Part of The Widows of Westram: Lady Marguerite Saxby is being blackmailed! Desperate for money, she accepts Jack Vincent, Earl Compton’s offer to become temporary governess to his three motherless daughters. There’s so much she can’t tell her new employer. Only she’s not expecting the all-consuming attraction that makes living under Jack’s roof a constant battle between her head and her heart!
I received a copy of this book from Mills and Boon via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
My Thoughts…
Part of the WIdows of Westram series, but as I haven’t read the others, it reads well as a standalone. Marguerite is enjoying living as an independent woman, freed by the death of her husband, from an abusive marriage. Her first meeting with Jack is full of confrontation, but that is not her only worry. Blackmailed, she needs money desperately, and it seems working for the Earl of Compton is the only way out.
Passion sizzles between Marguerite and Jack, in this slow-burn historical romance. There are many obstacles to their passion, but Marguerite’s independent spirit makes her brave, whatever the consequences. Issues of trust and fear of being controlled threaten Marguerite’s chance of a new family.
The plot is engaging, the passion and romance lovely, and the romantic ending perfect, very enjoyable.
He might be outrageously wealthy, yet all the money in the world couldn’t save Leonidas Stathakis from the pain—and gut-wrenching guilt—of losing his loved ones. Since then, he’s forbidden himself all pleasure in life. Until he meets enchanting innocent, Hannah at a lavish party in Greece… That night, Leonidas breaks all his rules, indulging in red-hot oblivion—with inescapable consequences…!
Amazon UK
I received a copy of this book from Mills and Boon via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Two lost souls and unexpected night of passion on a beautiful Greek Island. A lovely holiday memory, perhaps that’s what it would have been for Hannah, although her emotions are more engaged than she wanted. The billionaire child she’s carrying changes everything. She has to tell him, but can she trust this precious gift with him, when her trust feels broken beyond repair?
Leonidas is a broken man, rich beyond belief and thankfully now on the right side of the law, but losing his baby son and wife, because of his father’s criminality is a burden that draws him to beautiful Greek Island on the saddest of pilgrimages. Hannah is a guilty pleasure, and guilt is something he knows well.
The couples passion is what draws them to each other, but maybe there is something more spiritual too. Damaged souls, drawn to the pain of the other? A marriage of convenience will allow Leonidas to protect his unborn child, but can Hannah survive a gilded cage, and living with a man who says he doesn’t deserve love?
This is a poignant, romantic story against an amazingly glamorous setting, but money isn’t everything, but trust is hard to give once it’s broken, will Hannah and Leonidas find their happy ever after, for much of the story in the face of crippling internal conflict, it seems not, but after surviving their emotional roller coaster, there is hope.
Glasgow, 1972. Michael Mitchell
is ambitious, talented and determined to succeed. But he learns the hard way
that he will never achieve his goals in life – unless he plays by a different
set of rules.
He partners with a small-time crook to help the Glasgow underworld launder the proceeds of
their crimes. As the operation grows, Michael is forced to become more and more
ruthless to protect what he has built.
Shocked by who he has become, he
vows to leave the criminal world behind and start a new life. But the past has
a way of catching up. Finally, he gambles everything on one last desperate
attempt to break free.
I received a copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.
My Thoughts…
Set in Glasgow in the 1970s, this story’s ethos is gritty and full of moral dilemmas. Michael is a hard worker and he wants to succeed, but his efforts are overlooked, and soon he uses his powerful intelligence to become successful in a less orthodox way.
Like the author’s previous book set in 1970s Glasgow and London, Love’s Long Road, this story has excellent characters, a clever plot and you constantly question Michael’s choices, there are so many grey areas,
The pacing is fast, and there is a good balance of action, dialogue and introspection. The setting once again steals the show for me, it encompasses the desperation of the 1970s, a time of high unemployment, and the demise of British industry like coal, shipbuilding and steel. When for many crime was the only way out of poverty.
A good, thought-provoking thriller.
#SilentMoney #Blogtour
I was placed third in the 2015 Lightship Prize for first-time authors, won a 2016 Wishing Shelf Award Red Ribbon, been shortlisted at the UK Festival of Writing for Best First Chapter, longlisted in the 2017 UK Novel Writing Competition.
