Her third novel, Who Needs Men Anyway? became a
digital bestseller in 2018 and her debut, The Secret fo Falling in
Love was optioned in 2020.
Friday, April 30, 2021
RRR presents... THE SINGLE MUMS' BOOK CLUB by Victoria Cooke - GUEST POST!
Thursday, April 29, 2021
RRR presents... WAYWARD VOYAGE by Anna Holmes - GUEST POST!
Might Wayward Voyage float YOUR boat? |
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
WHAT'S THE BUZZ?: Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter - REVIEW!
Photo by Jackson Okun |
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
RRR presents... TO THE FAIR LAND by Lucienne Boyce - EXCERPT!
To The Fair Land is a mystery thriller set in the eighteenth century. In 1789 an anonymous book about a fictitious voyage to the South Seas is a publishing sensation. Struggling writer Ben Dearlove decides to find the author everyone is talking about. Before long it is clear that he has stumbled onto something much more significant than the search for a reclusive writer. Ben finds himself up against people who will lie, steal and even kill to stop him discovering the truth behind the book.
Ben’s search takes him from the coffee houses, theatres and book shops of London to the docks and taverns of Bristol. Along the way he becomes aware that two men – a Mr Hay and a Mr Beale – are shadowing him. In this scene he is riding along a country lane when two horsemen overtake him.
The road passed between two high hedges. Ben had not gone far into its cover when he heard the rush of hooves. He glanced back. The two gentlemen were in a hurry all of a sudden. He pulled over to let them pass. The first rider wheeled across his path. Ben’s horse, an otherwise placid hireling, shied in alarm. While he struggled to calm the frightened animal, the second man drew up.
“Stand!” he yelled, glaring at him with angry red eyes.
Ben gasped in recognition. Beale smirked and plucked at his sleeve. Mr Hay clawed at him from the other side. He felt himself slipping. In a moment, he would be unseated.
Before that moment came they were overtaken by the farm workers, the men’s boots heavy with mud from the furrows. There were three women, their identical moon-faces reflecting womanhood in all its stages – grandmother, mother, daughter. Their skirts were hemmed with the muck of the byre, their sleeves rolled up over arms brawny from dairy work. An empty lunch basket swung from the girl’s arm, but the cider jar was still doing the rounds.
They halted, their faces showing a mix of curiosity and suspicion. Hay thrust a hand into his coat pocket, drew out a piece of paper and brandished it at them. “Here’s a warrant! It’s official business.”
They goggled at the document, inclined to be awed by it, yet eager – the girl in particular – to see a villain apprehended. A gentleman of the road perhaps. That she thought Ben dashing enough to be a highwayman was clear from her awestruck gaze.
“Pass on now!” Hay waved the paper.
One or two of the men obediently started to move off, but inspiration had come to Ben. “I won’t go back to be flogged and hung from the yardarm!” he yelled. “I won’t go back to serve under mad Cap’n Jack! The midshipman he threw to the sharks off Port Royal had a quicker death than I’d get!”
“Why, ’e’s a runner,” the man with the cider bottle said slowly.
“Aye, and that’s the press,” growled another.
“Come to tear honest men away from their wives and sweet’arts,” shrilled the old crone, who was well past the age when the loss of a sweetheart might concern her.
“You dog!” Mr Hay made an angry swipe at Ben. It was not the best move he could have made in the circumstances.
“Help! He’s murdering me!” Ben yelled, adding for good measure, if not consistency, “I’d rather die here than go back to run the gauntlet… and be keel-hauled and… and lashed at the grating!”
Whether or not all of these punishments were likely to be inflicted simultaneously in the Royal Navy he had no idea. Neither did his audience, but they sounded dreadful enough. The country folk had identified Mr Hay and his friend as representatives of that hated institution the press gang, persecuting a man who had been driven to desertion by his sufferings. With one voice, and that an angry one, they tossed aside basket and bottle and flung themselves at the officers.
Lucienne Boyce
April 2021
Monday, April 26, 2021
Rockstar Book Tours presents...the Storybook Antics of Author Mark Huffman - DOUBLE REVIEW!
Hi guys and gals!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Today, I'm thrilled to be hosting a spot on the tour for
TWO super fun books featuring the work of author Mark Huffman... THE TOOT FAIRY & CHEESEMAKER
DURDSDEN... hosted by Rockstar Book Tours.
Check out my DOUBLE REVIEW post below and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About
The Books:
Title: THE TOOT FAIRY
Author: Mark Huffman, Dawn Davidson (Illustrator)
Pub.
Date: February 9, 2021
Publisher: Brown Books Kids
Pages: 32
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Find
it: Goodreads,
Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo,
TBD, Bookshop.org
-
Craig Smith, Award-Winning International Bestselling Author of The
Wonky Donkey
''Sorry, Walter the Farting Dog. I think it's fair to say that
this is probably the best picture book about toots I've ever read. Take my
advice and put away your scruples. You shouldn't turn up your nose at this.''
-
Betsy Bird, A Fuse #8 Production, School Library Journal
''Wish I had thought of it first!''
