The Chemical Code by Fiona Erskine~Blog Tour

 

Publisher: Point Blank

Publication Date: 29th June 2023

Genre:Crime/Thriller

Summary:

Amid the heat of Brazil, explosives expert Jaq Silver has one goal – vengeance. When her enemies take what she treasures most, she will do anything to make them pay. But a series of betrayals leave Jaq unsure of those she can trust, and she realises she’ll need to complete the mission solo. And as everyone hunts down the same mysterious box, Jaq becomes increasingly embroiled in a web of far-reaching consequences. It seems there’s a hidden agenda, but can Jaq be sure she is chasing down the right target? And who is pursuing her?

Review:

Firstly thank you to Random Things Book Tours, Point Blank and Fiona Erskine for having me on this tour and sending me a copy of the book to review.
I really love the cover of the book, it just catches the attention, which made me want to read the blurb and then that made me want to read the book. I didn't realise it was book 4 of a series until I picked it up, and I haven't read any of the others but I feel I may have benefitted from doing so. Whilst it is a stand-alone I think I missed out on some information that I would have gained from reading the rest, but that just gives me a good excuse to get the rest and read the whole series.
I really enjoyed Jaq as our MP, she's clearly a brilliant woman and watching how her brain works was so fun to do. It had a few technical things in it that got me intrigued so I actually did google occasionally to feed that need to know but it didn't stop the flow of the book for me. It was so fantastically written that I found myself getting drawn in and losing time because I just didn't notice it was ticking by as I was so lost in the book.
I definitely want to read more of this series so i will be looking into getting the first 3 and ill probably reread this once I've gone back to the first 3.


Krystina xx

 

The Book of Alys by Alan Gold~ Blog Tour

 Publisher: Romaunce Books

Publication Date: 31st May 2023

Genre:Historical Fiction

Summary:

King Henry II, exhausted from everlasting conflict with France and his sons rebelling against him finds love, solace, and passion after falling for the youthful beauty of Alys and makes her his mistress.

Henry II, now in his late 50s, exhausted from a lifetime of war remains one of the greatest Kings who ruled England. The founder of the ‘Devil’s Brood’, he and his advisors modernized England’s government and society and much more. But it was his jealous family life which caused his life to fall apart.

Alys was the timid 8-year-old daughter of the King of France when sent to England and ultimately forced into marriage with Henry’s violent son Prince Richard, but he ridiculed and rejected her. Within six years, Alys had developed into a ravishing beauty, who was suddenly appealing to the old King himself.

As they grew closer, Alys realised she could only save herself by becoming more powerful. She didn’t want to be a royal mistress like Rosamund, or a princess married to a violent and absent prince like Richard. No, her ambition was to become queen, to replace the formidable, feisty monarch, Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the most beautiful powerful, and wealthy women in the world.

When a son, William, is born to old Henry and Alys, the young princess now has her life complete, but she needs desperately to succeed and protect him. England has become a maelstrom of baronial factions with Eleanor marshalling her sons, young Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, plus John who try overthrow their father and take possession of his empire. All want the right to rule their own lands, even before old Henry is dead.

Review:
Firstly thank you to Random Things Book Tours, Romaunce Books and Alan Gold for having me on this tour and sending me a copy of the book to review. 

I've had a spate of beautiful books to fill my shelves and this is another one of those, I really love the images used for the front and how Alys's name is nice and big on the front making it clear that she is the main focus of the book and the men are of a secondary nature in this retelling.
Now I love historical fiction, it's one of my favourite genres to read because I am a self-confessed history nerd! And oddly I have read a book recently with Alys featured in it so I did know about her and her place in English history. This book is clearly well-researched and I love the amount of detail he has woven into it, it's so cleverly written. It flows easily and I found the book so quick to read, mostly because I didn't want to put it down. Whilst we have had a lot of historical fiction from a female voice in recent years it's nice to hear one from further back in history. We usually get a lot from the Tudor and Stuart period so hearing from the Plantagents is a refreshing change, and also it's not a period that most people can name many female historical figures from, usually it's just Eleanor of Aquitaine because she was an unusual figure in history at this time.
Alys is an intriguing figure and her story is one I've enjoyed reading more about, and I love that this appears to be book one of a series so I can't wait to read what Alan Gold writes next.

