Month: April 2022

Today, it’s my turn on the blog tour for Riding Pillion with George Clooney and other stories by Geraldine Ryan #BlogTour

Here’s the blurb:

Twelve moving short stories inspired by the everyday lives of women.

  • A single woman on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Italian lakes still dreams of adventure. Can she find it closer to home?
  • A grieving widow finds comfort in the company of a stray cat that bears striking similarities to her dead husband.
  • An estranged daughter confronts an unspeakable tragedy from her past as she attempts to reconcile with her long-lost family.

Geraldine Ryan is a prolific short-story writer whose work has appeared in Woman’s Weekly and Take a Break’s Fiction Feast magazines. The women in this, her first published anthology, may be at different stages of life but all of them are experiencing the ground shifting beneath their feet. Their tales of love, longing and redemption will touch your heart and bring a smile to your face.

Review

Riding Pillion with George Clooney and other short stories is an engaging collection of short stories of women, many of them bitter sweet, but all empowering. A particular favourite of mine was ‘After Harriet’ a story of grief, guilt and the need for forgiveness.

All of the stories are told with skill, ensuring the reading understands the characters they meet. Riding Pillion with George Clooney might well be the story that snags the attention of the reader, but all of the women we meet are endearing to the reader, highlighting struggled which many of us might understand only too well.

A delightful collection of short stories, that I highly recommend.

Purchase Links 

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Riding-Pillion-George-Clooney-Stories-ebook/dp/B09WLRM8PP/

US – https://www.amazon.com/Riding-Pillion-George-Clooney-Stories-ebook/dp/B09WLRM8PP/

Meet the Author

Geraldine Ryan is a proud Northerner who has spent most of her life in Cambridge – the one with the punts. She holds a degree in Scandinavian Studies but these days the only use she puts it to is to identify which language is being spoken among the characters of whatever Scandi drama is currently showing on TV. She worked as a teacher of English and of English as a second or foreign language for many years, in combination with rearing her four children, all of whom are now grown up responsible citizens. Her first published story appeared in My Weekly in 1993. Since then her stories have appeared in Take-a-Break, Fiction Feast and Woman’s Weekly as well as in women’s magazines abroad. She has also written 2 young adult novels- ‘Model Behaviour’ (published by Scholastic) and ‘The Lies and Loves of Finn’ (Channel 4 Books.) This anthology of previously published short stories will be, she hopes, only the first of several.

 https://twitter.com/GeraldineRyan

Follow the Riding Pillion with George Clooney blog tour with Rachel’s Random Resources

The Girl and the Moon by Mark Lawrence #BookReview #Fantasy

Here’s the blurb:

The fate of the world hangs from the Moon

The green world overwhelms all of Yaz’s expectations. Everything seems different but some things remain the same: her old enemies are still bent on her destruction. 

The Corridor abounds with plenty and unsuspected danger. To stand a chance against the eyeless priest, Eular, and the god-like city-mind, Seus, Yaz will need to learn fast and make new friends.

The Convent of Sweet Mercy, like the Corridor itself, is packed with peril and opportunity. Yaz needs the nuns’ help – but first they want to execute her.

The fate of everyone squeezed between the Corridor’s vast walls, and ultimately the fate of those labouring to survive out on ice itself, hangs from the moon, and the battle to save the moon centres on the Ark of the Missing, buried beneath the emperor’s palace. Everyone wants Yaz to be the key that will open the Ark – the one the wise have sought for generations. But sometimes wanting isn’t enough.

THE GIRL AND THE MOON is the third and final volume in The Book of Ice trilogy.

Review

I’ve been reading Mark Lawrence’s books since the very beginning. I have a paperback copy of Prince of Thorns, which I noticed the other day actually says ‘map forthcoming’ on the map page:) (Check out my previous reviews here; The Girl and the Stars, The Girl and the Mountain (Book of the Ice 1 and 2). Red Sister, Grey Sister, Holy Sister (Book of the Ancestor Trilogy). One Word Kill, Limited Wish)

Never once, in all the books I’ve read, has he finished a trilogy the way I wanted him to do so. He is infuriatingly consistent with this, and still, I hope, each and every time, to have the answers to all I want to know. And now, with the end of the Book of the Ice, I find myself not only without the ending I ‘thought’ I was going to get, but much, much worse, feeling as though I need to go back and read ALL the books again to unpick the ‘threads’ and perhaps find the answers I want for myself. Grrrr.

