Celebrating 25 in 25 with Lesley Pearse

Today it's my pleasure to be hosting the latest stop on the 25 in 25 blog tour celebrating bestselling author Lesley Pearse and her 25 novels.  Each day a fact will be shared about one of Lesley's previous books as well as promoting her 25th novel The Woman in the Wood which is out this Thursday.  Today it's about Lesley's 11th novel Till We Meet Again.

She kills two people in cold blood - why?

Susan walks into a busy doctor's surgery and guns down two members of staff. Then she calmly waits for the police.

Beth is the lawyer assigned to defend Susan. But her client is uncooperative until both women realise that twenty-nine years earlier, they were childhood friends.

As the evidence against Susan mounts up, both she and Beth begin to talk about the secrets and the traumas that sent them down such different paths in life. Their friendship grows stronger. 

But for one of them, there can be no happy ending . . .

Giveaway: Win a copy of The Supremes Sing the Happy Heartache Blues by Edward Kelsey Moore

You might have noticed that it's been a bit quiet on the blog lately as sadly things have taken their toll on me recently and I've hit a bit of a reading/reviewing slump...  I've not read more than a page or two over the last ten days or so which is pretty unusual for me as I'm normally glued to a book or my Kindle 😢

Today I had hoped to have found the motivation to write a review to share with you all but the words are failing me as well so instead I've decided to do a Friday giveaway as a treat to say thank you to the loyal supporters of my blog.  So the book I've decided to promote and giveaway is another one of the books I received unexpectedly recently which realistically I'm not in a position to read for review The Supremes Sing the Happy Heartache Blues by Edward Kelsey Moore which was published yesterday.

When a late life love affair blooms between Mr. Forrest Payne, the owner of the Pink Slipper Gentleman's Club, and Miss Beatrice Jordan, famous for yelling warnings of eternal damnation at the Club's departing patrons, their wedding summons a legend to town. Mr El Walker, the great guitar bluesman, comes home to give a command performance in Plainview, Indiana, a place he'd sworn never to set foot in again.

Emma's Review: Always in My Heart by Pam Weaver

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

1939. When war is declared, twins Shirley and Tom are evacuated to the coastal town of Worthing. Almost fourteen, they are very close to their mother, but leaving London is the only way to keep them safe. Shirley is the bright one of the pair, whereas Tom is sometimes slow to understand the world around him. But Shirley helps him get by and is his best friend and ally.

The twins are taken in by a local farmer, but their new home quickly proves to be far from a rural dream. Tom is forced to do back-breaking work and sleep under the stairs each night. The farmer's wife is heavily pregnant, and seems to live in fear of him. She's refusing all midwives, so it will be up to Shirley, with no experience in the matter, to help her deliver her baby.

Their new teacher at the local school notices that something is not right with the children, but the farmer keeps the twins from seeing anyone, even their own mother. As the cold weather sets in and Tom falls ill, will Shirley be able to find a way out for them both? 

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

The Write Stuff with... Grace Lowrie

Today I'm handing the reins of the blog to author Grace Lowrie on the latest leg of her Safe with Me blog tour to talk about Writing a Setting.

Whether it’s the country in which a whole story takes place, or a small boat where just one conversation occurs, I’ve learned that the setting can make all the difference.

There are lots of options open to authors of fiction, even more for those of science fiction or fantasy, and yet when I’m enthusiastically scribbling down a first draft I still have to remind myself not to always necessarily go with my first idea. When coming up with a scene I now ask myself: Does this scene (for example, an argument between two characters) have to have to occur on the living room sofa? If so – fine, but what if they were actually on an aeroplane, or a remote mountain top, or in a shop selling lingerie? Would that make the scene more dramatic/interesting/awkward? As Ra’s al Ghul says to Bruce Wayne in the film Batman Begins: “Always mind your surroundings.” I now have this stuck on my wall to remind me.

As a starting point it is generally easier to write about places I’ve been to, or have experience of. Three of my books are set in Wildham, a fictional town somewhere north of London, but the town of my imagination is based on bits and pieces of real places – the market square, pubs and coffee shops – that I know well. Similarly Southwood’s Garden Centre, which features in Safe With Me, is fictional, but based on personal experience. My aunt and uncle built up their own successful nursery and garden centre from nothing, and I worked part-time in a garden centre for several years. I know first-hand the relaxed satisfaction of planting up hanging baskets; the tedium of dead-heading endless trays full of bedding plants, and the hours spent watering pots in the heat of the summer.

Giveaway: Win a copy of Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession by Alison Weir

As much as I would love to, sadly I don't have time to read every single book that I receive especially when they arrive unexpectedly.  So instead I try to do promotional posts and/or giveaways for the books that I am not able to read for review.  One such book is the latest in the Six Tudor Queen series Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession.

The young woman who changed the course of history.