family relationships

Bookouture Blog Tour for GIRL NEXT DOOR by Karen King

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Nothing says summer like a suspenseful read you can’t put down! This was a great read and I kept thinking how it’d make a super engaging limited series on Netflix. It felt a bit like a Harlan Coben mystery. It kept me up for two nights until I finished it. I did like the ending as well!

Book Description:

My darling son is accused of attacking the girl next door. He would never do this… Would he?

I have the perfect family: my loving, devoted partner. Our sons, so thoughtful and affectionate despite their teenage angst. But everything changes when our friendly neighbours move in.

Their daughter Rachel is so pretty and bubbly. Her giggles float over our garden fence. I can see our boys are falling for her, fighting for her affection.

Then Rachel falls from her bedroom window. Her life is hanging in the balance. And to my horror, her parents think my son Jacob pushed her.

I know my sensitive son would never do such a thing, but he is hiding something. A mother always knows, doesn’t she? And who is spreading nasty rumours in our neighbourhood about me and my partner, about history repeating itself?

Then I find Rachel’s broken sunflower necklace in my home, and my world falls apart. It’s unbearable, but I must face the truth. Someone’s child is fighting for their life. And someone in my family hurt her.

With Rachel at death’s door, is Jacob in terrible danger too? And how far will I have to go to protect him?

A totally unputdownable and thrilling psychological suspense novel with a gasp-out-loud twist. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Clare Mackintosh and K.L. Slater.

Author Bio:

Karen King was born in Birmingham and has always enjoyed reading and writing. She’s been published for over thirty years, in a variety of genres for both children and adults. She loves writing about the complexities of relationships. Her first three books for Bookouture were romances where relationships came right, she has now turned to the darker side of relationships, writing two psychological thrillers about relationships that go badly wrong. Karen now lives in Spain where she loves to spend her non-writing time exploring the quaint local towns with her husband, Dave, when she isn’t sunbathing or swimming in the pool, that is.

https://karenkingauthor.com/

https://www.instagram.com/karenkingauthor/

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Karen King here: https://www.bookouture.com/karen-king

Buy Link: NOT affiliated with BBNB

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0D274VT3Gsocial

Thank you for the opportunity to read and take part in this tour!

The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly

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I somehow overlooked this title in my Net Galley list, but I’m SO glad I discovered it! I loved this story of a group of women who, over many years, are connected by their love and dedication to a garden on an English estate. Such a lovely story and such memorable characters! I love Julia Kelly’s writing; this story reminded me of another beloved author: Kate Morton. If you enjoy this type of historical fiction, don’t miss it!

Thank you for my review e-galley!

Description

From the author of the international bestseller The Light Over London and The Whispers of War comes a poignant and unforgettable tale of five women living across three different times whose lives are all connected by one very special place.

Present day: Emma Lovett, who has dedicated her career to breathing new life into long-neglected gardens, has just been given the opportunity of a lifetime: to restore the gardens of the famed Highbury House estate, designed in 1907 by her hero Venetia Smith. But as Emma dives deeper into the gardens’ past, she begins to uncover secrets that have long lain hidden.

1907: A talented artist with a growing reputation for her ambitious work, Venetia Smith has carved out a niche for herself as a garden designer to industrialists, solicitors, and bankers looking to show off their wealth with sumptuous country houses. When she is hired to design the gardens of Highbury House, she is determined to make them a triumph, but the gardens—and the people she meets—promise to change her life forever.

1944: When land girl Beth Pedley arrives at a farm on the outskirts of the village of Highbury, all she wants is to find a place she can call home. Cook Stella Adderton, on the other hand, is desperate to leave Highbury House to pursue her own dreams. And widow Diana Symonds, the mistress of the grand house, is anxiously trying to cling to her pre-war life now that her home has been requisitioned and transformed into a convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers. But when war threatens Highbury House’s treasured gardens, these three very different women are drawn together by a secret that will last for decades.

In this sweeping novel reminiscent of Kate Morton’s The Lake House and Kristin Harmel’s The Room on Rue Amélie, Julia Kelly explores the unexpected connections that cross time and the special places that bring people together forever.

