🍴 Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo ~ Hobeck Books

On this quiet Sunday morning why don't you put the kettle on, make your favourite breakfast and settle down for Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo

I'm delighted to welcome Adrian and Rebecca from Hobeck Books to Sunday Brunch

A very warm welcome to you both. What favourite food are you both bringing to Sunday brunch?

ADRIAN: I'd have to bring a perfectly ripe avocado - the perfect partner for the bacon in my opinion, but not one shared with Rebecca!

REBECCA: Indeed, I don’t like avocado at all. My breakfast choice is a bit strange but here goes: tinned plum sausages on toast with grated cheese and BBQ sauce. I eat this almost every day (unless Adrian offers to make an omelette – he’s rather good with eggs).

Would you like a pot of English breakfast tea, a strong Americano, or a glass of Bucks Fizz?

ADRIAN: A strong but decaf americano for me. I've recently given up the caffeine as my heart was playing up!

REBECCA: A large strong Americano normally, but since you are offering a Bucks Fizz, why not? Yes please!

Where shall we eat brunch – around the kitchen table, in the formal dining room, or outside on the patio?

ADRIAN: Patio appeals on a nice day I have to say.

REBECCA: In a Japanese hot spring (and I’d have to be naked) surrounded by snow. Is that possible? I have experienced this once and it was utterly sublime.

Shall we have music playing in the background, and if so do you both have a favourite piece of music?

ADRIAN: I use Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon as my creative mood enhancer. Alternatively, a Cafe Del Mar CD would do the trick.

REBECCA: As I’m sat in a Japanese hot spring I’d have to have Yoshimoto Battles the Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips

Which of your literary heroes (dead or alive) are joining us for Sunday Brunch today?

ADRIAN: Can't look beyond Clive James. Guaranteed excellent conversation.

REBECCA: Again, given the location, it has to be Haruki Murakami. I have read all his books and I’m one of those super fans who would go to Waterstones at midnight to get the next one.

As publishers do you still find time to read for pleasure and which favourite book will you bring to Sunday Brunch?

ADRIAN: I don't read for pleasure enough I find, but I'm currently reading V2 by Robert Harris so that can come too.

REBECCA: I read a lot. I always have at least one, often two, books on the go. I’d probably bring The World According to Garp by John Irving as in my opinion John Irving is the ultimate story teller. He is a genius. I first read this book when I was a student and I carried it everywhere for about two years.

Tell us about Hobeck Books, how you got started in the publishing world, and the ethos of your company?

ADRIAN: I come from a creative background - albeit broadcasting with a 25 year career with the BBC. We created Hobeck to combine our skills and knowledge. Rebecca has years of top publishing experience, and I have a creative management background. Our ethos is to combine traditional publishing values with the best of indie marketing techniques, and we work extremely collaboratively with our authors.

REBECCA: As Adrian has already said, I have been working in publishing for years, since 1998. I grew up surrounded by books so it made sense that once I had to earn money, I should surround myself by books at work as well.

What excites you about publishing?

ADRIAN: Nurturing authors and bringing great stories to readers. No two days are the same. Seeing the Hobeck logo on the spines of our paperbacks still gives me a thrill.

REBECCA: I also love nurturing authors and seeing their writing develop. I even love the constant fire-fighting nature of our job – emailing authors, answering queries, engaging with bloggers, talking to readers, writing blurb, making TikTok videos.

Give us four essential items that a publisher needs?

ADRIAN: Patience, a grip on grammar, enthusiasm, and a love of story.

REBECCA: The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, a creative eye, a strong coffee and lots of chocolate.

What can you tell us about the exciting titles you have planned for 2022?

ADRIAN: We have new authors launching with us this year, as well as some great books by our existing team. Look out for The Chemist by Lewis Hastings, Blood Lines from Lin Le Versha, and Jonathan Peace's debut set in 1987, Dirty Little Secrets.

REBECCA: We are having to find new ways to reach readers as existing digital platforms are proving not to be as effective as they used to be for marketing, so we are going to be making efforts towards doing that. I think the Hobcast, our weekly podcast, will be a big part of our year as we expand our pool of interviewees.

Where can we follow you on social media?

Twitter: @HobeckBooks

 Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hobeckbooks10

Instagram @HobeckBooks

 Website: www.hobeck.net

Hobeck Books is a small UK independent publisher of fiction in the following genres: crime, thrillers, suspense and mysteries. Run by partners Rebecca Collins and Adrian Hobart, Hobeck now has twenty authors, from established names like Rob Gittins, Robert Daws and Linda Huber, to new authors like Wendy Turbin, Mark Wightman and Jonathan Peace.

