Today I have the pleasure of sharing an extract from All I Want For Christmas by Jenny Hale, which is released today!

Happy Publication Day to Jenny and Bookouture! 🙂

How gorgeous is this cover!

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

By Jenny Hale

Chapter One

Leah used the scissors from her Christmas wreath-making project to open the package from Nan, her hands trembling. She missed her grandmother so much that she held her breath from the moment her fingers touched the envelope. She set the scissors next to the pile of spruce needles that were still on the kitchen table and ran her fingers through her thick, blonde hair. She’d straightened it that morning, but after all day in the rain and sleet, it had started to curl back up.

Tipping the package upside down, Leah caught a lone key in the palm of her hand, recognizing it immediately. She pulled out a stack of documents with a note in Nan’s scratchy handwriting clipped to the top. The notepaper was pink and lacy, the edges rounded delicately with little holes punched out. She laid the documents on top of a few Christmas cards that had come in the mail and focused on the letter, aching to hear Nan’s soft, reassuring voice again.

“Mama,” Leah’s daughter, Sadie said, pulling her out of her thoughts. She was still wearing the red-and-blue leotard Leah had gotten her as a surprise for her birthday. Sadie had seen it in her gymnastics magazine and she’d kept the page open to it all the time. When Leah had asked her about it, she’d said that one day she’d like to have one of her own. Together, they’d made the matching bow clip in her white blonde hair. Every day after school she put it all on to practice her gymnastics. And she was quite the natural.

“The Girls are here,” Sadie said. She bent down, placing her hands on the tile floor, between the table and the kitchen counter, keeping her feet in place until she lifted a leg into the air. Slowly, from a perfect standing split, she put her other leg up, straightening out into a handstand. Sadie had learned to do this move slowly, as swift movements used to send Leah leaping across the kitchen, throwing her arms around Sadie’s legs while simultaneously grabbing dishes and knick-knacks to keep them safe. But when Sadie did it slowly, Leah was able to see the precision in her movements, her skill evident, and she didn’t worry at all. Leah grinned.

Sadie righted herself and opened the side door that led to the driveway, sending a wave of wintery air in past the new wreath Leah had made from evergreens she’d found in the woods. She’d just hung it today. Leah slid the contents and the letter back into the envelope and put the key in her pocket. Another gust sent a chill through her as The Girls came in chattering together, Roz short and Louise tall, both swaddled in their winter gear.

“The Girls” was the name Leah had given to herself and her two best friends when they’d first met. They’d started out as a single mothers’ group of around seven women, which Leah had joined after meeting Roz, her coworker at the florist’s. But over the years, The Girls had dwindled to three—Leah, Roz and Louise—and they’d become more than a support group. They’d become best friends. Tonight, Leah was having them over for a late dinner.

“You’re early,” Leah said with a grin as Roz, all bundled up in a dark burgundy, double-breasted peacoat and striped fingerless gloves, set a bottle of wine on the counter dramatically. It was some sort of cutesy specialty wine with a gold, swirling Christmas tree on the label.

“Louise was insistent that the snow was going to fall all at once and if we waited any longer we wouldn’t be able to drive here,” Roz said, pulling off her gloves and dumping them on the counter. She ran her hand around Sadie’s ponytail affectionately and gave her a wink. Then she shrugged off her coat. Roz walked over to the cupboards and started rummaging around for wine glasses. Leah smiled—she liked how Roz felt as comfortable as if she were in her own house. She was like family.

“At least I can say we’re safe,” Louise said, giving Leah a side hug as she was holding a bowl of salad and a tin of cookies in her other arm. She was covered from head to toe, with a hunter-green, wooly scarf wrapped tightly around her neck, covering her long, red hair. “And you’re sure we can camp out here if the snow does start to fall?”

“We hardly ever have that kind of snow this early in the season,” Roz said, busying herself at the sink. “But I brought my toothbrush just in case!”

Leah’s house was small—a brick rancher tucked away behind a thick strip of woods that separated it from the main street, a four-lane expanse of pavement which was teeming at this time of year with holiday shoppers as they crawled along in traffic to get from one shop to another. But the woods allowed some privacy, and at night, in the dark, it seemed almost secluded. She had rented the house for its proximity to work and the cozy feel of the living room. Although quite crowded when everyone got together, it had offered a comfortable space to make memories with Sadie.

Louise looked at Leah thoughtfully for a second, as if just noticing her. “How are you?” she asked, studying her face until the pop of the wine cork behind them pulled her attention away.

Her friend could always read her. Leah was dying to see what Nan’s letter said, but she didn’t want to bring everyone down tonight by bursting into tears. It was supposed to be a fun night with The Girls.

“I’m fine, thanks.” Leah smiled. “I was just going through the mail…”

“Well, ignore it!” Roz said, swinging a glass full of red wine her way. The purple color of it nearly matched Roz’s dark hair. It was bottle-black, her latest beauty experiment, and in the light, it had almost a reddish-purple tint to it. “We’re going to have an amazing night of…” As she pressed her bright red lips together in thought, she handed the other glass to Louise. “What are we doing tonight besides drinking wine and having dinner? Did anyone get a movie or anything?”

“I thought we could play cards,” Louise piped up, taking a dainty sip from her glass and looking back and forth between Roz and Leah. “I brought some. They’re Toy Story though.”

