Thank you so much to Sally Cronin for featuring myself and fellow authors, Robbie Cheadle, Judith Barrow, Jan Sikes and Fiona Tarr on her review roundup.
Reviews as below!
The first review this month was for Robbie Cheadle, Square Peg in a Round Hole: Poetry, Art & Creativity.
Sally’s review for the collection May 8th 2024
The author is a talented artist moving from her exquisite fondant art to wonderful charcoal and watercolours of Africa’s wildlife and plants. You immediately feel her connection to nature and in this collection of poetry and micro-fiction that connection is strengthened.
As you move through the sections of the collection you are invited into the lives of a family not only at one with nature but also one that has undergone significant challenges, particularly with health. It takes resilience as a mother to watch your children go through multiple operations and more recently her parent’s and husband’s health.
Robbie Cheadle also has a senior executive role that means her time management skills are highly honed. Corporate life can be complex and this comes across in her section on her work and striking a life balance.
There are some wonderful photographic contributions from Wayne Barnes of Tofino Photography whose wildlife images are accompanied by some lovely syllabic poetry catching not just the beauty but humour too.
Also contributing is her son Michael who has co-written the children’s books focused on the adventures in a fondant world. His poetry shows a maturity and depth of emotion and reflected his vision of a world from a health and environmental perspective. Very profound and thought provoking.
This is a collection that requires careful reading and should be enjoyed at a leisurely pace rather than read in one sitting. I have no particular favourites as each poem and image deserve reflection and respect.
Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK
The next review was for Her Covered Bones: An Australian Outback Crime Thriller (Opal Fields Book 6) by Fiona Tarr…
Sally’s review for the book May 11th 2024.
This has been an excellent series that has kept readers engaged over the five books so far. I was eager to discover the truth behind the overarching mysteries behind Jenny William’s cousin reasons for going missing ten years before, and the murder of her boyfriend Nick’s father.
This book picks up shortly after the last one finished and this times the discovery of bones is closer to home, as far as Jenny is concerned too close to home. Just how involved are her cousin and aunt with the murders and why have the rest of her family been keeping secrets. As she works hard to discover how involved they might be, she begins to feel her ongoing relationship with Nick will suffer.
Most of the main characters come together in an effort to resolve this mystery once and for all and a new character arrives to lead the investigation Detective Dawn Graves who stirs up the rest of the team with her approach.
As always there is plenty of action and revelations to keep the reader guessing as to the truth behind the murders, and it is a very satisfactory end to the series.
The author promises more from Jenny Williams in the future, but in the meantime is focussed on a new series featuring Detective Dawn Graves which I look forward to.
Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon AU – And: Amazon UK
The next recommended book is by Judith Barrow... Live and Let: Tales of a Pembrokeshire Holiday Let
Sally’s review for the book May 15th 2024
This is a wonderful short book filled with treasures. The author takes us on a poignant journey through her teen years, marriage and growing family to set the scene for the highly entertaining stories of taking paying guests.
Having lovingly restored a neglected house in Pembrokeshire and wanting to add to the family income, a flat is created on the side of their home and over a number of years an assortment of guests take up residence during the summer season.
Some are clearly remembered with fondness, but others stand out for a variety of reasons and not always in the best light. Whilst laughing at the accounts of the antics these visitors got up to, it must have been extremely stressful to have to deal with them in person. The author has a lovely way of bringing these episodes to life and I would love to have been a fly on the wall.
These temporary lettings gave way to the arrival of a beloved aunt whose declining memory made from some heartwarming and also heartbreaking moments.
To round off a very satisfactory read, there is a short story about another house, another family facing challenges which ends with a twist.
I read Live and Let in one sitting and I am sure that anyone picking up the book will do the same. Highly recommended.
Head over read the reviews and the book: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US – And: Universal Link
Also by Judith Barrow
The latest collecton from Marjorie Mallon and my advance review for the book. Shh, Purely Poetry: Sensual, Love and Relationship Poems. On Pre-order June 2nd.
Sally’s advance review for the book May 18th 2024
Love in the romantic sense is a heady complex combination of physical and emotional attraction to another, sometimes bordering on the obsessive that completely takes over to the point of shutting out everything around you. Senses are heightened bringing a new perspective to the most mundane of activities, sights and sounds.
The author captures the depth of this sensual awakening and also the changes it brings to our lives in her poetry. The poems start slowly taking the reader through courtship into full blown relationships highlighting the highs and the lows along the way. The path of true love is not always smooth and as well as passion, one needs forgiveness and compassion.
This is a collection about love and relationships but also celebrates sensuality and whilst I don’t read erotica, this collection is a gentle reminder of the beauty that can exist between two individuals within a passionate relationship. There is a flow and softness that follows the cycle of love and passion..
As always with this author nature and humour also mingle with the more serious business of finding and expressing love. As a small taste of what is to come if you read this collection here is the opening verses to the first section in the collection: Love Is Fuel
Breakfast Nibbles
Avocado spread on toast,
Like her bikini, green, shiny, lush,
Skimpy but oh so satisfying!
Full breakfast, or bacon roll?
Depends on afters…
Your place or mine?
Head over to pre-order the collection for June 2nd: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US
And Sally’s final review this month was for the latest release by Jan Sikes… a world war two romance – A Beggar’s Bargain.
Sally’s review for the book May 25th 2024
A lovely heartwarming story of two young people who have lost so much and have little hope that their lives will change any time soon. Set just after WWII, times are hard, especially when drought and lack of work is being faced by millions.
For Laykin Martin having returned from the war to find his family farm has been left devastated following his parent’s death, and Sara Beth whose affluent father has his own plans, an unexpected turn of events throws them together to face an uncertain future.
The author always creates interesting and engaging characters and slowly over the story other down on their luck waifs and strays find their way into their home as they rebuild their lives. They expect hard work but not the kindness of others or how their own relationship will develop.
There are some devils in their lives who are determined to bring their hopes crashing down and it is a race against time for both crops and the safety of those they have come to consider familly.
It is a book I found hard to put down and read in one sitting and I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the journey of two young people determined to prove to themselves and to those who might doubt their decisions, that there is hope and love to be found.
Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK
M J Mallon YA Author and Poet 