📖 Blog Tour ~The Portrait Girl by Nicole Swengley

Breakthrough Books
10 October 2024

My thanks to the publisher and Random Things Tours for the book
and the invitation to the blog tour 

The Portrait Girl thrusts its bereaved and beleaguered heroine, jewellery designer Freya Wetherby, into an astonishing world of re-enacted Victorian art salons and the devious machinations of modern art theft.

Seeking the identity of a miniature portrait found in her late mother’s belongings, Freya becomes enraptured not only by this mysterious young woman but also by the hypnotic personality of art collector Ralph Merrick and his colourful entourage, including the dangerously attractive ‘Jack.’

Thoroughly researched, the milieu in which The Portrait Girl would have moved is beautifully rendered by Swengley, as are the artworks and jewellery designs imagined in the novel. Freya’s own contemporary world and circumstances form a dramatic backdrop to the seductive ‘time slip’ episodes, a mirage created by Merrick that draws her into his web.

📖 My Review..

When jewellery designer Freya Wetherby discovers a beautiful Victorian miniature amongst her late mother’s belongings she is perplexed as she doesn’t know the beautiful young woman in the portrait nor is she aware of her mother’s connection to it. Her quest to discover more about the portrait takes her into the complex world of art history where a chance meeting with art collector, Ralph Merrick, launches Freya on a rather dark and mysterious journey into the past. The lure of the portrait beguiles Freya, so much so, she is prepared go to great lengths to find out more and in doing so risks great danger. 

Beautifully recreating the story of the girl in the portrait, and I won’t give away any clues as to her identity, this is well written historical fiction with a fascinating glimpse into the modern art world. Together with Freya we step into sumptuous art galleries and dusty museums and also take part in grand soirées and dark seances in fashionable London and in doing so we learn more about the portrait girl and the world she inhabited.  The fascination for Victorian art and the lengths that unscrupulous people will go to in order to own a piece of this bygone world is layered beautifully and becomes quite a complex part of the plot. 

With its unique Victorian atmosphere running alongside its distinctively contemporary feel and bringing the art world, both past and present, to life, The Portrait Girl is a fascinating dual time story with an interesting and unexpected twist. I loved it and will look forward to more from this author.

About the Author

Nicole Swengley is a highly regarded and experienced journalist who has written about art and design for titles such as The Times, Financial Times, the Telegraph, London Evening Standard and many others. A past student of the Faber Academy, Nicole has written non-fiction books for Collins and Adlard Coles, and has had several short stories published in magazines and anthologies. The Portrait Girl is her first full length work of fiction.

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📖 Blog Tour ~ A Lady's Lesson in Scandal by Darcy McGuire

Boldwood
12 October 2024
The Queen’s Deadly Damsels #2

My thanks to the publisher and Rachel's Random Resources for the book
and the invitation to the blog tour

Wallflower at risk of ruin…

Secret femme-fatale in training Millicent Whittenburg needs to escape her unpleasant betrothal. Taking matters into her own hands, she plans her eventual ruin! Then she can disappear from society to carry out the Queen’s deadly missions. Step 1: seduce the one man who despises marriage more than her!

However, she hugely underestimates her target. Major General Beaufort Drake. Fearsome private investigator, he’s notoriously cold and visibly battle scarred. But Millie’s scandalously public kiss awakens a deeply suppressed desire in Drake. Instead of allowing them both to succumb to shame he does the unthinkable, and offers for her hand in a convenient marriage.

Nothing prepares them for the fireworks when a fearless damsel collides with a dangerous Major General! And as their secret missions align they face their hardest test on the glittering battlefield – a week long wedding house party where there is nowhere to escape…only new and wicked lessons to be learnt!

My Review..

Millicent Whittenburg is desperate to get out of becoming betrothed so she decides to put into practice the idea of compromising her honour with a gentleman more of her own choosing. Major General Beaufort Drake, is no pushover but Millicent discovers, to her cost, that Drake, when confronted with Millicent’s suggestion rises to the challenge. He doesn’t, however, as yet, know of Millicent’s involvement as one of the Queen’s  investigators. 

Those who have read the first book in this Deadly Damsels series will be aware of the foundations of the story and so to have another femme-fatale and one as deadly as Millicent makes this story into a rollicking good romp. Wickedly spicy and with passion burning up the pages both Drake and Millie have met their match which, between them, keeps the passion, and the spice right up at boiling point.

