​wo women – desperate to unlock the truth.
How far will they go to lay the past to rest?
ANNA has been taught that virtue is the path to God. But on her eighteenth birthday she defies her Mamma’s rules and visits Florida’s biggest theme park.
She has never been allowed to go – so why, when she arrives, does everything seem so familiar? And is there a connection to the mysterious letter she receives on the same day?
ROSIE has grown up in the shadow of the missing sister she barely remembers, her family fractured by years of searching without leads. Now, on the fifteenth anniversary of her sister’s disappearance, the media circus resumes in full flow, and Rosie vows to uncover the truth.
But will she find the answer before it tears her family apart?

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~I was sent a copy from the publishers - all opinions are my own~

I give it -  5/5

My review - What a great way to start the year with a fantastic book.

In this book we follow two women. Rosie and her family are still mourning the missing of her sister who went missing. They constantly searched for her but 15 years have passed and the family are still distraught over what happened. Rosie decides to figure out what happened to her sister all those years ago when she went missing at a theme park.

Anna lives under the watchful eye of her mamma. She is overbearing and makes her clean herself with bleach. Anna is dating the vicar's son who, one day, goes behind her mamma's back and takes her to a theme park. A theme park Anna has never been too, or has she? She starts to have flash backs, memories but she isn't sure what they are or what they mean. 

Anna and Rosie start to piece together what happened all those years ago and suddenly the story gets more dark and disturbing. This book is fast paced and constantly kept my attention. I felt I was with these girls at the theme park trying to piece together what happened and as the secrets and lies where told the story was more darker than I thought and it was just brilliant. 

Lizzy is a fantastic storyteller and really gripped me from the beginning and didn't let me go until I had finished the story and found out the truth myself!

A fantastic book to start 2019.

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Audrey Hart is on the Isle of Skye to collect the folk and fairy tales of the people and communities around her. It is 1857 and the Highland Clearances have left devastation and poverty, and a community riven by fear. The crofters are suspicious and hostile to a stranger, claiming they no longer know their fireside stories.
Then Audrey discovers the body of a young girl washed up on the beach and the crofters reveal that it is only a matter of weeks since another girl disappeared. They believe the girls are the victims of the restless dead: spirits who take the form of birds.
Initially, Audrey is sure the girls are being abducted, but as events accumulate she begins to wonder if something else is at work. Something which may be linked to the death of her own mother, many years before.

​BUY HERE

~I was sent a copy from the publishers - all opinions are my own~

I give it - 4/5

My review - An amazing story full of folk tales and mystery. Instantly gripped from the beginning and I couldn't put it down until I finished it. It was wonderful, gripping and just overall fantastic!

In this book we follow Audrey. She grew up listening to these stories and jumps at the chance to go to the Isle of Skye and collect these stories. While there she starts to hear about the tales of the missing girls and when one turns up dead she wants to know if its to do with faerie folk or is something more sinister at bay. 

This book was fascinating. ​The way the author writes, the descriptive writing just really brought this story to life. I felt this story never really lost its pace and I just adored the way the plot rolled out throughout the book.

Thoroughly enjoyed it!

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I am so excited to be part of The Winter of The Witch by Katherine Arden blog tour!

Today I am sharing my review AND Ebury Publishing have kindly sent me a hardback copy to giveaway to one of you guys!
Enter via rafflecopter there is only 2 things you need to do. UK only, sorry! Ends 30/1/19

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​One girl can make a difference...
Moscow is in flames, leaving its people searching for answers – and someone to blame. Vasilisa, a girl with extraordinary gifts, must flee for her life, pursued by those who blame their misfortune on her magic.
Then a vengeful demon returns, stronger than ever. Determined to engulf the world in chaos, he finds allies among men and spirits. Mankind and magical creatures alike find their fates resting on Vasya's shoulders.
But she may not be able to save them all.

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~I was sent a copy from the publisher - all opinions are my own~

I give it - 5/5

My review - Oh how I adore this trilogy. 
There is just something so magical about these books and the way Katherine writes. This journey has been amazing to follow and the storytelling, the plot, the characters just the whole world was brilliant to read. I was instantly gripped with this book and after finishing it I just want to go back to book one and re-read this trilogy all over again.

This book had everything from drama to heartache. Heartache I wasn't expecting and probably still not over. That's what Katherine is able to do with her stories, she is able to create this beautiful story with her writing and keep the reader on their toes, keep them guessing and have many twists and turns.

