The Murder of Mr Wickham by Claudia Gray- Blog tour/book review

I’m pleased to be part of the blog tour for The Murder of Mr Wickham by Claudia Gray- a murder mystery featuring your favourite Austen characters.

Genre : Historical Crime Fiction

Source : Austen Prose PR and Vintage Anchor

The happily married Mr. Knightley and Emma are throwing a party at their country estate, bringing together distant relatives and new acquaintances—characters beloved by Jane Austen fans. Definitely not invited is Mr. Wickham, whose latest financial scheme has netted him an even broader array of enemies. As tempers flare and secrets are revealed, it’s clear that everyone would be happier if Mr. Wickham got his comeuppance. Yet they’re all shocked when Wickham turns up murdered—except, of course, for the killer hidden in their midst.
Nearly everyone at the house party is a suspect, so it falls to the party’s two youngest guests to solve the mystery: Juliet Tilney, the smart and resourceful daughter of Catherine and Henry, eager for adventure beyond Northanger Abbey; and Jonathan Darcy, the Darcys’ eldest son, whose adherence to propriety makes his father seem almost relaxed.

Review

If you have ever wondered what an Agatha Christie mystery in the Regency period would look like then this is the book for you. 

Land of the dead by Steven Hopstaken and Melissa Prusi- Blog Tour and Book review

I’m so pleased to be part of the blog tour for the Land of the Dead by Steven Hopstaken and Melissa Prusi. I loved this fantasy where Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker join forces.

Genre: Urban Historical Fantasy,

Series: Book 3 of the Stoker’s Wilde series

Source: Received with thanks from Flame tree press and Netgalley

Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde have returned to their lives in London after their adventures in the American West. Bram is managing a theatre and Oscar is rising to fame and planning his upcoming wedding when they are once again called upon to battle supernatural evil.
 Victor Mueller needs Bram’s unusual blood for his mad quest to bring his dead wife back to life, and he’ll resort to kidnapping to get it. Meanwhile, a young medium named Lorna Bow runs fake séances in London under the thumb of an abusive uncle. When her mother Endora returns, Lorna learns the truth: they come from a long line of witches, and soon Endora has awakened Lorna’s dormant powers.
When the scientist and the witches combine forces, all Hell breaks loose. Long-dead souls find themselves back in the land of the living, and some of them have scores to settle with our heroes.
Bram and Oscar must team up with Cora Chase to protect all they hold dear. Only a mission into the Land of the Dead can stop Mueller and Endora from bringing back more souls.In an adventure that spans continents – and even other worlds – they confront old enemies and unknown dangers. Teaming up with old friends Teddy Roosevelt and Richard Burton and new allies like Arthur Conan Doyle and Nicola Tesla, they too must harness both science and magic to protect our world from intruders from the Land of the Dead. 

Review

I received a copy of this book for a free and unbiased opinion.

How could I resist a book where Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker join forces to defeat the forces of evil?

Beat the Backlog – April

I joined the beat the backlog challenge created by @owlbesatreading to deal with my unread kindle books neglected for years. But instead of posting individual reviews, here is my end of month summary.

The Raven Spell by Luanne Smith

Why did I get the book:  an Amazon Prime pick and I love fantasy

How long has this been on my Kindle? : Not that long compared to some- 2021

Review

This fantasy set in Victorian England was an easy and enjoyable read.

The book switches between the third person points of view from Ian and Edwina’s perspective. Ian and Edwina are nice, straight forward characters and the hint of romance between is sweet. Mary is more a complex character and I have to say her motivations for her actions remained unclear to me by the end.

The underlying mystery was engaging but I could guess this eventual outcome. The descriptions of Victorian England were vivid but there were few ‘American words’ that made me grit my teeth.

Content warning

Suicide

Do I kick myself for not reading this sooner?

No- While I didn’t hate the book, I didn’t love the book either.

Fallen by Karin Slaughter

Why did I get the book: I love Karin Slaughter and saw this on a daily deal

How long has this been on my Kindle? : 2020

Review

I started to read this book and soon realised I had already read this!

