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Friday, 10 June 2016

My Husband's Wives - Faith Hogan (Guest Post)



When this book was bought to my attention by Aria Books, it appealed straight away and off I went to Amazon to add it to my Kindle.  I'm delighted to be taking part in Faith Hogan's Summer Blog Hop, with a guest post from the author. 


A Peculiar Route To Take:

I was always going to be a crime writer. I had it in my bones, so to speak. After all, I grew up reading adventures – like the Famous Five and the Secret Seven. You could keep your Worst Witch and Mallory Towers, thanks all the same. I loved adventure. I loved mystery. I loved trying to solve it before the sleuth did.

As I got older, I moved on to Agatha Christie first, then Arthur Conan Doyle to be followed by writers from every corner of the world who had only one thing in common – that’s right, dead bodies and a puzzle to solve. I loved them, one and all. From the frozen Scandinavian landscapes to the baking heat of South Africa, from the dark industrial depths of the U.S. mid states to the university town of Oxford. If there was a crime to solve, a new detective to read, I was on it.

And so I wrote mysteries. I wrote crime novels. I wrote police procedurals. I had dead bodies galore, dizzying twists and turns, high concept plots and strong characterisation – the only thing was, they just didn’t hit lucky with a publisher.

After writing three (I thought) great books, my agent, took me aside, and gently persuaded me to do something ‘different.’ It took a while to get my head around what I could write. After all, you need to be well read before you can take on a novel, don’t you?

When I sat down and began to think of what I might write, there were a few things I knew I enjoyed in a book that could translate easily into any genre.

I like great characters. I like to feel as if I’ve gotten to know the people I’m taking into bed with me most nights! I need to care about what happens to them and if I like them, I need them to be okay at the end of the book.

I need to feel there’s a story worth reading. In other words, I need to feel like there’s a reason to keep turning the pages – after all, there are plenty of books out there to choose from if I’m not enjoying this one.

Finally, there needs to be a twist – somewhere along the way, preferably near the end, there needs to be something that catches me by surprise so I put down the book thinking – Well, I didn’t see that coming!

Did I manage to fulfil all of these things with My Husband’s Wives? I’m not sure – I guess that’s up to the reader to decide! What I will say is this; the book started with the question – What If? And I’m very happy with where it ended!

Many thanks to Karen for having me on her lovely blog!

Faith Hogan x






One man, three wives, too many secrets. A heart-warming story of love, loss, family and friendship. A compelling debut that fans of Freya North will love.

Paul Starr, Ireland's leading cardiologist dies in a car crash with a pregnant young women by his side.

United in their grief and the love of one man, four women are thrown together in an attempt to come to terms with life after Paul. They soon realise they never really knew him at all.

The love they shared for Paul in his life and which incensed a feeling of mistrust and dislike for each other, in his death turns into the very thing that bonds them and their children to each other, forever.

As they begin to form unlikely friendships, Paul's death proves to be the catalyst that enables them to become the people they always wanted to be.


About the author:


Faith Hogan was born in Ireland.  She gained an Honours Degree in English Literature and Psychology from Dublin City University and a Postgraduate Degree from University College, Galway.  She has worked as a fashion model, an event’s organiser and in the intellectual disability and mental health sector.

She was a winner in the 2014 Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair – an international competition for emerging writers.
Her debut novel, ‘My Husband’s Wives,’ is a contemporary women’s fiction novel set in Dublin. It was published by Aria, (Head of Zeus) on 1 May 2016. She is currently working on her next novel.

Follow Faith on Twitter at @gerhogan or like her on Facebook.comFaithhoganauthor/ or, if you’re really interested, you can catch up with her on www.faithhogan.com

Sunday, 5 June 2016

May 2016 - Books and Events

May was another bumper month for book arrivals.  I also went to some really lovely events including Orenda Books & Maggie O'Farrell - more about those below. 

I love receiving bookpost - the excitement of seeing a padded envelope through the letter box can't be beaten.  I received some wonderful ARCs and review books this month



Paper books received for review:
  • Give it Back - Danielle Esplin (received from the author in the USA)
  • Acts of Love - Talulah Riley (Hodder & Stoughton)
  • The Butterfly Summer - Harriet Evans (Headline)
  • Kitchens of the Great Midwest - J Ryan Stradal (received from Real Readers)
  • Death in Profile - Guy Fraser Sampson (received from the author)
  • The Couple Next Door - Shari Lapena (Transworld)
  • Lie with Me - Sabine Durrant (Mulholland Books)
  • The Comfort of Others - Kay Langdale (Hodder & Stoughton)
  • The Beauty of the End - Debbie Howells (Pan)
  • The Fire Child - S K Tremayne (Harper Collins for Lovereading Reviewer Panel)
  • Sunshine Over Wildflower Cottage - Milly Johnson (Simon & Schuster)

