I am absolutely over the moon to welcome Mel Sherratt back to Chat About Books today! 🙂

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that I am a huge fan of Mel’s and have LOVED everything she has written to date. I can’t wait to share my review of Liar Liar, as part of the blog tour, on 1st March!

Follow, like and share the book love with these awesome book bloggers…..

In the meantime I have a fabulous interview with the lady herself to share with you today…..

For those who don’t know already, could you tell us about yourself and your book(s) please?

I’m Mel Sherratt and I write crime thrillers. I have fourteen out so far with my new one, Liar Liar, which came out on 10th February.

Where did/do you get your ideas from?

Predominantly, it’s from the newspaper or TV. As I write crime, there are a lot of petty crime stories that start my mind wandering and twisting and twisting to make a plot for a book.

Are any of your characters based (however loosely) on anyone you know?

I hope not as most of them are murderers, crooks, gangland criminals. Occasionally there is a kick-ass female main character, and I suppose she has a few of my traits, if anything.

How do you pick your characters’ names?

I have a baby book of names that I skim through. It’s important in my genre to keep the names very stereotypical. For example, Craig and Liam would be better suited than Dan or Ben. Mary and Annie would be more suited than Sophie and Beth. So it very much depends on the genre I am writing in.

Can you share your writing process with us, in a nutshell?

I write each morning for a few hours if I’m drafting a book. If I’m editing, I edit 10% of a book per day. Mostly I work in the mornings when I am fresh. After lunch, I have to catch up with everything else – admin, company business admin, social media, emails, advertising, blog posts etc. There can be a lot!

Who are your top 5 favourite authors?

Ooh, this is hard. I suppose if I had to choose it would be Martina Cole, Kimberley Chambers, Lisa Jewell, CL Taylor and Caroline Mitchell.

If you could meet any author, who would it be and what would you ask them?

Gosh, I have been fortunate to meet SO many over the past few years. I always go to pieces when I meet my favourites so I would actually just like to have a pleasant conversation without feeling like a geek!

Were you a big reader as a child?

Yes, I loved Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree and The Secret Seven. I would read anything from the library and loved a trip there each Saturday morning. I still like to escape to an imaginary world.

If you could re-write the ending to any book what would it be and what would you change?

Oh my – controversial! I would have liked to continue Gone Girl. I would have liked one of them to end up dead. Does that make me mean? Having said that, I think Gone Girl had the perfect ending for the characters.

Is there a book you wish you had written?

Gone Girl! Seriously, I loved the twist and the whole scheming woman thing. It’s one of the books that I feel was well adapted to the big screen too.

If you wrote an autobiography, what would your title be?

The Worrier. I worry about anything, far too much of the time. I’m sure I’d worry if I hadn’t got anything to worry about.

Tell us a random fact about yourself

I am terrified of the dark.

Tell us about your last release?

Liar – the truth can be a dangerous thing…
When a young boy falls from a balcony in a block of flats, DS Grace Allendale witnesses the shocking aftermath of the tragic event. But strangely, no one will admit to seeing anything – and the parents will only tell the police that it was an accident.

Determined to sort the truth from the lies, Grace is thrown into a case that takes her to the darkest corners of the criminal world – and strikes closer to home than she could have ever imagined…
A gripping and pacey thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat from the moment you turn the first page. The perfect read for fans of Martina Cole.

What do you generally do to celebrate on publication day?

Sometimes I’m not at home for publication day. Often I can be in London or taking part in a panel at a literary festival. Most things like that are arranged around the launch of books. However, if I am home, I like nothing more than going to lunch with my best friend and then out for something to eat with my husband during the evening. Then I can also chat with readers online too.

How can readers keep in touch with you?

I’m at @writermels on Twitter, at MelSherrattAuthor on Facebook and my website it http://www.melsherratt.co.uk All my books can be found on Amazon and in bookshops and supermarkets around publication time.

Mel Sherratt Amazon Author Page

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Mel! 🙂

Thank you!

Liar Liar

Out now!

happy reading 🙂

That Special Someone has been, unread, on my bookcase for far too long and I am SO glad that I finally got to read it! I am a big fan of Tanya Bullock’s so why it’s taken me so long to read this is beyond me. Simply too many books and not enough time, unfortunately.

What a beautiful, powerful and emotional story!

That Special Someone centres around single Mum, Izzie, and her 18 year old, learning-disabled, daughter, Jaya. Having never known her father or any grandparents, Jaya has only ever had her mother. They have only ever really had each other.

