Review: Nero the Hero

 

Prepare to meet your new favourite superhero as Nero the Hero reveals his secret! 

Nero is no ordinary dog. This miniature schnauzer has a beard, a bark, and a secret. When danger strikes, he transforms into Nero the Hero, a powerful protector with extraordinary abilities.

Alongside his human, twelve-year-old Jack, Nero dives into fast-paced adventures filled with mystery, heart, and just a touch of fun. But when Jack makes a brave mistake and finds himself in real danger, Nero must face his greatest challenge yet to save his best friend alone.

Perfect for readers aged 8-12, this highly illustrated chapter book blends action-packed fantasy with an engaging, accessible style, making it ideal for reluctant readers and confident young bookworms alike. With short chapters and dynamic illustrations, Nero the Hero is a thrilling start to a children’s fantasy series about friendship, bravery, and daring rescues.

Fans of Claude and The Hounds of Penhallow Hall will love this action-filled adventure starring a heroic dog and the boy who believes in him.

From the author of the popular Magical Mister Mishkins series, Samantha Mattocks introduces a bold new hero first seen in The Magic of Mister Mishkins. Beautifully illustrated by Gerda Smit, this is a story full of adventure, loyalty, and the power of believing in something extraordinary.

Review

Nero the Hero is an adorable book perfect for early readers. My 6-year-old son is very into the Puppy Place series and anything dog-related on Netflix, so he grabbed this readily from me. He loved self-appointed superhero Nero and his boy, Jack. I loved all the ways that they showed a dog bring love and goodness into the world of children.

If your kids have every made you watch Super PupZ or Paw Patrol, this should be a great summer book. It's available digitally and the artwork was bright and colorful on our iPad. The writing level is appropriate for early readers. It has a few challenge words but is mostly very comfortable for a reader that can handle Magic Treehouse or the Puppy Place series independently.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nero-Hero-1/dp/106824271X/

https://www.amazon.com/Nero-Hero-1/dp/106824271X/

Author Bio – Samantha Mattocks is best known for her highly illustrated Middle Grade books in The Magical Mister Mishkins series. Her words have transported readers across all her work to another place, one filled with magic, inspiration, dreams, and more.

An award-winning journalist and author, Samantha lives in Norfolk. She owns The Arabian Magazine, a beautiful publication that celebrates the Arabian horse. She was on MasterChef UK in 2019.

Social Media Links –

Insta –  https://www.instagram.com/samanthamattockswrites/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/samanthamattockswrites

Review - Stikki the Squirrel: Tree Spirits

Join Stikki and his mate Rella on their second exciting adventure—full of mystery, danger, and the wonders of magic found in the most unexpected places.

Winter has arrived in Hazy Hills Wood, covering everything in a blanket of snow. Food is hard to find, and the animals are getting hungry. To make things worse, there is a scary food thief on the prowl.

Stikki heads out into the cold to find his secret stash, but when he doesn’t come home, Rella goes searching for him. A frightening journey looms ahead as Stikki and Rella are forced to confront their enemies and the dreaded longlegs.

Deep in the heart of the ancient wood stands the animals’ sacred ash tree. When Brodboar the badger spots something strange high on the tree’s branches, he is shocked by the discovery and begins to worry. Is it a warning?

With Stikki and Rella still missing—can the woodland animals work together to find their friends before it’s too late?

Review

This is a fun book series reminiscent of Beatrix Potter series. The fun and goodly characters take care of each other in their small wood. The book is full of good descriptions that make the wood feel lively and inviting. The story is not complex and should be easily followed by the target audience. It was exciting enough for a small child to stay engaged but interesting enough that I was eager for the next day's reading session. I loved that the short chapters gave us great flexibility on how much we could read each day.

I would recommend this as a read-aloud for children under age 8 due to elevated vocabulary. My precocious reader stumbled across many words that were unfamiliar, including "dastardly" and "mischievous." It's perfect for a cozy, little read before bed.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stikki-Squirrel-Jane-H-Wood/dp/183574351X

https://bookguild.co.uk/bookshop/young-children/stikki-the-squirrel-bLc1

https://www.waterstones.com/book/stikki-the-squirrel-tree-spirits/jane-h-wood/9781835743515

https:///books.apple.com/gb/book/stikki-the-squirrel-tree-spirits/id6758389931

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=JGO5EQAAQBAJ&pli-1

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/stikki-the-squirrel-tree-spirits

https://amzn.to/4aWo4i3

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GHZMQPC8

Author Bio –

Jane H. Wood is a multi-award-winning author who enjoys writing stories for children and young adults. Jane’s wonderful animal adventure books have captivated readers of all ages, earning her acclaim for her vivid storytelling and enchanting illustrations that feature in her Stikki the Squirrel books.

