Bunny’s Pause

Today dear readers I am on the blog tour for The Antique Hunter’s Death On The Red Sea (Published by Macmillan 13 Feb. 2025) By C.L Miller. A big thank you to the publishers for sending me a copy, always appreciated. And of course to the wonderful Anne for the invite to take part in the tour, you make being a part of this community amazing. 

The Antique Hunter’s Death on The Red Sea

When a painting vanishes from a maritime museum – and a dead body is found nearby – the newly established Lockwood Antique Hunter’s Agency, Freya Lockwood and her Aunt Carole, are called to investigate.

Following a lead that takes them aboard a glamorous antiques cruise sailing toward the Red Sea in Jordan, they quickly discover that the ship’s art gallery is filled with stolen antiquities. Each and every one of them is also listed in Freya’s late mentor’s journals detailing unsolved cases. In chasing a murderer with a stolen painting, they may have found something more sinister than they could’ve imagined . . .

Their hunt soon turns deadly when they learn that the enigmatic and dangerous art trafficker named The Collector could be on board. But on a ship full of antiques enthusiasts – plus some unexpected familiar faces – will Freya and Carole be able to discover The Collector’s identity and stop his murderous plans before the ship docks?

Or will the killer strike again?

About The Author

C. L. Miller started working life as an editorial assistant for her mother, Judith Miller, on The Miller’s Antique Price Guide and other antiquing guides. After she had children, she decided to follow her long-held dream of becoming an author and began concentrating on her writing full-time. She was an Undiscovered Voices 2022 winner and in the UV 2022 anthology.

She lives in a medieval cottage in Dedham Vale, Suffolk, with her family.

My Review

From the moment I began reading, I was hooked. Pulled into a world of stolen art and death while partaking in an luxurious cruise heading towards the Red Sea, I had to jump aboard.

When The Lockwood Antique Hunter’s Agency are called to investigate a new case they soon find themselves entangled in a dark, dangerous world. The narrative follows Freya and Carole as they are setting up their business of recovering stolen antiques and returning them to their rightful owners. They inherited Crockleford Antiques in Little Meddington from the late Arthur Crockleford. When a call from a museum brings news of a dead body and missing panting, Freya and Carole embark on their first official case.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the dynamics between Freya and Carole. They work well together as a team. Freya is focused on getting as much information as possible and can sometimes appear a tad serious but then Carole brings a warmth that only a doting aunt can bring. It sounds like an unlikely pairing but it works extremely well on the page. There’s intelligence and wit which goes hand in hand to make the perfect duo.

Although this is the second book in The Antique Hunters series it can easily be read as a standalone novel. Miller makes references to the first book, Guide To Murder which aids the reader in being well informed about the pervious events that have taken place. I unfortunately have not had the pleasure of reading the first book but did not feel lost or confused. I could follow the narrative quickly and establish the set up and character’s relationships.

I love how Miller has a natural talent for writing about antique’s that is not only informative but also fascinating to read. She doesn’t bamboozle the reader with complex, dull information but rather makes it exciting and intriguing to read.

I found this style of detective, murder mystery refreshing to read. It’s not just about solving murders but recovering stolen art, antiques and returning them to their rightful place. It brings life to the murder mystery genre as it’s not just about a murder, which unfortunately seems to follow Freya and Carole but the history of artifacts that are stolen. It leaves you breathless as you follow the twist and tuns, building then tension and suspense until the very end. 

I give The Antique Hunter’s Death On The Red Sea By C.L Miller a Five out of Five paw rating.

This novel has everything you could want from a murder mystery, danger, the thrill of the chase and a fantastic dynamic duo that compliment each other immensely. I loved every second and am hungry for more!

Don’t forget to follow the rest of the blog tour, dates below, enjoy!

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Today dear reader I am on the blog tour for The Stand-Up Mam By Kay Wilson (Published 1st July 2024) A big thank you to the author for sending me a copy to read and review, always appreciated. Also to the lovely Anne for inviting me to take part in the blog tour, always a pleasure to work with.

The Stand-Up Mam

A stand-up competition transforms the perfect mother into a comedy queen. Despite bringing her true joy, the searingly honest jokes shatter her family’s seemingly perfect lives.

This novel explores the sacrifices women make for their families and what happens when one puts herself first and follows her dreams.

