My grateful thanks to Janet Popham for sending me a copy of her children’s book The Alligator Who Liked To Jump in return for an honest review.

Published by Olympia, The Alligator Who Liked To Jump is available for purchase here.

The Alligator Who Liked To Jump

Archie is an autistic alligator, who worries that being ‘different’ from the other animals will make him stand out.

Archie likes to jump and bounce but the other animals think he shouldn’t do this, until the wise elephant tells them that they should listen to Archie.

Archie finds it difficult to speak, but he manages to explain how he feels and makes the other animals understand him, so that they realise he isn’t all that different, after all!

A lovely story told in rhyme, for very young readers, different or not.

My Review of The Alligator Who Liked To Jump

Archie feels different to all the other animals.

What an utterly charming children’s book. Janet Popham has taken a highly emotive subject in The Alligator Who Liked To Jump and turned it into a story that all ages can relate to and in which they can find understanding of those who are different, or, in Archie’s case, autistic.

Through Archie’s words and actions in The Alligator Who Liked To Jump we are shown carefully how what could appear to be a temper tantrum or uncontrollable behaviour might simply be a frustrated child trying to express themselves, so that readers gain a greater understanding. Exploring the themes of tolerance, difference and the basic human need for friendship and company, The Alligator Who Liked To Jump gives a realistic and heart-warming narrative that I thought was brilliantly conveyed. The fact that Archie likes computer games and sport also helps exemplify that he isn’t so very different from the other animals after all.

The rhyme scheme is also a benefit when sharing The Alligator Who Liked To Jump with children because it helps them develop their own language use as well as provide a structure that will appeal to young readers who are themselves on the autistic spectrum.

The illustrations that accompany the writing are perfect because the range of expressions on Archie’s face provide brilliant talking points about how we convey emotions. The colours are vibrant and the images dynamic in style making for a hugely entertaining book.

I heartily recommend The Alligator Who Liked To Jump because it is written in an entertaining style by someone who obviously knows first hand the frustration of young children who live with autism. That said, any child would enjoy this book too.

About Janet Popham

Janet Popham is a primary school teacher, originally from Glasgow who now lives in South Wales with her husband and children. She is a mum to three children, one of whom is autistic.

You can follow Janet on Twitter @Janetpops for more information.

When I attended a Quercus book evening last October (see here) I was thrilled when I got my hands on an early copy of Jo Spain’s Six Wicked Reasons and am delighted to share my review with Linda’s Book Bag readers today as part of the blog tour celebrating the publication of the book. My enormous thanks to Milly Reid at Quercus for inviting me to participate.

Released by Quercus on 16th January 2020, Six Wicked Reasons is available for pre-order here.

Six Wicked Reasons

It’s June 2008 and twenty-one-year-old Adam Lattimer vanishes, presumed dead. The strain of his disappearance breaks his already fragile family.

Ten years later, with his mother deceased and siblings scattered across the globe, Adam turns up unannounced at the family home. His siblings return reluctantly to Spanish Cove, but Adam’s reappearance poses more questions than answers. The past is a tangled web of deceit.

And, as tension builds, it’s apparent somebody has planned murderous revenge for the events of ten years ago.

My Review of Six Wicked Reasons

A dysfunctional family at its most extreme!

Six Wicked Reasons is a brilliant read. I loved Jo Spain’s clever plotting that ranges over years and settings from the Irish Spanish Cove to New York because she entangles the reader into the narrative until they are as complicit in the action as any of the characters. Whilst I’m not normally a fan of multiple viewpoints and different time frames I really, thoroughly, enjoyed them here as they weave together so perfectly. I finished the book feeling I had been completely captivated.

My brain was reeling because every time I thought I had it all worked out, Jo Spain hit me broadside with something I simply hadn’t seen coming so that Six Wicked Reasons is wonderfully entertaining. Although I had my suspicions, I genuinely didn’t know for certain who had done what until the very last word. In fact, the writing is so cleverly constructed that I identified every single one of the characters as being the murderer at some point. Jo Spain’s short chapters and almost blase, yet powerful and shocking, chapter endings genuinely made me gasp aloud. I simply had to read on every time.

The Lattimer family is a gloriously dysfunctional family and so believable.  I was totally convinced by the creation of the family members and I got to the point where I’d gladly have climbed into the book and murdered several of them myself. In fact, that’s one of the aspects of reading Six Wicked Reasons that I found so compelling. Murder is, quite simply, wrong. However, Jo Spain’s writing made me feel that not only was murder justifiable here, but that it was essential. She made me question my own morals as well as the morals and motives of her characters. That’s a powerful thing to do.

It’s hard to say too much about Six Wicked Reasons without giving away elements of the plot – even when it comes to commenting on characters, so I think it best to say that Six Wicked Reasons is a corker of a book. It’s fast paced. It’s exciting. It’s well written and satisfyingly resolved. In fact, In Six Wicked Reasons, Jo Spain presents the reader with everything they want from a murder thriller with real people at its heart. I loved it.

About Jo Spain

Jo Spain is a full-time writer and screenwriter. Her first novel, With Our Blessing, was one of seven books shortlisted in the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller competition and her first psychological thriller, The Confession, was a number one bestseller in Ireland. Jo co-wrote the ground-breaking RTE television series Taken Down, which first broadcast in Ireland in 2018. She’s now working on multiple European television projects. Jo lives in Dublin with her husband and their four young children.

You can follow Jo on Twitter @SpainJoanne, and find her on Facebook.

