#BlogTour #Review The Death And Life Of Eleanor Parker by Kerry Wilkinson @bookouture

Title: The Death And Life Of Eleanor Parker by Kerry Wilkinson

Publisher: Bookouture

Date Published: 26^th July 2018

Genre: YA/Mystery/Paranormal

Description:

‘I will never forget the night I drowned…’

Seventeen-year-old Eleanor Parker wakes up cold and alone in the river that twists through her quiet village. She remembers a hand on her chest, another on her head, water in her throat, those final gasps for air…

Her brother’s girlfriend was drowned in the same river the summer before, held under the water by an unknown killer.

Determined to unlock the mystery of what really happened that night, Eleanor can’t escape the feeling that something terrible links her to the previous summer’s murder. But will she discover the shocking truth, before it’s too late?

A gripping and extraordinary coming of age novel that will keep you guessing until the very end. 

Review:

Eleanor Parker wakes up on the side of the river, the same river her brother’s girlfriend Sarah died in the summer before. She can’t remember the previous night just someone holding her under the water until she died…but somehow she’s still walking, talking, breathing, how is that possible?

Eleanor doesn’t feel right. She can’t eat or smell or even sleep. The only way she’s going to find peace is to find out who killed Sarah and who tried to kill her.

Now Kerry Wilkinson has been on my radar for a while now but this is actual the first book I’ve read by him and it definitely won’t be the last! This death and life of Eleanor Parker is the kind of novel that you can’t really pigeon hole into one genre, in a good way, it’s young adult, mystery with a hint of paranormal.

There’s also a mystery within a mystery. First there’s who tried to kill her, then there’s how is she still walking and talking? Is she a zombie or something else?

I loved Eleanor or Ellie as she’s called through most of the book. She’s funny, sarcastic, massively overthinks things and has to deal with bullies, a normal teenager really. She’s also not perfect either, regularly arguing with her mum and brother.

Kerry Wilkinson really captured the slightly claustrophobic atmosphere of a small village where everyone knows everyone and anything that goes wrong is blamed on strangers because it couldn’t possibly be someone they know.

This book ended up being a complete breath of fresh air, which although I did figure out who the killer was (eventually) it kept me guessing. I’d recommend this for anyone who wants to read a unique and out of the box mystery.

Rating: 5/5

Check out the rest of the fantastic bloggers on this tour:

Author Bio:

Kerry Wilkinson has had No.1 bestsellers in the UK, Canada, South Africa and Singapore, as well as top-five books in Australia. He has also written two top-20 thrillers in the United States.

As well as his million-selling Jessica Daniel series, Kerry has written the Silver Blackthorn trilogy – a fantasy-adventure serial for young adults – a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter, plus numerous standalone novels. He has been published around the world in more than a dozen languages.

Originally from the county of Somerset, Kerry has spent far too long living in the north of England, picking up words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’.

When he’s short of ideas, he rides his bike or bakes cakes. When he’s not, he writes it all down.

Recent and upcoming UK releases:
Eye For An Eye (Jessica Daniel): Out now
Last Night (standalone): Out now
The Death And Life Of Eleanor Parker (standalone): July 2018
To Have And To Hold (standalone): October 2018

Author Social Media Links:

http://kerrywilkinson.com

http://facebook.com/KerryWilkinsonBooks

#BlogTour #Review #Hellcorp by Jonathan Whitelaw @urbanebooks @JDWhitelaw13 #LoveBooksGroupTours

Title: Hellcorp by Jonathan Whitelaw

Publisher: Urbane Publications

Date Published: 5th July 2018

Genre: Thriller | Supernatural | Humour

Description:

“A writer to watch.”
– Gareth L. Powell, winner of the BSFA award for best novel

Sometimes even the Devil deserves a break!

Life is hard for The Devil and he desperately wants to take a holiday. Growing weary from playing the cosmic bad guy, he resolves to set up a company that will do his job for him so the sins of the world will tick over while he takes a vacation. God tells him he can have his vacation just as soon as he solves an ancient crime.

But nothing is ever easy and before long he is up to his pitchfork in solving murders, desperate to crack the case so he can finally take the holiday he so badly needs…

This is a perfectly-pitched darkly comic crime novel that is ideal for fans of Christopher Fowler and Ben Aaranovitch.

