Book Review: Jesse's Girl by Miranda Kenneally

Last Updated: 15 May 2021

AD* | Everyone at Hundred Oaks High knows that career mentoring day is a joke. So when Maya Henry said she wanted to be a rock star, she never imagined she’d get to shadow *the* Jesse Scott, Nashville’s teen idol.

But spending the day with Jesse is far from a dream come true. He’s as gorgeous as his music, but seeing all that he’s accomplished is just a reminder of everything Maya’s lost: her trust, her boyfriend, their band, and any chance to play the music she craves. Not to mention that Jesse’s pushy and opinionated. He made it on his own, and he thinks Maya’s playing back up to other people’s dreams. Does she have what it takes to follow her heart - and go solo?

Film Review: Ant-Man

Ant-Man is the latest in the long line of blockbuster movies from Marvel Studios. Following hot on the heels of Avengers: Age of Ultron, people seemed to be in two minds over Ant-Man before the film's release.

Book Review: The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle

Last Updated: 11 May 2021

AD* | It's the accident season, the same time every year. Bones break, skin tears, bruises bloom.

The accident season has been part of seventeen-year-old Cara's life for as long as she can remember. Towards the end of October, foreshadowed by the deaths of many relatives before them, Cara's family becomes inexplicably accident-prone. They banish knives to locked drawers, cover sharp table edges with padding, switch off electrical items - but injuries follow wherever they go, and the accident season becomes an ever-growing obsession and fear.

But why are they so cursed? And how can they break free?

Book Review: Shadow of Deception by Sophia L. Johnson

Last Updated: 11 May 2021

AD* | 2153, Toronto, United Nation of North America (UNNA)

A horrific plane crash kills all five hundred and forty-two passengers except one. Kazumi comes out of the wreckage physically unscathed but wiped of all memories. Her miraculous survival attracts the attention of the Sarcomeres, a secret society of genetically advanced humans. Their heightened physical abilities and high-tech gadgets are not the only things that fascinate Kazumi, Finnegan O'Riley, a fellow Sarc also gets her heart racing. When she discovers that she possesses the genetic potential to become a Sarcomere, she welcomes the chance to train with them in the hope that she would recover her memories.

Meanwhile, thirty years after the Great War that almost destroyed the world, a centuries-old nemesis of the Sarcomeres begins to stir in the dark. Just when Kazumi thinks she can help protect her newfound home, past memories surface to threaten her new identity. She soon realizes that layers of deception run deep and everyone has a secret agenda, including herself. Who can she trust when she can't even trust herself? One wrong decision could bring forth consequences worse than death. Is Kazumi ready to face her destiny?

Interview: Sophia L. Johnson

Last Updated: 01 June 2024

To kick start my stop on the blog tour for Shadow of Deception (paid link; commission earned) by Sophia L. Johnson, here's my interview with the author herself! The review is also up and can be seen here.

Interview: D.A. Roach

Continuing my stop on the blog tour for Rarity (paid link; commission earned), I got the chance to interview the author, D.A. Roach. If you missed my review of the book, you can find it here.

Book Review: Rarity by D.A. Roach

Last Updated: 11 May 2021

AD* | Brogen Mathers can’t deal with teen drama... As an empath, she is constantly bombarded with other people’s energies. Despite coping techniques taught by her psychologist mother, it’s often too much to bear, forcing her to avoid most activities a typical high school junior would enjoy.

Jay Wilken won’t let his past define him... A dead mother and an alcoholic father brought Jay to Stanton, but he doesn’t want pity. His good looks, charisma and friendly nature quickly win over the whole student body, but he has his eye on one girl... Brogen.

Brogen can’t believe anyone could be so genuinely nice. It has to be an act, right? But when Jay literally saves her from deadly jaws, she has to admit he’s exactly what he appears, and he’s worth risking the potential emotional upheaval.

“Drama” might as well be Becca Grant’s middle name... Another newcomer to Stanton, Becca’s blonde beauty and abundant attitude shoot her straight to the top of the popularity charts - and she believes Jay belongs right there beside her. Accustomed to getting exactly what she wants, she launches a relentless mean-girl campaign to shake up Brogen and claim Jay for her own.