Krystina xx

Shooters by Julia Boggio~Blog Tour

 Publisher: Home By Midnight Publishing

Publication Date: 6th March 2023

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Summary:

Stella Price is determined to become a successful wedding photographer, even if it means learning from Connor Knight, a wedding shooter with sexy rock star status and an ego to match.

Burned by an affair that ended her last career, Stella should know better than to get entangled with Connor during a residential course in a romantic French chateau. But while his arrogance turns her off, his talent turns her on.

Their clashes lead to a whirlwind of passion, but Stella struggles to frame a future with a man who’s come to distrust “happily ever afters” and hides a softer side behind his image. Can Stella learn from her past mistakes and teach Connor about real love before he disappears from the picture?

Review:
Firstly thank you to Love Books Tours and Julia Boggio for having me on this tour and sending me a copy of the book to review.
Now I have to talk about the packaging the book came in, it was beautifully wrapped and had some lovely images of people reading the book in different situations, clearly, the author is a brilliant photographer because the images were beautiful ( check out the little reel on my Instagram to see them) . It's a cute-looking little book, with a fun illustrated cover. So I read it fairly quickly, it's a nice easy-to-read book and it's well written. A lot of the characters I can sort of tag as people I've seen at various photography shows, which was quite amusing and gave me a few giggles as did some of Stella's antics. 
I didn't like how Connor just switched from being so dead set against marriage to suddenly happily getting married to Stella, whilst I get that happens in romance books it just felt wrong. But I think I just didn't connect with the characters, which I completely expected to do because before having my small human I was a photographer so I thought id absolutely love this series.
Whilst I did enjoy reading this because I really did, it's not a re-reader for me but I do think I might read the rest of the trilogy. 

Krystina xx

The Wedding Dress Repair Shop by Trisha Ashley~ Blog Tour

Publisher: Bantam

Publication Date: 22nd June 2023

Genre:Romance

Summary:

Can her heart be mended too?

After losing her fiancé and her dream job in the same week, Garland Fairford's life is turned upside down.

Having recently met a long-lost relative - Honey Fairford - through her work as a historical costumier, Garland is intrigued when Honey reveals she is opening a Wedding Dress museum in Lancashire. With nothing to lose, Garland accepts the offer of a job there.

What she doesn't expect is to come face-to-face with a ghost from her past - her old friend, Thom, who mysteriously disappeared years ago.

As Garland begins reading the stories behind each of the beautiful wedding dresses, and sets about repairing both them and her relationship with Thom, could this finally be the chance for her own happy-ever-after?

Review:

 Firstly thank you to Random Things Book Tours, Trisha Ashley and Bantam for sending me a beautiful proof copy of the book to review.
Now I have to start by saying that I don't think I've ever found a Trisha Ashley book that I haven't loved and has ever left my bookshelf, they even have their own shelf. So I may be a little biased in reviewing this, but you know I'm honest so if for some reason I hadn't loved it id have said that.
I really took to Garland from the first moment she appeared on the page, she has such a fascinating-sounding job and I just loved her as a character, that said Marco on the other hand was a complete arse and (as you are meant to) i disliked him from the off. He was far too up himself and self-centred for someone like Garland. Now Honey was brilliant, just the right side of eccentric I absolutely loved her and boy do I wish I knew someone like her because she sounds like a barrel of laughs to be around. I mean Trisha Ashley is fantastic at writing characters that you can instantly connect with in one way or another and this latest offering is no exception, aside from the three I mentioned we have a plethora of brilliant characters on two and four legs to follow the antics of. And we're in a reasonably familiar setting with mentions of places and people from other books (The Christmas Cracker Factory for one, if you haven't read A Christmas Cracker I highly recommend you do!), so as your reading, if you've read other Trisha Ashley books you're instantly reminded of those places and stories from before, which I loved but I do now need to go back and read some of those books again.
The idea of the Wedding dress museum is brilliant, but I am nosey and id love to go around and read all those funny/sad/happy stories connected with the dresses, so part of me wishes someone will take up the idea and make it a reality so I can be that nosey!
I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone so I won't talk about it, but I desperately want to talk about it(I kind of felt something like that had to have happened but id hoped I was wrong!) so if you've read this book feel free to DM me on Instagram to chat about it!
I adored this book as you can probably tell, and even though I got a beautiful proof I may just have to also buy it so I can see all the recipes that I'm sure will be at the end.

