Category: Blog Tour

Blog Tour/Book Review: This Is Me by Shari Low

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I’m delighted to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for Shari Low’s latest book, This Is Me.   You can read my review below.  Thanks to Vicky at Aria for inviting me to participate in the tour and for my review copy.

ARIA_LOW_THIS IS ME_EAbout the Book

This is… Denise.

Married to Ray, her first and only love, Denise has never for one moment regretted putting the husband she idolised on a pedestal above everyone and everything else. But, after forty years of marriage, he is gone, leaving Denise to discover that their perfect marriage was fatally flawed. Now she faces a future alone, but first she must face the betrayals of the past.

This is… Claire.

The estranged daughter of Denise, the woman who put her husband before her children, Claire took the opposite path and devoted her life to raising her family, sacrificing her marriage along the way. With her teenage sons about to flee the nest, she realises she may have left it too late to find her own happy ever after.

This is the story of two women, both alone, both cautionary tales of one of motherhood’s biggest decisions.

Who is more important, your partner or your children? And what happens if you make the wrong choice?

Format: ebook, paperback (372 pp.)    Publisher: Aria Fiction
Published: 2nd May 2019    Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com | Kobo
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find This Is Me on Goodreads

My Review

The prologue reveals one death provoking two very different reactions from mother and daughter, Denise and Claire. The reasons why, and for their estrangement, will become apparent over the course of the book through a series of flashbacks.

Some characters from Shari Low’s book, One Day in December, make a return appearance in This Is Me and there are brief references to events in the earlier book. I particularly enjoyed becoming reacquainted with the irrepressible Val and Josie – all wine, wisecracks and wisdom. They, along with her best friend Jeanna, form part of Claire’s support network as she struggles with her ’empty nest’ feelings now her two sons have left home. Her friends also provide the pretext for Claire’s reminiscences about her troubled relationship with her mother and father, her first meeting with future but now ex-husband, Sam, and their early years together. Along the way, Claire learns a few unexpected secrets as well!

Denise has no such support network meaning, although I found her life decisions and choices a challenge to comprehend, I could sympathize with the lonely situation she finds herself in and her despair at the things she discovers.

There was one character in the book I definitely could not sympathize with; in fact, who I loathed with a vengeance. Selfish, manipulative and deceitful, I simply couldn’t understand how a person could inspire such devotion. On the other hand, Claire’s ex-husband Sam, seemed a positive paragon.

The book presents the choice the two women make – between putting their children or their partner first – in pretty black and white terms. I’d like to hope in real life there are shades in between.

This Is Me is an engaging, emotional story about motherhood, relationships and the choices we often face in our personal lives. In some respects a cautionary tale, it’s also a celebration of female friendship and the possibility of new beginnings and, just maybe, second chances.

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Aria, and NetGalley.

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In three words: Heartfelt, emotional, engaging

Try something similar…One Day in December by Shari Low (read my review here)

ShariLowAbout the Author

Shari Low is the No.1 best-selling author of over 20 novels, including One Day In December, A Life Without You, The Story Of Our Life, With Or Without You and Another Day In Winter. And because she likes to over-share toe-curling moments and hapless disasters, she is also the shameless mother behind a collection of parenthood memories called Because Mummy Said So.

Once upon a time she met a guy, got engaged after a week, and twenty-something years later she lives near Glasgow with her husband, a labradoodle, and two teenagers who think she’s fairly embarrassing except when they need a lift.

Connect with Shari

Website  ǀ  Facebook  ǀ  Twitter  ǀ  Goodreads

 

 

Blog Tour/Q&A: Killer of Kings by Matthew Harffy

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Blog tour Poster (2)

I’m delighted to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour to celebrate the publication in paperback of Killer of Kings by Matthew Harffy, the fourth in ‘The Bernicia Chronicles’ series set in 7th century Anglo-Saxon Britain.  And I’m thrilled to welcome Matthew to What Cathy Read Next today to talk about the book, its inspiration and his approach to writing.

Storm of Steel, the latest book in ‘The Bernicia Chronicles’ series will be published on 9th May 2019 and is available for pre-order now from Amazon UK (link provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme).  Look out for my review as part of the blog tour.