Georgie Chancellor has worked hard to have a perfect life, and it is, on the outside. She has a beautiful home, successful husband and two wonderful children.

Everything she dreamed about as a girl is hers. Not that she ever thinks about her past, anymore.

But when her family enters her into a stand-up comedy competition, Georgie decides that only the truth will do.

Encouraged by Jaz, her handsome mentor, she riffs about her family and what life is really like behind the facade.

Audiences love it, and Georgie’s star begins to rise.

Will stand-up success destroy everything she has created?

About The Author

Kay Wilson lives in South Tvneside. Her novel features many of her own experiences of stand-up comedy – a bucket list ambition she achieved after surviving a near-fatal brain haemorrhage.

“I would love mv book to empower women to make each day the best it can be for them and, it might sound trite, to challenge themselves and follow their dreams“

My Review

Georgie Chancellor appears to be your middle-class mother and wife residing in a posh Tyneside suburb but her past is a completely different story. She has everything she could ever want but still pines for a different pace of life. Georgie had dreams of going to art college, her life is a never-ending list of jobs, cleaning, cooking, being a slave and the butt of all jokes. She is however, good at cracking her own jokes and amuses her family with anecdotes about the PTA meetings and Merry Berry.

One day out of the blue Nat gets an email about a comedy competition, its a Edinburgh Festival course with gigs and a London final. Each competitor is paired with a professional comic to help them prepare and offer advice. Georgie enters on a whim and is surprised when she receives a phone call to say she has got through to the next stage. Convinced that she will fail and is too old to be doing stand-up, Georgie is paired with the handsome Jaz who encourages her and she slowly becomes the audience’s favourite. Her success builds and builds but she is constantly aware that the façade of her perfect life could quickly disintegrate before her eyes. It’s a ticking time bomb waiting patiently to explode.

Georgie is an interesting character to follow. Upon the reader first meeting her, she is a teenager, standing on the edge of the school roof. She is pregnant and wishes to end her life. Fast forward to the present and Georgie has created the perfect, warm family hub for her two children, teenager daughter Lily and Nat her 19 year old son. Her husband Lawrence is loving and supportive with no idea about the truth of her past. Georgie is terrified that it has the potential to cause upset to her family, that it will destroy the safe space she has created. She feels damaged and is living a lie. 

I give The Stand-Up Mam By Kay Wilson a Five out of Five paw rating

This book is a riot! Absolutely hilarious but with a dash of tenderness and warmth.

The brilliant mix between vulnerability and comedy plays on all your emotions. Wilson does a super job at making the reader feel for her characters, to care and feel involved in their fictional life. This book will have you crying no matter what either with laughter or sadness.

Don’t forget to follow the rest of the blog tour, dates below, enjoy!

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Today dear reader I am on the blog tour for Four Seasons In Japan (Published 13th June 2024) By Nick Bradley. A big thank you to the publishers Penguin for sending me a copy to read and review, always appreciated. Also to the wonderful Anne for inviting me to take part in the blog tour, always a pleasure to work with.

Four Seasons In Japan

A despondent American translator living in Tokyo finds a lost book on the subway and embarks on a year-long journey translating it into English… Flo is sick of Tokyo. She is stuck in a rut, her translation work has dried up, and she’s in a relationship that’s run its course. That’s until she stumbles upon a mysterious book left by a drunken passenger on the Tokyo Subway. From the very first page, Flo is transformed and immediately feels compelled to translate this forgotten novel, a decision which sets her on a path that will change her life…

It is a story about Ayako, a fierce and strict old woman who runs a coffee shop in the small town of Onomichi, where she has just taken guardianship of her grandson, Kyo. Haunted by long-buried family tragedy, both have suffered extreme loss and feel unable to open up to each other.

As Flo follows the characters across a year in rural Japan, through the ups and downs of the pair’s burgeoning relationship, she quickly realises that she needs to venture outside the pages of the book to track down its elusive author. And, as her two protagonists reveal themselves to have more in common with her life than first meets the eye, the lines between text and translator converge. The journey is just beginning.

About The Author

Nick Bradley holds a PhD from UEA focussing on the figure of the cat in Japanese literature. He lived in Japan for a decade, but currently teaches on the Creative Writing master’s programme at the University of Cambridge. His debut novel, The Cat and The City, was published in 2020 to widespread critical acclaim.

