Blog Tour: Blood Symmetry by Kate Rhodes Exclusive Story and Review

Blood Symmetry by Kate Rhodes

Published: 14th July 2016

Publisher: Mulholland Books

Pages: 342

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Today it's my stop on the Blood Symmetry by Kate Rhodes blog tour, firstly we have an exclusive story from Kate from Mikey's perspective of events and then keep scrolling down for my review of this gripping crime novel.

Blood Symmetry: Mikey’s story
I think in pictures, not words. Mum says I should go to art school one day, but she’s left me behind, just like my dad. Alice looks after me now. She lets me help her to cook our meals, and sometimes she sings to me when I can’t sleep. It’s her voice I love best: gentle and quiet and kind. She keeps asking questions about mum, and I want to explain, but when I open my mouth, no sound comes out. Words sit in my mind like the stones I hide in my pockets, when mum takes me to the beach.

I keep trying to remember what happened. I see mum waiting by the front door that morning, while I lace up my trainers, then I’m chasing her down the path. She looks back over her shoulder, laughing. Circles of light fall to the ground as we sprint through the trees, round as gold coins. Our footsteps drum louder and my heartbeat’s racing to keep up. Then mum screams, and I can’t see anything anymore. Rough fabric covers my face, scratching my skin, filling my lungs with the smell of petrol. That’s when everything stops. The images shudder then fade away, like a DVD breaking down. Each day the pictures get clearer, but forgetting is safer than remembering. I want to keep mum safe in my mind, laughing back at me as we run through the trees.

Sometimes I think it’s my fault. I woke mum up, to come running with me. If I’d let her sleep, we’d still be together, and I could go back to school. I miss the lessons when the teacher lets us paint whatever we like most of all. Alice has given me a pad and pencils, but it’s not the same. I keep drawing the same picture, of the path across the common. I see it even with my eyes closed. But the nightmares are worst of all. The hood over my head is too tight to breathe, and when it comes off, there’s blood on the ground. It’s too dark to tell where it’s come from, or whether it’s mine. I wake up screaming, but Alice is always there. She says the police will find my mum, and soon I can go home, but what if she’s wrong? I want to push words from my lips, so my thoughts run freely again, but they cling to the sides of my mouth. If only making time go backwards was as easy as spinning the hands on a clock. Mum would still be at home, resting in peace. She wouldn’t have to run through the trees and never come out again.

Thank you Kate for that exclusive piece, Blood Symmetry is out now and can be purchased on Amazon here.

Blurb
Clare Riordan and her son Mikey are abducted from Clapham Common early one morning. Hours later, the boy is found wandering disorientated. Soon after, a pack of Clare's blood is left on a doorstep in the heart of the City of London.
Alice Quentin is brought in to help the traumatised child uncover his memories - which might lead them to his mother's captors. But she swiftly realises Clare is not the first victim... nor will she be the last.
The killers are driven by a desire for revenge... and in the end, it will all come down to blood.

Review
Clare Riordan and her son Mikey have been abducted on Clapham Common while taking a morning run. Hours later eleven year old Mikey is found wandering the streets disorientated and mute. Later that day a pack of Clare’s blood is found left on a doorstep in the heart of London. Alice Quentin is brought in to help Mikey try and uncover his memories and help find his mother. Soon it’s clear to Alice and the police team that Clare is not the first victim and she won’t be the last as these killers have a very distinct desire for revenge.

Alice has soon formed a bond with Mikey and is determined to bring his mother’s abductor to justice. Clare works in the haematology department at the Royal Free Hospital and it soon becomes clear that blood is the key to her disappearance as further victims are uncovered and more blood packs are found.  Alice believes there is a link between Clare and two previous attacks on medical professionals, she’s determined to prove the connection is the Tainted Blood Panel a team of experts brought in by the government to assess the damage of the use of Factor 8 on haemophilia. Can Alice and Burns find the link and the killer before it’s too late?

Blood Symmetry is the fifth Alice Quentin novel by Kate Rhodes but the first that I have read. I believe it can be read as a standalone but like me you will probably become hooked by Alice and by Kate’s brilliant writing. I’m definitely eager to go back to the beginning and find out more about Alice as she’s enthralling. She’s been in a relationship with DCI Don Burns, who she just happens to have to partner with in this book, for four months and she’s unsure whether to fully commit or run for her life as these new feelings make her uneasy. DCI Burns has left his wife but is unwavering in his affection for Alice despite her inability to commit, for me this relationship dynamic was fascinating and I’d love to find how it all began.

