Blog Tour - The Liar's Promise - Mark Tilbury

 

Today I'm part of the blog tour for the relaunch of The Liar's Promise by the fabulously twisted author Mark Tilbury. I read this book for the first time back in December of 2017 and I still remember the Tall Man, albeit not fondly! Here is my review from back then.

When Mel takes her four year old daughter Chloe to the local theatre, she is stunned when Chloe starts screaming, refusing to go any further than the foyer because she's afraid of the 'Tall Man' and she doesn't want to die. Nothing will calm her down so Mel takes her home, manages to calm her daughter down and settle her into bed, but this unsettling incident is just the beginning of a very eventful night!

Over the course of the next few days Chloe's behaviour changes dramatically, she draws pictures, talks about horrific events in the first person and makes frequent references to the 'Tall Man' who is coming to kill them.

Not knowing who to turn to she decides to talk to Charles Honeywell, the headmaster at the school where she works, unaware that he is very closely connected to the events that her daughter is talking about and by speaking to him about it she has potentially made the situation a whole lot worse.

I won't tell you any more about the plot but what I will say is that I'm pretty sure that you won't be able to put this book down, I know I couldn't!

After I read The Abattoir of Dreams I knew that Mark Tilbury was a talented author who was capable of freaking me out with his writing but I had no idea just how far he could get under my skin, and he did just that with The Liar's Promise. This book was so creepy I was convinced that I was going to have nightmares each night as I was reading it before turning off the light and snuggling down under my duvet. All sorts of disturbing images were flying around my head, the Tall Man, an innocent looking child's doll, an array of coloured freezers. . . . . nope I'm not going back there again as I've only just managed to get the images out of my head.

I absolutely loved this book, despite the fact that it freaked me out so much, which is a testament to the author's writing. It's a fast-paced book that will drag you kicking and screaming to places that you never want to go, it's gruesome, it's sick, it's twisted, it's dark, it's disturbing and I can't wait to see what comes next from this outstanding author!

Needless to say Mark has gone on to write several fantastic books since then and if you haven't read any of them yet you really should! 

You can follow the rest of the tour with these fantastic blogs:

 

The Cottage on Winter Moss - Allie Cresswell

 

Dee is an author who has known huge success with her work but is now finding herself struggling to find a new story to tell. Her situation is made worse by the fact that she is no longer happy in her relationship with actor Ivor. Currently out of work, he is more than happy to let Dee support him while he galavants off to who knows where, doing who knows what and even landing her with a dog to take care of. Dee has been pushed to her limit and decides that it's time to move on, so she packs a bag and her new four-legged companion, Bob and hits the road. With no actual destination in mind, she finds herself in a small out of the way village near the sea, where she's fortunate enough to find a cottage to rent for the winter. Hopeful of finding the inspiration she so desperately seeks she sets out to explore the local area and very soon the elusive story comes to her but at what cost to the locals of Journey's End?

This is the first novel that I've read by this author and I was blown away by it. The dual timeline story was a clever blend of historical fiction and modern day literarture with a wonderful sprinkling of lyrical prose. The descriptions of the landscape were so vivid I could picture them clearly as well as smelling the salty sea air and struggling to see through the mist and rain. The more I read, the more it felt like the landscape was a character in its own right and very reminiscent of Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.

The characters were so well drawn and developed that I felt like I knew them all personally and that I'd been welcomed into their tight knit community along with Dee. I came to care about them all and was especially happy for little Bob who was clearly living his best life running around in all the open space sniffing everything in sight!

The Cottage on Winter Moss is a superbly written novel which will appeal to a mulitude of readers but especially if you love family sagas, historical fiction, dual timeline and literary fiction. Don't be put off by the length of the book, it's over 500 pages, but it's not padded out with unnecessary text like other books I've read in the past. It's a truly spellbinding read and I can't recommend it highly enough. It's a novel which deserves to be savoured and my only regret is that I didn't read it slower! I don't know how Allie Creswell and her books have gone under my reading radar but I will definitely be seeking out her other books in the future.

