#Review of The Castle of Stories by Matt Cain like The Durrells meets Italy @MattCainWriter #TheCastleofStories #Bookreview by Lou #holidayread #summer

The Castle of Stories
By Matt Cain

review by Louise Cannon

If you’re a fan of The Durrells or Italy or just seeking something where you can escape into pretty countryside to discover all it holds then delve into the Castle of Stories and see what emerges.

Adam is 45 and unexpectedly inherits a rundown farmhouse and castle in Tuscany from a great uncle he doesn’t know existed. It seems mysterious, but all seems above board. Bravely he undertakes all the renovation work. It’s quite a leap of faith and courage as Tuscany is rather far from Manchester, where he had a job that he quits.

His boyfriend, Theo joins him as he is now newly divorced from his wife and he ends up having to take his kids for the summer. The children’s moods are understandably cooler than the Tuscan temperatures towards Theo. They’ve had their lives turned upside down in a way that’s changed everything they thought they knew and understood in their family dynamics.
It’s interesting to see how that plays out as time moves onwards.

Castle of Stories is heartwarming as it immerses you into the Tuscan sunshine and changes in the characters lives.

What becomes apparent is the quality of the storytelling and writing that you can tell comes somewhere from the soul. There’s something quite palpable that emerges.

If you enjoyed The Darrell’s, this is one for you.

Blurb

Modern Family meets The Durrells in this life-affirming, poignant and evocative novel set against the idyllic beauty of the Tuscan countryside.

Stories don’t always unfold the way you expect them to…

When 45-year-old Adam inherits a rundown farmhouse and castle in Tuscany from a great uncle he didn’t know existed, he quits his job in Manchester to renovate the property. He’s thrilled his boyfriend of two years, newly divorced and out-of-the-closet Theo, is joining him. But Theo’s ex-wife says she can’t take their children for the summer, so they come too. As the temperature rises, so does the tension. The kids are hostile to Adam, immune to the beauty of the rural location – and scared of the resident lizards.

As Adam explores the crumbling walls of the castle and sorts through his uncle’s possessions, he discovers some dark family secrets. But could they finally allow him to break free from the pain of the past, start building a new family and open a life of queer joy?

THE CASTLE OF STORIES is a moving, heartwarming and uplifting novel about modern family in all its forms, what it means to love, and the importance of understanding your own story.

#Review by Wonderful by Louise Beech #bookreview by Lou #Wonderful @Louise_Beech_Swanson @LouiseWriter #MarilynMonroe #Hull

Wonderful
By Louise Beech

review by Louise Cannon

This year, 2026 is about celebrating the life and works of Marilyn Monroe. This is the year she would’ve reached her 100th birthday. The book, Wonderful connects the icon Marilyn Monroe with an ordinary girl in Hull and the Virgin Mary in surprising ways.
Today, I am on the blog tour with a review of the exquisitely written, passionate book, Wonderful.

What if the Hollywood icon, Marilyn Monroe didn’t die in 1962? What if there was a chance encounter with the Virgin Mary? What if, for the woman who has been scrutinised through the decades and no doubt will be forever as people examine history, she had a rather different life and wasn’t a “candle in the wind”, and lived, instead of dying. Sounds outlandish, but digging deeper into it, what it’s really doing is showing how Marilyn Monroe may have been, looking beyond and deeper than the glitz and glam. There’s something dreamy at times, but also thought-provoking.

There’s another character, Flora Baker, just a normal 36 woman in Hull, England. It’s 2016 and she has life challenges. Flora is working class and living in poverty in a shabby flat. She has a lot on her plate with financial worries and there’s Bella who struggles with her mental health. The family dynamics there are complicated.

The examination of two lives with different opportunities and stark contrasts works well as they then start to connect as certain similarities also become apparent. Alongside deep emotions, there is resilience in both Marilyn and Flora as they deal with what life has thrown them and how they are viewed. It is easy to be pulled into their lives from the start of where readers join their fascinatingly complex lives to the end.
It reminds you of their worthiness and how they’ve been treated very different from that worth.

Wonderful, ultimately pays homage to Marilyn Monroe, but also strongly highlights the plight of women in a powerful, strongly written manner. In some ways it’s not only relevant, but relatable. In some ways, it is hopeful too in how lives are connected, even when on the surface they can seem very different. It’s a rather wise, intelligent and insightful book in this way that is also compelling to read.

If you pick up any book relating to Marilyn Monroe, this is one I recommend for the top of your TBR pile. It may also compel you to want to know more about Marilyn Monroe.

Blurb

Could an icon and a working class woman really have something in common? That’s part of the beauty of this book because people are people whatever their walk of life and it can be amazing what can be found in common.

A Hollywood idol

The Virgin Mary.

An everyday girl from Hull.

