Book Review: Death on the High Seas

 

Death on the High Seas

Maggie and Sam take a break from the murder and mayhem of Bishops Well and embark on a relaxing mid-winter cruise across the northern seas. The brochure promises smooth sailing, good food and dazzling entertainment. Sam is hoping to sprinkle the mix with romance.

But nothing goes to plan. 

Maggie runs into an old lover, the mesmerising Benedict Rawbotham, who goes out of his way to sweep her off her feet. Sam is left seething with jealousy.

A mayday signal sent by a fishing boat forces the cruise liner off course. But there is something fishy about the rescued crew and Maggie insists that two young women have died on that boat. Alas, no one believes her. 

Soon one of the alleged fishermen is also dead and so is one of the cruise passengers. Cordelia Conti Lang, nicknamed the Bitcoin Queen, with links to London’s criminal underworld, is found in her cabin, stabbed to death. 

In pursuit of the killer, Maggie hurtles from one disaster to another and Sam begins to fear for her life. Has he taken her on a cruise to hell?  

Review

A lovely, cozy mystery perfect for bedtime reading!

Maggie and Sam are confederates taling a wełł-deservwd hołiday. They enjoy the food, the people and thw views - untił the bodies start piłing up. As the body count rises, the two must put asidw their growing feelings for each other to sołve the puzzling mystery. 

The book is filled with ałł the fun of a cruise. The ship made for a great setting for a cozy mystery. There were plenty of suspects and lots of hidden stories to add to the intrigue. 

The cozy mystery styłe always reads old fashioned to me. I struggled to keep this mystery in the modern era. The author nods ar Agathie Christie several times so the styłe similarities were likely to be intentional. This added to my sense of being out of time. It was a minor problem that didn’t disrupt the story but I noticed I was struggling to visualize everything correctly. 

I had a good time on the high seas with these characters regardless of the era. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Sunday evenings with Jessica Fletcher or weekends with Miss Marple. 

Purchase Links 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-High-Seas-Shires-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0CR9CWKS2/

https://www.amazon.com/Death-High-Seas-Shires-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0CR9CWKS2/

Author Bio – Although she writes in a wide range of genres, Anna Legat is best known for her DI Gillian Marsh detective series and The Shires, her cosy murder mysteries. Anna is also the author of the historical thriller, Buried in the Past. She lives near Bath.

Social Media Links – 

To find out more: https://annalegatblog.wordpress.com/

Follow Anna on Twitter: www.twitter.com/LegatWriter

Join Anna on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AnnaLegatAuthor/

And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/legatauthor/

Cover Reveal: Love, Julie by Jamie Anderson

Love, Julie

A Poignant and Humorous Journey of Self-discovery, Resilience, and Redemption

Once, Julie dreamed of a life filled with love and laughter. Now, in her mid-forties, she faces a starkly different reality. She's single, lonely, and reeling from breaking her hard-earned sobriety in front of her family and friends.

Opting for self-recovery over romance, Julie dives into planning her best friend Kate’s wedding. However, sharing this task with the irritatingly cheerful best man, single dad Luke, proves to be an unexpected challenge.

As Luke’s persistent kindness chips away at her icy exterior, a friendship forms, stirring a longing she’d sworn to suppress. But with self-forgiveness as her biggest hurdle, and her past ready to sabotage her future, can Julie confront the shame and trauma that have darkened so much of her life and find the courage to love again? Or will her demons shatter both her and Luke’s hearts in the process?

Jamie Anderson, author of the hilarious and heartwarming Someone to Kiss, is back with another witty, acerbic, and relatable story. Love, Julie is a richly emotional tale of recovery, forgiveness, and romance that readers have praised for “nailing the humor and snarky nature of our generation.”

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Sign up to be the first to know when Love, Julie is available for pre-order, plus grab a FREE romance novella by Jamie instantly! 📚 🎁 

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By signing up, you’ll get notified the moment Love, Julie is available for pre-order and receive a launch reminder. Plus, you'll have the chance to win lots of great prizes and enjoy more freebies along the way!

Publication Date: 30th April 2024

Author Bio – 

Jamie Anderson is based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. A proud Canadian and Saskatchewanian, she wanted to set her first two novels in the place she was born and raised.

She’s been writing for as long as she can remember, and has been reading for longer than that. She lives happily with her mountain of books, her TV and her two plants.

You can read Jamie’s first novel Someone to Kiss here: https://mybook.to/someonetokiss 

Social Media Links – https://linktr.ee/jamieandersonwrites 

https://twitter.com/jandersonwrites 

Book Promo: Dual Devotions by Sarah McConkie

 I’m getting excited for you to see my review on this book….

“ She wanted so badly to help him. “You said it about me, and I’ll say it about you: I trust you, and I think you should stay.” He studied her for a moment before twisting his arm away. “You’ll see, Stars,” he said as he walked past her down the road. “No matter what you say, your words will never matter.”

