Book After Book

Publication: 14th March 2025 – Boldwood Books

Nobody should be in the market… for murder!

Even though its famous opera house has shuttered its doors for the war, Covent Garden remains one of the most exciting, bustling areas of London. It’s where Hannah Merrill and Aunt Violet have their bookshop and, in spite of the recent spate of burglaries in the area, it’s generally thought to be a good neighbourhood.

So Hannah is surprised when she sees a fellow shopkeeper – a jeweller named Jacob Cornelis – having a heated argument with a stranger. Especially when the next day Cornelis is found dead in his shop, apparently the victim of another burglary.

But what shocks Hannah more is when she meets the policeman supposedly there to investigate the crime. Because he is none other than the man who Hannah saw arguing with Cornelis the day before.

Hannah knows it’s up to her and Violet to investigate. But they don’t know they’re about to uncover a secret underworld of theft, murder and blackmail. And they must act fast, before the Covent Garden Killer strikes again…

A gripping and unputdownable Golden Age cozy crime mystery, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Helena Dixon and Verity Bright.

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/MurderCoventGarden

It’s my turn on the blog tour for Murder in Covent Garden, the new fantastic mystery by Anita Davison, out today!

The Miss Merril and Aunt Violet series is one of my favourite historical series. I enjoy the mysteries and the suspense and I like that the protagonists are two independent women, a young woman and her aunt who owns a bookshop in Covent Garden.

In Murder in Covent Garden, a series of burglaries have the police running around in search of the thieves, until one burglary ends in murder. Hannah and her aunt Violet knew the victim, the owner of a jewelry shop near them who frequently visited their bookshop, so, of course, they involve themselves in the investigation of his murder, especially since Hannah had seen him just a few hours before his death arguing with a man who turns out to be one of the detectives involved in the investigation. Was he just the victim of a burglary gone wrong or his murder had nothing to do with it?

There are also other things keeping Hannah busy: a nosy and ambitious journalist who keeps popping up; the return of a man from her aunt’s past that could maybe put in trouble her aunt’s relationship with detective Aidan and her aunt herself who seems to be keeping secrets from her; and then her fiancé Darius who was once very supportive, but, now that they are engaged, he doesn’t seem to approve of her independence or her interest in solving murders. 

Easily read as a stand-alone, Murder in Covent Garden is set in the summer of 1917. The war in Europe is in the backdrop, though very much present, with men being conscripted, war rationing, and even Hannah and Darius waiting for the end of the war to get married. While the mystery is intriguing and captivating, I also enjoyed all the personal drama in the protagonists’ lives. I am already looking forward to the next book in the series!

A huge thank you to Rachel and Boldwood Books for inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

Anita was brought up in London, a city with a history that has always fascinated her and influenced her first attempts at writing. Her first three novels featured a 17th Century West Country family on the losing side of the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685. Other previous work includes an Edwardian Cosy Mystery series featuring amateur sleuth, Flora Maguire set in early 20th Century London and Cheltenham. Anita’s most recent work is the Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet Mysteries set in WWI from Boldwood Books.

Twitter: @AnitaSDavison

Instagram: @anitadavison3740

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/AnitaDavisonNews

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/anita-davison

Publication: 6th February 2025 – Corvus

Right girl. Wrong Earl.

Lydia Hope-Wallace’s secret life as the anonymous author of rebellious political pamphlets has led her into a correspondence with the charming Earl of Strathrannoch. When she learns he’s in dire financial straits, Lydia sets out for Scotland to offer him a marriage of convenience – to, erm, herself.

Arthur Baird, Earl of Strathrannoch is stunned when a bewitching stranger offers him her hand in marriage. But when he realizes that his traitorous brother has been writing to her under his name, he’s bloody furious.

Desperate to track down his estranged sibling, Arthur needs Lydia’s help. What he doesn’t need? The attraction that burns hotter each moment they spend together. As Lydia slips past his defences, Arthur will have to risk everything to keep her safe – even his heart…

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Earl Crush was such a fun and witty read. There is a socially anxious heroine who pukes in the plants when she has to attend a ball, but who writes strong political pamphlets that seem to have drawn the interest of an earl. There is also a big strong Scottish hero, a fake marriage, and a chase around the country in search of a possibly dangerous weapon. I couldn’t put it down!

