#Blogtour Strays by Janeen Leese-Taylor

 It’s my turn on the Blogtour Strays by Janeen Leese-Taylor.

About the Author

Janeen is an Irish author born and raised on the scenic Causeway Coast. Curious, and with a great love for adventure, Jan spent her childhood climbing trees and talking to her imaginary friends, many of whom have now found a home in her writing.

She has a bachelor’s degree in advertising and works for gaming companies around the world. She is a lover of all things fantasy and aims to bring some magic to the places that she visits in her writing. Portstewart, Dublin and Chester City each feature prominently in both her travels and her writing, and her stories often draw from real life places that have captured her heart.

As an ultramarathon runner, Jan often writes on the go, using her trusty phone and stylus to craft scenes that come to her after hours on her feet. 

She lives with her husband, Liam, their Border Collie-Cross, Zarya, and their Guinea Pig, (Peek-A) Boo, who they all fear will one day take over the world! Follow @InkAndSmudge on Twitter. @inkandsmudgebooks/ on Instagram or JLeeseTaylorAuthor on Facebook

About the book

A murder without evidence, a secret that could topple society and a cop with a bit of a coffee habit!

Three things were certain in the mind of Officer Theodore Night: One: There’s a serial killer loose in Portstewart. Two: His new friend is a werewolf. Three: He’s in way over his head

When bloody paw prints at a crime scene leads Officer Night to consider the impossible, he must rely not only on his years of investigative experience, but on the local werewolf pack, for help. An unlikely friendship gives Night the edge he needs to prevent an all-out war. Has Blair, the mysterious barista from Bean and Gone, caused him to bite off more than he can chew?

Review

Officer Theo Night – always willing to lend a helping hand even if it means putting himself in danger. He also has the habit of collecting strays, both the four-legged and the two-legged kind, sometimes a combination of both.

Hot on the heels of a vicious killer, someone or something that likes to annihilate entire families, is out there causing mayhem and Theo is determined to find them. It seems like the wrong time to be picking up young men in distress, especially when his home is filled with a pack of protective family members led by a small alpha with a mega attitude.

Side note – sometimes less is more when it comes to describing a person, perhaps to differentiate one speaker from the other and to ensure the reader knows who is speaking. The flow of dialogue and the story becomes stunted by the repeated use of – the smaller man, the dark-haired man for example.

Urban-fantasy with a mystery/crime vibe, and to top it off it’s also LGBTQ – It ticks plenty of boxes, that’s for sure. It has the potential to be an interesting series, as the author hones her skills and delves deeper into that vein of creativity.

Buy Strays at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : ‎Blossom Spring Publishing; pub date 17 Nov. 2022. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Death in Heels by Kitty Murphy

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Death in Heels by Kitty Murphy.

About the Author

Kitty Murphy lives with her husband, Roger, on the very westerly edge of CO. Clare, Ireland. She adores drag in all its forms and crime fiction in all its chilling splendour. Kitty is bi/queer. From a well spent youth divided equally between the library and the LGBTQ+ scene, it was only a matter of time until both worlds collided in a flurry of fictional sequins. Follow Kitty on Instagram: @kitty_murphy writes or on Twitter: @scribblingink1

About the book

When Fi went to support her best friend’s drag debut, she didn’t imagine a killer would be going to watch it too. And they’re waiting for their grand finale…

Fi McKinnery is overwhelmed with pride, watching her best friend Robyn perform his drag debut as the dazzling Mae B at Dublin’s premier drag club Trash. But the evening is ruined when bitchy young queen Eve Harrington lampoons Mae B’s performance and ruins the show. Eve is unceremoniously evicted from the club, and later that night Fi finds her dead, face down in a flooded gutter.

The police decide it was an accident and the queens are keen to move on as well,  but Fi isn’t so sure. Eve had plenty of enemies with her casual cruelty and many people might have wanted her dead. Fi is determined to uncover the truth, even though her ‘Hagatha Christie’ sleuthing is driving a wedge between her and Robyn, whose star is now rising at TRASH.

Something dark is lurking beneath the feathers, glitter and sequins of Dublin’s drag scene. Fi is determined to protect her friends, even as they distance themselves from her. Can she stop the killer before more people die?

Review

I wonder if Fi realises that supporting and encouraging her friend Robyn to emerge themselves into the world of drag is also a step that will lead to humiliation and death. Is her quest to find a vicious murderer also the beginning of the end of their friendship, even if Fi is only trying to keep her friend safe. Fi has become a hazard to the newly found sanctuary and their community.

