#BlogTour #Review ~ Welcome to Ferry Lane Market by Nicola May @NicolaMay1 @RaRaResources @HodderBooks

A big welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Welcome to Ferry Lane Market by Nicola May.

Welcome to Ferry Lane Market was published on 22nd July 2021 by Hodder and Stoughton.

Although thirty-three-year-old Kara Moon loves her hometown of Hartmouth in Cornwall, she has always wondered if she should have followed her dream of going off to study floristry. But she couldn’t bring herself to abandon her emotionally delicate single father, and has worked on Ferry Lane Market’s flower stall ever since leaving school.

When her good-for-nothing boyfriend cheats on her and steals her life savings, she finally dumps him and rents out her spare room as an Airbnb. Gossip flies around the town as Kara welcomes a series of foreign guests to her flat overlooking the estuary.

Then an anonymous postcard arrives, along with a plane ticket to New York. And there begins the first of three trips of a lifetime, during which she will learn important lessons about herself, her life and what she wants from it – and perhaps find love along the way.

* * * * * * * * * 

A big thank you to Rachel Gilbey and the publisher for my review copy of the book and for inviting me to participate on the blog tour.

Nicola May has written a new series and after finishing the first in the series, I can already tell it is going to be as good (or maybe even better) than her last one.

We follow Kara Moon, a florist and works in her hometown village Hartmouth in lovely Cornwall and lives with her errant (and quite lazy) boyfriend Jago and her motley crew of pets, namely James Bond (a cat) and Sid Vicious (a terrapin), amongst others!

She lives close to her dad who is still dealing with unresolved feelings about his wife who decided to leave the family several years ago and her grandad Harry (who is such a lovely character who adores his grandaughter). When Kara discovers Jaga has cheated on her, she decides she needs to revaluate her life and decides to rent her spare room as an Airbnb. Following this, she mysteriously receives a series of postcards and tickets for a trip to New York….

Kara is such a lovely selfless character and I loved how close she is to her family, even to the point of putting her own needs and dreams to one side for them. Watching her blossom through the chapters is wonderful especially as you realise just how much she has given up. I really loved her close friendship wqith Star, her best friend who really tries to encourage Star to live her own life and to put herslef first for a change.

In some stories, you meet characters but don’t fully learn too much about them so I was pleasantly surprised that although Kara is the main character, we learn a lot about the other people in her life and their backstories – I particularly loved her dad’s fledging romance with the outgoing Pearl and loved reading about her backstory and how well suited they really are for each other!

I found this to be a wonderful start to a promising new series and can’t wait to read the next installment already!

To follow the rest of the tour…

About the Author

Nicola May is a rom-com superstar. She is the author of a dozen romantic comedies, all of which have appeared in the Kindle bestseller charts. Two of them won awards at the Festival of Romance, and another was named ebook of the week in The Sun.

The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay became the best-selling Kindle book in the UK, across all genres, in January 2019. Christmas in Cockleberry Bay, the fourth in the Cockleberry Bay series is OUT NOW!

Welcome to Ferry Lane Market, book 1 of her forthcoming trilogy is out July 2021.

#Review ~ The Devils’ Advocate by Steve Cavanagh @SSCav @OrionBooks #EddieFlynn

The Devil’s Advocate is published on 5th August 2021 by Orion Books.

 

 

A deadly prosecutor

They call him the King of Death Row. Randal Korn has sent more men to their deaths than any district attorney in the history of the United States.

A twisted ritualistic killing

When a young woman, Skylar Edwards, is found murdered in Buckstown, Alabama, a corrupt sheriff arrests the last person to see her alive, Andy Dubois. It doesn’t seem to matter to anyone that Andy is innocent.

A small town boiling with rage

Everyone in Buckstown believes Andy is guilty. He has no hope of a fair trial. And the local defense attorney assigned to represent him has disappeared.

A former con-artist

Hot shot New York lawyer Eddie Flynn travels south to fight fire with fire. He plans to destroy the prosecutors case, find the real killer and save Andy from the electric chair.

But the murders are just beginning.

Is Eddie Flynn next?

* * * * * * * * 

A big thank you to Alex and the publisher for issuing me with my copy of the book. This has not influenced by review.

