Books Read: Jennifer E. Smith - The Geography of You and Me

Owen lives in the basement. Lucy lives on the 24th floor. But when the power goes out in the midst of a New York heatwave, they find themselves together for the first time: stuck in a lift between the 10th and 11th floors. As they await help, they start talking...

The brief time they spend together leaves a mark. And as their lives take them to Edinburgh and San Francisco, to Prague and to Portland they can't shake the memory of the time they shared. Postcards cross the globe when they themselves can't, as Owen and Lucy experience the joy - and pain - of first love.

And as they make their separate journeys in search of home, they discover that sometimes it is a person rather than a place that anchors you most in the world.

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Giveaway: Win an ARC of The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop

This morning I have a fantastic giveaway for Victoria Hislop fans, an advance reading copy of her next novel The Sunrise that is not being published until 25th September so you'll be able to read it early.

In the summer of 1972, Famagusta in Cyprus is the most desirable resort in the Mediterranean, a city bathed in the glow of good fortune. An ambitious couple are about to open the island’s most spectacular hotel, where Greek and Turkish Cypriots work in harmony.

Two neighbouring families, the Georgious and the Özkans, are among many who moved to Famagusta to escape the years of unrest and ethnic violence elsewhere on the island. But beneath the city’s façade of glamour and success, tension is building.

Coming soon from Headline & Tinder Press

This Summer is certainly turning out to be a busy one for book lovers as there are so many fab books being published, today I've decided to feature a few of the books that Headline Review and Tinder Press will be publishing this July and August.  Which ones will you be adding to your wishlist?

Season to Taste or How to Eat Your Husband by Natalie Young (published 3rd July)

Always let the meat rest under foil for at least ten minutes before carving...

Meet Lizzie Prain. Ordinary housewife. Fifty-something. Lives in a cottage in the woods, with her dog Rita. Likes cooking, avoids the neighbours. Runs a little business making cakes.

No one has seen Lizzie's husband, Jacob, for a few days. That's because last Monday, on impulse, Lizzie caved in the back of his head with a spade. And if she's going to embark on the new life she feels she deserves after thirty years in Jacob's shadow, she needs to dispose of his body. Her method appeals to all her practical instincts, though it's not for the faint-hearted. Will Lizzie have the strength to follow it through?

Strange Girls and Ordinary Women by Morgan McCarthy (published 3rd July)

They say you know instinctively who to trust.

Alice is normal; she'd never do anything rash. But when she sees her husband one day with a younger girl, she knows at once that he's having an affair. And it must be stopped.

Vic loves her friend Michael, more than he knows. He wants happiness, and thinks he's found it with the magnetic Estella. But Vic feels sure she can't be trusted - and she needs to make Michael see that too.

They don't know Kaya; her life is tougher than they can imagine. But Kaya's a survivor, and she's determined to find a way out of her miserable world.

Three women, three lives that come crashing together in this dark, lyrical and utterly enthralling story of warped perceptions, female intuition and 'the other woman'.

Books Read: Julia Crouch - The Long Fall

How far would you go to protect your secrets?

Greece, 1980
Emma takes part in a shattering, violent event. An event to which she is anything but an innocent bystander.
She is only eighteen, but this marks her fall from innocence.
It will haunt her for the rest of her life.

London, now
Kate has the perfect existence: a glossy image, a glamorous home, a perfect family.
But there are cracks.
All is not what it seems.

And now the two worlds are about to collide.
Somebody's out for revenge.
Someone who has been waiting thirty years...

Amazon links: Kindle or Trade Paperback

Giveaway: Win a signed copy of The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

Thanks to the lovely Caitlin at Headline today I have a fantastic giveaway for a signed copy of The Book of Life, the final book in the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness.

Fall under the spell of Diana and Matthew once more in the stunning climax to their epic tale, following A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES and SHADOW OF NIGHT.

A world of witches, daemons and vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it.

After travelling through time in SHADOW OF NIGHT, the second book in Deborah Harkness's enchant­ing series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew's ancestral home in France they reunite with their families - with one heart-breaking exception. But the real threat to their future is yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on a terrifying urgency. Using ancient knowl­edge and modern science, from the palaces of Venice and beyond, Diana and Matthew will finally learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.

To enter simply follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter form below, sorry entries restricted to UK residents only.  Entries will close at 6PM UK time on 14th July when the winner will be contacted for postal address which will be passed onto Caitlin to send the book to you.  

Good luck x

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Books Read: Sheila O'Flanagan - If You Were Me

On a sultry summer evening in Seville, anything can happen...

Carlotta O'Keefe is happily engaged, and the wedding plans are coming together. She's clear about her future path, both personally and in her busy career. Maybe Chris doesn't make her heart race every time she sees him, but you can't have that feeling for ever. Can you?

Then, on a trip to Seville, Carlotta runs into Luke Evans. Luke broke her heart so long ago she'd almost convinced herself she'd forgotten him. Now, he's not that boy any more, but an attractive and intriguing man. And he can explain everything that happened way back when.

