It’s been a real joy to read and review Celebrations at the Chateau by Jo Thomas for My Weekly magazine on their online platform.

I love Jo Thomas’s books and most recently reviewed Finding Love at the Christmas Market here. I also have the following reviews of Jo’s books on Linda’s Book Bag:

Coming Home to Winter Island here

A Winter Beneath The Stars here

Sunset Over the Cherry Orchard here,

The Olive Branch here

Late Summer in the Vineyard here.

I also have a smashing post about Jo’s top 5 holiday destinations that you can read here.

Published by Penguin Corgi on 28th October 2021, Celebrations at the Chateau is available for purchase through the links here.

Celebrations at the Chateau

When their grandfather dies, Fliss and her sisters are astonished to inherit a French chateau! Travelling to Normandy to visit the beautiful if faded house, they excitedly make plans over delicious crepes and local cider in the town nearby.

But they soon discover the chateau needs major work, a huge tax bill is due . . . and there’s a sitting tenant to whom they owe a monthly allowance.

Unable to sell but strapped for cash, Fliss determines to spruce up the elegant old rooms and open a B&B. But, why is Jacques, the local mayor, so hostile? How did Fliss’s grandfather come to own the place anyway? And will Jacques and Fliss be able to put their differences aside to save the chateau?

Inspired by Escape to the Chateau, this cosy and uplifting novel to curl up with, from the author of Escape to the French Farmhouse and Finding Love at the Christmas Market.

My Review of Celebrations at the Chateau

My full review of Celebrations at the Chateau can be found on the My Weekly website here.

However, I can say that Celebrations at the Chateau is a wonderful, warm hearted book that transports the reader to a glorious French setting and makes them feel thoroughly entertained and happy!

Do visit My Weekly to read my full review of this super book!

About Jo Thomas

Jo Thomas worked for many years as a reporter and producer, first for BBC Radio 5, before moving on to Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and Radio 2’s The Steve Wright Show. In 2013 Jo won the RNA Katie Fforde Bursary. Her debut novel, The Oyster Catcher, was a runaway bestseller in ebook and was awarded the 2014 RNA Joan Hessayon Award and the 2014 Festival of Romance Best Ebook Award. Jo lives in Pembrokeshire with her husband and three children, where cooking and gathering around the kitchen table are a hugely important and fun part of their family life.

You can visit Jo’s website, find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @jo_thomas01. Jo’s also on Instagram.

It was a delight to find a surprise copy of children’s book The Missing Trick written by Robin Jacobs and illustrated by Aimee Wright in my book post a few weeks ago. My grateful thanks to Lefki at Cicada for sending it to me in return for an honest review.

Published by Cicada on 2nd September 2021, The Missing Trick is available for purchase here.

The Missing Trick

Louis is a young street magician. He is setting up for his show but he can’t find his rabbit anywhere. He looks inside his hat but finds only a bouquet of flowers, which is caught by a a passing woman as he throws it away in disgust. He looks under his cups, spilling out dozens of balls, which are pounced upon by a group of kids. An endless string of scarves comes out of his sleeve and is wrapped around the neck of a posh lady…. With each trick, his audience grows, and unbeknownst to Louis, his show is unfolding brilliantly… But WHERE could that pesky rabbit be hiding???

Finally, Louis looks in his bag…. climbs in it…. and disappears. Now the rabbit AND Louis are missing! The audience hold their breaths until, POOF! Louis appears on the table in a puff of smoke. They erupt in a roar of applause. Louis, bemused, notices them for the first time. He takes off his cap to take a bow. The rabbit is sitting on his head. This is funny but also empowering story about a child, unaware of his own talents, who creates a diverse community around him, delighting in his show.

My Review of The Missing Trick

Louis has lost his rabbit for his magic tricks.

As with all other books from Cicada that I’ve read, The Missing Trick is another top quality children’s picture book. It’s beautifully produced with a solid, robust cover and illustrated end papers that fit the story brilliantly so that there’s a feeling of luxury attached to it. The durability of the cover means this book would be perfect for both home and pre-school settings.

The story is charming as Louis pulls all kinds of items out of his pockets, sleeves and cloak as he searches for the missing rabbit. I can imagine children having great fun predicting what might emerge and The Missing Trick is great for developing vocabulary as all kinds of items appear that children can name. There’s also a lovely joke as Louis also disappears as well as the rabbit.

Other jokes are visual as the fantastic illustrations underpin the story superbly, such as the bunch of flowers ending up with the couple obviously in love. The illustrations as just wonderful – vibrant, colourful, engaging and so well balanced against white space. Louis’s expressions would be perfect for exploring feelings and emotional literacy with young children. However, what I loved most about The Missing Trick was the diversity included in the illustrations. When Louis finally reappears out of his bag of tricks, the audience is filled with people of colour so that all children will find someone to relate to in the story. It really is wonderful, and sadly infrequent, to find such diverse ethnicity in children’s books.

