#Blogtour One Last Secret by Adele Parks

 It’s a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour One Last Secret by Adele Parks.

About the Author

Adele Parks MBE was born in North Yorkshire. She is the author of 21 bestselling novels including most recently the Sunday Times and eBook Number One bestseller Both Of You. Over four million UK editions of her work have been sold and her books have been translated into 31 different languages. Adele’s recent Sunday Times Number One bestsellers Lies Lies Lies and Just My Luck were shortlisted for the British Book Awards and have been optioned for development for TV.

She is an ambassador of the National Literacy Trust and the Reading Agency: two charities that promote literacy in the UK. Adele has lived in Botswana, Italy and London and is now settled in Guildford, Surrey. In 2022 she was awarded an MBE for services to literature. Follow @adeleparks on Twitter, Visit adeleparks.com

About the book

One Last Client – A week at a beautiful chateau in the south of France – it should be a straightforward final job for Dora. She’s a smart, stunning and discreet escort and Daniel has paid for her services before. This time, all she has to do is convince the assembled guests that she is his girlfriend. Dora is used to playing roles and being whatever men want her to be. It’s all about putting on a front.

One Last Chance – It will be a last luxurious look at how the other half lives, before Dora turns her back on the escort world and all its dangers. She has found someone she loves and trusts. With him, she can escape the life she’s trapped in. But when Dora arrives at the chateau, it quickly becomes obvious that nothing is what it seems.

One Last Secret – Dora finds herself face to face with a man she has never forgotten, the one man who really knows her. And as old secrets surface, it becomes terrifyingly apparent that one last secret could cost Dora her life…

Review

I’m a sucker for a woman who says it like it is, sees the world the way it really is, and isn’t afraid to take what she wants – regardless of what society says about her.

Dora has no illusions about how she makes her money. It’s just a job, right? The risks are kept to a minimal, but of course there is only so much you can control. It also means it’s harder to move from one tier of the social structure to another – there are plenty of negative connotations when it comes to her chosen career path.

It has shades of Diary of a Call Girl with Gone Girl, and of course the trademark intense scrutiny and dissection of interpersonal relationships. This author knows exactly how to pour salt into an open wound, get readers to experience a smorgasbord of emotional ping-pong, and create a bond between even the most controversial of characters. 

The first few chapters are spectacular – brutally frank, often gross, and they give readers access to a hidden abyss. 

As far as I am concerned this is her best book yet, and it should be added to her growing list of titles being optioned for television. Like a fine wine gets better with age, Parks pushes her boundaries and creativity with each new book.

Buy One Last Secret at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Buy at Amazon com. Buy via Harper Collins.

#BlogTour Both of You by Adele Parks

Adele Parks is back with a cracking read again – it’s my turn on the BlogTour for Both of You.

About the Author

Adele Parks was born in Teesside, North-east England. her first novel, Playing Away, was published in 2000 and since then she’s had eighteen international bestsellers. She’s been an Ambassador for The Reading Agency and a judge for the Costa and is a keen supporter of The National Literary Trust. She’s lived in Italy, Botswana and London, and is now settled in Guildford, Surrey, with her husband and son.

Follow @adeleparks on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit adeleparks.com

About the book

Leigh Fletcher: happily married stepmum to two gorgeous boys goes missing on Monday. Her husband Mark says he knows nothing of her whereabouts. She simply went to work and just never came home. Their family is shattered.

Kai Janssen: married to wealthy Dutch businessman, Daan, vanishes the same week. Kai left their luxurious penthouse and glamourous world without a backward glance. She seemingly evaporated into thin air. Daan is distraught.

DC Clements knows that people disappear all the time – far too frequently. Most run away from things, some run towards, others are taken but find their way back. A sad few never return. These two women are from very different worlds, their disappearances are unlikely to be connected. And yet, at a gut level, the DC believes they are.

How could these women walk away from their families, husbands and homes willingly? Clements is determined to unearth the truth, no matter how shocking and devastating it may be.

