All signs lead back to you - Cover Reveal

~~~ Cover Reveal ~~~

All Signs Lead Back to You by Aniesha Brahma

2013.

As the final bell for the day rang on their last day in school, Diya Rai, had a chill run down her spine. The chill of not knowing what the future holds for her and her high school sweetheart, Ashwin Chowdhury.

So she does a preemptive strike.

She dumps him before he can hurt her.

2015.

Two years later, Ashwin and Diya, cross paths. Each holds grudges, feelings and only one half of the story that completes them.

Told from alternating points of view, through a non-linear timeline, this is the story about 

first love, second chances and ALL the SIGNS THAT LEAD BACK TO YOU.

About the Author

Aniesha Brahma is an author who realized her passion for writing at the tender age of six. She also happens to be the social media manager for BEE Books. Her debut novel, The Secret Proposal (2012) was published by General Press and was followed by When Our Worlds Collide (2015) by the same. She blogs at: www.anieshabrahma.com and runs an online magazine, BUZZ Magazine (www.buzzmagazine.in). She can be contacted at: aniesha.brahma@gmail.com. She lives in Kolkata with her family and her five super adorable cats! 

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On Top of the World - David Lamb

I've always loved A Christmas Carol, so the idea of a modern take on the story, but as a contemporary romance, meant I had to give it a read.

On top of the World

2016 BEST FICTION-Pacific Book Awards. FROM THE FUNNY AND NATURALLY BRILLIANT DAVID LAMB, award-winning playwright of the New York Times celebrated play, Platanos Y Collard Greens, comes a modern spin on Dickens’ classic tale that perfectly combines humor and romance in a story re-imagined for our digital, consumerist age.  This version of Scrooge and Belle is familiar, yet unlike any you’ve come across before. Scrooge, or rather Scrooje, is music’s biggest superstar, with one hundred million albums sold, fifteen million devoted YouTube subscribers, two and a half million Facebook likes, and twenty-five million fanatical Twitter followers known as Scroojites. Belle, is a legal shark who gulps down her opposition voraciously and whose beauty and stunning figure causes traffic accidents as she zips through the sidewalks of Manhattan stylishly adorned and taking no prisoners.   They never imagined being music’s most powerful couple, but that’s exactly what happened when Belle fell head over heels and gave the Coke-bottle glasses wearing, plaid and stripe attired, scrawny, biggest nerd on her college campus the ultimate makeover, turning him into a fashion impresario whose style sets trends from Milan to NY Fashion Week and who can be seen courtside at the NBA Finals sporting a perfectly-fitted cashmere suit.   Then it happens. Belle realizes too late that she’s created a chart-topping monster as Scrooje’s ego explodes and he starts acting a fool.   Now, it’s been three years since they ve spoken. But tonight at Hollywood s biggest red carpet event, with the whole world watching, they’ll be given a second chance.

My Review

I loved this modern take on an old favourite. Not only was it a fun and updated version of the story, it still faithfully recreated Charles Dicken's original. Scrooje was thoroughly unlikeable when we first meet him. We see glimpses of his past, as he travels through his past with the ghosts that come to show him the error of his ways. We soon discover that he wasn't always the heartless, money mad, super star that he has become. 

I have to admit, that although Scrooje has become completely obsessed with money and greedy. I didn't think that Belle was much better. She was only really upset when he didn't do some acts of charity to appease her conscience, but was more than happy for him to shower her with gifts and throw parties with a huge, ostentatious display of wealth. Nice.

The idea of Scrooge (or in this case Scrooje) as a multi-million dollar music star, worked really well. It's not something that might spring immediately to mind, but it was really well done.

It was a fun and amusing story and although I knew what was going to happen, this being a retelling of an old favourite, it was still a really good read.

Links

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@authordavidlamb

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Perforating Pierre - Pamela Burford

I've been looking forward to the release of the third Jane Delaney mystery since I read Uprooting Ernie last year, (see my review here). I really enjoy this series and I really wanted to see what was going to happen next to Jane. 

Over the past month, I've ready quite a few humorous, light, murder mysteries (also known as cozy mysteries apparently). They have, for the most part, been rubbish. Fortunately, Perforating Pierre, while being light-hearted and fun, is far from being rubbish.

Perforating Pierre

Celebrity chef Pierre Dewatre has everything going for him: swoon-worthy looks, a successful restaurant, and a budding TV career, not to mention that drop-dead-sexy French accent. Unfortunately for Pierre, the drop-dead part becomes all too real when Death Diva Jane and her furry little sidekick Sexy Beast discover him marinating in his own juices. So to speak. And okay, so the famous chef has been accused of cooking and serving endangered species, but that couldn’t possibly have anything to do with his death. Could it?

