Author: bookafterbook

Today, it is my absolute pleasure to talk to you about the new novel by Lisa Unger. UNDER MY SKIN is a gripping and captivating novel and I’d like to thank Lucy Richardson and HQ for providing me with a copy of the book. I’d also like to thank Lisa Unger for answering a few questions.

Publication: 2nd October 2018 (eBook), 18th October 2018 (paperback) – HQ

Her husband’s killer may be closer than she thinks…

It’s been a year since Poppy’s husband, Jack, was brutally murdered during his morning run. She’s trying to move on but what happened that morning is still haunting her. And now she’s sure she is being followed…

Sleep deprived and secretly self-medicating, Poppy is unable to separate her dreams from reality. She feels like she’s losing her mind. But what if she’s not? What if she’s actually remembering what really happened? What if her husband wasn’t who he said he was? And what if his killer is still watching her…

 

UNDER MY SKIN kept me completely hooked from the first to the last page. I couldn’t stop reading it and Lisa Unger made sure I couldn’t by ending each chapter with a revelation or a cliffhanger that made me say: “Just another chapter!”.

Poppy Lang is a professional photographer with her own successful agency of photographers. She lives in New York City, in a beautiful and modern flat in Chelsea. She goes on online dates with handsome men and, from the outside, her life seems perfect. But Poppy is grieving. A year earlier, her husband Jack was killed while he was jogging in the park. The police think it was a mugging gone wrong, but the killer was never found and Poppy is still looking for the truth, even though there is someone who doesn’t want her to find it.

I do love unreliable characters in thrillers and Poppy is the true definition of an unreliable character: she is on pills, she drinks alcohol, and she is sleep-deprived. She drifts between reality, dream, and repressed memories. Since the story is told in first person by Poppy, we, the readers, are inside Poppy’s head. We know what she thinks, what she feels, what she sees, and, like her, we don’t know what is real, what is the product of her sleep-deprived mind, and what are memories from a past that she can’t remember.

The uncertainty of what is really going on keeps the tension always high and kept me on the edge of my seat. Among the twists and the suspense, I found also some emotional moments. It was heartbreaking reading about Poppy’s grief, her pain over the loss of the man she loved and their future together, as she replays imaginary scenarios in which if she had gone jogging with him, if he had taken a different route, he may still be alive. I actually shed a few tears.

UNDER MY SKIN is very well-written and suspenseful, it’s full of twists and surprises. It is a superb, immersive, and compulsive read that kept me glued to the page and I can’t wait to read whatever Lisa Unger is writing next.

 

Below, read my Q&A with Lisa Unger:

How did you come up with the idea for UNDER MY SKIN? Did you do any specific research for the book?

The idea for a novel can come from anywhere. It might be a news story, a photograph, even, in one case, a piece of junk mail.  For UNDER MY SKIN, it was Carl Jung quote: “Between the dreams of day and night, there is not so great a difference.”

This thought kicked around in my head for a while and led to research into sleep, dreams, memory, addiction, and the slippery nature of our perception.  A great deal of research goes into all of my novels, and my study of certain subjects is ongoing. I have a continuing obsession with Carl Jung and his work. I have spent a number of years researching trauma, addiction and their impact on perception and behavior. These ideas run through much of my work.

If you have to pick one favourite character from all your books, who would it be and why?

I could never pick a favorite! They are all so different, so important to me. I have love and empathy for each of my characters, even the most deranged among them. There are a few characters that stay with me and show up again and again in novels. Retired private Detective Jones Cooper tends to show up in books where I didn’t expect him. Eloise Montgomery, the psychic, and her granddaughter Finley are often on my mind; I know their story is not yet finished. There is a novel in the works featuring all of those characters.

Have you ever been stuck while writing one of your books? How did you get over it?

Writing, as with all organic process, ebbs and flows. Some days you can’t stop the pages from coming; sometimes you spend a lot of time staring at the screen or the blank page. If I’m stuck in my narrative, I exercise. I go to the gym, blast some music, and move – or I walk my dog, or do some laundry. This, more often than not, will help me get to the next place in the narrative. Sometimes you have to walk away in order to give your subconscious the space to work things out.

What do you do when you aren’t writing? What do you do to relax and get away from it all?

