Review: Little Boy Blue by M.J. Arlidge

Monday 18 April 2016 1 comments
Title: Little Boy Blue
Author: M.J. Arlidge
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: 10th March 2016
Pages: 380
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 4.5/5
Purchase: Amazon
Detective Inspector Helen Grace is no stranger to tragedy. But when a body is found in a Southampton nightclub, the death cuts too close to the bone.

Hiding her personal connection to the victim - and a double-life which must remain secret at all costs - Helen becomes a woman possessed, working her team around the clock to chase down every lead.

As the killer strikes again, the investigation takes its toll not only on Helen but also her senior officers. Tempers flare, friendships fray and Helen faces an impossible choice.

Confess her sins and lose control of the case? Or keep living a lie, protecting her darkest secrets, and risk getting trapped in this tangled web?

But whatever she does, this killer will not stop until the truth is revealed: there are some fates worse than death...

Review: The Silent Twin by Caroline Mitchell

Saturday 16 April 2016 1 comments
Title: The Silent Twin
Author: Caroline Mitchell
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 14th April 2016
Pages: 342
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 4/5
Purchase: Amazon
I’m alone in the dark, please can you find me …

Nine-year-old twins Abigail and Olivia vow never to be parted. But when Abigail goes missing from Blackwater Farm, DC Jennifer Knight must find her before it’s too late.

Twin sister Olivia has been mute since Abigail’s disappearance. But when she whispers in Jennifer’s ear, Jennifer realises it is Abigail’s voice pleading to be found.

A damp and decaying house set in acres of desolate scrubland, the farm is a place of secrets, old and new – and Jennifer must unravel them all in order to find the lost girl. But could Olivia’s bond with her twin hold the key to finding Abigail? And can Jennifer break through her silence in time to save her sister’s life?

Tenacity Naval Toasts Blog Tour: Friday's Toast is to A Willing Foe and Sea-Room

Friday 15 April 2016 0 comments
Today I am excited to be kicking off the blog tour to celebrate the upcoming paperback release of J.S. Law's TENACITY which just so happens to have a quote inside from yours truly! It really is a thrilling read and the start to what I hope will be a fantastic series of books featuring Lieutenant Danielle Lewis. If you haven't read the book already then please check it out and you can read my review here. I hope you enjoy reading the post and make sure to follow the rest of the tour!

Suicide must be investigated.

Especially when a Royal Navy sailor kills himself on a nuclear submarine, only days after his wife's brutal murder.

Now Lieutenant Danielle Lewis, the Navy's finest Special Branch investigator, must interrogate the tight-knit, male crew of HMS Tenacity to determine if there's a link.

Isolated, and standing alone in the face of extreme hostility, Dan soon realises that she may have to choose between the truth and her own survival.

Justice must be served, but with a possible killer on board the pressure is rising and her time is running out...


Review: The Second Chance Shop Shop by Marcie Steele

Title: The Second Chance Shoe Shop
Author: Marcie Steele
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 8th April 2016
Pages: 262
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 4/5
Purchase: Amazon
All Riley Flynn wants is to meet someone who makes her happy. But attracting the right kind of man is not easy, and with her heart still hurting from her last break-up, Riley believes she’ll never find love again.

A year ago, Sadie Stewart’s whole world was shattered when her husband, Ross, died. She has struggled to keep herself together for the sake of their young daughter, but with the anniversary of his death approaching, Sadie finds herself overwhelmed by grief.

Sadie and Riley work at Chandlers shoe shop, in the charming town of Hedworth. But when Chandlers is threatened with closure, the friends are confronted with the loss of not only their jobs, but also their support network - the glue that holds them together when they are close to breaking.

As they put together a plan to save their beloved shop, Sadie realises that she might just be learning to live again. Could it be that new beginnings are just round the corner? The campaign also finds Riley unexpectedly crossing paths with charming photographer, Ethan. Maybe her second chance at love is right under her feet...

Guest Post: The Importance of Character by David Jackson

Thursday 14 April 2016 2 comments
Today I am thrilled to be part of the blog tour for David Jackson's amazing new novel, A Tapping at My Door. In case you missed it, I shared a Hall of Fame review for it the other day which you can read here and at the time of writing it's one of the best crime novels that I've read this year and I highly recommend it. As part of the blog tour I am sharing a guest post from David where he discussed the importance of character. I hope you enjoy reading the post and do not hesitate to buy the book if you haven't already. You won't regret it!

