Blog Tour: Murder At The Summer Fete by Victoria Walters

A fete worse than death…

 After finding the killer of Lucy Roth six months ago, life has settled back to normal for bookshop owner, Nancy Hunter, and her grandmother, Jane. The annual Dedley End village fete is just around the corner, and Nancy is delighted when bestselling author, Thomas Green, agrees to launch his first new novel in ten years there.

But then a series of sinister events lead Nancy to realise someone is trying to sabotage their fete, so she, along with Jane and their journalist friend Jonathan, must turn detective to discover who isn’t at all thrilled about the return of Thomas Green.

When a body is discovered at the summer fete, the death scene mirroring that in Thomas’ latest bestseller, they realise that there’s another killer in Dedley End, but can they outsmart someone who appears to have pulled off the perfect crime?

The clues are right under Nancy and Jane’s noses, if only they can find them. Because the answers to life’s questions can always be found in a book…!

A twisty, unputdownable cozy mystery that fans of Richard Osman, S.J. Bennett and The Marlow Murder Club will love.

Purchase Links
AMZ: https://amzn.to/3HE7928  
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3JLSUtX
Apple: https://apple.co/3zDUyte

Review

Murder at the Summer Fete is a clever cosy mystery with engaging characters and a tightly written plot. Despite being second in a series, it made me feel like I wanted to read the first rather than feeling lost.

Bookseller Nancy Hunter is hip-deep in organising the village fete, complete with a special author guest, but it seems that someone is intent on sabotaging the visit. Then a dead body is found mirroring the murder in the author's latest mystery, and Nancy, her grandmother Jane, and her best friend Jonathan must scramble to find the killer among them.

There are tons of little touches than make this stand out among cosy mysteries - it addresses the oddity of Nancy getting caught up in another murder, there are sensible discussions around working with or around the police, and while there are red herrings and twists, the answer is foreshadowed without being overly obvious. It does get a little wordy and meta - characters in a murder mystery discussing how their life is like a novel - but given how they sell mystery novels I really can't fault them!

Best enjoyed with a cup of tea and a lovely stretch of uninterrupted time, this is a great cosy and I'm interested to see how the series unfolds!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Rachel's Random Resources; all opinions are my own

Author Bio

Victoria Walters writes up-lifting and inspiring stories. She's the author of the bestselling GLENDALE HALL series, which continues with its third book HOPEFUL HEARTS at GLENDALE HALL in September, as well as two other standalone novels - SUMMER at the KINDNESS CAFE, and THE SECOND LOVE of my LIFE. She has been chosen for WHSmith Fresh Talent and shortlisted for two RNA awards. Victoria was also picked as an Amazon Rising Star, and her books have won wide reader acclaim.

Victoria is a full-time author. She lives in Surrey with her cat Harry, and loves books, clothes, music, going out for tea and cake, and posting photos on Instagram.

Find out more about Victoria by following on Instagram at @vickyjwalters, on Twitter at @Vicky_Walters or by visiting her blog at: https://victoria-writes.com/.

Blog Tour: Shoot the Moon by Bella Cassidy (with UK giveaway!)

Tassie Morris is everyone’s favourite wedding photographer, famous for her photos of offbeat ceremonies and alternative brides. Yet commitment is proving impossible for Tassie herself, who cannot forget her first love.

When she’s sent to photograph a ceremony on Schiehallion - the Fairy Hill of the Scottish Caledonians - she meets Dan, who might be the one to make her forget her past. That is, until a family crisis begins a chain of events that threaten to destroy not only Tassie’s love life, but her entire career.

Set in a colourful world of extraordinary weddings, Shoot the Moon explores the complexities of different kinds of love: romantic love, mother love, friendship. And, ultimately, the importance of loving yourself.

Purchase Links
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/SHOOT-MOON-alternative-game-hearts-ebook/dp/B09D2DHZYG
US - https://www.amazon.com/SHOOT-MOON-alternative-game-hearts-ebook/dp/B09D2DHZYG

Review

Tassie might have a successful job, great friends, and a garden she adores, but she's getting awfully tired of them playing happy couples while she's still hung up on her childhood sweetheart. Enter Dan, last minute Best Man and Tassie's ride to a wedding in remote Scotland. The connection is instant, but Tassie's got a self-destructive streak that might ruin everything.