It’s interesting to watch Robyn slowly be drawn into the close circle of the drag queens. Home has finally opened its doors, and same embraces same, whilst simultaneously drawing a line between Fi and Robyn. As she investigates the death Robyn takes on a defensive stance and begins to regard Fi as the enemy.

Aside from Robyn escaping the cocoon of societal norms and boundaries, and the journey to face internal and external fears and threats, I found the cracks that appear in the relationship between Fi and Robyn quite deep. Once inseparable and supportive of each other, one of the friends finds themselves fighting to fix the chasm that has appeared between them. I’m sure the question of whether finding the killer is worth throwing their friendship away is one that hovers in the background, and equally whether it is sustainable after Robyn finds a new place to become the inner butterfly that has been waiting to emerge.

It’s a murder mystery, one that fits under the genre heading of crime, but it ventures beyond the vast space all things murder and mayhem encompasses – it’s also a tale of coming-of-age, of coming out, of discovery of self. Perhaps most importantly it’s a story about finding a safe space where you belong and are accepted for each and every facet of your self.

Buy Death in Heels at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Thomas and Mercer, Pub date 1st January 2023. Paperback – £8.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Sugar and Snails by Anne Goodwin

It’s a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Sugar and Snails by Anne Goodwin.
About the Author

Anne Goodwin writes entertaining fiction about identity, mental health and social justice. She is the author of three novels and a short story collection published by small independent press, Inspired Quill. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, was shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize. Her new novel, Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home, is inspired by her previous incarnation as a clinical psychologist in a long-stay psychiatric hospital. Subscribers to her newsletter can download a free e-book of prize-winning short stories. 

Follow @Annecdotist on Twitter, Visit annegoodwin.weebly.com, @Annecdotist on Facebook, Instagram @authorannegoodwin, Anne Goodwin’s YouTube channel, Amazon author page: viewauthor.at/AnneGoodwin, Publisher Inspired Quill

About the book

At fifteen, she made a life-changing decision. Thirty years on, it’s time to make another. – When Diana escaped her misfit childhood, she thought she’d chosen the easier path. But the past lingers on, etched beneath her skin, and life won’t be worth living if her secret gets out.

As an adult, she’s kept other people at a distance… until Simon sweeps in on a cloud of promise and possibility. But his work is taking him to Cairo, the city that transformed her life. She’ll lose Simon if she doesn’t join him. She’ll lose herself if she does.

Sugar and Snails charts Diana’s unusual journey, revealing the scars from her fight to be true to herself. A triumphant mid-life coming-of-age story about bridging the gap between who we are and who we feel we ought to be.

Review

I was in two minds about the way to review this book. On one hand there’s an opportunity to discuss and go into detail, but on the other hand it’s also the kind of read that allows for the reader to discover the story at their own pace.

This is a story about identity, perception of identity and the way the world around us tries to fit us into preconceived notions and ready made boxes. It’s also about the inner struggle when the aforementioned leads to a battle of self.

The premise has unfortunately become an embittered battleground in the last few years with great division and warring sides, with little thought left to the reality of the confusion and pain of those in this duality.

I have to agree with the sentiment in the author’s note, if it had been written with both parents taking centre stage, the core and heart of this premise would have been non-existent. Writing it with Di at the wheel and steering the boat was much more intimate, frank and soul baring. It’s as if the reader is at the emotional core of memories, emotions and the duality of spirit and being.

It’s a really excellent piece of fiction, an exploration of a journey, of a life lived with expectations, hopes, and an unfinished jigsaw of self.

Buy Sugar and Snails at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Inspired Quill, pub date 23 July 2015. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Books2read. 

#BlogTour Lying with Lions by Annabel Fielding

 It’s my turn on the BlogTour Lying with Lions by Annabel Fielding

About the Author

‘I am a self-professed geek who lives in Berlin, and is dedicated a little too much to reading historical non-fiction; I pick out the juiciest bits from it and bring them to you. My special areas of interest are Edwardian age and Late Middle Agnes/Renaissance, but sometimes I veer into other directions, too, when distracted by a shiny thing.’ 