Izzie is fiercely protective of Jaya and isn’t really prepared for her to become an adult. When Jaya announces that she would like to be married and have babies, Izzie just goes into panic mode. She had thought Jaya would just live with her forever, but she is forced to confront the fact that Jaya is a beautiful young lady with wants and needs of her own.

As a mother I can totally understand how hard it is to let your children grow up, make their own decisions and mistakes and trust that you’ve brought them up well enough to be responsible for themselves (my children are 19 and 18). However, if your child has any kind of disability or difficulty then it must a hundred times harder. Izzie comes across as completely neurotic at times, but I totally got her, and my heart went out to her.

When Jaya falls for her teaching assistant at college the story takes a completely different direction. Jaya is just dreaming of her happy future with the man she loves and doesn’t have any malicious intent in her actions, but clearly doesn’t anticipate the hurt she is about to cause. I could almost physically feel the pain Izzie endures at this time. I can’t even imagine what I would do in the same situation.

I love how this story alternates from the point of view of the different characters, almost like diary entries. Looking at the same situation from the very different perspectives of Izzie and Jaya was captivating. Jaya’s innocence, and naivety, is so beautifully written. It’s so clever how effortlessly this contrast’s to Izzie’s viewpoint as a protective mother, living on her nerves and completely defensive on behalf of her daughter. The bond they share is blatantly unbreakable.

This is such an amazing story full of love and raw emotion, with a beautiful ending. I loved it!

Via Amazon UK

“Like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, this novel informs readers about young people living with disability.” GOODREADS

If you enjoy Mike Leigh films you will love this book.” GOODREADS

“The lightest, most entertaining, of reads on a serious dilemma facing many parents of autistic teens, single parent or not.” GOODREADS

“This is not like any other novel I have ever read – It tackles major taboos head-on, but the author does it in a way which is so sensitive and witty, you wonder why they were ever taboos at all!” GOODREADS

‘A wonderful, poignant and witty story about the life, loves and struggles of a young woman with learning difficulties.’ JILL FRASIER, Founder and Director of healthcare charity, KISSING IT BETTER

“A brilliant debut novel. One regret – it finished too soon! I want to know more!” GOODREADS

Life as the single mum of a learning-disabled teen is tough…

…but it gets so much harder when puberty hits.

To single mum Izzie’s alarm, all her 18 yr old daughter Jaya wants from life is to get married and have babies. This creates a moral dilemma for Izzie. How she can continue to protect her daughter whilst at the same time letting her go?

In the small Midlands town where they live, there is little prospect of meaningful employment or continuing education for Jaya. So, Izzie wonders, would finding a ‘suitable husband’ via an arranged marriage for half-Indian Jaya be so crazy?

But when Jaya falls head over heels for a teaching assistant in her college’s Special Educational Needs department, a disastrous sequence of events are set in motion. Life for Jaya and Izzie is turned around in ways that nobody could ever have foreseen.

“The complex issues surrounding learning disability are addressed in an honest & thought-provoking manner.” GOODREADS

“Debut novel manages to combine a sensitive subject with Black Country Humour”. ‘WATERSTONES LOVES’, WATERSTONES, WALSALL

“Utterly engrossing and innovatively written.” AMAZON READER

“A refreshingly different book – thoroughly recommended!” AMAZON READER

“One of the best autism books out there.” GOODREADS

If you enjoy fiction by Mark Haddon & Jojo Moyes you’ll love this beautifully-written, page-turner of a novel. Download your free sample now…

This book is free in Kindle Unlimited!

About the author

Tanya Bullock is a college lecturer, writer and award-winning filmmaker. She lives in the UK with her husband and two young children. She has a passion for foreign culture and languages (inherited from her French mother) and, in her youth, travelled extensively throughout Australia, America, Asia and Europe. As a filmmaker, she has gained local recognition, including funding and regional television broadcast, through ITV’s First Cut scheme, two nominations for a Royal Television Society Midlands Award, and, in 2010, a Royal Television Society Award in the category of best promotional film. On maternity leave in 2011 and in need of a creative outlet, Tanya began to write That Special Someone, the story of a mother’s quest to help her learning-disabled daughter find love. It was a finalist for The People’s Book Prize and The Beryl Bainbridge First Time Author Award 2016. Her second novel, Homecoming, a love story with an unexpected twist, was published in 2016. The Lonely Hearts Crime Club is Tanya’s third novel. A cozy mystery with a surprising finale, it will be published in the spring of 2019. All Tanya’s novels are published by Blackbird Digital Books.