I live in Florida, so my life with my family is very centered on the beach and the water.  Boating, kayaking, and swimming are favorite activities. We are passionate lovers of story – of course. So reading, theater, and film are big features of our life. I love to cook. I have a yoga practice. We also travel quite extensively, and love exploring the world together.

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

I have been a literary omnivore since I was a kid – in love with books and film of all types and genres.  But I think if I had to pick one author that influenced me more than any other it’s Truman Capote.  His short stories are where I fell in love with language. IN COLD BLOOD, a searing true crime book – maybe the first of its kind — taught me that one could write about crime and the dark side of human nature with compassion and with beauty. That book gave me permission to be who I am as a writer.

I also tend to mention REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier when asked this question. That was my first thriller. And the idea of the ordinary young woman caught in a tangle of extraordinary circumstance has been a theme in my work since my early novels.

What projects are you working on now?

I am working on the revisions for my next novel.  But I never talk about a book until it’s totally complete.  So I’ll have to keep you suspense. After all, that’s my job!

 

LISA UNGER is the New York Times and internationally bestselling, award-winning author of 15 novels, including the latest psychological thriller THE RED HUNTER.

Her books are published in 26 languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Lisa Unger lives in the Tampa Bay area of Florida with her husband, daughter and labradoodle.

 

 

Publication: 18th October 2018 – Orion

Three women, three birthdays, one year that will change everything…

Ginger isn’t spending her thirtieth the way she would have planned. Tonight might be the first night of the rest of her life – or a total disaster.

Sam is finally pregnant after years of trying. When her waters break on the morning of her fortieth birthday, she panics: forget labour, how is she going to be a mother?

Callie is celebrating her fiftieth at a big party in her Dublin home. Then a knock at the door mid-party changes everything…

 

I have to admit that this is only my second novel by Cathy Kelly, but the more I read her books the more I am captivated by her clear and fluent writing, her brilliant plots, and her engaging characters. And the protagonists of this novel really kept me glued to the page. Three women from different backgrounds and with different lives. The only thing they have in common is their birthdays that turn into life-changing moments for all of them.

Callie is beautiful and rich. She is happily married, she has a teenage daughter, she has a big house and everything that money could buy. Her life should be perfect, but, on her fiftieth birthday, she finds out it isn’t. Sam and her husband Ted had been trying for years to have a child and, when they were finally giving up on the idea of starting a family, she found out she was pregnant. Now, on her fortieth birthday, Sam is ready to give birth, but she also has to face her fear of becoming a mother. Ginger is looking for real love and, on her thirtieth birthday, which she is spending at her best friend’s wedding, she thinks she has finally found the right man for her.

THE YEAR THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING sees three women dealing with ghosts from their past and problems in both their personal and work lives. Over a year, they see their lives completely changing and I loved reading how they grow and become stronger. The author created multi-layered and engaging characters that with her attention to details and her descriptions come to life and, page after page, seem more realistic and likable. I found myself involved in their stories, their troubles, and I cheered at their successes. It is a feel-good and fabulous novel about friendship, love, and family bond, and it is also a story about betrayal, body-image, post-natal depression, and addiction. THE YEAR THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING is enjoyable, moving, and captivating and I’d like to thank Poppy Stimpson and Orion for inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

Publication: 24th August 2018 (eBook), 18th October 2018 (paperback) – Orion

How far would you go…

Gina Mills is desperate to be a newsreader, but her boss – the director of the struggling Channel Eight, won’t help.

Walking home one night, Gina stumbles upon a dead body, and after calling the police, she makes the split-second decision to report the murder live.

When questioned by the police, Gina can’t remember specific details about her discovery, but these memory gaps are explained away as shock.

…to uncover your family’s deadly secret?

But when Gina finds a second body, it’s clear she’s being targeted. But why?

And how is this connected to the death of Gina’s younger sister so many years ago?

 

Elle Croft really knows how to keep the readers on their toes. After her debut novel, The Guilty Wife, which I truly enjoyed, she is back with a new dark and twisty novel that kept me completely engrossed.

Family secrets are at the center of the novel. Ryan and Gina Mills are brother and sister. When they were young, their youngest sister, Cassie, died. Her death led to a fracture in the family, but now they are both adults, they recently reconnected, and they are both living in the family home. Ryan is single, he has a good job, and he leads an ordinary and regular life. On the other hand, Gina is completely in love with her boyfriend Julian and she works as a PA for a TV producer but dreams of becoming a journalist. She has her chance when, after a night out with a friend, she finds the body of a woman. Following this horrific discovery, Gina makes a series of decisions that lead her not only at the center of the investigation, but also of the media. Ryan, in the meantime, is dealing with his guilt over a past that he can’t forget.