You Can Buy A Copy Here:

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2vROT5v
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2Knh7bF
Foyles: http://bit.ly/2r6cklS
Waterstones: http://bit.ly/2vWLvWU

Review:

I want to thank Kelly at Love Books Group for inviting me on this tour and Urbane Publications for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Devil is drowning in paperwork with a constant headache and he just wants a break.

So he goes to see the Pope, God’s supposed eyes and ears, telling him he wants Hell to become a legit business, a place for arts and culture. Of course when God hears about that he has other plans and proves He can be just as tricky as the Devil.

Thrust into a human body, with the help of Dr Jill Gideon he must uncover the murderer of Anton Baggio but it’s not going to be easy, especially when Hell wants to drag him back again.

I have to say this has to be one of the quirkiest and funniest detective books I’ve ever read! The Devil playing detective is definitely an original concept or at least I’ve never read anything like this book.

I know this sounds a bit wrong but I think I’d like to meet The Devil, if he’s the way he’s portrayed in this book mind. He’s sarcastic, unintentionally funny although he does have the habit of getting himself and those around him into trouble. He also has a bit of a thing for his receptionist Alice, a larger lady (he likes a big bum) who’s in Hell for killing her husband.

Then we have Doctor Jill Gideon who is incredibly likeable. She’s tough but vulnerable at the same time and there were times that I just wanted to give her a hug! I loved the way she and the Devil bounce off each other, trying to show him that humans are just the animals he thinks they are, occasionally he listens to her.

I do wish though there had been a little bit more creepiness, just because he is the devil and all but that’s just me being a bit fussy.

Hellcorp is a very cleverly written book, with plenty of humour, perfect if you’re looking for something a bit different.

Rating: 4/5

About The Author:

Jonathan Whitelaw is an author, journalist and broadcaster. After working on the frontline of Scottish politics, he moved into journalism. Subjects he has covered have varied from breaking news, the arts, culture and sport to fashion, music and even radioactive waste – with everything in between. He’s also a regular reviewer and talking head on shows for the BBC and STV. ‘HellCorp’ is his second novel following his debut, ‘Morbid Relations’.

Social Media links:

Website: https://urbanepublications.com/authors/jonathan-whitelaw/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JDWhitelaw13
FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/JonathanWhitelawAuthor/

#BlogTour The Magician’s Curse by Linda G Hill @LindaGHill @annecater #MagiciansCurse #RandomThingsTours

Title: The Magician’s Curse by Linda G Hill

Date Published: 27^th June 2017

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Description:

When Herman Anderson leaves home to make a better life for herself, she doesn’t expect to meet a tall, dark stranger with whom she’ll fall hopelessly in love. Charming and mysterious, Stephen Dagmar is a stage magician seeking an assistant. The moment he sets eyes on Herman, he knows she’s the one. He brings her home to his Victorian mansion where they embark upon an extravagant romance. Yet a shadow hangs over their love. Will the curse on his family end Stephen and Herman’s happily ever after, before it really begins? Amidst lace and leather, innocence and debauchery, The Magician’s Curse begins the Gothic tale of The Great Dagmaru. Magic and romance await.

The Magician’s Curse is on offer for 99p until the 9^th May, purchase your copy here:

Amazon UKhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Magicians-Curse-Paranormal-Romance-Dagmaru/dp/0994891229/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1519830860&sr=1-1&keywords=the+magician%27s+curse

Review:

Herman runs away from home to work on a horse ranch but before getting to her destination she meets the handsome and mysterious Stephen, a magician looking for a new assistant. Herman agrees and finds herself falling head over heels in love with him. But his family hold a dark secret, what will Herman do when she finds out?

Now most people who read my blog regularly know that romance is not my genre, too many mushy feelings, but I have to say the paranormal romance genre is really starting to grow on me.

The Magician’s Curse combines things I really enjoy a bit of mystery, magic and a bit of steaminess.

Herman, a girl yes apparently it’s a tradition in her family that girls are given boys names, is naive, a little too trusting but very sweet. The only part of her character I didn’t like was the fact she left her eleven year old brother and I’m assuming mentally ill mother (her sickness was never fully explained) while she went off but not everyone is perfect and I still ended up liking her.

There was also an interesting cast of secondary characters, my favourite being Aunt Aggie, the foul mouthed ghost of Herman’s great aunt who kept popping up to tirade Stephen.