Kindle review books:

  • Forgotten - Heleyne Hammersley (from the author)
  • Cold Calling - Russell Mardell (from the author)
  • Falling Suns - J A Corrigan (from the author)
  • Whyte Lies - K C Acton (from the author)

Netgalley's approved:

  • How to Find Love in a Bookshop - Veronica Henry (Orion)
  • I See You - Clare Mackintosh (Little, Brown)
  • My Husband's Son - Deborah O'Connor (Bonnier/Twenty7)

Paper Books Purchased:

  • This Must Be The Place - Maggie O'Farrell
  • Death Do Us Part - Steven Dunne
  • In Too Deep - Samantha Hayes
  • Kate McCabe - The Music of Love
  • The Amber Shadows - Lucy Ribchester


Whilst on various trips to London over the month, I also made a couple of visits to my favourite second hand bookshop. I happily spend time there browsing - old books, new books and they also have a proof section - I never come away empty handed and I was thrilled to pick these up:




  • The Invitation - Lucy Foley (pub. 14 July)
  • I Found You - Lisa Jewell (pub. 14 July)
  • Claire Douglas - Local Girl Missing (pub. 11 August)
  • Katie Marsh - A Life Without You (pub. 14 July)
  • Daisy in Chains - Sharon Bolton (pub. 2 June)
It looks like 14 July is shaping up to be a bumper day for new releases. 

Books Won/Gifted:



  • Devotion - Louisa Young
  • The Killing of Polly Carter - Robert Thorogood
  • Nina is Not OK - Shappi Khorsandi (a Goodreads First Reads win) 
Kindle Books purchased:
  • Where They Found Her - Kimberley McCreight
  • What Doesn't Kill You - Laura E James
  • A Girl Like You - Maureen Lindley
  • Deliver Her - Patricia Perry Donovan
  • My Husband's Wives - Faith Hogan
  • The Day I Lost You - Fionnuala Kearney
  • The Truth About Julia - Anna Schaffner
  • Where The River Parts - Radhika Swarup
  • The Dolls House - Louise Phillips
  • The Barn on Half Moon Hill - Milly Johnson
  • The Little French Guest House - Helen Pollard
  • Perfect Weddings - Lynda Renham
  • The Trysting Tree - Linda Gillard
  • The Daughters of Red Hill Hall - Kathleen McGurl
  • Twisted River - Siobhan MacDonald
  • The Sister - Louise Jensen
  • The Cold Cold Sea - Linda Huber
  • The Agatha Christie Book Club - C A Larmer
  • My Mother's Secret - Sheila O'Flanagan
  • Find Her - Lisa Gardner

Events:

The first event I went to in May was the launch of 'The Evolution of Fear' by Paul Hardisty, held at Goldsboro Books in Cecil Court, London.  If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it - I've reviewed it here on the blog (along with the previous book The Abrupt Physics of Dying).  The book is published by Orenda Books and the powerhouse that is Karen Sullivan!  This was a really enjoyable evening and it was lovely to meet for the first time, Bettina from Tripfiction and author Jeanette Hewitt. 

Karen Sullivan of Orenda with Paul Hardisty (right)


Karen's famous cupcakes! 

Photo courtesy of Jeanette Hewitt (L-R, Me, Tina from Trip Fiction & Jeanette Hewitt)
Then the following week, it was another Orenda event, this time the Orenda Roadshow at Waterstones, Piccadilly.  Karen had many of her authors there (Kati Hiekkapelto, Louise Beech, Amanda Jennings, Michael J Malone, Yusuf Toropov, Paul Hardisty, David F Ross, Matt Johnson, Michael Grothaus, Michael Stanley, Su Bristow and Steph Broadribb), with each explaining about their book and then doing a reading.  There were cupcakes and wine and all heads swivelled around when the whisper went round that Yoko Ono had appeared behind us! 



Michael Stanley (comprising authors Michael Sears & Stanley Trollip)

Amanda Jennings (left) next to Steph Broadribb

L-R Kati Hiekkapelto, Michael Stanley, Matt Johnson, Amanda Jennings

Su Bristow and Karen Sullivan


The following week, and it was back to Waterstones Piccadilly again! This time to see Maggie O'Farrell talk about her latest book 'This Must Be The Place' when she read an extract from her book and was then interviewed by author Sam Baker. Maggie O'Farrell has a definite presence, she speaks confidently, is witty and interesting and I could have listened to her all evening. I had already been sent a proof copy but I had to buy the beautiful hardback too and I was able to get them both signed.  I also took with me my copy of Sam Baker's book 'The Woman Who Ran' and Sam very kindly signed this for me. The event was being filmed for The Pool and there is a link here for a video extract.  