My Review

Flo is living in Tokyo as a translator and feels lost, her friends notice she doesn’t seem herself. Flo keeps her personal life private and hasn’t even mentioned her girlfriend, Yuki to her friends. However Yuki is planning on moving to New York to work in a bookshop which leaves Flo torn. Unsure of where her life is taking her as she has even started to lose interest in reading and is starting to find Tokyo boring.

Flo wonders what happens after you have achieved your dream. Where do you go from there? As she ponders this on the train one day a book left on an unoccupied seat takes her interest. Before anyone can see she puts the unclaimed book, Sound of Water By Hibiki in her bag. As soon as she begins reading, Flo is determined to translate the lost novel.

Flo is drawn into the world of Ayako, a strict old woman who runs a coffee shop in the small town of Onomichi. Avako has suffered a great loss in her life, losing her husband and son. She now finds herself looking after Kyo, her nineteen year old grandson who feels like a failure because he didn’t get into university. These two unlikely characters need each other more than they care to admit. The fear of being vulnerable and opening up to share their pain is too great but it might just be the thing that saves them. Inspired by the book, Flo goes on an adventure to find the author, venturing outside her comfort zone and taking charge.

The mixture of characters that Bradley has created is a joy to read. From Flo, Kyo to Ayako brings a strong sense of youth and wisdom. The naivety of youth and the experience of age. They bring these characters closer together, forming a bond of trust and love.

I was swept away to the tranquil landscape of Japan on every page. Bradley has a remarkable use of imagery and creates an absorbing atmosphere that you don’t want to leave. I could see the peaks of mount fuiji, smell the ramen and taste the thick sticky rice balls. It was a delight to read as I felt relaxed and calm as I wandered along the cherry blossomed streets of Japan.

I give Four Seasons In Japan By Nick Bradley a Five out of Five paw rating

An enchanting read that will whisk you away to the beautiful cherry blossom land of Japan. An absolute delight to read, I loved every second! Highly recommended!

Don’t forget to follow the rest of the blog tour, dates below, enjoy

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Today dear reader I am on the blog tour for A Year in Story and Song A Celebration of the Seasons (Published 9th May 2024) By Lia Leendertz. A big thank you to the publishers Gaia/Octopus Books for sending me a copy to read and review, always appreciated. Also to the wonderful Anne for the invite to take part in the tour, always a pleasure.

A Year in Story and Song A Celebration of the Seasons

A Year in Story and Song is a captivating collection of stories and songs that celebrates the seasons.

We humans love stories. We love to hear them and to tell them, around fires and by bedsides, and we love to use them to make sense of the world around us.

The seasons, in all their ever-changing variety, give us many opportunities for storytelling: the full moons and their names, Epiphany in January, St Patrick’s Day in March, May Day, Midsummer, Halloween and more. They feature mischievous boggarts and fairies, saints and sailors, leprechauns and dragons, pilgrimages and charms, milk maids and rose queens, Robin Hood and the green man. The songs range from shanties and love songs, to bawdy ballads and wassails, to carols and rounds, and have been sung for hundreds of years, often at particular moments in the calendar.

This is a book to treasure all year, every year.

About the Author

Lia Leendertz is an award-winning garden and food writer based in Bristol. She presents a monthly podcast, ‘As the Season Turns’, about what to look out for in the month ahead and writes a free monthly newsletter, ‘Lia’s Living Almanac’, which you can sign up for at the address below. Her reinvention of the traditional rural almanac has become an annual must-have for readers eager to connect with the seasons, appreciate the outdoors and discover ways to mark and celebrate each month.

My Review

From the author who brought you the popular, much loved The Almanac series, comes a breathtaking journey through the year in story and song. Prepare to face dragons, leprechaun, boggarts and all sorts of magical, mischievous creatures as you celebrate the seasons, all within the enchanting pages of this handy little book.

This book celebrates each calendar month with a collection of stories and songs. Each season also has their own personal collection of stories and songs. Leendertz takes the reader through the 12 months, January to December.  Each month is accompanied by an illustration relating to that month. In February there is a Chinese Lion as we celebrate the Chinese New Year. October has a spiderweb under a full moon, creating a spooky, mysterious atmosphere. Thats the beauty in the changing of the seasons, its the variety of stories and songs told. There is a divine mix of folk tales among facts. We as humans love a good story or two and this little book is packed with endless tales, old and new.

