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Fulfilment by Anne Stormont

The Blurb

The path of true love rarely runs smoothly…

When former Edinburgh police detective Jack Baxter met local author and crofter Rachel Campbell on the Scottish island of Skye, they fell in love. It was a second chance at happiness for both of them.

They both had emotional baggage. Jack helped Rachel cope with unimaginable grief after the death in combat of her soldier son, and Rachel was there for Jack after a criminal with a grudge almost ended his life. There were many bumps along the road but they believed they’d worked through and settled their differences.

However, Jack is struggling. Still suffering from post-traumatic stress, haunted by his past, and taunted by the demons of self-doubt, he feels Rachel deserves better.

Meanwhile, Rachel is busy preparing for the launch of her latest book – a book in honour of her son and aimed at promoting peace. So at first, she fails to notice just how troubled Jack is.

Can Jack overcome his demons?

Can Rachel convince Jack he deserves to be loved?

Can they finally resolve their differences and fulfil their dreams together?

Fulfilment is the third and final part in Rachel & Jack: The Skye series.

It follows on from Displacement (book 1) and Settlement (book 2).

If you like mature, emotional and thought-provoking contemporary romance in a dramatic setting, then this is a book for you.

The Author

Anne Stormont was born in Scotland and although she has travelled all over the world – including a teaching exchange to South Africa, four trips to Australia and several visits to the Middle East – it’s where she still lives.

She began making up stories as a child in order to entertain her four wee sisters. But as an adult, being busy with motherhood and working as a teacher, it took a long time and a mortality wake-up call for her to get that first book written.

She’s a compulsive crossworder, yoga practitioner, avid reader, keen walker and enthusiastic gardener. She can be a bit of a subversive old bat, but she tries to maintain a kind heart. She also loves tea, penguins and being with her grandchildren.

Fulfilment is the third of the 3 books in the Rachel & Jack: Skye Series. Anne’s books are all set in Scotland and are contemporary romances where the main characters may be slightly older but are not necessarily wiser.

You can find out more about Anne and her books at her website anne-stormont.com

Buy Link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08839RCJT/?ref=exp_kellysloveofbooks_dp_vv_d

The Review

I have loved this series. With all its ups and downs, twists and turns it has stayed realistic and readable.

It’s a great story and brings to an end the story of Jack and Rachel. Both are lovely, interesting characters who you want to know more about.

There’s times you’re going to want to shake one (or both!) of them, others you’re cheering them on and the characters have grown and evolved as the series has gone on. I have loved the series since book one. Unlike other series, it didn’t tail off and feel forced as some do. It felt natural the whole way through. I have thoroughly enjoyed this and will say this. Go and treat yourself to the three books and then just ignore the world and read them.

Thanks to @LoveBooksGroup and @writeanne Anne Stormont for the review copy of this book.

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The Growing Season by Helen Sedgwick

Description

Now we have equality. Now we’ve outgrown our biology. With FullLife’s baby pouch, women are liberated and men can share the joy of childbearing. Holly’s whole family knows the benefits, but Eva doesn’t believe society has changed for the better and Piotr has uncovered a secret behind FullLife’s glossy facade. What separates them may just bring them together, as they search for the truth about FullLife and each face a truth of their own.

Review.

I was sent a review copy of this book from the author and it’s a book that I knew was slightly out of my comfort zone, but had a feeling I’d enjoy.

I was not disappointed.

Helen Sedgwick backs up what could have been in other hands a simple black and white scientific discussion. Until you involve people who have real issues, feelings and emotions. The characters all have their reasons for believing their standpoint at the beginning. At the end some views are changed and others are softened or just more open to seeing what is going wrong around them.

It brings to mind echoes of Brave New World and serves as a warning to not only look before we dive into “better” futures but keep checking on what our world turns into and give open choices. Sometimes what appears dead and outdated is, though frequently it’s a stark reminder that although new things work not all older ideas should be thrown away.