And finally, to round off the month, I attended the Blogger/Author meet in London, arranged by Bookoutre's publicity manager, Kim Nash (Kim the Bookworm). This was an informal gathering held in a bar in Kings Cross; unfortunately I didn't take any photos but it was lovely to meet fellow bloggers, some I knew already and others I was meeting for the first time and authors that I only knew from Twitter and Facebook. 

 




Saturday, 4 June 2016

Blog Tour Extract: Anything for Her - Jack Jordan




Its my turn today for the blog tour of Anything for Her by Jack Jordan. Anything for Her was Jack's debut thriller and originally published in June 2015 however it has now been re-published with an updated cover. His new thriller, My Girl, is due to be released on 4 July 2016 and I already have my pre-order in!






Jack Jordan, bestselling author of Anything for Her and My Girl.

To celebrate the release of my second thriller, My Girl,  on July 4th, I am sharing the first chapter of my bestselling debut novel exclusively to Karen’s blog, My Reading Corner.





Sometimes the past comes back to haunt you. 

Louise Leighton’s life has fallen apart, all because of one fateful night. Her husband is an adulterer, her sister is his mistress, and soon, Louise will lose everything she owns. But she never imagined she would lose her daughter. 

Eighteen-year-old Brooke Leighton is missing. It’s up to Louise and the Metropolitan Police to find her. Has Brooke run away? Or has she been taken against her will? And can Louise aid the investigation without mentioning the night where all of her troubles began? 

If she mentions that night, she will incriminate her daughter for heinous crimes. But if she doesn’t, she may never find Brooke; and if she has been abducted, the person who took her may come for Louise, too. 

Sometimes the past comes back to kill you.


1


Louise had never wanted her husband to die. Not until he ripped their family apart.

Testicular cancer? Rabies? A fatal fall from a windy clifftop? Lightning strike to his adulterous crotch? She hadn’t decided. All she knew was, once a husband told his wife that he had been having an affair with her younger sister, it was more than acceptable, if not entirely necessary, for his wife to imagine his gruesome death over and over for her own pleasure.

They had argued all night: ever since Michael had confessed to the ten-month affair. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, he divulged.

‘I’ve been sleeping with Denise.’

She instantly forgot to how to breathe.

‘I love you, Louise. I don’t want our marriage to end because of this.’

Her throat constricted. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest.

‘I… I don’t understand.’

‘I’ve been meaning to tell you—’

‘No,’ she turned to face him. ‘Say it again. Look into my eyes and say it again.’

She stared at her husband’s bewitching face, and waited for him to explain that it was a sick prank. He would laugh hysterically as her mouth relaxed into a relieved smirk and she would slap his arm playfully. You really got me for a moment there, Mike!

‘I’ve been having an affair with your sister.’

Michael’s complexion paled as he watched his words sink in.

He was lying – he had to be. Michael wouldn’t do that. Maybe she had fallen asleep – maybe she was having a nightmare. Was it possible for her to feel her heart break while she slept?

Her eyes began to sting with tears. She couldn’t escape the thought of her husband writhing naked on top of her sister, both of them glistening with sweat and panting like excited dogs; she imagined Denise clutching her husband’s buttocks as he slammed into her.

Louise got out of bed, rushed to the en-suite, and vomited.


***

After an exhausting night of tears, yelling, apologies, and expletives, they occupied the room in stifling silence, with every word they had spoken echoing in their ears. Louise sat on the end of the bed – the side of their marital bed that she had occupied for twenty years.

She looked out of the window, as the sun rose and began to warm the December frost that sparkled on the London rooftops, and wondered if she would ever be able to look at her husband again without wishing him dead.

Michael stood at the foot of the bed with the facial expression of a scolded child. His bottom lip quivered as he tried to keep the tears at bay.

‘Why, Michael?’ she asked weakly. ‘Why my sister, of all people?’

‘I couldn’t handle the secrets anymore. I couldn’t handle the distance you put between us. Denise came on to me and I let her.’

‘It seems we all have secrets,’ she replied, her eyes fixed on the window. ‘But don’t worry, my secrets don’t involve fucking your brother.’

They succumbed to the silence again. Louise looked down at the hastily packed suitcase by her feet. She had to escape her new, agonising reality before it killed her.

‘So not only have you destroyed your business, lost all of our money, and destroyed our family, but you’ve decimated our marriage and severed my bond with my sister forever.’

She looked at him with tears in her eyes, a woman too weak to take another knock.