The only aspect I didn’t like was the whole love at first sight thing. I’m an old cynic with that sort of thing anyway but I think it would have been better if the romance would have been built up a little bit more, like ‘will they admit they have feeling for each other or not’ sort of thing but that’s just me.

Overall a magical and mysterious romance that is both sweet and a little steamy.

Rating: 3/5

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Linda G. Hill was born and raised an only child in Southern Ontario, Canada. She credits the time she spent alone when she was growing up, reading books and building worlds and characters of her own to keep her company, as the reason she became a writer.

A stay-at-home mom of three beautiful boys, Linda is a graduate of the Writing Program at St. Lawrence College in Brockville, Ontario. Aside from caring for her family, she enjoys traveling the world, eating trout cooked on the barbecue, and, of course, reading.

Website : http://www.lindaghill.com/

Twitter: @thegreatdagmaru

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lindaghill.fiction

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15577348.Linda_G_Hill

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/linda.g.hill/

#BlogTour #Review Medium Wave by Rose Zolock @RoseZolock @rararesources @caffeinenights

Title: Medium Wave by Rose Zolock

Publisher: Caffeine Nights

Date Published: 6^th April 2018

Genre: Horror, Paranormal.

Description:

Becky Moran has built a career claiming to talk to the dead. A successful clairvoyant medium, a Cambridge graduate with her own radio show ‘Medium Wave’ and a team dedicated to crafting the celebrity myth – because Becky Moran is a fake. Until, one night, something supernatural, inexplicable, breaks through live on air as she is broadcasting. Becky Moran discovers the paranormal is real, the dead can indeed speak and she is being pursued relentlessly towards a battle for her very survival.

‘This thing has no defined shape. Whatever energy exists within it, it cannot settle on a shape. The strands of darkness curl out and then wrap back inwards. The bulk of the shadow becomes concave, then bulbous, the height building in on itself but lacking any skeletal structure to wrap itself around. There are no eyes, no clearly defined head shape. It is creating itself from darkness, like a swirl of ebony ink dropped into a vat of putrid water, spreading silently….’

Purchase from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Medium-Wave-Dead-Becky-Moran-ebook/dp/B079YY2DBX/

Review:

Becky Moran has been a medium for a number of years, she has her own radio show, now a TV show is in the offing too. Only problem; Becky is a fake. During a live radio show, Becky touches an ancient crystal and suddenly her ability to see ghosts becomes real!

So I am a huge fan of all things ghostly so this book was right up my alley. It’s a fairly short yet creepy book with plenty of spooky goings on, that I suggest you read during the day in bright sunshine with a good duvet to hide under just in case.

The cast of characters is an interesting one as well. You’ve got Hugh Jolly, Becky’s greedy and slightly selfish manager, her assistant Stacey who loves to wear mothball scented vintage clothing and her producer Olly the complete and utter sceptic. I have to be honest it took me a little time to warm to Becky, because of her being essentially a con artist at the outset of the book, but as the story goes on you see her struggling with her new gift and you can’t help feeling for her.

My favourite part of the book was when Becky came into contact with a haunted mirror that chooses its owner and never lets them go! Safe to say I had the shivers when I went near any mirror in my house afterwards!

I have to be honest though, there was a tiny bit of repetition and the story didn’t quite flow as well as it should have and I found the ending a little over contrived but of course that is just my opinion.

This is a great start to a series and I’m interested to see what the writer does with Becky and her friends next.

Rating: 3/5

About Rose Zolock
Her Irish grandmother first told Rose about the Banshee when she was just a small child. How the wailing sound of the spirit of the dead and dying could be heard when someone was about to pass.

It was family folklore that the women in the family had ‘the touch’, the ability to see spirits and other dimensions. Rose listened and grew up fascinated by those who claimed to have supernatural or psychic abilities.

Rose does not claim to have those powers. Take her to Venice in February when the mist swirls over the canals, walk by her side along the darkened streets of Greenwich Village in New York City in high summer, listening to a ghost walk tour guide tell the stories of death, murder and the unexplained – Rose would say those stories and our belief in them gives her a power to see into the shadows within our imagination.

As a journalist, Rose takes every opportunity to explore and investigate strange stories, myth and folklore. Living in rural Yorkshire, with a rich library of ghost stories and literary tradition, Rose also has a sceptical and forensic insight into those who peddle the stories which feed our imagination but of which we have yet found no proof. She has listened to the debunkers who argue against those believers who are convinced that sand the dark side exist.

