The Darlings by Angela Jackson @AngelaJ #TheDarlings @EyeAndLightning #BookReview

 

When Mark Darling is fifteen years old, he is the golden boy, captain of the school football team, admired by all who know him. Until he kills his best friend in a freak accident. He spends the next decade drifting between the therapy couch and dead-end pursuits. Then along comes Sadie. A mender by nature, she tries her best to fix him, and has enough energy to carry them both through the next few years. One evening, Mark bumps into an old schoolfriend, Ruby. She saw the accident first hand. He is pulled towards her by a force stronger than logic: the universal need to reconcile one's childhood wounds. This is his chance to, once again, feel the enveloping warmth of unconditional love. But can he leave behind the woman who rescued him from the pit of despair, the wife he loves? His unborn child? This is a story about how childhood experience can profoundly impact how we behave as adults. It's a story about betrayal, infidelity and how we often blinker ourselves to see a version of the truth that is more palatable to us.

The Darlings by Angela Jackson was published on 21 June 2021 by Lightning Books. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

Way back in 2013, I read Angela Jackson's first novel; The Emergence of Judy Taylor. I remember being really impressed by the strength of the writing and the wise and witty insights into a relationship.

The author is back with another look at domestic living, but this time it is told from the male perspective. Not only is this a bloke's voice, but he is also cheating on his wife. A pretty tough topic to deal with, and especially for female readers. None of us want to sympathise with a cheater, do we?

Mark Darling is a complex character, he is drifting through life. By day he writes marketing blurb for a furnishing company, whilst at night he tries to make people laugh as a stand up comedian. It's said that many comedians are depressive by nature, and it's certainly true in this case. Mark is damaged by his past. When he was just a teenager, he killed his best friend in a tragic accident and he has never got over it. Despite therapy and time moving on, it's the thing that will always haunt him. Mark's wife Sadie has nurtured him and cared for him. She often treats him more like her child than her husband, but has always protected him. After years of trying, and difficult IVF treatment, and a loads of money, Sadie is finally pregnant, and really, Mark should be content.

When Mark bumps into Ruby, an old schoolfriend who was actually a witness to that terrible accident, he feels as though he has found someone who knows the real him. A person who remembers him before the trauma, a person who he can be open with. Their affair begins and moves quickly. Ruby has many plans for them. 

I have to admit that I did find it very difficult to like Mark as a character, but I could see how he was swayed by Ruby's utter devotion to him. There were so many time when I wanted to put the breaks on sharply and urge them to STOP!  

Whilst this is a deep and layered story that is sometimes emotionally draining, it is also a story that will make the reader smile. There are some hilarious moments, especially from the supporting characters who really enhance the story and give a lightness of touch to what could be just a little too much. 

Angela Jackson is a perceptive author who is not afraid to take a risk. It has paid off here and The Darlings is a novel that I would recommend. 

On publication of her debut novel, The Emergence of Judy Taylor, Angela Jackson was named one of UNESCO City of Literature's emerging writers. 

The novel won Edinburgh International Book Festival's First Book Award, and was also Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year. 

It reached number 1 on Amazon's Comic Fiction chart and number 2 in General Fiction. 

A former psychology lecturer, she is now a tutor in creative writing for OCA. Her second novel, The Darlings, was published globally on 22 May 2021 (ebook/Kindle) and 21 June 2021 (paperback). Her one-woman show, The Darling Monologues, premiered at Edinburgh Fringe, to critical acclaim.

Praise for Angela Jackson's work:

'A northern Nora Ephron with a smattering of Edinburgh magic,' Kristin Pedroja

'Compelling, with a northern nod to unsentimental compassion and wry wit,' The List

'A brilliant storyteller [with] a natural, human warmth which shines through in all of her characters,' Edinburghfestival.org

'Angela is a true writer and an extremely powerful and promising voice,' Bidisha

'Heart-wrenching yet dryly funny,' Grazia

Twitter @AngelaJ

The Secret War by Louise Burfitt-Dons BLOG TOUR @LouiseBurfDons @RandomTTours #TheSecretWar #KarenAndersonThriller

 

A confident China plans to alter the world order

Border expansion for her burgeoning population is an essential element.

Bioweapons will be used as a first tester in the US

An underground laboratory. A claustrophobic liner. A trail of dead mistresses.