To me, this means Mark Lawrence remains at the top of his game, and while I might find it all very frustrating, that doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of the books, and the universe(s)? he’s created.

A fine end to another great trilogy, and one I took my time with because, quite frankly, I didn’t want it to end, not in the end:)

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my review copy.

Follow Mark here – and just to say, if you’re not yet sure, his Patreon is fab, and a great way to keep up to date with all he’s doing. And he’s not shy with his book giveaways either. Twitter.

#TheLastKing is 2 years old today. Join me and the hosts of today’s blog tour in celebrating

If you’ve been with Coelwulf, Rudolf, Icel, Edmund and Pybba since the beginning, then you’re probably with me in trying to work out how 2 years have gone by since the release of the first book.

I thought it worthy of a huge celebration, and so The Last King is on blog tour for today only with a whole swathe of hosts from Rachel’s Random Resources. Check out their posts and blogs, and you really might enjoy those hosts that have an excerpt from the book. When I was choosing them, it reminded me of all the things that drew me these characters, and this book, and made me write it the way that I did. The exuberance is difficult to ignore. (And remember – there are Clean(er) versions of all the books available in ebook format without the more offensive word that rhymes with something that quacks).

I’m going to pop some links here to blog posts I’ve shared in the past.

Lady Cyneswith

Rudolf

You can now buy signed copies directly from me. Check out my new store.

https://mjporterauthor.sumupstore.com


http://www.nikipreston.com/
https://jessicabelmont.com/
https://ebookaddicts.net
www.davidsbookblurg.co.uk
https://www.instagram.com/chaptersofvicki
https://www.instagram.com/fantasybookcraz_mum
https://nickislifeofcrime.blogspot.co.uk
https://themagicofworlds.wordpress.com/
Bforbookreview.wordpress.com
https://www.thepursuitofbookiness.co.uk/
https://medium.com/@authorbeccamcculloch
https://www.booksblog.co.uk/
http://bookreviewsbyjasmine.blogspot.com
http://www.chezmaximka.blogspot.com
https://ruinsandreading.blogspot.com/


Posts

Cragside, again, in photos

It’s not very often that I actually get to visit the places I write about. Very little of Saxon England remains as it would have been. But for Cragside, I could visit as often as I liked, and I did. I’m going to share some images of the interior of the house with you. These were either taken during December 2021, so might be a bit Christmasy, or were taken in August 2021. (apologises to people I’ve accidentally snapped).

The Dining Room
The Study (I think)
Bookcase
Information about the statue I mention in the book
What’s up there?
Map of the upper floor
View from inside to the famous bridge
Once of the bedrooms
One of the many, many paintings
The Billiard Room
View from the bridge
Some of the magnificent trees (I’m unsure if they still stand:()
View of the arch from the carriage drive
Exterior view of the servants quarters
The Butler’s Pantry
Irons:)
The kitchen
The kitchen
The Kitchen
The kitchen
The kitchen
The kitchen
Glass work in the dining room
Images of Cragside
The wonderful door
What you might see from the rockery
Some of the trees that fell in Storm Arwen. How old were they!
View from the formal gardens
What might have been seen from the formal gardens, looking towards the main house

Cragside: A 1930s murder mystery is now available in ebook, hardback, paperback and audio.

It’s my turn on the new release blog tour for The Capsarius by Simon Turney #AriesFiction #BlogTour

Here’s the blurb:

Warrior and combat medic, Titus Cervianus, must lead a legion and quell the uprisings in Egypt in a new Roman adventure from Simon Turney.
Egypt. 25 BC.

Titus Cervianus and the Twenty Second Deiotariana have been sent to deal with uprisings and chaos in Egypt. Yet the Twenty Second is no ordinary legion. Founded as the private royal army of one of Rome’s most devoted allies, the king of Galatia, their ways are not the same as the other legions, a factor that sets them apart and causes friction with their fellow soldiers.

Cervianus is no ordinary soldier, either. A former surgeon from the city of Ancyra, he’s now a capsarius – a combat medic. Cervianus is a pragmatist, a scientist, and truly unpopular with his legion.