The protagonist, Lydia, is an heiress, but her shyness has made for disastrous Seasons and she is still a wallflower. Her solution is to propose a marriage of convenience to the Earl of Strathrannoch, with whom she’s been corresponding about politics for the last three years and who is in financial trouble. However, when she reaches his Scottish castle, she finds out that not only it’s overrun by zebras, but also that the man she’s been corresponding with is not the earl, but his younger brother, who’s now run off with a deadly weapon. The real Earl of Strathrannoch, Arthur, had no idea that his brother has been using his name and now asks for Lydia’s help in finding him before he does something irreparable.

Earl Crush is my second novel by Alexandra Vasti and she’s quickly becoming a favourite. I enjoy her writing style and her characters are entertaining and interesting. Lydia is very introverted, but also smart and determined, not afraid to put herself in danger for the sake of others; Arthur is grumpy and gets easily annoyed, but he can also be caring and kind. I also liked the secondary characters, especially the interfering servants. There is swoony romance and also suspense with a few twists and I loved how each chapter starts with an extract from letters. Highly recommended!

A huge thank you to Rachel and Corvus Books for inviting me to join the blog tour in exchange for my honest opinion.

Alexandra Vasti loves coffee, beignets, and books, in no particular order. She is the author of Ne’er Duke Well and the Halifax Hellions series. In between writing swoony Regency romances with hijinks and heart, she teaches British and Caribbean literature in New Orleans.

Social Media Links – https://www.instagram.com/alexandravasti/ – @alexandravasti

Publication: 4th March 2025 – Headline

Finlay Donovan is no stranger to skeletons in the closet . . .
But this murder is too close to home.

Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime, Vero, have not always gotten along with their elderly neighbour, Mrs. Haggerty – the community busybody and president of the neighbourhood watch.

But when a dead body is discovered in her backyard and her house becomes an active crime scene, there’s nowhere for her to stay . . . except at Finlay’s, right across the street.

Finlay and Vero have no interest in getting mixed up in another murder case – or in sharing their beds with Mrs Haggerty. But when police suspicions land on Finlay’s ex-husband, Steven, they’re left with no choice.

For everything to stay buried, they’ll need to get nosy about this neighbour and unearth her secrets. Before the police start digging up theirs.

From New York Times bestseller Elle Cosimano, comes Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave – the hugely anticipated next instalment in her fan-favourite murder mystery romcom series.

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I am always delighted when a new Finlay Donovan book comes out because I already know that it will be fun, intriguing, and I won’t be able to put it down (I read Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave in one night!).

After hiding bodies and being blackmailed by the Russian mafia, things seem to have calmed down for single mother and bestselling author Finlay Donovan. And, even though her elderly busy body neighbour, Mrs. Haggerty, has been arrested after a body has been found buried in her backyard, Finlay is convinced that the matter doesn’t really concern her. Can she finally relax and enjoy her relationship with her charming hot cop boyfriend, Nick? Of course not, because first Mrs. Haggerty is left in her care after being released from prison and, then, her own ex-husband is arrested. Finlay and her partner-in-crime/live-in nanny/accountant Vero have no choice but to get involved in the case, by breaking into other people’s houses and following Mrs. Haggerty in the middle of the night as she leaves seemingly innocuous notes in the neighbours’ mailboxes, while also dealing with her five-year-old daughter being suspended from school, her toddler pot-training and running around all naked, and Mrs. Haggerty continuous demands. And, of course, there are also the secrets she keeps hiding from Nick. 

I love this series so much. It’s hilarious, smart, and full of chaos and banter. The characters are wonderful and the stories are all well-written and addictive with the right mix of mystery and drama, romance and comedy and a cliffhanger that makes you wish for the next book right away! Highly recommended! 

A huge thank you to Headline and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of this fantastic novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

ELLE COSIMANO is an award-winning author. Her YA debut, Nearly Gone, was an Edgar Award finalist and winner of the International Thriller Award. Her novel Holding Smoke was a finalist for the International Thriller Award and the Bram Stoker Award. Her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post and Time. Elle lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her husband, two sons, and her dog. Finlay Donovan Is Killing It is her adult debut.

Publication: 11th February 2025 – Orbit

The third instalment in the enchanting light academia Emily Wilde books, about a curmudgeonly scholar of folklore and the fae prince she loves, from Sunday Times bestselling author Heather Fawcett.

Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project yet: studying the inner workings of a faerie realm-as its queen.

Along with her former academic rival-now fiancé-the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare, filled with scholarly treasures.

Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world-how could an unassuming scholar like herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in-Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic-and Emily’s knowledge of stories-to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.

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Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales is the third novel and the delightful ending to this amazing series by Heather Fawcett, although I am keeping all my fingers crossed for more Emily and Wendell’s adventures! 

I really enjoyed this series from the very first book. It’s an atmospheric cozy fantasy with magical folklore, intrigue, wit, and romance and a wonderful cast of characters, especially the protagonist, Emily Wilde, a highly esteemed professor of Folk studies and now their reluctant queen, and the always charming heir to the throne Wendell Bambleby. I have loved Emily and Wendell’s relationship from the very beginning, with their banter, her resolve and scholarly attitude against his easy and striking disposition and the way their rivalry turned into love. 

In this third book, Wendell and Emily are ready to take Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, but there are challenges and enemies to face and curses to break, everything faithfully narrated through Emily detailed journals, which also include Wendell adorable love letters to her. Old friends return to help them save the realm, as Emily delves into old stories to also save the man she loves.

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales is an enchanting, heartwarming, and thrilling story with an ending that both gave me a nice sense of closure, but also left me wishing there was still more to come!

A huge thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for the proof of this fantastic novel in exchange of my honest opinion.

Heather Fawcett is the author of the middle grade novels Ember and the Ice Dragons and The Language of Ghosts, as well as the young adult series Even the Darkest Stars. She has a master’s degree in English literature and has worked as an archaeologist, photographer, technical writer, and backstage assistant for a Shakespearean theater festival. She lives on Vancouver Island, Canada.

Publication: 13th February 2025 – Bantam

Six thriller authors. One writing retreat.
You’d die to be on the guest list . . .

The Host
Legendary mystery author J. R. Alastor’s books are sold all over the world, but no one knows his real name. After years hiding in the shadows, he has sent out six invitations to an exclusive murder mystery retreat on his private island.

The Assistant
Mila del Angél has been hired to ensure the week runs smoothly. She has yearned for revenge on a ghost from her past for years – and this could be her chance to get it.

The Players
The six bestselling thriller writers accept their invitations without question – it’s an opportunity any author would kill for.

The Game
What should have been a week of trope-filled games takes a sinister turn when one guest is found dead, and the others find themselves in the midst of a nightmare drawn from Alastor’s dark imagination. They may have written thrillers – but now they and Mila must survive one…

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If you love locked-room mysteries full of puzzles to solve and twists then I can’t recommend this book enough. I was quickly caught in You Are Fatally Invited and I stayed up late at night to finish reading it. I am not sure what attracted me most, if the reclusive author no one has ever met, the remoteness of the setting, the riddles to solve and the secrets to unravel, or the tribute it pays to one of my favourite books ever, Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Probably, all these things together, and all I know is that I couldn’t put it down until I reached the end.

Told from different perspectives, the story revolves around J. R. Alastor, a legendary author whose identity no one seems to know. He has invited six authors to his remote manor off the coast of Maine for an exclusive writing retreat, but, when they arrive there, the big author is not there welcoming them as they expected, but there is Mila, an event planner hired for the occasion. There are games and riddles planned for the guests, but what they don’t know is that both Alastor and Mila have their own secret plans for the guests. For Mila is murdering one of the guests, but what is exactly Alastor’s agenda? As the guests start to disappear and are being murdered one by one, Mila discovers that she is trapped in a house with people full of secrets and crimes and that Alastor has every intention to reveal them. Who will survive? And who can she trust?

This is such a brilliant, suspenseful, and smart read. You never know what to expect next (although I managed to figure out a few things in advance), you don’t know who is telling the truth, you don’t know who will make it out alive. I loved it!

A huge thank you to Transworld and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Ande Pliego began writing stories when she discovered she could actually wield her overactive imagination for good. A lover of stories with teeth, she writes books involving mind games, dark humour, general murder and mayhem, characters pushed to the edge of themselves, and most importantly, finding the hope in the dark.

When not reading or writing, she can usually be found dabbling in art, scheming up her next trip, or making constant expeditions to the library. Born in Florida, raised in France, and having left footprints all over the globe, Ande is settled in the Pacific Northwest, USA, with her craftsman husband and little son.

Publication: 13th February 2025 – Quercus

Ali Dawson and her cold case team investigate crimes so old, they’re frozen – or so their inside joke goes. Most people don’t know that they travel back in time to complete their research.

