Bena Roberts's Blog, page 6
July 26, 2018
Blog Tour - Chasing Black Gold by Robert Stone
I am so excited to be featuring my first ever true story on Six Tinder Weeks. If you love true life criminals, planes and manhunts this is the book for you. I know already that my hubby would love this story.
www.projectjosephine.com looks amazing and I wish I was learning to fly a Spitfire!
Chasing Black Gold
ROBERT STONE was a serial entrepreneur ��� an enterprising individual, mostly on the wrong side of the law, who spent twenty-five years operating all over the world, before being arrested in Switzerland as a result of an international manhunt led by an Organised Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. Over the course of his career, Stone earned and lost several lifetimes��� worth of fortunes, went to prison on three continents, used dozens of aliases, saw men die, and masterminded one of the biggest marijuana smuggling operations in criminal history. Fuel smuggling in Africa, trading fuel with generals, rebels and businessman, was both his career high and, ultimately, what brought him down.
Purchase Links:
https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/chasing-black-gold/9780750960335/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chasing-Black-Gold-Incredible-Smuggler/dp/0750960337
https://www.waterstones.com/book/chasing-black-gold/robert-stone/9780750960335
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/chasing-black-gold-robert-stone/1121230480
https://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Black-Gold-Incredible-Smuggler/dp/0750960337
https://www.ebooks.com/1974661/chasing-black-gold/stone-robert/
Author Bio:
Author Robert Stone first came to Aberdeen Scotland in 1973 as a pioneer saturation diver in the early dangerous days of the North Sea. Retiring from diving in the mid 80���s he became a serial entrepreneur ���mostly on the wrong side of the law. He spent the next decade operating businesses all over the world from his Aberdeenshire home.
Stone earned and lost several fortunes, went to prison on three continents, used dozens of aliases, and masterminded one of the biggest marijuana smuggling operations in criminal history. Fuel smuggling in Africa, was only one of his many exploits.
His Scottish wife and young children knew nothing of the dark side of his life until the day they were all arrested in Switzerland as a result of an international manhunt led by an Organised Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
Twitter - https://twitter.com/rstonecbg
Twitter https://twitter.com/TheHistoryPress
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thehistorypressuk
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thehistorypressuk/?hl=en
Giveaway ��� Win 10 x signed copies of Chasing Black Gold (Open Internationally)
*Terms and Conditions ���Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. 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 I reserve 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 passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
From the author
I am the author of Chasing Black Gold https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/chasing-black-gold/9780750960335 and currently working as an Executive Producer on a very interesting historical Aviation documentary for television called Project Josephine.
The Takoradi Run is little known today but it is officially recorded at the War Office as the 'West African Reinforcement Route'.
This was the secret route to get Fighter Aircraft to the Desert War in North Africa without which that war could not have been won. With the help of the Free French a series of landing strips had been built enroute to Cairo, spaced so that Fighter Aircraft could make the journey on their limited fuel.
These planes were shipped from the UK in kit form and assembled at Takoradi to be flown in hops across Africa to the front line.
They landed as no ships were available to take planes the long sea route via the Cape and Red Sea.
In autumn 1941, a young aircraft gunner emerged from the desert carried on the back of a nomadic tribesman���s horse���
To the amazement of the guards at a remote RAF base in central Africa, it is missing presumed dead, 27-year-old Tom ��� the sole survivor of a Bristol Blenheim bomber, believed to have crashed somewhere between the Ivory Coast and Cairo. But what was he doing there? What was his mission? And how had he survived for weeks alone in the brutal African bush?
Using expert guides and meticulous research, the Team hope to trace Tom���s incredible journey through this subtropical savanna. Do the local tribes remember the incident? Can our team discover the crash site of the Blenheim bomber? And crucially will they be able to locate the grave of the dead pilot giving him a chance at repatriation to his mother country and family nearly 80 years later?
The only way to answer some of these questions is to physically fly the route. Named after Tom���s fianc��, ���JOSEPHINE��� will be the expedition���s two-seater Spitfire and iconic mascot. Once we have mastered this historic plane, we will take to the skies and attempt to retrace the Takoradi Run ��� learning first-hand how it was done, discovering the many challenges of both tropical and desert flying and finally understanding just what an incredible feat of flying this was.
I will be flying an original two-seater Spitfire with an experienced pilot as a co-pilot and my son will be flying the replica which will also be a two seater Spitfire and also with an experienced pilot as co-pilot. Neither of us are currently pilots.