Roz snorted as Louise pulled her five-year-old’s cards from her handbag.
“I couldn’t find mine so I took some from Ethan’s room,” she said.

Sadie climbed up into a kitchen chair and reached for one of the silver, foil-wrapped chocolates that Leah had put out for tonight. The two of them had started their Christmas decorating today, and they’d been nibbling on those chocolates since early afternoon. Leah gave her daughter her best not-too-many face.

Roz poured one more glass of wine for herself and then filled a glass full of fruit punch for Sadie. Both Roz and Louise had the weekend free since their children were with their fathers, but Leah didn’t have anyone to help with Sadie, so Sadie always joined them. She was like an honorary member of The Girls.

What a lovely opening chapter. This is now on my TBR list!

I’m sure you must be keen to read it also, so please find the links to buy below…..

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS by Jenny Hale – out 6^th October 2016

UK: http://amzn.to/2bXPAPJ 

US:http://amzn.to/2bQatcG 

All I Want for Christmas is a big, cozy Christmas story about the importance of family, the strength of childhood friendships, and learning to trust your heart.

Fans of Carole Matthews, Susan Wiggs and Susan Mallery – and anyone who likes the glow of Christmas lights and the rustle of wrapping paper – will fall in love with this feel-good Christmas treat.

Christmas comes once a year . . . But true love comes once in a lifetime.

Snowflakes are falling, there’s carol singing on every corner, and Leah Evans is preparing for a family Christmas at her grandmother’s majestic plantation house in Virginia. It won’t be the same now that her beloved Nan is gone, but when Leah discovers she has inherited the mansion, she knows she can give her daughter Sadie the childhood of her dreams.

But there’s a catch. Leah must split the house with a man called David Forester. Leah hasn’t heard that name in a long time. Not since they were kids, when Davey was always there to catch her.

Now David is all grown up. He’s gorgeous, successful, and certain of one thing: Leah should sell him her half of the house.

They can’t agree, but as they share memories over wine by the log fire, Leah notices a fluttering in her stomach. And by the look in his eyes, he’s starting to feel it too.

Will it be Leah or David who must give up their dreams? Or, with a little bit of Christmas magic, will they finally understand Nan’s advice to them both about living life without regrets … and take a chance on true love?

About the author:

When she graduated college, one of Jenny’s friends said “Look out for this one; she’s going to be an author one day”. Despite being an avid reader and a natural storyteller, it wasn’t until that very moment that the idea of writing novels occurred to her.

Sometimes our friends can see the things that we can’t. Whilst she didn’t start straight away, that comment sowed a seed and several years, two children and hundreds of thousands of words later, Jenny finished her first novel – Coming Home for Christmas – which became an instant bestseller.

www.itsjennyhale.com

https://www.facebook.com/jennyhaleauthor

https://twitter.com/jhaleauthor

Many thanks to Kim at Bookouture for letting me join in with today’s Publication celebrations 🙂

Publisher: Sphere (1st September 2016)

Wow!

I finished this lovely book this afternoon and it totally blew me away. It’s one of the most moving and thought provoking books I’ve read in a long time.

A Boy Made Of Blocks is about an 8 year old boy called Sam. Sam is autistic. His Dad, Alex, has always struggled to connect with him. This has put a lot of pressure on his marriage to Sam’s Mum, Jody, and sadly they end up separated. Alex worries that he will lose his son (and his wife) all together, until he discovers a computer game called Minecraft.

Minecraft literally changes their lives!

I’m not going to say anything about why or how, I would urge you to read it for yourself. You will be so glad you did!

Keith Stuart has an autistic son and his experience shines through this story. It is told with such love and affection. It’s also quite comical at times.

It’s a little bit sad, but mostly uplifting and incredibly heart-warming. It made me cry!

A beautifully written story that will most definitely stay with me for a long time to come. An easy 5 stars for me!

Many thanks to the publisher for inviting me to read this book via Netgalley. I am more than happy to recommend to anyone and everyone.

Buy your copy HERE 

You know you want to!

Don’t forget to leave a little review on Amazon when you’ve read it 🙂

Description:

Discover a unique, funny and moving debut that will make you laugh, cry and smile.

Meet thirtysomething dad, Alex
He loves his wife Jody, but has forgotten how to show it. He loves his son Sam, but doesn’t understand him. Something has to change. And he needs to start with himself.

Meet eight-year-old Sam
Beautiful, surprising, autistic. To him the world is a puzzle he can’t solve on his own.

But when Sam starts to play Minecraft, it opens up a place where Alex and Sam begin to rediscover both themselves and each other . . .

Can one fragmented family put themselves back together, one piece at a time?

Inspired by the author’s experiences with his own son, A Boy Made of Blocks is an astonishingly authentic story of love, family and autism.

Today I have the pleasure of sharing an extract from The Taken by Casey Kelleher, which is released today!

Happy Publication Day to Casey and Bookouture  🙂

THE TAKEN

By Casey Kelleher

Prologue

Albania: One year earlier

‘Tariq?’

Whimpering, Lena Cona looked down at the ground to where her brother lay.

The two men were shouting now, their voices angry, intimidating.