‘I will never forgive myself.’

‘I will never forgive you either.’

Tears ran down her cheeks and reflected the rising sun in their streams.

She stood and reached down for the suitcase handle; fresh tears dropped to the carpet.

‘Please stay. Please stay until we work this out.’

‘I can’t bear to be near you right now,’ she walked to the door. ‘I can’t even look at you.’

She opened the bedroom door while Michael sobbed behind her. In front of her stood their two children.

Ten-year-old Dominic looked startled to see his mother’s worn complexion and bloodshot eyes. His small hands were shaking.

Eighteen-year-old Brooke, a youthful double of her mother, stood next to him; her checks were streaked with dried tears.

Both children looked utterly drained, as though neither of them had slept a wink. They must have listened to every word.

‘I need to go away for a while,’ she said, wiping tears from her face.

‘Can we come with you?’ Dominic asked.

‘No, darling. Mummy needs some time to herself for a few days.’ She knelt down in front of her son; his eyes shimmered with hurt. ‘That doesn’t mean I don’t need you or love you with every part of me. It just means that I need to go away and have a good, long think. Okay?’

‘What have you got to think about?’

‘Not very nice things. But whenever I need cheering up, I’ll think of you.’

‘You promise you’ll come back?’

Tears began to fill his eyes.

‘I promise you, my angel. I’ll be back.’

Louise spread her arms and her son fell into her chest and unfurled his sobs. She held him to her, her heart breaking all over again, and looked up at Brooke.

Our secret did this.

She didn’t need to say it out loud. Brooke knew.

Louise gave her son one last squeeze and a kiss before she got to her feet to stand before her eldest child. She entered into a tight embrace with her and kissed her quickly on the cheek.

‘Be strong,’ she whispered into her daughter’s ear. ‘Be strong for your brother.’

From the top of the South Kensington townhouse, Louise carried the heavy suitcase down each flight of stairs, trying to ignore the approaching steps of her husband, and the children following behind him like his shadow.

‘Don’t go. Please don’t leave me.’

Louise couldn’t trust herself to reply without crying; she hurried for the last flight of stairs. The suitcase strained her arm and back but she didn’t care: the sooner she escaped, the better.

When she reached the front door, she stopped in her tracks. Michael stood on the bottom step of the staircase; the children remained at the top. Louise couldn’t take her eyes away from the framed photo hanging proudly by the door for all to see: the photo of her and Michael on their wedding day. Standing next to her was Denise in her maid of honour dress; Michael’s brother, the best man, stood to the right. The four of them were laughing. Their wide grins radiated glee and wedding-day beauty. She had never noticed that Michael and Denise’s eyes were locked, frozen by the click of the camera.

Rage swelled in her chest. Her entire body shook with hate, and her skin flushed hot. She dropped the suitcase with a bang, snatched the photo frame from the wall, and launched it at her husband with a scream. He ducked as it crashed against the wall and exploded into shards of glass and splinters of wood.

Dominic screamed from the top of the stairs and ran out of sight.

Louise looked at the scene, at the mess that her life had become, torn between hurting her husband further and running to his aid. She took her keys from the sideboard, picked up her suitcase, and rushed out of the house, slamming the door behind her. The sound reverberated through the house and sent shudders through those she left behind.



Grab your copy of Anything for Her, here

Jack Jordan’s second thriller, My Girl will be available as of 4th July, 2016. You can pre-order your copy here


If you would like to follow the blog tour for My Girl, these are the dates:



Paige Dawson: the mother of a murdered child and wife to a dead man. 

She has nothing left to live for… until she finds her husband’s handgun hidden in their house. 

Why did Ryan need a gun? What did he know about their daughter’s death? 

Desperate for the truth, Paige begins to unearth her husband’s secrets. 

But she has no idea who she is up against, or that her life isn’t hers to gamble – she belongs to me. 

From the bestselling author of Anything for Her, Jack Jordan's My Girl is the new chilling thriller that you won't want to miss.



About the author:

Jack Jordan lives in East Anglia, England. He is an introvert disguised as an extrovert, an intelligent person who can say very unintelligent things, and a self-confessed bibliomaniac with more books than sense. 'Anything for Her' is Jack Jordan's debut novel.


Thursday, 2 June 2016

Review: Sisters and Lies - Bernice Barrington

Published by Penguin Ireland

ebook and paperback: 24 March 2016


One hot August night, Rachel Power gets the call everyone fears. It's the police. Her younger sister Evie's had a car crash, she's in a coma. Can Rachel fly to London right away? With Evie injured and comatose, Rachel is left to pick up the pieces of her sister's life. But it's hard fitting them together, especially when she really doesn't like what she sees. Why was Evie driving when she doesn't even own a licence? Who is the man living in her flat and claiming Evie is his girlfriend? How come she has never heard of him? The more mysteries Rachel uncovers the more she starts asking herself how well she ever really knew her sister. And then she begins to wonder if the crash was really the accident everybody says it is. Back in hospital, Evie, trapped inside an unresponsive body, is desperately trying to wake up. Because she's got an urgent message for Rachel - a warning which could just save both their lives . . .



