#CoverReveal of Arivia – Fangs of the Frost by D.H. Willison inc blurb @dhwillison #Fantasy #worldbuilding #magic #bookish #ice #winter ReadingCommunity #TalesOfArivia series

Today, I have the pleasure of being part of a team to reveal book 5 of the Arivia Series, thanks to the author D.H. Willison. Arivia – Fangs of the Frost by D.H. Willison will publish on 14th October 2025.

Cover Artist: Betty Elgyn Interior Artist: Si’yann

Check out the fantastical wintry cover and be transported to a different world, one of magic, a quest, the meeting of humans and monsters, below. Then, discover a little bit about Fangs of The Frost and a little of what you can expect within those adventurous pages…

Being sent on a quest to save an entire city and granted the city’s full resources is a grand honor. Unless that city is Xin, with no resources to speak of.

A magical secret from Xin’s past threatens the city’s future, and Darin must lead a rag-tag group to a frigid city at the end of the world to save it. Their dilapidated old trade schooner may be haunted, but it survived conversion into the world’s first harpy aircraft carrier. And more importantly, it was cheap.

Can a misfit crew of humans and monsters overcome creepy creatures, mysterious magical phenomena, and the whims of the Empress of the Ice? How does a couple get alone time on a ship, when one of them is the size of the ship? And will Darin and Rinloh finally put the naughty in nautical?

Join Arvia’s most eclectic heroic duo for adventures on the high seas! Caution: may contain questionable relationship advice, gratuitous human + nonhuman cuddle sequences, and/or singing.

If you like what you see here. If it’s whet your appetite to delve into the land where there’s Fangs of the Frost, or even consider it as an early buy for a Christmas present, look out for it on 14th October 2025.

#Review by Lou of The Spectaculars: Battle of the Stars By Jodie Garnish #JodieGarnish @Usborne #Childrensbook #MiddleGrade #kidslit

The Spectaculars: Battle of the Stars
By Jodie Garnish

Review written by Louise Cannon

Enchanting, theatrical, dramatic, The Spectaculars: Battle of the Stars is an entertaining read for middle-grade readers to get lost in and travel with a magical theatre school.

Blurb

Jump onboard the Wondria… The Spectaculars is an enchanting adventure series filled with magic, theatre and danger, perfect for drama lovers. For fans of Nevermoor, The Train to Impossible Places and Carrie Hope Fletcher.

There’s magic in the air as Harper begins her third year as a Spectacular at the Wondria – her magical travelling theatre school.

An immersive theatre show is touring the Hidden Peaks, bewitching everyone with its starry charms. But when the show’s fortune-teller predicts danger in Harper’s future, Harper is suddenly pulled into a terrifying battle of powerful spells and sinister figures.

With her friends, Harper must uncover who is behind it all – because if they can’t, it will be closing night for the whole of the Hidden Peaks…

Review

Immersive theatre shows are amazing and this book reflects this style of theatre to a degree. Hidden Peaks is charming everyone, but there are sinister forces at work after Harper talks to a fortune-teller who predicts her future.

What unfolds is a theatrical world of magic and friendship to pull readers in. The mild trepidation creates a desire to see how this entertaining read where the colliding fantastical world of theatre and magic ends.

#Review By Lou of While We’re Young By K.L. Walther @kl_walther #UltimateBlogTour @The_WriteReads #YA #Romance #Romcom #BlogTour

While We’re Young
By K.L. Walther

While We’re Young is a road trip for young adults. What will they get up to on their journey? Will the friendship still be intact at the end and what about the messy romance? This is a book to dive into for pure escapism.
This is a new contemporary romance from the NYT bestselling author of Tik-Tok sensation, The Summer of Broken Rules, K.L. Walther.

Check out the blurb below and my full review, which I bring to you as part of The Write Reads blog tour.

Blurb

Grace, Isa, and Everett used to be an inseparable trio before their love lives became a tangled mess. For starters, Grace is secretly in love with Everett, who used to go out with Isa before breaking her heart in the infamous Freshman Year Fracture. And, oh yeah, no one knows that Isa has been hanging out with James, Grace’s brother—and if Grace finds out, it could ruin their friendship.

With graduation fast approaching, Grace decides an unsanctioned senior skip day in Philadelphia might be just what they need to fix things. All she has to do is convince Isa to help her kidnap Everett and outmaneuver James, who’s certain his sister is up to something.

