UK2 (Project Renova Series, #3) by Terry Tyler #NewRelease

The third book in this post-apocalypse story promised fear, revenge and an unknown future.  Vicky, still in shock from the murder of her lover, Heath, has yet to learn the true mastermind behind his death, and her daughter, Lottie, now a mature 18 year old, must reveal what happened.

 

The community in Lindisfarne is disturbed by the visit of Barney, a bullying ex-policeman, who comes to tell them of a wonderful newly developed community UKCentral, down south.  Travis is amazed to see Barney accompanied by his old friend Doyle, who is now managing data analysis at UKCentral, but Doyle is less than enthusiastic about this brave new world.  Several of their community, including “princess” Flora, can’t wait to go to a new life in a modern apartment with hot water and entertainment.  What could be wrong with it?

 

Through the words of Vicky, Lottie, Doyle and Flora, we learn how they feel about the way UK2 is developing and how the community of Lindisfarne is in danger of disintegrating.  Are newcomers, Seren and Hawk, a threat or do they have an answer to their problems?  There is another danger to humanity approaching and it is important to know who you can depend upon.

 

This novel is the perfect conclusion to the trilogy.  Mankind is trying to move on in a world without the internet or communication and bonds are made which establish a future for many. * Tiny spoiler here, I love the Book of Lindisfarne, a biographical parish record.  But like any good conclusion, there are still questions to answer and lives to continue.  If you haven’t started Project Renova yet, I recommend you download the trilogy as soon as possible.

UK2 is available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

My reviews of Tipping Point and Lindisfarne

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An interview with Colt McCall from “An Englishwoman’s Guide to the Cowboy”

My heart is pounding with excitement at the chance to interview the irresistible Colt McCall from June Kearn’s book.

What were your first impressions of Miss Annie Haddon?

First off? As if a scruffy dog had suddenly appeared and attached itself to me. Yeah, someone’s stray, a pampered pet – one that wasn’t particularly biddable, either. For such a small fry though, she seemed to have a pretty big mouth. A talker, too – mite too fond of her own opinions to my mind, at the time. No idea what she’d landed herself into, either. Not … a … single, solitary clue.

Annie called you intimidating and you certainly don’t suffer fools readily.  Would your life be easier if you were more diplomatic?

Let’s face it, shall we? Annie was white, English, opinionated. Not a hope in hell of understanding someone like me. As for diplomacy! Well, the West belongs to the meat-eaters, always has, always will. The meek don’t inherit much west of Chicago. Anyway, a man needs to show he can defend himself. If people think he can’t, he’s in trouble.

You seem to have a very bad opinion of the English.  What have they ever done to you?

Ha, tried to wipe out all rotten traces of Indian for starters. At Mission School, I was taught by an Englishwoman. She thought I was barely house-trained and had the idea that a daily dose of British poets and Shakespeare was the best way to civilise little hell-raisers like me. Along with not letting me speak my mother’s language, of course – shaving my head and beating manners and the Bible into me.

Yeah, one thing I’ve learned about the English: You don’t tell them, they tell you.

You don’t seem to be a typical Texan and yet you seem to have some good friends.  What do these friends have in common?

I guess they’re all … outsiders? Yeah, every damn one, when I come to think about it. The displaced, the hunted, the ignored. Mostly fighters for their own rights, of course, their own land. For years, we’ve been killing off their food, stealing their hunting grounds, robbing them blind.

Are the divisions of the Civil War still causing problems in Texas?

Well, what do you think? Draw a line down the middle of any country – you’re asking for trouble. Somehow, it makes some folk feel more entitled to boss others around. Take Southerners, for example. Robert E. Lee still adorns many a parlour wall round here. Oh, yeah. Plenty haven’t been too keen on freeing their slaves, either.

You seem to find Miss Haddon just a little too talkative, but do you think she has changed her feelings about Texas since you first met her?

Well, I guess when we first met, Annie was just trying to make sense of everything – questions, questions, questions. Her main concern, first off – if you’d care to believe it – was about losing those bound copies of Dickens in her trunk! While I was just hell-bent on getting us as far away as possible from the Comanche.