Book Promo: Spellbound

 Spell Bound

Since moving to Raven Creek, Phoebe Winchester has had a lot on her plate.

She’s renovating the Victorian manor she inherited from her Aunt Eudora, running a tea shop (and secret magical apothecary), and learning to be a witch. But when she discovers a dead body at an estate sale, and suspicion falls on her, even Phoebe wonders if this is simply too much.

Forced to take action to clear her name, Phoebe enlists Rich Lofting, handsome private detective and childhood friend, to assist with her investigation, all while sorting out her unresolved feelings for him.

Is there something more sinister lurking in the shadows of this small tight-knit town? And does Phoebe really want to find out?

Purchase Link - https://amzn.to/3veTT36

Author Bio – 

Gretchen Rue lives in the Canadian prairies, which affords her ample time to read during six months of winter. She plays cat mom to four mostly indifferent fur children, and plant mom to roughly 100 very demanding flora. When she isn't sipping tea and working on her next novel, she enjoys swimming, hiking, and watching baseball.

Social Media Links – 

https://www.instagram.com/sierradeanauthor/

Review: Nurse Kitty After the War

 

Nurse Kitty: After the War

It is 1950 and Kitty Longthorne is now a Sister at Manchester's Park Hospital, and as busy as ever. With dizzying numbers of children with polio being admitted to the children's ward, a sharp uptick of major trauma from road accidents and growing political and racial conflict affecting her patients and staff, there's no shortage of drama at the hospital. But Kitty is determined that everyone is treated with respect.
 
Outside of the hospital, Kitty is finally ready to marry her fiancé, Dr James Williams. But with the growing Cold War tensions, Kitty and James come under scrutiny because of two people close to their hearts. With any suspicious activity grounds for treason, their happily ever after is suddenly on shaky ground... will they ever be able to set a date for the wedding?
 
Inspired by the brave nurses and doctors from the first NHS hospital, the Trafford General, which opened after the end of World War II. Perfect for fans of Call the Midwife and The Nightingale Girls.

Review

What a charming novel filled with oft-ignored history! The wars were so dramatic and life-altering that they are the usual focus of historical fiction. I enjoyed reading about the after-effects of a world tipped on its head. From increased global awareness to shifting gender roles, the years after the war revealed a traumatized world struggling to find peace once the fighting ended. Ms. Campbell explores the tumult through the eyes of the affable and hard-working Nurse Kitty at the newly-minted National Health Service. 

The World Wars were times of medical innovation that were quickly taken for granted. We learned more about the human body, created new medications, and finally understood the vital role nurses play in healing. The National Health Service promised to bring those lessons to everyone. Although Nurse Kitty is a lovely character, the historical stories within the novel were the most compelling for me. I loved seeing how the NHS tried to bring war-time practice into a more gentle sphere and how doctors and nurses were working to figure out scope of practice. There was unease at every side - from immigrant nurses called in to create the NHS to the doctors who feared losing their place in healthcare to women who wanted to maintain professional skills despite marriage and family. 

Another interesting aspect of this book comes as fallout from Hiroshima. Nurse Kitty and her fiance are questioned about possible espionage. The Cold War roared to life as soon as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima. This book shows how closely linked it became to fears of communism. With spies reported in every corner and giant bombs set to fly that could decimate a population, friends became suspicious of friends, coworkers and family members. The same is true of Nurse Kitty and her merry crew. There are plenty of suspicions and fears to fuel the plot. The history was fascinating. The characters felt secondary to history, but maybe that’s the reality of living in changing times. 

Overall, this was an enjoyable Saturday afternoon read. I found myself diving into historical context research, especially the history of the NHS and nurse recruitment efforts. I would recommend this for fans of Call the Midwife and other World War II era works of fiction.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nurse-Kitty-After-Maggie-Campbell-ebook/dp/B0CDDP7KBY

https://www.amazon.com/Nurse-Kitty-After-Maggie-Campbell-ebook/dp/B0CDDP7KBY

Author Bio – Margaret Campbell grew up in Manchester at a time when the city was still on its knees, post-war. She can just about remember the end of rationing! After decades of working as a seamstress in factories, once her children had grown up, Margaret retrained to be a midwife - a career she adored. She now lives in a cottage that overlooks the rolling Pennines where she writes, grows rare dahlias and keeps chickens.

Cover Reveal! Available June 27

Somebody I Used to Love

Lost memories. Lost loves. Can they find their way back to each other?

When Will wakes up after a car accident, he’s lost three years of memory. All he wants is his girlfriend and childhood sweetheart, Gem, beside him. Instead, nothing is as he remembers.

Gem has finally moved on from hers and Will’s break-up. With a new life and boyfriend, the last thing she expects is a call to say Will needs her – the man who nearly destroyed her.

