Book Reviews – Page 58 – Everything Is Better With Dragons

Last review of September: ‘The Hedge Druid’s Craft’, by Joanna van der Hoeven

Pagan Portals - The Hedge Druid's Craft Published by: Moon Books

Publication date: 29th June 2018

I.S.B.N.: 978-1-78535-796-1

Format: Paperback

Price: £6.99

Blurb

The Hedge Druid’s Craft blends the traditions of Wicca, Witchcraft and Druidry into a spiritual path that uses the techniques of “hedge riding” to travel between the worlds, bringing back wisdom and enchantment into our everyday lives. It is about working with boundaries, with a foot in either world, living around the edges and working with liminal times and places. For those whose paths meander and often overlap, and those who would not be constrained nor confined by labels, yet who seek some definition, this book is for you. If you are interested in Witchcraft, Wicca or Druidry, this book will sing to your soul.

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Review: ‘Survive’, by Stephen Llewelyn

Survive

Published By: Clink Street Publishing

Publication Date: 18th September 2018

Format: Paperback

I.S.B.N.: 9781912562039

Price: £10.99

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41643888-survive

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Survive-Stephen-Llewelyn/dp/1912562030

Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/gyTWR6iC3rc

Audio Clip: https://youtu.be/4F7NL9Pq_1I

Blurb

A young man and his mother fight to leave tragedy behind. Striving for a new life on Mars has cost Tim and Patricia everything, but as even their future is taken from them, their past is just beginning.

Earth: population 50 billion. Pollution, crime and scarcity are out of our control. Instantaneous travel provides hope for the terraforming of another world.

A terrorist attack. An explosion at the event horizon of a wormhole. A murder. A trail of clues, misinformation and sabotage. Nothing is as it seems as an old enemy returns from the shadows. 100 years from now, the 100 souls aboard the USS New World are thrown back 100 million years to the deadly Cretaceous Period. From there, an epic fight to save humanity begins; but first, they must survive.

A multi-national, eclectic crew; among them the good, the not so good and the no damned good at all. Loss, courage, genius and sheer bloody-mindedness bind them. NASA Captain, James Douglas, and his first officer, Jill Baines, expected a taxi run to Mars. Now they must escape a fearsome Mapusaurus pack, survive natural disasters, brutal discoveries and treachery.

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Review: ‘Mrs Bates of Highbury’, by Allie Cresswell

Published By:

Publication Date:

I.S.B.N.:

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Blurb

The new novel from Readers’ Favourite silver medalist Allie Cresswell.

Thirty years before the beginning of ‘Emma’ Mrs Bates is entirely different from the elderly, silent figure familiar to fans of Jane Austen’s fourth novel. She is comparatively young and beautiful, widowed – but ready to love again. She is the lynch-pin of Highbury society until the appalling Mrs Winwood arrives, very determined to hold sway over that ordered little town.

Miss Bates is as talkative aged twenty nine as she is in her later iteration, with a ghoulish fancy, seeing disaster in every cloud. When young Mr Woodhouse arrives looking for a plot for his new house, the two strike up a relationship characterised by their shared hypochondria, personal chariness and horror of draughts.

Jane, the other Miss Bates, is just seventeen and eager to leave the parochialism of Highbury behind her until handsome Lieutenant Weston comes home on furlough from the militia and sweeps her – quite literally – off her feet.

Mrs Bates of Highbury is the first of three novels by the Amazon #1 best-selling Allie Cresswell, which trace the pre-history of Emma and then run in parallel to it.

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Bonus Review #2: ‘Kitchen Witchcraft: Spells & Charms’, by Rachel Patterson

Kitchen Witchcraft: Spells & Charms Published By: Moon Books

Publication Date: 27th July 2018

I.S.B.N.: 978-1-78535-768-8

Format: Paperback

Price: £6.99

Available here

Blurb

There are a lot of things in the universe that we don’t understand. When something is meant to happen, it will whether you cast a spell or not. But you can help it on its way by guiding and encouraging it and maybe even tweaking events a little too. A spell can be worked in many ways, from a simple pointing of the finger to a complicated ritual involving lots of herbs and crystals and, of course, any variation in between. What will happen for sure is the boost of confidence and happy buzz you will receive as you cast the spell, as well as the positive vibe you get from putting something into action.
Kitchen Witchcraft: Spells & Charms is a the first in a series of books which delves into the world of the Kitchen Witch. Each book breaks down the whys and wherefores of the subject and includes practical guides and exercises. Other titles include Garden Magic, Altars & Rituals and The Elements.

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Bonus Review #1: ‘Elysium’s Shadow’, by Matthew Munson

Published By: Inspired Quill

Publication Date: October 2015?

Format: Paperback

Price: £9.99

I.S.B.N.: 978190860069

Bought from here

Blurb

“It’s been a hell of a first day.”

Jon May has been the Governor of Elysium for a few hours, and he’s already facing a belligerent Chief of Security, an ex-Operations Manager imprisoned for killing the previous Governor, and an amorphous energy mass that has its own agenda.

