#GuestPost SUMMER'S CHRISTMAS by ELLA COOK #PublicationDay @ChocLituk @EllaCookWrites

 

Hello!! Welcome to the blog and today I have a lovely guest post from Ella Cook to share with you, to help celebrate publication day for SUMMER'S CHRISTMAS!!!  Go get your copy NOW!!!  It's never too early for Christmas so here's a good excuse to start the festivities now!!

Over to you Ella....

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Release Day Post: Summer’s Christmas by Ella Cook

I love Christmas: the sentiment, the lights, the giving of gifts and gathering together of friends and family. The stories, the traditions, the food, the charity and emotions it inspires in people. I love it all. And most years, I feel a little sad that the good often fades with all the sparkle and tinsel.

For most people, the last year hasn’t exactly been the one we’d hoped and planned for – and that includes Christmas. Instead of gathering together with friends and family and celebrating per tradition – many people were in isolation, shielding, or lockdowns. And that’s where the inspiration for Summer’s Christmas came from: the idea of a little girl who missed Christmas.

Summer’s Christmas is, as the name suggests, a bit of a Christmas/Summer mashup which looks to bring the magic of the festive season to a summer’s day.

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PURCHASE LINKS

Kindle: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summers-Christmas-unique-Summer-Christmas-romance-ebook/dp/B0999P1HQX/

 

Apple: https://apple.co/2TjOXaK

 

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/summer-s-christmas

 

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Ella_Cook_Summer_s_Christmas?id=EM07EAAAQBAJ&gl=GB

 

Nook: https://bit.ly/3B6CB6Z

ABOUT THE BOOK

“Summer by name and summer by nature” – that’s how people describe Evelyn’s happy, outgoing daughter. Even if her favourite time of year is actually Christmas! But Summer has gone through more than any eight-year-old ever should, and that’s part of the reason Evelyn is leaving everything behind to return to her childhood home in the village of Broclington; just her, Summer and Summer’s best friend – a Shiba Inu dog called Tilly. Unsurprisingly, Evelyn is hesitant to let anyone else in, although local vet Jake Macpearson seems intent on winning her trust. When Evelyn receives the news that every mother dreads, it’s Jake who comes to the rescue. With the help of the Broclington community, could he be the man to bring festive magic to August, and make all of Evelyn and Summer’s Christmases come at once?”

BOOK LINKS

 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58565337-summer-s-christmas

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0999P1HQX/ref=x_gr_w_bb_sout?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_sout_uk-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

My Twitter is @ellacookwrites 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/13637129.Ella_Cook

Author Website

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#BlogTour FOR YOUR OWN GOOD by SAMANTHA DOWNING #BookReview #foryourowngood #samanthadowning @smariedowning @michaeljbooks

 

Delighted to be with you today as the latest stop on the Blog Tour for the fabulously thrilling FOR YOUR OWN GOOD by SAMANTHA DOWNING.  

My thanks to the author and publisher for letting me be part of the tour and sharing my thoughts!

ABOUT THE BOOK

SOME LESSONS CAN BE DEADLY . . . The unputdownable new thriller from the author of international sensation and Richard & Judy pick, MY LOVELY WIFE

'Dark, sly and delicious . . . totally original - and totally compelling' JP DELANEY, bestselling author of PLAYING NICE
' Samantha Downing is totally the real deal. Wry and dark and witty and clever' SARAH PINBOROUGH, bestselling author of BEHIND HER EYES
'Wonderfully dark and twisty. I raced through it, desperate to know how it would end' BA PARIS
_______

Teddy Crutcher won Teacher of the Year at the prestigious Belmont Academy. Everyone thinks he's brilliant.
Only you know the truth.

They all smile when he tells us his wife couldn't be more proud.
But no-one has seen her in a while.

They're impressed when he doesn't let anything distract him - even the tragic death of a school parent.
Even when the whispers start, saying it was murder.

You're sure Teddy is hiding something about what happened that day.

You're sure you can prove it.

