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Showing posts from March, 2022

March 2022 Reading List

Tell Me an Ending - Jo Harkin   ⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Fiction | Released: 12/05/2022 Witch 13 - Patrick Delaney   ⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Horror | Released: 07/06/2022 Run, Rose, Run - Dolly Parton & James Patterson  ⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Fiction | Released: 07/03/2022 I'm Sorry You Feel That Way - Rebecca Wait  ⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Fiction | Released: 08/07/2022 The Golden Couple - Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen   ⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Thriller | Released: 03/03/2022 The Crux - Charlotte Perkins Gilman  ⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Classics | Released: 1911 The Fake-Up - Justin Myers  ⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Romance | Released: 07/04/2022 In the Margins - Elena Ferrante    ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Non Fiction | Released: 15/03/2022 The Forests - Sandrine Collette  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Literary Fiction | Released: 15/02/2022 Good Intentions - Kasim Ali  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Romance | Released: 03/03/2022 The Crux - Charlotte Perkins Gilman  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Classics | Released: 1911 After the Rain - Lucy Dillon  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Fiction | R...

Welcome to Your Life - Bethany Rutter

  Genre: Adult Fiction | Contemporary | Romance Release Date: Expected 31st March 2022 Publisher:  Harper Collins UK It's Serenas wedding day. The day she finally marries Alastair, with his beautiful green eyes, his security and stability, and a complete lack of that dating drama her friends always seem to talk about. She is so lucky to have him, at least that's what everyone tells her. But instead of walking down the aisle, she's sitting alone in a Harvester with a large glass of wine and facing the reality she just jilted a man at the altar … kind of. After a decade together, she'd been told so many times how perfect they were together that she never stopped to figure out if it was enough for her.  She knows somewhere out there, something is waiting for her. A love story, an entire new life could be waiting and she's not going to keep waiting for it to find her. So after moving in with a friend, she sets herself a challenge - this year she's going to try new t...

BOOK TOUR STOP x Random Things Tours - River Clyde by Simone Buchholz (Chas Riley #10)

  Chastity Riley has had a troubled few years, both through her work as State Prosecutor and in her personal life. The latest point on her long list is a mysterious letter from her great-great Grandfather that lured her to a remote point in Scotland with the suggestion of an inheritance and a house. There, she doesn't just find an escape, but secrets. Secrets about her family and her roots that threaten to sweep over her entire life and drown her.  At the same time while Chastity is drowning, miles away there is fire burning. Miles away in Hamburg, her colleagues Calabretta and Stepanovic are trying to investigate a terrible arson attack while violence explodes throughout the city and wishing she was there to help.  Soon enough, Chastity finds herself tied up in events spanning oceans and lives, past and present, on a journey that could either be her end, or a new beginning for everyone.  " The River lies there, like over a hundred miles of dead men." River Clyde is ...

BOOK TOUR x Random Things Tours - The Better Brother by Simon Gravatt

  Michael and Jack Merriweather are more strangers than brothers at this point. And honestly, Michael would prefer it to stay that way. But after their Father passes away and stipulates that his successful funerary business is to be left to both of them equally they're left speechless, and even more so when they find out they won't get their inheritance at all if they refuse to work together for at least five years. Right away, it's clear that they're not just disagreeing on how to run a business - this is personal. And their feud isn't only threatening to destroy their family legacy, but seeping into every aspect of their lives. The Merriweather brothers are on a path of destruction, and they'll each do anything to prove once and for all that they've always been the better brother.  "Death happens and life goes on." A morbidly hilarious tale of sibling rivalry and family drama, with multi-faceted, layered tension and conflict. Each little aspect o...

The Missing Word - Concita De Gregoria

Genre: Literary Fiction Release Date: Expected 5th July 2022 Publisher: Europa Editions "It's incredible how much pain we can inflict, convinced we're acting for the best." On Sunday, Irinas' estranged husband left in their car without warning and took their daughters with them, their teddies left forgotten and still on the beds.  On Thursday, he killed himself.  Those fateful five days contain the one answer Irina has been looking for ever since - where are her daughters? They haven't been seen since that car left their family home, and Irina has been left searching for something she can't even name. "Nobody belongs to anyone, I believe. Anyone, if they wish, can belong to everybody." There is a word for a wife without a husband, for a child without a mother, but there is one word missing - that is so painful that language may not be able to describe it - a Mother without a child.  This is not just a journey of unexplained and unresolved loss, b...

