🧙🏻 Halloween Book Review ~ The House on the Cliff by Victoria Scott

Boldwood Books
4 October 2025

Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to review this book

1966: Standing on the rugged Cornish coast, Hallows Abbey can be a lonely place for the boys boarding there. For Theresa, however, it offers an escape from her father’s long shadow, and as the school nurse, she tries to be a comfort to those students struggling to adjust to their remote life. But, before the year is over, Theresa will make a terrible decision – and the consequences for the children in her care will change everything…

2025: With her own children having just left home, Amanda’s emotions are in turmoil when she arrives at the isolated school where her husband is to be Deputy Head. When she learns of the school’s tragic history, in which a group of boys went out on a boat trip and disappeared, she becomes obsessed with finding out what happened, even when her research risks upsetting the fragile equilibrium of the school. But when she starts to hear voices in the gardens and crying in the halls at night, she begins to wonder if she’s losing her mind.

Only one thing seems certain: this corner of Cornwall could well be Amanda’s undoing.

🧙🏻My Review..

This dual time story is a spooky read for Halloween. A remote boarding school perched on the end of a Cornish cliff, a secret which has been hidden for years, a distinctly creepy atmosphere and you have all the right ingredients for a haunting story which captures the imagination from the start.

In the present day Amanda and her husband are settling into living at Hallows Abbey, an isolated Catholic boarding school, which is situated in a remote part of Cornwall. Whilst Mike gets used to being deputy headmaster, Amanda is pretty much left to her own devices and so she becomes intrigued by the mysterious disappearance, many years ago, of a group of school boys, who went out in a boat and never returned. Moving quietly back to 1966 we begin to put together the threads of the mystery and develop a rapport with Theresa, a school nurse, who has her own secrets. 

The dual time aspect is well done and I found myself looking forward to both parts of the narrative. The author writes well and keeps up the momentum of the story creating a decidedly chilly atmosphere whilst at the same time looking more closely into the lives of Amanda and Theresa and the problems they were facing in their personal lives. The wild beauty of the Cornish coast is well described and adds another dynamic to the story.

I thought The House in the Cliff was an interesting story, with enough creepiness for an entertaining Halloween read.

About the Author 

Victoria Scott has been a journalist for many media outlets including the BBC and The Telegraph. She is the author of three novels published by Head of Zeus. 

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Book Review ~ Ten Poems from Cumbria from Candlestick Press

Candlestick Press
September 2025

Thanks to the publishers for my copy of this poetry pamphlet 

Cumbria is a place of fellside and farmland, of lakes, saltmarsh and rugged coastlines. To the north lies the vast Solway Plain which looks across to Scotland.

The poems in this selection conduct us on a journey of lively contrasts. We encounter weather, sheep, history, rivers, towns, traffic and dialect, and experience the vividness of living in a place of “wide-lidded skies”. On a summer walk we enter a transfigured landscape:

“The highest reaches of the beech –

six trees close-packed – were flame and they were water.

The green sun, the red cattle, the blue-faced sheep:

everything primary-bright, solid…”

from ‘Cinderdale’ by Helen Farish

This is a selection that crackles with all the colour and energy of England’s most north-westerly county.

Jacob Polley is a poet and novelist who was born in Cumbria.

Poems by Josephine Dickinson, Helen Farish, WN Herbert, Kim Moore, MR Peacock, Jacob Polley, PhoebecPower, William Scammell, David Scott and Claudine Toutoungi.

 📖 My Review 

Just a couple of hours drive along the M6 motorway and I can be in Cumbria. This north-westerly county has a rugged beauty which, once experienced, never leaves you and the lure of the fells and mountains seeps into the marrow of your bones.  Dotted with sheep, patchwork fields seem to roll along forever, against a backdrop of dark skies and scudding clouds :

“All summer the sheep were strewn like crumbs

across the fell, until the bracken turned brittle

and it was time they were gathered 

into the green patchwork of closer fields..”

From Flanking Sheep in Mosedale by David Scott 

Cumbrian dialect harks back to an older time when there was poetry in vernacular, banding together communities with patterns of speech we should barely understand and yet instinctively we of the north feel the meaning deep within our soul. I was especially thrilled to see the medieval village of Kirkoswald, a place my brother once called home, mentioned :

Who provides for the Hrafn his food?

Appleby Street and Kirkoswald.