But you didn't stop to think that when it comes to catching a killer, there's no place more dangerous than just one step behind . . .
_______

'An irresistibly tale tale of parents, pupils and poison: the American dream turned suburban nightmare' TM LOGAN

'A brilliant psychological black comedy with a really fresh feel, packed with sly observation and outrageous twists' DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED BY  MICHAEL JOSEPH

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

MY REVIEW

I have never known a book full of so many twisted, devious characters... no wonder I loved it!!  This is one of those stories that leave you horrified, excited, appalled and thoroughly entertained from page one to the last!!

Teddy, a teacher, is at the heart of the story and he has very particular ways to get the best out of his students.  Many don't agree with those ways but it gets results! He just finds himself taking it to another level at times and it's shocking to see how devious he is!!

Add to the mix desperate parents trying to get the best for their children - by any means necessary! - and students who have their own ways of being devious, and you're left with a school that hits the headlines for all the wrong reasons!!

The story excels through its' use of using different characters to tell their side of the stories! They're all a little unhinged and that just adds to the fun of it all!  From staff to students, there's such a dark undertone throughout, and as a reader you are just puzzled as to where the story is going and just how far things will be taken!! And believe me, they're taken to the edge!!

Teddy knows he has the futures of his students in his hands and he plays up to that in how he tries to control matters.  Everyone needs to dance to his tune ... or else!

The darkness comes in the form of murder, and we're left with the task of working out who committed the murders, and why others are taking the blame!!  

I loved the madness of the storyline, the extreme characters and the chilling outcome! It is one of those books that you find very hard to put down once you start reading - the crazy keeps calling you back!!  Terrific thriller!

★★★★★

My Bookish Weekly Wrap Up - 28th September 2021

 

Hello! Happy Saturday!!  And a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK so that will hopefully mean more reading time! Never a bad thing!!

My bookish week hasn't been too bad this week, although I feel like it could have been better! Managed to finish 4 books, including completing my 20 Books of Summer 2021 challenge!, and only one new book added to my Netgalley shelf! That's a result in itself! And just 2 new appearances on my physical bookshelf! Go me!!

Here's my look back!

BOOKS FINISHED

THE END OF THE WORLD IS FLAT by SIMON EDGE - 5 STARS

THE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO LONELINESS by LAURA BAMBREY - 3 STARS

MADAM by PHOEBE WYNNE - 2 STARS

THE GHOST IN THE GARDEN by JUDE PIESSE - 5 STARS

BOOKHAUL

A 2022 release from Netgalley...

THE MIRROR MAN by LARS KEPLER

published January 2022

In the latest internationally best-selling installment of the Killer Instinct series, Detective Joona Linna is on the trail of a kidnapper who targets teenage girls and makes their worst nightmares a reality.

Seventeen-year-old Jenny is abducted in broad daylight and taken to a dilapidated, isolated house where she is chained and caged along with several other girls. Their captor is unpredictable, and as wily as he is cruel: he foils every one of their desperate attempts to escape . . . and once caught they rarely survive their punishment.

Five years later, Jenny is found dead in a public park, and the police are scrambling to find a lead among the scant evidence. But Detective Joona Linna realizes that this murder has an eerie connection to a death that was declared a suicide years before. And now when Mia, a seventeen-year-old orphan, goes missing, it becomes clear to Joona that they are dealing with a serial killer—and the murderous rampage has just begun.

As the police close in on the killer, Mia and her fellow captives are plunged into ever greater danger, and Joona finds himself in a seemingly impossible race against time to save their young lives.

And in the post...

ENGAGED by W.S GILBERT

published by RENARD PRESS

Engaged, W.S. Gilbert’s most popular stage work after the comic operas he produced in collaboration with Arthur Sullivan, is a farcical comedy that has long lived in the literary shadows – although wildly neglected today, the play influenced literary names as great as George Bernard Shaw, and directly inspired Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.

Centring on a rich young man’s search for a wife and his uncle and best friend’s attempts to hinder him, the play toys with conventional notions of love and sincerity. In this edition, which also contains notes and an essay by the undisputed authority on W.S. Gilbert, Andrew Crowther, Engaged deserves to step out into the spotlight once more.