Even from her first arrival though, she seemed to love the landscape. Nothing had prepared her, she once told me – for that vast open space, the wide, wide vista. Fluted rock on the horizon soaring to meet limitless blue sky. The throat-catching beauty, the loneliness.
You can’t just pass through this landscape, y’know. It reaches out and draws you in, every time.

And now? Guess Annie knows that she belongs here.

And have you changed your opinion of her?

Oh, yeah. My opinion probably started to shift when she teamed up with two outlaws, swallowed a quart and a half of whisky and started a bar-room brawl – after trying to stare down that Comanche brave, of course.

It was her first ever time away from the protection of her relatives. I’d expected fear, silence, trepidation. Instead, she showed intelligence and courage, plus a real delight at being able to truly be herself.

Thank you, Colt, it’s been a privilege to hear your view of Texas both from your own opinions and those of  “the Englishwoman.”

You can read my review of June Kearn’s book here

An Interview with Miriam from “No More Mulberries” by Mary Smith

Set in rural Afghanistan during the 1990s, we quickly realise that Scottish-born midwife, Miriam loves her work at a health clinic and the warmth and humour of her women friends in the village, but she has personal problems which she can no longer ignore.  I am grateful that she has agreed to share some of her feelings with us.

Miriam, when you first settled in Afghanistan in 1986, did you have difficulty coping in a house where there was no running water, a latrine outside and no electricity?

Oh, god, yes. Although I’d tried to prepare myself for it, the reality was difficult. It was ages before I stopped reaching for a light switch when it became dark in the evening. I didn’t try turning on a tap for water – there was no sink. It all had to be brought from a spring. Fine in summer but not much fun in winter. Cooking was a nightmare. We stayed at first with Usma, who became one of my closest friends, and her family. I was amazed at how she could cook several dishes at once in such primitive conditions. The kitchen was always full of smoke which was supposed to go up and out of a hole in the ceiling but didn’t. It just swirled around. It’s no wonder so many village women have eye problems.

The worst was the latrine: the 100-yard -walk to reach it so everyone knew where you were going, no flush and the lack of privacy. At Usma’s there wasn’t even a latrine. People just said they were going ‘outside’ and everyone knew what they meant. Jawad built a latrine at the clinic but I soon discovered while Afghan women may be modest in front of menfolk they have no such modesty amongst other women and think nothing of following you into the latrine to continue a chat. When we came to Sang-i-Sia, I insisted we had a proper door (rather than a bit of sacking) with a bolt on our latrine. I became used to everything except having an audience when I went to the loo.

Why do you feel closer to your friends in Afghanistan then you did to your friends in Scotland?

My mother was incredibly strict when I was growing up, and terribly worried about appearances and what the neighbours might say. When I was a young teenager I wasn’t often allowed to hang out with my friends and missed out on all the giggly, flirty stuff. I was actually quite scared of my mother – she could make like difficult for me and my dad if challenged. Unless you’ve witnessed a Scottish ‘humph’ you’ve no idea. By the time I was older I didn’t seem to fit in. I felt I was being judged – not able to flirt, lack of make-up skills, the wrong clothes and wrong taste in music. In Afghanistan I felt free to be me and it was wonderful.

If you had returned to Scotland after the death of your first husband, wouldn’t you have given your son, Farid more opportunities and a better education?

You ask tough questions! It makes me feel I am a terrible mother to think I was denying my son a better education in Scotland than he’d receive in Afghanistan. At the time, though, I couldn’t think of anything other than the loss of his father, my husband. I was utterly devastated. It seemed – still does – to be so important Farid was not completely cut off from his father’s country and culture and family connections. Besides, it could have been quite tough for him in Scotland dealing with everything, including racism. I’d have hated him to feel he didn’t fit in.

What are your hopes and fears for the women of Afghanistan?

While Taliban controls the country I have only fear for the women of Afghanistan, no hope. Before they came I felt that things were changing for the better, however slowly, for women. Schools were opening for girls, giving them opportunities their mothers never had. Health services, including ante-natal care was becoming more available. There was never peace, always fighting somewhere, but in Sang-i-Sia and Zardgul life went on in its own way. People were poor, work was hard and we all hoped peace would come to Afghanistan. Instead the Taliban came and swept everything good away.

How would you describe your husband, Iqbal, to someone who had not yet met him?