Annabel Fielding is a novelist, a history geek and an international woman of mystery. She has long since pledged her allegiance to travel, tea and books. When she isn’t busy writing historical fiction she can be found on her blog historygeekintown.com. There, you will find travel posts, lesser-known facts, some photography and (mostly) historical fiction-related book reviews. Follow @DearestAnnabel 

About the book

Edwardian England. Agnes Ashford knows that her duty is threefold: she needs to work on cataloguing the archive of the titled Bryant family, she needs to keep the wounds of her past tightly under wraps, and she needs to be quietly grateful to her employers for taking her up in her hour of need. However, a dark secret she uncovers due to her work thrusts her into the Bryants’ brilliant orbit – and into the clutch of their ambitions.

They are prepared to take the new century head-on and fight for their preeminent position and political survival tooth and nail – and not just to the first blood. With a mix of loyalty, competence, and well-judged silence Agnes rises to the position of a right-hand woman to the family matriarch – the cunning and glamorous Lady Helen. But Lady Helen’s plans to hold on to power through her son are as bold as they are cynical, and one day Agnes is going to face an impossible choice…

Review

Agnes is expecting her job as an archivist to reveal some secrets, but not the kind of secrets some people would do absolutely anything to keep buried. The tunnels beneath the Bryant’s house and estate are a deeply disturbing experience to undertake each day, and yet she does, because it’s of paramount importance that she maintain her position.

Until she starts searching for the truth about an item of interest she uncovered. It displeases the gentleman of the house to be confronted with questions and garners the interest of the lady of house. Not the kind of attention you should want to draw to yourself when your life of comfort could not only come to a sudden halt, but also put an end to the search for secrets and answers.

This did not go where I thought it was heading – in a gothic mystery good kind of way though. It’s a riveting story that melds fact and fiction to create the kind of read you think you have sussed and yet in reality you haven’t.

I enjoyed the fact it was LGBTQIA, it’s great to have diversity in all genres. Saying that I think the relationship between the two of them lacks balance – it’s more of a dominant and submissive type of relationship. Power reigns supreme and anything is a weapon to be wielded to get what certain people want. – Fielding is just getting started as far as I am concerned.

Buy Lying with Lions at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. KDP pub date 15 Jun. 2021. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour The First Man by Alex Kelly

It’s my turn on the BlogTour The First Man by Alex Kelly

About the Author

Alex Kelly writes uplifting, emotional and heartwarming Romantic Fiction and Family Sagas. She’s a bibliophile, a Yogi, a lover of English literature and a baking enthusiast. She was born in Italy but lives in Ireland with her husband, two children and a cat named Oscar.

Follow @AKelly_writes on Twitter, on Facebook, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit authoraskelly.com, Buy The First Man

About the book

Shane – Do you want to know what it means to live like me? It means being forced not to look at him, not to touch him, not to be left alone in the same room as him. Not to seek him out. Not to want him. Not to love him.

Do you know how it feels to spend your entire life pretending to be someone else? Do you know what it’s like to love someone who doesn’t want to be loved? I’ll tell you how it feels. It feels as if you’re living in constant torment: you know which path you should follow, but you also know that, if you follow that path, you can never turn back. And I can’t do that to him.

Every day I come back, because I know that he’s waiting for me. Every day I promise him that he will never have to live without me.

Andy – Do you know what it means to live like me? It means being forced not to touch him, not to kiss him, not to be able to leave the room while he’s still in it. Not to breathe him in, not to lust after him. Not to love him.

Do you know how it feels to spend your entire life pretending to be someone else? Do you know what it’s like to love the only person you’re not allowed to love? I’ll tell you how it works. You can’t seem to feel anything other than him; when you walk away, you know that you’re turning your back on the only thing that’s good in your life. Yet you still walk away. Every day I leave, knowing that he will be standing there, watching. Every day I ask him to promise me that I will never have to live without him.

Review

Andy and Shane. Meant for each other or not? The two of them find it hard to battle the attraction and the all consuming need to be with each other. Being together isn’t feasible, it’s a pipe dream. But the pull is too strong, which means they end up giving in to desire only to place obstacles in between each other again.

The plot is a simple one – the back and forth of two people who are unwilling to come to terms with and submit to their mutual attraction. The difference with this one is the LGBTQ element, which brings a level of suggested phobia to the table – an angst of being rejected, although the author doesn’t dwell on those implications, but rather on the love between two people. It’s a romantic story, as opposed to a social commentary.

