Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: October 29, 2018

Publisher: Manatee

Blurb:

When does a gift become a curse? 

Meg has a gift. She can change lives. But when tragedy strikes in childhood she vows never to use it again. 
Now an adult, she is living in Cornwall; a place where the elements themselves have a life of their own. When they call she refuses to listen, fearful of the dark places where her gift can lead. 

But the dead will not be silenced. They are stronger than her. And now they have chosen she is powerless to escape… 

I’m delighted to be one of the stops on the blog tour for The Night Visitor today!

Review:

Ahh this is going to be a really tricky book for me to review without giving too much away! So much of it was surprising for me and I would hate to ruin the experience for future readers so if this seems a bit vague, you’ll understand why.

This is one of those books that drew me in right away, it begins when Meg is just a child and introduces you to her and her gift. This gift is of the paranormal type and it truly intrigued me, would Meg be mature enough as a child to understand and use it? How does a young girl navigate the supernatural? So interesting and a really creepy read for this time of year.

I really connected with Meg, her life was tough and there is much more to her than meets the eye. She is quiet and reserved, she even comes across as snobby to people but she’s really anything but and I can always root for a character that is the underdog. Besides being wholly invested in the protagonist, I really enjoyed the authors writing style. It was very descriptive and detailed making it incredibly easy to picture each and every scene that was written. The setting was also spooky and so vividly described that I felt like I was right there myself.

If you don’t mind supernatural elements to your thrillers, give this one a shot! It was engaging and really different, the only other author I’ve read that is similar is Mark Tilbury, so if you like him check this one out. It really blurred the lines between genres, it would appeal to fans of historical fiction, romance and mysteries, there’s something for every reader here.

The Night Visitor in three words: Creepy, Immersive and Unnerving.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Amazon

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Blurb:

It’s two days before Christmas – and Evie Harris finds herself both manless and jobless. After a chance encounter with handsome Greg (and egged on by her toy-boy-eating friend, Bea) she agrees to work at a homeless shelter on Christmas Day.
Striking up an unlikely friendship with homeless Yves, Evie begins an unwitting journey of spiritual awakening, all set against the sparkling winter backdrop of London landmarks. 
A New Year’s Eve revelation is on its way . . . but will it leave Evie with a happy heart, or will she allow the pre-Christmas past to dictate her future?

I’m so pleased to be one of the stops on the blog tour for Christmas Spirit today!

Review:

Well if you’re looking for a quick read to put you in a holiday frame of mind then this one is absolutely perfect! It’s a novella, so really fast paced but it still packed quite an emotional punch and left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

I adored both Evie and her best friend Bea, they’re complete opposites and make quite the pair. Evie is sweet and caring and down on her luck and then Bea is outrageous and wickedly funny, truly naughty she made me laugh so hard. Besides fun characters this had such great meaning about what’s truly important in life. Evie goes through a remarkable period of growth over the course of just a few days and it was sweet and heartwarming. Ideal Christmas read, totally recommended!

Christmas Spirit in three words: Festive, Hopeful and Heartwarming.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the author and Rachel for my review copy.

Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: November 15, 2018

Publisher: Orenda

Genre: Crime Fiction

Blurb:

One crossed wire, three dead bodies and six bottles of bleach

Seth Beauman can’t sleep. He stays up late, calling strangers from his phonebook, hoping to make a connection, while his wife, Maeve, sleeps upstairs. A crossed wire finds a suicidal Hadley Serf on the phone to Seth, thinking she is talking to The Samaritans.
But a seemingly harmless, late-night hobby turns into something more for Seth and for Hadley, and soon their late-night talks are turning into day-time meet-ups. And then this dysfunctional love story turns into something altogether darker, when Seth brings Hadley home…
And someone is watching…
Dark, sexy, dangerous and wildly readable, Good Samaritans marks the scorching return of one of crime fiction’s most exceptional voices.

I’m so thrilled to be one of the stops on the blog tour for Good Samaritans today!

Review:

Do you like dark, twisted and seriously messed up books? What about books that are fresh and like nothing you’ve ever read before? How about books that literally make you say WTF a thousand times? Friends, if you answered yes to any of these questions this book is for you!

The premise for this is amazing, you have Seth the insomniac who just wants someone to talk to, enter Hadley who needs someone to just listen and then finally the person who is watching…Creepy? Yes!! But so much more than just creepy, it’s provocative and edgy as well. It totally pushes the boundaries in the best possible way, I think dysfunctional is the best word for it, but even then, it doesn’t truly convey just how seriously screwed up this one is. Seriously, I felt dirty just reading it but I just could not stop, it was the very definition of gripping.