So now Jon has to decide who to trust; his Security Chief will barely talk to him, and his only allies people who are, according to the Republic, dangerous criminals.

With less than 48 hours to delve into the shadows surrounding Elysium’s recent but tumultuous past, May is about to uncover more about this job than he bargained for.

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Review: ‘Balloonomania Belles’, By Sharon Wright

Published By: Pen & Sword

Publication Date: 26th February 2018

I.S.B.N.: 9781526708342

Format: Hardback

Price: £19.99

Blurb

Balloonomania Belles reveals the astonishing stories of the fabulous female pioneers of balloon flight. More than a century before the first aeroplane women were heading for the heavens in crazy, inspired contraptions that could bring death or glory and all too often, both. Award-winning journalist Sharon Wright reveals their hair-raising adventures in a book that brings the stories of the feisty female ballooning heroines together for the first time.

Women were in the vanguard of the “Balloonomania” craze that took hold in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and swept across Europe then the world. Their exploits were a vital element of our first voyages into the sky. When women’s options were often severely limited by law and convention they managed to join the exhilarating quest for spectacle, adventure and danger among the clouds.

Many of the brightest stars of this extraordinary era of human flight were women. From the perilous ascent in 1784 by feisty French teenager Elisabeth Thible, female aeronauts have never looked back… or down. Who were these brave women who took to the air when it was such an incredibly dangerous and scandalous thing to do? Sharon Wright brings together in one book the show-stopping stories of the very first flying women.

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Review: ‘Tommy Twigtree and The Carrot Crunchers’, by Michael Firman

Tommy Twigtree and the Carrot Crunchers Published By: Clink Street Publishing

Publication Date: 14th August 2018

I.S.B.N.: 9781912262953

Format: Children’s illustrated book

Price: £7.99

Age range: 4 -7

Blurb

Tommy Twigtree and his friends enjoy peace and harmony in their garden.
That is until Robbie Rabbit and his Bandits decide that carrots are on the menu!

Tommy Twigtree And The Carrot Crunchers is the first book for children by Michael Firman.

Illustrations are by Nick Roberts.

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Review: ‘Love the stationary in your classroom’, by Rebecca Palliser

Published By: Clink Street Publishing

Publication Date: 14th August 2018

Format: Picture book

I.S.B.N.: 9781912262847

Price: £7.99

Blurb

This delightful little book encourages children to learn about – and have fun with – the stationary they encounter in the classroom. Author Rebecca Palliser wants to help all children to find their feet in the primary school classroom.

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40707518-love-the-stationary-in-your-classroom

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Stationery-Classroom-Rebecca-Palliser/dp/1912262843

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Review: ‘In Bloom’, by C.J. Skuse

Published By: HQ

Publication Date: 9th August 2018

Format: Paperback

I.S.B.N.: 9780008216726

Price: £7.99

Blurb

Darkly comic crime sequel to Sweetpea, following girl-next-door serial killer Rhiannon as she’s now caught between the urge to kill and her unborn baby stopping her.

If only they knew the real truth. It should be my face on those front pages. My headlines. I did those things, not him. I just want to stand on that doorstep and scream it: IT WAS ME. ME. ME. ME. ME!

Rhiannon Lewis has successfully fooled the world and framed her cheating fiancé Craig for the depraved and bloody killing spree she committed. She should be ecstatic that she’s free.

Except for one small problem. She’s pregnant with her ex lover’s child. The ex-lover she only recently chopped up and buried in her in-laws garden. And as much as Rhiannon wants to continue making her way through her kill lists, a small voice inside is trying to make her stop.

But can a killer’s urges ever really be curbed?

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Review: ‘Implant’, by #Ray Clark, #UrbanePublications, #LoveBooksGroupTours

Thanks to Kelly at Love Books Group for organising this blog tour. I’ve reviewed this book honestly in return for a review copy of the novel.

Implant - Ray Clark

Published By: Urbane Publications

Publication Date: 9th August

Format: Paperback

I.S.B.N.: 9781911583981

Price: £8.99

Blurb

Bramfield, near Leeds, a sleepy little market town nestled on the borders of West and North Yorkshire. Detectives Stewart Gardener and Sean Reilly discover the naked corpse of Alex Wilson, nailed to the wall of a cellar in his uncle’s hardware store. His lips are sewn together and his body bears only one mark, a fresh scar near his abdomen.

Within forty-eight hours, their investigation results in dead ends, more victims, no suspects and very little in the way of solid evidence. Gardener and Reilly have a problem and a question on their hands: are the residents of Bramfield prepared for one of history’s most sadistic killers, The Tooth Fairy?

Implant is the perfect read for fans of Peter May, Mark Billingham and Peter James.

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2HzlTAL
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2jceVY2
Foyles: http://bit.ly/2JDHFnQ
Waterstones: http://bit.ly/2FpKPJ6

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