There are many suspects in this book including many of Clare’s colleagues, her neighbours, her sister, members of a blood activist group, the list goes on. I loved this because just when I thought I had everything worked out, Kate Rhodes threw another spanner in the works to confuse me even more. This had me gripped to this book as I was determined to work out the killer before they were revealed, sadly I couldn’t!

I also enjoyed the chapters which are written from the killer’s perspective and were like reading their mind, which is a format I feel works very well in crime novels as we get more insight into the “why”. Beware though this book has some gruesome moments which did make my stomach churn a little.

I liked how the motive for these killings had a connection to real events in history and was connected to something which affected many, many lives rather than just being a “I don’t like you, so I’ll kill you” kind of book.  Some of the characters we meet were living with the effects of Factor 8 and it was obvious through the writing that these people and their families were really struggling and for this reason you can emphasize with the killer a little as all they really wanted was recognition and justice for their suffering.

I think this was a brilliant read and had everything I want in a crime novel, a complex plot to work out, interesting killer and suspects and protagonists with more in their lives than work. I’m definitely going to be reading the rest of the Alice Quentin novels, hopefully before the next book is published.

Thank you so much to the publishers for sending me a copy to review and for inviting me to be part of the Blood Symmetry blog tour.

Blog Tour Q&A with Liz Nugent

Today its my stop on the Lying In Wait blog tour and I'd like to welcome Liz Nugent to the blog and thank her for kindly answering a few of my questions. Lying In Wait is available now and can be purchased from Amazon here. 

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what inspired you to become a writer?

I was always a voracious reader from a very early age, and lost myself in different worlds and different personalities. I think I wanted to create my own world and my own characters. Slightly sinister stories appealed to me most and in fairly quick succession, I worked on a stage production of John Banville’s The Book of Evidence (I used to be a stage manager) and read Engleby by Sebastian Faulks. The central characters fascinated me, so I thought I’d write one.

Lying in Wait is your second novel, how does it differ from your first Unravelling Oliver?

Whereas Oliver was a man determined to be childless, in Lying in Wait, the protagonist Lydia is obsessed with being a mother. Unravelling Oliver spanned over fifty years whereas the action in Lying in Wait happens in three parts 1980, 1985 and very briefly, present day.  Oliver kills people indirectly but Lydia is ‘hands-on’!

What was your inspiration for writing Lying in Wait? A man once told me that he strongly suspected his father had murdered a prostitute in the 1960s. He had no evidence or no way of proving it. He never had the courage to challenge his father and went to his grave wondering. He told me this story about 25 years ago and he is long dead now. I always wondered what it would be like to grow up in a house where you suspect your father is a murderer.

Which was your favourite character in the book and why?

Even though Karen is brave, honest and strong, I really loved Laurence. He really tried his best to do the right thing, to make up for the mistakes of his parents. For most of the novel, he is blind to his mother’s manipulations. His struggle with his weight is entirely psychological. In writing his life, I realised I needed to give him at least one amazing day where he could see life’s possibilities, so I sent him to Rome!

Was it difficult to write about such unnerving characters?

It’s quite liberating to write really monstrous characters because they can say outrageous things that wouldn’t cross our minds normally. The plotting of the book is the hard bit. I find characterisation relatively easy.

Describe Lying in Wait in three word?

Mothering is smothering.

How did you want readers to feel after reading Lying in Wait?

I’d like them to be shocked and exhilarated and immediately recommend it to all of their friends. J

What can we expect to see from you next?

A new novel in late 2017, I hope!

Who are some of your favourite authors?

Way too many to mention and I know so many great writers that I’m afraid I’d leave someone out and offend them. I read across all genres. My favourite dead writers would be John Williams, Emily Bronte, John Steinbeck, Thomas Hardy, Daphne du Maurier, Truman Capote etc.

Which three books have you enjoyed most so far this year?

Tastes Like Fear by Sarah Hilary

The Maker of Swans by Paraic O’Donnell

The Diary of Mary Travers by Eibhear Walsh

How do you intend to celebrate publication day?

Penguin Ireland are generously hosting a launch for me on publication day so I expect to see lots of friends and drink some wine.

What advice would you give to anyone wishing to pursue a writing career?

