learn the identity of Mrs. Bambi, Richard is threatened and humiliated in public. Despite the pleas of his editor, his friends, and Pam, he refuses to stop writing the column.
The only thing that can prevent disaster is for the town to finally learn the whole truth about Richard, which is much larger than the simple mystery of Mrs. Bambi.
Set in 1995, Chris Mason’s skillful storytelling brings a tale of humour and romance – and not a little peril – charmingly to life in the mind of the reader.
Chris has shared an extract today. Enjoy!
*****beginning of extract*****
The advice (agony aunt) column in a small town newspaper is written by a widower using the alias Mrs. Bambi. Because no one will ask him for advice anymore, he eavesdrops on peoples’ conversations and writes the questions and the answers himself. Every chapter in the book begins with one of the advice columns. Here’s an example.
Dear Mrs. Bambi:
My mother is sick, but not as sick as she thinks she is. She’s an incurable hypochondriac, and I think it’s going to kill me.
Last week her vision went blurry. She called me at one in the morning, hours after I’d gone to bed, to tell me she had an eye tumor. I drove over and cleaned her glasses for her.
by NK Chats To… Lynda Blakesley
Hi Lynda, thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell me about your novel, So Many Secrets and what inspired it?
‘So Many Secrets’ is a family saga that spans the generations and tells the story of characters that come to realise that they are related through the exposure of long held secrets. An unexpected love story unfurls once everything is revealed. The inspiration for the story came from a childhood growing up in a close knit community in the 1950s where family held great importance. Life was very different for my grandparents though and it was the social pressures of their times that dictated some of the actions taken by the central characters in the book. In addition art plays a significant part in the plot and as the daughter of a talented artist, I wanted to reflect this element in the story. Pulling together these threads gave me the motivation and the vision to write the novel.
What’s your typical writing day like and do you have any writing quirks or rituals?
For me, writing is a release from boredom as well as an outlet for my creativity so I don’t really have a strict routine but I do try to write every day. I like to have a cup of coffee by my side as I work but it often goes cold as once I start I forget everything else. My day can pass very quickly when I am writing so I have to try to set certain limits otherwise nothing else would get done.
What songs would make up a playlist for your book?
My playlist would be Paperback Writer by Lennon and McCartney, Imagine by John Lennon, In My Life by The Beatles, When We Were Young by Adele and We are the Champions by Queen. They are all very inspirational pieces but each one is special to me which is why they help me to focus on my writing.
Which fictional character would you like to meet and why?
by Book Review: One Down by Diana Wilkinson
I am pleased to be welcoming Diana Wilkinson to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her novel, One Down.
I’m not being paranoid! It’s all there in the crossword clues…in black and white. There’s no doubt the threat is real. Today, the answers spell out my murder.
May Third. Amanda. Silver Birch. Noontime. Assassination.
Is Nathan, my estranged crossword-setter husband, really planning to kill me? Or is it someone closer to home?
I check the door is bolted, slither to the ground, and count down the seconds to noon. There’s nothing left to do, and no one I can call. Who’d believe me anyway? The lady on the ground floor has already left the building, and my new boyfriend is on holiday. Or is he?
A tread of footsteps. A rap at the door, and I close my eyes, hold my breath…
*****
Completing the crossword puzzle is a part of Amanda’s daily routine, a thing she does to distract herself from temptation.
However, when she starts to see clues that are meant for her, anxiety and need for alcohol increases.
Is it her ex husband setting the clues? A man who blames her for a horrible accident? Whoever it is, they mean to cause paranoia or even worse, her death.
I was intrigued by this novel and so was pleased to be on the blog tour for One Down.
Having not read anything by Diana Wilkinson before, I didn’t fully know what to expect so was keen to get started.
by Nk Chats To… Jo Johnson
Hi Jo, thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell me about your novel, Surviving Her and what inspired it?
Surviving Her is a dual narrative domestic suspense that follows Nicky, a nine year old and Keziah, a twenty nine year old from the first day of their summer holidays.
The book explores the issue of emotional coercion, an issue that in my opinion is poorly understood and always demonised when explored in the media. I see many people in my clinics who have stumbled upon control as a strategy to soothe their inner distress. Like many addictions, the desire to control starts small but often grows until it is harmful and destructive for the perpetrator and victim.
What’s your typical writing day like?
Given my real life job is clinical psychology, I have to squeeze writing in the gaps. Sometimes I’m unable to write much for months but I scribble down notes and record voice notes when I have ideas to include in my novels.
What are the challenges you found when writing your novel?
Finding enough time. I find it hard to get back into the story if the gaps between writing splurges are too big.
Which fictional character would you like to meet and why?
Will, the main character from Jo Jo Moyes – “Me before You”. I loved that book and want to work with him as a psychologist so he doesn’t kill himself! I have a saviour complex!
What elements do you think make up a good psychological suspense novel?
by Book Review: Daisy Does It Herself by Gracie Player
I am pleased to be welcoming Gracie Player to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her novel, Daisy Does it Herself.
Sometimes, the Last Place You Intended to Go is Exactly Where You Need to Be.
When 26-year-old Daisy’s life in London comes crashing down around her, the only thing she can think of is getting away – far away. That’s how she found herself stumbling off a train in England’s picturesque Peak District – 150 miles from home, with no idea why she’d gone there and even less idea how she intended to get home.
As Daisy explores the gorgeous village of Upper Finlay, she glimpses the possibility of a different life. The Derbyshire Dales offer up new friends, new opportunities, and a distractingly dishy object of attraction in the form of local bookstore owner Alex (and his bumbling Great Dane.) When Daisy discovers Alex’s business is in trouble she steps in to save the day.
But London’s Calling – literally. The life Daisy ran away from is calling her back. Why then, is she so reluctant to heed its call?
Daisy’s got a decision to make: Will she play it safe, and return to what she knew? Or is she brave enough to take a leap of faith and create a bold, new life for herself in the last place she’d ever expected?
Daisy Does it Herself is a sweet, uplifting romantic comedy about the power of self-confidence, friendship and of course love! Fans of warm and witty romantic comedies with a guaranteed happily-ever-after will be entranced.