Vasya is one of my all time favourite characters. I have really enjoyed reading about her journey. Seeing her grow from the first book to the last. She is a fantastic character and not once did I think she needed to change who she was or the things she was going to do. She is powered by her motivation and I am just going to miss her and this whole world.

I cannot wait to see what Katherine writes next and re-read this trilogy. I would say this book is my favourite out of all of them and I just can't get over any of what happened in this book. 

Just fantastic!

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Hello everyone.
Today I am hosting Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon on my blog today and I am so excited to share my review with you all. This is such a beautiful book and it made me cry. Definitely one of my favourites of 2018.

For my post today I am going to be talking about turning points in books. To do with fearing for a character, when you get to a tough scene and just how you, as a reader deal with reading these sort of things. For me, when I get really invested into a book I feel I go through the emotions with the character. If a character in a book is dealing with something sad, heartache etc I some times feel my heart drop. You just feel so much for the characters in books that when they get hurt, you feel hurt. It's hard some times reading about a character going through a difficult time or something horrible happens to you as I know some times I have to stop reading or I will power through and I tend to tear up most of the time. Reading a book about a character and their journey with their ups and downs just takes me on a rollarcoaster of emotions. I find myself some times just wanting to reach into the book to give them a hug, a high five or just tell them to take the leap and everything will be okay and even though you want the ending to be a happily ever after sometimes, it's not.
Some times books deal with difficult themes and I know this can put some readers off. I've read books about mental health, abuse, rape, drugs, racism etc and I know some of these topics make people unconformable to read and I totally understand that but, I like when authors don't hold back on topics like these as they need to be talked about and especially in YA books. It is a scary world and books show you the ups and downs of it. I always fear for characters when they deal with these situations as again, I just want to make sure they're okay. It's hard and some times I feel my heart drop as I am that invested in these characters and their lives you can't help but not feel for them.

How do you deal with big turning points in books? If a character is going through something difficult how does that make you feel?

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~I was sent a copy to review - all opinions are my own~

I give it - 5/5

My review - This book holds a special place in my heart. I love this book and I love Rosie. Mel Darbon has written this book so well and beautifully. Rosie is a character that I just adored from the beginning. She made me laugh, cry and I just wanted to hug her all the time. She was wonderful and reading about her journey to find 'Jack' and being out in a world that treats her differently.

Rosie is determined and I love that about her. She wants to find Jack and even leaves her home to find him. Rosie has Down Syndrome and reading about her and her disability and seeing her days through her eyes is an eye opener. She gets treated a lot differently and she doesn't want to be. Her disability doesn't define her and Mel does a terrific job of showing that in this book. It doesn't hold back on anything, very realistic and has such an important message about how people change and react differently to someone who has a disability and this book shows how Rosie feels in these situations. It is an eye opener and a book that I will be constantly recommending to everyone. 

I can't recommend this book enough. Rosie is a wonderful main character, you will read her story through her eyes and get to experience her journey with her as she makes her way out into the world and it will amazing you and terrify you as she goes on this journey but, she is such an amazing character that you can't not root for her from the get go.

One of the best books of 2018.
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How do you know who to trust... 
...when you don't even know who you are?You are outside your front door. 
There are strangers in your house. 
Then you realise. You can't remember your name.
She arrived at the train station after a difficult week at work. Her bag had been stolen, and with it, her identity. Her whole life was in there – passport, wallet, house key. When she tried to report the theft, she couldn't remember her own name. All she knew was her own address.
Now she's outside Tony and Laura's front door. She says she lives in their home. They say they have never met her before.

One of them is lying.
BUY HERE

My bed is comfortable – white sheets that feel like expensive Egyptian cotton – and Laura has put a handful of freshly picked wild flowers in a miniature milk bottle on my painted bedside cupboard. The kindness of strangers. The room itself is just as I described it to Laura and Tony earlier. Perfect for a child, although the colours may be a bit muted.
Starting with my arrival at the airport, I begin to write down everything that I did: trying to report my lost handbag, travelling here by train, meeting Laura and Tony, visiting the surgery, going to the pub quiz tonight. I don’t record anything personal about anyone, as I already feel like public property and have no doubt that whatever I write down will be read by others – doctors, police, mental-health staff. They all mean well, I’m sure, but I need to be careful. At the top of the paper I write: ‘read this when you wake up.’
Laura is still downstairs. She’s behaving so strangely towards me. One moment wary, the next warm and tactile. We both saw the reaction of Dr Patterson at the end of our meeting at the surgery. Her shock was too obvious to miss. Just like Laura’s when she received the text at dinner. It was nothing about yoga. Who the hell is Jemma Huish?
I haven’t heard Tony come back from the pub yet. He told me to leave the key under the flowerpot outside the front door. I was tempted to stay, just to see if his singing was as bad as Laura says, but I felt too tired.
I am desperate for sleep now, but I’m anxious about what the morning might bring. Can it be any worse, more stressful than today? I have to keep going but feel at the mercy of others, the medical profession, my own memory. Images of Fleur continue to come and go. The moment I see her, she’s gone again.

