The Face at the Window by Ruby Speechley #bookreview #blogtour @rubyspeechley @HeraBooks @BOTBSPublicity

On my blog today, I’m delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for The Face at the Window by Ruby Speechley. With thanks to Sarah Hardy from Books on the Bright Side Publicity for inviting me to take part.

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They’re in your house.

They want your life.

And now, they have your baby.

To the world, I’m @HappyWife. Online, people only see my picture-perfect home, my handsome husband, Nick, and my beautiful baby, Thomas.

They don’t see the real Gemma Adams. They don’t see my past, the dark secrets I’m hiding in my marriage. They don’t see the fear I live in every single day.

But I know someone is watching me. And now, they’ve taken Thomas.

I just don’t know why.

But I’m going to stop at nothing to get my baby back.

Even if it destroys everything I’ve got to find him.

A compelling thriller, packed with suspense – fans of K.L. Slater and Lisa Jewell won’t be able to put it down.

MY THOUGHTS

The Face at the Window is the first book by Ruby Speechley I’ve read, and now I definitely need to catch up on her previous books. This is a very fast paced read. I thought the plot was utterly compelling, although none of the characters are particularly very likeable. Ruby Speechely brings them to life so well, and they really drive the story forward.

Gemma is relieved when a young woman she thinks she can trust offers to look after her baby for a brief moment. It’ll only be for a few moments. But a brief moment is all it takes. Soon, her baby is nowhere to be found, and the nightmare begins. And she soon begins to understand that the woman who took her baby isn’t the woman she thought she knew.

I have read a few missing child novels, and I really liked Ruby Speechley’s ideas in this one. It makes for a very chilling read, particularly when she begins to reveal what was happening in the run up to Gemma’s son being taken. We begin to understand why the kidnapper did what they did.

I struggled to warm to Gemma when Ruby first introduced her. She did seem self-centred at first, with her focus on her online presence. She is known as @HappyWife on Social Media, and this is something Gemma has to portray to the outside world. But things are very different to what she makes them out to be. The story is also told from the point of view of Scarlett. Scarlett is a young woman who we know is having an affair with a married man. I was really interested in Scarlett’s character. She is desperate to track down her birth father, who her mother refuses to talk about. Scarlett’s backstory, and the disappearance of Gemma’s baby, does mean a lot going on in this book, but for me, it’s what made it so tense. My opinions of each character kept changing, and they were very different at the end of the novel from what they were at the start. 

I wanted to know what was going to happen, particularly to Gemma’s baby. I thought how Ruby Speechley revealed more of what was going on in her characters’ lives was done very well. It added extra layers to the story, and the reveals made the book all the more chilling. If you’re looking for an entertaining, utterly addictive psychological thriller, then you should definitely add The Face at the Window to your TBR pile.

Publisher: Hera Books

Publication date: 28th July 2021

Print length:

The Face at the Window is available to buy:

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The House of Hidden Secrets by C E Rose #bookreview #blogtour @CazEngland @HeraBooks @rararesources

I’m delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for The House of Hidden Secrets by C E Rose on my blog today. With thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to take part.

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The imposing gates of Ramsay Hall yawned open. As Serena and 4-year-old Lana walked up the long driveway, little did they know the dark secrets that lay within.

When Serena Green accepted the role of housekeeper for wealthy widower Hayden Ramsay, she never imagined her new home would be Ramsay Hall, an ancient, sprawling mansion in Northern England.

Serena quickly becomes an integral part of the household, making friends with Hayden’s younger son Hugh, despite Jack, his older brother’s, coldness towards her and Lana.

But the hall’s beautiful exterior hides many ugly secrets. Though Serena and Jack begin to grow closer, she’s
confused by his behaviour around Lana. What is he guilty of? And is there more to their mother’s death than the Ramsay men will admit, even to themselves?

As the harrowing past of Ramsay Hall unravels, Serena fresh start becomes a fresh horror. She fears for her and Lana’s safety, but what are the bleak secrets in Serena’s own past?

This house is built on a lifetime of
lies… and the truth might just bring the walls crashing down.

MY THOUGHTS

The House of Hidden Secrets is a dark, compelling read by C E Rose. It is a slow-burner, but I was really intrigued by the characters, and there are some shocking reveals as the plot unfolds. Part romance and part psychological thriller; this is an engrossing read that kept me captivated from start to finish.

We meet Serena and her daughter Lana; Serena has just applied for a position at a manor house in the country. She is offered the job by Hayden, the owner, on the spot. But as Serena and her daughter Lana settle into their new home, she discovers that things are not quite as they seem. The owner’s son is hostile towards her, and he can’t believe that his father employed her. But why is he so worried about her employment, and what secrets is he desperate to make sure Serena doesn’t uncover?

