31 Monday Jul 2017
Posted in Reviews
Single dad Eddie is quick-witted, warm-hearted and devoted to his daughter Daisy.
He’s almost perfect – even his ex-partner Jean, Daisy’s mother, is still more than a little bit in love with him.
In fact, they’d probably still be together if she hadn’t jumped into bed with his best friend Jason.
But it wasn’t her fault – Jason looked at her with lust in his eyes while Eddie, working flat out to build his tattoo business, would collapse asleep with exhaustion. Continue reading
25 Tuesday Jul 2017
We’re often invited to take part in and contribute to other writer’s websites and we’re always delighted to be interviewed, asked to talk about books or write about writing.
So it was great to be invited by blogger and reviewer Jo Barton to take part in her Close to Home feature.
Sue appeared on the spot earlier this year and my turn came this week when I was able to write about living and working in the North – particularly Yorkshire.
There’s so much to say about this part of the world and I could have written a book about everything on offer here, but I managed to edit myself – and you can read the result here:
http://jaffareadstoo.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/close-to-homesusan-pape.html
Jo’s been blogging for six years and supports writers in a number of ways, including writing book reviews and running blog tours. Her overall aim is to promote books and reading – which we thoroughly approve of.
She says she’s usually found curled up with a book – with Jaffa, the cat, close by. See what the two of them get up to here:
http://jaffareadstoo.blogspot.co.uk
22 Saturday Jul 2017
Posted in News
Happy Birthday to us!
It’s one year today since we launched the Book Lovers’ Booklist.
We’ve had bundles of fun reading, reviewing and writing about books.
And we’ve made some wonderful new friends right across the book blogging community – authors, bloggers and readers.
We’re very grateful for your support and encouragement.
So, Susan and I are celebrating our first blogging year with a giveaway of our first novel A Falling Friend.
For the next three days we’ll give away three copies of A Falling Friend each day.
Just click the link here and hit the like button to go into a draw to win one of three free copies.
Closing date: midnight on July 24.
21 Friday Jul 2017
Posted in Reviews
One of my stand-out cinematic memories is the death of Bambi’s mother in Disney’s wonderful 1942 animation.
The hunter raises his rifle and every child in the movie theatre, and quite a few adults, me included, wails in anguish.
It’s one of cinema’s most heart-breaking OMG! moments.
There are two such blood-thumping, sharp-intake-of-breath, stop-the-clock plot twists in Beneath the Skin, RL Martinez’s stunning sequel to In the Blood, the equally memorable opener to her Witchbreed fantasy series. Continue reading
13 Thursday Jul 2017
Posted in Reviews
Dare to look at the dramatic cover of A.J.Waines‘ latest book, which we reveal today: here it is …
…and get ready for a nail-biting ride.
Lost in the Lake:
Amateur viola player Rosie Chandler is the sole survivor of a crash which sends members of a string quartet plunging into a lake. Rosie’s convinced that the accident was deliberate – but she can’t remember what happened.
She seeks out clinical psychologist, Dr Samantha Willerby to help recover her lost memories.
But Rosie is hiding something…
Why is she so desperate to recover her worthless viola? And what happened to the violin lost in the crash – worth more than £2 million?
Sam begins to see the truth – but not until she’s seriously out of her depth.
This is the second book in the Dr Willerby series.
Pre-order on Amazon from today.
Release date: September 7.
About the author:
A.J.Waines has sold over 400,000 books worldwide and topped the UK and Australian Kindle Charts in 2015 and 2016 with her number one bestseller, Girl on a Train (yes, the other one!)
Her fourth psychological thriller, No Longer Safe, sold over 30,000 copies in the first month, in 13 countries.
Following 15 years as a psychotherapist, A.J.Waines (pictured) is now a full-time novelist. She lives in Hampshire with her husband.
Pre-Order on Amazon from 13 July 2017
Release date: 7 Sept 2017
UK (99p):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073W8X17W
US ($1.28):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073W8X17W
13 Tuesday Jun 2017
Posted in Reviews
As you’d expect from someone who cut her writing teeth at Jackie magazine, author Karen King writes with confidence and style.
Hand on heart, romantic fiction isn’t my preferred genre – I’m more of a whodunit fan – but if anyone could convert me, King could.
Her new release from Accent Press, The Cornish Hotel by the Sea is a perfect demonstration of her story-telling expertise: a nicely believable plot that builds at a satisfying pace without getting bogged down in long descriptive passages, which could have been a temptation given the glorious setting. Continue reading
10 Saturday Jun 2017
It’s not often I get to the end of a book and find myself lost for words – although perhaps that’s an appropriate response to a book titled The Silence.
I turned the last page and thought: ‘Oh!’
(Strictly speaking, I didn’t turn the page, I swiped my kindle. But you get the point.)
And, it wasn’t: ‘Oh, that was unexpected.’ Or even: ‘Oh, I enjoyed that.’
Although both of those are true. Continue reading
09 Friday Jun 2017
Posted in News
Ever wondered how Susan (left) and I ended up with indie publisher Lakewater Press – a fabulous boutique publisher, based in Queensland, Australia, and run by an Englishwoman?
Find out in my guest post about taking chances on Rachel’s Random Reads.
Blogger Rachel Gilbey is hosting ‘Chances Fortnight’, a series of daily features where different guest bloggers write about the chances that changed their lives. Continue reading
03 Saturday Jun 2017
Quite by coincidence I’m writing this review of Nordic noir thriller Wolves in the Dark by Norway’s legendary Gunnar Staalesen shortly after a particularly intense trek with my Friday Nordic walking group.
Appropriate really because this latest instalment of Staalesen’s long-running Bergen-based Varg Veum series is equally intense, with a brutal plot and at least one genuine sharp intake of breath moment.
As the novel opens, Veum, who debuted in 1977 in the bizarrely titled The Buck to the Sack of Oats, is still reeling from the death of his great love Karin. Continue reading
03 Saturday Jun 2017
Posted in Reviews
Goodness me! There are enough red herrings in One to Watch, the new thriller from Rachel Amphlett, to feed a smorgasbord of crime fiction readers.
First, the guilty person just HAD to be X.
Then it was definitely Y and I never saw Z coming until the last couple of pages.
Although, perhaps that’s because making Z a murderer breaks one of the cardinal rules of classic crime fiction.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you which one because then you’d know whodunnit. Continue reading
Book Lovers' Booklist 