I have to admit this was a breath of fresh air, mainly because it isn’t your usual boy meets girl story. A deep romantic connection – a lust and a love. A forbidden love on so many levels, which is brought to life by the excellent writing. I’d say this is definitely an author to watch. The ability to convey the visceral threads woven between two people who find themselves irrevocably attracted to each other, an attraction which becomes so much stronger when they are unable to be together. That kind of ability allows for the kind of storytelling that grabs readers.

Buy The First Man at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Google.

#BlogTour Killer Queen by T.S. Hunter

Today it’s my turn on the BlogTour Killer Queen, the fifth part of the Soho Noir series, by T.S. Hunter.

About the Author

Claiming to be only half-Welsh, T.S. Hunter lived in South Wales for much of his latter teens, moving to London as soon as confidence and finances allowed. He never looked back.

He has variously been a teacher, a cocktail waiter, a podium dancer and a removal man, but his passion for writing has been the only constant.

He’s a confident and engaging speaker and guest, who is as passionate about writing and storytelling as he is about promoting mainstream LGBT fiction. He now lives with his husband in the country, and is active on social media as @TSHunter5.

Follow @TSHunter5 @RedDogTweets on Twitter, on Goodreads, Buy Killer Queen

About the book

It’s 1988. A mild summer after a turbulent political year for LGBT rights. While working as an assistant to a successful theatre director , Joe Stone finds himself unwittingly embroiled in another Murder investigation. Lexi Goode , a young , up and coming actress had her bright future cut short when she is found murdered in her exclusive top floor apartment in the posh end of Soho. Knowing that the police are as racist as they are homophobic, Joe and Russell inevitably take it on themselves to investigate what happened to the young woman.

Along the way they discover illicit liaisons , a string of admirers , a secret life that was helping to pay for the glamorous lifestyle no young actress should have been able to afford. But who would want to kill Lexi?

Finding the answer to that question put’s Joe In mortal danger and a young police officer in an awkward position.

Review

This is the fifth book in the Soho Noir series. It’s a fantastic LGBTQ cosy crime series set in the 80s with characters who are just getting settled in. What Joe and Russell have in common is a discovery and exploration of self and their sexuality, and a propensity for falling into crime scenarios. It’s no wonder their nemesis gives them the side-eye every time one of them falls over a dead body.

This time Joe stumbles upon the body of a young actress, who appears to have been leading a dubious double life. Is it a case of stage envy – the world of theatre can be rather deadly. Or has her secret life led to her early demise?

I think Hunter is just getting his groove when it comes to this series. The hidden Christie vibes are starting the permeate the surface of the stories.

The Soho Noir series shines a light on an important era for the LGBTQ community. The rising acceptance was cut short by the paranoia and fear caused by the AIDS pandemic, which resulted in any advancement and change in opinion about homosexuality being cut short for a long time. In that sense this is also a poignant political and sociological perspective on sexuality in that era. Hunter has created an excellent balance between crime and mystery, and social contextual development of sexual identities in this series.

It’s a cosy crime mystery series – quick perfect pocket reads. I also have to note, once again because I get such joy from it, that the covers are great and the titles cause the worst case of earworm ever.

Buy Killer Queen (Soho Noir #5) at Amazon Uk. Publisher: Red Dog Press, pub date 15 Nov. 2019. Buy the ebook edition. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Red Dog Press.

Also by T.S. Hunter – Soho Noir series:

Read my review of Tainted Love (Soho Noir #1)

Read my review of Who’s That Girl (Soho Noir #2)

Read my review of Careless Whisper (Soho Noir #3)

Read my review of Crazy For You (Soho Noir #4)

#BlogTour Crazy For You by T.S. Hunter

Today it’s a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Crazy For You by T.S. Hunter. It’s the fourth part in the Soho Noir series.

About the Author

Claiming to be only half-Welsh, T.S. Hunter lived in South Wales for much of his latter teens, moving to London as soon as confidence and finances allowed. He never looked back.

He has variously been a teacher, a cocktail waiter, a podium dancer and a removal man, but his passion for writing has been the only constant.

He’s a confident and engaging speaker and guest, who is as passionate about writing and storytelling as he is about promoting mainstream LGBT fiction. He now lives with his husband in the country, and is active on social media as @TSHunter5.

Follow @TSHunter5 @RedDogTweets on Twitter, on Goodreads, Buy Crazy For You

About the book

The course of true love never runs smooth.

