For struggling actress Ava, landing a role with the Chimera Theatre Group could lead to her big break. And relocating to a remote country village means stepping out from the shadow of her boyfriend—despite his determination not to let her go.
Everyone in the group seems so welcoming, they’re one big happy family. But, like all families, they each have secrets. And someone in the group doesn’t want certain secrets to get out…”
Whilst I didn’t have any 5 star books this month, this was my favourite out of the 3 that I read.
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”, “new”, “recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “fantasy”, “romance”, “what book will get me out of a reading slump”, “entertaining”, “what should I read next”, “book of the month”, “5 star rating”, “what should I have read this month”
It’s Time Travel Thursday! This is where I take a look back at what I was reading this time last year (or the year before or the year before that…) and compare it to what I am reading now.
This day in 2021 I was reading:
Book Description From Goodreads:
“Jo Finnegan is attacked while leaving work one evening by criminals threatening her more harm if she does not provide them with information she doesn’t have.
When she gets home, Jo finds her sister dead in her front room, and her wife missing. When the police arrive and arrest her, while she is still in shock from the events of the night, Jo realises she’s been framed for her sister’s murder. But that’s only the beginning of her nightmare.”
This is my current Blog Tour book, review due on 13 January 2023.
Comparison:
Completely different books from Thriller to Christmas and Fantasy! The only thing that is similar is that the Thriller and Fantasy are Blog Tour books!
What were you reading this time last year or the year before (or the year before!)? Add your links in the comments below!
“A jolt and, ‘oh, god. Oh s**t,’ from the driver’s seat.”
Genre:Psychological Thriller
Number of Pages: 384
Date of Publication:8 December 2022
Publisher: One More Chapter
My Review Summary:A gripping tale with suspicious things happening all the time!
📖PLOT SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS 📖
Who can you trust…
WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT
A group of new friends. But can she trust them?
For struggling actress Ava, landing a role with the Chimera Theatre Group could lead to her big break. And relocating to a remote country village means stepping out from the shadow of her boyfriend—despite his determination not to let her go.
Everyone in the group seems so welcoming, they’re one big happy family. But, like all families, they each have secrets. And someone in the group doesn’t want certain secrets to get out…
💭THOUGHTS💭
I wanted a change to my reading material and thought that this book sounded like something that I would enjoy. I was pleased to be accepted on to the tour and I did enjoy reading it. I haven’t been reading as much as I usually do recently, but this book was easy to read, with plenty of things going on. I was quite happy to be taken on the ride and for things to unravel in their own time.
The writing was gripping and easy to read. I got through it faster than I thought I would and looked forward to picking it up each day. It had quite a fast pace, with lots of different things happening. These different things kept being added, and whilst most were tied up at the end, there were still a few questions that I wanted answering and character developments that I would have liked to have seen. The ending was certainly interesting. It was left very open and allowed for you as the reader to finish it in your own way.
The chapters were fairly short, which gave the story it’s fast pace. I also felt like I had achieved something and motored through it. A couple of the chapters were split, but otherwise we just went straight through.
The story was from the point of view of the main character and had some nice bits of description in it. There was enough detail to give you a good idea of where the main character was and what she was seeing/doing without distracting from the story and slowing it down. It was cleverly done.
The characters were excellent. I was suspicious of all of them. At one point I wasn’t even convinced about the main character! I would have liked to have seen a bit more about the main character’s “partner”. I was interested in his behaviour and wanted to see how that would all pan out. I also wanted to see more on the main characters parents – there was obviously something more there.
Lastly the settings. I liked the shared cottage and the different little rooms that they performed in. The size and the nature of the settings helped to add to my suspicions about the characters. The settings were well thought out and suited what was happening in the story well.
Overall a great story and one that had me hooked from the beginning.