If you mean physically, then I’d say he was quite handsome: tall, broad, a lovely smile. Like most Hazara people he has a small nose and slanting eyes. He is self-conscious about his lack of eyebrows from when he had leprosy. I never notice but I’ve learned how important eyebrows are in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Funny isn’t it, my friend Janet in Scotland has hers waxed almost into oblivion and Iqbal would give anything to have bushy eyebrows.

He’s a good man with a strong sense of fairness and doing what’s right, but he’s also a complex person carrying, as we all do, a certain amount of baggage from his past. I didn’t understand for a long time that he struggles with wanting to change things but not wanting to go against his culture. It almost always comes down to our fear of not belonging, doesn’t it?

You can find No More Mulberries on Amazon UK

My review of the book is here

With thanks to Mary Smith for allowing me to interview Miriam.

My Life in Books (1917 Edition)

Here’s a bit of Christmas fun courtesy of Roof Beam Reader

The rule is, complete the phrase with books you read this year:

At school I was the: Oath Breaker (Shelley Wilson)

People might be surprised by my: Past Encounters (Davina Blake)

I will never be: Down and Out in Kathmandu (Jennifer S Alderson)

My fantasy job is: Girl in the Castle (Lizzie Lamb)

At the end of a long day I need: My Sweet Friend (H A Leuschel)

I hate it when there’s: No Way Back (Kelly Florentia)

I wish I had: The Honesty of Tigers (David Bridger)

My family reunions are; A Divided Inheritance (Deborah Swift)

At a party you will find me making: The Last Gamble (Anabelle Bryant)

I’ve never been to: Lindisfarne (Terry Tyler)

A happy day includes: Wonders & Wickedness (Carol Hedges)

The motto I live by is: Everybody’s Somebody (Beryl Kingston)

On my Bucket List is: The Little French Guest House (Helen Pollard)

In my next life I want a: Garden of Stars (Rose Alexander)

If you decide to play along, add a link to your post in the comments box on Roof Beam Reader’s post and the comments box on this post so I can take a look at yours.

No Way Back by Kelly Florentia #bookreview #FridayReads

Audrey Fox’s Life has become a rollercoaster.  At 41, her long term boyfriend, Nick, has jilted her shortly before their wedding, but a holiday in Cyprus with her parents has not restored her confidence or taken away the pain.  Still haunted by dreams of Nick, she is certainly not ready for any new relationship.

But fate and her mother have other ideas and soon Audrey is falling for the charms of Daniel, a handsome, successful divorcee.  Still unable to cut herself off from Nick who has been involved in an accident, she begins to care for Daniel, but soon it is evident that both men have been keeping secrets from her.

Relying on her friends, Louise and Tina, while trying to help her sister-in-law, Vicky, with her post-natal depression, Audrey careers from one emotional scene to another.  It is refreshing to read a novel about a modern woman in her early forties dealing with relationship, job and health issues and Audrey is a charismatic, eccentric heroine.  This ingenious plot never ceases to surprise right up to the final page and I was delighted to read that there will be a sequel.

Book Link:  Amazon UK

Kelly Florentia

Kelly Florentia was born and bred in north London, where she continues to live with her husband Joe. Her second novel NO WAY BACK was published on 21st September 2017.

Kelly has always enjoyed writing and was a bit of a poet when she was younger. Before penning her first novel, The Magic Touch (2016), she wrote short stories for women’s magazines. TO TELL A TALE OR TWO… is a collection of her short tales.

Kelly has a keen interest in health and fitness and has written many articles on this subject. Smooth Operator (published in January 2017) is a collection of twenty of her favourite smoothie recipes.

As well as writing, Kelly enjoys reading, running, drinking coffee and scoffing cakes. She is currently working on the sequel to NO WAY BACK.

Website: www.kellyflorentia.com

My Sweet Friend by H A Leuschel #NewRelease #Book Review

Would you be suspicious of someone who described you as, “My sweet friend”?  This novella tells the story of the relationship between Alexa and Rosie.  When smart, charismatic Alexa joins the Parisian PR firm where Rosie is a trusted employee, she quickly makes her mark.  Her glowing reference and impressive CV are matched by her immaculate clothes and well organised manner and she quickly strikes up a friendship with Rosie.