Skinny Brant and Paradise Clough.

From Spells of the Raven by Josephine Dickinson

Reminding us that Cumbria shares itself with coastline is this beautiful poem:

A gull takes me to the edge of the town.

It is only grey  here; great slates of it

and the roll and smash of sea into stone.

From Whitehaven by Claudine Toutoungi

Beautifully presented, Ten Poems from Cumbria is a wonderful addition to the collection of regional titles, bringing the county gloriously alive. Capturing the beauty, and the unspoiled majesty, and all gathered together with a beautiful cover, it’s a perfect gift instead of a card for anyone who has visited Cumbria or who calls this beautiful place home.

About the Publisher 

Candlestick Press is a small, 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 your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

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📖Book Review ~ A Tale of Two Dukes by Emma Orchard

Boldwood Books 
20 September 2025

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

 

No one is more surprised than Viola, Duchess of Winterflood, when she receives an offer of marriage from a man she’s not seen in over a decade. An independent widow, close to thirty, with two rambunctious boys, Viola has no obvious reason to accept the new Lord Ventris’s proposal. And yet… within two weeks, Viola finds herself walking down the aisle towards a man she despises and has sworn she'll never kiss. But kisses are all that’s off nothing else.

Accustomed to living a secretive life on the outskirts of society, Richard Armstrong never expected to inherit a title, nor the significant property that comes with it. But now that he has, he’s determined to keep it within his bloodline, and for that he needs an heir. And so, he seeks out the striking widow of his cousin, the late Duke of Winterflood, and offers his hand.

While their passionate but turbulent union raises eyebrows among their family, and the ton at large, both Viola and Richard carry their own secret reasons for agreeing to marry.

But as they start their new life together, they will soon discover that the shocking secrets they’ve both been keeping cannot stay hidden forever. And the revelations, when they come, could turn both their worlds upside down.

📖 My Review

When Viola, the widowed Duchess of Winterflood, receives an unexpected proposal of marriage from a man she has not seen for over ten years, she is rather shocked to hear from Richard Armstrong and even more surprised to find herself accepting his marriage offer even though it comes with certain conditions.

What then follows is a lovely story which takes us back to the time when Richard and Viola first met and the significant effect that this relationship would have on both of their futures going forward. As always the Regency period is brought to life and whilst Viola is a formidable bride she is also constrained by what society expects of her. Richard, with some deep secrets of his own is an interesting character, wonderfully handsome but with an aching vulnerability. 

As always, this talented writer gives us a passionate romance, which sits comfortably alongside the historical period in which it is set, with two central characters who share their innermost secrets in a story which has a dash of spice, a pinch of romance and a wonderful second chance at happiness.

About the Author

Emma Orchard grew up in Salford and was given tickets to the grown-up library at the age of 11 because she’d read all the children’s books and the librarians were sick of the sight of her. She became obsessed with Georgette Heyer and hasn’t stopped reading her novels since. She studied English Literature at university and went on to work at Mills & Boon and behind the scenes in television and in publishing.

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📖 Blog Tour ~ The Letter from the Island by Rose Alexander

Bookouture
24 October 2025

Thanks to the publisher for the copy of the book
and the invitation to the blog tour

 

Every week Calliope writes a letter to her twin sister who died sixty years ago. One day, she receives a letter back… 

Present day, London. Now an elderly lady and living alone in her basement flat, Calliope desperately misses the sun-soaked olive groves of her Greek Island home. It has been over sixty years since she ran away. When the letter postmarked from Crete lands on her doorstep, she is shocked to the core by what it says. Her twin sister is alive: We need to talk about what happened.

Now Calliope must make a confession to her beloved granddaughter Ella. Calliope needs to lay her lifetime of secrets to rest, and she needs Ella’s help…

1944, Crete. Calliope clutches the baby to her chest as they run down the cliff path to the blue water of the harbour. She is all the little one has left now, and they must escape. The boat the Allies sent won’t wait forever. If only she’d reached the village sooner, her twin sister would still be alive. She will never forgive herself, but she must stay strong for the baby.

Calliope must make one final journey home. And what her and her granddaughter discover in Crete will change the course of their lives forever.

📖 My Review ..

Calliope has kept a devastating family secret for over sixty years and when a letter arrives unexpectedly it brings all her old wartime memories to the surface and it would seem that the time is now right to lay down the ghosts of the past. Returning to her childhood home on the beautiful island of Crete is filled with emotion but as we are led gently into the past so the binds of family are rekindled and it’s a chance for Calliope and her twin sister, Calista , to reconcile.