Jane lives in the sunny seaside town of Worthing on the south coast of England, with her husband, Peter. She has two grown-up sons and is a proud grandmother as well. Jane enjoys art, photography, hand crafting activities, and writing children’s stories. Jane is an animal rights advocate and environmentalist, and she supports a few animal welfare charities.

Social Media Links –  https://www.facebook.com/JaneHWood16

https://www.instagram.com/janewood705

https://www.twitter.com/JaneHWood1

website: https://janehwood.com

Review: Summer Escapes on the Scottish Isles

 

Will she give everything up for love?

Freya Sinclair has it all. An exciting life in London, a successful career as a ceramicist and a handsome boyfriend. But when she receives a call that her elderly father is in hospital, she drops everything to support his recovery in Skye.

Back on the island, Freya finds a new lease on life – Coorie Castle’s craft centre is firing her creativity and she’s glad to be back with her dad again. Being so close to her schoolgirl crush, Mackenzie Burns, is an added bonus. The two share an instant connection and Freya misses her old life less and less.

But Freya has a boyfriend at home and now a dazzling job offer in New York. She must figure out what she truly wants, before anyone gets hurt.

A heartwarming, feel-good cosy romance perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan, Julie Shackman and Sue Moorcroft.

Purchase Link - https://books2read.com/SSOSI

Author Bio – 

Lilac Mills lives on a Welsh hillside with her very patient husband and incredibly sweet dog, where she grows veggies (if the slugs don't get them), bakes (badly) and loves making things out of glitter and glue (a mess, usually).

She's been an avid reader ever since she got her hands on a copy of Noddy Goes to Toytown when she was five, and she once tried to read everything in her local library starting with A and working her way through the alphabet.

She loves long hot summer days in the garden, and cold winter ones snuggled in front of the fire, but whatever the weather she's usually writing, or thinking about writing, with heartwarming romance and happy-ever-afters always on her mind.

Social Media Links – 

Website: https://www.lilacmills.com

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

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lilacmills

The Castle in the Bay

 

What if the castle has the key to mend their broken hearts?

After a miserable few years, fun-loving Iona McKenzie tossed her corporate job to the wind, swore off long-term relationships, and escaped to the Hebridean island of Barra to teach water sports.

Recently dumped by an ex who labelled him 'boring', Monty MacNeil is having a tough time. When he's tasked with carrying out his late father’s last request to scatter his ashes at Kisimul Castle – the famous castle in the bay – he doesn't expect his trip to Barra to begin by running smack bang into a feisty and gorgeous woman, knocking her off her bike, and almost dropping his father’s urn into the sea.

Iona turns out to be the person he needs to take him over to the castle, but Monty soon sees another way she can help him. A few paddleboarding lessons would make him look more adventurous and give him a way back to his ex when his holiday’s done. But an unexpected attraction begins, despite both Monty and Iona fighting it, and the lessons soon develop from boarding and snorkelling to ‘love lessons’. Suddenly it’s harder to separate real from pretend.

True love may be closer than they think, but if they want it, both must take a chance – and soon – before Monty returns to his life on the mainland.

Review 

I enjoyed this sweet romance set on a remote Scottish island. You can almost feel the salt on your skin and chilly ocean breeze. Its a romantic setting for a nice love story. 

My only complaint is one born of ignorance, i dont know how to pronounce half tge names. This made me a little confused about characters sometimes but that was a small issue. I found some usedul websites to help me figure out the lovely names. The protagonists are likable and dun and deserve to find love. 

As for content warnings, there is a fair amount of sex and some is graphic Id give this one a mild R rating in the US sustem. . 

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/castleinthebay

Author Bio – 

Margaret is a bestselling Scottish author and chocolate lover who has been writing stories for over twenty years (possibly more if you count her primary school efforts). Her early works will never see the light of day and are locked in dusty vaults on some old floppy disks. But after all those years of practise, Margaret released her first novel in 2021. It was the first of a ten-book series set on the gorgeous Scottish Isle of Mull.