ICYMI

The Lonely Hearts Crime Club by Tanya Bullock @TanyaBullock15 @Blackbird_Bks #BlogTour #BookReview

Homecoming: Quite Possibly The Strangest Romance Ever Told by Tanya Bullock

happy reading 🙂

Hi, and welcome to my Flashback Friday feature 🙂

On the first Friday of each month I like to have a little look back at what I was reading during the same month in previous years, since starting my blog. 

Feel free to join in! 

Here are my reviews from February 2019 (plus a link to previous FBFs)…..

#TheGoodFriend by Jo Baldwin @jokbaldwin ‏@RedDoorBooks #BlogTour #BookReview

Bridge to Burn (Detective Kay Hunter Book 7) by @RachelAmphlett #BookReview

Gravy Train by Tess Makovesky @tessmakovesky @ADRBooks #BookReview

Leo and the Lightning Dragons by Gill White (Illustrated by Gilli B ) #BlogTour #BookReview #ChildrensBook @leolightdragons ‏@FledglingPress #Lovebooksgrouptours #Charity

The Wife’s Secret by Caroline England @CazEngland #BookReview

#WhatHappensInFrance by Carol E Wyer @carolewyer #BlogTour #BookReview @canelo_co

#FlashbackFriday February 2019 with @LJRoss_author @SDRauthor & @monicajames81 #BookReviews

I finished Immersed in Murder this morning and found it every bit as gripping as all the previous books in the series. This is book six in the DCI Timothy series and I’ve probably said this before, but this series just gets better and better which is quite something because Portal to Murder is a pretty epic debut, in my opinion.

When a family return home from their holiday to find a dead woman, unknown to them, in their bath a new investigation begins. When that woman is eventually linked to a devastating case from thirty years earlier the investigation becomes even more complicated until the hard work and dedication of DCI Timothy and his team starts to unravel the mystery.

This is yet another excellent police procedural, involving both Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent police, which is fast paced and full of suspense. Each chapter ends in a way that makes it very difficult to put down. I had to know where this story was going. The truth is chilling and, in part, quite sad.

I highly recommend to all and I’m very much looking forward to Book 7!

If you haven’t read this series yet, you really should. Why not catch up before book 7 is published??

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alison-Lingwood/e/B00J951G3M/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

happy reading 🙂

I finished The Killer Shadow Thieves late Monday night and I have to say it was a thoroughly entertaining read! I’m only sorry that it’s taken me this long to get around to reading it but, it was most definitely worth the wait.

J.F. Burgess is a new-to-me and local-to-me author. He came along to one of our Stoke-on-Trent Book Blogger/Author meet ups which was how I was introduced to his work. The fact that this book is set in Stoke-on-Trent made it all the more appealing to me. I was born in Stoke-on-Trent and have lived in Newcastle-under-Lyme for most of my life. I love it when I read a book featuring place’s I know so well as I can literally picture the characters there.

This book pretty much has it all if you love a police procedural crime thriller, as I do. When a man is murdered in the men’s toilets in a local pub it kicks off an investigation which leads to all sorts of criminal secrets being uncovered. The investigation also gets very personal when DI Tom Blake’s daughter is kidnapped. I loved the clever twist in this part of the story and totally empathised with Blake as he had no choice but to prioritise his daughter over his job. Blake is a very likeable character who has had his fair share of grief, having lost his wife and son already in a tragic car accident. He can’t lose his daughter too and I was praying with him that she would be okay.

This story features some seriously devious career criminals who don’t really care who they stamp on to get what they want. Some are more charismatic than others.

An elaborate plan is devised to steal the Staffordshire Hoard from Hanley Museum and sell it to a collector. Quite clever and ballsy to be honest. I was fascinated to follow one of the thieves around the museum, describing everything he saw, as it is a place very familiar to me. I almost felt like I was there with him, although I don’t fancy wandering around at night! If you haven’t been, I highly recommend a visit.

Anyway, will they pull off their risky plan and how do those involved link back to the murder and the kidnapping of Blake’s daughter?

This book is so full of surprising twists and turns I had no idea where it was going to lead, but I was as determined as Blake and his team to find out. I was completely gripped throughout this story and fascinated by the details. It’s a longish but easy read police procedural which easily hooked me in from the very beginning. Full of suspense and short chapters which add to the tension. There was no way I could just read a couple of chapters at a time. Once picked up it was a difficult one to put down. I highly recommend and look forward to book 2.

Via AmazonUK

Could you commit murder to save your daughter’s life?

DI Tom Blake may have to if he wants see his alive again.

