Trust Me by T. M. Logan

Synopsis:

TWO STRANGERS, A CHILD, AND A SPLIT SECOND CHOICE THAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING . . .

Ellen was just trying to help a stranger. That was how it started: giving a few minutes respite to a flustered young mother sitting opposite her on the train. A few minutes holding her baby while the mother makes an urgent call. The weight of the child in her arms making Ellen’s heart ache for what she can never have.

Five minutes pass.
Ten.

The train pulls into a station and Ellen is stunned to see the mother hurrying away down the platform, without looking back. Leaving her baby behind. Ellen is about to raise the alarm when she discovers a note in the baby’s bag, three desperate lines scrawled hastily on a piece of paper:

Please protect Mia
Don’t trust the police
Don’t trust anyone

Why would a mother abandon her child to a stranger? Ellen is about to discover that the baby in her arms might hold the key to an unspeakable crime. And doing the right thing might just cost her everything . . .

Review:

T. M. Logan writes absolutely brilliant books – and this is the best!!!

The story is compelling, fast moving and highly emotive! Logan is an expert at mis direction and each character could at least me guilty of something at some point – woven together expertly and smoothly. The telling of the mystery thriller is second to none!

The story itself is a concept which is fresh and original. A tale of evil hiding in plain sight, in a way which I haven’t read being explored before. In short and without spoilers – I loved it!

Verdict: 5 stars

Special thanks to T. M. Logan, Zaffre Books and Tracy Fenton

Call Me Mummy by Tina Baker

Synopsis

Glamorous, beautiful Mummy has everything a woman could want. Except for a daughter of her very own. So when she sees Kim – heavily pregnant, glued to her phone and ignoring her eldest child in a busy shop – she does what anyone would do. She takes her. But foul-mouthed little Tonya is not the daughter that Mummy was hoping for.

As Tonya fiercely resists Mummy’s attempts to make her into the perfect child, Kim is demonised by the media as a ‘scummy mummy’, who deserves to have her other children taken too. Haunted by memories of her own childhood and refusing to play by the media’s rules, Kim begins to spiral, turning on those who love her.

Though they are worlds apart, Mummy and Kim have more in common than they could possibly imagine. But it is five-year-old Tonya who is caught in the middle…

Review:

This book is dark, it is unsettling and it is thought provoking. With so many dimensions, this book will keep you entertained – that is for sure.

As well as motherhood, I found a lot of the book to be about class and how this impacts our interpretation of women – either those who have children and those who don’t. It’s about how society – but mostly about how women – judge and interpret other women – children and adults!

The characters in the book are complex and raw. The emotions run deep in this book – so much so I felt the themes stick with me long after I had read the final page.

Verdict: 4 stars

Thank you to Viper Books for my review copy and my spot on the blog tour.

The Last Thing To Burn by Will Dean

Synopsis:

He is her husband. She is his captive.

Her husband calls her Jane. That is not her name.

She lives in a small farm cottage, surrounded by vast, open fields. Everywhere she looks, there is space. But she is trapped. No one knows how she got to the UK: no one knows she is there. Visitors rarely come to the farm; if they do, she is never seen.

Her husband records her every movement during the day. If he doesn’t like what he sees, she is punished.

For a long time, escape seemed impossible. But now, something has changed. She has a reason to live and a reason to fight. Now, she is watching him, and waiting . . .

Review:

This book is one of a kind. A haunting nightmare. A tale of despair.

From the first page until the last, I held my breath. With each passing chapter, we were fed more of her wasted life as each evident piece of it was added to the fire. But then, the tides turn and strength is found is the darkest of places. Through love and solidarity between strangers, we see light which allows the reader and them to breathe again.

It is a tale of slavery under the guise of traditional family. It will open your eyes and hurt your heart. Told with such vivid words, written so so well. A novel of note with a highly important message for everyone.

I have never recommended a book more!

Thank you to Jenny Platt at Hodder & Stoughton.

Happy Dog Days at The Pug Cafe by Anushka Fernando & Bertie the Pug

#blurb

Bertie the pug had an unlucky start in life.

Diagnosed with hemivertebrae and unable to walk, his owner decided to open up a dog-friendly cafe where he could meet friends and have fun.

The Pug Cafe quickly became a very special place for all dog owners to meet and have a drink.

But when the cafe faced closure, it was brave Bertie the pug and his friends who came to the rescue.

Inspired by true events, Happy Days at the Pug Cafe tells the heartwarming story of one little pug and his beloved cafe.

Help yourself to a Puguccino, put up your paws and get your nose into the heartwarming tale of Bertie and friends.

#review

This book is an absolute must for all dog lovers – but especially for all pug lovers! 

In a time of isolation and constant change, our pets provide us with love and a sense of belonging.  Our pets understand us when we think no one will and they listen to our woes without judgment. Bertie and co illustrate this perfectly within the pages. With dialogue from Bertie and his friends, we can envisage what these pugs really think of their owners and the complete devotion they have for them too. 