*****
In one day, Daisy finds herself out of a job and out of a home. To make it worse, she walks in on her boyfriend kissing another woman. She leaves, just wanting to get away.
In her attempt to escape London, she finds herself on a train and eventually in Upper Finlay in Derbyshire.
Taken in by Alex, the handsome and friendly owner of the local bookshop, Daisy slowly starts to potentially see another life for herself. Will she go back to the familiar or jump into the unknown?
by A Moment With… Tony Bassett
I am pleased to be welcoming Tony Bassett to Novel Kicks. He’s here with the blog tour for his novel, Out For Revenge.
When notorious gangland boss Tadeusz Filipowski is released from prison, several people start looking over their shoulder.
A volatile character, not shy of picking fights, Filipowski plans to expand his drugs empire and put his competitors on a backfoot. That’s until he turns up dead. Very dead.
DS Sunita Roy of the Heart of England police is handed the case but it’s a challenge to find the killer of a man with so many enemies.
DCI Gavin Roscoe would lend more support but he is busy nailing down suspicions of corruption plaguing the force.
Soon, however, the investigations will bump into one another. And unless Roy and Roscoe can get to the bottom of the mystery, they could well become the next victims.
OUT FOR REVENGE is the fourth gripping standalone mystery in the Detectives Roy and Roscoe crime fiction series by Tony Bassett.
*****
Without further ado, it’s over to Tony to talk about his writing process when writing his crime series.
The days of the fictional English male detective bustling round quiet country villages solving murders are almost certainly numbered.
Books based on popular characters like Morse and Barnaby will, of course, always sell extremely well.
But writers new to the crime genre have to accept such characters may be a dying breed. This is why, in such a competitive market, anyone wishing to write crime novels with any chance of success has to be more inventive.
That explains why I chose for my series of crime novels set in the Midlands a female detective from a West Bengali background.
Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy is a twenty-five-year-old law graduate who has recently joined her Midlands CID department.
by Book Review: Because You Loved Me by Beth Moran
I am so excited to be welcoming Beth Moran back to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her novel, Because You Loved Me.
Marion Miller needs a fresh start.
Her childhood in Northern Ireland wasn’t easy, with a father who passed away when she was young and a mother who got lost in grief. Now grown-up and with family relations as tense as ever, Marion heads to England, to find out the truth about her father’s mysterious past – and hopefully an extended family who will love her as much as he did.
Scarlett Obermann runs a holiday park in Sherwood Forest with her daughter Grace, but what’s she’s best at is making people feel like they belong. With her merry band of waifs and strays, Scarlett welcomes Marion with open arms, and it isn’t long before Marion finally understands what it means to find a home.
As she tries to uncover her father’s story, Marion slowly blossoms, even daring to indulge in her crush on Reuben, the son of the Lord of the Manor, but she hasn’t quite out-run her past. And as Scarlett faces her own tragedy, it’s Marion’s turn to take care of everyone.
Because you can’t choose your family, but you can make your friends the family you choose.
This novel was first published as Making Marion.
*****
Marion has not had an easy life. She lost her father at a young age and became the focus of her mother’s need for blame.
Marion flees her hometown and goes to England looking for answers. Who was her father prior to her birth? Why did he move to Northern Ireland from England and can she, after all these years, find peace with her mother and herself?
I am a huge fan of Beth Moran’s novels and so jumped at the chance to be part of the blog tour for Because You Loved Me.
I love a good book cover and the one for this novel is beautiful and very dreamy.
I have to admit, this one took me a couple of chapters to settle into but before long, I couldn’t stop reading, continuing through to the early hours, wanting to know what became of these characters. I very much became invested.
by Book Review: Heading Home To Lavender Cottage by Alison Sherlock
I am so excited to be welcoming Alison Sherlock back to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her novel, Heading Home to Lavender Cottage.
With nowhere else to go, Harriet Colgan has returned to the sleepy village of Cranfield to sell her beloved aunt and uncle’s cottage, the only place she ever called home.
When she arrives at Lavender Cottage, Harriet discovers plans to replace the beautiful lavender fields, her uncle’s pride and joy, with an industrial warehouse.
With time on her hands, she realises she must fight to protect her family’s legacy and the village of Cranfield as well.
Workaholic businessman Joe Randall was expecting an easy purchase of the lavender fields. But suddenly his quiet life is disrupted by protests from angry locals, organised by Harriet.
Can Harriet show Joe that there’s more to life than just business? And can Joe change his mind and help Harriet save the lavender fields?
Over a long, hot summer, and with the help of a stray dog, perhaps Harriet and Joe can find their way home too.
*****
Having had to close her beauty salon in an expensive part of London, Harriet just wants to get back to Cranfield and Lavender Cottage, left to her by her late Aunt and Uncle.
Faced with having to sell the only place she’s ever called home, Harriet is struggling to stay positive. Can she and the community come together to bring the village back to life or will visitor Joe Randall ruin everything?
I have become such a fan of Alison Sherlock’s books. There is such a warmth about them. Heading Home to Lavender Cottage is the start of a new series and I couldn’t wait to get started.
First, the cover – just stunning.
by Book Review: Patches Through Time by Sian Turner
I am very pleased to be welcoming Sian Turner to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her book, Patches through Time.
Casual antique dealer Jake Patch picks up an unusual object and can’t put it down. Literally. His find is a time travel device, and he hatches a bold plan to acquire objects from the past and sell them at modern day prices. But when the mysterious Infinity Glass leaves Patch stranded in a dangerous past, it falls to his teen daughter Cass to save him.
With hints of The Time Traveller’s Wife and Back to the Future and a smattering of Lovejoy, Patches through Time will send you spinning headlong into the past, then spit you back into the twenty-first century.
This book contains occasional profanities. Trigger warning: bereavement (parent, spouse).
*****
When Jake Patch finds an unusual object gathering dust in an antique shop, what he thinks is a money maker soon turns into something he had not bargained for.
He soon finds himself with the ability to travel through time. However, this soon turns into danger when he finds himself stranded. Can his daughter save him?
I found the premise for this novel extremely interesting but really didn’t know what to expect having previously not read any of Sian Turner’s books. I am now a fan.
This book has been marketed as YA but I feel that adults will get a lot from it. I certainly did. Right from the beginning, I was hooked.