Everything changes with a devastating diagnosis... When Jay learns he has a rare and potentially fatal disorder, he keeps it secret and begins to push Brogen away to spare her future pain - which is exactly the sort of opening Becca is waiting for. As Jay’s well-meaning deception unravels, Brogen realizes there is much more than her heart at stake... But how far is she willing to go to fight for someone she loves?

Gig Review: McBusted - Alive @ Delapre

Pop supergroup McBusted kicked off 2015’s Alive @ Delapre 3-day festival in a spectacular fashion on Friday night. Fresh from their MEAT (Most Excellent Adventure Tour) earlier this year, and a support slot on One Direction’s recent world tour, the boys were on top form as usual.

Book Review: Blood & Ink by Stephen Davies

Last Updated: 11 May 2021

AD* | Kadija is the music-loving daughter of a guardian of the sacred manuscripts of the ancient city of Timbuktu, Mali.

Ali is a former shepherd boy, trained as a warrior for Allah.

Tonight, the Islamist rebels are coming for Timbuktu. They will install a harsh regime of law and tear apart the peaceful world within the mud walls of the city. Television, football, radios, even music, will be banned.

Kadija refuses to let go of her former life. And something in her defiance draws Ali to her.

Which path will he choose?

Book Review: The Notting Hill Mystery by Charles Warren Adams

Last Updated: 11 May 2021

AD* | Can you name the first detective novel ever published? For years, many believed it to be Wilkie Collins’  The Moonstone, published in 1868. Others speculated it might be Émile Gaboriau’s first Monsieur Lecoq novel, L’Affaire Lerouge. Actually, the first modern detective novel predates both of these by several years - Charles Warren Adams’ The Notting Hill Mystery, originally published as an eight-part serial in Once A Week magazine in 1862 under the pseudonym Charles Felix, then as a single-volume novel in 1863 by Bradbury & Evans, is considered to truly be the first.

The Notting Hill Mystery begins in London, where the wife of the sinister Baron R__ dies after drinking from a bottle of acid, apparently while sleepwalking in her husband’s home laboratory. It looks like an accident until insurance investigator Ralph Henderson learns that Baron R__ took out numerous life insurance policies on his wife. As Henderson investigates the case, he discovers not one, but three murders. Presented as Henderson’s evidential findings - diary entries, family letters, chemical analysis reports, interviews with witnesses, along with a crime scene map - the novel displays innovative techniques that would not become common features of detective fiction until the 1920s.

Blog Tour: Baby Girl box set by Elle Klass

Baby Girl series box set by Elle Klass 

Tour hosted by Ashley's Addictive Book Promotions 

Box set release date: July 13th, 2015 

Find it on Amazon (paid link; commission earned)

Book Review: Clariel by Garth Nix

Last Updated: 09 May 2021

AD* | Sixteen-year-old Clariel is not adjusting well to her new life in the city of Belisaere, the capital of the Old Kingdom. She misses roaming freely within the forests of Estwael, and she feels trapped within the stone city walls. And in Belisaere she is forced to follow the plans, plots and demands of everyone, from her parents to her maid, to the sinister Guildmaster Kilp. Clariel can see her freedom slipping away. It seems too that the city itself is descending into chaos, as the ancient rules binding Abhorsen, King and Clayr appear to be disintegrating.

With the discovery of a dangerous Free Magic creature loose in the city, Clariel is given the chance both to prove her worth and make her escape. But events spin rapidly out of control. Clariel finds herself more trapped than ever until help comes from an unlikely source. But the help comes at a terrible cost. Clariel must question the motivations and secret hearts of everyone around her - and it is herself she must question most of all.

Interview: Henry Maybury

Henry Maybury is a singer/songwriter who travels around the UK visiting schools and prisons to share his music and educational story. He says his aim in life is to help others through music and the Lost Days campaign, which he set up to help those struggling with addiction.

This week Henry took time out of his schedule to chat to me about his music and the campaign.

Review: Snapfish Summer Gifts

Recently I was lucky enough to be invited to review some of the lovely products from Snapfish.co.uk. I decided to go with the theme of summer for my gifts, seeing as we're in the middle of a heatwave and the holidays are just around the corner!