She tried to comprehend what they were saying, but their jumbled words were muted, merging into background noise as her ears began to ring loudly, a high-pitched screech filling her head.

She was in shock.

Unable to think straight, Lena tried to move, but she couldn’t.

Her legs were shaking, but her feet felt weighed down, as if her shoes were filled with lead.

She was afraid. Paralysed to the spot, all she could do was stare; her eyes fixated on the thick stream of blood that oozed out from the gash at the back of Tariq’s head.

He’d been hit.

The taller of the men had whacked him around the head with the butt of his gun.

They had a gun!

Panic ripped through her at the sudden realisation.

Lena tried to shout out; opening her mouth, a strained squeak barely louder than a whisper was the only noise that crept out.

‘Get in the car.’

The man pointed his gun at her now. Aiming it straight at her. His words were devoid of emotion, reflecting the same vacant hollowness that she could see in his eyes.

Stepping closer, he shoved the barrel against Lena’s chest.

‘Now!’ This time he bellowed, his face twisting in anger as he pushed the gun harder against her skin.

Lena could see his finger hovering threateningly over the trigger. This wasn’t an empty threat. She knew he was dangerous, but still she couldn’t move.

A few minutes ago she and her brother had been laughing and joking together.

Tariq had been walking her home from school.

That was her parents’ order: that her brother would walk her to and from school every day.

Lena had thought her parents were overreacting. Of course there were risks, but they didn’t apply to her, surely. Now she’d realised she’d been stupid, naïve. She remembered, with increasing terror, Néné’s harrowing tales of girls from Shkodër being snatched. Abducted and taken to the city’s main port, Vlorë, before being shipped off on speedboats across the Adriatic Sea, never to be seen again.

Her parents had pleaded with her to stay at home, to accept the traditional life of a normal Albanian girl just as many of her peers had done, but Lena was anything but normal.

Strong-willed. Defiant. Unlike most of the other girls in her class who had left school at the age of twelve or thirteen due to the pressures that their families had bestowed on them, Lena had refused to follow suit, insisting on completing her education. Why should she be penalised just for being born female? Why should she submit to a life doing what was expected of her? Instead, adamant to remain, schooled in a classroom of eleven boys, Lena had strived to be top of her class.

Not only had Lena excelled in mathematics, but she was also fluent in English. Her teacher had been impressed. He had told Lena that she had mastered the language so well that, eventually, she’d be able to teach it herself.

Lena had loved that idea. Travelling the world, working as a teacher or a translator. Practising daily, she’d even started to educate her parents and her brother. Just the basic words of salutation, or naming the food they ate.

She wanted to learn as much as she possibly could, so that, one day, she could have more than just what her parents had chosen for her. She didn’t want to be stuck here in Albania as just somebody’s wife, or somebody’s mother.

It may have been enough for Néné, but it would never be enough for her. Lena wanted so much more: to be treated as an equal; to experience the same opportunities and freedom that her brother had.

Unwilling to back down, she’d argued so intently that her parents had finally given in; insisting, in the end, that if Lena must continue with her schooling until she was nineteen then she could, on the condition that Tariq chaperone her.

Only now it seemed that fate had played out a cruel hand. Staring down at him she could see that Tariq was hurt, maybe dead.

And it’s all my fault, a voice screamed in Lena’s head.

‘Help me! Please, somebody?’ Shouting hysterically, Lena finally found her voice as she prayed that someone would come to her aid.

‘Help me, please… ’

Lena caught the gaze of a woman across the road, her eyes pleading with her to help her, but all that stared back at her was the woman’s fear. With an apologetic look, the woman put her head down and kept walking, pretending that she hadn’t seen.

Crying now, desperate, Lena scoured the street, looking for anyone that might help her, but the dusty road was almost deserted. School had finished; people were already indoors, evading the mid-afternoon scorching heat.

A single car passed by. Slowing down, the people inside stared out from behind the glass windows, but they didn’t stop to help her. They didn’t dare.

‘Pick her up,’ the taller man shouted now, directing the shorter man.

He did as he was told: grabbing her roughly from behind, clamping his hand over her mouth to mute her cries.

Lena saw their car. It was a battered-looking bright blue Mercedes, covered in flaky patches of orange rust. The back door was wide open; the engine running.

They are going to take me?

Gripped with fear, Lena dug her heels into the dry mud, trying her hardest to resist as one of the two men tried to grab at her feet, but it was no use. The men were much stronger than her.

Overpowering her, they lifted her off the ground, hauling her over to their car.

A hand came from behind her, clamping tightly across her mouth, making her gag for breath. Silencing her. Lena struggled to break free but her attempts only caused the men to hold on to her tighter.

‘Stay still, you stupid bitch!’

The man’s voice was commanding. He was losing patience. The sternness of his tone indicated that he’d had enough of her not complying. ‘Do as you are told, or you will be punished.’

Punished?

Lena twisted her head back to where her brother lay sprawled out on the ground, motionless.

Hadn’t they punished her enough already?

She had no idea who they were or what they wanted. All she knew was that she couldn’t let them take her.

Her brother needed her. Despite feeling helpless, Lena couldn’t just leave him like this.

Kicking and clawing at the men like a wildcat as they tried to force her onto the back seat, her body convulsing, Lena fought to break free from her abductors.

If she got inside this car, maybe she’d suffer the same fate as all the girls before her.