With Heidi Swain’s book Poppy’s Recipe for Life featuring here on Linda’s Book Bag as one of my 2019 books of the year, I was thrilled to be asked by Heidi to help reveal her latest book, The Secret Seaside Escape.

Heidi is a regular on the blog and you can read my full review of Poppy’s Recipe for Life here. I’ve also reviewed Heidi’s Mince Pies and Mistletoe at the Christmas Market here and was thrilled to ‘stay in’ with her to chat all about Sunshine and Sweet Peas In Nightingale Square here.

Heidi provided a smashing guest post for Linda’s Book Bag when Snowflakes and Cinnamon Swirls at the Winter Wonderland was published, explaining exactly what Christmas means to her and you can find that post here.

So, let’s see what is coming up with Heidi’s new book, The Secret Seaside Escape.

The Secret Seaside Escape

Following a shocking revelation within her family, Tess Tyler is looking to escape her hectic city life – and where better to hide than Wynmouth, the seaside town she visited as a child, with its sandy beaches, stunning rock pools and welcoming community. But little does she realise, Wynmouth isn’t quite the haven she remembers it to be, and her real life is still threatening to catch up with her . . .

Also returning to Wynmouth is Joe. Having fled over a decade ago after an accident that changed his life forever, he’s back and is determined to face his demons. But, like Tess, Joe realises that the town is nothing like he remembers and quickly his arrival brings old tensions to the surface.

As the pair begin to familiarise themselves with the town they once knew, they each realise that the secrets they carry are becoming harder to conceal – but will revealing them bring the answers they’re looking for? Will Tess and her new friends finally get the second chance they’ve been hoping Wynmouth will give them?

*

Doesn’t that sound wonderful? I know we’ll be in for a treat and I can’t wait to read it. The Secret Seaside Escape will be published by Simon and Schuster on 30th April 2020 in e-book, audio and paperback is available for pre-order through the links here.

About Heidi Swain

Heidi Swain is the Sunday Times bestselling author of several novels including The Cherry Tree Cafe, Summer at Skylark Farm, Mince Pies and Mistletoe at the Christmas Market, Coming Home to Cuckoo Cottage , Poppy’s Recipe for Life, Sleigh Rides and Silver Bells at the Christmas Fair. and now The Secret Seaside Escape. She lives in Norfolk with her husband and two teenage children.

You can follow Heidi on Twitter @Heidi_Swain and visit her blog or website. You’ll also find Heidi on Facebook

Now, I get sent an awful lot of books and although I tweet my thanks on Twitter, I rarely write a blog post about them but I simply have to thank Karen Sullivan, publisher extraordinaire at Orenda Books, and fellow blogger Lorraine for the most amazing collection of books that arrived on Christmas Eve.

During December lovely Lorraine over at The Book Review Cafe hosted a series of posts featuring books from Orenda with a giveaway. I couldn’t believe it when I was the lucky winner of that giveaway and the books came in time for Christmas on Christmas Eve.

Having been brought up correctly, I had meant to write a blog post thanking both Karen and Lorraine as soon as Christmas was over, but life got the better of me. Obviously Christmas Eve and Day were busy with family and friends and then at just after 1.30 on Boxing Day morning I had an emergency call from my Mum who has been ill ever since, so that my usual reading and blogging time has been taken up somewhat. I’ve also managed to develop some weird abscess in my upper jaw which has seen me at three dental appointments and currently waiting for potentially around £4000 worth (eek) of treatment in Cambridge some 50 miles from where I live, so I simply haven’t had a moment. Until now!

To say I was thrilled to receive a bundle of 18 Orenda Books is an understatement but when I found an extra treat included of Louise Beech’s I Am Dust which won’t be out until April 16th in paperback I was delighted. Louise’s Call Me Star Girl was also in the prize bundle and it’s signed too! When I say that Call Me Star Girl was one of my books of the year (see here) you’ll know why I’m so pleased. You can read my review of Call Me Star Girl here.

As I looked through the books I found myself quoted in SJI Holliday’s Violet as I’d been lucky enough to have an early ecopy for review, and you can read that review here. It’s always so exciting to find myself in a book!

Even better, another two of the books are also signed copies: Changeling by Matt Wesolowski and Cage by Lilja Sigurdardottir.

So by way of a rather belated thank you to Lorraine and Karen, I thought I’d share the details about the books in the prize bundle with you today as I’m sure there will be something there that takes your fancy too.

If you click on the title and author headings you’ll find buy links for the books.

I Am Dust by Louise Beech

When iconic musical Dust is revived twenty years after the leading actress was murdered in her dressing room, a series of eerie events haunts the new cast, in a bewitching, beguiling and terrifyingly dark psychological thriller…

The Dean Wilson Theatre is believed to be haunted by a long-dead actress, singing her last song, waiting for her final cue, looking for her killer…

Now Dust, the iconic musical, is returning after twenty years. But who will be brave enough to take on the role of ghostly goddess Esme Black, last played by Morgan Miller, who was murdered in her dressing room?

Theatre usher Chloe Dee is caught up in the spectacle. As the new actors arrive, including an unexpected face from her past, everything changes. Are the eerie sounds and sightings backstage real or just her imagination? Is someone playing games?

Is the role of Esme Black cursed? Could witchcraft be at the heart of the tragedy? And are dark deeds from Chloe’s past about to catch up with her?
Not all the drama takes place onstage. Sometimes murder, magic, obsession and the biggest of betrayals are real life. When you’re in the theatre shadows, you see everything.
And Chloe has been watching…

Call Me Star Girl by Louise Beech

Stirring up secrets can be deadly … especially if they’re yours…

Pregnant Victoria Valbon was brutally murdered in an alley three weeks ago – and her killer hasn’t been caught.