📖THE AUTHOR📖
Chris Curran’s sixth psychological suspense novel, When the Lights Go Out, publishes on December 2nd . Chris also writes as Abbie Frost and her latest under that name is The Guesthouse. Her books have been praised in the media as: truly gripping (Sunday Express), dark, claustrophobic and full of suspense (The Courier) addictive and fun (Daily Mail), addictive (The Sun), chilling (Waitrose Magazine) thrilling (Sublime Horror)
Best selling author, Alex Lake, describes The Guesthouse as a: full of suspense…gripping mystery. And Edgar Award winner Alex Marwood calls When the Lights Go Out: wonderfully mystifying and claustrophobic; and sad and thoughtful to boot. Chris also writes short stories and has twice been shortlisted for the CWA Margery Allingham award.
I am on the Blog Tour for this book on 13 January 2023 so keep your eyes peeled for my review on here, Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
After a bit of a break from these posts (mainly due to my falling asleep!) I am now back (with yet another cold, but I have managed to stay awake this evening). I have focused this evening’s reading on my last Blog Tour book of the year, When The Lights Go Out by Chris Curran. I usually like to read Christmassy themed books, but when this came up I had to go for it. It is an excellent book so far with all sorts of things coming to light (!!).
“book”, “read”, “book blog”, “new”, “recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “reading slump”, “entertaining”, “what should I read next”, “what books do you recommend”
On Tuesday I went with my parents back to the Ashford Outlet to take back some shoes that claimed to be waterproof, but after walking my son to and from school in the rain (not even hard rain) they leaked. The shop was very good about it and let us swap them for some different ones. Friday I went into school with my son to do some reading with him and then went to a Math’s drop in session where I could ask questions. The weekend came and the cold that my son was battling earlier in the week had been successfully transferred to me. I then went to London for my sister’s 30th birthday celebration feeling very sorry for myself. Today will be spent chilling.
Welcome to my Sunday post hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. A busy week with end of the month this week! I have ended the week poorly with another cold – my son apparently is still bringing stuff home – he has a streaming nose, but seems to be handling it better than me!
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “mystery”, “what should I read next”, “what books do you recommend”, “which books are popular at the moment”, “what is everyone reading”, “autumn reading”, “fall reading”
“A failed writer connects the murder of an American journalist, a drowned 80s musician and a Scottish politician’ s resignation, in a heart-wrenching novel about ordinary people living in extraordinary times.
Renowned photo-journalist Jude Montgomery arrives in Glasgow in 2014, in the wake of the failed Scottish independence referendum, and it’ s clear that she’ s searching for someone.
Is it Anna Mason, who will go on to lead the country as First Minister? Jamie Hewitt, guitarist from eighties one-hit wonders The Hyptones? Or is it Rabbit – Jude’ s estranged foster sister, now a world-famous artist?
Three apparently unconnected people, who share a devastating secret, whose lives were forever changed by one traumatic night in Phoenix, forty years earlier…
Taking us back to a school shooting in her Texas hometown, and a 1980s road trip across the American West – to San Francisco and on to New York – Jude’ s search ends in Glasgow, and a final, shocking event that only one person can fully explain…”
Friday 56 Quote:
“I stop looking and begin to observe. A large gray bird pecking furiously at an unidentifiable roadkill carcass. A curly-haired, barefoot child playing alone in the gutter.”
I have only read 2% of this book and this is at 56%. I am intrigued as to how it got to this point! There is quite a lot of detail so you are able to start to form a picture just from these few sentences alone.
It’s Time Travel Thursday! This is where I take a look back at what I was reading this time last year (or the year before or the year before that…) and compare it to what I am reading now.
“A long-dead child.An artist who paints the fae.An ancient estate on a blood-filled land. The commission was close to Amelia’s dream: a cosy cottage in Donegal over Christmas and the chance to paint the beautiful Glenveagh estate. But when the weather closes in and the country shuts down, a ritual begins – one that traps Amelia in its circles of magic.
Stranded in a place where iron is power, her heart can no longer be trusted and the land itself is a weapon, Amelia’s survival depends on unravelling the truth of a decades-old death. Even if it draws the same ancient danger to herself.”
