I adore travel as much as (and possibly more than, dare I say it) reading, so it gives me great pleasure to welcome Alli Sinclair to Linda’s Book Bag today in celebration of Under the Spanish Stars as Alli tells us all about the exotic locations for her books.

Under the Spanish Stars is published today, 6th December 2016, by Lyrical Press, an imprint of Kensington and is available for purchase in e-book and paperback from Amazon UK, Amazon US, iBooks, Google Play, Kobo and from Barnes and Noble.

Under the Spanish Stars

Amid the vivid beauty of Granada, a woman entrusted with unraveling a family secret will discover the truth about her heritage – and the alluring promise of love…

When her beloved grandmother falls ill, Charlotte Kavanagh will do whatever she asks of her—even if it means traveling to a country that broke her abuela’s heart. Can an unsigned painting of a flamenco dancer unlock the secrets of her grandmother’s youth in Spain? To find the answers she needs, Charlotte must convince the charismatic and gifted musician, Mateo Vives to introduce her to a secluded gypsy clan.

The enigmatic Mateo speaks the true language of flamenco, a culture Charlotte must learn to appreciate if she wants to understand her grandmother’s past–and the flamenco legend that has moved souls to beauty, and bodies to the heights of passion. As Mateo leads her into the captivating world of the music and the dance, Charlotte embraces her own long-denied creative gift and the possibility of a future rich with joy…

On Location

A Guest Post by Alli Sinclair

I’m delighted to be celebrating the release of Under the Spanish Stars with all of you. Thank you so much for having me on your blog, Linda!

(You’re very welcome Alli)

I love to write stories set in exotic destinations that have family saga, mystery, and a touch of romance. My first book, Midnight Serenade, was set in Argentina and my next release will be Under the Parisian Sky, set (surprisingly!) in Paris (available from July 2017). I have been lucky enough to travel and live in some amazing parts of the world, and one of the aspects I love when travelling is learning about the country’s culture and history. I have Spanish ancestry so I was naturally drawn to setting a book there and when I was trying to figure out which part of Spain, I remembered the amazing and mysterious flamenco caves in Granada. From there the idea expanded into a multi-generational saga, with a decades old mystery, and a young woman on a quest to discover her heritage that has been shrouded in secrecy. That was when Under the Spanish Stars was born.

One of the reasons I like setting my books in foreign destinations is that the country’s culture and history can become a character in its own right. Elements such as weather, politics, music, art, and war, can have profound influences on the human characters in a story, and I pay just as much attention to the setting as I do with human characters. I think it’s entirely possible for readers to develop strong feelings one way or the other with the setting of a book. Have you ever read a story where the sights, smells, and atmosphere feel so very real that you could be standing in that country in that moment, even if it’s set one hundred years ago? I love that feeling and that’s what I aim to create in my books—a chance for readers to go on a journey of the senses and emotions and immerse themselves in a world they may never get the chance to visit. And for readers who have been to that destination, it’s a opportunity to revisit and reminisce.

As with all my books, they require in-depth research and I have been lucky enough to have flamenco and history experts help with Under the Spanish Stars. Through this research I uncovered some little known facts about flamenco and how it was heavily influenced by Spain’s political climate when General Franco ruled. In fact, in all three of my books, the stories explore how dance and music have had a strong effect on the politics of the country they are set in—tango and Argentina, flamenco and Spain, and the Ballets Russes in France.

Writing Under the Spanish Stars was such a delight. Spain is full of colour, a fascinating melting pot of cultures, breathtaking natural and man-made settings, and history that is intriguing and diverse—the perfect country to set a story with an emotional, cultural and geographical journey.

About Alli Sinclair

Alli Sinclair is a multi award-winning author of books that combine travel, mystery, and romance. An adventurer at heart, Alli has climbed some of the world’s highest mountains and immersed herself in an array of exotic destinations, cultures, and languages. Alli’s stories capture the romance and thrill of exploring new destinations and cultures that also take readers on a journey of discovery.

You can find out more on Alli’s website, on Facebook, Goodreads and by following her on Twitter. If you would like to be part of Alli’s VIP Club with free membership and a chance to receive giveaways and competitions especially for members, you can sign up here.

Having previously interviewed Conrad Williams, author of Hell is Empty here on Linda’s Book Bag, I’m delighted to be part of the launch Celebrations for Hell is Empty, book three in the Joel Sorrell series. Hell is Empty was published by Titan on 25th November 2016 and is available for purchase in e-book and paperback here and through following the publisher links.

Today I have an extract for you from Hell is Empty and the chance for readers in the UK, Canada and the US to enter to win one of three paperback copies of the book.

