Review Copies

The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce. With thanks to publisher for this proof copy due for publication on 13th July. 

From the author of the world-wide bestseller, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, a new novel about learning how to listen and how to feel; and about second chances and choosing to be brave despite the odds. Because in the end, music can save us all …

1988. Frank owns a music shop. It is jam-packed with records of every speed, size and genre. Classical, jazz, punk – as long as it’s vinyl he sells it. Day after day Frank finds his customers the music they need.  Then into his life walks Ilse Brauchmann.

Ilse asks Frank to teach her about music. His instinct is to turn and run. And yet he is drawn to this strangely still, mysterious woman with her pea-green coat and her eyes as black as vinyl. But Ilse is not what she seems. And Frank has old wounds that threaten to re-open and a past he will never leave behind …

Kindle Purchases

A Guide for the Perplexed by Jonathan Levi (99p)

A late-night strike closes down an airport leaving two women stranded on their respective journeys in the bewitched Spanish town of Mariposa. Holland, an English filmmaker, has come to interview Sandor, the famous but reclusive violinist. Hanni, a Miami widow, is on a quest to recover a lost letter that confirms her link to her ancestor Esau, who was allegedly the true discoverer of America. Each woman has had her trip arranged by Ben, a cosmological travel agent and each has a copy of his tourist guide, entitled Guide for the Perplexed.
As the women share cabs, surreal adventures and their fantastic personal histories, Levi’s mesmerizing tale spirals back in time, embracing stories about Jews, the Inquisition and Columbus’s first voyage.

The Detriment by David Videcette (£1.99 on pre-order – due 29 June)

“The truth costs nothing, but a lie can cost you everything…”

June 2007: a barbaric nail bomb is planted outside a London nightclub, a spy is found dead in his garden, and a blazing Jeep is driven into Glasgow airport. Three events bound by an earth-shattering connection that should have remained buried forever.

From the author of ‘The Theseus Paradox’, the smash-hit 7/7 thriller based on true events, comes the sequel about a real-life mystery that threatens to destroy a nation. Detective Inspector Jake Flannagan must uncover how a series of astonishing events are inextricably linked, before the past closes in on him.

We all have secrets we say we’ll never tell…

The Wrong Shade of Yellow by Margaret Eleanor Leigh (FREE)

I was middle aged and homeless, soon to be penniless, and really and truly no different from that bag lady sitting on the bench over there. I couldn’t jack it in and go home, because I didn’t have a home to go to anymore. The bicycle and the tent were now home. Wherever I found myself on any given night was now home. And that meant, for tonight, Genoa Piazza Principe Railway Station was home.
I was cycling across Europe in search of Utopia, a place I believed was located somewhere in Greece. When I found it, I would start a new life there. It was my big, fat, Greek midlife crisis. But now I was having a crisis within a crisis. What on earth had I been thinking?

Letters to Eloise by Emily Williams (FREE)

‘Receiving a hand written letter is something that always puts a smile on my face, no matter who the sender is.’ Flora Tierney.

When post-graduate student Flora falls unexpectedly pregnant during her final year studies she hits a huge predicament; continue a recent affair with her handsome but mysterious lecturer who dazzles her with love letters taken from the ancient tale of ‘Abelard and Heloise’, or chase after the past with her estranged first love?
But will either man be there to support her during the turmoil ahead?

‘Banish me, therefore, for ever from your heart’, Abelard to Heloise.

Summer at Hope Meadows by Lucy Daniels (99p on pre-order – due 1st June)

Newly-qualified vet Mandy Hope is leaving Leeds – and her boyfriend Simon – to return to the Yorkshire village she grew up in. There, she will help out in her parents’ surgery whilst they’re short-staffed. Mandy’s life has always revolved around her work with rescued animals, and Welford offers an opportunity to work with creatures of all sizes, from hedgehogs and puppies to farm stock and even wild deer.

But rural Yorkshire is very different to the hustle and bustle of a big city. Mandy must work hard to be accepted by the close-knit village community, and convince them of her abilities as a vet – especially Jimmy Marsh, the gruff owner of the local Outward Bound business, with whom she just can’t seem to get along.
When some long-neglected animals are discovered in a critical state on a nearby farm, Mandy is determined to prove herself as a confident and fearless vet. When it comes to protecting animals in need, she’s prepared to do whatever it takes…

Calling all Neighbours by Tara Ford (FREE)

Tiffany Cuthbert has just moved into her dream home and to top it all, she bought the house with the love-of-her-life and long-term boyfriend, Joe Frey.
So what could possibly go wrong?
As the young couple settle into their new home, on the outskirts of town, they begin to meet the neighbours, one by one.
Tiffany soon realises that things are not as they might have first appeared in Sycamore Close as she unwittingly gets drawn into strange situations with even stranger characters.
Will Tiffany and Joe’s new house be home-sweet-home or will it turn out to be the pressure point where everything falls apart?

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson (99p)

Major Ernest Pettigrew is perfectly content to lead a quiet life in the
sleepy village of Edgecombe St Mary, away from the meddling of the
locals and his overbearing son. But when his brother dies, the Major
finds himself seeking companionship with the village shopkeeper, Mrs
Ali. Drawn together by a love of books and the loss of their partners,
they are soon forced to contend with irate relatives and gossiping
villagers. The perfect gentleman, but the most unlikely hero, the Major
must ask himself what matters most: family obligation, tradition or
love?

The One by John Marrs (99p)

How far would you go to find THE ONE?

One simple mouth swab is all it takes. A quick DNA test to find your perfect partner – the one you’re genetically made for.
A decade after scientists discover everyone has a gene they share with just one other person, millions have taken the test, desperate to find true love. Now, five more people meet their Match. But even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking – and deadlier – than others…

Masquerade by Catherine Marshall (FREE)

A week marooned among strangers seems to Anna to be the perfect opportunity to reinvent herself. Leaving behind the mess that her life has become to attend a Psychology summer school in Bath, she is hoping for some sense of perspective, perhaps even an escape. But Anna comes to realise that she is not the only one searching for answers. Among her fellow students are Carys, who is being stalked by her abusive ex-husband, Michael, grieving for the loss of his wife, and Jack, enigmatic and nonchalant and hiding troubles of his own.

As the hottest week of the summer draws on, unsettling events spring from the shadows of their pasts. Reliving old passions and discovering new ones, Anna becomes aware of sinister undercurrents. Amid disappearances and death and the threat of violence, she finds that no one is quite what they seem, and that someone is guarding a secret which will have terrible consequences for them all.

Mr Gandy’s Grand Tour by Alan Titchmarsh (99p)

Timothy Gandy has kept his lifetime’s ambition secret for forty years.

Now, suddenly (if tragically) released from the hen-pecked tedium of his ordinary existence, he is unexpectedly free to realize his dreams.

He will embark on a Grand Tour of Europe, following in the footsteps of the aristocrats of the eighteenth century.

He anticipates high art, culture and pleasant weather. He never expected to encounter new friendships – and possibly even love – along the way.

It seems that Mr Gandy has embarked on the journey of a lifetime…