This is a refreshing, emotional, and delightful read about someone falling in love, losing it, and finding herself and her happy ending along the way. Not a coming of age, nor a Hallmark movie, but a genuine romance about friends, family, and farming, with just a smidge of the supernatural. I would however warn for discussion around infertility if this is something that distresses.

I loved that Tassie unashamedly loved cheese and made mistakes, painting her as both likeable and realistic. Dan is a little more hazy but we are given enough of him to understand why Tassie falls for him. Tassie's friends and family are an eclectic and loveable bunch, each with their own foibles and stories - enough to enjoy but not so much that they take over the story. I could well imagine them as the cast of a series, with this as one of many storylines spanning multiple episodes.

It was so very satisfying, after everything had fallen apart, to see things come together, throwaway lines woven together with a deft hand to a believable conclusion. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by the author.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book via Rachel's Random Resources; all opinions are my own.

Author Bio

Bella Cassidy grew up in the West Country - reading contemporary romances, romances, historical novels, literary fiction... just about anything she could lay her hands on. After a few years in London, working as a waitress and in PR and advertising, she went to Sussex to read English - despite admitting in her pre-interview that this rather sociable period in her life had seen her read only one book in six months: a Jilly Cooper.
She’s had an eclectic range of jobs: including in the world of finance; social housing fundraising; a stint at the Body Shop - working as Anita Roddick’s assistant; as a secondary school teacher, then teaching babies to swim: all over the world.
She’s done a lot of research for writing a wedding romance, having had two herself. For her first she was eight months pregnant - a whale in bright orange - and was married in a barn with wood fires burning. The second saw her in elegant Edwardian silk, crystals and lace, teamed with yellow wellies and a cardigan. Both were great fun; but it was lovely having her daughter alongside, rather than inside her at the second one.

Social Media Links
https://www.facebook.com/BellaMoonShoot/
https://www.instagram.com/bellamoonshoot/
https://mobile.twitter.com/bellamoonshoot 

Giveaway to Win a paperback copy of Shoot the Moon and Moon and Stars bath salts (Open to UK only)
*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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Blog Tour: Lady Ludmilla's Accidental Letter by Sofi Laporte

A resolute spinster. An irresistible rake. One accidental letter… Can love triumph over this hopeless muddle in the middle of the London season?

Lady Ludmilla is mortified. Though the spinster extraordinaire knows it is foolish, she has fallen head-over-heels for the amiable man with whom she’s been secretly corresponding, and that cannot be. When she sets out to uncover his identity, her world shatters. For her best friend Addy turns out to be none other but London’s worst rogue—the man who has ruined her engagement to someone else ten years earlier.

Lord St. Addington is perturbed. The wicked Viscount is developing a marked tendre for a spinster, and that cannot be. She might be mistaking him for someone he is not, or, what is worse, know precisely who he is. As London’s worst hellrake, he has a role to maintain, a charade to play. A depraved heart like his surely can’t be falling in love…least of all with a plain, outspoken spinster.

Determined to discover the truth behind the man she loves, Lu does what she does best: she sits down and writes a letter…

If you crave a humorous romp with witty banter and surprising twists, you will love Sofi Laporte’s charming masquerade. 

Purchase Links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09MFQ1FKQ
US - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MFQ1FKQ

Review

A slightly bonkers but also entertaining tale of pen pals and mistaken identity.

Lady Ludmilla Windemere, spinster wallflower extraordinaire, has a scandalous secret. Orphaned and living with her hypochondriac aunt in Bath, she has been writing to a man for the last three years. Despite knowing him only as 'Addy', he has become her dearest confidante. When she is convinced to join her younger sister for one final season in London, she knows it is the perfect time to discover Addy's identity. Only it seems that he may be the Viscount St Addington, notorious rake and the man who ruined her once and only engagement. Or is he?