Sisters Rachel and Evie are not as close as they could be, especially following their mother’s death and it is only after Evie is involved in a car crash and lying in a coma that Rachel realises there is so much about her sister’s life that she doesn’t know. The more she delves into Evie’s life, the more lies and secrets she uncovers – it was unclear whether Evie was even driving the car at the time. Nobody seems to know what happened and the police seem to be unconcerned about any suspicious circumstances.

Whilst Rachel is trying to find out what really happened, Evie, from her hospital bed, is desperately trying to recall her memories of the time leading up to her accident; she may be unable to speak or to move but she can sense people around her, hear conversations and is alert to danger. Gradually, from seeing past and present events from both points of view, we get a more rounded and detailed insight into Evie’s life and the suspense builds up.

The two sisters have very different personalities and both have their personal issues to deal with. I found myself becoming more sympathetic to Evie, being the more fragile and vulnerable of the two. Rachel was capable and very determined in her quest to find out the truth, although there was something about her manner that grated on me a little, she seemed too quick to jump to conclusions and didn’t give people the chance to explain.

This was a very intriguing and accomplished debut from Bernice Barrington. Having Evie narrate her own story, albeit whilst comatose, actually works quite well and although there are times when the story slows a little, the suspense still builds up as I wondered exactly what was going on in Evie’s life and who was telling the truth. I had my suspicions about certain people but with each new reveal and twist I kept changing my mind.

A very enjoyable and tense read that kept the suspense going right up to the very end. Bernice Barrington is certainly an author to look out for in future and I look forward to reading more.



My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the e-copy to review.


About the author:

Bernice Barrington grew up on a farm in north Longford. Her passion has always been for stories and she created her first publication, The White Elephant magazine, at eleven. She studied English and German at Trinity College, completed an MA in writing and then became a journalist. She continued to write fiction in her spare time. Sisters and Lies is her first novel. She lives in Dalkey, Co Dublin with her husband.


Wednesday, 1 June 2016

This Must be the Place - Maggie O'Farrell

Published by Tinder Press

ebook and Hardcover : 17 May 2016
Paperback: 18 May 2017




The dazzling new novel from Sunday Times bestseller and Costa Novel Award-winner Maggie O'Farrell, THIS MUST BE THE PLACE crosses time zones and continents to reveal an extraordinary portrait of a marriage.
Meet Daniel Sullivan, a man with a complicated life. A New Yorker living in the wilds of Ireland, he has children he never sees in California, a father he loathes in Brooklyn and a wife, Claudette, who is a reclusive ex-film star given to shooting at anyone who ventures up their driveway.

He is also about to find out something about a woman he lost touch with twenty years ago, and this discovery will send him off-course, far away from wife and home. Will his love for Claudette be enough to bring him back?




I’ve read and enjoyed other books by Maggie O’Farrell (previously my favourite being ‘The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox’) but This Must be the Place is something rather special. It might be a little discombobulating at first to be taken across different decades and continents within just a few pages but even though the characters and timelines seem random, there is a structure bonding the story together, like invisible glue, so that even though you may be in 1989 in one chapter and then in 2010 the next, the story and chapters flow effortlessly and connect together. And then of course there is Maggie O’Farrell’s writing. No waffly or unnecessary words – just beautiful, succinct and carefully worded prose that you read and can immediately understand and think “yes I get that”. 

The characters of both Daniel and Claudette may well make you want to shake them at times. To say to them, “just damn well talk to each other” but it’s their flaws and their complex characters which make them just so believable. Daniel, the linguistics expert who so often throughout his life seems to press the self-destruct button. He understands the complexities of language but cannot find the right words to say at the right time which leads to missed opportunities and misunderstandings. Then there is his wife Claudette, the reclusive former film star. She is fiercely protective of her privacy to the point of paranoia and hides her vulnerability behind her stubborn exterior. There are many other connecting characters, some family members, others complete strangers (one of my favourite quotes in the book comes from Rosalind, a character who was just ‘passing through’ but one that I would like to have heard more from), but all have their own stories and heartbreaks which impact on Daniel and Claudette’s lives.

