Welcome to my Sunday post hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. A fairly quiet week this week, but ended with my son’s first school friend’s birthday party, which was exciting!
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “what should I read next”, “what books do you recommend”, “winter reading”
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “reading slump”, “what should I read next”, “what book do you recommend”, “mystery”, “romance”
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “reading goals”, “what should I read next”, “what did you read”, what would you recommend that I read”, “what would get me out of a reading slump”, “romance”, “mystery”, “January reading”
It was my son’s first Staff Development Day on Friday which meant that as a student he had a day off. To keep him entertained my parents and I took him to the beach! Yes, it was very cold, and everything except the fish and chip shop and amusement arcade was closed because it was off season, but it was a great day out! We wrapped up warm and wore wellies so that we could paddle in the sea! Saturday my son and I had our hair cut (I also had mine coloured!) as it hadn’t been done since July (?) so needed doing. Today we will be going bird watching at a local winery near us that allows you to walk around the vineyard, orchard and woodland, for our son’s homework.
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “book meme”, “weekly wrap up”, “sunday salon”, “what books do you recommend”, “what books are popular on social media”, “what book should I read next”, “winter reading”, “mystery”
Welcome to my Stacking The Shelves post hosted by Reading Reality. A couple of my Blog Tour books came through this week which was exciting:
The Venice Secret by Anita Chapman
Book Description From Goodreads:
“One hidden painting. Two women born centuries apart. A secret uncovered.
In 2019, Rachel is stuck in a rut when she discovers what appears to be a Canaletto painting in her grandmother’s loft along with a note addressed to Philippa in 1782. With help from Jake at the local art gallery, Rachel endeavours to find out if the painting is an original and uncovers a secret from the past.
In 1780, governess at Chipford Hall, Philippa is offered the role of mistress by Earl Rupert. She escapes to Venice as companion to bluestocking, Lady Cordelia who reveals a secret that changes both their lives. They do their best to keep the secret from Lady Cordelia’s social circle, but their nemesis is determined to reveal all and ruin them.”
I am on the Blog Tour for this book on 17 March 2023 so keep your eyes peeled for my review on here, Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
Murder Under The Tuscan Sun by Rachel Rhys
Book Description From Goodreads:
“An isolated castle, a deadly crime. Is this real or nightmare?
In a remove castle high up in the Tuscan hills secrets are simmering among its glamorous English residents:
The ailing gentleman art-dealer His dazzling niece Her handsome Fascist husband Their neglected young daughter The housekeeper who knows everything and Connie, the English widow working for them.
Every night, Connie hears sinister noises and a terrible wailing inside the walls. Is she losing her grip on reality?
Or does someone in the castle want her gone?”
I am on the Blog Tour for this book on 3 April 2023 so keep your eyes peeled for my review on here, Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
What have you been stacking your shelves with this week?
Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, this week it is New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2022. This should be fairly easy for me as I take part in a lot of Blog Tours – all of which are new to me authors plus Instagram makes me try lots of new books. My only problem will be cutting it down to 10!
I heard about this author from Secret Library Book Blog. I was so pleased that there was a whole series that I could make my way through. I asked for the latest one for Christmas and I am looking forward to making a start on it.
I randomly saw The Rabbit Factor as a Blog Tour potential and was pleased to be accepted onto it. I then saw that the second book was also available as a Blog Tour and jumped at the chance.
“‘How much?’ The old man ahead of Lou at the supermarket checkout was glaring in disbelief at the female cashier.”
Genre:Romance/Contemporary Fiction
Number of Pages: 400
Date of Publication:19 January 2023
Publisher:Headline
My Review Summary:A story that I just wanted to keep on reading
📖PLOT SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS 📖
One minute Lou is happily employed, with a perfect flat. The next, her home and job have gone. Suddenly she has to start over.
The last thing Lou wants is to move to a tiny Cotswolds village. She certainly doesn’t intend to work for curmudgeonly eighty-year-old Edgar Allsopp. But Edgar is about to make her the kind of promise nobody could ignore. In return, she secretly vows to help him fall in love with life again.
Foxwell is also home to Remy, whose charm and charisma are proving hard to ignore. But Lou hasn’t recovered from the last time she fell for a charmer. She needs a distraction – and luckily one’s about to turn up.