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                                                 About the author

Photo taken from authors website

 

Allie Cresswell is the recipient of two coveted One Stop Fiction Five Star Awards and three Readers' Favorite Awards.

Allie was born in Stockport, UK and began writing fiction as soon as she could hold a pencil.

Allie recalls: 'I was about 8 years old. Our teacher asked us to write about a family occasion and I launched into a detailed, harrowing and entirely fictional account of my grandfather's funeral. I think he died very soon after I was born; certainly I have no memory of him and definitely did not attend his funeral, but I got right into the details, making them up as I went along (I decided he had been a Vicar, which I spelled 'Vice'). My teacher obviously considered this outpouring very good bereavement therapy so she allowed me to continue with the story on several subsequent days, and I got out of maths and PE on a few occasions before I was rumbled.'

She went on to do a BA in English Literature at Birmingham University and an MA at Queen Mary College, London.

She has been a print-buyer, a pub landlady, a book-keeper, run a B & B and a group of boutique holiday cottages. Nowadays Allie writes full time having retired from teaching literature to lifelong learners.

She has two grown-up children, two granddaughters and two grandsons, is married to Tim and lives in Cumbria.

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You can find out more about Allie, her books and connect with her using the links below:

Website
Twitter
Facebook
Amazon

 

With kind thanks to author Allie Cresswell for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Blog Tour - The Love of my Other Life - C. J. Connolly

 

The Love of my other Life opens with Josie Cavendish on her way to meet friends to celebrate her birthday when she's knocked off her bike. When she wakes up in hospital shortly afterwards her whole world has changed as somehow she's managed to enter into her very own parrallel universe! Sitting next to her bedside is a gorgeous man who tells her that she's his wife and when he takes her home it's to a perfect luxury penthouse apartment and she discovers that she works in marketing for a deluxe real estate company. All of this is a far cry from the life she clearly recalls where she works at a radio station, sings in a choir, lives in a modest home and is on the brink of dating a guy she's had a big crush on. What on earth is going on? How can she fix things but more importantly - does she want to?

I was drawn to read this book as it sounded like something a little different. . .  and it certainly was! I'm a big fan of dual timeline novels but a parallel universe scenario was a new thing for me (despite having watched the film Sliding Doors several times over the years) and I absolutley loved it! For a debut novelist to tackle this I think was very brave but it has definitely paid off and the result is a thought-provoking and stunning read. I was fully invested in both versions of Josie all the way through and as a result I raced through the story in a few days, picking it up at every opportunity I had. 

The author has a writing style that really flowed and I found it easy to know which Josie I was with and the story was much more complex than the symopsis would lead you to believe. For me this was a wonderful book to lose myself in and it left me wondering what would be different in my own life had I made other choices.

All in all I adored this impressive debut novel  from C. J. Connolly and I honestly can't wait to read more from her.

You can follow the blog tour with these fabulous blogs:
 

 

 

                                                     About the author

Photo courtesy of C. J. Connolly

 

CJ Connolly is a writer based in Vancouver, Canada, but hailing originally from the UK. By day, CJ has a career in communications and journalism, with two decades of editing, writing, and marketing experience in the Vancouver and London media and tech industries.

She has also been the host of a real estate-focused talk radio show and has been seen many times reporting on TV and speaking on conference panels.

In her free time – in addition to writing contemporary romance novels – CJ is passionate about singing, and is a member of a vocal group in Vancouver. Although she is happily child-free, the great loves of CJ's life are her young nephews Oscar and Felix, who live much too far away in Munich, Germany.

You can find out more about C. J. Connolly and connect with her using the links below:

Facebook
Twitter
Website

With kind thanks to Joffe Books and Jill at Books 'n' All Promotions for my review copy and spot on the blog tour.