Tonight is Stella McKeever’s final radio show. The theme is secrets. You tell her yours, and she’ll share some of hers.

Stella might tell you about Tom, a boyfriend who likes to play games, about the mother who abandoned her, now back after fourteen years. She might tell you about the perfume bottle with the star-shaped stopper, or about her father …

What Stella really wants to know is more about the mysterious man calling the station … who says he knows who killed Victoria, and has proof.

Tonight is the night for secrets, and Stella wants to know everything…

Call Me Star Girl is a taut, emotive and all-consuming psychological thriller that plays on our deepest fears, providing a stark reminder that stirring up dark secrets from the past can be deadly…

Violet by SJI Holliday

When two strangers end up sharing a cabin on the Trans-Siberian Express, an intense friendship develops, one that can only have one ending …

… a nerve-shattering psychological thriller from bestselling author SJI Holliday.

Cage by Lilja Sigurdardottir

The prison doors slam shut behind Agla, when her sentence ends, but her lover Sonja is not there to meet her.

As a group of foreign businessmen tries to draw Agla into an ingenious fraud that stretches from Iceland around the world, Agla and her former nemesis, María find the stakes being raised at a terrifying speed.
Ruthless drug baron Ingimar will stop at nothing to protect his empire, but he has no idea about the powder keg he is sitting on in his own home.
At the same time, a deadly threat to Sonya and her family brings her from London back to Iceland, where she needs to settle scores with longstanding adversaries if she wants to stay alive.

Changeling by Matt Wesolowski

On Christmas Eve in 1988, seven-year-old Alfie Marsden vanished in the Wentshire Forest Pass, when a burst tyre forced his father, Sorrel, to stop the car. Leaving the car to summon the emergency services, Sorrel returned to find his son gone.

No trace of the child, nor his remains, have ever been found. Alfie Marsden was declared officially dead in 1995.

Elusive online journalist, Scott King, whose ‘Six Stories’ podcasts have become an internet sensation, investigates the disappearance, interviewing six witnesses, including Sorrel, his son and his ex-partner, to try to find out what really happened that fateful night.

He takes a journey through the trees of the Wentshire Forest a place synonymous with strange sightings, and tales of hidden folk who dwell there. He talks to a company that tried and failed to build a development in the forest, and a psychic who claims to know where Alfie is… Intensely dark, deeply chilling and searingly thought provoking,

Changeling is an up-to-the-minute, startling thriller, taking you to places you will never, ever forget.

Faultlines by Doug Johnson

A little lie…a seismic secret…and the cracks are beginning to show…

In a reimagined contemporary Edinburgh, where a tectonic fault has opened up to produce a new volcano in the Firth of Forth, and where tremors are an everyday occurrence, volcanologist Surtsey makes a shocking discovery. On a clandestine trip to new volcanic island The Inch, to meet Tom, her lover and her boss, she finds his lifeless body, and makes the fatal decision to keep their affair, and her discovery, a secret.

Desperate to know how he died, but also terrified she’ll be exposed, Surtsey’s life quickly spirals into a nightmare when someone makes contact someone who claims to know what she’s done…

The Closer I Get by Paul Burston

Tom is a successful author, but he’s struggling to finish his novel. His main distraction is an online admirer, Evie, who simply won’t leave him alone.

Evie is smart, well read and unstable; she lives with her father and her social-media friendships are not only her escape, but everything she has.

When she’s hit with a restraining order, her world is turned upside down, and Tom is free to live his life again, to concentrate on writing.

But things aren’t really adding up. For Tom is distracted but also addicted to his online relationships, and when they take a darker, more menacing turn, he feels powerless to change things. Because maybe he needs Evie more than he’s letting on.

A compulsive, disturbingly relevant, twisty and powerful psychological thriller, The Closer I Get is also a searing commentary on the fragility and insincerity of online relationships, and the danger that can lurk just one ‘like’ away…

Blood Song by Johanna Gustawsson

Spain, 1938: The country is wracked by civil war, and as Valencia falls to Franco’s brutal dictatorship, Republican Therese witnesses the murders of her family. Captured and sent to the notorious Las Ventas women’s prison, Therese gives birth to a daughter who is forcibly taken from her.

Falkenberg, Sweden, 2016: A wealthy family is found savagely murdered in their luxurious home. Discovering that her parents have been slaughtered, Aliénor Lindbergh, a new recruit to the UK’s Scotland Yard, rushes back to Sweden and finds her hometown rocked by the massacre.

Profiler Emily Roy joins forces with Aliénor and soon finds herself on the trail of a monstrous and prolific killer. Little does she realise that this killer is about to change the life of her colleague, true-crime writer Alexis Castells. Joining forces once again, Roy and Castells’ investigation takes them from the Swedish fertility clinics of the present day back to the terror of Franco’s rule, and the horrifying events that took place in Spanish orphanages under its rule.

Terrifying, vivid and recounted at breakneck speed, Blood Song is not only a riveting thriller and an examination of corruption in the fertility industry, but a shocking reminder of the atrocities of Spain’s dictatorship, in the latest, stunning instalment in the award-winning Roy & Castells series.

