Book after Book

Do you remember Booknet , the new platform for authors and readers that I've recently discovered? Well, I am now lucky to be able to share with you an interview with one of its bestselling authors, Ashleh Queen: Q: When did you first start writing stories (not just on Booknet but more generally)? A: I started writing in October 2018. Q: What genre(s) do you write in? A: I write in the genres of Billionaire, Drama, and Mafia - all of them have erotica in. I tend to make it a little spicy. Q: When did you first join Booknet as an author? A: I joined Booknet in May 2019. Q: How did you first hear about Booknet? A: I was looking actively for Apps in which I can post my ongoing works in a serialised manner. And, while looking, I was also considering how many downloads they had on the Play Store, so I knew I would be publishing somewhere I can find an audience. I think Booknet had a million downloads at that time. Q: How many books have you published on Booknet? A: I have published thirt...

‘Ooooh, what is Booknet ?’ I hear you ask… Booknet is a popular literary social media network, self-publishing platform, and Bookscription eBook sales model, all of which is being introduced to the UK following rapid growth in Latin America and Eastern Europe since 2015. How does it work? Booknet is both a successful literary self-publishing platform and a social network, founded by Ukrainian entrepreneurs in 2015. Booknet has gained significant traction in countries such as Ukraine, Russia (the Russian division was sold in the spring of 2022 because of the war between Ukraine and Russia), as well as Latin America. The company is now actively investing resources into the development of its English-language version. Authors can either publish their books with free access by readers, or sell them after obtaining commercial status through the platform. Booknet provides free advertising for eBooks sold by their authors on the platform. Booknet’s distinctive features (apart from being a pop...

Welcome to the blog tour for Fracture by Elyse Hoffman! More about the book… A heart-wrenching WW2 story of forbidden love and torn allegiances. Franz Keidel is a monstrous SS soldier: loyal, hateful, and devoted to Hitler. With a cold heart, he hunts down his Führer’s enemies, but one fateful mission will fracture his shield of ice. While hunting for Jews, Franz stumbles across a familiar face: Amos Auman, his childhood friend. Amos is the only source of joy in Franz’s life, but he is also a Jew. Unable to bring himself to kill his friend, Franz vows to protect Amos from his fellow Nazis. As Franz spends more time with Amos, bringing him food and books, he falls in love with his kind-hearted friend. How could he fall in love with a man, a Jew? How can he continue to hate Jews when a Jew has thawed his icy heart? And what will Franz do if he has to choose between Amos and his loyalty to Hitler? What choices does he have when he is already beyond redemption? More about the author… Elyse...

Welcome to the blog tour for Suicide Thursday by Will Carver! More about the book… Eli Hagin can’t finish anything. He hates his job, but can’t seem to quit. He doesn’t want to be with his girlfriend, but doesn’t know how end things with her, either. Eli wants to write a novel, but he’s never taken a story beyond the first chapter. Eli also has trouble separating reality from fiction. When his best friend kills himself, Eli is motivated, for the first time in his life, to finally end something himself, just as Mike did... Except sessions with his therapist suggest that Eli’s most recent ‘first chapters’ are not as fictitious as he had intended... and a series of text messages that Mike received before his death point to something much, much darker... More about the author… Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the January David series and the critically acclaimed, mind-blowingly original Detective Pace series that includes Good Samaritans (2018), Nothing Important Ha...

Welcome to the blog tour for One Woman’s War by Christine Wells! More about the book… World War II London: When Victoire “Paddy” Bennett first walks into the Admiralty’s Room 39, home to the Intelligence Division, all the bright and lively young woman expects is a secretarial position to the charismatic Commander Ian Fleming. But soon her job is so much more, and when Fleming proposes a daring plot to deceive the Germans about Allied invasion plans he requests the newlywed Paddy's help. She jumps at the chance to work as an agent in the field, even after the operation begins to affect her marriage. But could doing her duty for King and country come at too great a cost? Socialite Friedl Stöttinger is a beautiful Austrian double agent determined to survive in wartime England, which means working for MI-5, investigating fifth column activity among the British elite at parties and nightclubs. But Friedl has a secret—some years before, she agreed to work for German Intelligence and spy ...