This book is such fun once you accept that it will be filled with shenanigans. Mistaken identity!  Secret penpals! Sisters! Cousins! Matchmaking aunts! It's filled with twists and turns, and chapters from other points of view only serve to heighten the mystery. While I guessed Addy's identity from the start, there were enough red herrings to make me doubt myself until the very end, and I find myself wanting to reread and see what clues I missed.

I liked the sisterhood between Lu and her sister Jessica, who are far apart enough in age to find common ground. Their aunt Ernestina is a force of nature, and I was pleasantly surprised by character growth even in old aunt Mildred. It's overall a wonderfully entertaining read.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book via Rachel's Random Resources; all opinions are my own

Author Bio

Sofi was born in Vienna, grew up in Seoul, studied Comparative Literature in Maryland, U.S.A., and lived in Quito with her Ecuadorian husband. When not writing, she likes to scramble about the countryside exploring medieval castle ruins. She currently lives with her husband, 3 trilingual children, a sassy cat and a cheeky dog in Austria.

Sofi writes sweetly simmering Regency Romance with mischievous, witty banter and heart-throbbing happily-ever-after.

Social Media Links
Visit Sofi's website at www.sofilaporte.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sofilaporteauthor
Instagram @sofilaporteauthor
Bookbub: @sofilaportebooks
Twitter: @Sofi_Laporte

Blog Tour: Love's Legacy by Natalie Kleinman

Can young love heal the wounds of the past…?

When her father — a countryside reverend — dies suddenly, young Patience Worthington is left with no home and little money. In urgent need of support, she is forced to seek out her estranged uncle, a viscount at the vast Worthington Place.

Patience arrives to find that her uncle has died and that the current viscount is her cousin, Gideon. After hearing her plight, he agrees to give her a home on the Worthington estate.

However, when Patience and Gideon learn the cause of the long-standing rift between the two sides of the family, they quickly begin to clash. Now too proud to accept his accept the viscount’s charity, Patience soon leaves Worthington Place to seek shelter with her late mother’s relatives in Bath.

With her kindness and beauty, Patience is an instant success in Bath society and regularly crosses paths with Gideon. Despite their differences, they enjoy each other’s company and form a tentative friendship.

But when dark secrets once again threaten their growing bond, the cousins begin to wonder whether they can ever leave the shadows of the past behind…

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/bzZZVz

Review

Orphaned Patience Worthington resolves to take leave of her cousin Gideon Worthington mere minutes after arriving on his doorstep. Though they then become close due to a delayed departure, she is determined to make her own way. The cousins must navigate misunderstandings, misapprehensions, and a contentious matter of honour if they want to find a love that will last.

This is a kind book. Yes, Patience can be hot-tempered and stubborn, but she is also caring and generous. Gideon himself is particularly stubborn over a secret that was driving a wedge between them, but he is forthright and honourable (and Patience called him out on said secret, which was immensely satisfying). There are a number of side characters, many of whom I would love to see get their own story - all good people with their own lives to lead.

Rather than the whirl of the London Season, this is a slower, softer tale about two people falling in love through visits and rides through the countryside near Bath. It's the story of an orphan finding she has more family than expected, and good friends besides. If you're looking for an uplifting story with flawed but realistic characters, I can recommend this book.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author; all opinions are my own

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Natalie’s passion for reading became a compulsion to write when she attended a ten-week course in creative writing some sixteen or so years ago. She takes delight in creating short stories of which more than forty have been published, but it was her lifelong love of Regency romance that led her to turn from contemporary romantic fiction to try her hand at her favourite genre. Raised on a diet of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, she is never happier than when immersed in an age of etiquette and manners, fashion and intrigue, all combined into a romping good tale. She lives on the London/Kent border, close to the capital’s plethora of museums and galleries which she uses for research as well as pleasure. A perfect day though is when she heads out of town to enjoy lunch by a pub on the river, any river, in company with her husband and friends.

Natalie is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, the Society of Authors and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists.

