#Review of It’s Not Where You Start by Scott Kyle – a resilient, uplifting memoir @INWYS #ScottKyle review By Lou #memoir #autobiography #Audiobook

It’s Not Where You Start
Written and Narrated By Scott Kyle

Review written by Louise Cannon

It’s Not Where You Start is Scott Kyle’s memoir of a life journey of twists and turns and one of bravery and resilience. I listened into the audiobook version of this award-winning bestselling book and left it way too long before I did. It’s highly worth listening in, even if you don’t feel like you have the time. It’s one I highly recommend you getting round to, whether it’s audio or book version, which brings some visuals with it. I heard a talk about it at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2025 and it was very good and interesting and absolutely piqued my interesting in hearing the whole book. I also checked out his website. You can find a link at the end of my review and then you will discover the blurb.

Scott Kyle is a Scottish award-winning actor and producer who has starred in high profile dramas including Outlander, Angels Share, BBC drama, Trust Me. Life sounds pretty peachy and good when you know that, doesn’t it? Actors are human and have lives off the screen too and sometimes that isn’t quite how you may envisage them. Scott Kyle’s life wasn’t an easy one in Rutherglen, near Glasgow. His life story, however, is one of resilience that turns into positivity. It shows that, although affecting, it doesn’t matter where you start from, it’s what you try to do with it and what direction you choose that matters. Being a working class woman myself with a complex background in someways, his outlook is admirable.

It’s Not Where You Start is honest in the raw sense and narrated very well, conveying not just fact and anecdotes, but emotion as well. Each stage of his life is succinctly plotted and easy to follow. The narration is by Scott Kyle who grabs your attention and keeps it to the end with his perfect pacing and content. He is easy to listen to and truly draws you into his world of what it was and what it is now.

You can tell it couldn’t have been exactly easy to go to the places he chooses to tell his audience, but he does so in a way that’s compelling to listen to and makes you want to lean in and stay with it through the highs and the lowest of lows. You get a great understanding of where Scott Kyle is coming from and how he got to where he is today, but not without hard-work, perseverance and managing a whole lot of hardship, violence and neglect in-between. You get a real sense that there was a crossroads of either plummeting into despair and worse, or trying to make something of his life despite his background and dropping out of education. He has also been in the care system, survived it all to end up on those red carpets of Hollywood, winning awards and working with the best of the best, although there was a near miss when it came to Harrison Ford. He also has an award-winning show, Billy and Tim that’s been to many theatres of which there is also a podcast for. He also now gives talks, drawing from his experiences and with trauma-informed principals. He gives back a lot and having been fostered out, he has also become a foster-carer himself.

By the time the audiobook ends it leaves that warm, uplifting feeling that whatever you’re going through, things just might turn out alright and more so with a hope that his life continues to go from strength to strength. You can’t help but wonder what’s next for this actor/producer who started off with many challenges to overcome.

If it’s only one memoir of second chances you listen to this year, I highly recommend It’s Not Where You Start. You can listen to it via the usual streaming platforms.

Website: https://www.scottkyle.co.uk

Blurb

My story is no different from countless other youngsters. I could easily have fallen into a life of crime, violence, alcohol, drugs and despair. I could have chosen to follow the negative path and repeat the cycle but instead I chose to dwell on the positive moments. It really doesn’t matter where you start but where you finish.

Under the smiling face of ‘Glasgow’s Miles Better’, poverty and violence still loom large. Not everyone makes it out. But Scott Kyle did.

Latch-key kid from the back streets of Rutherglen to award-winning actor and producer on red carpets around the world, Scott’s story is one of hope.

With unflinching honesty and heart, he shares his journey, from a boy searching for belonging to a man determined to give back.

It’s Not Where You Start is more than a story of survival – it’s a testament to the transformative power of love, laughter and compassion.

#Review of The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent, bestselling #PsychologicalThriller author of strange sally diamond @liznugentwriter @penguinrandom #penguinsandycove #LizNugent #BookReview By Lou #TheTruthAboutRubyCooper

The Truth About Ruby Cooper
By Liz Nugent

Review written by Louise Cannon (Lou)

Dark, twisty and secrets to behold to discover what is Ruby Cooper’s truth.
Thank to Penguin, I am able to review this suspense/psychological thriller by the bestselling author of Strange Sally Diamond. This is the 6th novel by Liz Nugent. If you enjoy Freida McFadden and Lisa Jewell, chances are you’ll enjoy Liz Nugent’s writing too.
Find my review and blurb below.

Spanning across a couple of decades, set between Boston and Dublin, The Truth of Ruby Cooper is smartly written, so following the time span is not confusing in this dark, immersive psychological thriller.

Ruby and Erin are sisters who have quite a comfortable life and it looks like all should be rosy in Boston, but a dark incident, which totally changes your perception of this family and turns everybody’s lives upside down.

Liz Nugent expertly and compellingly weaves serious, life changing issues throughout of trauma, sexual abuse, moral dilemmas and addiction. She’s written it with immense believeability.