Karen Andersen, private investigator, stumbles across intelligence in a Liverpool University that an ultra-right faction of the CCP plan to release the hyper contagious virus on an unsuspecting New York City.

Heading out of Southampton on a luxury cruise, she has just seven days to disrupt the strategy. In the turmoil on board, Karen struggles to unravel the complexities.

The Secret War by Louise Burfitt-Dons was published digitally on June 21 2021. As part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour, I am delighted to share an extract from the book with you today. 

Extract from The Secret War by Louise Burfitt-Dons

MS FONG’S FRONT room filled with the pleasant aroma of vanilla and

coffee beans. It was approaching ten o’clock and her favourite time of the

day. The Chinese tutor had decided that morning in March she would

resurrect Chairman Mao in her online classroom for the Liverpool High

School students.

Lizzy Fong was trendy, trim and a stimulating teacher. Internet learning

was no longer a big deal, but Zoom classes counted as a new thing. She was

running much later than usual because she’d done the neighbourly deed and

dropped off food to a pensioner under lockdown, unable to shop for

himself. There was plenty still to gather before lessons began. Notes,

quotes, pen, pad, props, and a tin of butter cookies.

Since her arrival in Liverpool from Beijing eighteen months ago,

Elizabeth Fong had been an enormous hit. Her sessions never bored because

they were always stimulating and unpredictable. The number studying

Mandarin to GCSEs was double that of the previous year. She sometimes

screamed, often swore, and even danced to music during her classes. The

teacher was never subtle. But it was all to get the sleepy kids engaged in the

learning process.

Lizzy Fong liked Zoom more now she was familiar with the software.

Coming together face to face using the meeting app was as simple as

wiping your nose. She’d sent the links with a password the night before, as

per schedule. The pupils came online like ghosts appearing from the dark.

‘Hiya, everybody.’ The popular instructor greeted her early birds with

open arms and a cheery wave. ‘How are you?’

‘Good morning,’ they chorused back. She expected full attendance, and

that’s what she had got. Almost.

‘Tony! Where are you, Mr Anthony? Tell your fans why you have no

clothes on?’ Lizzy Fong feigned alarm at the sight of the student’s naked

chest. Very Sarah Bernhardt.

‘What?’ The student leapt to his feet to show off the raspberry-print

chinos and made a quick pirouette. As he circled, laughter rippled around the internet classroom followed by loud applause and whistles. 

Tony Gee, the know-it-all who liked to be the centre of attention working off his iPhone at a local sports ground, played to his public willingly. ‘Tony, why are you in the damn park?’ The students loved her street slang. She made squinty eyes and crossed her arms. 

Another profile lit up. Lizzy Fong counted fifteen participants now amongst her audience who were mostly Chinese, British-born and clever as hell. Come the summer, this lot will smash the exams. 

Well, they would have aced every single one of them if it hadn’t been for Covid-19 and the bloody government who’d gone and cancelled the GCSEs. 

They’d sure beat the academic crap out of the rest of the slackers in the city, which meant big jobs and big bucks in the future. 

Lizzy Fong sometimes dressed up as Mao Zedong when she covered this subject. She was a talented actress and did an excellent job too of Lao Zu, Confucius, Sun Tzu, Deng Ziaoping, and Aladdin. But today she’d run out of time to dress up and wore black slacks and a plain red shirt. 

‘Maoism is a philosophy Chairman Mao developed himself. Its emphasis is on the military line to capture power. 

He called it the Protracted People’s War. The Leader liked to fight to get his way. What do you think of that?’ 

‘All war is bad.’ One of the younger students asserted. 

‘I agree,’ said another.

Louise Burfitt-Dons is a crime novelist and screenwriter who has worked with producers in the UK and the US. 

Recent films include Mother of All Secrets (2018), The Ex Next Door (2019, Lifetime) and Christmas in the Highlands Aka Christmas at the Castle (2020) 

She stood for parliament in the 2015 General Election. 

In 2001 Louise set up the anti-bullying charity Act Against Bullying.

The Missing Activist featuring a London Private Investigator was her first book in the Karen Andersen Thriller series. 

