Category: Blog Tour

Hidden in the Shadows by Imogen Matthews #BlogTour #BookReview @AmsterdamPB

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Hidden in the Shadows BT PosterWelcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Hidden in the Shadows by Imogen Matthews, the second in the author’s ‘Untold WW2 Stories’ series and the sequel to The Hidden Village. (By the way, if you haven’t read The Hidden Village and think you might want to, I’d recommend skipping the About the Book section of this post as the blurb mentions key events in the earlier book.)

My thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to participate in the tour and to Amsterdam Publishers for my digital copy of the book. You can read my review of Hidden in the Shadows below.

About the Book

Escape from the hidden village is just the beginning…

September 1944: The hidden village is in ruins. Stormed by the Nazis. Several are dead and dozens flee for their lives. Instead of leading survivors to safety, Wouter panics and abandons Laura, the love of his life. He has no choice but to keep running from the enemy who want to hunt him down.

Laura must also stay hidden as she is Jewish. Moving from one safe house to another, she is concealed in attics and cellars. The threat of discovery is always close at hand.

On the run with no end in sight, the two young people despair of ever seeing each other again. As cold sweeps in signalling the start of the Hunger Winter, time is running out. Wouter’s search now becomes a battle for survival.

Where can Laura be? Will they ever be reunited?

Format: Paperback, ebook (286 pages)  Publisher: Amsterdam Publishers
Publication date: 1st December 2019    Genre: Historical Fiction

Find Hidden in the Shadows on Goodreads

Purchase links*
Amazon UK | Hive (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

In my recent review of The Hidden Village, I commented that its ending left me with unanswered questions about some of the characters and what happened next. It seems the author felt the same as, in the introduction to Hidden in the Shadows, Imogen writes, “Sometimes, a story doesn’t end on the last page of the book. Sometimes, there’s another story still waiting to be told”.

The story of ‘what happened next’ is revealed in chapters told from the points of view of Wouter, Laura, and occasionally Else (surely everyone’s favourite tante from the first book and who played such an important role in maintaining the hidden village). Perhaps because Laura’s story is written in the first person (whereas Wouter’s is in the third person) I found myself more engaged in her experiences. I have to say, however, that even Laura seemed at times overly preoccupied with her predicament – ‘passed around like some unwanted baggage’ as she describes it – rather than considering what a risk the people sheltering her and others like her were running.

For me, by far the most compelling aspect of the book was not so much the romance between Laura and Wouter, but the details about the network of people involved in transporting and offering shelter to those in need. It was fascinating to read about the ingenious hiding places and inspiring to witness people’s willingness to put themselves at risk and share their scarce resources with complete strangers. I also thought it was clever of the author to introduce characters such as Emil and Friedrich to demonstrate there were Germans, even amongst those forced to serve in the army, who were just as keen as the population of the countries they had overrun for the war to end.

Do Wouter and Laura find each other?  Will it be ‘happily ever after’? Was forester Henk hero or villain? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

Hidden in the Shadows is described by the publishers as “an unforgettable story of bravery and love, inspired by historical events” and, like The Hidden Village, it certainly sheds a light on the courage, ingenuity and community spirit that helped people like Laura and Wouter escape the clutches of the Nazis. If you’d like to find out more about how Imogen came to write The Hidden Village, check out this guest post from July 2017 hosted by Sonia at A Lover of Books.

In three words: Dramatic, authentic, immersive

Try something similar: War Girl Ursula by Marion Kummerow

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Imogen Matthews Author PicAbout the Author

Imogen Matthews is English and lives in the beautiful University town of Oxford. Before she wrote The Hidden Village, she published two romantic fiction e-novels under her pen name, Alex Johnson. The Hidden Village is published by Amsterdam Publishers, based in the Netherlands.

Imogen has strong connections with the Netherlands. Born in Rijswijk to a Dutch mother and English father, the family moved to England when Imogen was very young. Every year since 1990, Imogen has been on family holidays to Nunspeet on the edge of the Veluwe woods. It was here that she discovered the story of the hidden village, and together with her mother’s vivid stories of life in WW2 Holland, she was inspired to write her novel.