Welcome to the blog tour for David’s Bathtime Adventure by Sue Wickstead! This is not the first book by Sue Wickstead that I read with my little ones and, hopefully, not the last. David’s Bin Day is still a firm favourite in this household (as is bin day itself!) and I’m hoping that David’s Bathtime Adventure – which elicited a lot of giggles and ‘That’s silly, mamma!’ – is going to turn the bedtime ritual into something that is embraced with a little more joy! As usual, the entertaining story is accompanied by the beautiful illustrations that have made us fond of the author’s books. More about the book… David loves his bath time! As Mum fills the bath with water, David get himself ready for a swimming adventure. With toys and his fishing gear, he certainly enjoys splashing around in the water. (And making a mess!) Where will his imagination take him? In the words of the author… I am a supply teacher working across Sussex and Surrey. For over 20 years, alongside my teaching career, ...

Welcome to the blog tour for Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah! More about the book… From the bestselling author of The Lost Vintage , a rare and dazzling portrait of Jacqueline Bouvier’s college year abroad in postwar Paris, an intimate and electrifying story of love and betrayal, and the coming-of-age of an American icon – before the world knew her as Jackie. In September 1949 Jacqueline Bouvier arrives in postwar Paris to begin her junior year abroad. She’s twenty years old, socially poised but financially precarious, and all too aware of her mother’s expectations that she make a brilliant match. Before relenting to family pressure, she has one year to herself far away from sleepy Vassar College and the rigid social circles of New York, a year to explore and absorb the luminous beauty of the City of Light. Jacqueline is immediately catapulted into an intoxicating new world of champagne and châteaux, art and avant-garde theater, cafés and jazz clubs. She strikes up a romance with a ta...

Welcome to the blog tour for Ghosted by Mo Fanning! More about the book… How can Silas French be homophobic? He's playing Santa on a gay cruise. After thirteen years of not talking to his grown-up son, Joey, New Yorker Silas gets worrying health news, meaning the coming holiday season might be his last chance to make things right. A job onboard the Crown Atlantic Holiday Wonderland Cruise finds him bound for Florida in the company of 3000 gay men - and one woman. Will Joey welcome his estranged father or slam the door? And when love appears unexpectedly, is it in Silas to let go of his past, and grab onto his future? GHOSTED  is a dark romantic comedy about the continuing bonds we have with our loved ones after they are gone More about the author… Writer Mo Fanning grew up near Birmingham in the UK but left for pastures new as soon as he could legally drive, spending much of his grown-up life in the Netherlands, before returning home just before lockdown took hold. He has contribut...

Welcome to the blog tour for Does Snow Turn a Person White Inside? By Max Lobe! More about the book… The narrator, Mwana, is a young man from Bantuland, living in Geneva. A graduate from a Swiss university, we first encounter Mwana waiting for a bus in the hills of Lugano gazing at a poster calling for “black sheep” to be sent home. Mwana’s efforts to find work are fruitless until he lands an internship in an NGO campaigning against racial discrimination. The team is busy organising a demonstration against the black sheep poster. Mwana has one foot in each culture. He sees Swiss society through African eyes, with all its contradictions: its moderation, stunning landscapes and its eccentricities, but also its intolerance and inflexibility. He also casts a critical eye on his native Africa, the weight of its traditions and beliefs. Is belonging nowhere the price Mwana has to pay for these insights? Sad and playful Does Snow Turn a Person White Inside? is a moving reflection on the immig...

Welcome to the blog tour for 50 Books to Read If You’re an… Armchair Detective by Eric Kark Anderson! More about the book… Part of a new series of gift books celebrating books and reading, 50 Books to Read If You're an Armchair Detective is packed full of inspiration for fans of cosy crime to discover lesser-known books and revisit forgotten classics. Whether you're a Richard Osman fan or a Sherlock Holmes devotee, bibliophile and book blogger Eric Karl Anderson will introduce you to some new and unexpected novels. The book includes an interactive element with space for star ratings, lists of favourite reads, thoughts and dates for beginning and finishing books. Encompassing a range of authors and books, from classic to contemporary, 50 Books to Read If You're an Armchair Detective offers the lucky reader plenty of scope to discover the best cosy crime books across the globe. More about the author… Eric Karl Anderson, aka the Lonesome Reader, hails from Maine and has liv...

