November 8

Hold My Place – Cassondra Windwalker

When librarian Sigrun falls head-over-heels for the sophisticated and very married Edgar Leyward, she never expects to find herself in his bed—or his heart. Nevertheless, when his enigmatic wife Octavia dies from a sudden illness, Sigrun finds herself caught up in a whirlwind romance worthy of the most lurid novels on her bookshelves.

Sigrun soon discovers Octavia wasn’t Edgar’s first lost love, or even his second. Three women Edgar has loved met early deaths. As she delves into her beloved’s past through a trove of discovered letters, the edges of Sigrun identity begin to disappear, fading into the women of the past. Sigrun tells herself it’s impossible for any dark magic to be at play—that the dead can’t possibly inhabit the bodies of the living—but something shadowy stalks the halls of the Leyward house and the lines between the love of the present and the obsessions of the past become increasingly blurred—and bloody.

 

I received a review copy from the publishers through Netgalley

 

Hold My Place was recommended to me by Jamie at Black Crow PR. It’s been in my TBR for a while but I rembember reading the blurb when it first released and thinking it definately sounded like a story I could get behind. It hardly needs said but Jamie knows her stuff as this punchy wee story was a great read and I really liked the lead character Sigrun.

Nailing the opening of a story is a sure-fire way to grab my attention early and keep me reading. Cassondra Windwalker did just that with a powerful opening to Hold My Place which immediately brought a smile ot my face and ensured I was sticking with this story to see how Sigrun got herself to the place where we first meet her.

It turns out she got to this shocking place by going to a cooking class. Sigrun is a goth, she enjoys not looking like the other women in the cookery class and doesn’t feel like she belongs there either. But all eyes in the class are taking in the chef (and tutor) Edgar. He is extremely easy on the eyes and sets hearts a fluttering round his kitchen all the students want Edgar to linger. Unfortunately Edgar also has a gorgeous and deeply loved wife – his students aren’t getting a look in. Or are they? Sigrun seems to have caught his eye and when invited to join him for a drink after class she isn’t going to say no.

Thus begins a complex and secretive series of meetings and flirtations. Sigrun becomes obsessed and can’t get the thought of Edgar out of her head. Cassondra Windwalker really does a marvellous job layering their blooming relationship and the frustrations Sigrun is experiencing. I was waiting for the darkness to descend and I was getting a love story – but I kept reading as this is compelling reading.

Suddenly the world changes. COVID arrives and any secret meetings are very much not going to happen. What will happen when the world can leave their homes again? What will a house-bound librarian do? What does a restaurant owner do if he can’t open his restaurant? Will love (or lust) find a way and what on earth takes Sigrun to that shocking place which began the story?

The love story does yield to a dark tale with that creepy twist I had been craving. It’s a quick read which delivers on emotional chills and brings some terrifying moments for Sigrun.

Kindle Unlimited readers can pick up Hold My Place as part of their Unlimited membership – otherwise you can grab a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B092BG6WW5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

 

 

 

 

 

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June 17

The Desire Card – Lee Matthew Goldberg

Any wish fulfilled for the right price. That’s the promise the organization behind The Desire Card gives to its elite clients – but sometimes the price may be more menacing than anyone could ever imagine.

Harrison Stockton has lived an adult life of privilege and excess: a high-powered job on Wall Street fuels his fondness for alcohol and pills at the expense of a family he has no time for. Quite suddenly all of this comes crashing to a halt when he loses his job and at the same time discovers he almost certainly has only months left to live.

Desperate, and with seemingly nowhere else left to turn, Harrison activates his Desire Card. What follows is a gritty and gripping quest that takes him from New York City to the slums of Mumbai and forces him to take chances, and make decisions, he never thought he’d ever have to face. When his moral descent threatens his wife and children, Harrison must decide whether to save himself at any cost, or do what’s right and break his bargain with the mysterious group behind The Desire Card.

The Desire Card is a taut, fast-based thriller, from internationally acclaimed author Lee Matthew Goldberg, that explores what a man will do to survive when money isn’t always enough to get everything he desires.

 

My thanks to Emma at Damppebbles for the chance to join the blog tour.  I received a copy of The Desire Card from the publishers, Fahrenheit Press, so I could participate in the tour.

 

Harrison Stockton has given everything he has to his employer.  His family hardly see him, he works long unforgiving days, skips his medicals and lives life to an excess which has led to a deterioration in his physical appearance and his health is suffering.  But that is coming to an end as Harrison is about to be fired.  He hasn’t made the grade and his ruthless employer has decided he doesn’t get any more chances.

Naturally Harrison is devastated and tries to persuade his employers they should keep him. But the damage is done and Harrison is gone. However in a small chink of humanity there is a special addition to his severance – a card which offers the bearer the chance to have their desire fulfilled. Naturally there is a price to pay.

Harrison struggles to get his family to accept him now that he is jobless. They are so used to his absence they cannot adjust to him being around – naturally Harrison has no idea what his family do from day to day.

Harrison’s employment woes are not his only concern. A terminal liver condition leaves him facing an early death and rhe chance of finding a donor is slim.

Reaching out to an old friend in India Harrison travels to Mumbai. His friend has located a liver donor and can operate at his private clinic if Harrison can pay his way. The trip will change Harrison’s life but perhaps not how he expected.

When facing impossible choices can Harrison resist the lure of The Desire Card? One call to the mysterious people who operate the card and his problems could be solved. However the costs are high – how desperate does a man have to be?

The Desire Card is a terrific thriller – consequences and dilemmas, truth and many, many lies made this an engrossing read. Harrison is not the most likeable of characters but there is a compulsion to keep reading about him. Master of his own downfall or a weak man who will do what he can to survive?  Pages flew by as I followed his story and I have no doubt you would experience the same pull to this tale.

 

The Desire Card is published by Fahrenheit Press and is available in paperback and digital format.  You can order a copy here: http://www.fahrenheit-press.com/books_the_desire_card.html

If you order a paperback copy of the novel, Fahrenheit Press also give you a digital copy – cool stuff!

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