HQDigitalUK

Lies Between Us by Ronnie Turner @Ronnie__Turner @HQDigitalUK #blogtour #LiesBetweenUs #WhereIsBonnie #NetGalley

~ noveldeelights ~ 7 Comments

Such an exciting day today as I join the blog tour for Lies Between Us by our very own Ronnie Turner! My thanks to Ronnie and HQ for the invitation to join the tour and for my review copy!

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Author : Ronnie Turner
Title : Lies Between Us
Pages : 260
Publisher : HQ Digital
Publication date : October 1, 2018 (ebook) | December 13, 2018 (paperback)

aboutthebook

Three people, leading very different lives, are about to be brought together – with devastating consequences . . .

John has a perfect life, until the day his daughter goes missing.

Maisie cares for her patients, but hides her own traumatic past.

Miller should be an innocent child, but is obsessed with something he can’t have.

They all have something in common, though none of them know it – and the truth won’t stay hidden for long . . .

mythoughts

If you’re looking for a story that will keep you guessing until the end and make your head hurt like you’ve been banging it against a brick wall for hours on end (in a totally good way), then look no further because this is it!

Three different storylines will at some point connect to make one great big whole but the journey to get there will tie your brain into knots in the most delightful way. Maisie is an ICU nurse dealing with a comatose patient. John and his wife Jules are going through the worst kind of nightmare when their daughter is kidnapped. And then there’s Miller, the creepiest child that ever creeped. What do these characters have in common? Well, obviously I won’t be telling you that. You’ll just have to pick this one up and find out for yourself.

I am absolutely blown away by the fact that this is a debut novel. Not only is Lies Between Us utterly compelling and gripping, it’s also amazingly intelligently structured. There are moments that’ll break your heart, some that will chill you to the bone and the brilliantly multi-layered, believable and complex characters will get under your skin, in a good and a bad way.

You may know I read a lot of books from the ever-popular psychological thriller genre. Often I figure things out before reaching the halfway mark. But not this time. In fact, Ronnie Turner has me wanting to read her book again in a desperate attempt to see what clues I missed. The different perspectives and timelines did require a bit more concentration at first but once I got the hang of it, I didn’t look back.

Lies Between Us is a dark and disturbing tale of obsession. Deeply engrossing, it kept me hooked from start to finish. A remarkable debut from Ronnie Turner and I absolutely can’t wait to see what’s in store next!

Lies Between Us is available to buy in ebook format now!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Goodreads

abouttheauthor

Ronnie Turner grew up in Cornwall, the youngest in a large family. At an early age, she discovered a love of literature and dreamed of being a published author. Ronnie now lives in Dorset with her family and three dogs. In her spare time, she reviews books on her blog and enjoys long walks on the coast. She is currently working on her second novel.

Author links : Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter | Website

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Vox by Christina Dalcher @CVDalcher @HQstories @LilyCapewell #100words #VOX #WeWillNotBeSilenced

~ noveldeelights ~ 34 Comments

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Author : Christina Dalcher
Title : Vox
Pages : 384
Publisher : HQ
Publication date : August 21, 2018 (ebook)

aboutthebook

Silence can be deafening.

Jean McClellan spends her time in almost complete silence, limited to just one hundred words a day. Any more, and a thousand volts of electricity will course through her veins.

Now the new government is in power, everything has changed. But only if you’re a woman.

Almost overnight, bank accounts are frozen, passports are taken away and seventy million women lose their jobs. Even more terrifyingly, young girls are no longer taught to read or write.

For herself, her daughter, and for every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice. This is only the beginning…

mythoughts

100 words a day. Just sit and think for a minute how that would impact your life.

A life where you walk around with a counter bracelet, ticking down every time you utter a word until you reach your daily limit. Where an electric shock awaits you if you dare speak one word more. You can’t, can you? And things for Jean and all the women in her country are far worse than that. No sign language, no writing notes, no reading. No passports, no jobs, no bank accounts and each and every decision is made by the men.

Men who may not all agree with what’s going on but for various reasons don’t stand up to make a change. Young boys who are growing up in this environment, almost brainwashed to the point where they think this treatment of women is perfectly acceptable. Little girls who aren’t allowed to learn how to read or write, who have never been read a bedtime story and for whom remaining silent all day suddenly seems like a fun competition. And people who don’t fit the mould or break the rules are sent to camps for the rest of their lives.

This incredibly frightening scenario sadly sounds all too believable in this day and age. It made me angry and it saddened me. The whole thing may seem far-fetched and yet, parts of it are extremely plausible. You may think, just like Jean, this will never come to pass but before she and other women realise, there they are. There’s a lesson here. Stand up and make your voice count. Not only vocally but by voting. As the characters in the novel say, the time to act is always now.

