#Review of Bad Influence by Will Carver @will_carver @OrendaBooks @RandomTTours #thriller

Bad Influence
By Will Carver

Will Carver is known for Nothing Important Happened Today, Hinton Hollow Death Trip, The Beresford Hotel and more books that will have you seeing society in a different light and make you think in ways you may never have before. His unique societal focussed thrillers are darkly twisty and once you pick them up, they’re hard to put down. In Bad Influence, it looks at social media, influencers and poses the question, do you know who’s in your house when you’re not at home? I am on the blog tour for Bad Influence with a review. Check it out below, along with the blurb. Thanks to Random T.Tours and Orenda Books for an e-book and slot.

Do you know who’s in your house when you’re not at home? It may be more than just your dog or cat. *Phrogging is the latest wave of social media crazes, created by top influencers in America, followed and tried out by others. In this case it can lead to dangerous consequences.
*Phrogging – an act of living in someone else’s home without their knowledge or permission.

The world of influencers is what Will Carver is focusing on in this latest societal thriller. It takes you into the world of Paige, a qualified nutritionist and mentor who doesn’t like fake news and promotes fitness, Ellie, Max, Shona, Barnaby, Alyssa who is friends with Alessandro, now wanting to be called Less, all in their 20’s and hoping to “make it”. The main story-lines come from Alyssa and Less in a rather fast-paced unique manner that is fitting with social media, narratives and in a relational sense too.
The observations are acute and spot-on about how people want to be noticed. In Less and Alyssa, their parents bankroll them financially and they do a bit of entrepreneurship themselves, especially Less, so in that way, they are secure, even with Alyssa being not quite so wealthy, but within themselves they are insecure. There are issues within their families and Alyssa is a full time carer to her grandmother, gets herself out the door, does the meals. She, in that respect is relatable as anyone who’s a carer from a younger than average age will understand and see this part reflected to a certain degree. Paige plays a big part too and is brought further to the fore later on in the book.

What happens next is the start of a darker side creeping in after a jaw-dropping party, a crime fuelled by inhibitions. Not a thought about the consequences. Things get even darker when a new type of influence is coming on-trend, Phrogging. As readers we join the speed and thrills of the ride of this life, but things take an unexpected dangerous turn.

Intelligently the emotions and mental health are played out in the characters, most pertinently in Paige. It is, again, a well observed study of not just the ‘human condition’ but also the effects of being so absorbed to high influencer levels in social media.

The relevancy and importance of reading this book is high.
The pace is fast, explosive compelling plot won’t just wash over you, it will stay with you beyond the last page!

Blurb

Two bored teenagers.One stupid game.The wrong place to play…Alyssa wants to be seen. Less wants to be someone. She takes two buses to class, posts pictures of her lunch, and pretends it’s all effortless. He hides his privilege beneath thrifted clothes and a sketchbook full of impossible designs. Together, they are inseparable – two outsiders constructing a version of themselves the world might finally applaud.Then Alyssa stumbles upon the hidden world of phrogging – living unnoticed inside other people’s homes. She and Less slip through Los Angeles’ glossy veneer: influencers, producers, pop stars, all so busy performing their perfect lives they don’t notice the shadows in their attics, the scratching in their walls.An act of rebellion. A harmless thrill. A social experiment.Until they choose the wrong house.Until the influencer they idolise catches them in the act.Until the cameras, already rolling, capture everything.What begins as a reckless adventure becomes a nightmare of lies, power … and murder…

#Review of Roman Mornings by Matson Taylor #bookreview by Lou @matson_taylor_ @simonschusterUK #RomanMornings

Roman Mornings
By Matson Taylor

review by Louise Cannon

Matson Taylor is back!!! His debut novel shot up the charts and introduced readers to Evie Epworth. His debut was the very funny and poignant The Miseducation of Evie Epworth with a strong follow-up, All About Evie, set in Yorkshire and London. Now, he has a new character and is transporting readers to Italy in his 3rd fabulous book, Roman Mornings.

