Lucy Felthouse's Blog, page 305

Book Review: The Woman He Loved Before by Dorothy Koomson

Article first published as Book Review: The Woman He Loved Before by Dorothy Koomson on Blogcritics.

As a fan of Dorothy Koomson, I've been coveting this book ever since it was released – and with good reason. The Woman He Loved Before is a mystery right from the title – and has you asking questions right until the very end. This novel tells the story of Libby, a feisty young woman who falls for widower Jack. After initial resistance on Libby's part, the two have a whirlwind relationship and get married. Libby couldn't be happier, until a tragic event throws her life off course and makes her question whether Jack is really over his late wife, Eve, and whether he loves Libby at all.

The deeper Libby digs into Jack's past, and the seemingly perfect Eve, the more fascinated she becomes. Libby starts to unearth devastating secrets, and she quickly realises that they are in fact very dangerous secrets, too. Soon, Libby wonders whether she, too, will end up like Jack's last wife…

As I mentioned before, The Woman He Loved Before has you asking questions right until the end. Koomson's powerful writing, and the way the book has been structured means that you're drip fed information, which keeps you hanging on for more… and more. The book gets darker and mysterious as you keep reading, with enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat right until the very last page. It's a brilliant, gripping plot and possibly Koomson's best book to date. I'd definitely recommend this to fans of light mysteries and matters of the heart.

Available from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Waterstone's

2011 – A Year in Summary

And what a year it's been! I quit my job, started my own business, started writing tons more… and the above pic is the result! Or at least, the paperback result. When you include eBooks, there are even more!

So, whaddya see in the pic? All released in 2011, the books are all anthologies containing my stories. I even edited one of the books!

In no particular order, they are (click the links for more info):

Crimes of Passion
Explicit Encounters
Dark Desires
Best of Both
Dream Lover
Best Bondage Erotica 2012
Tea and Crumpet
Seducing the Myth (I also edited this one)
Immoral Views

A list of eBooks I've written/been included in is (not including breakdowns of print anthologies):

Susie White and the Right Hand Man
A Menu with a Difference
Brick Dust and Bedsprings
Love Through Time
Weekend at Wilderhope Manor
Naughty Delivery
Loose Ends
The Best of Lucy Felthouse
Bite with Height
A Bit of Rough
The Great Outdoors Vol 2
Lesbian Erotica, Volume 3
The Look of Lust
British Flash
I Kissed A Girl II

By my (probably not very accurate), I make that 24 publications this year! It's a mere drop in the ocean compared to the number the awesome Sommer Marsden (who I borrowed the 'year in summary' idea from) has clocked up, but considering it's the first year since I started writing for publication that I've taken it more seriously, I'm still pretty proud of myself!

I guess my aim next year should be to beat 24! At the time of writing this post, I have 4 publications contracted for 2012, so I need 21 or more to beat it. I should probably stop blogging and start writing, huh?! And on that note…

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

Love Lucy x

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Book Review: 666 Charing Cross Road by Paul Magrs

Article first published as Book Review: 666 Charing Cross Road by Paul Magrs on Blogcritics.

666 Charing Cross Road is a light hearted take on the gothic and supernatural. The action is split between London and New York, and starts in Manhattan. Shelley works in a museum, and is dating her boss, Daniel. He's stuck up, but she puts that down to him being a posh Englishman. Things are going reasonably well until Shelley's aunt Liza gets in touch with a weird old bookshop on London's Charing Cross Road and starts ordering spooky tomes. Soon, a dusty leather book arrives which Liza finds repellent, and her dog even more so. Daniel, however, is fascinated by it.

Liza soon realises it's stained with vampire blood and carries an evil entity, but it's too late. Daniel calls forth the power into himself, and at the same time it gives life to Bessie – one of the artefacts in the museum. It seems the newly-powerful Daniel and Bessie are mortal enemies. Daniel's aim is to infect the whole of New York, and beyond, whereas Bessie is determined to put a stop to the evil curse. But she can only do it with the help of her human friends. And so off to London they go…

This is a real page turner. It's all quite tongue in cheek and yet has elements of supernatural myths and legends which really make you think. 666 Charing Cross Road is a good fun, engaging vampire novel with a difference. I'll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

Available from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Book Depository

Waterstone's

eBook Review: Calling Home by Zee Monodee

Article first published as eBook Review: Calling Home by Zee Monodee on Blogcritics.

