#BlogTour The Price by Kerry Kaya @KerryKayaWriter @BoldwoodBooks @rararesources @bookandtonic #ThePrice #boldwoodbloggers

 

The Price by Kerry Kaya was published by Boldwood Books on 13th July 2021. My thanks to the publisher for the review copy and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for the blog tour invitation. 

Break the rules…

Harry Fletcher – Fletch to his friends – has spent his life surviving the tough streets of the East End. He knows working for notorious gangster Billy King is dangerous, and sleeping with Billy’s beautiful wife, Susan is deadly…but rules are meant to be broken.

 

Pay the price.

 

If Billy discovers the affair, Fletch is a dead man. But the closer he gets to Susan the more reckless Fletch becomes. And soon, Fletch realises that every one - even him - must pay the price for his actions.

 

But just what is Fletch prepared to lose…and will the cost be too high, even for him?

 

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3fFNB19

My Thoughts: 

The Price is the first book I have read by Kerry Kaya but it certainly won't be my last. I always seem to enjoy being swept up into this genre. The grit and the pace coupled with the sense of real people and real lives always has me turning the pages at lightening speed. 

In this captivating story we follow Fletch and his brother Spence. Fletch, who might have just bitten off more than he can chew. He is working for Billy King and as a gangster and leader you would not want to get on the his wrong side. Fletch is really playing with fire though and is having an affair with Billy King's wife Susan. Just what are the consequences to such behaviour should Billy find out? 

The Price is about the tough guys and the mean streets but there is also a likeability to the characters. In particular Fletch just seemed to charm me. There are portions of the book that are grittier and with the anticipated bits of violence. There are also parts that lighten the tone a little. 

I always find gangland fiction such page turners and there are usually plenty of twist and turns. The Price fits in the genre perfectly and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

 I would definitely seek out more of this authors books in future. She is definitely a firm fixture for this type of book. 

 
About the Author:  

Kerry Kaya is the hugely popular author of Essex-based gritty gangland thrillers with strong family dynamics. She grew up on one of the largest council estates in the UK, where she sets her novels. She also works full-time in a busy maternity department for the NHS. She has signed a nine-book deal with Boldwood for both new and backlist titles. Her first book The Price will be published in July 2021.

 

Social Media Links –  

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KerryKayaAuthor

Twitter https://twitter.com/KerryKayaWriter on Twitter

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kerry_kaya_writer/ on Instagram

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#BlogTour: Shame by Elizabeth Forbes @lizzieforbes @RandomTTours #Shame

 

Shame by Elizabeth Forbes was independently published on 30th May 2021. My thanks to the author for the review copy and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for the blog tour invitation. 

George and Martha have things they’d rather keep hidden from each other: private thoughts, desires and secrets which, if discovered, could cause untold shame. But to an outsider they appear to have a happy, contented and conventional family life. At their twins’ Fred and Delilah’s twenty-first birthday party events conspire to uncover disturbing emotional connections, and threaten to reveal a past that has long been concealed.Soon after, a holiday designed to repair the damage exposes further rifts that could spread beyond the family and possibly change their futures forever. As a GP, Martha is used to helping her patients mend physically and mentally, but can she do the same for her husband and children, or will the ensuing damage leave wounds that will never heal?

 

My Thoughts: 

I am just going to start by saying that Elizabeth Forbes is one of my favourite authors. Her writing is intelligent and consistent and always leaves me scratching my head and with my thoughts and expectations of people in tatters. 

I have reviewed the authors previous books, Nearest Thing to Crazy and Who Are You? You can read my reviews by clicking on the titles. 

 

The author has really excelled herself with Shame. If you are expecting something with the pace of a steam train then this might not be the book for you. It is however an exploration of a marriage and how it is possible for everything to slowly unravel, particularly when you start to peel back the layers and start to put people under a microscope.

 

George and Martha have been married a long time. On the outside everyone would say they are the perfect couple but just lately Martha has been feeling like her and George and drifting apart. She feels dissatisfied and under appreciated. 

 

She even feels distanced from her grown up children, especially Delilah. So when their 21st birthday is coming around perhaps it is a chance for Martha to bond with her children and husband. Things are complicated as they always are and it transpires that the kids 21st is to be organised by Georges Brother and Sister in Law.  This is due to family history that means George and his brother live very different lives. 

