Sproutzilla Vs Christmas book blurb:
Jack loves everything about Christmas. Except for one thing: he does not like Brussels sprouts. When Jack’s parents bring home the largest sprout he has ever seen, things are about to get out of control. Sproutzilla is the meanest, greenest Christmas ruining vegetable ever and now he’s heading straight towards Santa! It’s up to Jack to save Christmas, and there’s only one way to do it . . . He’ll have to eat the sprouts!
Sproutzilla vs. Christmas is Tom Jamieson and Mike Byrne’s first picture book with Macmillan. Their strikingly bold and funny story about a rampaging sprout will convince even the most reluctant eaters about the importance of eating their vegetables.
Sproutzilla Vs Christmas is a fun festive book written by Tom Jamieson and illustrated by Mike Byrne.
A little boy, Jack, loves Christmas but not sprouts (although he has never actually eaten them). This year he has to face his greatest fear as Sproutzilla threatens to ruin Christmas for everyone. Even Father Christmas is in danger and won’t be able to stay safe with Sproutzilla on the rampage. No one can stop him until Jack bravely steps forard to save the world.
The plot is fun and the illustrations bring the words to life. There are plenty of festive scenes and relatable ideas that children and adults will enjoy. We meet dinner ladies and see Christmas trres aplenty!
Most kids hate sprouts but like Jack many have not actauly tried them. This has a deeper meaning that adults will notice about trying new things and not being afraid of the unknown.
Jack confronts his fear and eats the sprouts! To keep the fun tone and appeal to children, there is farting involved as well 🙂 Classic sprout joke! There is a lovely twist on the final page that made me smile as the next nemesis approaches…
Money is a struggle for Becky and Jamie but they are taking a well earned holiday before settling down to start a family. They meet a friendly couple Phil and Mel who have a lavish lifestyle. The two couples strike up a friendship that survives the return home to England. But are the rich pair too good to be true…?
The New Friends is a psychological thriller about the dangers of con artists and not being satisfied with life.
Becky and Jamie are a hard working couple and are finally ready to start a family. Jamie has been squirrelling away money each month to help pay for baby things. But he is tempted by the prospect of a quick buck. Phil and Mel seem to have everything, heaps of cash and early retirement. Jamie hopes that he can replicate their good luck with stocks and shares with Phil’s help. But Phil and Mel have another plan.
The book is written from four different first person viewpoints so we see the perspectives of each of the main four characters. This is hugely effective at engaging us with all of the characters, understanding their emotions and motives as events proceed.
The plot is quite fast paced as Phil and Mel put their plan in motion and begin to charm the unlucky pair. Things are not as straightforward as Phil would like as Mel has second thoughts. I was drawn into the plot and felt like I really knew the characters well. The writing is clever and engaging, effectively creating a believable situation.
The New Friends had me completely sucked in to the plot and I really enjoyed the book overall.
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Book Blurb
They are fun, wealthy, fabulous. Pray you never meet them.
Becky and Jamie are an ordinary hard-working couple trapped in the daily grind, dreaming of an easier life. On one of their rare vacations, they meet a wealthy couple, Phil and Mel, who seem to have it all – they are fun, well travelled, and very generous with their money.
But they are also very, very dangerous.
Because Phil and Mel are not who they say they are. And this is no random vacation friendship, they have chosen Jamie and Becky carefully, seducing them with the promise of a lifestyle just like theirs.
By the time Jamie and Becky realise what their new friends really want, it’s too late, they’ve lost everything, their hopes and dreams lie shattered.
The only question now is how far will they go to get even?
The New Friends – the stunning psychological thriller from the bestselling author of The Passenger, The Boyfriend, The Promotion.
Author Bio
Daniel Hurst writes psychological thrillers and loves to tell tales about unusual things happening to normal people. He has written all his life, making the progression from handing scribbled stories to his parents as a boy to writing full length novels in his thirties. He lives in the North West of England and when he isn’t writing, he is usually watching a game of football in a pub where his wife can’t find him.
Daniel writes psychological thrillers. The New Friends will be his fourth novel published with Inkubator Books.
