#Review By Lou of The Guernsey Girls by Mary Wood @Authormary @chlodavies97 @panmacmillan

The Guernsey Girls
By Mary Wood

Train journeys and a friendship to melt away the harshness of winter, it’s time to meet The Guernsey Girls. This is the start of a new wonderful compelling, historical fiction series by Mary Wood. You may know Mary Wood for her bestselling series, The Jam Factory Girls. It’s perfect to cosy up with yourself or for a present to one of your friends.
Take a look at the blurb, review and to top it all nicely off, Mary Wood is running a competition for readers to win a signed copy of this book, all thanks to Chloe Davies at Pan Macmillan for inviting me onto this exciting blog tour.
See details below.

Blurb

From the bestselling author of The Jam Factory Girls, Mary Wood’s The Guernsey Girls is the first in a touching new series of friendship found far from home . . .

January 1936. After the hard work of being a maid at Wallington Manor in the lead-up to Christmas, Annie is thrilled at the prospect of going home to Bethnal Green. She has missed her family, but the money she earns keeps them all afloat.

Olivia is from the island of Guernsey and is visiting her aunt at Wallington Manor. When she has to leave for London, Annie is asked to look after her, and on the train journey a friendship blossoms.

A tragic accident sees their friendship become even stronger. A friendship that will see both girls through pain, happiness, marriage and death. A friendship that will see them both united in Guernsey.

And this is just the beginning of their incredible journey . . .

Review

1936 is an interesting period of time in history, with their being, what we now know had certain actions that became part of the road to war as the average person were getting on with their lives, like Annie and Olivia, but also aware of what is going on and what might be looming. They certainly have Hitler’s card marked as they make their way to Guernsey.

Annie and Olivia have a rather lovely blossoming friendship that begins on a train journey. I particularly love this because all sorts of life occurs on trains and there’s something quite encouraging about this in The Guernsey Girls that perhaps people can relate to or take something from into their own hearts and minds the next time they’re travelling. It’s also interesting watching how 2 people of different backgrounds come together in such a way and seeing their friendship unfold and grow and strengthen. It’s heart-warming in the way they are with each other, even through the most troubling of times, both globally and personally. It’s quite thought-provoking in a gentle way, with something society could take into their own lives, even all these years later.

Intertwining the social aspect is the history, which is fascinating to see how people coped and what they did at this time, when the threat of another war loomed over lives and peace hung precariously balanced, with war always teetering ever closer.

This is a compelling, treasure of a book that I highly recommend. It is a perfect read for any time you just need a little boost of feel-good factor in troubling times or in the good times.

Competition

Mary Wood is running a competition for readers to win a signed copy of The Guernsey Girls. To be within a chance to win, Mary Wood asks that you please leave a comment on my review and your name will go into a prize-draw.
Best of luck folks!

Christmas Giveaway – Yule Island By Johana Gustawsson @JoGustawsson @OrendaBooks @RandomTTours

Today I have a Giveaway of the fantastic book – Yule Island, courtesy of the publisher, Orenda Books and the blog tour organiser, Random T. Tours.

Give it a try UK residents and see if you are the randomly picked winner. You have until midnight on Monday 11th December to enter and the winner will be contacted on Tuesday 12th December.

Enter by following me from my blog and leaving a comment or you can follow me and clicking like on one of my social media channels and leaving a comment. It will be the first post you come to. On Twitter it will be the pinned post.
Twitter: @Lou_Bookmarks Instagram: @louise_bookmarksandstages
BlueSky: loubookmarks.bsky.social

If you win, you could give it as a Christmas present for someone special or be useful for that last minute Secret Santa parcel you may still need to pick up or a little treat for yourself to take time out and relax with a book after a busy day getting ready for Christmas or tying up the loose ends at work. The choice is yours!

