Two Perfect Couples by Renita D'Silva (Audiobook)

 

Two families are looking forward to a dream holiday together in Goa, but disaster strikes on their first evening when one of the children goes missing. Fear, guilt and recriminations abound. The involvement of the local police brings lots of secrets bubbling to the surface.

Two Perfect Couples by Renita D'Silva is a slow-burn psychological thriller that puts you right into the mind of a mother wracked with guilt. Jo and are family are holidaying in the country of her husband Yash's birth. With them are their close friends, Lydia and Paul. The disappearance of Ajit, Jo and Yash's youngest child, throws the whole situation into turmoil. Has the boy climbed out of the window and wandered off, or has something more sinister happened?

Narrated well by Melissa Advani, you get a true sense of Jo's rising panic as the hunt for Ajit by the two families produces nothing. Jo is consumed by remorse, convinced she has failed her son. After the unsuccessful search of the beach and the surrounding area, the families know that they need to involve the police. 

The local police are convinced that Ajit has been kidnapped. As Inspector Sharma begins to question the adults, we discover that there are a number of possible suspects and that everyone is hiding secrets. There are plenty of shocks in store as secret after secret is revealed, leaving the friends questioning if they truly know each other. The burden of responsibility for Anjit's disappearance is placed firmly on Jo's shoulders, a combination of accusation and self-recrimination. Jo's mental state isn't helped by a series of taunting text messages she receives, which disappear after being read, and those around her fail to believe her.

I had a vague inkling as to the reason for Anjit's disappearance, but the author produced a twisty and shocking conclusion that left me gasping as the true motive behind the kidnapping was revealed.

Two Perfect Couples by Renita D'Silva is available in paperback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for a review copy.

Author Details

Renita grew up in a picturesque coastal village in the South of India, the oldest of three children. Her father got her first story books when she was six and she fell in love with the world of stories. Even now she prefers that world, by far, to this.

#Cover Reveal The Croatian Island Library by Eva Glyn

 

Today, I'm pleased to be taking part in the cover reveal for The Croatian Island Library by Eva Glynn. The synopsis below sounds absolutely perfect. What could be better than the combination of books and sunshine? It sounds truly idyllic. I hope you agree.

Synopsis

Where books are borrowed, and friendships are forged…

When her beloved grandfather dies, Ana Meštrović buys a catamaran in his memory, which she names Dida Krila – Grandad’s Wings.

For the summer months, it will be transformed into a travelling library, delivering books to children living across the Croatian islands.

Joined by crew members Natali, a young mechanic afraid of her own shadow, and Lloyd, an older widower who needs a fresh start, the newly-formed trio all have their own reasons for needing the floating library to be a success.

Embarking on an adventure that will change them for good, they each discover that a new chapter is only a boat ride away…

Pre-order Link - https://mybook.to/CroatianIslandLibrary

Publication Dates - 16th January 2026 (ebook),  29th January 2026 (paperback)

Author Details

Eva Glyn writes escapist relationship-driven fiction with a kernel of truth at its heart. She loves to travel and finds inspiration in beautiful places and the stories they hide.

Set mainly in Croatia, her contemporary stories are more about friendship than romance, the coming together of people through shared interests, and the opportunity to make fresh starts in their lives. A love of books is a common theme too, so her publisher, One More Chapter, has christened them the Bookish Escapes collection which currently includes The Dubrovnik Book Club, and The Santorini Writing Retreat, with The Croatian Island Library to be published in January 2026.

In addition Eva has written two Second World War dual timeline romances, An Island of Secrets and The Collaborator’s Daughter, and a new beginnings novel entitled The Olive Grove. All are set in Croatian, a country she loves.

Although she considers herself Welsh, Eva lives in Cornwall with the man she met and fell in love with more than thirty years ago. She also writes as Jane Cable.

Bad Actors by Mick Herron

 

An academic, a member of a government think-tank, has gone missing. In the race to discover her whereabouts first desk at MI5 is pitted against a special advisor to Number 10. The outcome could have long-reaching consequences for the future of MI5.

Knowing that book 9 in the Slough House/Slow Horses series is due out in September, I was determined to get up-to-date with the series before then. Bad Actors by Mick Herron is book 8 in the series. I found this book to focus more on political machinations, with control of MI5 being at the heart of the story.