Little Siberia by Antti Tuomainen

A man with dark thoughts on his mind is racing along the remote snowy roads of Hurmevaara in Finland, when there is flash in the sky and something crashes into the car. That something turns about to be a highly valuable meteorite. With euro signs lighting up the eyes of the locals, the unexpected treasure is temporarily placed in a neighbourhood museum, under the watchful eye of a priest named Joel.

But Joel has a lot more on his mind than simply protecting the riches that have apparently rained down from heaven. His wife has just revealed that she is pregnant. Unfortunately Joel has strong reason to think the baby isn’t his. As Joel tries to fend off repeated and bungled attempts to steal the meteorite, he must also come to terms with his own situation, and discover who the father of the baby really is.

Transporting the reader to the culture, landscape and mores of northern Finland Little Siberia is both a crime novel and a hilarious, blacker-than-black comedy about faith and disbelief, love and death, and what to do when bolts from the blue – both literal and figurative – turn your life upside down.

Beton Rouge by Simone Buchholz

On a warm September morning, an unconscious man is found in a cage at the entrance to the offices of one of Germany’s biggest magazines. He’s soon identified as a manager of the company, and he’s been tortured. Three days later, another manager appears in a similar way.

Chastity Riley and her new colleague Ivo Stepanovic are tasked with uncovering the truth behind the attacks, an investigation that goes far beyond the revenge they first suspect … to the dubious past shared by both victims. Travelling to the south of Germany, they step into the hothouse world of boarding schools, where secrets are currency, and monsters are bred … monsters who will stop at nothing to protect themselves.

A smart, dark, probing thriller, full of all the hard-boiled poetry and acerbic wit of the very best noir, Beton Rouge is both a classic whodunit and a scintillating expose of society, by one of the most exciting names in crime fiction.

We Were The Salt Of The Sea by Roxanne Bouchard

Truth lingers in murky waters…

As Montrealer Catherine Day sets foot in a remote fishing village and starts asking around about her birth mother, the body of a woman dredges up in a fisherman’s nets.

Not just any woman, though: Marie Garant, an elusive, nomadic sailor and unbridled beauty who once tied many a man’s heart in knots.

Detective Sergeant Joaquin Moralès, newly drafted to the area from the suburbs of Montreal, barely has time to unpack his suitcase before he’s thrown into the deep end of the investigation.

Both a dark and consuming crime thriller and a lyrical, poetic ode to the sea, We Were the Salt of the Sea is a stunning, page-turning novel, from one of the most exciting new names in crime fiction.

In the Absence of Miracles by Michael J Malone

John Docherty’s mother has just been taken into a nursing home following a massive stroke and she’s unlikely to be able to live independently again.

With no other option than to sell the family home, John sets about packing up everything in the house. In sifting through the detritus of his family’s past he’s forced to revisit, and revise his childhood.
For in a box, in the attic, he finds undeniable truth that he had a brother who disappeared when he himself was only a toddler. A brother no one ever mentioned. A brother he knew absolutely nothing about. A discovery that sets John on a journey from which he may never recover.

For sometimes in that space where memory should reside there is nothing but silence, smoke and ash. And in the absence of truth, in the absence of a miracle, we turn to prayer. And to violence.

Shocking, chilling and heartbreakingly emotive, In the Absence of Miracles is domestic noir at its most powerful, and a sensitively wrought portrait of a family whose shameful lies hide the very darkest of secrets.

Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

Nine suicides
One Cult
No leader

Nine people arrive one night on Chelsea Bridge. They’ve never met. But at the same time, they run, and leap to their deaths. Each of them received a letter in the post that morning, a pre-written suicide note, and a page containing only four words: Nothing important happened today.

That is how they knew they had been chosen to become a part of the People Of Choice: A mysterious suicide cult whose members have no knowledge of one another.

Thirty-two people on that train witness the event. Two of them will be next. By the morning, People Of Choice are appearing around the globe; it becomes a movement. A social media page that has lain dormant for four years suddenly has thousands of followers. The police are under pressure to find a link between the cult members, to locate a leader that does not seem to exist.

How do you stop a cult when nobody knows they are a member?

Welcome to the Heady Heights by David F. Ross

Welcome to the Heady Heights …

It’s the year punk rock was born, Concorde entered commercial service and a tiny Romanian gymnast changed the sport forever.

Archie Blunt is a man with big ideas. He just needs a break for them to be realised. In a bizarre brush with the light-entertainment business, Archie unwittingly saves the life of the UK’s top showbiz star, Hank ‘Heady’ Hendricks’, and now dreams of hitting the big-time as a Popular Music Impresario. Seizing the initiative, he creates a new singing group with five unruly working-class kids from Glasgow’s East End. Together, they make the finals of a televised Saturday-night talent show, and before they know it, fame and fortune beckon for Archie and The High Five. But there’s a complication; a trail of irate Glaswegian bookies, corrupt politicians and a determined Scottish WPC known as The Tank are all on his tail…

A hilarious and poignant nod to the elusivity of stardom, in an age when ‘making it’ was ‘having it all’, Welcome to the Heady Heights is also a dark, laugh-out-loud comedy, a heart-warming tribute to a bygone age and a delicious drama about desperate men, connected by secrets and lies, by accidents of time and, most of all, the city they live in.

