Our Little Lies by Sue Watson @suewatsonwriter @bookouture #bookreview #pubday

Happy busy Thursday!

Excited to share with you today my review for this thrilling thriller! A huge thank you to Kim for my invitation and to Sue Watson for her dark story🖤

Marianne has a life others dream of. A beautiful townhouse on the best street in the neighbourhood. Three bright children who are her pride and joy.

Sometimes her past still hurts: losing her mother, growing up in foster care. But her husband Simon is always there. A successful surgeon, he’s the envy of every woman they’ve ever met. Flowers, gifts, trips to France – nothing is too good for his family.

Then Simon says another woman’s name. The way he lingers on it, Caroline, gives Marianne a shudder of suspicion, but she knows she can’t entertain this flash of paranoia.

In the old days, she’d have distracted herself at work, but Marianne left her glamorous career behind when she got married. She’d speak to a friend, but she’s too busy with her children and besides, Simon doesn’t approve of the few she has left.

It’s almost by accident that Marianne begins to learn more about Caroline. But once she starts, she can’t stop. Because what she finds makes her wonder whether the question she should be asking is not ‘should she be jealous’, but… ‘should she be scared’?

Fans of The Girl on the Train and I Let You Go looking for a dark, gripping psychological thriller, with a final twist that will put their jaw on the floor, will love Our Little Lies.

My Thoughts

All that glitters is not gold…

Marianne has the perfect life, the perfect husband, the perfect children, the perfect townhouse… if you are a regular reader of the psychological thriller genre then you well know that everything or nothing is as it appears to be… but even Marianne has her head in the sand for the first 40% of this book… but then again ignorance is bliss!

The first 40% of this book really sets up the story, revealing to us the reader what a controlling, narcissistic, abusive, douche that Simon is! As someone who was married to a narcissist for many years I truly did feel for Marianne, abuse is a vicious cycle especially when you are in a bit of denial…. One day another woman’s name unintentionally slips from Simon’s lips, Caroline… but it’s not just the name, it’s how Simon says it the name lingering on his lips… Who is Caroline to Simon? Marianne is determined to find out, and determined to let nothing interrupt her perfect life…. but should Marianne be jealous, Or scared?

This was a compelling story about the Dark side of human nature… Marianne was a sympathetic yet frustrating character, I wasn’t always on board with her… Simon was simply a monster, and you really wanted justice to prevail in the end…. this book was a crazy twisted ride with an unexpected turn in the end…

Sue Watson is a beloved romance author and this is her first psychological thriller, and I have to say she has made a successful transition… something I personally think romance authors do better than others is character development, and that really did shine through in this book… even though the characters weren’t necessarily terribly likable, Although some of the best books are filled with unlikable characters! A job well done, and I certainly hope this is not Sue Watson’s last thriller…

*** thanks so much to Bookouture for my copy of this book ***

Amazon: http://geni.us/B07G54F8KLSocial
iBooks: http://ow.ly/Rocw30m8MB8
Kobo: http://ow.ly/tYR030m8MDd
Googleplay: http://ow.ly/TqVP30m8MFj

About the author: 

Sue Watson was a journalist then TV Producer at the BBC until she wrote her first book and was hooked.

She’s now written thirteen novels – many involving cake – and her books have been translated into Italian, German and Portuguese. Originally from Manchester, Sue now lives with her husband and teenage daughter in Worcestershire where much of her day is spent procrastinating while eating cake (for research purposes), and watching ‘My 600lb Life,’ on the sofa.

Sue explored the darker side of life for her latest book ‘Our Little Lies,’ a dark, psychological thriller completely devoid of cake. She’s hoping this change in direction will be reflected on the weighing scales.

For more info visit Sue’s website; http://www.suewatsonbooks.com/

Sue would love to meet you on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/suewatsonbooks

Follow Sue on Twitter @suewatsonwriter

That’s all folks! Berit☀️✨

Dear Mr Pop Star by Derek & Dave Philpott @DerekPhilpott #BlogTour #BookReview #Funny

I am super happy to bring you this little gem of a read, all of those niggling questions that you’ve always wanted to ask but were scared to, well Dave and Derek have you covered!

