Tag: #aboutauthor

Feature Post and Book Review: The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

Book Description

Picture a lovely cottage on a cliff, with sloping lawns, walking paths, and beautiful flowers. It’s Gabe and Pippa Gerard’s dream home in a sleepy coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Over the past several months, Gabe comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge.

Until one day, he doesn’t.

When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral. . . .Did the victim jump? Was she pushed? And would Gabe, the love of Pippa’s life, her soulmate . . . lie? As the perfect façade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel. Because sometimes, the most convincing lies are the ones we tell ourselves.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60784540-the-soulmate?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=IJvfDx5Mbn&rank=2

***

My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

THE SOULMATE by Sally Hepworth is a twisted domestic psychological suspense/thriller that continually surprised me. I have been avoiding this genre because I felt they all read alike and began to bore me, but this story is anything but cookie cutter and boring. This is a standalone book that you will want to make time to read.

Gabe and Pippa and their two small daughters have moved to their dream cottage in a small coastal Australian town. The only problem is the cottage has a cliff behind their home called “The Drop” at the end of the street that people use to end their lives. Since their move, Gabe has been very successful at talking people away from the ledge, until Pippa watching through the kitchen window, sees a woman Gabe is talking to go over the cliff.

Did she jump or was she pushed?

When Pippa discovers the identity of the woman, questions and doubts begin to tear their seemingly perfect marriage apart.

While the protagonists of this story are Gabe and Pippa, another couple Max and Amanda play a pivotal role throughout this always surprising plot. The story itself is narrated by Pippa in the now and in the then, while intertwining with Amanda telling her narration in the before and the after. It may sound confusing, but it is surprisingly easy to follow as they tell the reader about their marriages. This story focuses on how each couple looked at their own marriage, fidelity and partnership with the suspense occurring whenever their lives intersected. There are many secrets that I cannot reveal, but I will say that every time I felt I knew where the plot was headed, I was wrong. The author did an excellent job of showing Gabe’s mental illness through his actions and the codependence Pippa displayed. This is an exciting read that showed me there are still some domestic suspense stories worth reading even though I am not sure I liked the climax.

I recommend this domestic psychological suspense/thriller.

***

About the Author

Sally Hepworth is the bestselling author of The Secrets of Midwives (2015), The Things We Keep (2016) The Mother’s Promise (2017), The Family Next Door (2018), The Mother In Law (April 2019), The Good Sister (April 2021) and The Younger Wife (April 2022). Hollywood actress and producer, Amy Poehler, has optioned The Mother In Law for a TV series.

Sally’s books have been labelled “enchanting” by The Herald Sun, “smart and engaging” by Publisher’s Weekly, and New York Times bestselling authors Liane Moriarty and Emily Giffin have praised Sally’s novels as “women’s fiction at its finest” and “totally absorbing”. Sally’s novels are available worldwide in English and have been translated into 10+ languages.

​Sally lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and three children.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.sallyhepworthauthor.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sallyhepworthauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SallyHepworth

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/sally-hepworth

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Murder Among the Roses by Liz Fielding

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for MURDER AMONG THE ROSES (Maybridge Murder Mysteries Book #1) by Liz Fielding on this Books ‘n’ All Promotions Book Tour.

Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

***

Book Blurb

In the peaceful village of Maybridge, you wouldn’t expect to find a dead body in the rose garden. And certainly not two.

Abby Finch is horrified to discover the bones of a baby long-since buried under a rose bush in the garden of her soon-to-be ex-husband Howard’s family home.

She immediately calls the police but she can’t get hold of Howard. He’s off on a jolly with the very pregnant soon-to-be new Mrs Finch.

Abby will do whatever it takes to keep things cordial for the sake of her three children. But when Howard learns the press have found out, he’s livid. He accuses Abby of sabotaging his fledgling political campaign.

And then, just two days later, Abby finds Howard himself.
Lying dead in the very same rose garden.
Throat slashed with her own garden spade.

Now Abby is the prime suspect.

Somebody in this quiet village is hiding a dark secret. And Abby will have to dig deep to uncover the truth.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123811844-murder-among-the-roses?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=9lCYlbptgo&rank=2

###

MEET THE DETECTIVE
Brilliant gardener and the busy mum of three, Abby Finch’s dreams of winning gold at Chelsea Flower Show were put on hold by an unplanned pregnancy and marriage. But she wouldn’t have it any other way. These days she’s kept on her toes looking by her beloved family, running her own business and dealing with her imminent divorce. In an effort to keep things cordial, she’s allowed her ex to bully her into restoring the garden of his family home. Thankfully she’s surrounded herself with a great group of friends to lean on.