Told in turn by Alexa and Rosie we learn what has happened, both by their admissions to the reader and by the dialogue between the two young women.  Rosie is saddled with the problem of providing care for her mother who had Alzheimer’s, while Alexa has no contact with family.  Also affected by the changing dynamics in the office is Jack, who is close to Rosie but develops a love/hate relationship with Alexa.

The most revealing passages are in Alexa’s voice.  We sympathise with her concern over the high expectations at work.  She is not coping but is determined to maintain her calm exterior and charm.  The detailed description of her immense pleasure in sitting in the sunshine drinking delicious coffee while her blonde hair lifted softly in the sea breeze, emphasise her need to put herself first.  There is evidence that she is deceiving others, but she is also deceiving herself.

We have all met needy people who take and never give.  Where do you draw the line?  Are we sometimes too gullible?  The questions posed by this story are, why is Alexa like this and what will happen next in her life.  An intriguing, thought-provoking tale.

You can purchase My Sweet Friend on Amazon UK

Helene Andrea Leuschel grew up in Belgium where she gained a Licentiate in Journalism & Communication, which led to a career in radio and television in Brussels, London and Edinburgh. She now lives with her husband and two children in Portugal and recently acquired a Master of Philosophy with the OU, deepening her passion for the study of the mind. When she is not writing, Helene works as a freelance journalist and teaches Yoga.

You can read my review of Helene’s short stories Manipulated Lives here

Offstage in Nuala by Harriet Smith #TuesdayBookBlog #RBRT

In this third instalment of The Inspector de Silva Mysteries, we return to the island of Ceylon in the 1930s.

Book Blurb
There’s great excitement when a professional theatre company comes to Nuala. However matters take a dark turn when the company’s actor manager is murdered. Inspector de Silva has a new case to solve and he has to consider some very unpalatable motives for the crime. He will need all his persistence, coupled with his wife, Jane’s, invaluable help to unmask the villain of the piece.

My Revue
In this book the murder scene is the sumptuous Gaiety Theatre, where an Asian tour by a talented group of actors, commences with a production of Hamlet. The whole cast is suspect since no-one else was seen to enter the theatre during rehearsal time and it is soon evident to Inspector de Silva that there are many secrets to uncover. But he is also frustrated by the actions of his superior, Assistant Government Agent, Archie Clutterbuck, who keeps him away from the victim’s wife, Kathleen Darnforth, and from young Emerald Watson, who may have been Mr Darnforth’s mistress.

Shanti de Silva leaves no stone unturned as he explores every nook and cranny of the old theatre and sets his sergeant and constable on thorough investigations. However, their work is interrupted by an amusing interlude involving Mrs Clutterbuck’s pet Shih Tzu dog, Angel, and a large elephant. There are fascinating descriptions of the busy market and of Shanti’s cool fragrant garden where he walks at the end of the day.

“As he turned to go back to the bungalow, something drifted into his hair. He brushed it off and smelt again the sweet, intense fragrance of frangipani. The flower’s pale yellow gleamed against the dark lawn. He remembered his mother saying that if a frangipani flower fell on your head, you would have good luck. He hoped she was right.”

Inspector de Silva will need this good luck as he homes in on the culprit, putting himself in severe danger. In a thrilling conclusion, he discovers a surprising twist which he hadn’t expected.

Once again, the complex social structure of 1930s colonial life is effectively recreated in a story about well-rounded characters in a colourful, exotic location. The guide to the main characters provided at the beginning make it possible to enjoy this novel without needing to have read the first two.

You can purchase Offstage in Nuala on Amazon UK

or on Amazon US

Harriet Steel

Harriet Steel grew up in London and Wiltshire but now lives in Surrey. Married with two daughters, she has worked in fields from law to libraries. Her interests are travel, history and art, all of which have inspired the four historical novels she wrote before turning to crime with The Inspector de Silva Mysteries. She reads widely, but in the mystery genre is particularly fond of vintage mysteries. She would love to go back in time for a day and have lunch with Hercule Poirot, tea with Miss Marple, and dinner at the Ritz with Lord Peter Wimsey.

She loves to hear from readers so do visit her blog where you’ll find interviews with other authors, articles on a variety of topics and more information about her writing. If you would like advance notice of new releases, offers and promotions, there’s a Follow by Email button.

http://harrietsteel.blogspot.co.uk/