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Tag: Wales

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Summer at the Ice Cream Café by Jo Thomas

Posted on 24th May 2023 By Nicola

Summer at the Ice Cream Café by Jo Thomas is published by Transworld and is out now in ebook and on 8th June in paperback […]

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ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh

Posted on 16th August 2022 By Nicola

The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh was published by Sphere on 4th August in hardcover, eBook and audiobook. My thanks to Emma Finnigan PR for […]

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The Company of Heaven by Catherine Fox ✨ I'm on

The Company of Heaven by Catherine Fox
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I'm on the blog tour today for this book and I'm sharing an extract on my blog (I'll put a link in my stories).
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Synopsis:
2020 and sadly the Tales from Lindford came to an end, but the pandemic did not, and neither did the lives of our valiant Lindchester community. Return to Lindchester once more with The Company of Heaven, the fifth in the beloved series of novels from Catherine Fox.

Valiantly written in real time in the midst of the pandemic, this entertaining book captures the difficulties of 2021 with heart, humour and insight. Perfect for Lindchester fans, it’s also the ideal novel for anyone seeking comfort and a way of understanding all that has happened.

In The Company of Heaven, we re-join our Lindchester friends on Easter Monday 2021, just as the third lockdown in our Covid winter of discontent draws to a close. The new paschal candles have been lit. The endless snowy ghastliness of January, February, and March are behind us now.

Shake out your wings and fly once more across the Diocese of Lindfordshire, as we launch out on Pandemic, Part II. We will catch up with old friends and make new ones. Skeletons will tumble from cupboards, and not everyone will behave themselves as well as they ought (this is Lindchester after all).

A twenty-first century Barchester that fans of Barbara Pym and the BBC’s Rev will love, this new volume in the Lindchester Chronicles is contemporary Christian fiction at its finest. Sharp-eyed, witty and compassionate, Catherine Fox once again helps us make sense of real-life events and challenges, while weaving through a series of heart-stopping storylines. The Company of Heaven will make you laugh, cry and leave you with hope that grace can be found even in the darkest times.
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#extract #bookextract #TheCompanyOfHeaven #BlogTour #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Summer at the Ice Cream

Ad/PR product. New review: Summer at the Ice Cream Cafe by Jo Thomas. Published by Transworld and out in paperback on 8th June (eBook out now).
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Beca Valentino left her childhood home town in West Wales years ago but is now ready to come home. She manages to buy a house she always liked and decides to foster children. When she was young her Italian grandparents owned an ice cream café and Beca’s childhood memories are entwined with it so to see it’s been taken over and made into a wine bar really niggles at her. A chance situation, her Nonna’s old recipes and the help of friends, old and new, see Beca turning her hand to making gelato of her own.
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I absolutely adored this book, just completely loved it. Jo Thomas always sells me a dream in her stories but this one in particular felt like I was there with the characters and could so easily imagine the town, the beach, the whole set-up. I really enjoyed the ice cream making and the pop up café that Beca sets up. I found myself wishing it was real and I could stroll along the cliff path and stop for a delicious treat. There were so many delectable flavours on offer!
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It’s not all about the gelato though. This is Beca’s homecoming and it’s not always easy. Small town gossips struggle to accept her as a local but equally so, she’s not one of the incomers, the second-home owners from the city. Her old friend, Griff, is a big help to her and I thought he was a fabulous character. I also loved the boys Beca ends up fostering.
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The whole feel of this book was just delicious and I felt like I could have read on forever but all good things do need to come to an end. As always, I closed it with a sense of not only satisfaction, hunger and wanderlust, but knowing that I’d spent my time reading something that utterly captivated me and transported me thoroughly to my literary destination. Summer at the Ice Cream Café is actual perfection and I loved every bit of it.
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Thank you @beckyhunterbooks for the proof.
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#BookReview #SummerAtTheIceCreamCafe #feelgoodfiction #foodfiction #lovelybooks #walesbooks #pembrokeshire #ilovefiction #ilovebooks #ilovereading #booklover #booklove #bookish #shortbookandscribes

Some of my reviews from this month so far. I enjoy

Some of my reviews from this month so far. I enjoyed all of these books.

