Left on the Shelf

About the Author

Olivia Lockhart (Livvie to her friends) is an English author who can’t quite decide if she wants to write contemporary romance, historical romance, or paranormal romance. So she writes them all, because it HAS to be romance!

She loves to write about the underdog, the one who got away, the bits of love stories we can all relate to.

When not writing she can be found drinking wine, cuddling with her beloved pooch, or with her head in a book.

You can also find Olivia at:

Instagram

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

(all opinions are my own)

Michael Without Apology by Catherine Ryan Hyde - #bookreview

Michael was walking through the quad, cutting across grass - anxious to get to his film-workshop class even though he was too early - when his phone rang in his pocket...

***

It has recently come to my attention that I must make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from Netgalley. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.

***

The Blurb

Michael Woodbine was seven years old when a near-fatal fireworks accident scarred him and led to his placement in foster care. Now a college freshman, he is still trying to hide the effects of his trauma from his classmates, his adoptive family, and himself.

When Michael signs up for a film class, he meets Robert Dunning, a teacher who wears his own scars unapologetically. Robert encourages Michael to make a documentary that explores body image and self-perception. Michael places an ad seeking people who feel unattractive and rejected by society—and is surprised to learn that this is essentially everyone. Although some participants are recovering from injuries or surgeries, others are dealing with more everyday factors like aging or the changes to a body from giving birth.

As he collects these stories—and finally tells his own—Michael feels more connected to the world than he ever has before. But he knows his journey of self-acceptance has one more obstacle: his crushing doubts about why his birth parents wouldn’t fight to keep him.

My Review

This was a fabulous book to read and it had me engrossed.

It has two timelines running through it: one when the main character, Michael, was a child and the other when he begins college. Michael's backstory is told through the chapters from his childhood.

He has had a difficult start to life. First, he is badly injured by a firework and is left both physically and mentally scarred. He is then placed into care — fostered and later adopted. However, Michael's birth parents make the decision to keep his older brother with them. Unsurprisingly, this leaves him with rejection issues. The author portrays him as a multi-faceted character and I enjoyed the time I spent with him in this book.

Michael's film teacher has a significant part to play in his life. He encourages him to express himself in film, becomes his mentor and eventually his friend. It is through him that Michael begins his journey of self-acceptance.

Catherine Ryan Hyde is an exceptional storyteller and understands both her characters and readers very well. She writes in a way that grabs the reader's attention and ensures that they are fully invested in her story.

It is a brilliant coming-of-age story and has much to say about family, self-acceptance and body positivity. As Michael brings together people who dislike the way they look, he begins a journey of not only understanding his own body issues but understanding that other people have the same issues for a myriad of different reasons.

The author has a significant back catalogue. I have read one of her titles prior to this book, Dreaming of Flight, and you can read my review by clicking here. I fully intend to read more of her work too. I highly recommend this excellent novel to anyone who enjoys character led fiction.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1662522291

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Formats: e-book, audio, hardback and paperback (currently available on Kindle Unlimited

No. of Pages: 288 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

About the Author

Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of more than 50 published and forthcoming books.

She is co-author, with publishing industry blogger Anne R. Allen, of How to be a Writer in the E-Age: a Self-Help Guide.

Her bestselling 1999 novel Pay It Forward was made into a major Warner Brothers motion picture. It was chosen by the American Library Association for its Best Books for Young Adults list, and translated into more than two dozen languages for distribution in over 30 countries. Simon & Schuster released a special 15th anniversary edition in December of ’14.

Pay It Forward: Young Readers Edition, an age-appropriate edited edition of the original novel, was released by Simon & Schuster in August of ‘14. It is suitable for children as young as eight.

You can also find Catherine at:

(ARC courtesy of NetGalley)

(author photo courtesy of the author's website)

(author bio courtesy of Goodreads)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Friday, 27 February 2026

Books I Have Read This Month - February 2026

As we near the end of winter, the only thing keeping me going is the thought that spring isn't too far away. When I see the crocuses popping up their glorious little mauve coloured heads, it fills my heart with joy as they promise that spring is just around the corner.

Of course, the other thing that has kept me going through this grey, wet February is the books that I have read.