I really don’t want to go into any detail about the story and the book description will give you the outline, it is one that you need to read and discover for yourself whilst immersing yourself in the beauty of this author’s writing. I was completely captivated and intrigued by the epic journey made by these characters; there is both tragedy and humour; This Must be the Place will undoubtedly be on the list for my top books of the year.

Not only was I fortunate enough to be sent an advance copy but it was an absolute delight to be at Waterstones Piccadilly recently to hear Maggie O’Farrell talk about the book with author Sam Baker. I also had the opportunity to buy the hardback (which is truly a book of beauty) and have it signed. It now sits on my keepers shelf along with my gorgeous proof copy which Maggie O’Farrell also signed for me.


My thanks to Georgina and the publisher Tinder Press for the advance proof copy (and with apologies for the delayed review!)


Sam Baker & Maggie O'Farrell




About the author:


Maggie O'Farrell is the author of seven novels, After You'd Gone, My Lover's Lover, The Distance Between Us which won a Somerset Maugham Award, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, The Hand That First Held Mine which won the 2010 Costa Novel Award, Instructions for a Heatwave, which was shortlisted for the 2013 Costa Novel Award, and This Must be the Place. She lives in Edinburgh.


Website | Amazon UK | Goodreads

Monday, 30 May 2016

Baby Doll - Hollie Overton


Published by Century

ebook and Hardback - 30 June 2016

Paperback - 12 January 2017






She kept moving forward. She didn't stop. She didn't look back.

Lily has been abducted from outside her high-school gates.

For eight long years she's been locked away from the outside world. During that time she's changed from a girl into a woman. She's had a baby.

And now she has seized her chance and escaped.

Running for her life, with her daughter in her arms, she returns to her family and the life she used to know - to her much-loved twin sister Abby, her mum, her high-school boyfriend - and her freedom.

But is it possible to go back?

Lily's perfect life as a teenager doesn't exist any more. Since she's been gone, her family's lives have changed too, in ways she never could have imagined.

Her return, and the revelation of who took her, will send shockwaves through the whole community.

Impossible not to read in one sitting, Baby Doll is a taut psychological thriller that focuses on family entanglements and the evil that can hide behind a benign facade.

A stand-out debut thriller by a new voice in US crime. Think ROOM meets SISTER. 




When I chose this book from the Amazon Vine list, I imagined it would be a similar story to Room by Emma Donoghue (which I read many years ago). However, apart from the main character Lily Riser having been kept captive for several years and having a child by her abductor (this isn’t a spoiler, you discover this in the first couple of pages) the two books have little in common, with Baby Doll, in my opinion, being a far more dramatic and ‘louder’ story. (This isn’t a criticism of either book in any way – but just to say that the two stories are very different in content).

The blurb tells us that Lily escapes but the story is more about her return to her family and re-adjustment to life after 8 years rather than graphically describing the abuse inflicted on her. She is not the only one who has suffered. Her family have been wondering and hoping and her mother Eve and twin sister Abby have each found their own way over the years of existing with Lily’s disappearance. In one way life has moved on for Lily’s family but in others it hasn’t and when she finally returns, this brings its own struggles. Lily herself is a different person from the one they knew. She was taken when she was a high school teenager and is now a mother with different priorities and not surprisingly her character has changed too. Her daughter Sky is also suffering trauma; she has never known any other life other than captivity and the man she calls ‘Daddy’ and is struggling to adjust. I'm not a parent but I was surprised at how articulate she was for a 6 year old who had only ever known captivity and until her escape had only really had her mother to interact with. It’s a small point but I did feel that Sky’s trauma was passed over too quickly without further mention.

Told in the third person, the story is narrated from the perspectives of Lily, Abby, Eve and at times, the abductor – who appears to be a master manipulator and a control freak. We hear mainly from Lily and Abby as the two sisters try to rebuild their relationship. There are secrets between them and Lily finds that adjusting to her new life is not as easy as she had hoped.

As the story progresses there are twists and more revelations and at one point it took a turn that I wasn’t expecting.

Baby Doll was certainly a chilling and engrossing read with the two sisters having the strongest voices. Although Abby seemed quite an aggressive character, for me she seemed rather more believable than Lily, who I thought at times was a little too forgiving for someone in that situation. Having said that, Lily was a very easy character to engage with and after her escape I was rooting for her and hoping that she would find some kind of normality. A story of re-adjustment and retribution, this is Hollie Overton’s debut thriller and definitely one to be recommended. The author is a twin and has drawn upon her personal experience in creating the story and this certainly shines through.


My paperback copy was received through the Amazon Vine review programme.