Margaret is also the author of the acclaimed Glenbriar Series, based in the fictional Scottish town of Glenbriar. This is an ongoing series with more books coming in 2025.

More Scottish island books – this time set on the Isle of Barra – are also planned. The first of these is The Castle in the Bay, which will be out this spring.

All Margaret’s stories are unashamedly romantic with lots of drama, banter, and an eclectic mix of characters. Each book can be read as a standalone, but followers of the series will enjoy catching up with the characters.

Social Media Links – 

https://www.margaretamatt.com/subscribe

https://www.facebook.com/MargaretAmattAuthor

https://www.instagram.com/margaret_amatt_author

https://twitter.com/AmattAuthor

The Great Race

 The Great Race – Book 1 (Return to Fable Land – series)

Get Ready, Set, Go!

Who will win the race? Slow and steady or fast and reckless? 

The Great Race is the first bedtime story in the delightful Return to Fable Land series – modern day fables with magical animal adventures, humorous fantasy action, and whimsical ‘talking’ characters with attitude and smarts, engage the imagination and stimulate the intellect, empowering children to go for a personal best. Ages 5 + 

Review

The tortoise and the hare is one of several fables woven into this adorable story about trusting in our own abilities and getting help when needed. I read it with my young son, who enjoyed the pictures and story equally. This delightful early reader book is filled with fun new words that are cleverly introduced by the author. My son had fun waiting on the highlighted words and then trying to guess what they mean before we looked at the definition. The book is a little longer than I expected, but only took us a few nights to read together. There’s a nice blending of easy-reading and challenge to make sharing this book with young readers a joy. 

Purchase Link

UK https://amzn.eu/d/2VHZJOl

US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DKYS3RJ3  

Author Bio – Sun Chara has collaborated with her brilliant brother, writing as Joe Happy-Light, on several children’s books for Return to Fable Land series. With the authors’ collective backgrounds in education, entertainment, medicine, and martial arts, combined with their entrepreneurial spirit, The Great Race, the first modern day fable in the series is sure to delight.

 

Social Media Links – 

https://X.com/sunchara3

https://instagram.com/sunchara3

https://linkedin.com/sunchara3

https://truthsocial.com/sunchara

Giveaway to Win a $20 Amazon Gift Card and e-copy of The Great Race (Open INT)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494604/?

Promo: How to React When Woken at 3am by Drunk Argentinian Backpackers while Staying in a Youth Hostel and Other Lesser Known Travel Tips

 

How to React When Woken at 3am by Drunk Argentinian Backpackers while Staying in a Youth Hostel and Other Lesser Known Travel Tips

Book 4 of the hilarious book series that those in the know will want to read when arriving at Paris airport so they laugh so freaking hard that it will intimidate any suspicious characters looking to abduct them and sell them into the human trafficking game.

Life was not meant to be easy, Simon Yeats' father used to tell him. Well, it sure as hell was not meant to be this bizarre and witty. Australian ex-pat Yeats, as all he has ever been called since High School, shares his stories of travel misadventures and dubious personal introspection with comedic insights into the unusual and uproarious elements of living his life abroad. All while having a sense of Wanderlust as pervasive as Mongol hordes in the 12th century.

From how to negotiate getting abused in Los Angeles when you will only drive at 5 miles/hr., to what to do when locked out of your hotel room in your underwear, to the emotions of attempting the world's second highest bungee in South Africa when you have a pathological fear of heights, to how to deal with the trials and tribulations of staying in a youth hostel in South America with travelerswho have no respect for the other guests.

Simon Yeats has gone into the world and experienced all the out of the ordinary moments for you to sit back and enjoy the experience without the need to empty your bank account, get squeezed sitting in a middle airline seat on a nine hour flight to Tokyo, or deal with border security at the Ukraine/Russia boundary.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.com/Argentinian-Backpackers-Staying-Hostel-Lesser-ebook/dp/B0DCSYR5T7

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Argentinian-Backpackers-Staying-Hostel-Lesser-ebook/dp/B0DCSYR5T7

Author Bio –   Simon Yeats has lived nine lives, and by all estimations, is fast running out of the number he has left. His life of globetrotting the globe was not the one he expected to lead. He grew up a quiet, shy boy teased by other kids on the playgrounds for his red hair. But he developed a keen wit and sense of humor to always see the funnier side of life.