Krystina xx

Moorewood Family Rules by Helenkay Dimon~Blog Tour

 Publisher: ‎ Avon

Publication Date: 8th June 2023

Genre:Romantic Comedy

Summary:

Knives Out and Ocean’s 8 meets The Nest in this hilariously twisty novel by award-winning author HelenKay Dimon, about a woman who returns home from prison to her dysfunctional con artist family and tries to get them to go legit.

One day a con man met an heiress, wooed her, married her, had two kids…and kept on conning. Jillian Moorewood is the oldest child from that meet-cute-gone-wrong marriage. The stable one. The sensible and dependable one. The one who protects and fixes. The one who went to prison to save their sorry butts. Now, thirty-nine months later, she’s out and she’s more than a little pissed.

Finally home she finds the scheming clan in full family fleecing mode. They all claim they didn’t really agree to Jillian’s previous go-legit-or-else ultimatum before she went away. They viewed it as a “suggestion” then ignored it. So, business as usual. But Jillian is done with the lies and fakery. She demands the whole messed-up crew clean up its act, and this time she’s not kidding—she has the leverage to make it happen.

Problem is, her life is in shambles, but with the help of a great aunt (crooked but loveable), a bodyguard (who is a nice surprise after three years in prison), and a few allies (all working undercover), Jillian starts to put her life back together. She kicks out a few mooching relatives living under her roof, sets limits on everyone’s access to the money, ducks from their various attacks, and sees if that bodyguard is maybe interested in sticking around for a while. For the first time, she’s Jillian Moorewood, her own woman, and she’s ready to figure out who she is. 

Review:
Firstly thank you to Random Things  Book Tours, Helenkay Dimon and Avon for having me on this tour and for sending me a copy of the book to review.
There were so many things about this book that I enjoyed. The family dynamics for one, I loved all the backstabbing, plotting and trying to outsmart each other. The fact that everyone had two separate agendas, one they sure as heck let everyone know about and the other kept very close to their chests. All the undercover family members working different angles and playing different hands at different times was like watching a game of chess, everything was perfectly planned. I loved the Moorewood family rules at the beginning of each chapter, some even made me laugh out loud, though Jillian's final rule is the best one. I did not expect who dobbed Jillian in to be who it was! I was fully expecting any other member of the family but them, so that took me by surprise. I loved the banter between Jillian and Beck, it flowed so well and it was a nice interlude between family plotting sessions.
Its a really well-written book, with clever characters that makes it something you don't want to put down(I was up til 2am finishing reading it because I didn't want to put it down)
It's a perfect summer read so if you looking for something to take with you on holiday this year, this is the book to take!

Krystina xx

The Paper Pirate by Dawn McIntyre~Blog Tour

 Publisher: Running Wild Press

Publication Date: 8th November 2022

Genre:Cosy Mystery

Summary:

