#Review of Them Girls by Eva Verde @RandomTTours #EvaKinder @simonschusterUK @RandomTTours #Bookreview by Lou

Them Girls
By Eva Verde

Review by Louise Cannon

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Eva Verde, author of Lives Like Mine and the very popular, In Bloom has a new book for your collection, Them Girls. Thanks to Random T. Tours and Simon & Schuster, I have a copy to review and today is my blog spot.

Not everything is as it seems, not even marriage. Meet sisters Goldie and Vee in their 40’s. From the outside, they have it all. After all that grafting and dreaming paid off, right?
On the surface, it looks like it. Look deeper and it just isn’t real. Even Goldie’s marriage to Benedict is all pretend. It worked for awhile, until Wolfie appears on the scene and everything falls apart. Vee’s life isn’t too pretty either. She’s also split from her ex-husband who only moves closer to her school bully, Julia.

There are insecurities at play and how far can they go to keep up anything in their faux lives? Goldie, however had a pop career in the 90’s and suddenly there’s a lot of speculation about it as a curious invitation is received.

Them Girls is an intriguing story of identity, what that means and how you can’t always just tell yourself and others something that just isn’t real. It all catches up in the end. How the sister’s lives are revealed in layers makes them interesting to read about as it’s hard to predict quite what direction they’ll go in next. They also have a unique opportunity to tell everything straight.

There is a vibrancy about the writing, pulling you in further into Goldie’s and Vee’s lives. It gets into its stride a few pages in, where what seems disjointed at first, starts to make more sense as the messiness of their complex lives becomes more apparent.

For a twisty insight into different lives, this is a solid, very interesting read with characters that compel you to stick with them through it all to the end.



Blurb

Two sisters, a lifetime of secrets, and the chance to set the record straight…Meet Goldie and Vee: sisters, dreamers, grafters. In their forties, both appear to have it all…

Until Goldie finds the courage to leave Benedict. Once upon a time their faux marriage worked, but when the magnetic Wolfie comes on the scene, her world of pretending falls apart.

Vee’s neat world is spiraling, too. Since her ex-husband Jamie started dating Julia her cruel school bully, Vee’s long-buried insecurities are out of control. She needs to get away, and fast.

So when Goldie suggests a holiday in France, Vee leaps at the idea. A curiously well-timed invitation – just as speculations around Goldie’s brilliantly brief pop career back in the nineties are beginning to resurface. Escaping’s one thing, but nothing stays secret forever, and as Vee and Goldie’s unresolved pasts make surprise returns, the stories them girls once told themselves begin to look very different…

A raw and real portrayal of two sisters, the lives they left behind and the lives they want to lead, Them Girls is bold and immediate and deals with themes of identity, class and the corruption of power . . .

Check Out New Streaming Platform, Vilpa Max, How to Watch, How to Get Your Film Shown in this interview with Alejandro Vilpa conducted by Lou #StreamingService #Streaming #StreamingPlatform #Films #Movies #VilpaMax

Interview with Alexjandro Vilpa
New Streaming Service, Vilpa Max

Interview by Louise Cannon

Streaming Services/platforms, we are all very familiar with them and watch from the likes of Netflix, Prime, Now TV, BBCI Player and more… Now there’s a new one to explore called Vilpa Max. Alexjandro has worked from the best award-winning producers, including those involved in blockbusters such as James Bond. The service is said to be already having a positive impact on the film and streaming industry from its launch earlier this year, 2026.

Here, in this fascinating interview, you can discover how you can access Vilpa Max and how you can get in touch if you work in the film industry and would like to consider it as a platform for your film. You can also follow on YouTube, Instagram, Tik-Tok, all of which you can find details of at the end of the interview.

Let’s now welcome Alejandro Vilpa to Bookmarks and Stages to tell you more…

Vilpa Max is your new platform and has the aim, firstly in the UK, North Africa and the Middle East, to provide short filmmakers from around the world an opportunity to present their work to a global audience. How did you come up with this idea and can you say a little more about the process of seeking out the filmmakers?

The idea came from my own experience as an artist. When I finished making my first short film, The Undertone of David Jansen, I faced the question of how to bring it to the market, and that’s when I realized there was a significant gap between emerging voices and the industry. So I decided to build a bridge — a space where emerging filmmakers and top-tier, award-winning cinema could coexist as equals. That’s how Vilpa Max was born.

We normally scout emerging filmmakers at festivals, and many of them also reach out to us directly. They all go through a curating phase, and if they meet the quality criteria, we offer them a place in our catalogue.

You already have short films set to be featured as Vilpa Max launches, including Oscar-winning short “The Mozart of Pickpockets” from writer/director Philippe Pollet-Villard, the Oscar-nominated “The Red Suitcase” from director Cyrus Neshvad, and Palme d’Or winning “All the Crows in the World” from writer/director Yi Tang.

What was their reaction to Vilpa Max and its aims?


They were very excited. I’ve been very fortunate to work with major producers in the past, such as the producers behind the James Bond films, so bringing Oscar-winning cinema to my app was not a new path for me.

What is the process for a filmmaker to get their work on the streaming platform?

They have to send their films to our email: business@vilpafilms.com. Then our team reviews them and gives an answer. If it’s positive, they get a place in the catalogue; if it’s negative, they are entitled to receive feedback explaining why their film didn’t make it into the catalogue. It’s important to mention that the number of submissions we are receiving is reaching our full capacity, so we might introduce a submission fee very soon.

One of the aims is to empower new voices by giving them opportunities to gain international visibility and positioning as they continue building their careers.
 What impact on both filmmakers and audiences do you feel Vilpa Max will have on their careers?

Vilpa Max is already having a positive impact on the emerging voices in our catalogue. All of the emerging filmmakers currently featured on the platform already reach hundreds of thousands of people through our social channels. This is something we constantly track and provide evidence of.

On the other hand, they have gone from not having their work on streaming platforms to being streamed alongside Oscar- and Cannes-winning films. This gives them a badge of credibility and a level of positioning that no other player in the industry could offer them.

Who will the filmmakers be able to show their production to?

To the audience we have in MENA and the UK, which is typically people between the ages of 22 and 55 who appreciate high-quality cinema. To give an example, we reached 11,000 subscribers in just six days of operation. This gives a good sense of the potential reach their work can have if they become part of Vilpa Max.

What genres of films can people expect to find to watch?

We have a wide variety of genres, including drama, horror, comedy, coming-of-age, and short documentaries. One of the audience favorites, however, is animated films. For example, we have Waves ’98, which won at Cannes in 2015 and is very interesting to watch. We also feature an emerging filmmaker, Arseniy Oleinik, with his animated film Cafe, and both are receiving a wonderful response from audiences.

You, the founder of Vilpa Max and Vilpa Films are an internationally published author in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain. You also work with Oscar-winning and Cannes-acclaimed films, are on the Forbes Business Council and have previously contributed to the script development team at Caledonia Productions, the U.S. branch of Eon Productions, the producers of James Bond.
With all this experience, can you pinpoint that gives you the edge in the competitive nature of streaming?

Yes, the only reason I was able to create Vilpa Max is because I learned how to market content from some of the best producers in the world.

Where can both filmmakers and audiences find Vilpa Max when it launches on Saturday 31st January?

You can find us at www.vilpamax.com and also on the App Store as Vilpa Max. We are launching the Android version very soon. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok as @vilpamax, and on YouTube for previews and trailers under the same handle.

#Review of Everyone Is Perfect Here By Jane Haseldine @janehaseldineauthor @severnhouseimprint #PsychologicalThriller #CrimeFiction #DomesticSuspense #everyoneisperfecthere

Everyone Is Perfect Here
By Jane Haseldine

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Everyone Is Perfect Here is great for fans of a domestic psychological thriller and authors such as Frieda McFadden and Lisa Jewell. I am on the Random T. Tours blog tour and thanks to Severn House Imprint for the spot and for a copy of the book in-exchange of an honest review.

The title cleverly suggests that everyone is perfect, but are they really in amongst those pages? After all, we all know there’s no such thing as perfect. Delving into Carly’s life certainly proves this. No one knows what goes on behind closed doors or that facade of the perceived perfect house and perfect life!

As the reader, you see everyone as you look into the house as the psychological suspense quickly gathers pace.

Carla is an English professor and is doing great in her career. Life to all intent and purpose looks perfect, but she’s been building this normal life for a while, trying to leave her past behind. Her mother was murdered 15 years ago during a robbery and her picture-perfect step-family abandoned her at boarding school.

Things at work take a turn as one of her colleagues is found dead and that’s when everything really falls apart. Her name is scrawled near the body and there are similarities to her mother’s murder.
So much then comes tumbling back in a traumatic way as memories become re-ignited, but eerily, there are also time-lapses in Carly’s memory

A sinister atmosphere builds, increasing and twisting tighter as the book goes on, as more messes with Carly’s mind. There’s a strongly felt eeriness to it all, that increases the more that unravels and the more that is discovered.

The layering of life experiences between past and present in the dual time-line are both strongly written with each as compelling as the other. They’re told from not just Carly’s point of view but other people who remember too. The way they are written ensures you investigate and question the reliability of everyone’s recollections of what happened. The biggest question of all surround Carly herself and whether or not she is capable of nefarious deeds or not.

Everyone is Perfect Here is highly intriguing tightly written book where each part of the jigsaw is compelling.

Blurb

A woman’s life is upended when her past comes back to mess with her mind in this psychological thriller full of twists and turns.

There’s no such thing as perfect.

It’s been fifteen years since Carly Bennett’s mother was brutally murdered during a home robbery. Since then, she’s worked hard to build a normal life with a stellar career as an English professor—far away from the picture-perfect stepfamily that abandoned her at boarding school.

When a male colleague is found dead in Carly’s office—her name scrawled next to his body—everything she’s strived for starts to fall apart. There are eerie similarities to her mother’s attack, and Carly determines to find the truth.

Yet things take a bizarre turn when she suddenly experiences lost time, waking up in strange places, and flashes of dormant memories . . . memories that can’t possibly be real. Because, if they are, then she was there the night her mother was killed.

Could Carly have been responsible? Or is something more sinister at play in her stepfamily’s perfect world . . .?

This eerie domestic suspense is perfect for fans of Frieda McFadden and Lisa Jewell.

#Review of Middle Rage by Mollie Kendrick @HarperCollinsUK #MollieKendrick #BookReview by Lou of #MiddleRage

Middle Rage
By Mollie Kendrick

Rating: 4 out of 5.

review written by Louise Cannon

Middle Rage is relatable, humorous and if you liked Riot Women on TV, you’ll be sure to enjoy this insightful, emotional and funny book. Thanks to HQ for supplying the book to review in-exchange of an honest review of Mollie Kendrick’s debut novel.

It isn’t always easy to talk about feelings, those real emotions that run through your life and for Emma it is her idea of hell, so she holds them in, all bottled up as tight as she possibly can. Her husband reckons she’s been nothing but angry for the past 5 years. She also has a daughter, who she tries to be more honest with as she is struggling through life. Interestingly, despite not wanting to open up, there is a family therapist on the scene. The therapist suggests a wellness retreat. It isn’t really Emma’s thing, but she goes to one, as she says, the maddest one she could find on Bodmin Moor, which explores ‘dark feminine divine’, run by Clover.

Once at the retreat, the story also follows Emma’s fellow attendees, Maggie and Fleur, who also have fascinating, challenging life stories. Fleur, readers learn, has known coercive control in her life. The attention to detail and sensitivity is profound.
Essentially all the women are hurting in one way or another from their life experiences.

Mollie Kendrick has well-drawn characters that make you laugh and feel empathetic and sympathetic towards them. Readers are sure to relate to different parts of their lives, I won’t tell you which parts I related to most, but will say their life challenges are realistically written.

The mix of humour of the retreat’s activities and the seriousness of the subject matters is well-balanced as readers get to know the place and the women who are trying to change their lives.

#Interview with Wednesday and Knives Out Actor, Riki Lindhome by Lou about her new comedy stage show, Dead Inside, tickets Available Now @rikilindhome #DeadInside

Interview with Riki Lindhome about Dead Inside
By Louise Cannon
photos by ©Elisabeth Caren 2024

Riki Lindhome is perhaps best known for the film franchise, Knives Out, Wednesday,
The Big Bang Theory and more, that will be mentioned later. Among her fans is Michelle Obama. Even with all this, she remains grounded and explains later how that is.
Currently, Riki Lindhome is appearing in theatre (see details after the interview), starring in her show, Dead Inside. A comedy hit at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, now touring, it tells about the life journey of fertility, freezing eggs, surrogacy and adoption. We talked about this, resilience and hope, being one half of comedy music duo Garfunkel and Oates and of course being part of popular major film/tv/streaming franchises.

Let’s welcome Riki Lindhome to Bookmarks and Stages as she tells us her fascinating, insightful, authentic answers. Thank you to Gingerbread Agency for connecting us.

What or who inspired you to become an actress?

I remember being six years old and seeing a girl who looked like me in a bubble gum commercial. I felt such palpable jealousy every time that commercial came on that I turned to my mom and said, “That’s going to be me someday.” 

You are most widely known for Knives Out” and “Under the Silverlake” and major hit shows “Wednesday”, “The Big Bang Theory”, “Brooklyn 99” and most recently “The Muppets Mayhem”. How does that feel to be part of hugely popular shows and how does this impact your career when you go off to do other types of shows such as your new comedic one-woman musical “Dead Inside” that originated at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has now transferred to Soho Theatre, London?

I felt so lucky to be a part of those projects. There’s something very special about being involved in work that people connect to on that scale.

What’s interesting is that something like Dead Inside is almost the opposite experience. It’s much more personal and much more exposed. When you’re part of a big show, you’re one piece of a larger machine. With this, it’s just me, so the connection with the audience is very direct.

I think the two sides actually support each other. The larger projects give me a platform, and then something like Dead Inside lets me define my voice more clearly.

Dead Inside addresses infertility and delves into freezing eggs, embryo implantation, pregnancy loss, undiagnosed medical conditions, surrogacy, adoption.
How important do you think this is to be portrayed on stage and how did you go about infusing it with comedy?

RIKI LINDHOME ©Elisabeth Caren 2024 All Rights Reserved

I think it’s important because it’s something so many people go through, but often very privately. There’s still a lot of silence around it, which can make it feel even more isolating.

For me, comedy was the way in. It allows you to talk about something that might otherwise feel too heavy or difficult. I wasn’t trying to make light of the experience, I was trying to make it shareable. If people can laugh, they’re more open, and that creates space for the more emotional aspects of the story as well.

You have dug into your own life experiences to bring to stage, how did you feel doing this did you have support, if you wanted some?

It was definitely a process. At the beginning, it felt more vulnerable, because I was still very close to the experience. Over time, it became more about shaping the story than reliving it.

I’ve been very lucky to have supportive collaborators and friends who helped me develop the show. My director, Brian McElhaney, said he wanted to direct the show before I even wrote it. I just told him about the idea and he was like, “I want to be a part of that.” Then, Zach Zucker from Stamptown and Alchemation helped me bring it to Edinburgh (also before they saw the show). So I’ve felt very supported in this whole journey, honestly right from the start.  

You emphasize resilience and hope within your show. What does that mean to you and how do you feel it comes across to your audiences so far?

For me, it’s less about a clean, inspirational version of resilience and more about continuing even when things are uncertain or don’t go the way you expected. The experience I went through didn’t follow a straightforward path, and I think that’s true for a lot of people in different areas of life. 

I think what audiences connect to is that it’s not presented as a perfect or resolved journey. It’s more about navigating something complicated and still finding moments of humor and joy within it.

You are one half of musical comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates and have toured the world. Michelle Obama is a fan and you have amassed over 100m hits on YouTube.

How do you stay grounded and how do you use each success to propel you into doing a new show, such as your current one, “Dead Inside”?

It’s been very easy for me to stay grounded because I’ve experienced far more failure than success. But I have been lucky to be a part of so many amazing projects and hopefully, each thing I do makes me more equipped to do the next one. 

Where can people find more info about your show, social media and You Tube channel?

You can find information about the show, tickets, and updates on my website rikilindhome.com, my Instagram, TikTok and Facebook @rikilindhome and my YouTube channel @rikilindhomesongs

Riki Lindholme will be performing Dead Inside at Soho Theatre from 31stMarch – 18th April. Tickets available HERE.

#TheatreReview of The Shawshank Redemption the play, 2026 Tour on now 5 stars of Powerful Acting Excellence #Review by Lou @JoeMcFadden @BenOnwukwe @BillWard @TheShawshankPlay

The Shawshank Redemption

Adapted by OWEN O’NEILL & DAVE JOHNS
Based on the novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
by STEPHEN KING
Directed by DAVID ESBJORNSON

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Welcome to the inmates of The Shawshank, a maximum security prison in the US where both the prisoners and officers are corrupt. The play is absolutely amazing, based on Stephen King’s novella that also won 7 Academy Awards in film. Whether you have seen the film or not, you won’t be disappointed by this stage play. The richness and atmosphere on stage is even more absorbing and transfixing. Every actor is highly convincing in telling the story of what happens within those oppressive walls where bullying and sexual assault occurs, which is creatively and sensitively performed without lingering too long.

The narration is strong, giving a sense of what prison life is like for the inmates before it’s fully played out, interjecting at key, emotional parts throughout. At times the tension is palpable and other times a bit lighter. The light and dark of the play makes it soar and gives the prison a sense of reality.

Andy Dufresne, played by Joe McFadden is a banker, who becomes friend with prison fixer. Red, played by Ben Onwukwe and things start to look better for him. Warden Stammas, played by Bill Ward, bullies him and exploits his accountancy talents, prompting him to hatch a cunning plan.

Joe McFadden has terrific stage presence and plays Dufresne with much conviction exuding from the stage to the audience. The way he acts, showing shades of light and dark is highly convincing. He makes you truly care about Dufresne and to develop a desire to cheer him on.
Brooksie, played by Kenneth Jay is a strong performance of vulnerability.
When Ben Onwukwe and Bill Ward they also command your presence in their captivating narratives.

These are the actors who command the stage in a way that you don’t want to take your eye off the stage, not for a second. The emotions flood into the auditorium. It’s easy to engage throughout and get intrigued by everyone’s story in The Shawshank prison.

All of the actors gave strong performances as they show the bonds and the hardships and rifts. It feels a very together company of actors.

This creation on-stage of The Shawshank Redemption is one that’s hard to forget and one that you won’t want to miss.

You can book tickets here:
https://www.kenwright.com/productions/shawshank-redemption-2025-2026-tour/

About some of the cast

Joe McFadden‘s numerous television credits include PC Joe Mason in Heartbeat, Raf in Holby City and, of course, winning the 2017 series of Strictly Come Dancing. Theatre credits include 2:22 A Ghost Story, The Rocky Horror Show and Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d.

Ben Onwukwe boasts a 30 year stage career including leading roles with the RSC and the Royal Court, and eleven years on TV as Recall McKenzie in London’s Burning.

Book Tickets On The Website Here: https://www.kenwright.com/productions/shawshank-redemption-2025-2026-tour/