Welcome to the blog tour for Can I Stray by Jenna Adams! More about the book… Fourteen-year-old Brooke Tyler has spent her whole life waiting for a boy to choose her. Matt is about to go to university, scared to leave behind everything he knows. When both are cast as romantic leads in Romeo and Juliet, they fulfil the roles of forbidden lovers both on and off the stage. Brooke is sure that her fairy tale is coming true - and best of all, Matt is older. Brooke considers secrets and lies a small price to pay for her first boyfriend, but the relationship is set to cost her the moment they have sex. When Brooke learns that Matt’s actions that night were illegal, her world shatters. Years later, Brooke and Matt reunite as adults. Matt wants to undo all the damage he caused, but Brooke makes a choice which forces them both to question their relationship. Told in three acts, this heart-wrenching debut reveals a young woman’s journey for independence as she strays away from everything she has...

Welcome to the blog tour for 50 Books to Read If You’re a… Hopeless Romantic by Eric Kark Anderson! More about the book… Discover lesser known books and revisit forgotten romantic classics with 50 Books to Read If You're a Hopeless Romantic . Whether you're a Bridget Jones fan or a Pride and Prejudice devotee, bibliophile and book blogger Eric Karl Anderson will introduce any fans of love stories to some new and unexpected novels. The book includes an interactive element with space for star ratings, lists of favourite reads, thoughts and dates for beginning and finishing books. Encompassing a range of authors and books, from classic to contemporary, 50 Books to Read If You’re a Hopeless Romantic offers the lucky reader plenty of scope to discover the best romance books across the globe. More about the author… Eric Karl Anderson, aka the Lonesome Reader, hails from Maine and has lived in the UK for many years. He started a reading blog to record his thoughts on the books he wa...

Welcome to the blog tour for Simply Vegan Baking by Freya Cox! More about the book… 70 fun and accessible recipes for all your favourite classic bakes made vegan - from Great British Bake Off's young vegan star, Freya Cox. Vegan baking needn't be difficult or boring - it can be simple and delicious! Freya's mission is to show that it's just as delicious if not more so than 'regular' baking and, when all the ingredients are available from your local supermarket, there's no reason not to give it a try. Anyone who's new to baking or to veganism will find these recipes reassuringly familiar and be amazed that they're so effortlessly vegan. From simple cakes, traybakes, pastry and bread to special desserts and showstopping cakes, there's something for every occasion. Try Salted Caramel Cupcakes, Triple Chocolate Cookies, Cinnamon Rolls, Banoffee Pie Slices, Lemon Meringue Pie and the most incredible Black Forest Gateau! With veganism on the rise and ...

Welcome to the blog tour for The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston! More about the book… Florence Day is a ghost-writer with one big problem. She’s supposed to be penning swoon-worthy novels for a famous romance author but, after a bad break-up, Florence no longer believes in love. And when her strict (but undeniably hot) new editor, Benji Andor, won’t give her an extension on her book deadline, Florence prepares to kiss her career goodbye. Although when tragedy strikes and Florence has to head home, the last thing she expects to see is a ghost at her front door. Not just any ghost, however, but the stern form of her still very hot – yet now unquestionably  dead  – new editor. As sparks start to fly between them, Florence tells herself she can’t be falling for a ghost – even an infuriatingly sexy one. But can Benji help Florence to realise love isn’t dead, after all? More about the author… Ashley Poston’s is a part-time author and full-time fangirl. She was born in ru...

Welcome to the blog tour for The Echoes of Love by Jenny Ashcroft! More about the book… Under the Cretan sun, in the summer of 1936, two young people fall in love… Eleni has been coming to Crete her entire life, swapping her English home for cherished sun-baked summers with her grandfather in his idyllic shoreside villa. When she arrives in 1936, she believes the long, hot weeks ahead will be no different to so many that have gone before. But someone else is visiting the island that year too: a young German man called Otto. And so begins a summer of innocence lost, and love discovered; one that is finite, but not the end. When, in 1941, the island falls to a Nazi invasion, Eleni and Otto meet there once more. But this time Eleni has returned to fight for her home, and Otto to occupy it. They are enemies, and their love is not only treacherous, but also dangerous. But will it destroy them, or prove strong enough to overcome the ravages of war? More about the author… Jenny Ashcroft is a...

