Saturday 30 December 2017

Book of the Month - The Stationmaster's Cottage by Phillipa Nefri Clark


The Stationmaster's Cottage

is 


Book of the Month

for December 2017

Christie Ryan’s carefully constructed life turns upside-down with the inheritance of an abandoned cottage in an Australian seaside village. A damaged painting and discovery of old love letters draws her into the heart wrenching world of Thomas and Martha in a fifty-year-old mystery. A mystery she is determined to solve.

Martin Blake is a reclusive artist, happiest on a surfboard or with his dog, Randall. The appearance of Christie at his house seeking help with the painting is unwelcome. Her questions about the past are too close to home for him to answer, besides, she is a rich, city girl with no plans to stay in town.

As the secrets unravel, so does Christie’s safe world. Those secrets might lead to happiness, but with nothing to go home to, and no reason to believe she can stay, the happy ending may not be hers.

The Stationmaster's Cottage is a rich and powerful romance set in two eras. A gripping story of fiercely protected secrets, courage, betrayal, redemption, and true love.





This book has also received....









Saturday 16 December 2017

A Rock 'n' Roll Love Style by Kiltie Jackson


A Rock 'n' Roll Love Style by Kiltie Jackson

has RECEIVED a


Chill with a Book READERS’ Award


For a début novel this is a cracker, and one I will highly recommend. (Pam Howes - three times Amazon Best Selling Author)
I am not normally a 'chick lit' book reading type of girl - but I have to say I might be a convert!
I couldn't put it down to be honest, it really is a page-turner.
...a warm, funny book with a hint of suspense running through it.

So who exactly is Sukie McClaren?

A Christmas-loving Cat lover? A Sound of Music Fanatic? A Fiercely Independent Woman?

She is all of the above. And when she is sent to Salzburg for a business trip a few weeks before Christmas, she thinks all her dreams have come true. As she packs her suitcase, the only things on her mind are Christmas markets, lots of snow and finally seeing the Doh-Ray-Me steps. Becoming the new best friend of the world’s hottest rock-star doesn’t even get a look in.

Pete Wallace is a reclusive, reluctant, rock-star and the world’s Number One, best-selling, male solo artist. It’s been three years since his last tour and he’s now preparing to go back on the road again. A week in Salzburg, schmoozing with the music press, is one of his worst nightmares.

He can’t wait for it to be over.

When Pete and Sukie meet, it is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Lonely for too long, he begins to remember how it feels to be happy and, for the first time in six years, Christmas feels special again.

Eduardo di Santo however, whose kid sister suffered life-changing injuries at a Pete Wallace concert, is all set on getting revenge. When Pete’s new tour is announced, he begins to make his plans. Plans that will culminate in Pete's demise.

Will Pete and Sukie’s new friendship die before it has a chance to flourish?

A Christmas tale full of love, laughter, friendship and revenge.


A Rock 'n' Roll Love Style was read and evaluated by Chill's readers against the following...


Were the characters strong and engaging?
 Was the book well written?
Did the story / plot have you turning the page to find out what happened next?
Was the ending satisfying?
Would you recommend to someone who reads this kind of story?





Amazon co uk



Wednesday 13 December 2017

Award Winning Authors - Diamond Tales



A number of Chill with a Book Readers' Awardees are taking part in an exciting Blog over at Diamonds Tales.

Please pop along to read some fabulous short stories.



4th December    Helen Hollick  When ex-lovershave their uses

9th December     Lucienne Boyce Murder In Silks

10th December   Julia Brannan The Curious Case of the Disappearing Diamond

11th December    Pauline Barclay Sometimes It Happens

12th December    Annie Whitehead   Hearts, Home and a Precious Stone

15th December    Charlene Newcomb Diamonds in theDesert

17th December     Alison  Morton Three Thousand Years to Saturnalia

19th December      Elizabeth St John The Stolen Diamonds

20th December      Barbara Gaskell Denvil Discovering the Diamond

21st December       Anna Belfrage   Diamonds in the Mud


Tuesday 12 December 2017

Surviving the Fatherland by Annette Oppenlander


Surviving the Fatherland

has RECEIVED a


Chill with a Book READERS’ Award


Spanning thirteen years from 1940 to 1953 and set against the epic panorama of WWII, author Annette Oppenlander's SURVIVING THE FATHERLAND is a sweeping saga of family, love, and betrayal that illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the children's war.

SURVIVING THE FATHERLAND tells the true and heart-wrenching stories of Lilly and Günter struggling with the terror-filled reality of life in the Third Reich, each embarking on their own dangerous path toward survival, freedom, and ultimately each other. Based on the author's own family and anchored in historical facts, this story celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the strength of war children.

