The Queen's Choice by Anne O'Brien *** Guest Review ***

October 1396.  Attending the marriage of Richard II, King of England, Joanna of Navarre encounters Henry Bolingbroke, the Earl of Derby.

Their attraction is immediate and mutual, despite Joanna's marriage to the much older John, Duke of Brittany.

Several years later, Henry has been crowned King of England having overthrown the tyrannical Richard, and the recently widowed Joanna is surprised to receive a proposal of marriage from him. To accept means losing her sons, and abandoning her Regency of Brittany, but unable to discard her still-strong feelings for Henry, Joanna reluctantly agrees.

However, life in England is not what Joanna had expected. Accustomed to having her previous husband's ear, and a say in matters of policy, she is shocked to find herself shut out of politics and regarded by many as an enemy for her Breton heritage.

Henry is distracted by rebellions from all corners of the country, and the repeated attempts upon his life lead him to suspect everyone - even his wife.

Both are too proud to confront the distance that is growing between them, Alone, and with no one to confide in, can Joanna overcome her pride and make amends with her husband? And if the two reconcile, can Henry maintain his hold upon the Crown and establish himself as rightful King? 

The Queen's Choice by Anne O'Brien is published by Mira Books on 14th January 2016, in hardback.

Louise @jaustenrulesok

I am delighted to welcome Louise Wykes as a guest reviewer today on Random Things. Louise regularly reviews for other blogs and can be found on Twitter  @jaustenrulesok   Here's Louise's fabulous review of The Queen's Choice;

As a fan of historical fiction, I was excited to start this book that covers a period of history that I am not familiar with. This book details the marriage of Joanna, Duchess of Britanny and Henry IV of England which slightly before the period I usually read in, that of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I,

Joanna is the daughter of the King of Navarre and though her father arranged her marriage to John, Duke of Brittany, who is several years older than her, she is happy and content enough in her life which is outwardly successful with a respectable marriage and plenty of children to carry on the family name,  However, into her calm, ordered erupts Henry Duke of Lancaster (who will eventually go on to be King Henry IV) and all of a sudden, Joanna's ordered world is turned upside down when she realises that she has fallen in love for the first time in her life.

This is not a fast paced story, but that does not mean that it is not interesting. It is enlightening as to how a woman in history was not necessarily free to follow her heart, and at times, could be at the mercy of men's desires or whims, even if she was the Queen of England. The reader is fully immersed in a first person narrative of Joanna's life and state of mind as she tries to work out how to live her life, balanced between what she desires and her public duties. And although the novel is historical, it shows that Joanna was a woman who was ahead of her time as she was not content to be just a passive participant in Royal life. The descriptions of Joanna's inner torment as she tries to navigate the treacherous corridors of power in the English Court are vivid and intimate.

This is a fascinating read, filled with glorious historical detail which really transports the reader into such a different period of time. The book was an absolute pleasure to read, and I highly recommend it. I will be looking to read more of this author's work.

Thanks to Louise for such a great and detailed review, also many thanks to Sophie from ed Public Relations who sent the copy of The Queen's Choice for review.

Anne O'Brien 

Anne O'Brien was born in the West Riding of Yorkshire. After gaining a BA Honours degree in History at Manchester University and a Master's in Education at Hull, she lived in the East Riding for many years where she taught History.
Leaving teaching - but not her love of History - Anne turned to novel writing and her passion for giving voice to the oft forgotten women of the medieval era was born.
Today Anne lives in an eighteenth-century cottage in Herefordshire, an area steeped in history and full of inspiration for her work.

Visit Anne online at www.anneobrienbooks.com
Find Anne on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @anne_obrien 

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Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

Mary North, a newly recruited teacher, resolves to stay in London at the outbreak of the Second World War. A number of the city's evacuated children have been returned, quickly and quietly, because the countryside 'doesn't want them'. What good is it to teach a child to count, Mary wonders, if you don't show him that he counts for something?

Across the city, Tom Shaw has decided to give the war a miss, But his quiet world is shattered when his best friend Alistair signs up to fight, trading his art restorer's brush for a rifle.

Moving from Blitz-torn London to the Siege of Malta, this is an extraordinary and unforgettable story of love, prejudice and incredible courage. 