I loved too, the underpinning message that we may have talents that we’re unaware we have. Louis is surprised by the crowd’s reaction to his antics in searching for the rabbit as he entertains them unwittingly. It’s a super idea to show children that how we see ourselves may not be how others see us and it’s a boost to confidence.

The Missing Trick is a delightful picture book full of fun that young children will adore.

About the Authors

Aimee Wright is a young illustrator living and working in Northumberland. Graduating with First Class Honours form Leeds Arts University in 2019, she has since worked with a range of clients. Drawing in pen and ink, her character-filled illustrations evoke nostalgia whilst also drawing directly from contemporary life.

There’s more about Aimee on her website.website.

C K Smouha is a children’s author living and working in Bristol. She is the author of Born Bad (Cicada, 2018), Sock Story (Cicada, 2019) and The Problem With Pierre (Cicada, 2020).

It’s an absolute pleasure to welcome back Chris Malone to Linda’s Book Bag today. We stayed in together exactly a year ago when Chris’s first book in her #Glitch series, #stoptheglitch was published and you’ll find that post here. Chris has a brand new book out today and I’m delighted she’s agreed to return to tell me all about it.

Staying in with Chris Malone

Welcome back to Linda’s Book Bag Chris and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me again. Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

Hi Linda, it is such a pleasure to spend some time with you exactly a year after we first met. On that occasion, I brought a copy of #stoptheglitch, and today the next thriller in the Glitch series is published, #isolate.

Oo. Happy publication day Chris. What can we expect from an evening in with #isolate?

#isolate is not what you might expect from the title. It refers to a proliferation of off-grid eco-communities, called earths, enabling 21^st century dissenters to ‘isolate’ themselves from mainstream society, which they see as having become unethical.

It is also an anti-tech thriller: ‘A vision of our digital dependency and how to subvert it.’

I think #isolate sounds perfect for our current world Chris. Tell me more.

Miranda, the narrator, describes earths as, ‘Alternative communities, created by stealth, down muddy paths, taking advantage of relaxed planning restrictions.’ She says, ‘Attempts at self-sufficiency are gaining ground alongside a counter-culture of urban homeworking. People are sticking two fingers up at the life which let them down, and joining #isolate. Isolate from society. Isolate from the power games which use loaded dice. Isolate with people who they trust. Hide and thrive. Protect and survive.’

That sounds an appealing proposition to me!

These communities are connected by a nationwide band of ‘runners’ who communicate through alternative-tech ‘okes’. One of my pre-publication readers said: ‘Against the backdrop of 18 months of an unprecedented worldwide pandemic, the concepts of earths, okes and runners are a convincing glimpse into a possible future.’

I have a horrible feeling that future is possibly already here Chris.

#isolate explores the challenges thrown up by ‘growing tensions between the desire to live off-grid, and the need to be connected to others, between wealth and poverty, between localised autonomy and centralised control.’

‘A thoughtful take on post-pandemic society: a challenge to the old order, with new priorities ahead,’ #isolate is, as one reader put it, ‘Uncomfortably close to home, just a couple of steps beyond where we are as a society today: the corruption within parliament; technological glitches; the desire to lead a simpler life are all so current.’

But the two main characters, Robin and Miranda, are each isolated too. Robin, who narrated #stoptheglitch, is a figurehead for the dissenters. She has unwillingly become a celebrity, championing the ethical life, but all she really wants is obscurity, and isolation out in her clifftop home. Robin is, ‘the unassuming seeker of solitude.’

I rather like the sound of Robin.

At the start of the book, Miranda is the flip-side. She is driven, intent on success. This is how she describes herself: ‘Tougher than the best boots you can buy. Quicker than Usain Bolt. Sharper than a scalpel. I want to be able to attack a problem, find an out-of-the-box solution and enact it before anyone else has even guessed step one.’

‘Miranda keeps turning her back, to us the reader, to her friends, to the system, even to safety, so we never quite know what she’s going to do next, or where her true allegiances lie.. The faceless person – a spy – possibly one of the most isolated people in the world – in a different way, to Robin in Caernef.’

Another reader said: ‘I love the precarious and symbiotic nature of the relationship between Miranda and Robin.’

Although this isn’t my usual genre Chris, I think #isolate sounds fascinating. Who do you see as your readership?

I think that the eco-conscious will enjoy reading #isolate. One reader says: ‘I work in climate and energy, and in the push to reach net zero by 2050, then some of the things advocated in the earths – recycling, reuse, extended product lifespans, integration of digital tech, active travel (walking/cycling), using local networks/skills/services – would be useful pathways to lower carbon emissions.  But difficult to say if society is ready to make this kind of shift.  But then again, that’s something fiction can deal with!’

Let’s hope fiction can show us the way then! What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

When we met before, I was struggling with a coeliac diet, and failed to bring any food to share, but I think you will be pleased to hear that today I bring with me the aroma of home baking. Like many others, my prowess with a bread-maker has improved. My husband and I have been perfecting recipes for (gluten, lactose and sugar-free) cake. I am hoping you will enjoy a ‘dicky-bird’s piece’ of fresh homemade bread with lashings of butter, and a slice of carrot cake, with a pot of good strong breakfast tea. From a real teapot.