She lives in Chiswick, West London with her husband Donald.

www.louiseburfittdons.com

Twitter @LouiseBurfDons

Getaway by Rod Humphries BLOG TOUR @Rod_Humphries @Rats_Tales @RandomTTours #Getaway #SimonEllice #Extract

 

"First you save my life, then you bring me here..." Suzana Chesterfield, recently rescued from a gang of slave-traders by Simon Ellice, has come sailing with him to try to work out what to do with her life. And perhaps to find out whether the handsome, selfish, bastard should be part of it. 

They drop anchor in a perfect bay of pink granite rocks, glittering sand and azure water on the island of Cavello, in the Lavezzi Archipellago between Corsica and Sardinia, and are welcomed into to the warm southern hospitality of Andria Acquaviv and his family, who have the villa in the next bay. Susie's heart is touched by Lesia, the little girl who plays with her dog in the sand and Lucia, her unhappy, widowed mother, who without a husband or a son, is reduced to serving the family. 

She wants to help them, help the little girl to find a wider world and Lucia to break free from family bonds and find independence. Can she? Dare she interfere? And if she does, will the deceptively relaxed and easy-going man she's with, back her? Si, who knows exactly what kind of 'businessman' Andria is, is enjoying the company of the men and watching the holiday-makers come and go, and one boat in particular... ... and wondering if what he sees, which no one else sees, means what he thinks it means; that death is coming as swiftly and surely as the sun nears the sea.

Getaway by Rod Humphries is part of the Simon Ellice series and was published by Rat's Tales on 17 June 2021. As part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour, I am happy to share an extract from the book with you here today. 

Extract from Getaway by Rod Humphries

We’d got to the point where we both knew it was time to get back to our lives, but we didn’t want to, so instead of hardening up and heading north, we eased the sheets and let the libeccio take us to Cavallo. Just for a few days; a few days of sunshine and blue water, and each other.

I’d long since learnt to trust Susie on the helm, so I stood at the bow and guided us in. As we entered the tiny bay, the ripple abated and I could see straight down through the glass-clear water to the bottom. I dropped my hand over a patch of sand and Susie put us into neutral and let go. The plough and its length of heavy chain crashed down with its usual clatter and rattle. The last of our way carried us over it, taking up the slack and digging the flukes of the heavy galvanised metal into the sea bed. I gave Susie the thumbs up and she killed the engine.

I was going to go to her, but she came to me. I was going to carry her back to the saloon, or more probably the big double bed, but she pushed past me, climbed onto the railings and sat on the small teak platform with her legs dangling and her arms resting on the top rail. I put my arms around her and rested my chin on her head, and we looked at where we were.

“Will it do?” I said.

“Bloody hell, Si,” she said.
“Hm?”
“First you save my life and then you bring me here.” “That’s good?”
“The rocks are sort of pink and look so soft.”
“They aren’t; it’s...”
“Granite. I know. Yes, it will do. I could stay here forever.” “You realise that the only thing here is rocks and water?” “And there’s some sand and some maquis. But they are

very beautiful rocks and water. Very beautiful indeed.” “I suppose they are.”
“You know the Russians have a word which means the

feeling of already missing someone who hasn’t yet left?” “Yes, I did know that.”
“Well done.” She patted my hand. “Well, there ought

to be a word for the feeling of arriving in a place which is so beautiful that it makes you so sad that you will have to leave it one day, that you want to leave it immediately before you can get used to its beautiful sadness, so that you will have it forever.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“You wouldn’t. And did you know that... Oh, look. There’s a boy over there.”

“Where?”

SERIES

Charismatic, bold and a ruthless, Simon Ellice slinks through the world like a shark in a limpid pool. Known simply as Si to friends and enemies, he doesn’t dwell on past traumas, passing through life with a dry sense of humour and a death wish.

“A bit of a psychopath, he lives by his own moral compass” Amazon UK

AUTHOR

Rod Humphris is the author of a number of acclaimed thrillers. He is the happiest and most productive when travelling about in his battered old truck with a canoe in top and a dog in the back. He currently lives in Bath.


Rod Humphris is the winner of N. N. Light Best Fiction Award 2016

Twitter @Rod_Humphries

One Last Time by Helga Flatland BLOG TOUR @HelgaFlatland Trans @rosie_hedger @OrendaBooks #JubilantJune #OneLastTime

 

Anne's life is rushing to an unexpected and untimely end. But her diagnosis of terminal cancer isn't just a shock for her and for her daughter Sigrid and granddaughter Mia it shines a spotlight onto their fractured and uncomfortable relationships.