Hell is Empty

Private Investigator Joel Sorrell is exhausted and drinking hard, sustained only by a hopeful yet baffling note from his estranged daughter, Sarah. An SOS from an old flame whose child has been kidnapped gives him welcomed distraction, but the investigation raises more questions than answers. Then comes the news that his greatest enemy has escaped from prison with a score to settle. With Joel’s life and the remnants of his family at stake, any chance of peace depends on the silencing of his nemesis once and for all. But an unexpected obstacle stands in his way…

An Extract from  Hell is Empty

The flat, without Mengele, was quiet and grey. He really brought the place to life, even if his raison d’être was to deliver death unto all. I retrieved my laptop from behind the sofa cushion and stuffed it in a rucksack. I looked around the flat longingly, wishing I could stay, but it was too risky. It was mid-afternoon, the sun leaving the sky, which was turning the colour of petrol. I’d suffered a long wait coming back, the motorway reduced to one lane because of an accident. I was hungry and tired, but I was always hungry and tired. I’d forgotten what it felt like to be rested and replete.

I went out the way I’d come, stealthy as a ninja wearing slippers. Back in the car. Back on the road. The whole operation had taken just over five minutes.

Except.

Well, there was a car behind me.

London, you say. No shit, you say.

And yes, it may well have been my paranoid guardian angel whispering away in my ear, but part of me was trying to persuade me that I’d seen the car earlier, as I had arrived. Not that it was particularly remarkable. Just a silver-coloured Skoda Octavia. Two people sitting in it. But I’d noticed it, even if only peripherally via the sleepy back brain. And I’d noticed it again now, as I drove through Marylebone in the direction of Marble Arch. I kept telling myself it was nothing, that I was reacting like a hair trigger, and that at every roundabout or traffic light they would turn a different way and I could laugh at myself for being the world’s biggest tool. But they kept on after me, staying three or four car lengths clear, staying on me even when there were cars or buses between us. I turned left and turned left and turned left until I was back where I started and they were still there. It was as if they didn’t care that I could see them. They were relentless.

And so now what? They were either Tann’s lot or Mawker’s lot. I could either try to lose them or I could confront them. There was something attractive about that: blocking them at a red light and swinging the door open. If it was Mawker’s lot, they might just tell me to get back in the car and stop acting like John Wayne. If it was Tann’s lot, I might just be turned into a fine red mist. But then if they were after me to kill me they could have done that already. Who’d have thought being followed could be such a brainteaser?

Lose them, then. And do it quick. I dropped into second and hurled the car into a side street, got up to third. Touch the brakes and hard right, really make those tyres sing. I opened the window and listened. An engine protesting – but it could just have been the echoes of my own as I toed it through built-up areas. I slalomed left and right down a series of streets. I was near Brompton now, around the back of the V&A museum, heading towards Sloane Square. I planned ahead: charge across Chelsea Bridge and get on to Nine Elms Lane, try to find somewhere to hide in the little jungle of warehouses, depots and distribution offices between the river and the railway line.

I was close to the south side of the bridge, Battersea Power Station like a table turned turtle to my left, when I heard and felt a pop just above my head. There was a sting of pain: blood started leaking into my left eye. I turned to see a bullet hole just to the left of the rear window. I hadn’t been shot (but I wondered by how many centimetres… or millimetres… I’d escaped the bullet); it was a metal splinter that had grazed my forehead. Looked worse than it was. I was more put out that they’d damaged the Saab than the fact they’d got their shooters out in broad daylight after all.

I wellied it, and came screaming through Queen’s Circus at the foot of Battersea Park at close on fifty miles per hour.

Another pop: one of the tyres shredded and control went walkabout. I managed to steady the car somewhat, but she was drifting and the steering wheel was becoming more and more unresponsive until it felt as if I was trying to wrestle it free of an invisible grizzly, intent on mashing us into the wall. I got over the railway bridge but by then I could hear ominous grinding from under the car so I brought her to a stop and got out smartish, tense against the sound of an engine throttling up, and a third shot, which I might or might not hear.

I sprinted along the main drag, looking for a place where I’d be able to shake off my pursuers, but they were stickier than a teenager’s sock. I thought about crossing the road and trying my luck in New Covent Garden Market, but here they came. If I tried to get over the road now I’d be in full sight of them: they’d turn me into chunky Joel salsa. I heard the squeal of brakes and car doors charging open. No voices. No entreaties to stop. Death was all over their lack of vocabulary. Silent. Final.

I did hear the gunshot when it came, for the record, as it whanged off a length of metal fence about a foot from my left ear. I couldn’t help thinking, uncharitably, that had Mawker shown the same kind of commitment and effort over the years then Tann might have been apprehended long before all of this had ever happened and Sarah would still be at home.