 

The party and a family holiday is the catalyst really for events going forward and slow unfolding of a truck full of family secrets, lies and shame. The reader is drip fed little morsels here and there and I must admit I was shocked at the full scale of the cover ups etc that were involved. 

 

What I love about Elizabeth Forbes is the depth with which she writes her flawed characters and the unapologetic way the readers loyalty is challenged. I constantly flitted between agreeing with more than one character or the other. In families and love there are no sides only people. 

 

I will read everything this author writes. If you were to push me I would probably say that Shame is my favourite one so far. Beautiful writing and an accomplished plot that got right underneath my skin and as always left me wanting more when the final page turned. 

 

Definitely not to be missed. 

 

About the Author:  

Elizabeth Forbes was born and raised on the Isle of Wight and now lives in Herefordshire with her husband, two dogs and two hens. She published three romantic thrillers under the name Elizabeth Harrington: The Corporate Wife, Making Up and Daddy Darling. She then took a break from writing and enrolled with the Open University to study for a degree in Literature. She completed her BA with First Class Honours, and also achieved the OU's Diploma in Creative Writing. Her first psychological suspense novel, Nearest Thing to Crazy, was published by Cutting Edge Press in 2013. BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour and the Mail Online featured the novel because of its gaslighting subject matter. It was a bestseller in Amazon UK's psychological thriller charts. Her second novel published by Cutting Edge Press in 2014 was Who Are You? which is a dark and twisty tale focussing on the stormy marriage of two people affected by PTSD and childhood trauma. Elizabeth has recently re-published these novels independently with Amazon KDP.

 You can find the author on Twitter: @lizzieforbes

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#BlogTour In the Mirror, a Peacock Danced by Justine Bothwick @Bothwick_Cro @AgoraBookLDN #APeacockDanced

 

In the Mirror, a Peacock Danced is published by Agora Books on 24th June 2021. My thanks to the publisher for the review copy and the blog tour invitation. 

 

Agra, 1938: Eighteen-year-old Florence Hunt has grown up riding horses past the Taj Mahal and chasing peacocks through her backyard under the critical gaze of her father. Increasingly enamoured with his work on the booming railway, Florence yearns to know more, but finds herself brushed away, encouraged only to perform the more ladylike hobbies of singing and entertaining guests. So when a dazzling young engineer walks into her life, she finds herself not only gripped by secret lessons in physics but swept entirely off her feet.

Portsmouth, 1953: Fifteen years later, Florence finds herself pregnant and alone in post-war England – a far cry from her sun-drenched existence in India. Struggling to cope with the bleakness of everyday life in a male-dominated world, Florence is desperate to find the woman she used to be. But when someone from her past reaches out, Florence might just have a chance to start over.

Soaring from the shimmering heights of the big top to the depths of heartbreak, can Florence find the happiness, independence, and passion she once had in order to start living again?

Set against the lush backdrop of early 20th-century India, In the Mirror, a Peacock Danced – the debut novel from Justine Bothwick – is the moving story of one woman’s journey back to herself.

 

My Thoughts: 

I just want to start by saying everything about In the Mirror, a Peacock Danced drew me in. Initially that gorgeous cover and the title that initally sparks the readers interest. This book is the richly drawn and immersive story of Florence Hunt. The reader gets to meet Florence in 1938 Agra and again in Portsmouth in 1953 in this dual timeline story that captured my imagination. 

When we met Florence at 18 years old she is living in Agra with her Father it is 1938. The backdrop is sumptuous, there are parties, horse riding and on the surface what would be described as a life of privilege. Florence loves to spend time adoring the peacocks in the yard. Florence however longs for something more. She is unhappy with her father and feels stifled and unappreciated. Her father at times was mean and cruel and often belittled Florence. Florence wants to better herself and learn. She is interested in Science and Engineering but these are perceived to be interests that are only pursued by men. Florence's father feels that she would be more suited to womanly pastimes such as singing. She has spent a lot of time around the railway where her father works and she is interested in the workings but as it transpires her interest is also piqued by a young man there who seems to be perfect and full of promise.... 