Leendertz hopes that the reader is tempted to include these stories and songs in their own traditions. To add a dash of magic and wonder to their own journey through each year. That’s the beauty of this book dear reader. You can pop it in your bag or even your pocket and access your desired month at the flick of a page.

I give A Year in Story and Song A Celebration of the Seasons Lia Leendertz a Five out of Five paw rating

Beautifully enchanting, you are going to want to add this treasure to your bookshelf. Not only for the joy and wonder it brings between its pages but also because it is a most pretty book to look upon and admire. 

Don’t forget to follow the rest of the blog tour, dates below, enjoy!

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Today dear reader I am on the blog tour for The F**K It List (Published 9th May 2024) By Melanie Cantor. A big thank you to the publishers Penguin for sending a copy to read and review, always appreciated. Also to the lovely Anne for the invite to take part, always a pleasure to work with.

The F**K It List

Meet Daisy. She’s just caught her boyfriend shagging someone else at her fortieth birthday party. She’s camped out in her childhood bedroom. And it looks as if her dream to have a baby has gone down the pan.

Now Daisy is 40, alone and in a world that seems built for couples.

Time for a F**K It List!

Hilarious and heart-warming, this triumphant novel asks what it is to be 40 and suddenly single, asking the question, why do we think we need a man to start a family, and what would you do with your own F**K It List?

About The Author

Melanie Cantor was a celebrity agent and publicist for over thirty years. Her clients included Ulrika Jonsson, Melinda Messenger and Melanie Sykes. In 2004, she hosted a makeover show on Channel 4 called Making Space and in 2017 having just turned 60 she was scouted on Kings Cross station, subsequently appearing as a ‘real model’ in the most recent Dove campaign. She is the author of Life and Other Happy Endings.

My Review

Daisy is about to turn forty and start a family with her longterm boyfriend Jack. She has a successful business as an interior designer at Baxter Settle and the dream of having a child is finally within reach. That is until Daisy catches Jack with his trousers down in the bushes with another woman at her fortieth birthday party. 

Daisy flees to her parents and hides away, questioning her life. Does she want a baby or did she want Jack’s baby? It does’t help that no matter where Daisy turns she is faced with couples, families, friends with children reminding her how alone she is.

After much wallowing and self-pity she snaps herself out of it and thinks F**K IT! Determined to not let Jack stop her from achieving her dream of having a child she looks into sperm donation and going solo.

Upon her return to work she meets Benedict Shaw, an architect working on a project with the business. He is standoffish and cold, Daisy can’t stand him. However there is a certain sadness to him that Daisy notices whenever he fiddles with his wedding ring.

When Daisy announces to her friends and family that she is going to have a child, alone, there is mixed reactions. Her friends such as Bee are thrilled for her whereas her parents, especially her father are not convinced. But Daisy does not care, she will do this, she will ignore the stigma around being pregnant at her age, being a single parent, F**K IT!

Cantor has created a strong, independent yet vulnerable character in Daisy. She is determined to follow her dream of becoming a mother despite what others think and say. Her age is often the topic up for discussion which only drives her more. Daisy is done waiting, she waited years for Jack to be ready to have children and it was all for nothing. She decides that she doesn’t need a man to have a baby, she can go it alone. She writes a F**K It List and starts journalling her thoughts and feelings.

The topic surrounding pregnancy, IVF, sperm donation is a sensitive one. Cantor has been honest yet also delicate when these themes are presented in the book. It may be triggering for some people and personally as someone who has been through such an experience, there are no words. However, as taboo as the subject is, it does need talking about. We need to be comfortably open, to not struggle alone. To tell our stories and support each other.

I give The F**K It List By Melanie Cantor a Five out of Five paw rating

I love the strong powerful message that Cantor has highlighted throughout this book, women do not need a man to complete them. Shout it loud and proud ladies!

At the end of the day dear reader, age is just a number, a number we should never be ashamed or embarrassed of. Naturally things become more difficult as we age, but that doesn’t mean they are impossible. It just means looking at it from a different angle, adjusting and adapting.

This book contains a lot of heartache, be warned dear reader, you will cry. Have tissues on hand.

Don’t forget to follow the rest of the blog tour, dates below, enjoy!

