Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain by Joachimb Schmidt~ Blog Tour

 

Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press 

Publication Date: 18th July 2024

Genre: Mystery

Summary:

Kalmann is back! But he's already in trouble; in an interrogation room at the FBI headquarters in Washington, no less. All he wanted to do was visit his American father, but the loveable sheriff of Raufarhofn got himself mixed up in the January 2021 Capitol riots. Thanks to sympathetic FBI agent Dakota Leen, he's soon on a plane home. But not before she informs him that his grandfather was on a blacklist, suspected of spying for the Russians during the Cold War. Back in Iceland, there's a murder and one heck of a mystery to unravel. And what role does a mysterious mountain play in all this? Somehow Kalmann never loses heart. There's no need to worry; he has everything under control.

Review:
Firstly thank you to Random Things Book Tours, Bitter Lemon Press and Joachim B. Schmidt for having me on this tour and sending me a copy of the book.
This was not what I was expecting if I'm honest. I completely went into this expecting your standard Nordic Noir and was completely thrown for six by the opening chapter. It took me in a completely different direction from the one I was anticipating going in, which meant it did take a little time to get into it but I'm not unhappy about the direction it took me.
I found our main character Kalmann quite odd and it took me a fair few chapters to get used to him, when we first meet him, from the way he was written I thought he was a 15/16-year-old boy and it wasn't til a chapter or two further along that we learn that he's actually much older and an adult. And the way that the author portrays him is very well done, i think we learn so much about him through his interactions with others and unfortunately we learn a lot about the people in his life with those interactions also. One thing i really didn't like was the use of the word retard with regards to him, he's called it a few times by people who don't necessarily know him all that well and it is said in a  insulting manner. It just didn't sit well with me. 
I did find the story itself interesting and i really did enjoy finding out the connections between characters, how they all interlinked and what the sleeping mountain was. Its a very well written book and i did enjoy Joachimb Schmidt's writing style, it took a little bit of getting used to but once your there its easy to follow and keeps you hooked.


Krystina xx

Catherine by Essie Fox ~Blog Tour

 Publisher: Orenda Books

Publication Date: 12th Febuary 2026

Genre: Gothic Fiction

Summary:

With a nature as wild as the moors she loves to roam, Catherine Earnshaw grows up alongside Heathcliff, a foundling her father rescued from the streets of Liverpool. Their fierce, untamed bond deepens as they grow – until Mr Earnshaw’s death leaves Hindley, Catherine’s brutal brother, in control and Heathcliff reduced to servitude.

Desperate to protect him, Catherine turns to Edgar Linton, the handsome heir to Thrushcross Grange. She believes his wealth might free Heathcliff from cruelty – but her choice is fatally misunderstood, and their lives spiral into a storm of passion, jealousy and revenge.

Now, eighteen years later, Catherine rises from her grave to tell her story – and seek redemption.

Review:
Firstly thank you to random Things Book Tours, Orenda and Essie Fox for having me on this tour and sending me a copy of the book.
Ok so confession time, i have never read Wuthering Heights. I tried once and i was not in the right headspace for it and reverted back to one of my favourite comfort reads instead. But i think that reading this without the knowledge of what occurs in Wuthering Heights is a good thing, hear me out. So i was completely invested in Cathy's story, pulled along from the first pages and because i had no idea exactly how the story went just vague bits from seeing film trailers here and there i had to keep reading because i wanted to know what happened next and how we got to that opening scene. Which, without spoiling anything, is kind of the end of her story really, so my lack of prior knowledge drove me to not put the book down and keep reading. 
At times i have to say i really didnt like Cathy, some of the things she does whilst to her they are coming from a good place are quite cruel. I do understand that this is set in a  time period where her attitude isnt uncommon and in fact is the common attitude but it doesnt make her actions excusable. But it does make Essie Fox's writing very clever because it has to be hard to write without adding that modern spin to a classic story.
I really enjoyed everything about this book, the way that Essie Fox writes is lovely and i found it so easy to just keep reading. I even loved the chapter headers, the use of roman numerals and a gothic looking framing was just so perfect for this book.
Im now going to go back and read Wuthering Heights just to see how the story compares and see if the bits i enjoyed the most from this retelling are still my favourites bits in the classic.

Krystina xx

Your Twin Flame Journey by Theresa Cheung ~Blog Tour

 Publisher: Godsfield Press

Publication Date: 5th Febuary 2026

Genre: New Age

Summary:

Every relationship has lessons to teach you, but none more so than the Twin Flame relationship. Meeting your Twin Flame is the most powerful soul encounter you can ever experience. Often marked with an irresistible familiarity and heart-breaking intensity, your Twin Flame serves as a mirror to both the best and the most unlikeable and unhealed parts of you. The Twin Flame relationship has an ancient, multi-cultural history behind it, and is accompanied by many immortal expressions across art and culture. But unfortunately, it is also often very misunderstood.

From debunking the myths around Twin Flames to offering practical advice for navigating these passionate connections, Your Twin Flame Journey is a comprehensive guide to intimate relationships from a psychological and spiritual perspective.

