First Ever Giveaway (UK only)

I have decided to run my first ever giveaway as a thank you to everyone who has welcomed me to the blogging world over the past week. I have a load of books that I've read taking up much needed space so giving them away seemed like a good idea. 

The books are used but have only been read once and are pretty much like new.

I have chosen 6 books and tried to mix them up so that there's something for everybody. 

Review: Someone Else's Skin by Sarah Hilary (5/5)

Devastating, brilliant and heralding an outstanding new talent in crime fiction, SOMEONE ELSE’S SKIN is the crime debut of the year.

Some secrets keep you safe, others will destroy you…

Detective Inspector Marnie Rome. Dependable; fierce; brilliant at her job; a rising star in the ranks. Everyone knows how Marnie fought to come back from the murder of her parents, but very few know what is going on below the surface. Because Marnie has secrets she won’t share with anyone.

But then so does everyone. Certainly those in the women’s shelter Marnie and Detective Sergeant Noah Jake visit on that fateful day. The day when they arrive to interview a resident, only to find one of the women’s husbands, who shouldn’t have been there, lying stabbed on the floor.

As Marnie and Noah investigate the crime further, events begin to spiral and the violence escalates. Everyone is keeping secrets, some for survival and some, they suspect, to disguise who they really are under their skin.

Now, if Marnie is going to find the truth she will have to face her own demons head on. Because the time has come for secrets to be revealed…

Review: Queen of the Court by Melanie Howard and Andrea Leidolf (4/5)

"Members are fond of saying that nothing ever changes at Belle Vista Country Club, where for nearly a century, the socially prominent and politically connected have played tennis and golf together, met and married each other, and kept aloof from the general public, all while consuming copious amounts of alcohol.
But with one swipe of a wrecking ball, down tumbles the club’s hand-carved stone sign, and with it, life as Belle Vista has known it comes to a shattering end.

Scandal arrives in the form of ex- stripper Shana Lee Jones and her television crew, who turn the century-old haven for the rich and powerful into the stage for Queen of the Court, a reality show that, in the hands of failed producer Rex Range, promises to be anything but tasteful. The Belle Vista board has sold a majority interest in the nearly bankrupt club to Shana’s husband, strip club owner and reformed outlaw biker Wayne Jones, to the distress of the elite membership, especially socialite Allie Beech and her domineering mother, Lavinia Winter.

Review: A Dark and Twisted Tide by Sharon Bolton (5/5)

"Something’s in the water... The twisty, chilling new thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Like This, For Ever.

Former detective Lacey Flint quit the force for a safer, quieter life. Or that’s what she thought.

Now living alone on her houseboat, she is trying to get over the man she loves, undercover detective Mark Joesbury. But Mark is missing in action and impossible to forget. And danger won’t leave Lacey alone.

When she finds a body floating in the river near her home, wrapped in burial cloths, she can’t resist asking questions. Who is this woman, and why was she hidden in the fast-flowing depths? And who has been delivering unwanted gifts to Lacey?

Someone is watching Lacey Flint closely.

Someone who knows exactly what makes her tick . . ."

First Week As A Blogger

So it's been about a week since I set up this blog (and Twitter @bookaddictshaun) and I am loving it. I have wanted to set up a blog for a while but always felt a bit intimidated by how many of them are out there. However not long after setting up my Twitter account I had so many Tweets from fellow bloggers and publishers welcoming me to the community and it was absolutely fantastic. It left me wishing I'd set up a blog sooner!

I recently hit over 100 followers (not a huge amount I know but I never expected one follower never mind 100!) and over a 1000 hits on the blog. What made me want to be a blogger was two things. 1. Nobody in real life 'gets' my love of books, and most people I try and talk about them to often yawn or laugh! It's nice to discuss books with other readers without fear of being laughed at! And 2. one morning I woke up to a friend request on Goodreads from one my of favourite authors, I was gobsmacked and overjoyed that an author had read and enjoyed one of my reviews. 

And since joining Twitter it's been the same. I get so excited when an author Tweets me or favourites one of my Tweets (especially when those authors are Sophie Kinsella, Jackie Collins and Lindsey Kelk, three of my all-time favourites!). It's also nice to follow and talk to some of the bloggers I have followed for a long time. For now I've just concentrated on posting reviews and settling into the blogging world but am thinking of things to add to the blog all the time and I am hoping to do a giveaway soon which will be a sort of thank you to everyone that has welcomed me into the blogging world. So, thank you!

Review: Spree by Michael Morley (5/5)

"A serial killer thriller for fans of James Patterson, Chris Carter, Richard Montanari and Karen Rose.

A madman is on the rampage in the Los Angeles streets.

The City of Angels has become The City of Fear.

And everyone from the Oval Office down wants a quick result.

The heat is on Jake Mottram, head of the FBI’s new Spree Killer Unit,
and psychological profiler Angie Holmes to find the madman responsible. 

Until now, they’ve been great together.

Both at work and in bed.

But a killer is about to come between them, in ways that could cost them far more than their careers. Will they survive the spree about to come?

SPREE:
Life and death in LA – like you’ve never seen it before."

Review: Sorrow Bound by David Mark (5/5)

"Philippa Longman will do anything for her family.

Roisin McAvoy will do anything for her friends.

DS Aector McAvoy will do anything for his wife.

Yet each has an unknown enemy – one that will do anything to destroy them.

Sorrow Bound is a powerful police procedural thriller about how those with the biggest hearts make the easiest targets; and how the corrosive venom of evil can dissolve the bonds between good people, until all they are bound by is grief."