Thanks to Dave for getting in touch and asking me to read this little corker!

🌟🌟🌟🌟.5 Brilliantly Funny Stars

For nearly 10 years, ‘Team Philpott’, as their followers fondly refer to them, have been on a quite bonkers crusade, writing good old-fashioned letters to pop and rock stars (sometimes even sent to their home addresses with prior consent!), either picking up on genuine ambiguities within their lyrics or often deliberately misunderstanding them for comedic effect.

The letters are eminently publishable in their own right, mixing sharp wit, confusion, and unarguable logic in relation to questioning the offending chart hits under scrutiny.

What makes this project especially deserving of attention, however, is that it has achieved a feat never before attempted or probably even thought of. With the missives online for all to see on what was becoming a hugely popular website, the artists quite unexpectedly started to reply, writing back in just as witty and articulate a fashion, politely pointing out exactly where the original letter went wrong…or right.

Also, crucially, nearly all of the responses were procured via ”the back door of the industry”, via roadies, mutual fans, cousins of bass players, and even other famous participants telling the artists directly of the Philpotts’ written pressing inquiries. This marvellous online community, which stretched as far afield as Europe, Canada, Japan, the U.S.A, Australia and Stoke, even cultivated and organically evolved the whole surreal venture by offering up willing stars that the authors would probably not have thought of corresponding with themselves, establishing contact through personal connections.

‘Dear Mr. Popstar’’ proudly features nearly 100 of the best letters and responses from famous and legendary names spanning the whole pop and rock spectrum, all relishing their involvement and revealing their own, in many cases, hitherto unknown humorous sides within what could well be the most interactive dialogue compiled between music stars and their audience ever undertaken. Of course, it is not always possible to reach certain targets, hence many unanswered observations are also included, as they were considered too amusing not to be.

Those to be saluted for their great sportsmanship are:- Deep Purple, Dr. from Dr. and The Medics, Nik Kershaw, Judas Priest, Starship, Tears For Fears, The Eurythmics, Wreckless Eric, Smokie, The Strawbs, The Belle Stars, Van Der Graaf Generator, Martha and the Muffins, Thunder, Squeeze, Dean Friedman, Fairground Attraction, The Ruts, Neil Innes from The Bonzo Dog Band, DEVO, Melanie, Alannah Myles, Ian Gillan, Was Not Was, Republica, Then Jerico, Dr. Hook, Toploader, Cutting Crew, Lindisfarne, Spinal Tap, Mott The Hoople, Fuzzbox, Men Without Hats, China Crisis, Mental As Anything, David MacIver and Rupert Hine (Quantum Jump), Timbuk 3, The Rezillos, Saxon, John Otway, The Human League, Chesney and Chip Hawkes, Tenpole Tudor, Shakatak, Katrina and the Waves, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Heaven 17, Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin, Matthew Wilder, Middle of the Road, Liquid Gold, The Christians, Paper Lace, Dodgy, Daevid Allen, Bruce Woolley, Sad Cafe, The Housemartins, Francis Dunnery (It Bites), Johnny Hates Jazz, The Wurzels, Peter Noone, Suzi Quatro, Strawberry Switchblade, Danny Wilson, Racey, Electric Prunes, The Waitresses, Fiddler’s Dram, Bauhaus, Climax Blues Band, The Jags, EMF, T’Pau, Nu Shooz, Owen Paul, Steve Hackett, Steve Ellis of Love Affair, Hazell Dean, The Knack, The Maisonettes, Del Amitri, The Skids, Jesus Jones, The Soup Dragons, City Boy, Modern Romance, Wang Chung, The Kursaal Flyers, Fischer Z, Bruce Thomas of The Attractions, Scarlet Fantastic, The B52s. Junior, Spear of Destiny, Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine.