The author is really good at creating complex and unreliable characters that make you question everything that is happening in the story: the novel is told from the point of views of the various protagonists (in addition to Gina and Ryan, their mother Sharon with flashbacks from 1996, and Adam Adebayo, the detective in charge of the murder investigation), but you can’t completely trust what they are saying or what they do. The author gives you only a glimpse of what is really going on and when the truth is finally revealed you are left with your mouth hanging open in surprise because you really didn’t see it coming. At least, that’s what happened to me.

The story is brilliantly plotted, full of suspense and surprises, and with a final shocking twist at the last page. THE OTHER SISTER will keep on the edge of your seat, page after page, and I’d like to thank Alainna Hadjigeorgiou and Orion for providing me with a copy of the book and inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

Elle Croft was born in South Africa, grew up in Australia and moved to the UK in 2010 after travelling around the world with her husband. She works as a freelance social media specialist and also blogs about travel, food and life in London.

It is my absolute pleasure to take part in the cover reveal for the new novel by Kendra Smith. THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME is the story of a woman who moves to Australia to save her marriage and it is out on 15th January 2019. Isn’t the cover simply gorgeous?

A new life down under? It’s not as perfect as you’d think.

Katie and Tom’s marriage is in trouble. As is their bank account. So, when Tom tells Katie that they need to talk, she knows it must be about one of two things, and neither are good. But when he blind-sides her saying that his boss is sending him to Australia – permanently – Katie realises it might just be what they need to save their marriage.

Trouble is, she doesn’t like the heat, can’t swim and hates spiders. Not to mention the bouts of homesickness – and Tom’s endless business trips. Katie is finding the hope of saving their marriage slowly slipping through her fingers.

When all is said and done which side of the globe will she decide to call home?

 

KENDRA SMITH has been a journalist, wife, mother, aerobics teacher, qualified diver and very bad cake baker. She started her career in Sydney selling advertising space but quickly made the leap to editorial – and went on to work on several women’s magazines in both Sydney and London. With dual Australian-British nationality, she currently lives in Surrey with her husband and three children.

Facebook: @KendraAuthor

Twitter: @KendraAuthor

Website: www.kendrasmith.co.uk

 

Buy links:

Amazon: viewbook.at/ChanceOfALifetime

 

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Publication: 26th July 2018 – Fahrenheit Press

Money in the bank and his dream girl on his arm – life was looking pretty sweet for Kirby Baxter. 

Of course it couldn’t last. Where would the fun be in that? This is a sequel after all.

After solving the murder of a movie starlet the previous year, Kirby is doing his best to live down his burgeoning reputation as part-time Interpol agent and amateur sleuth.

Then reality TV comes knocking next door.

Million Dollar Madhouse is a reality TV show where a bunch of washed up celebrities are thrown together in a dilapidated mansion while their attempts to renovate the building are broadcast 24/7 for the viewers delight.

Kirby’s quiet town is thrown into chaos by the arrival of camera crews, remote control video drones and a cast of characters including disgraced actress Victoria Gorham, political shock-jock Bert Wayne and reality TV royalty Kassandra Kassabian.

When one of the cast members turns up dead the local police turn to the only celebrity detective in town for help and draft an unwilling Kirby into their investigation.

The first body is only the beginning of another rip-roaring adventure for Kirby Baxter and with Gustav his loyal driver/valet/bodyguard/gardener/chef/ass-kicker at his side, our hero plunges into the fray with his usual stunning displays of deductive reasoning and sheer bloody luck.

 

A quiet town, a mansion in need of renovations, and celebrities past their times. Add a murder and a cast of colorful characters and you have an engaging and captivating read.

The protagonist of the novel is Kirby Baxter, a cartoonist who, after winning the lottery, travelled around Europe and became an amateur sleuth after solving murders that the police couldn’t figure out. Now a consultant for Interpol, he is trying to lead a normal and tranquil life with his girlfriend Molly. But when a reality show is being filmed in his town and one of the cast members is killed, Kirby has no choice but help the police in the investigation.