Rose’s mind is open. Is yours?

Website: rosezolock.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/rose.zolock.9Twitter –https://twitter.com/RoseZolock

Trailer – https://www.facebook.com/rose.zolock.9/videos/178767199514397

Happy Release Day! Taste The Dark by Nicola Rose @_NicolaRose_ #BookReview #Vampires #SteamyFiction

Title: Taste The Dark by Nicola Rose.

Date Published: 30^th April 2018

Genre: Vampire, supernatural, steamy.

Description:

One reckless girl and two vampire brothers – battling forces of love over lust, and light over dark…

Jess

I killed my parents. I didn’t mean to, I don’t think. I can’t really remember.

I can’t remember much from the years that followed either, other than an endless stream of bad decisions, generally involving alcohol, drugs and bad boys. My new job in a new town signified a turning point – time to sort myself out.

What I hadn’t anticipated was the 6ft package of brooding, inked-up perfection who started stalking me. And don’t even mention the equally hot brother crawling under my skin…

They radiate danger, it flows around them like a seductive spell; and danger is my favourite word.

Zac

I was doing a pretty good job at balancing on the fine line between light and dark, blurring the edges and living in the grey. But then dead vampires started piling up around me and the Bael gave me a ticking countdown to fix it.

Now she’s arrived. Four seconds – the moment I saw her – that’s how long it took to know that she’d simultaneously bring heaven and hell to my door. I don’t even know what she is, but I know I crave her.

Falling for a human girl has left me teetering on the verge of collapse. This could be just the ammo my brother needs to nudge me over the edge and into oblivion.

Taste the Dark is a full-length paranormal romance/urban fantasy, intended for adult audiences. Expect a lot of heat and a little darkness, because romance isn’t always sweet.

Book one in the Elwood Legacy series.
Review:

Jess is a messed up party girl, who travels to South Padre Island to escape her problems and be closer to her best friend Anna but runs into trouble when she comes across vampire Zac Elwood and his twin brother Alex. These tattooed bad boys are everything she is trying to avoid but she’s drawn to danger and can’t help herself.

I love vampires. I have since I discovered Buffy The Vampire Slayer at the age of twelve, but I don’t often read vampire fiction so when I spotted this book on Instagram I thought I’d give this book a read.

If you’re looking for a sweet supernatural romance, this not the book for you. It’s dark, twisted, violent and very steamy, I was actually a little shocked when I first started reading it!

There was not a dull moment in this book. It had thrill, spills and a hint of mystery and magic with a fresh take on steamy romance. Also the vampire in this story are real monsters, which I appreciate, not the slightly watered down version we’ve been getting over the past ten years or so.

Okay it’s going to get a lot of comparisons to other novels/TV series. There’s the love triangle from the Vampire Diaries and it’s got the dark, twisted overtones of True Blood (there’s even a little Twilight vampire trying to ignore the monster inside in there but I’m not going to dwell on that too much).

Nicola has created some really troubled characters who you really root for, like Zac who’s trying to fight the beast inside him or Jess the wild, suicidal, bad girl who wants to change her ways. Then there was some you’d like to give a good slap to, especially Alex, Zac’s twin brother.

I have to also point out here that this is a self published novel and I have to say it is so well written and edited, it could rival a book published by a traditional publisher.

I have to be honest I’m not a fan of bad boys and this book hasn’t really changed my opinion but it came awfully close to converting me to a bad boy lover.

Overall a must for fan of steamy romances and bad boys.

Rating: 4/5

About The Author:

Vampires, magic, and dark desires…

Nicola Rose is from the UK, where she lives with her husband and two boys. When she’s not writing or reading, she can probably be found walking in the countryside, faffing in Photoshop, and playing board games (with varying degrees of aggression).

Social Media links:

Website: http://nicolarose-author.com/

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

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_NicolaRose_

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/nicolarose4118/

Book and Main Bites: https://bookandmainbites.com/NicolaRose

Follow on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17644428.Nicola_Rose

Follow on BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/nicola-rose

#BlogTour #Review The Deal by SC Cunningham @SCCunningham8 @rararesources

Title: The Deal by SC Cunningham

Date Published: 4^th July 2017

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal.

Description:

A Paranormal Thriller for those who dare to believe that there is something else out there…

At the age of four, Amy was taken…She survived.