I felt that the time travel element was handled well and with a ‘realistic’ set of rules. Well, as realistic as a story about time travel can get. I got a bit of a Bill and Ted vibe about this novel.
by Book Extract: Agent Pangolin by AC Bradburn
I am pleased to be welcoming AC Bradburn to Novel Kicks. They are here with their novel, Agent Pangolin.
Sunda is a pangolin on a mission. Her family has been taken by poachers, she’s been ripped away from her beloved Sumatran rainforest and now the beautiful nature reserve that she calls home in London is about to be destroyed by humans. But there’s no way she’s going to let that happen.
Sunda becomes an animal secret agent for the mysterious ‘Web of Light’ and discovers an ancient legend that could help save her home.
Can she solve the mystery of the shiny moon before it’s too late? With beautiful illustrations by Julia Vasileva, this is a magical story of courage, friendship and justice for the natural world.
AC Bradburn has shared an extract today. Enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
THUD!
A ginormous paw bashed Sunda’s back. She was drenched with fear.
THUD!
And again, THUD!
She recited the pangolin mantra: curl up, hold firm, don’t relax for one second. That was the pangolin way – at the first sign of danger, roll into a protective ball and wait for the threat to pass. Wincing as the paw struck yet again, she kept her long tail firmly clasped around her head. Her tough, chestnut brown scales gave her the perfect suit of armour. Then the snuffling began – probing, teasing, searching for a way in, first with claws, then with teeth. She held her breath. Eventually a slobbery tongue wrapped around her scales and propelled her across the forest floor. She came to rest at the foot of a giant meranti tree, perched on one of its roots like a stranded soursop.
The tiger cub came at her again, lolloping over the crisp, dry leaves. It grunted, so close that Sunda could feel its steamy breath. A slimy globule of saliva oozed down over her scales and onto the ground. She hadn’t managed to get a proper look but it seemed like a young one, hopefully too small to break her defences. But the cub’s parents couldn’t be far away and the thought of a fully-grown Sumatran tiger sent a fresh burst of terror through her scales.
by Book Review: Local Girl Missing by J.A. Baker
I am so pleased to be welcoming J.A. Baker to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novel, Local Girl Missing
Missing without trace…
When local woman Deborah goes missing, her colleagues Adrian, Yvonne and Merriel are all left in shock. Gossip around the office begins to swirl – what could have happened to Deborah? Is she dead or alive? And who could be responsible for her disappearance?
Everyone is terrified that they could be next…except the one person who has all the answers. The last person people expect.
Because Deborah is being held captive by a monster, a psychopath. But not a stranger… it’s someone she knows all too well…
*****
Deborah is being held against her will by a monster. However, this monster isn’t a stranger, it’s someone she knows well.
Whilst her work colleagues are reeling from her disappearance, someone knows the truth.
This was the first novel I’d read by this author. The premise of this book really caught my attention so I was happy to be invited onto the blog tour for Local Girl Missing.
Seriously, I know this term is banded about a lot but this book had me hooked from page one. I had to know more. I needed to know what becomes of these characters so one more page became one more chapter and before I knew it, I’d read it in one sitting.
by Book Extract: The Contraband Killings by Lucienne Boyce
I am pleased to be welcoming Lucienne Boyce to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for The Contraband Killings: A Dan Foster Mystery.
Principal Officer Dan Foster of the Bow Street Runners is sent to collect smuggler Watcyn Jones from Beaumaris Gaol on Anglesey, and bring him back to London for trial at the Old Bailey. As if having to travel to the wilds of North Wales isn’t bad enough, Dan is saddled with an inexperienced constable as his interpreter and assistant. At least it’s a routine assignment and shouldn’t take more than a few days.
But when the prison escort is ambushed and Watcyn Jones escapes, a straightforward transfer turns into a desperate manhunt. And as Jones’s enemies start to die, the chase becomes more urgent than ever. Dan’s search for the killer brings him up against a ruthless smuggling gang – and his chances of getting off the island alive begin to look far from promising.
Lucienne has shared an extract with us today. Enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Between 1793 and 1815 Britain was at war with revolutionary France. Faced with the very real threat of invasion as the French amassed ships and troops at key Channel ports, the government called on men to join local militias such as the Loyal Anglesea Volunteers. But the government’s enemies were not only pressing on them from the outside: there was also the enemy within, in the form of radical societies set up to campaign for political reform. Many of these groups supported the French and some were even prepared to take up arms with the revolutionary forces when they landed on British shores.
Anyone who voiced radical opinions was an object of suspicion, especially if they were spotted near military or naval installations. So when Dan Foster and his assistant, constable Goronwy Evans, hear Sampson Kirby a young English tourist, spouting anti-monarchical sentiments, and he is later seen apparently signalling to ships out at sea, they begin to wonder what he’s up to. One night they follow Kirby to the Parys Mountain copper mine, which supplies the Navy with copper sheaths to protect its ships’ hulls from the destructive attacks of marine worms and barnacles.
They followed Kirby to the outskirts of the town, where he paused and adjusted his load before setting off into the dusk. Ahead of them rose the outline of Parys Mountain. The barren landscape on either side of the dusty, rutted track was indistinct, no more than vague shapes in the darkness. No lights shone in the buildings at the top of the mountain, and the open cast was a vast, silent pit of darkness. Sulphurous smoke still belched from the kilns, but no men hammered and no rock tumbled. The wind hissed over the lifeless ground, the ropes on the windlasses creaked, and water gurgled.
by 12 Days of Clink Street: Stars and Waves by Roberto Maiolino
Laura is a student in Astronomy at the University of Cambridge. Her work on exoplanets – planets orbiting other stars – is largely unnoticed by the scientific community. However, it attracts the interest of a secluded elderly Russian astronomer, Professor Kasparov, on the basis of his own research thirty years ago. He tries to contact Laura and her supervisor, Julia, but dies in mysterious circumstances.
In the attempt to find out more about Kasparov’s old data, Laura and Julia travel across the globe. During their journey, science becomes entangled with poetry, while astronomy gets embroiled with mystery. They face a dark pattern of strange accidents and deaths. Their quest for clues gradually becomes a frantic pursuit through some of the most fascinating and deadly environments.