Ruby, perhaps isn’t the most likeable character, but she is one of the most compelling to discover what lies beneath in her life. She and her mother move away from Boston to her gran’s house in Dublin to help her rebuild her life. It nicely doesn’t happen instantly, it isn’t a quick fix. Ruby becomes estranged from the rest of her family, which has totally imploded by then and readers are taken to the deepest darkest recesses of her mind and her struggles. What she does and her personality becomes rather twisty in what is a twisted book, but with high relevancy that are some people’s life experiences in either part or whole, as well as thought-provoking moments throughout.

As secrets are revealed of all that’s referred to as “the incident” and its subsequent consequences, the ending is unpredictable. It’s a showstopper!

Flawed characters is what Liz Nugent creates beautifully and dares to go places not every author does, making her psychological thrillers quite unique and such great page-turners. Ruby Cooper and her family are written in a compelling way that always leaves you wanting to read just another page, just another until you realise you do actually have to find time to sleep, but can’t wait to get back to it.

For a fast-paced, highly emotionally charged psychological thriller, I highly recommend The Truth of Ruby Cooper for anyone’s reading lists.

Blurb

“If my sister hadn’t been beautiful, none of it would have happened.”

Ruby Cooper and her sister, Erin, live an idyllic life in their close knit church community in Boston.

But when Ruby is sixteen, she is involved in an incident that causes her family’s world to implode.

Across decades, the fallout leaves a wake of destruction behind Ruby in Dublin and Erin in Boston.

Not that Ruby wants to think about the past.

But it can’t stay a secret forever.

#Review of The Woman With All The Answers by Linda Green @BoldwoodBooks #BookReview by Lou #TheWomanWithAllTheAnswers

The Woman With All The Answers
By Linda Green

Review by Louise Cannon

The Woman With All the Answers is wise and humorous and not always who you expect… Readers who enjoy Mike Gayle and David Nicholls will enjoy this one. It’s also a Richard and Judy book club pick.

Alexis knows your family more than you do… It’s a thought isn’t it. Quite an unsettling one and a statement that may well be true for some. In Michelle’s case it becomes true. Life throws quite a lot at this family, keeping it intriguing.

Michelle Banks is a district nurse grappling with peri-menopause, an anxious teen, a husband who is addicted to eBay and her parents.

In comes Alexa into the family. Yes, that Alexa that is in many homes across the world. She’s a constant there, listening and picking up everything. The book goes further into this piece of technology and how it becomes more humanistic in some ways.

The characters are well thought out and Pauline is written especially well so you can’t help but catch the Yorkshire accent and dialect.

The balance of consequence and humour works rather well, mixed with family life, which makes it realistic. There’s also some poignant, deeply emotional parts as the themes also include loss and abandonment, which touches the heartstrings. It also delves into issues of sexting scandals, financial strain, which adds to the relatability and thought-provoking nature of the book.

There are times when it perhaps doesn’t completely hit the mark with a lot of things happening quite closely together, but other than that, it’s a very good, wise, thought-provoking and witty read.

Blurb

Your virtual assistant is about to become your midlife mentor…

Fifty-two-year-old Michelle Banks is struggling to keep all the plates spinning. She’s a perimenopausal district nurse, caring for elderly parents. Her husband is wasting their money on children’s TV memorabilia, her teenage daughter is riddled with anxiety and her 16-year-old son is behaving secretively.

Alexa is the only one who knows how much Michelle is juggling. Listening in via four smart speakers, she also knows that it’s about to get even worse.

So, when Michelle pleads for help, Alexa decides to go rogue and reveal her true identity as Pauline – a sixty-five-year-old former voiceover artist from Halifax – to teach Michelle everything she knows…

Wise, funny, relatable and inspiring, Alexa, We Have a Problem is perfect for fans of Clare Pooley, Mike Gayle and David Nicholls.

Perfect for celebrating A Year In Reading #Review of Bookish By Lucy Mangan @LucyMangan #SquarePeg @vintagebooks #NonFiction #BookReview By Lou #Bookish

Bookish
By Lucy Mangan

Review by Louise Cannon

Blurb

A love letter to all those who come alive when they pull a new treasure off the shelf, stay up late reading just one more page and pack their suitcases with clothes wedged between books instead of the other way around.

From exploring the stacks as a student, to finding her feet as a bookseller-turned-journalist, falling for a fellow bookworm in an independent bookshop, escaping the doldrums of new motherhood and finally building a (book) room of her own, Bookish is the story of a life spent falling in love with reading. Bookworm author Lucy Mangan chronicles her years of buying, borrowing and hoarding everything from well-worn literary classics to steamy bonkbusters, gripping thrillers, young adult novels and other not-so-guilty pleasures.

Brimming with literary insights, wry observations and stellar recommendations, this book is an ode to the bookish places – from local libraries to bookstores big and small – and the stories that make us who we are.