Fast forward fifteen years and it is now 1953 Florence has left Agra behind and now lives in Portsmouth. We meet her here when she is pregnant. It was so interesting the way that even though in a different time and place Florence is still unhappy and constrained by males. So, is a chance meeting with the past going to lead to the future for Florence and is she ever going to see those peacocks dance again. 

Florence is such a wonderfully written character I really felt for her and hoped for a good outcome for her story. I wanted for her to be able to exactly what she wanted to do rather than having to pander to all of those around her. 

Both timelines worked wonderfully and the history was woven in seamlessly. A rich and evocative portrayal of the life of a woman who just wants to do more and to be more. The writing her is wonderful and the plot memorable. 

A really beautiful book inside and outside.

About the Author: 

Justine Bothwick grew up in Kent and Hampshire, and studied in London. In 2005, she moved to Italy and now teaches English in an international secondary school in Rome. She is married to a Roman architect. Together they have a flat in the city with a small balcony on which she grows her ever expanding collection of plants and watches the local birdlife.
Justine is a graduate of the Manchester Writing School’s Creative Writing MA programme and has short stories published in Fictive Dream, Virtual Zine, Confingo Magazine, and forthcoming in The Lonely Crowd, and with Nightjar Press.
In the Mirror, a Peacock Danced is her debut novel.

You can follow on Twitter: @Bothwick_Cro

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#BlogTour This Much Huxley Knows by Gail Aldwin @gailaldwin @brwpublisher #ThisMuchHuxleyKnows

 

This Much Huxley Know by Gail Aldwin is published by Black Rose Writing on 8th July 2021. My thanks to the author for the review copy and the blog tour invitation. 

 

 I’m seven years old and I’ve never had a best mate. Trouble is, no one gets my jokes. And Breaks-it isn’t helping. Ha! You get it, don’t you? Brexit means everyone’s falling out and breaking up.

Huxley is growing up in the suburbs of London at a time of community tensions. To make matters worse, a gang of youths is targeting isolated residents. When Leonard, an elderly newcomer chats with Huxley, his parents are suspicious. But Huxley is lonely and thinks Leonard is too. Can they become friends?

Funny and compassionate, this contemporary novel for adults explores issues of belonging, friendship and what it means to trust.

'Read this and feel young again’ ­– Joe Siple, author of The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

‘Moving and ultimately upbeat’ – Christopher Wakling, author of What I Did

‘A joyous novel with the wonderfully exuberant character of Huxley’ – Sara Gethin, author of Not Thomas

 

Pre-order Links: AmazonUS, AmazonUK, Barnes and Noble, HiveUK, Book Depository

My Thoughts: 

This Much Huxley Knows is a story told from the perspective of Huxley. A pretty remarkable 7 year and one that captured me hook, line and sinker through this remarkable and enriching story. Telling the story from the perspective of Huxley was a great choice by the author. Huxley begged to be listened too. 

This book highlights a great many themes but through the eyes and innocence of a 7 year old. Huxley looks at the world with joy and wonder and the reader can't help but go along with it. The author tackles social biases, bullying and right and wrong and all of the other things that go along with adulthood.  The innocence of Huxley wanting to make friends with Leonard who seems lonely on his mobility scooter was a particularly memorable event.

I loved the way Huxley's imagination was abundant and his lust for life effervescent. He was intelligent, inquistive and his voice shone through loud and clear. Some of the ways that he understands words said by adults also had me chuckling away to myself. 

Gail Aldwin is a superb writer and I will remember Huxley for a very long time. This is a wonderful perspective of the innocence of childhood offset against some of the truths of adulthood and the darker connotations. She has managed to create a book that is not only thought provoking but also heart warming.

About the Author: 

Novelist, poet and scriptwriter, Gail Aldwin’s debut coming-of-age novel The String Games was a finalist in The People’s Book Prize and the DLF Writing Prize 2020. Following a stint as a university lecturer, Gail’s children’s picture book Pandemonium was published. Gail loves to appear at national and international literary and fringe festivals. Prior to Covid-19, she volunteered at Bidibidi in Uganda, the second largest refugee settlement in the world. When she’s not gallivanting around, Gail writes at her home overlooking water meadows in Dorset. 

Twitter:            https://twitter.com/gailaldwin 

Facebook:       https://www.facebook.com/gailaldwinwriter/

Blog:                https://gailaldwin.com

 

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