YUANYUAN'S BUBBLES by CIXIN LIU

published by HEAD OF ZEUS

The fourth in a new series of graphic novels from Hugo Award-winning author Liu Cixin and Talos Press

Ever since she was a child, Yuanyuan always dreamed of blowing big bubbles. But her father worries about her fascination—he wants Yuanyuan to be as responsible and devoted to a calling as her mother was. As an adult, Yuanyuan creates a multimillion-dollar business out of the technology she developed for her doctoral thesis. But she still dreams of blowing the biggest bubble she can. When his daughter uses her high-tech methods to blow a bubble big enough to envelop a city, Yuanyuan’s father thinks back to the dreams he and Yuanyuan’s mother chased when they were young. In the end, Yuanyuan’s bubbles bring her father’s dreams to life.

The fourth of sixteen new graphic novels from Liu Cixin and Talos Press, Sea of Dreams is an epic tale of the future that all science fiction fans will enjoy.

CURRENTLY READING

MRS MARCH by VIRGINIA FEITO

HAPPY READING!!

#BlogTour FIREBORN by AISLING FOWLER #BookReview #Fireborn #UltimateBlogTour @The_WriteReads @HarperCollinsCh @fowler_aisling

 

Delighted to be with you today as part of the wonderful Blog Tour for the fabulous FIREBORN by AISLING FOWLER.  My thanks to the author, publisher and The Write Reads for putting the tour together and letting me be part of it all!!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Lyra. Lucy. Percy. Once in a generation, a hero emerges whose story enthralls readers worldwide.

Fireborn is an epic quest, perfect for fans of the His Dark Materials and The School for Good and Evil series, that will spin readers into a magical world like no other--and introduce them to an unforgettable new heroine named Twelve.

Ember is full of monsters.

Twelve gave up her name and identity to train in the art of hunting them--so she says. The truth is much more deadly: she trains to take revenge on those who took her family from her.

But when Twelve's new home is attacked, she'll find herself on an unexpected journey, where her hidden past is inescapably intertwined with her destiny--and the very fate of her world.

published by HarperCollins

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aisling was born in 1985 and wishes that she had grown up in a magical, mountainous kingdom, but was actually raised in Surrey on a diet of books and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Her early ‘adventure’ stories involved surprisingly little action and her first novel (3 pages long) was politely declined by publishers at age 11.

After earning a BSc in Biology and working as a support worker and then a nurse, the idea for her debut novel, Fireborn, came to her as she moved back and forth between London and the US. Now based in Hackney, when she is not reading or writing, Aisling loves cooking and plotting adventures (for herself as well as her fictional characters). Fireborn will be published by HarperCollins in 2021.

MY REVIEW

If a book is inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then I want to read it!! And it's been a total blast of a reading experience and I'm eagerly awaiting more of the series if they're all going to be like this!

At the heart of the story is Twelve, an inspiring female character who is full of rage and anger, but uses that to fight monsters and to right the wrongs of the world she finds herself living in.  She's a bit of an outsider, seen as a weirdo by some of her classmates, but she just doesn't care! With her pet squirrel, Widge, by her side, she soon finds herself setting off to save a friend.  I really got the Lyra (His Dark Materials) vibes about her as a character - she's determined, loyal and very stubborn!

This story has a good mix of the dark and light, it does sometimes get a bit bleak but that really gets you on side with Twelve and understands why she is doing what she's doing. Her journey is mixed with flashbacks to happier times with her family, and you wonder what messages she is meant to take from these dreams she keeps getting.

It's a story of magic and monsters, adventure and adversity, battles and betrayals and I loved it!  Bring on the next installment!! 

★★★★

#BookReview THE GHOST IN THE GARDEN by JUDE PIESSE #20BooksOfSummer2021

 

This is book 20 of my 20 Books of Summer 2021

ABOUT THE BOOK

The forgotten garden which inspired Charles Darwin becomes the modern-day setting for an exploration of memory, family, and the legacy of genius.