I jinked left down Kirtling Street, Battersea Power Station just up ahead. The site traffic entrance was heavily populated by guys in orange jackets who watched, bemusedly, as I came clattering by. They disappeared too, though, when they heard the gun fire. I don’t know if it was because of the acoustics or whether I’d put some distance between us, but it sounded as if that shot had originated further away than before. I risked a glance back but couldn’t see anything. I kept going along depressingly colourless access roads, past rusting gates topped with razor wire. The tarmac here was layered with pale dust. Cement, most probably. Another shot. Close to my foot; I saw sparks fly off the blacktop. Time slowed. I heard the breath in my lungs churning through each bronchiole. I felt the pulse of blood reach every capillary extreme. Ahead was a squat building with metal shutters and niggardly-looking windows. To the left was a ready mix plant dominated by a mound of sand twenty feet high. Warning signs were plastered all over the gates:

SAFETY STARTS HERE. LOOK AFTER YOURSELF, LOOK AFTER EACH OTHER. USE FLASHING BEACONS OR HAZARD WARNING LIGHTS BEYOND THIS POINT.

On, past a rank of front-end loading static bins. To the right, construction barriers and signs warning that demolition was in progress, but over the fence it was just flat concrete and a single lobster-red digger. Nowhere to hide. In front of me a host of vans and more hi-vis and helmets.

‘Help me,’ I gasped.

Another gunshot. One of the construction guys went down holding what remained of his knee between two suddenly crimson hands. His screams echoed off the acres of pristine glass on the new residential area behind him.

Fuck it, I thought, and charged through the lot of them before they knew what was happening. They were all either trying to help their colleague or fleeing the scene anyway. Nobody cared that I was bolting for the main doors and the millions of square feet beyond. A luxury collection of spacious suites and 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments and penthouses, the banners gushed. Last few remaining. It could have been describing my nerves.

Giveaway

Open in the UK, Canada and the US only I’m afraid. Giveaway closes at midnight UK time on Tuesday 13th December 2016. Click here to enter to win one of three paperback copies of Hell is Empty by Conrad Williams.

About Conrad Williams

Conrad Williams is the author of seven novels, four novellas and two collections of short stories. He has won two major prizes for his novels. One was the winner of the August Derleth award for Best Novel, (British Fantasy Awards 2010), while The Unblemished won the International Horror Guild Award for Best Novel in 2007.

Conrad Williams is an associate lecturer at Edge Hill University. He lives in Manchester, UK, with his wife, three sons and a monster Maine Coon.

You can find more about Conrad Williams on his website and follow him on Twitter. You will also find him on Facebook.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

 

I’m thrilled to be part of the launch celebrations for Scared to Death by Rachel Amphlett. Scared to Death is published today 6th December 2016 by Saxon and is available in paperback here.

To celebrate today’s publication, Rachel has kindly provided a guest post all about setting for her new Detective Kay Hunter series.

Scared to Death

A serial killer murdering for kicks.

A detective seeking revenge.

When the body of a snatched schoolgirl is found in an abandoned biosciences building, the case is first treated as a kidnapping gone wrong.

But Detective Kay Hunter isn’t convinced, especially when a man is found dead with the ransom money still in his possession.

When a second schoolgirl is taken, Kay’s worst fears are realised.

With her career in jeopardy and desperate to conceal a disturbing secret, Kay’s hunt for the killer becomes a race against time before he claims another life.

For the killer, the game has only just begun…

Living Locations

A Guest Post by Rachel Amphlett

I’ve always been a traveller at heart, and especially now that I currently live in Brisbane, Australia and am the proud owner of two passports, one Australian and the other EU.

Until recently, I’ve had to do a lot of the research for my writing via the internet. The sheer danger associated with some of the locations in my espionage novels has meant that I couldn’t travel to those places, even if I wanted to!

So when the nugget of an idea for a new character first popped into my head earlier this year, I was actually quite excited that I’d be able to base the series around my old stomping ground of Maidstone in Kent.

I lived on the outskirts of Maidstone between 2002 and 2005 before emigrating, and because we have family and friends in the area, it’s meant I’ve been able to return there every couple of years. Some things have changed, of course – the centre has been redeveloped in the intervening years, and I discovered a whole new dual carriageway that I really don’t recall being there in 2005 (!), but for the most part, familiar surroundings have made writing in a new sub genre a little easier.

What has changed for me since moving away is that I now view Maidstone through different eyes – that of a tourist. I have to admit, I took for granted how close we were to the countryside when living in Weavering – we used to walk our old dog, Odo, across the railway line and over a field into Bearsted, returning home via a pub (hey, it’s traditional English dog walking thing to do – don’t judge me!).

I used to work in the town during that time, and would sometimes have to walk to work along the A20 – the same route that one of my victims takes on her way home – trust me, I know what it’s like walking along there at night when it’s raining and cars are splashing through puddles – I’ve been soaked through plenty of times!

When I was writing Scared to Death, I was therefore able to use a mixture of my own memories, a recent trip back, and Google Earth to create the world within which my characters live and work. I tried to keep the locations as close as possible to real life, but there are a few exceptions to that rule – I think that’s okay in fiction.

For now, the Kay Hunter series will stay in the Maidstone area, although of course I’ll be including a bit of artistic licence around that – but rest assured, there are plenty of locations I’ve got lined up that will keep Kay and the team very busy for the foreseeable future, and it gives me a great excuse when I’m next back in the area to walk around and seek out new areas for story ideas!

