Bloodtide & Bloodsong Extract

i have an extract for you guys!!! Two blog tours in two weeks - I know how to spoil you, yes? And yes, even when I am meant to be on a blog break! 

We have the complete duology of Bloodtide & Bloodsong by Melvin Burgess, a dark dystopian inspired by Norse mythology, where London is a gated wasteland, cut off from the country and run by two warring families: the Volsons and the Conors. 

I don’t want to say any more. This is giving huge Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve vibes and I am here for that! 

Now, before I hand you over to the extract, I was to that Blue from Kaleidoscopic Tours for asking if I wanted to be involved and allowing me to do an extract! And, if the extract wets your appetite, you can find more information at andersenpress.co.uk or uk.bookshop.org (if you fancy using an affiliate link). 

Now, ONTO THE EXTRACT!!!

Sunderworld’s Spotlight

When Blue from Kaleidoscopic emailed about the upcoming new Ransom Riggs, I was intrigued as it wasn’t linked to Miss Peregrine in any way but has a very 90s/Stranger Things, maybe even have a touch of Gravity Falls to it. Yes, I am going geeky/pop culture here as it has that 90-ness vibe to it, and as someone who grew up in the 90s, I am all on board with that. 

For those of you who didn’t grow up in the 90s (while I am out of my zimmer frame as, yes, I am that old), the 90s had the epic battle of Oasis vs Blur, women wanting The Rachel haircut, trying to figure out if you were a Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte or Samantha, GIRL POWER, the wave of New Labour and the Y2K panic, Harry Potter mania… I could go on and on about the 1990s here in the UK. 

For me, this is going to be a weird 90s vibe book (and I sense that I am going to be very wrong about that going into this, but it’s going to be a weird/fun ride!). 

But I am quite excited to find time to read this soon. Hopefully, I can intrigued you guys too and I will leave the book’s blurb below!

The Last Thing You’ll Hear Blog Tour - Guest Post

With Glastonbury, one of the UK’s biggest music festival happening next week, it feels only right to be involved in The Last Thing You’ll Hear blog tour (hosted very kindly by Kaleidoscopic Tours)

The Last Thing You’ll Hear follows sisters Wren and Lark, who seem more like rivals than sisters. So when a mysterious music producer and his DJ prodigy come to their small town, both sisters are desperate to impress. Lark is the one who is taken under the producer’s wing, but Wren can’t help feeling that there’s something sinister going on as Lark distance herself from her friends and family.

But when the sisters get the chance to perform at the most-talked-about music festival of the summer, Enrapture, things come to a head a there’s a lot to lose. Can Wren put her jealously and ambitions to save her sister, or is it too little, too late for them both? 

A twisted thriller set at a music festival? Sign me up! 

Anyway, I am thrilled to be hosting a guest post about the power/dangers of music and why festivals are the perfect place to set thrillers, written by Jan Dunning. Some of you might know her from her debut thriller, Mirror Me, a twisted fairy-tale inspired thriller set in the world of high fashion…

Before I past you over to Jan’s guest post, I just want to thank her for finding the time to write this for this tour and huge thank you for Blue at Kaleidoscopic Tours for allowing me to tag along on this tour. If you want to say hi to Jan, you can do so on either Instagram and X/Twitter, and if you want to know more about The Last Thing You’ll Ever Hear, please check it out at uk.bookshop.org (Affiliate Link Alert).

Now, with that out of the way, over to Jan!

Blog Tour - Tiffany Aching’s Guide to Being a Witch

As you know, I have been slowly tackling the Witches sub-series within the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. I have one more to go (Carpe Jugulum) and then I am done. Unless I want to go onto the Tiffany Aching series where Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg pop up (and oh, it is so tempting! I do miss them!)

So, when I was emailed by the lovely Bee from Kaaleidoscopic Tours about Tiffany Aching’s Guide to Being a Witch, I knew I had to be involved. I’m actually a little surprised at how quickly I replied and went “Yes! This! This sounds perfect!”. And yes, it does clash with my NetGalley November, I know, but I feel that this would be a lovely way to ease self into the world of the Free Wee Men and the Chalk. 

Title and Author: Tiffany Aching’s Guide to Being a Witch by Rhianna Pratchett and Gabrielle Kent, & Illustrated by Paul Kidby

Publisher: Puffin

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by Kaleidoscopic Tours as part of review-based blog tour. Gifted in exchange for an honest review/reaction

But From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

Ever wanted to be witch (haven’t we all?)? Even wanted to be a witch in the Discworld? Well, this guide will help you in the right direction. Written by Tiffany Aching (who first appeared in The Wee Free Men and her final outing was in Sir Terry Pratchett’s final Discworld novel, The Shepherd’s Crown) and with “helpful” footnotes from Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Mrs Tick and the Wee Free Man known as Rob Anybody, this will give helpful information about magic, headology, bees, magic cheese, Death, sheep and everything in between.