About the author:

Hollie Overton is an executive story editor on ABC Family's upcoming drama Shadowhunters, based on the bestselling Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. Previously, she wrote for the CBS police procedural Cold Case and Lifetime's The Client List. Overton's father was a member of the notorious Overton gang and spent seven years in prison for manslaughter. Raised by a single mother, Hollie, an identical twin herself, draws on her unique childhood experiences to lend realism and compassion to her depictions of domestic violence and dysfunctional family dynamics.


Saturday, 21 May 2016

My Husband's Wife - Jane Corry : Author Guest Post & Giveaway



My Husband's Wife by Jane Corry

Published by Penguin

ebook - 26 May 2016  :  Paperback 25 August 2016


I'm delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for My Husband's Wife. I'm currently reading this and whilst I had intended to have a review alongside this guest post, I haven't quite finished it.  I am very much enjoying it though and my review will appear shortly.  In the meantime I have a guest post from the author on tips and habits of a writer, which I hope you enjoy.  There is also a giveaway for a new paperback proof copy (details at the end of this post).


TIPS AND HABITS OF A WRITER 

Jane Corry 


'Please don't come in,' I said this morning to my husband when he opened the study door.

No. I wasn't hiding anything. Or making any secret phone calls. The fact is that like many writers, I cannot cope with any interruption . Even a quick phone call can stop the flow and take away the idea which was about to hit the page.

And that's one of my first tips. If you can, find a place to write which will give you privacy. It might be a regular seat in the library or even a park bench. I have a friend who writes in his allotment shed. And another who writes in her beach hut. Although I'm lucky enough to have a study, I also write a great deal on the train. The most important thing is to have some quiet time to yourself so you can concentrate.

Personally, I far prefer to write on the keyboard rather than with pen and paper. That's because I trained as a journalist and am so used to typing that nothing else will do. This leads to another tip. Always back up your work either on a memory stick or by sending it as an attachment to your own email address. This way, if something awful happened, you should be able to retrieve it from any other computer.

Perhaps because of my journalist background, my fiction is usually based on something that I know. 'My Husband's Wife' for example, was inspired both by my time as a writer in residence of a high security prison and also by my remarriage. So another important tip which I'd like to pass on, is to write about what you know. Or about what you're fascinated by. This might take some research but it's amazing how a fact or figure or a chance comment during this homework' can really help with the plot. For example, I discovered that it is perfectly possible for a lawyer to be alone with a criminal in prison. This played its part in my novel!

When I'm writing a book, I always aim for 2000 to 3000 words a day. This keeps the story alive in my head. I write in the morning when I'm fresh and then read it back in the afternoon. It might take me 4 to 5 months to complete a first draft but then I will revise the novel several times. I will check it for plot consistency; realistic characterisation; dialogue that sounds right and pushes the story along; setting and also viewpoint. In other words, which of the characters is telling the story? I then read the novel out loud from the printed page rather than the screen. It's amazing how much more you can pick up that way.

Often I use a picture board when I will cut out pics from magazines that remind me of my characters. This can really help when describing my hero or heroine. Not to mention the baddies!

To keep the pace going, I make sure that every character has a problem to solve. Without a problem, there is no story ! I also end each chapter with a cliffhanger. In other words, I try to create a tense situation that makes the reader rush onto the next chapter in order to see what happens.

Finally it's very important for a writer to read. I tend to avoid other novels in my genre because I want to concentrate on my own story. But I always have a book on the go and usually read a chapter every night. Just as an actor needs to go to the cinema to see how others do it, so do writers need to read other people's works.

For me, the pleasure of writing is that first draft when the story is taking shape. I see it as beginning with a lump of clay that needs to be moulded and twisted over and over again until you feel you've done your very best. Good luck with your own writing. Meanwhile I hope you enjoy 'My Husband's Wife'.







About the book:



FIRST COMES LOVE. THEN COMES MARRIAGE. THEN COMES MURDER...

'A blockbuster of a psychological thriller. My head's still spinning from all the twists!' Mark Edwards

'This thrilling page-turner kept me guessing till the very end' Katerina Diamond, bestselling author of THE TEACHER

When lawyer Lily marries Ed, she's determined to make a fresh start. To leave the secrets of the past behind.

But then she meets Joe. A convicted murderer who reminds Lily of someone she once knew, and who she becomes obsessed with freeing.

But is he really innocent?

And who is she to judge?

Perfect for readers of Liane Moriarty, C. L. Taylor and Clare Mackintosh, get hooked on the story that everyone's talking about.



GIVEAWAY

I have a duplicate copy to give away.  To win a new paperback uncorrected proof copy of My Husband's Wife, just leave a comment on this post (please make sure that you let me know how I can contact you if you win, a Twitter name would be fine). The giveaway is open until midnight on Sunday 22 May 2016 and I will pick a winner at random on Monday 23rd.  Sorry, but for postage costs, I can only post to the UK. Good luck! 