As Will recovers, he is determined to prove to Gem that he is the man he once was. But by unlocking the secrets of his past, will he be able to piece together what caused him to change so dramatically? And, faced with the choice, will Gem continue with the safe new life she has built for herself, or will she go back to the man she used to love?

Heartbreaking and twisty, perfect for fans of Dani Atkins, Jojo Moyes and Colleen Hoover.

Pre-order Link - https://geni.us/SomebodyIUsedToLoveRRR

Publication Date: 27th June 2024

Author Bio –  Eve Ainsworth is a public speaker, creative workshop coordinator and award-winning author who draws from her extensive work with teenagers managing emotional and behavioural issues to write authentic, honest and real novels for young people and adults. Eve’s adult debut, Duckling, was published by Penguin Random House in 2022. She has had short stories published in magazines such as Writers’ Forum and Prima and articles posted online for The Guardian, Metro and BookTrust. Eve is also a champion for working class voices, has set up the Working Class WritersNetwork and is an experienced mentor.

Social Media Links – 

https://twitter.com/canelo_co

https://twitter.com/EveAinsworth

https://www.instagram.com/canelo_co/

https://www.instagram.com/eveainsworth/

https://www.facebook.com/canelobooks

https://www.facebook.com/eve.mitchell

https://www.tiktok.com/@canelo_books

https://www.tiktok.com/@eveainsworthauthor

Book Review: Odd Mom Out

Life just got life-y…

On the night that Trudy Asp discovers her ex is engaged to the same dental hygienist who’s been picking at her teeth for ten years, her daughter, Madison, suddenly announces that she too is getting married, in Europe.

Frumpy, floundering, and forced to live with her martini-swilling mother, Trudy is swamped by these revelations. And on top of it all, she’ll be wearing the second most scrutinized gown at the wedding.

Having packed on the pounds during the demise of her marriage, the idea of being eyeballed by her ex and his scrawny fiancée Zelda, is truly horrifying. To make matters worse, there’s the paralyzing fear of a transatlantic flight — something Trudy has avoided for decades.

When Zelda offers to stand in for her, Trudy is forced to confront the forces that stole her marriage and threaten to steal her daughter’s wedding too. With three months until the ceremony, Trudy must get to Europe, squeeze herself into a gown, and claim the role she wants more than anything: Mother-of-the-Bride.

Will this Odd Mom Out sink or swim? Or will she drown in a sea of humiliation?

ReviewIt doesn’t take many paragraphs before you find yourself swimming around the pity pool with poor Trudy. From living with her mum to enduring an unwanted divorce party, she’s stuck in the worst of middle age.
Trudy is recently divorced, abandoned for a woman half her age and a quarter her size. Her daughter has abandoned her to pursue life abroad. She’s stuck with her aging, critical mother in a small apartment. Her business is failing as fast as her waistline is expanding. Her one bright spot of life is a small kitten that she rescues in the first chapter. But despite a life that seems to have pancaked on the sidewalk, she decides to push through her insecurities to attend her daughter’s upcoming wedding in Croatia. She dives into self-help groups, fad diets and fashion shops. In the end, she achieves her goal and figures out there is still happiness to find for frumpy ladies over 40.
I enjoy stories of older women. I’m glad they’re getting more common. Trudy is relatable. She’s built a life that’s been yanked from her. She feels like she’s back at the start. She has enough pluck to never give up. I wanted her to find all the joy that was missing from the first chapter. 
For the most part, she finds her happy ending. The book avoids being too much of a fairy tale while still leaving Trudy better than we found her. She and her daughter create a firmer relationship. Her mother peels back her own layers to reveal how much she loves her daughter. Trudy finds a friend group that cheers her forward.
My only disappointment was the amount of diet culture steeped into the book. The last chapter assures us that she has achieved the never-ending weight loss resolution and can finally make a new one - as though we all must achieve an acceptable body size before we deserve a happy ending. As a dietitian, I was annoyed that she never found peace with food or a truly balanced life that focused on health and body positivity rather than diet culture.  I think Trudy deserved a truly happy ending with nothing holding her down.
Overall, this was a pleasant read. The characters were drawn well and I had fun romping around the world with them. I rejoiced every time Trudy had a new adventure or challenged an old belief. In the end, I felt like I was standing there cheering Trudy forward and hoping she learns to value herself fully.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CP1GB4V2

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CP1GB4V2

Author Bio – 

Sandy Day is a recovering chatterbox and writer of riveting slice-of-life poetry, memoir, and fiction. She has authored five books to date, with two in the works. A graduate of Glendon College, she studied creative writing under Michael Ondaatje. A lover of cheese, coffee shops, and illustrations, she lives on the shore of Lake Simcoe in Georgina, Ontario, Canada. 

Social Media Links – 

Substackhttps://sandydayauthor.substack.com/

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

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

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5103092.Sandy_Day

Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/author/sandyday