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave is published by Sceptre (Hodder) on 21 April 2016.

I have been a fan of Chris Cleave's writing ever since I read The Other Hand in 2008, I have also read and enjoyed his first novel Incendiary (published in 2006), and his last novel, Gold (published in 2013).

I love how different every one of his books are, his subjects, settings and eras are never the same and I was delighted to hear that his latest book was set during the Second World War.

There are books that make the heart beat so fast, there are books that have passages that just have to be read aloud, to anyone who happens to be nearby at the time, there are books that are so emotionally stunning that you have to put them down, walk away and do something else before you can pick it up again and continue to read. Everyone Brave is Forgiven is a book that made me do all of those things. I know it's only the first week of a new year, but I honestly do think that I've found one of my top books of the year, maybe one of my top books of all time. It is stunning.

The story spans the whole of the Second World War, beginning in London and crossing the seas to France and to Malta, before ending back in a very different London.

Mary North is an eighteen-year-old girl from a privileged background, her father is a politician, her mother is a wife. They are waited on by silent servants who carry silver trays of gin fizz. Mary is polite and pretty, and educated, but she is not a conformist. When war is declared, she leaves her finishing school and joins up. Although she would really rather be a spy than a teacher, she knuckles down to her assignment and creates an unusual learning environment for the very few children still in the City. These are the waifs and strays, the children who were evacuated, but have been returned, much like a faulty radio, or a mouldy piece of cheese. These children are the slow, or the crippled, or the black. Mary loves them all, she nutures them and advocates for them. She risks the wrath of her father and the family name by associating with the undesirables.

Meanwhile,  Tom Shaw has made the decision that he will ignore the calls for young men to go to war. He will remain in London and run his schools. His best friend and flat mate Alistair is an art restorer at the Tate and Tom assumes that he too, will stay in London. Tom is making a batch of blackberry jam when Alistair announces that he has joined up. He will do his Officer training and go and fight for his country.

Tom and Mary's paths meet as they carry out their war work, and Everyone Brave is Forgiven is their story, and Alistair's story, which turns into Mary and Alistair's story,  and also the story of Zach, Zach is a young black boy, he and his American father live in London where his father performs in the theatre as a minstrel.

Chris Cleave writes beautifully, his story is taken from the memories that his grandfather shared with him about his time in Malta during the war. The story is so very very observant, the characters are warm and witty, and totally believable.

The author does not shy away from the total horror of war, both at home and on the battlefields, and there are passages that took my breath away. The meticulous detail of the scenes of carnage experienced by the soldiers and by those left in London is immaculate, completely faultless, down to the very last word.

From the well-protected and almost blase lives led by the well-connected and rich, to the desperate poverty and almost starvation of the most vulnerable; each and every character jumps from the pages. The abhorrent and loathsome treatment of the few black citizens is so forceful, and Mary's forward-thinking compassion and understanding is a glimmer of light and hope nestled in with the despair and the misery.

Despite the subject, and the pain endured by the characters, Everyone Brave is Forgiven is a life-affirming story. It sparkles with wit and humour and characters who always look to a better future instead of dwelling on their current devastating situation.

This is a captivating and all consuming novel that I absolutely loved, and will recommend and shout about for the rest of the year.

I received my review copy courtesy of Lovereading.co.uk

Chris Cleave's debut novel Incendiary, was an international bestseller. His prize-winning second novel, The Other Hand, has found phenomenal success both in the UK and abroad, hitting number one on the New York Times bestseller list (under the title Little Bee).

His third book, Gold, confirmed his status as one of our most powerful, important and psychologically insightful novelists.

Chris lives in London with his wife and three children.

For more information about the author, and his books, visit his website www.chriscleave.com
Find his Author page on Facebook
Follow him on Twitter @chriscleave

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Beside Myself by Ann Morgan

Helen and Ellie are identical twins - like two peas in a pod, everyone says.

The girls know this isn't true, though: Helen is the leader and Ellie the follower.

Until they decide to swap places: just for fun, and just for one day.

But Ellie refuses to swap back ...