If I close my eyes now, I can bring her up from the darkness. Here she is, sitting in bed in her apartment, her face obscured by the book she’s reading: another account of Berlin’s underground techno scene. ‘Fleur,’ I whisper, my eyes watering. She lowers the book and I gasp out loud. Her face is locked in a wide-mouthed scream.
The brain is a frightening thing, capable of remembering so much of what we want it to forget and forgetting the one thing that we most want it to remember. And then, years later, it chooses to work, operating like an autonomous neural state, summoning a nightmare from beyond the city walls, the badlands of amnesia.

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~I was sent a copy from the publishers - all opinions are my own~

I give it - 5/5

My review - Lisa has done it again. She is one of my favourite authors and when I got a copy of her new book I was so excited and this book did not disappoint. 

In this book we follow Ro Snow. She is a loner. She doesn't want to be noticed at school so, she tries and stay invisible and small. She's okay with not having any friends until Tanvi Shah starts talking to her. Tanvi just wants to be friends with Ro and Ro starts to like it, her walls start coming down and she likes having a friend but, there is a reason why she isn't sociable and why this friendship is about to cause problems. Her mother Bonnie. Ro is embarrassed about her home life. She just wants her mother to be a parent instead of going to school and worrying about bills, her mother and just have a normal child experience.

I adore this story. Ro is adorable. This is a book that I don't want to talk too much about the plot as you need to just pick it up and read it asap when it is out. Lisa has written another fantastic book that kept me gripped from the beginning and I couldn't put it down until I finished it. It shows you the downside to a mother/daughter relationship and a friendship that is something you will all want. Tanvi is a great character and she won't ever take no for an answer. She gets Ro to open up and accept her friendship as that is what Tanvi wants. They have a great relationship and really liked reading about and watching it bloom throughout the book as Ro was dealing with her mother at home.

A fantastic story from Lisa. It is just magnificent.  Ro is a fantastic character and you can see she just wants to do what she can do for her mother but realises that things shouldn't be this way and with a friend like Tanvi, being more social and even boys involved Ro's life is about to change but, things with her mother aren't going to be as straightforward.

One of the best books I've read in 2018 and I can't recommend it enough when it is out in 2019!

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Outback Australia, 1981
After a terrible childhood, Jane comes to Thornfield as nanny to the adorable Adele, watched over by the handsome and enigmatic Edward. Plain and inexperienced, Jane would never dream of being more than his hired help. But swept up in the dramatic beauty of the Outback, she finds herself drawn to Edward. And, to her surprise, he seems to return her feelings.
But Jane is not the first woman Edward has pledged to make mistress of Thornfield.
As a child, Betty was taken from her English home and sent for adoption in Australia. At first, no-one wanted her, deeming her hair too curly, and her skin too dark. Until the scheming Mr Mason sees a chance to use Betty to cement a relationship with the rich and powerful Rochester dynasty…
When Jane discovers Betty’s fate, will she still want to be the next Mrs Rochester?

