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Showing posts from February, 2023

February 2023 Reading List

Expectant - Vanda Symon    ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Crime | Released: 16/02/2023 Beautiful Shining People - Michael Grothaus  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Sci-Fi | Released: 16/03/2023 Arthur and Teddy are Coming Out - Ryan Love  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: LGBTQ+ Fiction | Released: 13/04/2023 The Sharp Edge of Silence - Cameron Kelly Rosenblum  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: YA Fiction | Released: 11/04/2023 Not in a Million Years - Sophie Ranald  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Romcom | Released: 22/02/2023 Have You Got Anything Stronger? - Imogen Jones  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Fiction | Released: 30/03/2023 If I Let You Go - Charlotte Levin  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Fiction | Released: 02/03/2023 The Last Woman in the World - Inga Simpson  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Literary Fiction | Released: 30/03/2022 End of Story - Louise Swanson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Psychological Thriller | Released: 23/03/2023 The Space Between Us - Doug Johnstone  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Sci-Fi | Released: 19/01/2023 Total February Reads: 10

REVIEW: End of Story by Louise Swanson

Genre: Mystery | Psychological Thriller | Fiction Release Date: Expected 23rd March 2023 Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Fern is an artist - a writer, a reader. And now, a criminal. Five years ago, any form of fiction was outlawed. No more books, no more stories, no more fairy tales to send your children to sleep and calm their nightmares. And even though since the ban, she's gone into a government-approved job, and removed any sense of her identity from the world, her words won't be silent for long as she finds a new place at an illegal phone line reading bedtime stories to tired and frightening children who need hope.  Here, she meets Hunter. A young boy who wants to hear her stories, to know imagination and happiness. A boy she feels as though she knows. A boy who isn't hers, but feels like it. As she starts to care about him, she can't help but wonder if she can really trust the little voice at the end of the phone. As the oppressive regime closes in and reality s...

READLONG x INSTABOOKTOURS: If I Let You Go by Charlotte Levin

  Every morning Janet Brown goes to work cleaning offices. It calms her, cleanliness, neatness. All the things she’s unable to do with her soul can be achieved with a damp cloth and a splash of bleach. However, the guilt she still carries about a devastating loss that happened eleven years ago, cannot be erased. Then, Janet finds herself involved in a train crash and, recognising the chance to do what she couldn’t all those years ago, she makes a decision. As news spreads of Janet’s actions, her story inspires everyone around her, and for the first time her life has purpose and the future is filled with hope. But Janet's story isn't quite what it seems, and as events spiral out of control, she soon discovers that coming clean isn't an option. Because if Janet washes away the lies, what long-buried truths will she finally have to face. A genuine and honest story about love and loss, with a darkly funny streak that reminds us just how strange life really is.  Janet was both t...

REVIEW: Her by Mira V Shah

Genre: Thriller | Mystery | Fiction Release Date: Expected 23rd March 2023 Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Rani is tired. She's tired of her tiny flat that doesn't feel like home, she's tired of her strained relationship, tired of only ever being called 'Mum' instead of her name. And honestly, she's tired of everything. But then, she meets Natalie and something about her just calls out to Rani. As Natalie moves into the luxurious house across from her with her perfect husband, high-flying career and flawless life, they become friends. She wants to be around Natalie, to know her - but she can't deny, there's something more than that. She wans to be her. So she watches, and she listens. And that perfect life that Rani has been coveting may not be so perfect after all. As their lives intertwine, they both see the hidden sides to their new friend that they'd never had expected - and danger they'd never have imagined.  "I never once considered ...

BOOK TOUR STOP x RANDOM THINGS TOURS - The Forcing by Paul E Hardistry

  "In the beginning, God created man. And it was pretty much downhill from there." The world is dying, and we're the murderers. Wars, viruses and hatred has infected every corner of the globe. The greed and ignorance of our ancestors has suffocated Mother Earth, and left the young people of the world to live on dying planet devoid of hope.  But now, people are rising up and demanding not only action, but accountability. A government form from the young and angry, who force everybody over the "age of responsibility" into exile - leaving behind their lives, their homes and being thrown into the harsh wastelands of their own creation.  David and May find themselves in this exile, despite their son being a powerful figure in this world. But the more they learn about their new prison, amongst the rich and poor, the regretful and the righteous, the more they realise they need to escape while they still can.  But the world around them is dangerous, and the people they ...