Will Laura and Julia uncover the truth? The whole truth? And… will they survive to tell the world?
*****
Laura is a PhD student in Astrophysics. Whilst observing some stars, she discovers something important.
However, it isn’t long before she realises that someone doesn’t want this data analysed and when she finds out someone has already mysteriously died, the more in danger she feels she’s in.
Can she get to the truth before she loses her life?
The premise for this book intrigued me and so I was happy to be invited onto the 12 Days of Clink Street to review Stars and Waves.
Laura is a strong, female character. She’s intelligent, compassionate, and easy to like.
by Book Review: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Aimee Brown
I am so pleased to be welcoming Aimee Brown back to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her novel, He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not.
Dax Hartley has made flowers his entire life, just like his late father did.
When his dad’s old florist’s shop is up for sale, he has to have it. Only problem is, he’d need to sell a kidney to afford it. The reality show Battle of the Blossoms is the perfect opportunity to win the money he needs, but when his childhood crush blows back into his life, distractions risk taking his eyes off the prize. He needs his head and heart to start working together to ensure he doesn’t miss the opportunity of a lifetime.
Hollyn Matthews has made some colossal mistakes in life.
When she’s dumped just as she’s expecting an engagement ring, she knows she’s put her heart into the wrong man. Hoping for a second chance at being a grown-up, she moves home to stay with her brother and his best friend Dax, a boy whose memory faded as she ran away from her past. Facing the hurt she left behind means facing some home truths about herself, but there’s one boy who has always loved her, if only she’d take the time to notice him.
*****
Having spent eight years with her boyfriend, Hollyn is expecting a proposal. When he dumps her instead, she finds herself having to go back home. She ends up in her brother’s apartment, spending time with Dax. As Hollyn helps Dax win a flower competition, will they be able to keep their feelings at bay?
This is the first book I’ve read by Aimee Brown. The premise intrigued me so I was pleased to be invited onto the blog tour for He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not.
I did feel a little sorry for Hollyn. She has a horrible thing happen to her and I wanted to give her a hug. She did come across as a little shut down but when you learn more about background, you find out why.
I did get a little frustrated with her parents and you don’t get to know too much about the other supporting characters like River and Mercy (possible future books maybe?) I hope so as it’s not the last I want to see of these characters.
by Book Excerpt: Sherlock Holmes & the Singular Affair by M. K. Wiseman
I am pleased to be welcoming M. K. Wiseman to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the book birthday blitz for her book, Sherlock Holmes & the Singular Affair.
Before Baker Street, there was Montague.
Before partnership with a former army doctor recently returned from Afghanistan, Sherlock Holmes had but the quiet company of his own great intellect. Solitary he might be but, living as he did for the thrill of the chase, it was enough.
For a little while, at the least, it was enough.
That is, until a client arrives at his door with a desperate plea and an invitation into a world of societal scandal and stage door dandies. Thrust deep in an all-consuming role and charged with the safe-keeping of another, Holmes must own to his limits or risk danger to others besides himself in this the case of the aluminium crutch.
M.K. Wiseman has shared an extract from Sherlock Holmes & the Singular Affair with us today. Enjoy!
*****beginning of extract*****
Having undertaken Miss Eudora Frances Clarke’s missing man case, Sherlock Holmes does a bit of research and formulates a disguise by which he will get close to the man in question.
Chapter 6:
An overcast late-afternoon sky witnessed me leaving my rooms. Quick strides took me around the corner and up the steps of the Museum. Though the esteemed institution had never availed itself of my services—that great case was, yet, in my future—there were several present amongst the warders who knew me by sight and reputation. Thus, though in fact I carried within my pocket my pass for admission, mine was a face which could pass unchallenged when gaining entrance into that great house of culture.
Divested of coat and cane, I hunted about the large, domed room for a seat—not an easy task at such a late hour—and then took myself to the perimeter to select the materials by which I might fill my time and satisfy my brain. Not all of my aims were satiated by easy and accessible reference, however, and I was forced to make a request from one of the attendants. Passing him my form, I returned to my seat and amused myself by discerning various details of my fellow bookworms while pretending to read.
by NK Chats To… Kerena Swan
Hi Kerena, thank you so much for bringing your blog tour for Driven to Novel Kicks. Which part of the writing process do you enjoy most?
I like planning the novel and defining the character traits but I sometimes struggle with writing the first draft. I always think it’s complete rubbish but once I re-visit it and start tweaking and editing it (a process I really enjoy) I then find it’s not as bad as I first thought. When I was training to be a social worker, we had to write assignments of 750 words. This sounded easy but in truth it was doubly difficult. Every word had to count so I used to write 2,000 words to get all the necessary facts and theories in then I’d have to cut out nearly two thirds of it. I learned to enjoy the challenge, though, and the skill has really helped me in my writing. I have to write council tenders for my care agency and the word counts are tight. I enjoy cramming loads of information into short paragraphs.
Some authors don’t read their reviews. Do you read yours?
For me, the most rewarding part of the whole writing process is reading the reviews. Whilst they may not always be positive – although all my books have ratings of 4.3* or above – I’m just thrilled to know that people are reading what I’ve written. What would be the point otherwise? Negative reviews that give reasons are really useful as they help me to improve. Also, if someone has taken the time to write a review the least I can do is read it.
In several of your books you feature a man with Down syndrome. Do you have personal experience with people with Down’s?
by Cover Reveal: The Venice Secret by Anita Chapman
I am pleased to be helping reveal the cover for The Venice Secret by Anita Chapman.
One hidden painting. Two women born centuries apart. A secret uncovered.
In 2019, Rachel is stuck in a rut when she discovers what appears to be a Canaletto painting in her grandmother’s loft along with a note addressed to Philippa in 1782. With help from Jake at the local art gallery, Rachel endeavours to find out if the painting is an original and uncovers a secret from the past.
In 1780, governess at Chipford Hall, Philippa is offered the role of mistress by Earl Rupert. She escapes to Venice as companion to bluestocking, Lady Cordelia who reveals a secret that changes both their lives. They do their best to keep the secret from Lady Cordelia’s social circle, but their nemesis is determined to reveal all and ruin them.