Rebecca and Adrian, thank you both for sharing Sunday Brunch today. It's been great fun.

Follow us on Twitter @jaffareadstoo #SundayBrunchWithJaffareadstoo

📖Hist Fic Saturday ~ The Conversos by V E H Masters

  

On Hist Fic Saturday

Let's go back to...1547

Nydie Books
November 2021

#2 The Seton Chronicles

My thanks to the author my copy of this book

Europe 1547. The rising tide of the Reformation threatens bloody revolution. And the terror of the Inquisition grows, even for those who have converted.

Bethia, newly married tries to find her way in Antwerp, both the city and family she now belongs to a constant source of confusion – and sometimes fear. While her brother Will, enslaved on a French galley, doubts there will ever be an end to his torment.

Divided by faith, Bethia and Will each desperately seek a place of refuge from the looming maelstrom.

But there is no safe haven… unless Will denies his beliefs and Bethia surrenders those she loves.

📖My Review..

Those who have read the first book in the Seton Chronicles will be aware that Bethia and her brother, Will, are both embarking on a very different life to the one they left behind in Scotland. Bethia is newly married, having made her own choice of husband, she must now get used to living with Mainard, and his secretive family in Antwerp.  After a difficult year imprisoned in a castle in Nantes, Will's life becomes even more unbearable when he is forced to work as a slave, alongside the inimitable John Knox, on board a French galley. 

The Seton stories are told in separate sections so that it becomes almost impossible to predict what is going to happen as both Bethia and Will, in their respective new lives get caught up in conspiracy, intrigue, and deadly danger. Both the religious and political turmoil of the late sixteenth century comes alive with the sights, sounds, and aromas of a teeming city, or a galley fusty with the scent of unwashed bodies. I enjoyed reading both threads of the story but particularly Bethia's time in Antwerp with her new family who are as mistrustful of her motives as she is suspicious of the secrets they are keeping from her.

It was interesting to have Will caught up with John Knox, the Scottish reformist, who, we know from history, was confined in the French galleys between 1547 to 1549, with the incident of the statue of the Virgin Mary well documented. I do enjoy historical fiction which is true to factual evidence. The author brings impeccable research into her work which helps to give a real sense of historical accuracy whilst at the same time giving a lively fictional account of what it was like for each of these stalwart young people as they continue to survive in a very troubled, political and religious, world.

The emotional ending of the story certainly lends itself to a further continuation of the series, so it will be interesting to see just what happens next in the Seton Chronicles.

📖 Best Read with..a beaker of ale and a bowl of bean stew

About the Author

V E H Masters was born and brought up on a farm a few miles outside St Andrews, Scotland.

The first time she ever visited St Andrews Castle was aged 12, when her history teacher took the class on a school trip. They crept down the siege tunnel and peered into the bottle dungeon, where Cardinal Beaton's body was said to have been kept pickled in salt. She was hooked!

The Castilians, her debut novel, tells the story of how the Cardinal's body ended up in the dungeon and why the siege tunnel was built. It closely follows the actual historical events.

Website

Twitter @VickiMasters9

📖 Blog Tour ~ Love in a Time of War by Adrienne Chinn

One More Chapter
25 February 2022

The Fry Sisters #1

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of the book
and to Rachel's random Resources for my invitation to the blog tour

Three sisters

The Great War

The end of innocence…

In 1913, in a quiet corner of London, the three Fry sisters are coming of age, dreaming of all the possibilities the bright future offers. But when war erupts their innocence is shattered and a new era of uncertainty begins.

Cecelia loves Max but his soldier’s uniform is German, not British, and suddenly the one man she loves is the one man she can’t have.

Jessie enlists in the army as a nurse and finally finds the adventure she’s craved when she’s sent to Gallipoli and Egypt, but it comes with an unimaginable cost.

Etta elopes to Capri with her Italian love, Carlo, but though her growing bump is real, her marriage certificate is a lie.

As the three sisters embark on journeys they never could have imagined, their mother Christina worries about the harsh new realities they face, and what their exposure to the wider world means for the secrets she’s been keeping...