For My Ears: Homecoming by Kate Morton with Claire Foy as Narrator

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I LOVE Kate Morton’s books and I was excited to listen to this one for my final days on the interminable commute. It was SO GOOD! I love the mystery behind it and Ms. Morton’s amazingly beautiful and evocative writing. This was a sad story, but a good one. Fun fact: I was part of a Harper-Collins survey group that voted for the cover for this title and this was the cover I chose. It is so beautiful!

I should add that the narration of this title was just wonderful. The story takes place in Australia and centers on a family that is found deceased on Christmas and the many pieces of that puzzle from the past, along with the current, and the house where it all happened.

I got mine with an Audible credit. If you love Kate Morton, this one will not disappoint!

Here’s the scoop:

A brand-new book from award-winning author Kate Morton, read by powerhouse Emmy award–winning actress Claire Foy. This breathtaking mystery of love, lies and a cold case come back to life is told with Morton’s trademark intricacy and beauty.

Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959. At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek in the grounds of a grand and mysterious house, a local deliveryman makes a terrible discovery. A police investigation is called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in the history of South Australia.

Many years later and thousands of miles away, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for nearly two decades, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. Until a phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, has suffered a fall and been raced to the hospital.

At Nora’s house, Jess discovers a true crime book that chronicles the police investigation into a long-buried event: the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve, 1959. It is only when Jess skims through the pages that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this once-infamous scandal – a murder mystery that has never been resolved satisfactorily.

2023, Queensland Literary Awards, Short-listed

2024, Indie Book Awards Fiction, Long-listed

2024, Australian Book Design Awards, Short-listed

2024, Australian Book Industry Award General Fiction Book of the Year, Short-listed

2024, The Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Awards Gold Dagger, Long-listed

The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan

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I love J. Courtney Sullivan’s beautiful writing, so I was excited to get The Cliffs to read and review. This was a totally engrossing story, part a ghost story, part a story of a woman’s life and her connection to an old house in the town where she grew up. It seems it has been chosen for Reese’s Book Club, so I’m sure you will hear more about this title. I loved it, though, and couldn’t put it down!

Here’s the scoop:

Description

REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • A novel of family, secrets, ghosts, and homecoming set on the seaside cliffs of Maine, by the New York Times best-selling author of Friends and Strangers

“A stunning achievement, and J. Courtney Sullivan’s best book yet. Sullivan weaves a narrative that’s fascinating and thought-provoking. I literally could not put this book down.”
—Ann Napolitano, New York Times best-selling author of Hello Beautiful

On a secluded bluff overlooking the ocean sits a Victorian house, lavender with gingerbread trim, a home that contains a century’s worth of secrets. By the time Jane Flanagan discovers the house as a teenager, it has long been abandoned. The place is an irresistible mystery to Jane. There are still clothes in the closets, marbles rolling across the floors, and dishes in the cupboards, even though no one has set foot there in decades. The house becomes a hideaway for Jane, a place to escape her volatile mother.

Twenty years later, now a Harvard archivist, she returns home to Maine following a terrible mistake that threatens both her career and her marriage. Jane is horrified to find the Victorian is now barely recognizable. The new owner, Genevieve, a summer person from Beacon Hill, has gutted it, transforming the house into a glossy white monstrosity straight out of a shelter magazine. Strangely, Genevieve is convinced that the house is haunted—perhaps the product of something troubling Genevieve herself has done. She hires Jane to research the history of the place and the women who lived there. The story Jane uncovers—of lovers lost at sea, romantic longing, shattering loss, artistic awakening, historical artifacts stolen and sold, and the long shadow of colonialism—is even older than Maine itself.

Enthralling, richly imagined, filled with psychic mediums and charlatans, spirits and past lives, mothers, marriage, and the legacy of alcoholism, this is a deeply moving novel about the land we inhabit, the women who came before us, and the ways in which none of us will ever truly leave this earth.

Highly recommended, it’s the perfect summer read!

Thank you for my copy through Net Galley.

HTP Blog Tour for BEYOND SUMMERLAND by Jenny Lecoat

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I’m taking part today in the blog tour for Beyond Summerland, an engaging and somewhat intense read of post-WWII. Jean’s father has been arrested for owning (and using) a radio during German occupation in the Channel Islands, and she is trying to keep her and her mother’s life together while they search for where he might be. This is complicated by secrets that more than one person are trying to keep. This is a memorable read and beautifully written. Lecoat’s writing is wonderfully evocative of time and place. I had read her first novel The Girl from the Channel Islands in 2021.