And so begins a nightmare from which Helen cannot wake up. Her toys, her clothes, her friends, her glowing record at school, the favour of her mother and the future she had dreamed of are all gone to a sister who blossoms in the approval that used to belong to Helen. And as the years pass, she loses not only her memory of that day but also of herself, until eventually only 'Smudge' is left.

Twenty-five years later, Smudge receives a call from out of the blue. It threatens to pull her back into her sister's dangerous orbit, but if this is her only chance to face the past, how can she resist?

 

Beside Myself by Ann Morgan is published by Bloomsbury on 14 January 2016.



Helen and Ellie are twins. Helen leads and Ellie follows. Helen is quick witted, bright and popular, Ellie is slower and awkward, prone to accidents and often scolded. When Helen decides that they will swap places, just for a while, to see how long they can get away with it, Ellie gladly agrees.

Ellie likes being Helen. She doesn't want to change back. Helen hates being Ellie, she's desperate to get back into her own clothes again, to receive smiles and love from their mother, to be top of the class and have lots of friends. Ellie has taken on more of Helen's personality than either of them bargained for, she's not going back. She's going to be the clever one, the fabulous one.

The reader is taken back and forth throughout this story. Twenty five years later and we discover that Helen is still living life as Ellie, but she's also known as Smudge. She's suffered dreadfully throughout her life and is tortured by voices in her head, living in poverty and squalor, battling the mental illness that has taken over her life.

Meanwhile Ellie, as Helen has had the life that everyone expected for her. She has a husband and a small daughter, but has been seriously injured in an accident and is lying in a coma.  Smudge is contacted by the girls' mother, and travels to see 'Helen' in her hospital bed.

I found myself asking many questions whilst reading Beside Myself. I wondered if two small girls, one of whom was already damaged by an accident at birth, could pull this off. However, revelations at the end of the book will answer that, and other questions that any reader may have.

There is a savagery in Ann Morgan's writing that made me gasp, the story is unsettling and brutal, but it is also an incredible insight into how a person can descend into the dark deep pit of mental illness, and also how those that are supposed to love and care can push that person over the edge, with hardly any thought about it.

Beside Myself is a challenging read, it is deep and complex and the characters are flawed and troubled, and in the case of the girls' mother; actually evil and neglectful. Despite this, this is a novel that hooks from page one, and keeps reeling the reader in, deeper and deeper until fully immersed in this very unsettling story.

My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.


Ann Morgan was born in London in 1982. Her first book, Reading The World, was published in 2015 and grew out of a project to read a book from every country.
Her debut novel, Beside Myself is published by Bloomsbury in January 2016.
As well as writing, she is a professional choral singer, and lives in Forest Hill, south-east London.

For more information about Ann Morgan and her writing, check out her website; www.ayearofreadingtheworld.com
A Year of Reading the World also has a Facebook page
Follow her on Twitter @A_B_Morgan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Brown Stuff by Richard Mason

Out of work, late twentysomething Danny Brown still lives at home with his Dad after the death of his Mum. In an effort to make a quick quid, Danny is often drawn to more dubious means of employment involving less than savoury characters.

Whilst enjoying a beer in his local pub he is made an offer too good to refuse .....

Primarily set in London, England and accompanied by childhood friend Jamaica Dave, the pair embark upon a journey of hope. A journey which is driven along by a local wannabe big time gangster and his ultra menacing minder.

Hope soon turns to hopelessness .....

The Brown Stuff is the first part of a black humour fiction trilogy, featuring Danny and Dave's comical adventures that many readers may (worryingly) be able to relate to.

Strictly for adults only and not for the easily offended.

You have been warned. 

The Brown Stuff by Richard Mason was published on 5 November 2015, it was self-published via New Generation Publishing.


Many years ago, I worked with Richard Mason; the author of The Brown Stuff. Our working environment was challenging, tense and always dangerous. Apart from the obvious advantage of actually being able to do the job, there were two main requirements that ensured survival in that place; one was a sense of humour and the other was that you couldn't be offended by bad language.

Those two requirements come in pretty handy for readers of The Brown Stuff too; this story is full of the blackest, crudest toilet humour and littered with the baddest of bad language. Think of The League of Gentleman, crossed with Chubby Brown and populated with characters from The Young Ones or Bottom and you'd be on the right track. So, you HAVE been warned!