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Today I am on the blog tour for The Other Tenant (Published 25th April 2024) By Lesley Kara. A big thank you to the publishers Bantam/Transworld for sending me a copy to read and review, always appreciated. Also to the wonderful Anne for inviting me to take part in the blog tour, always a pleasure to work with.

The Other Tenant

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR COMES A GRIPPING NEW THRILLER THAT ASKS HOW WELL YOU REALLY KNOW THE PEOPLE YOU SHARE A HOME WITH…

AFTER ALL, LIVING WITH STRANGERS CAN BE MURDER…

The Queen of the killer twist is back in this gripping closed-circle thriller about an unusual home full of strangers, with a murderer in their midst…

Marlow has always lived in unusual places. But when she accepts a position as a live-in property guardian, she finds herself moving somewhere she swore she’d never return to.

Right from the start, she knows it’s a terrible mistake. The elegant Victorian school is due to be turned into luxury apartments, but its eerie, empty corridors are full of Marlow’s worst memories.

And now something sinister is happening on the site. One of the other tenants has disappeared without warning, and Marlow suspects that the nine other guardians know far more than they’re letting on. She’s determined to find out what happened to the missing woman – but which of these strangers can she trust?

And can she uncover the truth before her own past catches up with her?

About the Author

LESLEY KARA is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Rumour, Who Did You Tell?, The Dare and The Apartment Upstairs.

The Rumour was the highest selling crime fiction debut of 2019 in the UK, and a Kindle No.1 bestseller. Lesley is an alumna of the Faber Academy ‘Writing a Novel’ course. She lives in Kent. You can follow Lesley on Twitter @LesleyKara or visit her website at www.lesleykara.com

My Review

Marlow is a property guardian which is a fancy way of saying she house sits and gets paid for it. She lives in empty buildings and is tasked with looking after them until the agency tell her to move to another place.

The narrative follows Marlow as she is packing up her belongings after being told she has less than a week to leave the church she has been a property guardian for the past few months. She is disheartened to leave but knows that everything in her life is temporary, that is the life she has chosen to live. Sometimes she thinks being a property guardian feels brave and an exciting thing to do. It’s an adventure. However sometimes she wonders if it feels sordid and sad. The lack of security and never truly having a place to call home.

As Marlow is wondering what she is going to do she receives a phone-call from the agency, they have found her a new place. It sounds perfect, it’s a school in North London, a whole classroom to herself and in an Old Victorian building. Marlow loves taking photos of architecture and posting them on instagram. She hopes one day to make a full-time job taking photos. The agency inform Marlow that they have a small team already installed at the school but one of them had to leave at short notice.

There is just one little problem, it is Marlow’s old secondary school, McKinleys. She has spent the last 15 years trying to forget those dark days, she cant go back. But what choice does she have? She agrees and tries to view it as good for her healing. As soon as she sees the old school sign she feels like she has made a terrible mistake. But she has nowhere else to go, she has to go forward.

Marlow meets the rest of the property guardians and also Rob Hornby, the head guardian who has a long list of strict rules for her to follow. It soon becomes clear to Marlow that something is amiss. The sudden departure of their fellow tenant creates an uncomfortable atmosphere filled with suspicion. As the tension grows, Marlow starts to wonder what really happened to Hayley, the other tenant who suddenly left without a word. And why is the pool and pump room out of bounds?

I give The Other Tenant By Lesley Kara a Five out of Five paw rating

I was obsessed until the very last page! From the moment you start reading, Kara hooks you in. The opening alone will send chills down your spine and leave you thirsty for more.

This book had me looking over my shoulder, wondering if I was being watched. It gave me goosebumps, I loved it! I highly recommend to any lovers of thrillers, this is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Don’t forget to follow the rest of the blog tour, dates below, enjoy

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Today dear readers I am on the blog tour for All You Need Is Love ; The End of the Beatles – An Oral History by Those Who Were There (Published 11th April) By Steven Gaines and Peter Brown. A big thank you to the publishers Monoray/Octopus Books for sending a copy to read and review. Also to the wonderful Anne, always a pleasure to work with.

All You Need Is Love

All You Need is Love is a ground-breaking oral history of the Beatles and how it all came to an end. Based on never-before-published or heard interviews with Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and their families, friends, and business associates, this is a landmark book, containing stunning new revelations, about the biggest band the world has ever seen.