This book intrigued me ever since I read the blurb – even more so when I found out that the author's inspiration for the male character was one of my favourite celebrity crushes (Jared Padalecki). Calling Home is the story of Margo Nolan. She's led a complicated life with much heartbreak, which has resulted in her becoming a self confessed Ice Queen. She's incredibly good at her job as a forensic pathologist, and she's pretty much made the job her life. That is, until her world is turned upside down by the discovery that she's to become the guardian of 11 year old Emma, the little girl she loved and lost many years ago. Margo has no idea how to deal with a tween, but left with no other choice she must simply get on with it.

Luckily, help is at hand. After moving in next door to hunky village doctor Jamie Gillespie, Margo discovers he's good with children and he's more than willing to help out with Emma. Margo's grateful, but also concerned – the hot young doctor seems to have feelings for her, and she doesn't have room in her life for a man. Or does she?

Calling Home was a fabulous read. Well written and realistic with lots of sexual tension thrown in, it's a heart-warming romance, but not the sickly sweet kind – just the kind that makes you grin like an idiot whilst reading. I was totally invested in the characters throughout, and found myself mentally shouting at them when they couldn't see what was in front of their faces. I enjoyed the book immensely, though I confess I would have been even happier had the sex scenes been included – mainly because of my crush on the delectable Doctor! However, the book lacks nothing and I'd definitely recommend it to romance readers.

Available from:

Noble Romance

4 Fairies for A Menu with a Difference

I'm still wading through my inbox on my return from my holiday (as well as being unable to reply cos my email server is crap!) but I came across this awesome review of A Menu with a Difference which certainly made the email traumas easier to bear:

"Jed and Annette have a very open relationship so when they are both attracted to the same woman they decide to go for it and invite her back to their hotel for a little fun. This story was a great quick read filled with lust from all three parties. Though its a short story I got a good sense of each of the characters in the short time I was reading them. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books with a little bit of discovery with their lust."

The review was from JBP Reviews and they scored it 4 fairies (out of 5).

Bag this hot f/f/m threesome tale here.

 

I'm Away from My Desk

As you read this, I'll probably be somewhere quite similar to the photo with my nose stuck in a book, or more realistically, my Kindle (come on, how else am I gonna take 600+ books on holiday?). Yup – I'm abroad for Christmas, with no laptop, no internet access, no nothing.

And I couldn't be happier It's much warmer in the Canary Islands at this time of year and we all need a break, right? I shall be back on the 28th to wade through my inbox.

So I shall wish you all a very happy holiday, whichever one it is that you're celebrating, and direct you to my post on the Dirty Birdies blog, here. And yes, it has a nude guy. Enjoy, and leave me lots of lovely comments to come home to!

eBook Review: The Next Thing I Knew by John Corwin

The Next Thing I Knew is a young adult book by John Corwin. It tells the story of a young girl called Lucy Morgan, and what  happens when suddenly the entire human race drops dead. Lucy and her friends quickly realise they're living some kind of 'between' life – they're dead, but their spirits, or souls, have not yet passed on. They decide to use this fact to their advantage, and try to find out what happened, and see if they can fix it.

What follows is a pretty crazy adventure. It includes ghosts, corpses, love, loss, mystery, outer space and much more. It's a well-written story, with lots of humour and entertainment value. It's not the usual sort of book I'd choose to read, but nevertheless I found it engaging and certainly different from anything else I've read. So if you enjoy fantastical YA novels, then you should give The Next Thing I Knew a try.

Available from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Smashwords

Barnes & Noble

Guest Blog: John Corwin

The Four Elements of Inspiration by John Corwin

From the day my mom dropped me on my head she knew I was going to be special.  One morning while I was flossing my teeth in the shower, I decided to prove her right.  What could possibly be more special than writing a novel?  Easier said than done, though, right?

A question many of us ask ourselves at some point is:  How does one write a novel?  What could possibly inspire someone to fill three-hundred pages of high-quality cotton-bonded paper with words about make-believe stuff like on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood?

People often ask me, "How in the world do you think this stuff up?  Are you even human?"

The answer is:  Yes.  I am mostly human.  But what inspires me?  What dark well of traumatic childhood experiences dwells so deeply in my soul that it causes me to write about the end of the world and a cat named Nibbles as I did in The Next Thing I Knew?