The thing is, I like that sort of funny and The Brown Stuff really appeals to my foul/sick sense of humour, and not only is it very funny, and very cringemaking,  it's also very very good.

We have two lead characters; Danny and Jamaica Dave who are completely believable (sadly!). Danny's the brightest of the two and beyond the swagger and idiocy, he's really a pretty decent bloke. He just gets himself into the most ridiculous and dangerous situations. Trying to get the better of local hard man Bullshit Bob and his built-like-a-brick-shit-house minder was never a good idea, and enlisting the help of always stoned and forever horny Dave just makes it all one big disaster, from start to finish.

Richard Mason can write. He's paced this story very well, the action is unrelenting, from the back-street dog-fighting, to the stag night in Cardiff and the faux holiday in Egypt, and then in between, there are the scenes from the asylum. Personally, I'd like a bit more of the asylum because the author has created a fabulous sense of place within the few pages that do take place there. Hmm, the smell of sweaty blokes and the joys of the day-room, absolutely perfectly done.

I laughed and cringed my way through The Brown Stuff. The author takes no prisoner, there's no hiding place for any reader who can't cope with crude, rude, foulmouthed blokes, or dirty little teenage manipulative girls, or dogs on Viagra .... do you get the picture?

Richard Mason is very skilled at what he does. He's created a cast of characters who are loud and rude but lovable, and the reader really does back them and want them to beat Bullshit Bob. The stag party in Cardiff chapter is hilarious and the asylum scenes are perfect.

I have no idea what is going to happen in parts two and three of this series, but I look forward to finding out.

The Brown Stuff is a great read, I loved it .... I just wouldn't want to live there all of the time!

I also want to mention the fabulous cover of The Brown Stuff.  All too often, self-published books have really naff, stock photos as their cover. The Brown Stuff cover is great, I like it very much, it's eye-catching and doesn't scream do-it-yourself. I'm very impressed.

My thanks to the author who sent my copy for review.


About the author ....

I was born in Nottinghamshire, England in 1973 and grew up on a healthy diet of Marvel Comics, cheesy American TV series, music, movies and very few books.
My tastes haven't moved on too far, although I don't read the comics anymore, but I do enjoy the Marvel movies and TV shows.
Despite not being a great book-lover as a child, I always loved a story, whether in a comic panel, on TV, or writing my own, it didn't matter.
My first written stories were about the superheroes that I followed and I wish that I still had them, so I could sell them to Marvel .....

My debut self-published novel The Brown Stuff is out now and is the first book of a black humour trilogy.
My usual writing genres are crime, thrillers, action, adventure, conspiracy, so when the black humour reared its sarcastic head, I embraced it.  I have a broad sense of humour and this allowed me to produce a piece of work with few boundaries. What started as a collection of hand-written short stories 7 years ago soon developed into a full story, with two more books to follow in this trilogy, and maybe more after that!

I work full-time, have a very young son and a very supportive partner; they are my motivators and a huge part of my life, and my writing has to take a slight back seat. This gave me the opportunity to delve into self-publishing after many knock-backs from publishers and literary agents.

My hobbies, away from my writing, still involve music, movies, American TV shows, UFC and football. The dust continues to gather on my Marvel comic collection.

Follow Richard Mason on Twitter @RichardMason73
Find his author page on Facebook 

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The Widow by Fiona Barton

The Wife

Jean Taylor's life was blissfully ordinary. Nice house, nice husband. Glen was all she'd ever wanted; her Prince Charming. But then everything changed.

The Husband

The newspapers found a new name for Glen: MONSTER, they shrieked. Jean was married to a man accused of the unimaginable. And as the years ticked by, with no sign of the little girl he had been accused of taking, their life was constantly splashed across the front pages.

The Widow

But now Glen is dead and she's alone for the first time, free to tell her story on her own terms.

Jean Taylor is going to tell us what she knows. 

The Widow by Fiona Barton is published by Transworld on 14 January 2016 and is the author's debut novel.


The past few years has seen a glut of 'domestic noir' stories, the majority have been written by female authors, most of the covers are black, and nearly all of them are described as psychological thrillers, or chillers and compared to previous best-sellers of a similar ilk.