These stories are great fun to read, not to be taken too seriously but at its core there is a sharp message which reminds us of how little choice women in the Victoria era had not just over their own bodies but also their limited sense of freedom and autonomy. The author writes well, with razor sharp wit and more than one caustic put down and with a real sense of the women in the story calling all the shots. It’s also a passionate love story with some truly steamy moments which helps in making Millie and Drake into characters you won’t forget in a hurry.

It’s perfectly possible to read  A Lady's Lesson in Scandal as a standalone story but it does make sense to get to know some of the recurring characters as that way you understand what makes them tick. I’m already looking forward to book number three in the Deadly Damsels series.

About the Author

Darcy McGuire is a high school counsellor who grew up in the wilds of New Zealand but happily settled in the Pacific Northwest. Darcy loves writing about fierce female protagonists who may dodge daggers and bullets but never seem to escape Cupid's arrow.

 

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📖 Blog Tour ~ The Little Provence Bookshop by Gillian Harvey

Boldwood
9 October 2024

My thanks to the publisher and Rachel's Random Resources for the book 
and the invitation to the blog tour

As the sun rises over the little Provence village where single mother Adeline has escaped with her little girl Lili, she breathes deeply. This is their new beginning. Here, she can forget the lies her family told her. Here, she can start her story again.

Later she opens the door to the town’s tiny bookstore, where she is to work, ready to meet the mysterious owner Monique for the first time.

She expected an ordinary bookshop. But this bookstore feels somehow different… magical. Breathing in the smell of books, she feels a jolt of something. It feels like a new chapter beginning.

As she gets to know the villagers – including the handsome Andre and friendly Michel – she starts to believe in the magic of this new start. But can a runaway like Adeline ever find what she’s looking for? Or is a happy-ever-after just another fiction?

📖 My Review..

After learning some devastating news, Adeline, and her daughter Lili, relocate from London to a pretty French village where Adeline takes up a sales assistant position in the tiny village bookshop. In Le Petit Libraire she meets and forms a close friendship with Monique, the enigmatic owner of the book shop, who has her own special way of helping customers find just the right book.

This is such a lovely warm-hearted story that I was quite captivated by the idea of a magical bookshop and a special sort of owner who could match a particular book to the needs of the reader. I’m a great believer in a book coming along at the right time and this story explores this idea with some lovely detail. I especially enjoyed the snippets from a few Emily Dickinson poems which are scattered like gemstones throughout. It’s a gentle story, moving along at its own pace, but it does so with such nice attention to detail and some lovely characterisation. Monique is a fascinating character adding her own special brand of magic to the story. There is a twist to the plot which I did see coming but that was perfectly fine as everything worked out exactly as I hoped it would.

With a smattering of romance, the joy of friendship and a delicious sense of everything coming full circle The Little Provence Bookshop is a light and easy read filled with a cosy sense of warmth and a little bit of magic. 

About the Author

Gillian Harvey is a freelance journalist and the author of two well-reviewed women’s fiction novels published by Orion. She has lived in Limousin, France for the past twelve years, from where she derives the inspiration and settings for her books such as A Year at the French Farmhouse and A Month in Provence. 

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📖 Book Review ~ The Blackbird Oracle by Deborah Harkness

Headline
July 2024
All Souls #5

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

Diana Bishop journeys to the darkest places within herself – and her family history – in the highly anticipated fifth novel of the beloved Number One Sunday Times bestselling All Souls series.

The first shadows fall on a Friday afternoon when a single, dying raven lands on the pavement in front of Diana Bishop, harbinger of an invitation that reads, ‘It’s time you came home, Diana’.

Diana is a witch and scholar; her husband Matthew Clairmont, a vampire. Their intense love for one another awoke the dark powers within her and dissolved the Covenant between the three species – Witch, Daemon and Vampire – that live alongside humans. Now, the governing Congregation has decided it must test the magical powers of their seven-year-old twins, Pip and Becca. Concerned with their safety, Diana decides to forge a different path for her family’s future and travels to Ravenswood, the Proctor family home.

There, Diana begins a new era, becoming her great aunt Gwyneth’s pupil in higher magic. It’s time to confront her family’s past – and her own, inescapable desire for greater power.

📖 My Review..

I’ve been a fan of this fascinating series since the very beginning and so to have a continuation of the story has been a real treat as not only are we back, once again, with Diana and Matthew but we are also given the opportunity to explore Diana’s paternal Proctor family at their home at Ravenswood. In the seclusion of the Proctor family home, and under the tutelage of her newly discovered family, Diana is given the opportunity to explore, and learn more about, the skill of higher magic. However, her search for the darkness will send Diana on a  path where she risks putting herself and her loved ones in grave danger.