With Theresa's expert guidance, you will learn how to heal your broken heart and make empowering decisions for yourself, as Theresa knows best of all: you cannot find your Twin Flame until you spiritually awaken to the power of self-love first.

Review:
Firstly thank you to Random Things Book Tours, Godsfield Press and Theresa Cheung for having me on this blog tour and sending me a copy of the book.

Ok so first off i am still reading this book, and thats not because im finding it hard to read but because im taking the time to fully throw myself into the exercises and new practises (like the reconnecting with your heart) that Theresa Cheung is asking you to do. Whilst yes i am on this tour to review this book and normally i would have finished it cover to cover by now, this book doesn't feel like one that should be rushed.
Now i have always held the belief that we have can have multiple soul mates and that those connections don't have to be romantic ones, that platonic ones can be just as strong and meaningful. And this book has added to my thoughts on this and added in the whole concept of Twin Flame connections, which is not something i knew much about other than having heard the term in passing. I have to say ive loved what ive read so far and i especially like that we've started off by explaining what a Twin Flame is and how it differs from Soul Mates. I like that Theresa has gone into this expecting us to either not fully understand the term or have preconceived ideas of what it means that might not be necessarily correct and begins by giving us that firm footing of knowledge to build upon with the rest of the book.
Ive found her writing style to not only easy to read and digest but, most importantly, not to be condescending which can occasionally happen with some new age/spiritual books. She come across as very knowledgeable and happy to share that knowledge freely with everyone and not gatekeep. As i said im still finishing this book and i know im going to finish it and ill come away with having gained something from it. This book has come along at the right point in time for me because its message about the power of self love is one i defiantly have needed to hear and one i have struggled with greatly so far this year (and last year if im honest) and this book is forcing me to stop and listen to my heart.
No matter if you're searching for your Twin Flame or you perhaps just need to let in the ability to love yourself a little more, i think that its worth you picking up this book and spending the time over it.

Krystina xx

Craniofacial Anatomy and Forensic Identification by Gloria Nusse ~Blog Tour

 Publisher: Academic Press

Publication Date: 3rd October 2022

Genre: Academic

Summary:

Our bodies record what happens to us physically throughout our lives. This is illustrated by the simple appearance of scars from injuries sustained years, and even decades ago. Evidence such as scars also tells us how we used our joints or may have injured them as children and adults. Our bodies conform to the environment in which we live, both outside and inside. By examining and observing these key clues, a forensic investigator can reveal the unique character that tells the story of a person’s life and death.

Craniofacial Anatomy and Forensic Identification is an atlas that covers all aspects of facial reconstruction and anatomy of the head and neck, such as facial expression and the anatomic basis for facial development, along with the effects of muscle movement. Written by a world-renowned forensic artist with decades of experience as a scientific illustrator as well as a portraitist, anthropologist, and lecturer in anatomy and biology, the author is as much a scientist as an artist.

• Comprehensively addresses the history of facial reconstruction, facial development, muscle movements, and bone physiology used by forensic artists and forensic anthropologists
• Demonstrates techniques in mold making and sculpting to bring the body to life
• Includes images from cadaver labs and recent case studies
• Provides detailed anatomy of vessels and nerves found in the face including the eyes
• Details the muscles, ligaments and tissues down to the skull
• Describes the changing face as it ages

Review:
Firstly thank you to Partners In Crime Tours and Gloria Nusse for having me on this tour and sending me a copy of the book.
Ok so this is very different from most of the books ive reviewed but i have to say that ive been most excited to read this out of them. I love expanding on my knowledge and this book happens to lean into an absolute love of mine by giving me an insight how you go about reconstructing a face and more importantly to me how you would do it with ancient remains. I'm an avid Archaeology/Egyptology nerd and the ability to reconstruct and see, as close as we can, the faces of some of the occupants of the tombs that have been discovered is amazing to me. And i loved being able to learn exactly how that process can be done.
I actually loved learning everything this book had to offer from the anatomy in a finer detail than i ever learned at school all the way to those bits of techniques for brining the faces to life. I did take this book slowly though, because its a textbook i knew that the information would be coming at me thick and fast and i wanted to be able to take it all in. Honestly i did want to skip forward to the chapter on grave goods and artifacts but i contained myself and read it all in the right order! 
I found Gloria Nusse's writing style really easy to engage with and honestly so easy to read, textbooks are often hard going because they are so information dense but whilst this is information rich i didnt find it hard going at all. If your like me and love to learn then i think youll find this book as fascinating as i did and its defiantly worth the read.

Krystina xx

Guest Post on Reconstructive work on ancient remains by Gloria Nusse

Now i don't often get the chance to pick the brains of people like Gloria Nusse who do such fascinating things such as facial reconstruction so when i had the opportunity to not only read her book but ask her about her work reconstructing ancient remains i jumped at the chance. And now i get to share that with all of you! As someone who has an obsession with Ancient Egypt  i love the idea that we could look into the faces of the pharaohs and others whom we've found the tombs and mummies of and see them as close to how others would have seen them when they were alive.
Thank you again to Partners In Crime book tours and Gloria Nusse for having me on this tour and sending me a copy of this fascinating book to read.