Excellent read Helen Sedgwick

I make no apology for starting the blog with a book from a few years ago. I am always finding books new to me, and also read new release books. This book is one of those that sticks with me, haunting me with it’s possible ways for the world to go in the race for a more evolved future and like every future move has drawbacks and advantages. The more we hear from scientists and breakthroughs I’m brought back to this book and the insight of Helen and other scientists who look beyond the obvious. E6B21040-CE97-4F86-835B-8241A5A0B2A2

If you haven’t yet read this book buy it as soon as you can. If you have, feel free to let me know your thoughts. I’m sure I don’t need to ask, but whatever your opinion now or in the future by all means be honest, but always be kind. 🙂

Helen can be found on Twitter at @HelenSedgwick

Girls who lie by Eva Björg Ægisdottir

At once a startling, tense psychological thriller, and a sophisticated and twisty police procedural from a rising star in Icelandic literature
When single mother Maríanna disappears from her home, leaving an apologetic note on the kitchen table, it is assumed that she’s taken her own life – until her body is found on the Grábrók
lava fields seven months later, clearly the victim of murder. Her neglected fifteen-year-old daughter Hekla has been placed in foster care, but is her perfect new life hiding something sinister?
Fifteen years earlier, a desperate new mother lies in a maternity ward, unable to look at her own child, the start of an odd and broken relationship that leads to tragedy.
Police officer Elma and her colleagues take on the case, which becomes increasingly complex, as the list of suspects grows ever longer and new light is shed on Maríanna’s past – and the childhood of a girl who never was like the others…
Fresh, richly atmospheric, and with quietly compelling and sophisticated writing reminiscent of Ruth Rendell, Girls Who Lie was an Icelandic #1 bestseller. It further establishes Eva Björg Ægisdóttir as one of the most exciting young crime writers in Iceland.

Born in Akranes in 1988, Eva Björg Ægisdóttir studied for an MSc in Globalisation in Norway before returning to Iceland and deciding to write a novel – something she had wanted to do since she won a short-story competition at the age of fifteen. After nine months combining her writing with work as a stewardess and caring for her children, Eva finished The Creak on the Stairs. It was published in 2018, and became a bestseller in Iceland. It also went on to win the Blackbird Award, a prize set up by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Ragnar Jónasson to encourage new Icelandic crime writers. It was published in English by Orenda Books in 2020. Eva lives in Reykjavík with her husband and three children and is currently working on the third book in the Forbidden Iceland series. Follow her on @evaaegisdottir

What an absolutely cracking read this is!

You hear so many different places for crime scenes, but a lava field? Now that’s original!

Yet again, Eva Bjorg Ægisdottir blows it straight out of the park, with this twisted tale, that even stings right at the very end. I loved how it shows the character of Elma developing and her own relationships, family and personal. I couldn’t put this down and it’s even more brilliant Icelandic Noir. We have a Queen of Icelandic Noir as well as a King I think!!

I can’t wait to read the next book featuring Elma. Thanks for the advanced reading copy of this book to AnneCater, Orenda Books and the author.

You Need Me by Sharon Bairden Cover Reveal

‘Your secret didn’t die with me.’
The mysterious note tucked inside the pages of a recently returned book leaves librarian, Morag McLaughlin, chilled to the bone. She knows it was meant for her.
Someone out there knows her darkest secrets and they could destroy everything. Torn apart from her own family, she will stop at nothing to create a perfect new one.
Why are they all so ungrateful? She’s only looking after them… Isn’t she?

By day Sharon Bairden is the Services Manager in a small, local independent advocacy service and has a passion for human rights; by night she has a passion for all things criminal. She blogs over at Chapterinmylife and is delighted to be crossing over to the other side of the fence to become a writer.

Sharon lives on the outskirts of Glasgow, has two grown up children, a grandson, a Golden Labrador and a cat. She spends most of her spare time doing all things bookish, from reading to attending as many book festivals and launches as she can. She has been known to step out of her comfort zone on the odd occasion and has walked over burning coals and broken glass – but not at the same time!

Pre-Order Links:

Limited Edition Hardback—numbered, with signed and dedicated bookplate.

https://www.reddogpress.co.uk/product-page/you-need-me-limited-hardback-edition

Standard formats (eBook, Paperback, Hardback)

https://www.reddogpress.co.uk/product-page/you-need-me

Publication date: October 12th 2021

The Beresford by Will Carver

Just outside the city – any city, every city – is a grand, spacious but affordable apartment building called The Beresford.
There’s a routine at The Beresford.
For Mrs May, every day’s the same: a cup of cold, black coffee in the morning, pruning roses, checking on her tenants, wine, prayer and an afternoon nap. She never leaves the building. Abe Schwartz also lives at The Beresford. His housemate Smythe no longer does. Because Abe just killed him. In exactly sixty seconds, Blair Conroy will ring the doorbell to her new home and Abe will answer the door. They will become friends. Perhaps lovers.
And, when the time comes for one of them to die, as is always the case at The Beresford, there will be sixty seconds to move the body before the next unknowing soul arrives at the door. Because nothing changes at The Beresford, until the doorbell rings…

Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the January David series. He spent his early years in Germany, but returned to the UK at age eleven, when his sporting career took off. He turned down a professional rugby contract to study theatre and television at King Alfred’s, Winchester, where he set up a successful theatre company. He currently runs his own fitness and nutrition company, and lives in Reading with his two children. Will’s latest title published by Orenda Books, Hinton Hollow Death Trip was longlisted for the Not the Booker Prize, while Nothing Important Happened Today was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year and for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell. Good Samaritans was a book of the year in Guardian, Telegraph and Daily Express, and hit number one on the eBook charts.