In the Margins - Elena Ferrante

Genre: Non-Fiction | Essays  Release Date: Expected 15th March 2022 Publisher: Europa Editions "I couldn't contain myself, I was going to spill out into the world, into the other, into others, and write about them." In this stunning collection of essays, Ferrante engages in riveting discourse on the beauty and joy of words - she gives us an insight into her mind, discussing her most beloved stories and authors, and the magic that be found with a simple pen and paper. With intriguing dialogue about the strength of the female voice in literature, and the truth we have to speak. Starting with the powerful pain and pen, which starts discussing the monumental moment in life that is learning to write and how pivotal that can be, moving onto to Aquamarine, exploring the impulse to write and document and create. Then histories 1, starting with the iconic Dickinson poem that explores important authors and their unique influence on the female literary experience, finishing with  Da...

The Golden Couple - Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

  Genre: Thriller | Mystery  Release Date: 3rd March 2022 Publisher: Pan Macmillan Avery Chambers can fix anything. Well, not legally though. She'd lost her licence to practice as a therapist due to her somewhat unorthodox and unethical methods, but at least they worked. If she can't fix you in ten sessions, she won't even take you on as a client. She can fix any problem that comes her way - from the most depressed people, to the most aggressive abusers, to the most broken couples.  Marissa and Mathew are perfect, the golden couple - they're both stunningly beautiful, with a loving child, a successful life and clearly loving marriage. Until a secret comes out the shadow … Marissa cheated on him. But she is desperate not to lose everything so they end up in the office of Avery Chambers,  but it soon becomes clear that cheating wasn't the only secret being hidden in that room, and for the three of them, these secrets might threaten to destroy all of them....

BOOK TOUR STOP x Random Things Tours - The High House by Jessie Greengrass

" It was extraordinary how quickly things fell apart, in the end." Caro and her half-brother have two lives - before and after. Before, they lived with their Father and Francesca in the city, until the world changed. All it took was a single phone call from their Father - they had to leave, to get to the High House and there was no time left …  Now, at the High House that feels as though it towers above the world below, they live with Grandy and his granddaughter Sally. Together, they create their own special kind of family born out of love and fear.  But even here, safe atop the hill they call home, in a place that time almost stands till, the time is still running out …  " This is mercy, which is the best that we can hope for. We do what we can for one another. We try to be kind."   A strikingly poignant tale about a very possible future in which the climate crisis leaves the world dangerous, where living becomes surviving. With a tender yet terrifying beauty, the...

The Forests - Sandrine Collette

Genre: Literary Fiction | Dystopian Fiction Release Date: 15th February 2022 Publisher: Europa Editions Translated from French Here, deep in the forest, Corentin found a home. After a life of being unwanted and unloved by his own family, he was finally left with a lonely old woman named Augustine who lives hidden in the depths of the Valley of the Forests, the place he would feel kindness and love for the first time. But when he finally is old enough to go off and study in the city, he revels in the adventure, pleasure and excitement. But as sparks fly for him, the world is silently burning. And then it happens - the burning becomes an inferno and Corentin barely survives, taking refuge deep in the catacombs of the city. But as he emerges, he finds he hasn't left the bodies of the dead behind him, they are everywhere. The temperatures have risen as predicted, the plants, animals and trees have died. The buildings that were once beacons of strength lay in ashes and the world is almo...