Anthony Sparrow is a special advisor to the Prime Minister, to all intents and purposes, the real person controlling the government. Sparrow is a decidedly unpleasant individual, and it doesn't take much imagination to figure out the inspiration behind the character. He doesn't like the fact that MI5 operates independently of government and sets about plotting the downfall of Diana Taverner in a bid to discredit the Security Service and bring it under the control of No. 10. What Sparrow doesn't realise is that Taverner is a slippery customer, usually two steps ahead of everyone else.

The political infighting, double crossing and hints at possible Russian assets in the UK make this much more of a genuine spy thriller than the rest of the series. The team of slow horses doesn't feature quite as much as they have done in previous novels, but when they do, chaos ensues. Shirley Dander is the stand-out character this time around and is best described as a Tasmanian Devil; there are some truly comic scenes when she is involved. My favorite line of the whole book involves a stand-off between Shirley and a knife-wielding thug. She looks down at her hand, "Just like a slow horse, she thought. Bringing a spork to a knife fight".

Jackson Lamb is as disgusting, misogynistic and brilliant as ever; his level of sarcasm is top-notch. For fans who were left devastated at the end of Slough House, the ending of Bad Actors offers a tiny ray of hope.

Author Details

Mick Herron is the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Slough House thrillers, which have been published in over twenty-five languages and are the basis of the award-winning TV series Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb. Among his other novels are the Zoë Boehm series, also now adapted for TV starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson, and the standalone novels The Secret Hours and Nobody Walks. Mick’s awards include the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and the CWA Gold, Steel and Diamond Daggers. A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, and now lives in Oxford.

#BlogTour Love Or Your Money Back by Suzy K Quinn

 

Synopsis

Is marriage about love or marketing?

Kat is 34, single and running out of time – she wants to get married before she turns 35, but her fiancé just ditched her for a 21-year-old life coach.

Freddy is a ruthless marketing guru who thinks love is just transactional. He’ll use his marketing genius to make Kat the most sought-after woman in London, if she lets him rebrand her struggling company.

With her 35th birthday looming and her love life a disaster, Kat agrees to become Project Marriage.

Can a rebrand king sell happily ever after? Or is love something even the best marketer can't package and promote?

A smart, funny romantic comedy for fans of Emile Henry (Funny Story), Lucy Score and Ali Hazelwood.

My Review

Welcome to my spot on the blog tour for Love Or Your Money Back by Suzy K Quinn. I don't read a lot of romance, so to entice me, the synopsis of a book has to be great, and that's exactly what happened with this book. 

It's obvious from the beginning where the story is going to end, but with most romance novels, it's the journey that we're really interested in. This struck me as a version of My Fair Lady/Pretty Woman. Kat Friedman runs her own publishing company. Dealing with a chronic illness and a bunch of employees who are hopeless means that Kat doesn't have a lot of time for herself. In steps Freddy Stark, a marketing guru who has just bought half the company. Sparks immediately start flying between the pair, but not in a good way.

Kat is a sympathetic character, and Freddy is brash and self-centred. As they skirt around each other, we learn that Kat is desperate to be married by the age of 35, and considering she's now 34, that doesn't leave much time. When this is combined with the fact that her hopeless boyfriend of fifteen years has recently dumped her and is now marrying a twenty-one-year-old, you can understand Kat's frustration. Freddy claims everything is about the right marketing - packaging, placement and promotion - and offers to help Kat in her quest in exchange for more control in the company.

As Freddy carefully packages and promotes his new "product", my opinion of him quickly changed; he's respectful, considerate, generous, emotionally intelligent and supportive. Freddy does his job so well that Kat is eventually fending off suitors. At this point, I found Kat to be too desperate and lacking in self-esteem, which is a complete contrast to the fiery, intelligent and resilient business woman whose company wins awards.

Freddy states that "A marketer's job is to see value where no one else does", and it doesn't take long for him to spot the true value of Kat, but what will he do? Does he throw his hat in the ring, or does he leave Kat to decide between her suitors? There's also Kat's hopeless ex-boyfriend, her first love, who continues to hang around like a bad smell. 

Love Or Your Money Back by Suzy K Quinn is available now in ebook format. My thanks to Suzy K Quinn and Rachel's Random Resources for a review copy.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Your-Money-Back-funniest-ebook/dp/B0FDBMMZQQ

https://www.amazon.com/Love-Your-Money-Back-funniest-ebook/dp/B0FDBMMZQQ

Author Details

Suzy K Quinn writes romantic comedy / rom com books / cozy mystery and has sold over 1 million books worldwide. She is a bestseller in the UK, US and Germany and has plans for total world domination with more feel-good books (bestsellers, obviously) in the near future.

