Review: Kiss of the Raven Witch

Review 

Review: A Painkiller to Die For

 

It was difficult for Will Jeavons to imagine just how his life could possibly get any better. Having overcome a traumatic childhood, he had gone on to study molecular pharmacology and win tenure as a lecturer at his beloved Cambridge University. But his life was soon to become better still, the CEO of a biotech company. Will’s unique research led to the discovery of a non-addictive drug for chronic pain. A remarkable solution for the opioid epidemic which had claimed the life of his mother.

Will’s flourishing company was subsequently acquired, and this was when he first met Celeste Simmonds. The beguiling Celeste would steer Will away from his earlier hedonistic, womanising lifestyle. However, the only way he could ensure the success of his drug was to bury key safety data which could have led to the clinical trials being terminated.

Clinical trials which resulted in the husband of Lydia Goldberg falling into a deep coma. It was Lydia’s scientific training which led her to discover Will’s fraudulent cover-up. She was determined to seek vengeance and concocted an elaborate honeytrap and a decision for Will to make. A career ending confession or being submitted to a life-threatening game of Russian roulette.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Painkiller-Die-Dr-Martyn-Pritchard-ebook/dp/B0FC6Y9SXN/

https://www.amazon.com/Painkiller-Die-Dr-Martyn-Pritchard-ebook/dp/B0FC6Y9SXN/

Author Bio –

Dr Martyn Pritchard is currently moving towards retirement following on from a 35-year long career in drug discovery research focusing on neuroscience as well as novel medicines to treat pain. He is the author of over 50 scientific papers and book chapters along with one novel written under a nom de plume: A Practical Arrangement.

 

Social Media Links –

Instagram: martyn.pritchard1 (Instagram)

Facebook: (20+) Facebook

Review: Book Lover's Bucket List

A bucket list to change her life.

Gabriella Brookes has spent years quietly loving Zach Osborne, knowing he only sees her as his best friend’s bookish little sister. He’s charming, successful, and only back in their Derbyshire village for the summer before his next big move.

When Gabby stumbles across her long-forgotten teenage bucket list, Zach proposes a deal: together, they’ll tick off her book-inspired challenges, if she helps him complete a few fun tasks of his own.

What starts as a perfectly sensible plan quickly turns into something far more complicated, when real life refuses to stay neatly tucked between the pages.

But as Zach’s past resurfaces and his future pulls him away, Gabby is forced to face a harder truth: dreams don’t come true if you only ever read about them.

Ticking off the challenges was meant to be easy.
Admitting what your heart wants is the real risk.

A cosy, small-town romantic comedy about courage, love, and rewriting your own ending.

The Book Lover's Bucket List by Hannah Claire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An adorable book for summer's day! I loved the protagonists and the way they are pulled together for the very reasons they assumed they would never work. The use of books as plot device was so fun for this booklover. Kudos to Hannah Claire for keeping the romance real enough to be believable while still providing all the happy tingles necessary for a good romance. I also loved the setting -consider The Peaks on my travel wish list. I can only hope it will be this charming.

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Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GX33FZ34

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX33FZ34

Author Bio – Hannah has always been a bookworm, loving nothing more than escaping into fictional worlds, and can't walk past a bookshop without adding to her already-overflowing To Be Read shelves. She writes contemporary romantic novels set against the beautiful landscape of the Peak District in Derbyshire, close to where she lives.

A firm believer in the power of love stories to offer comfort and escape, Hannah writes books that celebrate connection, hope, and the magic of second chances — stories designed to bring a little joy into busy lives.

She lives with her husband, their three children, two cats, and one very bouncy dog who still hasn't worked out that squirrels generally don't want to be her friends.

Hannah loves long sunny days spent outdoors and rainy afternoons spent indoors — ideally under a cosy blanket with a good book. Her favourite things include sparkly nail varnish, candles, bubble baths, and chocolate, and she remains convinced that there is no such thing as too many notebooks.

 

Social Media Links – @hannahclairewriter

Facebook and Instagram

Review: The Catalyst

When human bodies are found with scales and tails, DNA specialist Kat Crocker is assigned to uncover the cause of the mutations and stop them before they spread. But her growing visibility makes her a target. As attacks escalate, the trail leads her to a newly released VR game powered by impossible genetics—and to one man: the mentor who taught her everything, the father she buried years ago.

Review

The Catalyst by Andrea Goyan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, that was trippy. Goyan has created a bendy world where gaming blends with reality to create a super-race of animal-human hybrids. It's an extension of Ready Player One where the company wants more than allegiance- it wants to own every identifying piece of the participants. The book has some great reviews.

