January 2019 – Everything Is Better With Dragons

Cover Reveal: ‘Return To Lilly Pond Lane’, by Emily Harvale

Today, I’m sharing the cover of a new book by Emily Harvale and organised by Rachel’s Random Resources.

Nostalgia reading: realising old lessons

Reading is what I do when I’m upset. I’ve been re-reading Tamora Pierce’s ‘The Song of the Lioness’ and ‘The Immortals’ series this last few days. These books were my first introduction to feminism, although I didn’t know what that was at the time and all I was interested in was the fun girl characters in a fantasy. These girls rescued themselves.

Continue reading “Nostalgia reading: realising old lessons”

Can people please spell my name correctly?

It’s Rosemarie.

People have been getting it wrong for 3.5 decades and I don’t appreciate it. It’s not even as though it’s hard to spell or pronounce. I’ve seen more complex, or unusual names, or names from unfamiliar languages, that people have managed to get right. Usually the same people who get my name wrong.

Continue reading “Can people please spell my name correctly?”

Review: ‘The 13th Witch’, by Mark Hayden

Publisher: Paw Press
Publication Date: 25th August 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1999821210
*Format: Paperback*
*Price: £5.99*
*Purchase Link:*
**https://www.amazon.co.uk/13th-Witch-Kings-Watch-Book/dp/1999821211/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1544458871&sr=1-1**

Blurb
Did you know that the gods can use mobile phones?
They can, and Odin has a message for Conrad…Conrad Clarke, former RAF pilot and alleged gangster gets a text – and a visit – from The Allfather. Odin has a challenge for Conrad:sign up to protect England from wild magick and get a commission in the King’sWatch. All he has to do is find a missing witch. Simple. Conrad never could resist a challenge. Before you can say “Ragnarok”, he’s plunged into a world of gods, mages, witches, dwarves and one very aggressive giant mole. But the witch doesn’t want to be found, and powerful mages will kill to keep her hidden. Going back isn’t an option. Going forward looks a lot like death. Armed with nothing but a sense of humour and a willingness to cheat, Conrad has to find the Witch and save his life.
Treat yourself to a copy now and experience a whole new universe of magick. And moles…

Blog Tour Calendar: ‘Revenge on the Rye’, by Alice Castle

I will be one of the last to review so check out everyone else if you want to know more. I’ve enjoyed the others in this series so I expect I’ll have a positive review for this one too. Here’s the blurb.

Revenge on the Rye
Beth Haldane, SE21’s answer to Miss Marple, thinks she is going for a carefree stroll on Peckham Rye with her best friend, Katie, and her annoying new puppy, Teddy. But before Beth knows it, she is embroiled in her most perplexing mystery yet.
Strange events from her family’s past, present-day skulduggery in the art world, and the pressures of moving school in south London threaten to overwhelm Beth. Will she be able to piece together the puzzle before her son’s crucial interview at Wyatt’s? Or will Beth’s insatiable curiosity finally drag down all her dreams for the future? Join Beth, her irascible on-off boyfriend, Detective Inspector Harry York of the Metropolitan Police, and the dog walkers of Peckham Rye in a tale of murder, mayhem – and bloody revenge.

Cover Reveal: ‘Knowing You’, by Samantha Tonge

Drum roll please…

Review: ‘Mask of the Gods’, by Karen Furk

Published By: The Author
Publication Date: 8th January 2019
Format: Paperback
Price: £9.99
I.S.B.N.: 9781912569014
*Purchase Links:*
**US –** https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M6L45Y8
**UK –** https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07M6L45Y8

Blurb
Soul Demons live off the souls of the living.

When Haydan’s home world is invaded by a soul demon seeking an item shrouded in myth and legend, his father evicts him and sends him to safety. His chosen one and warrior should provide reassurance and sanctuary, but neither appears to be working very well. Just when he thinks matters cannot get any worse his scheming grandmother arrives. She has her own plans that appear to involve him, none of which bodes well.

Diego feels confident he has the soul demon under control. Overlooking his devious mother’s involvement, he fails to appreciate that he is not only storm rider elder, but also an elven prince and certain debts are about to become due.

Lavinia worries about her grandson, but also who she left behind in the elven realm a long time ago. Tallin thinks she abandoned him and he is livid. She has everything under control, including Tallin…at least that is what she thinks.

They all need to learn afresh who to trust. With a soul demon on the rampage, an unleashed, angry and betrayed elven king and a long-forgotten mask surfacing, what could possibly go wrong?

The past is about to catch up with all of them. Nothing is going to go as planned because the mask and the gods have other ideas.

Cover Reveal: Coming this Friday!

Knowing You

An abrupt change; a new friendship; a dark secret…

Kind-hearted Violet has never fitted in, but despite being bullied at school is now content. She is dating ambitious Lenny, has her dream job in publishing and runs a book club at the local retirement home.