With an overwhelming love of travel, a propensity to find trouble where there was none, and being a passionate advocate of mental health, Simon’s stories will leave a reader either rolling on the floor in tears of laughter, or breathing deeply that the adventures he has led were survived.

No author has laughed longer or cried with less restraint at the travails of life.

Social Media Links – 

TIK TOK - https://www.tiktok.com/@authoryeats

INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/authoryeats/?hl=en

 

 

Review: Doris Flies Solo by MW Arnold

 

Air Transport Auxiliary pilot Doris Johnson is sent on a solo trip, escorting a British General on a secret mission to Scotland, vital to the success of D-Day, the forthcoming invasion of Nazi occupied France.

Her natural inquisitiveness means her life is in put in great danger and she'll need more than her superb flying skills to survive.

Doris has to trust her own instincts, and those of the new friends she makes, so that everyone comes through their adventures in one piece. Not everything is as it seems, sometimes by design, as she faces whatever is thrown at her with a determined smile and the spirit to stand fast for what is good and right.

Review

Purchase Links

Amazon Author Page - tinyurl.com/4smyzscp

Amazon Universal link - mybook.to/DFS

iBook - mybook.to/DFS

Nook - tinyurl.com/4sjcdwxy

Author Bio – Mick is a hopeless romantic who was born in England and spent fifteen years roaming around the world in the pay of the late HM Queen Elisabeth II in the Royal Air Force, before putting down roots and realising how much he missed the travel. This, he’s replaced somewhat with his writing, including reviewing books and supporting fellow saga and romance authors in promoting their novels.

He’s the proud keeper of two Romanian Were-Cats bent on world domination, is mad on the music of the Beach Boys, and enjoys the theatre and humouring his Manchester United-supporting wife. (Please don't mention this last to her!)

Social Media Links:

https://www.facebook.com/MWArnoldAuthor

Twitter – mick859

Instagram – Mick859

YouTube Channel –tinyurl.com/bde2rajj  

Review: Neptune’s Secret code

 

★ ★★ An Undersea Adventure filled with Magic, Friendship, and Bravery! ★★★

When Hannah is sucked into a vicious whirlpool in her effort to rescue kitten Leo,

she finds herself entering Neptune’s Undersea Kingdom where she

reawakens terrifying sea monsters from the depths of the sea. 

 

The trouble is… Hannah is unable to return home until she’s overcome her

fear of the water, defeated the sea monsters, and solved the code that she

broke upon entering Neptune’s Kingdom.

 

With the help of her new friend, Marcie the Mermaid, will Hannah succeed?

Review

What a delightful book! My daughter and I read it together. She has recommended it to all her friends. The story encapsulates so much of what young ones love - animals, mermaids, adventures and friends. The chapters were perfect for short attention spans. It’s written at the right reading level so that my young daughter and I could take turns reading aloud. We had so much fun with this book. I am eager to find more of this author’s works!

 

Purchase Links 

https://www.gennarowbotham.co.uk

https://mybook.to/gYTo  

Author Bio – 

Genna Rowbotham started her career as a secretary and has since founded GR Typing Services, an online secretarial business. Inspired by her children, in 2017, she wrote her first story and is now the author of ten books as well as a short story published in the magazine, Brilliant Brainz. Genna has a passion for writing stories that entertain, educate and inspire young ones so they can escape the seriousness of life and enter a world of magic.

 

She lives with her husband and lively, imaginative daughters in Derbyshire in a house full of books, magazines and all sorts of artwork from her children (empty cereal boxes are often taken from the recycle bin to reinvent something wonderful like a spy camera or a telescope). 

 

When Genna’s not writing, she loves reading, star gazing, movie nights, and exploring the great outdoors with her family. You can find out more about Genna’s books on her website at www.gennarowbotham.co.uk

Social Media Links – 

Website​https://www.gennarowbotham.co.uk

Twitter:​http://twitter.com/GennaRowbotham

Facebooko​https://www.facebook.com/GennaRowbothamAuthor

You Tube u​https://www.youtube.com/@gennarowbotham

Book BuB​https://www.bookbub.com/profile/genna-rowbotham