📖 My Review…

As the story opens, sisters, Cecilia, Jessie and Etta Fry live quietly at the romantically named Clover Bar, in London with their parents, but this is 1913 and the country is on the cusp of war. Each sister will come of age during this time and each will have a very different experience of finding love in a time of war. During this period of great change, the sisters find themselves in exceptional circumstances, each caught up in the war in different countries, and with different expectations.

I enjoyed getting to know Celie, Jessie and Etta, their individual stories are done with a fine eye for historical detail, bringing both time and place to life. There is much to consider, especially the impact of war, the rise of the suffrage movement and the role of the army nurses working in challenging war zones. Whilst I enjoyed getting to know the sisters and became involved in their lives, I also found the parents of the girls, Gerald and Christina, to be just as interesting, especially as, bubbling beneath the surface, are secrets involving Christina, going back to the 1890s. The story does switch timelines to include details of what has gone before which adds a different dimension to the story.

Love in a Time of War is a beautifully detailed, sensitively written, and emotional story about finding love in a time of war. As this is the first book in a proposed trilogy about the Fry sisters there is certain amount of scene setting which, undoubtedly, gets the series off to an interesting start.

Best Read with... a bowl of rich, Italian pasta and a glass of  sweet lemonade

About the Author

Adrienne Chinn was born in Grand Falls, Newfoundland, grew up in Quebec, and eventually made her way to London, England after a career as a journalist. In England she worked as a TV and film researcher before embarking on a career as an interior designer, lecturer, and writer. When not up a ladder or at the computer writing, she often can be found rummaging through flea markets or haggling in the Marrakech souk. Her second novel, The English Wife -- a timeslip story set in World War II England and contemporary Newfoundland -- was published in June 2020 and has become an international bestseller. Her debut novel, The Lost Letter from Morocco, was published by Avon Books UK in 2019. Her latest novel, Love in a Time of War, set during WWI, is the first in a series of three books based around the changing lives of three English sisters and their half-Italian mother, with a timeslip to 1890s Capri and London.

Twitter  @adriennechinn #LoveInATimeOfWar

Facebook

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Purchase link

@0neMoreChapter

@rararesources

📖 Publication Day ~ 100 Voices : 100 Women Share Their Stories Of Achievement, edited by Miranda Roszkowski

Unbound
3 march 2022

My thanks to the publishers and The Book Publicist for my copy of this book

Why do women find it so hard to speak of their achievements? Why, more than 100 years after women won the right to vote in the UK, are they still reluctant to speak up and share the stories that make them proud?

100 Voices is a bold and inspiring anthology of women daring to let loose their voices on the world. Featuring memoir, poetry and fiction, the collection is an eclectic treasure trove of women’s achievements, offering 400 pages of female role models for those women yet to find the words to ‘speak me’.

Packed with unheard stories of real-life women’s accomplishments, the book is a tribute to women everywhere – celebrating their remarkable resilience, creativity and above all, ambition.

From making lemon curd to completing a marathon, finding ‘me time’ as a mum to learning Bengali, a refugee eating English food for the first time to riding a motorbike, these stories are action calls for women to give themselves permission to be proud - and loud about it.

With a foreword from Deborah Frances-White of the Guilty Feminist and an impressive list of female-identifying contributors from across the country, including Women’s Prize long-listed author Yvonne Batlle-Felton, playwright in residence at the Globe Theatre Sabrina Mahfouz, and disability campaigner Isabelle Clement, these stories are as diverse and inspirational as their authors.

📖 My Review...

On its Publication Day and just in time for International Women's Day on the 8th March I am delighted to share my thoughts about 100 Voices which, as it says on the cover, gives a voice to 100 women who each have something interesting to share.

100 voices is a comprehensive collaboration from women from all different backgrounds which reminds us of the amazing achievement in the 100 years since women gained the vote in the UK.

Beautifully written, and with thought-provoking truthfulness, the book is divided into sections:

Voices that Started it All

Voices that are (no longer) Silent

Voices that Taught

Voices that went the Distance

Voices in the Dark ( and out of it)

Voices Together

Relentless Voices

I won't single out any specific stories for more praise than others as this collection is better read without me spoiling it but I will say that I found much to enjoy in each of the sections, and as I dipped into and out of the stories, I enjoyed the impact of the experiences, so eloquently expressed. The book is a generous size, over 440 pages, so it took me a little while to get through as I read the individual stories out of sequential order, reading a couple at a time, but that didn't detract from its impact. I liked how the stories and poems were short and snappy and gave me much to think about.