#CoronationYear #Coronation #Unsolved #OnePuzzlingAfternoon #Seahurst #TheLetterReader #booksread #bookreviews #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Letter Reader by Ja

Ad/PR product. New review: The Letter Reader by Jan Casey. Published by Aria and out now.
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The Letter Reader takes place during the Second World War and in 1967. The difference between the life of the protagonist, Connie, in each timeline is stark. In 1941 Connie joins the WRNS and is surprised when she is chosen to be a letter censor, being one person in a huge team that reads every letter posted and checks for not only sensitive information but also codes and secret messages.
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Jump forward to 1967 and Connie lives a dull life with her husband, Arthur, in Doncaster. Her only thrill is running to catch up with her younger neighbours for a chat and being invited to their coffee morning. Her life is completely stymied by Arthur’s control over her and whilst he is not a cruel man he likes everything done in a certain way to a certain routine, his mantra being that he did not fight in a war so his wife could……insert anything that Connie might possibly find fulfilling.
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This dual timeline work of historical fiction felt a bit different to me. I’d never really thought about the role of the letter censor but inevitably Connie finds that some letters she reads never leave her and in her stultifying life in Doncaster, knowing the outcome of what she read becomes almost an obsession for her. The exciting wartime work almost takes a back seat to what the book truly addresses: the control that Arthur has over Connie. I was longing for her to tell Arthur to take a running jump but a small part of me understood that perhaps there was more to it, not least a sign of the times the characters were living in and the long-lasting effects of fighting a war.
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I enjoyed The Letter Reader. I found it fascinating to read of Connie’s responsibilities in the WRNS and both timelines felt very real and well-portrayed. I really felt for Connie and was longing for a good ending to her story. I actually found myself moved by the conclusion and on the whole this was an engaging read.
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Thank you to the publishers for the review copy of the book.
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#bookreview #TheLetterReader #historicalfictionbooks #histfic #historicalfiction #warfiction #worldwar2 #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Seahurst by S.A. Harris

Ad/PR product. New review: Seahurst by S.A. Harris. Published by Salt Publishing and out now.
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Seahurst opens with a sinister prologue set in 1286 which gives an insight into what is in store for the reader. Then the modern day storyline begins in which Evie and her son leave Canada and Evie’s controlling partner behind and head to the Suffolk coast to spend New Year with her half-brother Luke at Seahurst, the house their father built around ancient ruins. Bizarrely, there’s no sign of Luke when they arrive and his absence soon sets the scene for more sinister happenings. Something ancient is out to get them!
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Seahurst is an eerie and chilling story. There were quite a few times that I shuddered and I’m surprised I didn’t have weird dreams whilst I was reading it. Evie and Alfie stay at the house and the fact that Luke is missing is not the only strange thing to happen to them there. The whole place gave me the creeps and the stormy weather outside added another layer of anticipation and tension.
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I found this to be an extremely atmospheric and creepy read with an unfolding sense of mystery and apprehension throughout. SA Harris does an excellent job with her books (I can recommend Haverscroft also), conveying so well the sense of a place you really wouldn’t want to visit. The plotting is tight and the writing is taut. I found this to be a book that required concentration as Harris sometimes feeds information into the story and then explains it later, but I was rewarded with an unsettling story that gripped me and a setting that felt as much a character as any of the others. Seahurst is an excellent gothic read.
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Thank you to @richardson_helen and @saltpublishing for the review copy and the place on the #BlogTour .
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#bookreview #Seahurst #creepyreads #grippingreads #unsettlingreads #gothicfiction #gothicfictionbooks #readersofinstagram #booklover #ilovefiction #ilovebooks #booklove #lovereading #lovefiction #lovebooks #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: One Puzzling Afternoon