A man with a secret is MURDERED.

A detective’s daughter is ABDUCTED

Two illegals are ASSASSINATED. What connects them?

When he foils a deadly heroin deal, widowed detective DI Tom Blake sets off a chain of events that change his life forever. Things become even more perilous when seemingly unconnected, links between the gruesome murder of a skinhead, and the arrest of a vicious loan shark, unwittingly disrupt an international gang’s daring plans to steal the world-famous Staffordshire Hoard.

In a cruel twist of fate, Blake’s teenage daughter is abducted, propelling the bereft detective on a quest to save her life. Operating outside the law, he’s racing against the clock, following a murderous trail that leads him from the shady world of stolen artefacts, across America, and all the way back to Stoke, chasing a shadowy killer driven by greed and revenge.

As the body count rises, Blake and his team struggle to unravel the conspiracy and with only circumstantial evidence against each of the suspects, they hit a wall, until twenty-six-year-old photographs linking them to murders emerge. It seems the victim’s depraved past is the key to identifying the killer.

Can the police uncover the truth through all the deception and crack the case before the killer murders anyone else who threatens to expose him? And will they recover a legendary national treasure, worth millions, before it’s lost forever?

A brilliantly executed police thriller with an explosive ending!

Discover the electrifying, nail-bitingly tense, twisting new police thriller with a shocking ending, from J.F.Burgess.

What readers are saying:

‘WOW, what a debut novel this is!!!!! It drew me in from the first page and kept me on the edge of my seat until the end. It totally blew me away. Packed full of action and twists I didn’t see coming!’ Audrey Gibson GOODREADS 5 stars

‘A very exciting debut novel.’  Alyson R AMAZON 4 stars

‘A really compelling read. Just couldn’t put it down.’ Ron Allcock  AMAZON 5 stars

‘Brilliant debut, exciting, intriguing and very well paced and written.’  MARK FEARN BOOKMARK 5 stars

‘This is the first novel by this author and it is a shocker! Brilliantly thought through and executed.’ Mrs J AMAZON 5 stars

‘A real page-turner from start to finish and the ending is brilliant not the usual run of the mill at all. If you want to know why read the book, it’s brilliant.’  John Thys  AMAZON 5 stars

‘The book is a roller-coaster read, offering a cunningly woven web of sex, drugs, violence and crime’ MAX PINNER AUSTRALIA

‘I was immediately rooting for DI Blake and DS Murphy and loved their on-page banter. The introduction of all the characters was done incredibly well and held my interest.’ BOOK JAR JOURNEYS

About the author

I grew up in Stoke-on-Trent and spent many years doing less than ideal jobs in and around the Potteries five towns, before finally taking the plunge and quitting work to follow my creative side. As a keen horse-racing fan, I started off in 2007 self-publishing betting how-to manuals. This is my main business, but my real passion is for crime fiction, both reading and writing.

Inspired by authors such as Mel Sherratt, Peter James, Val McDermid, James Oswald, Kate Ellis, Martina Cole and Ian Rankin, and in need of a new challenge, I decided to try my hand at writing crime fiction.

After months of hard slog and sheer determination, I finished my first novel: The Killer Shadow Thieves. This is the first in a planned series of gritty crime fiction books set in Stoke on Trent, involving charismatic DI Tom Blake and his larger-than-life sidekick DS Jon Murphy.

The follow-up, The Deadly Legacy, is a cult serial killer thriller, with a 200-year-old secret at the heart of a plot full of unexpected twists, which push the relationships of a rich pottery family into life-threatening conflicts.

I write tense, gripping, crime fiction mysteries with a twist – or urban crossbreed, as I call it. My thrillers take you deep inside the criminal mind.

I live with my wife and family in Stoke-on-Trent, England. You can find out more about me at…

http://www.jfburgess.co.uk, or on Twitter at @burgess1012.

happy reading 🙂

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming KT King to Chat About Books! 🙂

Where did/do you get your ideas from?

I spent 5 years at university studying French and English Literature so I inspired by many previous novels but I am also inspired by film, TV, theatre and the world around me. They say you should write about what you know so a lot of the action in Little Eden takes place in a café because  I was a waitress during my teens and early twenties (although No.1 Daisy Place is, of course, the most perfect café in the world and not at all like the ones I worked in). I retrained as a healer, hypnotherapist, counsellor and reflexologist during my thirties due to having a chronic condition called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (sometimes also known as ME). Back then it was not recognised at all by the medical profession and was known as Yuppy Flu. There was no support on the NHS and you couldn’t even get a diagnosis in those days. I had to learn to help myself. Once I discovered healing I realised that I had a natural talent for it and that I was also psychic (I found out later that it runs in the family) and so Little Eden is full of my experiences of the supernatural and paranormal – ironically the parts of the story which seem realistic are pure fiction and the parts which seem fantastical are based on real psychic events. When you live the life of a healer, the paranormal becomes your normal!