THE SETTING
Pretty Maybridge is a charming village set in the sheep-dotted Cotswolds hills, with a long history stretching back to Tudor times. It’s the type of place where everyone knows each other, but there’s a wonderful bookshop on the corner of the bridge, a popular riverside café and a bustling market at Christmastime. And with Bristol nearby and a big supermarket round the corner.

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

MURDER AMONG THE ROSES (Maybridge Murder Mysteries Book #1) by Liz Fielding is an outstanding cozy mystery start to a new series set in the quiet and quaint village of Maybridge featuring a unique protagonist. From the beautiful cover to the resolution of the mystery, I was unable to put this book down.

Abby Finch loves her gardening business and is trying to remain civil with her soon to be ex-husband for the sake of their three children, but he has coerced her into cleaning up his family’s estates gardens after the death of his grandmother. As she is digging up a rose bush, she discovers the small bones of an infant. She immediately reports the find to the local police.

When Harold Finch returns from a weekend trip with his fiancée, he immediately confronts Abby about going to the police and accuses her of trying to destroy his budding political aspirations. After Abby has a run in with his fiancée, she goes looking for Harold and finds him over the baby’s grave, dead.

Even with several people in and out of the garden that day, Abby, the soon to be ex, is the prime suspect. As she begins to investigate estate records researching the time the bones of the baby could have been buried, she begins to bring to light dark secrets Harold’s family tried to keep buried.

This is a fantastic cozy mystery. The author does not begin immediately with the murder, but introduces Abby, her family and friends and other characters associated with Harold and the divorce. It was fascinating to read how Abby went about researching the estate and journals from the past to bring to light the murderer in the present. The story pulled me in with characters that are fully developed and believable. I feel the pacing of this cozy mystery plot is flawless, and the twists and red herrings are perfectly placed. I am very interested in how the author will move forward in this series and cannot wait to read the next book in the series.

I highly recommend this cozy mystery!

***

About the Author

Award winning author Liz Fielding was born with itchy feet. She was working in Zambia before her twenty-first birthday and, gathering her own special hero and a couple of children on the way, has lived in Botswana, Kenya and the Middle East, all of which have provided rich inspiration for her writing.

She has written more than seventy books, several of which have won awards, and sold over 15 million copies. In 2019 she was honoured with the Romantic Novelists’ Association Outstanding Career Award.  She lives in West Sussex.

Social Media Links

TWITTER
FACEBOOK
BLOG

Book Review: Because of You by Jessica Scott

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

BECAUSE OF YOU (Coming Home Book #1) by Jessica Scott is an emotional contemporary romance and the first in the Coming Home series featuring a badly wounded military Sergeant coming home from Iraq and the nurse who cares for him but has scars of her own. I cannot believe I have not read any of these books previously because they are so well written with everything I want in a romance and the lives of the military personnel are so realistically portrayed.

Sergeant First Class Shane Garrison takes the care, training, and safety of his men very seriously. Four months into the surge in Iraq, he is seriously injured by an IED and shipped back home to the hospital at Ft. Hood. With one arm in a cast and both legs in pin traction, he is afraid he will never get back to his men.

Jen St. James is a nurse at Ft. Hood’s hospital and has taken care of many soldiers returning home. When she sees Shane in the hospital there is still an attraction that was there when they met at a deployment party before he shipped out. Jen pushes Shane to fight not only to heal physically, but to find how to move forward. But Jen is hiding scars from a battle of her own and needs to learn to move on, also.

I could not put this book down! Shane and Jen were both compelling main characters that kept me on their emotional roller coaster from their first meeting until the end of the book. The secondary characters are just as vividly drawn and believable. I was pulled into the lives of them all. The author shines a realistic light on many of the daily problems facing military personnel and their family members. The dialogue was stark and graphic on some difficult topics, but also had moments of humor. The romance progressed at a believable pace with the emotional trust that had to be achieved with eventual sex scenes that were explicit, but not gratuitous.

I highly recommend this contemporary military romance! One good thing about finding this series now is that I have several more books already available to read in the series.

***

About the Author

Jessica Scott is the USA Today bestselling author of novels set in the heart of America’s Army. She is an active duty army officer, a veteran of the Iraq war, is the mother of two daughters, a small zoo consisting of too many cats, dogs and the occasional domesticated rodent, and wife to a retired NCO.