The inept detective in charge of the case has homed in on a single suspect: Jane’s ex, who’s only the Nicest Guy in the World. She’s never gotten over him, even with a certain bad-boy bartender invading her personal space at every opportunity. Throw the victim’s hot Parisian brother into the mix and it’s little wonder Jane is having trouble concentrating on whodunit.

You’d think having a high-strung, seven-pound poodle on your team would be the key to quickly solving a complicated murder. Turns out that’s not necessarily the case. Who knew?

My Review

This was another great instalment in the Jane Delaney series. This time she has yet another male who seems to be interested in her. The brother of her recently murdered friend, Pierre Dewatre. Her ex-husband is still in the thick of things, not only is he hanging around and confusing Jane, but he is also the chief suspect in Pierre's murder. 

The Padre, the lovely Martin is still around too. Sadly, not quite as much as I'd like. (He'd be my choice if I were Jane.) The sooner that Jane realises that her ex-husband, Dom, is not for her, or French men (no matter how sexy the accent) the better.

This time I did manage to work out who done it, before Jane realised, but I don't think that it was obvious, and it certainly didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. (Actually I like to be able to solve the mystery from time to time, it helps me to feel intelligent.) 

I really really enjoyed Perforating Pierre. I can't wait to for the next installment and to find out what happens to Jane next. If you haven't read the first too books, then check them out too. Perforating Pierre is out on the 31st October, but open for pre-orders now.

The Empty Room - Sarah J. Clemens

The small town of Eastbrook, Maine seemed like the close-knit community where newlyweds Dean and Elizabeth Montgomery could begin their lives together, and the 1901 Victorian seemed like the house they’d always dreamed of owning. The only condition for purchasing the property was that it was sold in “as-is” condition.

When the couple arrives in Eastbrook, they receive anything but a warm welcome from the local residents. And when they realize that as-is condition meant that the previous owner of the house had left every worldly possession behind, the dream of the small town life starts to take a mysterious turn.

Day after day, Dean and Elizabeth uncover more truths than they could have ever imagined, or ever wanted to know about the secrets that were hidden in the small town of Eastbrook. And as neighbors become growingly hostile with every encounter, this young couple searches furiously to uncover what the residents are trying to hide.

As their journey unfolds, Elizabeth goes missing and Dean must turn to the very neighbors he fears may have known what would happen to her from the moment the couple arrived for help. Because in this town, some secrets are better off hidden.

My Review

I have to admit that I struggled a bit with this book to begin with. It started with a prologue that explained the back story. I don't think that it really needed it to and it nearly put me off reading the rest of the book. Once into the chapters themselves though, things picked up. I still didn't warm to the story straight away, I'm not sure exactly why that was. Some of the dialogue was a little strange and stilted, although it did turn out there was a reason for at least some of that. 

Despite my initial misgivings about the book, there was something about this story that kept me turning the pages and wanting to know where it was going. I was intrigued about the plot and what was really going on and wanted to find out. 

I did actually guess at least some of the ending (although not all) but it was this ending that made the book worth reading and keeping going with. I'd been in two minds before that, but once I reached the last couple of chapters, things sped up and I couldn't help but keep going. Those last couple of chapters helped lift my whole impression of the book. I thought that the mystery was very well done and carefully woven into the story. There were a few things that I was left confused about, but over all it worked really well. It also kept me thinking about it, long after I'd finished reading. This is certainly not a forgettable tale.

Although I wasn't completely happy about this story, for a number of reasons, over all I enjoyed it. It was unusual and in parts gripping. I can't help but wonder though, if a little editing and re-writing wouldn't have just helped lift it from an average read to a really good one.

Wicked Rivals - Lauren Smith

I've been waiting for the new League of Rogues book since Her Wicked Proposal came out in January. Lucky me, managed to get my hands on an advanced copy, just in time for my birthday last weekend. I managed to resist the temptation to start it for a few days, then dived in while having a birthday lie-in.

The danger with a series that you love, is that you're looking forward so much to the next installment, that when it arrives, it just doesn't measure up. Fortunately, this was far from the case this time, Wicked Rivals is fantastic.

This time we get to hear Ashton's story. He's the business man of the group, the one most in control, or at least until it comes to Lady Rosalind Melbourne. She is his rival in business at every turn, but there's something about her that he just can't resist. He attempts to take control of her business and put himself back on top. But this just throws them together in ways that he didn't expect. 