Dead of Night by Michael Stanley

When freelance journalist, Crystal Nguyen, heads to South Africa, she thinks she’ll be researching an article on rhino-horn smuggling for National Geographic, but within a week she’s been hunting poachers, hunted by their bosses, and then arrested in connection with a murder. And everyone is after a briefcase full of money that she doesn’t want, but can’t get rid of…

Fleeing South Africa, she goes undercover in Vietnam, trying to discover the truth before she’s exposed by the local mafia. Discovering the plot behind the money is only half the battle. Now she must convince the South African authorities to take action before it’s too late, both for the rhinos and for her. She has a powerful story to tell, if she survives long enough to tell it…

Fast-paced, relevant and chilling, Dead of Night is a stunning new thriller from Michael Stanley, author of the award-winning Detective Kubu series, introducing an intriguing new protagonist, while exposing one of the most vicious conflicts on the African continent..

Deep Dirty Truth by Steph Broadribb

A price on her head. A secret worth dying for. 48 hours to expose the truth…

Single-mother bounty-hunter Lori Anderson finally has her family back together, but her new-found happiness is shattered when she’s snatched by the Miami Mob – and they want her dead. Rather than a bullet, they offer her a job: find the Mob’s ‘numbers man’ who’s in protective custody after being forced to turn federal witness against them. If Lori succeeds, they’ll wipe the slate clean and the price on her head – and those of her family – will be removed. If she fails, they die.

With North due in court in 48 hours, Lori sets off across Florida, racing against the clock to find him and save her family. Only in this race the prize is more deadly – and the secret she shares with JT more dangerous – than she ever could have imagined.

In this race only the winner gets out alive…

The Ringmaster by Vanda Symon

Death is stalking the South Island of New Zealand

Marginalised by previous antics, Sam Shephard, is on the bottom rung of detective training in Dunedin, and her boss makes sure she knows it. She gets involved in her first homicide investigation, when a university student is murdered in the Botanic Gardens, and Sam soon discovers this is not an isolated incident. There is a chilling prospect of a predator loose in Dunedin, and a very strong possibility that the deaths are linked to a visiting circus…

Determined to find out who’s running the show, and to prove herself, Sam throws herself into an investigation that can have only one ending…

Rich with atmosphere, humour and a dark, shocking plot, The Ringmaster marks the return of passionate, headstrong police officer, Sam Shephard, in the next instalment of Vanda Symon’s bestselling series.

The Courier by Kjell Ola Dahl

In 1942, Jewish courier Ester is betrayed, narrowly avoiding arrest by the Gestapo. In a great haste, she escapes to Sweden, saving herself. Her family in Oslo, however, is deported to Auschwitz. In Stockholm, Ester meets the resistance hero, Gerhard Falkum, who has left his little daughter and fled both the Germans and allegations that he murdered his wife, Åse, who helped Ester get to Sweden. Their burgeoning relationship ends abruptly when Falkum dies in a fire.

And yet, twenty-five years later, Falkum shows up in Oslo. He wants to reconnect with his daughter. But where has he been, and what is the real reason for his return? Ester stumbles across information that forces her to look closely at her past, and to revisit her war-time training to stay alive…

Written with Dahl’s trademark characterization and elegant plotting, The Courier sees the hugely respected godfather of Nordic Noir at his best, as he takes on one of the most horrific periods of modern history, in an exceptional, shocking thriller.

And last but by no means least in this amazing prize bundle…

Attend by West Camel

When Sam falls in love with Deptford thug Derek, and Anne’s best friend Kathleen takes her own life, they discover they are linked not just by a world of drugs and revenge; they also share the friendship of the uncanny and enigmatic Deborah.

Seamstress, sailor, story-teller and self-proclaimed centenarian immortal, Deborah slowly reveals to Anne and Sam her improbable, fantastical life, a history of hidden Deptford and ultimately the solution to their crises.

With echoes of Armistead Maupin, Attend is a beautifully written, darkly funny, mesmerisingly emotive and deliciously told debut novel, rich in finely wrought characters that you will never forget.

Orenda books have featured a few times here on Linda’s Book Bag and every one I have read has been an absolute stunner, so I have a feeling that I’m going to enjoy each and every one of these prize books. Once again I’d like to thank Lorraine and Karen for sending me such a wonderful collection. I was thrilled to win.

I wonder which of these superb books appeals most to you?

Regular visitors to Linda’s Book Bag know I began blogging partly because I used to review children’s books and write teacher resources for them for a large publisher so, although I’m trying not to take on blog tours, I couldn’t resist accepting Respect: Consent, Boundaries and Being in Charge of YOU by Rachel Brian. When I was inspecting education, I frequently had responsibility for care, guidance and support and Respect: Consent, Boundaries and Being in Charge of YOU piqued my interest. I’d like to thank Namishka Doshi at Hatchette Children’s Group for inviting me to take part.

Published by Hatchette imprint, Wren and Rook, on 9th January 2020, Respect: Consent, Boundaries and Being in Charge of YOU is available for purchase here.

Respect: Consent, Boundaries and Being in Charge of YOU

Your body belongs to you and you get to set your own rules, so that you may have boundaries for different people and sometimes they might change. Like when you hi-five your friends and kiss your kitten, but not the other way round!

But consent doesn’t need to be confusing. From setting boundaries, to reflecting on your own behaviour and learning how to be an awesome bystander, this book will have you feeling confident, respected, and 100% in charge of yourself and your body

Brought to life with funny and informative illustrations, this is the smart, playful and empowering book on consent that everyone has been waiting for.

My review of Respect: Consent, Boundaries and Being in Charge of YOU

A book to show children what is acceptable and how they can control their own lives.

Now, you know that I’m going to say, so I’ll get it out of the way before I review properly. My ex-literacy consultant head prefers a children’s book that isn’t almost entirely in upper case letters because that’s not how we expect children to write. That said, in Respect, the capitals are used effectively for emphasis with an important message so I’ll forgive their use!