The Widow fits into the above categories. This book has been the subject of much debate at online book groups that I am part of, I've tried to avoid reading any reviews of it, but am aware that people either love it or hate it.

Me?  I loved it.

The Widow is a multi-layered story, told from different perspectives, over a lengthy period of time. The reader is introduced to Jean Taylor just after the accidental death of her husband Glen. Glen's death has thrust Jean back into the glare of the media, with reporters constantly knocking at her door. Everyone wants to hear Jean's story, but it is reporter Kate who gets the scoop.

Fiona Barton slides her story effortlessly back to the time when Jean and her husband Glen were just an ordinary couple. Glen had a good job in banking, Jean styled hair in the local salon. Glen was in charge, Jean was happy to let him be. Their life slowly unravelled though, beginning on the day that Glen lost his job at the bank.

When a small child; Bella Knight is snatched from her front garden in broad daylight, the media have a field day. Such a shocking thing to happen, everyone is talking about it, everyone is angry, everyone hopes that Bella is found quickly.  When the police come knocking on the Taylor's door, life for Jean changes overnight.

The police investigation is long and intricate and painful. The police make mistakes; clues are missed, leads are not followed up. Glen and Jean become prisoners in their own home, scrutinised by everyone, their personal matters and secrets fully revealed for everyone to have an opinion about.

All of us will have seen a Jean Taylor over time, the dutiful wife or girlfriend who stands by her man. Unquestioning and loyal, they usually stand a couple of steps behind the accused, with a fixed smile and a determined stance. Most of us will have wondered about these women. We will have said that surely they knew? Why on earth are they staying with that monster? Were they involved?

Fiona Barton has taken this often overlooked character in any criminal case and made her the centre of this involved plot. Jean is weak yet manipulative, she's clever, yet gullible, she's a complex character who I never really understood. Her relationship with every other character, including husband Glen appear to be superficial and one-sided, yet she is the absolute heart of the story.

I was particularly intrigued by the insight into the world of journalism and the journalists that will do almost anything to get a story. The author's experience within this world shines through in her writing.

So, this book has been described as 'the ultimate psychological thriller' and whilst I agree that the psychological insights are chilling, I'm not sure that I'd describe it as a thriller in the usual sense of the word. I found the indepth analysis of the human psyche fascinating; the humanity of the the police officer in charge, and the other side of the journalist who is often labelled as scum. I thought the workings of Jean's brain were chilling and cleverly portrayed. The thrill, for me, comes in the intricacy of the dissection of the minds of the characters, and not really with the plot, although I had no idea who took Bella until right until the final reveal.

The Widow is a chilling peep into a suburban household. The story gripped me from the beginning despite the almost stifling, unnerving and harrowing storyline.


Fiona Barton trains and works with journalists all over the world. Previously, she was a senior writer at the Daily Mail, news editor at the Daily Telegraph, and chief reporter at the Mail on Sunday, where she won Reporter of the Year at the British Press Awards.
The Widow is her first novel.
Born in Cambridge, she currently lives in south-west France.

For more information about Fiona Barton, check out her website www.fionabartonauthor.com
Follow her on Twitter @figbarton

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My 2015 ~ A Year of Bookish Events

One of the very best parts of being a book blogger is the wonderful bookish events that happen throughout the year. I'm always thrilled when an invitation arrives through the letterbox or into my inbox.

2015 has been a fabulous year of party going for me. Most of the events are held in London, which is not so great as I have to take lieu time from work, and get the train down from rural Lincolnshire. It does make it a long day, but it is always worth it. Sadly though, I have to decline lots of enticing invitations as I just can't go to everything.

January

My 2015 events began in January, with an invitation to the annual Pan MacMillan Party on 29th January. I've been attending these parties for a couple of years now and they are always fabulous. Sadly, this time, the weather got the better of me, and I had to cancel at the very last minute. However, my lovely friends Nina and Jenny made sure that I still got my goody bag!

February

The weather was better in February, and I was delighted to attend the launch party for The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson (which made it into my Favourite Reads of 2015 list). The party was held at the amazing Goldsboro Books in Cecil Court, and I took my friend Nina along with me. It was really good to meet the author, and to get my copy of The Kind Worth Killing, and his earlier novel, The Girl With A Clock For A Heart signed.