Secrets never stay hidden for long in Foxwell, nor are promises always kept. And no one could guess what lies ahead…
💭THOUGHTS💭
I saw the blurb of this book and was taken in. I was therefore pleased when I was accepted onto the Tour. Since then I have not been myself and my reading has taken a hit. I was concerned that it would be hard getting through this book, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. In fact it reminded me why I love reading and has really helped me to get back into it.
The book opened with a lovely hand drawn map of the village, which I liked. It is always nice to see where things are in relation to what is happening in the story. The writing was gripping and I just wanted to keep on reading, desperate to find out what was going to happen next. There were some very emotional parts in the story, but overall I was left feeling uplifted.
The chapters were fairly long, but there was a good flow to the story so it kept my interest. I enjoyed the fact that you got the view points of a couple of the other characters in addition to the main character. It was interesting to see what was going through their minds and how they saw things at that point in the story.
The chapters were sometimes split and this also helped to keep my interest and moved the story on well.
The main character was lovely. She had some things to overcome and it was enjoyable to see how she just got on with things. She was a very likable character and you just wanted the best things to happen to her. I also enjoyed the rest of the characters. There were a few other storylines going on, but I never got confused and thought that everything wove together nicely.
Lastly the settings. I loved the village with the occasional trips to LA. I enjoyed reading about village life and how the main character really threw herself into it.
Overall a great book that has managed to get me out of a bit of a slump. I highly recommend!
“Inside the claustrophobic, heavy-duty body bag, Sebi blinked hard, trying to get a sense of place despite the impenetrable darkness”
Genre:Crime Fiction
Number of Pages: 300
Date of Publication:December 2022
Publisher:BurroBooks
My Review Summary:An intricately woven mystery that took me to Mallorca.
📖PLOT SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS📖
FALLEN BUTTERFLY is the third instalment in a gripping Mallorca-based crime series from Anna Nicholas, the most prolific British author writing about the island today.
The new book again features local protagonist, 33-year-old Isabel Flores Montserrat, an eccentric, fearless, lateral-thinking sleuth who has a pet ferret named Furó, and is addicted to sunflower seeds and Chupa Chups lollypops.
Unlike many female leads in popular crime fiction today, the Mallorcan former detective inspector is happy and balanced with few hang-ups. She loves her family and mountain community in the Soller valley, her pampered hens and her day job as a holiday rentals agent. Isabel believes in living for the moment and enjoying the simple pleasures of life.
Having turned her back on her old life as a policewoman in Barcelona, Madrid and Palma to run her widowed mother’s ailing mountain rentals agency in the Soller valley, Isabel finds herself being drawn back into detective work by her close friend and former boss, police chief Tolo Cabot. Having already assisted him with a cluster of puzzling island crimes, she is called upon again when Sebi Vives, the local transport minister, is found floating in the sea near Muro. He had increasingly infuriated local environmentalists, having approved a scheme to run a motorway through S’Albufera Natural Park that would destroy the natural fauna and flora and the habitat of thousands of birds. Environmentalists are blamed for the murder but Isabel Flores believes there is more to Sebi Vives’s death.
Meanwhile, close to her own mountain village, Sant Martí, foreign hikers are being misdirected by false cairns and signs in the Tramuntana hills, causing many to fall. Mischief is at work but who is to blame? Is it environmentalists or is something far more sinister at play?
💭THOUGHTS💭
I love a murder mystery and was excited to make a start on this. I enjoy murder mysteries set in different parts of the world and the descriptions in this story really took me to Mallorca. Despite this book being the third in the series, it read well as a standalone and made me want to read the other books in the series.
The writing was descriptive and there was always something going on. There were a couple of different storylines that ran alongside one another, yet ended up intertwining and ending well. I also enjoyed the addition of food. I thought that added another layer to the story.
At the beginning of the book was a dictionary containing some of the words which you would want to look up, which I liked. There was also a hand drawn map to help you to visualise where things were. I always enjoy the addition of a map!
The chapters were long and so you were able to get a good chunk of the story before moving on. There were however breaks in the chapters which added to the good flow of the story. As mentioned above there were lots of things going on yet it was easy and enjoyable to follow.
The main character was excellent. I loved her lightness and her willingness to do whatever it took to get the evidence she needed. She was a likable character which made me want to look at the other books in the series and to learn more about her.
Lastly the settings. I love the warmer setting and enjoyed reading about somewhere that I have never been to. As said above I also enjoyed the addition of food, that for me adds to the overall experience of the book.
Overall a great read, with great characters and settings. I really enjoyed it.
*Budget Tales Book Blog* 