Three women, three eras, surprising things in common…

On 4^th August 1962, the night she should have died, Marilyn Monroe – the biggest star in the world – receives a visitor who changes the course of her destiny. The Virgin Mary appears in her kitchen with a curious message. Inspired, Marilyn abandons her home, her life, her fame, and disappears into the night…

Fifty-four years later, in a Hull kitchen, Flora Baker finds Mary, bathed in light. She has a similar message for the working class woman who is on the poverty line and dreaming of a better life. Flora begins to make changes that impact not only her life but the lives of those around her…

Do Marilyn and Flora have more in common than just Mary’s visit? Are they somehow linked across time? And is Mary’s message for all the women of the world?

Wonderful is about the way women are portrayed in both history and the world of celebrity, about women not being quiet, and about women united by the shared stories that shape them.

#Review of Love on Lake Como by Joy Skye @joys.kye @BookMinxSJV #loveonlakecomo is a great #summerread for your #holidays

Love on Lake Como
By Joy Skye

When you look out of the window, fleeing to somewhere like Lake Como sounds like a perfect dream. When you see what Indie Summer is fleeing, it’s even more so. Relationships come in all shapes and sizes, some perhaps are good, others definitely not. Indie Summer is has decided to get away from her manipulative boyfriend and escape to the picturesque Lake Como, Italy. The destination isn’t as random as it sounds. She has a twin sister there who she plans to work with in a luxury villa. It isn’t just any luxury villa either, it belongs to a reclusive actor, who she, understandably comes very interested in. This lands in trouble with Marco Rossi, a brooding bodyguard…

What ensues is a slow-burn romance. Indie knows she should stay well clear of Marco, but she finds him so handsome. Realistically, she doesn’t just jump straight into a relationship, she does have her doubts and isn’t sure whether she can trust another man. This brings some great thought by the author and something quite grounded to the situation she finds herself in.

The sisterly relationship is heartwarming and shows a great bond that is rather touching.

There’s quite a bit of intrigue shrouding the luxury villa. There are family secrets woven into its fabric and its residents that are compelling to discover.

Love on Lake Como is as beautifully written as the scenic vista itself. It is a wonderful summer read.

Blurb

A new life, an old secret, and one unforgettable Italian summer.

Falling for him wasn’t part of the itinerary.

For Indie Summer, fleeing to Lake Como after walking away from her manipulative boyfriend feels like salvation.

With everything she owns crammed into a single suitcase, she heads to Italy to work a season at a luxurious villa with her twin sister, clinging to the hope that the picturesque lakeside escape might also bring her closer to their elusive father.

What she didn’t expect was that her curiosity about a reclusive actor’s villa would land her in hot water with his brooding bodyguard, Marco Rossi. Tall, dark and handsome, Marco is everything Indie should avoid, but she can’t seem to stay away.

As sun-soaked days stretch into glittering nights, Indie navigates demanding guests, long-buried family secrets, and more than a few glasses of Pinot Grigio. But the biggest challenge of all might be learning to trust again, especially with a man who guards not only a celebrity, but his own heart.

Escape to the sublime in this heart-warming, slow-burn romance set against the dreamy backdrop of Italy’s most iconic vista.

#Review of The Yacht by Kayte Nunn #KayteNunn @RandomTTours #BlogTour #Thriller #HolidayRead #TheYacht #SummerRead

The Yacht
By Kayte Nunn

Summer is here, even if the weather doesn’t always show that it is. Sun, sea and holidays are all over The Yacht, but with something more sinister. Luxury doesn’t always bring something good as this thriller suggests…
Kayte Nunn is a best-selling author known for The Botanist’s Daughter, winnter of the 2020 Winston Graham Historical Fiction Prize and was selected as the National English Honour Society Common Reader for 2023/4. , The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant, The Silk House, The Last Reunion and many other books.
I am on the Random T. Tours with the cover, blurb and review. Hop aboard a luxury yacht and join the immersive, bumpy ride…

Blurb

A man on the edge.

A woman hell-bent on revenge.

A cheating husband.

A desperate wife.

A property empire on the brink of collapse.

A family at loggerheads.

A predator hiding in plain sight.

Who will sink and who will swim?

Three generations of a billionaire family are taking their new superyacht on its maiden voyage. But when the yacht sinks, each of them has a different part to play, in this addictive, twist-filled thriller.

Review

Luxury yachts heading to sea carries aspirations for those on the harbour side and a showy lifestyle for those on-board. Sailing around the Med sounds idyllic, a piece of pure escapism from the rest of the world and away from all your troubles. Or so you would think!

Told in multiple perspectives by those on-board you discover its inhabitants, especially the wealthy Thyssen family who own the super yacht. What happens inside isn’t all plain-sailing as a disaster happens with this colossal vessel. That’s the moment where everything truly changes and the full extent of people’s dysfunctions emerge. All the secrets and desires for revenge that people have been harboring secrets and strong desires for revenge come to the surface. The super-rich lives aren’t all they seem when you dig deep into them. They are far from the perfect surface look they project into the world. It’s quite the lens into the world that they make people want, but, really the people’s lives on the yacht are falling apart in many directions. There is also a lot of danger ahead.

