Long golden hair but not a fan of the hairbrush or comb… Can a magic brush and steely determination help Princess No Knots keep her crown?
Princess No Knots is a lovely rhyming book about a little girl who doesn’t like brushing her hair. She is given an ultimatum by her father…
This scenario is very familiar to me as Anya hates having her hair washed and combed. Many times have I threatened her with getting it cut short so that it is more managable, just like the king in this story. Parents and children will both be able to identify with the plot and characters of the story.
The book is beautifully illustrated by Matt Richards and the text and pictures work well together. I liked the night time pictures in black and white and thought they were very effective.
Princess No Knots is aimed at any child with long hair but I can imagine it appealing most to little girls (and their parents!)
Book Blurb: Princess No Knots
Princess No Knots LOVES her long golden hair as much as she LOVES her bath time, but she does NOT love having it brushed. When her flowing locks end up in knots, the King tells her they will have to be cut and takes away her crown. Enter a world of determination, sprinkled with a small dose of magic, to find out if the strong-willed Princess finds a way to get back her crown, keep her name and save the hair she so loves. A must read rhyming picture book for any parent who struggles with the dreaded ‘hair wash’ night! Available on amazon.co.uk.
Author Bio –
Deborah Dillon’s love of books, poems and story telling stems from her Granddad Jim who always used to make up stories at bedtime when she was young. Every story would take her to crazy worlds of adventure and friendship, each story sprinkled with a tiny bit of determination.
Since having children of her own Deborah has continued this family tradition but rather than keeping all the stories in her head, she decided to write them down. As her children were growing up she was inspired to write about whatever obstacles or challenges they, or their friends, faced then overcame.
Deborah is a firm believer that something magical happens when you read a book together.
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Crime bookshop owner Nancy Hunter and her grandmother are thrilled that a famous crime author is coming to the Dedley End summer fete. It will be great publicity for their bookshop. But things don’t go to plan when a body is discovered at the fete in the same manner as in the book author Thomas Green is promoting…
Murder at the Summer Fete is the sequel to Murder at the House on the Hill. There are lots of references to the previous book’s plot and characters but no spoilers about who the killer was revealed to be.
Nancy has a lot invested in the success of the summer fete and creating good publicity for both her book shop and author Thomas Green. Before the fete, a man defaces posters at her shop which creates a sense of unease but then the man is found dead and Nancy believes he was reaching out to her directly before his death. She now has a personal link to the case and Nancy has no confidence in DCI Brown after events in the last book so is determined to find the truth herself.
I thought the book was well balanced between the plot and character development. Nancy and her grandmother have a warm and respectful relationship with each other and have the sadness from the past to nite them as well as the book shop. There is a continuation of Nancy’s mixed emotions regarding her friend Jonathan. He is reliable and supportive, just what you need for a best friend. But this means that other men don’t live up to the standards he sets.
Murder at the Summer Fete is an enjoyable cosy murder mystery.
Murder At The Summer Fete
A fete worse than death…
After finding the killer of Lucy Roth six months ago, life has settled back to normal for bookshop owner, Nancy Hunter, and her grandmother, Jane. The annual Dedley End village fete is just around the corner, and Nancy is delighted when bestselling author, Thomas Green, agrees to launch his first new novel in ten years there.
But then a series of sinister events lead Nancy to realise someone is trying to sabotage their fete, so she, along with Jane and their journalist friend Jonathan, must turn detective to discover who isn’t at all thrilled about the return of Thomas Green.
When a body is discovered at the summer fete, the death scene mirroring that in Thomas’ latest bestseller, they realise that there’s another killer in Dedley End, but can they outsmart someone who appears to have pulled off the perfect crime?
The clues are right under Nancy and Jane’s noses, if only they can find them. Because the answers to life’s questions can always be found in a book…!
A twisty, unputdownable cozy mystery that fans of Richard Osman, S.J. Bennett and The Marlow Murder Club will love.
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Author Bio – Victoria Walters writes up-lifting and inspiring stories. She’s the author of the bestselling GLENDALE HALL series, which continues with its third book HOPEFUL HEARTS at GLENDALE HALL in September, as well as two other standalone novels – SUMMER at the KINDNESS CAFE, and THE SECOND LOVE of my LIFE. She has been chosen for WHSmith Fresh Talent and shortlisted for two RNA awards. Victoria was also picked as an Amazon Rising Star, and her books have won wide reader acclaim.
Victoria is a full-time author. She lives in Surrey with her cat Harry, and loves books, clothes, music, going out for tea and cake, and posting photos on Instagram.