Review

It’s going to be a bit of task to review the way I would like to without giving the plot away, but hey ho I’m going to try because its such an interesting premise. 

Two women, completely different women, disappear without a trace. The only thing they have in common is the fact they are gone and they vanished around the same time. The reader gets a glimpse of one in captivity – the other fate unknown. Meanwhile the outside world thinks they have gone because they are disgruntled and unhappy with their lives. No one is really looking that hard. Their husbands aren’t looking at all. Who wants to hurt Leigh or Kai? 

The juxtaposition of the two women who have nothing in common is the most intriguing element of the read. Leigh the loving wife who has become the caring stepmother. She is chaotic, frustrated with dealing with an ungrateful teenager and often wonders why she is still with her husband

Kudos to Parks she is getting better with each book, which is quite a feat seeing as she has already written some humdingers. Also for the clever double entendre in regards to the book title. This does not disappoint and has her trademark depth and moral conundrum written all over it and of course it’s a great read.

Buy Both of You at Amazon Uk o go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : HQ pub date 27 May 2021.  Buy at Amazon com. At Hive.

#Review Both of You by Adele Parks

Another fantastic read from Adele Parks coming end of May 2021!

About the Author

Adele Parks was born in Teesside, North-east England. her first novel, Playing Away, was published in 2000 and since then she’s had eighteen international bestsellers. She’s been an Ambassador for The Reading Agency and a judge for the Costa and is a keen supporter of The National Literary Trust. She’s lived in Italy, Botswana and London, and is now settled in Guildford, Surrey, with her husband and son.

Follow @adeleparks on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit adeleparks.com

About the book

Leigh Fletcher: happily married stepmum to two gorgeous boys goes missing on Monday. Her husband Mark says he knows nothing of her whereabouts. She simply went to work and just never came home. Their family is shattered.

Kai Janssen: married to wealthy Dutch businessman, Daan, vanishes the same week. Kai left their luxurious penthouse and glamourous world without a backward glance. She seemingly evaporated into thin air. Daan is distraught.

DC Clements knows that people disappear all the time – far too frequently. Most run away from things, some run towards, others are taken but find their way back. A sad few never return. These two women are from very different worlds, their disappearances are unlikely to be connected. And yet, at a gut level, the DC believes they are.

How could these women walk away from their families, husbands and homes willingly? Clements is determined to unearth the truth, no matter how shocking and devastating it may be.

Review

It’s going to be a bit of task to review the way I would like to without giving the plot away, but hey ho I’m going to try because its such an interesting premise. 

Two women, completely different women, disappear without a trace. The only thing they have in common is the fact they are gone and they vanished around the same time. The reader gets a glimpse of one in captivity – the other fate unknown. Meanwhile the outside world thinks they have gone because they are disgruntled and unhappy with their lives. No one is really looking that hard. Their husbands aren’t looking at all. Who wants to hurt Leigh or Kai? 

The juxtaposition of the two women who have nothing in common is the most intriguing element of the read. Leigh the loving wife who has become the caring stepmother. She is chaotic, frustrated with dealing with an ungrateful teenager and often wonders why she is still with her husband

Kudos to Parks she is getting better with each book, which is quite a feat seeing as she has already written some humdingers. Also for the clever double entendre in regards to the book title. This does not disappoint and has her trademark depth and moral conundrum written all over it and of course it’s a great read.

Buy Both of You at Amazon Uk o go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Buy at Amazon com. At Hive.

#BlogTour Lies, Lies, Lies by Adele Parks

Today it’s an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Lies, Lies, Lies by Adele Parks. It’s a domestic noir thriller with elements of a psychological thriller.

About the Author

Adele Parks was born in Teesside, North-east England. her first novel, Playing Away, was published in 2000 and since then she’s had eighteen international bestsellers. She’s been an Ambassador for The Reading Agency and a judge for the Costa and is a keen supporter of The National Literary Trust. She’s lived in Italy, Botswana and London, and is now settled in Guildford, Surrey, with her husband and son.