I thought C E Rose developed Serena’s character really well. There is an air of mystery about her as she arrives at the property. It is as if she has arrived like a bolt out of the blue. I wondered if there was more to her than what first meets the eye. The owner of the house, Hayden, intrigued me as well. From the beginning, he appeared to be very trustworthy of Serena, even though he has no evidence that she is. The only person in the household who is worried about her presence there is his son, Jack. He doesn’t exactly give her a warm welcome when he first meets her.

As I was reading, I wanted to find out what secrets the residents of the house were hiding. It was clear that something had happened in their past and that Jack doesn’t want Lana poking around. But Lana begins to grow close to Jack’s brother, Hayden, and as Hayden begins to gradually reveal more about the family’s secrets to Lana, she is shocked by what she learns.

What I really liked about this book was how C E Rose developed Serena and Hayden’s relationship. You can see there is a spark between them from the beginning, but C E Rose paints Hayden as a troubled and vulnerable character. I wanted their relationship to develop further, and I could see that Hayden wanted to be with Serena.

The writing is very engaging, and I did not want to put this book down as I was reading. There are some very intense scenes as C E Rose wraps her story up, and the ending was very chilling. The House of Hidden Secrets is a dark, utterly absorbing read. I really enjoyed it.

Publisher: Hera

Publication date: 14th April 2021

Print length: 288 pages

The House of Hidden Secrets is available to buy:

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The Toybox by Charly Cox #bookreview #blogtour @CharlylynnCox @HeraBooks @BOTBSPublicity

I’m delighted to be sharing my thoughts on The Toybox by Charly Cox on my blog today as part of the blog tour. With thanks to Sarah Hardy from Books on the Bright Side Publicity for inviting me to take part.

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You don’t want to play their games…

All around Albuquerque, New Mexico, young women are going missing, seemingly vanished into thin air. With no link between the victims, Detective Alyssa Wyatt is quickly plunged into a horrifying case with no obvious clues.

And when Jersey Andrews, the best friend of Alyssa’s teenage daughter, Holly, joins the list of vanished girls, the case becomes personal.

But this investigation will lead Alyssa and partner Cord into the most sinister depths of humanity; an evil place where life is expendable, and where the depraved can fulfil their darkest desires – if they have the money to pay for it.

As the first bodies appear, abandoned on the streets, Alyssa is forced into a frantic hunt to track down the killers – before more innocent women lose their lives. But when the truth comes out, it seems that the key to solving the case was hiding in the last place anyone expected…

MY THOUGHTS

The Toybox is a dark police procedural by Charly Cox, examining the horrific world of human trafficking. This book sees the return of Detective Alyssa Wyatt. Alyssa’s own family is still reeling from the horrific events which happened to them in book one in the series when Alyssa’s son was kidnapped. You don’t need to have read the first book to enjoy this one, but I would recommend it if you want to get a better understanding of the characters and what they have previously been through.

It doesn’t seem as though Alyssa Wyatt’s family is going to be left in peace after what happened to them, when her daughter’s best friend, Jersey goes missing after a frat party. In the opening chapter, Charly Cox draws you into the moments prior to Jersey’s disappearance, and she creates an unnerving, claustrophobic feeling as the party gets underway. Charly has created some instantly dislikeable characters in this book, and I found this particularly with one young man, who Alyssa is hoping to connect to the crimes, and with the parents of one of the missing girls. You can see just how angry these characters make Alyssa and the other detectives working on the case feel. It also made me feel angry that there are people who are like this out there in the world.

I must admit, however, I did find the build-up of the book quite slow. After the opening scenes, it did take time for the tension to get going again. But I did want to find out what was going to happen to the girls who had been kidnapped. I was rooting for Alyssa to reach the answers before it was too late. There are some really tense scenes when we see where the girls have been taken, and Charly Cox made it seem as though time was running out for them.

The tension really turns up a notch as the book reaches its climax. I don’t want to go into too much detail here as I don’t want to spoil it, but Charly Cox still kept me gripping the page as I felt that there was still the possibility that something could go drastically wrong.

I enjoyed catching up with Detective Alyssa Wyatt again in this book, and I will be looking forward to seeing what Charly Cox comes up with next. If you enjoy gritty police procedurals, then I would recommend giving these books a go.

Publisher: Hera Books

Publication date: 3rd June 2020

Print length:

The Toybox is available to buy:

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All His Pretty Girls by Charly Cox #bookreview blog tour @CharlylynnCox @HeraBooks @BOTBSPublicity

Happy publication day to Charly Cox. Her debut novel, All His Pretty Girls is released today and it’s my pleasure to be sharing my review as part of the blog tour.

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Detective Alyssa Wyatt is hunting a serial killer.

She doesn’t know that he’s hunting her.

A woman is found naked, badly beaten and barely alive in the New Mexico mountains. The shocking discovery plunges Albuquerque Detective Alyssa Wyatt into a case that will test her to the limit.

It appears that Callie McCormick is the latest plaything of a shadowy psychopath that leaves a long shadow on the streets of New Mexico – an individual linked to a string of deaths but leaving no evidence.

But when Alyssa makes a breakthrough that just might reveal the killer, she unknowingly puts herself in the crosshairs of a brutal maniac – one with an old score to settle.