That sounds like my ideal food experience Chris. You can come back again!

We have to listen to ‘Mars’ from Holst’s Planets because it is Miranda’s ringtone. I once took my class on a school trip to Gustav Holst’s birthplace in Cheltenham, followed by a picnic in the park. I was listening to this music while writing several passages in #isolate.

That kind of atmospheric music must have really helped with your concept.

I have also brought with me a copy of #stoptheglitch, to remind us of our conversation a year ago, and a small silver bee, Arcadian Bee, with unusual powers.

Wonderful. And will there be another Glitch book?

Now well-into writing the third and final book in the Glitch series, #FutureProof, I am focusing on the blurred boundaries between actual and digital realities. #FutureProof is narrated by Poppy. Three books, three interwoven stories, shared with the reader by three very different strong but imperfect women.

I always love strong female characters Chris.

Me too. One reader said, ‘It’s refreshing to have female leading characters who do not rely on their appearance or hide behind a man in order to succeed.’

Quite right. Thanks so much for staying in with me on #isolate publication day Chris. I love the sound of this book and I’m sure readers will want a few more details so you pour that strong tea and I’ll tell them more:

#isolate

‘We have gone so far down the slippery slope of progress, that we all now need to call a halt.

We are slaves to technology, we are polluting our planet at an alarming rate, and too many of our leaders are concerned with lining their own pockets rather than enabling hardworking citizens to thrive.

Even more astounding is the emerging evidence that responsibility for the glitch lay, not with cyber-terrorists, not with the #isolators, but with our own government.

Friends, there is a way forward …’ Robin FitzWilliam, summer 2025

Set after the events of the glitch, Miranda investigates who is behind the series of attacks on national infrastructure in a race against time to prevent a total lockdown of technology. Her arch enemy, Robin, a misfit who is bold enough to speak out, and who lures mavericks into making an ethical stand to challenge the status quo, might be her only hope.

Now, framed with murder and on the run from the authorities, Miranda is determined to get as deep into Robin’s campaigns as she can, to live and breathe Robin, not only to be her shadow, but to be her. Meanwhile, #isolate is gaining momentum, playing out in the countryside and the cities against the backdrop of a looming general election.

An ingenious algorithm is used to promote #Spoiler: ‘Legitimately spoil your ballot paper and be counted.

Make a difference!’ How is it all linked? But more importantly, who can she trust?

Published by Burton Mayers today, 15th October 2021, #isolate is available for purchase in all the usual places including Blackwell’s and Hive.

About Chris Malone

Following retirement from a busy education career, Chris’s first two novels, Zade and #stoptheglitch were published in 2020. Chris was the first female thriller author to join Burton Mayers Books. The second novel in the Glitch series, #isolate, is released a year after publication of #stoptheglitch.

Having returned, with her husband, to live in Herefordshire, Chris is now enjoying a quieter pace of life, renovating the house, rewilding the garden, reading, writing and campaigning. She has willingly swapped her smart black heels for sturdy boots.

For more information about Chris, visit her website and follow her on Twitter @CMoiraM.

It’s publication day for Her Secret War by Pam Lecky and I’m delighted to bring you details all about this wonderful sounding book. I’m lucky enough to have a copy of Her Secret War on my TBR pile thanks to the team at Avon and I can’t wait to read it.

Published by Harper Collins’ imprint Avon on 14th October 2021, Her Secret War is available for purchase through the links here.

Her Secret War

A life-changing moment

May 1941: German bombs drop on Dublin taking Sarah Gillespie’s family and home. Days later, the man she loves leaves Ireland to enlist.

A heart-breaking choice

With nothing to keep her in Ireland and a burning desire to help the war effort, Sarah seeks refuge with relatives in England. But before long, her father’s dark past threatens to catch up with her.

A dangerous mission

Sarah is asked to prove her loyalty to Britain through a special mission. Her courage could save lives. But it could also come at the cost of her own…

A gripping story that explores a deadly tangle of love and espionage in war-torn Britain, perfect for fans of Pam Jenoff, Kate Quinn and Kate Furnivall.

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Doesn’t that sound wonderful?

About Pam Lecky

Pam is an Irish historical fiction author with Avon Books UK/Harper Collins. Pam is represented by Therese Coen at the Hardman & Swainson Literary Agency, London.

Her Secret War, a WW2 thriller, will be released on 14th October 2021. The second book in the series will be released in 2022.

The Bowes Inheritance, her debut novel, was awarded the B.R.A.G. Medallion; was shortlisted for the Carousel Aware Prize 2016; made ‘Editor’s Choice’ by the Historical Novel Society; long-listed for the Historical Novel Society 2016 Indie Award; and chosen as a Discovered Diamond in February 2017.