Some books are worth their weight in gold, this is one of them. It was worth the wait and it, for me, came along at the best possible time. It’s one for cat lovers, the holiday adventurers, readers of Kate Atkinson and Sarah Winman and for those who just need a little healing and a spot of heartwarmth in their books.

It was a delightful surprise when an opportunity to review Roman Mornings landed in my inbox from Simon & Schuster. Check it out below the cover you can just walk into for a perfect summer escape and my review and blurb below.

Full of heartwarming wit and encounters as an adventure on a mint-green Vespa ensues to seek out hope and new way of living life.

Roman Mornings takes readers between 1952, Trastevere, Rome and 1976. The sense of place draws you into the old narrow streets, adding an air of intrigue and mystery and wonderment as to who lives in these crammed streets and what are their stories. This is when readers meet some rather interesting eccentric characters.
Clementine Severs is the main character, who in 1952, arrives with a certificate in teaching and a whole lot of idealism, enough to fill many Grecian urns, certainly more than realism. She has many hopes, dreams and an urn-full of spirit.

By 1976, times from those days of surviving through World War 2, she is wilting, she and readers are reminded we all need something fun and happy in our lives. For Clemmie, it comes in the form striking up an unlikely friendship with young carpenter, Mongomery Marsh and a journey to find new hope and new ways of living life.

They also meet a cat called Octavian, who, if you’re a cat-owner, is so recognisable in manner and behaviours right down to a whisker twitch. Readers can be right into this feline and understand exactly what it’s doing and thinking, just like how cats communicate with humans in real-life and in some mysterious way, we understand them. Octavian is a great cat character.

Well-observed, are the changing times in culture and how young and older people can be both seeking out something similar and also become friends. The writing style has you hanging on every word as, cleverly he ensures his reader is absolutely with them every bit of the way, through potholes, the surrounding scents, food and growing friendship.

Roman Mornings is immersive, full of universally, heartstring tugging and heartfelt relatable themes that are emotional yet also upbeat, full of humour, hope, poignancy, whilst encompassing some healing along the way.

Roman Mornings may well make you want to wake up in Rome. If you don’t find yourself in Italy, it still may we’ll have you wake up to searching for hope and a new life.

I highly recommend Roman Mornings for your summer read or anyone looking for a heartfelt pick-me-up, perhaps with your favourite Italian food and tipple.

Blurb

A glorious novel of hope and healing for fans of Armistead Maupin, Fredrik Backman, Kate Atkinson and Sarah Winman.

1952, Trastevere, Rome. An idyllic maze crammed full of narrow streets and eccentric characters. A young English woman, Clementine Severs, arrives armed with a teaching certificate and enough idealism to fill a host of Grecian urns.

By 1976, she finds herself wilting, her youthful dreams squashed by time and tide. A chance encounter between an angel and a speeding mint green Vespa brings her into contact with a troubled young carpenter called Montgomery Marsh. Clemmie and Monty forge an unlikely friendship that takes them on a magical ride through the Eternal City in search of fresh hope and a new way of living.

Fun, spirited and full of heart, Roman Mornings, like the city of Rome itself, is a novel of mysterious beauty that you will want to revisit time and time again.

#review of Diagnosis or Death by Jake Lynch and Annabel McGoldrick #bookreview by Lou @jakelynch #annabellemcgoldrick @randomTTours #diagnosisordeath #psychologicalthriller

Diagnosis or Death
By Jake Lynch and Annabel McGoldrick

Mind Over Murder author, Jake Lynch and Annabel Goldrick have their new book Diagnosis or Death are groundbreaking in who their protagonist is. The protagonist is a psychotherapist who specialises in EMDR – Eye Movement Desentisisation and Reprocessing. Both authors have worked in journalism and now, Annabel is also accredited in EMDR. They bring their real life experiences and fictionalised them to create a compelling new series that brings a uniqueness to the crime/thriller/psychological thriller genre. I am on the blog tour with a review and book. I haven’t read any other books by these authors, but from this one, readers looking for something new are in for a treat of a read. Check out the cover, my review and blurb below…

Review

It’s intriguing when there’s a new protagonist on the horizon in crime fiction and this piqued my interest.
Janna is a former news reporter, now a psychotherapist practicing EMDR, is knee deep in work. Then there’s the shock of the death of a colleague and surely it isn’t suicide as first thought by the police.

Janna works from home nowadays and ends up getting highly involved in trying to discover what really happened. She then ends up digging around the murkier side of AI and the deep-fakes that are created. It’s chilling to the core!

What is fascinating to see unfold is how the skills of a psychotherapist can be deployed into a crime scene and also learning a bit more about this branch of psychology. Both professions in some ways marry up well as demonstrated in the book as both have an interest in people. This comes across in an intriguing manner, as does the crossover into a deep, dark crime scene. What evolves is a modern day crime that feels realistic and is compelling to read.

Blurb

Janna Rose is back! The Oxford journalist-turned-therapist is shocked by a colleague’s sudden death, which police dismiss as suicide – but she’s not convinced.

Pursuing her passion for justice, Janna investigates further only to be drawn into a shadowy world of Artificial Intelligence, where identity is fluid and nothing quite as it seems.

But who are the men behind the scheme, and what are their real motives? With dark forces threatening to drag her down and peril around every corner, Janna must deploy all her insights into human motivation to reveal the truth.

#Celebrations at the Toffee Factory by Glenda Young @flaming_nora @headlinepg #bookreview by Lou of a compelling trilogy #historicalfiction #CelebrationsAtTheToffeeFactory

Celebrations at the Toffee Factory
By Glenda Young

review by Louise Cannon

Join the toffee factory girls in their celebrations in what is a delightful final book in the trilogy by Glenda Young, who brings believable characters to life on the page for an immersive read. In a world of much technology, it occurs to me, and not many UK based factories left, she takes readers who know about factory life into something they can reminisce over, or compare to work today or introduce those who don’t know first or even second hand about certain time periods and that type of working life to that world.
Her books are well constructed and feel well researched. I feel this series could be made into a Sunday night tv drama. It has that feel to it.

The Toffee Factory Girls is set in the North East of England. Now WW1 has ended, we see, what in someways isn’t always considered, the toll the necessary rationing took on businesses. From that point, it is a refreshing look on this time period as we see Jack’s toffee factory struggling and you can’t but hope it survives, whether you have a sweet-tooth or not as from the first book to now, investment in this series was quickly established by the quality of writing and the characters created.

Both Elsie and Anne are so relatable. Elsie longs for freedom and a man to capture her heart and you can’t help but hope she finds someone who is good enough for her. Got to feel for Stan, who may just be what she needs, contradicting what she wants in spontaneous excitement. This complexity of human life is fascinating and universally relatable.
Hetty also has man trouble as to what she does when someone returns from the front and another may well leave for his home country. She is at a crossroads as to what to do for best.
Going back to Anne, her determination to keep the toffee factory going is admirable and shines through. She’s not one for letting someone emerging from Jack’s past to get in the way of her aspirations. You can’t help but root for her to find a way to success through all the tangled relationships.
What the question is, can they find more beyond the end of war times to celebrate?

Celebrations at the Toffee Factory is a fitting end to this compelling trilogy.

Blurb

Discover the gripping conclusion to Glenda Young’s Toffee Factory trilogy, set in a WWI toffee factory in the North-East!

The Great War has ended, but Jack’s toffee factory struggles after years of sugar rations and its troubles are far from over.

Fun, feisty Elsie longs for freedom and excitement. Hoping to meet the man of her dreams, she spurns the attention of dependable Stan. Will she realise that what she wants and what she needs are different things?

Efficient Anne takes control at the factory to change its fortunes after the war. She creates a new line of toffee. However, an unwelcome blast from Mr Jack’s past tries to jeopardise the factory’s success.

And Hetty is torn when her sweetheart Dirk prepares to leave for his hometown in Belgium. At the same time, her old boyfriend Bob returns from the Front, determined to marry her. Who will Hetty choose?

As the toffee factory girls celebrate the end of the war, they are more determined than ever to face the future with courage and hope.

#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.