Cathy is riding high in her brand-new job at a (surprisingly bitchy) top London advertising agency working with best friend Rosa. But when Rosa’s pregnancy goes amiss and enemies sabotage her new career, she finds herself leading a chaotic double life of lies and deception, hiding a shameful secret from all, especially husband Declan who appears in the throes of a nervous breakdown.
Meanwhile she’s agreed to unmask the notorious Crouch End Creeper, a burglar terrorizing their neighbourhood. Little does she know that her meddling, assisted by fellow mothers (the Wednesday Once Weeklies) and the Neighbourhood Watch, will lead their dangerous opponent to murder. And that it's not only the tall elegant transvestite who is placing herself at risk...
In March this year I reviewed my first Ellie Campbell novel, ‘Looking for La La’ (click here to read the review). Ellie Campbell is actually a pseudonym for Pam and Lorraine, two sisters who decided to start writing novels together. I was lucky enough to be approached by Pam and Lorraine to also review one of their other novels, ‘To Catch a Creeper’, which was released in the Spring. The book is the sequel to ‘Looking for La La’, and I was curious to revisit the characters and see what would happen to them this time around!
Cathy has turned her life around from being a stay-at-home mother and loving wife to having her own job within the world of advertising. Luckily, Cathy’s best friend Rosa is there to help her learn the ropes of the business. However, when Rosa has a pregnancy scare she is forced to stay at home until the labour and Cathy is on her own to figure things out. Yet, things don’t go exactly according to Cathy’s plan... Meanwhile she also has other things keeping her occupied, such as the mystery of the Crouch End Creeper, a burglar who has been robbing homes in Cathy’s neighbourhood. Together with her friends and the Neighbourhood Watch team Cathy wants to catch this burglar, but with everything going on in her life, it doesn’t take long before she starts losing grip on all the things she’s trying to juggle at the same time...
‘To Catch a Creeper’ is the sequel to ‘Looking for La La’ and even though I enjoyed the first part of the series, I definitely liked this book better. The reader is invited back into Cathy’s hectic life, but this time things are different because Cathy has a job. I really enjoyed this change in the story, also because it shows a development in Cathy’s character; I felt myself warm to her much more than I did while reading ‘Looking for La La.’ I loved revisiting the already familiar cast of secondary characters and the fun new characters that were added, such as Cathy’s neighbour Mrs. Baker and the Neighbourhood Watch team. There are definitely quite a few characters, but most of them do add something special to the story which consists of two main plotlines. I enjoyed both of them, and wouldn’t have minded if the book had perhaps been a bit longer so there ‘d been more space to go into detail and focus on specific elements of the story a bit more (such as Cathy and Rosa’s friendship).
This book can be read as a stand-alone, but I would personally recommend to read the first part as well, just so you are familiar with Cathy and the other characters and what happened to them before this particular story takes place. The book is quite quick-paced and a lot of things happen; your mind can’t drift off for even a second, and it kept me turning the pages which resulted in me finishing the book within a relatively short amount of time. ‘To Catch a Creeper’ is a light-hearted, quick, enjoyable read that will have you guessing with every page you turn; another fun Ellie Campbell novel!
Rating:
8,0
/10
For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Thanks to the author for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Want your own copy of 'To Catch a Creeper'?
The Kindle version of Ellie Campbell's 'To Catch a Creeper' can be downloaded from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com for just 99 cents/pence at the moment, so be sure to grab your chance to get a copy of the book!
However, you can also try your luck with this giveaway, since I'm extremely glad to be able to make two people (UK & US only) very happy with either an e-book or paperback version of 'To Catch a Creeper'! Just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter below. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Elle and Laurie are the last ones standing: they're single, they're not having babies any time soon and their weekends aren't filled with joyful meetings about mortgages. For Elle, this is fine - she likes her independent life, she loves her job, and she has no desire to walk down the aisle anytime soon. But Laurie wants love and she wants it now.