Ad/PR product. New review: One Puzzling Afternoon by Emily Critchley. Published 25th May by Zaffre.
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If a book is described as being for fans of Joanna Cannon and Elizabeth is Missing (by Emma Healey) then I’m pretty certain I’m going to want to read it. One Puzzling Afternoon very much fits into this description.
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The scenes swap between 2018 and 1951. In the 2018 storyline Edie is 84 and becoming more and more confused. One day, she gets a glimpse of her friend, Lucy, who disappeared when they were both 15 in 1951. Edie knows that the mystery of what happened to Lucy was never solved and she knows that now is the time for her to find out.
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Edie narrates both timelines and it’s clear that in 2018 she’s getting very muddled. Emily Critchley does an amazing job at portraying this both sympathetically and truthfully. The inner workings of Edie’s mind are all there on the page and because of this she’s unreliable. This is where the 1951 timeline fills in all the blanks and interweaves perfectly with Edie’s current situation to gradually give us the full picture of what happened in the run-up to Lucy’s disappearance.
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The images of Edie’s youth are so evocative of the early after-war years and I was transported back to a time when so much was still on ration. Edie’s mother holds séances and tells fortunes to make ends meet and Edie’s home and school life were described so well that the 1950s just came alive.
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One Puzzling Afternoon is a beautiful book, poignant and moving, with Edie’s memories fluttering away one by one, irretrievable as they go. I love a dual timeline story, especially when there’s a mystery involved, and the mystery in this book is a clever one. This is an extremely accomplished debut adult novel that really hit the spot for me. I loved it.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
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#bookreview #OnePuzzlingAfternoon #dualtimeline #dualtimelinenovels #booksofinstagram #booksread #ilovefiction #ilovebooks #booklover #booklove #bookish #bookishlove #shortbookandscribes

11th May publications...... maybe. 📚 This stack

11th May publications...... maybe.
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This stack is books that I thought were being published today but I only realised yesterday that my current read, One Puzzling Afternoon, is now being published on 25th May which does at least mean I'll have read it early for once. I'm loving what I've read so far.
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I've read Unsolved (formerly Unspoken) which was brilliant, and reviewed it earlier today.
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I'm really looking forward to reading all of the other books which look fabulous. Congratulations to all the authors and publishers and thank you for the review copies.
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#Unsolved #CallTime #TheLostDiaryOfSamuelPepys #TheLetterReader #TheCassandraComplex #OnePuzzlingAfternoon #newbooks #publicationday #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Unsolved by Heather Cri

Ad/PR product. New review: Unsolved by Heather Critchlow.
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I’m a sucker for a podcast novel. I’m not sure why as I never listen to podcasts but I find them a really fascinating focus for a crime novel.
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In Unsolved, Cal Lovett is the presenter of a true crime investigative podcast in which he tries to find out what happened to people who have gone missing. When Cal was a child his older sister, Margot, disappeared and it’s clear that it is this that is driving his need to help others who are missing loved ones. He decides to investigate a missing woman in Scotland and heads there to look into what happened 35 years earlier.
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Unsolved is a truly gripping read which I flew through. There’s something about the combination of the cold case in Scotland, the modern day podcast and Cal’s own experience that makes for the perfect crime novel. The writing is sympathetic towards the loved ones of the missing women, the desire to know what happened fighting against the need not to know, and it gave me lots to think about as well as being a rollicking good suspense. I loved the red herrings and the plot twists, and the small-town Scottish setting, where everybody knows everybody else and not much happens to excite a young woman yearning for more.
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I’m really pleased that this is the first of a trilogy featuring Cal Lovett. He’s a character with depth, lots bubbling away under the surface, and the ending of Unsolved made me eager to know what happens next. This is a brilliant debut novel, tense, dark and beautifully written.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
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#bookreview #Unsolved #podcast #podcastbooks #podcastfiction #crimebooks #crimebooksofinstagram #crimefiction #crimebooklover #shortbookandscribes