March 

I was off down to London again in March for the Books In The City Spring Blogger Evening, held at their HQ on the Greys Inn Road.

It was really great to meet up with some of my fellow bloggers at this party, there was wine and cake... lots of cake!

The room was packed and we were all given great goody bags and told to take our pick from the piles of newly released books that were everywhere!  We then sat back to hear four wonderful authors read from their novels; Milly Johnson, Iona Grey, Andy Jones, Jane Costello and Heidi Swain.

April

At the very end of April, I travelled down to London again.  I'd been invited to the Legend Press 10th Birthday Party, which was held at the Grafton Hotel.

I really love Legend Press, they are a great independent publisher and have some amazing authors, I'm lucky enough to review lots of their books, and it was an honour to be asked to join their celebrations.  I took Nina along with me, we had a good evening, with wine and cake and more goody bags! 

May

In May, I was London bound yet again. This time I was headed for Avon Books Demystifying Digital event held in Harper Collins' lovely new offices at the News Building.

I was thrilled to meet some great authors that evening, I spent a long time putting the world to rights with Cally Taylor, whilst being plied with alcohol by Kerry Fisher!  I was delighted to meet Claudia Carroll, Paul Finch and Amy Lynch as well as lots of  lovely bloggers.

June

June was a busy month, with three bookish events.  The first was the launch party for Yellow Room by Shelan Rodger which took place at Treadwells Book Shop in Bloomsbury. It was a really hot evening, the tube was packed and I felt like I'd battled my way there, but it was a lovely party. 

I was delighted to meet Nellie from Nellie Pom Poms ~ we spent a lot of time huddled in a corner, or standing outside and drinking wine.  Red wine!  If you ever see Nellie and I tweeting about Red - it all stems from this event.

Photo from Jackie Law at Neverimitate

My second June event was in Lincoln!  Hooray, no travelling.  It's great to have some local bookish events - I wish there were more.

Meeting Vanessa Lafaye

I was invited to the launch party for Rebecca Mascull's Song of the Sea Maid at Waterstone's on Lincoln High Street.


I had such a fabulous day, not only did I get to meet Rebecca (and her cute daughter Poppy) again, but I finally got to meet Vanessa Lafaye, the author of one of my favourite books; Summertime.

Rebecca signs my book 

Martin and I had a lovely lunch with Vanessa and her husband James, we got on like a house on fire and ate beautiful cake.


Not only did I meet Vanessa, I was also delighted to chat to Iona Grey (author of Letters to the Lost), and SD Sykes (Plague Land and The Butcher Bird).  

The launch party was fabulous, more cake, lots of laughter and music and I was thrilled to get my copy of Song of The Sea Maid signed by Rebecca.

My final event in June was in London again

. 

I met Jenny Blackhurst

The Three Bloggers!

Crime in Court, hosted by Goldsboro Books in Cecil Court. Again, the weather was so kind to us, gorgeous sunshine which allowed us to spill out onto the street and
celebrate the wonderful world of crime fiction.

I went to Crime in the Court with my friends, and fellow bloggers Leah from Reflections of a Reader and Anne from Being Anne.  There were so many crime authors at this event, we were all a bit star struck!  Every time we turned around, there was another of our author heroes! 

I was so happy to meet Jenny Blackhurst and Elizabeth Haynes, and to catch up with Amanda Jennings again. There were so many people there, it was amazing!

July

Just one event in July and it was the hottest day of the year!   Nina and I went to the Faber offices for the launch party of Sarah Ward's In Bitter Chill.

I was honoured to be asked along to this party.  I met Sarah years ago at an event hosted by Constable & Robinson CR Crime and have followed her blog, and her writing career ever since.  The party was full of crime book bloggers and lots of crime authors too.  The wondeful Karen Sullivan from Orenda Books made the most beautiful chocolate cake and I was thrilled to catch up with author Quentin Bates and to meet Daniel Pembrey at last.

At the end of July I went along to an author event at Lindum Books in Lincoln.

Lindum Books is a gorgeous independent bookshop that has been opened for almost two years now, in the Bailgate area of Lincoln.