On a spur-of-the moment trip to France the three generations of women reveal harboured secrets, long-held frustrations and suppressed desires, and learn humbling and heart-warming lessons about how life should be lived when death is so close.

With all of Helga Flatland's trademark humour, razor-sharp wit and deep empathy, One Last Time examines the great dramas that can be found in ordinary lives, asks the questions that matter to us all and ultimately celebrates the resilience of the human spirit, in an exquisite, enchantingly beautiful novel that urges us to treasure and rethink ... everything.

One Last Time by Helga Flatland was published by Orenda Books on 24 June 2021 in paperback and is translated from the Norwegian by Rosie Hedger. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour. 

One Last Time is the second of Helga Flatland's novels that I have read. I reviewed the first, A Modern Family, back in April 2019. That is a book that I constantly recommend to people. I am a huge fan of Maggie O Farrell, and for me, Flatland is equally as good. Her writing is beautiful, her stories are woven together magically and her characters are intricately and carefully created, flaws and all. 

The story is perfectly translated by Rosie Hedger, who has such a talent, bringing the author's words to the English speaking community.

Flatland's greatest strength is her astounding perception about family and relationships. Once more, she has taken a fairly ordinary family, made up of characters who could be you, or your neighbours and exposed their innermost thoughts with such sensitivity. Again, as in her previous novel, I felt as though I was an imposter, sitting within a family, listening to things that outsiders shouldn't hear. It's a magical experience.

Anne lives alone on a farm in Norway. Her husband is looked after in a care home. He has been very ill for many years, struck down by stroke after stroke, until finally was no longer able to care for him. Anne raised their children more or less single handedly, whilst caring for their father at the same time. 

Anne has been diagnosed with cancer of the colon and must now tell her children.  Daughter Sigrid lives in Oslo with her husband Aslek and their small son.  Her daughter Mia, on the verge of adulthood lives with them but has recently begun a relationship with her natural father. Sigrid and her husband Aslek struggle to come to terms with this. Aslek has been there for Mia since she was a baby. 

The novel is narrated via the voices of Anne and Sigrid, and gives such an insight into their relationship, with their different viewpoints, their own struggles, how they  blame and some guilt. Sigrid has an inner anger that simmers constantly, never quite able to show affection directly to her mother, yet the reader knows that it is there. Anne is stubborn and her initial feeling about her diagnosis is how horribly unfair it is. She has spent her life as a carer, and is now destined to die before her time, probably in pain. 

I cannot talk more about the plot and how the relationships are gently unfolded, allowing the reader to learn about the most private of their thoughts and their deeds. This is not my story to tell, and the author is so very skilled with words, that for me to try to explain all of the layers would be an injustice. 

This is a novel about how our past can affect our present, and how long held beliefs and grievances can impact on how we see the world and how we treat others. It is complex and hauntingly beautiful and I highly recommend it. 

Helga Flatland is already one of Norway s most awarded and widely read authors. 

Born in Telemark, Norway, in 1984, she made her literary debut in 2010 with the novel Stay If You Can, Leave If You Must, for which she was awarded the Tarjei Vesaas First Book Prize. 

She has written four novels and a children's book and has won several other literary awards. 

Her fifth novel, A Modern Family (her first English translation), was published to wide acclaim in Norway in August 2017, and was a number-one bestseller. 

The rights have subsequently been sold across Europe and the novel has sold more than 100,000 copies. 

Twitter @HelgaFlatland 

Rosie Hedger was born in Scotland and completed her MA (Hons) in Scandinavian Studies at the
University of Edinburgh. 

She has lived and worked in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and now lives in York where she works as a freelance translator. 

Rosie was a candidate in the British Center for Literary Translation s mentoring scheme for Norwegian in 2012, mentored by Don Bartlett.

Visit her website: rosiehedger.com  

Twitter @rosie_hedger

The Watchman by Rob Parker BLOG TOUR @robparkerauthor @lume_books @Lovebookstours #TheWatchman #BenBracken #BookReview

 

One last mission for an old friend. What could go wrong?

It's sold as an in-and-out jaunt to The Big Apple, to pick up a harmless envelope. But when Ben Bracken is offered the assignment, he's a little hesitant. He's a family man now, with a duty to stay alive for his loved ones.