In an epic day that includes racing up the famous Rocky steps, taste-testing Philly’s finest cheesesteaks, and even crashing a wedding, their secrets are bound to collide. But can their hearts withstand the wreckage?

Four friends. One day off. A whole heap of trouble – this is the perfect love story for readers to escape with this summer and ticks all the boxes for fans of Carley Fortune, Lynn Painter and Emily Henry.

Review

Escapism is just a turn of the page away… It’s light-hearted with friendships, romance and absolute mischief and trouble. With secret love and emotions kept hidden and friendships that become entangled amongst this, it does somewhat pose the questions, how it could end and how messy are things going to get on this adventure?

The pace is quite good and nothing seems over-explained to ruin this, but the setting is nicely written to absorb you into it. There’s some humour and fun throughout the book with the many antics that go on between the friends. With each step into different plans comes just more hi-jinks. It makes a good young adult book that brings laughs with enough to also pull you into wondering what can possibly happen next.
There are also dreams and aspirations with certain lifestyles to explore as well as this next stage in life that the friends try to navigate.

While We’re Young is enough to capture readers to take them to another place for a little while. It’s a book that’s relaxing to ease the cares of the day away into one nice read.

#Review By Lou of Pimlico People By Rupert Stanbury. All of the Author’s Royalties Will Support Charities for the Homeless @RupertStanbury @RandomTTours #BlogTour #PimlicoPeople

Pimlico People
By Rupert Stanbury

Pimlico People is great for those looking for something a bit different. I jumped at the chance to review because I’ve volunteered in various charities and continue to do so. When I saw the author was wanting to donate his royalties to support homeless, I jumped at the chance to tell you all about it. So, join it all below as I close the blog tour.
Pimlico People is the 3rd in the series, but it works perfectly well as a standalone.
Find out more about it below, including a link where to purchase it.

ALL THE AUTHOR’S ROYALTIES WILL BE GIVEN TO SUPPORT CHARITIES FOR THE HOMELESS

Pimlico People is the third book in the Gods Galore series about the Olympian Gods in the 21^st Century.

The Goddesses Artemis and Hebe are staying in Central London to obtain a better understanding of the lives of ‘normal’ people.

To their surprise, they soon encounter a plot to blow up a foreign embassy. Add to that a sophisticated operation involving the theft of valuable paintings from a major art gallery, and the two goddesses begin to question what a ‘normal’ life is all about.

Meanwhile, in the Underworld Cerberus encounters another dog who, amazingly, only has one head! How will they get on?

A mixture of Comedy, Fantasy and Criminality, Pimlico People should appeal to readers of Terry Pratchett and Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson).

Review

Godesses Hebe and Artemis find themselves in London. This is a humorous, fantastical book that shows how people might be perceived by these Goddesses as they try to discover “normal” human life and what it entails. What they stumble across is some high criminal activity in the art world and plots to blow up an embassy. Luckily there are also some mere mortals that are useful and can help everyone out in trying to save the day.

There is also a different sort of underworld with Cerberus, a dog who wants to make friends with a mortal, earthly dog. A revenge on the owner story unfolds at this point.

Pimlico People, whilst entering something quite absurd, does, because of this, have some rather humorous qualities to it alongside some action-packed capers.
It all becomes an entertaining read.
It’s also interesting to think about how someone other worldly might see human life.

It’s definitely good for those wanting something rather original in their reading repertoire.

Purchase Link: Amazon

About the Author

Rupert Stanbury is a Cambridge graduate. He was born in Manchester but has lived most of his adult life in Central London. He has always been an avid reader and recently decided to take up writing himself. His books have one overriding objective which is TO MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH. His first book, Gods Galore, was published in November 2021 and his second one, The Four Horsemen, in April 2023.

#BookReview By Lou of Sundae Driver – A Story of Dan and Stan, with Zelda and the Welder By Jack Barrow @JackBarrowUK #SundaeDriver #Novella #ReadingCommunity

Sundae Driver – A Story of Dan and Stan, with Zelda and the Welder
By Jack Barrow

Quirky/urban fantasy, Sundae Driver, set in Blackpool asks the question “Would You Sell Your Soul To An Ice Cream Van? Sundae Driver is a novella within the Hidden Masters Universe.
Thanks to Jack Barrow for the novella to review. The first book I reviewed by him was In Sat Nav We Trust? He has a great way of writing and mixing the everyday with the quirky.

Blurb

Would you sell your soul for an ice cream van?