Welcome to the blog tour for Lessons by Ian McEwan! More about the book… While the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has descended, young Roland Baines's life is turned upside down. Stranded at boarding school, his vulnerability attracts his piano teacher, Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade. Twenty-five years later, as the radiation from the Chernobyl disaster spreads across Europe, Roland's wife mysteriously vanishes and he is forced to confront the reality of his rootless existence and look for answers in his family history. From the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Covid pandemic and climate change, Roland sometimes rides with the tide of history but more often struggles against it. Haunted by lost opportunities, he seeks solace through every possible means ­- literature, travel, friendship, drugs, politics, sex and love. His journey raises important questions. Can we take full charge of th...

Welcome to the blog tour for All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracy Lien! More about the book… 1996 – Cabramatta, Sydney ‘Just let him go.’ Those are words Ky Tran will forever regret. The words she spoke when her parents called to ask if they should let her younger brother Denny out to celebrate his high school graduation with friends. That night, Denny – optimistic, guileless Denny – is brutally murdered inside a busy restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta, a refugee enclave facing violent crime, and an indifferent police force. Returning home for the funeral, Ky learns that the police are stumped by her brother’s case. Even though several people were present at Denny’s murder, each bystander claims to have seen nothing, and they are all staying silent.  Determined to uncover the truth, Ky tracks down and questions the witnesses herself. But what she learns goes beyond what happened that fateful night. The silence has always been there, threaded through the generations, and Ky b...

Welcome to the blog tour for The Newlyweds by Mansi Choksi! More about the book… Twenty-first century India is a culture on fast forward, a society which is changing at breakneck speed, where two out of every three people are under the age of thirty-five. These young men and women grew up with the internet, smartphones and social media. But when it comes to love, the weight of thousands of years of tradition cannot so easily be set aside. An extraordinary work of reportage, The Newlyweds is a portrait of modern India told through the stories of three young couples, who defy their families to pursue love. The lesbian couple forced to flee for a chance at a life together. The Hindu woman and Muslim man who must escape under the cover of night after being harassed by a violent mob. And the couple from different castes who know the terrible risk they run by marrying. More about the author… Mansi Choksi is a writer based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Mumbai, India.  The Newly...

Welcome to the blog tour for The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid! More about the book… One morning, Anders wakes to find that his skin has turned dark, his reflection a stranger to him. At first he tells only Oona, an old friend, newly a lover. Soon, reports of similar occurrences surface across the land. Some see in the transformations the long-dreaded overturning of an established order, to be resisted to a bitter end. In many, like Anders's father and Oona's mother, a sense of profound loss wars with profound love. As the bond between Anders and Oona deepens, change takes on a different shading: a chance to see one another, face to face, anew. More about the author… Mohsin Hamid is the author of four novels -- Moth Smoke, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia , and Exit West -- and a book of essays, Discontent and Its Civilizations. His writing has been translated into forty languages, featured on bestseller lists, and adapted for the cinema. ...

Welcome to the blog tour for Dreams in a Jar by Kate Staves! What if you could keep a little piece of your dreams to hold on to forever? ​Put on your very best pyjamas and get ready for a magical journey through the land of dreams, collecting trinkets and souvenirs as we go! ​The beautiful – and appropriately dreamy – illustrations by Karen Bunting and the fun, rhyming text by Kate Staves seamlessly combine to create another gorgeous book to be enjoyed by children and adults alike… although the adults might have to pretend that they’re reading it to their little humans! Dreams in a Jar makes for a great bedtime story and we even used it as inspiration for our own collection of bits and bobs in a jar! More about the book… In this story, a flower isn’t just a flower…it’s a pixie hat! A rusty old bolt isn’t just a rusty old bolt…it’s a piece of a rocket ship that blasted past a star! Let’s collect up all of these precious treasures together and keep them somewhere safe…I know, how about ...