Are any of your characters based (however loosely) on anyone you know?

The main female character, Sophie, is based on me. She has CFS and is psychic but the other characters are a mix of friends, family and aquaintances, as well as saints and historical characters (such as Eleanor of Aquataine, Queen Bertha of Kent and Hilda of Whitby).

How do you pick your characters’ names?

I love to play with names and the names come to me intuitively when I visualise the character. If it feels right then it’s right! Some of the names are direct allusions to historical characters. Some say the names are too unusual but having lived in various places around the world, I don’t believe there is no such thing as a ‘normal’ name. I changed my own name from Kate Hare to KT King – just because and why not!?

Can you share your writing process with us, in a nutshell?

I write in my head first. Due to having CFS I cannot sit at the computer for more than about 2 hours a day (and that is on a good day) so I do all my plot and scenes in my head from my bed then type them up when I feel well enough. I write in the same way as one might paint a picture – I start with the basic draft and then go back to each chapter and colour it in. I keep doing this over and over until each chapter feels polished. My sister then checks the spelling and grammar for me (and there are always plenty of mistakes) and my two best friends are my beta readers. It took me five years to write book one because I was in bed for nearly three years until I could start typing it up and I can go for months without being able to even think (one of the symptoms of CFS is cognitive fatigue which means memory and thought processes are impaired).

Who are your top 5 favourite authors?

I’d have to say Jane Austen, Enid Blyton, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Andre Gide and E.M. Forster. I could write a very long list…

If you could meet any author, who would it be and what would you ask them?

I would chose to meet Jane Austen because I too am single, without children and don’t have any money or home of my own so I feel a bit akin to her (although I don’t get to stay in stately homes as she did). I would ask her how on earth she wrote with a quill and paper – I am forever retyping and thank god for the computer!

Were you a big reader as a child?

I loved reading and writing as a child. The Faraway Tree was my first favourite book along with all fairytales. We were only allowed new books for birthday’s and Christmas so I would have to wait for the next in a series which meant that I read the same books many times whilst waiting for the next.

When did you start to write?

I wrote the school play when I was seventeen and wrote my own healing newsletter for a few years but I only started to write novels in 2014

If you could re-write the ending to any book what would it be and what would you change?

I wouldn’t change the ending of any novel but if I could, I would change the ending to my life so far and make it ‘happily ever after’.

Is there a book you wish you had written?

I would love to be able to write like Jeanette Winterson. Her ability to play with narrative style is beyond me! I would like to have written The Passion or The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman because that had me hooked and has the creepiest reveal ever!

If you wrote an autobiography, what would your title be?  

I think it would have to be something like: Never give up, Never Give in

If you could invite any fictional character for coffee who would it be and where would you take them?

I would take them to the fictional Daisy Place Café! But, if it has to be a real place I would take them to a local hotel called Tickton Grange for afternoon tea!

Tell us a random fact about yourself

I have jumped out of a plane at 12 thousand feet over Western Australia

What are you working on right now?

Book Two in the Little Eden series. I hope there will be at least nine in all, so I’d better keep going!

Tell us about your last release?

My last is my first which is Little Eden, A Magic Book. It’s called a Magic Book because it ‘opens the heart and expands the mind’ (in the spiritual world it is known as an awakener book). It is full of cliff hangers, thrills, magic, supernatural events and humour but it also touches on social issues such as domestic violence, mental health, CFS and self-care. It also takes the reader on a healing and spiritual journey showing how to weave the supernatural into daily life and how to cope using spirit guides, angelic energies and prayers. I wanted a book which would be like having a one to one session with me. My clients always said I should write a book so that more people could hear about what goes on ‘out there’ and so I did but I also wanted to make it a novel which anyone and everyone could enjoy.

Do you have a new release due?

Little Eden, Book Two should hopefully be released early 2020. Book One just came out in paperback but has been out as an eBook since 2018, you can get it in both formats on Amazon and other eBook sites.

What do you generally do to celebrate on publication day?

I have only had one and I had afternoon tea with my best friends – it had to be afternoon tea!

How can readers keep in touch with you?