Description

“From the explosive opening to the profound ending, Beyond Summerland is a wonder of storytelling. With a rich setting and secrets shimmering at the core of the narrative, Jenny Lecoat offers up everything we seek in historical fiction.”–Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea

In her spellbinding new novel, New York Times bestselling author Jenny Lecoat explores the secrets and lies in a small community recovering from war, and the two young women at the center of a volatile mystery.

The German occupation is over. The Channel Islands, the only captured territory within the British Isles, are finally liberated. But the people of Jersey are left as scarred as the landscape. No longer a “summerland” holiday paradise, the island now boils with tension as locals seek revenge on anyone suspected of collaborating with the enemy during the war.

Nineteen-year-old Jean Parris, still adjusting to this fractious peace, is shocked to learn that Hazel, a teacher who lives over her dad’s shop, may be responsible for her father’s wartime arrest. Hazel denies all accusations but has reasons to conceal what really happened.

As rumors of Hazel’s guilt swell to a fury, Jean discovers new clues that suggest there were other, more sinister factors at play. When Hazel learns of Jean’s own ruinous secret, the women form an unexpected bond that sets them apart from the rest of Jean’s family and the frenzied demands for retribution. But in the end, Jean’s need to know the truth about her father may consume everything she once believed about her home, her family and herself.

About the Author

Jenny Lecoat was born in the Channel Islands where, only sixteen years earlier, Nazis had deported members of her family to concentration camps for resistance activities. Following an early career in stand-up comedy and writing features for magazines and newspapers, she became a screenwriter. Her feature film Another Mother’s Son, about her family’s experiences during the Occupation, was released in the UK in 2017. The Girl from the Channel Islands was her first novel.

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

Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison Pataki

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I loved Pataki’s The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post, so I could NOT WAIT to read her novel of Margaret Fuller, one of my heroes! This was a wonderful depiction of the brilliant Margaret: driven, ambitious, brilliant, and beloved. It is heart-breaking and chock full of details and depictions from the real life of Fuller. Margaret Fuller is not as widely known as her colleagues, the Concord authors Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Alcott, but she should be. Don’t miss this wonderful historical fiction depiction of Fuller, which makes her come to life.

Thank you for my copy via Net Galley!

Here’s the scoop:

Description

A “sweeping” (Entertainment Weekly) novel of America’s forgotten leading lady, the central figure of a movement that defined a nation—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post

“Whether exploring Margaret’s remarkable friendships or delving into her crucial legacy as a journalist, writer, and feminist, Finding Margaret Fuller promises to transform every reader it touches.”—Marie Benedict, co-author of The Personal Librarian

Young, brazen, beautiful, and unapologetically brilliant, Margaret Fuller accepts an invitation from Ralph Waldo Emerson, the celebrated Sage of Concord, to meet his coterie of enlightened friends. There she becomes “the radiant genius and fiery heart” of the Transcendentalists, a role model to a young Louisa May Alcott, an inspiration for Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne and the scandalous Scarlet Letter, a friend to Henry David Thoreau as he ventures out to Walden Pond . . . and a muse to Emerson. But Margaret craves more than poetry and interpersonal drama, and her restless soul needs new challenges and adventures.

And so she charts a singular course against a backdrop of dizzying historical drama: From Boston, where she hosts a salon for students like Elizabeth Cady Stanton; to the editorial meetings of The Dial magazine, where she hones her pen as its co-founder; to Harvard’s library, where she is the first woman permitted entry; to the gritty New York streets where she spars with Edgar Allan Poe and reports on Frederick Douglass. Margaret defies conventions time and again as an activist for women and an advocate for humanity, earning admirers and critics alike.

When the legendary editor Horace Greeley offers her an assignment in Europe, Margaret again makes history as the first female foreign news correspondent, mingling with luminaries like Frédéric Chopin, William Wordsworth, George Sand and more. But it is in Rome that she finds a world of passion, romance, and revolution, taking a Roman count as a lover—and sparking an international scandal. Evolving yet again into the roles of mother and countess, Margaret enters the fight for Italy’s unification.