Welcome to the blog tour for Such a Good Mother by Helen Monks Takhar! More about the book… Rose O’Connell aspires to be the perfect mother. And when she receives an unexpected invitation into The Circle, an elite clique of beautiful, wealthy and connected mums at her son’s exclusive school, it seems her dreams are about to come true. Every mother would kill for an invitation, and once she joins, Rose’s social status soars. But what is each woman hiding beneath her immaculate exterior? Why did a previous member take their own life? And why have they singled out unassuming Rose to take her place? Rose is about to find out that darkness lies at the heart of The Circle. And it’s far too late to run… More about the author… Helen worked as a journalist, copywriter and magazine editor having graduated from Cambridge, she began her career writing for financial trade newspapers before contributing to UK national newspapers including The Times and The Observer. Born in Southport, Merseyside, s...

Welcome to the blog tour for Only Hummingbirds Fly Backwards by Rosie Parker! More about the book… Ronnie and Jake are twins – obviously not identical, but close as. They even have that twin intuition thing going on. Ronnie lives with her soon-to-be husband Gerry and new-born baby, and Jake is happily married with two daughters. One sunny April day, he hops onto somebody else’s motorbike to ride home when a horrific crash leaves him lying brain injured on the road. On hearing the news Ronnie rushes to Jake’s bedside. Having once been a physiotherapist, she knows it’s bad, and her life threatens to crack apart as she begs him to return to her. Fifteen months later, it’s suggested by Jake’s wife that the two families go away to Brittany, France, on holiday. But surely, it’s too soon, thinks Ronnie. The tensions and events which follow threaten to rock both Ronnie’s marriage and her relationship with her sister-in-law, as she tries to reach Jake. And when secrets from their past begin to ...

Having loved A Little Hope by Ethan Joella, it was suggested that I should read Arms Around Frank Richardson by Sylvia Colley, and I am glad that I followed up on this book recommendation. At the heart of the novel is one question: How can your family shape the person you are going to be and your future? The answer is for the reader to find with the help of a beautiful prose, three well-developed characters and an evocative sense of time and place. The impact of childhood trauma is not an easy subject, but it is handled here in what appears to be an effortlessly delicate way. More about the book… The impact of childhood trauma reverberates into the grown-up worlds of Frank, Alice and Henry – children from three very different families suffering the fall-out from their early life. Frank, a working-class boy abused by his mum’s boyfriend and fiercely protective of his younger sister; Alice, physically disabled and fragile and Henry, the less clever son of high-flying parents unable to c...

Welcome to the blog tour for Honor by Thrity Umrigar! More about the book… Indian American journalist Smita has returned to India to cover a story, but reluctantly: long ago she and her family left the country with no intention of ever coming back. As she follows the case of Meena – a Hindu woman attacked by members of her own village and her own family for marrying a Muslim man –Smita comes face to face with a society where tradition carries more weight than one’s own heart, and a story that threatens to unearth the painful secrets of Smita’s own past. While Meena’s fate hangs in the balance, Smita tries in every way she can to right the scales. She also finds herself increasingly drawn to Mohan, an Indian man she meets while on assignment. But the dual love stories of Honor are as different as the cultures of Meena and Smita themselves: Smita realizes she has the freedom to enter into a casual affair, knowing she can decide later how much it means to her. In this tender...

Gertrude  by D.M. Mullan and Kirsteen Harris-Jones What a pleasure meeting Gertrude was! This children’s book can be read on various levels. As it says on the very first page ‘… if your spirit is young, no matter your age, the adventure begins when YOU turn the page’! The rhyming structure keeps even younger children entertained, and so do the striking illustrations. It makes for an amazing starting point for meaningful conversations about the environment and our sense of responsibility. I am most definitely going to look for the other Curious Tales in the series! More about the book… If you think that pollution is not your concern, then like little Gertrude you've got lots to learn. She lies in her treehouse like the laziest lump, and shouts from her hammock across the whole dump: "Are you totally crazy? Are you out of your tree? It's not that I'm lazy, it's just not up to me!" More about the author D.M. Mullan is a world-travelled author from County Derry, N...