About Rachel Amphlett

Rachel Amphlett is the bestselling author of the Dan Taylor espionage novels and the new Detective Kay Hunter crime thriller series, as well as a number of standalone crime thrillers.

Originally from the UK and currently based in Brisbane, Australia, Rachel’s novels appeal to a worldwide audience, and have been compared to Robert Ludlum, Lee Child and Michael Crichton.

She is a member of International Thriller Writers and the Crime Writers Association, with the Italian foreign rights for her debut novel, White Gold, being sold to Fanucci Editore’s TIMECrime imprint in 2014.

An advocate for knowledge within the publishing industry, Rachel is always happy to share her experiences to a wider audience through her blogging and speaking engagements.

You can visit Rachel’s website, find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

There’s more too with these other bloggers:

It’s so exciting to be part of the launch celebrations for Don’t Mean a Thing by Renee Conoulty as I’ve been following Renee since I began blogging and now she’s a published author.

Don’t Mean a Thing was published by Kindred Ink Press on 2nd November 2016 and is available for purchase from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon AUS, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Smashwords.

Not only do I have a guest post from Renee and an extract from Don’t Mean a Thing, but there’s a chance for you to enter to win a copy of Don’t Mean a Thing at the bottom of this blog post.

Don’t Mean a Thing

What if you finally took the lead, but life refused to follow?

Thirty-year-old introvert, Macie Harman, has finally found a career she is passionate about, and after months of training, she’s begun her new job in the Royal Australian Air Force. Leaving behind her family, friends, and the life she knew, Macie has travelled to the other side of the country where the only person she knows is Rachael, the extroverted girl she went through basic training with. Everywhere Macie goes, Rachael is there too.

While looking for a way to widen her circle of friends in her new town, Macie discovers a local swing dancing class. The jazz music captures her heart, and Matt, the sexy swing dancer, sweeps her off her feet. Matt has claimed the tropical Northern Territory as home and has no plans to leave. He loves his teaching career with its predictable routine and has a great bunch of friends. All he wants now is the right girl to make his house a home.

Military life is tougher than Macie expected, and not everyone can deal with the inevitable separations and last minute changes. Is this exciting but unpredictable life something Macie wants to fight for, or could she give it up and put down roots with Matt?

An Extract From Don’t Mean A thing

I stared out my window, trying to take it all in. Glimpses of a golf course. A bridge. Palm trees. Two rockets jutting up from the ground. Before I knew it, the taxi pulled into a parking space before the boom gate.

“You’ll have to walk from here, love. No taxis on the base.”

“That’s okay, I’ve got a lift.” I spotted Rachael waving from the car next to us. I passed him the military issued cab charge card and transferred my luggage into Rachael’s boot.

“Macie!” Rachael squealed, throwing her arms around me. Her blonde mane whipped into my face.“I hope you get a room in my block. Let’s go get your key.”

She shoved me towards the passenger side. I clambered in, pulling a strand of hair from my mouth. After presenting our ID cards to the security officer, Rachael drove on. The boom gate dropped behind us, closing off the civilian world.

Here we were, the Royal Australian Air Force Base Darwin, in the tropical Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia.

Home.

Rachael pulled up outside an older building.

“Here’s admin,” she said.

“Thanks. I’ll be back in a minute or two.”

“Don’t be silly. I’ll come with you and make sure you get a good room.”

Rachael trailed into the office behind me.

“Hello. Can I help you?” The receptionist greeted.

“Yes, please. I’m ACW Macie Harman. I’m posting in today, and I need to organise my accommodation and all the other things on this list.” I unfolded the joining instructions.

“Welcome to Darwin.” She replied with a smile. She wasn’t wearing a uniform. I was surprised that not everyone who worked on the base was military.

“Can Macie have the spare room in building twenty-nine?” Rachael asked.

The Top End

A Guest Post by Renee Conoulty

Most people know that the seasons in Australia and the rest of the Southern Hemisphere are the opposite to the Northern Hemisphere. While most people associate Christmas with cold snowy weather – we turn on the air-conditioning so that we can cope with wearing Santa hats while unwrapping our presents. My kids are even more confused, because we didn’t even have Summer in Darwin. Now that we’ve moved to New South Wales, I’ve had to explain the four seasons to them. In the Top End, we only had two seasons – the dry season and the wet season (also known as the hot season and the sweaty season). The temperature is fairly consistent all year round – mid 30s (Celcius) but the humidity increases dramatically in the wet season along with the thunderstorms and risk of cyclones.

I remember the first time I stepped out of a plane and walked across the tarmac in the tropical north of Australia. I was 17 and had flown from Ballarat, Victoria to Cairns in North Queensland to spend ten days up in the rainforest assisting a scientific research team. I remember feeling like I’d stepped into the butterfly enclosure at the Melbourne zoo. The humidity wrapped around me and I struggled to breathe. And that was in July.