100 Voices : 100 Women Share Their Stories Of Achievement reminds us that we all have something to to share and if this book empowers women to acknowledge and be proud of their achievements then it will have done what it set out to do, that is, to give women permission to celebrate resilience, creativity and above all, ambition. 100 Voices is one of those books which will sit comfortably on my book shelf to be my inspiration when life gets a bit challenging.

About the Editor

Miranda Roszkowski is a writer and civil servant currently living on a boat on Britain’s waterways. She has worked with the National Theatre Wales and Royal Court playwrighting programmes and has had fiction published in print and online, including through Birkbeck’s Mechanic’s Institute Review, which she has previously edited. She is the host and curator of the spoken word night There Goes The Neighbourhood in Hackney, London and is currently working on her first novel.

Twitter @100voices100ye1 #100Voices

@Unbounders 

@BookPublicistUK

Purchase link

📖 Blog Tour ~ Villa of Second Chances by Jennifer Bohnet

Boldwood Books
1 March 2022

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

Everyone deserves a second chance…right?

Run by sisters Rebecca and Delphine, Villa Sesame is a popular venue for small intimate weddings on the sparkling French Riviera. Beautiful terraces and a horizon pool all over look the Mediterranean setting the scene to make memorable days and dreams come true.

When recently widowed Delphine unexpectedly announces her desire to retire and live a different life, Rebecca feels her own life could be slipping into free fall.

How can she possibly carry on with the business without her sister at her side? Could this be the beginning of the end for Villa Sésame and Rebecca’s life as she knows it?

As the guests gather for the June wedding of Freya and Marcus, Freya’s two childhood friends bring their own problems to the villa and cousin Verity has her own agenda.

But it's the arrival of a certain guest who throws Rebecca’s whole world into turmoil and she finds herself asking the question, where do I go from here?

📖 My Review..

Sisters, Delphine and Rebecca, have run the Villa Sésame for twenty five years and have turned the once neglected estate into one of the most fashionable wedding venues in the South of France. When Freya and Marcus invite an intimate group of friends and family to share in their second marriage to each other it opens up a whole range of emotions not just for the guests at the wedding but also for Rebecca and Delphine who are considering important changes for Villa Sésame.

Everyone gathered at the wedding of Freya and Marcus have the perfect reason to take a second chance, all are of a certain age, in their mid-fifties, and each are carrying some sort of regret, of secrets hidden, friendships lost, and sadness unexplored. I liked how each individual character brought something different to the story and whilst some are more likeable than others, they each have an important decision to make about their lives, going forward.

I've now read several books by this talented author and I am always delighted to be given a wonderful story in a glorious romantic setting with relatable and authentic characters. The warmth of the sunshine and sparkling nature of the French Riviera combined with the wonderfully comfortable Villa Sésame is just the most perfect escape for a dull, grey day. Filled with an abundance of sunshine, friendship and warmth the Villa of Second Chances is a lovely story about being brave enough to take a second chance at life and of helping your friends in the process.

Best read with...sparkling Prosecco and a dip in the infinity pool

About the Author

Jennifer Bohnet is the bestselling author of over 12 women’s fiction titles, including Villa of Sun and Secrets and A Riviera Retreat. She is originally from the West Country but now lives in the wilds of rural Brittany, France.

Website

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@jenniewriter #VillaOfSecondChances

@BoldwoodBooks #BoldwoodBloggers #BookandTonic

@Rararesources

 

📖 Blog Tour ~ Reputation by Sarah Vaughan

 

Simon & Schuster
3 March 2022

My thanks to the publishers and Random Things Tours

For my copy of the book and the invitation to the blog tour

Emma is a high-profile MP. Impassioned and empathetic, she wants to make a positive difference but faces threats and trolling as she tries to work in the public eye. When she launches a campaign to protect women from the effects of online bullying, the abuse steps up. And when her teenage daughter’s character is called into question, Emma learns how far she will go to protect both their reputations. But still: how did she come to be standing trial for murder? She only lied once - didn’t she?

📖 My review...

Truly immersive from the very start Reputation introduces us to Emma Webster, a high profile labour back bencher who is determined that her role as an MP will make a difference, after all she promised her father, many years ago, that she would do whatever it took to make changes. However, Emma's tenacity about matters which affect mainly women attracts the unwanted attention of those internet trolls and keyboard warriors who delight in making abusive and horrible remarks. When the attacks start to get much more personal Emma's life starts to spiral out of control, and even more so when she is arrested on suspicion of murder.