You can find out more about Natalie on Twitter @NatKleinman, Facebook /NatalieKleinmanAuthor or on her Website nataliekleinman.com

Blog Tour: Living Your Best Life by Maxine Morrey

Some days Bee feels invisible. Most days Bee does not feel as if she is ‘living her best life’.

Sure she has a loyal group of friends, a job she’s good at, and a small London flat to call home, but a lot of the time, Bee feels as if no one actually ‘sees’ her.  

Her best friend, the unfeasibly handsome and successful Luca Donato does not have that problem. People are practically falling over themselves whenever they see Luca, but one thing the two friends do have in common, is they haven’t yet found the ‘One’.  When their friend Tia challenges them to change all that through online dating, Luca and Bee set about the task with very different levels of enthusiasm.
The saying goes that you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince, and it’s not long before Bee is ready to admit defeat. But with Luca inundated with potential love interests, Bee is determined not to give up. Surely her perfect partner is out there somewhere… 

‘Read yourself happy’ with Maxine Morrey’s latest heart-warming, feelgood, page-turning romance, guaranteed to make you smile. Perfect for fans of Lauren Weisberger and Sophie Kinsella.

Purchase Link - https://amzn.to/3K5eVnP

Review

Just a few pages into this book, I knew two things:

1. Bee's self-esteem is locked in a cellar somewhere

2. [SPOILER]

Don't worry about number 2, Bee doesn't know it either, and yet both these things hinder her tremendously when she and her best friend, handsome Luca Donato, are challenged to try online dating. It's entertaining, awkward, and sometimes frustrating to watch Bee get shoved out of her comfort zone on her way to living her best life.

I have an awful lot of sympathy for Bee, as emotionally and often physically absent parents did a number on her. Her friends - particularly Tia - provide much needed moral support, and Luca does his best to convince Bee that she's worth it. Unfortunately, her insecurity is almost more than their friendship can take, especially when Luca's flaws seems so few.

Best enjoyed when warm and dry (unlike poor Bee on more than one occasion!), Living Your Best Life is fun, funny, and sometimes all too relateable.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book via Rachel's Random Resources; all opinions are my own

Author Bio 

Maxine Morrey is a bestselling romantic comedy author with eight books to her name including Winter’s Fairytale and the top ten hit The Christmas Project. She lives in West Sussex. Her first novel for Boldwood, #No Filter, was published in November 2019.

Social Media Links 
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaxineMorreyAuthor
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/Scribbler_Maxi/
Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/MaxineMorreyNews

Review: Spelunking Through Hell by Seanan McGuire

This feels like a culmination.

Spelunking Through Hell is book 11 of a series about a family of cryptozoologists - monster scientists and preservationists. It switches POV every few books and some are more interconnected than others. The events that led to this one really kicked off at the end of book 5, which started a domino chain through books 6, 7, and 8, with books 9 and 10 detouring slightly. In addition to the novels, there's a bunch of short stories and novellas - some released for free on the author's website, other in anthologies or on Patreon - detailing past generations. I can't tell you how well this one stands on its own because it stands SO WELL with its prequels, drawing two straight lines from the current continuity and the past that got us here to the culmination of what feels like a lot of things.

Thematically, it's a quest. Alice Healy has been hunting for her husband for fifty years, smashing through the walls between dimensions and giving people nightmares. She's abandoned her children, now grown, and somehow still looks about the age of their children, or even younger. The last time she saw her granddaughter Antimony, she learnt news that changed everything and gave her hope again. We meet her as she back onto Earth, right before her infamous Healy luck points her in a new direction. It might be a trap. It might be the answer to everything. It's definitely going to be a wild ride.

Alive has a very different perspective from her grandkids. She's older, far more cynical, and her focus is finding Thomas, with neither Covenant nor cryptozoology in sight. She's cheerful and damaged and tremendous fun to read even as you groan at some of her choices. She makes a lot more sense now I've read her backstory.

