ARC REVIEW: Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Title: Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Published by: Penguin
Publication date: 30th August 2022
Genre: Literary Fiction
Amazon UK

Synopsis:

Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular.

By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach.

But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning, British player named Nicki Chan.

At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked the ‘Battle-Axe’ anyway. Even if her body doesn’t move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

In spite of it all: Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season.

BLOG TOUR: Urban Scarecrows by Jim Chambers

Title: Urban Scarecrows by Jim Chambers
Published by: SilverWood Books
Genre: Political Thriller
Amazon UK

Synopsis:

The Labour Party election victory of 2019 ushers into power a radical socialist government which swiftly mutates to a British form of totalitarian Marxism in its quest for social justice and equality. Dominic Green, a Labour Party activist and celebrity chef, is caught up in the economic and social crisis as the country lurches towards civil war.

Taunted by the jibes of his volatile Spanish wife, Rosa, he moves from denial to acceptance to opposition and becomes a totemic media figure in the struggles. His marriage is in terminal decline; Rosa cannot forgive his philandering or his support of the government. His family falls apart as Rosa leaves him and one son is incarcerated, whilst the other attempts to liberate his sibling. Labelled a turncoat terrorist he is hunted by the brutal SNPS state police whose attempts to subjugate the population includes ‘urban scarecrowing’.

Who can he trust as he goes on the run whilst assisting the resistance movement? Will Rosa forgive him as she tracks his public pronouncements and his efforts to free their son? Will Dominic escape the clutches of the SNPS as the net closes? Will international outrage translate into military intervention as sections of the armed forces rebel? And can Dominic survive and recover his relationship with Rosa and their surviving son?

ARC REVIEW: The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell

Title: The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell
Published by: Century
Publication date: 21st July 2022
Genre: Crime & Thriller
Amazon UK

Synopsis:

LONDON. Early morning, June 2019: on the foreshore of the river Thames, a bag of bones is discovered. Human bones.

DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene and quickly sends the bag for forensic examination. The bones are those of a young woman, killed by a blow to the head many years ago.

Also inside the bag is a trail of clues, in particular the seeds of a rare tree which lead DCI Owusu back to a mansion in Chelsea where, nearly thirty years previously, three people lay dead in a kitchen, and a baby waited upstairs for someone to pick her up.

The clues point forward too to a brother and sister in Chicago searching for the only person who can make sense of their pasts.

Four deaths. An unsolved mystery. A family whose secrets can’t stay buried for ever …

June 2022 wrap-up!

Hey guys! Today I’m sharing my June wrap-up. I’ve been in a fantasy mood recently so I read a lot of fantasy books this month. Also, if you weren’t aware, one of my reading goals this year is to read all of my Illumicrate books so you’ll see a couple of those on the list. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Breaking Time by Sasha Alsberg: I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book ever since Sasha first announced she was working on it. I was a bit hesitant going into it after how much I disliked Zenith, but I was curious to see how she’d do on her own and it did sound interesting. I needn’t have worried because I thoroughly enjoyed it and I’m glad Sasha took her time with it. It was easy to see how much research she had done and it didn’t feel rushed at all. It ends on a jaw-dropping cliffhanger and now I’m going to be impatiently waiting for the second book!

BLOG TOUR: The Binding Room by Nadine Matheson

Title: The Binding Room by Nadine Matheson
Published by: HQ
Publication date: 7th July 2022
Genre: Crime & Thriller
Amazon UK

Synopsis:

In this room, no one can hear you scream…

The Serial Crimes Unit are called in to investigate when a local pastor is found stabbed to death. As DI Henley assesses the crime scene, she discovers a hidden door that conceals a room set up for torture – and bound to the bed in the middle of the room is the body of a man.

When another body is found, also tied down, Henley realises there’s someone out there torturing innocent people and leaving them for dead. But why?

There’s nothing that connects the victims. They didn’t know each other. Their paths never crossed. But someone has targeted them, and it’s up to Henley and the SCU to stop them before they find another binding room…

ARC REVIEW: Breaking Time by Sasha Alsberg

Title: Breaking Time by Sasha Alsberg
Published by: Inkyard Press
Genre: Fantasy
Format: eARC
Amazon UK

Synopsis:

Fate brought them together. Time will tear them apart.

When a mysterious Scotsman suddenly appears in the middle of the road, Klara thinks the biggest problem is whether she hit him with her car. But, as impossible as it sounds, Callum has stepped out of another time, and it’s just the beginning of a deadly adventure.

Klara will soon learn that she is the last Pillar of Time—an anchor point in the timeline of the world and a hiding place for a rogue goddess’s magic. Callum believes he’s fated to protect her at all costs after being unable to protect the previous Pillar, his best friend, Thomas. A dark force is hunting the Pillars to claim the power of the goddess—and Klara and Callum are the only two people standing in the way. Thrown together by fate, the two have to learn to trust each other and work together…but they’ll need to protect their hearts from one another if they’re going to survive.

BLOG TOUR: We All Have Our Secrets by Jane Corry

Title: We All Have Our Secrets by Jane Corry
Published by: Penguin
Genre: Crime & Thriller
Format: Paperback
Amazon UK

Synopsis:

Two women are staying in Willowmead House.

One of them is running.
One of them is hiding.
Both of them are lying.

Emily made one bad decision, and now her career could be over. Her family home on the Cornish coast is the only place where she feels safe. But when she arrives, there’s a stranger living with her father. Emily doesn’t trust the beautiful young woman, convinced that she’s telling one lie after another. Soon, Emily becomes obsessed with finding out the truth…

But should some secrets stay buried forever?

BLOG TOUR: Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

Title: Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid
Published by: Del Rey
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
Format: Hardback
Amazon UK

Synopsis:

As the last true witches living in a city shifting from magic to industry, Marlinchen and her two sisters are little more than tourist traps as they treat their clients with archaic remedies and beguile them with nostalgic charm. Marlinchen spends her days divining secrets in exchange for rubles and trying to placate their tyrannical, xenophobic wizard father, who keeps his daughters sequestered from the outside world. While at night, she and her sisters sneak out to enjoy the city’s amenities and revel in its thrills, particularly the recently established ballet theatre, where Marlinchen meets a dancer who quickly captures her heart.

But as Marlinchen’s late-night trysts grow more fervent and frequent, so does the threat of her father’s rage and magic. And while the city flourishes with culture and bustles with enterprise, a monster lurks in its midst, borne of intolerance and resentment and suffused with old-world power. Caught between history and progress and blood and desire, Marlinchen must draw upon her own magic to keep her city safe and find her place within it.

May 2022 wrap-up!

Hey guys! Today I’m bringing you a very late May wrap-up. I read ten books and the majority of them were review copies so I was trying to focus on getting the reviews published. Here’s what I read:

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister: First up was this very interesting crime thriller mixed with time travel. It’s the first book I’ve read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the time travel would be a bit confusing but it’s actually brilliant and the timeline is easy to follow.

His Other Woman by Sarah Edghill: Next up I read this domestic thriller. I did enjoy the suspense and the toxic relationships between certain characters but the main character was quite irritating in the way she behaved and acted. I don’t want to spoil the plot but I thought she was responsible for a lot of what went wrong. Also, I wasn’t very satisfied with the ending and thought it was abrupt. I would have preferred a different ending.