Overall, the story is written with immersive, detailed scene-setting and an excellent sense of suspense. It keeps you curious until the final reveal. I wish it had leaned a little heavier into the science. The "why" of it all is largely left untouched and I would've enjoyed knowing more about the transmission of DNA from one organism to another. However, the overall premise and good plot stitching help to keep the novel solid and intriguing. So while it isn't a perfect sci-fi, it has a lot to recommend it and is worth picking up.

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Purchase Link

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Catalyst-Kat-Crocker-Book-ebook/dp/B0H67WYZ8N/

https://www.amazon.com/Catalyst-Kat-Crocker-Book-ebook/dp/B0H67WYZ8N/

 

Author Bio – Andrea Goyan is an award-winning author and an avid animal person who grew up being called Goat-Girl and Raccoon-Mama. She is a grateful part of a flock of collaborative Magpie Poets whose first collection, An Illegal Feast, was released in 2025. Andrea also co-hosts MetaStellar Magazine’s “Long-Lost Friends” and “Storytime.” In her spare time, she walks her dogs and loves to paint, especially animal portraits. 

Many of her stories are available for free on her website.

Social Media Links –

Website Andrea Goyan,

Facebook Andrea Goyan Storyteller,

Bluesky Follow Andrea on Bluesky!

Review: Me Too

Nearly forty, Anna has a successful career, a long-term relationship, and a carefully maintained sense of independence. But as time begins to run out, one question becomes impossible to ignore. What if she’s left it too late for the one thing she truly wants—a baby?

Divorced journalist Rob keeps his life free from complications. But when he runs into Anna at a friend’s wedding, he’s caught off guard. The girl he remembers is gone, replaced by a woman who is impossible to ignore.

When Anna makes him an offer, it’s one he can’t quite believe. No strings. No expectations. Just one simple arrangement.

It should be straightforward.

But the closer they become, the harder it is to stay detached. What begins as a practical plan deepens into something far more tender and much more dangerous.

If Anna allows herself to hope, she could lose not only her dream of motherhood, but the one man who has begun to feel like home.

Now Rob has a choice. Walk away…or risk everything for the woman he was not supposed to fall for.

Because some arrangements were never meant to stay temporary.

Review 

  ME TOO: The Millingham Series book two by Katharine Light
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am an advocate for parenting by choice. Whether you've found love and want kids, haven't found love but want kids or don't want kids - I believe your choice should drive the parenting decision. So this was an interesting premise for a story, especially since it also explored Rob's feelings about parenting. Katharine Light is an award-winning storyteller whose ability to understand the human heart and put it on the page makes books feel light, magical and important all at once.

The book title shares an unfortunate overlap with the #metoo movement. I am afraid that meant that I didn't trust poor Rob until the very end. The book is a quiet, older romance about two people who share a longing for family. It is part of a series with the theme of two people finding each other through a shared longing.

View all my reviews

 

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ME-TOO-Millingham-book-two-ebook/dp/B0DLXK5FQ1

https://www.amazon.com/ME-TOO-Millingham-book-two-ebook/dp/B0DLXK5FQ1

Author Bio –

Katharine Light was born in Glasgow and lived there until her family moved to Manchester when she was ten. While in her teens, she began writing stories for her younger sister Emma. These mostly centred around a naïve heroine and a 1980s pop star (some would say the hero was modelled on John Taylor of Duran Duran).

She did a degree in psychology at University College London, and after a year travelling, worked in corporate film production for several years, before taking a break to raise her children.

For many years she wrote mainly during the holidays, around her busy work for a local church.

Her first novel Like Me, published in 2023, was shortlisted for The Selfies Book Awards 2024. Her short story My arms are empty which is based on an episode from her second novel Me Too recently won the City University competition City Writes.

She is a director of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, with responsibility for organising their conferences, gatherings and awards ceremonies.

Katharine lives in London with her husband and quite often at least one of their adult children. She loves singing, walking, painting, looking at art, and going to the theatre.

 

Social Media Links –

Instagram/Threads – katharinelightwrites1

Facebook – Katharinelightwrites

 

Social Media Links –

Instagram/Threads – katharinelightwrites1

Facebook – Katharinelightwrites

Review: A Blighter is Bumped Off

The only thing worse than a persistent suitor? A dead one on your lawn.

London, 1892. Alice, Duchess of Stortford, has returned to town determined to enjoy her first Season as a wealthy widow. But instead of balls, flirtation, and whispered gossip, she finds herself besieged by ambitious bachelors—none more persistent than the insufferably smooth-talking Miles Fonthill. When Alice firmly refuses his sudden proposal, she assumes the matter is settled.

Instead, he turns up dead in her garden.

The police are happy to call it a tragic accident. Alice is less convinced.