In 1980-1981 former COO of Apple Corp, Peter Brown and author Steven Gaines interviewed everyone in the Beatles’ inner circle and included a small portion of the transcripts in their international bestselling book The Love You Make, which spent four months on the New York Times bestseller list. But left in their archives was a treasure trove of unique and candid interviews that they chose not to publish, until now. A powerful work assembled through honest, intimate, sometimes contradictory and always fascinating testimony, All You Need is Love is a one-of-a-kind insight into the final days, weeks, months and years of the Beatles phenomenon.

About the Author

STEVEN GAINES is the New York Times bestselling author of Philistines at the Hedgerow: Passion and Property in the Hamptons and The Love You Make: An Insiders Story of the Beatles (with Peter Brown). His journalism has appeared in Vanity Fair, the New York Times, and New York magazine, where he was a contributing editor for 12 years. Mr. Gaines is the co-founder and a past vice-chairman of the Hamptons International Film Festival. He has lived in Wainscott, a small hamlet on the East End of Long Island, for 40 years.

PETER BROWN is the former COO of Apple Corp, the Beatles’ financial empire. He’s been a Beatles intimate since their earliest days in Liverpool. Their passports were locked in his desk drawer. He was best man at John and Yoko’s wedding, he introduced Paul to Linda Eastman, and perhaps the most charming of his credentials is that he’s the only real person ever mentioned in a Beatles song, “Peter Brown called to say, you can make it okay, you can marry in Gibraltar near Spain,” from the “Ballad of John and Yoko.” Mr. Brown

My Review

There has never been quite an act to follow in the magical, strange but unique footsteps as The Beatles. Four lads from Liverpool with bowl haircuts, sharp snazzy suits and a sound that would become legendary. John, Paul, Ringo and not forgetting of course George had it all. The houses, the girls, the cars, anything they wanted was within reach. With Brian Epstein as their manger who was sophisticated, classy and owned a Zodiac (the lads were impressed by his car) the world was their oyster. They couldn’t go anywhere, turn on the radio, tv, without seeing themselves. Over the years it started to become too much, they felt trapped and needed space. Just what exactly went on behind the scenes? What changed in those final years of the Beatles that ended it all? In never-before-published or heard interviews with the men themselves along with their families, friends and business associates All You Need Is Love sheds light on how and why one of the greatest British bands to date, came to an end.

In 1980-1981 Peter Brown and Steven Gaines conducted interviews with everyone in the Beatles inner circle. However they were left in their archives for over forty years until now. These interviews are powerful as they coincide with the final days, weeks and years of the Beatle phenomenon.

These interviews are raw and unique. The reader is reminded at the start of the book that the interviewees don’t always remember events or people the same way. Or tell the truth so to expect to find contrasting versions throughout the interviews. It is left up to the reader to decide what they believe is true. However everyone does agree that the story of the Beatles was meant to end when it did.

When I read Paul McCartney’s interview, it filled me with sadness. A sadness that he had no idea of what unfortunate fate was in store for John. Paul’s interview was the last he gave before John was killed in December of 1980. He talks about the loss of trust between him and John. He could feel the band growing apart as they were hardly writing together. Paul mentions how he was always outvoted by the others and would dig his heels in which would cause tension.

A lot of people have the impression that it was Yoko Ono who broke up the band. She would attend recording sessions sitting on their amps, lending her vocals and ideas to songs. It would often throw the lads’ game off as they thought it was crazy. However when you learn of the infamous gig in Manila, you start to wonder if that was the beginning of the end. George comments in his interview how it was one of the nastiest times that led them to stop touring. 

I give All You Need Is Love a Five out of Five paw rating

This is a must for any die hard fan of the sensation that was the Beatles.

It is fascinating to read each interview and see similarities or contradictions. You feel as the reader that you are there in the room with them all. The relaxed atmosphere with some of the interviews is inviting as you ease into a flow with the conversation. I highly recommend this book, it allows a peek, an insight into what goes on behind the scenes from one of the most loved bands to every come out of Liverpool.

Don’t forget to follow the rest of the blog tour, dates below, enjoy,

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Today dear reader I am on the blog tour for Girl Unmasked (Published 28th March 2024) By Emily Katy. A big thank you to the publishers Monoray for sending me a copy to read and review, always appreciated. Also to the wonderful Anne for the invite to take part in the tour, always a pleasure to work with. 