A week later, another little girl was taken…She didn’t.

Angry that a bad man has gotten away with murder, feisty young Amy Fox makes a deal with God. When she dies, if she’s been a good girl, would God let her sit on a cloud for a while, invisible, to get bad people who slip through his fingers?

Her deal and God long forgotten, career girl Amy mysteriously dies. Her lifeless body is found beneath a London underground commuter train.

She awakens in the afterlife to discover an international network of like-minded souls who’ve all made the same deal. A sophisticated MI5-esque justice machine sits in the skies, protecting, righting wrongs, tracking criminals, and working within strict rules of play…all against time.

Each country’s Unit shares intelligence, surveillance, and resources to deactivate dangerous situations. The only evidence they leave behind during their earthly visits is a small white feather sashaying to the ground.

In a chaotic world, powerful adversaries try to close her Unit down. A complex SAS vigilante has been assigned to work as her partner, but with his jealous violent ex-girlfriend on her heels and with her own vendetta to settle, Amy has never worked so hard in her entire earthly life. She has to wonder if making a deal with God was a mistake.

You can buy you copy here:

USA: https://www.amazon.com/Deal-Fallen-Angel-Book-ebook/dp/B071JVY7NC/

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deal-Fallen-Angel-Book-ebook/dp/B071JVY7NC/
 

Review:

Amy Fox is abducted when she four years old, she makes a deal with God that when she dies she help get the baddies that the police can’t. When she dies at only thirty-two the deal comes into effect and she becomes a Fallen, working with Jack, a mysterious hunk to protect the ‘Erthfolk’ below them.

I have to be honest this is the first time I have read this genre before and wow, this was a lot darker book than I was expecting! Amy and her team deal with the worst of the worst, murderers, paedophiles and rapists to name a few. I want to warn everyone before they jump into this book that there is scenes of child abuse and rape which I found, even as a hardened crime fiction fan, hard to read.

If you put that aside, I really liked Amy. She headstrong, rebellious and a little damaged after her childhood trauma and the chemistry between her and Jack was fantastic. Another one of my favourite characters was Pyke, a computer hacker, and a bit of a sweetheart who’s mission in his afterlife was to punish drug dealing scum.

There was also some tremendous villains that I guarantee will turn your stomach.

I found the whole concept of the story immensely interesting. I would love to think that there was some supernatural police force out there dishing out karma to bullies and bad guys and watching over the most vulnerable in our society.

I did feel that it could have been edited a bit more, especially some of the dialogue. One that sticks out is in the first chapters where Amy is having a conversation with her friend Sal and it went on a little too long, going over the same things. I also felt that story could have ended a bit earlier, as I think that it would have lead nicely into a second book but that of course is just my opinion.

Overall a good start a series and I’m looking forward to see what happens next.

Rating: 3/5

About S C Cunningham:

Author of The Penance List, Unfinished Business and The Deal, Siobhan C Cunningham (S C Cunningham) creates Paranormal Romance and Psychological Crime Thrillers with a skilled mix of fuelled tension, dark humour, and pulsating sex scenes. Having worked in the industries she writes about, her novels offer a fresh level of sincerity and authority, rare in fiction.

Abducted as a child, she survived; and every night for months afterwards, she prayed to God, asking for a deal. This personal journey sparked the fuse behind the intriguing and riveting fictional world she portrays in The Deal, the first in The Fallen Angel series. Twenty years later Cunningham crossed paths with a violent serial attacker, sowing the seed for her mind-bending thriller, The David Trilogy; The Penance List, Unfinished Business, For My Sins.

An ex-model, British born of Irish roots, she married a rock musician and has worked in the exciting worlds of music, film, sports, celebrity management and as a Crime Investigator for the British Police (Wanted & Absconder Unit, Major Crime Team, Intelligence Analyst, Investigations Hub).

Her first novel, The Penance List has been adapted to film screenplay.

She is the proud mother to contemporary Artist Scarlett Raven and owned by three dogs.

Social Media Links –

Website – http://www.sccunningham.com/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/SCCunningham8

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pg/sccunningham8/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/siobhancunningham8/

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/sccunningham/

Google+ – https://plus.google.com/+SCCunninghamAuthor

Amazon Author Page – https://www.amazon.com/S-C-Cunningham/e/B002L3ZC2U/

#BlogTour #Review with #Giveaway Mask Beneath Her Face by Rafael Chandler @shanannigans81

Title: Mask Beneath Her Face by Rafael Chandler

Publication Date: October 14, 2017

Genre: Horror/ Thriller

Blurb:

During the 1980s, slashers terrorized America. With machetes and masks, these unstoppable killers stalked college campuses, quiet suburbs, and lakeside cabins.