As Danny struggles to keep his ice cream van on the road he meets Stan, a mysterious stranger, at a crossroads, at midnight. Spitting in his palm Stan shakes on a deal with Danny to fix up Nellie, Danny’s rusty, vintage, ice cream van, and so, Danny’s life improves dramatically. But a few years on, Danny cannot understand why he can no longer face the daily routine of endless cheerful customers and excellent profits. Seeking supernatural advice Danny learns he has paid a price he did not agree to, but there is a solution. Can he fulfil the task to free himself from Stan and break his contract?

If you like supernatural antics with thoroughly silly twists, and unlikely characters, then you’ll enjoy Jack Barrow’s magickal adventures in modern Britain.

Get Sundae Driver today as an introduction to Jack’s Hidden Masters series.

Review

Sundae Driver is perhaps not what you’d expect an ice cream seller’s job to be. You don’t usually end up selling your soul nor having to get supernatural advice…
Set in Blackpool, readers meet Danny in Stanley Park. It’s the turn of the century and it’s not a great start, but he really wants to keep going with selling ice creams from Nellie, his beloved van, which needs an MOT. There’s a lot of hope for it to be able to stay on the roads. He then meets a stranger whom he gets talking to. Things change from there with some intriguing events and the mysterious Madam Zelda and instructions to a magic circle with a contract with his name on it. The odd events continue with a strange zombie and time travel.

Sundae Driver has an air of the quirky and a certain atmosphere hanging about it that draws you in. It’s a strange journey that readers are taken on throughout that is well-knitted together with a fast flow with humour. There are twists and turns that ensure you want to read to the end to find out what happens if you sell your soul and if Nellie, the ice cream van and Danny survives everything.

At just 91 pages, Sundae Driver is definitely worth a read if you’re looking for an entertaining novella different from the norm.

Purchase Link:
Amazon

*Please note I am not affiliated with the author or Amazon or any bookshop.

#Review By Lou of Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You By Becky Holmes – A fascinating book about romance fraud @deathtospinach @unbounders #NonFiction

Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You
By Becky Holmes

Recently published, this book is timely in its conception and publication. I have a review today for this important book about internet safety. This addresses the seriousness and mixes humour in. Find out more in the blurb and my thoughts in the blurb below.

Blurb

Online romance fraud is a problem across the globe. It causes financial and emotional devastation, yet many people refuse to take it seriously. This is the story of one middle-aged woman in a cardigan determined to understand this growing phenomenon.

No other woman has had so many online romances – from Keanu Reeves to Brad Pitt to Prince William – and Becky Holmes is a favourite among peacekeeping soldiers and oil rig workers who desperately need iTunes vouchers. By winding up scammers and investigating the truth behind their profiles, Becky shines a revealing, revolting and hilarious light on a very shady corner of the internet.

Featuring first-hand accounts of victims, examples of scripts used by fraudsters, a look into the psychology of fraud and of course plenty of Becky’s hysterical interactions with scammers, this is a must-read for anyone who needs a reminder that Keanu Reeves is NOT in love with them.

Review

It’s a hard-hitting, perhaps heart-wrenching truth… are you ready for me to give it to you? Keanu Reeves really, honestly, truly doesn’t love you.

The dark side of the web and social media, many of us have encountered it and seen the “follows” of people posing as famous actors and singers. There are some that also pose as medics or construction workers or in the army forces across the world. Sadly the dark hearts and minds of the fraudsters continue to get more and more creative in their ways and as you may have seen on tv, or perhaps know someone who is a victim of their terrible crimes, they also attempt to tug at heartstrings. Anyone can fall for it, not just those considered vulnerable. There have been highly intelligent people who have and those with a high profile themselves.

This book is pertinent, especially as fraudsters continue to be out in force and as it comes closer to Christmas, their preying behaviours increase.

Readers get up close and personal at what is really going on and what to look out for in their interactions with people online. This isn’t to say every time you see someone famous following you on social media is not that person, but it’ll make you think and realise who is real and who isn’t. To make it more real and not something you’d read out of a sci-fi or fantasy book, there are true accounts, which also demonstrate that anyone and everyone can be a victim.
I am going to say here, it is not your fault, if this happens to you.

It’s a well considered and well-written book with plenty of information to remind you that Keanu Reeves does not love you and so much more, with an injection of fantastic humour and takedowns to fraudsters that just lifts it, amongst the seriousness.