I have enjoyed being back with Diana and Matthew, observing them as a family unit with their children Pip and Rebecca, and watching how Diana starts to understand her higher power. The Proctors are a lively lot, especially Granny Dorcas who brings her own brand of sassiness to everything she does and Great-Aunt Gwyneth who rules the roost with her own brand of magic. Inevitably, the Congregation makes its presence felt with its determination to ‘test’ the magical powers of Pip and Rebecca who, as bright born children of a witch and vampire, are especially interesting, but of course Diana and Matthew are determined to protect their twins at all costs. 

I have both the hardback and the audio of The Blackbird Oracle and have thoroughly enjoyed dipping into both versions. The audio is expertly narrated by Jennifer Ikeda who has been the distinctive voice of all this series with the exception of Time’s Convert.  As a committed fan, I am delighted with this latest instalment in the All Souls series and although there were times when I felt like the story seemed a little meandering that really didn’t matter as it allowed the plot to evolve gradually and gave me time to get to know lots of new and fascinating characters.

It’s been great being back Diana and Matthew’s world and I have loved meeting the Proctors and learning more about their history and where they all fit into this complex story. The ending of The Blackbird Oracle lends itself to a continuation so I can only hope for more from this talented author who has created such a wonderful legacy of characters and who has given us the enticing and compelling world of All Souls. Long may it continue 😊

About the Author

Deborah Harkness is the number one Sunday Times bestselling author of A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night and The Book of Life. A history professor at the University of Southern California, Harkness has received Fulbright, Guggenheim, and National Humanities Center fellowships. 

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📖 Blog Tour ~ Lessons in Love at the Cornish Country Hospital by Jo Bartlett

Boldwood
3 October 2024

My thanks to the publisher and to Rachel's Random Resources for the book
and the invitation to the blog tour

A broken bond…

Wendy Tyler’s marriage ended when she discovered her ex-husband, Mike, had got his much younger new partner, Chloe, pregnant. Wendy’s over Mike, but suddenly she fears her own daughters will find a new baby much more exciting that their old mum…

A chance encounter…

But when Wendy bumps into Chloe at St Piran’s, it’s clear something is troubling the fragile young woman. Wendy doesn’t want to be sucked into Chloe and Mike’s relationship, but she can’t help worrying that Chloe needs someone to turn to.

A lesson in love.

And when Wendy realizes that Chloe is more fragile than any of them realised, she knows she has to step up. She might not love Mike anymore, but Chloe is about to join their family and Wendy can’t just stand by. Sometimes life is hard, but the easiest lessons are built on a solid foundation of love.

📖 My Review..

Returning to the Cornish Country hospital, and to this special corner of Cornwall, is like meeting up again with old friends as we once again enter through the doors of St Piran’s to find all is activity and hustle and bustle. In this story we follow two characters Danni, the A &E doctor, as she meets the challenges which come her way and also we discover more about hospital housekeeper, Wendy, who has lots going on in her personal life, including being a rock of support to Chloe who is her ex-husband’s new partner. 

The story draws a complex web highlighting the importance of love in all its forms, whether it be between partners, or between those people who aren’t related, and yet who become as important as family. The author weaves these intricate relationships so well and with such attention to detail that the characters come alive and it becomes easy to have an emotional connection, not just to the story but also to the characters themselves. With a realistic hospital setting also thrown into the mix the story tackles some difficult medical issues but does so in a considerate and sympathetic way which doesn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of the story. 

With love, loss, friendship and motherhood at its core, Lessons in Love at the Cornish Country Hospital once again shows the absolute strength and overall appeal of these delightful novels.

About the author

Jo Bartlett is the bestselling author of over nineteen women’s fiction titles. She fits her writing in between her two day jobs as an educational consultant and university lecturer and lives with her family and three dogs on the Kent coast.

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📖 Blog Tour ~ The Ravenswood Witch by Jenni Keer

 

Boldwood
30 September 2024

Thanks to the publisher and Rachel's Random resources for the book
and invitation to the blog tour

‘There are a lot of shadows at Ravenswood, so you will need to be strong…’

The year is 1885 and a young woman is on the run, knowing if she’s caught, she’ll be hanged for murder. Moments from a safe haven, she collides with a gruff stranger, falling and breaking her ankle.