OK, so here we go. Can we get a drumroll….
by Book Review: Christmas on the Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet
I am happy to be welcoming Jennifer Bohnet to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her book, Christmas on the Riviera
As a toddler Elodie Jacques was abandoned by her mother and left in the care of her French grandmother, Gabriella in Dartmouth, Devon.
Now 24 years old, Elodie struggles to reconcile the deep anger for the mother she has never since seen.
When Gabriella unexpectedly announces she wants the two of them to spend Christmas and her 70th birthday in her home town of Juan-les-Pins in the South of France Elodie is thrilled.
Gabriella meanwhile has her own ulterior motives for wanting to return after 40 years, a daunting homecoming potentially filled with memories, secrets and recriminations.
With Juan-les-Pins pulsing with lights, decorations and the festive spirit, Christmas promises to be filled with fun. But when Elodie learns there is the possibility that her long absent mother may join them she hides her feelings behind a show of indifference and animosity.
Will there be the reconciliation that Gabriella longs for – or will the spirit of Christmas fail to work its magic?
*****
It’s been many years since Gabriella has visited the place where she grew up in the South of France. Now, as her 70th birthday and Christmas approach, she has reason to return.
Her granddaughter, Elodie is nursing her own anger and hurt. Can this trip work its Christmas magic and they both find something they are looking for?
it didn’t take me long to fall into this story. Gabriella and Elodie are great, likeable characters. The supporting cast is wonderful and I wanted everything to work out well.
by A Moment With… Jessie Wells
I am pleased to be welcoming Jessie Wells to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her book, The Good News Gazette.
Because we all need something to smile about!
She may be down but don’t count this determined single mum out just yet…
Nine years ago, Zoe Taylor returned from London to the quiet hamlet of Westholme with her tail between her legs and a bun in the oven. Where once her job as a journalist saw her tearing off to Paris at a moment’s notice after a lead, now the single mum covers the local news desk. At least, she did…until she’s unceremoniously let go.
When Zoe invites her friends over to commiserate, wine and whining soon turns into something more… and before the night is out she’s plotted her next step: The Good News Gazette.
Now, as a developer threatens to force Westholme into the twenty-first century, Zoe’s good news movement finds her leading a covert campaign as a community crusader. She may have started The Good News Gazette as a way to save herself, but she might just be able to save Westholme in the process…
*****
To talk about why ‘writing about what you know’ could be the best advice you’re ever given, it’s over to Jess.
For the past two decades, I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a novel. As a former journalist and avid reader, I’ve always loved words, so wasn’t daunted by the thought of writing lots of them. There was just one problem that kept cropping up; what the topic should be.
‘Write about what you know,’ was the advice that I kept being given, and in theory the adage makes sense. By writing about what they know, a writer can bring so much depth, emption and realism to a subject matter. They can inspire, inform, bring a new perspective to issues and lived experiences which have been under-represented or, worse, misrepresented.
But as a mum of two young children who was lucky enough, in my role as a freelance writer, to work from home, what could I possibly bring to the table? What could I have to say that women all the world over didn’t already know, or hadn’t already experienced, other than my top tips for how to get felt-tip out of fabric couches or how to deal with a rewritten Christmas list on the morning of Christmas Eve?
Plenty, as it turns out.
I can’t remember when, exactly, the idea for The Good News Gazette – a story about a single mum who starts up a good news newspaper to provide an antidote to the constant flow of bad news – came to me. What I do know is that, for some time, I’d had an increasing sense of fatigue about the negative news that, thanks to our 24-hour, multi-media news access, seemed ever-present – and that was before anyone had even heard of Covid.
by Book Extract: The Automobile Assassination by MJ Porter
I am pleased to be welcoming MJ Porter back to Novel Kicks.
A 1940s mystery
Erdington, September 1944
As events in Europe begin to turn in favour of the Allies, Chief Inspector Mason of Erdington Police Station is once more prevailed upon to solve a seemingly impossible case.
Called to the local mortuary where a man’s body lies, shockingly bent double and lacking any form of identification, Mason and O’Rourke find themselves at Castle Bromwich aerodrome seeking answers that seem out of reach to them. The men and women of the royal air force stationed there are their prime suspects. Or are they? Was the man a spy, killed on the orders of some higher authority, or is the place his body was found irrelevant? And why do none of the men and women at the aerodrome recognise the dead man?
Mason, fearing a repeat of the cold case that dogged his career for two decades and that he’s only just solved, is determined to do all he can to uncover the identity of the dead man, and to find out why he was killed and abandoned in such a bizarre way, even as Smythe demands he spends his time solving the counterfeiting case that is leaving local shopkeepers out of pocket.
Join Mason and O’Rourke as they once more attempt to solve the impossible in 1940s Erdington.
MJ Porter has shared an extract from The Automobile Assassination. Enjoy!
*****beginning of extract*****
In which Detective Inspector Mason and Sergeant O’Rourke encounter one of the Automobile Association’s sentry boxes.
In front of them, Mason could see old Watling Street coming into view as they travelled along Sutton Road. He caught a first glimpse of the unmistakable Automobile Association telephone box. Even it had been repainted in less lurid colours than usual because of the war effort. All the same, the road sign placed above the box was a monstrous thing as it sat atop the sentry box, decked out in camouflage green and black stripes. It drew the eye easily enough.
To the bottom, the set of double signs directed the motorcar driver, bus or motorcycle rider towards Fazeley or Hints. The higher-up signs led the traveller towards Tamworth or Lichfield, depending on which way you wanted to travel.
The signs were the same green as the telephone box was edged in, with the writing in black on them and the distance given in miles. He smirked on seeing it. He well remembered when he was a much younger man, and the signs had been more simplistic, simply highlighting the ancient milestones used for so many decades, if not centuries, and often written on what was little more than lumps of handy stone.
by Book Extract: When The Rainbow Turns Black by Peter J. Venison
I am pleased to be welcoming Peter J. Venison to Novel Kicks. He’s here with the blog tour for his book, When The Rainbow Turns Black.
This is the epic story of four young men, born in obscurity in South Africa at the height of Apartheid. Two are white; two are black. All four achieve fame in their lifetime. It is also the story of the women in their lives, with mixed race marriage, love and deception, set against a background of huge political and social change.