Firstly, I need to say how brilliant the physical design of Rachel Brian’s Respect is. With a very robust cover and small size it is just perfect for children to handle and own, both literally and metaphorically. I can envisage Respect being used over and over again in classroom, homes, hospitals and libraries and am sure it would last well in the process.

The illustrations work very well in underpinning the text. I love the presentation of able and disabled characters, the range of ethnicities and the soothing colour scheme, all of which ensure any child can feel included in the meanings and advice.  The short chapters mean that an aspect can be dealt with individually, so that children are not overwhelmed by the amount of information. I especially liked the inclusion of the kind of things that can happen on social media, and those elements asking children to consider the way they treat and respect others, as well as emphasising that they have control over how others treat them because they help children become rounded and emotionally literate. Also really helpful is the inclusion of vocabulary definitions woven throughout so that children can become familiar with a language of respect and boundaries, giving them a tool to employ in their own lives.

Most importantly, however, is the inclusion of helpful telephone numbers and websites at the end of the book so that children have a resource immediately accessible to them as they learn to put in place the techniques described in Respect.

Respect is a sadly much needed book that takes an issue so many children struggle with and helps them to control their lives and seek help when needed. What could be better than that?

About Rachel Brian

Rachel Brian is the founder, owner, and principal animator of Blue Seat Studios. She is best known for her work on “Tea Consent,” a video that has been translated into over 20 languages and has had more than 150 million views worldwide across platforms. The follow-up, “Consent for Kids,” also has a tremendous following and has been translated into over 15 languages. A long-time artist, Rachel is a former researcher and an educator, having taught physiology, biology, and maths at both the high school and college level. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Visit Rachel’s website for further information or follow her on Twitter @rachel_brian.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

Every year for the past four years that I’ve been blogging I’ve been privileged to spend an evening at Simon and Schuster in the company of wonderful authors including Juliet Ashton. You can read about the most recent of those evenings here. Consequently, when Megan Denholm at EDPR got in touch to invite me to participate in the blog tour for Juliet Ashton’s latest novel, The Fall and Rise of Sadie McQueen I was thrilled to accept.

I loved Juliet Ashton’s The Woman at Number 24 which I reviewed here and The Sunday Lunch Club, my review of which you can see here.

The Fall and Rise of Sadie McQueen was published by Simon and Schuster on 26th December 2019 and is available for purchase through these links.

The Fall and Rise of Sadie McQueen

It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but Cherry Blossom Mews is a miraculous place. It’s somewhere that finds you, rather than the other way around.

Sadie McQueen has leased a double fronted space in this small cul de sac in a culturally diverse corner of central London. The cobbles muffle the noise of double-deckers roaring past the arched gates. Turn right and you are in a futuristic maze of corporate glass monoliths. Turn left and you see a wide street with many different houses. Towering above the mews are the degenerating tower blocks of an infamous estate. The old folks home and the nearby school are both in need of TLC; the private members’ club that set up shop in a listed Georgian building has been discreetly refurbished at huge expense.

Into this confusion comes Sadie. She fell in love with the street the moment she first twisted her ankle on its cobbles. Her double-fronted unit is now a spa. She has sunk all her money into the lease and refurbishment. She’s sunk all her hope into the carefully designed treatment rooms, the calm white reception space, the bijou flat carved out of the floor above.

Sadie has a mission to connect. To heal herself from tragedy. Sadie has wrapped the mews around her like a warm blanket, after unimaginable loss and unimaginable guilt. Her hard-won peace is threatened, not only by the prospect of the mews going under but by a man aptly named Hero who wakes up her comatose heart.

Sadie has a lot to give, and a lot to learn, not least that some ghosts aren’t ghosts at all.

My Review of The Fall and Rise of Sadie McQueen

Sadie’s been through a lot, but life isn’t necessarily about to get any easier.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Fall and Rise of Sadie McQueen. Initially I didn’t feel the same emotional attachment I have with Juliet Ashton’s writing in the past, as it took me a while to adjust to the number of characters, but before long she had bewitched me and when I realised I had found tears in my eyes on several occasions I knew I’d become as captivated as ever.

It’s quite hard to define what makes Juliet Ashton’s writing so appealing. Anyone who has read her before will know that the people in her stories are always vivid and real, flawed and human, so that they could be part of a circle of friends for any reader, but there’s an indefinable magic here woven amongst the 80 year age span. The small consistent setting of Cherry Blossom Mews contains a microcosm of society that I adored. Even Noel the dog has a personality and all life is here with relationships as messy and convincing as any in the real world. Chloe appealed to me most, but every single person represented someone I could relate to or I feel I have met in the past. From feeling slightly apart at the very beginning, Juliet Ashton made me care about each and every one of them.

The setting of Cherry Blossom Mews is inspired so that there is a fantastic consistency of place. It feels like a beating heart at the centre of London. Indeed, I’d really rather like to move in. I loved the depiction of the tree after which Cherry Blossom Mews is named, and the significance of the tree as the narrative progresses makes it yet another vibrant ‘character’. I can’t add more without spoiling the plot but its position in the centre of the courtyard emphasises its significance to the story and the people living there.

And what a plot there is in The Fall and Rise of Sadie McQueen. So many of the events completely took my by surprise and I found myself exclaiming aloud. This is a real roller-coaster of a narrative. I simply did not predict so many elements and yet they are completely fitting and rewarding.