BUY HERE
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​Part One
Chapter One
Sydney, Australia. 1966
Jane
I was scared. This was my first time in Sydney. My first time in any big city. It was also my first time away from the place where my mother and I had lived since I was a baby. Even looking out of the window of the car was overwhelming – the size of the buildings, the number of cars, the rush and hurry all around me. I sank back into my seat until the car finally stopped and I couldn’t hide any longer.
‘Come on now, child.’ The woman sitting next to me poked me none too gently in the ribs. ‘Get out of the car.’
My new home was a huge mountain of red brick. I strained my neck, trying to see how very high it really went. It seemed to reach up almost to the clouds. I desperately wanted to go home. To my friends. To my mother. To the way things were before the police came.
I stared up at the building again. It was truly huge. I would get lost inside it, just as I was lost in this city. The buildings that towered over me seemed to lean in on each other, and there was nothing green. No trees, not even a blade of grass. I hoped I wouldn’t have to stay here long. Mum must be coming back soon to take me home to the place with the space and the grass and all the people I knew.
The woman took my two small bags from the back of the car. I didn’t own many things. At home everything was shared, so I didn’t need my own things. The woman in the car had told me there were other children in this house. My cousins. Maybe I would share with them now.
​When we got to the big front door, I pushed it. It didn’t open. I tried to pull it, but that didn’t work either. The door stayed shut. Puzzled, I looked up at the woman. She rolled her eyes as she reached out to press a button in the wall.
‘Yes?’ The voice was loud and harsh.
‘Child Welfare.’
For a long time there was no answer. ‘All right.’
I jumped as a loud buzz and a thunk sounded from the door in front of me.
‘Well, don’t just stand there. Open the door.’
‘But…’
‘Open it.’
I pushed the door hard, and this time it moved.
It was dark inside after the bright sunlight in the street. There was a big staircase made of wood that seemed to go forever.
​The woman carrying my bags went and stood in front of another door. There were more strange sounds, and that door slid open, revealing a very small room.
‘Come on, Jane.’ She was starting to sound impatient.
I followed her into the box. I didn’t mind small places. That was why I almost always won when we played hide and seek. I was little and could fit into the tiniest places. The door slid shut all on its own. I almost screamed when I felt the little room start to move.
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake,’ the woman said. ‘It’s only a lift. Your aunt is on the top storey. Far too many floors to use the stairs, especially in this heat.’
Mum had told me to be brave, so I tried to pretend I wasn’t frightened as the lift went up and up and up.
When the lift stopped moving, the doors opened again and I jumped out quickly, in case it fell back down to the ground. There was only one other door that I could see. The woman nodded and I tried to open it.
She sighed, before rapping forcefully on the door with her knuckles.

t’s not what’s under the Christmas tree, but who’s around it that matters most.
All Suzanne McBride wants for Christmas is her three daughters happy and at home. But when sisters Posy, Hannah and Beth return to their family home in the Scottish Highlands, old tensions and buried secrets start bubbling to the surface.
Suzanne is determined to create the perfect family Christmas, but the McBrides must all face the past and address some home truths before they can celebrate together . . .

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~I was sent a copy from the publishers - all opinions are my own~

I give it - 5/5

My review - If there is something Sarah Morgan knows how to do it is to write the perfect good feeling Christmassy story. It is the perfect book to curl up with on these cold nights (and days since it's freezing all the time) with a blanket and some hot chocolate and just get swept away in this book and, you won't be able to put down until you've finished it!

In this book we follow three sisters and their mother. We get chapters from each of these ladies and I really enjoyed finding out more about each of them and their thoughts. The sisters aren't close, something happened years ago that has made them this way and who they are today. We have Hannah who, is the oldest sister. Her jobs involve numbers and she is always flying off somewhere and returning to Scotland, to the family, is something she isn't really that keen on. Beth is the middle sister and is married with two cute kids but, is having her own crisis at the moment and then, we have Posy the youngest sister. She loves the outdoors and she is part of the mountain rescue team and of course we have the mother, Suzanne. She wants the closeness back between her girls and is hoping that Christmas is the perfect time for it to happen and she is running herself ragged to make sure everything is perfect.

Sarah has written something wonderful here. A story about finding your way back home, coming to terms with your past so you can move on with your future, make amends with your family and just have the best Christmas. I really enjoyed the flashbacks in this book as it gives you more insight to Suzanne and her girls and makes you understand them a little bit more. I really love reading about each of  these characters, what they get up to, their thoughts about seeing each other at Christmas and it was just wonderful. Suzanne is determined is repair the bond between these girls.

A wonderful story about family and repairing old wounds and it is set in the beautiful Scottish highlands and it just really adds to the story! Another fantastic story from Sarah and I really cannot wait to see what she brings out next.

​Cat is inexplicably drawn to a beautiful mansion where she is seduced into the world of modern witchcraft. Upon discovering a witch’s journal, Cat anchors her mind to the summer of 1940 where she witnesses events that lead to a secret occultist ritual. Plagued by the paranormal happenenings of the house and the desperate whispers of a long-dead girl, can Cat piece together a series clues to prevent a repeat of the disastrous ritual? What terrible price must be paid to stop it happening again? This time, on a devastating scale, engineered for the twenty- first century...