However, when her relationship with Lenny begins to falter, Violet, hurt and alone, seeks the advice of her new flatmate, Bella. She changes her image and with her head held high aims to show that she doesn’t need Lenny in her life to be happy and successful.

Her long-term friends Mable and Farah worry about Bella’s influence and slowly Violet starts to distance herself from them. When she was a child, her closest confidant and companion was a boy called Flint. Her mother didn’t approve of their closeness and he suffered a terrible end. She won’t let the same thing happen to Bella, no matter what anyone says…

Knowing You is about friendship and knowing who to trust with your deepest secrets; it’s about taking control of your life and not being afraid to stand out. Perfect for fans of Ruth Hogan, Gail Honeyman and Amanda Prowse

Purchase Links

Amazon – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MX87BH1/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&linkCode=ur2&tag=canelo-21

Apple – https://geo.itunes.apple.com/gb/book/knowing-you/id1449854707?mt=11&uo=8&at=1000l5Q7

Google – https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=aRiEDwAAQBAJ

Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/knowing-you-6

About Samantha Tonge

Samantha Tonge lives in Manchester UK and her passion, second to spending time with her husband and children, is writing. She studied German and French at university and has worked abroad, including a stint at Disneyland Paris. She has travelled widely.

When not writing she passes her days cycling, baking and drinking coffee. Samantha has sold many dozens of short stories to women’s magazines.

In 2013, she landed a publishing deal for romantic comedy fiction with HQDigital at HarperCollins and in 2014, her bestselling debut novel, Doubting Abbey, was shortlisted for the Festival of Romantic Fiction best Ebook award. In 2015 her summer novel, Game of Scones, hit #5 in the UK Kindle chart and won the Love Stories Awards Best Romantic Ebook category.

Links

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamTongeWriter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaTongeAuthor

Website: http://samanthatonge.co.uk/

Extract: ‘The Pluckley Psychic Historical Society’, by Grahame Peace

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**Publisher:** Independently published

**Publication Date**: 25th November 2018

**Format:** Paperback

**ISBN-13:** 978-1790331239

**Price:** £6.99

Buy Link

BLURB
The Pluckley Psychic Historical Society is based in Pluckley, Kent, the most haunted village in England. Its founding members are the noted academic, historian, and Cambridge scholar Winston Hatherton, the white witch Florence Dearden, and the celebrated medium Jocasta Bradman. They are assisted by an 18th-century super-ghost called Jasper Claxton, although none of the society members are aware that Jasper is a ghost.

This is the third book in ‘The Ghost from the Molly-House’ series,and this book describes how the Psychic Historical Society was set up and goes back to the group’s first two official cases in 1919, just after the end of the first world war. The first story, ‘The Jewellery Box’ involves a 16th-century jewellery box made from precious metals, which is found buried in a garden and reveals a 400-year-old mystery.
The second story, ‘The Book of Souls’ is set in Huddersfield,England, at a place called Jubilee Tower or Castle Hill, which was built to commemorate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria and is on the site of ancient bronze and iron age settlements dating back 4000 years. An old book of spells is found, and once opened, it appears to have released something ominous.

The Ghost from the Molly-House series is a collection of amusing paranormal mysteries, which will appeal to fans of history, period detective novels, tales of haunted houses, and all things that go bump in the night.Although this is the third book in the series, the novel can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story in its own right.

I had planned to review this book, but I’ve been ill and my depression is bad so I’m not managing to keep up with my schedule. Instead, the author has provided an extract from the book to whet your appetites.

Bonus Review #5: ‘Unmarriageable’, by Soniah Kamal

Cover of Unmarriageable — Published By: Alison & Busby
Publication Date: 15th January 2019
Format: Hardback
I.S.B.N.: 9780749024413
Price: £14.99
*Purchase Link*

Blurb

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when a family’s fortune is destroyed by scandal and rumour, they must look to their daughters to marry well.
Alys Binat, however, loves life as it is: teaching English literature and encouraging her female students to aspire to more than society expects of them. She is resolute: she will not marry.
However, her mother thinks differently and when the family receive an invite to a big wedding, Mrs Binat immediately coaches her daughters to snag rich, eligible bachelors. There, Alys’s eldest sister, Jena, catches the eye of Fahad ‘Bungles’ Bingla, a successful entrepreneur, but Alys is irked when she overhears Bungles’ friend Valentine Darsee’s snobbish assessment of her. As the festivities unfold, the Binats hold their breath, waiting to see if Bungles will propose. And Alys realises that Darsee’s apparent rudeness and contempt may conceal a different man from the one she first judged him to be.
An essential guide to marriage, class and sisterhood in modern-day Pakistan.