Rachel’s marriage to Mitch has fallen apart and she has moved out of the family home. She is distraught to only be able to see her daughter Becca once a week. But this is her fault, she deserves this. Or does she…?

Rachel has also started a new job and meets Leona who encourages her to meet up with other mums who are separated from their children for various reasons. She is encouraged to persevere with rebuilding the relationship with her daughter and the reader is gradually made aware of the truth behind the separation.

I was overwhelmed with a sense of unfairness whilst reading this book. I was angered at the way that Rachel’s husband portrayed himself constantly as a victim or martyr to her career whilst she was working all hours to support her family and give them the life he wanted. It becomes obvious that the relationship is unequal and he is manipulating their daughter to keep their relationship strained.

I became angry on Rachel’s behalf at the negative attitude towards the traditional role reversal. We don’t think of men as poor fathers for working to support their familiy but it was implied that Rachel was less of a mother due to her work.

Ali Mercer’s description of depression as The Deep is a good way to explain Rachel’s feelings and make it clear that she was sinking under the pressure of life and emotions.

The epilogue is really emotional to read. I won’t spoil the ending by revealing who or what, but it left a lump in my throat :'(

Lost Daughter really brought out my outraged side to support Rachel. The book is so well written that I genuinely felt strongly for her throughout the book.

Title:  Lost Daughter

Publication Day: 14/05/2019

Author:   Ali Mercer

Buy  Links:      

Amazon: https://geni.us/B07NPX3XYMSocial

Apple Books: https://apple.co/2UZwwmU

Kobo: https://bit.ly/2I9ZDlT

Googleplay: http://ow.ly/MG3V30nI3hJ

Description:

If you think photos aren’t important… wait until they’re all you have left of your child. 

Your life isn’t perfect, but you’re still happy. Your husband has stuck by you and he’s a good dad. Your daughter Becca makes your heart explode with love. And then, in the time it takes to say ‘bad mother’, there’s no longer a place for you in your own family. Your right to see your child has disappeared.

Life goes on in your house – family dinners, missing socks and evening baths – but you aren’t there anymore. Becca may be tucked up in bed in Rose Cottage, but she is as lost to you as if she had been snatched from under your nose.

Everyone knows you deserve this, for what you did. Except you’re starting to realise that things maybe aren’t how you thought they were, and your husband isn’t who you thought he was either. That the truths you’ve been so diligently punishing yourself for are built on sand, and the daughter you have lost has been unfairly taken from you. Wouldn’t that be more than any mother could bear?

A heart-wrenchingly emotional drama for fans of Lisa Wingate, Jill Childs and Jodi Picoult.

Author Bio:

Ali decided she wanted to be a writer early on and wrote her first novel when she was at primary school. She did an English degree and spent her early twenties working in various jobs in journalism, including as a reporter for the showbusiness newspaper The Stage. She started writing fiction in earnest after getting married, moving out of London to the Oxfordshire market town of Abingdon and starting a family. She has two children, a daughter and a son who is autistic and was diagnosed when he was four years old.

Ali is fascinated by families, their myths and secrets, and the forces that hold them together, split them up and (sometimes) bring them back together again. She always travels with tissues and a book and has been known to cry over a good story, but is also a big fan of the hopeful ending.

Author Social Media Links:

For updates and pictures, follow Ali on Twitter (@AlisonLMercer) or Instagram (@alimercerwriter), or on her Facebook page (AliMercerwriter)

After a whirlwind romance, Flora heads to Ned’s family farm The House at Hope Corner to begin their new life together. But neither she nor Ned or his family are prepared for the upheavals this massive change will have on their lives.

I really felt like I identified with Flora. I had an ex who lived in the country and I was a vegetarian. I really didn’t fit in. Luckily Flora has the support of her fiance Ned.

Equally I can imagine the frustration of having someone come into your home when you have set routines and ways of doing things as we often have my mother in law to stay. Plus when we got to stay with her, I want to be helpful but not get in the way.

I loved this book especially as I could identify with the perspectives of many of the characters. It was easy to spot the insidious ways that Caroline, a ‘helpful friend’, was actually causing trouble for the family and I was desperate for her to be revealed as the unpleasant person she actually was.