Get off the Internet and read more books. The more you read, the more you learn about the craft of writing.

Quick fire questions:

Do you prefer:

Tea of Coffee? Tea. When I was a baby, my mother used to give me milky coffee in my beaker. When I was about fifteen, I stopped drinking it and now probably have two coffees per year. I don’t think I could write without tea!

Sweet or Savoury? Sweet. I don’t know how many times I have offered to be Cadbury’s brand ambassador. I think they have blocked me on Twitter.

Cosy fires or summer sun? Tough one. Winters are so long here and a cosy fire is so comforting, but our summers are usually miserable too, so I have to go for summer sun, just not Irish summer sun.

High heel or flats? I have a condition called dystonia which makes walking in high heels impossible so I have never worn them in my life. I am permanently jealous of other people’s shoes, but the upside is that I don’t spend ridiculous amounts of money on shoes. I live in Sketchers.

To drive or be driven? Drive. I need to be in charge. My car, my rules. I’m not actually a very good driver and once wrote off three cars inside one year (nobody injured thank God) but it hasn’t cured me. I still want to be the driver and if not, I want to be in the front seat. That will of course change when I get a limo and driver. Ha ha!

Thank you, Joanne, for the excellent questions, and for taking part in this blog tour. Liz x

Blog Tour Review: My Husband's Wife by Jane Corry

My Husband's Wife by Jane Corry

Published: 26th May 2016 (eBook)

Publisher: Penguin, Random House

Pages: 534

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Blurb

FIRST COMES LOVE. THEN COMES MARRIAGE. THEN COMES MURDER...
When lawyer Lily marries Ed, she's determined to make a fresh start. To leave the secrets of the past behind.
But then she meets Joe. A convicted murderer who reminds Lily of someone she once knew, and who she becomes obsessed with freeing.
But is he really innocent?
And who is she to judge?

Review

My Husband’s Wife by Jane Corry is a novel which intrigued me as soon as I read the tagline: “First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes murder” What on earth must happen in this book for love to end in murder?

Right from the start we know it is Ed who has been murdered but we have no clue as to who did it or why. They main story is split into two parts, the first being fifteen years earlier when Lily and Ed are newly married and young Carla enters their lives. Told in alternating chapters between Lily and Carla we begin to build up a picture of these two characters who both have aspects of good and bad in them.

Lily and Ed have recently married after a whirlwind romance. Really they are still getting to know each other and soon it is obvious that they are both hiding things from the other.  Lily has just been made a criminal defence lawyer and her first case is defend convicted murderer Joe Thomas in his appeal case. Instantly Lily is drawn to this man who reminds her of her brother Daniel and she goes out of her way to ensure that he walks free, whether he was guilty or not. As the case develops Lily and Ed’s argue more and more and their marriage begins to hit the rocks, can they find a way to start again?

Carla lives in the same building as Ed and Lily with her mother Francesca who is having an affair with a married man named “Larry”. Carla is being bullied at school for being different but receives very little comfort from her mother who seems more concerned with pleasing Larry than her own daughter. When Carla is sent home one day from school after an incident Lily steps in to look after her, as her mother is nowhere to be found. This sees the start of Carla spending more and more of her weekends with Lily and Ed acting as a buffer for their marriage until an chance encounter blows everything apart.

Fast forward twelve years later and a grown up Carla makes her way back in the lives of Lily and Ed, she’s looking for revenge for the unhappiness of her childhood and the consequences for Lily and Ed are devastating.

Right from the start I found this a very intense read, it’s one of those books which you know is building up to something and it makes you feel unsettled. I found that most of the characters seemed to be hiding something and were always very tense with each other trying not to let all the secrets come pouring out and I didn’t really like any of them.

I found Francesca and Ed to be both selfish characters who only seemed to be focused on making themselves happy, which did at times make me feel sorry for Lily and little Carla. But as the story progressed it’s obvious that Carla is quite a manipulative child and will get want she wants even if she goes about it in the wrong way and as she gets older what she wants becomes bigger and bigger. Lily was the character I was most unsure about, I really wanted to like her but I just couldn’t. She’s hiding something from her past and it unsettled me that she wasn’t honest with Ed. As the story progresses Lily begins to hide more and more little things so you never really know when she’s being completely honest.