Well written, with a lovely sense of both the past and present, the history of Crete during its occupation in 1944 is brought to life. The hopes and fears of Calliope and Calista and the frantic struggle for survival is brought to life so beautifully that you can’t help but form an emotional attachment to both of them. The dual timeline is done well, I could equally imagine Calliope’s rather lonely life in her present day London apartment alongside the sunshine and beauty of her once Cretan homeland.

With secrets, lies and reconciliation as its main themes The Letter from the Island is a lovely dual time story with interesting characters and a beautiful setting.

About the Author 

Rose Alexander has had more careers than she cares to mention and is currently a secondary school English teacher. She writes in the holidays, weekends and evenings, whenever she has a chance, although with three children, a husband, a lodger and a cat, this isn’t always as often as she’d like. She’s a keen sewist and is on a mission to make all her own clothes.

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📖 Blog Tour ~ Desolation by Keith Moray

Boldwood Books
17 October 2025

A Ralph de Mandeville Mystery #1

My thanks to the publisher for the book
And Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation to the blog tour

The Black Rood of Scotland, stolen.

A coroner of York, murdered

An evil worse than plague itself, at large…

1361, York. As the country recovers from the war with France, and whispers that the pestilence has returned to England grow louder, fear is in the heart of every nobleman and commoner alike. Sir Ralph de Mandeville, ex-solider and newly appointed Justice of the Peace is sent to Langbarugh, just outside York, to investigate the murder of Coroner Sir Boderick de Whitby.

More deaths quickly follow, and while these are swiftly dealt with as plague victims, Sir Ralph and his two assistants Merek and Peter soon uncover something altogether more horrifying… A greater evil is at large in the northern wapentakes.

As panic escalates and the lines between plague and murder blur, Sir Ralph is thrust into a desperate race against time. Every shadow hides a potential killer, every cough could be a death knell. Can he unmask a murderer lurking in the terrifying shadow of the Black Death before they’re all consumed by a terror more sinister than any plague?

📖 My Review ..

The middle of the 14th century was a dark and dangerous time as England was still reeling from the effects of the war with France and only just recovering from the aftermath of the great pestilence in 1348, people are naturally cautious and fearful of an unknown future.

In 1361, Sir Ralph de Mandeville is a newly appointed Justice of the Peace, who has been sent to Langbarugh, near York, to investigate the untimely death of Coroner Sir Broderick de Whitby. This is an uneasy time as not only has the death left the locals feeling uneasy but there is also the very real fear that the deadly plague has once more resurfaced, and with a series of unexplained deaths everyone, it seems, has something to fear. 

This is an interesting medieval mystery with an authentic sense of time and with a complex and rather dark mystery at its core. The medieval setting is imaginatively described so that I felt like I was placed within the small Yorkshire villages watching as the mystery deepened. The characterisation is flawless, I especially enjoyed watching how Ralph de Mandeville, and his companions, set about solving the murder mystery and by the end of the story I was already looking forward to seeing how they would go forward in future stories.

Desolation is an atmospheric and well written historical murder mystery. 

About the Author

Keith is a retired GP, medical journalist and novelist, writing in several genres. As Keith Moray he writes historical crime fiction in the medieval era and in ancient Egypt, The Inspector Torquil McKinnon crime novels set on the Outer Hebridean island of West Uist, and as Clay More he writes westerns. Curiously, his medical background finds its way into most of his fiction writing.

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📖 Book Review ~ Ten Poems about Chocolate from Candlestick Press

Candlestick Press
August 2025

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet 

Everyday treat, indulgent luxury or an addiction we can’t or won’t break – many of us have a passionate relationship with chocolate, making it perfect subject matter for poetry.

This luscious mini-anthology celebrates preferences for milk or plain, pralines or fondants, rich truffles or the sweetest hot chocolate drinks. Anyone who has ever craved chocolate will identify with poems that explore its sensuous aspects – taste, texture, mouthfeel – in an intensity akin to love.

And if chocolate is like love, then these poems explore the depth and shape of that love:

“Knotted smoke, dark punch
of earth and night and leaf,
for a taste of you

any woman would gladly
crumble to ruin.”

from ‘Chocolate’ by Rita Dove

These entertaining, unexpected and moving poems also explore the history of chocolate, and the price paid by those whose hard work brings it to our lips.