Darwin never stopped thinking about the garden at his childhood home, The Mount. It was here, under the tutelage of his green-fingered mother and sisters, that he first examined the reproductive life of flowers, collected birds’ eggs, and began the experiments that would lead to his theory of evolution.

A century and a half later, with one small child in tow and another on the way, Jude Piesse finds herself living next door to this secret garden. Two acres of the original site remain, now resplendent with overgrown ashes, sycamores, and hollies. The carefully tended beds and circular flower garden are buried under suburban housing; the hothouses where the Darwins and their skilful gardeners grew pineapples are long gone. Walking the pathways with her new baby, Piesse starts to discover what impact the garden and the people who tended it had on Darwin’s work.

Blending biography, nature writing, and memoir, The Ghost in the Garden traces the origins of the theory of evolution and uncovers the lost histories that inspired it, ultimately evoking the interconnectedness of all things.

PUBLISHED BY SCRIBE UK

MY REVIEW

I found this to be a refreshing and illuminating memoir, combining the fascinating life of Charles Darwin and his family alongside that of the author who finds herself living nearby to his childhood garden at The Mount in Shrewsbury. She'd often walk past the property and the land that is now run partly by The Shropshire Wildlife Trust and she becomes intrigued by the impact that the garden may have had on his outlook and interest into the natural world that he took on to bigger things as he grew up!

It really brings to life the upbringing that Charles had - the dynamics of his family and the areas they lived in - and used letters and diaries from the family so well to bring them to life, so to speak! We get a real insight into the goings on at the time, and the role that those around him had on his interest being piqued on all matters to do with animals and the environment they were living in, and what could be learned.

Alongside his story, we see into the life of the author as she brings up her children to be just as interested in wildlife, encouraging them to explore with her on walks in the local area. She becomes obsessed with learning all she can about him and the use of letters from his sisters was a great way of seeing how they kept him in touch with matters from home while he was off travelling. Having lost his mother at a young age, it seemed his siblings became even closer, especially with his father being so busy.

It also touches on the ongoing work to preserve his legacy and keep sharing his work with people in the area, and how a humble garden can continue to teach us about the past and how we can imagine the area being used by those who lived there and what impact they have on shaping a young mind, such as Darwins', and how they continue to do so.

I learnt so much from this book and loved the use of diagrams, photos and drawings to illustrate and get a real feel of the area, especially for those who haven't been to visit!

★★★★★

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I've done it!! Completed another wonderful 20 Books of Summer challenge!! It took me a while to get going this year for some reason, and I didn't think I'd make it at one point as I was reading lots of things that weren't on my list!! Very helpful!! BUT I stuck to my game plan of attacking the Netgalley shelf and the 20 books I named at the start were the ones I managed to read!  Now if only I hadn't added to the Netgalley shelf with yet more books over this Summer..... will I ever learn?!!

My thanks as always to Cathy at 746 Books who started all this 20 Books of Summer business off! I always love to take part and is it wrong of me to already begin counting down the days to the 2022 version??!!!!

HAPPY READING!!

#BookReview MADAM by PHOEBE WYNNE #20BooksOfSummer2021

 

This is book 19 of my 20 Books of Summer 2021.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Light a fire they can't put out...
For 150 years, above the Scottish cliffs, Caldonbrae Hall has sat as a beacon of excellence in the ancestral castle of Lord William Hope. A boarding school for girls, it promises a future where its pupils will emerge 'resilient and ready to serve society'.
Rose Christie, a 26-year-old Classics teacher, is the first new hire for the school in over a decade. At first, Rose feels overwhelmed in the face of this elite establishment, but soon after her arrival she begins to understand that she may have more to fear than her own ineptitude.
When Rose stumbles across the secret circumstances surrounding the abrupt departure of her predecessor - a woman whose ghost lingers over everything and who no one will discuss - she realises that there is much more to this institution than she has been led to believe.
As she uncovers the darkness that beats at the heart of Caldonbrae, Rose becomes embroiled in a battle that will threaten her sanity as well as her safety...

