From the Book Elf

  Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara The Greatest Love Story Ever Told Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara was published on 25th May 2023 by Orion. My thanks to the author and the publisher for sending me a copy to review and to random Book TOurs for inviting me to take part on the tour Synopsis Born into an era of heroes, a prophecy claims that Psyche - Princess of Mycenae - will defeat a monster feared even by the gods themselves. Rebelling against society's traditions, she spends her youth mastering blade and bow, preparing to fulfil her destiny. But she is soon caught up in powers beyond her control, when the jealous Aphrodite sends the God of Desire, Eros, to deliver a fatal love-curse. The last thing Eros wants is to become involved in the chaos of the mortal world, but when he is pricked by the very arrow intended for Psyche, he is doomed to love a woman who will be torn from him the moment their eyes meet. Thrown together by fate, headstrong Psyche and world-weary Eros will ...

  Arrietty by Abby Davies Psychological Thriller Approx. 360 pages Includes hand-drawn illustrations So excited to be on the Cover Reveal for Arrietty by Abby Davies today .  Read the blurb below and await the publication date with anticipation . Book Blurb Our loved ones protect us.  So what if you woke up one day to find yours gone?  Your mum, your friends, your freedom – all gone.  And the one person you trust may be hiding a terrible secret.   Welcome to Arrietty’s life.  About the Author Abby Davies was born in Macclesfield in 1984. She grew up in Bedfordshire in a seventeenth century cottage near Flitton Moor and started writing ‘thrillers’ when she was seven years old. After reading English Literature at Sheffield University and training to be an English teacher, she wrote novels in her free time. She was shortlisted for the Mslexia Novel Competition in 2018 and longlisted for the Blue Pencil Agency First Novel Award in 2019. Her debut Moth...

  A Death in Denmark by Amulya Malladi A Death in Denmark by Amulya Malladi  was published on 11th May 2023  by Wm Morrow/ Harper 360UK  My thanks to the author and the publisher for sending me a review copy and to Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour. Synopsis Meet Gabriel Præst, an ex-Copenhagen cop (who dresses with panache), jazz aficionado, and relentless pursuer of truth as he explores Denmark’s Nazi-collaborator past and anti-Muslim present in a page-turning Nordic murder mystery with a cosmopolitan vibe Everyone in Denmark knew that Yousef Ahmed, a refugee from Iraq, brutally murdered the right-wing politician Sanne Melgaard. So, when part-time blues musician, frustrated home renovator, and fulltime private detective Gabriel Præst agrees to investigate the matter because his ex—the one who got away—asked him to, he knew it was a no-win case. But as Gabriel starts to ask questions, his face meets with the fists of Russian gangsters; the ...

  The Medici Murders by David Hewson Master storyteller David Hewson launches a major new historical mystery series, set in Venice and featuring retired archivist Arnold Clover The Medici Murders by David Hewson was published on 4th May 2023 by Canongate. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part on the Book Tour. Synopsis Venice is a city full of secrets. For hundreds of years it has been the scene of scandal, intrigue and murderous rivalries. And it remains so today. 1548, Lorenzino de Medici, himself a murderer and a man few will miss, is assassinated by two hired killers. Today, Marmaduke Godolphin, British TV historian and a man even fewer will miss, is stabbed by a stiletto blade on the exact same spot, his body dropping into the canal. Can the story of the first murder explain the attack on Godolphin? The Carabinieri certainly think so. They recruit retired archivist Arnold Clover to unpick the...

  Henry VIII - The Heart & The Crown by Alison Weir Six wives. One King. You know their stories. Now it is time to hear his Henry VIII - The Heart & The Crown by Alison Weir was published on 11th May 2023 by Headline. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour. Synopsis A second son, not born to rule, becomes a man, and a king... In grand royal palaces, Prince Harry grows up dreaming of knights and chivalry - and the golden age of kings that awaits his older brother. But Arthur's untimely death sees Harry crowned King Henry of England. As his power and influence extends, so commences a lifelong battle between head and heart, love and duty. Henry rules by divine right, yet his prayers for a son go unanswered. The great future of the Tudor dynasty depends on an heir. And the crown weighs heavy on a king with all but his one true desire. HENRY VIII. HIS STORY. Alison Weir's ...

  The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu An Yu's Braised Pork meets Flaubert's Madame Bovary in this unforgettable, tragi-comic tale of one woman's mid-life  re-awakening in contemporary rural China. The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu was published on 4th May 2023 by Allen and Unwin. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour. Synopsis The Funeral Cryer long ago accepted the mundane realities of her life:  avoided by fellow villagers because of the stigma attached to her job  as a professional mourner and under-appreciated by The Husband,  whose fecklessness has pushed the couple close to the brink of break-up.  But just when things couldn't be bleaker,  The Funeral Cryer takes a leap of faith  - and in so doing things start to take a surprising turn for the better . . . Dark, moving, and wry, The Funeral Cryer is both an illuminating depiction of a 'left behind' so...