Guest Post on reconstructing ancient remains
 

The hard part of ancient remains is the condition of the remains, such

as if they are damaged and incomplete. So choosing which remains

can be reconstructed is a large part of the process.

Then the condition of the remains dictates how the reconstruction can

be started. Meaning are the remains going to be scanned and 3-D

printed, or can a mold be made or do the remains need to only

duplicated in clay by the artist. All of these methods will affect the

reconstruction. For the Bahrain reconstructions they were scanned

and 3-d printed. The young boy was missing half o the facial bones so

those were duplicated in the scan and flipped. This changed the

natural asymmetry of the face. I had to recreate what I could using

the cranium and the mandible. For the old man we scanned and

printed each fragment of the skull and then reassembled the pieces

after. I thin the later method created a more natural asymmetry.

Then I used the oldest tissue depth data I had from the 1800’s.I also

took care with what could be learned from the teeth as this reflects

diet and lifestyle. I also researched hairstyles and clothing of 4000

years ago using painting, carvings and Egyptian cylinder seals and

hieroglyphs of that era. This gave me cultural context. I spent a lot of

time on this part.

I also checked myself using current populations of Bahrain men for

general hair texture, facial structure and facial expression. The young

boy was harder as the data was for adults so I had to regress him in

age. I made a notebook of all my research on the figures and their

lifestyle in order to get a feel for life at that time. I especially wanted

to know how they made cloth for clothing. I bought raw silk to

replicate this. I consulted with several archeologists, anthropologists

and visited the ancient history study department library at Berkeley.

Yes-You Matter,You Are Enough by Larin J Lund ~Book Tour

 

Publisher:  G-Power Global Publishing

Publication Date: 13th September 2025

Genre: Self-help

Summary:

This book is about celebrating your life, understanding and creating your value, while building confidence and resiliency.

The cover was designed with interlocking and layering lines to illustrate the many interrelated paths in our lives that give us the opportunity to change our direction at any time. This design reflects a journey toward self-reliance and resilience, encouraging us to embrace our true selves and build a strong inner foundation.

This is the book that will always remind you that:

YES-I MATTER, I AM ENOUGH.

Review:
Firstly thank you to Partners in Crime Tours,G-Power Global Publishing and Karin J Lund for having me on this tour and sending me a copy of the book.
So to begin with i really think this has a cute cover and its colour scheme and style follow through the whole book and its nice. The colours are really relaxing and give you chilled vibe which makes the book a really fun dip in and out book. I liked the workbook questions that were dotted throughout the book, i felt that we had just the right amount to make you think without feeling like you had homework and they were all presented in a fun way too. Making you think without it feeling heavy, yet still getting that important message across. The only thing i was unsure about with this book was the age range it was aimed at, the font and fun way its layed out seems a little young for the older teenage end of the YA scale, but i think this would work well for the older end of the primary school scale. 
Its defiantly a good book for any younger people in your life and honestly a few grown up ones too.

Krystina xx

Escape to the Northern Lights by Carrie Walker ~Blog Tour

 Publisher: Aria

Publication Date: 6th November 2025

Genre: Romance

Summary:

High-powered lawyer Sara thought she had life figured out - until her whirlwind marriage ends in divorce, her dream promotion slips away and a burnout diagnosis forces her to take a break.

Desperate for a reset, she books a four-week spa retreat in Norway, imagining a luxurious escape. Instead, she finds herself in the rugged wilderness of Firefly Forest, knee-deep in reindeer droppings and stuck with an annoyingly bohemian - and ridiculously attractive - outdoorsman, Henrik.

What starts as a nightmare turns into a journey of self-discovery as Sara swaps designer heels for bare feet, legal briefs for tree-hugging, and fleeting flings for something far deeper...

Review:

Firstly thank you to Rachels Random Resources, Aria and Carrie Walker for having me on this tour and sending me a copy of the book.
I love a romance set in Scandinavia, partly because they have amazing landscapes and when authors write them well you can almost step into the setting and partly because who doesn't want a tall rugged Viking as a love interest. And in this book we got both, and both were brilliantly written by Carrie Walker which made me fall in love with both Bergen and Henrik. The descriptions of the retreat have just made me want to go a retreat like it,i genuinely cant think of a better way to spend a month than as Sara did, in a beautiful Nordic landscape with no wifi so i can just read! Aside from that this has been a really lovely read, i fell in love with Henrik from the first time we were introduced to him (admittedly i have a soft spot for Vikings) and watching him and Sara's interactions brought a smile to my face. Sara is a very relatable MC, i think everyone struggles with running close to burn out these days, our jobs expect so much in the amount of hours we work and a lot of people cant keep that balance. I love that not only did Sara manage to find herself under all that stress but in the process she found that work life balance that we all crave I could barely put this book down and sped through it because i found our MC's easy to engage with and the writing style just flowed beautifully. This has been a fantastic addition to my run up to Christmas reads and i may even be adding into my December rereads because it just made me smile so much.

I'm defiantly going to get some more books by Carrie Walker, I've so enjoyed her writing style and i cant wait to read more of it.

Krystina xx