When her father goes off to war, seven-year-old Lilly is left with an unkind mother who favors her brother and chooses to ignore the lecherous pedophile next door. A few blocks away, twelve-year-old Günter also looses his father to the draft and quickly takes charge of supplementing his family's ever-dwindling rations by any means necessary.

As the war escalates and bombs begin to rain, Lilly and Günter's lives spiral out of control. Every day is a fight for survival. On a quest for firewood, Lilly encounters a dying soldier and steals her father's last suit to help the man escape. Barely sixteen, Günter ignores his draft call and embarks as a fugitive on a harrowing 47-day ordeal--always just one step away from execution.

When at last the war ends, Günter grapples with his brother's severe PTSD and the fact that none of his classmates survived. Welcoming denazification, Lilly takes a desperate step to rid herself once and for all of her disgusting neighbor's grip. When Lilly and Günter meet in 1949, their love affair is like any other. Or so it seems. But old wounds and secrets have a way of rising to the surface once more.


Surviving The Fatherland was read and evaluated by Chill's readers against the following...


Were the characters strong and engaging?
 Was the book well written?
Did the story / plot have you turning the page to find out what happened next?
Was the ending satisfying?
Would you recommend to someone who reads this kind of story?



Amazon co uk


Surviving the Fatherland has also received...







Monday 11 December 2017

The Stationmaster's Cottage by Phillipa Nefri Clark


The Stationmaster's Cottage

has RECEIVED a


Chill with a Book READERS’ Award

Christie Ryan’s carefully constructed life turns upside-down with the inheritance of an abandoned cottage in an Australian seaside village. A damaged painting and discovery of old love letters draws her into the heart wrenching world of Thomas and Martha in a fifty-year-old mystery. A mystery she is determined to solve.

Martin Blake is a reclusive artist, happiest on a surfboard or with his dog, Randall. The appearance of Christie at his house seeking help with the painting is unwelcome. Her questions about the past are too close to home for him to answer, besides, she is a rich, city girl with no plans to stay in town.

As the secrets unravel, so does Christie’s safe world. Those secrets might lead to happiness, but with nothing to go home to, and no reason to believe she can stay, the happy ending may not be hers.

The Stationmaster's Cottage is a rich and powerful romance set in two eras. A gripping story of fiercely protected secrets, courage, betrayal, redemption, and true love.


The Stationmaster's Cottage was read and evaluated by Chill's readers against the following...


Were the characters strong and engaging?
 Was the book well written?
Did the story / plot have you turning the page to find out what happened next?
Was the ending satisfying?
Would you recommend to someone who reads this kind of story?




Amazon co uk



Friday 8 December 2017

The Butcher's Block by Lucienne Boyce


The Butcher's Block

has RECEIVED a


Chill with a Book READERS’ Award


The next Dan Foster Mystery.

"It was that sheer, pointless brutality that had given Dan the clue to who had committed the crime. A few foul taverns and quaking informants later his hunch had been confirmed: a known low-life was back in town and as mean as ever."

During a routine patrol, police arrest two men in possession of human body parts intended for sale to the dissecting rooms of a London teaching hospital. Bow Street Runner and amateur pugilist Dan Foster makes the grisly discovery that they are the remains of fellow officer George Kean. The arrested men are charged with Kean’s murder, but Dan is not convinced that they are the killers. In pursuit of the real murderer, he investigates the unhallowed activities of the resurrection men – bodysnatchers.

The bodysnatching racket soon leads Dan to something bigger and much more dangerous. In a treacherous underworld of vicious pugilists, ruthless murderers, British spymasters and French agents, Dan must tread carefully…or meet the same terrible fate as Kean.
'The Butcher’s Block' is the second Dan Foster Mystery. 'Bloodie Bones', the first in the series, was joint winner of the Historical Novel Society Indie Award 2016.

Praise for 'Bloodie Bones: A Dan Foster Mystery'
"'Bloodie Bones' is a terrific novel and was very difficult to put down… I loved this book, highly recommend it, and eagerly await the second Dan Foster mystery.” Historical Novel Society (Joint Winner, Historical Novel Society Indie Award, 2016)


The Butcher's Block was read and evaluated by Chill's readers against the following...


Were the characters strong and engaging?
 Was the book well written?
Did the story / plot have you turning the page to find out what happened next?
Was the ending satisfying?
Would you recommend to someone who reads this kind of story?




Amazon co uk

This book has also received...







Wednesday 6 December 2017

Cover of the Month NOVEMBER is To Raise A King



Book Cover of the Month

November

To Raise A King



Selected by

 Designer, Cathy Helms from Avalon Graphics


To Raise A King Cover is automatically put forward for Cover of the Year 2017.


All books receiving a Chill with a Readers' Award in December will automatically be considered for Book Cover of the Month – December.