Kirby Baxter is clever and he has a sharp eye. He is a mixture between Sherlock Holmes, for his attention to details, and Miss Marple, because everywhere he goes he finds himself mixed-up in murders. This time he is involved in a world of reality shows, celebrities from the past who no one remembers, and blackmail. He is helped in the investigation by his girlfriend Molly, by Gustav, the ever-present bodyguard, driver, chef, and valet, and by Shelley, Molly’s cousin and a journalist desperate for a story for her website. Those three characters make the story more livelier and more eventful (even Gustav who never talks) and they kept me engrossed with their shenanigans and dialogues.

The novel is very well-written, captivating, and enjoyable. It’s a story full of mystery, but also hilarious moments that will make you laugh out loud. Since it’s the second book in a series I am definetely going to get the first one and I am already looking forward to the next story and I’d like to thank Emma Welton, Damppebbles Blog Tours, and Farhenheit Press for providing me with a copy of the book and for inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

Duncan MacMaster is a writer, pop-culture blogger, and film school survivor from the untamed wilds of Eastern Canada.
When he’s not concocting plots for Kirby Baxter to unravel he’s posting rants and rages about the business behind pop-culture on his blog.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FuriousDShow

Purchase Links:

Fahrenheit Press: https://bit.ly/2Onw4PH

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2zFZW1i

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2QnbWKX

 

 

Publication: 18th October 2018 – Simon & Schuster UK

Welcome to Castle Kidbury – a pretty town in a green West Country valley. It’s home to all sorts of people, with all the stresses and joys of modern life, but with a town square and a proper butcher’s. It also has, for our purposes, a rash of gory murders 
 
Jess Castle is running away. Again. This time she’s running back home, like she swore she never would.
 
Castle Kidbury, like all small towns, hums with gossip but now it’s plagued with murder of the most gruesome kind. Jess instinctively believes that the hippyish cult camped out on the edge of town are not responsible for the spate of crucifixions that blights the pretty landscape. Her father, a respected judge, despairs of Jess as she infiltrates the cult and manages, not for the first time, to get herself arrested.
 
Rupert Lawson, a schooldays crush who’s now a barrister, bails her out. Jess ropes in a reluctant Rupert as she gatecrashes the murder investigation of DS Eden. A by-the-book copper, Eden has to admit that intuitive, eccentric Jess has the nose of a detective.
 
As the gory murders pile up, there’s nothing to connect the victims. And yet, the clues are there if you look hard enough.

 

In this novel there are murders, suspects, sacrificial rituals, and yet I found myself laughing page after page. It all starts the morning the protagonist, Jessica “Jess” Castle, goes back home to Castle Kidbury after suddenly leaving her academic job at Cambridge. She receives a cold welcoming by her father, the Judge, but their unhappy reunion is overshadowed by the discovery of the body of a local man. As the investigation begins, pagan symbols and rituals comes to light. To escape her strained and complicated relationship with her father and because of her knowledge and degrees in ancient history and mythology, Jess offers her help to the lead investigator, DS Eden, who, unwillingly, accepts it.

While the body count increases and everyone becomes a suspect, Jess has to face her relationship with her father, a possible love interest, and she has to decide what to do with her life.

JESS CASTLE AND THE EYEBALLS OF DEATH is such a fun and enjoyable read. I loved the small town atmosphere. Thanks to the author’s attention to details I could almost imagine it. Castle Kidbury is one of those idyllic towns where everyone knows everyone and their secrets and where nothing exciting ever happens, at least until someone goes on a murder spree. The town is inhabited by a cast of very colorful characters, from Richard and Dough, the quirky owners of the charity shop where Jess volunteers, to Bogna, her father’s housekeeper, from Patricia, the self-important mayor, to Mary, Jess’s outspoken and lively best friend. And I truly enjoyed the witty exchanges between Jess and DS Eden, often interrupted by the absurd interjections of DC Knott. There was so much humour that I almost forgot that they were investigating gruesome murders.

The story is so well-written and the characters so well-crafted that everyone seems a suspect and until the end I couldn’t figure out who the killer was. Everything is revealed with a surprising and twisty ending worth of an Agatha Christie novel. Engaging, sharp, and refreshing, JESS CASTLE AND THE EYEBALLS OF DEATH is a mystery novel that will keep you glued to the pages and I’d like to thank Jess Barratt and Simon & Schuster UK for providing me with an early copy of this charming and brilliant book.