June 2019, saw the release of No Stone Unturned, the first book in the Lucy Lawrence Mystery series, set in the late Victorian era. This was closely followed by the sequel, Footprints in the Sand, in March 2020, which is set in Victorian Egypt. Pam is currently working on the third book in the series.

You can follow Pam on Twitter @pamlecky or visit her website for further information. You’ll also find Pam on Instagram and Facebook.

It’s a real thrill to be featuring The Rose Garden by Tracy Rees today as it is the first of a run of books I am reviewing for My Weekly magazine for their online platform. I was very excited to be invited to review for them. You can see an interview with me here on the My Weekly website.

I’m a huge fan of Tracy Rees’s writing and she has featured here on Linda’s Book Bag many times.

Most recently you’ll find my review of Tracy’s contemporary novel Hidden Secrets at the Little Village Church here.

Amy Snow was one of the first books I ever reviewed on the blog here.

I reviewed Florence Grace here and had a wonderful guest post from Tracy about the appeal of the C19th that you can read here.

Florence Grace was one of my Books of the Year in 2016 and you’ll see it featured here.

I also reviewed Tracy’s The Hourglass here and Tracy was kind enough to provide a guest post all about her memories of Richmond when Darling Blue was published. Darling Blue is still on my TBR but it’s just over a year ago that I reviewed The House at Silvermoor here.

The Rose Garden was published by Pan Macmillan on 19th August in ebook and is also available for purchase in paperback through the links here.

The Rose Garden

Every house has its secrets . . .

For twelve-year-old Ottilie Finch, London is an exciting playground to explore. Her family have recently arrived in Hamstead from Durham, under a cloud of scandal that Otty is blissfully unaware of. The only shadow over her days is her mother’s mysterious illness, which keeps her to her room.

When young local girl Mabs is offered the chance to become Mrs Finch’s companion, it saves her from a desperate life on the canals. Little does she know that all is not as picture-perfect as it seems. Mabs is about to become tangled in the secrets that chased the Finches from their last home, and trapped in an impossible dilemma . . .

My Review of The Rose Garden

My full review of The Rose Garden can be found on the My Weekly website here.

However, I can say that The Rose Garden is a sumptuously written historical drama that I adored, with vivid and engaging characters, wonderful settings and a plot that grips the reader. I loved it!

Do visit My Weekly to read more of my review.

About Tracy Rees

Tracy Rees was the first winner of the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller competition. She has also won the Love Stories Best Historical Read award and been shortlisted for the RNA Epic Romantic Novel of the Year. A Cambridge graduate, Tracy had a successful career in non-fiction publishing before retraining for a second career practising and teaching humanistic counselling. She has also been a waitress, bartender, shop assistant, estate agent, classroom assistant and workshop leader. Tracy divides her time between the Gower Peninsula of South Wales and London.

You can follow Tracy on Twitter @AuthorTracyRees or visit her website for more information. You’ll also find Tracy on Instagram.

About My Weekly Magazine

You can follow My Weekly on Twitter @My_Weekly and find them on Facebook and Instagram. The My Weekly website is here.

Some of you will be aware that five years ago, just a few weeks before my Dad died, we lost our great-niece Emma Faith at full term about 90 minutes before her birth. You can imagine how devastating Emma’s loss was to the family and to my niece and her husband in particular.

When I realised that Bella Cassidy’s book, Shoot the Moon, tackles such difficult aspects of life, albeit in a light-hearted manner, and this week is Baby Loss Awareness Week, I simply had to ask Bella to write a guest piece for Linda’s Book Bag.

Before I share that post with you, let’s find out about Shoot the Moon which is available for purchase here.

Shoot the Moon

In a world of brides wearing black, disorderly doves, and weddings on mountains – what could possibly go wrong? Quite a lot it seems, when you also have a heart-broken photographer who’s secretly given up on romance.

Tassie Morris is everyone’s favourite wedding photographer, famous for her photos of offbeat ceremonies and alternative brides. Yet commitment is proving impossible for Tassie herself, who cannot forget her first love.

When she’s sent to photograph a ceremony on Schiehallion – the Fairy Hill of the Scottish Highlands – she meets Dan, who might be the one to make her forget her past. That is, until a family crisis begins a chain of events that threaten to destroy not only Tassie’s love life, but her entire career.

Set in a colourful world of extraordinary weddings, Shoot the Moon explores the complexities of different kinds of love: romantic love, mother love, friendship. And, ultimately, the importance of loving yourself.

Tackling Difficult Topics in Fiction

A Guest Post from Bella Cassidy

This week marks Baby Loss Awareness Week, and it’s made me think about the fact that I’ve written three novels, two of which feature women losing their babies through miscarriage or stillbirth.

I’ve often wondered why I should have been drawn to research and write about these issues – having been lucky enough never to have experienced them personally. Family history briefly mentions that I was a rainbow baby – born after my mother had a miscarriage – and I’ve always been grateful to the baby who came before me. Also, in a previous life I co-founded a baby swimming company, and in 2006 one of my franchisees, Tamsin Brewis, suggested we fundraise for Tommy’s, the baby charity.

the extraordinary ordinary

I rang her to hesitantly check my estimate that Water Babies has since raised nearly £2million for the charity. ‘Er no, we’ve raised over four, and as of the end of this month it will be £4.5million.’