Poems by Clare Best, Alison Bracjenberry, Barbara Crooker, Rita Dove, Roy Marshall, Ife Olatona, Pauline Prior-Pitt, Louis Simpson, Oenone Thomas and Noel Williams.

Donation to Fairtrade Foundation 

📖 My Review..

I adore chocolate in all shapes and forms from smooth and silky, to bitter and crunchy, there is something about the taste of chocolate that just makes the world seem a calmer place. This fine anthology of ten chocolate inspired poems will have your tastebuds tingling.

‘Oh, chocolate! From the spice bazaars 

Of Africa, hulled in mills, beaten, 

pressed in bars. The cold slab of a cave’s

interior, when all the stars have gone to sleep’

From Ode to Chocolate by Barbara Crooker

I once knew someone who had worked, as a teenager, in the chocolate factory at Bourneville and even years later the smell and taste of chocolate made her feel really sick.

‘ When you start in a chocolate factory,

the teacher said (why did she glance at me ?)

they say, “Eat all you want” . After a week

They know the  slightest taste will make you sick.

This may have been a story adults tell,

All confidence, no proof. Like laws. Like Hell.’

From  Bournville Babies by Alison Brackenberry

There’s something for everyone in this collection and more than enough to satisfy any chocolate cravings with poems which express the sensual nature of chocolate, the comforting taste of it when we need a pick me up and the endless selection of confectionery which is available to us 24 hours a day. So, whatever your fancy, be it the simple sweetness of milk chocolate, the decadence of rich heavy duty noir, or the lure of a box of hand decorated delights, Ten Poems about Chocolate will satisfy your chocolate cravings and is the perfect gift instead of a card to the chocolate lovers in your life and even better if accompanied by a selection of their favourite chocolatey treats 🍫

About the Publisher 

Candlestick Press is a small, 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 your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter/X @poetrycandle 

Blue Sky @candlestickpress.bsky.social

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📖 Blog Tour ~ The Son-in-Law by Ellie Monago

Bookouture
13 October 2025

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of the book
and the invitation to the blog tour

 

“Mom, meet my fiancé.” I look at the man standing next to my daughter and my heart starts pounding. I know him. He is the only person who knows all my secrets.

I play nervously with the white tablecloth in the restaurant my daughter Lise picked out. I want to make a good first impression on her fiancé. I watch as the door opens and a man in a crisp white shirt enters holding my daughter’s hand. The moment I see his face my blood runs cold. Why has he found me?

Lise slips out to take a call, leaving me alone with the man who could tear my family apart. Gavin smiles as he says the words that I hoped he never would: “You know why I’m here and what it will take to make me leave.”

My world starts to spin as my past and present collide. He’s been lying to my daughter about who he really is. But I will do anything to keep her safe.

Because only I know what my future son-in-law is capable of, how far he will go to get what he wants. But he underestimates how far I will go to protect my daughter. Which one of us will make it out alive?

📖 My Review..

When Lise first introduces her fiancé she expects her mother to be happy and supportive however, from an uncomfortable first meeting in a local restaurant it becomes obvious that Lise’s mother is far from pleased with this news. Diana immediately recognises Gavin, Lise’s fiancé, as he was once her daughter’s high school English teacher, this fact makes her very nervous, with reasons which become obvious as the story progresses.

This tense and tightly put together psychological fiction has all the necessary ingredients for an entertaining read. We have secrets from Diana’s past to explore along with the reason why she dislikes Gavin so much and it was interesting to see Lise’s own perception of what was happening. I enjoyed the mixing of time frames labelled ‘now and then’ and the way the other characters, particularly Gavin, alter the overall dynamic making it an altogether darker story. The shadow of toxic relationships is threaded throughout the narrative, along with lots of dark secrets which are finally exposed.

With an emotionally charged atmosphere The Son-in-Law is entertaining psychological fiction which kept my attention from start to finish.

About the Author

Ellie Monago is a novelist and practicing therapist. She’s also a wife and mother, and when you add it all up, she doesn’t wind up with much time for hobbies. But she’s an avid tennis fan, a passionate reader of both fiction and nonfiction—especially memoir (nothing’s as juicy as the truth!)—and she relishes a good craft cocktail.

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