I decided to barbeque some spaghetti and think about that for a while because I'm not really sure where my inspiration comes from.  Are any of us?  And then I stumbled upon an amazing discovery.  No matter what novel you're talking about, all inspiration comes from one of four basic ingredients.  I give you THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF INSPIRATION! (In your mind you should imagine a deep booming male voice saying this with an echo sound effect.  Don't read further until you get it right!)

The elements are:

Ninjas
Pirates
Dinosaurs
Aliens

You might scratch your head and stare quizzically at this list for hours wondering when you've ever read a book inspired by any of these.

"What about Twilight?" you ask.

Answer:  Vampires are ninjas who suck blood.  Werewolves are ninjas who can turn into animals to stalk their prey.  So Stephenie Meyer wrote an entire series about ninjas.  Cool, huh?

"Okay, yeah right," you might say.  Explain Harry Potter then."

Aliens!  You see, aliens can make all sorts of weird things happen with their minds and they use laser guns.  Harry Potter and all the wizards and witches were basically aliens with wand-shaped laser guns.

Red-faced and cursing loudly, you might next ask, "And Eragon?!"

Duh.  Dinosaurs.  Seriously, do you even have to ask why?

"Aha!  Ah, ha, ha, ha!" you exclaim.  "You'll never get this one.  Hunger Games."

At this point I would polish my fingernails on my shirt and scoff at you.  Pirates, of course.  Only pirates would capture everyone and make them fight gladiator style battles.  Their ships were the hovercraft.

So the next time you're reading a good novel and wondering how the author came up with their crazy ideas, all you need to do is reference this article.  See if you can figure out which of the Four Elements of Inspiration gave birth to my novel, The Next Thing I Knew and maybe I'll share some of my barbequed spaghetti with you!

Thanks so much for having me on your blog today!

*****

Humanity is extinct

When Lucy Morgan drops dead along with everyone else on Earth she refuses to take death lying down even if, technically, her corpse is.

She drags her ghostly social life back from the grave and enlists her friends to figure out the rules of the afterlife. More importantly, they want to discover who or what killed everyone and why the heck anyone would do such a mean thing.

But what they discover changes everything. And if they can't figure out how to put their newfound ghostly powers to work, humanity will be extinct for good.

Purchase links:

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Next-Thing-Knew-Heavenly-ebook/dp/B005CK4X5Q

Smashwords:  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/79200

BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-next-thing-i-knew-john-corwin/1104808377

*****

John Corwin has been making stuff up all his life. As a child he would tell his sisters he was an alien clone of himself and would eat tree bark to prove it.

In middle school, John started writing for realz. He wrote short stories about Fargo McGronsky, a young boy with anger management issues whose dog, Noodles, had been hit by a car. The violent stories were met with loud acclaim from classmates and a great gnashing of teeth by his English teacher.

Years later, after college and successful stints as a plastic food wrap repairman and a toe model for GQ, John once again decided to put his overactive imagination to paper for the world to share and became an author.

John Corwin Social Networking Links:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/johnhcorwinauthor

Blog: http://johncorwin.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/John_Corwin

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/johncorwin

Seducing the Myth Gets a Price Reduction

As it's the season of goodwill, etc… I've knocked a whopping 15% off Seducing the Myth on All Romance eBooks, just for you! For the next two weeks, you can grab it for just $6.79, a total bargain for 24 luscious stories.

Just the thing to load up onto your eReader! Not got one? Let's hope Santa pops one into your stocking this year! Alternatively, bag yourself a paperback copy. Buy links are here.

Grab your copy from All Romance eBooks now!

And, most importantly, have a wonderful holiday season!

A Menu with a Difference Gets Fab Reviews!

My hot f/f/m threesome tale from Noble Romance received a couple of fab reviews over the weekend, so there's some serious happy dancing going on over here!

Here are a couple of quotes, with links to the full reviews, should you want to check them out:

"Wow, Just wow! It may have only contained 13 pages but it is by far one of my favourite stories ever! It will definitely be on my menu now! A Menu with a Difference was my first lesbian and threesome read and I have to say Lucy has made me want to dive in for more with her well detailed and described characters and plot you won't be able to help wanting more!" A Redheads Guilty Reads

*****

"This was a sexy short story that is great as a bedtime read to share with your significant other." Heather's Musings

Want to read A Menu with a Difference yourself? More info and buy links are here.

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