Day: October 15, 2020

Posted in Blog Tour, Book Review, Christmas Read, Contemporary Fiction, Family Drama, Festive Read, Friendship, Humour, Romance

One Family Christmas Bella Osborne 5*#Review @osborne_bella @AvonBooksUK #Festive #Christmas #Family #drama #humour #Secrets @rararesources #OneFamilyChristmas

Posted on by jolliffe01

A big family. A whole lot of secrets. A Christmas to remember…

This year, Lottie is hosting one last big family Christmas at the home she grew up in – just like her Nana would have wanted.

But when her relatives descend on the old manor house, Lottie gets more than she bargained for. Every family has its secrets, but in this family, everybody has one!

So, between cooking a Christmas dinner, keeping tensions at bay and a stray dog out of mischief, she has plenty on her plate and not just misshapen sausage rolls and a frozen turkey. And then her first love shows up – nine years after he walked out of her life.

Can Lottie make their last family Christmas one to remember… for the right reasons?

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I received a copy of this book from Avon Book UK via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

My Thoughts…

It’s always fun when one of your favourite authors writes a festive book, and this one has laughter, love and life in abundance. Lottie wants to have a perfect family Christmas for her lovely Nana Rose, but the reality isn’t quite as rosy as the dream. Like many families, Lottie’s family has its eccentric members and secrets, but when they all in the same house, its a recipe for mayhem.

Lottie’s inability to cook is one obstacle and the emerging secrets from her family is another, but this makes for a fun read with touches of poignancy and romance that is likely to have you recalling past family Christmases. Every character adds to the story, especially the animals and you are left with a smile on your face when you reach the last page, lovely.

Bella Osborne

Bella has been jotting down stories as far back as she can remember but decided that 2013 would be the year that she finished a full length novel. Since then she’s written six best selling romantic comedies and she’s been shortlisted three times for the RNA Contemporary Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

Bella’s stories are about friendship, love and coping with what life throws at you. She lives in The Midlands, UK with her husband, daughter and a cat who thinks she’s a dog. When not writing Bella is usually eating custard creams and planning holidays.

For more about Bella, visit her website at www.bellaosborne.com or follow her on social media.

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Posted in Blog Tour, Book Review, Crime, Giveaway, Suspense

A Conspiracy of Silence Anna Legat 5*#Review @LegatWriter @AccentPress #DIGillianMarsh #CrimeFiction #Detective #Wiltshire #PublicationDay #AConspiracyofSilence #BookReview #BlogTour @rararesources #Giveaway

Posted on by jolliffe01

When a body is found in the grounds of a prestigious Wiltshire private school, DI Gillian Marsh takes on the case. The young groundsman, Bradley Watson, has been shot dead, pierced through the heart with an arrow.

As the investigation gathers pace, DI Marsh is frustrated to find the Whalehurst staff and students united in silence. This scandal must not taint their reputation. But when Gillian discovers pictures of missing Whalehurst pupil, fifteen-year-old Rachel Snyder, on Bradley’s dead body – photos taken on the night she disappeared, and he was murdered – the link between the two is undeniable.

But what is Whalehurst refusing to reveal? And does Gillian have what it takes to bring about justice?

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I received a copy of this book from Headline Accent via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

My Thoughts…

Two different points of view draw the reader into the characters’ lives from the first page. There are hints of what is to come for both characters, and the reader is aware of a tenuous connection but nothing more. The story’s development stems from these characters and their motivations.

Two investigations demand the attention of DI Gillian Marsh, the missing person case overseen by her detective sergeant, and the murder which is hers to solve. DI Gillian Marsh is a believable character with flaws and insight, which make her a realistic investigator. There is a good balance of the detective’s personal life and the police procedural. The characters are authentic, but many are unlikeable.

Solving the cases means breaking the wall of silence surrounding them, and DI Marsh and her team are ultimately successful in this.

Anna Legat

Anna Legat is a Wiltshire-based author, best known for her DI Gillian Marsh murder mystery series. A globe-trotter and Jack-of-all-trades, Anna has been an attorney, legal adviser, a silver-service waitress, a school teacher and a librarian. She read law at the University of South Africa and Warsaw University, then gained teaching qualifications in New Zealand. She has lived in far-flung places all over the world where she delighted in people-watching and collecting precious life experiences for her stories. Anna writes, reads, lives and breathes books and can no longer tell the difference between fact and fiction.

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Giveaway

to Win a DI Marsh Series Mug, and the first four books in the Series

(UK Only)

DI Marsh Series  First four books – Swimming with Sharks, Nothing to Lose, Thicker than Blood and Sandman.

Click on this Giveaway Link to Enter

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Giveaway link above.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for the fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.