Hi, and welcome to my Flashback Friday feature!

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

Please do join in if you have the time. I’d love to see your posts!

Thanks to all who join in regularly 🙂

Here are my reviews from April 2022 + a link to previous April FBFs….

#FlashbackFriday April 2022 with @LJRossAuthor @keefstuart @TrishaLewisTalk & @Caroline_writes #BookReviews

Have you read any of the above?

The perfect life. The perfect home. But at what price?

Introspective Ruth Parker is desperate for love and attention. Overlooked as a child by her cold and critical mother, her pain manifests in loneliness and a crippling lack of self-esteem. When glamorous actress ‘Aunt’ Vanessa, her mother’s childhood friend, shows an interest in her, Ruth basks in the blinding light of her attention.

Once Ruth escapes to university in London, Aunt Vanessa invites her to Wilton Place, her stunning Belgravia residence. As she blossoms under Vanessa’s guidance, Ruth finds herself torn between student life and the hypnotic, luxurious confines of Wilton Place. Belgravia wins out, but when Ruth explores the gloomy attic of her new home and finds a hidden, locked door, she discovers that Vanessa is hiding the darkest of secrets from her childhood, secrets that threaten everything Ruth knew about her own mother.

How far will Ruth go to find the truth – and how much does she really want to know?

The Attic at Wilton Place

by CE Rose 

My review

The Attic at Wilton Place is a brilliant read. One that kept me guessing and wondering about it when I wasn’t reading it. I couldn’t wait for bedtime to see what would happen next.

Ruth is an interesting character. I still can’t make my mind up if I liked her or not but as her story progressed, I certainly came to understand her better. Ruth has a lovely Dad, but she has an odd relationship with her mother. Her mother is a hard character, difficult to relate to, but I knew there must be some reason behind her behaviour towards her daughter. This kept me intrigued. It also made it easier to understand Ruth’s adoration of her Aunt Vanessa and why she puts up with her on/off attention. I did feel quite sorry for Ruth.

Again, I knew Vanessa must have her reasons for her flaky behaviour, but she does come across as though she only wants to spend time with Ruth when it suits her. This made me feel sorry for Ruth even more. The poor girl doesn’t seem to know where she belongs. Her visits to the big posh house sound idyllic, but she still seems extremely lonely. She never seems to have her aunt’s undivided attention for very long.

I wish I could talk more about this book without giving anything away.

Quite a sad story really and one with an underlying tension throughout. It made me feel a bit on edge as I read it. As truths are revealed I came to understand why.

If you love a book with fascinating characters and complicated relationships full of dark secrets, you will love this book. It certainly kept me glued to my kindle.

**Many thanks to Caroline England for my review copy**

OUT NOW!

Follow, like, and share the book love with the awesome bloggers supporting this fabulous blog tour….

happy reading! 🙂

Raising funds for the British Deaf Association

Mission Accomplished!: and other short stories 

by Alison Lingwood 

OUT NOW!

This is the second collection of over thirty short stories, raising funds for the British Deaf Association. The book contains musings, nonsense, and trivia. The forerunner to this volume, The Hairdryer died Today published in 2022 is also in aid of the same charity.

Thanks in advance for supporting this very worthy cause!

**Bowen’s Book Publicity is promoting this book free of charge**

A summer fling or something more?

In this Billionaires for the Rose Sisters story, Jessie Rose is shocked by the chemistry she feels when she meets billionaire Joel in Mustique. She’s come looking for escape, and brooding Joel’s not looking for anything permanent, but they can’t deny their fling is dangerously close to being a temptation they might not be able to walk away from…

My review

Well, I wish someone would send me off to a luxury resort, all expenses paid, for a month. It sounds awesome!

It’s definitely what Jessie needs after the tough time she’s had lately.

Jessie is an instantly likeable character. I could understand her being so uncomfortable being waited on hand and foot. This holiday destination couldn’t be any more of a contrast to her day-to-day life. However, I don’t blame her for relaxing into it and deciding to enjoy it for what it is. Joel obviously helps, although she is convinced she might get him into trouble for keeping him from his work. I loved that she had no idea who he really was.

My heart went out to Joel. Some might think he has it all, but he’s had his fair share of heartbreak and I could understand his reluctance towards Jessie. In fact, I respected him more for it. He faces a real battle between his heart and his head. I loved the talk his mother has with him. That started the tears!

I was absolutely swept along with Jessie and Joel’s story. I loved these characters and was rooting for them both from the very beginning. The chemistry between them is undeniable. It’s heart-wrenching at times and it did make me cry. It also made me smile, a lot!

**Many thanks to Rachael Stewart for my review copy**

Treat yourself

Happy reading! 🙂

The place had a gruesome past that nobody wanted to talk about…

Camp Deathe is now a great place to spend the summer. Ritchie soon finds a group of outsiders like himself. Teenagers who ignore the organised activities, and bunk off in the old abandoned cabins deep in the woods. The cabins that have a history.