New review: Coronation by Paul Gallico. Published

New review: Coronation by Paul Gallico. Published by Bloomsbury and out now.
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2023 is not the first time I’ve read Coronation by Paul Gallico. I first read this story about Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 back in 2012 and as King Charles III was about to be crowned I couldn’t resist a reread. I found it just as lovely the second time around.
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It’s a short book at around 150 pages but it’s packed with atmosphere, and the highs and lows of a momentous day for the Clagg family, a working-class family from Sheffield. Given the choice of travelling to London for the day for the coronation or having their annual two weeks in Morecambe, they decide to go for the once in a lifetime trip to London. They manage to get a special spot to watch the procession whilst imbibing champagne and being waited on, something that for Violet and Will, their two children, Johnny and Gwenny, and Violet’s mother, Granny Bonner, is an unimaginable treat. Unfortunately, things don’t go to plan on the day and all the way through I was wondering if the day could be salvaged or not.
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The story is very evocative of an era when what seem like simple pleasures to us now were not so easy to come by. It’s crammed with patriotism, the dreams and hopes of the children, and the weight of failure on the adults, Will in particular. Happily, it ends on a nice note and I found myself smiling quite a lot towards the conclusion. With well-drawn characters who I could picture trudging the streets of London with their excitement ebbing away, and a reminder to try and see the joy in even the most trying situations, Coronation is a gentle delight of a read.
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#bookreview #Coronation #coronation1953 #London #histfic #historicalfictionbooks #historicalfiction #royalfiction #royalreads #ilovefiction #ilovebooks #Sheffield #booklover #booklove #bookishlove #bookish #shortbookandscribes

New review: Coronation Year by Jennifer Robson. Pu

New review: Coronation Year by Jennifer Robson. Published by Headline and out now.
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It’s London in 1953: Coronation Year. The book begins on 1st January with Edie Howard, the owner of the Blue Lion hotel, looking forward to the year ahead but knowing it’s going to be hard work. She needs to turn around the Blue Lion’s fortunes and as it has a coveted position right on the Coronation procession route she knows she has something unique to offer potential guests.
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The Blue Lion is a brilliantly drawn establishment (the illustration at the beginning is also quite literally brilliantly drawn). It has residents who live there all the time, along with people who come to stay for shorter lengths of time for holidays. I found it really easy to imagine the look, the feel, the smell of the hotel, the wonderful breakfasts that Cook manages to make, even though so much is still on the ration, and the quite eccentric residents in situ about the place.
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Edie Howard is only one of the three main characters. The others are Stella Donati, a young Italian photographer taking her first job as such at Picture Weekly, and James Geddes, a talented artist of Scottish/Indian heritage which doesn’t always get him the best reception in 1950s England. The stories of the three characters are woven together perfectly and I found them such engaging creations.
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At the heart of the book is a plot to spoil everything that Edie has worked for and it adds a touch of intrigue and excitement to the storyline that mostly revolves around planning for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. I was transported completely to 1953 London, the difficult after-war years mingling with the growing excitement of a new Elizabethan age.
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Coronation Year was everything I hoped it would be and more besides. It’s absolutely my favourite kind of historical fiction, based around some real events, with a royal theme and several different strands coming together. This is my first book by this author but I do also have The Gown and looking at her other books I think I’d like them all. I do hope for more royal stories in the future too. I absolutely adored this book which utterly captivated and delighted me.

Coronation Ready 👑 I think I'm all set for the

Coronation Ready
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I think I'm all set for the Coronation today. I have:
🇬🇧 My Coronation official souvenir programme.
🇬🇧 Coronation themed reading.
🇬🇧 Coronation buns.
🇬🇧 Coronation ale (actually my partner's 😉).
🇬🇧 My Long Live the King Coronation jigsaw from @theoriginaljigsawco.
🇬🇧 A flag to wave!

I'm reading Coronation Year by Jennifer Robson at the moment and I LOVE it! I've actually read Coronation by Paul Gallico before but I thought it was a good time for a reread. The Coronation Party looks right up my street too.
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Will you be watching the Coronation?
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#CoronationYear #TheCoronationParty #Coronation #PaulGallico #coronationday #coronation2023 #coronationweekend #kingcharles #kingcharlesiii #queencamilla #coronationready #coronationreading #coronationbuns #coronationflag #ilovefiction #ilovebooks #sagafiction #sagabooks #historicalfictionbooks #histfic #historicalfiction #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Tell Me How This Ends b