Wow.

And then it came back to me, the conversations we had with the staff at Tommy’s when Tamsin and I originally went to see them: the woman who’d had 18 miscarriages over six years, before she’d finally managed to give birth to a healthy baby. The women who easily fall pregnant, only to continually lose their babies; or those who find it impossible to conceive. Then there was the devastating cruelty of the phrase, ‘It’s nature’s way’ – clearly still an attitude today, given that one of the first things you see on Tommy’s home page is the sentence, ‘Losing a baby should never be ‘just one of those things’’. And on another, the hashtag #breakthesilence.

Tommy’s was started in 1992 to challenge the lack of answers surrounding premature birth. Since then it’s grown to be the UK’s largest charity researching the causes and prevention of pregnancy complications, miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth and neonatal death. Thanks to the charity putting research into practice at specialist clinics across the UK, the rates of heart-breaking losses are falling year on year -and it aims to have halved them by 2030.

When we visited the organisation in 2006, people just didn’t talk about miscarriage. And the strange thing is that now, in 2021, people still don’t really talk about, nor write about it. Just like I remember being hugely irritated by the attitude of a major childbirth organisation who told me, ‘We don’t want to publicise how potentially difficult breastfeeding can be’ – meaning it can hit new mothers like a sledgehammer when it turns out to be really hard – miscarriage and stillbirth are still something that women have to suffer almost in silence, despite it affecting every part of their life, often for the rest of their lives.

I was extremely grateful to be able to interview one of my former colleagues, who sadly lost her baby at twenty-one weeks. We spoke for over an hour, our voices low amongst the chatter and clatter of the café where we met, and I was shocked to discover the depth of pain she’d experienced, but so impressed by her strength and resilience, as well as the love woven into her story.

Next, I spent days scrolling through websites and chat rooms – women’s (and men’s) grief shading every page. I now know that a hospital can organise a full funeral, with a hearse, a tiny coffin and bearers to carry it, should you want. I watched a heart-breaking documentary, ‘Still Loved’, learning that 7,000 babies are stillborn, across the world, every single day. I read that if a baby dies after 20 weeks the mother will be encouraged to have a ‘natural birth’ – and I couldn’t begin to imagine the trauma of having to go through that.

It was like I’d entered a completely hidden world – reading page after page on a subject that remains taboo, yet affects so many.

For in the UK, it’s estimated that one in four pregnancies end in loss during pregnancy or birth. One. In. Four. That’s just so much grief that’s just not being talked about, nor depicted in the stories we read and watch. Thus creating a vacuum; when really women should be able to see their experiences reflected back at them, should they want.

I think I now understand why I’ve written my novels: because the memories of walking around the wards in Tommy’s have stayed with me. Fifteen years ago, I was privileged to see the tiniest of babies thriving under the hospital’s care; and the scores of cards lining the hospital walls, sent by grateful parents who’d never believed they’d one day carry their baby home. And it became deeply embedded in me how lucky I’ve been. For not only was I fortunate to give birth to two healthy babies, but I thrived during both pregnancies; never knowing the acute anxiety of ‘what if it goes wrong again.’

I have debated and deliberated over the cover of my first published novel, Shoot the Moon – executed, admittedly, in a bit of a rush. I find myself handing the book to people, saying, ‘It actually contains much deeper themes of attachment hunger and miscarriage than the cover might imply.’ Which is ironic, for I’ve always remembered Jojo Moyes expressing her frustration that, “So many women who write about quite difficult issues are lumped under the ‘chick lit’ umbrella. It’s so reductive and disappointing.” I for one was delighted when the term lost its traction in the UK – although interestingly it’s currently enjoying a strong resurgence in the US.

Yet numerous people in publishing have reassured me that the cover is right for the genre – and admittedly the novel does also contain doves flying amok, jaunts on borrowed horses and the traditional love story arc necessary for a contemporary romance. But I remain uncomfortable – and will one day change it for something less ‘lightweight’.

For being unable to conceive is heart-breaking, just as the loss of a child is deeply traumatic; leaving women (and men),as one mother described it, ‘being left grasping at something permanently just out of reach’.

Or, as my colleague told me, quietly, leaning over the table in the café, “The majority of the time I’m totally fine. It is what it is. She was never a person, I don’t have a memory of her, I’m totally fine. It’s just three days of the year when I crack and go into the ‘I should be inflating a balloon tonight’, and instead I’m sat there crying.”

So you see, to me, my cover feels a little too much like the phrase, ‘just one of those things.’ Just one of those things: like difficult breastfeeding, caesareans and miscarriage, that women are expected to cope with – quietly. Dismissed as ‘not that important’ by society – just as the research Tommy’s now carries out was also deemed unnecessary, thirty years ago.