I love that shop.

David Mark is a crime author who originates from Hull, his stories have a Hull setting.

He now lives in Lincolnshire and it really was a last minute decision for me to go to this one.

I'm really pleased that I went along. David was very funny, very entertaining and had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. 

August

Mid August found myself and Nina at Carmelite House, the home of Headline, we'd had VIP invitations for their very first Rooftop Book Club, with the theme of Holiday Reads on The Roof.

Headline's rooftop garden is very impressive, although it wasn't the nicest of evenings, so we couldn't really spend any time out there. However, the wine and the goody bags were fabulous.

We were treated to interviews with three top authors; Tasmina Perry, Jo Thomas and Stella Newman. The interviewer was Isabelle Broom from Heat Magazine. 

Authors, more bloggers, cocktails, books, nibbles and goody bags ~ the perfect evening! 

September

September started out with a really special event. I was invited to a special picnic, organised by a fabulous group of authors who wanted to say thank you to bloggers!

Such a lovely gesture!  The weather was kind to us too.  

There were seven bloggers: myself, Leah (Reflections of a Reader), Anne (Being Anne), Dawn (Crooks on Books), Rea (Rea's Book Reviews), Stacey (Whispering Stories) and Laura (@grumpygirlie) and thirteen authors; Michele Gorman (chief organiser!), Josa Young, Rosie Fiore, Julia Williams, Vanessa Greene, Claire Sandy, Julie Cohen, Rowan Coleman, Katy Regan, Kerry Fisher, Fionnuala Kearney, Fanny Blake and Chrissy Manby, along with lots and lots of wine, some amazing nibbles, including the best quiche that I've ever tasted and lots of cake - of course!

The park was a great setting and everyone got a chance to chat and catch up, we even had a very nosey, cheeky squirrel who was desperate to find out what was going on.

A week or so later in September, Martin and I took a trip over to Nottingham to see Steven Dunne who was signing copies of his latest book A Killing Moon in Waterstone's.

Both of us are huge fans of Stevens Damen Brook series and we've met Steven before. It's great to support local writers.

October

James Hannah, Leah, Nina & Me

Towards the end of October I was off down to London once again. This time to attend an event at Waterstone's Piccadilly with Nina (Notes From The Chair), and Leah (Reflections of a Reader).

We had front row seats for the Narratives of Memory event with authors Jason Hewitt, James Hannah and Emma Hooper.  This was a fascinating event, the authors read from their books and were interviewed about how much of what we remember is a fiction, and what happens if we lose our memory, or it deceives us. The event was chaired by the brilliant Anna James (A Case For Books)

Nina and I meet Jason Hewitt

November

November was another very busy book event month.  My first event, at the beginning of the month was the Transworld Showcase, held at Waterstone's Piccadilly.   I was really excited about this event as my lovely friend Caroline Wallace (aka Caroline Smailes) was one of the authors appearing. Caroline read from her novel The Finding of Martha Lost which will be published in March 2016.

There were lots of fabulous authors, bloggers and bookish people at the event, and some really exciting books and authors were showcased.  I was thrilled to meet Anna Hope, whose second novel The Ballroom is out this year, along with Cathy Bramley, Fiona Barton, Lissa Evans and Sara Crowe amongst others.

I was really proud of Caroline, and I am so excited about her book, look out for my review here on the blog, nearer to publication date.

My second November event was much nearer to home.  Martin and I travelled over the Humber Bridge to Hull on a very wet and windy Sunday afternoon, to Hull Library to the Louise Beech and Friends event.

Louise was joined by three other local authors; Cassandra Parkin, Brian Lavery and Nick Quantrill. I've never been to Hull Library before, the room was really beautiful and perfect for the event. Louise hosted a fabulous event, with readings from their books, questions and answer sessions and interaction with the lively audience. It was great fun, and there was cake!  

My final November event, and the last bookish jaunt of the year for me was the W&N Ficton Showcase, again in London, and again I went along to this with Nina.  More cocktails, more nibbles and more exciting authors and books to look out for in 2016.  Oh, and another fabulous goody bag!