Ad/PR product. New review: Tell Me How This Ends by Jo Leevers. Published by Lake Union and out now.
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Tell Me How This Ends is a charming debut novel which had many qualities that I enjoy in a book. What mainly attracted me was the plot with Henrietta listening to and transcribing people’s life stories, often those who are terminally ill. So many stories are forgotten and I love the idea of memories being recorded to make life story books. The other side of the plot is that of Annie who is telling her story to Henrietta. She’s never been able to get over the disappearance of her sister many years earlier and Henrietta turns into a bit of a detective on her behalf.
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The two main characters are such well-drawn creations. Henrietta is very formal, very precise and very awkward and I had to smile at her behaviour and the way she speaks to people. I loved her little smelly dog, Dave! There’s a lot lying under the surface with her though, and her interactions with Annie draw much of it out into the open. Annie has such a sad story and something about her touches Henrietta and her tenacity is just what is needed to try and find the ending to Annie’s life story. The two strands are intertwined beautifully.
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This is a book full of heart. It’s sad in many ways, but ultimately it’s also uplifting. I really enjoyed the mystery element and how that particular plotline unfolded, along with the gradual but long overdue blossoming of Henrietta. It’s a story of friendships, family and finding your place in the world. I’ll be looking out for more from Jo Leevers as this is such a strong debut with a quirky yet relatable storyline and characters that I couldn’t help but love.
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Thank you @fmcmassociates for the place on the #BlogTour and for arranging my copy of the book.
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#bookreview #TellMeHowThisEnds #lovelybooks #lovereading #lovefiction #lovebooks #bookishlove #bookish #booklover #booksofinstagram #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Brink by Jamie Fewe

Ad/PR product. New review: The Brink by Jamie Fewery. Published by Legend Press today!
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The Brink begins with married couple, Dan and Anya, starting two days of mediation to help them have a more holistic approach to their impending divorce. The idea behind this is to help them agree the terms of their split in a friendly manner, ‘agree’ being the key word here. There are chapters set in the present and then we go back in time to what led them to split up, how they met, their wedding, children and other pivotal moments from their shared life.
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This book is an anatomy of a marriage. It considers all the ways that a couple are familiar with each other and how, no matter what happens, that can’t be taken away. Dan and Anya are intrinsically linked, even more so because they have children together. Now they are at the brink of ending it all, going through everything with a fine-toothed comb means they both start to look at their divorce in a different way and question whether what they are doing is the right thing. As Dan says when they talk about how he knew exactly what to order for Anya from the curry house, it’s intimate knowledge, unique to them.
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I really enjoyed The Brink. I’m not sure why but I was expecting something a bit more light-hearted, perhaps comedic, but this book was more of an in-depth look at a relationship and everything that can go wrong….and right. Dan and Anya are well-drawn characters, and I could understand their actions even if at times I didn’t agree with them. They felt very real and relatable, and the ups and downs of life are portrayed really well. This book felt a bit different, a love story told in reverse.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
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#bookreview #TheBrink #contemporaryfiction #contemporaryfictionbooks #publicationday #ilovebooks #ilovefiction #booklover #booklove #readersofinstagram #shortbookandscribes

New review: One Last Waltz by Luke Adamson. Publis

New review: One Last Waltz by Luke Adamson. Published by @renardpress and out now.
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I caught sight of One Last Waltz on an email from the publishers and was immediately taken with the cover and title. I looked it up and discovered that it was a play and did waver at that point, but I decided to give it a go and I’ve found it to be a really lovely read.
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It’s very short so what might be 60-90 minutes on stage is in effect a short story on the page. There are three characters: Mandy, her mum Alice, and a hotel owner named Georgette. Alice is getting more forgetful and Mandy decides to take her away to relive a past holiday in Blackpool where Alice waltzed with her husband at the Tower Ballroom.
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Despite being a play, it’s really easy to read as a story. I’ve been to many theatre productions over the years and could absolutely imagine this one on the stage (A Passionate Woman by Kay Mellor springs to mind as having a similar feel to it). I’d love to watch it if it ever comes to a theatre near me. It’s a really evocative tale of memories, some still clinging on and some starting to be lost, and mother-daughter relationships, and it’s nostalgic, moving and humorous.
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#bookreview
#playscript #play #nostalgicreads #blackpool #blackpooltowerballroom #shortreads #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Eighteen Seconds by Lou