She had to fight.

Kicking out her heel, her foot connected with the shorter man’s face. She startled him, just enough for him to lose his footing and his grip. Stumbling, he dropped her legs. But her small victory was short-lived.

A massive thud exploded at the back of her skull. The almighty blow from the man behind her immobilised her in an instant.

‘I warned you.’

Lena flopped forward like a rag doll.

She felt the man grab at her roughly, breaking her fall just before she hit the ground.

She felt herself being lifted up, thrown into the back of the car. She was dizzy, her head pounding.

A sharp burn of her scalp as the man seized a fistful of her long auburn hair. Wrapping it around his fist, he twisted her around to face him.

He was just inches away from her now; his face almost touching hers. He was so close that she could smell his stale rancid breath, see the glistening beads of sweat forming on his forehead. His face was puce from the heat and the struggle to get her into the car.

Still woozy from the blow she’d received to the back of her head, she tried to focus. Her vision blurred; she was surprised at how young her abductor looked. She had expected someone older. This man looked only a few years older than Tariq. No more than twenty, she guessed.

‘So, you think you’re a wild one huh?’

The man’s steely grey eyes flickered then, and Lena thought that she saw the tiniest hint of amusement behind them as he yanked at her hair even harder, ripping a clump from her scalp as he did so. The pain so acute, it forced Lena alert once more.

‘Well, it won’t take me long to tame you.’

Lena kept eye contact. Refused to let him see her pain; she stared back at him with nothing but pure contempt.

‘Stupid little girl.’

He punched her again, this time his fist locking hard with her cheek, her neck snapping back, her head smacking against the window behind her.

Slumped in the car now, Lena had nothing left. She was exhausted; her body weak and broken.

‘Tie her up,’ the man commanded, as the shorter of the men slid in beside her.

The man did as he was told. He bound her legs together tightly with coarse brown rope before wrapping thick black strips of tape firmly around her wrists. He was obviously taking no more chances with her.

The car began to move.

Petrified, Lena sat slumped in silence as she stared out of the window. Her gaze fixed on Tariq’s body, motionless, on the ground.

Move! Please, let me know that you’re okay?

Only Tariq didn’t. He remained completely still, lifeless, as the car continued off into the distance.

Lena watched until her brother was completely out of sight. All hope from her now gone.

She could feel the stream of blood pouring from her nose; the metallic taste mixed with the saltiness of her tears, filling her mouth.

Silent tears ran down her face as she wondered what fate was ahead of her.

She thought of Néné’s words once more.

About those girls. About what happened to them after they were taken.

How they were trafficked around Europe like cattle.

Her mother hadn’t been able to bring herself to tell her young daughter why the girls had been taken, but Lena knew. Rumours in Shkodër were rife. People in the village had spoken of how the girls that were taken were used for sex. Forced to earn money for men in ways so disgusting it was almost unimaginable to Lena.

Except maybe now she didn’t have to imagine it.

Maybe she was destined to experience the horror of it all herself, first hand.

Lena sobbed as she thought how she should have listened to her parents.

They only wanted the best for her, to keep her safe, but she’d been so foolish, so pig-headed. She’d put Tariq in danger.

These men were savages, animals.

Capable of anything.

Resting her head on the window as the car made its way out of Shkodër, out towards the rural mountains of the countryside, Lena closed her eyes and said a silent prayer.

She had no idea what fate lay ahead of her, but one thing she knew for certain, her nightmare was only just beginning.

WOW! I’m sure I won’t be the only one adding this to my reading list!!

THE TAKEN by Casey Kelleher out on 5^th October

UK: http://amzn.to/2aWAuYC

US: http://amzn.to/2aIO1DH

When you’ve lost everything, you’ll do anything to survive.

Saskia Frost’s world is blown apart when her dad dies. Without any family, she’s on her own now and up to her eyeballs in her father’s debts. He owed a lot of money to some very dangerous men – Joshua and Vincent Harper. Before long, aspiring ballerina Saskia finds herself lap-dancing in a London club to survive. A club run by the infamous Harper brothers. Saskia is now their property and they’re going to make her pay every penny back.

Teenager Lena Cona has fled a cruel and controlling marriage. She arrives in England with her newborn daughter, desperately relying on strangers for help. But she soon learns that not everyone can be trusted as she finds herself caught in the clutches of Colin Jefferies, a twisted individual obsessed by his own sinister secrets. As the sickening truth is revealed, Lena is forced to fight for her life – and her baby’s.

When their worlds collide, Lena and Saskia form an unlikely friendship. But with the terrifying Harper brothers on their tail, as well as Lena’s vengeful and violent husband, can they escape with their lives?

About the author:

Born in Cuckfield, West Sussex, Casey Kelleher grew up as an avid reader and a huge fan of author Martina Cole.

Whilst working as a beauty therapist and bringing up her three children together with her Husband, Casey penned her debut novel Rotten to the Core. Its success meant that she could give up her day job and concentrate on writing full time.

www.caseykelleher.co.uk

www.facebook.com/OfficialCaseyKelleher

www.twitter.com/CaseyKelleher

Many thanks to Kim at Bookouture for letting me join in with today’s Publication celebrations!