Connect with Imogen
Website | Twitter

A Wedding in the Olive Garden by Leah Fleming #BookReview #BlogTour @HoZ_Books

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for A Wedding in the Olive Garden by Leah Fleming. Thanks to Vicky Joss at Head of Zeus for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my digital review copy via NetGalley. You can find my review of A Wedding in the Olive Garden below.

FB_IMG_1582298166464About the Book

Can an island in the sun provide the second chance Sara needs?

Sara Loveday flees home and crisis to the beautiful island of Santaniki. Here, amid olive groves and whitewashed stone villas, where dark cypress trees step down to a cobalt blue sea, Sara vows to change her life. Spotting a gap in the local tourist market, she sets up a wedding plan business, specialising in ‘second time around’ couples.

For her first big wedding, she borrows the olive garden of a local artists’ retreat, but almost at once things begin to go wrong. To make matters worse, a stranger from Sara’s past arrives on the island, spreading vicious lies. Can her business survive? And what will happen with the gorgeous new man who she’s begun to love?

Format: ebook (352 pages)           Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 7th May 2020 Genre: Women’s Fiction, Romance

Find A Wedding in the Olive Garden on Goodreads

Purchase links*
Amazon.co.uk | Hive (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

A Wedding in the Olive Garden is a departure from my usual diet of historical fiction but doesn’t everyone need/deserve something sweet and indulgent from time to time, such as a slice of baklava perhaps?

Having really enjoyed the author’s previous book, The Olive Garden Choir,  it was a delight to return to the (alas, fictional) Greek island of Santaniki and to be reunited with some of the characters from the earlier book. My personal favourite is Irini, on this occasion transformed from mother-in-law from hell to avenging angel.

It was also great to make the acquaintance of some new characters. One of these is Sara Loveday who has her own reasons for wanting to begin a new chapter in her life, reasons which she is unwilling to share with anyone initially (including the reader). Luckily, her new wedding planning venture requires all her attention if it’s to be a success. A number of couples amongst the island’s residents have their own very special and personal reasons for wanting to get married and it’s not long before they are making use of Sara’s services. The first wedding she organises is notable for a very unexpected arrival.

With all this going on there’s definitely no place for romance on Sara’s extensive to-do list. At least, that’s what she thinks.

I can certainly attest to the publisher’s description of A Wedding in the Olive Garden as “a gorgeous, warm-hearted and uplifting novel conjuring the local colour, traditions and close bonds of island life.” Of all the weddings featured in the book, my favourite was the traditional Cretan wedding in which the whole community pitch in to help. There are also fabulous descriptions of the islanders’ celebrations of Easter and of the feast day of Phanourios, patron saint of lost and found, whose services are definitely needed at one point.

I have to mention the luscious descriptions of food such as these offerings from the lunchtime menu of the taverna run by Northern lass Mel, her husband Spiro, and the aforementioned Irini: gigantes (butter bean stew), mountain greens in oil and lemon, salad of beetroot, garlic and walnut, village sausages, and roasted vegetable salad with feta. Oh, and don’t forget a carafe of the local wine and a raki to finish. Stomach rumbling yet?

With the author’s customary skilful blend of joyful and poignant moments, if A Wedding in the Olive Garden doesn’t have you longingly browsing travel websites ready for when ‘normal’ life returns, or even planning your own dream wedding, I’ll be surprised.

In three words: Engaging, heart-warming, joyful

Try something similar: The House That Alice Built by Chris Penhall

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Leah FlemingAbout the Author

After careers in teaching, catering, running a market stall, stress management courses in the NHS as well as being a mother of four, Leah Fleming found her true calling as a storyteller. She lives in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales but spends part of the year marinating her next tale from an olive grove on her favourite island of Crete.

Connect with Leah
Website | Twitter