Expectations are high for the new Rainbow State, but will they be met amongst the corruption and greed that is endemic? Can our four find their way in the new South Africa or will they be derailed and overcome by events beyond their control or even by their own passion? Their journey through the world of international sport, show business and politics is riddled with twists and turns as they battle to prosper in the ever changing place they call home. Can our four young men survive and prosper in the post Apartheid era or will their futures and that of their country turn black?
This is a rollercoaster ride that will keep you strapped to your seats from its humble beginning to its surprising end.
Peter has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy it.
*****beginning of extract*****
It is January, 1970. Two little boys are starting school for the first time. They both live in Randburg, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. They are both white. One of them, Gerhadus, is quite nervous; the other, Lance, can’t wait. Randburg is a large suburb, covering several square miles and the two boys live in different areas, each with their own primary school. Gerhadus is attending the General Christian De Wet primary in Triomph and Lance, the Laeskool Jim Fourie in Crosby. They will both be taught primarily in the Afrikaans language, since their districts are heavily populated with Afrikaners, but, because English is the other official language in the country, they will also have lessons in English. They will be taught to neither speak nor write any of the other eleven languages in common use in the land of their birth; these are the languages of the native Africans, who make up 80% of the population.
by Book Review: Chaos at Carnegie Hall by Kelly Oliver
I am so pleased to be welcoming Kelly Oliver to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her book, Chaos at Carnegie Hall.
Agatha Christie meets Downton Abbey in the Fiona Figg and Kitty Lane Mystery series opener.
Can Fiona catch a killer and find a decent cup of tea before her mustache wax melts?
- New York.
Notorious spy, Fredrick Fredricks, has invited Fiona to Carnegie Hall to hear a famous soprano. It’s an opportunity the War Office can’t turn down. Fiona and Clifford are soon on their way, but not before Fiona is saddled with chaperon duties for Captain Hall’s niece. Is Fiona a spy or a glorified babysitter?
From the minute Fiona meets the soprano aboard the RMS Adriatic it’s treble on the high C’s. Fiona sees something—or someone—thrown overboard, and then she overhears a chemist plotting in German with one of her own countrymen!
And the trouble doesn’t stop when they disembark. Soon Fiona is doing time with a group of suffragettes and investigating America’s most impressive inventor Thomas Edison.
When her number one suspect turns up dead at the opera and Fredrick Fredricks is caught red-handed, it looks like it’s finally curtains for the notorious spy.
But all the evidence points to his innocence. Will Fiona change her tune and clear her nemesis’ name? Or will she do her duty? And just what is she going to do with the pesky Kitty Lane? Not to mention swoon-worthy Archie Somersby . . .
If Fiona’s going to come out on top, she’s going to have to make the most difficult decision of her life: the choice between her head and her heart.
*****
It’s 1917 and Fiona Figg finds herself in New York. She’s been invited by spy, Fredrick Fredricks to Carnegie Hall, to watch a famous soprano. However, on top of her duties for the war office, she’s also having to chaperone Eliza, her boss’s niece.
From the moment they board the ship for America, there is mystery and potential crimes.
The plot thickens when Fiona’s prime suspect is found dead.
Can Fiona solve the mystery?
I was intrigued by the premise of this novel. I love mysteries and so this seemed right up my street and it didn’t disappoint.
by NK Chats To…Suzie Hull
Hi Suzie. Thank you for inviting me onto your blog tour. Can you tell me about your novel, Far Across the Ocean and what inspired it?
There are several things that kickstarted the idea for this novel. I was at a hotel on the coast and on the wall they had documented the story of a baby who had been washed up on the beach one day. She and her mother had been in a little boat, but when they were found, the mother had died and sadly nobody ever found out the identity of the baby. there have been countless times when this must have happened through history, and also recreated in fiction, but Far Across the Ocean was my take on how that ‘baby in the boat’ situation might have played out.
The next part was choosing the setting for my novel. Within my own family we have a long line of Quakers from the Yorkshire area. One branch of the family had a Worsted woollen mill in Bradford and looked after their workers very well, as did most Quaker employers at that time. It made sense to weave this part into my story, and Clara’s mother, aunt and uncle came from this fictional family of mill owners.
The last part of the setting came from another snippet I found when looking up details on the Quaker family, and I discovered some had travelled to Madagascar in the late 1800’s. This island setting, so far from home seemed to be the perfect setting to place my ‘baby in a boat’ situation.
What are the challenges you found when writing your novel?
I always wanted to ensure that I had done enough research to be respectful of the past history of the Malagasy people and represent their culture properly. I did have access to memoirs of European people who lived for a while on the island, but none of any Malagasy people from that time, which I would have liked, so that was my main challenge.
What’s your typical writing day like and in your opinion, what are the essential tools of the trade for a writer?
I’m afraid I don’t really have a typical writing day. I have a day job in a school, so generally work in the afternoon or evening, but I’m quite flexible. On the other hand, I can’t do without using Scrivener. All of my early drafts are written on it, and then when structural edits come back, I’m still using it. I’d be lost without it as I like to dip in and out of different chapters when things occur to me.
From idea to finished book, what’s your writing process like and how long does it typically take you?
I tend to have an idea about something that interest me for years before it comes to fruition. I love reading non-fiction books and when something stands out, I bookmark it, or jot down story ideas in a notebook or on Scrivener for the day I’ll get to write it. It could be anything up to five years before I finally commit a story idea to paper. In that time the story idea is percolating in my brain and I’m coming up with characters and plot ideas or gathering more information that I’ll need. One day I’ll get to sit down and write that story.
Which authors do you admire?
There are so many authors I admire! Most of my favourites are female authors who write historical novels, either from my childhood are ones who write now. For example I loved Catherine Cookson, Daphne Du Maurier, Jane Austen and Mary Wesley. Recent authors are Dinah Jefferies, Kate Morton, Liz Fenwick, Jenny Ashcroft and Jojo Moyes.
Any advice for aspiring writers?
by NK Chats To… Sandy Barker
Hi Sandy. Thank you so much for inviting me on the blog tour. Can you tell me about your novel, The Christmas Trip, and what inspired it?