This is quite a hard one to review. It evokes a lot of emotions but it’s one of those books you need to read for yourself to get the full impact of immersing yourself into these women’s circumstances and hoping you’ll never find yourself in that position.

Vox is immensely powerful and thought-provoking, leaving me with a massive feeling of claustrophobia and sheer dread. It’s disturbing, more terrifying than any gruesome thriller I’ve ever read or nightmare I’ve ever had. It’ll make you think and get under your skin and like me, I doubt you’ll ever forget it.

My thanks to Lily Capewell at HQ for my review copy!

Vox will be published in ebook format on August 21st.

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Goodreads

This Week in Books (August 15)

~ noveldeelights ~ 27 Comments

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Hosted by Lipsy Lost and Found, my Wednesday post gives you a taste of what I’m reading this week. A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words.

Last book I finished reading

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SOMEONE IS LIVING A LIE… BUT WHO?

Is it Lisa?
Haunted by a tragic past, all Lisa wants is a quiet life with her daughter, Ava. And when she meets a new man, things seem to be falling into place. But Lisa is hiding a secret so momentous it could shatter her entire world…

Is it Ava?
When sixteen-year-old Ava saves a young boy’s life, she becomes a local hero. But never in a million years could she have anticipated the fallout of her actions…

Is it Marilyn?
Marilyn has the perfect life. Her husband, her job, her house—she seems to have it all. But she could never admit to her best friend Lisa the lies she tells herself to get through the day…

One moment will change these three women’s lives forever. And the secrets they’ve been keeping could destroy them all.

The book I’m currently reading

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What if the person you thought you knew best turns out to be someone you never knew at all . . . ?

Andrea knows everything about her mother, Laura. She knows she’s spent her whole life in the small beachside town of Belle Isle; she knows she’s never wanted anything more than to live a quiet life as a pillar of the community; she knows she’s never kept a secret in her life. Because we all know our mothers, don’t we?

But all that changes when a trip to the mall explodes into violence and Andrea suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura. Because it turns out that before Laura was Laura, she was someone completely different. For nearly thirty years she’s been hiding from her previous identity, lying low in the hope that no one would ever find her. But now she’s been exposed, and nothing will ever be the same again.

The police want answers and Laura’s innocence is on the line, but she won’t speak to anyone, including her own daughter. Andrea is on a desperate journey following the breadcrumb trail of her mother’s past. And if she can’t uncover the secrets hidden there, there may be no future for either one of them. . .

What I’m (probably) reading next

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Set in an America where half the population has been silenced, VOX is the harrowing, unforgettable story of what one woman will do to protect herself and her daughter.

On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than 100 words daily, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial–this can’t happen here. Not in America. Not to her.

This is just the beginning.

Soon women can no longer hold jobs. Girls are no longer taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words a day, but now women only have one hundred to make themselves heard.

But this is not the end.

For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice.

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Have you read any of these? Would you like to? What does your reading week look like? Let me know! Happy reading! xx

88° North by J.F. Kirwan @kirwanjf @rararesources #blogtour

~ noveldeelights ~ 14 Comments

Such a pleasure to welcome you all to my stop on the blog tour for 88° North by J.F. Kirwan! My thanks to J.F. Kirwan, to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the opportunity and to the publisher for my review copy.

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Author : J.F. Kirwan
Title : 88° North
Series : Nadia Laksheva #3
Pages : 384
Publisher : HQ Digital
Publication date : December 14, 2017

aboutthebook

The deadliest kind of assassin is one who is already dying…

As the radiation poisoning that Nadia Laksheva was exposed to in Chernobyl takes hold of her body, she knows she has mere weeks to live. But Salamander, the terrorist who murdered her father and sister has a deadly new plan to ‘make the sky bleed’. Nadia is determined to stop him again, even if it is the last thing she ever does…

The only clue she has are the coordinates 88˚ North, a ridge in the Arctic right and one of the largest oil fields in the world, three thousand metres below the ice. If Salamander takes hold of the oil field, he could change the climate of the whole planet for generations to come.

But can Nadia stop him before her own time runs out?

mythoughts

88° North is the third and final instalment in the Nadia Laksheva spy series and what an amazing ride it’s been. This review may be a tad on the vague side as I desperately try to avoid spoiling anyone for events that happened in the previous books. Personally, I don’t feel you should treat this one as a stand-alone. While some things are explained and will give you a good feel of the background story, I think you should read the entire series to really understand where Nadia is coming from and why she’s so determined to stop Salamander. This isn’t just about making sure a terrorist doesn’t ruin the planet. It’s also personal.