Girl Unmasked

To the outside world, Emily looks like a typical girl, with a normal family, living an ordinary life. But inside, Emily does not feel typical, and the older she gets, the more she realises that she is different.

As she finally discovers when she is 16, Emily is autistic. Girl Unmasked is the extraordinary story of how she got there – and how she very nearly didn’t.

Still only 21, Emily writes with startling candour about the years leading up to her diagnosis. How books and imagination became her refuge as she sought to escape the increasing anxiety and unbearable stresses of school life; how her OCD almost destroyed her; how a system which did not understand autism let her down; and how she came so close to the edge that she and her family thought she would never survive.

In this simple but powerful memoir, we see how family and friends became her lifeline and how, post-diagnosis, Emily came to understand her authentic self and begin to turn her life around, eventually becoming a mental health nurse with a desire to help others where she herself had once been failed.

Ultimately uplifting, Girl Unmasked is a remarkable insight into what it can be like to be autistic – and shows us that through understanding and embracing difference we can all find ways to thrive.

About The Author

Emily Katy, 21, lived as an undiagnosed autistic girl for nearly seventeen years. After completing her degree in 2022, she qualified as a mental health nurse. She has a large, highly engaged following on Twitter and Instagram (@ItsEmilyKaty) and a blog http://www.authenticallyemily.uk, where she talks about autism and mental health.

Emily is a Trustee of the charity ‘The Autistic Girls Network’, a former Governor and member of the CAMHS young people’s council for her local NHS trust, and in 2021 to celebrate the International Day of the Girl, she was selected by the Women of the World Foundation as one of their 2021 40 Young Leaders.

She lives in Hertfordshire with her family and two dogs, and loves books, writing, scrapbooking and Greys Anatomy. This is her first book.

My Review

Emily appears as your typical girl living an ordinary life. But as we all know dear reader, appearances can be deceiving and as she gets older, Emily begins to feel different, that she is not like her peers. When she is 16 years old she discovers that she is autistic.

The strong narrative voice in this memoir is truly inspiring. By the end of the book you feel as if you know Emily, you consider her a dear friend. Through her narrative the reader witnesses what it is like to grow up undiagnosed for so long with autism. This memoir shows her story of how she finally discovered her diagnosis and how close she came to ending it all. There is a content warning at the beginning of her book warning readers that her memoir contains themes of self-harm and suicide. She also reassures the reader that she will tell her story truthfully, as accurately as she can remember for there are periods of her life where her memories are blurred so she has filled in the gaps in order to make sense of the narrative.

Emily never saw herself as an interesting person, her passion is for books and writing which had become her coping mechanism. She always felt different and that it was a bad thing. She desperately wanted to fit in and would find herself copying mannerisms and behaviours of those around her. She would later learn that is called masking. Emily often thought she failed and it led her to believe that life wasn’t for her, it led her to a dark place, one she feared she would never return from. However Emily is quick to remind the reader that even though a great deal of stuff led to that moment, trauma and mistakes but also joy. Never forget the joy.

I can’t begin to even imagine the amount of challenges life brings growing up autistic and being undiagnosed. Emily shows the readers the challenges she faced growing up with autistic. She found change difficult and was often called bossy. Adults would repeatedly remind her every day that she was different by saying things like she talked too much, too loudly and too quickly. She also notes how other children showed her that being different wasn’t always a good thing. A particularly cruel child, Ruth who was the Queen Bee at school, would laugh at her and make fun. It’s heartbreaking to read as you want to jump to Emily’s defence and tell Ruth where to go. It’s frustrating that so many people see differences as a problem, that they don’t understand how being different is a beautiful, extraordinary thing we should all embrace. It is what makes us, us, unique and opens up a world of possibilities. If we were all the same it would be pretty dull and boring. A world of clones, of sheep, where is the joy in that? I love how Emily shows the reader that they shouldn’t fear the unknown, rather they should explore with an open mind and willingness to learn.

Emily is a massive supporter in helping others with autism and educating those who are not in how they can help. It’s encouraging to read as there needs to be more awareness of how things such as a loud classroom and sudden change of routine can cause a massive repercussions on an autistic child. We should respect that they have a different way of viewing the world which needs various ways of approaching any number of situations that could be triggering. Emily admits to the reader that she feels like she has been failed and since learning she is autistic found out that so many others were being failed too. It made her sad and angry, she wanted to help, her book is for anyone who wants to know more about autism, anyone who wants to try and understand what being autistic can be like and also for autistic people who are desperate to see themselves. She does make it very clear to the reader that her aim is never to speak for all autistic people, just help promote more awareness.

