12 Monday Nov 2018
Posted in News
Christmas came early to the Featherstone household this morning when the postman brought a very special present: The People’s Friend Christmas Special, featuring my short story A House of Prayer.
I’ve been floating on clouds ever since.
A dream come true.
Ever since I was a little girl, and used to curl up in a corner to read my grandmother’s My Weekly magazine, I’ve dreamed of becoming a writer and seeing my byline in print. Continue reading
07 Wednesday Nov 2018
Posted in Reviews
Every so often you get to the end of a book and think: ‘I’d better read that again.’
Fishing with Māui, by Wellington-based author Isa Ritchie, is one such book.
I turned the last page a couple of days ago and I’m still not sure I’ve picked up on all the nuances or that I’ve properly understood what Ritchie was trying to say about the importance of family and tradition; the place of religion (or not!); and the difficulties of being comfortable in your own skin. Continue reading
21 Sunday Oct 2018
Posted in Reviews
Losing one patient to suicide is happenstance.
When a second dies it could be coincidence…
But alarm bells start ringing VERY loudly for Dr Sam Willerby, a specialist in post traumatic stress, when suicide claims the life of a third patient.
It’s not just her professional reputation that’s at stake – all three turned to Sam for counselling after surviving a fire on the London Underground – her lover Con is also displaying similar symptoms, and Sam is terrified he too will give in to the voices in his head that tell him he doesn’t deserve to live. Continue reading
05 Friday Oct 2018
Posted in Reviews
The phrase ‘O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive…’ might have been coined especially for Elizabeth Dulcie’s new thriller Corruption!
It wasn’t, of course, the quote is a line from Sir Walter Scott’s 1808 poem, Marmion, but it does provide a perfect summary of the plot of this third, and final instalment, of Dulcie’s Suzanne Jones series.
Corruption! is a more-ish deliciously twisty tangle of deception and false trails and crooks masquerading as caring family men. Continue reading
23 Sunday Sep 2018
It’s always interesting to do a Meet the Author Q&A with an author you’ve already met and thought you knew…
So, it was a bit of a surprise to discover that Graeme Cumming, author of the genre-busting Ravens Gathering, reviewed here on Book Lovers Booklist in March, has walked on hot coals and likes to eat poached egg and mashed potato.
Find out what else rocks his boat… Continue reading
23 Sunday Sep 2018
Posted in Reviews
David Bowie certainly knew what he was talking about when he penned the line: ‘Put on your red shoes and dance…’
Because as beleaguered ex-pat Brits Belinda, Julia, Laura and Georgina discover in Isabella May’s sunny third novel Costa del Churros, it really is possible to dance your troubles away.
Or, at least, in the case of the four friends, confidence on the dance floor translates into an ability to face head on the issues that are making their lives a misery.
And, boy, despite the happy faces they try and present to the world, all four women are seriously unhappy. Continue reading
09 Sunday Sep 2018
Posted in Reviews
It is a truth NEVER universally acknowledged but women are ALWAYS in the frontline of war.
Whether it’s a war on terror or poverty or internal or external wars against those with differing political, ideological or religious beliefs, women are always dodging bullets fired by men.
And Sleeping Through War is a moving tribute by author Jackie Carreira to the women’s stories that are forgotten in the history books.
It is 1968 and three women are fighting to survive their own personal battleground. Continue reading
27 Monday Aug 2018
Posted in Reviews
Author Paula Houseman was once a graphic designer.
But when the temptation to include ‘the finger’ as part of a logo for a forward-moving women’s company proved too much, she knew it was time to give up design.
Instead, she took up writing.
Her love of satire, combined with a fondness for double entendres, means her novels – earthy chick lit and romantic comedy – are a tad Monty Pythonesque.
‘But,’ says Houseman, whose Ruth Roth series features a humourless schoolmarm with Continue reading
22 Wednesday Aug 2018
There are some things that can’t be left unsaid. If you’re still looking for a last-minute summer holiday read, get yourself a copy of Megan Mayfair’s romance The Things We Leave Unsaid.
On one level, it’s a light, sparky read, peppered with wry asides.
Take this example: Clare, one of the two women at the heart of the story, was a virgin when she married her husband Pete.
Her boss, and new best friend, Tessa, who’s had lots of boyfriends but never been in love, prefers ‘to try before she buys, but then again, she didn’t think she would ever buy – so, sort of try before she leased? Illegal sub-let?’
Okay, not laugh-out-loud funny but it tickled my funny-bone. Continue reading
17 Friday Aug 2018
Posted in Reviews
Do you ever sit down to write a review and find yourself staring at a blank page for what seems forever?
Because there is so much to say, you don’t know where to begin?
So, I’ll start by listing, in no particular order, the things I love about Butterfly Blood, Rebecca Carpenter’s stunning YA follow-up to her 2016 Metamorphosis series debut Butterfly Bones.
1. It’s a YA-cum sci-fi-cum magical realism-cum-mystery novel that, like The Hunger Games and the Harry Potter stories, also works for adult readers. Continue reading
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