TRIGGER WARNING: child abuse
Three year old Millie goes missing. Her mother Leslie was out shopping and Millie had been left in the care of her 12 year old half sister Shelby. Has Millie run away or been abducted…?
The Stepchild is a domestic drama and psychological thriller set in Australia.
OMG I could not put this down! A child going missing is every parent’s worst nightmare and we are thrown straight into the action as Leslie arrives home to find Millie missing. Shelby is frantic but the fracture within the family is deep and compounded by secrets and lies.
The book is written from 3 third person viewpoints: Leslie, Shelby and Ruth. Leslie is Millie’s mum who is married to Shelby’s dad Randall. Shelby’s mum has also remarried but the family struggles to stay amicable. Ruth is an outsider but she gradually reveals her tragic story which the author cleverly dripfeeds us so we eagerly await the connection.
The pacing of the plot as well as the regularity of the 3 perspectives worked really well to engage me with events and characters. The emotion of the plot is so well described and the tension is maintained throughout the whole book. I had suspicions about how the plot would twist and turn but loved how the author delivered the exploration of the characters and their choices.
The Stepchild was a totally gripping novel and I loved it!
The Stepchild: A completely gripping psychological thriller full of twists by Nicole Trope
Three-year-old Millie Everleigh disappears on a crisp winter’s day, and nothing is as it seems…
It’s the phone call every mother dreads.
I’m climbing into the car after a trip to the grocery store. As the engine starts, my phone rings. It’s my stepdaughter, Shelby, who is babysitting my three-year-old little girl Millie.
‘I only went upstairs for a second,’ she says through her sobs. ‘She’s gone.’
I race home to find my blue-eyed baby girl missing, and my heart ripped out of my chest.
When the police turn up, Shelby’s story starts to unravel. What is she hiding?
Then I get a message saying, ‘Your husband is not who you think he is.’ Could he be lying?
Suddenly, my family feel like strangers. Everyone has a secret – even me.
No one knows why I was late coming back from the store, and the guilt I’ve been feeling ever since…
Once the truth comes out, all of our lies exposed, will it be too late to save my precious child?
A pulse-pounding psychological thriller about family secrets, shocking pasts and the lies we tell ourselves in order to survive. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Liane Moriarty and The Wife Between Us.
About the author
Nicole Trope went to university to study Law but realised the error of her ways when she did very badly on her first law essay because-as her professor pointed out- ‘It’s not meant to be a story.’ She studied teaching instead and used her holidays to work on her writing career and complete a Masters’ degree in Children’s Literature.
The idea for her first published novel, The Boy under the Table, was so scary that it took a year for her to find the courage to write the emotional story. She went on to publish a further five novels in Australia before joining Bookouture in 2019. She is a USA Today and Amazon bestseller in the USA, UK, AUS and CAN.
Nicole lives in Sydney with her husband and three children.
Author social media
Facebook: @NicoleTrope
Twitter: @nicoletrope
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Marc O’Sullivan goes to the police, announcing that he is about to disappear and doesn’t want to be found. Eva, his friend, neighbour and a police officer, cannot believe he would abandon his family but and promises his distraught wife that she will unofficially look into his disappearance…
Don’t Come Looking is the sequel to Leave Well Alone but the life of the main character Eva has moved on several years. There are some mentions of events in the last book but no plot spoilers so they can be read out of sequence.
Eva’s life has changed considerably and she is now a police officer with 2 children. She is still married to Jim who has health problems. This book has a very different feel as she is less emotionally involved in the events of the plot which centre around family friends. This gives her and us more objectivity to watch circumstances develop and the plot twists and turns in an intriguing way.
Marc is a happily married man with children but decides to vanish. His physiotherapist wife Sasha is frantic but keeps his disappearance quiet as their son takes his exams. She begs Eva for help and Eva puts her own career in jeopardy to help her friend find the truth. Eva uncovers a host of secrets about Marc’s neighbours but do any of them relate to Marc? I found her risk taking surprising and a little out of charcacter until I thought about how much she values family and Sasha has been instrumental in the recovery of her husband.
The majority of the book is written from Eva’s viewpoint in the first person but in the second part another third person perspective is offered. This change of view gives us some insight and offers potential understanding about Marc’s disappearance but the full scope of the multiple plot strands are not woven together until the end.
Don’t Come Looking was a gripping mix of domestic drama, police and psychological thriller.
Don’t Come Looking book blurb
A missing man. A desperate friend. A circle of deceit.
Would you refuse your best friend’s plea for help?
Marc O’Sullivan has disappeared.