The Heart-Shaped Box by Lucy Kaufman

This novella was a quick and excellent read. If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

Fireflies in Winter by Eleanor Shearer

I felt very privileged to have had the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication. If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

I have read that the author of this book wrote it as it combined two of her greatest pleasures – reading and knitting. If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

The Man Who Wore All His Clothes and Other Stories by Allan Ahlberg

This is a collection of very funny stories. The humour contained in both text and illustration are very well done and it made these stories come alive. If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

The Other Mother by Heidi Field

This book made for fabulous reading. If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

Less by Patrick Grant

This is a fabulous book written by The Sewing Bee's Patrick Grant. It discusses over consumerism and is quite the wake up call. My review will be following.

Love Struck by Ally Bloom

This was a tense story line. Review to follow.

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

This is one I'd been wanting to read for ages. It's set in a Jewish/Black neighbourhood. It made for excellent reading.

Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur

My review of this book about Iranian women will follow.

The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer

Written with a dual timeline, this book kept me hooked throughout. If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

Monday, 12 January 2026

Book Boyfriend by Lucy Vine - #bookreview

Well gosh, hello there, lovely reader, don't you look wonderful! I'm -

"Aren't you going to open it?"

Ahem, sorry for the interruption, I just wanted to explain that this is a novel told in three parts and...

The Blurb

Jemma has lived a thousand lives through books. The only life she isn’t living is her own.

That is, until the day she finds a note from a stranger in her favourite library book. When she replies, the pair begin a longhand conversation about their love of novels that sees Jemma finally coming out of her shell. Is she ready to fall in love for the first time – with someone she’s never met?

Clara has always run away from her problems, but this might finally be one she can’t escape.

Everyone wants to know what happened to Clara in America – but Clara isn’t talking. Instead she’s focusing all her energy obsessing over a hot new actor, starring in the TV adaptation of her twin Jemma's favourite book. Soon, Clara is reading every interview, trawling his social media, and following him to showbiz parties in the hopes he’ll notice she’s The One.

As the sisters fall hard for two men they’ve never met, it’s time to ask the question: Can either relationship survive the real world?

My Review

I read this book over the Christmas holiday season and haven't had the opportunity to post my review until now. I couldn't have read anything that left me with such a feel-good ending more than this book did.

The book tells the story of non-identical twins Jemma and Clara. Jemma is the serious one who loves books and works hard. Clara is the party animal who takes no responsibility for herself. They could not be more different.

The author did a fantastic job of bringing the two main characters alive on the page. However, she does an equally good job of imbuing the more minor characters with life, and they each have an important role to play in this story.

I loved the plot. Jemma has been exchanging notes hidden within a library book with an unknown library user. Clara has suddenly arrived back in the UK, having fled the US where she has lived for several years. Little by little, the author builds on this concept and produces this marvellous novel which kept me enthralled throughout.

I loved watching the two main characters, Jemma and Clara, develop both as individuals and together. They have always had a difficult relationship, and the author builds on this really well. I liked the way in which the chapters are told from the points of view of the two sisters. It was great to read their individual perspectives.

There were some things which kept me guessing throughout. Who is Jess's mystery letter writer? What has Clara run away from in America?

The book is an easy, entertaining read which was very funny in parts, but with some serious aspects running alongside.

I have never read anything by this author before, but I shall definitely be reading more of her work. In fact, I already have a copy of A Date With Destiny on my shelves which I will endeavour to read quite soon. I would definitely be prepared to buy this book as a gift, as I know several people whom I think would enjoy this. I highly recommend it.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1398532021

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Formats: e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages: 400 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

About the Author

Lucy is the best-selling author of novels, Hot Mess, What Fresh Hell, Are We Nearly There Yet?, Bad Choices, Seven Exes, and Date With Destiny. Book seven is called BOOK BOYFRIEND and was published 19 June 2025. Lucy’s currently working on book eight, out summer ‘26.

Her books have been bought in 17 territories - including the US, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Serbia, Japan, the Netherlands, Czech, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Finland, Slovakia and Sweden. Hot Mess was optioned for a TV series in America, while Hot Mess and Are We Nearly There Yet? have both been longlisted for the very brilliant Comedy Women In Print book award.

In a previous life, Lucy was a journalist, working for magazines and newspapers including GRAZIA, Stylist, heat, Fabulous, New, Now, marie claire, Glamour, COSMOPOLITAN, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Sun and The Mirror.

Lucy is also an events host (available for hire!), and previously ran a regular event and podcast series with Waterstones, called the Hot Mess Clubhouse, featuring conversations with funny women.