Suzy lives in Wivenhoe, Essex, with her husband Demi and two daughters. She is a twin, an incompetent parent of two and now fully decaffeinated. Her twin sister, Cate Quinn, is also a bestseller author. When she's not writing, she is reading rom coms and cozy mysteries.

Suzy loves her readers and is ALWAYS happy to chat on social media - she's @suzykquinn on all the socials. You can also get a free book at her website:

www.suzykquinn.com

#BlogTour One Snowy Day by Shari Low

 

Synopsis

On a cold winter’s day, a storm is brewing in the village of Weirbridge...

Georgie Dern has the chance to swap her empty nest for the job of a lifetime in Los Angeles. Can she chase her dream if it means letting down the woman who has given her the world?

Jessie McLean should be counting down the hours until she jets off to spend her retirement years in the sun. But when a devastating betrayal resurfaces, she has to choose between a fresh start and staying behind to settle old scores.

Alyssa Canavan has spent years building the business she adores. Now a legal letter has threatened her home and livelihood, but how does she fight a family that doesn’t give a damn?

Lachlan Morden is forced to return to Scotland to face the people who almost destroyed him. Will coming home reopen old wounds, or will a memory from the past lead him to the perfect revenge?

One snowy day, four lives, but who will have a bright new future when the snow is gone?

My Review

Welcome to my spot on the Blogtour for One Snowy Day by Shari Low. This is the first book by Shari Low that I've read, despite the author having an extensive back catalogue. I'm pleased to say that it certainly won't be my last. I found the book to be pure escapism, filled with larger-than-life characters that you cared about. As the story progressed, I found myself completely invested in the lives of the tight-knit community and felt as if I were one of them.

Set over the space of one winter's day in the Scottish village of Weirbridge we meet Jessie McLean. Not only is it Jessie's sixty-fifth birthday, but she's about to start her retirement from her beloved hair salon and move to Tenerife with her husband. The village are all looking forward to the big party which will be held in the cafe that has become central to the local community.

Over the course of the day, we meet a wide range of characters, who all add elements to the storyline. I loved the larger-than-life characters, particularly the older generation, as they added fun and eccentricity to the story. As Jessie uncovers a couple of secrets that have been withheld from her, she begins to question the decisions she's made about giving up her job and jetting off to the sun. Other members of the community are dealing with dilemmas of their own, but are determined that nothing will spoil Jessie's big day.

I adored the way the story featured a wide range of ages and showed a strong sense of community. As individuals grappled with the predicament they found themselves in, we saw the age-old adage "A problem shared is a problem halved" at work. Shocks and surprises stopped being insurmountable as practical solutions are found, along with new friendships and relationships forged.

One Snowy Day by Shari Low is available in paperback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to Boldwood Books and Rachel's Random Resources for a review copy.

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/OneSnowyDay

Author Details

Shari Low is the multi-million copy bestselling author of over 30 novels, including the #1 bestsellers One Day with You, One Midnight with You and One Day and Forever.

The Cut by Richard Armirage

 

Thirty years after a teenager was murdered, her killer is about to be released from prison. By coincidence, a production company is shooting a film which bears a striking resemblance to the events surrounding the murder. Is someone out for revenge or trying to reframe the past?

The Cut by Richard Armitage opens in 1994 with a nightmarish scene of a young woman being chased through a storm. From a high vantage point, someone is watching the events as they unfold. The story then jumps to 2023, and we meet architect Ben Knott, a school friend of the victim at the time of her death.

The story alternates between 1994 and 2023. In the past, we meet Ben and his circle of friends. The group is a strange mixture of mainly unpleasant characters held together by Ben. Ben's intelligence, physique and home background have allowed him to get away with some unsavory behaviour, much of it excused by his home life. In 2023, we meet a very different character, a successful family man who is haunted by the past. I did feel some sympathy towards teenager Ben; his home life was harrowing. Modern day Ben didn't come across well; he compartmentalise his life, puts business before family and was desperately trying to hide secrets.

As the storyline alternates between the two time periods, we see everything leading up to the night of the murder. We discover that the bonds of friendship are tenuous, mainly because of the cruel nature of teenagers. In the present, Ben's fourteen-year-old son, Nate, is deliberately targeted to star in a "found footage" film. The nature in which Nate is encouraged to audition is creepy, not only does it add another layer of secrecy to the story, but it also reinforces the message that you never know who is at the other end of an online conversation. The two sets of events slowly begin to merge, and Ben realises that someone knows more about the murder than the police uncovered. The big question is what is their ultimate goal?