When I wrote The Christmas Swap back in 2020, I didn’t know that I’d eventually write a sequel, but that niggling question, ‘Where are the May Ladies now?’ kept popping into my head. I wanted to bring them all together this time―from their various homes around the world―and thought ‘Hawaii!’ It’s a destination we’ve travelled to twice and it’s so incredibly beautiful. In Book 2, there are new characters, including Mama Leilani, plenty of May Ladies mayhem, some rocky romantic situations, and a Hawaiian Christmas to remember. It was a blast to write.
What’s your typical writing day like?
I still work in adult education 4 days a week, so I typically write or edit in the early mornings before switching gears to work mode. Fridays are a writing day but with the freedom of a sleep-in till at least 6:00am 😉. And I typically write on Saturdays and Sundays for at least a few hours. If I’m editing, I simply swap writing for editing on the same schedule but those weekends become a lot more intense. There’s usually a tight turnaround on edits―1-2 weeks.
What are the challenges you found when writing your novel?
Many authors, me included, will spend years writing their first novel. I drafted the book that became One Summer in Santorini so many times that the story started to ‘blur’ for me. It took a professional eye―my first editor, Molly Walker-Sharp―to help me pare back the story and go deeper into the characters while still maintaining my writerly voice and ensuring that the setting―the Greek Islands―really sang.
What songs would make up a playlist for your book?
I’m a die-hard Mariah Carey-Michael Bublé Christmas album fan. Throw in a bit of Bing, even Elvis and I am HAPP-PPYYY! I even love a lot of the Christmas hymns. ‘Angels We Have Heard on High’, ‘Silent Night, ‘The Little Drummer Boy’, ‘Oh, Holy Night’ … I’ll sing along at full volume. And, of course, The Christmas Trip is set in Hawaii so ‘Mele Kalikimaka’ and the (not-so-Christmassy-but a fave nonetheless) ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow-What a Wonderful World’ by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.
From idea to finished book, what’s your writing process like and how long does it typically take you?
From Chapter 1 to a completed manuscript typically takes me 3-5 months, depending on how much mental space I have outside of my other job. And editing earlier books often cuts into writing time. This book actually took me the longest to write since my first book―about 6 months―because I had to stop writing to edit A Sunrise over Bali and A Wedding in Tuscany.
What’s your favourite word and why?
by Book Review: The Coming Darkness by Greg Mosse
We are pleased to be welcoming Greg Mosse to Novel Kicks. He’s here with the blog tour for his new novel, The Coming Darkness.
Paris, 2037. Alexandre Lamarque of the French external security service is hunting for eco-terrorists. Experience has taught him there is no one he can trust – not his secretive lover Mariam, not even his old mentor, Professor Fayard, the man at the centre of the web. He is ready to give up. But he can’t.
In search of the truth, Alex must follow the trail through an ominous spiral of events, from a string of brutal child murders to a chaotic coup in North Africa. He rapidly finds himself in a heart-thumping race against chaos and destruction. He could be the world’s only hope of preventing THE COMING DARKNESS . . .
*****
Alexandre is in the French external security service, hunting for eco-terrorists.
He doesn’t know who to trust, not even his lover or his former mentor.
However, he can’t give up his search for the truth.
This book really hooked me from the first page. It’s fast paced and has multiple story lines running throughout. I wondered how they were all going to converge and couldn’t wait to find out.
Even though this is the first of his novels, you can tell that Greg Mosse is a seasoned writer. This book, in my opinion is very well written.
It offers short pieces of information that skilfully drive the plot forward which meant that I wanted to keep reading to find out how it was going to end.
by Book Extract: The Placeholder by Lynda Wolters
I am pleased to be welcoming Lynda Wolters to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her novel, The Placeholder.
THE PLACEHOLDER, a mash-up of Thelma and Louise besties meet Eat, Pray, Love and Me Before You.
Middle-aged Serenade Kincaid has lost everything: her stepchildren, her house, half her earnings, her sports car, and her husband, all to a decades younger–and more fertile–woman.
Sera now drinks boxed wine from a plastic cup as she attempts to start over from her new home, a seedy motel, as she kills time scrolling dating apps in search of a semi-decent-not-mass-murderer-please-just-spend-time-with-me port in the storm.
As Sera discontentedly leapfrogs through men, her snarky, meddling boss and sometimes-best friend, Carolyn, encourages her to focus more on finding a friend with benefits, just until Prince Charming comes along, of course. Zac fits the bill.
He’s a self-proclaimed “unsuitable boyfriend” who looks to have jumped straight from the pages of a romance novel. Zac also insists he, too is only looking for some fun, which is perfect for Sera.
Cue the booty calls. And wow, are they hitting the spot. But just when Sera is starting to figure herself out, get her life back on track and think she may have found someone, life takes a sharp left. And all fun and games come to a screeching halt.
Now, Sera, Zac, and Carolyn must race against time to disentangle their web of lies and deceit before it’s too late.
The Placeholder is an unconventional, unforgettable, unputdownable story of loss and love.
Lynda has shared an extract with us today. Enjoy!
*****beginning of extract*****
I never had a sister, but I did have a best friend, and oh, did we get ourselves into some tricky situations; but we always had each other’s backs. Decades later, I still have that BFF, and while we live a thousand miles apart, we still have each other’s backs. While writing the friendship scenes in The Placeholder between Sera and Carolyn, I drew on my relationship and how crazy and daring, and trusting a good relationship is; I hope the same comes through in this fun, somewhat crazy scene where Carolyn is driving Sera’s sporty Barracuda to see Sera’s mom. Here’s the scene:
The drive north is otherwise uneventful. We rock out to seventies disco when my head and ears can handle the noise, with an occasional Etta James and requisite Pat Benatar – because no girls’ trip is complete without “Heartbreaker.”
“Detour,” I call out. “Take old Highway 7. I want to show you something.”
Carolyn follows my directions, keeping to the posted speed.
“Faster,” I blurt. We are at the bottom of a hill where the intersecting road sign reads, Greencreek 6 miles. “Go faster.”
“I’m driving at the speed limit.”
“Just do it.”
I see Carolyn push the peddle down slightly.
“Faster.”
by Book Extract: Just One Day – Autumn by Susan Buchanan
I am pleased to be welcoming Susan Buchanan back to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her book, Just One Day – Autumn.