I am on all social media platforms and I love to hear from my readers. One Facebook I have a Dear Readers group and readers can share their bakes and experiences (there are some recipes in the back of the novel which feature in the story). I also have an Etsy Shop where I sell handmade healing jewellery and gifts inspired by Little Eden. My link tree which takes you to all my links is https://linktr.ee/ktkingbooks

Is there anything else you would like us to know?

I have suffered with chronic pain and CFS for over 25 years and am hoping to help raise awareness for CFS with my novels. Millions suffer with this illness and the World Health Organisation is trying to encourage world governments to treat it as a biological disease rather than as a psychological one. It is considered on a par with AIDS in that there is little or no research and the numbers with it are growing annually, yet sufferers are blamed for the illness due to a lack of understanding of the cause. There is no state aid, disability allowance or help on offer. Until the governments add it to the list of recognised disabilities many of us are dependent on family charity to survive and struggle to work, have any kind of social life or hobbies and we can spend years at a time bedridden. The fluctuating nature of the illness makes it baffling to the medical profession. Most of us are housebound over 80% of the time and find having relationships, children, holding down a job, earning a living or even taking a shower almost impossible. I am reliant on my elderly parents to provide me with a room and board after I lost my business and home in 2012 when I had the worst relapse of my life and from which I have never recovered from sufficiently to work again. Until the profile is raised there will be no biomedical research, without which, another generation will battle with poverty, depression, suicide, homelessness and by in constant pain. Please help me raise awareness by reading Little Eden and spreading the word! For more information on CFS/ME please visit http://millionsmissing.meaction.net/

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions! 🙂

A Magic Book opens the heart & expands the mind…

2012. Little Eden, London, England.

The beautiful sanctuary town of Little Eden is under threat. Human greed, selfishness and disregard are about to turn the last 1,000 years to dust. Robert Bartlett-Hart must make a choice.

With the help of his friends (plus plenty of tea and cake), Robert learns that there is more at stake than just Little Eden.

Something lies at the heart of the Abbey; something that stands between mankind and Armageddon. The friends must navigate past lives, other dimensions, and even Heaven itself, to find a way to save Little Eden and themselves.

Will Little Eden survive to usher in a new age, or will humanity perish with it?

happy reading 🙂

Victory Day (Battle Ground #5)

Bex Ellman and Ketty Smith meet in London. As the war heats up around them, Bex and Ketty must learn to trust each other. With her friends and family in danger, Bex needs Ketty to help rescue them. For Ketty, working with Bex is a matter of survival. When Victory is declared, both will be held accountable for their decisions.

The Battle Ground series is set in a dystopian near-future UK, after Brexit and Scottish independence. 

Purchase Link –

http://tallerbooks.com/battleground/

Author Bio –

Rachel Churcher was born between the last manned moon landing, and the first orbital Space Shuttle mission. She remembers watching the launch of STS-1, and falling in love with space flight, at the age of five. She fell in love with science fiction shortly after that, and in her teens she discovered dystopian fiction. In an effort to find out what she wanted to do with her life, she collected degrees and other qualifications in Geography, Science Fiction Studies, Architectural Technology, Childminding, and Writing for Radio.
She has worked as an editor on national and in-house magazines; as an IT trainer; and as a freelance writer and artist. She has renovated several properties, and has plenty of horror stories to tell about dangerous electrics and nightmare plumbers. She enjoys reading, travelling, stargazing, and eating good food with good friends – but nothing makes her as happy as writing fiction.
Her first published short story appeared in an anthology in 2014, and the Battle Ground series is her first long-form work. Rachel lives in East Anglia, in a house with a large library and a conservatory full of house plants. She would love to live on Mars, but only if she’s allowed to bring her books.

Social Media Links – 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rachel_Churcher 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelchurcherwriting/

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/RachelChurcherWriting

Blog: https://blog.tallerbooks.com

Follow, like and share the book love with these awesome book bloggers…..

happy reading 🙂

OH, MY GOODNESS!!!

I could have easily read this book in one sitting, had I not had real life stuff to do. I was well and truly gripped!

The Perfect Mother is quite different to the other books I’ve read by Caroline Mitchell. However, her talent for drawing you in from the very first page is true of them all. I finished The Perfect Mother this afternoon. Today is the first chance I’ve had to get away with not having to put it down and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself! I HAD to find out what was going to happen. This story has been in my thoughts since I started it. It’s one that really got under my skin.

When Roz finds she is pregnant and unable to bring up a baby alone, I really felt for her. She is a very likable character and I could understand her desperation, but I can’t even imagine being desperate enough to do what she goes on to do. I was totally with her best friend.

