the queen of new beginnings blog tour

In a change of pace for me I am on a blog tour for Bombshell books today – sister to bloodhound and with a new author to me.

the queen of new beginnings:

Kajsa lives in a large house in Stockholm along with her three children and their dog. Since coming clean about lying on her popular blog she no longer has any work. Not only that but she has kicked her husband out because of his sex addiction.

While her husband is in rehab trying to fix his little problem, Kajsa’s mother in law is thrown out of her retirement home and comes to live with her daughter in law.

Then Kajsa receives an unexpected offer to move to a fashionable part of London. But having to look after her mother in law makes life complicated.

can Kajsa rid herself of her baggage and make a fresh start with her children in England?

This laugh-out-loud comedy looks at the daily struggles we all face with our families and asks if starting again is ever really possible.

my thoughts:

I have heard this described as similar to Bridget jones which I don’t think quite does this book justice. This is a follow up to the Queen of Blogging which introduces us to Kasja and her family, although this could probably be read as a standalone.

I find Kasja appealing as she is a very real woman – struggling with relatively realistic problems. This book is engaging and easy to read and the character of Kasjas mother in law is particularly endearing.

if you want a light easy travel read than this is a book for you – its a fun humorous light hearted read. I would read more from this author, a solid 4* read for me.

Strategy blog tour

Today I have the good fortune of being on the Strategy blog tour – Anita waller is one of my favourite bloodhound authors. Strategy is the follow up to 34 days.

the novel:

How much can one family take? 

Jenny Carbrook murdered three people to make it look as though there was a serial killer at work in Lincoln, when the only person she wanted to kill was Ray Carbrook, her father-in-law, who had raped her the week before her marriage to Mark, Ray’s son. 

Jenny wrote letters detailing her crimes in order to protect everyone she loved, but was forced to go into hiding before retrieving the evidence against her.  Not only did she leave the letters behind but also her young daughter, Grace. 

Now Jenny has a plan, a strategy, to get the letters back. But it’s not only the letters that Jenny has in her sights

my thoughts: I read 34 days before this and while I enjoyed the premise of how an ordinary person can be driven to evil acts, I didn’t feel like it reflected Anita at her best it was a good read but I wasn’t as emotionally drawn in as I have been with her other novels.

however Strategy remedies this. You are hooked from page 1 of this fantastic thriller and it helps that you know the characters from 34 days as you feel more connected with them from the very beginning. There were several points in this book where I had tears running down my face as I read and this is Anita’s real writing skill. She can draw you in emotionally to a book in a way few other authors do for me. I can think of few other authors who deliver this type of domestic Noir as well as Anita Waller.

for an outstanding read look no further, this receives a solid 5* from me.