Flora herself is keeping secrets and it is obvious that the whirlwind nature of their relationship means that she and Ned have a lot of work to do on building their relationship on trust rather than just love.

I enjoyed the interesting juxtaposition between the traditional and the modern, both in terms of work and domestic roles. Negotiating relationships and being honest about expectations are key themes in the book.

This is a fab feel good book, full of hope and love just like Emma’s previous book. More please!

Title:  The House at Hope Corner 

Publication Day: 10/05/2019

Author:   Emma Davies

Buy  Links:      

Amazon: https://geni.us/B07NLGGLG9Social

Apple Books: https://apple.co/2GnsLEA

Kobo:  https://bit.ly/2UT9w9a

Googleplay:  http://ow.ly/LRwj30nFqIP

Description:

The view across the valley takes her breath away; everywhere she looks tiny patches of colour – ochre, chestnut, lime and purple. The farmhouse behind her glows pink in the morning sun. It’s like stepping into a postcard, except that this magical place is real. It’s her new home.

With her beloved shop in danger of shutting down, meeting Ned, a gorgeous farmer with an irresistible twinkle in his eye, couldn’t have come at a better moment for free-spirited florist, Flora Dunbar. But no one is more surprised than her when their whirlwind romance leads to the offer of a new life on Ned’s farm.

Arriving at Hope Corner, Flora sets about becoming the perfect farmer’s wife, but her creative, alternative thinking falls flat in a household built on tradition and strict routine. Even Ned is becoming more distant by the day…

Pulling up her signature striped socks and throwing herself into her chores, little by little Flora learns to love the order and patterns of life on the land. But the more she learns about her new home, the more she suspects it’s under threat, and worse, that Ned is hiding a heartbreaking secret from her.

But this time, Flora’s not going to run from her problems. Do Ned and his family trust her enough to let her stay and fight for love and the first house she’s ever truly called home? Does she trust herself?

An absolutely gorgeous and utterly uplifting romance to sweep you off your feet! Perfect reading for fans of Jenny Colgan, Lucy Diamond and Debbie Johnson.

Author Bio:

After a varied career, Emma Davies once worked for a design studio where she was asked to provide a fun and humorous (and not necessarily true) anecdote for their website. She wrote the following: ‘I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty something mother of three.’ Well the job in the design studio didn’t work out but she’s now a forty something mother of three and is happy to report the rest of her dream came true.

After many years as a finance manager she now writes full time, and is far happier playing with words than numbers. She lives with her husband, three children, and two guinea pigs in rural Shropshire where she writes in all the gaps in between real life. It’s a county she adores, her love of its beautiful people and landscapes providing endless inspiration for her books, and in fact the only thing that would make Shropshire more idyllic is if it were by the sea.

Author Social Media Links:

Pop over to her website www.emmadaviesauthor.com where, amongst other things, you can read about her passion for Pringles and singing loudly in the car. You can also wave to her on twitter @EmDaviesAuthor /https://twitter.com/EmDaviesAuthor or find her on Facebook (a little too often than is good for her):https://www.facebook.com/emmadaviesauthor/

Their Final Moments is the third book in the Mike Croft police series and the second that I have read (see my review of book 2 The Secrets here).

Mike is searching for a sex attacker who is targeting young blonde women. An aging actress is found dead: suicide or murder? A woman is burned alive in a car. What is the connection and can Mike figure out the perpetrator before anyone else is attacked?

Their Final Moments was originally published in the late 1990s as two books. It was refreshing to remember a time before instant social media and news stories!

Jane Adams show us the killer’s viewpoint and the torture he inflicts on his victims to make violent and graphic videos, capturing their final moments of life on film. At the end of the first part (the original end of book 1) the police know the identity of the killer but are unable to trace him or prevent him striking again. The second half begins months later as the police continue to be defeated in their attempts to locate the murderer.

There is a lot of violence in this book and it is uncomfortable to read. However, it is in no way gratuitous, and in fact is well balanced with the emotional insights of the murderer and the police (Croft in particular).