 

 

Publication: 4th October 2018 – Michael Joseph

The retreat at health-and-wellness resort Tranquillum House promises total transformation.

Nine stressed city dwellers are keen to drop their literal and mental baggage, and absorb the meditative ambience while enjoying their hot stone massages.

Miles from anywhere, without cars or phones, they have no way to reach the outside world. Just time to think about themselves, and get to know each other.

Watching over them is the resort’s director, a woman on a mission. But quite a different one from any the guests might have imagined.

For behind the retreat’s glamorous facade lies a dark agenda.

These nine perfect strangers have no idea what’s about to hit them . . .

 

I have been waiting for a long time for a new novel by Liane Moriarty so I was really excited when I received a book proof of her new novel, NINE PERFECT STRANGERS, for which I’d like to thank Gaby Young at Michael Joseph. This is different from the author’s previous novels, it was nothing at all what I expected, but in a good way, because I loved it and I read the entire novel (more than 400 pages) in less than two days. The plot is full of suspense and there is always a creepy feeling that kept me on the edge the entire time I was reading.

At the center of the story there are nine people, a cast of completely different and complex characters that have one thing in common: they have booked a ten-day stay at the health resort Tranquillum House to improve their health and their minds. There is the married couple hoping to save their marriage, the middle-age woman who wants to forget her problems both in her love and professional life, the mother-of-four divorcée who wants to lose weight, the health junkie lawyer, the grieving family, and the man trying to get his life back on track. These nine people entrust their lives to Masha, the owner of Tranquillum House who, together with her assistants Yao and Delilah, has created a program to improve their physical and mental health. But, between days of complete silence, healthy smoothies, and fasting, these nine strangers start to feel that something is not completely right at Tranquillum House.

The author created well-developed and relatable characters, each with their secrets, fears, and hopes. They are introduced slowly, one by one, so that the pages don’t feel overcrowded and confusing. Each character tells their side of the story so that the readers get the full picture. Even though the readers know exactly what is going on, there are still surprises and a few twists that will keep them on the edge of their seats.

NINE PERFECT STRANGER is a novel about loss, grief, love, addiction, and guilt, but I wouldn’t know how to categorize it. There is suspense, but there is also humor and witticism that will make you laugh and heartbreaking moments that will make you cry. What I can say is that it’s engaging, gripping, well-plotted, and immersive, and it proves, once again, that Liane Moriarty is a brilliant author who knows exactly what she is doing.

 

Publication: 4th October 2018 – Orion

IN A HOUSE OF LIES…

Everyone has something to hide
A missing private investigator is found, locked in a car hidden deep in the woods. Worse still – both for his family and the police – is that his body was in an area that had already been searched.

Everyone has secrets
Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is part of a new inquiry, combing through the mistakes of the original case. There were always suspicions over how the investigation was handled and now – after a decade without answers – it’s time for the truth.

Nobody is innocent
Every officer involved must be questioned, and it seems everyone on the case has something to hide, and everything to lose. But there is one man who knows where the trail may lead – and that it could be the end of him: John Rebus.

 

I’d like to start by thanking Orion and Leanne Oliver for providing me with an early copy of the book and I really like Ian Rankin’s books, especially the character of John Rebus. After twenty-two books he is still going strong. His sharp mind, his witticism, and the twisty plot kept me glued to the pages.

When private detective Stuart Bloom disappeared in 2006, the detectives in charge of the investigation were too lazy and too busy trying to protect the son of another detective, gangsters, and drug dealers to find out the truth. Now that the body has finally turned up, DI Shiobhan Clarke not only has to resolve a murder but she has to figure out if someone can be blamed for the mistakes of the first investigation, including her mentor John Rebus. Also, a couple of corrupted detectives are trying to smear her reputation and, in the last few days, she has been receiving strange silent calls.

John Rebus is a complex and flawed character that I couldn’t help but like. Now he is a retired detective but that doesn’t mean he is going to stay out of the investigation. Somehow, he always manages to sneak his way in. Even though he has trouble climbing up stairs, mentally he is still sharp and smart and his instinct is still that good. I enjoyed reading about his close relationship with his protegé Shiobhan Clarke, who is another character I really liked. Even though an internal investigation has cleared her of any wrongdoing, she still has to deal with the suspicious of colleagues who thinks she is corrupted.