Pregnant Louisa is just getting back on track when life throws her another curveball. Now, it’s not a case of how she’ll get through her to-do lists but how she’ll manage being a mum again.
No one seems to understand. How will she run her company, be partner in a new venture, look after her three kids and handle a newborn? And why does everyone think this will be easy? Except her.
All Louisa wants is to be a good mum, a good wife and have a bit of time left for herself, but sometimes that’s too big an ask. Can she find the support she needs, or will she forever be pulled in too many directions, always at the mercy of her to-do lists?
Susan has shared an extract from Just One Day – Autumn. Enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Louisa and her family are at the Ferniehall scarecrow festival. She has just bumped into her landlord who needs to meet with her urgently.
I try to put Benedict to the back of my mind so as not to spoil the kids’ enjoyment of the day. Aria plays pin the carrot on the scarecrow and is the closest so wins a hand-knitted scarecrow as a prize. Hugo plays ten-pin scarecrow bowling and comes second, so he wins a voucher to spend at several of the other stalls, and Gen, with a little gentle coaxing creates a scarecrow rap and performs it on the makeshift stage and wins. The fact only three people participated in the ‘talent show’ doesn’t matter. She wins iTunes vouchers and is delighted.
‘I’m hungry,’ Hugo announces.
‘Hugo, you’ve been eating all day long. Grazing constantly. How can you be hungry?’ I ask, incredulous even though I know what he’s like.
‘I’m a growing boy, Mother,’ he says in a withering tone.
Honestly. ‘Fine. There’s a hot dog stand at the back. Do you want one?’
by Novel Kicks Book Club: Freckles by Cecelia Ahern
Hello November.
I love this time of year. It’s a perfect excuse to grab that blanket, a comfortable reading spot and that book you’ve been wanting to read for ages.
One of those books for me is by an author I love and admire – Cecelia Ahern. The book I’ve chosen is Freckles.
As usual, our book club is open to all, whether you’ve read it and want to discuss it or haven’t and want to read along with me this month. It’s up to you. The great thing is that you can take part from the comfort of your sofa, armchair, whatever.
I’ve posted a question below in the comments to get the discussion started. See you there.
About Freckles:
What if the people who have the power to change your life are the ones who have been there all along…
Like stars in the night sky, freckles are scattered across Allegra Bird’s arms, a legacy from her beloved father.
by Book Extract: The Girl of Lost Petals and Possibilities by Laura Briggs
I am so happy to be welcoming Laura Briggs back to Novel Kicks. She’s here with her novel, The Girl of Lost Petals and Possibilities.
On holiday in Egypt with Sidney and Dean, young writer Maisie is—in her mind—on top of the world. Her long-labored manuscript is finally going to be published, she and Sidney are deeply in love, and the future looks bright on every level.
In one moment, however, it all changes. Tragedy leads to overwhelming loss that Maisie can’t even begin to process. As the world itself turns upside down, there’s no solace for Maisie from the growing sense that her wonderful future is finished.
No dream about to come true. No certainties of new chances in life.
No Sidney.
Even if the first two did not break her, the last one is determined to. It’s up to Maisie to find her strength and determination to find a new future, even if—unthinkably—it may be nothing like the one she dreamed of.
Laura has shared an extract from The Girl of Lost Petals and Possibilities with us today. Enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Thanks so much to Laura for this chance to have my book featured on Novel Kicks. Titled The Girl of Lost Petals and Possibilities it continues the adventures of Maisie Clark, the aspiring young novelist who finds inspiration working at a quirky Cornish hotel. The scene below finds Maisie dealing with the aftermath of a terrible accident that has left her fiance Sidney facing a long road to recovery. With Sidney’s wealthy but distant mother determined to seek rehabilitation for him in London, Maisie must try to convince herself—and their mutual friend Dean—that it’s the only option, despite the hardships it will bring.
At Dean’s cottage, Callum switched on the lights and the stove’s eye beneath the teakettle, while Dean wheeled himself closer to the stereo. I put the tin containing Mrs. Graves’s biscuits on the table, a future snack for the birds in Dean’s garden. With my back still to Dean, I gathered my courage and spoke.
“Dean, you should know. Adele is taking Sidney home with her when he’s released,” I said, quietly. “She told me so a few days ago.”
It only took a second for what I said to sink in. “What?” Dean’s voice sharpened. He stopped studying the records laid out by the stereo and wheeled to face me. “Did you tell her that notion was ridiculous?”
by Book Review: A White Christmas on Winter Street by Sue Moorcroft
We are very pleased to be welcoming Sue Moorcroft back to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her novel, A White Christmas on Winter Street.
When Sky Terran returns to the village of Middledip after losing the job she loves, she anticipates a quiet Christmas getting used to her new life. However, the annual street decoration competition is coming up and this year, the residents of Winter Street are determined to win.
As she is pulled into the preparations, Sky quickly grows to love the quirky, tight-knit community she is now part of. Including the extremely handsome Daz, who soon becomes more than just a friendly neighbour.
But when Daz’s ex turns up determined to win him back and it seems he might not be the man Sky thought he was, she remembers how much allowing people into her life – and heart – can hurt. As the snow falls, will she and Daz find a way through – and help win a Christmas victory for Winter Street?
*****
Let me give you a definition of a pointless exercise – finding fault in a Sue Moorcroft novel.
For her Christmas story this year, we’re back in the welcoming fold of Middledip, Sue’s fictional village where quite a few of her stories are set, or touch upon. Warm, welcoming, A White Christmas on Winter Street delivers exactly what is says on the tin and instantly finds itself on my list of books to reread at that time of year from now on.
Principally the tale of Sky and Daz who don’t get off to the best of starts, so far as their relationship goes as they go head to head over the same item at an auction.
Sky’s in need of a new start and it turns out that finding herself in the middle of such a close community is exactly what she needs. Gradually, she warms to those around her as, without intending to, she discovers a warm, giving side to her personality she hadn’t been aware of.
A multi-generational tale, A White Christmas on Winter Street cracks along at just the right pace and, indeed, I found this a very hard book to put down. The characters, in this readers opinion, are beautifully written and Middledip has never been more enticing.
by Book Club