You can also find Lucy at:

(author photo courtesy of Instagram)

(author bio courtesy of the author's website)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Thursday, 18 December 2025

The Making of Maddy James by Sara Sartagne - #bookreview

Something woke her. Maddy peeled open her eyes, sticky with mascara that she hadn't taken off. Oh my God, what was the time...

The Blurb

She’s got dreams. Ludicrous, fanciful dreams to become a fashion designer.

But years spent caring for her adoptive mother and being a full-time breadwinner has forced Maddy to leave her dreams unspoken. It’s something of a family tradition – keeping secrets.

When her estranged aunt Tess invites her to spend the summer in Corfu, Maddy glimpses a different future. Designing a wedding dress for Adriana, daughter of the influential Gavros family, could be the break she needs.

However, the commission comes with conditions. And complications. Once again, Maddy must ignore her suspicions and stay quiet. And Kon, Adriana's uncle, is a complication she really doesn't need.

But they're not the only secrets she’s keeping…

As the summer unfolds and her secrets start to unravel, Maddy must decide: will she continue to live in the shadows of half-truths and compromise? Or finally find the courage to shape a life that’s truly her own?

My Review

This made for delightful reading, and I enjoyed every page.

For the past few years, Maddy has been working in admin whilst caring for her adoptive mother. Her dreams of being a designer have had to be shelved as she has had to financially and emotionally support her mum through her illness. When Maddy's mother dies, she is invited to Corfu to spend time with her estranged Aunt Tess.

For me, reading this during the winter months was glorious. For a short while, I was taken away from the grey, wet skies of England to sunny Corfu, and I very much enjoyed my time there while I got to know Maddy.

As a dressmaker myself, I loved all of the descriptions of the clothes that Maddy was designing and making once she was in Greece. Maddy clearly is very skilled, and I loved watching her gain confidence in her own abilities. She was a great character, and the author did a marvellous job in making her come alive on the page. Equally good were the secondary characters, who all help in the portrayal of her character.

I have been to Corfu and so could readily imagine the streets Maddy walked down. The descriptions of the Greek island are lovely. They are just enough to help the reader envisage the surroundings but without getting bogged down with paragraphs of descriptions. Instead, we see it through Maddy's eyes as she familiarises herself with Corfu.

The book has been well written, and the author understands her characters very well. Equally, I felt she had researched and spent time in Corfu in order to compose such a compelling atmosphere for her novel.

I have never read anything by this author before. I enjoyed it very much and will definitely be reading more of her work next year.

I can highly recommend this novel. If you would like an escape from the cold winter days, then this would be an ideal novel to snuggle down with.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1918354003

Publisher: Key Title Books

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages: 297 (paperback)

Purchase Links

About the Author

Sara wanted to be a journalist when she was younger, and actually ended up on the dark side, in PR. From there, it was a short skip to writing for pleasure, and from there to drafting her first book, The Garden Plot. This is the first novel in a romance series where gardens feature in a BIG way - She inherited green fingers from her grandmother, and gardening is a passion.

She moved from London to East Yorkshire in 2019 and is loving the open skies and the green ﬁelds. And a HUGE garden! Although not a country girl, She has discovered the joys of very dark country lanes with no streetlights, septic tanks and ordering logs. Going from an underground tube or bus every three minutes, bus timetables in a small Yorkshire town have been a bit of a shock.

She loves being a writer although it's not her only job - yet. Over the years since she began, she has cultivated some wonderful friendships with readers and she loves hearing from anyone who has thoughts about the books and characters - and even about gardening!

You can also find Sara at:

Facebook

Instagram

(ARC and media courtesy of the author)

(all opinions are my own)

Wednesday, 12 November 2025

A Week in the Life of Amelia Nash by Sarah Healey - #bookreview

“My mother, of course, was never boring. At the house in Lucas Street she took a hammer to the wall in the middle of the night.”

The Blurb

Amy hasn’t spoken to her mother for seventeen years, but a sense of duty brings her to the hospital when she’s told that her mother is unconscious and dying. As she sits, solitary, at the bedside, she tells the story of her turbulent childhood, dragged along in the wake of her volatile, destructive mother.

After an acrimonious divorce, Amy’s mother rushes through a succession of unreliable boyfriends and plunges herself and her young daughter into a series of temporary homes, including a dangerous hostel, a flimsy caravan, an artists’ commune with no electricity and bird droppings in the hearth, and a rented house that she smashes and burns to the ground. When stability at last comes into their lives, Amy’s mother seems determined to destroy it, leading to a final, devastating betrayal.