To her surprise, the man – Marcus Greybourne – convinces the local constable that she is his reclusive wife of ten years, Luna. He carries her back to the neglected and crumbling Ravenswood Hall, promising if she agrees to maintain this charade, he will keep her safe until her injuries have healed.

But the house is haunted by shadows and secrets. What’s more, the real Luna Greybourne is missing, without trace. Scratches and marks made by her around the house suggest witchcraft; and indeed Luna is known locally as the Ravenswood Witch; her reputation in tatters, like the wallpapers of the padlocked rooms she’d destroyed.

As strange happenings in the house continue, outside the screech of a raven echoes across oppressive woods that seem alive with dark magic. And the woman who is now pretending to be Luna can’t help but fear she’s escaped the noose for a far more terrible fate…

📖 My Review...

This is a dark and sinister gothic novel which introduces us to Ravenswood and the story of a young woman, rescued from harm, who is prepared to enter into an odd arrangement with Marcus Greybourne who is the enigmatic owner of the house. In agreeing to pretend to be Luna Greybourne, his estranged wife, this, as yet, unnamed young woman receives a place of safety and even though the dark and shadowy corners reverberate with menace, she is prepared to stay at Ravenswood as her own secrets, if revealed, would place her grave danger.

There are lots of spooky moments in this gothic mystery and there were definitely times when I found myself, particularly when reading at night, jumping at shadows. The author has captured the menacing atmosphere of Ravenswood well and brings to life a cast of characters who are all flawed and some are just downright evil. I especially enjoyed the company of Bran, the raven, who brings an interesting element and shows the intelligence of Corvids. With a couple of unexpected twists which I didn’t see coming The Ravenswood Witch is nicely spooky and with a chilling, atmospheric presence throughout, I think it would make a perfect read for Halloween.

About the Author

Jenni Keer is the well-reviewed author of historical romances, often with a mystery at their heart. Most recently published by Headline and shortlisted for the 2023 RNA Historical Romantic Novel of the Year.

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National Poetry Day 2024 ~ Landmark news from Candlestick Press !

 

** A MILLION PAMPHLETS SOLD **

Candlestick Press
October 2024

Candlestick Press, the Nottingham-based independent publisher of mini-anthologies in the Ten Poems about series, is celebrating the achievement of its millionth pamphlet sale – a major landmark that reflects recent expansion into overseas territories such as Australia and New Zealand and a fast-growing domestic network encompassing everything from garden centres to art galleries. 

Candlestick is marking this milestone with a number of celebrations, including Ten Poems of Light – a pamphlet publishing in October (cover illustration by Rebecca Vincent) which contains the winning poems in a recent competition, alongside a special commission by poet Carole Bromley. A donation from each sale of Ten Poems of Light will be made to Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Indeed, Candlestick makes regular donations to a large number of charities, each chosen to reflect a pamphlet’s particular theme. Over £320,000 has been donated to date, to organisations ranging from Our Dementia Choir to Surfers Against Sewage, and from Friends of the Elderly to Woodland Trust.

Publisher Di Slaney reflects on Candlestick’s 16-year journey:

“Selling one million pamphlets means that at least ten million poems have been read – something that makes us very happy. If we have an overall mission, it’s to bring poetry to people who might not otherwise read it. Our themed selections are designed to appeal to popular enthusiasms – everything from baking to gardening and trains to bees. Our aim is to be as inclusive as possible and to offer something that works equally well as a gift and as a replacement for a greetings card.”

Candlestick’s current range comprises over 120 titles, featuring poems by more than 750 poets from all over the world and showcasing the work of a large number of contemporary artists and printmakers.

For Candlestick Press and the uniquely appealing ‘instead of a card’ format, the future is certainly very bright indeed.

About Candlestick

Candlestick is an independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for a personal message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness.

Our pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries, museums and garden centres nationwide and are available to order online.

We’ve been publishing poetry pamphlets since 2008 not only for people who already love poetry, but also for those who will love it but perhaps don’t know that yet. Our ‘instead of a card’ pamphlets make an ideal alternative to a mainstream greetings card and are a small gift in their own right. They have matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message, and are excellent companions on journeys or for a bedtime read. By supporting us, you help an independent press and our supported charities at the same time as treating yourselves, your friends and family to some wonderful poems.

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Jaffareadstoo has been extremely privileged to have been given the opportunity to read and review a variety of these beautiful poetry pamphlets. 

On National Poetry Day 2024, we send Candlestick Press our warmest congratulations on this amazing achievement. Here’s to the next million pamphlets being sold.