Troubled Times for Tilly by Kay Seeley - #bookreview #blogtour

 

Fierce fury burned inside Tilly, stealing her breath. She couldn't believe what she was hearing...

***

The Blurb

A gripping saga of courage, resilience and fractured dreams, set in Victorian London.

Life on the river has never been easy for Tilly and Sam, but through hard work and determination, they’ve built a home filled with love. Joey, Tilly’s eldest son, has lived between two worlds—cherished as her child but granted privileges, denied to her other children, through his wealthy birth father’s family. It’s a fine balance that has always held… until an incident at a glittering Celebration Ball shatters the fragile harmony.

Tilly fears the consequences, especially when her spirited, headstrong daughter Martha is involved. Martha has ideas of her own. How will she fare when she faces Joey’s entitled friends and their easy lives?

Disaster strikes Sam’s business, shaking the family’s foundation. Tilly’s worst fears come to life when Joey’s affluent relatives start making plans to reclaim him. Tilly is torn between fighting for her son and respecting his dreams.

As old wounds reopen and new temptations arise, Tilly must summon all her strength to keep her family together. But will love and loyalty be enough, or will the promise of wealth and comfort lure her children away forever?

My Review

Before I even begin my review, there is a giveaway of this book which you can enter by scrolling to the bottom of this post.

Troubled Times for Tilly is set in Victorian London, and the author does a great job of conveying the atmosphere of the time and place alive on the page. I had a tangible feel for life working on the river for these characters.

The main character, Tilly is married to Sam. They have several children together, but the focus is on their daughter Martha. She is a strong minded and determined young woman whom Tilly is trying to gently guide. Sam is not Joey's biological father who is wealthy, and Tilly fears his family might cause trouble for them.

What I most loved about Tilly is how she resonated with me. Readers who are parents will recognise her feelings as her children are growing up and developing lives of their own.  She is a character as recognisable in the twenty first century as she was in the nineteenth when this book is set, and she is a relevant character to modern readers.

In fact, all of the characters came alive on the page, and Ms. Seeley has done an excellent job with them. She tells her story well and it made for easy and enjoyable reading.

The book is being published tomorrow. This is the second book in the The Water Gypsy series. The first book is The Water Gypsy which introduces Tilly. However, I had not read this and found that Troubled Times for Tilly works perfectly well as a standalone.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway to win a copy of this book. Good Luck!

Preorder Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author:

Kay Seeley is a talented storyteller and bestselling author. Her short stories have been published in women’s magazines and short-listed in competitions. Her novels had been finalists in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. She lives in London and loves its history. Her stories are well researched and beautifully written with compelling characters where love triumphs over adversity.  Kay writes stories that will capture your heart and leave you wanting more. Often heart-wrenching but always satisfyingly uplifting, her books are perfect for fans of Anna Jacobs, Lesley Pearse and Josephine Cox. 

Kay is a Member of The Alliance of Indie Authors and The Society of Women Writers and Journalists. 

All her novels are available for Kindle, in paperback, audio and in Large Print.

You can also find Kay at:

Author Website

Twitter / X

Instagram

Giveaway*

Giveaway to Win 3 x paperback copies of Troubled Times for Tilly by Kay Seeley (Open to UK only)

To enter please click on the Giveaway button below. Good Luck!

GIVEAWAY

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources 

reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

(ARC and media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources's)

(all opinions are my own)

Operation Tulip by Deborah Swift = #bookreview #blogtour

 

October 1944

Nancy glanced through the slash of rain to where Josef, tall and dark in a belted raincoat, was checking the others were in position. He stooped to tie a shoelace as he came out from the shelter of the weight-house... He looked up briefly and Nancy silently returned his gaze before checking her watch...

***

Holland, 1944: Undercover British agent Nancy Callaghan has been given her toughest case yet. A key member of the Dutch resistance has been captured, and Nancy must play the role of a wealthy Nazi to win over a notorious SS officer, Detlef Keller, and gain crucial information.

England: Coding expert Tom Lockwood is devastated that the Allies have failed to push back the Nazis, leaving Northern Holland completely cut off from the rest of Europe, and him from his beloved Nancy. Desperate to rescue the love of his life, Tom devises Operation Tulip, a plan to bring Nancy home.

But as Nancy infiltrates the Dutch SS, she finds herself catching the eye of an even more senior member of the Party. Is Nancy in too deep, or can Tom reach her before she gets caught?

Inspired by the true events of occupied Holland during WW2, don't miss this utterly gripping story of love, bravery and sacrifice.

***

Deborah Swift is a great author and with every one of her new releases she seems to get better and better.