Cassandra Wickham runs away from home in an attempt to avoid an arranged marriage. She brings her reputation into disrepute but also find love…
Twenty years on from the events of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen’s characters are brought to life in this sequel. All of the Bennett sisters are married and have children. This is the story of Cassandra, the daughter of flighty Lydia and despicable Mr Wickham.
The plot begins with Cassandra living with her mother and stepfather. Mr Wickham died abroad and now her stepfather wants to make a quick buck by selling her hand in marriage to the highest bidder. Horrified, Cassandra runs away to Pemberley, the home of the Darcys.
Love and misunderstandings are a strong theme in this book just as they are in the original novel. Cassandra leaves behind a fledgling relationship with Dr Courtney and believes he may have known about her stepfather’s dastardly plan. When they meet up again, she rejects his attempts to rekindle their friendship but will love find a way…?
I loved being thrown into the world of the Bennetts again. Pride and Prejudice is my favourite classic book and I know it very well. The style of writing and dialogue feels modern but has a strong basis in the original so it isn’t jarring or anachronistic. The 1830s are brought to life through the descriptions of behaviour and social conventions mentioned throughout the plot.
Cassandra was hugely enjoyable, I really loved it and can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
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Book Blurb
Many years have passed since the dramatic events of Pride and Prejudice.
In The Cousins of Pemberley series we follow a new generation of heroines – cousins with
lives as different and interesting as those enjoyed by their mothers.
Cassandra:
Cassandra Wickham, daughter of a flirt and a scoundrel, an innocent abroad in a world where money can buy you anything, even a bride.
When danger threatens and the man she thought she could rely on fails her, there is only one place she can turn to
for help –
Pemberley.
Surely the Darcy’s will protect her, no matter what happened in the past to divide the two families?
Coming March 2022: Miriam – Book 2 in The Cousins of Pemberley series.
Author Bio
Fiction has always been my go-to world, a place of entertainment, excitement and imagination – I am told that I wrote my first story when I was four about a lady who had twenty children! Sadly it has been lost for posterity.
I have been writing all my life in the time I could spare from having a “proper job”, mostly for children under the name of Linda Blake, stories of ballet dancers, pony riding and talking animals! Not all in the same book!
But my love of romance, a great tendency to say “What if..?” and the endearing characters of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice have now resulted in a series of books that will take the reader forward to the next generation of heroines.
I am retired, live in Kent and am a keen member of my local drama group. Directing and acting take up a lot of my time – I have been given the onerous task of writing the Christmas pantomimes – but I still need to cope with a large garden, doing daily battle with the heron who thinks my pond is his own breakfast buffet and keeping in touch with friends and family scattered all over the world.
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Maggie Ryan is newly single and decides to revisit the past by renting a cottage in Sandy Cove that her parents owned thirty years ago. This stirs up nostaliga for a teen romancw she had with Paul which fizzled out when he went back to America and stopped writing to her. Can she find Paul or are some things better left in the past?
The plot revolves around Maggie who is nursing a broken heart. Now in her 40s and single again, she wants to find some answers about her lost love Paul. By coinicidence he has also returned to Ireland and is looking for Maggie but with thirty years in between contact, will the pair rekindle their affection for each other?
Our sympathies are instantly with Maggie as she struggles to come to terms with the changes to her life. However she doesn’t feel the joy she expects when she reunites with Paul. There is a twist which was fairly obvious but it was enjoyable to watch how the events of the plot unfold.
The descriptions are vivid and bring the characters and landscape to life. There is a warmth to the writing and the author obviously loves her stories, settings and characters. It was great to catch up with characters we have met in her previous books to see how their lives have developed.
The Lost Promise of Ireland is a richly descriptive and warmly toned novel about love and second chances.
MEDIA PACK
Book: The Lost Promise of Ireland
Author: Susanne O’Leary
Pub Day: Dec 17th 2021
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About the Book:
A completely gorgeous story about lost loves and small-town secrets that will sweep you away to the Irish coast.