I am immensely proud of the money Water Babies has raised for the charity – money that’s paid for the creation of a research centre in Warwick. It’s ten years since I stepped away from my company, but if I can still do one thing to help #breakthesilence it’s by continuing to write honest novels that reflect the depth and breadth of the hardships so many women experience, yet rarely hear being spoken about. Although, in the future, I’ll aim for more complex covers. Ones that pay proper tribute to lives which demonstrate the courage of the extraordinary ordinary; as opposed to being ‘just one of those things.’

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What a wonderful post Bella. You have expressed so much of what our family experienced. I think guest posts like this and books like Shoot the Moon are essential for breaking down the barriers to difficult topics. I know your book is a light hearted read with some weighty topics and I agree that finding the ‘right’ cover is a difficult balance, but what’s that old adage? Never judge a book by its cover!

Thank you so much for sharing this with us and huge congratulations on all your fund raising success.

About Bella Cassidy

Bella Cassidy grew up in the West Country – reading contemporary romances, romances, historical novels, literary fiction… Just about anything she could lay her hands on. After a few years in London, working as a waitress and in PR and advertising, she went to Sussex to read English – despite admitting in her pre-interview that this rather sociable period in her life had seen her read only one book in six months: a Jilly Cooper.

She’s had an eclectic range of jobs: including in the world of finance; social housing fundraising; a stint at the Body Shop – working as Anita Roddick’s assistant; as a secondary school teacher, then teaching babies to swim: all over the world.

She’s done a lot of research for writing a weddings romance, having had two herself. For her first she was eight months pregnant – a whale in bright orange – and was married in a barn with wood fires burning. The second saw her in elegant Edwardian silk, crystals and lace, teamed with yellow wellies and a cardigan. Both were great fun; but it was lovely having her daughter alongside, rather than inside her at the second one.

Bella Cassidy is the pen name of Jess Morency and you can follow Jess on Twitter @meHappyShed or visit her blog or website for further information. You can also find Jess on Instagram. Bella is on Facebook and Instagram.

Baby Loss Awareness

If you have been affected by baby loss, please visit the Baby Loss Awareness Week website or follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @BLA_Campaign.

Tommy’s

Tommy’s is dedicated to finding causes and treatments to save babies’ lives as well as providing trusted pregnancy and baby loss information and support.

Visit the Tommy’s website for further information. You can follow Tommy’s on Twitter @tommys, or find them on Facebook and Instagram.

Water Babies

Water Babies believes confidence starts with baby swimming. Their vision is a world where the physical and emotional development of every child is fully supported and nurtured from birth.

For more information, visit the Water Babies website, follow them on Twitter @WaterBabies or find them on Facebook and Instagram.

My enormous thanks to Gariella Drinkald at Midas PR for sending me a copy of Pug Actually by Matt Dunn in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share my review today.

Published by Harper Collins imprint HQ on 14th October, Pug Actually is available for pre-order here.

Pug Actually

When your dog plays Cupid…what could possibly go wrong?

Loyal rescue pug Doug wants his adoring owner Julie to find unconditional love and happiness – and he knows she won’t find either in the arms of Luke, her married boss.

Doug is terrified that Julie will become a lonely cat-lover if she stays single too long, but he can’t let her fall for any more of Luke’s empty promises. Julie needs to move on – and Doug is convinced that Tom, a newly divorced V-E-T, is perfect for her (despite his questionable occupation).

There’s just one problem: Julie and Tom can’t stand each other.

Doug doesn’t quite understand the quirks and complexities of human relationships, but he won’t let that get in the way of his mission to bring Tom and Julie together. After all, being a ‘rescue’ works both ways…

My Review of Pug Actually

Doug doesn’t like Julie’s boyfriend Luke one little bit.

Pug Actually is an absolute delight. Certainly it’s obvious from the cover, the genre and blurb that this will be a ‘happy ever after’ kind of read but my goodness the journey getting there is just glorious. It’s witty, entertaining and totally captivating and escapist reading that I loved. Reading Pug Actually brought me total joy, a smile to my face and some laughing aloud moments.

Told from Doug the pug’s point of view, there’s an innovative approach to the traditional rom-com in Pug Actually that works perfectly as Doug’s narrative voice shines through, immediately enchanting the reader and making them complicit in his actions to try to make Julie happy. As someone who doesn’t like dogs much, I thought Doug was magnificent. And because there is a relatively reduced palette of characters, Matt Dunn ensures the reader has absolute insight into their personalities through Doug’s astute and perceptive observations. I loathed Luke with a passion – enough to want to do him physical injury and whilst I’d have jettisoned him months ago, the writing is so convincing that I could accept Julie’s relationship with him. Her frustrating acceptance of Luke’s duplicity, her insecurity and her love for her Dad all had a totally realistic and authentic tone that drew me in and made me want her to be happy.

The plot zips along with brilliant pace and Pug Actually was one of those books I simply had to consume over a couple of days because not only did I want to discover how Doug’s plans might work out, but I loved it so much I didn’t want to set it aside. It’s a skilful thing to write a novel that makes a reader feel so happy but Matt Dunn has managed it brilliantly here.