A brooding, mesmeric novel with a feminist kick, perfect for fans of Naomi Alderman, Madeleine Miller and Margaret Atwood.

PUBLISHED BY QUERCUS

MY REVIEW

I wanted to really love this! The blurb sounded like my perfect kind of book!! And it started so promisingly that I was instantly taken with the setting and the mystery goings on in this illustrious school! I wanted to know more!! And quickly!!

BUT, then I started to fall out of love with some of the characters and found myself shouting at the book and situations that were playing out! I wanted the main character to get a grip, but she kept playing along despite what was going on! And as for the bratty girls she was teaching...... entitled and indulged little madams!!

The link with the classics were a really interesting twist and I would have liked maybe more of those playing out. I found myself wondering why they hired her in the first place as she was the first 'outsider' brought in for a number of years. And her outlook on life differed extremely from the rules and regulations of Caldonbrae Hall, an all girls boarding school where the young girls are brought up to do their duty!  There are strange goings on, and asking questions about the past isn't encouraged whatsoever.... what exactly are they trying to hide?!

I wanted more of the darkness, more of the feisty attitude of a feminist teacher wanting to shake things up but unfortunately it fell short for me.

★★★

#BookReview THE STRANDING by KATE SAWYER #20BooksOfSummer21

This is book 18 of my 20 Books of Summer 2021

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Ruth lives in the heart of the city. Working, drinking, falling in love: the rhythm of her vivid and complicated life there is set against a background hum of darkening news reports from which she deliberately turns away.

As a new relationship becomes increasingly claustrophobic, and the discussions of impending political crisis are harder to avoid, she starts to dream of water; of escaping entwining tentacles through deep blue seas. She sets out to the other side of the globe to find that vision of freedom, and to decide who she wants to be when she returns.

But when she arrives at her destination, she finds instead that the world, and life, she left behind no longer exists.

Starting at the end and eventually returning there, with alternate chapters set Before and After, THE STRANDING is a story of how to make a life, what it is to be a woman, and what remains when everything we know is stripped away.

PUBLISHED BY CORONET

MY REVIEW

This is book 18 of my books of Summer 2021.

wow!! What a reading experience that was!! I'd heard so many good things about this book so I was a little nervous getting started, but once I was a few pages in I didn't want to put it down!! You are just absorbed by the 'before' and 'after' storytelling style that talks of a catastrophic global event but never actually mentions what it is/was, and for me that really added to the magic of the story and how it involves you heart and soul!

At the centre of the story is Ruth! In the 'before' story, she's involved with Alex and utterly besotted. Putting up with sly digs at her weight, being at his beck and call - she's in deep and ignores the warning signs despite her friends and family being less enamoured of his behaviour. But as the time goes by, the reality of 'his love' for her shows itself in clearer terms and she finds herself going travelling to New Zealand. That's one way to put distance between them!

In the 'after' storyline she's in New Zealand and it's a very bleak, isolated world. She's on a beach with a dead whale and a stranger watching her. It brilliantly portrays the abject fear she must feel, alongside that 'must not give up' attitude that needs to find within to seek some hope in this new world. With the stranger making himself known to her, we then follow their struggles to survive in the situation they find themselves in.

I just can't stop thinking about this book! It has a storyline that is a little different from the norm with intriguing characters and situations! I found it to be beautifully written, full of hope alongside the despair of the circumstances that this book portrays and it's definitely one of my books of 2021!

★★★★★

My Bookish Weekly Wrap Up - 21st August 2021

 

Hello and Happy Saturday!!  Wonder what the weather will throw at us today?! Been a bit cloudier this week which has been nice, but it's always good to see the sun return!!

On to books!! It's been a fairly calm bookish week!! No mad shopping sprees this week! I've actually started another book clearout, although clearing 50 books from a bookcase resulted in ZERO extra space being created so back to the drawing board for me on that front! I'm obviously doing something wrong!!

I have managed to finish 4 books this week, and 2 newbies joined my Netgalley shelf!  Here's my look back..