Reason being we are attempting to replicate the actuality of how young men were only given 35-40 hours of flight instruction before being sent to Ghana on ships to deliver fighter aircraft using the Takoradi Run. Many of the men died died of Malaria, Yellow Fever, Blackwater Fever, Septicaemia and Pneumonia caught onshore and during the sea voyage.
The more I read about aviation during this period the more impressed I am with the bravery and sacrifice of everyone involved. These young men from the UK, Canada, USA, Australia, Poland, New Zealand travelled by ships in horrendous conditions to get to Africa and fly across largely unchartered territory. Quite incredible!
This project will be a Memorial to those who survived the War and to those 20,000 plus airmen who were lost with out a trace during this period
See www.projectjosephine.com for complete details.
July 25, 2018
Blog Tour and Excerpt- Barnabas Tew and the case of the Missing Scarab By Columbkill Noonan
OH No! I hate it when I sign up for a blog tour and decide not to review as I am just back from holiday- then realise I would have loved this book! If you don't know - I love Egypt. I have the eye of Horas tattoo (yes, really!) I just read the excerpt and I know that Barnabas has been killed by the mummy and is on his way to the underworld... at least that is what I think, anyway.
Egyptian mystery fans get this book today!!!
Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab
Barnabas Tew, a detective in Victorian London, is having a hard time making a name for himself, probably because most of his clients end up dead before he can solve their cases. His luck is about to change, though, for better or worse: Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead, notices him and calls him to the Egyptian underworld. A terrible kidnapping has occurred; one that promises to put an end to the status quo and could perhaps even put an end to the entire world. It is up to Barnabas (along with his trusty assistant, Wilfred) to discover the culprit and set things to right. Can he turn his luck around and solve the most important case of his life?
Purchase Link - mybook.to/Barnabas
Author Bio ��� Columbkill Noonan lives in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, where she teaches yoga and Anatomy and Physiology. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines. Her first novel, ���Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab��� by Crooked Cat Books, was released in 2017, and her latest work, ���Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Nine Worlds���, is set to be released in September 2018.
In her spare time, Columbkill enjoys hiking, paddle boarding, aerial yoga, and riding her rescue horse, Mittens. To learn more about Columbkill please feel free to visit her website (www.columbkill.weebly.com), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ColumbkillNoonan) or on Twitter (@ColumbkillNoon1).
Social Media Links ��� Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColumbkillNoonan/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/columbkillnoon1?lang=en
Excerpt 2
When Barnabas regained consciousness, he realised immediately that something was horribly wrong with him. To begin with, he felt quite light and airy, not like his usual self at all. Another problem was that he seemed to be lying on the floor of a dirty and decrepit boat made of mouldy black wood.
He heard the sounds one would normally hear whilst aboard a boat: waves lapping against the sides, paddles slapping against the water, wood creaking as the boat moved up and down with the water. All of these were normal sounds with which he was quite familiar, as was the rocking motion of the boat, a movement that would have been very relaxing under other circumstances. It was not relaxing now for three very important reasons.
The first reason was that he had no idea how he might have got on a boat. The last thing he remembered was being attacked, remarkably, by an extremely ambulatory mummy that was (equally remarkably) seemingly directed by a man with an extraordinarily canine face. He supposed that he might have fallen, bumped his head, and experienced a very vivid dream; that theory, however, did not begin to explain his current provenance on this derelict boat.
The second factor that bothered him was the sky. Instead of being a nice, pretty blue, or the more usual grey of a London fog, it was, instead, a brownish-red. The sky was like a particularly ugly sunset that didn���t darken into the black of night as sunsets normally did. Barnabas waited and waited for it to do so, but the hideous muddy smudge of a sky persisted.
But the most important thing that weighed on Barnabas��� mind was a question: who was rowing this boat? That someone was doing so was not in doubt for, in addition to the sounds of the paddles moving in and out of the water, the boat hitched and lurched forward in a way that indicated the rhythmic strokes of a rower. Besides, Barnabas could hear the faint noises that one normally associated with the presence of another: a rustling of clothing as the person shifted, a soft whistling sound as he (or she) breathed in and out, the scratching of feet along the floorboards.