Ultimately, this book explores how when a song is released into ‘the wild’ the artist loses all control over it, especially pertaining to its interpretation. It is also testimony to the community spirit capable of being created over social media and how positive and fun it can be.

My Thoughts

🌟🌟🌟🌟.5 brilliantly Funny stars

What do you do when you hear a song lyric and wonder what it means? You write to the artist of course!

Remember that time before the internet that you used to buy Smash Hits to find out the lyrics to the songs you’ve been singing along to, only to find out that you’ve been singing them wrong this whole time?

Remember watching Going Live on Saturday mornings, watching and waiting for Spandau Ballet to come on to the telly so that you can drool over the saxophone player…..what was his name again??

Remember when you used to write in to the TV shows, just to get a band/artist to answer your questions?

Well Dave and Derek Philpott have done just this thing, and well, taken it to the stalker extreme, and actually wrote to the bands about things you have always wanted to know, like to Spandau Ballet advising them to speak to Watchdog about the fact that they had bought a ticket to the world and now they’ve come back again. or just to to berate Bananarama for using the phrase ‘Bop bop shoo be doo-wah.’

What is even funnier, is that most of these bands have written back, sometimes being their normal selves, but sometimes, just sometimes having a good old laugh and carrying on the jokes with the boys.

A great book to read as a music lover and a great present for one too, it is a fab coffee table book, filled with fun and laughs.

Enjoy

Vicci

Who Cares If They Die by Wendy Dranfield @rararesources @WendyDranfield #bookreview@

Happy Thursday book lovers!

Thrilled to share my review for this thriller! A huge thank you to Rachel for my invitation to the tour and to Wendy Dranfield for this wonderful book!🧡

Did she jump or was she pushed?

It starts with the hanging woman in the Maple Valley woods; the woman with no shoes, no car and no name. On paper it’s an obvious case of suicide – but to Officer Dean Matheson, something doesn’t add up.

Then there are the other deaths, deaths that also look like suicides – but are they? The victims are all women living on the fringes of society, addicts and criminals. Who will miss them? Does anyone really care if they die?  

Dean Matheson is making it his business to care, even if it means he becomes the target …

My Thoughts

This is a police procedural with a bit of a unique twist….

Who deserves to live and who deserves to die? Things aren’t always as black and white as that, and things aren’t always as they seem… A woman is found hanging without any identification, it appears as a suicide… another woman has been found after an overdose, another apparent suicide? There appear to be too many similarities for this to be coincidental, both are women living on the fringes of society, with less than stellar track records….

Dean is determined to find out who is killing these women and making it look like suicide, and more importantly why? Dean, was not a very likable character in the beginning of this book, although I must admit by the end he had won me over! The story was uniquely structured, we were privy to who the bad guy was far ahead of Dean… now usually I like solving the crime right along with the detective…. however, in this book this slightly unusual approach works really well…. A layer of tension was added as we watched Dean discover the truth….

The perfect book for crime thriller lovers, where appearances can be deceiving…

*** A huge thank you to Ruby Fiction for my copy of this book ***

Purchase Links

Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/Who-Cares-They-Die-psychological-ebook/dp/B07G38PPKP/

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Cares-They-Die-psychological-ebook/dp/B07G38PPKP/

Author Bio –

Wendy is a British crime thriller writer who lives in Nottinghamshire with her husband and 3 rescue cats.

She started writing as a young girl, thanks to her love of reading, and still has some of the ghost and crime stories she wrote back then. She occasionally reads them when she needs a good laugh.

After completing a degree in Creative Writing & Philosophy, Wendy is now both an indie author (of a dark YA novel which was longlisted for the Mslexia Novel Competition) and a traditionally published author, with several short stories published in UK and US anthologies.  

‘Who Cares if they Die’ is her debut novel, published by Ruby Fiction, and Wendy is currently writing the next in the series. They are set in the US and follow Officer Dean Matheson and his mission to become a homicide detective.

Wendy is a member of the Crime Writers’ Association and the Society of Authors.