As if the looming deadline to pay off a balloon mortgage isn’t enough to worry about, the five partners who own the small town book store The Paper Pirate find themselves menaced by a stealthy crook who systematically searches first the shop, then each of their homes. Because he takes nothing and barely leaves traces of his presence, the police can’t be of much help, and simply promise to keep an eye on Charlie Santorelli, Lavinia “Vinnie” Holcomb, Al Rockleigh, Felicia Cocolo, and Lenora Stern. It’s a mystery to them but the reader knows that Rick Foster, a shady rare-books dealer and his sidekick Nina Bartov are on the hunt for a particular old volume that sits unnoticed on a shelf in The Paper Pirate’s used book section. It’s an obscure early work of the not-terribly-successful author Benjamin Conway, and it’s badly defaced―but a very wealthy man is willing to pay Rick a half a million dollars for it. Seems an ancestor of his eluded the henchmen of a nineteenth-century dictator by escaping to New York, and eventually took refuge in the northeastern Pennsylvania countryside. Before he was captured and killed, he’d scribbled as much evidence of the tyrant’s sins as he could fit into the blank spaces of a copy of The Stargazer at Dawn and hid it where he hoped his comrades would find it. They never did. The five friends also are members of a writers’ group, and each of them has a secret. One is penning an erotic novel on the sly, another hides a painful estrangement with an only child, and a deadly teenaged mistake causes a third to sabotage her every chance at happiness in the present. A partner who claims to be unpublished actually is a one-hit-wonder with a thirty-year-old best-selling novel followed by a crippling literary failure, and the last has a family with criminal connections―he’s spent half a lifetime avoiding them.

Review:

Firstly thank you to Love Books Tours, Dawn McIntyre and Running Wild Press for sending me a copy of the book to review.
I haven't read many cosy mysteries but I really liked the idea of them so I was really happy to get this book, a new genre is always a welcome change. The cover really doesn't give much away and it's quite plain which actually drew me in almost as much as the pretty covers that I usually waffle on about. It's a really well-written book and the characters are well-rounded with interesting back stories. I enjoyed the fact that we switch between different characters' perspectives, especially when it brought in new characters to hear from.
I liked the level of intrigue around the rare book that Rick is trying to find, and how he's attempting to go about finding it.
I have to admit that I'm still currently reading the book, I had a few issues with the original digital copy I was sent but Love Books Tours kindly resent it to me, so I haven't quite made it to the end and I will update when I do without spoiling any endings!

Krystina xx

A-Z Reading Challenge for 2023!

 

Ok, so I'm a bit late in making this post but it's oddly taken me a while to gather the 26 books needed for this challenge! Now I decided to make this challenge a little bit more difficult for myself by trying to create a list from books I already owned that have been on my tbr for a while. And I did manage to get 23 out of 26 that way, but I had to get three of the more difficult letters (U, X and Z) from the library. 
Now it's a very random collection of books, but then again I never really stick to one genre when reading so it was always bound to be a tad eclectic. I've got a mix of fiction and non-fiction and a wide range of genres to work my way through, and I'm ashamed to say that it's July and I've only finished one (I'm putting the book cover next to the finished ones and I'll update this on a semi-regular basis) and I'm slogging my way through Ulysses!
But I did want to sort the Instagram and blog posts out before I did, so that's procrastination at work there.
So the A-Z challenge for those who haven't heard/done it before is you work your way from A-Z  and the book titles have to begin with that letter of the alphabet, you ignore The at the start of titles and carry on from there.
So here is my planned
reading list for this year;

A-The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor 

B-The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan

C-The Cosy Teashop at the Castle by Caroline Roberts

D-Dead Tomorrow by Peter James

E-Everless by Sara Holland

F-Forgotten Fruits by Christopher Stocks

G-The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

H-The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran

I-The Innocent by Poise Graeme-evans

J-Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason

K-The Kings Witch by Tracy Borman

L-The Little coffee Shop in Kabul by Deborah Rodrigiuez

M-The Marsh Kings Daughter by Elizabeth Chadwick

N-Nutrition for Intuition by Doreen Virtue

O- Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

P-The Proposal by Tasmina Perry

Q-The Queen of Subtleties by Suzannah Dunn

R-The Red Tent by Anita Diamont

S-The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

T-Three Sister, Three Queens by Phillippa Gregory

U-Ulysses by James Joyce

V-The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

W-The Witches of Salem 1692 by Stacy Schiff

X-Xandu by John Man

Y-The Yorkshire Pudding Club by Milly Johnson

Z-Zero by Marc Elsberg

Have any of you read any of the list? What do you think of my choice and more importantly do you have any suggestions for next year's U 

Krystina xx