“Nowadays, we question what leading a happy life entails, how to be satisfied. We end up wasting our energy away, looking for happiness and not living it the right way. What even is the right way!? We follow the path that is supposedly set out to us by societal stresses and cunning commercials, steering us in the direction of Always. Wanting. More. When in your twenties, thirties or sixties, we often question what’s happening. Let’s heal together.”
“Easy going event coordinator Katy Costa is called in last minute to sub for her perfectionist sister at a Christmas Eve wedding in Portland, Maine. Nice guy chef Cole St. Onge takes over from his temperamental boss for the same event.
The problem? Each thinks the other is their prickly counterpart and they expect fireworks when they meet. It’s the sparks that fly between them that’s unexpected. And unwelcome—Katy’s skittish after a bad breakup. Left at the altar, Cole’s sworn off women for good. Mix in an unexpected snowstorm, an accident-prone groom, Katy’s self-pitying ex making trouble, a matchmaking grandma, and lots of mistletoe, and what’s supposed to be a magical holiday affair fast becomes a Christmas nightmare.
Forced to team up to put out the many fires, the blaze between Cole and Katy burns brighter as the evening wears on. Can they ignore their growing attraction and keep their relationship strictly professional? Or will they give in to the mistletoe and say I do to a Christmas kiss that promises more to come in the new year?”
“Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a “baby farmer,” who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.
One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.
With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways…But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.”
“A snowstorm. A stranger. A spark. And it’s Christmas! It should be the perfect start to the perfect love story.
But real life is far messier and more complicated than in the pages of the books in Megan Taylor’s family bookshop – the last few years have left this young widow in no doubt of that. Moving back home to York should have been a fresh start, but all it did was allow her to retreat from the world.
When prize-winning author Xander Stone rams his supermarket trolley into her ankles and then trashes her taste in books, Megan is abruptly awoken from her self-imposed hibernation. It’s time to start living again, and she’s going to start by putting this arrogant, superior – admittedly sexy – stranger in his place.
Just as she is beginning to enjoy life again, the worst happens and Megan begins to wonder if she should have stayed hidden away. Because it turns out that falling in love again is about more than just meeting under the mistletoe…”
I am on the Blog Tour for this book on 1 December so keep your eyes peeled for my review!
Book Description From Goodreads:
“A failed writer connects the murder of an American journalist, a drowned 80s musician and a Scottish politician’ s resignation, in a heart-wrenching novel about ordinary people living in extraordinary times.
Renowned photo-journalist Jude Montgomery arrives in Glasgow in 2014, in the wake of the failed Scottish independence referendum, and it’ s clear that she’ s searching for someone.
Is it Anna Mason, who will go on to lead the country as First Minister? Jamie Hewitt, guitarist from eighties one-hit wonders The Hyptones? Or is it Rabbit – Jude’ s estranged foster sister, now a world-famous artist?
Three apparently unconnected people, who share a devastating secret, whose lives were forever changed by one traumatic night in Phoenix, forty years earlier…
Taking us back to a school shooting in her Texas hometown, and a 1980s road trip across the American West – to San Francisco and on to New York – Jude’ s search ends in Glasgow, and a final, shocking event that only one person can fully explain…”
Comparison:
Still on a Christmas theme, however I was reading more Christmas last year than this year!
What were you reading this time last year or the year before (or the year before!)? Add your links in the comments below!
Such a short amount of reading time this evening that writing this will probably double the time I spent reading! I managed to read a couple of pages of my Blog Tour book Dashboard Elvis Is Dead by David F Ross (so that I can say that I have at least made a start!) and a few more pages of my library book A Bookshop Christmas by Rachel Burton. I was planning on reading a bit of Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, but I was just too tired!
I have high hopes for Dashboard Elvis Is Dead even after the tiny amount that I read and I am still enjoying A Bookshop Christmas.
I hope that you had a good Tuesday and enjoyed my Top Ten Tuesday – Thankful Freebie post. Tomorrow on the Blog it’s WWW Wednesday and Top 5 Wednesday.
“book”, “read”, “book blog”, “new”, “recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “reading slump”, “entertaining”, “what should I read next”, “what books do you recommend”
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