Marching into the unknown, Cervianus will find unexpected allies in a local cavalryman and a troublesome lunatic. Both will be of critical importance as the young medic marches into the searing sands of the south, finding forbidden temples, dark assassins, vicious crocodiles, and worst of all, the warrior queen of Kush…

Amazon Link:

Review

I really enjoyed The Capsarius. I’ve read some of Simon Turney’s Roman fiction in the past, but this book, without its focus on Roman Rome, is a little different, and very enjoyable.

I didn’t read this book quickly – rather I enjoyed it slowly, taking delight in reading a small amount each day over an extended period. It’s a story rich with detail, as our main character, The Capsarius, travels through a land he is clearly excited to visit, being so very strange to his birth lands, and yet one he understands is filled with danger. The heat, the lack of water, and the need to stay close to the great river Nile, bring into play some very dangerous enemies, the crocodiles of the delta.

The Capsarius is not your usual Roman warrior. He’s a skilled and widely read individual, keen to hold on to the ideals he has as a medic in the Roman army, even though he’s pitted against just about everyone in the legion, and his superiors really don’t seem to like him a great deal – not that it worries him. He’s a man of reason, and yet one who’s thrust into a strange land, with even stranger gods, and gods who seem to speak to him. The interplay between the reasoned man forced to question his beliefs because of the pervading Egyptian religion is skillfully drawn.

This is a slow burn, which rewards the reader with two really quite different battle scenes in the second half of the book when our Roman hero finally encounters his elusive enemy, and I’m already looking forward to book 2.

A wonderful read – with just the right amount of humour and peril – set in a wonderfully drawn land of intrigue and danger.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy, and for inviting me onto the new release blog tour.

Meet the author

Simon Turney is from Yorkshire and, having spent much of his childhood visiting historic sites, fell in love with the Roman heritage of the region. His fascination with the ancient world snowballed from there with great interest in Rome, Egypt, Greece and Byzantium. His works include the Marius’ Mules and Praetorian series, the Tales of the Empire and The Damned Emperor series, and the Rise of Emperors books with Gordon Doherty.

Follow Simon
Twitter: @SJATurney
Instagram: @simonturney_aka_sjaturney

Website: http://simonturney.com/

Don’t forget to stop by the other reviewers on The Capsarius new release blog tour.

headofzeus.com | @AriesFiction

Not convinced yet? Do check out my other reviews for Simon Turney’s Roman era books. Commodus, Sons of Rome, Masters of Rome, Emperors of Rome.

Happy release day to Cragside: A 1930s murder mystery

Today, I’m releasing the ebook, paperback and audiobook of Cragside into the wild. I loved writing this book, and I want to say that my narrator, Gill Mills, has done an amazing job of bringing the character of Lady Ella Merryweather to life. Thank you.

But, why Cragside?

Cragside is a National Trust property in North Northumberland. During Lockdown, it was one of the places that was allowed to remain open (the grounds were) for locals. What started as a single visit because it was just amazing to go somewhere that wasn’t home, or the walk down the road, became a regular weekly haunt. Every week, just about without fail, and no matter the weather, we walked around the estate, exploring places I’d never seen before. And what an absolute joy it was. Cragside, the house, is majestic, but it’s the estate and all of its wonderful nature that really called to me. It’s not unusual to see a deer on the vast estate, or to watch birds, ducks and even some fish, in their natural environment. And some of the ducks like to have a proper little scrap, which really echoes.

Autumnal view of the estate looking out towards Rothbury
The Basin Tank, Cragside
One of the many, many paths through the Estate and leading to the house

And the more I walked around the estate, the more I started to see possibilities for a new story. The basin tank, dark and brooding, seemed like a perfect place to find a body, and that was just the first of the thoughts I had about a potential new story. And, of course, I also made the decision to set the story in Autumn, because while the spring and summer are beautiful, I’m a huge fan of Autumn colours, and it’s not just because the estate tends to be quieter over the cooler months:)

The Basin Tank. This was the first place that really made me think about writing a murder mystery set here.

My main character, Lady Ella Merryweather, developed along with my walks and I enjoyed crafting the story of a woman already suspected of murder trying to prove her innocence in the 1930s.

A deer on the Estate
The fireplace in the Drawing Room
Springtime at Cragside
Springtime at Cragside
Cragside Trees
Cragside view from Debdon Valley

I hope you’ll enjoy my 1930s murder mystery inspired by my love of Cragside and Agatha Christie novels.

Cragside is available now.