We Have Books

Street cat Blues by Alison O'Leary - BLOG TOUR and review Today I am thrilled to join in the Blog Tour to launch the new title from Crooked Cat Books - Street cat Blues by Alison O'Leary. My Review You had me at cat! Honestly, who can resist a book with a cat as the lead character? The main protagonist is a big tabby cat called Aubrey, he’s been around a bit and is pretty streetwise. He was locked up in the Stray cats home for a while, after his shopkeeper owner is killed. But now he has found his forever home with young couple Molly and Jeremy. He’s loveable but a tad aloof, as most streetwise cats are. He is quirky and lively and pretty realistic, even if he’s telling the story, he can’t talk to humans or anything daft like that. The story is told as it runs through his mind as he observes what’s going on. He can, of course, communicate with other cats and there are plenty of them in the book and the cat narrative is fun and lively. He still hangs around with all his feline...

The Winter that made us by Kate Field: I am pleased to help introduce you to this new novel, in the genre of contemporary women's fiction. As part of the Blog Tour for this new book by Kate Field I am delighted to share with you the beautiful cover: Here's the blurb so you can discover what it's about: When Tess finds herself unexpectedly alone and back in Ribblemill, the childhood village she thought she’d escaped, she’s sure she can survive a temporary stay. She’s spent a lifetime making the best of things, hasn’t she? Determined to throw herself into village life, Tess starts a choir and gathers a team of volunteers to restore the walled garden at Ramblings, the local stately home. Everything could be perfect, if she weren’t sharing a cottage and a cat with a man whose manner is more prickly than the nettles she’s removing… As winter approaches, Tess finds herself putting down her own roots as fast as she’s pulling them up in the garden. But the ghosts of the past hover...

The Winter That Made Us - Kate Field - Spotlight post for BLOG TOUR Today I'm pleased to be part of the Blog Tour for the new book by Kate Field - The Winter That Made Us. Isn't that cover beautiful? So wintry and serene. The book is contemporary romantic fiction: Description When Tess finds herself unexpectedly alone and back in Ribblemill, the childhood village she thought she’d escaped, she’s sure she can survive a temporary stay. She’s spent a lifetime making the best of things, hasn’t she? Determined to throw herself into village life, Tess starts a choir and gathers a team of volunteers to restore the walled garden at Ramblings, the local stately home. Everything could be perfect, if she weren’t sharing a cottage and a cat with a man whose manner is more prickly than the nettles she’s removing… As winter approaches, Tess finds herself putting down her own roots as fast as she’s pulling them up in the garden. But the ghosts of the past hover close by, and Tess must face th...

The Woman in the Wood - Lesley Pearse - Review My Review: Oh My goodness, this was rather a surprise, it covers some rather shocking and brutal subjects. The book begins very beguilingly and gently, it starts almost like an Enid Blyton - "5 go down to the woods" featuring Maisy and Duncan, a very innocent pair of teenage twins going to stay with their grandmother who doesn't want them at her home, or even like them much. Their father is also a very remote and dour character and their Mother has recently been committed to a mental asylum! It's just as well that this brother and sister are very close and don't really need anyone else, they are happy to spend a lot of their leisure time together, having picnics, exploring the countryside and New Forest on their bicycles, it could almost be idyllic and I was lulled into an era of innocence and naivety. They even begin to make friends with the family helper Janis becoming almost a surrogate Mum and getting to know the ...

Blog Tour and Review Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World by Caitlin Davies Today I am very honoured to kick-start the Blog Tour for the wonderful new novel Daisy Belle. My Review Isn’t the cover artwork just beautiful? I love that misty sepia vintage image of Daisy in her Victorian swimwear. I loved the book too!  Daisy is such an endearing and engaging character, from her first forays into the water aged just four – right through to her adult life and the trials and tribulations of being a women born to succeed in a world dominated by men, and some of them pretty nasty men at that. This book is Historical Fiction based firmly on real-life female swimming pioneers who broke the mould of swimming not being a ladylike pursuit and it is a real tribute to strong and determined women throughout the ages especially those who battle against the odds to achieve their goals. This is one of a number of books I’ve read recently with swimming as a theme and it makes me want to don my s...

MY REVIEW of The Binding by Bridget Collins Isn’t it wonderful when you hear about a book you’re certain you’ll love. Isn’t it awesome when you are granted a copy to read and review before most folk get to read it? (Thank you Harper Collins and Edelweiss+) Isn’t it amazing when you love it even MORE than you thought humanly possible? Isn’t it brilliant to be able to shout about it and tell people how amazing it is? And isn’t it hard to find the right words to do it justice? To say I adored this book is a gross understatement, I devoured it and it satisfied every need. First, it is fantasy realism which is utterly believable. There is really only the one element of fantasy - the premise that real memories can be taken from your mind by binders who create them into a book which allows all your worst most hurtful memories to be hidden, even from yourself, forever. It is set in an unnamed historical era which feels like late 1800s. Peopled with many wonderful characters I fell in love with...

Today I welcome Linda Huber to my blog as part of the blog tour for her book The Cold Cold Sea. Linda has provided an enticing extract from her book to whet your appetite. Book Description and info: Blurb: They stared at each other, and Maggie felt the tightness in her middle expand as it shifted, burning its way up… Painful sobs rose in her throat as Colin, his face expressionless now, reached for his mobile and tapped 999. When three-year-old Olivia disappears from the beach, a happy family holiday comes to an abrupt end. Maggie is plunged into the darkest nightmare imaginable – what happened to her little girl?  Further along the coast, another mother is having problems too. Jennifer's daughter Hailey is starting school, and it should be such a happy time, but the child is increasingly moody and silent. Family life has never seemed so awkward, and Jennifer struggles to maintain control. The tide ebbs and flows, and summer dies, but there is no comfort for Maggie, alone now at th...