Thank you to Lizzie Chantree for this lovely book launch post for my new poetry Book, Lockdown Innit.
If you love poetry, then this is the book for you! I’m thrilled to be part of the launch of author M J Mallon‘s new poetry book, Lockdown Innit. M J is a big supporter of other authors and it’s great to be able to give something back.
Grab your copy of this interesting and thought provoking book here: Universal link for kindle: https://mybook.to/Lockdowninnit
In this collection of poems, MJ Mallon has given us a wry series of vignettes of our society during a very strange year in history; it reminded me in part of theatre of the absurd, and she carries it out with an admirable lightness of touch. She conveys the folly, the irritability, the absurdity of people’s behaviour, along with a feeling of being lost and adrift.
Pop over to Sheila’s blog to read the review in its entirety.
Thank you so much to Sheila for reading and reviewing Lockdown Innit. A wonderfully detailed review, I appreciate it so much. ❤
From the international bestselling author of If you love me, I’m yours, Ninja School Mum and Babe Driven.
Genie’s family is in crisis. Their seafront business is failing with the loss of Genie’s grandmother and her legendary ice cream flavours. Genie is determined to be the one to save her family’s heritage, but suddenly her mother wants to sell to developers and leave their shared history behind.
Buying the business and taking on a sixty-eight year old business partner, Ada, with a mysterious past and a gorgeous but distracting grandson, Genie sets out to prove her parents wrong.
Ada’s grandson, Cal, wants to protect his gran from ‘pensioner persuader’, Genie, but soon realises that living in a little seaside town and away from the paparazzi in Hollywood can actually give him time to heal. Hiding in a seafront business with its fiery owner and working as kitchen staff, is the only way he can think of to keep his ex-Hollywood glamour-puss, gran from harm. But his meddling might also ruin Ada’s second chance at love.
Hiring a private detective and learning about Genie’s parent’s past makes Cal regret his own impulsiveness. The information he has unearthed could destroy their blossoming romance and turn Genie’s world upside down.
Genie soon discovers that friends can become enemies and your closest family can have lied to you for your whole life.
Book Review
Lizzie Chantree writes lovely romance novels and her latest is no exception. Her strengths lie in creating wonderful characters, beguiling settings and simple but effective story lines.
The main protagonist Genie has a lot of relatable qualities, such as her hardworking ethos, her strong sense of duty, and sadness at her family leaving to pursue a new life and business without her. Genie’s insecurities about her looks and the behaviour of her neglectful friends and family flame her vulnerabilities. Her uncertainties grow, making her fear that the people she loves will leave her, and this anxiety spills over into her private life.
Nevertheless, her confidence begins to grow as the novel unfolds. It’s a nice change to see a curvy girl feeling happy and sexy in her own body. It is also interesting to see Genie develop a friendship with an older woman, Ada – a grandmother like figure. That’s a nice touch, as is the references to older people and grandparents in general in this story.
As for the hot guys well they had me drooling… Bailey, Cal, Toby, all of which brightened my days, which is always good, as did Genie’s wrestling with her growing attraction towards Cal and Toby.
The revelations about Cal and Ada and the family add interest to the story too.
There are lovely touches of humour throughout.
And being that I am partial to the seaside and ice cream, (well food in general – yes I do love my grub,) this is pretty perfect. You can almost taste the ice cream, the writing is that flavoursome good!
A continually bullied runt of a youngster, Chas Larkin discovers his chutzpah and decides to take on the London gangs.
In the sleazy and violent East End of 1966 London, he is unwittingly assisted by Scotland Yard and MI5, who use the boy to delay an IRA campaign in the city. Together with the mysterious DCI Casey, an enigma amongst the bomb-damaged slums, they stir the pot of fermenting disquiet.
But can Chas achieve his midsummer night’s dream of total revenge?
Black Rose is a story of matriarchal might, of superstition, of a lucky charm tainted with malevolent juju, and of a young man’s smoldering anger and thirst for retribution.
My review:
I received a free e-copy of Black Rose in exchange for an honest review, which I give freely without bias. Many thanks to the author for the copy.
This is my introduction to the writing talents of Pete Adams and I was not disappointed. Initial impression, this is different and in a good way. The build up to the story, with a preface, foreward and then the initial chapter sparked a great deal of interest. I loved the idea of the grotty crumpet, being a good luck charm for the gang members, best explained by this quote from the book: ‘Someone’s ‘arf inched the lucky crumpet and replaced it with a replica…’ she paused to think on ‘… and this one’s got bad juju.’
It’s a tale of the senseless enmity between two equally villainous gangs: the Saints and the Larkins who own two pubs in the east End of London. I loved the word play used to describe the pubs. The pub owned by the Saints is called the Dog and Duck Pub (Dad’s.) The Larkins own the Bottle and Glass pub, “Arries.” The various character names, are entertaining too: Roisin O’Neill, ‘most called her Rosie, or Ginger Nut,’ …
There are speculations, whispers and uncertainties about an up-and-coming rival group: the O’ Neils and Roisin, a young girl who comes to the aid of poor long-suffering Chas.