Nothing could prepare me for the build up and the following wet season in Darwin. They call it troppo season for a reason. It sends you slightly mad. Unless you are sitting quietly in an air-conditioned room, you’re sweating.

Whenever I hung the washing on the line (in the morning so I could bring it in before the afternoon storm), I did so in my pyjamas. I didn’t want to soil another outfit and create more laundry. One load of washing would have me pouring with sweat and desperate for a shower.

Walking the kids from the school carpark to their classroom would send beads of sweat trickling down my forehead. We lived walking distance from the school, but I couldn’t comprehend walking in the wet season.

When I actually attempted physical exertion, I discovered shin sweat. Did you know that could even happen?

I also discovered that sweating bucket-loads unfortunately doesn’t burn calories.

About Renee Conoulty

Renee Conoulty is an Australian Air Force wife and mother of two. Her debut chick lit novel, Don’t Mean a Thing, is now available through Kindred Ink Press.

When she’s not devouring books, reviewing and blogging on HeySaidRenee, or writing her own stories, Renee can be found swing dancing. Or possibly napping. She tweets about reading and reviewing via HeySaidRenee and about writing, military life and dancing via ReneeConoulty, but hasn’t created a handle for nap talk yet.

You can sign up for Renee’s monthly newsletter for her highlights on blogging, reading, writing and life here. There’s more about Renee on her website, on Goodreads and on Facebook.

Click here for your chance to enter to win one of three e-copies of Don’t Mean a Thing.

 

My grateful thanks to Becky Hunter at Penguin Random House for an advanced blogger copy of What Alice Knew by T.A. Cotterell in return for an honest review. What Alice Knew is out now in e-book and will be published in paperback by Black Swan on 20th April 2017. What Alice Knew is available for purchase and pre-order through the publisher links here.

What Alice Knew

How far would you go to keep a secret?

Alice has a perfect life – a great job, happy kids, a wonderful husband. Until he goes missing one night; she receives a suspicious phone call; things don’t quite add up.

Alice needs to know what’s going on. But when she uncovers the truth she faces a brutal choice. And how can she be sure it is the truth?

Sometimes it’s better not to know.

My Review of What Alice Knew

Alice has been away painting a portrait when she receives a call from her daughter saying Ed, Alice’s husband, hasn’t come home and so begins a change to all their lives.

My goodness. I love a psychological thriller and What Alice Knew fitted the bill perfectly. I hadn’t actually intended on reading it yet, but I picked up the book, read the first few pages and was so seduced by the assured quality of the writing, the voice of authority in the narrator and the revealing of a world about which I know nothing – art – that I was hooked and simply couldn’t set it aside until I’d consumed every word.

I thought What Alice Knew was complex, intelligent and thought provoking. There were so many layers to this narrative, akin to the paint with which Alice builds up her paintings, that I feel I need to reread What Alice Knew time and time again to appreciate them fully, especially the subtle cultural references (like Macbeth and Gatsby) which just added to the sheer pleasure of reading. The art imagery underpins the whole of the narrative and I want to go back and research some of the paintings mentioned before I reread the book. I loved the way the chapter numbers were presented within picture frames, for example. This suggested to me not only the theme of art running through the story, but also the concept of being framed in a crime and also being intellectually constrained by borders and the emotional boundaries of our past in much the same way as the numbers are confined within the rectangles. It was also as if the boundaries of certain truths were immutable, like the frames, so that Alice had to behave in some of the ways she did. I think T.A. Cotterell has produced a narrative to make the reader think in so many ways.

I loved the characterisation. Essentially we only really see characters through the filter of Alice’s perception in this first person account. Alice lives in a world of art, but also of artifice so that at the same time Alice was making her decisions I found I was made to question her actions and my own morality, and not always comfortably either. I thought this was masterful writing because I no longer seemed to be in possession of my own mind. T.A.Cotterell creates a situation that had me changing my mind and standpoint without my permission. In fact, I felt Alice lives her life one step removed from reality as she paints, possibly deluding herself about what she sees in her subjects and using a canvas to represent her version of the sitter’s truth in the same way many of us live our lives. It left me wondering what truth really is and how we construct our own validity.

I also thought the other themes represented were challenging and riveting. The notion of family and how it makes us who we are, the concept of loyalty, the social mores of today’s society and social media all weave through the text so that there is an almost hypnotic realism that made me quite tense at times.

What Alice Knew is not what I was expecting. It’s quite unlike any other psychological thriller I’ve read and I can’t praise it highly enough.

About T.A. Cotterell

T. A. Cotterell read History of Art at Cambridge University. He worked in the City before resigning to become a freelance writer. He is now a writer and editor at the research house Redburn. He is married with three children and lives in Bristol.

You can follow T.A. Cotterell on Twitter.

Having been privileged to host a guest post from Marnie Riches yesterday on Linda’s Book Bag (that you can read here), I’m delighted to be helping to reveal her first paperback release Born Bad.