With a star-studded cast and sweeping, epic historical events, this is a story of an inspiring trailblazer, a woman who loved big and lived even bigger—a fierce adventurer who transcended the rigid roles ascribed to women and changed history, all on her own terms.

For My Ears: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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2018 Audie Award Finalist for Multi-Voiced Performance

From Taylor Jenkins Reid, “a genius when it comes to stories about life and love” (Redbook), comes an unforgettable and sweeping novel about one classic film actress’ relentless rise to the top – the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jump-start her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s Upper East Side apartment, Monique listens as Evelyn unfurls her story: from making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the late ’80s and, of course, the seven husbands along the way. As Evelyn’s life unfolds – revealing a ruthless ambition, an unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love – Monique begins to feel a very a real connection to the actress. But as Evelyn’s story catches up with the present, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

Written with Reid’s signature talent for “creating complex, likable characters” (Real Simple), this is a fascinating journey through the splendor of Old Hollywood into the harsh realities of the present day as two women struggle with what it means – and what it takes – to face the truth.

Oh I loved this story, which I listened to while driving, and the various characters in it. It is so memorable! It’s the heyday of Hollywood, the story of a rags-to-riches actress, with a love story that runs throughout. It’s historical, yet current. So much dialogue and yet beautifully written, it’s one I won’t soon forget.

I got mine via Audible. As I listened I thought it would make a great movie or limited series and I hear it will be – on Netflix!

Bookouture Blog Tour for YOU, ME, HER by Sue Watson

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I always love the books I get through Bookouture and this one was no exception. Nothing says “summer” like a suspenseful, thriller that I have to actually lie around in bed until almost noon so that I can read it in one sitting. Yes, I cannot lie. Could. Not. Stop. Reading. (Thank goodness my family is able to care for themselves quite adequately!).

Here’s the scoop:

Book Description:

Three people. One marriage. One murder.

YOU: My handsome husband Tom. You’ve given me everything – our beautiful son and our perfect new seaside home. I want to trust you, but I know you haven’t been honest about why you really wanted to move here. I haven’t been honest with you either…

ME: I make a secret promise as Tom kisses me and pours a glass of ice-cold wine to toast the first night in our dream house: I’m going to forget about his past. For the sake of our son, I’ll keep this family together, no matter what.

HER: Chloe is the only friend I’ve made since the move. I love our long lunches, even though she asks prying questions about my marriage. Tom hates me spending time with her, but I ignore his warning to stay away. I’ve seen the way he looks at her. It’s better to keep your enemies close…

You may think you know what’s going on in my marriage, but you’ll be wrong. Only three things are true: Someone is a liar. Someone is in danger. Someone is a killer.

Fans of The Housemaid, The Perfect Marriage and The Girl on the Train will love this absolutely jaw-dropping psychological thriller. With twist after twist, you won’t be able to put this book down!

Author Bio: (I love this picture. I just want to sit down and have a cup of tea with Ms. Watson and chat about her books).

Sue Watson was a journalist on national magazines and newspapers before becoming a TV producer with the BBC.
Now a USA Today bestselling author, Sue explores the darker side of life, writing psychological thrillers with big twists.
Originally from Manchester, she now lives with her family in leafy Worcestershire where much of her day is spent writing – and procrastinating. Her hobby is eating cake while watching diet and exercise programmes from the sofa, a skill she’s perfected after many years of practice.

http://www.suewatsonbooks.com/
https://www.facebook.com/sue.watson.39501
https://www.instagram.com/suewatsonbooks/
https://twitter.com/suewatsonwriter

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Sue Watson here: https://www.bookouture.com/sue-watson

Buy Link: (not affiliated with BBNB)

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0CZ4VTRZGsocial

You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you’ll love at: http://ow.ly/Fkiz30lnzdo

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

Happy Reading!!

Bookouture Blog Tour for An Invitation to the Cottage by the Loch by Kennedy Kerr

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I’m excited to be part of the blog tour for this new title by Kennedy Kerr in the Loch Cameron series. This is my first read by Ms. Kerr, but she is not a new author. She has many popular titles and four earlier books in this series alone; however, trust me when I say that you can read this as a stand alone title if you have not read any of Kerr’s earlier novels.