Operation Tulip is no exception to that. It is the third in her World War II Secret Agent series and made for gripping reading. I have previously read The Shadow Network which is the second in the series. If you would like to read my review you can find it by clicking here.

Operation Tulip is set in Holland as the war is coming to an end. People are starving to death and the resistance cells are deteriorating. Nancy, a secret agent, is tasked with impersonating a wealthy widow in order to catch the eye of a senior Nazi in order to find a way to release a key resistance member who has been captured.

The atmosphere throughout the book is tense. Every word and every action are imbued with meaning as Nancy attempts to find the information that she needs and not be discovered as a secret agent in the process. 

She is a great character and exhibits bravery and courage throughout. She has been well developed in this book and interacts with the secondary characters in a believable way. Even when her resistance cell fails, she fights on alone in her bid to help others. 

The author clearly does her research very well and clearly understands the time period in which the book is set. She captured the desperation of the people remaining in Holland as they slowly starved to death while the Nazi's ate and their health thrived. 

This is a book that is well worth reading. It works perfectly well as a stand alone if you have not previously read the first two books in the series.

This will appeal to lovers of historical fiction, and I highly recommend it.

ISBN: 978 0008586904

Publisher:  HQ Digital

Formats: e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages:  368 (paperback)

About the Author:

Deborah Swift is a USA TODAY bestselling author of twenty books who is passionate about the past. Deborah used to be a costume designer for the BBC, before becoming a writer. Now she lives in an old English school house in a village full of 17th Century houses, near the glorious Lake District. After taking a Masters Degree in Creative Writing, she enjoys mentoring aspiring novelists and has an award-winning historical fiction blog at her website www.deborahswift.com.

Deborah loves to write about how extraordinary events in history have transformed the lives of ordinary people, and how the events of the past can live on in her books and still resonate today. 

Recent books include The Poison Keeper, about the Renaissance poisoner Giulia Tofana, which was a winner of the Wishing Shelf Book of the Decade Award, and a Coffee Pot Book Club Gold Medal. Her most recent books are The Silk Code and The Shadow Network both set in the Second World War.

(ARC and media courtesy of The Coffee Pot Book Club)

(all opinions are my own)

10 Ten Exciting New Releases in March 2024

 

If we are already looking ahead to March that means that spring should not be too far away. Bring it on...

In no particular order, here are ten exciting new books due to be published in March.

And Now the Light is Everywhere by L.A. Macrae

Where does a story end and the truth begin?

Argyll, 1998.

Stories run deep in the MacArthur family, passed from generation to generation. Tales not just of selkies and changelings, but of the lives and deaths of the family themselves. Anna MacArthur has heard how her beautiful grandmother Netta boarded a ship for Canada after the war, leaving behind her young son Donnie, and was never seen again.

Now, fifty years after her disappearance, Anna accidentally pulls a loose thread in the story of Netta's fate, causing the tale of her vanishing to unravel completely. As Anna pieces together a far more disquieting version of events, she is also forced to examine her own memories of her father Donnie's death.

Yet the truth is sometimes bent and buried for a reason. And bringing to light what some have concealed for years may not be free of consequences . . .

At the Stroke of Midnight by Jenni Keer

It’s 1923 and in a decade that promises excitement and liberation, Pearl Glenham and her father are invited to a mysterious country house party on the Dorset coast, by a total stranger.

Her father claims not to have any prior association with Highcliffe House, but upon arrival, it is apparent that he has a shared history with several of the guests, although he won’t admit it. Belatedly discovering that her father was blackmailed into attending, Pearl’s worries are compounded when their host fails to arrive…

Intimidated by everyone at the party, she escapes to the nearby cove and stumbles upon a mysterious mercury clock hidden in a cave. This strange encounter sets in motion a series of events that will culminate in an horrific house fire, claiming the lives of all the guests, including Pearl herself.

But then Pearl wakes up back in the cave, seemingly destined never to live past midnight. She can repeat the day. But can she change its outcome?

The Rebel Pianist of Majdanek by Nicola Pittam

Former Polish teenage piano prodigy Mosha Gebert is teaching when the Nazis come for her. They kill her student, but she is taken to Majdanek concentration camp. There, Commandant Josef Hanke spots her and recognises her as the pianist he fell in love with years earlier.

Hanke demands that Mosha play ‘Ode to Joy’ for him, but she refuses. She will never play in such a horrific place – or for such an evil monster. So begins a battle of wills and repeated torture. Even when Hanke causes her to lose her hearing, Mosha refuses to play.