Because the killer knows Alyssa very well, even if she doesn’t know him. And he’s determined that she’ll know his name – even if he has to extract his deadly revenge on her and everything she loves.

MY THOUGHTS

All His Pretty Girls by Charly Cox is such an intense read. A terrifying serial killer is stalking a community. For Detective Alyssa Wyatt the case hits far too close to home. When a kidnapped woman turns up dead, it becomes personal. She feels she has failed this woman and her failure to find her alive eats away at her. It makes her more determined to catch whoever is responsible for the murders that have taken place and make sure they never kill again. But this case will have devastating consequences for Alyssa and her family.

Charly Cox really did make me fear for her characters as I was reading this book. She managed to create such an intense atmosphere in her writing. I was desperately hoping that the victims of the criminal in her novel would find a means of escape. Charly Cox did make these scenes feel very claustrophobic, and I almost couldn’t bear to read on, but I knew I had to.

I really liked Alyssa. I think it did take me some time to warm to her, when I first started reading but she gradually grew on me. She is a character who has suffered in the past as well. Her brother, Timmy, disappeared when they were only children, and she has continuously blamed herself for her brother’s disappearance. He was found dead, but his kidnapper was never identified. I suspect that this part of the plot may feed into later books in the series and I’m hoping that there is going to be another book.

The plot moves along at an extremely fast pace. As the reader, you can sense the clock ticking down as the police work hard to apprehend the killer, and in the final chapters, Charly Cox really does turn the tension up a notch.

The twists that come in this book are hard-hitting, and one blew my mind. You won’t believe what is happening when it finally dawns on you. I thought it was so clever how Charly managed to weave this into her plot, but as I looked back, I could see that there were hints and signs there. It was very cleverly done, and I am still reeling from it as I am writing this review.

If I could sum of All His Pretty Girls in just a few words they would be; intense, dark, haunting and terrifying. If you enjoy crime fiction with a darker edge, then this is a book for you. I can’t wait to see where Charly takes us next.

Publisher: Hera Books

Publication date: 23rd October 2019

If you would like to purchase All His Pretty Girls, you can do so by clicking on one of the following links below.

Amazon UK  Kobo

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Bollywood Wives by Alex Khan blog tour #bookreview @alexkhanauthor @herabooks

Today I’m closing down the blog tour for Alex Khan’s dark and glamorous novel Bollywood Wives.

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Zara Das is Bollywood’s hottest property, her every move watched by the eyes of the press. Riding high from the success of a string of blockbusters, she has the world at her feet, but the scandal from her latest film threatens to dethrone her as Bollywood’s reigning queen.

So when superstar director Raj Dillon stages a lavish retelling of Pride and Prejudice, moving the shoot from Mumbai’s soundstages to London, Zara knows this is the role that could put her back on top. Coming with them are the Bollywood Wives – Jackie, Sasha, and Rani – bringing their own off-screen drama.

But behind the diamonds, designer clothes and seven-star hotels lies the truth of how Zara reached the top. And when a dead body is found in her hotel room, it seems that someone is determined to take Zara down – and will stop at nothing to expose her darkest secrets.

Zara has spent years running from her past. But now it’s caught up with her…

MY THOUGHTS

Bollywood Wives is so fresh and exciting. Alex Khan takes you into the glitz, the glamour and the dangerous world of Bollywood, as competing stars fight to work their way to the top, and there are some who will do just about anything to get there. Alex’s writing is utterly immersive as he begins to peel back the layers of this world and as he explores the lives of his characters which are fleshed out really well.

There is so much I want to say about this book. I absolutely loved Zara, who is the first person we are introduced to. Zara is a complex character; she comes from a poor background but has swiftly risen to become one of Bollywood’s brightest stars. But her career is always under threat, either from rivals who want to steal her crown or extremists who are plotting to kill her.

The beginning of the book opens up with one such threat when there is an attempt on Zara’s life. Zara is due to appear in a new film, and the production team swiftly relocate to London for her safety. I did find that my opinion of Zara kept changing the more I got to know her character. She could be quite a gentle person at times, and there were often times when I felt sorry for her, but she could also be incredibly selfish.

If you’re familiar with Alex’s previous work, you will be able to see that this is very different to what he has written before. It’s a book that will pull you into the lives of the characters and their devious ways. You get a real sense of the characters feelings towards each other in Alex’s writing, and there is a lot of spitefulness and rivalry going on which is what made it so exciting.

I was totally surprised by the ending of this book, and it took a direction that I didn’t see coming. I really enjoyed reading it, and I hope that Alex continues to write more books set in this world. If you enjoy books filled with drama and characters that will keep you entertained and gripped, then I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and to Hera Books for providing me with an advance reader copy via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher: Hera Books

Publication date: 6th February 2019

Print length: 339 pages

If you would like to purchase Bollywood Wives, you can do so by clicking on one of the following links below.

Amazon UK  Kobo

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