Good Intentions - Kasim Ali

Genre: Romance | Adult Fiction Release Date: 3rd March 2022 Publisher: 4th Estate It's New Years Eve, and like always Nur and his family have gathered in the living room of their home to watch the fireworks on tv together. He'd always wanted to take everyone to see them in person but it never worked out. But this year, the countdown doesn't just signal the start of a brand new year - but a brand new life for him. It's the moment he had promised the woman he loved, that he'd spent four years building a life with, that he would finally tell his family about her. But his girlfriend, Yasmina, isn't Pakistani like his family would expect, she's Sudanese. He has fallen in love with a Black Woman.  As a second-generation immigrant son in a strict Pakistani household, he's always worked hard to be the child his parents have dreamed of, to live up to their expectations of him and continue their traditions. But he also wants to be the partner Yasmina deserves, and...

BOOK TOUR STOP x Random Things Tours - After the Rain by Lucy Dillon

  A freak flood has decimated the lives of the small community of Longhampton, and that isn't the only storm that has swept through Taransay's life recently. Her boyfriend has almost disappeared, her family is falling apart and she's trying her best as a therapist to help everyone in town recover from the tragedy.  On top of that, her estranged father seems to have blown in with the wind and a new counsellor at her wellness centre who appeared out of nowhere seems far too interested in getting to know her. But she doesn't even know who she is right now, and the last thing she needs is David - with his charm and infectious smile getting the way.  She's drowning, but if she can just weather this storm who knows will happen after the rain clears ...  "I'm not the little girl you left. I'm much better and much worse than her." After The Rain is an undeniably charming story - dealing with serious and devastating events but brimming with light and glitte...

The Choice - S.J. Ford

Genre: Mystery | Thriller | Crime Fiction Release Date: 3rd March 2022 Publisher:  Head of Zeus | Aries The Husband. The Lawyer. The Detective. The Journalist. The Murderer. You are the jury. Jane Bell has killed a man. Mowed him down with her car.  She's a criminal, a murderer. So does that make her a villain?  Maybe, but what if we discover that the man she murdered was a neighbour who was planning to kill an entire school full of children and nobody would help her stop him, so she stopped him herself. She saved the lives of countless children. So does that make her the hero of the story? Now, we follow the stories of all the lives tangled up in the aftermath as Jane is tried for everyone to watch on …  and you, dear reader, are the judge and jury.  The Choice is a uniquely interesting experience. With unpredictable, unreliable storytelling that jumps from person to person, this story moved quickly and didn't relent. We get to know family members, police offic...

The Game - Scott Kershaw

Genre: Horror | Thriller Release Date: Expected 12th May 2022 Publisher: HQ Welcome to The Game.  They don't know the rules yet, where it came from or what exactly is even is. But they're going to play anyway, and they're going to do whatever it takes to win - because if they don't win, the people they love is going to die a horrible death.  For the five complete strangers dotted around the world, The Game begins when a terrifying text arrives from an unknown number. Now time is running out for them, and there's only two options - play the game, or lose.  The Game is a practically a Hollywood blockbuster on paper - it's bloody, violence and explosive in a wonderfully over-the-top way that will keep the pages turning until they run out. Despite the madness, I still found time to worry about our poor players and the people they were fighting to protect even if we didn't get to know them too well.  Menacing and horrifying dark, this fast-paced story is full of ...

BOOK TOUR x Random Things Tours - Faceless by Vanda Symon

  To say that Max has had a tough few years is an understatement. He's surviving, but he isn't living. After years of sleeping rough, scavenging for food and asking the odd stranger for a spare smoke, he's almost become invisible. Permanently in the corner of everyone's' eyelines, as though they just can't look at him. But there's one good thing - he has a friend. The young girl who lives in a rough part of town, but actually sees him - but now she's missing.  Billy was an escort. It wasn't great for her, but it's a way to eat, and to pay for the passions she can't afford to chase otherwise. She knew it was a risky job, but she didn't know how risky until Bradley. What started as a normal job ended up in her waking up tied up in a cold dark warehouse wondering if she'll ever see the world, or Max, ever again. Bradley didn't know he was going to do the unspeakable, unforgiveable things he did, he didn't realise how violent he c...

