The Country Village Summer Fete by Cathy Lake @LakeAuthor @ZaffreBooks @Tr4cyF3nt0n #BookReview

Title: The Country Village Summer Fete by Cathy Lake

Date Published: 10th June 2021

Publisher: Zaffre 

Genre: Rom Com/Women’s Fiction

Description:

Take a trip back into Little Bramble…

Emma Patrick’s life is spiralling out of control. On the cusp of her 50th birthday, she suddenly realises that she doesn’t have many meaningful relationships in her life. She’s single, successful, living alone and thinks she’s loving it, but being so focussed on work and always online means she’s lost any real connection to people.

When Emma gets a call to say her ageing father is becoming increasingly confused, she decides that she should go back home to the countryside to spend some time with him. But returning to Little Bramble, the village she grew up in, after all these years is filled with complications of its own and people she’d rather avoid.

As Emma starts to settle into her childhood home, she finds herself loving village life – much to her surprise. When the opportunity to get involved in the running of the summer fete comes her way, before she knows it she’s embracing jam making, cake baking and bunting. And with romance brewing, Emma begins to doubt the glamorous life in London that she worked so hard to build . . .

Review:

I want to thank Tracy Fenton for inviting me on this tour and Zaffre for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Country Village Summer Fete follows the story of Emma Patrick, who returns to the village of Little Bramble to look after her elderly father when he gets ill. She left the village behind years ago for a successful career in London and coming back is full of bittersweet memories, especially when it comes to an old flame of hers.

This story was just a delightful read with plenty of sweet and heartwarming moments. I also enjoyed the fact it was a second chance for romance novel, focusing on older characters who are proud to be older, as they should be!

This is the second in the Little Bramble series but works perfectly well as a standalone. I only noticed when I went looking for more books by Cathy Lake and found the first book.

The characters are all so likable and sweet, I really enjoyed meeting them. I felt for Emma, she’s burnt out and a bit isolated when we first meet her, trying to keep up with her freelance editing work and running herself into the ground. On top of all that, she gets the dreaded news about her father who might have dementia then having to face up to her old heartbreak… I just wanted to give her a hug!

The Country Village Summer Fete is a combination of gentle humour and sweet romance that is the perfect summer read. I’m looking forward to more books from Cathy Lake!

About The Author:

Cathy Lake is a women’s fiction writer who lives with her family and three dogs in beautiful South Wales. She writes uplifting stories about strong women, family, friendship, love, community and overcoming obstacles.

#BlogTour #BookReview Trust Me by T.M. Logan @TMLoganAuthor @ZaffreBooks @Tr4cyF3nt0n

Title: Trust Me by T.M. Logan

Date Published: 18th March 2021

Publisher: Zaffre Books

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Description:

Two strangers, a child, and a split second choice that will change everything . . .

Ellen was just trying to help a stranger. That was how it started: giving a few minutes respite to a flustered young mother sitting opposite her on the train. A few minutes holding her baby while the mother makes an urgent call. The weight of the child in her arms making Ellen’s heart ache for what she can never have.

Five minutes pass.

Ten.

The train pulls into a station and Ellen is stunned to see the mother hurrying away down the platform, without looking back. Leaving her baby behind. Ellen is about to raise the alarm when she discovers a note in the baby’s bag, three desperate lines scrawled hastily on a piece of paper:

Please protect Mia

Don’t trust the police

Don’t trust anyone

Why would a mother abandon her child to a stranger? Ellen is about to discover that the baby in her arms might hold the key to an unspeakable crime. And doing the right thing might just cost her everything . . . 

Review:

I want to thank Tracy Fenton for inviting me on this tour and Zaffre books for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is my third T.M.Logan book and having enjoyed those novels I was very excited to see what this one had to offer.

Trust Me may be just over four hundred pages long, but with its quick pace and short chapters it didn’t feel that long at all. 

The story follows Ellen, a woman in her forties who’s just received the diagnosis that she won’t be able to have children. On the train home she’s asked to look after baby Mia while her mum makes an urgent call. Time passes, but her mum doesn’t come back. Looking for clues to the woman’s disappearance it leads Ellen down a dangerous path but she knows one thing, she must protect Mia at all costs.

Ellen was an excellent character with hidden depths. At first you think she’s just an average person who I felt more than a bit sorry for, but it turns out she’s a bit of a badass. Her determination and stubbornness to let things go really drew me on through the novel.  

There’s a good deal of intrigue and tension running through the story, and you’re really not sure who to trust. Unfortunately, the author tried so hard to deceive that I felt it made the real bad guy a bit obvious.

Trust Me is a quick and addictive read, perfect to lose yourself in for a few hours. 

About The Author:

Tim’s thrillers have sold more than one million copies in the UK and are published in 19 countries around the world including the USA, South Korea, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Greece, Romania and the Netherlands.

His brand new novel TRUST ME has been described as ‘Everything you want from a thriller, and more…’ TRUST ME is out now in hardback, e-book and audiobook.

His debut thriller LIES was one of Amazon’s biggest selling e-books of 2017 and was followed by 29 SECONDS in 2018. THE HOLIDAY was a Richard & Judy Book Club pick for summer 2019 and spent ten weeks in the Sunday Times paperback top ten.

THE CATCH is about a father who becomes convinced his daughter is about to marry a man with terrible secrets.

Tim was born in Berkshire and studied in London and Cardiff before becoming a national newspaper journalist. He lives in Nottinghamshire with his wife and two children, and writes in a cabin at the bottom of his garden.

For exclusive writing and new releases from TM Logan, sign up to the Readers’ Club: www.bit.ly/TMLogan.

#BookReview The Spiral by Iain Ryan

Title: The Spiral by Iain Ryan

Publisher: Zaffre 

Publication Date: 10th December 2020

Genre: Thriller

Description:

Erma Bridges’ life is far from perfect, but entirely ordinary. So when she is shot twice in a targetted attack by a colleague, her quiet existence is shattered in an instant.

With her would-be murderer dead, no one can give Erma the answers she needs to move on from her trauma. Why her? Why now?

So begins Erma’s quest for the truth – and a dangerous, spiralling journey into the heart of darkness.

With all the inventiveness of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and the raw brutality of Mulholland Drive, THE SPIRAL is a unique crime thriller with killer twists – and 2020’s most jaw-dropping ending.

Review:

I want to thank the lovely people at Zaffre for providing me with an arc copy of The Spiral in exchange for an honest review.

Hmm, I’m going to need a minute to sort out my feelings over this book…

Okay let’s start with what I enjoyed…

It’s billed as the most original thriller of the year, which I totally agree with. We had Erma’s point of view mixed in with the mysterious Sero, a barbarian in a fantasy world. I can safely say I’ve never read a novel which has mixed fantasy with a psychological thriller before. 

Erma was a flawed and realistic character, if not that likeable. You know the type, they’re their own worst enemy. Then we have Sero who has no memory and is searching for answers and slaughtering whoever they feel like along the way. There were times when I was more intrigued with Sero’s POV over Erma’s.

It started out as a really addictive story, I wanted to find out more, the mystery really spurred me on to read more. Then it was that pesky third part. There was something unsatisfying about it and it became a little disjointed to me. 

Would I read something else by this author? Definitely. I really enjoyed the characters that the author created, I just wish there had been a better ending to the book.

About The Author:

Iain Ryan grew up in the outer suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. He predominantly writes in the hardboiled/noir genre and his work has been previously published by Akashic Books (New York), Crime Factory (Melbourne) and Broken River Books (Portland). His most recent novel ‘The Student’ is available now via Echo Publishing/Bonnier.