This book is the perfect embodiment of what it means to own a dog! Including the highs as well as the lows, it reminds us that we experience that huge black hole in our lives when they leave us because they give us so much! The book is full of examples of how dogs enrich our lives – from getting us outdoors and walking to being the reason to start a conversation with someone. And for this reason, many of us, when the time is right, welcome another canine companion into our lives. Each one equally special and adored.

Another massive part of this book is humour. For any one who has ever owned a dog (or been owned by a dog!), we know how much they make us laugh. From running round like lightening to looking silly when they wind their way underneath floor length curtains (pug owners – you know exactly what I mean!). In the book, we have fancy dress, puggucinos and one pugs love for cheese which will make you all giggle! Showing just how much of a ray of sunshine dogs are!!!

I love pugs – having owned two myself, I speak from experience – and this book beautifully puts into words exactly what the breed is all about. I highly recommend as a gift for someone who loves dogs – I am sure it will put a smile on their face and put warmth in their heart.

Verdict = 5 stars.

Hardback available now.

Special thanks to Mel at Mirror Books, Anushka and Bertie!

Dead Perfect by Noelle Holten

#blurb

A murdered woman…

When the body of a young woman is found in a local park, DC Maggie Jamieson knows she’s dealing with no ordinary killer.  The murder victim has been disfigured; her outfit changed to resemble someone else.  Someone Maggie knows all too well…her close friend Dr Kate Moloney.

A determined detective…

Maggie is determined to keep her friend safe, but with Kate already struggling with a threatening stalker, Maggie now fears Kate’s life is in real danger.  Who else would want to harm Kate and why else would the killer be turning his victims into exact replicas – his living dolls? 

Can Maggie find the depraved killer?  Or will Kate become his next living doll?

#review

This is our third meeting with DC Maggie Jamieson, and she as bolshy and fierce as ever! The end of the second instalment, Dead Wrong, was one hell of a cliff hanger, and Dead Perfect picks up the story as per one second later. Full of adrenaline, emotion and me wanting my eyes to read quicker!

The story is sinister, with insights of the killer becoming more and more troubling as we progress through the book. We are provided with the killers perspective and the perspective of the police – as well as snippets of fleeting moments where they are at the same scene. This makes you feel so close to knowing who the perpetrator is that is it infuriating – but isn’t this what we all love about crime fiction? Constantly thinking and re-evaluating all of the characters.

Characters remain strong, as per the previous two books, and the strength of the series just gets stronger and stronger. I love how honest and authentic the story telling is – with characters having good and bad days where sometimes you like them and sometimes you don’t so much – just like real humans! Including daily struggles a lot of us have with our emotions and how this can impact our lives, even when we don’t want it to! A lot of fiction doesn’t quite grasp this like Holten does here. A true triumph of a book! Bring on book 4, please?

Four stars

E-book available now.

Published in paperback on the 24 December 2020.

Special thanks to Noelle Holten, Sarah Hardy of Book on the Brightside Publicity and Promo, and One More Chapter.

Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton

#blurb

In rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard, the unthinkable happens: a school is under siege. Children and teachers barricade themselves into classrooms, the library, the theatre. The headmaster lies wounded in the library, unable to help his trapped students and staff. Outside, a police psychiatrist must identify the gunmen, while parents gather desperate for news. In three intense hours, all must find the courage to stand up to evil and save the people they love.

#review

Love. Compassion. Hatred.

One day in life of a school in Somerset. When a normal run of the mill day turns into your worst nightmare. It highlights the best of human nature. It highlights the worst of human nature.

We have a wide range of characters, including refugees, students of varying backgrounds, a psychologist, terrorists. With each character reacting to the situation in their own way, we see how some flourish for the greater good, a few freeze in sheer terror whilst they try to make sense and how others can revel in the terror they are imposing on others. This made the book well rounded in its telling, without having too many threads of narrative. I felt like I was following various pieces of string as they start to meet and tangle, leaving with one knot at the end. Evident that this day is now something that all these characters will always have in common.

Love is a huge theme in this book. Love that an older brother has for their younger sibling. Love that is unconditional which a parent has for their child. Love that one human being can have for another where they will risk their own safety to protect the safety of another. Even, the love which a terrorist has for their cause, which inevitably leads to strong hatred towards others, as we see here. Every character has a ‘love’ connection within the novel and the story itself, for me, is an exploration of this.

Highly emotional. Thoroughly compelling. My read of the year… so far!

Five stars!

Out now in hardback and e-book.

Published in paperback on the 29 October 2020.

Special thanks to Rosamund Lupton, Ellie Hudson and Viking Books UK.

Anti-Social by Nick Pettigrew

#blurb

Has your life become unbearable because the person living above you has a fondness for crack cocaine, the company of strangers and dance music? Or maybe you’re a social worker, mental health nurse, police officer, firefighter, dog warden or vicar and you’ve been landed with someone who’s a pain in the arse. Who are you going to call? That would be me: an anti-social behaviour officer.