Review

Bookish is delightfully fascinating! It is the perfect book to celebrate this official year of reading.

We are reminded about something that we don’t all think about. It is brought into sharp focus about how important reading is and how it plays a part in shaping our lives in every aspect of ourselves.

Lucy Mangan does a sterling job in talking about her love of books, what she was reading and books impact at different life stages. It makes the reader think about how books, like music, say something relevant or takes you back to a certain moment in time.

Bookish reminds us how powerful books are.

Bookish may well give you ideas of what books to try out next or have you reminiscing or growing a desire to re-read a book she talks about. It may also make you look and think about books differently and in ways you perhaps you never did before.

#Review of Erased by Miha Mazzini @fly_press #MihaMazinni #BookReview by Lou #Erased

Erased
By Miha Mazzini
translated by Gregor Timothy Ceh

Erased is a book by Indy publisher, Fly on the Wall Press. A tale about how over 25,000 Slovene citizens were erased from their computer systems in 1992, leaving them all without an identity. Thanks to Fly on the Wall Press for a copy of the book to review.

Review

Erased is fast-paced, chilling and written in a way that is so believable that you can see what unfolded in 1992, what may still be shockingly coming to light today.

Devastatingly. in 1992, 25,671 people were ‘erased’ in the Republic of Slovenia. A chilling thought as you read on, not only in my review, but also the book.

Meet Zala, a woman who, when her waters break, discovers when she reaches the hospital to give birth, that she suddenly doesn’t exist on any computer system. It turns out not to be a technical hitch. It becomes rather serious. If you have ever been somewhere, as I have when I was at high school, to discover you aren’t on any database or register, it is rather disconcerting. Erased is even darker and deeper than that. Unlike my school experience, in Erased it wasn’t an accident, it was intentional when a new law was passed, affecting foreigners and she doesn’t consider herself to be one, even although she has been in Slovenia since birth.

The political situation in Slovenia is not one that we see prominently on the news and just now, not at all. Miha Mazzini shines a light on it. He tells, in part of what lots of people, including myself, remember, when Yugoslavia was one country was all one country and when it split in one big civil war. He tells it engagingly with what people went through and where Slovenia is at now for people like Zala.

This book is about displaced people with a deep desire and yearning for their homeland as well as the resilience of a population.

There is real heart and serious thought-provoking insights into Slovenia. Erased is a fascinating read that will be great for bookclubs, reading groups and individual readers alike.

#Review of The Dark Heart by Neil Lancaster @neillancaster @HQstories #TheDarkHeart #CrimeFiction

The Dark Heart
By Neil Lancaster

The Dark Heart is Neil Lancaster’s latest police procedural. You’ll come face to face with a deadly bombing, a dark conspiracy and a dangerous game. If you like Line of Duty, you’ll like The Dsrk Heart. Thanks to HQ, I am pleased to be officially reviewing this with a physical copy. All writing and opinions are my own. Check my review, the blurb and a little of further praise from a vast amount of praise, below…

Check out the cover of a viaduct rising up into the orangey sky, standing, foreboding like something else is looming and about to happen. Set in Scotland around various places like skirting round Stirling and other places, Tulliallan, known for police college and a station, where you’ll get to know a shadowy group, a drugs bust further north in Pitlochry, readers get a full view of a grittier side of Scotland in picturesque towns and small cities. Readers are also plunged into the grittier parts of Scotland with its authentic voices and dialogues of the characters, that ensure you experience it all.

Dr. Daniel Solomon has a new book out and is doing a talk to about 50 people. It has a cracking title: An Iman, a Rabbi, a Priest, and an Atheist Go Into a (Juice) Bar: How Religion and Secularism Can Peacefully Co-exist. He is going all out to give his ideas and he is applauded for it. It’s all innocent and nothing harmful, just a way of showing social cohesion in a healthy way. Don’t expect calm for long, not even past the first chapter. Some people disagree with a peaceful, tolerant society and all hell breaks loose when a bomb explodes.

DCI Laura McKechnie is brought in to delve to unravel the story behind murders and carnage that have been no accident. There are extremist groups at play like Sharia 4 UK and others that MI5 are roped into investigating. Thrown into the mix is a team, like Line of Duty, who are working on anti-corruption.

The Darkheart is a definite page-turner, full of suspense and police and criminal activity. The plot and fast-paced style of writing keeps the book darkly compelling throughout the action-packed pages.

Blurb

A DEADLY BOMBING

When renowned author Dr. Daniel Solomon is killed in a devastating explosion in York, authorities quickly attribute the attack to Islamic extremists. But as the investigation unfolds, it becomes clear that all is not as it seems.

A DARK CONSPIRACY

DS Max Craigie uncovers a chilling connection between a series of brutal murders, each victim linked by a secret that someone is determined to protect.

A DANGEROUS GAME

With the number of victims growing and an elusive figure known as The Cashier operating in the shadows, Max must navigate a web of corruption and hatred. Can he unravel the truth before more lives are lost?