In 2017, I was one of twelve authors selected for Authors in the Spotlight at the Bloody Scotland book festival in Stirling, showcasing who they considered to be the best emerging talent in crime fiction, and was the only self-published author to be chosen. I have spoken at numerous other book events, including Blackwells’ Writers at the Fringe at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; a stand-alone slot at the Byres Road Book Festival in Glasgow, and the Aye Write! Book Festival, also in Glasgow.
I went to Glasgow University in 1975 and lived in the city’s West End, the time and place for the setting of the majority of Love’s Long Road.
Leah Jensen, Yorkshire lass born and bred, needs money and she’ll do anything – yes, anything – to get it. Her Grandad Thomas is in pain and the cost of an operation on his bad knee is way beyond the family’s means. Leah tries everything to earn the fee – but in the end, and like so many before her, she turns to the world’s oldest profession. Madam Butterfly’s exclusive escort agency in London is a different world to where Leah comes from. In Whitby, the sea air is sweet, and legends of Dracula jostle with jet-mining and whaling history; it’s a place where dog lovers meet and tourists come to marvel at the views. Leah may be out of her comfort zone, but one daring, brief encounter will bring many surprises in this memorable romantic comedy full of pithy Yorkshire humour.
I received a copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.
My Thoughts…
This is a humorous, romantic story, with complex characters, and a lovely northern ethos. Whilst there are aspects of this story that I love, there are a few I don’t. Some of the attitudes jar with twenty-first-century thinking. The length of the story is longer than it needs to be. It is written with maximum visual imagery, so the pace carries it along, despite the length, but a shorter story would work better. Most of the characters work well, but a few stereotypical traits are in evidence.
On the positive side, this is a heartwarming, humorous and hectic story, with a lovely main protagonist, Leah, and a cast of varied and interesting characters to compliment her. This is pure escapist reading, providing you accept this, it will be an enjoyable experience. There are many mentions of James Bond, and there are aspects of the story that mirror these stories, the intrepid heroine, the quirky sidekicks, and over the top villains, for example.
If you’re expecting to spend your time in Whitby, you may be disappointed, the historic seaside town does feature, but there is more action elsewhere. I would love to spend more time in the dog-friendly cafe.
An ideal read if you’re looking for something different in the romantic comedy genre.
#GracieBond
Gracie Bond loves a good romantic comedy, either to read or to watch on Netflix. Her favourite go-to novel is (Pride and Prejudice)- and she’s always happy to watch (Bridgett Jones) any time of the day.
Among Gracie’s interests are Newfoundland dogs, horses, and handsome Yorkshire men. Her idea of fun would be to ride a spirited horse along a Northumberland beach, followed by a pack of her favourite dogs.
Gracie lives in Yorkshire with her partner John and she has close connections with Whitby, the setting for this novel.
I’m happy to share the cover for a new #ganglit novel due out on 23 January 2020. Look out for my #review and a Q&A with Stephanie Harte on Publication Day, here when I kick off the blog tour in the new year.
#RiskingItAll
Gemma is about to risk it
all for the man she loves. Will she survive entering into a life of crime?
Gemma has always been there for Nathan. He’s the love of her
life and she made a commitment to him, one she’d never consider breaking…
until smooth-talking gangster Alfie Watson comes into their lives and changes
everything.
Alfie doesn’t care about true love – he wants Gemma, and the
gangster always gets what he wants. When Nathan ends up owing him money, Alfie
gets payback by recruiting Gemma to carry out a jewellery heist. To everyone’s
surprise, she’s a natural. Until Alfie forgives Nathan’s debt, she has no
choice but to accompany the gangster on more and more daring heists – even
though one slip-up could cost her everything.
Nathan might have fallen under Alfie’s spell, but it doesn’t
take long for him to realise that he needs to save Gemma from his own mistakes
if their marriage is to have any chance of surviving. But when that means
taking on the East End’s most notorious gangster at his own game, will he find
himself up to the challenge?
The stunning new historical thriller from Clio Gray, the acclaimed author of the Scottish Mysteries series.
Lukitt Bachmann is waiting in his Lanterne de Mortes, a Tower of the Dead, in the middle of a cemetery.
He’s had a complicated life: son of a Herrnhuter Brother thrown out of his sect; help-meet to a pastor; sailor; fisherman; boar-hunter; and student and lecturer, exploring the varied histories of the Knights Teutonic and the bone-chapels their descendants left behind them.