The campfire monster stories were meant to just scare them. Nobody expected them to come true. Then one of the teenagers disappears in the middle of the night.

Something is watching them. It hides in the woods and hunts at night.

Ritchie will have to uncover the secrets of the camp, and understand his own problems in order to survive.

Camp Death is Book 1 in a new series brought to you by Question Mark Horror. For fans of Point Horror, Christopher Pike & Nicholas Pine.

Camp Death (Eerie Things Book 1)

by Jim Ody 

My review

Camp Death is a creepy little YA novel. An excellent start to the Eerie Things series!

Ritchie and his sister are treated to a few days away with their parents. Camp Deathe is no ordinary resort though. The teenagers get to stay in cabins with kids their own age whilst the parents enjoy a bit of couple’s time in the onsite hotel. Nothing is quite as it seems though.

There are organised activities for the teens but of course they mostly end up where they’re not meant to be, listening to stories about monsters. Stories which aren’t supposed to come true!

I thought this was the perfect setting for a horror novel.

I knew something bad was going to happen, but each time I thought I had it sussed I was proved wrong. The tension builds throughout the story and each chapter ends in a way that makes you have to read the next. It left me guessing right until the end.

A good read!

I recommend to all horror fans, young or old!

buy here

Happy reading! 🙂

Hi, and welcome to my Flashback Friday feature!

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

Please do join in if you have the time. I’d love to see your posts! Thanks to all who join in regularly 🙂 x

Here are my reviews from March 2022 + a link to previous March FBFs….

#FlashbackFriday March 2022 with @johnmarrs1 @RSinclairAuthor @pam_billinge @mickwilliamsau2 & Jodi Picoult #BookReviews

Have you read any of the above?

Maria has a wonderful life. Together with her daughters, Lucy and Clara, she runs a successful estate agency, priding herself in matching the right properties to the right people – even if she has yet to find the ideal home for herself.

But behind the happy exterior, Maria is anxious about her fiftieth birthday coming up. She’s feeling, well, less excited and more than a little terrified about how life is running away from her.

For a birthday treat, Lucy and Clara have planned five ‘nostalgic’ dates for her and their dad, to remind them of when they first fell in love. But Maria barely has time for the here and now, never mind a cringeworthy wistful jump back to the past. All she wants is to find that perfect nest to settle down in, no matter how many moves it takes.

The Wilshaw women are a close-knit family, so when tragedy strikes at the heart of the home, Maria is shocked at how easy the potential to lose everything becomes.

Will Maria realise that perhaps it’s better to accept herself as she is rather than move house again? And in doing so, can she change her outlook on life for good?

Moving On

by Marcie Steele 

My review

Moving On is just the cutest read. I loved it!

I love feel-good stories about families, the ups and downs of life, and the complexity of human relationships.

This book is so full of love. The love between a husband and wife. The love between a mother and her daughters. The love between sisters….

There are some lovely characters throughout this story. Maria is very likeable and will likely be very relatable to many. I can understand her anxiety about turning 50. I’m less than 5 years away from that age myself. Life flies by far too quickly and it’s scary! Every birthday should be celebrated though. Some people don’t get many.

I loved the idea of nostalgic dates for her and her husband as a way of celebrating her birthday and spending precious quality time together. Some of these moments are quite amusing! I didn’t really understand Maria’s reluctance to participate. I did feel a bit sorry for her husband at times. I imagine it’s quite difficult to switch off though when you own busy businesses and have fallen into the habit of prioritising work over each other. We’re all guilty of taking each other for granted sometimes.

This story highlights the fragility of life and how quickly things can change.

Some things have a way of putting a new perspective on life, making us realise what we already have rather than always wanting the next best thing whether that be houses or otherwise.

Gorgeous book! I can’t recommend highly enough.

**Many thanks to Marcie/Mel for my review copy**

Treat Yourself

Happy reading! 🙂

The belief that we can control our existence by simply mitigating risk is the biggest illusion of them all.

The Safe Bet 

by Elliott Fassbinder

Fiona Alderton is fast approaching her fortieth birthday. Her life is chugging along a track she carefully laid twenty years ago. Successful husband, beautiful Highgate home, vast walk-in-wardrobe, and two delightful sons. But the sky is not all brilliant azure, there are clouds: a diminishing sex life, a teaching job she loathes, and an increasing dependence on alcohol. Still, her decision, twenty years earlier, to cut adrift a life of libertine excess to hitch herself to sensitive, geeky David Alderton, her Safe Bet, looks like the right one.

Until, two days before her birthday, Fiona and David are rushing around preparing for the school run, and their mobiles get muddled. Fiona sees a text meant for her husband, and her Safe Bet suddenly resembles a ruinous roll of the dice. How will she react?