Throughout the series, I sometimes found Nadia quite hard to warm to but I never ceased to admire her sheer determination in doing what was necessary. Even if it went against her own principles. In 88° North, she tries to restore a balance that was screwed up, to see the smaller picture instead of the bigger picture, to do a kind act and hope for some kind of ripple effect and just like that, I liked her that little bit more.

But the biggest threat is of course Salamander, who will stop at nothing and his next plan is to “make the sky bleed”. True to form, this spy thriller takes us to various exotic places around the world including Russia, Hong Kong and The Sudan. One word : camels! As the team is unwillingly split up in their pursuit of Salamander, they realise they are merely pawns in his game. Like a true chess master, Salamander is always several steps ahead and time is running out. Not only for the world, but for Nadia as well.

Full of tension, thrills and harrowing moments, 88° North is the perfect conclusion to this series. Some characters even managed to surprise me and the tense knife fights had me on the edge of my seat. What I truly liked is that you’re never really sure who will survive. The author has no qualms in killing off what could be important characters and I always like it when I’m left guessing as to who will make it out alive.

While it’s always sad to see a series come to an end, I feel J.F. Kirwan wrapped things up brilliantly. The exciting arc that runs throughout the three books had me hooked and if you like your well-paced and action-packed spy thrillers, I have no doubt you will thoroughly enjoy this series! I look forward to whatever J.F. Kirwan comes up with next!

88° North is available from the links below. While there, why not pick up the other two books as well.

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Goodreads

abouttheauthor

J. F. Kirwan is the author of the Nadia Laksheva thriller series for HarperCollins. Having worked in accident investigation and prevention in nuclear, offshore oil and gas and aviation sectors, he uses his experience of how accidents initially build slowly, then race towards a climax, to plot his novels. An instructor in both scuba diving and martial arts, he travels extensively all over the world, and loves to set his novels in exotic locations. He is also an insomniac who writes in the dead of night. His favourite authors include Lee Child, David Baldacci and Andy McNab.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Website

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Lay Me To Rest by E.A. Clark @EAClarkAuthor @rararesources

~ noveldeelights ~ 1 Comment

** Copy received via publisher **

It is my absolute pleasure to be joining the blog tour for Lay Me To Rest by E.A. Clark today! Many thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me!

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Author : E.A. Clark
Title : Lay Me To Rest
Pages : 358
Publisher : HQ Digital
Publication date : September 29, 2017

aboutthebook

Devastated by the death of her husband, Annie Philips is shocked to discover she is pregnant with his unborn child. Hoping for a fresh start, she travels to a remote stone cottage in Anglesey, amidst the white-capped mountains of North Wales.

She settles in quickly, helped by her mysterious new neighbour, Peter. But everything changes when Annie discovers a small wooden box, inlaid with brass and mother-of-pearl. A box she was never supposed to find…

Annie soon realises that she isn’t alone in the cottage. And now she’s trapped. Can she escape the nightmare that she has awoken, or will the dark forces surrounding the house claim her life – and that of her baby?

mythoughts

Annie is a young widow who discovered she was pregnant after her husband died in an accident. Overcome by guilt for various reasons, her sister convinces Annie to go away for a break to a lovely cottage in Anglesey. Unfortunately, Annie’s arrival stirs up all sorts of things and there’s no chance of getting some peace and quiet. But even when she finally leaves the cottage, the worst isn’t over yet.

I didn’t particularly get the feeling from the book description that this story would involve paranormal / supernatural events, which aren’t usually my thing. Unless it involves the Winchester brothers. If I had known, I may not have picked it up and that would have been a bit of a shame. At its base, this is really an intriguing mystery and I do so enjoy trying to solve a mystery. The opening chapter really sets the tone. It made me sink just that little bit deeper into my warm, comfortable blanket and wish I hadn’t started reading this at night. Even though at that point, I was thinking we were dealing with an unreliable narrator who was seeing things due to the overwhelming grief over her husband’s death, it nevertheless made me turn up the lights just that little bit more.

I don’t want to reveal too much about the plot but don’t let the paranormal vibe put you off or you’d miss out on quite an entertaining read. It’s all rather deliciously creepy! While I enjoyed the way it was written, it did somehow feel out of place with the time period, maybe a tad stilted for the year 2009, but I really enjoyed how the author managed to combine the paranormal with crime fiction. I also loved the setting and the various characters we were introduced to and of course, the investigation they find themselves in.

Overall, this is a quick read, perfect for the cold, winter nights! The ending seems to suggest there may be a follow-up at some point too so if you’re into your paranormal suspense stories, you may want to give this a go.