The latest assignment sees Ali venture back farther than they have dared before: to 1850s London in order to clear the name of Cain Templeton, the eccentric great-grandfather of MP Isaac Templeton. Rumour has it that Cain was part of a sinister group called The Collectors; to become a member, you had to kill a woman…

Fearing for her safety in the middle of a freezing Victorian winter, Ali finds herself stuck in time, unable to make her way back to her life, her beloved colleagues, and her son, Finn, who suddenly finds himself in legal trouble in the present day.

Could the two cases be connected?

Set your clocks to February 2025 and get ready for an original, transportive and characterful new crime novel from no. 1 bestselling author Elly Griffiths. Perfect for those missing the Dr Ruth Galloway series and for any crime and historical fiction fans.

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When I learned that The Frozen People was about a team who investigates cold cases by going back in time, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but years of reading the Ruth Galloway series have taught me that you can’t ever go wrong with a Elly Griffiths novel, so I was quite intrigued.

At the heart of the story there is a secret team of detectives, tech geniuses, and scientists, so secret that only a few people in the high places of the government know about it, and they can travel back in time to find evidence for their cases. The protagonist, Ali Dawson, has already travelled back in time a few times, but, on this occasion, she is asked to go all the way back to Victorian England in 1850. The mission is to find out more about a series of murders happening at the time that could be linked to a mysterious group called “The Collectors” and one of its members is an ancestor of an important MP. And while Ali is stuck in a freezing Victorian winter, in the present time, another murder puts her son in prison. Will Ali be able to return and prove his innocence?

The Frozen People is such a fantastic and engaging read. It’s atmospheric and sinister and I love the dual time perspective: when we were in the past I couldn’t wait to return to the present to see what was going on and vice versa. Ali is an amazing protagonist. Throughout the novel, we learn about her past, how she moved to London and raised a child on her own as a young single mother, while working and going to university, we learn about her three ex husbands and how she entered the police force. Ali is independent, brave, and sassy, and I can’t wait to see what’s next for her!

A huge thank you to Quercus and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Elly Griffiths is the bestselling author of the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries and the Brighton Mysteries. She has won the CWA Dagger in the Library, has been shortlisted five times for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for The Lantern Men. Her new series featuring Detective Harbinder Kaur began with The Stranger Diaries, which was a Richard and Judy book club pick and won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in the USA. It was followed by The Postscript Murders, shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger and Bleeding Heart Yard. Elly has two grown-up children and lives near Brighton with her archaeologist husband.

Publication: 13th February 2025 – Hodder & Stoughton

Loch Down Abbey is full of guests for a Highland Ball. Including several uninvited members of the Inverkillen clan, the Abbey’s former residents. Housekeeper Mrs MacBain thinks her biggest challenge will be finding suitable rooms for everyone and keeping the peace at cocktail hour.

Until the morning after the ball, when one of the guests is discovered inside the Abbey’s library – as dead as a doornail.

Who would have had motive to want them dead? And how did they manage to commit their crime and escape while keeping the door locked from the inside?

With an Abbey full of suspects and secrets, it is down to Mrs MacBain to catch the killer before they strike again…

A brilliantly twisty and deliciously witty Golden Age murder mystery to transport you to 1930s Scotland. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Janice Hallett and Richard Osman.

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I am delighted to return to Loch Down Abbey and its colorful inhabitants with their secrets and murders to solve.

Set in the 1930s in the Scottish Highlands, the story picks up a few years after the events of Loch Down Abbey. What once was the residence of the Ogilvy-Sinclair family, is now a luxury hotel. While some members of the family have remained on the estate working for the hotel, others have scattered around the world, but they are now returning for the first Highland Ball organized by Mrs McBain, the former head housekeeper and now the owner of Loch Down Abbey Hotel. The return of the Inverskillen clan means drama and having to deal with arguments and rivalries between the siblings. Add uninvited guests full of luggage and secrets and there is enough for Mrs McBain and her staff to keep busy. Luckily, the ball seems to go smoothly until one of the guests is found murdered the next morning. It is up to Mrs McBain to help constable Jarvis find the killer.

I didn’t know that Loch Down Abbey was the first in a series so when I saw that there was going to be a new book I was really excited because I adored it. And Only Murders in the Abbey is a fantastic sequel. If you love cozy crimes with humour and eccentric characters, then this is the right book for you. The Ogilvy-Sinclair family is once again self-centered and too immersed in their own problems to notice anyone else around them, while Mrs McBain manages to keep everything under control in a calm and steady manner even in front of the most demanding guests. 