Do I kick myself for not reading this sooner?

No. But I do regret buying this

Perfectly impossible by Elizabeth Topp

Why did I get the book: This was an Amazon Prime pick and it looked like light and fun read.

How long has this been on my Kindle? : 2020

Review

This was a DNF. I couldn’t get into the story and gave up after two chapters. I found the main character annoying as were the secondary characters.

Do I kick myself for not reading this sooner?

No. I don’t think I will be reading this one.

Top Ten Tuesday- Books with images of outer space on the cover

It’s another Tuesday and another Top Ten Tuesday. I never thought I had a type of cover that I liked but when I had a look at my kindle most of the covers had pictures of spaceships,   moons and swords. Here my top ten covers with covers featuring space stuff.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Here my top ten covers with covers featuring space stuff ( including space helmets) in no particular order.

Belle Nash and the Bath Souffle by William Keeling- book review

Here is my review of historical fiction Belle Nash and the Bath Souffle by William Keeling- an intriguing and humorous slice of social fiction in 1830s Bath.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Series: The Gay street Chronicles

Source: Received with thanks from the publisher

When Gaia Champion’s souffle fails to rise in 1830s Bath, it sets off a chain of events that overthrows the settled order. Centred on the personality of local councillor and bachelor extraordinaire Bellerophon ‘Belle’ Nash, this first volume of The Gay Street Chronicles engages with social issues that were emerging in the early days of Queen Victoria’s reign and still require our close attention today. A recurring cast of whimsical characters brings a gentle humour to the writing and to the strong feminist activism of Bath’s first Lady Magistrate.

Book Review

I received a copy of this book for an honest, free and unbiased opinion.

This is a book about a souffle, that failed to rise. But this particular souffle that didn’t make it to the dinner Gaia Champion’s dinner party leads to ravelling of corruption from the lowest to the highest level of the judiciary, the fight for women’s rights and highlights the injustices faced by the Bachelors of Bath in the 1830s

This historical fiction is full of unforgettable and delightfully quirky characters from the confirmed bachelor Belle Nash to the Mrs Mulligatawny the cook, which makes this book stand out. Belle Nash and Gaia make a great pair of crusading heroes battling each injustice.

Despite the humour, this book tackles social issues that have relevance today including corruption, attitudes to women and people who don’t fit the heterosexual norm. I found myself worrying about the fate of some of the characters when they were arrested and thrown into jail for the most trivial of reasons without an expectation of a fair trial. 

I was expecting a cosy murder or mystery, but I enjoyed reading about a period of history not usually written about in historical fiction. I particularly enjoyed the sometimes laugh out of loud humour as well learning about society in 1830s Bath.

I look forward to reading more of Belle Nash and Gaia Champion’s crusades in the future.

Perfect for Fans of

I haven’t read anything like this but it would appeal to anyone who enjoys historical fiction that isn’t about Royalty or angsty romance.

Judgement Day by Josie Jeffrey – BBNYA 2021 blog tour and Book review

I’m so pleased to be part of the BBBNYA 2021 blogtour for Judgement Day by Josie Jaffrey- an urban fantasy set in Oxford.

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Series: Book 2 The Seekers,

               Book 1 May Day ( review here)

Source: I received this book to read and review as part of the BBNYA 2021 tours ( see below for more details ) organised by the TWR Tour team. All opinions are my own, unbiased and honest.

Jack Valentine finally has her shit together. She has a great job, great friends (well, one at least) and a girlfriend whom she loves, even if she can’t work up the courage to tell her that yet. Unfortunately, she also has an archnemesis who’s about to punish her crimes in the worst possible way: by making her spend time with him.
Which she could cope with, maybe, if she didn’t have problems at work as well. When the body of a human judge is found in a locked library, there’s no denying that she was murdered by one of the Silver – by a vampire – and the evidence points worryingly close to home. If that wasn’t bad enough, some of Jack’s least favourite people are opening a new blood bar in Oxford with questionable motives. For Jack and her team, it’s becoming increasingly hard to separate allies from enemies.
With conspiracies on every side, the simmering tensions in Silver society are about to come to a head. As usual, Jack intends to be right in the middle of it. She does like it when things get messy.

