Harper-Collins Blog Tour for: Two Dead Wives

December 28, 2023 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I’m thrilled to be part of the tour for this new Adele Parks novel: Two Dead Wives. This one kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat! I stayed up late reading it so I could see what happened. If you know me, you know I love suspenseful mysteries – this was a great one!

Here’s the scoop:

TWO DEAD WIVES

Author: Adele Parks

ISBN: 9780778333579

Publication Date: December 26, 2023

Publisher: MIRA

18.99 US | 23.99 CAN

Buy Links: NOT affiliated with BBNB

Social Links:

Author Website: https://www.adeleparks.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialAdeleParks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/adeleparks

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adele_parks/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/45427.Adele_Parks

Author Bio:

Adele Parks, Hon Grad, photographed at home in Guildford for The Graduate magazine

Adele Parks was born in North Yorkshire. She is the author of twenty-one bestselling novels. Over four million UK copies of her work have been sold, and her books have been translated into thirty-one different languages. Adele’s recent Sunday Times number one bestsellers Lies, Lies, Lies and Just My Luck were short-listed for the British Book Awards and have been optioned for development for TV. She is an ambassador of the National Literacy Trust and The Reading Agency, two charities that promote literacy in the UK. She is a judge for the Costa Book Awards. Adele has lived in Botswana, Italy and London and is now settled in Guildford, Surrey. In 2022 she was awarded an MBE for services to literature.

Book Summary:

Lost. Missing. Murdered? How do you find a woman who didn’t exist?

It’s a case that has gripped a nation: A woman with a shocking secret is missing, presumed dead. And her two husbands are suspects in her murder.

DCI Clements knows the dark side of human nature and that love can make people do treacherous things. You can’t presume anything when it comes to crimes of the heart. Until a body is found, this scandalous and sad case remains wide open.

Stacie Jones lives a quiet life in a small village, nursed by her father as she recovers from illness, and shielded from any news of the outside world. But their reclusive life is about to be shattered.

How are these families linked, and can any of them ever rebuild their lives in the wake of tragedy?

Thank you for my copy and for having me as part of the tour! I would LOVE to see this one on television some time!

Harper-Collins Blog Tour for The Weekend Retreat

December 26, 2023December 23, 2023 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I’m super excited to be part of the blog tour for this new title by Tara Laskowski, The Weekend Retreat. This was a suspenseful read, focusing on a family coming together to celebrate a birthday, but some people are going to end up dead. What is the backstory on these characters? Who hates them so much that they are ready to kill? Grab this one to find out – I promise you won’t be able to put it down!

Thank you for my copy and for making me part of the tour!

THE WEEKEND RETREAT

Book Summary:

Every year, the illustrious Van Ness siblings, heirs to a copper fortune, gather at their lush winery estate for a joint birthday celebration. It’s a tradition they’ve followed nearly all their lives, and now they are back with their significant others for a much-needed weekend of rest and relaxation, away from the public spotlight.

With lavish comforts, gorgeous scenery, and indulgent drinking, the trip should be the perfect escape. But it soon becomes clear that even a remote idyllic getaway can’t keep out the problems simmering in each of their lives. As old tensions are reignited, the three couples are pushed to the edge. Will their secrets destroy them, or will they destroy each other first? And who’s been watching them from beyond the vineyard gates?

When a torrential rainstorm hits, plunging them into darkness, the answers prove all too deadly…

Author: Tara Laskowski

ISBN: 9781525811456

Publication Date: December 26, 2023

Publisher: Graydon House

18.99 US | 23.99 CAN

Buy Links: NOT affiliated with BBNB

Social Links:

Author website: https://taralaskowski.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TaraLWrites/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tara.laskowski.9

Author Bio:

TARA LASKOWSKI is the author of The Mother Next Door and One Night Gone, which won an Agatha Award, Macavity Award, and Anthony Award, and was a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award, Left Coast Crime Award, Strand Critics’ Award, and Library of Virginia Literary Award. She is also the author of two short story collections, Modern Manners for Your Inner Demons and Bystanders, has published stories in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Mid-American Review, among others, and is the former editor of SmokeLong Quarterly. Tara earned a BA in English from Susquehanna University and an MFA from George Mason University and currently lives in Virginia. Find her on Twitter and Instagram, @TaraLWrites.