A fantastic addition to the Eddie Flynn series which sees us reunited with well known characters from the previous books (this could be read as a standalone however)

I really got caught up with this story as Eddie, Kate, Harry and Bloch find themselves as public enemy number 1 in Buckstown, Alabama when they arrive to defend Andy Dubois, a quiet young man who has been accused of murdering a young woman he worked with at the local bar. Coerced into making a false statement by the corrupt town sherrif and District Attorney, Eddie is convinced that Andy is innocent but really has his work cut out against a DA who is determined only the death penalty will be the right outcome.

The closed off small town mentality really reminded me of early John Grisham and is written with such detailed description you find yourself getting angry at the complete injustice of everything that is happening. I was completely enthralled and also slightly puzzled at just how Eddie would be able to work himself out of this one! The tension is kept up throughout the book, barely giving you time to breathe!

I’m really glad that the author has kept the momentum going with another outstanding book and can’t wait to read the next installment.

Highly recommended from me.

About the Author

Steve Cavanagh is a critically acclaimed, Sunday Times best-selling author of the Eddie Flynn series which has sold a million copies in the UK. His third novel, The Liar, won the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the year 2018. Thirteen won the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime novel of the year 2019. FIFTY FIFTY was a Richard and Judy Book club choice, and the BBC Between The Covers book club choice. His latest novel, The Devil’s Advocate will be release in August 2021.

The Eddie Flynn series can be read in any order, but the list in full in order of publication is as follows:
The Defence
The Cross (ebook exclusive novella)
The Plea
The Liar
Thirteen
Fifty Fifty
The Devil’s Advocate

Standalone books – Twisted.


Find out more at http://www.stevecavanaghauthor.com or follow Steve on Twitter @SSCav

 

#BlogTour #Review – I Know What I Saw by Imran Mahmood @ImranMahmood777 @Tr4cyF3nt0n @BloomsburyRaven #IKnowWhatISaw

A big welcome to my stop on the blog tour for I Know What I Saw by Imran Mahmood.

I Know What I Saw was published on 10th June 2021 by Bloomsbury Raven.

I saw it. He smothered her, pressing his hands on her face. The police don’t believe me, they say it’s impossible – but I know what I saw.

Xander Shute – once a wealthy banker, now living on the streets – shelters for the night in an empty Mayfair flat. When he hears the occupants returning home, he scrambles to hide. Trapped in his hiding place, he hears the couple argue, and he soon finds himself witnessing a vicious murder.

But who was the dead woman, who the police later tell him can’t have been there? And why is the man Xander saw her with evading justice?

As Xander searches for answers, his memory of the crime comes under scrutiny, forcing him to confront his long-buried past and the stories he’s told about himself.

How much he is willing to risk to understand the brutal truth?

* * * * * * * * *

A big thank you to Tracey Fenton and the publisher for providing me with my review copy of the book and for inviting me take part on the blog tour.

I Know What I Saw is actually the first book I have read by the author and wow – what a book to start with!

We follow Xander Shute, a seasoned homeless man who lives in London trying to get just get through the day. One night in the pouring rain, he finds shelter in an empty house, things change for the worse when he is woken up by a returning couple. He manages to hide behind the sofa but witnesses a murder. Despite knowing he will be in trouble he goes to the police station to confirm what he saw but is baffled when he is told he has been mistaken….

Slowly throughout the book, we learn more about Xander and how in his previous life he was a successful investment banker having studied at Cambridge but was also in competition with his brother since childhood and this has always followed him. The chapters where we learn more about Xander and his family as fascinating and kept me fully invested in the character and plot.

Xander is determined to find out what really happened and we follow him on his quest to try and get rid of his demons once and for all. Xander is a very complex character and was written brilliantly. You immediately feel empathy for him as you follow him along on his journey whilst also trying to decipher if what he saw that night, really happened and what really happened in his previous life to make him want to turn his back on privileged life for a life of living on the streets of London.

I Know What I Saw was a page turner for me as I couldn’t read fast enough to uncover the truth and is one of my favourite books of the year so far!

Highly recommended from me.

 

To follow the blog tour…

 

About the Author

Imran Mahmood is a British novelist and a criminal defence barrister with over 20 years’ experience in the Crown Court and Court of Appeal.

He specializes in Legal Aid cases involving violent crimes as well as fraud and sexual offences.

He was born in Liverpool and now lives in London with his wife and daughter. You Don’t Know Me was chosen as a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Choice for 2017 and was shortlisted for the Glass Bell Award in 2018. It is due to be dramatised for the BBC in 2021.