Still, he couldn���t think of a logical reason someone would remove him from the museum. Surely, if he had fallen and hurt himself, a reasonable person would have taken him to see a doctor! A reasonable person would at least have helped Wilfred to get him bundled safely into his own bed in his own flat. Neither of these courses of action would require a ride in a dingy old boat.
And so, Barnabas reasoned, the person sitting in the back of the boat must not be a reasonable fellow (or lady) at all. Therefore, he was somewhat nervous about confronting the person to see what they were about with all of this nonsense.
But, Barnabas realised at last, he couldn���t just lie there on the bottom of the boat refusing to look at his companion forever. There was nothing for it but to see who was there and ask whoever it might be where, exactly, they were and why, exactly, Barnabas was in this craft instead of in the museum where he belonged.
So, Barnabas sat up and turned to look towards the back of the boat. However, the moment he saw who was there with him (or, rather what, Barnabas thought with no small degree of consternation), he wished that he hadn���t looked at all. It would have been better if he had just stayed still and feigned sleep, and if he had done so forever if that���s how long it took for the thing that sat in the back of the boat to go away.
Barnabas blinked, thinking that perhaps his eyes were mistaken, that maybe some trick of the odd reddish light had deceived him. When that didn���t work, he closed his eyes for a bit longer before opening them. But, to his chagrin, nothing had changed when he opened them again. Everything was just as it had been before.
The problem was that the person who sat on the bench, pushing the oars and looking entirely relaxed as though nothing at all was amiss, was not exactly a person at all.
July 23, 2018
Review and #giveaway The Secrets of Villa Rosso by Linn B Halton
The Secrets of Villa Rosso
Some places stay with you forever���
When Ellie Maddison is sent on a business trip to Southern Italy, she's reminded why she loves her job ��� set amongst rolling vineyards and rich olive groves, the beautiful Villa Rosso is the perfect escape from her life back home. But what Ellie isn't prepared for is the instant connection she feels to the estate's director Max Jackson, or the secrets they share that are as intertwined as the rambling vines that cover Villa Rosso.
It's not long before Ellie finds herself entangled in the history of the place, trying to understand the undeniable effect Max is having on her. As their relationship grows, what will Ellie discover about this idyllic villa and those who have walked through its doors?
What started as a simple work trip will change Ellie's life forever.
Purchase Link - http://smarturl.it/SecretsofVillaRosso
Author Bio ���
From interior designer to author, Linn - who also writes under the pen name of Lucy Coleman - says ���it���s been a fantastic journey!���
Linn is the bestselling author of more than a dozen novels and is excited to be writing for both Harper Impulse (Harper Collins) and Aria Fiction (Head of Zeus); she���s represented by Sara Keane of the Keane Kataria Literary Agency.
When she���s not writing, or spending time with the family, she���s either upcycling furniture or working in the garden.
Linn won the 2013 UK Festival of Romance: Innovation in Romantic Fiction award; her novels have been short-listed in the UK's Festival of Romance and the eFestival of Words Book Awards.
Living in Coed Duon in the Welsh Valleys with her ���rock���, Lawrence, and gorgeous Bengal cat Ziggy, she freely admits she���s an eternal romantic.
Linn is a member of the Romantic Novelists��� Association and writes feel-good, uplifting novels about life, love and relationships.
Social Media Links ���
Read chapter one from each of Linn & Lucy���s novels: Website: http://linnbhalton.co.uk/
Twitter: @LinnBHalton and @LucyColemanAuth
Facebook: LinnBHaltonAuthor
Amazon author pages: Linn B. Halton and Lucy Coleman
Giveaway to Win a signed copy of The Secrets of Villa Rosso (Open Internationally)
*Terms and Conditions ���Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. 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 I reserve 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 passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
My Review The Secrets of Villa Rosso - Linn B. Halton
The first chapter of this book was spectacular. The hook with the Crystal Ball that doesn't work but did - had me hook line and sinker!
The Good
After the first chapter, my expectations for the book were HIGH. Unfortunately, it morphed into story telling of family life, Josh, kids and soul mates that didn't excite me.
The Bad
I loved Max. Yes. Not at all Bad! But I imagined like a Twilight hero or British Italian Darcy.
The Ugly
I only like the Max bits of the book. I am sorry! I travelled so much with work, got to Italy all the time and have two children. It wasn't the book for me to be reminded about the stress I have daily.
That didn't mean that I hated it. I liked everything Max!