REVIEW: Not in a Million Years by Sophie Ranald

Genre: Romantic Comedy | Adult Fiction Released: 22nd February 2023 Publisher: Bookouture When Kate agrees to drop everything and jump on a plane to try and find her missing friend Andy during a potential spiral, she's not only happy to try and find her friend but kind of looking forward to her first holiday in forever.  If it wasn't for the mutual 'friend' Daniel who came along, it would be paradise. Clear seas, delicious food and and mesmerising sunsets are much harder to enjoy when the man who's caused so many problems for Kate, and Andy, is always there.  But as the days go by and their trip keeps getting longer, she can't help but feel that something has changed with Daniel - after all this time, there might be something she actually likes about him. But Kate has been chronically and purposefully single for years and this is probably just a holiday crush ... it wouldn't happen, not a million years. Or that's what she tries telling herself, anyway. ...

REVIEW: Your Driver is Waiting by Priya Guns

Genre: Contemporary Fiction | LGBTQ+  Release Date: Expected 02/03/2023 Publisher: Atlantic Books Until this summer, Damani has been living on auto-pilot, like a background character in her own life. She spends the day driving other people around, trying to make enough money to care for her and her struggling Mother. But then, she meets Jolene. Beautiful, bold, brave - she's the perfect woman and Damani can't deny the intense connection between them. But despite Jolene's passionate activism and her claim to have love for everyone, she's still a privileged, rich white woman. Damani just doesn't know if her feelings can ever bridge the divide between them, but she's trying.  Unfortunately, it's only a matter of time before Jolene does something that sets the sparks they had on fire, and Damani is left trying to put out the explosion she burns. "I'm not sure which is worse, being broke or being broken. Being both was definitely the worst, though."...

BOOK TOUR STOP x RANDOM THINGS TOURS: Expectant by Vanda Symon

  Detective Sam Shephard is back - but not for long, hopefully. She's spending her last few weeks at work getting ready and eagerly awaiting her maternity leave. But then, the brutal murder of a pregnant woman sends shockwaves through Dunedin, and through Sam. As it becomes clearer that the culprit is growing more desperate and dangerous, they realise it's going to take something drastic to end their reign of terror. She might be on the side-lines, but she isn't going to let this go without a fight.  Soon it's obvious that nobody is safe, including Sam. She'll stop at nothing to put an end to this nightmare - but can she put herself and her pregnancy in the path of danger to make sure mothers and children are safe again? There might not be another option. " The image of her last moments crept into my brain, playing like an old-school noir movie, and I could almost feel the trace of cold steel against my belly." An explosive new thriller from the Queen of N...

BOOK TOUR STOP x RANDOM THINGS TOURS: The Silence Project by Carole Hailey

Genre: Speculative Fiction Release Date: Expected 9th February 2023 Publisher: Atlantic Books | Corvus  Emilia is breaking the silence.  She's begun writing her memoirs with the help of the notebooks her Mother left behind after she quietly burned herself to death along with thousands of her followers. The Silence Project is going to tell the real story for the first time.  She hadn't heard her Mother speak since she was thirteen, not even in those final painful moments, but she's determined to finally find her own voice and speak about just how twisted The Community her Mother created has become in the years since her death.  The Community exalted Rachel as their saviour, their leader, their guiding light into a new age, the outside world condemned her as a terrorist and murderer. But to Emilia, she was her Mother. And all she can do is hope to speak loud enough to be heard before she's silenced again. "Rachel was none of these. She was neither saint nor demon. No...

REVIEW: Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah

  Genre: Adult Fiction | Domestic  Release Date: Expected 16th March 2023 Publisher: Harper Collins UK | Harper Fiction | The Borough Press  When Efe and Sam meet as teenagers, it seems like destiny. Sam was stable, reliable, strong - and perfect for Efe who needed someone to help her hold up the weight being forced upon her by her parents since she moved from Ghana to the UK to live with her aunt. They were a team - them against the world. But when an unplanned pregnancy occurs, they find themselves on opposing sides for the first time. Now years later, even more pressure starts to crack at the foundations they've been building together. Efe disappears, leaving her husband and daughter in London while she boards a plane. Sam doesn't know if she's running away from their life or towards something else. But now, they need to figure out if the roots they've laid down are holding them up, or holding them back before it's too late. "I can love her and still want so...