Once again, Ian Rankin wrote a thriller that not only keeps you on edge, but also gives you a real feel of the police. Leaving aside corrupted detectives and power games, it was fascinating reading about how they work, the close relationship between partners, and the bond between the members of a team. Despite knowing that her mentor made mistakes, Shiobhan Clarkes is torn between her loyalty to John Rebus and finding out the truth about the murder of Stuart Bloom.

Gangsters, film producers, and drug dealers fill the pages while the beautiful and atmospheric setting of Edinburgh frames an unpredictable, gripping, and addictive story that kept me guessing until the end.

 

Publication: 18th September 2018 – St. Martin’s Press

Spenser Collins
An unlikely Harvard prospect, smart and athletic, strapped for cash, determined to succeed. Calls his mother—who raised him on her own in Chicago—every week.

Dalton Winthrop
A white-shoe legacy at Harvard, he’s just the most recent in a string of moneyed, privileged Winthrop men in Cambridge. He’s got the ease—and the deep knowledge—that come from belonging.

These two find enough common ground to become friends, cementing their bond when Spenser is “punched” to join the Delphic Club, one of the most exclusive of Harvard’s famous all-male final clubs. Founded in the nineteenth century, the Delphic has had titans of industry, Hollywood legends, heads of state, and power brokers among its members.

Dalton Winthrop knows firsthand that the Delphic doesn’t offer memberships to just anyone. His great-uncle is one of their oldest living members, and Dalton grew up on stories of the club’s rituals. But why is his uncle so cryptic about the Ancient Nine, a shadowy group of alums whose identities are unknown and whose power is absolute? They protect the Delphic’s darkest and oldest secrets—including what happened to a student who sneaked into the club’s stately brick mansion in 1927 and was never seen again.

Dalton steers Spenser into deeper and deeper recesses of the club, and beyond it, to try to make sense of what they think they may be seeing. But with each scrap of information they get from an octogenarian Crimson graduate, a crumbling newspaper in the library’s archives, or one of Harvard’s most famous and heavily guarded historical books, a fresh complication trips them up. The more the friends investigate, the more questions they unearth, tangling the story of the club, the disappearance, and the Ancient Nine, until they realize their own lives are in danger.

 

When I read the blurb and I saw that it was about secret societies at Harvard I was completely sold. I have always been fascinated by student life in American colleges and I have been curious about student secret societies since I was a teenager and I saw the movie about Skull and Bones (with Joshua Jackson and Paul Walker).

THE ANCIENT NINE is set in 1988 at Harvard University. The protagonist is Stephen Collins a young student attending university. When he receives the invitation to join one of the Final Club (the most exclusive clubs at Harvard), Stephen, a black student from one of the poor neighbours of Chicago, is surprised. The Delphic is an ancient and the most exclusive club at the university, its members are some of the most powerful and richest men in the world, but there are legends and mysterious disappearances linked to the club. Together with his friend Dalton, Stephen wants to find out the truth around the folklore surrounding the club, but someone is watching him and wants to stop him.

I found the plot intriguing and exciting. The author enriches the story with an history of both Harvard University and secret societies that I found fascinating and detailed. The more I read the more I wanted to find out about these clubs. The mysterious side of the story is often nicely interrupted by Spenser’s basketball practice, his entertaining love life, and his friendship with Dalton.

I found Stephen and Dalton’s unlikely close friendship interesting. Stephen is a black kid from the South Side of Chicago, raised by a single mother. He got into Harvard with a scholarship and he has to count every penny he spends. On the other hand, Dalton is a white guy coming from a rich family, who flies everywhere and stays in the best hotels. Despite their different backgrounds, Stephen and Dalton’s friendship is true and honest and I was glued to the page as they joined forces to find out more about the Delphic club.

Exclusive clubs, mysterious disappearances, secret rooms, and fascinating legends kept me on edge as I kept reading. Well-written, informative, and completely immersive, THE ANCIENT NINE will take you on a journey through the ancient halls of one of the most important universities in the world and through a story that will keep you absorbed, page after page.

 

Ian K. Smith is the author of nine New York Times bestselling nonfiction books, several of them, including Shred and Super Shred, #1 bestsellers, as well as one previous work of fiction, The Blackbird Papers. He is a graduate of Harvard, Columbia, and the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine.