I loved reading about Rosalind and Ashton learning about one another, they discover that they actually work better together than against one another. Rosalind also discovers that she has been used as a pawn in the ongoing hatred between the league and Waverly. She fears that Ashton's interest in her is more do do with this dispute and believes that Ashton is just using her. Of course, love wins through and we find out more about Waverly in the process.

I really enjoy the little insights that we get into the other league members in these books, although you could read each one as a standalone novel, they do work really well as a series and the other league members always have sizeable roles in the stories. The next one due out is Jonathan's story, which I am looking forward to, although as I have an ongoing Charles theory, I really want to know what's going to happen there. (I'm not going to go into details of my Charles theory, in case I'm wrong, or perhaps even more importantly in case I'm not. But, I will say that there were parts of this book that reinforced my ideas.)

I loved this series before reading Wicked Rivals and I finished the book, wishing that I hadn't finished it quite so quickly and still loving the series. As with the other League of Rogues book, Wicked Rivals is highly recommended.

Three Weeks Dead - Rebecca Bradley

Back in June I read and reviewed the second DI Hannah Robbins book when it came out, Made to be Broken. This week I got to read the new book in the series, Three Weeks Dead. This is a little different as it is set before the previous two books and focuses on DC Sally Poynter, rather than her boss.

Sally is new to the team and trying to find her role within it. She is also trying to juggle the demands of working and spending time with her husband, who is a little less than thrilled at the idea of her working longer hours.

The case that the team are faced with this time, is a kidnapping. But unlike 'normal' kidnappings, this involves a dead body. Jason Well's wife Lisa had been killed in a car accident and buried. He soon discovers that her body has been stolen and that the kidnappers are threatening to feed her to dogs unless he steals some software the company he works for, has been developing. Jason is still struggling to come to terms with the recent death of his wife Lisa and having her body stolen is enough to push him into taking action that he wouldn't normally consider. 

I really enjoyed this story. It was great to get some background into one of the characters that appear in the other novels. You don't have to have to have read the other books and in some ways it would perhaps be better to start with this book first. 

I really enjoyed Three Weeks Dead, it was a great, quick read and I recommend it. I didn't manage to fully solve the mystery before the end of the book, although I had got a few ideas. I love the way that the crimes that DI Robbins' team seem to investigate seem to be a little different to the run of the mill crime stories. They have that little edge of difference, without being over the top or unbelievable. If you're looking for a new crime series, or a quick crime read, then Three Weeks Dead is a great place to start.

Twice burned by Pamela Burford

Last week I reviewed Good to be Bad by Patricia Ryan. This was the first book in a two book series, by identical twins Patricia Ryan and Pamela Burford. While the books can be read as stand alone novels, the suspense element of the story continues in the second book. This week I got hold of Twice Burned, so that I could finish the story and see what happened.

Twice Burned

Zara Sutcliffe has always been more confident and adventurous than her shy twin sister, Emma. But nothing in Zara’s past has prepared her for FBI Agent Logan Pierce… if he really is an agent, that is. She can only take his word for that after he kidnaps her and keeps her a virtual prisoner in a New York City warehouse. He calls it a safe house, but she feels anything but safe when he turns those intense amber eyes on her. The only thing she’s certain of is that her enigmatic bodyguard is too sexy for her own good. What does he know that she doesn’t?

Plenty, as it turns out. Such as his own close connection to a criminal with no conscience who’s a threat not just to Zara, but to her sister and mother as well. And all because of a bizarre, decades-old movie prop that someone wants badly enough to kill for.

My Review

I really enjoyed Good to be Bad, so I was looking forward to giving Twice Burned a go and finding out what would happen. Zara returns from her trip to Australia to find an FBI agent waiting for her, in order to take her into a safe house. She soon learns of the danger that she is in and that her Mother is missing, presumed kidnapped.

I loved reading about Zara and her growing relationship with Logan. Although we had met him very briefly in the previous book, it wasn't clear exactly who he was, so we were discovering things about him at the same time Zara did.

Although Zara was the strong business woman, we soon learnt that there was much more to her character than that, and that she had plenty of worries and insecurities to deal with. I enjoyed seeing how Logan helped her to deal with those and came to care for her himself.

This was a really good conclusion to the first story. It wrapped everything up and still had Emma appearing in the book and the story line. The ending was a little cheesy, but hey, who cares, it was still good fun. I'm glad that I went onto read the second book, it certainly lived up to expectations.