This is the story of a vicious love-hate relationship, a bond that can never really be broken, and a life spent seeking a home.

My Review

This is a powerful book which has been beautifully written and fully deserves the five stars I have given it.

It is a short book at only 176 pages, but each one of those has been superbly executed. Each word has been crafted and placed with care, and the result is this absolute gem of a book.

It tells the story of Amy, who has received a call informing her that her mother, the titular Amelia Nash, has had a stroke and is dying. They have been estranged for many years, but as Amy sits by her hospital bedside, she mentally revisits the toxic relationship they have shared, from childhood to the present day.

It is a tale of a complex relationship but was told with humanity and sensitivity. The book deals with some difficult themes, but the author treats her characters with compassion. It is brutal but honest, and makes for excellent reading.

At some point in our lives, many of us will sit at the bedside of a dying parent, and this book will resonate with many readers. However, this book never felt depressing because it was obvious from the outset that Amy would find her own way in life.

Sarah Healey is an author I have never read before. Based on the quality of this book, I will definitely be reading some of her back catalogue and looking forward to what she might bring us in the future.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1915975164

Publisher: Portland Press

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages: 176 (paperback)

Purchase Links

About the Author

Having worked for ten years as a criminal defence lawyer in busy courts and police stations, Sarah Healey settled down in the far reaches of West Cornwall to live a quiet life, writing and editing books.

She is the author of five novels, Red Blue Green, Having Fun, The Day of the Trial, The Night Watch and A Week in the Life of Amelia Nash.

You can also find Sarah at:

Facebook

Bluesky

(book and media courtesy of the author)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Thursday, 2 October 2025

The Self-Made Saint by Alexandra Addams - #bookreview #blogtour

"Best get on with it before you go under it."

The Blurb

Judith Drainger has always played life by her own rules. But these days life seems to be playing her right back.

Divorced, orphaned and forcibly retired, 59-year-old Judith is determined to seize the opportunity to leave her broken home in London and move across the world to Australia. Here she reunites with her estranged adult daughter Cassandra – only to land smack bang in the emotional quagmire of her daughter’s anger and abandonment issues. To make matters worse, Judith can see her new granddaughter Emily has a serious health issue, but her offers of help are ignored and rejected.

When an accident knocks her off her feet, Judith is swamped by the kindly care of her nosy new neighbours. Yet, when given a chance to become a part of their community, Judith shocks even herself by making a series of unforgivable blunders. Realizing if she’s to have any hope of reuniting her family, well-meaning but stubborn curmudgeon Judith must learn the power of saying ‘sorry’ - and what it actually means to be a good person.

My Review

Hidden between the covers of this book is a real gem.

The main character is Judith. She is bad-tempered, curmudgeonly and irascible. She has left England and gone to live near her daughter, Cassandra, and baby granddaughter, Emily, in Australia, in order to rescue her from an unhappy relationship and take her and Emily away to live with her. However, the reality is that Cassandra is very happy in her relationship and has no intention of going anywhere - let alone with the mother with whom she has abandonment issues.

Judith was a fabulous character. She is complex and flawed, and it made her such an interesting character to spend time with. She is also highly relatable. I think most readers, especially those of us who have adult children, will find a little of themselves in Judith.

The author demonstrated real skill in her depiction of the characters and their various interactions. They all came very much to life on the page, from the handsome man next door to the dog walker who allowed his dog to toilet by Judith's house. Even the minor characters are well-nuanced.

I enjoyed being immersed in the environment and the characters, both Judith and those around her. The Australian setting was perfect and well portrayed. This was a fabulous book to read. Despite Judith's irascibility, it was impossible not to like her, and I loved observing how her character developed through the book.

This is a fantastic debut novel and I can't wait to see what the author brings us in the future. If this novel is anything to judge by then she is definitely one to watch.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1962931175

Publisher: High Frequency Press

Formats: e-book, audio, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages: 266 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Blackwells

About the Author

You can also find Alexandra at:

Instagram

(ARC and media courtesy of the publicist)

(all opinions are my own)

Wednesday, 1 October 2025

Books I Want to Read in October 2025

Welcome October - the month of pumpkins, witches and all things spooky!

I've got some cracking books in my to read list for this month. Some new, some old and some that have been on my TBR for far too long.

What are you planning to read this month? Is there anything here that has caught your eye?