Spotlight on PASSAGE by Angus Wardlaw

December 23, 2023December 23, 2023 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

Here’s an interesting one that’s come my way! Passage by Angus Wardlaw which tells the story of Britain’s worst Polar expedition disaster.

Here’s the scoop:

‘PASSAGE’ by Angus Wardlaw.

Published in hardback by Daredevil Books.

Clothbound hardback edition with dust wrapper, 408 pages including map illustrations.

ISBN 978-1-7393932-2-9

Dimensions 235 x 164 x 27 mm

RRP UK £25.95

RRP US $29.95

Will be available direct from Daredevil Books or all good bookshops.. and of course Amazon!

Wardlaw, a descendant of Captain Francis Crozier who commanded the HMS Terror, sister ship to the HMS Erebus on the expedition, has meticulously researched all that is known about the fate of this ambitious but doomed enterprise.‘I am directly related to Francis Crozier, captain of HMS Terror, and have long been fascinated by what happened to him and the other 129 men who perished on the expedition. ‘PASSAGE’ tells their story.’

Popularized by the BBC TV series ‘The Terror’, there remains a high level interest in this story prompted by the continuing hunt for information on the fate of the luckless crews, the exploration of the wrecks and the recent auction by Sotheby’s of fourteen rare daguerreotypes of the crew from 1845 which had been sitting in storage for 178 years and were sold at public auction in September for £444,500.The wrecks of HMS Terror and HMS Erebus were finally located in the Arctic waters off Canada in 2014 and 2016.There is lots of great information about the expedition to be found at the Royal Museums Greenwich site.

Story Synopsis
On 19th May 1845 the Royal Navy launches its most technologically advanced Arctic expedition ever in the hope of finding the fabled Northwest Passage: a direct trade route to the Far East that could bring untold wealth to the British Empire. But, just as the expedition is on the brink of astonishing success, nature cruelly threatens to crush the ships and stretch the crews of Erebus and Terror to the limits of human endurance. With the temperature plummeting, the body count rising and little hope of rescue, their troubled leader has no option but to abandon ships with his freezing, sick and starving men and begin a brutal 500-mile death march across the High Arctic.This is the true, epic story of the brotherhood and heroism of 129 souls who must pass through the very darkest of places in their struggle to survive as told by the great-great-great-great nephew of Francis Crozier, captain of HMS Terror.

About The Author
Angus Wardlaw comes from a naval family and as a descendant of Francis Crozier has long been fascinated by his naval forebear and the fate of the expedition. Following a career in the military where he specialised in intelligence and reconnaissance, Angus became an award-winning advertising creative director in London and New York. He is now an author and lives on a boat in London.

MY 10 FAVORITE READS OF 2023

December 20, 2023December 23, 2023 / drbethnolan / 2 Comments

While I read a LOT of books, and post about those I enjoyed or are featuring, I always have some that stand out as favorites.

Here, in no particular order, are my Top Ten favorites from 2023:

Daughters of Nantucket by Julie Gerstenblatt (HF)

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (audiobook)

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese (HF)

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell (audiobook)

The Spectacular by Fiona Davis

Unsettled by Patricia Reis

Veil of Doubt by Sharon Virts (HF/mystery)

The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian

Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (audiobook)

But wait! There’s more! I was thinking that I can’t do my favorites reads without mentioning one other audiobook that I LOVED: The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki.

For My Ears: TOM LAKE by Ann Patchett (Narrated by Meryl Streep)

December 20, 2023 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I loved this audiobook so much! First it centers in part on theater and the actors involved in a production of Our Town, but it’s also a story about family and identity; and it is a reminder that parents have had a full life often before they became parents. Meryl Streep’s narration is spot on perfection (no surprise!) and listening to this while I was commuting was engaging yet relaxing.

Here’s the scoop:

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family’s orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.

I got my copy through Audibile with my monthly credit.

Harper-Collins Blog Tour for THE VACATION by John Marrs

December 17, 2023 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I’m always thrilled to be part of the Harper-Collins blog tours, and this fall there were SO MANY good books from which to choose.

If you know me, you know I like suspenseful mysteries that are not overly violent/gory, so The Vacation was the perfect blend of mystery and suspense for me!