Lay Me To Rest is available for purchase!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads

abouttheauthor

​E. A. Clark lives in the Midlands with her husband and son, plus a rather temperamental cat, a rabbit and a chinchilla. She has three (now grown-up) children and five grandchildren. She is particularly partial to Italian food, decent red wine (or any coloured wine come to that …) and cake – and has been known to over-indulge in each on occasions.

She has a penchant for visiting old graveyards and speculating on the demise of those entombed beneath. Whilst she has written short stories and poetry for many years, a lifelong fascination with all things paranormal has culminated in her first novel for adults, Lay Me to Rest. The setting is inspired by her love of Wales, owing to her father’s Celtic roots.

Twitter | Facebook

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Lay Me To Rest Tour Schedule

 

The Doll House by Phoebe Morgan @HQDigitalUK

~ noveldeelights ~ 8 Comments

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Author : Phoebe Morgan
Title : The Doll House
Pages : 355
Publisher : HQ Digital
Publication date : September 14, 2017

aboutthebook

You never know who’s watching…

Corinne’s life might look perfect on the outside, but after three failed IVF attempts it’s her last chance to have a baby. And when she finds a tiny part of a doll house outside her flat, it feels as if it’s a sign.

But as more pieces begin to turn up, Corinne realises that they are far too familiar. Someone knows about the miniature rocking horse and the little doll with its red velvet dress. Someone has been inside her house…

How does the stranger know so much about her life? How long have they been watching? And what are they waiting for?

mythoughts

I think it’s fair to say that the psychological thriller genre has had its fair share of hits and misses the past few months. Try as I might to stay away, there is always one that lures me back in. In the case of The Doll House, I have no regrets or complaints whatsoever!

Since the book description is so vague, I won’t add anything to it. Suffice to say that while the “why” is reasonably obvious, it’s the “who” that’ll keep you guessing until there’s this fantastic “aha” moment! I had a list of potential suspects and found myself zeroing in on the wrong one for a while, which I always think is fun.

The Doll House is a bit of a slow burner but it has a constant and deliciously creepy, threatening vibe to it like a current of electricity crackling away under the surface. The author’s superb writing sucks you in and doesn’t let go as the story slowly builds up to a fabulous and jaw-dropping conclusion.

This is one tense and suspenseful ride. It’s incredibly atmospheric, haunting and a true page-turner. I had a hard time putting it down and I have no doubt that The Doll House will be a hit as it’s one fantastic and gripping psychological thriller. An absolutely amazing debut and I can’t wait to see what Phoebe Morgan has in store for us next.

Many thanks to HQ Digital for my advanced copy, which I received via Netgalley and chose to review honestly!

The Doll House was published on September 14th.

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads

Behind The Lie by Amanda James

~ noveldeelights ~ 6 Comments

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3*

aboutthebook

Who can you trust, when you can’t trust yourself?

Holly West has turned her life around. She’s found a successful and loving husband in Simon and is expecting twins. She is definitely a woman has taken back control of her future.

Until she gives birth, only for one twin to survive. Holly can’t let it go. Holly’s world is in a tailspin and suddenly she can’t trust herself or anyone else. No one believes her, not her husband or her best friend. Because she thinks she knows the truth … her son is still alive and she won’t stop until she finds him.

mythoughts

Holly used to be a model with a drug addiction. Until one day, Simon spots her on the runway and decides he wants her in his life. He helps her get her act together, they get married and are now expecting twins. Holly splits her time between a flat in London and a beach house in Cornwall. Life is good.

Until Holly gives birth and only one of her twins survives. She’s convinced her son is alive and will stop at nothing to find him.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that the psychological genre and I are having some sort of relationship crisis. We’re at that stage where there’s angry shouting and door slamming and maybe some plates you never really liked will end up in pieces on the kitchen floor.

Based on the description, Behind The Lie had a lot of potential. I was expecting an intricate plot with lots of twists and turns but unfortunately for me, I figured the whole thing out quite early on and I thought it all became too predictable and slightly far-fetched.

I couldn’t connect to any of the characters. They all came across as highly unlikeable, which doesn’t always have to be an issue but in this case, for me, it was. I couldn’t even muster up sympathy for Holly, which felt all kinds of wrong since she’d just lost a baby.

However, I did enjoy Amanda James’ writing. Since this was my first time reading a book written by her, none of what I said will stop me from reading another one at some point. This is quite clearly a case of “it’s not you, it’s me” and the psychological thriller genre and I desperately need some time away from each other.

Many thanks to HQ Digital UK and Netgalley for my advanced copy.

Behind The Lie will be published on April 21st.

Amazon US – Amazon UK – Goodreads