Review

May Day (review here), the first book in this series helped me rediscover my love of vampires, so I was so excited to be part of the tour for Judgement Day, the second book in Josie Jaffrey’s The Seekers series.

A Catalogue of Catastrophe by Jodie Taylor- Blog Tour/Book review

I loved this fun romp through time in A catalogue of Catastrophe by Jodie Taylor.

Genre: Science-fiction, time travel

Series: Chronicles of St Mary ( Book 13)

Source:  Thank you for my copy NetGalley and publishers Headline for a free and unbiased opinion

Publication Date: April 2022

When all is lost. When everything is ending. When there’s no hope. When you can’t win. That’s when you attack.
Punching well above their weight, Max and Markham set out to bring down a sinister organisation whose roots might be firmly embedded in the future but whose focus is the past.
Max’s focus is staying alive long enough to reunite with Leon and Matthew – alternately helped and hindered by St Mary’s. Who aren’t always the blessing they like to think they are.
And that’s not all. Are the effects of constantly leaping around the timeline beginning to make themselves felt? Is Max going mad? Or are the ghosts of the past finally catching up with her

Review

I seem to be in a bit of a time-travel phase at the moment but who doesn’t enjoy a bit of time-travel bedlam and there is a lot of fun-filled chaos in A Catalogue of Catastrophe.

This is the 13th book in the Chronicles of StMary but what I particularly enjoy about this series is that you can jump in randomly at any book and quickly pick up on what is happening. I haven’t read all the books in this series but have read a couple of books out of synch.

Top Ten Tuesday- Bookish Merchandise I would like to own

It’s Tuesday, so it’s time for another Ten Top Tuesday and this week it’s Top Ten Book Merchandise I would like to own.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

An interesting one this week and I have to say it was nice to think about non-book objects. Here are the top ten book mech I would like to own. The photos have been taken from the sellers webpage on Etsy UK. Click on the item for sellers webpage.

That book dress!

I have seen this on twitter and I have to have one

from Etsy

Wuthering heights scented candles

Would this candle smell like the Yorkshire moors or angry passion ?

from etsy

Book Duvet

I love this duvet cover

from Etsy

Gorgeous book mark

You can never have enough bookmarks

Book lovers water bottle
 
No matter how many water bottle I buy, I never can find one when I need one!

From Etsy

Kindle case covers

I love this kindle cover and I hope someone will get this for me on my birthday!

from etsy

Thank you for visiting my page

Leave a link to your TTT , so I can see your wishlist.

Grace Rising by Emma Lombard -Book review

Grace’s story continues in  Grace Rising  the final book in The White Sails series by Emma Lombard and yes it still has the Outlander meets Black Sails vibe.

The Storytellers by Caron McKinlay- Cover reveal

I’m so pleased t be part of the Loves Books Tours’s cover reveal for The Storytellers by Caron Mckinlay

Genre: Mystery/Speculative Fiction

Publisher: Bloodhound 

Blurb 

Trapped between life and the afterlife, three women meet and share their stories while discovering the truth about the men in their lives—and about themselves.

Suspended in an eerie state of limbo, an entity called the Gatekeeper tells Nikki, Ronnie, and Mrs. Hawthorne they are on the cusp of entering the afterlife—but only if the women can persuade him that in their earthly lives, they knew the meaning of love. 

Fragments of their memories return, plunging them back into their pasts, and forcing them to face the desires, disappointments, addictions, lies, and obsessions they battled in life.

But before time runs out, will they find the answer to the ultimate question: what is love?

‘Utterly mind-blowing! If Stuart Turton had written Gone Girl it would look like this. Intelligent, compelling writing that is genre-defining. Brilliant!’- Victoria Dowd – The Supper Club Murders 

‘Fascinating and Compelling. Feminist themes here, which I loved, and a brilliant mystery, and best of all, some highly skilled storytelling.’  – Laura Pearson