3.5 Stars - I read this as part of a blog tour
July 22, 2018
Review - Forgive Me Not by Samantha Tonge
Forgive Me Not
Forgiveness can be hard to come by��� An unputdownable new novel from bestseller Samantha Tonge
How far would you go to make amends?
When Emma fled her home at Foxglove Farm, she���d let down and hurt those who cared for her most. But now, two years later, she���s ready to face up to her past; she���s ready to go back.
But Emma���s unannounced return causes more problems than she could have foreseen. The people she knew and loved aren���t ready to forget, let alone forgive. And the one person she wants to reconnect with the most, her mother, can���t remember who she is.
Just as Emma starts to rebuild trust, an uncovered family secret and a shocking past crime threaten her newly forged future...
Sometimes simply saying sorry isn���t enough.
Perfect for readers of Ruth Hogan or Amanda Prowse, this is an extraordinary and unforgettable novel about running away from yourself ��� and finding a way back.
Purchase Links
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/forgive-me-not
Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=D7liDwAAQBAJ
iBooks:https://geo.itunes.apple.com/gb/book/the-quantum-spy/id1406717966?mt=11&uo=8&at=1000l5Q7
About Samantha Tonge
Samantha Tonge lives in Manchester UK and her passion, second to spending time with her husband and children, is writing. She studied German and French at university and has worked abroad, including a stint at Disneyland Paris. She has travelled widely.
When not writing she passes her days cycling, baking and drinking coffee. Samantha has sold many dozens of short stories to women���s magazines.
In 2013, she landed a publishing deal for romantic comedy fiction with HQDigital at HarperCollins and in 2014, her bestselling debut novel, Doubting Abbey, was shortlisted for the Festival of Romantic Fiction best Ebook award. In 2015 her summer novel, Game of Scones, hit #5 in the UK Kindle chart and won the Love Stories Awards Best Romantic Ebook category.
Links
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamTongeWriter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaTongeAuthor
Website: http://samanthatonge.co.uk/
My Review Forgive me Not by Samantha Tonge
An exceptional book that makes you want to know more and more.
The Good
This is a story of forgiveness and not letting go of the past and letting go of the past. It is a tale of love that everyone will be able to relate to in some form.
The Bad
I expected this to be a RomCom and was surprised when it wasn't. That wasn't bad though! I am not sure why, but I didn't really like the soup kitchen thing. I felt it was a distraction from the family story and making amends with the sister/mum.
The Ugly
Dementia. My Grandmother had it and it is so sad.
It took me a while to get into the book, but once I got past chapter 3, I couldn't put it down. A lovely story.
4 Stars
July 20, 2018
#giveaway Extract and Blog Blitz - The Second Cup by Sarah Marie Graye
OOOOHHHH! I just read this extract and this book looks like a weepy! I am not sure as I haven't read the whole book - but based on this I can see visions of love, sadness, awareness and pain.
Today we are hosting The Second Cup by Sarah Marie Graye as it is one today! Please see below for links to buy and read the mysterious extract.
..... its starts when Faye bumps into an ex she never got over .....
Excerpt
His eyes are too close together and between them a smattering of rebellious hairs that have crossed over the bridge of his nose. A nose that surely should be more bulbous too?
His broad chin and slight ears are the right shape, but his top lip is too thin and disappears all at once too soon to meet the edge of his bottom one.
Someone has rearranged all his features. He no longer looks like himself. I have to find out what has happened to him.
���Jack?���
He looks up at me, straight at me, in fact. He knows his name. His companion turns to look too.
���Hello?���
It is his companion who answers for him. Why doesn���t Jack speak for himself?
���Do I know you?��� His companion asks.
���Jack, do you know this woman?��� Jack asks his companion, calling him Jack, which is rather strange. The companion shakes his head a little, attempting to answer ���No��� to Jack without offending me.
���It���s not you I know,��� I tell the companion, speaking carefully, ���It���s Jack,��� I say, nodding in the direction of Jack.
Jack stares back at me, his face becoming even less familiar as it is flooded with a mix of bemusement and confusion.
���I���m not Jack.���
I look hard at him, blinking. And I blink again. Now I can���t blink enough. The windscreen wipers of my eyelids wash away the blurriness to help me to see clearly. But the swimming features in front of me won���t form into the face I remember.
���I���m not Jack,��� he says again, this time softer as if recognising the absolute importance to me that he is.