I'm trying not to gush but my flatmate caught me grinning at my phone during one particular fight scene and I found myself going back to reread choice bits (and then found myself rereading pretty much all of it). There's a bit of body horror and references to Alice's very poor parenting, but if you've read any of this series and enjoyed it, you will love this. I'd just recommend reading the Patreon stories for it to have maximum impact. It feels like a culmination, but it also feels like an inflection point, and I can't wait to see where the Price-Healy family do next.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley; all opinions are my own

Blog Tour: The Mystery of the Lost Husbands by Gina Cheyne

Is murdering husbands an addiction or merely a bad habit?

This is the question facing Private Investigator Cat Harrington when rich builder, Tom Drayton, dies shortly after his wedding night. Suspicion falls on his widow, Anastasia Rodriguez, the survivor of three previous ‘lost’ husbands.

Two years later, Anastasia is engaged again, to Cat’s friend Angelo, an Italian snail collector.

Angelo’s sister, Gia, employs Cat and the SeeMs Detective Agency to discover if her brother’s financé is a killer.

The search for Anastasia’s lost husbands takes Cat and her team from Scotland to the South of Spain and on to Argentina.

They have just a few weeks before the wedding to discover if Anastasia is a murderer and save their friend from becoming victim number five.

For fans of Arsenic and Old Lace and The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency

Purchase Links

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mystery-Husbands-SeeMS-Detective-Agency/dp/1915138019/
US - https://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Husbands-SeeMS-Detective-Agency/dp/1915138019/ 

Review

Cat, Miranda, and Stevie run a detective agency that mainly searches for lost dogs, but when Cat's friend announces his engagement to a four-time widow, the unlikely trio must investigate whether beautiful Anastasia Rodriguez is a victim of bad luck or a stone-cold black widow. It's a rollercoaster romp around the world, spiced up by flashbacks. Not only do we get a look into Anastasia's past, but that of our detectives and how they met. It's clear none of them are your typical sleuths! I liked that they were women in different stages of life, with kids and even some grandkids around. Of course, there's a huge cast of characters that was a little hard to keep up with, but it's fun to sit back and let them play out, and there's heaps of room to get to know them more in future books. There are a few loose ends but it is overall a promising start to a new series.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book via Rachel's Random Resources; all opinions are my own

Author Bio

Gina has worked as a physiotherapist, a pilot, freelance writer and a dog breeder.
As a child, Gina's parents hated travelling and never went further than Jersey. As a result she became travel-addicted and spent the year after university bumming around SE Asia, China and Australia, where she worked in a racing stables in Pinjarra, South of Perth. After getting stuck in black sand in the Ute one time too many (and getting a tractor and trailer caught in a tree) she was relegated to horse-riding work only. After her horse bolted down the sand, straining a fetlock and falling in the sea, she was further relegated to swimming the horses only in the pool. It was with some relief the racehorse stables posted her off on the train into eastern Australia to work in a vineyard... after all what could go wrong there?
In the north of Thailand, she took a boat into the Golden Triangle and got shot at by bandits. Her group escaped into the undergrowth and hid in a hill tribe whisky still where they shared the 'bathroom' with a group of pigs. Getting a lift on a motorbike they hurried back to Chiang Rai, where life seemed calmer.
After nearly being downed in a fiesta in Ko Pha Ngan, and cursed by a witch in Malaysia, she decided to go to Singapore and then to China where she only had to battle with the language and regulations.
Since marrying the first time, she has lived and worked in many countries including Spain and the USA.
For a few years Gina was a Wingwalking pilot, flying, amongst others, her 64-year-old mother standing on the wing to raise money for a cancer charity. She was also a helicopter instructor and examiner and took part in the World Helicopter Championships in Russia and the USA.
She became a writer because her first love was always telling a good yarn!
Under the name Georgina Hunter-Jones she has written illustrated children's books such as The Twerple who had Too Many Brains, and Nola the Rhinoceros loves Mathematics.
She now lives in Sussex with her husband and dogs, one of who inspired the Biscuit and Pugwash Detective Series about naughty dogs who solve crimes.
The Mystery of the Lost Husbands is the first in the SeeMS Detective Agency series and Gina's first crime novel for adults.

Social Media Links
Website: www.ginacheyne.com