Her stories are centered on soldiers returning from the nation’s wars and their struggles and triumphs and come from her personal experiences as a soldier, a mother and a military wife. She and her family are currently wherever the army has sent her.

She’s also written for the New York Times At War Blog, PBS Point of View Regarding War, and IAVA. She deployed to Iraq in 2009 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)/New Dawn and has had the honor of serving as a company commander at Fort Hood, Texas twice.

She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and she’s been featured as one of Esquire Magazine’s Americans of the Year for 2012.

Social Media Links

Website: www.jessicascott.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JessicaScottAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JessicaScott09

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicadscott09/

Mini Book Review: The Great Jewel Robbery by Elizabeth McKenna

Book Description

Mystery with a splash of romance…

Chicago Tribune reporters Emma and Grace have been best friends since college despite coming from different worlds. When Grace is assigned to cover an annual charity ball and auction being held at a lakeside mansion and her boyfriend bails on her, she brings Emma as her plus one. The night is going smoothly until Emma finds the host’s brother unconscious in the study. Though at first it is thought he was tipsy and stumbled, it soon becomes clear more is afoot, as the wall safe is empty and a three-million-dollar diamond necklace is missing. With visions of becoming ace investigative journalists, Emma and Grace set out to solve the mystery, much to the chagrin of the handsome local detective.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52092490-the-great-jewel-robbery?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=VIWT7xcvap&rank=1

***

My Mini Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

THE GREAT JEWEL ROBBERY (A Front Page Mystery Book #1) by Elizabeth McKenna is the start of a new cozy mystery series featuring two best friends who are reporters on the Chicago Tribune. This story has an easy to read writing style, amusing new main characters, and some surprises along the way.

Emma and Grace have very different life experiences but have been best friends since college and both now write for the Chicago times. Emma writes for the sports page and Grace writes for the society page. When Grace is assigned to cover a charity auction and ball and her date drops out, Emma becomes her plus one for the weekend. When the disappearance of the main jewelry collection for the auction is discovered, Grace sees this as her chance to get off the society page and become an investigative reporter, while Emma agrees to help, she keeps having run ins with handsome local detective.

This is a fast-paced cozy mystery with plenty of suspects and red herrings. Emma and Grace are very likable protagonists, and I enjoyed the differences in their backgrounds did not matter to their friendship. The pace was consistent throughout and the conclusion tied up all the loose threads.

***

About the Author

Elizabeth McKenna’s love of books reaches back to her childhood, where her tastes ranged from Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys to Stephen King’s horror stories. She had never read a romance novel until one Christmas when her sister gave her the latest bestseller by Nora Roberts. She was hooked from page one (actually, she admits it was the first love scene).

Her novels reflect her mercurial temperament and include historical romances, contemporary romances, cozy mysteries, and dark mysteries. With some being “clean” and some being “naughty,” she has a book for your every mood.

Elizabeth lives in Wisconsin with her understanding husband and Sidney, the rescue dog from Tennessee. When she isn’t writing, reading, editing, or walking the dog that never tires, she’s sleeping.

Social Media Links

Website: https://elizabethmckenna.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethMcKennaAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElizaMcKenna

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Whispering Women by Trish MacEnulty

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE WHISPERING WOMEN (Delafield & Mallory Investigations Book #1) by Trish MacEnulty on this Black Coffee Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

***

Book Description

Born into a once-wealthy Manhattan family, Louisa Delafield survives by doing the one thing she’s suited for: writing a society column. But in January 1913, the death of a police matron in a bombed brownstone convinces Louisa to write about darker subjects. “Muckraking” goes against her upbringing, but once her blinders are off, she can’t continue to protect the privileged.

Ellen Malloy came to America to escape the priests who told her she would go to hell for loving women. However, her job as a debutante’s personal maid affords her no opportunity for a life, much less for finding love. After witnessing the death of a fellow servant during an illegal abortion, she flees her comfortable position in fear for her life.

When the two women are brought together by New York’s top bomb squad cop, Louisa and Ellen dive into a dangerous world of gangsters, bordellos, and back-alley abortions to find the connection between Ellen’s friend and the dead police matron. Their investigation makes them the target of powerful forces who will stop at nothing, even murder, to bury the truth.

This book is a timely reminder of an era when the legal system and social norms prevented women from enjoying the freedom to control their own destinies.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62132095-the-whispering-women?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=uewO4Z5efO&rank=1

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE WHISPERING WOMEN (A Delafield & Mallory Investigation Book #1) by Trish MacEnulty is the first book in an exciting historical mystery series featuring two very different young women in early 20th century New York who come together to fight against injustice. This is a story set over a hundred years ago and is yet eerily relevant to the present.