Anti-Social is the diary of a council worker whose job is to keep his community happy, or at least away from each other’s throats. That’s hard enough at the best of times but when government cuts mean that hospitals, social services and police are all at breaking point, the possibility of complete chaos is never far away. 

This is an urgent, timely but, most of all, hysterically funny true story of a life spent working with the people society wants to forget and the problems that nobody else can resolve. This book will make you laugh, cry and boil with rage within a single sentence.

#review

ery real. Very interesting. And full of surprises.

The human element runs through this book like a stream. The world of the anti-social behaviour officer rarely gets talked about and the positives get talked about even less so. The main positive shining through in this book is the people like Nick who spend their days working to help people. The cases mentioned are varied and cover a lot of difference scenarios – with all different outcomes. The authenticity that this brings to the book is what makes it.

I found the book really balanced due to the fact that Nick also includes how the job affects him and his life outside of work. Without this, context and full understanding of what the job truly entails would be lost. It was refreshing to read such an honest account.

The book is organised like a year in the life of – starting in January and ending in December, the chapters telling a month at a time. I thought this worked really well due to being able to follow the highs and lows along with Nick (again, excellent contextually).

Verdict: 4 and a half stars

Out now

The Push by Ashley Audrain

#blurb

What if your experience of motherhood was nothing like what you hoped for – but everything you always feared?

‘The women in this family, we’re different . . .’

The arrival of baby Violet was meant to be the happiest day of my life.

A fresh start. 

But as soon as I held her in my arms, I knew something wasn’t right.

I have always known that the women in my family weren’t meant to be mothers.

My husband Fox says I’m imagiing it, but she’s different with me. Something feels very wrong. 

Is it her? Or is it me? 
Is she the monster? Or am I?

#review

This book is an exploration of motherhood from the perspective that is rarely explored. The perspective of a hesitate mother who didn’t fall in love with motherhood on the first look at her baby. We regularly hear about hesitate mothers who take to motherhood like a duck to water in the end – where everything just works out. This isn’t the case here.

The world surrounding the mother is fully explored from her past through to her current mental state. What happens when the word mother becomes your identity? What happens when your career sits on the back burner? What happens when you don’t listen to your gut? What does it mean when your own mother was not the ideal mother?

This book raises so many interesting questions – and that is before the psychology of the child enters the story.

To me, this is a story of identity and the need to belong which is relevant to all of us. I found it heart-breaking, fascinating and profound.

Verdict: 4 stars

Published on the 7.01.2021

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

#blurb

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?

#review

Loved it!!!! More British than fish and chips. More murderous than Midsummer Murders. And more entertaining than well… not reading this really.

The crime solving characters are clear, sharp and delightful from the beginning. You can immediately relate to people you know; the manner of speech, the ways of being, and the true cheek of which only really comes to those who have spent a number of years on this planet in this said country.

The murder itself is quintessentially ‘gangster’ which has been thrown into this ye olde world of the retirement community residents. It allows these pensioner sleuths to show off their skills and give the police a running whilst they are at it.

From what I have written so far you would think the book is full of dark laughs and giggles, this is not always the case. Real issues rear their head and are dealt with carefully and sensitively, but they are not swept under the carpet or lessened in any way. And so showing them running through peoples lives just in the same way they do in the ‘real world’. Dementia, loss of a life partner, loneliness. This enriches the read and quite really qualifies it as quite an excellent book all round.

Wholly recommended, not just to crime fiction fans, but to any one who enjoys a jolly good read!

Verdict: 5 stars

Out now

Playing Nice by JP Delaney

 

#blurb

Pete Riley answers the door one morning to a parent’s worst nightmare. On his doorstep is Miles Lambert, who breaks the devastating news that Pete’s two-year-old, Theo, isn’t Pete’s real son – their babies got mixed up at birth.

The two families – Pete, his partner Maddie, and Miles and his wife Lucy – agree that, rather than swap the boys back, they’ll try to find a more flexible way to share their children’s lives. But a plan to sue the hospital triggers an investigation that unearths disturbing questions about just what happened the day the babies were switched.

And when Theo is thrown out of nursery for hitting other children, Maddie and Pete have to ask themselves: how far do they want this arrangement to go? What secrets lie hidden behind the Lamberts’ smart front door? How much can they trust the real parents of their child – or even each other?

 

#review

Now I am a massive fan of JP Delaney’s writing and I have been since reading The Girl Before, but this is a whole other level!

Told at pace – a tale of love, rivalry and menace! 

The world tells us that the love a parent has for their child is the greatest love known to man. We have stories of nature and nurture claiming their effects, and trying to be champion over the other. This story gets right to the root of the debate – when babies are swapped at birth and raised by two quite different families – whose behaviours do the children display, whose interests do they mirror. The unfolding of the story tells us that love is strong, pride is unreal and the desire to win can conquer all!

There are so many issues explored within this book – disability, wealth, domestic violence to name just a few. And every one is told with the pitch perfect sensitivity. Reading as very real and authentic. Creating a read of depth as well as superb plot.

The best read from JP Delaney EVER! And that is saying something!

 

Five stars

Out now!