Why was Miles climbing over her garden wall in the middle of the night? Why had he become so determined to win her favour? And what did he really want?

As Alice begins to dig into Miles’ final days, her search leads her into the glittering heart of London society, where old loyalties run deep, secrets are guarded fiercely, and reputation matters more than truth. But when whispers of the mysterious Order of the Golden Key begin circling dangerously close to her own late husband’s name, Alice realises this death may be far more complicated than one unwelcome suitor meeting an unfortunate end.

And if someone is willing to kill to keep their secrets…this Season may prove positively deadly.

Perfect for fans of feisty female sleuths, Victorian High Society, and secret scandals, all served with a dash of humour and a cup of tea.

A Blighter is Bumped Off (A Duchess of Stortford Mystery): A Victorian whodunnit with a hint of humour by Helen Golden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh this series! It is so wonderfully, eclectically amusing from start to finish. For me, the mystery boils along at just the right pace. It's never too deep nor to complex, but it's also not boring and predictable. I was so happy to see the lovely duchess prepare to leave mourning. She is too colorful for a life of black lace. Of course, when one of her first suitors winds up dead in her garden, the gossip and who-dunnit is afoot! With a remarkable cast of recurring characters, this charming book series will delight readers of historical fiction and mysteries.

I have read all 4 of these stories and I imagine I will be a fan of the next four, too. They are light, breezy, witty and intriguing. If you are in your cozy mystery era, these deserve a spot on the book list.

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Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blighter-Bumped-Duchess-Stortford-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0FWC6CBLC

https://www.amazon.com/Blighter-Bumped-Duchess-Stortford-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0FWC6CBLC

About Helen Golden

Helen Golden spins mysteries that are charmingly British, delightfully deadly, and served with a twist of humour.

With quirky characters, clever red herrings, and plots that keep the pages turning, she’s the author of the much-loved A Right Royal Cozy Investigation series, following Lady Beatrice and her friends—including one clever little dog—as they uncover secrets hidden in country houses and royal palaces. Her new historical mystery series, The Duchess of Stortford Mysteries, is set in Victorian England and introduces an equally curious sleuth from Lady Beatrice’s own family tree—where murders are solved over cups of tea, whispered gossip, and overheard conversations in drawing rooms and grand estates.

Helen lives in a quintessential English village in Lincolnshire with her husband, stepdaughter, and a menagerie of pets—including a dog, several cats, a tortoise, and far too many fish.

If you love clever puzzles, charming settings, and sleuths with spark, her books are waiting for you.

 

​Follow Helen Golden

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/helengolden_author

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

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Review: The Wordsmith's Guide to Authentic Dialogue

A Wordsmith's Guide to Writing Authentic Dialogue: A Practical Handbook for Crafting Natural, Character-Driven Conversations by Elizabeth M. Hurst
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This has become one of my favorite series on the craft of writing. Once again, the author demonstrates a deep understanding of writing and publication. The first chapter boldly declares "dialogue is not conversation" - and writers should immediately feel both seen and held accountable. There is so much practical help in these guides. It's not just a what, it's a how-to - and a good one at that. There are beautiful books full of the philosophy of writing that will inspire you - this one will help you fix what you wrote after all that inspiration so that it's interesting to someone else, too. Overall, highly recommended manual on perfecting your dialogue. If you want to write, this one needs to be a bruised and broken tome on your shelf. Use it - or bore us all with unnecessary conversation.

I was a little sorry that the exercises got shuffled to the end of the book. I liked having them at the close of the chapter where they were freshest on my mind. I felt honor-bound to complete them when they were staring me in the face.

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Purchase Link - https://geni.us/AuthenticDialogue

Author Bio –

Elizabeth was born and bred in the picturesque harbour town of Whitehaven in the northwest of England, where the long, wet winters moulded her into a voracious reader of fiction to escape the dismal weather.

In 2016, Elizabeth set up her freelance editing and proofreading business, EMH Editorial Services. In 2018, she quit the corporate world and concentrated her energy full-time towards her love of the written word.

Elizabeth has published timeslip novellas (the Lost Souls series) and a stand-alone novel, A Light Shines in Darkness, based on Blessed Angelina of Marsciano. She is also the author of The Wordsmith’s Guides, a series of nonfiction books on the craft of writing.

Elizabeth now lives with her husband in the warm and sunny south of France, where the wine is cheaper than the water, and the cats spend their days hunting lizards and dreaming of the birds that roost on the roof.

 

Social Media Links –

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethMHurstAuthor 

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

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@lizhurstauthor

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-m-hurst/

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/lizhurstauthor.bsky.social

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14332807.Elizabeth_M_Hurst