I felt very uneasy throughout this story as soon as Roz made the decision to travel to New York to meet a couple she knew nothing about. I was not prepared for just how unhinged these people would turn out to be! The dark secrets they have hidden behind closed doors are just terrifying.

Sheridan is a serious piece of work, to put it mildly. She’s a scary, but fascinating character. I can’t make my mind up about Daniel. Why they were ever married I don’t know. They are both toxic in their own way and even more so as a couple. Their behaviour towards each other, their staff and, of course, Roz is horrifying. I felt so sorry for their little boy and the devastating way he came into the world and into their lives.

What Roz endures at the hands of this celebrity couple, who portray themselves on social media as having the perfect relationship and family life, is nothing short of petrifying. I was praying for Roz and her baby the whole time and I’m not sure I even breathed towards the end!

Just brilliant!

A story that’s likely to stay with me for a very long time to come.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for my ARC via Netgalley. I highly recommend!

Via AmazonUK

She thought they wanted her baby. But they won’t stop there.

Roz is young, penniless and pregnant. All she wants is to be the perfect mother to her child, but the more she thinks about her own chaotic upbringing, the more certain she is that the best life for her baby is as far away as possible from her hometown in Ireland.

Determined to do the right thing, Roz joins an elite adoption service and can’t believe her luck. Within days she is jetting to New York to meet a celebrity power couple desperate for a child of their own. Sheridan and Daniel are wealthy and glamorous—everything Roz isn’t. Her baby will never go hungry, and will have every opportunity for the perfect life. But soon after Roz moves into their plush basement suite, she starts to suspect that something darker lurks beneath the glossy surface of their home.

When Roz discovers she isn’t the first person to move in with the couple, and that the previous woman has never been seen since, alarm bells start ringing. As the clock ticks down to her due date, Roz realises her unborn baby may be the only thing keeping her alive, and that despite her best intentions, she has walked them both into the perfect nightmare…

OUT on 14th January 2020

happy reading 🙂

Do you have your copy of this awesome book yet?

If not, why not?

You could be enjoying an excellent collection of short stories, written by an amazing bunch of talented authors, whilst also helping to raise vital funds for Help For Heroes! Everyone in this country, maybe even the world, should have a copy of this on their bookshelves. Just one copy per household and think how much money that would raise! It would be off the scale.

 I have a kindle copy and a paperback, because I’m greedy like that, but seriously people, you won’t regret clicking that buy now button. Go on, you know you want to…..

Still need convincing?

When Stars Will Shine

When Stars Will Shine is a collection of short stories from your favourite authors who have come together to deliver you a Christmas read with a twist.

With true war tales that will break your heart, gritty Christmas crimes that will shake you to your core, and heart-warming tales of love lost and found, this anthology has something for everyone. And, with every penny made being sent to support our troops, you can rest assured that you’re helping our heroes, one page at a time.

From authors such as Louise Jensen, Graham Smith, Malcolm Hollingdrake, Lucy Cameron, Val Portelli, and Alex Kane, you are in for one heck of a ride!

When Stars Will Shine is the perfect Christmas gift (or Birthday, Anniversary or just because) for the bookworms in your life!

If that still hasn’t persuaded you…..

A Note from Emma Mitchell:

As the blurb tells us, When Stars Will Shine is a multi-genre collection of Christmas-themed short stories compiled to raise money for our armed forces and every penny made from the sales of both the digital and paperback copies will be donated to the charity.

Working closely with Kate Noble at Noble Owl Proofreading and Amanda Ni Odhrain from Let’s Get Booked, I’ve been able to pick the best of the submissions to bring you a thrilling book which is perfect for dipping into at lunchtime or snuggling up with on a cold winter’s night. I have been completely blown away by the support we’ve received from the writing and blogging community, especially the authors who submitted stories and Shell Baker from Baker’s Not So Secret Blog, who has organised the cover reveal and blog tour.

There isn’t a person in the country who hasn’t benefited from the sacrifices our troops, past and present, have made for us and they all deserve our thanks.

It has been an honour working on these stories, and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I have.