Everywhere you go, there’s that building that has been there since the dawn of time, that’s filled with legends and ghosts. If it’s full of Mrs May and her entourage then then maybe find somewhere else to stay. If it’s called The Beresford, pass it by and keep on going.

The story is slick, funny and chock full of dark humour and personalities we all will recognise, if we don’t know them personally! This is such an astute and original book about character and I loved every single moment of it.

I loved how The Beresford was like a living, breathing character that is just there. There’s no major description, it’s just waiting to ingest it’s next soul. Or is it?

I skipped sleep to get through this amazingly twisted and twisty book that draws you in from the beginning and it’s hooks hold you tight until the end. If it ever lets you go.

Echoes of The Shining, and brilliant if occasionally gruesome read, I loved every moment.

With thanks to Orenda Books, Anne Cater and the author for the advanced reading copy of this book.

The Lesson by Lisa Bradley

SOMEONE’S GOT TO MAKE HIM PAY.

Evie has just started her second year at University. She is young, beautiful and popular. She should be having the time of her life, except she has something to hide – a one-night-stand with her English Professor, Simon.

Not wanting any of his other students to be used in the same way, Evie reports their relationship to University HR. But hours later, Village Vixen, the student gossip blogger, is baying for blood. She’s found out about the accusation and is firmly on Simon’s side.

But how could Village Vixen possibly have known? Evie can’t help but feel like she’s being watched. As paranoia and fear set in, the one thing Evie knows for sure is someone has to teach Simon a lesson…

Lisa Bradley is a former journalist and now Director of Learning and Teaching for Journalism at Sheffield University. Paper Dolls is her first novel.

The book is told from multiple POV which I found enthralling and interesting.

The characters all seem to have their own secrets and agendas and they weren’t all entirely trustworthy. This is written in such a way that as with the authors debut book, you wonder who is at fault, or is everyone guilty of something?

I’m certainly not going to give you the ending and I’d say that this is a very worthwhile book with which to while away the hours.

In the genre of thriller and #metoo I’d recommend this book.

With thanks to the publisher and the author for the advanced reading copy of this book.

Far from The Tree by Rob Parker

Twenty-seven bodies, vacuum-packed, buried in a woodland trench – some have been there for years, some for just days.

DI Foley finds himself the Senior Investigating Officer on one of the largest murder cases the country has ever seen. This could make his career.

But as new discoveries unfold, this horrific gangland crime suddenly gets personal. Too personal.

Foley has a choice. Solve the crime and risk his family? Or leave well alone?

To a man like Brendan, that’s no choice at all…

Far From the Tree is the first in the Thirty Miles Trilogy and was an Audible #1 Bestseller.

Rob Parker is a married father of three, who lives in Warrington, UK. The author of the Ben Bracken thrillers, Crook’s Hollow and the #1 Audible bestseller Far FromThe Tree enjoys a rural life, writing horrible things between school runs. Rob writes full time, attends various author events across the UK, and boxes regularly for charity.

He spends a lot of time in schools across the North, encouraging literacy, story-telling and creative-writing, and somehow squeezes in time to co-host the For Your Reconsideration film podcast, appear regularly on The Blood Brothers Crime Podcast, and is a member of the Northern Crime Syndicate.

Where do you start when it’s a Rob Parker book? Wow just doesn’t cut it.

Yet, again Rob Parker bats it straight out of the field, with this police procedural with a distinct difference. As you come to expect if you have read any of his previous work. And quite honestly, the unexpected is the ONLY thing you can expect, because if you ever think you have the writing style and where he’s going to go next, you will surely be wrong!

Rob Parker is a writer to really be watching closely as his work has many angles. You feel the rawness of the bereaved within this. The possibility of the event near the end had me welling up and thinking did that just happen. I found the sleight of hand in this mans writing once more, as I was tricked.

An excellent novel and I cannot wait for book 2!

With thanks to Red Dog Press and Rob Parker for the advanced reading copy of this book.

Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie

The year is 1969, and the Bayleen Island Folk Fest is abuzz with one name: Jesse Reid. Tall and soft-spoken, with eyes blue as stone-washed denim, Jesse Reid’s intricate guitar riffs and supple baritone are poised to tip from fame to legend with this one headlining performance. That is, until his motorcycle crashes on the way to the show.