But, with the request coming from fellow former military man and trusted friend William Grosvenor, not to mention the eye-watering payout, one last job can't hurt, can it?

So begins his American road trip, one that takes him from the city that never sleeps to the misty swamps of Florida, all in pursuit of one highly coveted envelope. But it turns out, this job isn't the walk in Central Park it was promised to be.

As he's pursued by New York's most dangerous mobsters, factions of federal law enforcement, and American Intelligence, Ben's hunch is that their joint quarry must hold something of international significance.

He's not wrong. The contents that's slipping through these influential fingers contains evidence of the world's biggest cover-up. Evidence that will rewrite history books and incriminate one of the most powerful men on the planet.

It's probably best it winds up in the right hands.

The Watchman is packed with action, underpinned with believable conspirative intrigue, world-class writing and twists you just won't see coming. 

The Watchman by Rob Parker is published today, 24 June 2021 by Lume Books and is the fifth in the Ben Bracken series. 

My thanks to the author and publisher who sent my copy for review, and Love Books Tours who invited me to take part on this Blog Tour. 

The Watchman is the fifth in the Ben Bracken series. Regular readers will have followed Ben through his crazy past, from military man, to prisoner, and now to a settled family man. Don't worry if you haven't met Ben before though because this author cleverly weaves the important issues from his back story into the novel. However, I would recommend that you do read the prior books if you can, they really are too good to miss. 

So back to The Watchman. Ben has agreed to take on a job from a trusted mentor. He'd rather not have to fly over to the States to collect an envelope, contents unknown. He'd far rather stay home with his new family but his sense of loyalty overcomes his sense of homely duty and off he goes. 

It seems like such a simple mission, if a mysterious one. Do not be fooled!  This is one of the most explosive, tension filled, fast paced stories that I've read for many a year. It seems that the contents of that one little envelope could potentially alter the history of the world. With governments from the US, Russia and the UK all involved, and all desperate to prevent the contents from being exposed, Ben finds himself in some pretty hair raising situations. 

There are killings, some are pretty brutal and prepare yourself for the scene with the fan, and the gators. You will never be able to unread those pages, the images are seared onto my brain! 

I love Ben's character, he's complex and quite damaged. He's ruthless, but fiercely loyal and intent on justice. Nothing will stop him in his mission for the truth. 

It's a brave author who takes one of the biggest world events from our history and unpicks it and re-writes it, but Parker does it so very well. So well that I've pondered over it for a couple of days, and whilst I know this is fiction ....... I'm very suspicious. That's clever stuff folks! 

Wonderfully taut, exciting and with an amazing lead character. The Watchman is seamlessly constructed, with all the hallmarks of the finest of thrillers.

Rob Parker is a married father of three, who lives in a village near Manchester, UK.

Author of the Ben Bracken series A Wanted Man, Morte Point, The Penny Black and Till Morning is Nigh, The Watchman, and the standalone post-Brexit country-noir Crook's Hollow, he enjoys a rural life on an old pig farm (now minus pigs), writing horrible things between school runs.

He writes full time, as well as organising and attending various author events across the UK, while boxing regularly for charity.

Passionate about inspiring a love of the written word in young people, Rob spends a lot of time in schools across the North West, encouraging literacy, story-telling, creative-writing and how good old fashioned hard work tends to help good things happen.

www.robparkerauthor.com Twitter @robparkerauthor

Instagram @robparkerauthor

Astral Travel by Elizabeth Baines BLOG TOUR @ElizabethBaines @RandomTTours @saltpublishing #Win #Giveaway #Competition #Prize

Astral Travel, about a charismatic but troubled Irishman and his effect on his family, explores the way that the secrets forged by cultural, religious and sexual prejudice can reverberate down the generations. It's also about telling stories, and the fact that the tales we tell about ourselves can profoundly affect the lives of others. 

In a framing narration that exposes the slippery and contingent nature of story, an adult daughter, brought up on romantic lore about her now dead father but having experienced him very differently, tells how she tried to write about him, only to come up against too many mysteries and clashing versions of the family's past. 

Yet when a buried truth emerges, the mysteries can be solved, and, via storytelling's power of empathy, she finally makes sense of it all.

Astral Travel by Elizabeth Baines was published by Salt Publishing in November 2020.

I have one print copy to giveaway today as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour.