Frankie by J.M. Gutsch and Maxim Leo

Meet Frankie the cat. He’s a stray who belongs to no one, and that’s just how he likes it.

Until one day, everything changes. He crosses paths with Richard.

Richard isn’t doing so well. Grieving the loss of his partner, he’s turned his back on hope and is ready to end it all. But his plans are halted when Frankie the cat is injured on his doorstep.

Frankie needs help. But then, so does Richard. What Richard doesn’t know is that Frankie is no ordinary cat.

It’s an unlikely partnership. But it might be exactly what they both need . . .

Concrete Dreams by Ferdinand Dennis

Concrete Dreams tells the gripping story of Lucas Bostock, a Jamaican immigrant who arrives in 1950s London determined to succeed — and to impose his vision of success on his family. A harsh, domineering man, shaped and scarred by survival, Lucas is no one’s idea of a nice man. When his wife Rhoda finally leaves him, taking their only daughter, he’s left to raise their three sons with a mix of toughness, pride, and unrelenting ambition.

Lucas believes that hard work — on building sites, as a carpenter, and eventually as a landlord — is the only way to protect his family. But as his children grow up and take their own paths through boxing, journalism, politics, retail, and religion, they are forced to reckon with the cost of their father’s influence. Meanwhile, the tenants in his houses add further layers to this vivid portrait of Caribbean-British life, sharing their stories of resistance and renewal in a changing city.

Dennis crafts Lucas with remarkable honesty — flawed, often unlikeable, but deeply human. Concrete Dreams is both an intimate family saga and a bold exploration of race, masculinity, and generational legacy. It’s a Windrush story, but one that refuses easy narratives, capturing instead the full complexity of Caribbean London and the voices that shaped it—and a narrator determined to tell his own.

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

In 1914, war feels far away to Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood. They're too young to enlist, and anyway, Gaunt is fighting his own private battle - an all-consuming infatuation with the dreamy, poetic Ellwood - not having a clue that his best friend is in love with him too.

When Gaunt's mother asks him to enlist, he signs up immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings. But Ellwood and their classmates soon follow him to the front. Ellwood and Gaunt find love in the trenches – but just as war brought them together, it can tear them apart…

An epic, unforgettable love story between two soldiers in the First World War, In Memoriam is a breath-taking debut.

A Lot to Unpack by Portia MacIntosh

Liberty’s just landed her dream job. The catch? It’s at Matcher, the dating app that ruined her life. After catching her boyfriend sending intimate pictures to everyone in a twenty mile radius, Liberty is struggling to get back into the dating game. Every man gives her the ick sooner or later.

Still, she’s having a great time travelling the world for work, until she’s assigned a secret mission: Travel to New York with her handsome and charming boss Jordan and swap out a contract from under his nose. It should be easy, but the more time Liberty spends with Jordan, the more she realises he might not be the bad boy she thought he was. But it turns out they’ve both got a lot to unpack, and Liberty still needs to complete her mission if she wants to keep her job - which means not breaking the one golden rule: do not fall for the boss!

The Bordeaux Book Club by Gillian Harvey

When Leah and her husband moved to France, it was with the dream of becoming self-sufficient. But in truth, it’s not the ‘good life’ she’d imagined, as three hours of digging barely yield a single straggly carrot. Worse, her teenage daughter is acting up, and her husband seems to find every strange excuse under the hot French sun to disappear.

So when her friend entreats her to join the new bookclub she’s forming, Leah decides it’s something she will do for herself. The chance to make new friends, to drink a few glasses of wine, and to escape into stories that take her miles away from the life she’d thought would be her own happy-ever-after.

But the book club is a strange group of misfits. There’s prickly Grace, who lives alone and seems to know everybody and like no-one. Buttoned-up Monica, who says her husband is away and appears to be parenting her baby all alone. Handsome builder George, who has barely read a book before. And Alfie – who is a full two decades younger than everyone else, and is hiding a devastating secret…

As the stories they read begin to bring the new friends closer together, Leah is about to discover that happy-ever-afters don’t always look how you expect them to…

The Silent Sister by Jan Baynham

A woman searching for somewhere to belong.

A child rescued from the rubble of a ruined island.

A secret buried in the heart of Kefalonia.

Greece, 1953. When a catastrophic earthquake reduces the beautiful island of Kefalonia to ruins, Cassia Makris risks everything to save a young girl buried beneath the rubble that was once her home.