A woman at home in Liverpool is disturbed by a persistent tapping at her back door. She's disturbed to discover the culprit is a raven, and tries to shoo it away. Which is when the killer strikes.

DS Nathan Cody, still bearing the scars of an undercover mission that went horrifyingly wrong, is put on the case. But the police have no leads, except the body of the bird - and the victim's missing eyes.

As flashbacks from his past begin to intrude, Cody realises he is battling not just a murderer, but his own inner demons too.

And then the killer strikes again, and Cody realises the threat isn't to the people of Liverpool after all - it's to the police.


Guest Post: Is Conflict Necessary by CJ Carver

Wednesday 13 April 2016 0 comments
Today is my stop on the blog tour for CJ Carver's brilliant new novel Spare Me the Truth which I have reviewed here. CJ is sharing a guest post asking whether conflict is necessary in books and I hope you enjoy reading it! Spare Me the Truth is out now and it comes highly recommended by me and you can purchase it here.

Dan Forrester, piecing his life back together after the tragic death of his son, is approached in a supermarket by a woman who tells him everything he remembers about his life - and his son - is a lie.

Grace Reavey, stricken by grief, is accosted at her mother's funeral. The threat is simple: pay the staggering sum her mother allegedly owed, or lose everything.

Lucy Davies has been forced from the Met by her own maverick behaviour. Desperate to prove herself in her new rural post, she's on the hunt for a killer - but this is no small town criminal.

Plunged into a conspiracy that will test each of them to their limits, these three strangers are brought together in their hunt for the truth, whatever it costs. And as their respective investigations become further and further entwined, it becomes clear that at the centre of this tangled web is a threat more explosive than any of them could have imagined.

Review: Spare Me the Truth by CJ Carver

Title: Spare Me the Truth
Author: CJ Carver
Publisher: Zaffre
Publication Date: 7th April 2016
Pages: 528
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 4.5/5
Purchase: Amazon
Dan Forrester, piecing his life back together after the tragic death of his son, is approached in a supermarket by a woman who tells him everything he remembers about his life - and his son - is a lie.

Grace Reavey, stricken by grief, is accosted at her mother's funeral. The threat is simple: pay the staggering sum her mother allegedly owed, or lose everything.

Lucy Davies has been forced from the Met by her own maverick behaviour. Desperate to prove herself in her new rural post, she's on the hunt for a killer - but this is no small town criminal.

Plunged into a conspiracy that will test each of them to their limits, these three strangers are brought together in their hunt for the truth, whatever it costs. And as their respective investigations become further and further entwined, it becomes clear that at the centre of this tangled web is a threat more explosive than any of them could have imagined.

Hall of Fame Review: A Tapping at My Door by David Jackson

Monday 11 April 2016 1 comments
Title: A Tapping at My Door
Author: David Jackson
Publisher: Zaffre
Publication Date: 7th April 2016
Pages: 384
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
A woman at home in Liverpool is disturbed by a persistent tapping at her back door. She's disturbed to discover the culprit is a raven, and tries to shoo it away. Which is when the killer strikes.

DS Nathan Cody, still bearing the scars of an undercover mission that went horrifyingly wrong, is put on the case. But the police have no leads, except the body of the bird - and the victim's missing eyes.

As flashbacks from his past begin to intrude, Cody realises he is battling not just a murderer, but his own inner demons too.

And then the killer strikes again, and Cody realises the threat isn't to the people of Liverpool after all - it's to the police.

Review: The Missing by C.L. Taylor

Sunday 10 April 2016 2 comments
Title: The Missing
Author: C.L. Taylor
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: 7th April 2016
Pages: 400
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 4/5
Purchase: Amazon
You love your family. They make you feel safe. You trust them.

But should you…?

When fifteen-year-old Billy Wilkinson goes missing in the middle of the night, his mother, Claire, blames herself. She's not the only one. There isn't a single member of Billy's family that doesn't feel guilty. But the Wilkinson’s are so used to keeping secrets from one another that it isn't until six months later, after an appeal for information goes horribly wrong, that the truth begins to surface.

Claire is sure of two things – that Billy is still alive and that her friends and family had nothing to do with his disappearance.

A mother's instinct is never wrong. Or is it?