Suddenly Carlotta's not so sure of anything any more. Except that what she decides now will shape the rest of her life...

Amazon links: Kindle or Hardback

Books Read: Sheila O'Flanagan - Things We Never Say

The things we never say: 

A daughter doesn't say how she feels about the past...

A husband is afraid to say that selling the house his wife loves is the only option...

A son can't say how useful his ageing father's fortune will be when he's gone...

But if those things were said, the results might be surprising.  As Abbey - and a whole family she knew nothing of - are about to find out. 

 Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback 

Giveaway: Win a copy of Things We Never Say and If You Were Me by Sheila O'Flanagan

Today's Sheila O'Flanagan feature day continues with a fabulous giveaway thanks to the generosity of the lovely Frances at Headline, two lucky readers have the opportunity to win a copy of Things We Never Say AND If You Were Me.

The things we never say: 

A daughter doesn't say how she feels about the past...

A husband is afraid to say that selling the house his wife loves is the only option...

A son can't say how useful his ageing father's fortune will be when he's gone...

But if those things were said, the results might be surprising.  As Abbey - and a whole family she knew nothing of - are about to find out. 

Author Interview: Sheila O'Flanagan

Today on the blog it's Sheila O'Flanagan day so we'll be celebrating the bestselling author with a day full of features including this interview, a fabulous giveaway  plus reviews of both of her latest books Things We Never Say and If You Were Me.

What inspires your writing?
People, generally. I love watching people and wondering about them and sometimes that sets off an idea in my head for a novel. So there are people out there who don’t know that they inspired one of my books!

Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book If You Were Me?
It’s the story of Carlotta, a sharp, sassy woman with a photographic memory, who misses a train in Seville and as a result bumps into her first love - the boy who disappeared when she was 15. Even though Carlotta is now happily engaged, she wants to know why Luke never got in touch with her again. His reappearance in her life makes her wonder what might have been…..It’s a love story with a lot of bumps along the way.

Where did the inspiration come from to set it partly in Seville? 
This one of my more romantic books and Seville is a very romantic and passionate city. The heat of the city reflects the heat of Carlotta’s emotions too! I loved bringing her around the lively bars and stunning scenery of the area and letting her get carried away by the sultry flamenco dancing.

Guest Book Review: Tom Vowler - That Dark Remembered Day

Reviewed by Elizabeth Bennett

One family, one town, devastated by one tragic event.

Can you ever know what those closest to you are really capable of?

When Stephen gets a phone call to say his mother isn't well, he knows he must go to her straight away. But he dreads going back there. He has never been able to understand why his mother chose to stay in the town he grew up in, after everything that happened. One day's tragic events years before had left no one living there untouched.

Stephen's own dark memories are still poisoning his life, as well as his marriage. Perhaps now is the time to go back and confront the place and the people of his shattered childhood. But will he ever be able to understand the crime that punctured their lives so brutally? How can a community move on from such a terrible legacy?

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Author Interview: Julia Crouch

One of the most popular features this year has definitely been the publisher feature weeks where the aim is to try and blitz through a backlog of reviews, although am going to be honest today and admit I might struggle this week as had a bit of a reading slump recently so only read a couple so far, as well as featuring authors and promoting books.  

My first guest is bestselling author Julia Crouch whose latest book The Long Fall was published last week, welcome Julia.  

Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book The Long Fall?
Set partly in 1980’s Greece and partly in the present, in London, the story is about how the past has a habit of catching up with you. 

I’ve spent a lot of time wondering how you go on living a life if you are basically a decent sort of person but you have been responsible for the most atrocious act ever. 

One of my characters, Kate, has a perfect life – she runs a charity, has a rich banker husband, perfect daughter, lovely house. But all is not as glossy as it may seem, and gradually her life is taken apart, piece by piece. 

Where did the inspiration come from to set this partly in Greece?
I love Greece and whenever I get a chance I’m out there. On a superficial level, the idea of having to go to Ikaria (the island where the 1980 story is largely set) to research was very attractive. And I was actually in Athens and the islands in 1980, in my year off, when I backpacked aroud Europe on my own. It was a very intense time for me and I kept a diary, which I have plundered for The Long Fall – for the setting and mood, and some of the events – but not all, I hasten to add! I have even lifted passages verbatim.

My eldest son, Owen, has a Greek girlfriend, Eva, who, along with my Athenian friend Gabi, has been really helpful in helping me find Ikaria and with the Greek detail/translations. Ikaria was the perfect island because it’s supposedly where Daedalus buried his son Icarus after he fell into the sea when he flew too close to the sun – a perfect guiding metaphor for what goes on in the book. Also, it is still relatively untouristed, rocky and wild. My decision on the island was sealed when I was talking it over with Simon Trewin, my agent, and he said he had backpacked there himself as a teenager in the early 1980s – a very strange choice back then!