Louisa Delafield was born into a Manhattan society family. Due to her father’s murder and her family’s financial downfall, she now earns her living and is supporting her mother by writing a society column for The Ledger. Ellen Mallory came to America from Ireland and is a lady’s maid to a young debutante. When Ellen witnesses the death of a fellow servant during an illegal abortion, she finds she must flee her position in fear of her life.

Louisa and Ellen stories converge as Louisa looks to discover why a police matron was blown up while investigating an abortionist and Ellen is running from those Louisa is investigating and wants to seek revenge for her friend. The two must learn to navigate the social class system to discover a way to combine their strengths and find the power to bring powerful evil into the light.

I loved this story and both Louisa and Ellen are great protagonists. Louisa and Ellen are well developed, and their differences make them a good pair that you want to succeed. You can tell the research into early 1900’s New York life and society is extensive and the descriptions pull you right into the story. The plot is well paced, and the investigation is believable. So many of the topics in this plot, such as illegal abortion, women’s rights, and LGBTQ issues are as discussion worthy then as they are today.

I highly recommend this wonderful start to a new series with memorable strong main characters, and I am looking forward to seeing where this author takes them next.

***

About the Author

The Whispering Women is Trish MacEnulty’s debut as a historical fiction novelist. She has previously published four novels, a short story collection, and a memoir. A former Professor of English at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, NC, she currently lives in Florida with her husband, two dogs, and one cat and teaches journalism.

Social Media Links

Website: https://trishmacenulty.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100055362621397

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pmacenulty

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/trish-macenulty

Book Review: A Vienna Writers Circle by J.C. Maetis

Book Description

Spring, 1938: Café Mozart in the heart of Vienna is beloved by its clientele, including cousins Mathias Kraemer and Johannes Namal. The two writers are as close as brothers. They are also members of Freud’s Circle—a unique group of the famed psychiatrist’s friends and acquaintances who once gathered regularly at the bright and airy café to talk about books and ideas over coffee and pastries. But dark days are looming.

With Hitler’s annexation of Austria, Nazi edicts governing daily life become stricter and more punitive. Now Hitler has demanded that the “hidden Jews” of Vienna be tracked down, and Freud’s Circle has been targeted. The SS aims to use old group photos to identify Jewish intellectuals and subversives. With the vise tightening around them, Mathias and Johannes’s only option appears to be hiding in plain sight, using assumed names and identities to evade detection, aware that discovery would mean consignment to a camp or execution.

Faced with stark and desperate choices, Mathias, Johannes, their families and friends all find their loyalties and courage tested in unimaginable ways. But despite betrayal, heartache and imprisonment, hope remains, and with it, the determination to keep those they love alive, and Mathias and Johannes at the same time discovering that what originally condemned them—their writing—might also be their salvation.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62325753-the-vienna-writers-circle

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE VIENNA WRITERS CIRCLE by J.C. Maetis is an incredibly intense historical fiction that kept me unnerved and on the edge of my seat through most of the book. This book is not for the faint of heart and describes scenes of man’s inhumanity to man is a stark way through the lens of two Jewish thriller writers in Vienna during WWII.

Cousins Mathias Kraemer and Johannes Namal are thriller writers and members of famed psychiatrist Sigmund Freud’s Circle; intellectuals who meet at the Mozart Café to discuss books and current ideas on a variety of topics. When the Germans annex Austria, Freud is able to leave for England, but others must find their own ways to leave the country, hide under fake identities or be rounded up and deported to a concentration camp or be executed.

Mathias and Johannes are faced with anguishing choices to protect their families and friends. With the continual pursuit of an ambitious and sadistic SS officer and the constant fear of their true identities being revealed, their writing may be what ultimately saves them.

This book is a stark look at the daily terrorism faced by these two main characters and what they did to survive. I found the story more intriguing and disturbing because it is told only through the victims’ eyes. There are not a lot of breaks from the intensity of the plot pace and I found I had to put this book down a few times, not because it is not good, but to calm down emotionally. The research is evident and the characters memorable.

I highly recommend this WWII historical fiction!

***

About the Author

J.C. Maetis is better known as British thriller writer John Matthews whose books have sold over 1.6 million copies and been translated in 14 languages. Maetis is his father’s original Jewish family name, which he felt was more fitting for this novel. His father’s family left Lithuania for London in 1919 in the wake of Jewish pogroms there, but many of his extended family perished when Hitler invaded Lithuania in 1941. Maetis lives in Surrey, UK.