Blurb

Art expert Emma Lindahl is anxious when she’s asked to appraise the
antiques and artefacts in the infamous manor house of one of Sweden’s
wealthiest families, on the island of Storholmen, where a young woman
was murdered nine years earlier, her killer never found.
Emma must work alone, and with the Gussman family apparently avoiding
her, she sees virtually no one in the house. Do they have something to
hide? As she goes about her painstaking work and one shocking discovery
yields clues that lead to another, Emma becomes determined to uncover the secrets of the house and its occupants.
When the lifeless body of another young woman is found in the icy waters
surrounding the island, Detective Karl Rosén arrives to investigate, and
memories of his failure to solve the first case come rushing back. Could
this young woman’s tragic death somehow hold the key?
Battling her own demons, Emma joins forces with Karl to embark upon a
chilling investigation, plunging them into horrifying secrets from the past
– Viking rites and tainted love – and Scandinavia’s deepest, darkest
winter…

Time is ticking and the panto dame may turn into a pumpkin. You have until midnight on Monday 11th December to enter and the winner will be contacted on Tuesday 12th December.

#Review By Lou of 12 Months To Live By James Patterson @JP_Books @MikeLupica #12MonthsToLive #JamesPatterson #Thriller #LegalThriller @SarahHarwood_

12 Months To Live
By James Patterson & Mike Lupica

James Patterson has a new series and a character, known to her colleagues as Jane Effing Smith. Imagine you had 12 Months To Live? What would you do with it? I imagine it would be very different from what Jane does.
Find out more in the blurb about this criminal defence attorney and then discover my review below.

Blurb

Her name is Jane Smith. But to friends and foes, she’s Jane Effing Smith.

Why? Because she’s the best criminal defence attorney in the Hamptons – the elite world of New York’s rich and infamous. Because she’s as good an investigator as she is a lawyer. Because she’s tough. She’s strong.

As Jane is preparing to defend a high-profile client accused of a triple homicide, she’s also hired to revive a cold case – a cluster of unsolved murders.

Then another bombshell lands. A devastating medical diagnosis. Terminal. She’s got a year to live.

But for now, she has a trial to win. Unless one of her many enemies kills her first.

Review

12 Months to Live has an intense beginning that instantly grips you. Jane “Effing” Smith has a client and it’s an explosive introduction to this new character. Rob Jacobson stands accused of brutally killing the Gates family and is denying all. Jane Smith is the lawyer defending him. It’s a trial she simply has to win.

Jane’s professional life intertwines seamlessly with her personal with the changes in pace. The changes in gear are highly effective in creating realism that flows very well. When working, the pace is fast, but then as she gets a life changing diagnosis, it is almost that heart in mouth moment and time slows down. Contributing to the flow and pace are sharp, short chapters of about 2-4 pages long on the whole.
The chapter length is also perfect for that bedtime read or for moments you want a read, but not got a heap of time.

Intertwining the main case are other cases to follow, giving a rounded perspective that there is more than one case going on at a time. These also add intrigue and add more trepidation and texture.

Patterson throws a lot into this book as if ill-health and a massive case with extra dangers cranking up the tension, intrigue and poignancy isn’t enough, you come across the cute factor in a stray dog, not that Jane’s looking for a dog, but it has chosen to enter her life.

As the book, that’s full of intrigue, reaches its conclusion, you’ll discover, what I reckon is an unexpected and fantastic ending.

#Review By Lou of The Three Of Us By Ore Agbaje-Williams #OreAgbajeWilliams @RandomHouse @vintagebooks

The Three of Us
By Ore Agbaje-Williams

3 people. It can be a curse or a blessing. Things could have been so perfect, but stuff happens and one will end up being piggy-in-the-middle. Check out the blurb and the rest of my review of The Three of Us below…

Blurb

THE 2023 DEBUT EVERYONE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT

Wife. Husband. Best friend. What if your two favourite people hated each other with a passion?

A nice house, a carefree life, a husband who adores you, a best friend who never leaves your side. What more could you ask for? There’s just one problem, your husband and best friend love you, but they hate each other.

Set over the course of a single day, husband, wife and best friend Temi toe the lines of compromise and betrayal. Told in three parts, each voice as compelling as the next, three people’s lives, and their visions of themselves and each other begin to slowly unravel, until a startling discovery throws everyone’s integrity into question.

Full of intrigue, idiosyncratic wit and a healthy dose of wealth and snobbery The Three of Us is part-suburban millennial comedy of manners, part-domestic noir, and is for fans of My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, and I May Destroy You.