He has become an assassin and a murderer learned the terrible highs and lows of friendships made and lost and is awaiting now his last remaining friend to set him free so he can put right past wrongs.
As Lukitt is let loose on a world gone mad, can this avenging angel finally find solace for his soul?
I’m sitting atop the Lanterne des Mortes in some Alsatian hole but here, in Sansonnet-St-Genès, lives my only friend. I’m crouched below the casement window, knees to chest, hands beneath armpits; the fire in the old upturned bell is burning, but still there’s frost on the walls, breath billowing like early morning mist. It’s high up here, thirty feet above the cemetery; the tower cylindrical and hollow, spiral staircase of stones protruding from its inner wall. It’s All Souls Eve, hence the bowl-fire, a Lux Perpetua leading the villagers from their mean houses as they hum the hymn of the Dies Irae, packets of bread clutched beneath their jackets, along with small flasks of oil and wine. They reach the cemetery surrounding the Lanterne des Mortes, begin tidying plots and graves, scrubbing down crosses and angels, pruning corpse-shrubs, straightening portraits hanging from rusting chains, poking mildew and lichen from roughly sculpted names and dates. They leave their gifts of bread, oil and wine; stick candles to the stones with warm-dripped wax: teetering will – o’- wisps in the darkness.
The priest arrives and intones the rite of Mass, everyone kneeling in the frost: old hips creaking, bunions aching, fingers clutched about each other turning white. Mass soon done – two more to perform the following day – everyone back home soon as they can decently go.
Only a few more hours now. Only a few more hours.
Lukitt Habakkuk Bachmann in his tower, waiting for his friend. How did you end up here, Lukitt? How did it all lead to this?
#ClioGray
Clio was born in Yorkshire, spent her later childhood in Devon before returning to Yorkshire to go to university. For the last twenty-five year,s she has lived in the Scottish Highlands where she intends to remain. She eschewed the usual route of marriage, mortgage, children, and instead spent her working life in libraries, filling her home with books and sharing that home with dogs. She began writing for personal amusement in the late nineties, then began entering short story competitions, getting shortlisted and then winning, which led directly to a publication deal with Headline. Her book, The Anatomist’s Dream, was nominated for the Man Booker 2015 and longlisted for the Bailey’s Prize in 2016.
Lexie’s got the perfect life. And someone else wants it…
Lexie loves her home. She feels safe and secure in it – and loved, thanks to her boyfriend Tom.
But recently, something’s not been quite right. A book out of place. A wardrobe door left open. A set of keys going missing…
Tom thinks Lexie’s going mad – but then, he’s away more often than he’s at home nowadays, so he wouldn’t understand.
Because Lexie isn’t losing it. She knows there’s someone out there watching her. And, deep down, she knows there’s nothing she can do to make them stop…
A dark women’s fiction novel with a universal hook about the anonymity of cities, the dangers of social media, and how we always need to be careful of strangers…
I received a copy of this book from Avon Books UK in return for an honest review.
My Thoughts…
This book explores how isolated we all are. Even though, many of us live in overpopulated cities, how many people do we interact with face to face in a meaningful way?
Lexie and Harriet live next door to each other, Lexie lives with Tom and is desperately trying to get pregnant. Harriet lives alone, but often has noisy parties, Lexie never goes to. Both can hear muffled sounds of life through their apartment wall, and they both envy each other’s life to a degree. Told from both of the women’s points of view, a story of deceit, obsession and deteriorating mental health unfolds.
Harriet’s past life is gradually revealed and you realise what an unreliable protagonist she is. Her story is heartbreakingly sad, and as you understand what motivates her behaviour, the sense of menace and suspense builds.
Lexie is also in the grip of an obsession, she wants a baby to exclusion of all else, this puts a strain on her relationship with Tom, and makes her wonder what it would be like to be Harriet, someone she knows little about.
The story is slow-paced and detailed, and probably slightly longer than it needs to be, but the characters are complex, flawed and relatable, and the plot has many subtle twists. However, what you see, is actually what you get. Whilst this story lacks the big reveal, the delivery has a relentlessness about it, that makes you dread, what is going to happen next. You know it isn’t going to end well for someone.