Only Murders in the Abbey is a wonderful read: well-paced, beautifully-written, a murder full of twists, and, my favourite of all, with a Scottish backdrop. I hope there will be more books in the series!

A huge thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Beth Cowan-Erskine wrote her first novel, Loch Down Abbey, during the pandemic, mostly because she had nothing better to do. There is only so much sourdough one can bake. Her second novel came about when her husband, sensing literary fame and an early retirement, moved her to the most depressing place in England so she could turn it into a series. Happily for him, Lady Georgina kept waking her up with plotline notes, and thus we have another book. Enjoy. The author now lives in the Scottish Highlands and there is no telling what will happen next.

Publication: 9th February 2025 – Boldwood Books

Dare she risk her secrets?

In the world of upstairs/downstairs, Housemaid Penny Smith anticipates her employer’s needs and blends into the background making her the perfect spy for the prime minister against a suspected member of the Devil’s Sons. There’s only one problem. When she meets the guilty marquess, his actions don’t match the evidence against him. Lord William Renquist defies her every expectation and sets her traitorous heart racing.

Lord William Renquist, Marquess of Stoneway and secret spy to Queen Victoria, must infiltrate the Devil’s Sons, tearing the brotherhood apart from the inside. His mission – to bring evil men to justice while atoning for the sins of his family, proving honour is stronger than tainted blood. There’s only one problem. A canny maid who is always in the right place at the wrong time and who deliciously challenges his every order.

Liam and Penny are unknowingly playing a dangerous game from opposite sides of justice. And at a masked ball, forbidden attraction burns into something far more complex as their secrets spin into daring confessions. This battle against their enemy will only be won if Penny and Liam can work together. But can a maid from downstairs ever trust an upstairs marquess?

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/theconfessionsofalady

It’s my turn on the blog tour for The Confessions of a Lady, the new fantastic novel by Darcy McGuire.

The Confessions of a Lady is the third book in the Queen’s Deadly Damsels series in which an organization known as the Devil’s Sons, consisting of powerful men, is involved in human trafficking. Queen Victoria and the Prime Minister are determined to stop the group once and for all with the help of a separate group of determined and brave women and war veterans.

In this third book, the protagonist is Penny Smith, who all her life has known suffering and poverty, but now has the chance to save her mother from prison. All she has to do is find proof that Lord William Renquist, Marquess of Stoneway, is a member of the Devil’s Sons, so she finds a job as a maid at his house, but she doesn’t expect to be so attracted to him. What Penny doesn’t know is that Liam not only is also equally attracted to her, but he is actually working undercover to destroy the Devil’s Sons.

This was such a fun read! There is spicy romance, secret spies, and suspense all set in Victorian England. Penny is resourceful and brazen, while Liam tries to amend for the mistakes of his family by bringing down the organization that destroyed it and I loved their chemistry and their witty exchanges.

Well-written, witty, entertaining, and engrossing, The Confessions of a Lady is the perfect read if you love bold heroines, spy romances, and strong friendships. Also, although this is the third book in the series, it can easily be read as a stand-alone, but I highly recommend the entire series. I can’t wait for the next book!

A huge thank you to Rachel and Boldwood Books for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and providing me with a proof of the novel.

Darcy McGuire is an award-winning New Zealand-born writer now living in the Pacific Northwest. She will write a five-part Victorian romance series for Boldwood, focused on a group of ‘Deadly Damsels’.

Facebook: AuthorDarcyMcGuire

Instagram: @authordarcymcguire

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Publication: 13th February 2025 – Hemlock Press

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of the Tiktok sensation MURDER IN THE FAMILY and the DI Adam Fawley series comes a brand new gripping crime thriller about a figure from the past…

In 2016, eight-year-old Daisy Mason vanished from her Oxford home.

Her disappearance made the national press and the final culprit shocked everyone. DCI Adam Fawley remembers the case well, he arrested Daisy’s mother for murder himself.

But her body was never found.

Now, forensic evidence at a current murder scene calls the whole case into question. DCI Adam Fawley and the team are brought back in to investigate. And they all have one question on their minds.

What really happened to Daisy Mason?

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The DI Fawley series is one of my favourite and I am always looking forward to a new investigation, but Making a Killing even exceeded my expectations. The first book in the series, Close to Home, is actually one of my favourite, not only because it made me fall in love with the series and its characters and become a fan of the author, but also because its ending was so unexpected. And now that case is back to haunt DI Adam and his team.