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When I started writing The Haunting of Violet Gray seven years ago, I lived in a house on the cusp of the New Forest, a short journey from Burley - a village synonymous with witches in fact. I began writing The Haunting of Violet Gray whilst pregnant with my first daughter, sitting at my desk with my windows flung open, so the scent of fallen apples and bonfires could drift in along with the buttery autumn light.
Since moving, I mainly write in my garden room - at the kitchen table. My writing desk shares its space with dinner, homework and various arts and crafts. When I completed the final chapters of The Haunting of Violet Gray, jasmine and honeysuckle plants were creeping in through the open windows. I love my slightly overgrown wild garden which is bursting with herbs for cooking and medicine, roses and trees. I am lucky to live close to the forest so the environment sets my imagination on fire.
When writing, I tend to sketch out a rough outline, starting with some spider diagrams and then a flow chart of the key moments. I then write directly onto my Windows Surface.
Parts of the book of which I most proud of actually came into fruition whilst I was staying in a shepherd’s hut on the edge of New Forest moorland during a freezing January.
I was gifted with a weekend stay for Christmas and I have been back there around four times since. I go alone, so the time for writing was precious. At home I was teaching part time and raising two young children and struggling to stay on top of day to day chores and squeezed writing in whenever I had a spare moment. When I was in the shepherd’s hut, I was there to write. I think the first time I went, I wrote until around 2 or 3am. I didn’t sleep very much either as I was also researching possible apocalyptical consequences for raising a second cone of power and scared myself silly in the process. The second time, I found myself weeping like a baby after writing a particularly sad section of the book. In the shepherd’s hut, I was able to fully immerse myself in the world of Violet Gray. I am chomping at the bit to go back and make some headway with the sequel.
Thank you so much for reading - happy reading, or writing!

​Born in Essex, Emily Sadovna grew up near Oxford. Trained in fashion journalism, Emily’s career began as a window dresser and freelance stylist. Later, Emily launched her own deli and catering business and learnt the art of chocolate making. She went on to qualify as a food and nutrition teacher at a secondary school and now teaches primary school children to cook in afterschool clubs.
Emily’s pen name originates from her Polish grandfather. Her imagination derives from a line of formidable women all with wonderful stories to tell. She lives with her husband and their two daughters on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire. The Haunting of Violet Gray is her first novel. www.emilysadovna.com
instagram: EmilySadovna
​ www.facebook.com/EmilySadovna
Twitter @EmilySadovna

Libby Stone has lived in Lavender Bay all her life. She loves the little seaside town and has big dreams to turn her father’s greasy old chippy into a dainty teashop – not that she’s told him yet!
Finding love isn’t easy amongst the cluster of coastal houses, but it’s not every day that someone quite as handsome and mysterious as Owen Coburn walks into the local pub.
And as the snowflakes begin to swirl on the promenade, Libby realises she’s falling for him. But Owen has been keeping a secret that could destroy everything…

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~I received a copy from the publishers - all opinions are my own~

I give it - 4/5

My review - This is the 3rd book in the Lavender Bay series but, you can read it as a stand-alone. But, it will make you want to read the others asap. This book is just so wonderful that I have already ordered the first two in the series just to be back at Lavender Bay! It was fun and just wonderful and I highly recommend for a Christmassy read with some hot chocolate! 

In this book we follow Libby. She works with at a fish and chip shop which is owned by her father who, will be soon retiring and Libby hope the business is passed on to her. She wants to change it and make it into a cute cafe with cakes, sandwiches and patisseries. There isn't anything like this in Lavender Bay and hope to be one of the first bakeries within the place and keep her mothers memory alive with her baking. 

Then we meet Owen. A businessman and wants to look at owning a new business but, he also has an ulterior motive in Lavender Bay. He's not having much look and the first time he meets Libby he insults her. But, she is intrigued by him. 

Is the feeling mutal? What will happen when secrets are revealed, will romance still be on the table? New beginnings possibly about to happen?

I really enjoyed this book and all of the characters where really interesting and I adored reading about them. I liked reading about them and finding out more about each character and of course, Lavender Bay! It was such a warm, fun read that i just couldn't put it down until I had finished it. I felt I was in Lavender Bay with all of these characters and I didn't want to leave. I am excited to read the other books in this series and find out about more of the characters in this wonderful town. It is warm, cosy feeling story and very festive! 

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