5 out of 5 stars “This is Elliott’s second book and it’s a real page turner! Enjoy, and I hope he has plans for another soon.” – Amazon reviewer

All she wanted was to go out and, I don’t know, climb a tree or something.

Q heads out into the woods near her house to escape her responsibilities, but the short walk to clear her head ends up being a lot longer than expected when she finds herself, suddenly, very far from home. With no way to return. She just crosses her fingers and sets off in any direction. I could’ve told her that’s not the best tactic, but she wouldn’t have listened (not that listening to me was an option anyway).

Will she be able to find her way home with the help of some strange new friends?
And will they be able to help her escape the thing that follows?
The thing that got her into this mess in the first place.

Barker’s debut novella, written, illustrated and self-published as part of her EPQ.

my review

Of Skinned Knees and Nettle Stings is a unique tale, with truly unique characters, which I found very entertaining. I loved Thibault! Q is an instantly likeable character too, and I enjoyed her story.

It’s extremely imaginative, funny, heart-warming, and clever.

The narrator amused me!

I think this book will be enjoyed by all, whatever the age of the reader.

An excellent debut by Miss Leona Barker. Brilliant idea for an EPQ by the way!

I look forward to reading what Leona writes next.

Available now

Happy reading! 🙂

I still can’t believe this actually happened, but we had the most amazing time on Saturday morning!! (Me, Steve, and Bella.)

From Friday 20th January until Saturday 11th February I enjoyed a lovely, relaxing stay at Peartree Cottage, in Aston-sub-Edge, Gloucestershire. Steve had to work nearby at Long Marston for three weeks, so this time me and Bella went with him. Why not, eh?

Whilst there the lovely owner, Sally, introduced me to Burnt Norton, a book written by Caroline Sandon (Montague) which is based on true events that happened at the real Burnt Norton, also located in Aston-sub-Edge.

You may remember my review from a couple of weeks ago. If not, there was a hardcover copy of the book at the cottage for me to borrow and I was very intrigued so I took advantage of the opportunity to read it. I am SO glad I did.

My published review resulted in conversation with Caroline via social media. Such a lovely lady! As we book bloggers do, I had researched Caroline’s other books and added them to my list. Chuffed to have discovered a new author and to have other books already to look forward to.

During my research I had discovered that Caroline owns and resides at Burnt Norton as the 8th Countess of Harrowby with her husband, the 8th Earl of Harrowby.

What I hadn’t realised was that Caroline is good friends with Sally and they regularly walk together. They were out walking on Friday and Sally mentioned that the lady staying in her cottage (me) had read her book and had really enjoyed it. When Sally mentioned that my name was Kerry, Caroline said she had been chatting with a book blogger called Kerry via social media since a new book review for Burnt Norton had been published.

They soon realised that I was the same Kerry.

Small world or what!?

Caroline, very kindly, invited us to go see her at Burnt Norton on Saturday morning before we headed home. How amazing is that!! Of course, we weren’t going to say no. Caroline called me on Friday night to make arrangements and once we’d checked out of the cottage on Saturday morning we made our way round to Burnt Norton where we were greeted by the very lovely Caroline, and her dogs. She showed us around the grounds, explaining the history of the Keyt family and showing us where the elaborate house he built to the side of the beautiful original house would have been. I don’t want to say too much about that as you really need to read the book for yourself. We also saw the two pools which inspired a famous poem by T.S. Eliot and extensive grounds with trees around 270 years old which were planted by William Keyt. It was fascinating listening to her talk about the history of the property and for me (as Steve hasn’t read the book yet) to be able to visualise where the story took place. The true story of the Keyt family that happened there in the early 1700s. Also, how they came to live there and how the Keyt’s story inspired her to write her first book.

I was blown away! It was truly a privilege.

Once back inside, Caroline welcomed us into her kitchen, made us a coffee, and we chatted about all sorts. When we told her we were from Newcastle-under-Lyme we learned that they also own Sandon Hall in Staffordshire. A beautiful place. If you’re looking for a wedding venue, look it up. There will be a literary festival there later in the year, so watch this space!

I could not believe it when she told us what the book she is currently writing is about. I don’t think I’m allowed to share those details yet, but needless to say I can’t wait to read it!

We were there for a couple of hours and we are so thankful to Caroline for her time and hospitality.

She gifted me a copy of Shadows Over The Spanish Sun….

….which she signed for me 🙂

We also had a photo together

A day to remember forever!

If you would like to learn more about Caroline, her books, and/or to see a picture of the stunning Burnt Norton check out her website –

https://www.carolinemontague.co.uk/#burnt-norton

I.C.Y.M.I

Burnt Norton by Caroline Sandon @CMontagueAuthor

Tweets by CMontagueAuthor

https://www.facebook.com/carolinemontagueauthor

https://sandonhall.co.uk/