Jane Quinn is a Bayleen Island local whose music flows as naturally as her long blond hair. When she and her bandmates are asked to play in Jesse Reid’s place at the festival, it almost doesn’t seem real. But Jane plants her bare feet on the Main Stage and delivers the performance of a lifetime, stopping Jesse’s disappointed fans in their tracks: A star is born.

Jesse stays on the island to recover from his near-fatal accident and he strikes up a friendship with Jane, coaching her through the production of her first record. As Jane contends with the music industry’s sexism, Jesse becomes her advocate, and what starts as a shared calling soon becomes a passionate love affair. On tour with Jesse, Jane is so captivated by the giant stadiums, the late nights, the wild parties, and the media attention, that she is blind-sided when she stumbles on the dark secret beneath Jesse’s music. With nowhere to turn, Jane must reckon with the shadows of her own past; what follows is the birth of one of most iconic albums of all time.

Shot through with the lyrics, the icons, the lore, the adrenaline of the early 70s music scene, Songs in Ursa Major pulses with romantic longing and asks the question so many female artists must face: What are we willing to sacrifice for our dreams?

EMMA BRODIE has worked in book publishing for a decade, most recently as an executive editor at Little, Brown’s Voracious imprint. She graduated from the Johns Hopkins University’s Writing Seminars program, and is a longtime contributor to HuffPost and a faculty member at Catapult. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their dog, Freddie Mercury.

While this book may appear to be simply a fictional depiction of a true love affair, it’s way more than that. It describes attitudes to women in general, in the music industry and the things they had to do to even be noticed.

You truly invest yourself in this historical fiction story and actually feel as if you are part of it. Not just reading it, but part of a lively, living story that you could easily be a character in. It was like peeping over the shoulder of the books heroine, and for a short while engrossing yourself totally in her world. An amazing read, a book to lose yourself in this summer.

With thanks to Jen Harlow at Harper Collins for the advanced reading copy of this book.

Arrowood and the Meeting House Murders by Mick Finlay

London Society takes their problems to Sherlock Holmes. Everyone else goes to Arrowood.

‘Finlay depicts a seedy, desperate London and vivid characters with considerable skill’ The Times

Nowhere to hide.
London, 1896. As winter grips the city, a group of African travellers seek sanctuary inside the walls of the Quaker Meeting House. They are being hunted by a ruthless showman, who is forcing them to perform in his ethnic exhibition in the London Aquarium.

Nowhere to turn.
Private investigator William Arrowood and his assistant Barnett agree to help the travellers avoid capture. But when they arrive at the Meeting House, they find a scene of devastation. Two people have been murdered and the others have fled into the night.

Nowhere to run.
The hunt for the real killer leads Arrowood into the dark heart of Victorian London. A shadowy world of freak shows, violence and betrayal, where there are no good choices and only the slimmest chance of survival…

Mick Finlay was born in Glasgow and grew up in Canada and England. He now divides his time between Brighton and Cambridge. He teaches in a Psychology Department, and has published social psychological research on political violence, persuasion, and verbal and non-verbal behaviour. Before becoming an academic he worked as a tent-hand in a travelling circus, a butcher’s boy, a hotel porter, and in various psychology-related roles in the NHS and social services. He reads widely in history, psychology, and enjoys a variety of fiction genres (including crime, of course!).

I’ve not read any of the other books in this series, so I came to the books ignorant of any history between characters. It was made clear who the characters were at the beginning, so I never felt like I’d missed out by not having read them. That said it’s piqued my curiosity to remedy that at some point!

I felt that the author gave enough reference to racism that existed without using the most offensive terms. I know they were used, but I don’t feel reading them in print is necessary. I could be wrong on this. I can only say I may have got too angry to carry on reading the story.

The plot is full of brilliant twists and turns that weave their way all over the globe and back again. The characters were believable and fully rounded and the physical violence people were threatened with was explored properly. The historical elements were also fully formed and believable.

Overall this was a great novel that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish. I look forward to reading more from this author who writes cleverly and intelligently while keeping the balance with a really good story.

With thanks to HQ stories and Mick Finlay for the advanced reading copy of this book.

Hellcorp by Jonathan Whitelaw Bookblitz

Life is hard for The Devil and he desperately wants to take a holiday. Growing weary from playing the cosmic bad guy, he resolves to set up a company that will do his job for him so the sins of the world will tick over while he takes a vacation. God tells him he can have his vacation just as soon as he solves an ancient crime.

