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.

Blog Tour - The Key to Death's Door - Mark Tilbury

 

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for the relaunch of  The Key To Death's Door by Mark Tilbury. I first read this fabulous book in April 2018 and below is my review.

I'm sure you all have your favourites authors, the ones who when you know they have a new book coming out, you just know that you HAVE to read it. You don't need to know what it's about, you don't need a blurb . . .  you just NEED to read it. Well Mark Tilbury is one of mine and deservedly so.

Lee Hunter is a typical teenager, getting into scrapes and looking for adventure, but when he and his best friend, Charlie Finch, decide to spend the night at a local derelict boathouse no-one could have forseen the terrifying consequences it would have for both of them, but in particular Lee.

A severe overnight storm leaves the boys without any method of getting back to the shore so they decide to swim across the river. Charlie makes is back safely but Lee isn't so lucky, he disappears under the water and then blacks out. When he comes round is isn't where he expects to be and nothing is quite as it seems. Lee is going to wish he was back in the river, drowning.

The Key to Death's Door is a book that once read, will stay with you for a long time after you've read the final page. A tale of true friendship between two boys and I felt that the author really captured the essence of their friendship, making them feel real and because of that I really sympathised with their situation. Once again the subject matter is hard-hitting, there's animal cruelty, child abuse and torture to name just a few, but this is exactly what I've come to expect from Mark Tilbury's books and as strange as it might sound, this is why I'm drawn to them so much. I know that I can completely immerse myself in the story and become blissfully ignorant of everything that's going on around me.

As always with Mark's books there's one character that  made my skin crawl, to the point where I almost couldn't bear to read his name. After 'meeting' the truly repugnant Detective Carter in The Abattoir of Dreams I was pretty sure that no other character could ever come close to being as vile as he was, but boy was I wrong! Daryl Finch is the mother of all heinous characters and he certainly outstayed his welcome in my head once I'd reached the end of the book! I'm sure he even visited me in my dreams about a week later. . . . .and that's just rude as well as a little disturbing!

I can guarantee that The Key To Death's Door will give you palpitations . . . . but you'll love it, I know I did. Mark Tilbury is fast becoming an author to be reckoned with when it comes to dark and gritty thrillers, so if that's your thing this is one book and author that needs to be on your radar and more importantly on your TBR.

 

Be sure to check out the rest of the tour with these fabulous blogs.

Blog Tour - The Orphanage Girls - Mary Wood

 

I'm always excited to hear that Mary Wood has a new book coming out and even more so when it's the first book of a trilogy. I love meeting new characters and immersing myself in their lives.

In The Orphanage Girls we meet Ruth, Amy and Ellen who all reside in Bethnal Green's infamous orphanage. Life is full of horrors for the girls and Ruth dreams of a better life outside the confines of the dark walls, so she spends a lot of time plotting her escape. However, when her plans finally come to fruition, she quickly realises that she's going to have her work cut out for her if she's going to survive. Luckily with the kindness of strangers, she makes new friends but she can't forget her old  ones, Amy and Ellen, who she left behind.

Oh my days, Mary knows how to take her readers on an emotional roller coaster! My heart went out to so many characters in this book for so many different reasons. Aside from Ruth, Rebekah was by far my favourite character as she brought such a huge splash of colour and vibrancy into everything. Her love for Ruth, initally a young and troubled stranger, who arrives unnanounced on her doorstep one day, absolutely shone through. Not only does she provide a home for Ruth, she also shares her vast array of knowledge from her own country in the hope that this will enable Ruth to stand on her own two feet in the future. 

This is a story about love, friendship and community but also the darker sides of humanity with things like racism and abuse rearing their ugly heads. That said, these issues are sadly relevant and only add to the sense of realism that comes with this author's outstanding writing. 

The Orphanage Girls is another impressive book from one of my all time favourite authors and I'm eagerly awaiting the next instalment so that I can be transported back into their world. A highly recommended, must read book, for all fans of historical fiction and saga's.

With kind thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things and author Mary Wood for my review copy.

The Hippo's Hidden Gems - Flowers for the Dead - Barbara Copperthwaite

 

 

I've been on a little hiatus as I found myself suffering from a severe case of reading slump. I went for days, sometimes even a whole week, without picking up or even wanting to read a book. During this time I went back and revisited some older books I'd previously read and enjoyed and it got me thinking. There is always a buzz around new books but what about those books that have been around for a while, tucked away on shelves, forgotten about and feeling unloved. I think it's time that they were dusted off and shown some love again so I decided to start a new feature where I tell you about older books that I loved which you may not have read or even heard about. Let's show them some love, get talking about them and shine a light on these hidden gems.

 

I thought long and hard about which book I'd use to kick off this new feature and I came to the conclusion that only one book could possibly fit the bill - Flowers for the Dead by Barbara Copperthwaite. I read this book way back in 2015 and I still recommend it to people today, all these years later. I will always have fond memories of Adam despite the fact that he's a serial killer, it was one of my top ten books of the year in 2015 and it's one of the very few books on my re-read list.

 

He sees her. The one. The sunglasses don’t fool anyone, she is clearly upset, her nose and lips swollen from crying. They are two lost souls and he knows his love can help her. After all, she is not the first girl he has followed home…

Adam is the perfect boyfriend. He pays attention, he buys flowers. He knows everything about Laura and looks after her every need. He cooks, he cleans – he even does the dishes without being asked.

But Laura has never met Adam. Still grieving after a devastating car crash that killed her family, she’s forgetful and struggling to pull her life together. She’d be horrified to know the depth of this unsettling fantasy in which she is the star. But there’s no denying the chill she feels every time she finds another elaborate bouquet on her doorstep, or wakes in the night sensing she is not alone.

Adam has been watching her every move, and now it’s time to act. Except, there’s one little detail he’s missed: Laura has been watching him too.

After everything she’s been through, Laura’s ready to fight back and stop being the victim in her own life story. But in Adam’s world, there are no happy endings…

My thoughts:

Have you ever wondered what goes on in the mind of a serial killer?

If you've answered yes to the above question then Flowers for the Dead is just the book for you.

Right from the start you know that Adam Bourne is a serial killer and that he will kill again but what you don't know is why. What has made this seemingly quiet and unassuming man stalk innocent women and then go on to kill them?

After recently killing his latest victim, Adam is looking for her replacement when he spots Laura at one of his usual hunting grounds and so the cycle begins again but this time, we as readers, are able to follow the story from start to finish.

There are so many reasons why I loved this book I'm not sure where to start. The story is beautifully written and the way that both characters backgrounds are slowly revealed is so effortlessly done you're not distracted from the main story at all, it helps you to understand them and adds depth. The build up of tension as I watched Adam's behaviour escalate and finding out what he'd done to his previous victims was disturbing when all the time at the back of my mind I kept thinking "There are real people out there like this".  Adam's relationship with his gran melted my heart, the way that she was the only one who really loved him and how she taught him his extensive knowledge of flowers which he would use later on in his life, was wonderful to read.

I could go on and on with this but I'll let you find out for yourselves what a fantastic book this is.

Barbara Copperthwaite has gone on the write more fabulous books including Her Last Secret and The Perfect Friend but in my very humble opinion Flowers for the Dead will take some beating!

I'd love to hear your thoughts, have you read it and if so what did you think?