My First Blog Update

Well, what a month it has been since I started my Little Book Worm blog...

I have discovered a whole host of wonderful people within the publishing industry; authors, publishers, fellow bloggers and readers and I must say, what an amazing group they are! All filled with lovely and meaningful advice and always happy to help and promote each other, it really is a joy to be involved with these great people!

My most successful blog post is by far the absolutely amazing The Sister by Louise Jensen, what a flipping book... With over 600 views, I was blown away!

I've read some great books over the last couple of weeks, including:

• Silent Scream by Angela Marsons
• Mummy's Favourite by Sarah Flint
• The Fire Child by S.K Tremayne
• Local Missing Girl by Claire Douglas
• The Step Mother by Claire Seeber
• Willow Cottage (Sunshine & Secrets Part 1) by Bella Osborne

And I even had my first ever book banner quote by Aria Fiction with a quote taken from my review!

I've just added an email subscription option to my site (only just figured out how to do it!) so feel free to sign up!

Over the next few weeks you can expect reviews of the following:

• In the Wake of Death by Billy McLaughin
• The Good Husband by Christobel Kent
• The Lost Girls by Angela Marsons
• Evil Games by Angela Marsons
• Cut To The Bone by Alex Cann
• Play Dead by Angela Marsons

I am certain you may have noticed a theme running through my TBR pile... I read my first Ms Marsons book, Silent Scream last week and boy oh boy, what a book it is! I was gripped, totally and utterly adore the way she wrote and as such, I downloaded the rest of her books on my Kindle immediately, I have these to read for pleasure though as I have a few reviews to do for others first (which is obviously brilliant, but at the same time I want to read more D.I Stone!!)

I am also working on writing some retrospective reviews of the book s I have read in the past, this is taking a while though as I am reading and working on the current book reviews! One thing I have noticed since starting this blog is that I am never not reading, having recently given up a career in sales to start training as a proofreader, all I seem to do at the moment is read, read & read some more!!! I took a little part time job in customer services for a carpet manufacturer and as it's all phone based, I can read in-between calls - which is brilliant!

Well, I'm heading off to start another book, the lovely Shell Barker over at https://www.facebook.com/groups/CrimeBookClub/ has asked for a review so I best get started... Then next on the list is Christobel Kent's The Good Husband which I will be completing for www.TheBookBag.co.uk

Hope you all have a great week get in touch if you would like me to review a book or just to say hi!

Love & all that jazz

Emma x

 

Local Girl Missing by Claire Douglas

Penguin (11 Aug. 2016)

The Blurb . . .

Twenty years ago

21-year-old Sophie Collier vanishes one night.
She leaves nothing behind but a trainer on the old pier -
and a hole in the heart of her best friend Francesca.

Now

A body's been found.
And Francesca's drawn back to the seaside town she's tried to forget.
Perhaps the truth of what happened to Sophie will finally come out.
Yet Francesca is beginning to wish she hadn't returned.
Everywhere she turns are ghosts from her past.
The same old faces and familiar haunts of her youth.
But if someone knows what really happened to Sophie that night then now's the time to find out - isn't it?
Except sometimes discovering the truth can cost you everything you hold dear - your family, your sanity and even your life . . . 

My thoughts....

Frankie is back in the little seaside town she left when her best friend disappeared, and her dialogue is written as though she is speaking to Sophie in the present day. The chapters then switch to Sophie's diary from all those years ago, which are formatted in italics which I found brilliant, it makes it much easier to remember whose part you are reading and keep a track of what is going on.


I really enjoyed the way this book is written, and although I found some of Frankie's dialogue repetitive, it did help to build up an idea of her frame of mind, she's struggling being back in the little town having spent the last 18 years in London as a career woman as opposed to the dead girls friend.

I found that this story seemed to take a while to really kick in and pick up momentum, but when it does, my gosh does it pick up! There are lots of twists, lots of plots building up to really give you the run around and, although there was a point at which I thought some of it was a little pointless, BAM! It all falls into place perfectly (I even gave a gasp of shock whilst sat on the bus!)

Some books are quite predictable and you can gauge an idea of who dunnit, or where the story is going, I thought I had and I was shocked by the plot twists and turns at the end! Douglas brings everything together brilliantly and you will be left gasping for breath by the end!

I really enjoyed Local Girl Missing and would certainly recommend it to others, thank you to Net Galley and Penguin for providing me with a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I will be keeping an eye out for Douglas' work in the future!

About the author . . .