Saturday, February 15, 2020

Blog Tour: All The Rage by Cara Hunter

ARC
Not Paid or Sponsored
Amazon UK link is an affiliate


Hi!

All The Rage is the fourth book in the D.I. Adam Fawley series by Cara Hunter, recently released at the end of January. The first three are linked below:

  

I hadn't read any of the previous books in the series, and I don't think that had a huge impact on my enjoyment of the book. Obviously when there are multiple books featuring the same police team, people get to know them and know their history, and while I did feel like I was slightly in the dark about some of the personal issues, the main story was a standalone and I was able to read it as one. 


A teenage girl is found wandering the outskirts of Oxford, dazed and distressed. The story she tells is terrifying. Grabbed off the street, a plastic bag pulled over her face, then driven to an isolated location where she was subjected to what sounds like an assault. Yet she refuses to press charges. 

DI Fawley investigates, but there's little he can do without the girl's co-operation. Is she hiding something, and if so, what? And why does Fawley keep getting the feeling he's seen a case like this before? 

And then another girl disappears, and Adam no longer has a choice: he has to face up to his past. Because unless he does, this victim may not be coming back...

Having never read anything by this author before, I wasn't sure what to expect from her writing style. I found it to be similar to Karin Slaughter in that she holds absolutely nothing back, which can sometimes be uncomfortable to read (as any good crime read should be!). In this book in particular, the reason why the girl refuses to press charges is something that could have easily been turned into a "GOTCHA!" and used as a shock tactic or punchline, but I felt like it was handled sensitively. 

I loved the way the book was presented - the little notes, tweets and screenshots really added another dimension to the story and made it feel like a real investigation. The book brought a lot of current issues to light, including the presence of incel forums (so gross). 


The story was very engaging, I feel like fans of Happy Valley will really enjoy this one and I'm definitely going to go and read the first three to find out a little more about DI Fawley and his team. I adored Faith and really felt that her situation was handled in a very respectful and tolerant way. 

If you'd like to keep up with more DI Adam Fawley news, you can sign up to Cara's newsletter HERE

All the Rage is available now from all good bookshops plus online.


And don't forget your local library!


Thank you to Viking Books & Penguin for having me on the blog tour! You can check out some of the other stops below:



ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Do you enjoy crime novels?  Let me know below!



Friday, February 14, 2020

Blog Tour: Her Homecoming Wish by Jo McNally (Harlequin Special Edition)

ARC
Not paid or sponsored
Amazon UK affiliate


Hi!

Firstly, Happy Valentines Day! If you can hear that in your head as anything other than Janice from Friends, you're a better person than I am. 

Secondly, whether you're spending today with a significant other or you're by yourself, I have just the treat for you. 

Harlequin Special Editions are slighty longer than some of the other imprints, and they promise "compelling, contemporary romance novels with happy endings."


Her Homecoming Wish is definitely contemporary and compelling, but does it have a happy ending? You'll have to read to find out! (No, honestly, it does, don't worry).



She's ready to shed her good-girl ways...
"You're all about following the rules now?
Pity."
Mackenzie Wallace hopes there's still some bad boy lurking beneath single father Danny Adams's upright exterior. Being the proverbial good girl left her brokenhearted and alone in the past. Now she's back in town and wants excitement with her high school crush - not love. Dan knows their connection runs deep, despite Mackenzie's protests. But will their new peronas work together - especially when Dan's secret is exposed?

This is a story about labels - or rather, what we do with them. In high school, Mackenzie was the "good girl" - the perfect student, the model child. Danny "Danger Dan" Adams was the bad boy - the tattooed biker always in trouble. Move on a decade or two and things have changed - Mack is newly divorced and back in her hometown, trying to shed her goody two-shoes image once and for all. Danny is the obvious choice - but it seems that he has already done some shedding, and left behind his danger days in favour of being a good Dad to his daughter Chloe and keeping his hometown safe in his capacity as Sheriff. 

I liked Mack instantly - I felt like I knew exactly who she was and where she was coming from right from the second we met her. I loved her spirit and how she wouldn't let people pigeonhole her. Dan took a little longer for me to warm to - I believe that he has appeared in other books in the Gallant Lake Series, so fans of that will no doubt be delighted to see him have his own storyline. I did find him slightly over-the-top at times but Mackenzie kept him in check, always correcting him when she felt he was overstepping or encouraging him to seek help when his work/life balance was all over the place. 

Other things I loved about this story - the relationship between Dan and his ex-wife was so lovely, they were so respectful of each other and were great co-parents to Chloe. 
I loved that there was a small business ran by a gay couple, and there wasn't a big deal made about it. They were just two husbands running a business. LGBTQ+ relationships need to be as normalized as much as possible, especially in the current climate, and it was great to see that they were treated the same as every other couple. 
I also loved that the sex scenes were safe, with particular emphasis on consent and contraception. Consent is sexy! 

This was my first time reading anything by Jo McNally, but I really don't want to leave Gallant Lake behind, so I'll be catching up on the rest in that series. This can be read as a standalone, I didn't feel like I had missed out on anything by not having read any others. 

Thank you to Harlequin & Carina for allowing me to be a part of the blog tour. 


Her Homecoming Wish is available now.








Monday, February 3, 2020

Blog Tour: Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

ARC

Hi!

Today I'm taking part in the blog tour for one of the most anticipated books of 2020, Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano. 



One summer morning, twelve-year old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed for Los Angeles. Among them is a Wall Street  wunderkind, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, an injured vet returning from Afghanistan, a septuagenarian business tycoon, and a free-spirited woman running away from her controlling husband. And then, tragically, the plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor.

People-watching is one of my favourite things. Ask anyone who has ever been in an airport or train station with me - I can happily spend hours just watching people (non-creepily) and making up stories for them in my head. This type of book was a dream come true for me - a whole plane full of people, all with incredibly different lives, experiences, stories and expectations. We follow the stories of a handful of them - the injured war vet, the wall street tycoon, the quirky free spirit, the young woman hoping for a proposal, the air hostess, the family moving cross-country. The story jumps back and forth before and after the tragic crash. 

Whenever I watch a film or read a book about a disaster, I know it has reeled me in when I watch/read it again hoping the outcome is different. This is how I felt with Dear Edward from the beginning. Clearly, we know what happens, but I found myself hoping beyond hope that the plane wouldn't crash, that someone else would survive, that it would all be okay. I became completely attached to almost all the characters from the start and really didn't want to let go of any of them.

How often do we get to see the long-term aftermath of something like this? We hear the breaking news stories, we see the media coverage, then nothing. What happens next? In this story, we stay with Edward as he tries to adjust to his new life post-accident with his Aunt and Uncle. How did the tragedy affect them? How can they help Edward while they're dealing with their own loss? And how can Edward deal with his grief when he is struggling with survivor's guilt? 

This is a stunning novel about heartbreak, loss, grief and guilt - but also survival, hope, following your heart and forgiveness. 

Dear Edward is available now on Kindle and will be released by Penguin Books on February 20th 2020.

Amazon US

Many thanks to Hannah at Penguin for allowing me to take part in the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR