#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.

#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 The Boy in the Photo by Hilly Barmby #HillyBarmby @HobeckBooks #psychologicalthriller

The Boy in the Photo
By Hilly Barmby

The Boy in the Photo is an incredible psychological thriller. If you like Gillian Flynn and/or Freida McFadden this is one I highly recommend you pick up.

When is a car accident perhaps not so clear cut? When events happen that bring about other suspicions.

Kaz Emmerson, her brother Mark and sister Livy are devastated when their parents both die in a car crash. You can’t help but feel the emotion and the hardship of trying to re-discover and rebuild life after the funeral. Livy is married and has a child, so that’s where her energies go, as well as escaping for a holiday with her best friend to Spain, where it’s all sun and sangria. It can be a small world at times as they discover when they meet Ryan, who happens to live close-by in the UK. Both start to build a connection and find him handsome.
Mark buries himself in work, but also re-emerging at certain points to try and rebuild and maintain his social life. So far, so normal.

When the 3 siblings meet in a lawyers office, everything changes. The pace and suspense increases and the twists start to appear as things don’t all add up. A mysterious photo emerges and someone is oddly taking photos around the property. What feels normal to begin with becomes darker as the unexpected of events occur.
The intrigue runs deep as does a sense of uneasiness when it becomes apparent that you don’t know who can be trusted and who cannot. That feeling can be deeply felt within the various big emotions that weave themselves into this story as everything that was once hidden away or glued together unravels and there could be someone out to cause destruction.

The Boy in the Photo is revealing about how precarious some aspects of life can be. What it can be to have everything feel certain and then discover strange things later on.

Hilly Barmby has written a page-turner of a psychological thriller that hooks and grabs in an immersive sense throughout.

Blurb

This unbelievably twisty read will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves Freida McFadden and Gillian Flynn won’t be able to put down The Boy in the Photo!

Kaz Emmerson, brother Mark and sister Livy are devastated after the death of their parents in a car crash. Surely it was just a terrible accident, wasn’t it?

After the funeral, the three try to rebuild their lives as best they can. Livy turns her focus on her husband and young son. Mark immerses himself in work and rebuilding his social life. Kaz escapes the pain with bestie Elise, taking off to Spain for a couple of weeks for sun, sand and sangria.

While on holiday, Kaz and Elise chance upon the mysterious and handsome Ryan. They both like him. As it turns out, he lives rather close to home and when they return to the UK they meet up. But who will he pick?

The three siblings gather with their family lawyer who leaves them with a deep sense of unease. What is he not telling them? Curious, Kaz ploughs into the family paperwork stored in the attic of their parents’ grand country home. After a shocking discovery, she is embroiled in a family mystery that threatens to unravel everything. Who exactly is the boy in the photo with their father? Why is there a man sneaking around their garden taking photos? When more horrifying things happen, who can they trust? Is there someone who will stop at nothing to destroy them?