Warm vomit rises in my throat, flooding my once-dry skin with too much wetness. I have to get away from Jack and NOT-Jack before the contents of my throat works its way into my mouth, through the hairline cracks between my clamped lips, and over onto the paving stones and their shined leather shoes.
I stumble away from them, raising a palm to them to tell them that I���m okay, that it���s a case of mistaken identity, that it���s not their fault that the wrong one of them is called Jack ��� and that I���m just fine dealing with this news on my own.
As I walk backwards, I receive an aggressive shoulder barge from someone who thinks I should have turned around before trying to make my escape.
The bang jolts the vomit into my mouth and I turn and throw my face forwards, sending the warm greeny-yellow liquid down the concrete blocks that separate Subway from its neighbour.
I stare at the sick in shock, realising I can identify the worms of noodles I had for lunch. There. Are. No. Carrots.
Suddenly this NOT-Jack person has his arms round my shoulders and is leading me into St Anne���s Square and over to a bench where he can sit me down. He sits down next to me, one arm limp around my shoulders, unsure of what to do next: whether to take a firm grip on my shoulders, or to rub my back, or to sit there in silence, or maybe get up and leave.
He chooses silence. So we sit there in silence together, with the real-but-not-the-right-Jack standing watching from just a few feet away
This. Is. Not. What. I. Laddered. My. Tights. For.
Author bio
Sarah Marie Graye was born in Manchester in 1975, to English Catholic parents. To the outside world Sarah Marie���s childhood followed a relatively typical Manchester upbringing, until aged nine, when she was diagnosed with depression.
It���s a diagnosis that has stayed with Sarah Marie over three decades, and something she believes has coloured every life decision, including the one to write a novel.
Sarah Marie wrote The Second Cup as part of an MA Creative Writing practice as research degree at London South Bank University ��� where she was the vice-chancellor���s scholarship holder.
Sarah Marie was diagnosed with ADHD in November 2017 and published an extended edition of The Second Cup in February 2018 that included character interviews so she could diagnose one of her characters with the same condition.
Book blurb
Would your life unravel if someone you knew committed suicide? Theirs did.
Faye knows her heart still belongs to her first love, Jack. She also knows he might have moved on, but when she decides to track him down, nothing prepares her for the news that he's taken his own life.
Faye is left wondering how to move forward - and whether or not Jack's best friend Ethan will let her down again. And the news of Jack's death ripples through the lives of her friends too.
Abbie finds herself questioning her marriage, and wondering if she was right to leave her first love behind. Poor Olivia is juggling her job and her boyfriend and trying to deal with a death of her own. And Jack's death has hit Beth the hardest, even though she never knew him.
Is Beth about to take her own life too?
Amazon links
Amazon book page: https://getbook.at/SecondCup
Amazon author page: https://author.to/SarahMarieGraye
Social Media Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahmariegraye
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SarahMarieGraye
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahmariegraye
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/sarahmariegraye
Giveaway ��� Win 3 x Signed copies of The Second Cup by Sarah Marie Graye (Open Internationally)
*Terms and Conditions ���Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. 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 I reserve 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 passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
Review - The London Murder Mysteries by Alice Castle
Death in Dulwich
Thirty-something single mum Beth Haldane is forced to become Dulwich���s answer to Miss Marple when she stumbles over a murder victim on her first day at work.
To clear her name, Beth is plunged into a cozy mystery that���s a contemporary twist on Golden Age crime classics. But can she pull it off? She already has a bouncy young son, haughty cat, a fringe with a mind of its own and lots of bills to pay, as she struggles to keep up with the yummy mummies of SE21.
Join Beth in #1 of the London Murder Mystery series, as she discovers the nastiest secrets can lurk in the nicest places.
Purchase Link - MyBook.to/1DeathinDulwich
The Girl in the Gallery
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Dulwich���
It���s a perfect summer���s morning in the plush south London suburb, and thirty-something Beth Haldane has sneaked off to visit one of her favourite places, the world-famous Picture Gallery.
She���s enjoying a few moments��� respite from juggling her job at prestigious private school Wyatt���s and her role as single mum to little boy Ben, when she stumbles across a shocking new exhibit on display. Before she knows it, she���s in the thick of a fresh, and deeply chilling, investigation.
Who is The Girl in the Gallery? Join Beth in adventure #2 of the London Murder Mystery series as she tries to discover the truth about a secret eating away at the very heart of Dulwich.