The Lying Wife - Kathryn Croft

  Genre: Thriller | Mystery | Crime  Release Date: 24th February 2022 Publisher: Canelo Books Callie never expected to be sitting in the cold harsh light of the police station, being charged with murder. Her life has never been easy, and she always kind of knew things would always go wrong for her, but she didn’t see this coming. When she met James, she became a wife, a stepmother. She became the person she’d always wanted to be, but it keeps falling apart and the harder she tries to hold on, the more it splinters in her hands.  But here, with the detectives staring at her, she has to decide exactly who she’s going to be in this moment. Can she reveal everything she’s seen and done, tell her unspoken truths even if it means everyone she loves will definitely turn their backs on her? Or will her lies be her undoing?  “I am a wife. A mother. A friend. But now I am also a murderer.”  As I've come to expect from Kathryn Croft, The Lying Wife is a riveting, compellin...

The Coffin Club - Jacqueline Sutherland

Genre: Crime | Thriller | Romance  Release Date: Expected 7th April 2022 Publisher: Oneworld Publications It's time for a New Horizon for Kat. She's making a new start in the countryside after the sudden loss of her husband, and finds herself literally in New Horizons, the name of the group lovingly dubbed Coffin Club by its members, including Nico.  Nico is a breath of fresh air. A reminder that all is not lost, that she might just be able to have love again. He's gorgeous, sweet, handsome, and a brilliant father to a beautiful little girl. This might be her chance to start again, to be loved, and most importantly to have a family like she's always wanted. Her deepest wishes are coming to life, but you know what they about wishes ...  The Coffin Club is a sinister tale of love, loss and obsession with a deceptively pretty backdrop. Sutherland lures the reader in with a promise of a beautiful countryside town and a quiet life of new beginnings and recovery, only to shat...

Stand-In Companion - Kazafumi Shiraishi

Genre: Short Story | Speculative Fiction Release Date: 23rd November 2018 Publisher: Red Circle (Red Circle Minis Collection) Hayato is a successful industrial designer in Japan, in a future world full of progressive technology and AI. After his less than amicable divorce, he's assigned a stand in - an android to provide realistic companionship. But can you replicate that? This may be an advanced world, but even the most impressive technological strides can't solve the most basic of human desires - finding love, connection and true meaning in life.  In only 42 pages, Shiraishi creates an entire world. A beautiful new universe than feels like both utopia and dystopia at the same time -  with a stark juxtaposition between magnificent technology and human achievement, marked against the dark side of government oppression and control.  I felt like I knew the world, connected with it, and that is a testament to the masterful writing in this story. The writing style i...

The Embroidered Book - Kate Heartfield

Genre: Historical Fiction | Retelling Release Date: 17th February 2022 Publisher: HarperCollins UK 1768 - Two Queens with a powerful secret will enchant the age.  When sisters Charlotte and Antoinette were just young girls, they found a book. A book that would not only change their lives, but the lives of everyone around them. A book of real, powerful magic that could do amazing thing but came with terrible consequences. As they grow up, Charlotte is sent away to marry Ferdinand of Naples and Antoinette is sent to France to marry the man who will one day become Louis XVI. Now known as Marie Antionette, her and her sister soon rise in power to become Queens of their new countries but as the times turn to unrest and revolution, the sisters soon find themselves opposed for the first time ever, and their rivalry could prove to be more dangerous than any war.  "Power is not something you are given. Power is something you take." A stunningly visceral retelling of a pivotal moment i...

BOOK TOUR STOP x @LoveBooksTours - To Love and Be Loved by Amanda Prowse

  Merrin is getting ready to start a new chapter of her young life - she was getting ready to walk down the aisle and marry the love of her life, and live happily ever after. But there was no wedding, no happy - after a disaster leaves her humiliated, alone, and heartbroken she flees the small town she's always called home and never looked back. Until now. It's been six years, and she did start a new chapter of her life after all - one far away from the sleepy seaside village of her past away from her family and friends, away from the reminders of everything bad that had happened to her. She has a stable job, she hasn't gotten her heart broken in years, and things are fine.  But when she receives  tragic news, she has to finally return to the place she once knew as home and face it once more time.  Being back reminds her of who she was - young, impulsive, hopeful, confident. And she can't help but wonder if she could be that person again if she just finds the courage...