A few years ago, eight-year-old Daisy Mason disappeared from her home during a party and the investigation was suspenseful and full of surprises. Now, when the body of a woman is found buried in a shallow grave in the woods, the police also finds evidence connected to that case and Fawley is called to reopen the Mason case. And, once again, Cara Hunter proves that she is an incredible storyteller who can keep me on the edge of my seat from the first to the last page with all the twists and turns.  

I was curious to see what the characters were up to: everyone has gone for a different path or has been promoted. DI Adam Fawley is now DCI Adam Fawley, while, on the family side, his six-year-old daughter keeps him on his toes, Quinn is a DI and he’s married, and DC Somer is working as a Ministry of Justice intermediary.

I was happy that the story is again told in different formats, from newspaper articles to readers’ comments, from journals to police reports, and the story is intriguing and addictive with, once again, a surprising ending that makes me wait eagerly for the next one! 

A huge thank you to Hemlock Press and NetGalley for a proof of this terrific book!

Cara Hunter is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling crime novels featuring DI Adam Fawley and his Oxford-based police team. Her books have sold over a million copies in the UK alone, and have been translated into 27 languages so far. The fifth book, The Whole Truth, was a Richard and Judy summer pick for 2021. The series is now in script development for TV, and the screen rights to Murder in the Family have been acquired by Neal Street Productions.

Publication: 6th February 2025 – Macmillan

From the author of the Legends of Thezmarr series, Iron & Embers by Helen Scheuerer is an epic romantasy filled with a sizzling enemies-to-lovers romance, dark magic and a world of assassins and warriors. Perfect for fans of The Witcher and The Bridge Kingdom.

Alchemist. Poisoner. Storm wielder.

Wren Embervale, alchemist-turned-assassin, finds solace in only one thing: seeking vengeance for the death of her friends from wars past. But when an unknown form of alchemy is used to attack a king of the war-torn midrealms, Wren is charged with finding a cure for the strange new poison. Offered a place at the ancient alchemy academy of Drevenor, she must claim her spot by conquering the Gauntlet – a gruelling series of deadly trials that could cost her sanity, or her life.

Yet the biggest threat of all might come from the man assigned to protect her – Torj Elderbrock, the silver-haired war hero who has hated her since she assassinated his last charge. Their shared history ignites a simmering tension that threatens to consume them both. With peace between the kingdoms as fragile as ever, and enemies lurking around every corner, Wren will discover whether love can truly heal all wounds – or if it is in fact the most lethal poison of all . . .

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This book had me hooked from the first page. The romance and the chemistry between the two protagonists, the tension and the twists, the world-building and the magic, and that fantastic ending that left me eagerly waiting for the sequel. 

The two protagonists are Wren and Torj. Wren is an alchemist, still haunted from the trauma of the war and from seeing her sister and best friends brutally killed which has set her on her own path of vengeance. All her life she’s dreamed of being accepted into the alchemy academy and her dream is finally coming true. All she has to do is find the cure to a new poison and accept the bodyguard assigned to protect her. Torj is a warrior and war hero and their past history can be better defined as quite complicated. Wren doesn’t want him shadowing her every step and being near her gives him conflicting feelings. However, they don’t have any choice. And between deadly trials, cursed wounds, and hidden enemies and allies, they must learn to trust each other.

It was a good thing that I read Iron & Embers during my Christmas holidays as I couldn’t put it down. And I was so engrossed in the story that it took me a while to figure out that Iron & Embers is actually the first book in the sequel of The Legends of Thezmarr series, so now I need to get my hands on the other series. The plot is intriguing and addictive and I loved the slow-burn romance, the found family theme, the forced proximity, and also the flashbacks to the past that gives a glimpse of the tension and attraction that has been burning for five years between Wren and Torj.

The ending was explosive and completely unexpected and I can’t wait to get my hands on book 2!

A huge thank you to Macmillan and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of this fantastic novel.

Helen Scheuerer is the author of the bestselling fantasy series, The Oremere Chronicles, the Curse of the Cyren Queen quartet and The Legends of Thezmarr. Her work has been highly praised for its strong, flawed female characters and its action-packed plots. Helen’s love of writing and books led her to pursue a creative writing degree and a Master’s in Publishing. She has been a full-time author since 2018 and now lives amidst the mountains in New Zealand, where she is constantly dreaming up new stories.