When not writing, she wastes her time on Twitter, complaining about not having enough time to write.

Social Media Links –

Twitter: @WendyDranfield

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WendyDranfield1/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13513643.Wendy_Dranfield

Thank you for dropping by! Berit☀️✨

One Winter’s Day by Laura Briggs @PaperDollWrites @bookouture #bookreview

Happy Thursday everybody!

Delighted to share with you today my review for this wonderful book filled with friendship, fun, and food! A huge thank you too Noelle for my invitation and to Laura Briggs for her charming story!💕

If only falling in love was as easy as baking a cake… 

Ama’s loved baking ever since she can remember. Desserts, cakes, cookies – anything sweet, delicious and sinful. The kitchen is the only place where she can be truly herself.

But – as she starts work on the biggest cake she has ever made – for a couple’s magical winter wedding – she realises just how much she secretly dreams of falling in love too.

Then she meets a handsome man on a motorbike who sets her pulse racing. But Ama knows it can never be. Because he’s her very traditional parents’ absolute worst nightmare… And she knows she can never let them down.

Do her family know best? Or can she trust her heart? And, as the snow begins to fall, will she ever find out what really does go into the recipe for true love?

The perfect feel-good winter romance for 2018 for fans of Debbie Macomber, Jenny Colgan and Jenny Hale.

My Thoughts

This was such a fun fluffy lighthearted read that is sure to put a smile on your face!💕 this is the second book in this delightful series, and it definitely reads as a follow up… this is not a series with a new HEA in every book, in fact nobody has found their HEA as of yet! But that’s OK, because I’m really enjoying the journey and getting to know these girls better….

The “Wedding Bells” Tessa, Natalie, and Ama are back with a new wedding to plan…. this time we have the battle of the mothers, the bride’s mother wants a glitzy glamorous wedding while the groom’s mother wants a very traditional fair… and the bride? Well she wants a princess wedding that resembles “Frozen“❄️ so how will the Bells bring this all together? There were some pretty humorous moments in this book as the wedding seem to be plagued with disasters, although I don’t think Tessa was terribly amused… I loved all the descriptions of the beautiful flowers, the lovely dress, and the scrumptious goodies!

This really is a story of these three girls discovering who they are, with some potential romance sprinkled in…. Ama is torn between her desire to find her true love and her parents traditional Indian culture… her dad went so far as to set up a profile on a dating site for her, I think I’d have some words for my dad for that! So when Ama’s heart is stolen by a non-Indian boy on a motorcycle, she’s not quite sure how this will go over with the family… but Ama is not the only one dealing with familial expectations, Natalie’s big Italian family is certain there is something wrong with her because she is not married at her age… not only that but Natalie is also dealing with a close family friend who has had a crush on her forever… Tessa is still crushing on the hot handyman Blake…. these two are terribly frustrating, their relationship seems to have not progressed much from the first book and then when a wrench is thrown into it, the brakes are applied…. three girls, three different paths to romance, will any of them find their HEA?

This book is really like spending a long afternoon gossiping with your girlfriends… although I really wish one of my friends could bake goodies like Ama! Really looking forward to the next book in the series, because this book ended on a bit of a cliffy… what will the new year bring to the Wedding Bells, both professionally and personally???

Absolutely recommend if you are a fan of books about strong women with strong female friendships with a splash of romance, however I recommend you read the first book 1st before diving into this gem!💕

*** A huge thank you to Bookouture for my copy of this book ***

Author Bio:

Laura Briggs is the author of several lighthearted romance novels and novellas, including the bestselling Amazon UK series A Wedding in Cornwall. She has a fondness for vintage-style dresses (especially ones with polka dots) and reads everything from Jane Austen to modern day mysteries. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with family, caring for her pets, going to movies and plays, and trying new restaurants. 

Author Social Media Links:

Website: https://paperdollwrites.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaperDollWrites

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

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/230209.Laura_Briggs?from_searchtrue

Berit☀️✨