Purchase Link - http://www.MyBook.to/GirlintheGallery
Author Bio ��� Before turning to crime, Alice Castle was a UK newspaper journalist for The Daily Express, The Times and The Daily Telegraph. Her first book, Hot Chocolate, set in Brussels and London, was a European hit and sold out in two weeks.
Death in Dulwich was published in September 2017 and has been a number one best-seller in the UK, US, Canada, France, Spain and Germany. A sequel, The Girl in the Gallery was published in December 2017 to critical acclaim. Calamity in Camberwell, the third book in the London Murder Mystery series, will be published this summer, with Homicide in Herne Hill due to follow in early 2019. Alice is currently working on the fifth London Murder Mystery adventure. Once again, it will feature Beth Haldane and DI Harry York.
Alice is also a mummy blogger and book reviewer via her website: https://www.alicecastleauthor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alicecastleauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DDsDiary?lang=en
Giveaway ��� Win signed copies of Death in Dulwich and The Girl in the Gallery (UK Only)
*Terms and Conditions ���UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. 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 I reserve 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 passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
My Review - Death in Dulwich
by Alice Castle
#Novicedetective
This is a fun read. However, I think I loved it for all the wrong reasons.
The Good
The author's ability to summarize parents of children, child projects making dinosaurs etc. is spectacular. I loved it. She summed up my school life and parenting skills so well. I loved that the most about this book. Next, I love the friendship part. Having a best friend who is perfect and there for you - is a must and I know that many of us have that!
The Bad
It is strange as even though I enjoyed the book - it didn't have me jumping for joy or desperate to keep reading. I finished it and liked it - but as I said, it was the comments about mums and schools that hooked me.
The Ugly
The is a lovely read for Dulwich locals, mums and detective fans. I enjoyed it, but it didn't knock me for six. The slaves, the pervert all interesting but for me just didn't connect in this book. I really hope the author writes a London School Murder Mystery as I am sure that I would love it!
3.5 Stars
I read this as part of a blog tour.
July 18, 2018
Dortmund Hibernate by C.J. Sutton
Dortmund Hibernate
Psychologist Dr Magnus Paul is tasked with the patients of Dortmund Asylum ��� nine criminally insane souls hidden from the world due to the extremity of their acts.
Magnus has six weeks to prove them sane for transfer to a maximum-security prison, or label them as incurable and recommend a death sentence under a new government act.
As Magnus delves into the darkness of the incarcerated minds, his own sanity is challenged. Secrets squeeze through the cracks of the asylum, blurring the line between reality and nightmare, urging Magnus towards a new life of crime���
The rural western town of Dortmund and its inhabitants are the backdrop to the mayhem on the hill.
It's Silence of the Lambs meets Shutter Island in this tale of loss, fear and diminishing hope.
Purchase Link - http://mybook.to/dortmundhibernate
Author Bio ���
C.J. Sutton is a writer based in Melbourne, Australia. He holds a Master of Communication with majors in journalism and creative writing, and supports the value of study through correspondence. His fictional writing delves into the unpredictability of the human mind and the fears that drive us.
As a professional writer C.J. Sutton has worked within the hustle and bustle of newsrooms, the competitive offices of advertising and the trenches of marketing. But his interest in creating new characters and worlds has seen a move into fiction, which has always pleaded for complete attention. Dortmund Hibernate is his debut novel.
Social Media Links ���
https://www.facebook.com/cjsutton.author/
https://twitter.com/c_j_sutton
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/79517906-c-j-sutton
My Review Dortmund Hibernate
by C.J. Sutton 
#Goodgrief
This is a shocker of a book and I wouldn't want to meet this author within 2KM of a mental asylum.
The Good
This was something very different for me. A compelling and unique read. Not my first book on mental health or asylums but one that offered a different perspective - which was pretty horrific.
The Bad
Flashbacks of the Twilight Zone. I am not sure if I loved this book. It was too dark to love but too awful to put down. I wrote a review the other day about putting one hand over my eyes as I read... well with this one, I wanted to hide under cover to read it!
The Ugly
I think that the twist in the story was unexpected and great. I enjoyed each story -but I did feel that there were too many (9 I think). I would have preferred more depth to the ultra scary ones and being a woman, I am not sure why I loved the female inmate. She was so crazy, I wanted to see and hear more about her in all her glory - how did she kill, did she just bite the leg or eat something else.