Born Bad will be released in paperback by Avon, an imprint of Harper Collins on 9th March 2017 and is available for pre-order here.

Born Bad

A powerful, gritty novel set in the criminal underworld of Manchester from bestselling author Marnie Riches.

Manchester’s criminal underworld is shaken to the core when gang leader Paddy O’Brien is found bleeding by the poolside of his sprawling Bramshott mansion. So begins a fierce battle for the South Side, with the leading Manchester gangsters taking the law into their own hands – even when they have to play dirty to win…

This is a brand new crime series from the bestselling Marnie Riches; a fast-paced, gritty and darkly comic novel that brings the grime of Manchester to life…

About Marnie Riches

Marnie Riches grew up on a rough estate in Manchester. She learned her way out of the ghetto, all the way to Cambridge University, where she gained a Masters degree in German & Dutch. She has been a punk, a trainee rock star, a pretend artist, a property developer and professional fundraiser. Previously a children’s author, now, she writes crime and contemporary women’s fiction.

Marnie Riches is the author of The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die – the first installment of the George McKenzie crime thriller series, published by Maze and Avon at Harper Collins.

In her spare time, Marnie likes to run (more of a long distance shuffle, really) travel, drink and eat all the things (especially if combined with travel) paint portraits, sniff expensive leather shoes (what woman doesn’t?) and renovate old houses. She also adores flowers.

You can follow Marnie on Twitter, visit her website and find her on Facebook.

It’s so lovely to be celebrating Does My Bump Look Big In This by Amy Lynch as I read the first book about Rebecca and Barry, Bride Without a Groom, some time ago and you can read that review here. I also have an extract from Bride Without a Groom here.

The sequel to Bride Without a Groom, Does My Bump Look Big In This was released in paperback on 9th November 2016 and is available for purchase in paperback and e-book here.

Does My Bump Look Big In This

The mother of all comedies is due…

Newlyweds Barry and Becky are just back from their tropical honeymoon. The tans are gorgeous, and it was five star luxury all the way. But there’s a problem. Barry’s desperate for a baby, and Becky’s not quite so keen. Surrounded by pregnant friends and a mother who’s talking about the ticking of invisible biological clocks, Becky starts to feel the pressure. When a surprise pregnancy rocks the boat, Becky’s friends and family are rooting for her all the way.

Will she navigate the choppy waters to motherhood?

Will she survive antenatal classes?

Can she avoid stretchmarks, indigestion and her dreaded boss?

And most importantly of all… does her bump look big in this?

My Review of Does My Bump Look Big In This

The honeymoon is over for Rebecca and long-suffering Barry, but Rebecca’s friends aren’t as interested in the photos as she’d hoped. They are more focused on babies and that doesn’t interest Rebecca at all!

Does My Bump Look Big In This is such a fun read. I laughed aloud at several moments and I have absolutely no idea how poor Barry puts up with his wife. I must admit, the more I read, the more glad I was that I’m child-free! I still can’t warm to the self-obsessed Rebecca, but she’s like some hideous car crash – you just can’t help looking – and I can’t help reading about her. What worries me is that I have a horrible feeling there are people just like her in society who are as shallow, self-obsessed and essentially lazy. Amy Lynch has brilliantly created a comic monster in her writing.

Whilst this is a lighthearted and entertaining read, Does My Bump Look Big In This also explores some bigger themes and issues. My heart went out to Barry as he struggled to tell Rebecca about his redundancy and Amy Lynch explores so creatively how we interact as couples and families. I’m sure all those exaggerated fears and desires Rebecca displays are felt to some extent by most pregnant women and they will be able to relate to this narrative really well.

I liked the structure of the book immensely too. Rebecca is so outrageous in her behaviour and demands that the first person approach allocated to her is just right. She approaches the reader directly at times and that made me feel I was part of the entertaining events. I  also appreciated the way Rebecca’s sections are counterbalanced by the third person writing about Barry so that just when she becomes overwhelming there is a quietness and sanity to allow time to reflect.

Although a sequel, Does My Bump Look Big In This works just as well as a stand alone read and if you’re looking for some fun whilst you wait for your own baby to arrive, Amy Lynch is the writer for you!

About Amy Lynch

Amy Lynch is an Irish author of humorous romantic women’s fiction, but not always with fairy tale endings! She has been working in the charity sector for many years, is married and has two young children. When she is not writing, she can be found juggling school runs, packing lunch boxes, tackling the laundry mountain and walking two large rescue dogs who stare at her until she walks them. Talk about multi-tasking!

Her debut novel Bride Without a Groom, a laugh out loud Bridezilla comedy, was published by Avon, Harper Collins in May 2015.

You’ll find Amy on Facebook and you can follow her on Twitter. You can also visit her website.

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I’m thrilled to be part of the launch celebrations for The Girl Who Had No Fear by Marnie Riches. The Girl Who Had No Fear is book four in the George McKenzie series and was published by Maze, a Harper Collins digital imprint, on 1st December 2016 and is available for purchase here.