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Roger Silverwood to my blog. Roger is a very well established author with a very impressive back catalogue! How did I not know about him before now? Author, John Pye introduced me to Roger, who very kindly agreed to answer my questions. I’m sure you’ll enjoy his wonderful answers.

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

I live on my own, in Barnsley, in a quiet little house in the middle of nowhere at the foot of the Pennines. I write because I can’t stop it. I have always enjoyed writing fiction particularly mystery and comedy.

But I didn’t get started writing properly until an accident playing football damaged my back and I was confined to bed. During some of that time, I wrote a book called DEADLY DAFFODILS which amazingly was accepted for publishing by the first publisher to see it. Thereafter, I have had 31 books published in the UK with various editions in the USA. I have also written a radio play called THE TOLLINGTON GHOST which was broadcast across the USA and Canada in March 2006.

I have written 4 stand alone novels, but of late, I write mostly about a character called Inspector Angel. He’s a detective of the old school trying to keep up with all the new features of forensic investigation. He lives in the market town of Bromersley in South Yorkshire with his wife, Mary.

Where did/do you get your ideas from?

Life. I can’t for a fact say where the ideas come from, but I watch the news and observe my friends and relations and from them sometimes recognise and isolate situations and relationships between them and the beginning of a plot may develop. From that situation I ask myself questions such as, what if he was murdered? what if she didn’t tell him about x?, what if an outsider came in? and so on. Then I ask myself what could be the outcome? Would it make an entertaining read? And does it have a surprise exposé? And so on. It’s a tedious method. I reject about 9 out of 10 of the ideas. It’s hard work but I know of no other.

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

Yes. My character, Inspector Angel is taken from a gentleman who is now dead. He was my backstop. He was a little unusual. He was educated in the university of life. He was dead honest but was not soft. I knew exactly what he thought on most subjects. When he was alive I used to talk to him a lot and draw him out on any subject I needed for my plot. Also I used to watch his mannerisms and facial expressions. He died not knowing his relationship to my main character. I loved him and miss him. Now I have to visualise him. My grandmother is my blueprint of Mrs Buller-Price, who appears in some of the titles. She loved everything and everybody, adored animals, wouldn’t harm a fly, gave generously to all charities and everybody else, and in my books, I sometimes write her in as a prison visitor. And my mother -God bless her – I use for most mature women. I exaggerate her bad points something wicked which I hope readers find entertaining.

How do you pick your characters names?

Very haphazardly. I don’t have a particular method. If I’m stuck, I look in the phone book.

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

I have a small bedroom upstairs which I use as my working place. It is furnished with conventional office stuff. Although there are built in shelves and a stand alone bookcase, the room is overloaded with books. Some are mine in their various editions; there are reference books and sundry other books mostly by current authors. If there is an empty place, there are books on it.

I started at an early age. I lived in Barnsley but I was sent away to a school in Gloucestershire (don’t ask why!) where I launched a school magazine, which became very popular and exceeded the circulation of the official school magazine. So the headmaster banned it. I don’t remember much about it now, but I recall it’s Latin motto was Nunquam Tristor Momentum, which meant ‘never a dull moment,’ and was absolutely true. I had a great time at school. I left at 18 with my school certificate in eight subjects and a distinction in Art.

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

Funnily enough, I changed an ending recently. My character Detective Inspector Michael Angel always identified the baddy in the last chapter and locked him up. In my latest book, THE LIPSTICK MURDERS, the baddy had been identified and I had allowed him to escape from Angel’s hands by four minutes. I thought that in 26 books the copper had always caught the villain, so wouldn’t it be a change for the reader, for me to allow the baddy to escape? I thought that then in subsequent books, I could re-introduce him and Angel can arrest him then. It would make for a change.

Well, the publisher’s reader thought that the baddy should not be allowed to escape. So I gave way and rewrote the ending incorporating a little twist in the plot – all quireasonable – so that our hero got his man.

Thinking about it, I don’t know whether I should have made the change.

What are you working on right now?

I am working on another book which is not an Angel book. It’s about a police inspector working in the city for Scotland Yard and it is set in 1912. I promise you it is not about Jack the Ripper and it is absolutely fog free! It is tentatively called THE CLOCKWORK MOUSE MURDERS.

Do you have a new release due?

In May last THE LIPSTICK MURDERS was released in hardback. In September, for readers of eBooks, it was released entitled THE FACE OF A MURDERER. I expect my next book to be THE CLOCKWORK MOUSE MURDERS in 2017.

How can readers keep in touch with you?

The address of my website, which is a mine of information, is <www.rogersilverwood.uwclub.net>

Readers can always email me from a link on there, which is <angeldetective@uwclub.net>

Many thanks to Roger for joining me on my blog and to John Pye for introducing us 🙂

You will find all of Roger’s books on his Amazon author page HERE

Happy reading!

Hiya! I hope this finds you well.

I hope you don’t mind me sharing this with you all, but my book blog has been featured in a local magazine 🙂

A couple of months ago local author (to me), John Pye, sent me a message about a fabulous feature he’d done in Newcastle Life Magazine. He said that he’d mentioned me and my book blog to the editor, Laura Campbell, in the hope that I’d be interested in featuring in the magazine also. Obviously this was an exciting opportunity for me so I was put in touch with Laura, who is lovely by the way and very professional. I was asked for details about myself and how my book blog came about etc. I hope you’ll agree that Laura has put together a lovely feature…..