But nothing is ever easy and before long he is up to his pitchfork in solving murders, desperate to crack the case so he can finally take the holiday he so badly needs…

This is a perfectly-pitched darkly comic crime novel that is ideal for fans of Christopher Fowler and Ben Aaranovitch.

J.D. Whitelaw is an author, journalist and broadcaster. After working on the frontline of Scottish politics, he moved into journalism. Subjects he has covered have varied from breaking news, the arts, culture and sport to fashion, music and even radioactive waste – with everything in between. He’s also a regular reviewer and talking head on shows for the BBC. Banking on Murder is the first of three Parker sister novels. His hugely successful HellCorp series is being reedited by Red Dog Press, with the first title to be released in July 2021. His debut in 2015 was the critically acclaimed Morbid Relations.

Buy it here:

All formats will be available directly from our shop (print and ebook)

https://www.reddogpress.co.uk/product-page/hellcorp

Publication date: 20 July 2021

Little Rebel by Jérôme Leroy

Divided along so many social fault lines, a city in the west of France is a tinderbox of anger and passion. As the tension grows, things go badly wrong as a cop is killed and a terror cell is scattered across the city. A school on the deprived side of the city is caught up in the turmoil as students, their teacher and a visiting children’s author are locked down.
Making his first appearance in an English translation, Jérôme Leroy gives us a subtle and sardonic perspective on the shifts taking place in politics and society in this disturbing novella.

A prolific author of novels for both adults and young adults, essays and poetry, Jérôme Leroy is from Rouen. His work has appeared in a number of languages, but Little Rebel is his first work to be translated into English.

Originally from Liverpool, Graham H. Roberts has been living in the northern French city of Lille since 2003. When he’s not translating French crime fiction, Roberts teaches at a number of HE institutions in the Lille area and in Paris. In his spare time he enjoys writing and his first novel – also a work of crime fiction – is due for completion some time in 2021.

The Review

This is a book that draws you in quickly, because it makes you really think.

It’s very dark, dealing with terrorism in it’s pages. I’d have liked it to be longer, if I’m honest. I’ve not read anything from this author before and I will be putting that right soon, I hope.

I can’t say I particularly liked any of the characters, but it does highlight how we stereotype people by what the media feeds us. It touches strongly on major themes and brings to light attitudes that exist in the world, however they’re dressed up. It highlights how we’d expect someone to be and what we’d expect them to do from the off, as it’s filled with fraught tension and misdirection and I completely devoured it.

An enjoyable read, that maybe could have been a little longer as the ending felt rushed.

With thanks to the publisher and the author for the advanced reading copy of this book.

One Last Time by Helga Flatland

Anne’s life is rushing to an unexpected and untimely end. But her diagnosis of terminal cancer isn’t just a shock for her – and for her daughter Sigrid and granddaughter Mia – it shines a spotlight onto their fractured and uncomfortable relationships.
A spur-of-the moment trip to France acts as a catalyst for the
three generations of women to reveal harboured secrets, long-held frustrations and suppressed desires – and to learn humbling and heartwarming lessons about how life should be lived when death is so close.
With all of Helga Flatland’s trademark insight, sharp yet warm wit and deep empathy, One Last Time examines the great dramas that can be found in ordinary lives, asks the questions that matter to us all – and ultimately celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. An enchantingly beautiful novel that urges us to treasure what we have and rethink how we live our lives, from one of Norway’s most distinguished literary novelists.

Helga Flatland is already one of Norway’s most awarded and widely read authors. Born in Telemark, Norway, in 1984, she made her literary debut in 2010 with the novel Stay If You Can, Leave If You Must, for which she was awarded the Tarjei Vesaas’ First Book Prize. She has written four novels and a children’s book and has won several other literary awards.
Her fifth novel, A Modern Family (her first English translation), was published to wide acclaim in Norway in August 2017, and was a number-one bestseller. The rights have subsequently been sold across Europe and the novel has sold more than 100,000 copies. One Last Time was published in Norway in 2020, where it topped the bestseller lists, and was shortlisted for the Norwegian Booksellers Award.

This book is a beautiful exploration of people and their way of communicating with one another, when they’re not used to it.

The relationships differ so much between all three generations of women. And now things have to be said, discussed and understood quickly. Time is running out for the women to resolve everything they need to.

Do they? Will they? I’d suggest you read it and find out. If you are not nodding in understanding and feeling empathy for these characters, you are an unusual human being indeed!

This fantastic book was sent to me by Orenda Books. I’d like to thank Anne Cater, the publisher and the author for the advanced reading copy of this book. And for the discovery of a new author!