Thirty years ago, Bobbi Metzger survived a massacre at her 16th birthday party. She spent decades putting her life back together.

Tonight, Bobbi will face a new killer: a high-tech slasher hell-bent on opening the doorway to an abyss of unimaginable horror.

How long can Bobbi survive this nightmare? What will she do to protect the people she loves? How much blood is she willing to spill?

Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36456476-mask-beneath-her-face

If you love 80’s slasher flicks like Friday the 13th or Sleepaway Camp, this book’s for you!

Warning: This book contains extreme gore and violence. Not for the faint of heart!

 

Review:

Bobbi, Jesse and Sam all have something in common, they all survived. Back in the 80’s slashers terrorised America, no matter how many times you killed them they kept coming back again and again. Now thirty years later the slashers are coming back, even more terrifying than ever.

As the blurb says this book is not for the faint of heart! There is plenty of violence and gore but I liked the fact that it wasn’t too graphic, which is problem I’ve encountered with the horror genre before. I mean I don’t want to read a book and feel like throwing up afterwards!

It has a subtle nod to films like Halloween, Friday 13^th, Chucky etc and I would recommend it if you are a fan of any of those movies. There was also an element of the supernatural in the story as it sort of explains why the killers keep coming back even though they’ve been killed a million times.

I loved the characters. Jesse is hiding from his slasher refusing to go near any reflective surface. Bobbi has turned to pills and alcohol, waiting for another fight with her slasher. And Sam who seems to have moved on the best, with a secure job, is hiding a terrible secret about his. Then there’s Cris, a misfit kid who’s been used and abused for pretty much her whole life and adopted into Bobbi, Jesse and Sam’s little family but hides a nasty secret that is going to be a shock to everyone.

I would love to read more about each character and their slasher. I would love it if they each had their own prequel story about how they survived each of their slashers in the 80’s (they are touched upon in the book but I just wanted more!).

My only issue was the fact that was a few too many different points of view. There were the main characters but there were also some of the victims and I felt like it got a bit too much at one point.

Overall a fast paced, gore laden, slasher epic that builds to an absolutely terrifying ending.

Rating: 4/5

You can buy it here:

Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Mask-Beneath-Face-Rafael-Chandler-ebook/dp/B076GT2XXC/ref=asap_bc

Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mask-Beneath-Face-Rafael-Chandler-ebook/dp/B076GT2XXC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520004927&sr=8-1&keywords=mask+beneath+her+face

 

About the Author:

Rafael Chandler writes novels (Hexcommunicated, The Astounding Antagonists), video games (SOCOM 4, Rainbow Six: Lockdown, MAG), and tabletop role-playing games (Teratic Tome, Lusus Naturae). He’s a metalhead, a kaijuphile, and a gorehound.

Author site: http://www.rafaelchandler.com

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

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

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/797404.Rafael_Chandler

 

Giveaway:

Enter for your chance to win a print copy of Mask Beneath Her Face or 1 of 5 digital copies

Rafflecopter Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0e7c6a8f30/?

Tour Organized By:

http://www.rrbooktours.com

#BookReview Lay Me To Rest by @EAClarkAuthor @HQDigitalUK

Happy Halloween everyone!  This is just a little note to say I’ll be taking part in NaNoWriMo starting tomorrow so I probably won’t be posting as much over the next month.

Title: Lay me to rest by E.A Clark

Publisher: HQ Digital

Published: 29^th September 2017

Book Description:

Some secrets never stay buried for long…
Devastated by the death of her husband, Annie Philips is shocked to discover she is pregnant with his unborn child. Hoping for a fresh start, she travels to a remote stone cottage in Anglesey, amidst the white-capped mountains of North Wales.

She settles in quickly, helped by her mysterious new neighbour, Peter. But everything changes when Annie discovers a small wooden box, inlaid with brass and mother-of-pearl. A box she was never supposed to find…

Annie soon realises that she isn’t alone in the cottage. And now she’s trapped. Can she escape the nightmare that she has awoken, or will the dark forces surrounding the house claim her life – and that of her baby?