Maggie remembers her summers in the village of Sandy Cove in Ireland like they were yesterday. She and her family would swim in the crystal-clear waters, collect beautiful seashells and relax on the sand. So when she sees that her family’s old coastguard cottage is available, she wonders if renting it for the summer will finally help her move on from the man who just broke her heart.
As soon as Maggie arrives she is delighted to find her childhood best-friend Sorcha and Sorcha’s cousin Brian still living in town. They enjoy cosy nights in the local harbour pub, with its stunning views across the ocean, as if no time has passed. And when Brian reveals he had a fierce teenage crush on Maggie, she can’t help but notice just how handsome he has become.
But then Maggie finds a worn metal box hidden in the attic of the house, full of love letters she exchanged with a sweet American boy she met one summer. During their last night together, star-gazing on the beach, they promised to find each other again. Soon it becomes clear that Maggie is not the only one returning to Sandy Cove.
Torn between her growing feelings for Brian and the romance she’s held in her heart for many years, Maggie realises that her summer may be more complicated than she’d expected. Will Maggie finally find a true love who can sweep her off her feet or will this holiday in Sandy Cove be her last?
Fans of Mary Alice Monroe, Sheila O’Flanagan and Debbie Macomber will fall head over heels for this enchanting, feel-good romance.
AUTHOR BIO
Susanne O’Leary is the bestselling author of more than 20 novels, mainly in the romantic fiction genre. She has also written three crime novels and two in the historical fiction genre.
The wife of a former diplomat, she has also been a fitness teacher and a translator. She now writes full-time from either of two locations, a rambling house in County Tipperary, Ireland or a little cottage overlooking the Atlantic in Dingle, County Kerry. When she is not scaling the mountains of said counties, or doing yoga, she keeps writing, producing a book every six months.
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Cara is looking forward to a weekend of peace and quiet while her devoted husband takes their daughters on a camping trip. But the girls go missing and the parents are frantic. One girl returns but one does not…
The Secret Wife is a psychologcal thriller about every parent’s worst nightmare: the disappearance and abduction of children.
The book begins with a prologue which shows the family being watched with an intent to abduct the girls. The rest of the first third of the book is the preparation for the trip and the lead up to the discovery that the girls have gone.
The tension builds nicely with a developing feeling of unease as we await the abduction of the girls. Then the fear and panic of the parents feels authentic and it was easy to identify with their emotions as they struggle to cope with their circumstances.
The book is written from Cara and Michael’s first person perspectives which gives us extra insight into their characters as well as their motives. Cara has mental health issues in the past whilst Michael seems almost devious and is definitely hiding something from his oblivious wife. I was eager to find out his secrets and this was a good hook to get me turning those pages faster.
The title gives a big clue about potential plot developments and had my mind jumping to conclusions. It is enjoyable to see how the author decides to unfold events and the truth even though we have suspicions.
The Secret Wife is a tense and engaging novel that held my attention and made me care about the characters.
The Secret Wife book blurb
What happens when the perfect family trip becomes the perfect nightmare?
Cara is a devoted mother to two little girls. She loves her hectic life, but she looks forward to a relaxing weekend alone while her husband, Michael, takes the kids on a camping trip.
But their dream trip turns into a nightmare when their daughters are taken, deep in the forest.
One is returned safe. But one is still missing.
As Cara and Michael frantically search for their little girl it becomes clear that this is no random abduction – her disappearance is linked to shocking secrets which are only now being revealed.
And Cara begins to wonder how well she really knows her husband. Is the stress making her paranoid? Or is she finally seeing him as he really is?
Time is running out. How far will Cara go to find her daughter?
The Secret Wife – the stunning psychological thriller perfect for fans of Teresa Driscoll, Cathryn Grant, Daniel Hurst.
Author Bio
Emily Shiner always dreamed of becoming an author but first served her time as a banker and a teacher. After a lifetime of devouring stacks of thrillers, she decided to try her hand at writing them herself. Now she gets to live out her dream of writing novels and sharing her stories with people around the world. She lives in the Appalachian Mountains and loves hiking with her husband, daughter, and their two dogs.
Emily writes psychological thrillers. The Secret Wife will be her first novel published with Inkubator Books.
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