When her sister arrives in the camp, Hanke tries to use her as leverage but Mosha is steadfast in her hatred for Hanke and the Nazis. Even when her sister is subjected to worse punishment, Mosha does not waver. Instead of playing for Hanke, she begins teaching the women camp songs.

Hanke finally turns his anger on Mosha, breaking one of her fingers. She convinces prison guard Elsa to smash the rest of her fingers with a rock.

Mosha believes crippling herself is the only way for her to survive and triumph over Hanke, but what will this do to him? Will Hanke forgive her? Or will this last desperate act finally push him over the edge?

Be My Sunflower by Kathryn Simmonds

A warm and reassuring picture book about finding your courage even when you'd rather play it safe.

The children are planting sunflowers at school and Carla gets given a seed called Vernon. All the other children's seeds are excited to get out of the packet and start growing. Not Vernon. He knows about slugs, and birds, and thunderstorms. The world is scary.

Carla waters him lovingly, but Vernon is the only seed that doesn't grow into a seedling. "Safe and snug, snug and safe," mutters Vernon, until he realizes how upset Carla is. Vernon understands that he needs to pluck up his courage, push himself out of the ground, and face the world. He needs to do it for Carla. And as Vernon blossoms into a sunflower, he discovers that although the world is not perfect, it can be ... wonderful.

In Sickness and In Health/Yom Kippur in a Gym by Nora Gold

This flip book features two separate novellas: In Sickness and In Health: Lily's most cherished goal in life has always been to be "normal," so as an adult she has painstakingly constructed a "normal" life for herself, with family, friends, and career. But her need to keep hidden her invisible disability, due to its stigma and her shame, now threatens to destroy everything she has worked so hard for. Yom Kippur in a Gym: Five isolated strangers in a synagogue on Yom Kippur – a day of intense reflection and soul-searching – are each struggling with a major personal crisis, when unexpectedly they are thrown together by an emergency that, in one hour, changes all their lives forever.

Moral Injuries by Christie Watson

You're trained to save the lives of others. How far would you go to protect your own?

Ruthlessly ambitious Olivia, anxious perfectionist Laura and free-spirited risk-taker Anjali couldn't be more different. Yet their friendship, which began on the first day of medical school, has kept them inseparable for twenty-five years. As wild all-nighters and exam pressures gave way to the struggles and joys of new motherhood and intense jobs, their bond remained unbreakable. Years ago they promised that nothing would come between them and that they'd do anything for one another, including burying one night they have never spoken about: a drug-fuelled university party that forced them to make a deadly choice that could still destroy them.

When an eerily similar tragedy strikes involving their teenage children, everything the three women have built threatens to shatter around them. And they are left asking: just how far can you stretch a friendship before it snaps?

A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoka Murata

The year is 1903, and tenacious and spirited Aoi Ichi is sold to the most exclusive brothel in Kumamoto, Japan, becoming the protégée of Shinonome, the oiran, or the highest-ranking courtesan.

Through Shinonome's teachings, fifteen-year-old Ichi begins to understand the intertwined power of sex and money. Education for a courtesan extends beyond the art of seduction, and as Ichi is taught to read and write she develops a voice that refuses to be dampened by the brothel's rigid hierarchy.

Outside the cloistered world of the red-light district, rumours of local worker strikes grow, and as the seasons change in Kumamoto, Ichi, Shinonome and their fellow courtesans begin to wonder how they might redistribute the power and wealth of the brothels among themselves.

Critically acclaimed veteran writer Kiyoko Murata creates in stunning detail the harsh yet vibrant lives of women in a red-light district at the turn of the twentieth century. Based on real-life events, A Woman of Pleasure is a testament to the bonds between women and the power of owning one's language and freedom.

The Final Hours of Muriel Hinchcliffe M.B.E. by Claire Parkin

Muriel, a former bestselling romantic novelist, and Ruth, a journalist, are best friends. Inseparable since they were little, they’ve shared everything; unable to be without each other, even after the most vicious of fights.

Now fate has left them living together in a North London home, with Ruth caring for Muriel in her deteriorating health, playing Scrabble, arguing and making up, passing the days in monotony, ignoring the scars of their relationship. Then one afternoon, Muriel makes a shocking and sinister announcement, sending Ruth’s world into chaos. Only one thing is certain. Life, as she knows it, will never be the same again . . .

The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy

The first day of autumn brought the fever, and with the fever came the voices.

Missouri, 1955. Loretta Davenport has led an isolated life as a young mother and a wife to Pete, an ambitious assistant professor at a Bible college. They’re the picture of domestic tranquility—until a local girl is murdered and Loretta begins receiving messages from beyond. Pete dismisses them as delusions of a fevered female imagination. Loretta knows they’re real—and frightening.