 

Review:

The book opens with Annie in a dark place emotionally. She’s suffering from depression and taking antidepressants after the death of her husband and subsequently finding out she’s pregnant. Her sister suggest she should take a break and journey to a little cottage in Anglesey. When she arrives at the cottage strange things start happening to her.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and it’s been on my tbr for a few months now and I thought I’d read it because I wanted something a little spooky to get me into the Halloween spirit. It kind of reminded me of Ghost Whisperer with Jennifer Love Hewitt (anyone remember that show?) but in a bit of cheesy way rather than a scary way.

It was a quick and easy read but it lacked any suspense or tension until I got about 50% to 60% of the way in. The only reason I read so far in was the element of mystery, like who was this ghost and why was it picking on Annie?

I really did feel for Annie but I felt like she was believed far too easily about the ghost, which obviously didn’t know the rules of how to haunt someone because at one point it showed up in the middle of the day! And I also didn’t find it particularly terrifying either.

The ending felt like it was tacked on at the end like an afterthought, as if the author wanted to do a certain amount of words so she decided to stick a few chapters on the end.

Overall a promising debut novel but I just wanted more scariness.

Rating: 3/5

 

Author Bio:

E. A. Clark lives in the Midlands with her husband and son, plus a rather temperamental cat, a rabbit and a chinchilla. She has three (now grown-up) children and five grandchildren. She is particularly partial to Italian food, decent red wine (or any coloured wine come to that …) and cake – and has been known to over-indulge in each on occasions.
She has a penchant for visiting old graveyards and speculating on the demise of those entombed beneath. Whilst she has written short stories and poetry for many years, a lifelong fascination with all things paranormal has culminated in her first novel for adults, Lay Me to Rest. The setting is inspired by her love of Wales, owing to her father’s Celtic roots.

 

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#BookReview The Girl Who Saved Ghosts by KC Tansley @KourHei

Title: The Girl Who Saved The Ghosts by KC Tansley. (2nd book in the Unbelievables series) 

Publisher: Beckett Publishing Group,

Date Released: 17^th October 2017.

Description:

She tried to ignore them. Now she might risk everything to save them.

After a summer spent in a haunted castle—a summer in which she travelled through time to solve a murder mystery—Kat is looking forward to a totally normal senior year at McTernan Academy. Then the ghost of a little girl appears and begs Kat for help, and more unquiet apparitions follow. All of them are terrified by the Dark One, and it soon becomes clear that that this evil force wants Kat dead.

Searching for help, Kat leaves school for the ancestral home she’s only just discovered. Her friend Evan, whose family is joined to her own by an arcane history, accompanies her. With the assistance of her eccentric great aunts and a loyal family ghost, Kat soon learns that she and Evan can only fix the present by travelling into the past.

As Kat and Evan make their way through nineteenth-century Vienna, the Dark One stalks them, and Kat must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to save a ghost.

Outlander series meets The Haunting of Sunshine Girl series.

 

Review:

I received an advanced copy of this via NetGalley.

The story begins by Kat being bombarded by ghosts looking for their reckonings so they can move on and not stay tied to this world. They all seem to be terrified of the Dark One who has made issued a death threat against Kat.

She receives help from an unlikely source, her dad’s family, a man whom she has never met.

She must travel back in time, with her friend Evan, to find a dagger if she has any hope of defeating the Dark One.

This book reminds me of many of my favourite magical TV shows and books like Charmed, Harry Potter, the Worst Witch and even a little hint of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Although I would recommend before you read this book to read the first, The Girl Who Ignored The Ghosts. I didn’t and I feel like I missed a few things as it kept referring to the other book.

There was a lot to take in, magical rings, ghosts and time travel to name a few. There is so much I couldn’t fit it in this review!

I have to love Kat. She wears glasses and is on the curvy side. She’s also brave, strong and tries to do the right thing, even if it almost costs her her life. There’s a bit of chemistry between her and Evan, I can feel a bit of a romance is in the air with those two.

I ended up really enjoying the book even the whole time travel aspect which is a difficult feat to pull off without seeming a little cheesy or forced.

I feel though the story lost a bit of steam near the end. I understand it was rounding off the story and building up to the next but I just kept expecting some action or something which never happened.

I can’t wait to see what KC Tansley does with the next book!

Rating: 4/5

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