Blog Tour Review - Tales from Beyond The Rainbow

Another day, another blog tour review. And this is so up my street that as soon as Bee from Kaleidoscopic Tours emailed about this title, I instantly emailed back and went "PLEASE LET ME BE INVOLVED! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!"

And here we are!

Title and Author: Tales from Beyond the Rainbow by Pete Jordi Wood

Publisher: Puffin

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by UK publisher and PR Blog Tour Company, Kaleidoscopic, in exchange for an honest review/reaction for blog tour. 

Buy From (Affiliate): Bookshop.org

There are fairy tales and folklore that time has forgotten or concealed in one form or another. This could be for a number of reasons. They became out of fashion. The morale of the story doesn't fit with the changing world. Or because the stories in question tackle the issue of gender and sexual identity, and all end (mostly) with happy ever afters. 

In this collection of short fairy tales and folklore from around the world (ranging from Germany, Russia, China, Taiwan, Cape Verde, Canada and other corners of the world), Pete Jordi Wood has collected and adapted them, each illustrated by an artist who shares heritage with he culture of where the stories have come from.

The Boy Lost In The Maze Extract Alert

An extract from a book, told in verse, where Greek myths is mixed with a modern day quest, written by the UK Children's Laureate 2022 to 2024, Joseph Coelho with illustrations by Kate Milner? HOW COULD I NOT SHARE THIS?! 

When Bee from Kaleidoscopic Tours emailed this, I had an immediate reaction and knew I had to be involved in this tour! I HAD TO BE INVOLVED!

In Ancient Greece, Theseus makes a dangerous and courageous journey to find his father, finally meeting the Minotaur in the heart of the Labyrinth. Theo, a modern-day teenage boy, finds himself on a maze-like quest to find his own father. Both boys quests mirror each other as the two step into manhood, and what true manhood really means... 

And all the while, the Minotaur waits in the darkness... 

Now, before I share the extract, I just want to thank Bee for asking and allowing me to pop onto this tour, and to the lovely people at Otter-Barry Books for sending me a copy of The Boy Lost in the Maze. At the time of writing the beginnings of this post, I am in the depth of the prose and am enjoying myself. I, also, want to point you in the right direction if you want to say hi to Joseph or Kate. You can go to thepoetryofjosephcoelho.com or tweet a quick hi at @JosephACoelho. You can find Kate at @abagforkatie. And if you want to know more about Children's Laureate info, you can go to booktrust.org.uk or @UKLaureate on Twitter. 

Now, onto the extract!!!

The Midnighters Extract

HERE WE ARE! The last day of the Midnighters tour and I have a delicious extract to share with you guys! 

Ema has always felt different. Her family are filled with famous scientists, so there's not much room for omens and superstitions, even though they follow Ema wherever she goes. Nor does it help that she appears to predict events before they happen or has a peculiar fear of shadows...

So when Ema is sent to live with her uncle in Prague, she fears that she'll never fit in. Then she meets Silvie, a girl who sees Ema and soon, the two are having midnight adventures and facing Emma's fears together. 

Then Silvie vanishes...

As you know, I'm in a bit of a reading slump, but this book sounds delightfully weird for me to pass up! I am excited to sink my teeth into this world that Hana Tooke has created (and with lush illustrations by Ayesha L. Rubio)! 

Now, before I give you the tiny sneak peek of the prologue, I just wanted to thank Bee from Kaleidoscopic Tours for inviting me to tag along and being very kind to gifting me a copy of The Midnighters. And, if you want to check out Hana online, you can visit hanatooke.com or you can tweet her at @hannekewrites!

Now, ONTO THE EXTRACT!!!

The Raven Heir Is Healing

Ok, this is kinda breaking my Summer of Love plans but you know me, I like to mix things up! And what better what to mix things up than to show off a guest post written by the lovely Stephanie Burgis, author of the coming soon middle-grade fantasy, The Raven Heir?

The first in the Raven Crown series follow Cordelia and her triplet siblings, Rosalind and Giles who are safely living in a castle at the centre of a forest, protected by spells that their mother have woven. But when the outside world comes crashing into their home, the triplets find themselves in danger. Two rivals and their solders have come for them as whoever is the eldest is heir to the throne. 

But since the Raven Crown was broken, no one has been abled to rule the kingdom and live. So when their mother refuses to tell and she is taken prisoner, the triplets have to go on the run and soon, their realise that deep magic is at work and the three might be the ones to save the kingdom devastated by a war that has raged for generations. They might, also, be the ones to tear their family apart.

And here I am with an guest post about... well, I'm going to leave it as a surprise, but I enjoyed myself hugely reading this and it's making me itch to go to a garden centre! This looks like it's going to be fun magical middle grade so can't wait to read and share my thoughts on at a later date... 

Now, before I share the extract, just want to thank Blue from Kaleidoscopic Tours for allowing me to nip in on this tour! And I want to thank Stephanie for writing g this post. I know she must be super busy with Raven Heir, so am thrilled she found time to write this! Oh, if you are curious on this or any of Stephanie's other stories, you can always visit her website at stephanieburgis.com, or you can send her a quick hello tweet at @stephanieburgis!

