Everything Is Better With Dragons

Audiobook Review: After The Storm, by Isabella Muir, read by Charles Johnston

After The Storm

When a violent storm blasts England’s south coast, it’s up to retired Italian detective Giuseppe Bianchi to sift through the devastation and piece together the tragic events left behind in the storm’s wake.

Giuseppe Bianchi’s brief visit to Bexhill-on-Sea has become an extended stay. He is loath to return to his home in Rome because of the haunting images that made him leave in the first place.

During his morning walks along the seafront with Beagle, Max, he meets Edward Swain, who becomes Giuseppe’s walking companion. They form a friendship of sorts and find they have a similar outlook on life.1

But the devastating events of a single night lead Giuseppe to question the truth about Edward Swain. Teaming up with young journalist Christina Rossi – his cousin’s daughter – Giuseppe learns about the brutal reality lurking behind the day-to-day life of families in the local community. And as the story unravels Giuseppe is reminded how anger and revenge can lead to the most dreadful of crimes.

After the Storm is the second novel in the Giuseppe Bianchi mystery series – the much-awaited sequel to Crossing the Line.

Grab your copy today, and enjoy the intrigue of traditional English mystery, cleverly combined with a continental twist.

Purchase Link – http://viewbook.at/Afterthestormaudio

Review: Setsuko and the Song of the Sea, by Fiona Barker, Illustrated by Howard Gray

Blurb

Setsuko loves the sea. She swims its shallows. She dives its depths. But she worries that her friends have chosen to abandon her way of life. Then she meets a whale who also fears he is the last of his kind. In return for giving him hope, he gifts her a song which she uses to remind people of the beauty of the ocean. Setsuko took the song and made it her own. They played together from the first crisp light of morning until the setting of the evening sun. Everyone who heard Setsuko’s song was filled with the wonder of the sea. They remembered the beauty and mystery of the ocean. A story of an unlikely friendship, Setsuko and her friend the whale have one thing in common ― their love of the sea. Much like the revered ama-san, ― women who have been diving off the coast of the Shima peninsula in Japan for over 2,000 years ― Setsuko is a strong girl who is on the path to becoming one of these real-life mermaids. 10% of the net profits from each book will be donated to the Marine Conservation Society, the UK charity working for seas full of life. Visit www.mcs.org.uk to find out more.

Buy Links

Publisher Shop – https://bit.ly/3cfj7mp

Waterstones – https://bit.ly/2YgEDz2

Foyles – https://bit.ly/3ooqzxS

Amazon – https://amzn.to/3a63xHb

Goodreads – https://bit.ly/3iNZ0gw

Blog tour calendar: After the Storm, by Isabella Muir

TBR Pile Review: Burn, by Herman Pontzer

54737800 — Hardcover
Published March 2nd 2021 by Allen Lane
ISBN:0241388422 (ISBN13: 9780241388426)

Blurb

Over the past twenty years, evolutionary biologist Herman Pontzer has conducted ground-breaking studies across a range of settings, including pioneering fieldwork with Hadza hunter-gatherers in northern Tanzania.

This book draws on his eye-opening research to show how, contrary to received wisdom, exercise does not increase our metabolism. Instead, we burn calories within a very narrow range: nearly 3,000 calories per day, no matter our activity level.

By taking a closer look at what happens to the energy we consume, Pontzer explores the ways in which metabolism controls every aspect of our health – from fertility to immune function – and reveals the truth about the dynamic system that sustains us. Filled with facts and memorable anecdotes, Burn will change the way you think about food, exercise and life.

Review: The Queen of Romance, by Liz Jones

18 MARCH 2021
Market: Biography
Paperback
ISBN:9781912905119
Price: £9.99

Blurb

The first biography of the bestselling author and journalist Marguerite Jervis.
Daughter of an officer of the Indian Medical Corps, Marguerite Florence Laura Jarvis (1886 – 1964) was born in Burma and became one of the most successful novelists of her time. During the course of her 60-year career, Marguerite published over 150 books, with 11 novels adapted for film, including The Pleasure Garden (1925), the directorial debut of Alfred Hitchcock. In her heyday she sold hundreds of thousands of novels, but is now largely forgotten; under numerous pseudonyms she wrote for newspapers, women’s magazines and the silent movie screen; she married one of Wales most controversial literary figures, Caradoc Evans. She also trained as an actress and was a theatrical impresario. Known variously as Mrs Caradoc Evans, Oliver Sandys, Countess Barcynska and many other pseudonyms, who was she really?

Liz Jones has dug deep beneath the tale told in Marguerite Jervis’s own
somewhat romanticised memoir to reveal what made this driven and
determined woman. And what turned her from a spoilt child of the English
middle classes to a workaholic who could turn her hand to any literary
endeavour and who became a runaway popular success during the most
turbulent years of the 20th century.

Blog tour calendar: Setsuko and the Song of the Sea, by Fiona Barker, Illustrated by Howard Gray

Review: You Brand, by Julia Goodman

Blurb

A manual for Confidence will help you develop your unique voice and you self-belief as a communicator, by uniting head, heart and body. Rooted in the psychology and techniques of the professional theatre, the You Brand method will teach you the craft of ‘performing yourself’ – wherever you are.

Extract Post: Grudge Match, by Robert B Parker

Pub. Date: 16 November 2020
Price: £9.99
ISBN: 978-0-85730-402-5
Binding: Paperback

Robert B. Parker’s beloved PI Sunny Randall returns on a case that blurs the line between friend and foe… and if Sunny can’t tell the difference, the consequences may be deadly.

When Sunny’s long-time gangster associate Tony Marcus comes to her for help, Sunny is surprised – after all, she double-crossed him on a recent deal, and their relationship is on shakier ground than ever.
But the way Tony figures it, Sunny owes him, and she is willing to consider his case if it will clear the slate.

Tony’s trusted girlfriend and business partner has vanished, appearing to have left in a hurry, and he has no idea why. He just wants to talk to her, he says. While Sunny isn’t willing to trust his good intentions, the missing woman intrigues her – against all odds, she’s risen to a position of power in
Tony’s criminal enterprise. Sunny can’t help but admire her and, if this woman’s in a jam, she would like to help.

But when a witness is murdered hours after speaking to Sunny, it’s clear there’s more at stake than just Tony’s love life. Someone – maybe even Tony himself – doesn’t want this woman on the loose…and will go to any lengths to make sure she stays silent.