My Husband’s Wife is an intense novel full of blackmail, hidden secrets and watching the consequences when those little white lies all come tumbling out. It’s a novel which has been very cleverly written so you’re not sure who is good, who is bad and who is telling the truth. It’s a novel which will make you question the morality of every decision you’ve ever made, will make you wonder if even the very best people have a little bit of bad in them and it will make you wonder how far people will go to get what they want. In the end, the question at the centre of this book is who do you believe more Lily or Carla?

Despite not liking the characters I did really enjoy reading this book, I think perhaps not liking the characters has left me thinking about the book more as I’m not entirely sure which characters story I believe, if I’d had a favourite then maybe I would have an answer.

 My Husband’s Wife is a book which had me hooked from the start and has left we with many things to think about, which for once I rather like. I’d like to rate this book 5 out 5 and would recommend it to anyone who loves an intense read full of mind games and moral questions.

Thank you so much to the publishers for sending me a copy to review and also for inviting me to be part of the My Husband’s Wife blog tour.

Bind Blog Tour: Review & "Hey Bestie! The Secret to Creating Heroines You Want as a Best Friend" by Sierra Cartwright

Bind by Sierra Cartwright

Published: 5th May 2016 (paperback)

Publisher: Totally Bond

Pages: 320

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Blurb

Only one man can help her. Is she willing to pay his price?
Faced with the potentially overwhelming loss of her family's fortune, Lara Bertrand turns to the one man who can help her, the gorgeous and powerful Connor Donovan.
She knows he's dangerous to her on every level. Only desperation would drive her to make such a risky proposition. After all, she knows all about his ruthless nature and relentless determination to succeed.
When the classy, elegant Lara walks into his office with an outrageous proposal, Connor is stunned and more than a little intrigued. Ever since he first met her, he's been attracted to the cool beauty, but she's more than kept her distance.
Connor is absolutely willing to help her out. For a price. He not only wants her hand in marriage, but also her total submissive surrender...

Review
Bind by Sierra Cartwright is the first novel in her new trilogy The Donovan Dynasty. This first book focuses on Conner Donovan, the CEO of Donavan Worldwide and his relationship with Lara Bertrand CFO of Bertrand Holdings Inc.

Lara is a woman who knows exactly what she wants and usually how to get it. In order to save her family business from financial ruin as her father’s business practices become more and more lack lustre Lara knows she needs a like-minded soul on the board of directors. Enter Conner Donovan, someone who has already shown an interest in parts of the business and Lara decides the man to help save her business.

As Lara makes her proposal to Conner, that they be married, in name only so he can join the board and help her out vote her father’s decisions she doesn’t expect the answer she gets. Yes he’ll marry her but in return Lara must surrender herself to him completely and in doing so she will experience things she’s never even dreamed of. Will Lara put her heart on the line and surrender to Conner to save the business or will she find another way?

As someone who doesn’t tend to read too many BDSM novels I wasn’t sure what to expect with Bind. I like my novels to have a believable plotline and relatable characters and not just sex scenes, something I’ve found lacking in other novels of this genre. In Bind I think Sierra Cartwright has balanced these two factors perfectly. I found the plotline convincing, the characters relatable and the chemistry between them sizzling which made for some scorching sex scenes.

I loved the dynamic between Conner and Lara, they’re both very intelligent, work well as a team and as a couple they are hot, hot, hot! I loved how connected they seemed to be. Conner had wanted a completely submissive partner in the bedroom but in the boardroom he seemed just as happy to let Lara take the lead.

I also loved their relationships with other people which I felt were very genuine. My favourite relationship was between Lara and Erin, Conner’s sister. These two savvy business women have known each other a long time and bounce business ideas off each other as well as relationship advice, so it was good when Erin didn’t instantly side with her brother when Lara mentions quarrels the two have and I just loved her phrase “chicks before dicks”.

I really enjoyed reading Bind, it had everything I wanted in an erotic fiction novel and has left me eager to continue on with this trilogy and find out what brothers Cade and Nathan have in store for us. I’d give Bind five out of five.

Thank you to the publishers for sending me a copy to review and for asking me to be part of the blog tour.

And now over to Sierra

Thanks for hosting me on your blog. I love your clean, inviting layout. 