Ok, you guys have waited long enough. Here is Stephanie's guest post for your reading pleasure!

Don't Eat That Poisoned Apple!

Mirror mirror, on the wall, who is deadliest of them all...?

I am really excited to be involved in the Poisoned blog tour. And, as you can probably see for the cover (this is one of the many reasons I jumped at this tour!), Poisoned is a Snow White retelling, from Jennifer Donnelly, the author behind award winning A Gathering Light, These Shallows Graves, Revolution and her Cinderella reimagining, Stepsister...

Once upon a time, a girl called Sophie went into the forest with the Queen's huntsman. Her lips as red as blood, skin as white as snow, hair as black as night, Sophie is about to inherit her father's throne. Expect the Queen believes Sophie is unworthy, too weak and too foolish, to rule. And Sophie believes her, believing all the poisonous words that people say to keep girls, women, people like her in their place.

Then, the huntsman carries out his order to kill her and cut out her heart... and yet, she lives. And she wants to reclaim everything that has been taken from her...

I am so excited as I always like hearing/watching reimagining of Snow White so as soon as I got the email from Blue, asking if I wanted to be involved in this tour, I JUMPED at it! So, thank you Blue for asking me! And thank you, Jennifer, for find time to write this delicious guest post! 

Oh, before I go, if you want to say hi to Jennifer, you can visit her via her website (JenniferDonnelly.com) or tweet her at @JenWritesBooks. And curious over Poisoned, check out Hot Key Books!

Now, over to Jennifer for the post!

Fire Burn Cauldron Bubble

Double double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble...

Well, I had to start the month of Halloween like this, didn't I? I HAD to! And what real way to kickstart this month than to be involved in the blog tour for Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble, to get us in the spirit of things (see what I did there...?)!

Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble is an anthology of poems, featuring magic. Ranging from unicorns, dragons, witches, magic flying carpets, trolls, wands, spells going awry to nice (and not so nice) hauntings. With illustrations by Eilidh Muldoon and collected by Paul Cookson from a wide range of poets (including [takes deep breath] William Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, Benjamin Zephaniah, John Agard, Valerie Bloom, Matt Goodfellow, Joshua Seigal and AF Harrold among others]), this collection of poems will get you in the mood for things that go bump in the night and ask for a trick or a treat...

I am so thrilled to be involved in this tour and I can not wait for you guys to read the guest post from Paul Cookson, chatting about poetry and why poetry is so important to him. It's an interesting post (and it comes from me who is a bit uncultured when it comes to poetry!)

Now, before I hand you over to Paul, I just want to thank Paul for finding time to write this post, and to Blue from Kaleidoscopic for asking me to be involved in this tour. Also, if you want to find out more about this collection (if case the post inspires you), you can check out Bloomsbury's website. 

Now, over to Paul we go! 

The Wit & Guest Post of Hilda Ffinch

Possible my last blog tour alert for a while, but this caught my eye randomly and I knew I had to get involved in this tour in one form or another!

So, The Wit and Wisdom of Hilda Ffinch. In the small village of Little Hope in deepest, darkest Yorkishire during the Second World War, villagers are trying their very bet to Keep Calm and Carry On. It isn't exactly easy, not with the air raids, the evacuees and the shortage of knicker-elastic (THE HORROR!), but they are trying.

Enter Mrs Hilda Ffinch. A bored but terrible rich lady of the manor who decides, after a glass or too many gin and tonics, to do her bit and become Agony Aunt for the local paper... I mean, what can go possible wrong with this?

... yeah, you can see why I wanted to be involved in this tour, can you|?

Now, before I hand you over to a guest post from the lovely Juliet Warrington, I want to thank her for finding time to write this guest post, chatting about Hilda. I, also, want to thank Blue from Kaleidoscopic for asking if I wanted to be involved in this tour.

And, before I give you Juliet's guest post (where she chats about her favourite things about being a writer), if you want to say hi to Juliet, you can do so via her Twitter (@authorjulietwar) or check out her website, mrsfoxgoestowar.co.uk. I, also, want to thank Blue from Kaleidoscopic Tours, for asking if I wanted to be involved in this blog tour. 

With that out of the way, OVER TO YOU JULIET!

Texts From Dad Blog Tour - Guest Post

BLOG TOUR ALERT!!! And it's a little different from my normal as this is for a non-fiction title.

I know, what have I become?!

Anyway, I was asked if I wanted to be involved in this, read the blurb, laughed and said yes very quickly.

Texts from Dad is a collection of daily texts sent from a father to his daughter, detailing 57 days of lockdown due to COVID-19. And then, these texts go viral...

Of course I had to say yes to be involved in this blog tour! I mean, come on!

Now, I have a guest post from Peter Barber, texter at large, chatting about this book as I am thrilled to be sharing it with you guys! But, before I do, I just want to thank him for writing this post. I, also, want to thank Blue from Kaleidoscopic for asking if I want to be involved in this tour! 

Ok, with all them out of the way, OVER TO YOU PETER!