However, I think what appealed to me most about The Fall and Rise of Sadie McQueen is that the themes presented are ultimately positive and heartwarming. The exploration of what truly makes a family is intriguing and Juliet Ashton manages to depict love and friendship without cloying sentimentality whilst ensuring an entertaining and uplifting read. Regret, love, addiction, parenting, relationships, jealousy and trust added in to the mix provide actions and experiences that enable any reader to find a theme that resonates with their own experiences or beliefs.

The Fall and Rise of Sadie McQueen is enormously satisfying. I thoroughly enjoyed being immersed between its pages. It’s a book I wish I hadn’t actually read yet as I think it would be perfect to take on holiday or to read on a cold winter’s afternoon because it feels both real and entertaining. Smashing stuff!

About Juliet Ashton

Juliet Ashton was born in Fulham and still lives in London. She writes under a variety
of names, including her real name, Bernadette Strachan, and as Claire Sandy. Juliet
is a former voiceover agent to stars including Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. She is
married and has one daughter.

You can find out more by following her Juliet on Twitter @julietstories.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

I was delighted to be asked by Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources if I would like to participate in the blog tour for She Ran Away From Love by Mawson because I loved and reviewed another of Mawson’s books, It’s a Bright World to Feel Lost In, here.

She Ran Away From Love is available for purchase here.

She Ran Away From Love

The Light of Love pours down on Frilly. It shines so brightly that she quails and runs away. Upset with herself for feeling scared, she wakes her good friend Mawson and pours out her confusions. She wants to learn how to be bold and is convinced that she can do this by going on a quest. With muddled help from Mawson she sets off into the great Out There. But is a quest to find oneself really the answer?

My Review of She Ran Away From Love

Frilly is afraid of the light of love.

Those who know my reviews will expect me to make a complaint to begin with here because there’s quite a mix of upper and lower case letters at times in She Ran Away From Love when they are not grammatically appropriate which should annoy me. However, instead, I felt this technique mirrored the confusion Frilly is feeling about her identity and allowing herself to love so that it’s a positive and not a negative.

I admire the themes explored her as She Ran Away From Love has the appearance of a child’s book but it has resonance for adults. I laughed aloud at Mason’s attempts to meditate and teach Frilly mindfulness as her concentration wanders to food, just as mine does in similar situations. The concepts of finding your own happiness, taking a chance, friendship and identity are explored through humour and sensitivity.

She Ran Away From Love is a cute little book about being brave, taking a chance and finding yourself that I enjoyed reading. The photographs of Mawson and Frilly add to that enjoyment too.

About Mawson

Mawson, a big hearted, soul searching teddy bear, is here to help. He is one of this bright world’s few Writer-Bears. He speaks about Being One’s Best in an world that is often baffling – and not only for bears. He is often muddled about things (well, he is a bear). But he is always confident that things are going to turn out All Right.

You can visit Mawson’s website and find him on Twitter @mawsonbear and Instagram for more details as well as with these other bloggers:

It’s a real honour to be part of the blog tour for The Other You by J.S. Monroe on publication day and I’d like to thank Vicky Joss at Head of Zeus for inviting me to participate and for sending me a copy of The Other You in return for an honest review.

Published by Head of Zeus today, 9th January 2020, The Other You is available for purchase here.

The Other You

Is he who you think he is?

Kate used to be good at recognising people. So good, she worked for the police, identifying criminals in crowds of thousands. But six months ago, a devastating car accident led to a brain injury. Now the woman who never forgot a face can barely recognise herself in the mirror.

At least she has Rob. Kate met him just after her accident, and he nursed her back to health in his high-tech modernist house on the Cornish coast. When she’s with him, the nightmares of the accident fade, and she feels safe and loved.

Until, one day, she looks at Rob anew – and knows, with absolute certainty, that he has been replaced by an impostor. Is she right? Have her old recognition skills returned? Or is it all in her damaged mind?

This intricate, original and emotionally charged psychological thriller is perfect for fans of J.P. Delaney and Louise Candlish.

My Review of The Other You

Kate’s seemingly idyllic life as she recuperates after a car accident might not be what it first appears.

The Other You is a dynamic and thrilling narrative that held me spellbound. I loved the gradual reveals and plot details that J. S. Monroe teases and intrigues the reader with as the story progresses because they wrong-footed me at every turn. I got to a point where I didn’t trust anyone and couldn’t wait to see how The Other You might resolve itself.

Short, snappy chapters with cliff hanger endings in The Other You ensure a fast paced and captivating read and the continuous present tense makes it all feel immediate and dynamic so that events seem to unfold in real time. I certainly experienced an elevated heart rate as I read because this is such suspenseful writing from J. S. Monroe. I loved the overall quality of the writing too; with vivid descriptions, naturalistic dialogue and a perfect variety of sentence and paragraph length I found The Other You a masterclass in thriller writing.

I thought the themes were excellent as they explore the fine lines between good and evil, the positive and negative outcomes of technological advances, and they make the reader question their own perception of morality, especially when considering Silas’s relationship with his son Connor. Add in the convincing and meticulously researched details about county lines, drug culture and brain injury and recovery, and The Other You is a potent thought-provoking read.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Other You. It’s a heart-thumpingly good read and I recommend it most highly.

About J. S. Monroe

J.S. Monroe read English at Cambridge, worked as a foreign correspondent in Delhi, and was Weekend editor of the Daily Telegraph in London before becoming a full-time writer. His psychological thriller Find Me became a bestseller in 2017, and, under the name Jon Stock, he is also the author of five spy thrillers. He lives in Wiltshire, with his wife and children.