5 Stars for being unique
4 Stars for being scary - the pictures BJ and AJ were also amusing!
5 Stars for the twist
3 Stars because I think that fewer inmates would have made this even creepier. I can see a prequel and sequel - or short reads on each of the inmates.
July 17, 2018
Review - Here Comes the Best Man by Angela Britnell
Here Comes the Best Man
Being the best man is a lot to live up to ���
When troubled army veteran and musician Josh Robertson returns home to Nashville to be the best man at his younger brother Chad���s wedding he���s just sure that he���s going to mess it all up somehow.
But when it becomes clear that the wedding might not be going to plan, it���s up to Josh and fellow guest Louise Giles to make sure that Chad and his wife-to-be Maggie get their perfect day.
Can Josh be the best man his brother needs? And is there somebody else who is beginning to realise that Josh could be her ���best man��� too?
Purchase Links
Amazon UK
Amazon US:
Author Bio ���
Angela grew up in Cornwall, England and returns frequently from her new home in Nashville, Tennessee. A lifelong love of reading turned into a passion for writing contemporary romance and her novels are usually set in the many places she's visited or lived on her extensive travels. After more than three decades of marriage to her American husband she's a huge fan of transatlantic romance and always makes sure her characters get their own happy-ever-after. Over the last twelve years she���s published over 20 novels and several short stories for women���s magazines. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, the Romance Writers of America and the Music City Romance Writers.
Social Media Links ���
www.facebook.com/angelabritnell
www.twitter.com/angelabritnell
https://www.instagram.com/angelagolleybritnell/
My Review - Here Comes the Best Man by Angela Britnell
I loved the USA Nashville music lover hero and going to Cornwall.
The good
Audrey was my favourite, I loved her. OK. She wasn't my super all out favourite as Josh was adorable. I don't know why I think of a young Bon Jovi every time I read his name. When he says, leave your "heels on" my heart fluttered!
The Bad
This is a family drama, romance on the backdrop of a wedding. It went straight into the action, and that is not bad - but good.
The Ugly
Family. I felt for Josh and his dad and the issues of marrying too soon - letting down parents. This could easily be made into a Bollywood blockbuster as dad and son issues are prominent in that genre.
Really enjoyed it
Faking Lucky by Q. D. Purdu
My Review Faking Lucky by Q.D. Purdu
OMG! I love, love, loved this book!
I read it in one sitting and couldn't put it down. It made me scream and laugh out loud more than once.
Brilliant!
The Good!
Best blurb I have read in ages.
The Bad!
Nothing
The Ugly?
Just fun. This is one of those don't read in public books as you will LAUGH!
July 16, 2018
Review Faking Lucky by Q.D. Purdu
Faking Lucky
by Q. D. Purdu
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Desdemona, a pianist in the Austin life-music scene, is channel-surfing when she stumbles upon the program Marriage Exposure. The trashy television show gets people to spill all the secrets of their sex lives, and Desdemona���s ex-boyfriend just happens to be a guest. To her shock and horror, Desdemona���s ex announces on national television that he dumped her because she never got the big O. ���She faked���,��� he says. Every single time.
Her life is wrecked! If her friends, family and colleagues haven���t seen the interview yet, they will.
How do you survive a scandal like this? How did he know she faked? And why is it that in the bedroom, Desdemona never, ever gets lucky?
The lovable, creative and quirky heroine tackles these challenges. As Desdemona tries to run damage control on her reputation, she begins to explore her sexuality. Along the way, she will get a second chance at genuine love.
Q. D. Purdu���s Finding Lucky won first place in the romance category of the Texas Writers��� League. Desdemona���s quest for the Big O is full of hilarious moments, handsome men, and heartfelt memories.
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Q. D. Purdu���s debut romance FAKING LUCKY, under the title of DESDEMONA FINDS THE BIG O IN LOVE, won first place in the Texas Writers��� League Romance category, 2014. Her novella THE LIGHT WE FOUND, first published in MOTHER'S DAY MAGIC anthology, is now available as a stand-alone short read.
Q. D. loves her rescued puppy, red wine, running through sprinklers, dark chocolate with sugared ginger, and anything wrapped in a corn tortilla. Her prized possessions include a hot pink Christmas tree and a garden full of okra and basil.
She hasn���t decided what she���ll be when she grows up, but whatever it is will be filled with romantic impossibilities.
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