Ad/PR product. New review: Eighteen Seconds by Louise Beech. Published by Mardle Books and out now.
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Using words like compelling and gripping, the same sort of adjectives I would use to describe a work of fiction I had enjoyed, seem wrong when talking about Eighteen Seconds. These are people’s lives, after all, and although I don’t know Louise Beech personally, I’ve read her books in the past and seen enough of her through social media to feel a kind of familiarity. However, compelling and gripping this book is, and often shocking too.
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This memoir begins with the author’s mother throwing herself off the Humber Bridge. This act and what follows it are truly astonishing and utterly devastating for Beech and her three siblings, who not only have to deal with the aftermath but also with their complicated feelings about their mother. Beech then tells the story of their childhood and their (quite possibly) narcissistic mother, alongside that of the catastrophic events of 2019 leading into the global pandemic and lockdown of 2020.
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As you might expect, as Louise Beech is predominantly a novel writer, this is a beautifully written and eloquent family memoir which left me wanting more at the end of each chapter. It’s also a hard book to read at times and I felt like I read much of it with a lump in my throat, feeling incredibly sad for the extremely difficult childhoods that the siblings experienced. It’s uncompromising in its honesty, it’s raw and brutal, but underneath it all is the humour and the love that the siblings share.
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Good memoirs aren’t always easy to come by for me but Eighteen Seconds is an excellent memoir. It’s such a brave act to put your entire life down on paper and to share it publicly, and I hope that it proved to be cathartic (given the end of the book I feel it might have been). It’s a heartbreaking book but one which I’m privileged to have been able to read.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
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#bookreview #EighteenSeconds #nonfiction #nonfictionbooks #memoir #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #ilovebooks #booklover #booklove #bookish #bookishlove #lovereading #lovebooks #shortbookandscribes

April Reads 📚 I had a pretty good month assiste

April Reads
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I had a pretty good month assisted by some books that I found very hard to put down. Reviews for most of these are on my grid with a few to follow in the next few days.
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What was your favourite April read? Have you read any of mine?
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Books featured:
The Brink by Jamie Fewery
One Last Waltz by Luke Adamson
Eighteen Seconds by Louise Beech
The Maiden by Kate Foster
Preloved by Lauren Bravo
The Forgetting by Hannah Beckerman
The Book-Lovers' Retreat by Heidi Swain
The Misadventures of Margaret Finch by Claire McGlasson
The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller
No Place to Hide by JS Monroe
The Midnight News by Jo Baker
The House of Whispers by Anna Mazzola
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#booksread #AprilReads #AprilReads2023 #April2023Reads #TheBrink #OneLastWaltz #EighteenSeconds #TheMaiden #PrelovedTheNovel #TheForgetting #TheBookLoversRetreat #TheMisadventuresOfMargaretFinch #TheMemoryOfAnimals #NoPlaceToHide #TheMidnightNews #TheHouseOfWhispers #booklover #monthlywrapup #aprilwrapup #fictionlover #memoir #historicalfictionbooks #HistoricalFiction #histfic #play #playscript #thrillerbooks #thrillerfiction #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Maiden by Kate Fost

Ad/PR product. New review: The Maiden by Kate Foster. Published by Mantle today!
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The Maiden is an absolutely brilliant work of historical fiction, a story that is both compelling and shocking, and based on true events.
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Kate Foster has reimagined the life of Lady Christian Nimmo. In 1679 Christian was charged with murdering the Laird of Corstorphine, James Forrester, her uncle by marriage and also the man she was having an affair with. This book considers what made Christian risk everything and I found it a very convincing account.
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The story is told from the points of view of two very different women: Christian and another young woman named Violet. The two narratives are woven together to portray the run up to the murder and what happens afterwards. I didn’t know what the Maiden was before reading and now I do and it’s pretty grisly.
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I like my historical fiction to be accessible and The Maiden hits the mark perfectly. It has a contemporary feel to the writing that made it very easy to read, but is still steeped in historical detail and atmosphere which thoroughly transported me to the 17th century streets of Edinburgh. The contrast between the lives of Christian and Violet is stark, the divide between those who have and those who have not never more clear, and yet Foster shows us that life for any woman at that time, no matter their background, was far from easy.
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This might be a story of murder but it’s also a story with heart. The question of survival is never far away, and I felt sympathetic towards most of the characters. Although the outcome is fairly obvious from the beginning, Foster’s writing completely captivated me and I wanted to know everything that would lead me to the conclusion: why, how, when and where. I was utterly gripped and enthralled by The Maiden, a beautifully written historical tale that I couldn’t put down.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
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#bookreview #TheMaiden #historicalfictionbooks #histfic #historicalfiction #grippingreads #booksofinstagram #ilovefiction #ilovebooks #edinburghbooks #scottishfiction #booklover #booklove #shortbookandscribes