I’m so excited to be sharing a guest post from Marnie Riches today, all about kick-ass heroines.

The Girl Who Had No Fear

Amsterdam: a city where sex sells and drugs come easy. Four dead bodies have been pulled from the canals – and that number’s rising fast. Is a serial killer on the loose? Or are young clubbers falling prey to a lethal batch of crystal meth?

Chief Inspector Van den Bergen calls on criminologist Georgina McKenzie to help him solve this mystery. George goes deep undercover among the violent gangs of Central America. Working for the vicious head of a Mexican cartel, she must risk her own life to find the truth. With murder everywhere she turns, can George get people to talk before she is silenced for good?

A pulse-pounding race against time, perfect for fans of Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo.

#NoFear – Crime-fiction Heroines That Kick Ass

A Guest Post by Marnie Riches

When I penned The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die – the first book in the George McKenzie series – I consciously chose to write a capable, mouthy female criminologist as my lead protagonist. In commercial crime fiction, gung-ho, kick-ass and boasting possession of gigantic cojones are characteristics normally reserved for the likes of Jack Reacher and Harry Hole. But they shouldn’t be. There are many women I have known personally who are as tough as old boots and daring as the devil. George is in many ways my ode to those real life heroines.

In The Girl Who Had No Fear, I think George faces her most dangerous challenge yet by taking on the might of a brutal Mexican drugs cartel. For me, it’s important to write the sort of heroine who could kill you with her intelligence as well as carefully placed thumbs. And I’m pleased to say that George frequently takes out her enemies with her barbed tongue alone! So, badass female characters are very much my thing as a reader, too.

Taking all that into account, here are my three favourite heroines in crime fiction:

Clarice Starling: In Thomas Harris’ classic crime novel, The Silence of the Lambs, it is Clarice, the trainee FBI agent, who is chosen by her boss to rush in where qualified FBI agents fear to tread – right into the maximum security wing of a Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Clarice, being a brainy and physically capable sort, succeeds in piquing evil genius, Dr. Hannibal Lecter’s curiosity before capturing his heart. For her tenacity alone, she deserves to parade the skin-flaying serial killer, Buffalo Bill’s scalp on her belt.

Lisbeth Salander: Stieg Larsson’s world-famous, spiky goth of a heroine is really what persuaded me to write my own crime novel with mouthy brainiac, George in the lead. I loved Salander the moment I met her in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. She looks amazing. She’s socially awkward. She’s super-intelligent. She really does kick actual ass. I loved her unapologetic non-conformist sexuality. I loved the fact that she could be heroic whilst also being almost certainly somewhere on the autistic spectrum. Most of all, she was refreshing. If only she didn’t have to be an easy victim of sexual abuse as a pre-condition to triumph! It’s the only downside to an otherwise wonderful character, and Salander is not to be missed.

Lori Anderson: Steph Broadribb is a new name on the crime-writing scene in the UK, though, as the highly popular blogger, Crime Thriller Girl, she’s definitely no stranger to it. Lori Anderson’s not your average crime fiction lead. She’s a bounty hunter, for a start, and an American! I found Steph’s debut, Deep Down Dead unputdownable. This was due, in part, to Lori’s strong character. She was brilliant at battering the living daylights out of some really nasty characters with only a can of pepper spray and feminine ninja cunning. Her maternal instincts were heart-rending. And she even managed to get jiggy with a hot guy amid some challenging circumstances. Lori Anderson is a heroine to watch!

There are also a number of excellent female detectives in UK crime fiction – Sarah Hilary’s Marnie Rome and Eva Dolan’s DS Ferreira spring to mind. Ava Marsh’s Stella in Untouchable is also pretty special. But here, I’ve selected the biggest, loudest and most unusual characters that have appealed to me.

Which of your favourite reads boast a heroine who has #NoFear?

About Marnie Riches

Marnie Riches grew up on a rough estate in Manchester. She learned her way out of the ghetto, all the way to Cambridge University, where she gained a Masters degree in German & Dutch. She has been a punk, a trainee rock star, a pretend artist, a property developer and professional fundraiser. Previously a children’s author, now, she writes crime and contemporary women’s fiction.

Marnie Riches is the author of The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die – the first installment of the George McKenzie crime thriller series, published by Maze and Avon at Harper Collins.

In her spare time, Marnie likes to run (more of a long distance shuffle, really) travel, drink and eat all the things (especially if combined with travel) paint portraits, sniff expensive leather shoes (what woman doesn’t?) and renovate old houses. She also adores flowers.

You can follow Marnie on Twitter, visit her website and find her on Facebook.

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I originally began Linda’s Book Bag simply to share my views of the books I read. However, since then the blog has developed and one of the aspects I really enjoy is supporting authors. I haven’t had time to read Denise Ersalahi Erguler’s latest book The Essence, which is her first YA science fiction fantasy book, but really wanted to support Denise given her health battles. Denise has previously featured on Linda’s Book Bag with a great guest post about writing and dyslexia which you can read here.

