Elaine Everest Talks "A Gift From Woolworths"

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

*blows raspberry at Halloween* Like I have said in the past on here and on my social media platforms, I like Halloween in theory. In practice, not so much. So, tonight, I will be hiding in a dark house, eating all the sweets I'm might to give to trick-n-treaters...

But a holiday I am excited to celebrate is Christmas so when the lovely Faye at Faye Rogers PR asked if I wanted to be involved in a Christmasy blog tour, I jumped at it (and got the Michael Bublé at the ready, much to my Other Half's annoyance!)

So today, I am thrilled to welcome back Elaine Everest who is gonna get us in the Christmas mood with a small Q&A to celebrate the release of her newest Christmasy novel, A Gift from Woolworths!

The Second World War moves to 1945, the lives of the women of Woolworths continue. Betty announces she's pregnant, her future life is Douglas is about to change more than she expects. Freda has fallen of a Scottish engineer - will it end happily? Maisie loves being a mother and adores her nieces - but when her brother returns on the scene, trouble follows. All Sarah wants is her husband's return, but Woolworths beckons.

With a wedding on the horizon and Christmas round the corner, happiness surely lies ahead for these friends... right?

Now, before I hand you over to Elaine and those tricky questions, I want to thank Elaine for taking time out to answering these questions and to Faye for asking if I wanted to be involved in this tour. Now, if you want to check out Elaine on her social media, check her out on Facebook - Elaine Everest Author - or her Twitter - @ElaineEverest. Now, let's get in the Christmas spirit!!!

Surprise Glass Town Wars Contest!

CONTEST TIME!!! Yes, I know I don’t do these often and I have done a contest last month (what’s going on!?), but you can thank the lovely people at Puskin Press for this contest! 

When Mollie for Puskin emailed me and asked if I fancied reading Glass Town Wars, I jumped at it for two reason. First, the author. Celia Rees is an author I am curious to read and with her novels - Witch Child, Sorceress, and Pirates! - on my radar, I was curious on how she would write this novel, which feels very modern. And the second reason is that this book is inspired by the early writings of the Brontës, which intrigued me hugely. 

Now, because I have a lot of books to read and I planned for November to be my NetGalley November (aka I’m trying to take control of my reading and am going to fail), I wanted to give this book a bit of noise so asked if I could do a contest. And here we are - CONTEST TIME!!!

But first, you’ll want to know more about the book. Glass Town Wars follows Tom and Augusta, who are from two very different places and two very different times. But they meet n a virtual world to combine forces in battles to save the kingdom and, along the way, find love and escape deceit. But in a place where truth can be fiction, learning who is trust is about more than friendship: it’s about survival…

Now, I have THREE COPIES to give away, thanks to Puskin Press. And all I ask you to do is fill in the form below. The winners will be chosen at random via random.org and the contest closes  Sunday 4th November 2018 at around midday. The winners will be announced on Twitter and I will email them as well so the publisher can send the books to them. And this is a UK only contest. 

Good luck to you who enter! 

Book Review - The Case Of The Missing Treasure

• Title And Author: The Case of the Missing Treasure by Robin Stevens
• Publisher: Puffin
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Physical
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
• Length: 148 Pages

For the past few months, I’ve been itching to get back into the Murder Most Unladylike series. I have no real reason why - I read Arsenic For Tea - the second book in the series - back in 2015 and I read a Mini-Mystery, The Case of the Blue Violet, in 2016. And I always said that these were fun and I wanted to go back. 

But for one excuse or another, I never did return and, when I tried, I couldn’t find my “in”. I tried with the fourth book in the series - Jolly Foul Play - and struggled and I didn’t want to read the starter in the series. Plus, for some reason, the later novels appealed to me, with the fifth - Mistletoe and Murder - catching my eye. I’m sorry, but murder at Christmas. Doesn’t that gripping?

So, when I went into my local Waterstones to have a look, I saw The Case of the Missing Treasure and jumped straight on it. At last, a fast “in” for me. Plus, it’s a Waterstones exclusive (for now - most booksellers will be able to sell this in match 2019) so, at the present moment in time, you have to go to your local bookshop and buy it! HAHA! 

After the events of A Spoonful of Murder, Daisy and Hazel are back in London, staying at Daisy’s Uncle Felix and Aunt Lucy. One morning, they hear a news article, saying that a thief is robbing museums all over London. On Daisy’s birthday, Uncle Felix sets up a treasure hunt for her, Hazel and friends/rivals, the Junior Pinkertons, the four find themselves in the British Museum, trying to solve clues that Uncle Felix and Aunt Lucy have left. Expect… one of the clues they find isn’t from Uncle Felix or Aunt Lucy. One clue is from the thief and they are going to rob the British Museum that night! 

eBook Review - Appointment With Death

• Title And Author: Appointment With Death by Agatha Christie
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: eBook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
• Length: 272 Pages or 5 Hours and 57 Minutes

This has been sitting on my Kindle for quite some time (I’ve just checked - since September of last year. I got it in an eBook sale, I think) and I’ve always wanted to read this when I was in the mood for crime. Plus, it’s Agatha Christie so it can’t be a bad crime story. 

In the past few months, I read then audiobooked three Agatha Christie's (The Mysterious Mr Quin, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and And Then There Were None) as well as read a New Hercule Poirot mystery, written by Sophie Hannah (The Mystery of the Three Quarters) and each had their own success and pitfalls. So, when I remembered I had this while reading Time Convert, I knew I wanted to read it. I wanted to read a murder and this ticked the boxes. 

