Author: MJ Porter, author

Here’s the blurb

This year, their families can deck the bloody halls themselves…

Old friends Shelley, Lena and Pearl have reached their limit with the festive preparation that has always fallen to them, and five days before Christmas, they’ve booked a mini break… without their families. Up until Christmas Eve, they’ll be sipping prosecco in the Highlands while their kids wrap bacon around 100 chipolatas and their partners brave the supermarkets.

It’s exactly what they need… until they’re snowed in. Facing the prospect of Christmas 500 miles from home, each woman is forced to confront her real reasons for needing to escape: the fiance with the obnoxious family; the son’s new girlfriend who is taking over their home; the family who take their mother for granted all year round…

Will the friends make it home before Christmas day? And if they do, can they really go back to their old lives?

This Christmas, forget Elf on the Shelf, get ready for Mums on the Run in the hilarious and heartwarming new novel from Fiona Gibson.

Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/tisthedamnseasonsocial

My Review

Tis the Damn Season is a fun, quick read about three friends escaping Christmas, only to find they might have escaped it a little more than they anticipated.

I read it in 2 sittings. It’s sure to appeal to readers looking for their own ‘getaway’ from the pressures of Christmas. (This one is short and sweet. Sometimes, you can just really enjoy a book.)

Meet the author

Fiona Gibson writes bestselling and brilliantly funny novels about the craziness and messiness of family life.

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Here’s the blurb

The first rule of undercover work—don’t get attached…

Pilot Elise Hughes left the family business in the Florida Keys and now flies the rich and powerful to and from the Rocky Mountains. When she has to execute a by-the-book emergency landing, it’s no big deal. But being stranded in a small town with her handsome new colleague is something else entirely.

Obsessed with getting justice for his murdered father, undercover FBI agent Eric Erickson believes retribution is finally within reach. Until things get complicated. And dangerous. And he’s forced to face a few too many realities—including Elise’s connection to a well-known crime boss.

After Elise is kidnapped by the same man who took Eric’s father, he has a choice to make—find Elise or exact revenge. Meanwhile she has a choice of her own—trust the dangerous family she never knew she had or the man who’s been lying to her from the start.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D7CX63BP

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D7CX63BP

My Review

Dangerous Descent is a steamy action/adventure story featuring Elise and Eric, as they face crash landing into one another. It is a fun, quick read, and quite well-plotted, although there are a few elements of the story that aren’t resolved (possibly because it’s a series – I’m not sure – but it wouldn’t surprise me to know there will be more books.)

The action moves at speed, with Elise and Eric thrown together unexpectedly, which allows their mutual attraction for one another to spark very (very) quickly. There are a good few plot twists as the story storms towards its ending, switching between the two different points of view of the main characters. The baddies are never quite as bad as could be hoped, so for those who don’t like too much violence, this will appeal.

Not my usual genre, but a fun, quick read and fans of the genre will, I’m sure, love meeting Elise and Eric.

Meet the author

Evie Jacobs is a word nerd. As a child, she read constantly. And when she wasn’t reading, she was writing. Not much has changed. By day she works in a library surrounded by books, and by night she writes steamy action/adventure romance. She lives in Colorado with her husband, two cats, and six bicycles.

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Here’s the blurb

How to React When Woken at 3am by Drunk Argentinian Backpackers while Staying in a Youth Hostel and Other Lesser Known Travel Tips

Book 4 of the hilarious book series that those in the know will want to read when arriving at Paris airport so they laugh so freaking hard that it will intimidate any suspicious characters looking to abduct them and sell them into the human trafficking game.

Life was not meant to be easy, Simon Yeats’ father used to tell him. Well, it sure as hell was not meant to be this bizarre and witty. Australian ex-pat Yeats, as all he has ever been called since High School, shares his stories of travel misadventures and dubious personal introspection with comedic insights into the unusual and uproarious elements of living his life abroad. All while having a sense of Wanderlust as pervasive as Mongol hordes in the 12th century.

From how to negotiate getting abused in Los Angeles when you will only drive at 5 miles/hr., to what to do when locked out of your hotel room in your underwear, to the emotions of attempting the world’s second highest bungee in South Africa when you have a pathological fear of heights, to how to deal with the trials and tribulations of staying in a youth hostel in South America with travelers who have no respect for the other guests.

Simon Yeats has gone into the world and experienced all the out of the ordinary moments for you to sit back and enjoy the experience without the need to empty your bank account, get squeezed sitting in a middle airline seat on a nine hour flight to Tokyo, or deal with border security at the Ukraine/Russia boundary.

Pre-order Links

https://www.amazon.com/Argentinian-Backpackers-Staying-Hostel-Lesser-ebook/dp/B0DCSYR5T7
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Argentinian-Backpackers-Staying-Hostel-Lesser-ebook/dp/B0DCSYR5T7
Publication Date – 10^th September 2024
 

Meet the author

Simon Yeats has lived nine lives, and by all estimations, is fast running out of the number he has left. His life of globetrotting the globe was not the one he expected to lead. He grew up a quiet, shy boy teased by other kids on the playgrounds for his red hair. But he developed a keen wit and sense of humor to always see the funnier side of life.
With an overwhelming love of travel, a propensity to find trouble where there was none, and being a passionate advocate of mental health, Simon’s stories will leave a reader either rolling on the floor in tears of laughter, or breathing deeply that the adventures he has led were survived.
No author has laughed longer or cried with less restraint at the travails of life.

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Check out my review for How to start a riot in a brothel by ordering a beer by the same author.

Here’s the blurb

Susan didn’t plan on being an amateur sleuth and, after two successful investigations, she’s looking forward to a quiet Christmas. So, when local businesswoman Meera is in desperate need of help, Susan agrees rather reluctantly.

The task should be easy enough. The infamous press mogul Duncan Fern is coming back to the Isle of Wight, the scene of his family’s childhood holidays, to celebrate Christmas with his grown-up children and their partners, his new glamorous wife Kirsten who is forever dripping with diamonds, and the spikey editor of his paper the Morning Flame, Antoine. The newly-refurbished luxurious Bishopstone Manor is the perfect setting for a festive break and all Susan has to do is help Meera host.

But when a snowstorm descends over the island, and the following morning a body is found, Christmas at the Manor takes a darker turn. Can Susan get to the bottom of the mystery before the murderer strikes again…

Purchase Link

• Amazon

My Review

This is the first of Mary Grand’s mysteries I’ve read, and it was very enjoyable.

While it snows outside, affairs within the restored Tudor mansion take a deadly turn. Our main character, Susan, uneasy with the police verdict, sets about trying to discover the truth. What she discovers is a web of lies and family deceit.

While yes, this is a murder mystery, I found the setting and storyline to be really enjoyable. The eventual resolution was satisfying and unexpected, although, with hindsight, there were definitely clues.

A contemporary murder mystery sure to appeal to fans of the genre.

Meet the author

Mary Grand writes gripping, page-turning suspense novels, with a dark and often murderous underside. She grew up in Wales, was for many years a teacher of deaf children and now lives on the Isle of Wight.

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