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Crow Moon by Suzie Aspley#Extract #Giveaway #AMarthaStrangewaysInvestigationBook1

  I am delighted to introduce the first in a new series by debut writer, Suzie Aspley . The atmospheric thriller, Crow Moon was published by Orenda on March 14th. Today I have an extract for you to read and the chance to win a print copy of Crow Moon . Details on how to enter are at the foot of this post. When the crow moon rises, the darkness is unleashed… Martha Strangeways is struggling to find purpose in her life, after giving up her career as an investigative reporter when her young twins died in a house fire. Overwhelmed by guilt and grief, her life changes when she stumbles across the body of a missing teenager – a tragedy that turns even more sinister when a poem about crows is discovered inked onto his back... When another teenager goes missing in the remote landscape, Martha is drawn into the investigation, teaming up with DI Derek Summers, as malevolent rumours begin to spread and paranoia grows. As darkness descends on the village of Strathbran, it soon becomes

A Winter's Wish Come True by Lynsey James ** Blog Tour Guest Post, Review & Giveaway **

In A Winter's Wish Come True, we pick up a year on from where Lynsey James' A Season of Hopes and Dreams left off. There is also a Giveaway to enter (details at the end of this post). Lynsey has written for us a guest post on her favourite Christmas Movies. First though a little about the book:

Being pregnant with her ex-boyfriend’s baby is the last thing on Cleo Jones’s Christmas wish list. Scott might have been the man of her dreams once upon a time, but things change and now Cleo faces a future as a single mum… Or does she?

Scott won’t let Cleo go through this alone; whatever their differences he’s vowed to be there, from antenatal classes to night feeds and nappy changing. The two agree to bring up their baby as friends – but as Cleo’s bump grows, so do their feelings for each other.

Cleo can’t be sure if it’s her heart of her hormones urging her to give Scott a second chance – but getting back together could be the best Christmas present of all!



Welcome Lynsey to Books, Life and Everything, Tell us some more about your favourite Christmas Movies!


Christmas Movie Marathon


Guys, the most wonderful time of the year is nearly upon us. You know that means: lots of food, plenty of presents aaaaand…Christmas movies! There’s nothing I love better than sitting down with lots of snacks and watching my favourite films. This year, as part of the A Winter’s Wish Come True tour, I’m inviting you to join me. Ready? Here we go…


  1. Muppets Christmas Carol
Starting this list as I mean to go on: with an absolutely timeless classic. If you don’t like Kermit the Frog pretending to be Bob Cratchit and Michael Caine being the best Scrooge ever, there’s no way we can be friends. It’s just a complete and utter joy to watch and takes me back to being five years old every time I see it. Not even remotely ashamed to admit I know all the words to the songs either.


  1. Love Actually
I still remember sneaking into the cinema to see this when I was about thirteen. I went twice because I loved it so much, and that’s still true today. Although I watch it ever year, I’m still always so surprised at the way all the stories link together. All types of love are explored and it’s just such a feel-good movie.


  1. Chicken Run
OK, bear with me here… I know this isn’t a typical festive film, but I honestly love watching it at Christmas. To me, for some reason, it feels wrong to watch it at any other time of the year. Also, I think it proves you’re never too old to enjoy Claymation. If you enjoy this, I highly recommend you have a wee Wallace and Gromit marathon too. Start with A Grand Day Out and watch the whole lot of them. I promise you’ll love them all (if you haven’t seen them already).


  1. White Christmas
I absolutely adore this film and honestly, I’d watch it all year round if I could. Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen are perfect and the story just captures my heart. Plus, who doesn’t love singing White Christmas?


  1. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
I only discovered this film a few years ago, but it’s absolutely hilarious! Poor Clark just wants to have the perfect family Christmas, but fate just conspires against him at every turn. It was one of those films that when I saw it, I wondered why I’d never seen it before.
That's wonderful, Lynsey. I'd have to add It's a Wonderful Life - here's hoping some of these make it to Netflix.
My Thoughts
There is plenty of mileage to be got from returning to Cleo and Scott and much has changed since the end of A Season of Hopes and Dreams. The pair have split up and Scott has spent the time in Australia. It was great to catch up with all the characters again and the pair of 'frenemies', ie their mothers, made me smile. All the humourous touches are still there and their passive aggressive remarks to each are genius.
    I liked the way both Cleo and Scott's characters seemed to develop throughout the book. The darker issues of body dismorphia and eating disorders are still there in the background, giving the story a bit of edge. There are enough wintry touches in there to make this a good read for the season and I am already wondering what Cleo and Scott will do next.
In short: a romance with a great deal of heart.
 About the Author


Lynsey James was born in Fife in 1991 and has been telling people how to spell her name ever since. She's an incurable bookworm who loves nothing more than getting lost in a good story with memorable characters. She started writing when she was really young and credits her lovely Grandad- and possibly a bump on the head from a Mr Frosty machine- with her love of telling stories. She used to write her own episodes of Friends and act them out in front of her family (in fact she's sure she put Ross and Rachel together first!)

A careers adviser at school once told Lynsey writing wasn’t a “good option” and for a few years, she believed her. She tried a little bit of everything, including make-up artistry, teaching and doing admin for a chocolate fountain company. The free chocolate was brilliant. When Lynsey left my job a couple of years ago, she started writing full-time while she looked for another one. As soon as she started working on her story, Lynsey fell in love and decided to finally pursue her dream. She haven’t looked back since.

When Lynsey's not writing, eating cake or drinking tea, she's daydreaming about the day Dylan O’Brien FINALLY realises they're meant to be together. It’ll happen one day…



You can follow Lynsey here:  TwitterFacebookBlog
Book link: Goodreads  |  Amazon UK
Thanks to Lynsey, HQ Digital  and Jenny at Neverland Tours for a copy of the book and a place on theTour.
                                Giveaway (International) 

 You can enter to win one of 3 ecopies of A Winter's Wish Come Through by following the link below: 
 
  a Rafflecopter giveaway
  

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