The Essence was on 30th November 2016 and is available in e-book here, but you have a chance to win an e-copy at the bottom of this blog post.

The Essence

How far would you go for the man of your dreams? To another town, another country or … another planet?

On a perfectly ordinary day in Central London, the perfectly ordinary Fiona falls through a sink hole and wakes up on the Planet Nageena. There, in a parallel world, war is raging between two factions, the Geenans and the Kwades, and both sides believe that Fiona has the secret that will save their world.

All Fiona knows is that she has finally come face to face with the man she has been dreaming of – literally – every night for as long as she can remember … and he doesn’t want to know.

Can Fiona possibly save Nageena? And how far will she be risking not only her dreams but her own life to do it…?

About Denise Ersalahi Erguler

Denise Ersalahi Erguler moved to North Cyprus 10 years ago from London where she lives with her husband, and two young children. In her past life, Denise was an interior designer concentrating on open office space. Denise is currently battling a rare form of brain cancer, and when she is well enough she helps run the family business, a successful fabric and home furniture store. Denise writes for children and adults, and The Essence is her first adult/young adult Sci-Fi fantasy book.

You can follow Denise on Twitter and catch up with her on Facebook.

For your chance to enter to win an e-copy of The Essence, open internationally until UK midnight on 9th December 2016, click here.

I’m such a fan of Amanda Prowse that I’m thrilled to be part of the launch celebrations for The Food of Love which was published yesterday, 1st December 2016, by Lake Union. The Food of Love is available for purchase in e-book, audio book and paperback here.

Since I began blogging I have reviewed Another Love by Amanda Prowse here, and My Husband’s Wife here. I was also honoured to host an interview with Amanda that you can read here.

The Food of Love

Inspired by Amanda’s own extreme struggle with body image and a family history of anorexia, this is a compelling and heart-wrenching look at family, food and the challenge of raising teenagers in our self-obsessed, image conscious society.

Freya Braithwaite knows she is lucky. Nineteen years happily married to a man who still excites her, two beautiful teenaged daughters, and her dream career as a health food writer. Her home is filled with love and laughter, with a passion for food at its very core.

But no amount of love could have prepared Freya for the devastating impact of anorexia and bulimia on her family. In a desperate battle to rescue her youngest child from its clutches, Freya will do all she can to save her daughter, her marriage and her family. But how can she when food, the social glue of their family, is both the problem and the solution? Is Freya’s own obsession with clean eating partly to blame? And how can you save someone who doesn’t want to be saved?

My Review of The Food of Love

Under the very nose of her food writer mother Freya, Lexi is spiralling into the clutches of anorexia with a disease that will affect the whole family.

I have always loved everything I’ve ever read by Amanda Prowse, finding her able to look inside the very soul of humanity and create characters who are vivid, human and multi-faceted. However, in The Food of Love I truly believe she has surpassed herself. I think The Food of Love is possibly Amanda Prowse’s best novel yet.

Frequently when I read Amanda Prowse’s books I’m reduced to tears, but that didn’t happen this time. It wasn’t because I wasn’t moved by the situation the Braithwaite family find themselves in, but rather that I experienced such a range of emotions from sadness and empathy to shock and horror that it was almost as if I dare not let go otherwise I wouldn’t recover. I felt a visceral response which reminded me very much of the feelings I have recently endured in my own life, albeit in different circumstances with my stroke affected father and his eventual death. When I read the time countdown sections I was in a state of perpetual fear wondering what their outcome might be.

The writing is a masterful account of what it is like to live with someone with a terrible mental illness whom you love but can’t help. The relationship between Freya and Lockie, for example, is so realistic my heart broke for them. I would like to see The Food of Love read by those with family members in similar circumstances and by those working in professions that support them as it gives a terrible insight into a family in meltdown and provides some answers as to what might, and might not, help. The research and honesty that has gone into this spellbinding narrative is outstanding.

I feel I ought to write more about The Food of Love, but I can’t. Its effect is sitting in my very soul and I don’t have sufficient vocabulary to explain. Just read it for yourself.

About Amanda Prowse

Amanda Prowse is a bestselling novelist with an incredible 136K followers on Twitter. This is her sixteenth novel and her books have been translated into a dozen languages and regularly top bestseller charts all over the world. Amanda has been dubbed ‘The Queen of Domestic Drama’ and writes about ordinary women and their families who find their strength, courage and love tested in ways they never imagined.

Through writing The Food of Love, Amanda has come face to face with her own feelings of shame, secrecy and obsession with food. Overweight as a child and a yo-yo dieter as an adult, Amanda has struggled with body image and overeating all her life.

All of Amanda Prowse’s wonderful writing is available here .

You can follow Amanda Prowse on Twitter and visit her web site here. You will also find her on Facebook.

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