So when Laurie begs Elle to come with her on a singles holiday to a beautiful vineyard in Tuscany, Elle is reluctant. You Had Me at Merlot Holidays promises crisp sunshine, fun and a chance to stir up some sizzling romance. Elle has no intention of swapping her perfectly lovely life for someone else's idea of her Mr Perfect, but ten days under the Italian sun with her best friend and lashings of wine? How bad could that be?
You Had Me at Merlot is the kind of love story that will have you crying with laughter one moment and nodding your head in agreement the next. Full of sultry summer nights, hilarious moments and plenty of wine, it will warm even the most cynical of hearts and have you believing in the magic of romance (and the power of a decent glass of Merlot).
YES! Lisa Dickenson is back and I couldn't be more excited about it! Lisa's debut novel 'The Twelve Dates of Christmas' was released last year and was one of my favourite reads of 2013. She really has her own amazing and funny voice and I've been looking forward to her next release for ages. 'You Had Me at Merlot' will be released in four different parts, with the first part being available from the 14th of July. I just know this is going to be a fantastic read, and can recommend it already without having read a word of it. I'll also be part of the blog tour for the book later this month, so be sure to keep an eye on this blog!
Click here to pre-order the first part of the series on Amazon now!
It started out like any other day for Sarah Lawler; getting the kids ready for school, making the pack lunches and juggling baby Ella’s feeds.
There was no way of knowing that her husband, Paul, would leave for work that morning and simply not come home.
Now the questions are piling up quicker than the unpaid bills and, unable to answer her children’s questions about where their Daddy is, Sarah is getting desperate.
But it turns out she isn’t quite as alone as she thought she was. When her beloved childhood friend, Edward, comes back into her life, Sarah thinks she’s finally been thrown a life line.
There’s just one problem with Edward: Sarah is the only person who can see him.
I’m incredibly excited to be part of the blog tour for Carmel Harrington’s new release ‘The Life You Left.’ The e-book version of the novel was released on the 19th of June 2014, followed by the paperback version on the 3rd of July. ‘The Life You Left’ is Carmel’s second novel, published by Harper Impulse, after her debut ‘Beyond Grace’s Rainbow’ became a big success. I remember many bloggers and book lovers talking about this book, describing it as incredibly touching and amazing. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to read ‘Beyond Grace’s Rainbow’ myself, which is why I was so excited when I was contacted about reviewing ‘The Life You Left’; my chance to check out Carmel's writing!
Sarah Lawler leads a normal life with her husband Paul, their three children Tommie, Katie and Ella, and her part-time job. However, everything changes completely when one morning when Sarah finds a note from Paul, stating he has gone away and that she shouldn’t worry about him; no further explanation. Suddenly Sarah has to take care of everything alone: the children, the household, the mortgage, and she has no idea how to cope with it all by herself. Unexpectedly, her childhood friend Edward comes back into her life and he’s a big support to her. At the same time, though, Edward also brings another issue into Sarah’s life, mainly because she is the only one that can actually see him...
After having finished my first and certainly not last Carmel Harrington novel, I’m glad to say I understand and agree with all the other positive and glowing reviews about her work. ‘The Life You Left’ managed to grip me from its first few sentences until the last final stop, and in between it took me from laughter to anger to tears and back to a smile on my face. I don’t want to give too much of the story away, but the plotline is fascinating and has many different aspects to it that made it extremely captivating. There’s a mystery that needs to be solved, there’s a spiritual/paranormal aspect to the story, and next to that there’s Sarah (a strong and admirable leading lady) who is dealing with her marriage problems and a great mix of secondary characters, such as Sarah’s lovely twin brother James and her mother-in-law Rita, who also have their own issues.
While I was reading the book, I constantly found myself asking new questions and wanting the answers to them, which resulted in me not wanting to stop reading. This also wasn’t necessary, because Carmel Harrington’s writing flows so easily and is a true pleasure to read. This is a book that’s suitable for any day, any time, and any place, and a book that deals with various topics all of us can relate to or at least be interested in such as family, love, friendship, and following your instincts. ‘The Life You Left’ is an incredibly warm, touching and real read; a beautifully written book that is definitely worth a read.
