'The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop and Cafe' by Mary Simses

Release date: 15th August 2013

Published by: Headline Review

ISBN No: 978 1472203878

Paperback Edition 

Manhattan lawyer Ellen Branford is going to fulfill her grandmother's dying wish - to find the hometown boy she once loved and give him her last letter. Beacon, Maine, home to blueberry fields and eccentric locals, is the last place she wants to go so close to her upcoming wedding. Hoping to be in and out in 24 hours, Ellen ends up the talk of the town when a tumble into the ocean introduces her to Roy Cummings, the carpenter who saves her life. Roy happens to be the nephew of Ellen's grandmother's lost love, and the one person who can bring closure to her quest. But as Ellen learns what Beacon has to offer and what her grandmother left behind, she may find that a 24 hour visit will never be enough...

Copyright: Amazon Synopsis

'The Burning Sky' by Sherry Thomas

Release date: 17th September 2013

Published by: Harper Teen

ISBN No: 978 0062207296

Magic, romance, and intrigue combine in The Burning Sky, the first book in the Elemental Trilogy, for fans of Cinda Williams Chima and Kristin Cashore. It all began with a ruined elixir and a bolt of lightning. Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation--or so she's been told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of the Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the most powerful tyrant and mage the world has ever known. This would be a suicide task for anyone, let alone a reluctant sixteen-year-old girl with no training. Guided by his mother's visions and committed to avenging his family, Prince Titus has sworn to protect Iolanthe even as he prepares her for their battle with the Bane. But he makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the tyrant closing in, Titus must choose between his mission--and her life.

Copyright: The Book Depository Synopsis

Highly Recommended: 'Dead Burn' by Jennifer Chase



Release date: 23rd April 2013

Published by: Kindle Edition

ASIN: B00CICE3YM 

‘Dead Burn’, a new novel by Jennifer Chase, is one of those very special books that not long after starting to read it, you very quickly realise that you have found an amazingly well developed and written story that quickly ‘reels you in’ right from the very start.

The synopsis on the cover of ‘Dead Burn’ provides the reader with an overview that describes the story of ‘Dead Burn’ as being about a vigilante detective called Emily Stone who hunts serial killers and child abductors, covertly and under the law enforcement radar, with her intrinsic skills of criminal profiling and forensic investigation. ‘Terrified California residents face the shocking dilemma of yet another serial killer roaming freely in their neighbourhoods. However, this time it is an evolving serial killer that relentlessly searches for, hunts down, and ingeniously traps his victims before unleashing his fiery rage.’ Within this particular story author Jennifer Chase thoroughly delivers what it ‘says on the tin’ and a whole lot more!

I really enjoyed reading this book. Jennifer Chase’s use of a very clear and descriptive writing style allows a reader to ‘cognitively experience’ the emotions and events that take place ‘within’ and ‘between’ the different characters in this particular gripping and absorbing story. The psychological and behavioural profiles used by the author for each of the individual characters found within this book are very real and you can see that the author’s professional background clearly stands out in relation to this particular aspect in the very strong story line. In trying to provide some descriptors as to what ‘Dead Burn’ is all about and without actually providing any spoilers for this book, I would briefly say that ‘Dead Burn’ is a fictional story about crime, forensic profiling and the tracking and the catching of some quite disturbed criminals. This book contains adventure, thrills and spills, quite a few haunting moments with also a bit of romance thrown into the mix as well!

I would highly recommend ‘Dead Burn’ by Jennifer Chase as a very good and addictive forensic crime read. This book is currently only available in Kindle e-book format from Amazon, but I can see this book eventually becoming a print book best seller and possibly even being produced as a film. It is that good! Also, it is currently very reasonably priced!

This is the very first book that I have read that has been written by the author Jennifer Chase. I am now looking forward hopefully, to reading further new books in this particular series by Jennifer!

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'Assassin's Reign' by Michael Arnold

Release date: 4th July 2013

Published by: John Murray

ISBN No: 978 1848547568

The forces of King Charles are victorious; their Parliamentarian enemies in deep crisis. In the west, the crucial port city of Bristol has fallen, and Royalist eyes fall quickly upon neighbouring Gloucester. Its walls are weak, its garrison under strength, and its governor - Sir Edward Massie - suspected of harbouring sympathy for the King.

Stryker and his men are with the army as it converges on Gloucester, still reeling from the loss of a close friend at the bloody Battle of Stratton. Ordered to infiltrate the rebel city on a mission to discover whether Massie will indeed surrender, Stryker reluctantly embarks upon his most desperate mission yet. But Gloucester's defenders are more resolute than any had imagined, and catastrophe soon befalls him. With his life seemingly forfeit, Stryker is spared by an unlikely saviour; Vincent Skaithlocke, his former commander. The mercenary has returned to England to fight for Parliament, and offers Stryker his protection. As old friends adjust to life fighting for opposing sides, Stryker begins to question his own loyalties . . . but a chance discovery makes him realise that all in Gloucester is not what it seems, for a hidden menace threatens his own life, and that of King Charles himself.

Copyright: Hodder and Stoughton Synopsis

'Relativity' by Cristin Bishara

Release date: 10th September 2013

Published by: Walker Childrens

ISBN No: 978 0802734686

If Ruby Wright could have her way, her dad would never have met and married her stepmother Willow, her best friend George would be more than a friend, and her mom would still be alive. Ruby knows wishes can't come true; some things just can't be undone. Then she discovers a tree in the middle of an Ohio cornfield with a wormhole to nine alternative realities. Suddenly, Ruby can access completely different realities, each containing variations of her life--if things had gone differently at key moments. The windshield wiper missing her mother's throat...her big brother surviving his ill-fated birth...her father never having met Willow. Her ideal world--one with everything and everyone she wants most--could be within reach. But is there such a thing as a perfect world? What is Ruby willing to give up to find out?