It’s 1987, and Soho is in the grip of another hot summer. While working part-time in The Red Lion, Joe finds himself agreeing to help a notorious gangster search for her missing girlfriend.

Antonia The Gecko Lagorio is daughter to the ruthless but ageing gang boss, Tony The Lizard Lagorio. When her girlfriend, Charlotte Fenwick, goes missing, Antonia turns to Joe for help, believing her to have been kidnapped by a rival gang.

Charlotte Fenwick is daughter to multi-millionaire, Charles Fenwick—who also happens to be one of Freddie Gillespie’s bigger clients. Keen to keep any hint of a scandal out of the public eye, Charles Fenwick had already asked Freddie to recruit Russell and Joe to help him find his daughter discreetly.

With both of them on the case, Joe and Russell find themselves trying to stop a turf war between the two rival gangs while uncovering all manner of dark secrets about the missing heiress and her troubled life.

Meanwhile Freddie Gillespie has a run in with an old foe that could see him lose both his job and his relationship with Russell.Review

The inadvertent sleuthing duo is back. Joe and Russell, who both seem to fall into crimes with an alarming frequency. I think they need to worry about whether they have fallen into a Midsomer Murder postcode area. Their adventures or the crimes they get involved with tend to have a cosy feel, despite the fact Hunter combines that feeling with important historical topics, which are still relevant in our era.

It’s what makes this series so readable, and the fact each book can be read as a standalone. Personally, and I can’t say this enough, I really like the Quick Read feature of the Soho Noir series. It doesn’t purport to be overly complex or long. Its strength is the fact it can be read anywhere and finished too. The perfect pocket read.

In this book Joe is asked to look for the missing girlfriend of The Gecko, the daughter of a local mobster. Then soon after he is asked to look for the missing daughter of a very wealthy and influential businessman. Same girl. Seems as if the young woman isn’t as innocent as her father thinks she is or as sincere as her girlfriend thinks she is.

It’s a cosy crime and LGBTQ read set in the 80s with memorable and often highly entertaining characters. I would definitely both recommend the series and buy the books or box set as a present.

There is one more thing I want to say about this series, which has beautiful covers by the way, and catchy 80s songs as titles. It might be because the 80s was my era, but every time I read one of the titles the soundtrack plays in my head. It’s an automatic reaction – I blame Hunter for the earworms.

Buy Crazy For You at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Red Dog Press, pub date 22 Oct. 2019. Buy at Amazon com.

Read my reviews of Tainted Love (Soho Noir #1), Who’s That Girl (Soho Noir #2) and Careless Whisper (Soho Noir #3 by T.S. Hunter.

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

Review

This is an incredibly poignant and full-on piece of writing. Garrett doesn’t flinch before laying the cold bare truth on the table or pull any punches. She says it how it is and she wants you to hear it. This story about a young teenage girl who wants a boyfriends and to experience the sexual side of a relationship, although her parents would prefer she stay abstinent. That way she can’t accidentally pass on her acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

I have to note that I found the level of scrutiny and lack of privacy Simone’s parents give her is extreme, regardless of how worried they are about her. It is difficult enough to navigate the world of teenage angst without the added burden of a health condition everyone is scared of and parents who think it’s okay to suffocate instead of empower their child.

I found the level of research into the topic of living with AIDS admirable both overall and in the context of the main character, a young teenage girl. It’s described meticulously and in a way that makes sense to a layman and perhaps especially to a young reader.

Garrett confronts the invisible and yet very alive and kicking discrimination against people with AIDS and HIV. The fear that was sown and grown in the 80s, during the frightening pandemic which took many lives. Since those times medical research has come so far that an HIV or AIDS diagnosis isn’t automatically a death sentence, as it once was. A very fixed and rigid regime of medication will allow a person with said diagnosis to live a long life.

The author also takes readers into the world of white privilege and the institutionalised racism Simone is confronted with, and her world of secrecy. She is torn between staying under the radar and knowing that embarking upon a sexual relationship means disclosing her condition.

It’s a YA read, but it’s also one I recommend for readers of any age, mainly because this book will do a lot to allay irrational fears that still exist when it comes to this condition. Garrett has a strong voice she isn’t afraid to use and I look forward to reading more by her.

Buy Full Disclosure at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Penguin; pub date 31 Oct. 2019. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Hive.

Follow @dancingofpens on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit camryngarrett.com