Facebook: @Dr.IanKSmith

Twitter: @DrIanSmith

Author Website: https://doctoriansmith.com/

Instagram: @doctoriansmith

Publication: 24th September 2018

“Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping” is the first novel in the Anna Romano Mystery Series. It is a funny, whimsical, murder mystery series that appeals to ‘mystery readers’ of all ages.

Anna Romano is a middle-aged, Italian woman who is also a successful published author, a lover of cats, and an excellent cook with a hankering for Italian cuisine. She lives by herself in her quaint house, in a quiet community, with a white picket fence in Central New Jersey.

When she is not writing her next book or hosting book-signing events with her publicist, she is cleaning litter boxes and baking Cannolis…but never at the same time, of course!

In this first installment, on a typical day in Anna’s somewhat-perfect life, a book-signing event turns her world upside down. Is it a case of mistaken identity or was she just being paranoid?

 

This was certainly a most unusual read. It’s both a mystery novel and a humorous story. I laughed, especially at the dialogues and the situations the protagonist get herself in, but I was also on edge during some of the suspenseful moments.

The protagonist is Anna Romano. She is 37 years old and she lives in Jersey Shore. She is single, but she has the company of seven cats that she adores. She is a successful author of crime fiction and during an event at a bookstore, she is approached by a man who leaves her unsettled and leaves her in a curious and dangerous situation.

I really liked the character of Anna and I am already looking forward to more of her adventures (next book coming in January). She is annoyed by people who find strange that, since she is Italian and 37 years old, she is still not married. She likes to cook cannolis. She is funny, smart, and likable.

The mystery side of the story is twisty and suspenseful and sometimes it verges on the absurd that gives the story a funny and witty feeling. There is also some romance, represented by the character of Detective John Solace who helps Anna with her problems.

The story is not very long, less than two hundred pages, and the reading flows easily under the author’s fluent and witty writing. CATS, CANNOLIS, AND A CURIOUS KIDNAPPING is an easy and entertaining read with engaging characters and a captivating plot and I’d like to thank Emma Welton and Damppebbles Blog Tours for providing me with a copy of the book and for inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

Writing under pen name, Cheryl Denise Bannerman, Ms. Powell is an author of two self-published books, and an owner of a 22-year-old Training and Development company, specializing in eLearning, called Learn2Engage.

In her personal life and relationships, Ms. Powell has learned how to turn tragedies into triumphs through her strong will, faith, tenacity and most importantly, her quirky sense of humor. She now turns that keen knowledge of relationships and people, along with her various degrees and experience in Training and Development, into fun, engaging online courses for ‘Corporate America’, and, of course, in her works of fiction.

Within each of her works of fiction, a topic of social concern is addressed. From addictions to domestic violence, and suicide to molestation.

Her writings inspire people to live, laugh, love, learn and grow. She believes that when the world laughs at you, laugh harder. In Ms. Powell’s real and fictional world, she has learned how to create her own ‘happy ending’…one day at a time.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cbannerman01

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

Website: http://www.bannermanbooks.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bannermanbooks18/

Amazon.com: https://amzn.to/2I9iYQC

Amazon.co.uk: https://amzn.to/2xJqEUF

International Giveaway!

US residents:  There are two prizes up for grabs; entrants can win either a $10 B&N voucher or a signed paperback copy of Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping.  To enter the giveaway to win one of these prizes click here:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/995da7e514/?

Terms and conditions: One US winner will receive a signed paperback copy of Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping and one US winner will receive a $10 B&N voucher.  The draw will be random and you cannot choose your prize.  There is no cash alternative.  The giveaway will close at midnight BST on Saturday 29^th September 2018.  The winner of the paperback will need to provide their postal address.  The winner of the B&N voucher will need to provide their email address.  These addresses will be passed onto Cheryl Denise Bannerman for her to distribute the prizes.  The addresses will not be kept.  Good luck.

 

Non US residents: For your chance to win a Kindle copy of Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping please click the following link:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/995da7e515/?

Terms and conditions: One non-US winner will receive a Kindle copy of Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping.  The winner will need to provide their Kindle email address and add damppebbles@gmail.com as a Safe Sender to their Kindle account (information on how to do this can be provided upon request).  There is no cash alternative and the winner’s name will be selected at random.  The giveaway will end at midnight (BST) on Saturday 29^th September 2018.  Good luck.