2015 was certainly a great year of bookish events for me, and I'm hoping that 2016 will bring lots more.  I already have two dates for London events lined up, but am sad that I've also had to turn down four or five other invitations for 2016 too.  

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The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley

Ally D'Apliese is about to compete in one of the world's most perilous yacht races, when she hears the news of her adoptive father's sudden, mysterious death. Rushing back to meet her five sisters at their family home, she discovers that her father - an elusive billionaire affectionately known to his daughers as Pa Salt - has left each of them a tantalising clue to their true heritage.

Ally has also recently embarked on a deeply passionate love affair that will change her destiny forever. But with her life now turned upside down, Ally decides to leave the open seas and follow the trail that her father left her, which leads her to the icy beauty of Norway.

There, Ally begins to discover her roots - and now her story is inextricably bound to that of a young unknown singer, Anna Landvik, who lived there over a hundred years before, and sang in the first performance of Grieg's iconic music set to Ibsen's play 'Peer Gynt'. As Ally learns more about Anna, she also begins to question who her father, Pa Salt, really was. And why is the seventh sister missing?

The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley was published in hardback by Pan MacMillan on 5 November 2015. Following the bestselling The Seven Sisters, The Storm Sister is the second book in Lucinda Riley's spellbinding series based loosely on the mythology surrounding the famous star constellation.

Although Lucinda Riley has very cleverly constructed this story to make it perfectly readable as a stand-alone novel, I really would advise you to go back and read the first in the series; The Seven Sisters first. Doing that will really compliment your reading, and add another dimension and lots of knowledge to this fabulous story.

Ally is the second of the six D'Apliese sisters who were all adopted separately by Pa Salt, a mysterious man who was wealthy, kind and generous. The sisters have enjoyed a life of happiness and opportunity. The story opens as Ally lazes on a golden beach on the Aegean Sea, she's a sailor and is about to embark on a challenging competition with her new boyfriend, and skipper of the boat, Theo.

Ally hears the devastating news that Pa Salt has died suddenly and immediately returns to her childhood home in Geneva, to be with her sisters and their other guardian Marina, known to them all as Ma. Pa Salt has left each of the sisters a series of clues that will lead them to their true heritage. He has cleverly designed a sculpture that depicts the star constellation that they are named for, with individual messages and map co-ordinates for each of them.

Already reeling from the death of her beloved father, Ally is then sent another life changing blow that will completely change her world. She's not sure quite how to carry on, yet the clues are tantalising and she begins to study them.

Ally's clues lead her to Norway, a place that she is unfamiliar with, but feels completely at home when she arrives. No longer does she feel like an outsider, with her pale skin and golden hair, instead she fits in completely.

Lucinda Riley masterfully weaves an evocative and compelling historical story in with Ally's modern-day search for her roots. Ally finds that her musical talent may be inherited as she learns more and more about Anna Landvik, the famous Norwegian singer who rubbed shoulders with the great composer Grieg.

Throughout the story, the reader is whisked back over hundred years, to the lives of the composers and musicians in Norway. We learn about the iconic first performance of Peer Gynt, and the people behind it. I was totally entralled by both the modern-day and historical elements of The Storm Sister. Lucinda Riley is an amazing author, she bewitches her readers with elegant writing that really does transport you right to the heart of her story.

The Storm Sister is an incredible story, I loved every one of the 683 pages, and despite the length, I finished it in just under two days. I am desperate to learn about the next sister's story; the author finished this book with a teasing glimpse of the next instalment.

My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.



Lucinda Riley was born in Ireland, and after an early career as an actress in film, theatre and television, wrote her first book age 24.
Her novel Hothouse Flower was selected by the Richard and Judy Book Club in 2011 and in only four years she has been translated into 30 languages and sold over 5 million copies worldwide.
She is a multiple New York Times bestselling author and has topped the bestseller charts on numerous occasions in a number of European countries.

Lucinda Riley's bestselling novels include Hothouse Flower, The Girl on the Cliff, The Light Behind the Window, The Midnight Rose, The Italian Girl and The Seven Sisters.

Find out more about The Seven Sisters series at the website www.thesevensisters.com

Find out more about Lucinda Riley at her website www.lucindariley.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @lucindariley
Find her Author Page on Facebook 

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