Full contents:

Fredrick Snellgrove, Private 23208 by Rob Ashman

Four Seasons by Robert Scragg

The Close Encounter by Gordon Bickerstaff

Believe by Mark Brownless

What Can Possibly Go Wrong? by Lucy Cameron

Mountain Dew by Paul T. Campbell

The Art of War and Peace by John Carson

A Gift for Christmas by Kris Egleton

Free Time by Stewart Giles

Died of Wounds by Malcolm Hollingdrake

The Christmas Killer by Louise Jensen

The Village Hotel by Alex Kane

A Present of Presence by HR Kemp

The Invitation by Billy McLaughlin

Brothers Forever by Paul Moore

Girl in a Red Shirt by Owen Mullen

Pivotal Moments by Anna Franklin Osborne

Uncle Christmas by Val Portelli

Time for a Barbeque by Carmen Radtke

Christmas Present by Lexi Rees

Inside Out by KA Richardson

Penance by Jane Risdon

New Year’s Resolution by Robert Scragg

Family Time by Graham Smith

When Stars Will Shine is available to in digital and paperback formats and on Kindle Unlimited.

For more information, please contact Emma Mitchell: emmamitchellfpr@gmail.com

And ICYMI

#WhenStarsWillShine #HelpingOurHeroesOnePageAtATime with Emma Mitchell ~ Creating Perfection @emmamitchellfpr #BlogTour #BookReview

happy reading 🙂

Welcome to my stop on Marcie Steele’s fabulous blog tour for The Man Across the Street, with Book on the Bright Side Publicity! 🙂

Marcie is back! WHOO HOO!!

I was SO excited to read The Man Across the Street and what an absolute joy of a read it has been! I cannot recommend highly enough!

Hannah is an instantly likeable character. Approaching her fortieth birthday and living on her own after losing her Mum, she works part time in her best friend’s hairdressers. She hasn’t had much luck in love. She hasn’t had much time to focus on herself at all as she has cared for her Mum for so long. So, when a handsome new fella moves into Hope Street, things start to get interesting!

Doug is an adorable character. I really wish my friend, Gayle, could meet a Doug! I loved him and loved how immediately taken he is with Hannah. I was routing for them from the very beginning.

I loved the friendship between Hannah and Phoebe also.

This is such a heart-warming love story. It isn’t without its drama though, which just makes it all the more entertaining. There are some fabulous characters in this story. Marcie Steele knows who to write people and the, often complicated, dynamics of relationships. These are easily relatable people, with real and relatable lives. I’m pretty sure we don’t have a Doug living in our street though!

If you enjoy a feel-good, romance then look no further. I certainly finished this story with a big smile on my face and I’m sure you will too.

I can’t wait for book two!

Many thanks to Marcie Steele for my review copy.

Maybe I’m scared to be happy…

Meet Hannah – she’s been her mum’s sole carer since she was eighteen. Now alone after Martha’s sudden death, Hannah feels lost in the only place she’s known as home, Hope Street. Coming up to a milestone birthday, she’s wondering what her purpose in life is.

Meet Doug – a workaholic, he’s in the office from dusk ’til dawn, and when he has a heart attack. Now on the mend, he needs to de-stress his life and focus on living it, to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Doug moves to Hope Street, number 35. Hannah lives at number 34, directly opposite. From the moment they meet, there’s a spark.

But there are secrets too. Hannah’s mum has been keeping something from her, her sister left over twenty years ago, and there can’t be such a simple reason why Doug has moved to Somerley. Can there?

The Man Across the Street is the first of a new series by bestselling author, Marcie Steele. It features a host of characters living on Hope Street in the market town of Somerley, also featured in The Somerley Series. Each character will have their own standalone story in books to follow.

‘Marcie Steele writes with such down to earth warmth that you wish you could live in her stories. The Man Across the Street is no exception, full of characters that you’d love to be friends with.’ Tilly Tennant.

‘Love, secrets, intrigue, heartache. Find it all on Hope Street. An engaging tale of ordinary lives to warm you heart and restore your faith in mankind.’ Imogen Clark

If you love an uplifting story about new beginnings, then The Man Across The Street is the perfect read to curl up with. Fans of Hannah Ellis, Debbie Johnson and Emily Harvale will love this book.

Out now!

About the author…..

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a meddler of words. Born and raised in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. I’m a romantic at heart and have always enjoyed writing about characters that fall in and out of love, have good friends to hang around with, and live in communities with great spirit.
I have written three books in The Somerley Series and the first in The Hope Street Series, The Man Across The Street.
I can often be found sitting in my favourite coffee shop, sipping a cappuccino and eating a chocolate chip cookie, either catching up with friends or writing on my laptop.

Twitter: @marcie_steele

www.marciesteele.co.uk

Facebook: MarcieSteeleAuthor

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Marcie-Steele/e/B005WJ5UT0/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

happy reading 🙂