Defying Pete’s demands, Loretta finds an encouraging supporter in parapsychologist Dr. Curtis Hansen. He sees a woman with a rare gift, more blessing than curse. With Dr. Hansen’s help, Loretta’s life opens up to an empowering new purpose. But for Pete, the God-fearing image he’s worked so hard to cultivate is under threat. No longer in control of his dutiful wife, he sees the Devil at work.

As Loretta’s powers grow stronger and the pleading spirits beckon, Pete is determined to deliver his wife from evil. To solve the mysteries of the dead, Loretta must first save herself.

How to Kill a Guy in Ten Ways by Eve Kellman

Are you on a date that doesn’t feel right?

Can’t shake that creepy guy at the bar?

Worried you’re being followed home?

Message M.

After one too many terrifying encounters, Millie Masters sets up a hotline for women who feel unsafe walking home alone at night: Message M.

But very quickly she realises that there’s much more to be done to help the women who call in. Because the men just do it again the next night, and the next, and the next…

And when her own sister is assaulted on a night out, the temptation to take the law into her own hands becomes too much to resist.

Because M can also stand for murder…

Black Fox One by Elyse Hoffman - #BookReview #BlogTour

 

"Ava!"

Ten year old Jonas Amsel was entirely certain that his best friend was going to kill him. He had followed Avalina Keller into the woods as he often did, but the girl had been too excited and had run ahead, leaving the boy to stumble through the thrush and desperately try to track her down.

"Ava!" he cried again, and this time he heard a musical giggle somewhere close by. Jonas perked up his ears and tottered forward, trying to figue out where she...

"Boo!"

***

Jonas Amsel and Avalina Keller, devoted Nazis and best friends, have a bright future in Hitler’s Third Reich. Ava, a talented gymnast, wants to serve Germany in the Olympics, and Jonas, who has loved Ava since they were children, wants nothing more than to marry her and start a family. When he is about to propose, however, Ava and her entire family vanish without a trace.

Jonas blames the Jews for Ava’s disappearance and throws himself into a career in the Nazi Party. He serves the Reich under the ruthless Chief of the Gestapo, Reinhard Heydrich. Jonas becomes particularly good at capturing members of the Black Foxes, an anti-Nazi resistance group, earning Heydrich’s respect and the moniker of “the Fox Hunter.”

Impressed by Jonas’ skills, Heydrich gives him his most difficult task yet: capture the elusive Black Fox One, the Black Foxes’ most deadly and mysterious operative. No Nazi who has pursued Black Fox One has returned alive, but Jonas is determined and confident. Capturing Black Fox One might bring him one step closer to finding Ava.

But while he is hunting Black Fox One, Jonas makes a shocking discovery, forcing him to make an agonizing decision. He must choose between his love for the Reich and his heart, torn between the lies he has been taught all his life and the new truth before him.

Black Fox One is a thrilling World War II story of lost love, bravery, and the hard road to redemption.

***

This book is the third in a series, and it follows on from The Vengeance of Samuel Val which I recently read. If you would like to read my review you can find it by clicking here. Black Fox One does work perfectly well as a standalone novel. There are a couple of the characters from the previous book who put in an appearance but knowing their backstory is not vital to the plot.

The story begins with the two main characters, Jonas and Ava, as childhood best friends, before their relationship develops and they become lovers. This is a familiar trope in novels, but its familiarity did not hinder my enjoyment of this novel as their circumstances were a little different to the average.

Both Ava and Jonas were well developed characters and easy to identify with. They are both strong people in their own right but who stand on two very different sides of the fence. It was interesting to see how their relationship could possibly develop given the circumstances and the author did a great job through narrative and dialogue in moving this this along. 

There are a few twists and turns throughout the plot which keep the reader enthralled. A good plot along with strong characterisation makes this an excellent read.

My only criticism is that I felt the epilogue was an unnecessary addition to the story. Overall, this was an extremely good book, and I recommend it to lovers of historical fiction.

ISBN:  978 1952742286

Publisher:  Project 613

Formats: e-book and hardback

No. of Pages:  244 (hardback)

About the Author:

Elyse Hoffman is a best-selling author who strives to tell historical tales with new twists. Having studied WWII since the age of thirteen and with interests in fantasy and Jewish folklore, she loves to combine them in her writing. Elyse started writing novels at fourteen and finished her first historical fiction work at fifteen. She studied English, History, and Law at George Mason University. In her spare time, she loves to read, work on pretty keyboards, and hang out with her co-authors - her Goldendoodle Ari and her ex-feral cat, Echo.

(ARC and all media materials courtesy of The Write Reads)

(all opinions are my own)