Stay Dead by Jessie Keane (Annie Carter #6)

Synopsis: Annie Carter finally believes that life is good.

She and Max are back together and she has a new and uncomplicated life sunning herself in Barbados. It’s what she’s always dreamed of.

Then she gets the news that her old friend Dolly Farrell is dead, and suddenly she finds herself back in London and hunting down a murderer with only one thing on her mind . . . revenge.

But the hunter can so quickly become the hunted, and Annie has been keeping too many secrets. She’s crossed and bettered a lot of people over the years, but this time the enemy is a lot closer to home and she may just have met her match . .

My Rating: 4/5

My Review: Mmmmm, I had kind of mixed feelings about this book but ultimately it was still a cracking read. It’s been (covers head in shame) 5 years (yes you read that correctly) since I last read a Jessie Keane and I was a little concerned at how relevant it would feel in my mind. However, that little worry was unfounded as the minute I started reading it all came rushing back. What I would say is that to really enjoy this book you are better reading the series in order to allow you a little bit more background knowledge.

We join Annie in Barbados where she feels like her life is finally returning to some normalcy. However she then receives a call that changes everything and her whole world looks like it’s about to end. Her long time friend Dolly has been found dead and it looks like murder. Annie jumps straight back on a plane to London with a view to finding who is responsible and making them pay. What Annie didn’t account for was her own people turning on her and she is surprised to find out that she isn’t sure why.

There were elements of this story that I loved but there were also elements that just didn’t sit right with me. Seeing how certain people treated Annie, it felt like a stretch but maybe that’s because I have had such a long gap between books. That aside, it was great to see some closure on one particular element of the story. The writing was excellent as it always is, but I think maybe now her other series is more in the front of my mind and maybe Annie Carter and Co could take a back seat for a while.

BLOG TOUR: No Looking Back by Alex Kane

No Looking Back

Synopsis: ‘I’ve fled from my husband and the only life I’ve ever known. I’m terrified that if he finds me, I’ll never find myself.’

Kat is trapped in a world where she has never belonged. As a traveller, she has always felt lost, especially since the death of her parents in a fire when she was fourteen years old. Having been taken on by the Denton family as their own, Kat falls in love with their son, tearaway Jimmy. His charm soon wears off and Kat finds herself married to a controlling and violent thug.

Sixteen years later, Kat decides enough is enough and begins plotting her escape from a lifetime of abuse.

Stripped of her personality, Kat has no idea how to start again but she finds an unlikely ally in her sister-in-law Ellie who shows Kat that she is not alone.

Kat and Ellie Denton begin their venture into a new world, where they meet new people and build new lives. But Kat still wants to know more about her parents’ past and when she seeks the location of an address on the back of a family photograph, Kat begins to uncover more than she expected including a revelation that will lead Kat back to the traveller site she had been so desperate to escape from.

Will she find the answers she is looking for, or will she fall prey to the violent Jimmy Denton once more?

Kat’s Rating: 5/5 Continue reading “BLOG TOUR: No Looking Back by Alex Kane”

The Christmas Wish by Tilly Tennant

Synopsis: Christmas is coming but it doesn’t feel that way for Esme. Jilted by her cheating fiancée Warren and mourning the death of her beloved grandmother she’s determined not to let life beat her and books a trip to Lapland, on a holiday that her grandmother had always dreamed of taking.

Beneath the indigo skies of Lapland, love is the last thing on Esme’s mind but she can’t ignore a spark with Zach, a broodingly handsome actor, also nursing a broken heart. But when Esme is bombarded by messages from Warren promising he’s changed and she discovers that Zach is hiding something-will her head be turned? And when a trip to the northern lights reveals the full extent Zach’s own secret past is there any hope that Esme will get the happy ending that her grandmother wished for her?

My Rating: 3/5 Continue reading “The Christmas Wish by Tilly Tennant”

Cross Justice by James Patterson (Alex Cross #23)

Synopsis: When his cousin stands accused of a terrible murder, Alex Cross returns to his North Carolina hometown for the first time in thirty years.

As he strives to prove his cousin’s innocence amid small-town corruption and prejudice, Cross unearths a family secret that makes him question everything he thought he knew. 

Chasing the ghosts of the past, Cross is pulled into a case baffling local police: a grisly string of murders, all of socialites. Hot on the trail of a brutal killer as well as his own past, Cross knows the answers he finds might be fatal…

My Rating: 4/5 Continue reading “Cross Justice by James Patterson (Alex Cross #23)”

The Rules by Kerry Barnes

Do you live by the rules, or die by them?

Holed up in prison, Mike Regan is offered a deal – his freedom in exchange for his firm taking down the gang that is supplying a new dangerous drug that has hit the streets. What starts as a game soon becomes a shocking revelation with devastating consequences.

Meanwhile, Mike’s fiancé, Zara Ezra, has her own firm to run. But when the so-called Governor is out to take her down, she has her own decision to make – either fight, run, or write her own rule book…

My Rating: 5/5  Continue reading “The Rules by Kerry Barnes”

BLOG TOUR: The Serial Dater’s Shopping List by Morgen Bailey

51T8Bv73XEL Synopsis: Izzy is a journalist who usually writes a technology column for a local newspaper. Her somewhat-intimidating boss William sets her the task of dating thirty-one men, via an internet dating site, all within a month, and writing about it for the paper.

