Blog Tour ~ The Liar’s Daughter by Claire Allan

Delighted to host today's stop on this blog tour

Avon Books
23 January 2020

My thanks to the publishers for my invitation to this blog tour

Joe McKee – pillar of the Derry community – is dead. As arrangements are made for the traditional Irish wake, friends and family are left reeling at how cancer could have taken this much-loved man so soon.

But grief is the last thing that Joe’s daughter Ciara and step-daughter Heidi feel. For they knew the real Joe – the man who was supposed to protect them and did anything but.

As the mourners gather, the police do too, with doubt being cast over whether Joe’s death was due to natural causes. Because the lies that Joe told won’t be taken to the grave after all – and the truth gives his daughters the best possible motive for killing him…

What did I think about it..

There are many undercurrents in this story which is so cleverly done that you find that your emotional connection to each of the characters starts right at the beginning, and as step siblings Ciara and Heidi face the worst of their fears it soon becomes obvious that the relationship they each had with the recently deceased Joe McKee is loaded with secrets and lies.

I really can’t say too much about this psychological drama without giving the game away as even the hint of a spoiler would completely ruin the impact of this cleverly controlled family story. There’s so much unspoken angst between Ciara and Heidi that’s it’s difficult to say which of their stories affected me the most but by the end I was left feeling quite shaken by both of them.  However, despite the rather dark themes which run through the story I enjoyed how this talented author took us through a whole range of emotions from sadness to rage, and back to rage again.

I’ve read all of this author's work to date and have been impressed with the strength of her story telling and how she makes each story so completely relevant to our modern society. The Liar’s Daughter is a sad yet powerful story of a dysfunctional family relationship which is so powerful in its message that the story will stay with me for a long time.


Recommended : Absolutely ✅ if you like well written family dramas

About the Author

A former journalist and columnist, Claire Allan has been writing fiction since 2006.

An Irish Times bestseller, she has tackled issues from post-natal depression, infertility, and dementia through to writing a based-on-a-true-story book about a couple reunited after 50 years apart. She has now decided to unleash her dark side!

Married with two children, two cats and a mad puppy she is happiest lost in a good book. She has kissed Michael Buble.

Website

Twitter @ClaireAllan #TheLiarsDaughter

@AvonBooksUK

Blog Tour ~ Forget Me Not by Claire Allan

Jaffareadstoo is thrilled to be hosting today's stop on the  Forget Met Not Blog Tour

Avon
30 May 2019

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book
and the invitation to be part of the blog tour

I disappeared on a Tuesday afternoon. I was there one minute and the next I was gone. They’ve never found my body…

It’s six in the morning during the hottest summer on record when Elizabeth O’Loughlin, out walking her dog, comes across Clare, a victim of a horrific knife attack, clinging onto life at the side of the road. 

Clare dies minutes later, but not before whispering her haunting last words to Elizabeth. 

When it becomes clear that Clare’s killer has more than one murder on his mind, Elizabeth has to take drastic action or face losing everything. But what if she can’t stop a killer determined never to be forgotten? 

My thoughts..

Elizabeth O'Loughlin is walking her dog when she comes across the body of a young woman. Horrifically and fatally injured, the woman, Clare, whispers something to Elizabeth, which starts off a whole chain of complicated events.

Forget Me Not looks at the complex secrets which revolve around three women who have known each other for years. Clare makes up one of the threesome, and her untimely death threatens not just her own family but that of her friends. So many secrets start to be uncovered and whilst the threat of danger never goes away, the two remaining friends cling to each other, coping in the best way they can.

The psychological tension is cranked up to high, and the twists and turns in the story keep you guessing. The author certainly knows how to keep your attention and the opening chapter is particularly dramatic, there are some genuinely dark moments, and some really scary events which I didn't expect, and which made the story all the more compelling.

Forget Me Not is a forceful psychological suspense story moving along at an absolutely cracking pace which keeps the energy alive from start to finish.

About the Author

A former journalist and columnist, Claire Allan has been writing fiction since 2006.

An Irish Times bestseller, she has tackled issues from post-natal depression, infertility, and dementia through to writing a based-on-a-true-story book about a couple reunited after 50 years apart. She has now decided to unleash her dark side!

Married with two children, two cats and a mad puppy she is happiest lost in a good book. She has kissed Michael Buble.

Website

Twitter @claireallan #ForgetMeNot

@AvonBooksUK

Blog Tour ~ Apple of My Eye by Claire Allan

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to host today's stop on the Apple of My Eye Blog Tour

Avon Books
24 January 2019

My thanks to the publishers and to Sabah for the invitation to be part of this blog tour

When a mysterious note arrives for six months pregnant Eliana Hughes, she begins to doubt every aspect of her life – from her mixed feelings about motherhood to her marriage to Martin, who has become distant in recent months.

As the person behind the note escalates their campaign to out Eli’s husband as a cheat, she finds herself unable to trust even her own instincts, and as pressure builds, she makes a mistake that jeopardises her entire future.

Elsewhere, someone is watching. Someone who desperately wants a baby to call their own and will go to any lengths to become a mother – and stay a mother…

My thoughts about it..

With mixed feelings about her six month pregnancy, and a constant sensation of nausea, Eliana needs to use every ounce of her strength to maintain both her relationship with her husband, Martin, and also her demanding job as a Senior Staff Nurse in a hospice. When a note arrives at her work place claiming that Martin is  being unfaithful, the seeds of doubt are sown, and Eliana discovers that her settled life is about to take a very different, and difficult, direction. With her doubts about her marriage escalating, Eliana turns to someone she knows she can trust for comfort and reassurance.

What then follows is a cleverly controlled psychological suspense story which is expertly told by two very different narrators. Two people who you know you should trust to get the story right, however, there are elements of doubt in each story line and that is what make reading this book so compelling. The author certainly knows how to keep the tension alive with twists and turns appearing on every page, and whilst I had, sort of, sussed out quite early on just what was going on and with whom, there were still some cleverly contrived moments which took me completely surprised.

I read the book in one sitting as the story intrigued me and kept me turning the pages. I especially liked the hospice references and thought that this section of the story was particularly well written, so extra kudos to the author for writing about hospice care so thoughtfully.

Apple of My Eye is a clever and suspenseful psychological thriller, and fans of this author's previous book, Her Name was Rose, will be delighted with this latest offering from this talented writer.

About the Author

A former journalist and columnist, Claire Allan has been writing fiction since 2006.

An Irish Times bestseller, she has tackled issues from post-natal depression, infertility, and dementia through to writing a based-on-a-true-story book about a couple reunited after 50 years apart. She has now decided to unleash her dark side!

Married with two children, two cats and a mad puppy she is happiest lost in a good book. She has kissed Michael Buble.

Website

Twitter @ClaireAllan #AppleofMyEye

@AvonBooksUK