You can read the feature in full by clicking on this link (I’m on page 23, but please do have a look at what else we have going on locally) – Newcastle Life Magazine, Issue 4 

I’d like to also take this opportunity to say thanks to all of you lovely people who have supported my blog along the way. It really does mean the world! Every time you read, like and share it’s very much appreciated.

To my fellow book bloggers, you are all awesome!

I really hope my posts help, just a little bit, towards the authors and publishers success. I’m totally in awe of writers and the hard work they put in to the awesome stories we can all enjoy!

If you’ve loved a book please do leave a review. It doesn’t have to be a long one, but it really will be appreciated and it can make all the difference.

Why not send the author a Facebook message and/or Tweet. They will be very happy to hear from you, I’m sure.

Thanks again for reading!

Kerry. X

Ps – In case you missed it, check out my interview with John Pye here – Q&A with author, John Pye

Publisher: Urbane Publications (15th September 2016)

I was very excited to learn that Christina Philippou, fellow book blogger, was releasing a novel of her own! Even more excited when my request to read it was approved by the publisher via Netgalley.

I knew I was going to like Lost In Static from the very first page.

We follow the stories of four fresher students as they embark on their first year at University.

I liked Ruby, although the constant use of the word ‘mate’ was a bit much sometimes. I have known people who talk like that though. Ruby is a normal northern lass, a bit of a tom boy, into football and just wants to get on with University life. She soon falls for Callum though, which complicates things.

Callum has a secret which, if leaked, would seriously put the cat amongst the pigeons. I quite liked Callum’s character. He was very believable as a typical lad, making the most of his University experience.

Juliette also has a secret, one that really needn’t be though, in today’s society. However, not all families are as understanding and accepting as others. Juliette soon becomes firm friends with Ruby, but struggles with other relationships.

Yasmine is one on her own, I did not warm to her at all. She sets her sights on Callum so is obviously jealous of Ruby and she is determined to find out Callum’s secret, at any cost.

I haven’t been to University, so I can’t comment on the authenticity of the general behaviour of these teenagers, over their first few terms, but it did make me kind of hope that my children decide they don’t want to go!

I loved the way this book is written. Four different characters, writing to four different recipients about the same situations, but obviously from their own perspectives. It was a very refreshing and enjoyable read. Fast paced and full of suspense. Very cleverly written. It’s quite hard to believe that this is Christina’s debut novel. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to what she will write next.

Many thanks to Urbane Publications for my auto-approval status on Netgalley. I will be more than happy to recommend Lost In Static to anyone and everyone. It deserves every success.

You can buy your copy of Lost In Static HERE

Description (via AmazonUK):

Sometimes growing up is seeing someone else’s side of the story. Four stories. One truth. Whom do you believe? Callum has a family secret. Yasmine wants to know it. Juliette thinks nobody knows hers. All Ruby wants is to reinvent herself. They are brought together by circumstance, torn apart by misunderstanding. As new relationships are forged and confidences are broken, each person’s version of events is coloured by their background, beliefs and prejudices. And so the ingredients are in place for a year shaped by lust, betrayal, and violence… Lost in Static is the gripping debut from author Christina Philippou. Whom will you trust?

About the Author

Direct from the author / publisher…..

 (e-book from Ralph Webster)

Near the edge of the Baltic Sea, in a small East Prussian town, lives a happy and prosperous family. The Wobsers are patriotic Germans and faithful Lutherans with four beautiful children: chatty Trude, fearless Lotte, careful Ilse, and precocious Gerhard. The decade-older sisters treat Gerhard as their little prince. He is the apple of his father’s eye. Then, one day in 1933, their world falls apart. They have been identified as Jews, a heritage never denied, but a religion never embraced.

This chilling true story follows the four Wobser siblings as they struggle to survive a Nazi regime intent on their extermination. Even those that manage to flee will find themselves without a home or country to call their own.

From Edinburgh to Shanghai, the Wobsers will travel the world in search of a place they belong. Author and historical chronicler Ralph Webster (a descendent of the Wobsers) deftly connects their story and survival to the struggles modern refugees face every day. In addition to serving as a fascinating piece of history, A Smile in One Eye: A Tear in the Other is a passionate call to arms for organizations and individuals to properly protect and help the world’s refugees.

 (mobi from David Ahern)

Suspense, mystery, action, a little romance and lots of laughs

Out-of-work actress Derry O’Donnell is young, talented, a teeny bit psychic … and broke. Spurred on by an ultimatum from her awesomely high-achieving mother, and with a little help from her theatrical friends, Derry embarks on a part-time career as Madame Tulip, fortune-teller to the rich and famous. But at her first fortune-telling gig – a celebrity charity weekend in a castle – a famous rap artist will die.

As Derry is drawn deeper into a seedy world of celebrities, supermodels and millionaires, she finds herself playing the most dangerous role of her acting life. Trapped in a maze of intrigue, money and drugs, Derry’s attempts at amateur detective could soon destroy her friends, her ex-lover, her father and herself.

Madame Tulip is the first in a series of Tulip adventures in which Derry O’Donnell, celebrity fortune-teller and reluctant detective, plays the most exciting and perilous roles of her acting life, drinks borage tea, and fails to understand her parents.