The Yacht is more twisty and has more turbulence than your average cruise. It’s a rocky ride that is gripping from the first page with a fast-pace, also driven by the short chapters that make you want to read more than you perhaps planned in a night.

For a summer read, The Yacht is gripping and compelling for the beach, on your cruise as you sip your cooling holiday drinks.

You can check out more here:

Author Website | Insta | Facebook | Amazon UK

#Review of Octagon by C.J. Merritt – A Gripping Espionage Thriller Published Today! #Octagon #ChrisMerritt @MichaelJBooks #Thriller #SpyThriller #politicalthriller #crimethriller

Octagon
By C.J. Merritt

review written by Louise Cannon

Octagon is rather different for C.J. Merritt in that it isn’t psychological, it’s a fast-paced politcal/espionage thriller that’s also very much worth picking up and reading. The quality of writing and story-telling is just as high as any other book he has written previously. Today, I have a review and blurb on publication day for Octagon, thanks to Michael J. Books.

There are secrets, confessions and murders galore. A Russian Scientist, practically on his deathbed has a deep, dark confession to make. There is also a murdered spy, a ritual killing and a former MI6 Agent Runner and former SAS Operator to get to know. There are a mix of backdrops of calm, including English countryside and Swedish forest to be lured into, but hang on tight, there is a lot of action in this tightly written plot. Readers are taken on a big high octane, big stakes journey as Octagon, the name of a plot against the West, which if pulled off in its entirety, will have devastating consequences.

Stella McCrae left MI6 on not exactly the best of terms and set up an investigation company, which unfortunately struggles. Fortunately she finds herself deep in a rather dark mystery to solve and that’s where Tommy Kane, internally, a complex man, comes in with just the expertise and experience she needs to really get going on the case. There is also Hoss who Stella set up the company with. Each of them have differing, but complimentary skill sets. It’s interesting to watch how they relate to each other within their professional capacity and work.
They are up against time to stop plot Octagon from becoming a horrific reality and someone instrumental to it is already on a key train.

Octagon is so fast-paced with unexpected twists and turns and depth that it’s easy to find yourself racing along to discover where it takes you next and which direction it ends in.

For a thriller that takes you on an unexpected journey of high danger, intriguing characters and a compelling plot, I highly recommend Octagon.

Blurb

A DYING RUSSIAN SCIENTIST
confesses to his children what he did as a young man.

A MURDERED SPY
shares vital intelligence before he’s ruthlessly assassinated in the English countryside.

A RITUAL KILLING
hidden in a forest clearing in Sweden hints at something much worse.

FORMER MI6 AGENT RUNNER
Stella McRae is the only person who can be trusted to investigate now her former employer has been compromised.

EX-SAS OPERATOR
Tommy Kane has always had Stella’s back, but as the threats against them escalate, will his formidable skills be enough this time?

OCTAGON
A devastating plot against the West is already in train. Only Stella and Tommy stand in its way. And time is running out…

#Review of The Night Lagoon by Jo Morey @JoMoreyWriter @HarperCollinsUK @RandomTTours #Thriller #bookreview by Lou

The Night Lagoon
By Jo Morey

Wittering Lodge, Stann Creek is a place that’s a piece of paradise, but isn’t all it seems with its current occupancy of Laelia and her partner, Aid. There is quite a rum-filled passion that gets darker in atmosphere and actions as many secrets become uncovered in a nook in the lodge.

Tension builds in such a gripping, creative way that makes it quite the cinematic page-turner as it becomes rather immersive with interesting, lush descriptive writing of the jungle playing off the characterisations of the people you meet.

There’s quite a uniqueness in the characterisation of Laelia as she has tinnitus and wears hearing aids. Something I know a bit about via a parent dealing with this. The way she is written is authentic and she doesn’t catch every word.

The psychological element of this thriller is palpable in the dynamics between people in the way they behave and manipulate. The web of lies plays with you, keeping its hold until unraveled in both character and reader.

Jo Morey is a new to me author and she is one to watch!

The Night Lagoon is a different summer read that grips from beginning to end as everything comes out and presents itself bit by bit.

Blurb

It’s a liar’s paradise
Wittering Lodge, Stann Creek, Belize

In the dead of night, lying in her father’s jungle lodge, Laelia watches her partner Aid sleeping – her mind racing with everything that’s brought her to this moment.

The heady Caribbean holiday when they first met.

The rum-fueled passion that, day by day, creeps into something darker.

The secrets she discovered in a hidden nook of the lodge, revealing a devastating past.

Above all, she thinks about the impossible decision she must make before dawn.

Does she stay silent and protect their newfound paradise? Or does she confront the lies which run as deep and dark as the lagoon – surfacing a dangerous truth from which there’s no return…

A transporting book club novel with the pulse of a thriller, The Night Lagoon is about the secrets and lies that simmer just beneath the surface of paradise.