“You see, don’t you, that she’s got to be killed?”

Poirot overhears this one night as he was closing his hotel window and thinks nothing of this remark. But this remark comes back to haunt him several days later when he is told of a death. Among the towering red cliffs of Petra, the body of Mrs Boynton was discovered, like some swollen, detestable Buddha or a spider. She could have died of natural causes - expect for a small puncture mark on her wrist… Was Mrs Boyton murdered? Poirot decides he will try and find the truth and gives himself 24 hours to solve the crime. But with that remark in his head and seeing how damaged the Boynton family have been under Mrs Boynton rule, will the murderer get away with it…? 

Dead End - Blog Tour Extract

BLOG TOUR ALERT! And it's a genre that I enjoy and wish I could spend more time in - crime. I love a good crime, so when I was asked if I wanted to be involved in this blog tour, I jumped at the chance!

Dead End is the third DI Kelly Porter novel - following Dark Game and Deep Fear - by Rachel Lynch and follows DI Kelly Porter as two cases come crashing together. When the seventh Earl of Lowesdale is found hanging at Wasdale Hall, people assume that he decided to end his life. But when the coroner finds signs of possible fowl play, DI Kelly Porter is assigned to find the truth.

Meanwhile, two hikers have gone missing and Kelly is assigned to lead the search. But as she begins to dig, she discovers possible ties to two other unsolved disappearances and turns into a race against the clock. But when the two cases slowly begins to lead back to Wasdale Hall and with Kelly's own family secrets coming into the light, it becomes more important to discover the truth, no matter the cost...

Doesn't that sound good and slightly messed-up?!

Now, as part of my stop, I have a small extract for you! There is some bad language as this is an adult crime novel but, hopefully, you guys will love it!

Before I hand it over to Dead End, I want to thank Ellie from Canelo for asking me to be involved in this tour! And now, over the extract!

Seven Deadly Sins Book Tag

It’s rare I do tags. I know. But I saw this somewhere on Twitter - I think it was from Fantastic Book Dragon - and when I saw it, I thought it would be nice to try and do this and dip my toe into tags again and to get into the Halloween spirit. Yes, I like Halloween in theory but in real life, I kinda suck at it. 

So, answer seven questions linked to the seven deadly sins. Should be easy, right?… right? (and before I go on, I tried to find put who created this but I didn’t. So, if you created this, thank you!). And am not going to Tag anyone - if you want to do this, please do! It was weirdly fun to do! 

So, let’s get started… 

Book Review - Time's Convert

• Title And Author: Time’s Convert by Deborah Harkness
• Publisher: Headline
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Physical
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by publisher in exchange for an honest review
• Length: 448 Pages or 15 Hours and 46 Minutes

Oh boy… this was a long read. 

Not page wise, just time wise. I started this on 28th August, according to my Goodreads. And I finished this on 1st October. So, around five weeks. That’s a long time for me, dear readers, as you well know. Plus, you know I have audiobook the trilogy this is a companion novel of - All Souls or A Discovery of Witches, to give the trilogy its unofficial title - earlier this year. But when I heard this was coming out and it was going to follow two of my favourite secondary characters, Marcus and Phoebe, I knew I had to have it. I had it preordered and everything. 

Then several things happened. First, my preorder of a signed copy got cancelled (Boo!) and then was asked by the lovely Caitlin at Headline if I wanted an advance reader copy. Hell yeah, I replied, and what I got was a beautiful hardback advance reader copy. And, as I was reading this, I managed to get a ticket to a Deborah Harkness event in Waterstones Tottenham Court Road branch on Friday 2nd November (and that sold out fast! I know three other bloggers and vloggers -  - are going as well so this should be fun!)

Marcus is a vampire made in the 18th century during the American Revolution. Over 200 years, he finds himself in love with Phoebe Taylor, a human who has decided to be become a vampire to be with Marcus. 

But her transformation will prove to be challenging. As she is secreted away to get over the first 100 days of being a vampire, Marcus is reliving the past, reliving his journey from the battlefields of American Revolution, the French Revolution and his bloody past, both human and vampires. 

But once they have come to terms with themselves, will they still want to be together? 

So… where do I begin with this…?

BBC National Short Story Award & BBC Young Writers Award 2018

You think after last year that I wouldn’t be invited back to watch Front Row after the “Boob at the Beeb” incident (go back to my post last year to read about that!). But nope, I was asked back and  jumped at the chance to go! I mean, stories, awards, wine, sign me up! 

Expect for the wine part. You see, last year, the award ceremory was held at BBC Broadcasting House. This year, it was at the University of Cambridge. In Cambridge. Which meant I had to either drive or train it up. And because I am a little stubborn, I decided to drive, meaning it took around 1 hour and 25 minutes there and the same back. Now, I don’t normally do this is any event.The event has to be special! 

Plus, Cambridge is meant to be stunning, right? 

So, after a surprisingly easy drive up to Cambridge, and trying to find somewhere to park without getting too badly lost (Yes, I got lost and Cambridge is full of bicycles. I have never seen a city with so many bicycle riders!), I slipped into University of Cambridge, trying not to think too hard that this will be the only time I will ever get into a university without the fear of crippling student debt hanging over my head or wondering if I was smart enough to be there. 

Oh yeah, the panic I felt about possibly going to uni when I left college came screaming back (I think I would have done publishing/english or something linked to myths, so classics? WHO LAUGHED!?)