-
Adam Rex, Author/Illustrator of On Account of the Gum
When it's time for Jessa the fairy to proclaim what kind of fairy she wants to
be, she accidentally says ''toot'' instead of ''tooth!'' Now she'll be in
charge of finding all the toots from all the bottoms in the world. This is not
exactly what she had in mind..
Jessa has it all figured out. When her time comes to wish for her line of work, she wants nothing more than to be a Tooth Fairy. It is a noble, respected, and rewarding line of work, so who could blame her! Only problem...when she herself loses a front tooth prior to making the wish, and for those of you that have lost a tooth before, you know what I mean before I even say it. Try missing a tooth and says sister susie sitting on a thistle and listen to what you get. The words just don't come out 100% clear because you can't quite make the "THE" sound. So when Jessa goes to say her wished for profession, it's not TOOTH that is heard crystal clear, but TOOT...hence her new line of work in a particularly gaseous business. Does she let it get her down? Initially, yeah...I mean, she was hoping to work with lost tangible things from the mouth not green clouds from rear ends...but with a little prospective and the help of the retired fairy she will be taking up the mantle of, little Jessa is able to hold her wings up with pride and be the best darn TOOT FAIRY you ever did see!
I admit, it's a bit off putting when you're reading a rhyming book about toots...and rather surprising that there's a fairy tasked with gathering them, or at least spotting and paying for them (wait a minute, paying for them? I know a few people that should be downright rich from this! HA!). No doubt the story is certainly creative, and the illustrations are both lovely and hilarious all at once, but the real magic I found was in how even with the silly nature of everything, a message was imparted. It reminds us and teaches wee ones to make the best of situations, no matter off putting or ridiculous they might be. They can and should always strive to be the best they can be!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author: Mark Huffman, Dawn Davidson (Illustrator)
Pub.
Date: May 4, 2021
Publisher: Brown Books Pub Group
Pages: 32
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Find
it: Goodreads,
Amazon, B&N,
TBD,
Bookshop.org
Cheesemaker
Durdsden could hardly be called a cheesemaker, with how bland, rubbery, and
flavorless his cheese tasted. And so, in order to better his skills and silence
the critics, he went in search of any and every cheesemaking technique he could
learn. That way, he could make cheese to be envied by every cheesemaker, and
savored by every cheese enthusiast. Now he's back with new skills, and some
suspiciously delicious--deliciously suspicious--cheese to prove it. How could a
man with such boring cheese before now make this tasty cheesy treat? You'll
never guess what fabled creature holds the secret to Cheesemaker Durdsden's
sudden success!
🧀 🧀 🧀 🧀 🧀 🧀 🧀 🧀
The stink fest continues from our first title, but in a new, slightly nauseating, yet rather clever way! Instead of chasing gaseous clouds of green gas, we're on the hunt for marbled cheese...or more specifically, Durdsen's cheese. You see, he started out with humble beginnings and mundane cheese that not even the mice wanted to fight over, but after his adventures in the great wide world, he returned with a blend the townspeople couldn't keep their hands off of! I didn't initially blame them because hello, tasty cheese is yummy...but after the big reveal of how it's made came around, I just didn't have the stomach. Grant it, it's clever, it rhymes, and kiddos will have a hoot with it...but anyone that might take it too seriously or has a weak stomach, maybe should leave this fine fromage to those with greater fortitude.
In short, you'll laugh, you'll cry (or at least have your eyes well up from the smelly cheese!), you'll crave this dairy-licious treat, and then perhaps rethink it again. The story is creative, the illustrations a blast, and it's definitely something you won't soon forget!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the author...
Mark Huffman writes about our shared human
experiences, which is a pretentious way to say that he writes about toots and
bottoms and food. He prepared for writing children's books by spending much of
his early life as an actual child. Unlike other children's authors he might
name who have spuriously claimed the title, he is a real doctor. He lives with
his family in Texas.
Website | Twitter
|Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(US Only)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tour
Schedule:
Week
One:
4/26/2021 |
Review |
|
4/27/2021 |
Guest Post |
|
4/28/2021 |
Review |
|
4/29/2021 |
Guest Post |
|
4/30/2021 |
Review |
|
5/1/2021 |
Review |
Week Two:
5/2/2021 |
Review |
|
5/3/2021 |
Review |
|
5/4/2021 |
Review |
|
5/5/2021 |
Review |
|
5/6/2021 |
Review |
|
5/7/2021 |
Review |
|
5/8/2021 |
Review |
Week Three:
5/9/2021 |
Review |
|
5/10/2021 |
Excerpt |
|
5/11/2021 |
Excerpt |
|
5/12/2021 |
Review |
|
5/13/2021 |
Review |
|
5/14/2021 |
Review |
|
5/15/2021 |
Review |
Week Four:
5/16/2021 |
Spotlight |
|
5/17/2021 |
Review |
|
5/18/2021 |
Review |
|
5/19/2021 |
Review |
|
5/20/2021 |
Review |
|
5/21/2021 |
Review |