Hey, Bestie! The Secret to Creating Heroines You Want as Your Best Friend

by Sierra Cartwright

There has never been a time in my life that I didn’t write. I penned my first book when I was nine, and my mum was my first editor. She corrected “babby” to baby and “haven” to heaven. I don’t know if my spelling improved, but from there, I moved onto longer works and handwrote a Star Trek fanfic at age thirteen. I also drank my first-ever pot of coffee on the night I stayed up until three a.m. to finish the first draft. Both are habits I’ve yet to break.

I wrote nine full-length novels before I eventually sold a book to Harlequin/Silhouette. Back then, there was massive competition for each slot, something like a thousand or two thousand
submissions for each that was accepted.

 The good thing about the years of rejection was the fact I honed my craft. I went to seminar after seminar, including one from Robert McKee and another from Donald Mass. I entered competitions, participated in critique groups that actually used red Sharpies to mark-up manuscripts, attended monthly writers’ meetings. I devoured all the books on writing that I could get my hands on. And I studied characterization.

Perhaps the most important lesson I learned was from my agent at the time, Irene Goodman. She was talking to me about heroines, and she said, “Think about the friend you’d like to have.The sassy one. The one who says outrageous things. The one who isn’t afraid to say the F- word.” (Irene, however, used the real word. It was unexpected and shocking.)

I came away from that conversation feeling as if I’d been gifted with The Secret about how to create my heroines, and I changed my approach. Rather than just looking at pictures for my character board, I began to consider the traits I want in my bestie.

I want her to be courageous, in a way I wished I was, confident, in a way I aspire to. And she needs to be flawed. No one wants to be friends with someone who is absolutely perfect—how boring and intimidating. We want to hang-out with someone who is real, who makes us laugh, who we can share our secrets with. We want them to eat ice cream with us when we go through a breakup, sneak a latte into the hospital ward after surgery, or drink a little too much on girls’ night out. I endeavor to create heroines who are admirable as well as fun, interesting and have a huge heart. And by seeing her interact with her friends, we see what type of person she is. So, it’s a good bet that my heroines will all have some they can call, “Bestie.”

 On the surface, Lara Bertrand, the heroine of Bind, my latest mass-market release, has it all. She’s the daughter of a successful businessman, educated, intelligent, beautiful.

But she’s hiding a secret. Her family’s business is teetering on failure. And no matter what she suggests, her father won’t listen to her. Connor Donovan, the devastatingly handsome CEO of Donovan Worldwide, has made a play for part of her family’s business, and the businesswoman in her thinks they should agree.

Lara takes drastic measures. She approaches Connor and proposes. To her, the arrangement is logical. He’ll get a seat on the board, meaning he’ll be able to bypass her father and takeover certain divisions. The problem is, this means she will be betraying her beloved father.

Lara is speechless when Connor says he’ll help her, but only if it’s a real marriage. And he will expect her to be his sexual submissive.

Of course, it’s a post-Fifty Shades of Grey world, so Lara has an idea of what that might mean.But she has no idea what it means to her, especially when he obliterates all her expectations and gives her shattering orgasms. She’d assumed it meant one thing, and it turns out that his oh-so sexy attention feeds a hunger she hadn’t known existed.

She changes, evolves, becomes a different person because of her experiences with Connor. One thing doesn’t change, though. I would still like to go out for dinner and a glass of wine with Lara and her friend, Erin.

Oh, hey. Would you like to join us? I’m buying the first round.

Blog Tour - The Waiting Game by Jessica Thompson

 

The Waiting Game by Jessica Thompson

Published: 13th August 2015

Publisher: Coronet

Pages: 326

Available now from Amazon

 

Today I'm excited to be part of The Waiting Game blog tour and firstly I have an exclusive extract from the book, followed my review of this wonderful book.

 

 

Extract

The ground seemed to speed up beneath Nessa’s feet. Grass, straw and soil rushed beneath her, faster and faster . . .

She looked up occasionally, terrified she might turn her ankle on a molehill, or a clod of mud. She wasn’t sure if she’d feel it even if she did hurt herself. Adrenaline’s natural painkilling qualities coursed through her limbs.

Nessa had never run this fast in her life. She hadn’t even known she was capable of it. Her breathing had regulated, so she was able to propel her legs forwards, launching herself over obstacles. She bounded forwards, her calves and thighs working like pistons. Faster, faster. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to stop now, even if she tried.

Is this madness? Is this how it feels?