There’s a rich diversity in the characters, all of which are so blooming great, particularly the female characters and gangster molls which Pete Adams did a wonderful job in portraying. Equally, Chas, the unfortunate lad with the club foot, who is bullied, ridiculed and treated appallingly by everyone including his mum, has an enviable creative character arc to keep you enthralled.
I loved the engaging banter between and amongst various characters notably: Detective Inspector Padraig, (Paddy,) Casey. Detective sergeant Flora Wade, Wendy Richards the child psychiatrist, Wade’s girlfriend Wendy, Nadia and the gangland molls.
At its heart this is a witty tale, full of observations about the deep recesses of human nature. It packs some surprises including: gangland killings, pub bombings, the threat of the IRA, heads exploding and extraordinary revelations as the tale unfolds. And that’s not forgetting the fate of the crumpet (which had me in fits of laughter!)
Thank you so much to Shalini for arranging an awesome book blitz for me and for this thoughtful review of my new poetry collection, Lockdown Innit Poems About Absurdity.
A cute collection of poems where some like a little library made me long for one. Danger to the pedestrians reminded me why I don’t go out. Some people are just rude and have no civic sense. Road rage is another one that is so relevant. I remembered being the brunt of one.
Author Marjorie Mallon’s keen sense of observation came to play in the way the poems were penned. Different emotions like fear, anger, longing, desire, humor were evoked while reading them. I am not a connoisseur of poems as I feel they are too personal to be judged or rated. But these were easy to understand.
The words also showed how people behaved during these tough times. It is the truth that some have still not learned after losing so many lives across the world. Many in the book were hard-hitting, some were humorous, and the best ones were, where the spoke of her love for her daughters through her words. Hope sailed through in them.
Then the author sneaked in a wispy one longing to be like the cat, dreaming peacefully of normal times. A perfect way to end the book.
All in all, at 35+ pages, the poems were eclectic and would touch everyone who has survived this pandemic.
Congrats to M. J. Mallon on her new release of poetry! I personally love poetry, but it has to be a certain way… I’m picky. I’ve read a bit of her work in This is Lockdown so I knew going in that her style of writing is a great match to my poetry appreciation.
MY REVIEW 5 stars: I devoured this quick book of poetry in one sitting. It took me less than an hour and I enjoyed every page. Mallon has a way of capturing your attention, and every poem is relatable. It’s smooth easy reading offers a mix of thoughts, events, and a variety of happenings some of which are silly and some are a lot more edgy and serious.
Thank you so much to Didi Oviatt for being a part of Shalini’s awesome book blitz and for her wonderful 5 star review for my new release, Lockdown Innit.
The prompt this week is dreams…. I’m reading a romance at the moment, it’s getting steamy…. Lol.
Lips still tingling
Mouth kissed by sweet dreaming lies
I awake alone
Embracing the pillow’s curves
Longing for your tender touch
Hope you enjoy the tanka!
My new poetry collection is out!!
BLURB
Lockdown Innit is a poetry collection of eighteen poems about life’s absurdities and frustrations during lockdown. Wherever you live in this world, this is for you. Expect humour, a dollop of banter and ridiculous rants here and there. Amongst other delights, witness the strange antics of a swan posing by a bin and two statuesque horses appearing like arc deco pieces in a field. Check out the violin player on a tightrope, or the cheeky unmentionables wafting in the lockdown breeze!
Buying Links Lockdown Innit Released February 26th
I loved the poems, they captured the spirit of the times, the vagaries of human behaviour, the poignant signs of a society in change. There are some beautiful observations of what has become the new normal. Review quote from author Richard Dee @RichardDockett1 https://bit.ly/3uCs5B2\
Thank you so much to Colleen Chesebro, author, poet and dear friend for featuring me in her new interview, “Meet The Poet,” specifically intended for poets. I was invited by Colleen to chat about my new release Lockdown Innit Poems About Absurdity, and my love of writing poetry. Do check out the interview via the source link below.
Lockdown Innit is a poetry collection of eighteen poems about life’s absurdities and frustrations during lockdown. Wherever you live in this world, this is for you. Expect humour, a dollop of banter and ridiculous rants here and there. Amongst other delights, witness the strange antics of a swan posing by a bin and two statuesque horses appearing like arc deco pieces in a field. Check out the violin player on a tightrope, or the cheeky unmentionables wafting in the lockdown breeze!
I will also be sharing forthcoming posts and links from authors and poets celebrating my book launch: Colleen Chesebro, Richard Dee, Debby Gies, Adele Marie Park.
And a thank you to Sarah Northwood and Lizzie Chantree for taking the time to write advanced reviewer comments out of their busy schedule. I appreciate you all so much.
Many thanks to the blogging community and to the book bloggers who work so hard on book tours and in reviewing our books.
M J Mallon YA Author and Poet 