I give Girl Unmasked By Emily Katy a Five out of Five paw rating

Words are not simply enough dear reader to even begin to explain how powerful and inspiring this memoir is.

This memoir is an eyeopening insight into what it can be like to be autistic and shows the reader that through learning, understanding and acceptance, we can all find ways to flourish.

I highly recommend this book to everyone, autistic or not, you need to have this book in your life!

Don’t forget to follow the rest of the blog tour, dates below, enjoy!

Links

@ItsEmilyKaty

https://linktr.ee/girlunmasked

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Today dear reader I am on the blog tour for The Search Party (Published 18th Jan 2024) By Hannah Richell. A big thank you to the publishers Simon & Schuster for sending me a copy to read and review, always appreciated. Also the outstanding Anne who is always fantastic at her job! Thank you for inviting me to take part in the blog tour, you are a joy to the book blogging community.

The Search Party

Five old friends.
One glamping weekend.
A storm that will change everything.

Max and Annie Kingsley have left the London rat race to set up a glamping site in the wilds of Cornwall. They invite old university friends – TV star Dominic, doctor and new mum Kira, and free-spirited Jim and Suze – and their children for a trial weekend but the reunion quickly veers off-course.

First, there’s The Incident around the campfire on the first night. The following afternoon, a storm quickly develops off the rugged North Coast. When one of their group goes missing, all hell breaks loose. And as the winds batter the bell-tents, emotions run high and tension mounts for all the characters.

Who is lying in hospital, who has gone missing and who is the body on the beach below the cliffs . . .?

About the Author

Hannah Richell was born in Kent and spent her childhood years in Buckinghamshire and Canada. After graduating from the University of Nottingham, she worked in the book publishing and film industries in both London and Sydney. She is a dual citizen of Great Britain and Australia, and currently lives in the South West of England with her family. Richell is the author of international bestsellers Secrets of the Tides (2012), The Shadow Year (2014), The Peacock Summer (2019) and The River Home (2020). Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages.

My Review

From the moment you begin reading, Richell has you holding you breath, on edge as the goosebumps shiver down your spine. She instantly creates the eerie, sinister atmosphere that continues to follow the reader throughout the book.

The narrative follows a group of old friends that have know each other for 20 years meeting up for a reunion at Max and Annie’s new business venture, a glamping site set in north Cornwall called Wildernest. The plan is for the four families, the Kingsleys, the Davies, the Millers and Kira with her 5 month baby Asha and new boyfriend Fred to trial the site for the May Day weekend. Sixteen people in total if you count Kira’s 5 month old baby. What should have been a weekend of laughs and enjoying the fresh country air quickly descends into chaos with one of them ending up in hospital and another discovered dead below the cliffs. There is no mobile signal, they are left isolated with no signs of life for miles.

There is a variety of characters to follow in this book, each one with their own motive to betray the others. The reader learns more about each character as they are being interviewed by the police. Slowly a picture of the chilling events that took place over the weekend begins to unfurl. You’re not exactly sure who to trust and suspect everyone until you finally learn the truth of what happened near Morvoren Point. It’s enough to chill the blood as you are left picking your jaw off the floor, suspicion is everywhere, the reader is none the wiser until the very end. 

I loved how Richell uses the elements to help create tension and unease throughout the narrative. A storm breaks out over the weekend at the glamping site, the aggressive winds and cold temperature reflects that of the characters and their feelings towards each other. They may be old friends but after the incident on the first night around the bonfire, things become muddied. Blood is spilled, friendships are destroyed and trust is but a distant memory. This is a weekend that none of them will ever forget. 

I give The Search Party By Hannah Richell a Five out of Five paw rating

Highly addictive and gripping, I was holding my breath the entire time.

I LOVED this book! Fascinating writing, Richell has a talent for creating an intriguing narrative with a mixture of characters set against the suffocating atmosphere of Cornwall’s beauty. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a compelling thriller that keeps you guessing till the every end.

Don’t forget to follow the rest of the blog tour, dates below, enjoy!

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