Follow @adeleparks @HQStories on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit adeleparks.com

About the book

Lies, Lies, Lies explores the darkest corners of a relationship in freefall in a mesmerising tale of marriage and secrets.

After years together, the arrival of longed-for daughter Millie sealed everything in place. A happy little family of three.

And so what if Simon drinks too much sometimes – Daisy’s used to it, she knows he’s letting off steam. Until one night at a party things spiral horribly out of control. And that happy little family of three will never be the same again.

Review

Leave it to Parks to pull a rabbit out of the hat at the last minute. She has this talent for sliding in the unexpected and catching her readers unawares.

The lie that turns Simon and Daisy’s marriage on its head is a big one. The kind of lie you can’t come back from and the kind that changes lives forever. It’s not the cause of Simon’s drinking problem, but it certainly exacerbates it. He becomes paranoid and suspicious. The trust between himself and Daisy is non-existent.

Meanwhile Daisy is putting on a brave face in front of family and friends. She has no idea Simon has caught her in a lie – blissfully unaware. What she does know is that his drinking is out of control and something has got to give. And it does, but not in the way either of them expect it to.

Whilst the two of them are so engrossed in their own brand of ego-trip and type of self-flagellation they do something unthinkable, which changes their little family forever.

Parks dives straight into the nitty-gritty of relationships and married life. Specifically what happens when the fragile balance between two people is thrown off-kilter by trust issues. Once there is an element of doubt in a relationship it grows like a weed.

It’s a domestic noir thriller with elements of a psychological thriller. As usual Parks combines the controversial with the more normal everyday situations we have to deal with in life to create a captivating read.

Buy Lies, Lies, Lies at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: HQ – Harper Collins Uk pub date 5 September 2019 – Paperback £7.99 – EBook £5.99 – Audiobook £12.99. Buy at Amazon com.

Read my review of I Invited Her In by Adele Parks.

I Invited Her In by Adele Parks

I will start off by saying that unfortunately the greatest opposition and critics of women are often other women. Instead of supporting each other and strengthening a sense of sisterhood we tend to target each other instead.

Not that women can’t have spectacular friendships, the kind that last for decades, but perhaps there are women you shouldn’t invite into your home. Shouldn’t invite them to saunter half-naked in front of your husband and nearly adult son. Perhaps Mel is so blinded by the need to be Abi’s friend that she refuses to see her for what she really is.

If you have children there will come a time, and it might possibly shock you, when they reach a certain age and other people view them as potential partners. When you walk down the street with your teenage daughter and you realise the middle aged or young man coming towards you is eyeing her up like an ice-cream needing to be licked on a hot day.

I can remember the first time I realised one of the parents in my youngest son’s primary school was eyeballing my eldest son, a 6ft 2in sixteen year old, and attempting to flirt with him. I just wasn’t prepared for it, because in my head he will always be the cute curly-haired two year old.

My initial gut reaction to these moments was shock, then anger and now I use a technique I have spent many years cultivating called the stink-eye, also more commonly known as the evil eye.

I found myself wondering what I would do or say in the same situation as Mel. I’m not sure I would be able to contain my inner rage. The betrayal is an intimate one, boundaries are crossed and relationships broken. There are some things that are unforgivable even if you have to resign yourself to a situation you can’t change.

Parks really knows how make her readers experience the emotional turmoil of her characters. She does that by keeping her fiction as close to real life scenarios as possible. Real people and real emotions are her forte. It’s a drama filled tale of revenge and shocking betrayal, a compelling read about a woman being blindsided by a friend she trusts completely.

This is a read that will fuel discussion. Who is right? Would you forgive your friend? Would you invite your friend in? Yes, it is the kind of story that will make you angry and perhaps even a little frustrated on Mel’s behalf.

Buy/Preorder I Invited Her In at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Follow @adeleparks @HQStories

Visit adeleparks.com

Publisher: Harper Collins UK, Pub. date 20 September 2018