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Book cover (2)About the Book

Beobrand has land, men and riches. He should be content. And yet he cannot find peace until his enemies are food for the ravens. But before Beobrand can embark on his bloodfeud, King Oswald orders him southward, to escort holy men bearing sacred relics.

When Penda of Mercia marches a warhost into the southern kingdoms, Beobrand and his men are thrown into the midst of the conflict. Beobrand soon finds himself fighting for his life and his honour.

In the chaos that grips the south, dark secrets are exposed, bringing into question much that Beobrand had believed true. Can he unearth the answers and exact the vengeance he craves? Or will the blood-price prove too high, even for a warrior of his battle-fame and skill?

Format: Paperback (400 pp.)    Publisher: Aria
Published:  2nd May 2019  Genre: Historical Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com  ǀ Hive.co.uk (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Killer of Kings on Goodreads

Interview: Matthew Harffy, author of Killer of Kings (Bernicia Chronicles #4)

Welcome to What Cathy Read Next, Matthew. Without giving too much away for readers who have not yet discovered the series, can you tell us a bit about Killer of Kings?

The protagonist of The Bernicia Chronicles is Beobrand, a young man who, by the time we reach Killer of Kings, has become a renowned warrior and leader of men. This novel begins with him accompanying some monks south from Northumbria to East Anglia. Of course, trouble is never far away from Beobrand, and when he arrives in the south, war is already brewing and he finds himself quickly embroiled in a savage battle for survival.

Killer of Kings is the fourth book in ‘The Bernicia Chronicles’ series. What are the challenges of writing a series compared to a standalone novel?

I suppose the biggest challenges are to have a story arc and characters that make the series fit together as a long story, whilst ensuring that each book is satisfying as a standalone novel in its own right.

dunstanburgh-castle

How did growing up in Northumberland provide inspiration for your novels?

I only lived in Northumberland for a few years as a child, but the area had a profound effect on me. It is such a wild land, with reminders of the past all around, from the Roman remains of Hadrian’s Wall, to the medieval ruins of castles, such as Dunstanburgh. It is hard not to imagine our forebears walking the same rugged coastline and those windswept hills 1,400 years ago at the time my books are set.

How has Beobrand, the hero of your books, developed as a character over the series?

He starts the first book, The Serpent Sword, as a rather naïve young man. He is rapidly thrown into the struggles and battles between the warlords of the different kingdoms of Albion. Over the course of the books he becomes a powerful man, with land and a war band. He is still impetuous and is quick to anger, but by Killer of Kings he is also wiser and begins to understand the deadly games the kings of the land play with the lives of their subjects.

How do you think you would have coped living in 7th Century Britain?

I don’t think I would have survived for long. Certainly not in the violent times I portray in ‘The Bernicia Chronicles’.

How do you approach the research for your books? Do you enjoy the process of research?

I read all I can on the year or two I am writing about to find interesting historical events that I can use as the tent poles for the narrative of each novel. Then, after I’ve planned the plot of the story, I leave the detailed research for the first round of edits. Each time I reach a point in the story that has something I’m not sure of, I highlight it and return to it when I have completed the first draft.  I wouldn’t go as far as to say I enjoy the process of research, but I do love finding snippets of information that fit perfectly into the story I have envisaged. Sometimes something comes along that elevates the story and just fits perfectly. I enjoy that.

Do you have a special place to write or any writing rituals?

I write in any place I can. Wherever I can sit with my laptop for an hour is a place I can write. The only thing I do is put on headphones and play classical music or nature sounds to help me concentrate.

What is your favourite and least favourite part of the writing process?

My favourite part of the process is finishing a novel! My least favourite is waiting for the first reviews!

Which other writers do you admire?

I admire more writers than I can list here, but authors I’ve discovered in recent years that have really impressed me are Toby Clements, Justin Hill and Robert Lautner.

Thank you, Matthew, for those fascinating answers. I don’t think you need to worry too much on the reviews front given reader response to previous books in the series! 

Harffy_MatthewAbout the Author

Matthew grew up in Northumberland where the rugged terrain, ruined castles and rocky coastline had a huge impact on him. He now lives in Wiltshire, England, with his wife and their two daughters.

Connect with Matthew

Website  ǀ Blog |  Facebook  ǀ  Twitter  ǀ  Goodreads

The Bernicia Chronicles