  Hotel 21 by Senta Rich Will the women at Hotel 21 give her the courage to claim the life she deserves, or will her old habits come back to haunt her? Hotel 21 by Senta Rich was published on 27th April 2023 by Bloomsbury. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour. Synopsis Noelle is an efficient and friendly hotel cleaner, a model employee. Or so she'd have you think. The trouble is that she can't help taking little 'souvenirs' as she cleans. Nothing of value, just tokens of happy, normal lives: a lipstick, a hair clip, some tweezers. And by the time the guest has noticed, she's long gone. As she starts at her 21st hotel, she's determined to beat her record of one month in a five star hotel before suspicion falls on her. But when she meets her new colleagues, her plans are complicated. These women aren't just hands pushing carts down lonely hotel corridors: they ...

  Italian Rules by Tom Benjamin Italian Rules by Tom Benjamin was published on 4th May 2023 by Constable and is the fourth in the Daniel Leicester mysteries. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour. Synopsis When Hollywood comes to Bologna, La Dolce Vita turns sweet murder... A famous Hollywood director arrives in Bologna to remake a cult film and the city's renown cinema archive decides to mark the occasion with a screening of the original, only to discover it has disappeared. After English detective Daniel Leicester follows the trail of Love on a Razorblade to an apparent murder-suicide, he begins to suspect there may be more at stake than missing negatives - could the film contain a clue to one of the city's most enduring mysteries? Together with a star from the forthcoming remake, Daniel moves from the glamour of Venice Lido to the depths of Bologna's secret tunnel syst...

  The Crinkle Crankle Wall by Sabina Ostrowska The Crinkle Crankle wall by Sabina Ostrowska was published in 2020. My thanks to the author for sending me a copy to review and Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour. Synopsis The Crinkle Crankle Wall is an extremely entertaining account of a youngish couple's attempt to live the good life in rural Spain. Enchanted by an old cottage in an olive grove, they devote all of their money and time to reforming it into a guest house. Soon after they move in, the bucolic lifestyle that they had envisaged falls apart, as they are confronted with problems that are unfamiliar to most city dwellers. With the help of their neighbours, they learn about life in the Andalusian countryside and start to settle into their new adventure. But will they be able to make this new place into a home ? Without steady jobs to finance their new venture, will they have to abandon it altogether. My review This was such an easy to read book f...

  The Forgotten Garden by Sharon Gosling A novel of second chances and blossoming communities from the author of The Lighthouse Bookshop. The Forgotten Garden by Sharon Gosling was published on 27th April 2023 by Simon and Schuster. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour. Synopsis Budding landscape architect Luisa MacGregor is stuck in a rut - she hates her boss, she lives with her sister, and she is still morning the loss of her fiancé many years ago. So when she is given the opportunity to take on a parcel of land in a deprived area, she sees the chance to build a garden that can make the area bloom. Arriving in the rundown seaside town of Collaton on the north-west coast of Cumbria, she realises that her work is going to be cut out for her. But, along with Cas, a local PE teacher, and Harper, a teen whose life has taken a wrong turn, she is determined to get the garden up and runnin...

  Adventures about to Begin by Allen Therisa Adventures About To Begin by Allen Therisa was published on the 28th March 2023 by The Book Guild. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part in the tour. Synopsis A multi-generational British family saga set between the 1970s and the recent past, the novel follows a family and country in crisis. Both dramatic and funny, Adventures About To Begin will appeal to readers who enjoy literary fiction, family sagas and recent British history. After the death of his grandfather, Noah’s life is thrown into chaos as he faces a repressed past which threatens everything he believes to be true. In the course of trying to come to terms with his loss, Noah must also navigate a difficult relationship with his sister, Kelly, as they reflect on their turbulent childhood – when they were taken from London to live in the Kent countryside following the breakdown of their p...

 Pomegranates & Artichokes by Saghar Setareh Iranian writer and food photographer Saghar Setareh’s stunning cookbook tells the story of her own culinary journey from Iran to Italy and explores the parallels that link Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food cultures. Pomegranates & Artichokes by Saghar Setareh was published on 4th May 2023 by Murdoch Books. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review  and to Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part on the Book Tour. Synopsis When Saghar Setareh moved to Italy at the age of 22, she was enchanted by the rich food culture of her adopted country, and this inspired a curiosity in the cuisine of her homeland and the surrounding countries of the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean. Pomegranates & Artichokes is the story of Saghar's own culinary journey from Iran to Italy, in which she describes the many parallels that link Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food cultures, and shows how ingred...