Sometimes those closest to us are the ones with the most to hide…

Guest Post: Authors and Reviews by Amanda Jennings

Friday 8 April 2016 0 comments
It is a little later than planned but I am so happy to be sharing a guest post from Amanda Jennings today as part of the super long blog tour for one of my favourite books of 2016 so far, In Her Wake. I was blown away when I read this book but what astounded me even more was the reaction to my review from Amanda and Orenda's Karen Sullivan and from everyone else who read it and Tweeted to me about it. It has since become one of my most popular reviews ever (I've even read it back myself multiple times!) and the past two years blogging have brought many differing reactions from authors to my reviews and it's always interesting to get an insight into how an author views reviews of their books, if they even do at all. So, for my stop on the tour Amanda is discussing her own view on reviews and it's well worth a read.

If you are one of the few who hasn't read my review yet, help me hit 1000 views by reading it now!

My Blog is 2 Years Old!

Thursday 7 April 2016 12 comments

It was March 2014 when I was updating my Goodreads account and checking some of my favourite blogs that I made the decision to actually set up one of my own. I had thought about it in the past, but was intimated by the amount of them already out there. One of my favourite authors, Sean Black, added me on Goodreads one day to thank me for a review I had written for The Devil's Bounty and I was blown away that an author would take time out of their day just to say thank you for a review. I had no idea when I started the blog that that feeling never goes away and is one of the best things about being a blogger. I also had a discussion with Tracey Garvis-Graves on Goodreads about how much I loved her books, and she revealed a then huge secret about Covet that left me feeling quite privileged and again since then I have had many discussions with some of my favourite authors that before the days of the Internet would never have even been possible and I can't thank the authors who have expressed their thanks, enthusiasm and support enough as it is what spurs me on to keep blogging. I also could never imagine seeing one of my reviews quoted in an actual book as I have done a few times now and each time I am so very thankful.



I can't believe that it was two years ago I set up the blog because it does seem like only yesterday. I remember the first problem I had was coming up with a name, and I'm not even going to mention the one that I almost went with because it is awful. In real life I've been told that Book Addict Shaun isn't a very good name but I think in the book world it's actually pretty good and I really like it. Plus, it does sound a little bit like 'book addiction' depending on how you say it. I also struggled with the layout of my blog in the beginning, and by struggled I mean hated it. Instead of forking out hundreds of pounds for one I was happy with, I randomly stumbled across my current layout on Etsy and have used it ever since, and I love it. Something else I thought would be a problem but was actually the easiest thing about the whole new blogger experience was setting up a Twitter account. Would anyone even follow me? Would anyone care what I had to say? The first night I gained a fair few followers, and I spent the first of what would be many happy hours discussing books with some amazing, like-minded people. One person who stands out from that night is Karen Sullivan from Orenda Books. Her passion and excitement for all things books is just amazing and the fact she shared that enthusiasm towards me starting a book blog was astounding. I do suffer from anxiety and it's extremely comforting to know that there's always this place where you can just go and talk about books for hours, and where you can scream with excitement about a particular author or book without anyone judging you.

Sadly my anxiety and living in Liverpool and not London has meant that there's been so many invites to events that I sadly haven't been able to go to but I am definitely hoping that 2016 is the year that that will change and will see me attending some events and meeting some of the amazing publishers, authors and blogging friends that I have made over the years. There are far too many to mention but to the ones who always support my blog and share and comment on my reviews, I cannot thank you enough as this little space on the Internet us book bloggers have is very precious to me. Some of them are Vicki, Kat, Raven, Becca, Christine, Linda, Gordon, Janet, Anne, Cleo, Sharon, CharleneTracey, Dawn, Erin, Celeste, and many, many more. I am terrible at thanking people for the shares but it can be hard to keep up and so I am very grateful for them all. I never thought my blog would reach 200k page views (give or take a few bots) and that is largely in part to the RTs from bloggers and publishers. I haven't had the best start to the year blogging wise but hopefully that is about to change in the near future as I have lots of reviews and posts planned and am extremely excited to see what the rest of 2016 is going to bring books wise.

Review: Wicked Dix by Monica James

Monday 4 April 2016 0 comments
Title: Wicked Dix
Author: Monica James
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 24th March 2016
Pages: 396
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 4/5
Purchase: Amazon
I’ve always been a bad boy, with a very wicked reputation.

But then I met Madison – sweet, vulnerable, innocent Madison. She makes me feel as if there is hope for me. As if I could be a good man. I need her more than I need air to breathe.

There’s just one problem: Juliet. She’s a temptress who won’t take no for an answer. If I resist her, she’ll use our dirty secret to ruin everything with Madison. I don’t want to lose Madison, but can I really change?

This is my chance to prove that I can. But it’s going to be one hell of a ride. Are you ready?

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