I loved the main character in this story as she deals with major changes in her life, her health, a possible romance (no spoilers!), and a bit of a mystery related to her grandmother growing up in the same area where she is working as an event planner. I did not figure everything out in advance, however, things turned out how I wanted them to!

The perfect summer read – An Invitation to the Cottage by the Loch has newly published this week.

Book: An Invitation to the Cottage by the Loch

Author: Kennedy Kerr

Pub Day:  May 28th 2024

Buy Link(s): NOT associated with BBNB

https://geni.us/B0CX21ZHVVsocial

About the Book: 
High on the hills above the wide blue loch, Deb pulls the torn, sepia photograph out of her pocket, tracing her thumb over the girl pictured playing happily amongst the heather. Her grandmother hid this secret for decades…

After losing her sense of self recovering from a serious operation, event planner Deb Sutherland is desperate to reconnect with her family and start living again. So, when an email arrives from the Laird of Loch Cameron asking her to plan his annual Spring Fling, Deb packs her life into her car and makes for the rolling hills of the Highlands. This could be her chance to explore the Scottish roots her beloved grandmother refused to speak about.

Auditioning bands and designing decorations at the Laird’s grand castle, Deb runs into property developer Kyle Abernethy on the edge of the manicured gardens. Kyle is maddeningly arrogant, but Deb can’t deny how his icy blue eyes make her stomach flip. And as they share a bottle of wine overlooking the glittering loch, Deb finds herself laughing like she hasn’t in years.

But when Deb finds an old map of tumbledown worker’s cottages in the castle archives, her heart stops. She remembers how tearful her grandmother would get when asked about her childhood. Was Loch Cameron her home before her family was tragically torn apart? Has Kyle been hiding this truth from her all along?

As the Spring Fling approaches, should Deb run from Loch Cameron for good? Or will confronting her heart-breaking family history mean she can finally move forward with Kyle by her side?

Author Bio:

Kennedy Kerr is a USA Today Bestselling fiction author. She adores beaches, lochs and stone circles, and loves writing about small communities, mysteries and family secrets. She has a very cuddly cat called Twinkle who spends her days sleeping: Kennedy aspires to having Twinkle’s nap schedule one day.

Kennedy also loves cooking and baking all types of food, which is almost as much fun as eating it. Her favourite foods include (but are not limited to) Indian food, Victoria sponge, breakfast pastries with coffee and sushi. The only thing she’s not particularly keen on is artichoke, and she’d eat it, anyway.

Social Media

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

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/KennedyKerr5

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

Bookouture Email Sign Up: https://www.bookouture.com/kennedy-kerr

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

Blog Tour for A CHAIN OF PEARLS by Raemi A. Ray

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I love a good mysetery that takes place near where I live, so I was happy to read and take part in the tour for this new novel by Raemi A. Ray that takes place in Martha’s Vineyard. It was interesting, suspenseful, and well-plotted. I read it in two days as I couldn’t put it down!

Here’s the scoop:

The last thing she wants is to dig up the past…

When the body of a celebrated journalist is fished from the Edgartown Harbor, the official report rules his death accidental. But why was he alone on a senator’s yacht during a nor’easter? That’s only the first question London-based lawyer Kyra Gibson has when she arrives on the idyllic island of Martha’s Vineyard to settle her estranged father’s affairs.

She’s not looking for closure. She’s not seen him in decades since he left her with her aunt following her mother’s death. But as Kyra delves deeper into her father’s life, she learns he had many regrets and wasn’t as retired as she believed. The more Kyra discovers, the more questions she has. With the help of world-weary detective, Tarek Collins, they uncover a web of intrigue and corruption involving a powerful senator, a dubious energy company, and brutal murder.

As they chase down clues, Kyra and Tarek flirt with danger and race against time to solve the murders and uncover the dark secrets lurking beneath Martha’s Vineyard’s picturesque façade of old money wealth and privilege.

This book is the first of a new series with two more titles scheduled to come out in 2024!

Here’s some info on the author:

Raemi A Ray’s travels to Martha’s Vineyard and around the world inspire her stories. She lives outside Boston. When not writing or traveling she earns her keep as the personal assistant to the resident house demons, Otto and DolphLundgren.

For more information, visit Raemi at her website and on Instagram.

Thank you, Author Marketing Experts, for having me as part of the tour and for my copy!