The terrifying opening and the tense conclusion keep your heart racing. I did find the middle section a little slow and confusing; however, I was determined to read on to find answers. The reader is kept in suspense for the majority of the novel as to the identities of the victim and her murderer, the Mill Killer. Shocks are in store when all is revealed, including the identity of the person manipulating the modern-day events, and the reader eventually learns about what really happened on that stormy night in 1994.

The Cut by Richard Armitage will be published on 28th August 2025 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Faber & Faber for a review copy.

Author Details

Richard Armitage is a multi-award winning stage and screen actor. In 2022 he penned his debut crime thriller 'Geneva'. 

The Killer Question by Janice Hallett

 

Sue and Mal, the new landlords of The Case Is Altered country pub are concerned that a team that joins their regular quiz night is cheating. It's a delicate situation to handle as they don't want to upset their regular clientele but feel that a new infusion of blood is just what the quiz night needs. When a dead body is discovered near the pub everyone becomes a suspect.

As with every other fan of Janice Hallett I have been eagerly awaiting The Killer Question. I was very lucky to receive an early copy, devoured it in one sitting and then have to keep my lips sealed. There are no spoilers in my review, part of the appeal of Janice Hallett's books is reading them and trying to spot hints, clues and red herrings. The style is similar to that of the author's previous books with the story being told through a variety of media such as emails, text messages and WhatsApp messages. As an aside, if you haven't read any of the author's earlier books then I heartily recommend them. You can find reviews for all apart from her first book, The Appeal, on my blog (I didn't have a blog when I read The Appeal).

I loved the opening of the book. The events in the book took place in 2019, five years later Sue and Mal's nephew pitches the story to Netflix as an idea for a true crime series. While I don't watch true crime I am well aware of its popularity, along with the interest it sparks online as viewers discuss what they've watched. This genre also seems to have ignited a rise in amateur detectives.

To entice a production company, the nephew sends them evidence in the form of emails and messages that have never been seen by the public before. I adore this style of narrative, it's easy to read, you quickly become engrossed and it feels very voyeuristic. The story had me completely absorbed, to the extent that I felt as if I was one of the regular quizzers. The introduction of a quiz team who are obviously cheating is a stroke of genius as it brings out the true characters of some of the regulars. I honestly didn't realise that pub quizzes were so cut-throat. The way in which the usual winners react when they lose is hilarious, they become sticklers for the rules unless it's something that benefits them. The message threads and emails around this are pure gold, I was laughing out loud. Far too frequently something is mentioned that is so true to life or resembles someone you may know. Not all of the teams take things quite as seriously as others; for some, it's a laugh, for others, it's a social event. For the serious quizzers, there's nothing fun about the quiz, so when they feel an injustice has been done they try to get everyone on their side. 

There is more to the story than a Monday night quiz, prepare yourself for murder and blackmail as, just like any true life crime series, the story takes unexpected twists and turns. Having read the author's previous books I tried to spot clues and red herrings but failed miserably, which made the reading and the big reveal even more pleasurable. This is one of those books where as soon as you know "whodunnit" you want to go straight back to the beginning to look for the subtle hints. I can't wait to see what Janice Hallett comes up with next but it going to have to be something special to beat The Killer Question.

The Killer Question by Janice Hallett will be published on 4th September 2025 in hardback and ebook format. My thanks to NetGalley and Viper for a review copy.

Author Details

Janice Hallett is the author of five best-selling novels. Her debut, The Appeal, was awarded the CWA Debut Dagger of 2021 and was a Sunday Times’ Bestseller, Waterstones’ Thriller of the Month and Sunday Times’ Crime Book of the Month. Her second novel The Twyford Code was named Crime & Thriller Book of the Year in the British Book Awards 2023. It was also a Sunday Times’ Bestseller and a Financial Times book of the year. The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels was an instant Times and Sunday Times bestseller on its launch in January 2023 and a Richard & Judy Book Club pick.

The Christmas Appeal, a fast, fun and festive novella, was launched in October 2023. It was a Times and Sunday Times bestseller.

Her latest novel The Examiner, was an instant Times and Sunday Times bestseller on its launch and is out now.

Her first novel for children aged 8-12 is A Box Full of Murders, out in June 2025.

Janice is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. As a playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and co-wrote the feature film Retreat.