His wife Sasha is frantic, and Eva is baffled.
They were blissfully married with three kids. The perfect couple… or so everybody thought.
Sasha begs Eva to help her find Marc. But he has given a written statement at the police station where Eva works. It’s on record – when his family report him missing, Marc does not want to be found. But why?
Ultimately, friendship and loyalty override Eva’s professional integrity, and she is compelled to use her resources to delve into Marc’s life, even if it means breaking the police Code of Conduct and jeopardising her career.
As each day passes, the mystery deepens. Murky goings-on from Marc and Sasha’s neighbours heighten the tension. What dark secrets are they hiding? And what drove Marc’s inexplicable actions in the weeks leading up to his disappearance? Behaviour so out of character, Eva struggles to tell Sasha.
Will Eva uncover the truth before it’s too late and lives are destroyed forever?
A psychological suspense thriller full of twists and turns.
Great for fans of Lisa Jewell, Shari Lapena, Clare Mackintosh, Adele Parks, Miranda Rijks and Lucy Foley.
About the author
Until the birth of her twins in 2005, which radically changed her life, AJ worked as an accountant in London. One of her twins was born with severe disabilities, as a result of which she had to give up work to care for him. During this incredibly challenging (and rewarding) time, AJ began to draw on her love of the written word, partly for daily inspiration and partly for her own mental health.
Reading or writing, AJ loves nothing more than settling down with a good book. She enjoys reading most genres, especially thought-provoking novels that beg the question – what would I have done in that situation?
AJ lives on the Essex / Hertfordshire border with her husband, two of her three sons, and her cocker spaniel, Max. She is a firm believer in daily exercise for mental health and enjoys walking Max in the local fields. AJ also loves cooking oriental food while sipping a good glass of white wine.
WEBSITE: www.ajcampbellauthor.com
EMAIL: aj@ajcampbellauthor.com
INSTAGRAM: ajcampbellauthor
FACEBOOK: ajcampbellauthor
Hannah Ford is about to go travelling so her close family and friends hire a house for a send off party. But in the morning, one friend, Katherine, is discovered dead and the rest of the group decide to cover up the death to prevent secrets being revealed…
The Party at No. 12 is a psychological thriller set in the UK. The book is written from the third person perspectives of Hannah and Zack who is Katherine’s boyfriend.
Hnnah is excited about her party but has invited a old friend at the last minute. There is tension when Katherine arrives at the party as she feels that another friend Sophie stole her boyfriend years ago. Beth doesn’t think Hannah should be wasting her money on travelling while Charlotte is using drugs. But all of these niggling things are thrown into greater focus when Katherine’s body is discovered the next morning.
To protect each other and themselves, the group hide the body and deny that Katherine ever attended the party. Big warning bells were ringing out for me at this point as it didn’t seem logical yet the fierce need to protect loved ones is definitely something I can identify with. But Hannah knows one of them must be a killer and is plagued by guilt and fear, especially as Zach refuses to give up until he finds out the truth. I felt that the emotional elements to the book were really believable and easy to relate to.
The writing is quite fast paced and I was swept up in the plot, often goggling at the decisions the characters made. There were some fab twists which I did almost guess but I was still surprised by how they unfolded within the plot. The ending was a little abrupt for me and I had to suspend my disbelief several times but overall the book was very entertaining.
Everyone’s invited. Someone will never leave.
In a grand townhouse rented specially for the evening, Hannah beams at her guests under the sparkling chandelier. Her sisters, her mother and aunt, her best friends… although she’ll miss them all so much when she moves away, tonight is about celebrating the happy times and raising a toast to the future.
But the next morning, one of the guests is found cold and lifeless in their pristine white bed.
Hannah is desperate to call the police. After all, it must have been an accident. Perhaps too much wine, on a night where emotions were running high. But it soon becomes clear that every single person at the party has something to hide.
A mother who’ll do anything for her daughters.
Best friends with dark secrets between them.
A sister with a jealous streak.
What if one of them is a killer?
And what if this is just the first victim?
An absolutely unputdownable thriller that won’t let you sleep until you’ve reached the final page! Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, The Hunting Party and Shari Lapena.
Author Bio:
Kerry Wilkinson is from the English county of Somerset but has spent far too long living in the north. It’s there that he’s picked up possibly made-up regional words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’. He pretends to know what they mean.
He’s also been busy since turning thirty: his Jessica Daniel crime series has sold more than a million copies in the UK; he has written a fantasy-adventure trilogy for young adults; a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter and the standalone thriller, Down Among The Dead Men.
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Audio:
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