Fans of humorous mystery writers Janet Evanovich and Carl Hiaasen will love Madam Tulip.

 (kindle gift from Beth Rodgers)

Navigating the halls of Kipperton High should be easy for someone like Margot Maples. She’s smart, sweet, and ready to start fresh. But with her best friend moved away, she’s stuck wondering just how to fit in. Making her transition more difficult is Max, who always knows how to push her buttons, Walter, her geeky suitor, Cassie, the girl who seemingly has it all, and Peter, her first true crush. So, life doesn’t go just the way she hopes.

Full of teen drama and theater, Beth Rodgers’ foray into young adult literature captures the uncertainty of freshman year in the new novel, Freshman Fourteen.

If you are in the market ­for books about romance and the everyday annoyances that plague a teenage girl, look no further. It is a YA fiction book that will keep you riveted.

So, join Margot on a journey through the beginning of ninth grade – a time when your reputation is determined by the most trivial of matters, including where you eat, how many friends you have, and – most notably – who you kiss.

 (e-book from Nightingale Editions)

When Helena returns to her childhood home in Orkney, she is forced to face memories that she has spent half a lifetime running from. Her best friend, the charismatic Anastasia, disappeared after a swimming incident. But what really happened that night by the wrecks? An intense portrait of adolescent yearning and obsession.

 (Signed paperback from Christina Banach)

Fourteen-year-old twins Minty and Jess are inseparable. Maybe they bicker now and then, even crave a bit of space once in a while. But they have a connection. Unbreakable. Steadfast. Nothing can tear them apart. Until a family trip to the coast puts their bond in jeopardy. As Minty tries to rescue her dog from drowning she ends up fighting for her life. Will Minty survive? If she doesn’t, how will Jess cope without her? Only the stormy sea has the answer. Minty is a story of love, loss and coming to terms with consequences. It’s a spiritual tale that will linger in your mind long after you’ve read the final word.

 (ebook from David Ahern)

“Madam Tulip! Actress, fortune-teller, psychic, sleuth!”

When out-of-work actress Derry O’Donnell moonlights as celebrity fortune-teller Madam Tulip in an English Stately home, she’s trying to make some cash.
Instead, she is drawn into an alien world of wealth, titled privilege and family secrets.

A countess once a chorus girl, a gambling earl and his daughters, a cultured and handsome art expert—all caught in a terrifying web of ghastly threats, murder and
abduction. As an aristocratic engagement party turns into a nightmare, Derry and her friend Bruce face the prospect of a gruesome and infamous death.

Madame Tulip and the Knave of Hearts is the second in a series of thrilling and hilarious Tulip adventures in which Derry O’Donnell, celebrity fortune-teller and
reluctant amateur detective, plays the most exciting and perilous roles of her acting life, drinks borage tea, and fails to understand her parents.

 (ebook from Kathleen Jowitt)

A new year at the University of Stancester, and Lydia Hawkins is trying to balance the demands of her studies with her responsibilities as an officer for the Christian Fellowship. Her mission: to make sure all the Christians in her hall stay on the straight and narrow, and to convert the remaining residents if possible. To pass her second year. And to ensure a certain secret stays very secret indeed. When she encounters the eccentric, ecumenical student household at 27 Alma Road, Lydia is forced to expand her assumptions about who’s a Christian to include Quaker Becky, bellsandsmells Peter, and bisexual Methodist Colette. As the year unfolds, Lydia discovers that there are more ways to be Christian, and more ways to be herself, than she had ever imagined. Then a disgruntled member of the Catholic Society starts asking whether the Christian Fellowship is really as Christian as it claims to be, and Lydia finds herself at the centre of a row that will reach far beyond the campus.

 (ebook from Alison Brodie)

“Is it too late to tell him you love him when you’re looking down the barrel of his gun?”

Ruby Mortimer-Smyth is an English debutante, destined for Lady’s Day at Ascot and taking tea at The Savoy. She knows the etiquette for every occasion and her soufflés NEVER collapse.

She is in control of her life, tightly in control … until fate dumps her down in Kansas.

Ruby believes that life is like a car; common-sense keeps it on the road, passion sends it into a ditch. What she doesn’t know is, she’s on a collision course with Sheriff Hank Gephart.

Sheriff Hank Gephart can judge a person. Miss Mortimer-Smyth might act like the Duchess of England but just under the surface there’s something bubbling, ready to explode. She’s reckless, and she’s heading for brake failure. And he’s not thinking about her car.

With the Millennium approaching, Ruby gets caught up in the Y2K hysteria. She joins a group of Survivalists, who give her a gun and advise her to stockpile basic essentials, such as gasoline and water-purifying tablets. So she bulk-buys Perrier, Gentleman’s Relish and macaroons.

Ruby, far from home, is making Unsuitable Friends and “finding herself” for the first time. She falls in with a gang of Hells Angels and falls foul of the law. At every turn, she comes up hard against Sheriff Hank Gephart, whose blue eyes seem to look deep into her soul. She desperately wants him but knows she can never have him.

She’s angry at the emotions he arouses in her. Pushed to her limit, she bursts from her emotional straightjacket.