In that moment, Cassia makes a life-changing decision that will bind their fates forever but force her to carry a devastating secret . . .

Wales, 1973. Eléni Davies has always felt there was something unspoken in her past — a silence at the heart of her childhood. When she discovers a hidden journal among her mother’s belongings, it unravels an untold story of love and loss on a faraway island.

Drawn to the place where her story really began, Eléni travels to the now-rebuilt Kefalonia. Among the lemon groves and sun-bleached chapels, she begins retracing her mother’s footsteps to piece together a story that was never meant to be told.

But in doing so, Eléni must decide whether some secrets are better left buried — or whether confronting them is the only way to finally heal.

Ever After by Amanda Prowse

If you’re given another chance at love, shouldn’t you take it?

Enya’s life has become small. Her husband’s death has left her bereft, and though she’s only in her early fifties, she’s happiest looking after her son, Aiden, his childhood sweetheart, Holly, and her beloved cat, Pickle.

So the spark she feels for the stranger who bumps into her car in the airport car park is a complete shock. But Enya can’t stop thinking about him.

Then, when Aiden makes a life-changing decision, Enya suddenly finds her close-knit community thrown into chaos. Her best friend, Jenny, isn’t speaking to her, Aiden’s future hangs in the balance, Holly is devastated, and the stranger from the car park is suddenly in her life.

Torn between family, love and loyalty, Enya faces a dilemma: stay safely where she is, or take a leap into the unknown? Because maybe her happily-ever-after could have one more chapter yet…

Kindred Spirits at Harling Hall by Sharon Booth

Can Callie give some needy ghosts their happy-ever-afterlife, while making Rowan Vale her own forever home?

When cash-strapped single mum Callie visits the beautiful Cotswold village of Rowan Vale on a school trip with her daughter, she is enchanted. It's run as a living museum, with a steam railway, vintage teashop, Elizabethan manor house and old water mill allowing tourists to see history in action.

But there's more to Rowan Vale than meets the eye...

To Callie's surprise, the owner of the village, elderly Sir Lawrence Davenport, requests a meeting with her. It appears Callie has been observed talking to several villagers she shouldn’t be able to see - as they’re ghosts.

Sir Lawrence then makes an astonishing offer: to sell Callie the whole estate for a tiny sum, if she agrees to protect the village’s present tenants and make sure the headstrong ghosts are represented too.

With a spectral lord of the manor and his imperious wife, a naughty 1940s schoolgirl and the man who once taught William Shakespeare among them, it seems Callie’s role as owner wouldn’t be easy.

And that’s without the added complication of Lawrie’s disinherited grandson, the gorgeous Brodie.

Rowan Vale and Callie may need each other. But is this a match made in heaven or hell?

All Change at Harbour House by Fenella J. Miller

Wivenhoe May 1940

A moment that changes everything...

The war continues to rage, but for now, Harbour House continues to keep the Roby family safe from harm. Not so for new lodger Richard Stoneleigh. As one of the few men who can captain a ship, Richard is called to help with the dangerous evacuation of troops from Dunkirk – it’s a perilous voyage that almost costs Richard his life…

Housemaid, Annie Thomas, initially disliked Richard and his hoity toity ways, but after his heroic return she sees a changed man. Richard seems to know the value of life and is eager to grab every day and make it count. And Annie, recently widowed and feeling slightly adrift in life, finds him compelling.

As their friendship develops, so too do their feelings for one another. But Annie knows that she can never truly be with a man like Richard – he is far above her own lowly class.

But war changes everything and with the fear of imminent invasion hanging over everyone, Anne and Richard decide that perhaps it’s time that they change too…and take a chance together?

Will they overcome the social divides between them and find love in the darkest of times?

The Wonderful Discovery of Elizabeth Sawyer by Jonathan Vischer

The year is 1621: a time of paranoia following the English Reformation. In London’s Newgate prison, Elizabeth Sawyer, the mother of eleven children, lies shackled in her cell. Denounced as a witch by her woodland neighbours and condemned to death by the court, Elizabeth has one last chance to make her peace with this world. By way of confession, she tells the prison chaplain three stories about her life.

Chaplain Goodcole at first responds with revulsion. Like the court he condemns Elizabeth as wicked and depraved but as her execution draws near, his opinion shifts. Does this ‘ignorant’ countrywoman know something that he doesn’t? Has she indeed made a wonderful discovery, or has he, as his colleagues suspect, fallen under the spell of a wily and malign witch?