The field looked as if it might go on forever. The forest was seemingly moving backwards in the distance rather than getting closer, as if it were a cut-out paper prop controlled by a child, gleefully moving the goalposts. Nessa came to a low gate. She didn’t have time to fiddle with it to get it open and then close it behind her again, so she put one hand down on the rough warm wood and launched her legs over it. She landed, surprisingly hard, on some damp soil on the other side. The shock from the landing reverberated up her body so that her teeth smacked against each other, catching the tip of her tongue. It hurt so much it brought tears to her eyes. She could taste the metallic, iron flavour of blood in her mouth, but she didn’t care. She had to keep going. A small group of cows in a nearby field watched on casually, chewing slowly and moving their mass from hoof to hoof, the occasional shake of a tail to bat the flies away.

Eventually, Nessa reached the opening of the forest. She kept running; her feet landed on dried-out twigs and branches that crackled and crunched beneath her feet. The sunshine pierced through the canopy of trees that provided a roof of broken shelter over the forest. The light glittered, shimmering on the ground. She didn’t really know where she was going anymore. She just had to keep going. Where had the tiny figure disappeared to?

‘Jake!’ she yelled, the word booming from her chest. She imagined each letter of his precious name growing wings, rising up and getting tangled in the trees, each singing their own desperate song of a woman who had, quite literally, lost a man.

‘Jake!’ she cried again, louder this time, her eyes still watering with the pain in her mouth. More blood.

‘Jake!’ she cried, as if her life depended on it.

‘JAKE!!’ she yelled again, furiously this time. She hoped that if he might somehow be able to hear her, he would know how livid she was with him.

 

The forest seemed to reduce itself towards a small, dark archway created by a particularly thick group of trees that bent towards each other at an angle. There were two other pathways, to the right and left of this rabbit hole, but she decided to take the central route. She slowed down, but kept running, stooping as low as she could to get into the tunnel. The sunshine barely penetrated this place, and she was plunged into near darkness.

Nessa slowed down, suddenly feeling exhausted, slinking into a fast walk, her breath rattling in her chest. The running and adrenaline had caught up with her. She felt more tired than she ever had.

And then suddenly, as if from nowhere, someone grabbed her from behind, their arms clamped so tightly around her waist, it felt as if they might break her lower ribs. Her feet were swept off the ground, effortlessly.

 

Blurb

Ness Bruce had waited for her husband to return home from Afghanistan for what felt like forever. Now the moment was finally here.

But Jake Bruce didn't come home.

Nessa's life - and that of her rebellious daughter Poppy  - is turned upside downin an instant. What has happened to the elusive man at the centre of their world? They hold onto the hope that he is still out there somewhere, alive...but as time passes by, Nessa is forced to look at her life, at the decisions she has mad and the secrets se has kept. For maybe somewhere within it all lies the answer to the question -  where is the man she loves?

Review

The first thing that drew me to The Waiting Game was its cover. That green metallic is even more gorgeous in real life making this cover one of my favourites from the year so far. I’ve not read anything by Jessica Thompson but have heard great things about her writing I was very excited to review this book for the tour. This book more than lived up to my expectations, it was heart aching beautiful in the way it captures emotion is such a raw way. I simply loved it.

Nessa Bruce has been waiting for her husband Jake to return from armed forces for months and she’s beginning to really struggle with holding it all together. Fourteen year daughter Poppy is pushing her mother to the limits with teenage rebellion, sister Kat is wanting answers from their childhood that Nessa has kept hidden and her mother in law Betsy is needing more emotional support as her husband Mike stoops deeper into the depths of dementia. Nessa is counting down the days until Jake’s return, but then then the unthinkable happens and Jake doesn’t come home. Nessa’s world is rocked to the core as she has to learn to cope on her own.

Initially I wasn’t sure how much I was going to enjoy this book as the plotline seemed very straight forward, however I was unprepared for the wonderful way in  which Jessica’s writing drew me in, so I felt like I was on Nessa’s emotional rollercoaster alongside her. Nessa’s pain got into my heart and I was just longing for Jake to come back and put his arms round her and make it better in the way we know only the one you love can do.

There were some parts of the story which I found to be predictable but then there were also twists which I was unprepared for, one of which felt like my heart had landed in my stomach and had me crying out. Jessica’s writing is very powerful and I can guarantee it will move you emotionally. It is a book which deals with love, loss and finding your inner strength when you’re totally at rock bottom.

I adored this book and cannot wait to read more of Jessica’s books. If you only read one book this summer, make sure it this one as it’s very special.