Book Title Challenge 📚 I don't very often do th

Book Title Challenge
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I don't very often do this kind of post as I find it so time-consuming but I fancied giving this one a go. The stack is an even mix of read and unread. I've read the top three and loved them, and I'm looking forward to the others.
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• A book with a number in the title: #OneEnchantedEvening by Katie Fforde.

• A book with a name in the title: #TheMortificationOfGraceWheeler by Colette Dartford.

• A book with a setting in the title: #TheLighthouseBookshop by Sharon Gosling.

• A book with an animal in the title: #CowGirl by Kirsty Eyre.

• A book with a colour in the title: #ThePinkHouse by #CatherineAlliott.

• A book with one word in the title: #Betrayal by #LesleyPearse.
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Have you read any of these books?
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#booktitlechallenge #bookstack #bookchallenge #titlechallenge #booklover #tbrpile #tbr #booksread #readersofinstagram #lovelesley30 #shortbookandscribes

Two for Tuesday - Legal Thrillers ⚖️ Today's t

Two for Tuesday - Legal Thrillers
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Today's two books are both set in the legal world and I found them both thoroughly gripping from beginning to end. I do love a courtroom drama.
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#UntilProvenInnocent by @nicolawilliamswriter is about a barrister forced to defend somebody she is sure is guilty.
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#YourWordOrMine by @liamiddletonauthor is about a prosecutor who has to face her attacker in court when he's on trial for attacking somebody else.
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Have you read either of these legal thrillers? Can you recommend any others?
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#twofortuesday #legalthrillers #legalfiction #grippingreads #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Preloved by Lauren Brav

Ad/PR product. New review: Preloved by Lauren Bravo. Published by Simon and Schuster on 27th April.
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Preloved is all about Gwen. In her late-thirties, she’s just been made redundant and realises that she’s feeling a bit redundant in her life generally. She makes a list and at the top of it is ‘Find something to do”. Taking that on board she volunteers at her local charity shop, working alongside some real characters and it’s where Gwen finds out what she wants from her life and starts to forge a new future for herself.
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This book is everything I want my books to be. It’s incredibly funny and I guffawed out loud so many times, but behind the veil of humour there are serious and touching day to day issues such as changing friendships, dealing with loss, a lack of love life, parental problems, career woes and more. I found it incredibly relatable – somehow Lauren Bravo managed to hone in on things that seemed so personally relevant to me and I suspect other readers will find the same but with different subjects. Because of this I savoured every word. It’s the kind of book where I want to take my time to read every bit and take it in. It completely hit the spot with me and is observed perfectly.
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I so enjoyed the detail of the shop, the stock, the customers, the volunteers. When I was at school I did two stints volunteering in a charity shop. It’s a long time ago now but I loved it and this book reminded me of why. Not just the glow that comes of doing something for others, but the joy of going through the donations and finding treasures. Intertwined with Gwen’s story we are treated to some gloriously circular vignettes about certain donations and how they found their way into the shop.
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Preloved is beautiful inside and out. The characters are everything and they’re brilliantly drawn. All of human life passes through the door of the charity shop which is a character in its own right. My copy will be staying with me but if you ever see one in a charity shop then I urge you to pick it up and give it a home. You won’t be disappointed. Bravo, Ms Bravo!
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.

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