Based on a true story, this novel is rooted in the struggles of rural women 400 years ago. Exploring different types of power, it unravels the fear and superstitions surrounding any girl or woman who spoke her mind.

Tuesday, 2 September 2025

The Other Boy by Heidi Field - #guestpost #authorpost #blogtour

I am absolutely thrilled to have author, Heidi Field on the blog today. Heidi is going to be talking about her book, The Other Boy which was published in June of this year. Before I hand over to Heidi, let me tell you a little about the book.

The Blurb

The Other Boy is a pulse-pounding psychological thriller with shocking twists that will keep you turning pages late into the night.When the worst comes calling…

Scott and Blair Bagby are a happy, successful English couple living in the suburbs with their teenage son and Great Dane. Life seems good, until one beautiful spring morning when a detective inspector knocks on their door asking if their son is home, unleashing an unspeakable horror that blows apart the life they thought they had.

Police have discovered bodies buried deep in the Peasedale forest and the inspector suspects one is Jamie, the final victim of a brutal and prolific serial killer. But Jamie’s death is unlike all the others, starting with his emergency phone call that leads to a macabre burial ground near a dilapidated hunting shack and creates shocking suspicions.

With bone deep grief threatening to destroy their marriage and their sanity, Scott and Blair set out to investigate Jamie’s death, a journey that not only upends their perceptions of who they are, but torturously reveals they may not have known Jamie at all…

Heidi, welcome to the blog.

The Other Boy is my first published novel and writing it has been the most wonderful rollercoaster of hard work, steep learning curves and dogged determination.

I first started writing shortly after giving birth to my first child, a baby who slept during the day and not at night. I was suffering from post-natal depression and my marriage was crumbling under the pressure. Hormone fuelled and in need of an escape, I began to write. The world was awash with Harry Potter, so my first attempt at writing was an epic YA fantasy, more Game of Thrones than Harry Potter. I then wrote a time-slip romance and a handful of children’s picture books. I had no idea if what I was producing was any good, I just loved writing.

I divorced and was a single mum for a few years before creating a blended family with my current partner and having a second child. We were raising five children, and I was working as a massage therapist. Life was busy! Writing took a back seat for fifteen years. When I emerged from the fog of a young family, with more time for me, I took a master’s degree in creative writing at Winchester University, and my writing adventure truly began.

I loved writing thrillers, my characters were often dark, damaged, unpredictable and driven by an inner darkness, although, outwardly they were also ordinary, relatable people who had been pushed beyond their limits and were clawing their way to sanity, freedom and salvation.

The idea for The Other Boy came after watching a documentary about Dean Corll, the Candyman serial killer, who raped, tortured and murdered over twenty teenage boys and young men. I didn’t want to write about a serial killer, or his victims, and I didn’t want to write about the families of the victims either, those stories are out there. I wanted to write a different story, one that was in the shadows of the gruesome crimes someone like Dean Corll committed, a story about the parents of the boys who assisted the killer, the killer’s accomplices.

I had four teenagers, one more child still to face those tricky years, and I asked myself how I would feel if my child made a choice that I could never have imagined, a terrifying choice. The Other Boy has become the first in a series of four novels, The Other Mother, The Other Killer and The Other Brother all explore the lives of other characters from the first novel, they all have unexpected twists, and each one will make you question what you know about everyone involved.

What you think is going to happen, doesn’t, what you hope will happen, won’t, and what you learn about the characters along the way may not be the whole story. Sometimes, it is the people closest to us who have the darkest of secrets, or maybe we just choose to ignore the signs because the truth is too frightening to face.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1966593737

Publisher: Tule Publishing Group

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages: 366 (paperback)

Purchase Links

About the Author

Heidi Field was raised in the beautiful countryside of the South of England with her parents and her two sisters. In her twenties she was a freelance Sports Massage Therapist. She achieved a Degree in Zoology at the age of thirty and then went on to raise two boys and became the stepmother of three more young children. She still lives near her family home with her partner, their Great Dane and the children that have yet to fly the nest. In her early forties Heidi completed a Masters in Creative Writing at Winchester University. She entered the course hoping she would become a children’s fantasy writer and left with a burning desire to write contemporary mysteries and thrillers. Heidi wanted to put relatable people in extraordinary situations, challenge them, push them to their limits and watch them fight for their sanity. The Other Boy is her first novel.

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