In book 2 of the series, I had warmed to Mike as a lead character and part 2 of this book firmly puts his personal life in the spotlight as it is affected directly by the case. The latter part also focuses on the personal life and childhood of the killer which contrasts with the happy life of the child he snatches.

I enjoyed this book immensely, in particular the inclusion of police from other areas and the dedication of officer Charlie Morrow. The plot is intense but enjoyable. The third person narrative allows us to stand apart from the police and killer whilst being witness to their experiences.

Their Final Moments (Detective Mike Croft #3) by Jane Adams

DISCOVER A BRILLIANTLY GRIPPING CRIME THRILLER FROM A BEST-SELLING AUTHOR

Please note this was first published as “Fade to Grey” and “Final Frame.”

HE WANTS TO CAPTURE THEIR FINAL MOMENTS ON FILM SO HE CAN WATCH THEM AGAIN AND AGAIN

DECEMBER: Detective Mike Croft is in pursuit of a serial attacker whose victims are all young blonde women.

But forensics on the victims reveals an even more horrific scenario.

Many miles away, in Wiltshire, a young woman dies in a burning car.

In Norwich, an actress is found dead in her own home and a teenage boy runs away from a past he doesn’t know how to face.

Can DI Mike Croft work out what links these events?

Then a greater threat emerges.

JAKE BOWEN: filmmaker and serial murderer. There is no pattern to his victims. He doesn’t care who dies, so long as their final moments make good film, and Jake is very imaginative in deciding how his victims will die.

MIKE CROFT FACES A RACE AGAINST TIME TO STOP A KILLER. BUT THEN THE KILLER COMES FOR HIM.

THEIR FINAL MOMENTS: An epic and unputdownable crime thriller full of heart-stopping twists and turns.

Perfect for fans of Kimberley Chambers, Damien Boyd, Rachel Abbott, Patricia Gibney or Mark Billingham.

Praise for JANE ADAMS, author of the sensational best seller THE GREENWAY.

“Few debut novels achieve this level of suspense. The Greenway lingered in my mind for days. It takes the psychological suspense novel into new realms of mystery.” Val McDermid, Manchester Evening News

“A haunting debut.” Minette Walters

“Compellingly told and rich with psychological insight.” Independent

“Nail-biting stuff.” Ms London

“An assured first novel, with a strong cast and a plot which twists and turns without a glitch.” Yorkshire Evening Post

DETECTIVE MIKE CROFT SERIES
Book 1: The Greenway
Book 2: The Secrets
Book 3: Their Final Moments

Jane Adams Author Bio

Why do I write?

Like most writers, it’s a kind of compulsion. The stories are there and I have to try and grab hold of them and pin them onto the page. Most of the time, I enjoy the process; sometimes, I’d rather be doing just about anything else, up to and including the ironing – and I hate ironing.

I started writing when my youngest child went to school. I was incredibly lucky and my first novel, The Greenway, was picked up by Macmillan in 1994 and published in 1995.

I currently write two series; Naomi Blake and Rina Martin. Rina was a character I’d had in mind for years before committing her to paper. An elderly, ex thespian who had played the part of a popular TV detective, she had retired to the seaside and bought a boarding house for other ex performers. Rina’s feisty, no nonsense character is, I suppose, based on the rather powerful and opinionated ladies I grew up surrounded by – mother, teachers in the all girls school I attended, aunts and pseudo aunts, all of whom had opinions about everything and made sure these were unstintingly shared.

Naomi Blake, on the other hand, was the brainchild of my late agent, Bob Tanner at International Scripts. ‘You should write a blind detective,’ he said ‘ and she needs a big, black guidedog, called Napoleon’.

I thought it was a daft idea, and told him so. I just couldn’t see how to do it. But, like a lot of seemingly daft ideas, this one wormed its was into my brain and I realised he was right. It could work and so, the Naomi Blake series came into being.

I have always written in other genres too, short stories in the SF, Fantasy and Gothic Horror genre, and am working on longer projects when time allows. I also teach Creative Writing and have had the great priviligde of being a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at three different universities.

Links

Twitter: @JaneAdamsAuthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jane.adams.16547

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5158042.Jane_A_Adams