Thank you to Coronet for inviting me on this tour and sending me a review copy, I rate this book 5/5.

 

Blog Tour Book Review - The List by Joanna Bolouri

Welcome to the second to last stop of the blog tour for The List by Joanna Bolouri, organised by Emma Louise in conjunction with Quercus. If you want to find out more out Emma Louise, check out her blog here.

 

The List by Joanna Bolouri

Published: 10th April 2014 (first published 5th December 2013)

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 400

Available in paperback and on kindle

Order now from Amazon

 

Blurb

Phoebe Henderson may be single but she sure doesn't feel fabulous. It's been a year since she found her boyfriend Alex in bed with another woman, and multiple cases of wine and extensive relationship analysis with best friend Lucy have done nothing to help. Faced with a new year but no new love, Phoebe concocts a different kind of resolution.

The List: ten things she's always wanted to do in bed but has never had the chance (or the courage!) to try. A bucket list for between the sheets. One year of pleasure, no strings attached. Simple, right?

Factor in meddlesome colleagues, friends with benefits, getting frisky al fresco and maybe, possibly, true love and Phoebe's got her work cut out for her.

 

Review

The List has been a book which has been on my radar to pick up since it first came out, so when Emma Louise organised this tour I took the opportunity to join in and finally read it and I’m so glad I did. The List is a hilarious book which talks honestly about sex and relationships in a way which is not too vulgar or sugary sweet.

It’s New Year’s Eve and Phoebe Henderson is nursing a broken heart after finding boyfriend Alex in bed with another woman. After numerous bottles of wine and relationship dissection with friend Lucy, Phoebe decides its time to find out what she really wants. So she sets herself a new resolution with a difference. Ten things she’s always wanted to experience in bed but hasn’t yet had the chance.  In order to complete her challenges Phoebe enlists the help of best friend Oliver for some no strings, sexual fun.  So begins Phoebe’s quest for sexual enlightenment, along the way she encounters a few obstacles and gets herself into a couple of compromising positions.  So does Phoebe complete her challenge? Well you’ll have to read the book and find out!

I was instantly drawn to Phoebe, she says exactly what comes into her head, even though at times she realises afterwards she could have worded things better and been a little less abrupt.  I loved her chats with Lucy, the way they were so honest about everything, including the sex and how good or bad it was. They talked like you would expect two friends to, nothing held back, anything goes, which made for some very funny conversations.  The thing I really liked about Phoebe was despite coming across as confident and sure of herself on the outside, on the inside she still had a vulnerability about her, with real insecurities about ending up all alone, which for me made her really endearing. She is a real heroine for women today, a woman who isn’t afraid to go out there and get what she wants, a woman who doesn’t care what she weighs, how much she drinks, or how much she swears…which is a LOT!

This book is written in a diary format from Phoebe’s point of view and I thought this worked extremely well.  The book is spread across the year and at 400 pages you would expect it to take a while to read, but you’ll get hooked on Joanna’s easy flowing writing style and be finished before you know it. I kept reading just a bit more as I wanted to find out how Phoebe’s next challenge would work out. Some challenges went fairly smoothly and some were more disastrous but they were all really FUNNY. Throughout her year Phoebe’s encounters a number of sexual partners and some of them are definitely more frog than prince.

Now I cannot write a review of this book without talking about the sex. The best word I have come up with to describe it is HONEST, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad and sometimes it’s just downright funny. It is described in such a way that makes it believable. Yes there is a lot of it and yes it is fairly detailed in some parts, but not in a way that makes you throw the book across the room in disgust. It is written in a way that makes you curious, because let’s face it we’re all curious about having better sex whether we admit it or not. So whether you embark on your own LIST or just live through Phoebe just enjoy it!

As a debut novel I think Joanna Bolouri has done excellent job in providing us with an honest and hilarious look at sex and relationships and I cannot wait to read what she writes next. I’d love a follow on to find out what happens to Phoebe. I rate this book 5/5 as there is nothing I can think of which I didn’t really enjoy, if you are looking for a book to make you laugh then this is it.

I’d like to thank Emma Louise for organising this blog tour and also Quercus books for sending me a copy to review and lastly to thank Joanna for writing such a brilliant book. If you would like to find out more about the author then you can visit www.joannabolouri.wordpress.com or follow her on twitter @scribbles78 where you can see just how funny this lady really is.