Whilst Pug Actually is a light-hearted, uplifting read, it has some more weighty themes weaving through it too, giving it depth as well as entertainment. Jim’s grief over his wife’s death, marriage and security, trust and deception, new beginnings and self-sabotage mean that Pug Actually provides the reader with the perfect balance of food for thought and entertainment. Matt Dunn has the ability to illustrate humanities frailties with sensitivity and yet still keep a lightness of touch that is so much fun to read.

I loved Pug Actually. The world needs more people (and I use the word ‘people’ deliberately) like Doug in it. And if we can’t actually meet them in real life, what better than to read about them? I can’t recommend the fabulous Pug Actually highly enough. Just buy it!

About Matt Dunn

Matt Dunn is the author of numerous romantic comedy novels, including the bestselling The Ex-Boyfriend’s Handbook and A Day at the Office. He’s also written about life, love, and relationships for various publications including The Times, Guardian, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Company, Elle, and The Sun.

For more information about Matt, visit his website, follow him on Twitter @mattdunnwrites or find him on Facebook and Instagram.

My enormous thanks to Annabelle Wright at ED PR for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for Milly Johnson’s nineteenth novel, The Woman in the Middle. It’s a real privilege to start off the tour by sharing my review.

I’m such a fan of Milly, and you’ll find her featured on Linda’s Book Bag many times:

I’ve a review of I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day here

I reviewed My One True North here and it was one of my books of the year in 2020.

My review of The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew is here.

Milly was kind enough to write a piece for Linda’s Book Bag when The Mother of All Christmases was released in a post available here.

I have my review of another of Milly’s books, The Perfectly Imperfect Woman, here.

The Woman in the Middle will be published by Simon and Schuster on 14th October and is available for pre-order through the links here.

The Woman in the Middle

The emotional, uplifting and completely relatable new novel from Sunday Times bestseller Milly Johnson.

Shay Bastable is the woman in the middle. She is part of the sandwich generation – caring for her parents and her children, supporting her husband Bruce, holding them all together and caring for them as best she can.

Then the arrival of a large orange skip on her mother’s estate sets in motion a cataclysmic series of events which leads to the collapse of Shay’s world. She is forced to put herself first for a change.

But in order to move forward with her present, Shay needs to make sense of her past. And so she returns to the little village she grew up in, to uncover the truth about what happened to her when she was younger. And in doing so, she discovers that sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to find the only way is up.

My Review of The Woman in the Middle

Shay’s trying to keep all the plates spinning.

A confession. I wasn’t sure to begin with that I was going to love The Woman in the Middle as much as I have other books by Milly Johnson. I needn’t have worried. It wasn’t long before I found myself completely ensnared in Shay’s life, laughing and crying as I read because of Milly Johnson’s absolute ability to shine a light on real people, their hopes, their dreams and their realities. In fact, I think I was a bit resistant at the start because I found so much to resonate with me that it made for slightly uncomfortable reading. Whilst I don’t have the marital situation or the children of Shay’s life, I’d defy any reader not to find echoes of their own thoughts and feelings in the pages of this book; echoes so deftly presented by the author who manages to present humanity with such caring compassion.

The plot of The Woman in the Middle is absolutely brilliant and I’d love to see it as a Sunday evening winter television series as it has all the elements to rival any other such production. It has several dramatic moments that add entertaining dynamism, but it is the quieter aspects, Shay’s thoughts and the mundane elements of a woman’s life that are the real strength here. The Woman in the Middle is about the difficult process of rationalising and accepting our pasts, of being comfortable in our own skin without becoming complacent, of supporting without being overbearing, of living our own lives and allowing others to live theirs. The warmth of Milly Johnson’s writing illustrates these elements perfectly but at the same time she isn’t afraid to show her readers the full extent of her characters’ personalities. Shay might be the heroine of the story but she is by no means perfect. She can be quick to speak, rash and frustrating, as well as thoughtful, loving and supportive so that I cared about her all the more as a result. There’s a depth and range across all the characters with both men and women equally treated so that The Woman in the Middle feels balanced and true to life.

Although to comment on all the themes would be to spoil the story, Milly Johnson tackles some big issues here in The Woman in the Middle. Again, there is a glorious balance of darkness and light with a down-to-earth approach that I found so engaging. What struck me most was the underlying message of kindness that weaves through the story. Sometimes that kindness is mis-placed despite being well-meaning and there are consequences, but nothing can detract from the warmth of this book. Kindness to others and to ourselves is key, but I genuinely felt that in writing The Woman in the Middle Milly Johnson has brought kindness to her readers, giving them permission to put themselves first on occasion and helping them to realise it isn’t always necessary to make yourself the filling in a sandwich of duty and responsibility.

I may have begun The Woman in the Middle a little uncertainly, but I ended it feeling uplifted, included and as if Milly Johnson had taken a long look into my head and decided exactly what I needed to read to make the world a better place for me. The Woman in the Middle is a restorative book – and not just for the characters! Don’t miss it.