This not the book for a fragile reader, it’s bold and does not shy away from sex and graphic descriptions of violence, but if that doesn’t bother you this is a must read. I’ve never read anything quite like, it’s truly original and Carver completely blew me away. Some of the twists were so deranged I was shocked, but also in complete awe, this will most definitely be on my list of best books of 2018! (And this was book 267 for me so it really is a standout!)

Good Samaritans in three words: Edgy, Provocative and Twisted.

Overall rating: 5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: November 6, 2018

Publisher: Aria

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Blurb:

I know everything about you 

And you know everything about me… except 

WHO I AM. 

Andi met Camilla at university. Instantly best friends, they shared everything together. Until their long-planned graduation celebration ends in tragedy… 

Years later, Andi is living a seemingly perfect life on the rugged Cornish Coast with her loving husband, happy children and dream home. Yet Andi is haunted by a secret she thought only she knew. 

Someone out there is bringing Andi’s deepest fears to life. And she knows there’s no escaping the past that has come back to haunt her… 

You trusted me with your secrets, you told me everything, you thought I was your best friend… but you have no idea WHO I AM. 

Gripping, unputdownable and packed with twists and turns from the first page to the very last, this stunning psychological thriller will make you question whether we can ever really trust the ones we love.

I’m so excited to be kicking off the blog tour for Who I Am today!

Review:

This was a true psychological thriller in that it had all the elements I crave in a dark read that will mess with my head. I feel like the psychological thriller label is often used on novels that are really more of a standard mystery/thriller but Who I Am is an excellent example of a what a true PT really is.

If you chose to add this to your TBR I want to advise you to pay close attention. There is quite a lot going on here; multiple narrators, and definitely the untrustworthy type, and it also jumps around from past to present. Each chapter is clearly labeled so it’s not confusing, but still this requires some focus in order to catch all the subtle nuances the author so deftly drops.

Andi and Camilla narrate the bulk of the book but there are also several chilling chapters from an unknown narrator that gave me goosebumps. I wouldn’t say either Andi or Camilla were likable characters but they were interesting and well drawn. Andi especially captivated me as she conveyed such a great sense of paranoia that made me uneasy. It also had that mounting sense of dread that I so love and the tension and pacing increases the further along you get. And of course there were some twists to be found and none that I saw coming, always so fun!

Who I Am in three words: Menacing, Dark and Intricate.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads|Amazon US|Amazon UK

Release date: May 3, 2018

Publisher: Trapeze

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Blurb: 

Catching him will make her career – and change her forever.

August, 1999

On the hottest day of the year, Assistant Commissioner Florence Lovelady attends the funeral of Larry Glassbrook, the convicted murderer she arrested thirty years earlier. A master carpenter and funeral director, Larry imprisoned his victims, alive, in the caskets he made himself. Clay effigies found entombed with their bodies suggested a motive beyond the worst human depravity.

June, 1969

13-year- old Patsy Wood has been missing for two days, the third teenager to disappear in as many months. New to the Lancashire police force and struggling to fit in, WPC Lovelady is sent to investigate an unlikely report from school children claiming to have heard a voice calling for help. A voice from deep within a recent grave.

August, 1999

As she tries to lay her ghosts to rest, Florence is drawn back to the Glassbrooks’ old house, in the shadow of Pendle Hill, where she once lodged with the family. She is chilled by the discovery of another effigy – one bearing a remarkable resemblance to herself. Is the killer still at large? Is Florence once again in terrible danger? Or, this time, could the fate in store be worse than even her darkest imaginings?

You may remember me raving about this book a few months ago and I’m resharing my review to celebrate paperback publication day!

Review: 

Last year Sharon Bolton had me raving about a book containing hot air balloons, nuns, human trafficking and peacocks, yes Dead Woman Walking took all of those elements and delivered a thriller the likes of which I’d never seen before. Until now. The Craftsman delves into witchcraft and clay effigies (think voodoo dolls) and has a supernatural undercurrent that normally wouldn’t work so well for me, but this? This was genius.

It’s starts in 1999 and Florence is attending the funeral of a killer she helped to catch back in 1969. It immediately jumps back to that time period and remains there until almost the end. Florence was exceptionally well developed, I loved seeing how she grew and matured between the late sixties and late nineties, she was such an interesting woman and the way she was mistreated as a female police officer at the start of her career was appalling but fascinating.

This was so immersive, the atmosphere was chilling and eerie and full of tension, both because of the missing teenagers and also because of the hostility that Florence experiences all because she’s a woman. The case was complex and kept me on my toes and the ending was outstanding, I never saw it coming! Bolton is at the top of her game, I can’t recommend this book and her work more, she’s a truly gifted author.

The Craftsman in three words: Intricate, Chilling and Dark. 

Overall rating: 5/5