You can follow J.S. Monroe on Twitter @JSThrillers and visit his website for more information. You’ll also find him on Facebook and there’s more with these other bloggers:

It’s always so exciting being in at the start of a book’s life and I’m thrilled to be helping reveal the cover of Never Saw You Coming by Hayley Doyle today, as it looks a gloriously uplifting read. Let me tell you all about it:

Never Saw You Coming will be published by Harper Collins imprint Avon on 2nd April 2020 and is available for pre-order through the links here.

Never Saw You Coming

Some people go looking for love. Others crash right into it. 

Zara Khoury believes in love – so much so that she flies from Dubai to Liverpool to be with a man she barely knows. It’s a risk, but she’s certain that uprooting her life for Nick is the new start she needs.

Jim Glover is stuck. Since his Dad died, he’s put his dreams aside and stayed at home in Liverpool to care for his mum. Trapped in a dead-end job, he’s going nowhere – that is, until he gets a phone call that just might change his life..

Zara and Jim aren’t supposed to meet. But then fate steps in, and when their worlds – and cars! – collide, the real journey begins…

A gorgeous tale about taking risks and living life to the full – perfect for fans of Beth O’Leary and Josie Silver.

Now doesn’t that sound just wonderful? I can’t wait to read it.

About Hayley Doyle

Hayley Doyle is an actress and writer from Liverpool. She gained a BA (Hon) in Acting from LIPA and made her West End debut playing Ali in ‘Mamma Mia!’ at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Hayley also appeared in Peter Pan alongside Brian Blessed and enjoyed touring regionally with new writing projects that all went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Her passion for new writing turned into novel writing and she gained an MA in Creative Writing from Brunel University. Using her experience on the stage and writing skills, Hayley started teaching musical theatre to children that landed her a job in Dubai. It was during her time living in the Emirates that she set up her own company, Hayley’s Comet, training children and teenagers in all aspects of theatre including writing their own shows. Hayley also became a regular voice presenting on Dubai Eye 103.8.

She relocated to the UK in 2016 and lives in London with her husband and their two children.

You can follow Hayley on Twitter @HayleyDWrites for more information.

I can’t believe it’s almost four years since Emma Cooper last featured on Linda’s Book Bag (in an excruciating post here that shows just how the blog has evolved – sorry Emma for the awful quality of that early blog post – I’ve improved now!). However, I’m delighted to rectify the situation with a review of Emma’s latest release The First Time I Saw You and I’d like to thank the lovely folk at Team Bookends for sending me a surprise copy.

Published by Headline Review in paperback on 9th January 2020, The First Time I Saw You is available for purchase through the links here.

The First Time I Saw You

Lost:
Six-foot-two Irish man who answers to the name Samuel McLaughlin.
Has weak shins and enjoys show tunes.
If found, please return to Sophie Williams.

Before Sophie met Samuel she saw the world in grey.
Before Samuel met Sophie, he never believed in love at first sight.

When they first meet, something tells them they are meant to be.
But fate has other ideas.

Now they have lost each other and can’t see a way back.
But they’ve already changed each other’s lives in more ways than they ever expected…

My Review of The First Time I Saw You

Sophie and Samuel find that mixing business with pleasure can be tricky!

I have absolutely no idea where to start in a review of Emma Cooper’s The First Time I Saw You. It’s a book that took hold of my heart, shredded it into tiny pieces and left me wrung out emotionally. In other words, I absolutely adored it!

Emma Cooper writes so emotively. Her descriptions are poetic so that they become vivid three dimensional images in the mind’s eye, giving place and setting an authenticity that transports the reader to Washington, Wales and Samuel’s family home in Ireland. The direct speech resonates with realism and warmth, bringing the characters in The First Time I Saw You alive and making them utterly human.

Indeed, there wasn’t an extraneous character, or moment with them, in this book. They elicited my empathy, my sympathy and, very often, a physical response so that I wanted to climb into the pages of The First Time I Saw You and hold them, shake them and intervene in their messy, glorious, lives.

And yet… there’s something more than skilled writing, great settings and believable characters here. Emma Cooper imbues her words with a magic that transcends competent and emotive writing so that the reader is spellbound and captivated by the love, the fear, the grief, the despair and happiness woven throughout the story. I found the iterative image of Alice in Wonderland hugely effective, and affecting, too.

The narrative itself is just fabulous. The plot is so completely believable, partly because not everything works out quite as I had expected or indeed wanted, making it much more realistic and compelling as a result. I want to say so much more about the tiny hints and details that almost go unnoticed but I can’t spoil the story for others. Let me just say that the plot of The First Time I Saw You took me through every emotion until I had no free will but had to carry on reading until I had gulped the last word through messy, sobbing tears.

This is a book I won’t forget in a hurry. It’ll be going straight on my books of the year list for 2020. I loved every single moment with The First Time I Saw You. It is wonderful and I urge you to read it for yourself.

About Emma Cooper

Emma Cooper is a former teaching assistant, who lives in Shropshire with her partner and four children. She spends her spare time writing novels, drinking wine and watching box-sets with her partner of twenty-four years, who still makes her smile every day. Emma has always wanted to be a writer – ever since childhood, she’s been inventing characters (her favourite being her imaginary friend ‘Boot’) and is thrilled that she now gets to use this imagination to bring to life all of her creations.

You can find out more by following Emma on Twitter @ItsEmmacooper and finding her on Facebook.