Thursday, 19 May 2016

Guest Post by Aimee Alexander - "Should Readers Contact Authors"?

I'm delighted to welcome author Aimee Alexander to My Reading Corner. Aimee's novel, The Accidental Life of Greg Millar was published in ebook and paperback on 26 April 2016 by Lake Union Publishing.  I have a copy of this to read, just as soon as I can fit it in to my reading schedule and a review will follow.  In the meantime, I have a guest post from Aimee which I hope you enjoy. 





Should Readers Contact Authors?


When I started writing, social media didn't exist. If a reader wanted to get in touch they had to write to me via my publisher. Needless to say, not many undertook this task. And to be honest, I didn't expect them to.

I wrote four novels of women’s fiction. Then the characters coming to my mind changed. I began to hear the dialogue of teenagers. I began to feel their passion. So powerful were their voices that I had to stop what I was doing and pay attention. Without ever planning to, I found myself writing Young Adult fiction.

Social media had arrived by then and I took to Facebook and Twitter primarily to understand my new audience. I didn't expect social media to change my writing career.

When And By The Way, the first of my YA trilogy, The Butterfly Novels, was published, readers began to react on social media. This was something entirely new and unexpected. Teenage girls were sharing the love either publicly or through direct messages. 

They wanted to let me know how they had connected with the books, in particular with specific characters. Many asked if the novels were going to be made into movies and requested to act in them. But the most touching to me were the teenagers who said they learned how to deal with issues in their lives or the lives of their friends by reading how a character coped with the same situation in the book. 

I cannot overemphasize how much this has meant to me, to hear the personal reaction of readers to my words. I write in a vacuum. I write what comes to me with no clue if anyone will want to read it or not. When people make the effort to get in touch to share their personal response, it reminds me of why I’m writing. If I can touch people, that is it.

I decided that young readers were the best audience in the world. Then, while continuing to write for them, I got the rights back to my women's fiction novels. The self-publishing revolution was happening and, attracted by a global audience, I took the plunge.

I reinvented myself and began to self-publish under the name Aimee Alexander (my children's names combined). That was when I learned that thanks to social media, adult readers can be just as responsive as teenage ones! 

I had self-published three novels when Lake Union Publishing, an imprint of Amazon got in touch, last August. They had picked up on the popularity of the novels and were offering to publish one of them, The Accidental Life Of Greg Millar. Giving their clout as a publisher, I jumped at the offer. ‘Greg Millar’ as I affectionately call it has just been republished by them and is doing very nicely. 

I would like to say that I have no doubt whatsoever that one of the reasons that Lake Union Publishing published ‘Greg Millar’ was because of reader response. How do I know this? Because they told me. The number of good reviews on Amazon prompted to them to read the book. 

Reader response warms my heart. One – lovely – woman is in touch through DM on Twitter sharing her reaction to ‘Greg Millar’ – as she reads it. It is so wonderful being included in her predictions, her surprises, her personal response. It’s like going on a new delightful journey as a writer. I can see different ways the novel could have gone – a real Sliding Doors experience.

And so I would say to any reader thinking of getting in touch with an author, do it. You will probably thrill them, motivate them, inspire them. I’m sure there are authors out there who will prove an exception to that rule but that is their loss. As a guide, I imagine that any author on social media would welcome his or her readers getting in touch. 

Personally, I would like to thank all the readers who have shared their response to my words both personally and via reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. It means so incredibly much – in so many ways. A gracious thank you to you all. 






About the book:


Lucy Arigho’s first encounter with Greg Millar is far from promising, but she soon realises he possesses a charm that is impossible to resist. Just eight whirlwind weeks after their first meeting, level-headed career girl Lucy is seriously considering his pleas to marry him and asking herself if she could really be stepmother material.


But before Lucy can make a final decision about becoming part of Greg’s world, events plunge her right into it. On holiday in the South of France, things start to unravel. Her future stepchildren won’t accept her, the interfering nanny resents her, and they’re stuck in a heat wave that won’t let up. And then there’s Greg. His behaviour becomes increasingly bizarre and Lucy begins to wonder whether his larger-than-life personality hides something darker— and whether she knows him at all.



About the author:

Denise Deegan is a bestselling Irish author. She writes YA fiction under her own name and Women’s Fiction under the pen name Aimee Alexander. Her latest novel, The Accidental Life of Greg Millar is available from amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/24x3kGu and amazon.com: http://amzn.to/1STsRz4 


Visit her blog on: https://aimeealexander.com/ 



Denise with her agent, Deborah Warren, from the East West Literary Agency