Entry is simple, just fill out the competition widget in this post. UK entries only please. 

GOOD LUCK! 

One print copy of Astral Travel by Elizabeth Baines

A fine novel, written with great skill and empathy.

-- Susan Osborne ― A Life In Books

Baines’s beautiful, evocative and insightful writing transforms what might have been a difficult, family drama into something far more extraordinary and optimistic. At its heart, Astral Travel is a novel about both the slipperiness of story-telling and its redemptive power. An utterly beguiling read!

-- Deborah Grace ― Open Up Magazines

I really loved this story... but it's not for the faint hearted. Highly recommended.

-- The Mole ― Our Book Reviews

Astral Travel is written so vividly, in such a freewheeling style, that the narrative twists and turns are navigated with ease . . . By the time I’d finished this wonderful novel, I was hoping for a sequel

- Ailsa Cox ― Litro

Elizabeth Baines was born in South Wales. 

Her grandmother claimed to be descended from the family of the eighteenth-century Welsh plasterer-bard Will Hopkin, and undeterred by the fact that there was no proof of this, Elizabeth decided at an early age to be a writer in his footsteps. 

Her acclaimed novels and short stories expose the power we hold over each other, the secrets we keep from each other, and the ways in which even our fantasies can alter our lives and those of others for ever. 

www.elizabethbaines.co.uk

Twitter @ElizabethBaines

Instagram @elizabeth_baines_writer

Unbreak Your Heart by Katie Marsh BLOG TOUR @marshisms @HodderBooks #UnbreakYourHeart #unbreakyourheartblogtour

 

Seven-year-old Jake's heart is failing and he doesn't want to leave his dad, Simon, alone. So he makes a decision: to find Simon someone to love before he goes.

Beth is determined to forget the past. But even when she leaves New York to start afresh in a Lake District village, she can't shake the secrets that haunt her.

Single dad Simon still holds a candle for the woman who left him years ago. Every day is a struggle to earn a living while caring for his beloved son. He has no time for finding someone new.

But Jake is determined his plan will succeed - and what unfolds will change all three of them forever.

Unbreak Your Heart by Katie Marsh was published by Hodder on 27 May 2021. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour 

Katie Marsh is another of my favourite authors, she writes incredibly emotional books that tug at the heart strings but also make you smile. I always look forward to her stories. 

Unbreak Your Heart is another wonderful novel, one that is packed with characters that the reader will love, who face some incredibly difficult situations. Yet despite the hardships and the pain, this is a uplifting story that will touch the hardest of hearts. 

Beth has recently arrived in the Lake District after living in the US. She's battered and bruised, she's had a really difficult few months and is hoping that a new job, in a different country will heal her. Beth and Simon don't get off to a good start when she knocks Simon's son Jake over!  Simon and Jake are incredibly close. Jake has a heart condition, it's not curable, but it's treatable. His mother Tamsin walked out some time ago, so it's just Jake and Simon, with the support of good friend Barney. 

Whilst Jake may be only seven-years-old, he's been through a lot and he is far older than his years. He's aware that his Dad may be left alone, and he's determined to find him a girlfriend. This is often hilarious, but also often so embarrassing for Simon. 

When Beth moves in next door, they gradually get over their unfortunate first meeting and slowly and surely their relationship grows. It's never smooth sailing though, with faces from the past arriving to scupper all plans. 

Katie Marsh excels in creating relationships that are so very strong and the reader totally believes in them. The loyalties of friendship, between Simon and Barney and also Beth and her friend Jas are tremendously created, and the extra special bond of the father/son love between Simon and Jake is just exquisite. There's a real art here, an author that can take a potentially heart breaking plot line and include enough wit to make the reader laugh out loud in place is a very special author - Katie Marsh does this with style.

A book that will tug at the old heart strings whilst showing the power of love, with a few chuckles along the way. Beautifully written, with characters to cherish. Recommended by me.

Katie had a ten-year healthcare career before leaving to write full-time. 

She lives in the English countryside with her family, and her novels include the 2018 World Book Night pick 'My Everything' and the Kindle bestseller 'A Life Without You.' 

She loves strong coffee, the promise of a blank page and stealing her husband's toast. 

She is currently writing her sixth novel.

Say hello at on Facebook @katiemarshauthor 

and chat to her on Twitter @marshisms 

and Instagram @marshisms.