BOOKS FNISHED

A SECRET SCOTTISH ESCAPE by JULIE SHACKMAN - 4 STARS

UNSETTLED GROUND by CLAIRE FULLER - 4 STARS

THE STRANDING by KATE SAWYER - 5 STARS

BOOKHAUL

What did Netgalley tempt me with this week?....

THE WOMAN IN THE MIDDLE by MILLY JOHNSON

publication date - October 2021

Shay Bastable is the woman in the middle. She is part of the sandwich generation – caring for her parents and her children, supporting her husband Bruce, holding them all together and caring for them as best she can.

Then the arrival of a large orange skip on her mother’s estate sets in motion a cataclysmic series of events which leads to the collapse of Shay’s world. She is forced to put herself first for a change.

But in order to move forward with her present, Shay needs to make sense of her past. And so she returns to the little village she grew up in, to uncover the truth about what happened to her when she was younger. And in doing so, she discovers that sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to find the only way is up.

THE BOOK OF FORM AND EMPTINESS by RUTH OZEKI

publication - September 2021

After the tragic death of his beloved musician father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house - a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce. Although Benny doesn't understand what these things are saying, he can sense their emotional tone; some are pleasant, a gentle hum or coo, but others are snide, angry and full of pain. When his mother develops a hoarding problem, the voices grow more clamorous.

At first Benny tries to ignore them, but soon the voices follow him outside the house, onto the street and at school, driving him at last to seek refuge in the silence of a large public library, where objects are well-behaved and know to speak in whispers. There, Benny discovers a strange new world, where 'things happen'. He falls in love with a mesmerising street artist with a smug pet ferret, who uses the library as her performance space. He meets a homeless philosopher-poet, who encourages him to ask important questions and find his own voice amongst the many.

And he meets his very own Book - a talking thing - who narrates Benny's life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter.

With its blend of sympathetic characters, riveting plot and vibrant engagement with everything from jazz to climate change to our attachment to material possessions, The Book of Form and Emptiness is classic Ruth Ozeki - bold, wise, poignant, playful, humane and heartbreaking.

CURRENTLY READING

MADAM by PHOEBE WYNNE

HAPPY READING

#20BooksOfSummer2021 A SECRET SCOTTISH ESCAPE by JULIE SHACKMAN #BookReview

This is book 17 of my 20 Books of Summer 2021

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Scotland’s sleepiest hamlet becomes the centre of hot gossip, Layla Devlin finds herself caught in a mystery…

When Layla’s fiancée has an unexpected heart attack and dies – in another woman’s arms, no less – Layla is determined to pack up and leave Loch Harris, the village she’s always called home. But an unexpected inheritance and love for her quiet corner of Scotland send her down a new path.

Now Layla finds herself facing a whole new kind of drama. Rumours swirl that a celebrity has moved into Coorie Cottage and Layla is determined to have him headline her opening night at local music venue The Conch Club. But the reclusive star is equally determined to thwart Layla’s efforts. Rafe Buchanan is in hiding for a reason, and soon his past comes to Loch Harris to haunt him…

PUBLISHED BY ONE MORE CHAPTER

MY REVIEW

This was a totally captivating story, following the story of Layla who is dealt a devastating blow when her fiancee dies and discovers a secret about him that crushes her. She had been so settled in the area, but all her thoughts now are about running away and starting again elsewhere as she's feeling so let down.

The local community are very supportive to her, and she has such a wonderful relationship with her Dad that doubts start to creep into her mind about leaving, and she starts to get excited about creating a new local music venue. Music has always played a big part of her life and she wants to find a way to attract new tourists to the area.

Layla is one of those characters who can't NOT get involved in things, despite her best efforts! She feels like she wants to help everybody, and there are plenty of people to help in this book as she reaches out to a reclusive musician who lives in the area - his story intrigues her, as does he as a person, and she finds she becomes more involved with wanting to know more. He's a very jekyll/hyde personality with her so she knows he's hiding something....her journalistic skills come in very handy trying to get to the bottom of it all!

I loved the setting and the sense of community in this book. There are many secrets that come to light that threaten to darken her light but you can't do anything but admire her determination to see a project through!

★★★★