As the clock strikes midnight of the new Millennium, she’s on a freight train with three million dollars, a bottle of Wild Turkey and a smoking gun.

What happened to Miss Prim-and-Proper? And why did she shoot Mr Right?

From Netgalley…..

Pub Date 27th October 2016

One warm spring evening, five teenagers meet in a local park. Only four will come out alive.
Six months after the stabbing of sixteen-year-old Deanna Barker, someone is coming after the teenagers of Stockleigh, as a spate of vicious assaults rocks this small community. Revenge for Deanna? Or something more?

Detective Eden Berrisford is locked into a race against time to catch the twisted individual behind the attacks – but when her own niece, Jess Mountford, goes missing, the case gets personal.

With the kidnapper threatening Jess’s life, can Eden bring back her niece to safety? Or will the people of Stockleigh be forced to mourn another daughter…?

A terrifying, compelling, police procedural which will thrill fans of Angela Marsons, Peter James and Rachel Abbott.

Purchased / downloaded…..

 (Kindle first prime member freebie)

Zoe knows that it wasn’t really her fault. Of course it wasn’t. But if she’d just grasped harder, run faster, lunged quicker, she might have saved him. And Edward doesn’t really blame her, though his bitter words at the time still haunt her, and he can no more take them back than she can halt the car that killed their son.

Two years on, every day is a tragedy. Edward knows they should take healing steps together, but he’s tired of being shut out. For Zoe, it just seems easier to let grief lead the way.

A weekend in Paris might be their last hope for reconciliation, but mischance sees them separated before they’ve even left Gare du Nord. Lost and alone, Edward and Zoe must try to find their way back to each other—and find their way back to the people they were before. But is that even possible?

 (Free download)

The government tortures her, her own kind use her, and she is learning the true meaning of ulterior motives. Teddie Leason has been dragged into the festering underbelly of the secretive world of EVO; a world about to be blown wide apart.

EVO are the next link in evolution, but with that title come the dangers of capture, torture, and experimentation. And with that threat come the need to survive, and a breed of EVO who are set to not only thrive, but rule.

Teddie has the fate of the EVO and Non-EVO world resting on her shoulders, and now, the reclusive teenager who couldn’t get upset without her unruly ability causing destruction, has to somehow embrace her gift to save her new friends and her new love.

Will the actions of one man fuel a suppressed, supremacist cult’s desire for war and vengeance, or will Teddie be strong enough to stop him? Should she stop him?

 (free download)

She killed him, but did it make a difference?

Her kind has been exposed, abused, and segregated, and now Teddie Leason is top of Britain’s most wanted list at just nineteen. Teddie has to decide whose side she is on, what she fights for, and whether it’s worth her life.

How can she protect the man she adores, the Uncle who has taken her under his wing, and her unfaltering friends, when she can barely take care of herself? Dealing with new power and a history that has long since been forgotten, has rendered the world’s most powerful EVO vulnerable and at risk.

When will she be dealt a winning hand? Could a clandestine, renegade group of EVO change not only her fate, but that of everyone affected by this unprecedented war? And how does Teddie fit in a world bracing for a shift of unfathomable magnitude?

Tegan, aged twenty seven, is cast out of the cult, rejected by her family and from the only life she has known. She is vulnerable and naïve but she also has courage and the will to survive. She travels to Wales, to previously unknown relations in the wild Cambrian Mountains.
This is the uplifting story of her journey from life in a cult to find herself and flourish in a world she has been taught to fear and abhor.
Guilt and shadows from her past haunt her in flashbacks, panic attacks and a fear of the dark. However she also finds a world full of colour, love and happiness she has never known before. The wild beauty of the hills, the people she meets and the secrets slowly revealed by the cottage all provide an intriguing backdrop to Tegan’s drama.
The novel is set in spring, a story of hope, new growth, of the discovery of self and the joy of living.

“It was very thought provoking and emotional with lots of plot twists to keep you on your toes. I highly recommend this book.”

Little Kitty wouldn’t exactly call herself a cat burglar. She just likes to bring back the occasional gift for her humans… A lovely story for younger readers and adults alike – perfect for reading together. Beautifully illustrated by Catie Atkinson and designed by Rachel Lawston.

About the Authors:

Eight authors, one editor, one illustrator and one designer came together to produce this book, with all monies going to Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Twenty years ago, a nurse in a hospital for the criminally insane was brutally and savagely murdered by a patient.

It later turned out that the patient had had his medication withheld by another nurse, who had been stealing and selling drugs for her own gain – and her subsequent disappearance triggers the beginning of a gruesome trail of enquiries.

Then the disgraced nurse’s sister arrives in Inspector Michael Angel’s office with news of a murder, and fears for her own safety.

With some mysterious clues – a dead woman wearing one stocking inside out, an American class ring, and two dead cats – and a lot of clever humour, Inspector Angel scrambles to find the killer in south Yorkshire.

Despite obstruction from the Chief Constable, the doggedly determined and charismatic Inspector Angel stubbornly ferrets out the suspects.

By relying on his eternally willing right hand man, and resorting to an unusual strategy, he manages to narrow the long list of suspects down.

But are his suspicions right?

And can he stop the killer before anyone else is cut down In the Midst of Life…?

‘In the Midst of Life’ is the first novel in the DI Michael Angel series.

Added to my wish list…..