About Milly Johnson

Milly Johnson was born, raised and still lives in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

A Sunday Times bestseller, she is one of the Top 10 Female Fiction authors in the UK with millions of copies of her books sold across the world. In 2020, she was honoured with the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Outstanding Achievement Award and was a featured author in the Reading Agency’s Quick Reads and World Book Night campaigns.

A writer who champions women and highlights the importance of friendship and community, Milly’s characters are celebrations of the strength of the human spirit. The Woman in the Middle is her nineteenth novel.

You can follow Milly on Twitter @millyjohnson and Facebook, or you can visit her website for more information. You’ll also find Milly on Instagram.

The Woman in the Middle by Milly Johnson is published on 14^th October by Simon & Schuster in hardback, eBook and audiobook. Milly will be joining My Weekly for a virtual event on Thursday 21^st October at 7pm – register for free here.

There’s more with these other bloggers too:

With Will Dean’s The Last Thing to Burn one of my favourite reads of 2021 so far (my review of which you’ll find here) I simply couldn’t resist breaking my self imposed blog tour ban to participate in this one for Will’s latest book Bad Apples. My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part and to Point Blank for sending me a copy of Bad Apples in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share that review today.

Published by One World News Imprint, Point Blank, on 7th October 2021, Bad Apples is available for purchase through the links here.

Bad Apples

A murder

A resident of small-town Visberg is found decapitated.

A festival

A cultish hilltop community ‘celebrates’ Pan Night after the apple harvest.

A race against time

As Visberg closes ranks to keep its deadly secrets, there could not be a worse time for Tuva Moodyson to arrive as deputy editor of the local newspaper. Powerful forces are at play, and no one dares speak out. But Tuva senses the story of her career, unaware that perhaps she is the story….

My Review of Bad Apples

Tuva’s got a new post.

My goodness. Bad Apples is a compelling, disturbing and exciting read. My poor brain and pulse are still recovering. Will Dean begins Bad Apples in dramatic style and keeps the reader entranced and unsettled throughout. Alongside all the drama – and my word, there’s drama – is an intelligent balance of quietness, nature and the prosaic aspects of life that makes the riveting plot all the more affecting and entertaining.

Within the narrative style, there’s an intimate sensation as Tuva Moodyson’s first person voice feels as if she’s speaking directly to the reader in a way that makes Bad Apples completely captivating. The atmosphere is creepy and unnerving so that I felt quite tense as I read and the descriptions of ‘Pan night’ will reverberate in my mind for some considerable time to come. It’s the use of the senses, possibly heightened because of Tuva’s hearing impairment, that really brings the text to life. The setting of Visberg is horribly clear in the reader’s mind to the extent that I almost felt I was physically present.

In a fast paced plot Will Dean sprinkles Bad Apples with hints, bluffs and clues that draw in the reader and make them think they’re ahead of Tuva, before he wrong foots them completely. I loved this aspect of the book because it adds to the tension and excitement. The plot truly made my head spin and I found my dreams held elements that I’d been reading about because Will Dean writes with such manipulative skill. The range of sentence length is superb in creating tension within the plot too.

Tuva is a brilliant character. She’s bright, sassy and witty but has a softness and vulnerability too that makes her very real to the reader. Although I haven’t read other books in this series, Will Dean’s writing ensured I was never at a disadvantage, but left me feeling that I knew Tuva completely and the author made me care so much about Tuva that now I’m determined to read the other books in the series too.

As well as being a spell binding whirlwind of a tale, Bad Apples has themes that give it such a richness. The iterative image of apples reminds the reader of biblical temptation and traditional tales like Snow White so that our knowledge of evil and danger heightens the impact of reading the book. There are elements of horror that make Bad Apples feel as if there’s something evil lurking in the reader’s peripheral vision so that the book is deliciously perturbing. Revenge, community, control, secrets, obfuscation, lies and deceit add layer upon layer of unease. I thought this was an affecting, excellent element of the text.

Atmospheric, creepy and unnerving, Bad Apples is a must read for Tuva Moodyson fans and for those of us who haven’t encountered the series before, we’re in for an absolute treat. Bad Apples is a brilliant read.

About Will Dean

Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands and lived in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. His debut novel, Dark Pines, was selected for Zoe Ball’s Book Club, shortlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker prize and named a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year. The second Tuva Moodyson thriller, Red Snow, won ‘Best Independent Voice’ at the Amazon Publishing Readers’ Awards, 2019, and was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2020. The third novel, Black River, has been longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2021. Rights for the series have been sold in eight territories (France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Poland, Czech Republic, China and Turkey).

Will lives in Sweden where the Tuva Moodyson novels are set. TV Rights to Dark Pines have been optioned by Lionsgate, the producers of Mad Men, with plans for a multi-part series featuring Tuva Moodyson.

You can follow Will Dean on Twitter @willrdean, Instagram and Facebook as well as on his YouTube Channel for further information.

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