Rating:
8,5
/10
For more information about this book:
Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Author Interview with Carmel Harrington
I'm so honoured to have the lovely Carmel Harrington on the blog today to tell all of us something more about her new novel 'The Life You Left', her future plans and her own favourite books!
Can you tell us something about your new novel, ‘The Life You Left’?
Thank you so much for having me on your blog and for reading The Life You Left. I think the best way to summarise it, is that three catastrophic events happen in quick succession that change my heroines life forevermore.
First, Sarah’s husband of ten years, Paul, disappears. Second, a body is found brutally murdered on Sarah’s local beach. Third, a childhood friend of Sarah’s returns into her life, but Edward is no ordinary friend. He is an angel.
It’s an emotive story, with strong themes, with mystery, suspense, love and a sprinkling of magic thrown in!
Is the book in any way based on personal experiences or is it completely fiction? If so, how did you come up with this idea?
Thankfully, the story is completely fictional, I say thankfully, because I’m relieved I don’t know any murderers! lol….
I did imagine the whole story of a young woman murdered and found on a beach, following a walk early one morning on our local beach. It was a bit spooky down there, as the wind was making strange sounds and my imagination took off from that!
The idea of having a guardian angel takes on an important role in the novel. Why did you decide to write about this?
I became interested in a woman who could see angels, following an interaction I had with someone a few years back, who told me that she could see my guardian angel. I was sceptical and my first thought in response to her words, was one of ‘what does she want from me?’ as opposed to accepting her words as just being genuine and full of kindness.
It made me think about what it must be like for someone if they DID really see angels and how hard it must be to be constantly met with skepticism and disbelief. Sarahs’ character grew from that and then the story just developed.
Can you tell us a bit more about the main protagonist, Sarah?
Sarah is a young mother of three children, married for ten years to Paul and she thinks that her future is all mapped out, until her husband disappears and everything begins to fall apart. She’s denied a huge part of herself for many years, been afraid to show the world her true self, for fear of being ridiculed and ostracised. She also doesn’t realise how strong she is and I think that is true of a lot of us. We think we can’t cope, but in reality we do much better than we give ourselves credit for.
She’s loving and loyal, but also has a wit, a sass about her that I like. She’s no pushover and can give as good as she gets.
One of my favourite lines of Sarah’s is something she says to Michelle.
‘Every time I’ve spoken to you, you’ve been deliberately rude and quite vile. I’m just wondering if this is your normal manner or do you save up all your nasty just for me?’
There’s a great cast of supporting characters in the novel as well. Which character did you most enjoy writing?
I love my supporting characters! Even in movies or tv shows, it’s often the supporting actor or actress that I tend to lean towards. Like in The Walking Dead (I’m obsessed with that show!), I have to admit that I’m more than a little in crush land with Daryl!
I loved writing James, he was fun to play around with, but you know what? Michelle, in all her nastiness I loved to write! Getting inside her head and trying to work out what made her tick and made her so nasty was great!
Can you perhaps tell us something about your future plans? Are you perhaps already working on a next novel?
I am currently writing a sequel to Beyond Grace’s Rainbow. It’s a lot of fun to pick up where the story ended and see what happens next for the gang. The story focuses heavily on Abby as I always felt that there were a lot of unanswered questions about her that needed to be dealt with!
Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?
I always tell my writers in the Creative Writing class I teach, that you must read to be a writer. By reading you learn and you are inspired.
What is the last book you read that you’d like to recommend to others?
The Shock of the Fall, Nathan Filer. Really different and utterly compelling.
Which book could you not live without?
Pride and Prejudice right this minute, because I’m in a Lizzie Bennet frame of mind!
And last but not least, if you had to describe ‘The Life You Left’ in just three words, which words would you pick?
Pathos, Love, Redemption.
Thanks so much, Carmel! :)