This was my first John Marrs book, but it won’t be my last. I know he is a favorite author of many readers. I did find that there were a lot of characters in this novel (and I read on my kindle so I can’t easily flip back), but it was suspenseful, which is something I love for my late night reading!

Thank you for my ePub and for making me part of the tour!

Here’s the overview:

THE VACATION
Author: John Marrs
ISBN: 9781335006042
Publication Date: 12/19/2023
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
18.99 US | 23.99 CAD

Buy Links: NOT affiliated with BBNB

Social Links:

Author website: https://www.johnmarrsauthor.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnmarrs.author/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnmarrsauthor/?ref=bookmarks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnmarrs1

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnmarrs.author

Book Summary:

How far would you run to escape your past?

Venice Beach, Los Angeles. A paradise on earth. Tourists flock to the golden coast and the promise of Hollywood. But for eight strangers at a beach-front hostel, there is far more on their minds than an extended vacation. All of them are running from something. And they all have secrets they’d kill to keep…

This holiday-set read is a compulsive and addictive thriller, perfect for fans of T.M. Logan.

Author Bio:

John Marrs is an author and former journalist based in London and Northamptonshire. After spending his career interviewing celebrities from the worlds of television, film and music for numerous national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time author. His books include No1 bestseller and Netflix series The One, The Passengers, award winning What Lies Between Us and The Good Samaritan. Follow him at www.johnmarrsauthor.co.uk , on Twitter @johnmarrs1, on Instagram @johnmarrs.author and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/johnmarrsauthor.

Harper-Collins Blog Tour for Perfect Little Lives by Amber and Danielle Brown

December 9, 2023 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I’m happy to be a stop of the blog tour for Amber and Danielle’s new novel: Perfect Little Lives. I will admit that it took me a bit to get into this novel, in part because I was expecting a different type of read in the beginning (I thought it started in the past with the murder) and I was also not prepared for the level of “spiciness”, but once I got into it, I enjoyed it. For me, it felt like a “new age” genre read, which can sometimes be a challenge for an over 55 gal like myself!

Here’s the scoop:

Perfect Little Lives

Authors: Amber and Danielle Brown

ISBN: 9781525805059

Publication Date: December 5, 2023

Publisher: Graydon House/HarperCollins

Buy Links: Not affiliated with BBNB

HarperCollins.com: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/perfect-little-lives-amber-and-danielle-brown?variant=41028995514402

BookShop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/perfect-little-lives-original-amber-and-danielle-brown/19612183?ean=9781525805059

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/perfect-little-lives-amber-and-danielle-brown/1142864657?

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1525805053/keywords=thrillers?tag=harpercollinsus-20

Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/9781525805059

Social Links:

Author Website: https://www.amberanddanielle.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ambersharelle

Tweets by dani_nicbrown

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amberanddanielle/

Goodreads

Book Summary:

LibraryReads December Bonus Pick!

ON ASHER LANE, SOME SECRETS ARE WORTH KILLING FOR…

Simone’s mother was murdered when she was thirteen. When her father was convicted, everything changed. Overnight, Simone went from living in a wealthy white neighborhood to scraping by.

Ten years later, Simone has given up on her dreams and lives a quiet life, writing book reviews and getting serious with her boyfriend. But with a true crime documentarian hounding her for a scoop and a surprise encounter with her childhood next-door neighbor, Hunter, the past seems set on haunting her. And after Hunter reveals that his father and her mother had a years-long affair, Simone is determined to find out who really killed her mother.

Simone is convinced that all evidence points to Hunter’s father, a renowned judge who had everything to lose if his affair—and his nascent love child—came to light. Playing the game from all sides, Simone enlists Hunter’s help in her investigation into his family—whether he realizes it or not. But is she so desperate for closure that she’ll risk imploding her carefully rebuilt life?

Authors’ Bio:

Amber and Danielle Brown both graduated from Rider University where they studied Communications/Journalism and sat on the editorial staff for the On Fire!! literary journal. They then pursued a career in fashion and spent five years in NYC working their way up, eventually managing their own popular fashion and lifestyle blog. Amber is also a screenwriter, so they live in LA, which works out perfectly so Danielle can spoil her plant babies with copious amount of sunshine. Their debut Someone Had to Do It, was a Library Reads pick.