Copyright: The Book Depository Synopsis

'Where Women are Kings' by Christie Watson

Release date: 12th September 2013

Published by: Quercus

ISBN No: 978 1849163798

Elijah, seven years old, has a history of disruptive behaviour. His adoptive mother Nikki believes that she and her husband Obi are strong enough to accept his difficulties - and that her being white will not affect her ability to raise a black son.

Deborah, Elijah's birth mother, is ever present, and her love for her son is a constant reminder for Nikki of something she's not part of, that she's never had.

Each of them faces more challenges than they could have dreamed of, but just as Elijah starts to settle in, a surprise event rocks their fragile peace and the result is devastating.

Copyright: Amazon Synopsis

'The Wildflower Path' by Sarah Harrison

Release date: 12th September 2013

Published by: Orion

ISBN No: 978 1409128861

All families have secrets and many are taken to the grave, but those that aren't can return, generations later, with devastating consequences...

For Kate Drake, now a great-grandmother, marriage and family brought peace after years of restless uncertainty. Now, watching her own grown-up children, it seems the world is a no less complicated place. Stella, her fiercely independent daughter, and Will, her handsome, self-indulgent son, have challenges of their own to face, while Will's daughter, Evie, is bringing up a son on her own.

But when a secret from the past casts its shadow across four generations of the family, a spoiled war veteran gets a second chance, a stubbornly independent woman opens herself to love, and an older one rediscovers it, while a young boy begins to understand the complexities of adult life.

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'The Lake of Innisfree' by William Butler Yeats

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

'The State We're In' by Adele Parks

Release date: 4th July 2013

Published by: Headline Review

ISBN No: 978 0755371372

'THE STATE WE'RE IN' is the stunning, emotionally powerful new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Adele Parks.


What are the odds that the stranger sitting next to you on a plane is destined to change your life? Especially when they appear to be your opposite in every way.


She's a life-long optimist, looking for her soul mate in every man she meets; he's a resolute cynic - cruel experience has taught him never to put his faith in anyone.


People can surprise you. In the time it takes to fly from London to Chicago, each finds something in the other that they didn't even realise they needed.


Their pasts are such that they can never make one another happy and it's when they get off the plane that their true journey begins...

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'Charles Dickens' Favorite Daughter: The Life, Loves, and Art of Katey Dickens Perugini' by Lucinda Hawksley

Release date: 2nd July 2013

Published by: Lyons Press

ISBN No: 978 0762785216

Lucinda Hawksley is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens, and her fascination with his daughter Katey began when she was organizing and curating an exhibition of her paintings in 2002 at the Dickens House Museum. This incredibly rich, in-depth biography covers the span of Katey's life.

As the daughter of the most famous writer of the time, Katey Dickens enjoyed a high profile in Victorian society. She pursued her love of painting, acted in her father's plays, socialized with the Thackerays, and modeled for painter John Everett Millais. This riveting biography finally sheds light on her extraordinary life both as a Dickens and an artist. The turbulent family life in the Dickens household drove Katey to marry young. Her first husband was the chronically ailing Charlie Collins, brother of the famous author Wilkie Collins. After Charlie's untimely demise, the widowed Katey fell in love and married the handsome Italian artist Carlo Perugini. Charles Dickens lovingly nicknamed Katey "Lucifer Box" because of her fiery temper. In many ways, Katey was ahead of her time; she refused to be eclipsed by her father and fought to establish herself as an artist. She became renowned as a portrait painter and exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy. Katey lived to be almost ninety and her artistic prestige, which flourished during her lifetime, still persists to this day.

Copyright: The Book Depository Synopsis

'A Year in Photography' by Magnum Photos

Release date: 30th August 2013

Published by: Prestel

ISBN No: 978 3791348377

Founded by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Magnum Photos is the iconic international photographic cooperative whose members have captured the major historical events of their times, as well as private and intimate moments. A year's worth of these images is offered in this visually stunning book that features full page reproductions organized to reflect what Cartier-Bresson himself declared a 'community of thought, a shared human quality, a curiosity about what is going on in the world, a respect for what is going on and a desire to transcribe it visually.' Nearly 70 photographers are represented with five to six images each, and the current Magnum members have selected the photographs that they consider to best represent their own output. Published in a brilliant new compact format, running more than 700 pages, this book includes images that make history both individual and universal.

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'The Making of Assisi' by Donal Cooper and Janet Robson

Release date: 31st August 2013

Published by: Yale University Press

ISBN No: 978 0300195712

For a brief moment at the close of the 13th century, the town of Assisi was the focus for the two greatest powers in the Latin Church: the Roman papacy and the Franciscan Order. The election in 1288 of Nicholas IV, the first Franciscan pope, was the catalyst for the creation of frescoes of unprecedented intellectual ambition in the Basilica of San Francesco. At the heart of the new decorative scheme were twenty-eight scenes depicting the life of Saint Francis. Putting to one side the long debate about whether the Saint Francis cycle was or was not painted by Giotto, The Making of Assisi takes a fresh approach and treats the cycle as part of a larger, integrated, and far-reaching programme of renewal at the Basilica. In this deeply researched, illuminating and beautifully illustrated book, Donal Cooper and Janet Robson investigate the particular historical moment in which the frescoes were made, casting new light on their patronage and iconography.

Copyright: Amazon Synopsis