Lucy Brazier – M J Mallon YA Author and Poet

Goodreads Synopsis:
Come along for a chilling ride on a ghost ship, experience eerie daydreams and psychotic killers, explore haunted houses, and send the deceased to their final destination.

And that’s just a quarter of the thrills.

Edited and compiled by Amazon bestselling author Dan Alatorre, this anthology of scary tales brings together the minds and pens of twenty authors, including bestseller Allison Maruska (The Fourth Descendant), bestselling author Jenifer Ruff (Everett), Lucy Brazier (PorterGirl), J. A. Allen, Juliet Nubel, TA Henry, Ann Marie Andrus, Heather Hackett, Barbara Anne Helberg, Scott Skipper, Joanne R. Larner, Christine Valentor, Adele Marie Park, Curtis Bausse, Annette Robinson, Frank Parker, Eric Daniel Clarke, and Maribel C. Pagan.

Perfect for Halloween or any time, these stories will make you think twice before walking alone on the beach at night, reading a diary, or innocently watching a train from your car.

Consider yourselves warned.

NOTE: Warning! American and British spelling ahead. A few stories words are olde English, too. The story The Death Of Mrs. Billen by Mr. Alatorre is from his novel An Angel On Her Shoulder, used with permission.

My review:

I intended to read The Box Under The Bed around Halloween time but I was so busy I didn’t get round to it. I’ve made up for that now, I enjoyed the Box Under The Bed very much. Without a doubt anthologies are an excellent way to discover new authors. All of the stories were a little different, some scarier than others, some gory, and there were even little touches of humour to be found. So, I’d say there is something for everyone in this anthology compiled and edited by Dan Alatorre.

There are twenty authors in all, three of which are members of the #ABRSC – Dan Alatorre, Lucy Brazier and Adele Marie Park.

Plus stories from: Jennifer Ruff, Allison Maruska, J.A. Allen, Juliet Nubel, T.A. Henry, Anne Marie Andrus, Heather Hackett, Barbara Anne Helberg, Scott Skipper, Joanne R Larner, Christine Valentor, Curtis Bausse, Annette Robinson, Frank Parker, Eric Daniel Clarke, Maribel C Pagan, and Carrie Ann Alexis.

Would I recommend it? Yes, indeed I’ve rated this anthology four stars.

I read The Box Under The Box anthology as part of my #ABRSC Christmas Read and Review.

You can find out more about this here: https://mjmallon.com/2017/12/01/abrsc-christmas-newyear-blog-hop-party/

We now have a Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club Goodreads Group too: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/383127-abrsc-read-and-review as well as our well-established and flourishing Facebook group: Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club.

Next up, I will be reading an ARC of Lizzie Chantree’s Ninja School Mum which is being published by Crooked Cat Books in Jan 2018. I will be hosting Lizzie on my blog as part of her blog tour in the New Year.

Before I go let me invite you to …. fellow administrator of the group… Colleen Chesebro’s review of Annette Rochelle Aben’s Tanka Picture Book: https://colleenchesebro.com/2017/12/04/colleens-book-reviews-a-tanka-picture-book-by-author-annette-rochelle-aben/

Bye for now, happy reading! If you’d like to join in the #ABRSC read and review comment below, I’d love to hear from you. It doesn’t have to be a scary story! All genres welcome! xxx

Fellow Administrators of our Authors Bloggers Rainbow Support Club #ABRSC on Facebook, myself, my good friends Colleen Chesebro and Debby Gies. Click on Colleen’s and Debby’s photos to be directed to their awesome blogs. These ladies rock!

https://mjmallon.com

https://colleenchesebro.com/

http://dgkayewriter.com/

Twitter: @Marjorie_Mallon and @curseof_time

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Goodreads Synopsis:

‘Porters are not the carriers of bags, they are the keepers of keys!’

As one of the most ancient and esteemed establishments of the academic elite, Old College is in for something of a shock when it appoints its very first female Deputy Head Porter.

She struggles to get to grips with this eccentric world, far removed from everyday life. PorterGirl, the proverbial square peg in the round hole, begins to wonder quite what she is doing here.

PorterGirl – First Lady Of The Keys is a touching, and at times laugh-out-loud funny, glimpse into a world that is usually reserved for the upper echelons of society.

Whether she is chasing after naked students, drinking copious amounts of tea or getting embroiled in quaint, polite murders, Deputy Head Porter is never far from adventure.

My review

I’ve had PorterGirl on my must read radar for some time. For three reasons, one it’s set in Cambridge, (and I live in Cambridge too,) and two I have enjoyed reading Lucy’s blog Porter Girl and following her.

Also, my youngest daughter works part-time as a waitress in one of the colleges in Cambridge so I hear all about college life from her, and all about the sumptuous food….

So my impressions of PorterGirl… I really enjoyed PG. It’s one of those books that lifts your spirits up and puts you in a fantastic mood. It prompts you to put the kettle on and eat lots of forbidden biscuits! Lol… Porter G’s experience as the first female porter of a prestigious Cambridge University college is a lively riot from start to finish, full of humour, tea, and jokes about eating fabulous food when and wherever PorterGirl can… Being a foodie, this constant ambition to raid the fridges and steal food from under her colleagues’ hungry noses had me in stitches, as did crazy but ever so serious tasks such as PorterGirl rescuing a most important College cat via a precarious punting escapade. There’s never a dull moment, but a dollop of rising fear ensues as PorterGirl discovers murders are being committed in Old College. She begins to fear for her life, but PorterGirl is no coward, (a former copper,) she manages to keep herself safe, until…. it gets a bit hot under the bowler hat. Even so, her bowler hat remains proudly on top of her head, never to be removed not even in the most dire, calamitous of circumstance!

My recommendation: 4 stars. A favourite read that will make you smile a lot – and smiling is one of my favourite pastimes. Lucy has a pleasing writing style that makes you feel as if you know her personally. But, this novel should come with a health warning: This will make you laugh so much that you will splutter out your tea and biscuits! I reckon our friends across the water will find the copious amount of tea drinking that is a signature style of PorterGirl exceedingly amusing!

Opinion: I felt that perhaps PorterGirl lacked the ‘real’ names (and from Lucy’s point of view the promote-able aspects,) of the ‘real’ Cambridge. I would love to have read about the ‘real’ University college that Old College applied to, and the ‘real’ haunts that Lucy mentions. But, I can understand why Lucy didn’t do so, why she used fictitious names. I expect she wanted to keep the secrets of the establishment, and anonymity of some of the characters in the book. If she had set it in the ‘real’ Cambridge, (and put a few folks noses out of joint,) for me it would have been a five star read. But, that’s just me…. and of course I can see why she wouldn’t want to do that! Lol…

I’m really looking forward to reading more from Lucy Brazier.

I recommend that you get a copy of PorterGirl, rush, before Lucy’s tea gets cold!