The story is so scarily realistic that I had difficulty putting it down as so engrossed in what was happening to Emma, I forgot that that time was passing. The gradual build up to the crux of the story is compelling and I enjoyed how the story moved us forwards and backwards in time with Emma's trial being pivotal and absolutely unputdownable, so much so that when the verdict came in I was so apprehensive it took me a couple of seconds before I could look at what was written on the page.

I'm always interested in why women choose to go into high level politics in a time when their private lives are open to such scrutiny. Reputation shines a light on just how vulnerable  are  those women whose reputations, both professional, and personal, seem to be an easy target for anyone, be they journalists, or keyboard warriors, to go after with vitriolic intent. 

There is something really special about an author who can, with just a well placed word, or sentence, take you into the complexity of another world and make it immersive and scarily believable. Sarah Vaughan is one such writer, as without doubt her psychological suspense stories are up there with the best, of the best, of the genre.

Sophisticated, thrilling, and utterly compelling, Reputation lives on in the imagination long after the last page is turned.

Best Read with...blueberry pancakes and an open mind.

About the Author

Brought up in Devon, Sarah Vaughan read English at Oxford and went on to become a journalist. After training at the Press Association, she spent eleven years at the Guardian as a news reporter, political correspondent and health correspondent, before leaving to freelance and write fiction. Anatomy of a Scandal, her third novel was an instant international bestseller and translated into 22 languages, long-listed for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2018 and short-listed for the Audible Sounds of Crime Award, GoodReads Jury’s Out award, French Elle’s Prix des Lectrices and Richard & Judy’s ‘Best of the Decade.’ Anatomy of a Scandal has been adapted for screen and will air on Netflix as a six-part series in Spring 2022. Little Disasters, her fourth novel, was selected as a Waterstones Thriller of the Month in 2021, has been sold to the US, France, Portugal, Sweden and Spain, and optioned for TV. Reputation is her fifth novel.

Twitter @SVaughanAuthor #Reputation

@SimonSchusterUK

@RandomTTours

📖 Featured Book of the Month ~ The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page

One More Chapter
28 February 2022

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

Cleaner Janice knows that it is in people’s stories that you really get to know them. From recently-widowed Fiona and her son Adam; to opera-singing Geordie; and the awful Mrs ‘YeahYeahYeah’ and her fox terrier, Decius, Janice has a unique insight into the community around her.

When Janice starts cleaning for Mrs B – a shrewd and tricksy woman in her nineties – she finally meets someone who wants to hear her story. But Janice is clear: she is the keeper of stories, she doesn’t have a story to tell. At least, not one she can share.

Mrs B is no fool and knows there is more to Janice than meets the eye. What is she hiding? After all, doesn’t everyone have a story to tell?

📖 My Review ...

Those who get to know Janice love her but some, it must be said, take advantage of her good nature and willingness to go the extra mile and although in her husband's words, Janice is 'just a cleaner' she really is worth her weight in gold. Some of her clients leave much to be desired in terms of bad manners and obnoxiousness, especially Mrs ‘YeahYeahYeah’ whose only saving grace is that she owns a delightful little dog called Decious, who really does, in his own inimitable style, take centre stage more than once. 

Janice loves nothing more that trying to discover what makes people tick and loves finding out their individual stories so when she is asked to clean for the eccentric Mrs B, Janice realises that there is more to this bad-tempered nonagenarian than first appears. Gradually over the space of this lovely story we discover more about Mrs B whilst at the same time watch how Janice starts to be transformed.

Beautifully written The Keeper of Stories quickly becomes an engaging read which made me laugh out loud in places and cry gentle tears in others. The characterisation is really quite special, with people who you love from the start, but also with those, naming no names, you are glad to see get their comeuppance. You can't help but warm to Janice, she's a real unsung heroine who never feels that she is special and yet, she is more than worthy of having the starring role in this lovely story.

Wise, wonderful and warm-hearted, I am delighted to have The Keeper of Stories as my Featured Book of the Month in March.

Best read with...a pot of tea and some fancy cakes

About the Author

After studying history at university, Sally Page moved to London to work in advertising. In her spare time she studied floristry at night school and eventually opened her own flower shop.Sally combines her love of history and writing with her abiding interest in the stories people have to tell. Sally now lives in Dorset and The Keeper of Stories is her debut novel.

Twitter @SallyPageBooks #TheKeeperofStories

@0nemoreChapter_ @HarperCollins