Review

The Three of Us asks some powerful, though-provoking questions, which also brings some surprising comedic moments, as well as some that are quite sharp and caustic. It’s insightful as we, the reader, are led into the lives of 3 middle class Nigerian millennial’s lives in London. Told in 3 parts, all the different angles and perspectives are covered. The thing is, all could have been nice and lovely, but then 3 isn’t always a good number and one of them ends up being piggy in the middle as she loves her friend and her husband, but they don’t feel this way towards each other, creating friction and tension in the household. This one day builds up to a crescendo as time progresses and tensions keenly build as love and friendship collide, and in doing so, brings quite a compelling story of unravelling how something could’ve been so perfect, just isn’t working out like that.

#Review By Lou of The Sun and The Void By Gabriela Romero Lacruz @GRomeroLacruz @Daphne_Press #Fantasy #EpicFantasy

The Sun and The Void
By Gabriela Romero Lacruz

It isn’t often I review Epic Fantasy, but The Sun and The Void caught my eye. I have a quick review of my thoughts. Take a look at the blurb too.

Blurb

In a lush world inspired by the history and folklore of South America, a sweeping epic fantasy of colonialism, ancient magic, and two young women’s quest for belonging unfolds.

Reina is desperate.

Stuck living on the edges of society, her only salvation lies in an invitation from a grandmother she’s never known. But the journey is dangerous, and prayer can’t always avert disaster.

Attacked by creatures that stalk the region, Reina is on the verge of death until her grandmother, a dark sorceress, intervenes. Now dependent on the Doña’s magic for her life, Reina will do anything to earn—and keep—her favor. Even the bidding of an ancient god who whispers to her at night.

Eva Kesare is unwanted.

Illegitimate and of mixed heritage, Eva is her family’s shame. She tries her best to be perfect and to hide her oddities. But Eva is hiding a secret: magic calls to her.

Eva knows she should fight the temptation. Magic is the sign of the dark god, and using it is punishable by death. Yet, it’s hard to deny power when it has always been denied to you. Eva is walking a dangerous path, one that gets stranger every day. And, in the end, she’ll become something she never imagined.

Review

The Sun and The Void is a sweeping epic fantasy that draws your eye into the fantastical world of magic, belief systems and comparable lines of worldly pasts of colonialism. It shows Reina’s desperation for something new and frustrations of being dependent of Dona’s magic. Eva’s storyline is a bit more complex, being a child of illegitimacy and of mixed race. It shows how far the real world has changed. The trepidations of adventure and magic are the more enthralling parts that keeps you wanting to read onwards and is its main strengths. Aside from this, it is a slow-burn, that doesn’t quite catch the full force being a blazing page-turner, but worth reading onwards to become involved in the world and the magic and creatures it holds.

#Review By Lou of The Golden Girls Road Trip @KateGalley1 @AriaFiction

The Golden Girls Road Trip
By Kate Galley

Hop on a road-trip of a lifetime, put your foot, full throttle on the accelerator and don’t press on the break until the end. You’re in for one uplifting, wonderful ride.

Blurb

A glorious new uplifting rom com for fans of Judy Leigh, Hazel Prior and Maddie Please!

It’s never too late for one last adventure…

Constance Fitzgerald may be approaching 70, but she’s never been one for putting down roots. She’s spent her life untethered and free, but when she finds herself newly engaged and a soon-to-be grandmother, Constance is forced to accept it may be time – perhaps – to settle down. Until a chance encounter throws open a window to her past, and Constance decides to head to the Highlands to find an old friend…

‘An uplifting, positive story… Eat Pray Love for the older generation’ Judy Leigh

Review

This is a great road-trip book with great characters and scenery. Constance Fitzgerald sounds brilliant. She thought she had to slow-down and her freedom was going to be curtailed as she was going to become a grandmother and is newly engaged, but quite the opposite happened. An opportunity to travel to the Highlands of Scotland opens up and is grasped.

The book takes an arty turn as Constance discovers, old friend, Alex is holding an art exhibition in Scotland.

This book is inspirational in that, I am nowhere near 70, but I sure would love to be having grand adventures when I do hit that grand old age.