Having an active, though fruitless, social life with her friend Donna, Izzy knows what she wants in a man, so creates a shopping list of dos and don’ts and starts ticking them off as she meets the men.

Follow the ups and downs of the dating process including Tim ‘the Weeble’, whose date leads Izzy to see banoffee pie in a whole new light, Lawrence the super-skinny social worker, Felix with his bizarre penchant for Persian Piranhas, and ‘the music maestro but don’t talk about dead pets’ Jake.

By the end of the month, will Izzy have met Mr Right?

My Rating: 4/5

My Review: Isabel our leading lady is a journalist who has been set a mission by her boss. 31 days in a month so she needs to have 31 dates via INternet Dating Sites all for her column! I think Izzy is somebody as a character I had to warm up to but once I did I found her quite funny. This was almost like reading snippets from hilarious stories either you have had or your friends have had in the past with all of her dates she goes on.

I did initially think this would be a little reminiscent of the film How To Lost A Guy in 10 Days, but it wasn’t however it does give you a real insight into the idea behind the theory. There were some moments in the story which had me laughing out loud and as time went on I felt Izzy’s pain of wanting the month to be over.

This is certainly a fun and light-hearted take on dating and was an enjoyable read. If you want something to make you giggle and something not too serious then this may well be the book for you.

The Hunted by Kerry Barnes

Synopsis: Having spent her life watching her father run his East London firm, Zara Ezra has learnt a thing or two about being a gangster, and she’s ready to take over when the time comes.

Mike Regan, a blast from Zara’s past, is the head of his own firm, but when his son is kidnapped in the middle of a gangland feud, Mike has no choice but to accept help from the Ezras to get his little boy back alive.

With a rival firm playing increasingly dirty, murder moves to the top of the agenda and Zara has some big choices to make. It seems that the only way to come out on top is to play them at their own game…

But will she become The Hunter or The Hunted?

My Rating: 5/5 Continue reading “The Hunted by Kerry Barnes”

Kiss of Death by Paul Finch (Mark Heckenburg #7)

Synopsis: A Deadly Hunt
DS ‘Heck’ Heckenburg has been tasked with retrieving one of the UK’s most wanted men. But the trail runs cold when Heck discovers a video tape showing the fugitive in a fight for his life. A fight he has no chance of winning.

A Dangerous Game
Heck realises that there’s another player in this game of cat and mouse, and this time, they’ve not just caught the prize: they’ve made sure no one else ever does.

A Man Who Plays With Fire
How far will Heck and his team go to protect some of the UK’s most brutal killers? And what price is he willing to pay?

My Rating: 5/5 Continue reading “Kiss of Death by Paul Finch (Mark Heckenburg #7)”

The Holiday Cottage by The Sea by Holly Martin (Sandcastle Bay #1)

51QGCvQEccL Synopsis: Tori Graham is in need of a holiday. Trying to piece her heart back together after losing the love of her life, she escapes to Blossom Cottage, with its picturesque views of the sea. And plans to spend the summer in gorgeous Sandcastle Bay, where her best friend Melody Rosewood lives.

Tori’s not expecting her summer by the beach to be eventful, until she meets handsome and mysterious Aidan Jackson…

Aidan looks after the holiday cottage Tori is staying in. Healing from past hurts, he wants to avoid any further chance of heartache. But could this newcomer be the breath of fresh air he needs?

Finding herself embracing life in the coastal community, Tori starts to fall in love with Sandcastle Bay and its welcoming cast of residents. But that’s not all she begins to fall for, as Tori is swept away by Aidan’s genuine heart and mischievous sense of humour. The attraction between them is undeniable, but will a simple holiday romance be enough?

As Tori’s stay in Sandcastle Bay comes to an end she has a tough decision to make…. Has her heart found a new place to call home?

My Rating: 5/5 Continue reading “The Holiday Cottage by The Sea by Holly Martin (Sandcastle Bay #1)”

BLOG TOUR: Dead Memories by Angie Marsons (Kim Stone #10)

bt Synopsis: On the fourth floor of Chaucer House, two teenagers are found chained to a radiator. The boy is dead but the girl is alive. For Detective Kim Stone every detail of the scene mirrors her own terrifying experience with her brother Mikey, when they lived in the same tower block thirty years ago.

When the bodies of a middle-aged couple are discovered in a burnt-out car, Kim can’t ignore the chilling similarity to the death of Erica and Keith – the only loving parents Kim had ever known.

Faced with a killer who is recreating traumatic events from her past, Kim must face the brutal truth that someone wants to hurt her in the worst way possible. Desperate to stay on the case, she is forced to work with profiler Alison Lowe who has been called in to observe and monitor Kim’s behaviour.

Kim has spent years catching dangerous criminals and protecting the innocent. But with a killer firmly fixed on destroying Kim, can she solve this complex case and save her own life or will she become the final victim? Continue reading “BLOG TOUR: Dead Memories by Angie Marsons (Kim Stone #10)”